Tokyo Times on Ike99-n-Miller

[Ike99]

Glad to see you are pulling your troops out instead of giving him thousands of POW's.

After losing the Americal Division I think he is wanting to stay on the sure & steady path to an Allied victory for a while.

He still has to worry about me making a wild, mad dash to an auto victory come December.

[Canoerebel]

Miller knows all about auto victories.  Ask him about his against SneakyJap some time.  You won't catch Miller napping.

[Miller]

[>:]

[tocaff]

Miller's not napping, he's now riveted on his Magpies in the EPL.  

[Ike99]

Allied bomber losses have been....high. [:D]

[Ike99]

193 Allied Level Bombers have been destroyed in 4 months.

Including 46 4E bombers.

This is compared to 46 Japanese Bombers. One Quarter...roughly.

I think he`s trying to hurt my supplies.[&:]
I think he´s trying to get experience for his bomber crews?[&:]

His bomber crews can be experienced...experienced and dead. [:D]

The only supply problem I have is not enough white paint to paint the pretty white stars on the sides of my airplanes.[;)]

[8D]

[british exil]

Nice reading.
The comments are so funny somtimes, hard to believe that there is a war going on in the south pacific.
Keep up this AAR!!!

[Ike99]

I have noticed the Allied bomber offensive kind of....hmmmm....faltering. For a month my friend Miller bombs, Port Moresby, Gili Gili. I do not care. They are both empty...almost, a token force. If he comes forward and launches an invasion and captures Port Moresby or Gili-Gili with 50,000 men...so what?

My strength lies behind it at Buna & Dobadura and up north. I would actually welcome an invasion of Port Moresby because I know the end result at this point. He will have 50,000 men in much the same strategic situation as the Allies start with at Port Moresby. To get PM I know he needs to take out Buna & Dobadura. For that reason both spots are strongly garrisoned and fortified, mines by the hundreds, airforces. Standby dedicated naval forces.

Miller has given me the same invitation to disaster on the other side of the board. He has left Luganville weak while EPV is very strong. If I take Luganville now my result there will be the same as his on New Guinea. Isolation and eventual destruction of a large group of people. Ala the 200ac on Luganville Allied fiasco in May.

As Allied bomber losses have been so high though I may have an opportunity to put a serious, bold, daring anphibious assault operation together somewhere and score a critical hit. I`ll look it over.

Sept 18th, 1942. Japanese lead by 4,000 points. Yes....I know it doesn´t matter BUT...that reminds me of the people on TV. When their show is in last place in ratings they say it doesn´t matter. BUT when there show is in 1st place next week they say LOOK at our viewer numbers! [:D]

Looking at some Allied bomber numbers here. This by no means Millers bomber force is impotent. He just hit 3 transports going into Buna. One will probably sink but it shows they are suffering quite a bit. Ahh...he just got a new sqdrn of 12 B24`s, one has been lost. One was even spotted over Rabaul! [:D]

This makes me believe he is switching back to going after ships with them. I don´t think there is a choice really. Losses are to heavy bombing Japanese bases. Until he gets the Hellcat & Corsair I can defeat any bombing campaign he gives me. P38 isn´t enough.

[Miller]

Thanks for the free intel Ike![;)]

[Ike99]

Thanks for the free intel Ike!

Ahhh...I didn´t say anything you didn`t already know.

You want to move fast in New Guinea. You don´t want to slog up that trail all the way to Lae fighting the whole way.[:-] Take forever. That means assault from the sea on the coastal bases. That`s what you want to do. Thats why I`m turning them all into well supplied fortresses. [:D]

[Ike99]

Me an Miller had a Carrier Clash off New Guinea. I think this leaves him Hornet & Wasp.

[Miller]

Much more action compared to the previous 2 months. Ike continued to build up his bases in New Guinea and captured Wau. I believe that to be a mistake as it makes an excellent training base for Jap a/c later in the game, but hey that's fine with me[:D]

My B17s based in Aus have managed to sink quite a few of his transports but this does not seem to concern him. I believe he will not try for an autovictory, rather go for a points win (which i think is impossible, but we shall see).

Ike has already mentioned the CV battle late in the month. I sent my CV's a few hexes south of PM to try and hit his various transport fleets going to Buna and Dobadura. I was not expecting to run into his CV's but did. I lost Enterprise and Saratoga to his Kaga and Zuiho, with the battleship Kirishima badly damaged. I lost twice as many a/c due to the survivors having nowhere to land, but I can afford to lose them, Ike cannot.

So on to October......the P38 arrives so perhaps the Allied comeback can begin.....

[Ike99]

I believe he will not try for an autovictory, rather go for a points win (which i think is impossible, but we shall see).

Is it just me or is there a hint of doubt creeping in here about a points victory for Japan being impossible? [X(][:D]

I lost Enterprise and Saratoga to his Kaga and Zuiho, with the battleship Kirishima badly damaged.

Now this is true. Zuiho didn´t sink but made it to port. I think she`ll be able to make it to Japan same as Zuikaku.

When I saw Miller sneaking around up there I very purposely stuck my ships in a position where mine would have a nearby port to run to and be saved from sinking after the battle. I stuck them up in the corner of New Guinea. I wanted to fight the battle on my conditions.

If had been as smart as I think I am though I would have used all my land fighters from New Guinea to fly CAP for my carriers during the battle. The airfields were just 2-5 spaces away. If I had done that maybe Kaga would have survived...maybe. But I didn´t think of it at the time...have to keep that tactic in mind for a later situation sometime though.

Kirishima is not too bad a condition, she is operational...she will stay in theatre. She only took 3 bomb hits...she is a battleship.

[Ike99]

Miller begins construction of an airfield at Gavigamanna...I do what I do. Dig, dig and then dig some more. Then I move to the next base and repeat the process. [:D]Fortifications levels take priority over the airfield or port levels. It works. He just bombed Lae port not too long ago with 60 B17`s at 6,000 ft. Just killed a few guys. I didn´t even notice a supply drop.

I believe that to be a mistake as it makes an excellent training base for Jap a/c later in the game, but hey that's fine with me

I like Wau. I have plans for Wau. Training...hmmm...put the Bettys and Nells on submarine patrol for 4 months and you have dangerous people. I don´t need to bomb an empty base.

[Ike99]

October 15th, 1942




October Action

Miller, starting on October 7th under cover of a thunderstorm began landing a division+ on Nevea. Why so much I´m not too sure about. That´s a whole lot to keep supplied, but anyways that´s what he brought. For me the place is a rock. If it was one space closer that would put it in normal Zero, Val, Kate range and would make all the difference. But as it is 8 spaces it´s a rock for the Japanese as far as I`m concerned. It was very lightly defended. The only reason I had the place is because I was attempting to destroy a big engineer/aviation unit he put there in May. He ended up evacuating those engineers just before I landed and they escaped. Anyway I ended up with it.

So he came up and began landing. Immediatley triggered my automatic Solomon Chain air defense at Irau and came under land based Val attack. After this I thought...do I just turn all my air defenses ¨off¨ and let him get it on the cheap.

[:-]

Ahh...lets keep him honest.[:D] So next day I turned ¨On¨ a few fighter & bomber squadrons on up through the Solomon chain. They attacked over 4 days. I was suprised at how light my bomber losses were. I lost 20´ish bombers over 4 days. I was satisfied I kept him honest and stood everyone down. So it was a minor skirmish really.

A look at some stats up to October 10th, 1942....

Naval Losses...Allies.

4 CV´s
5 CA´s
12 DD´s
10 AP/AK
3 SS

Throw in patrol boats and mine sweepers and the other minor stuff...43 ships sunk.

Japanese Losses...

2 CV´s
1 CVL
1 CA
1 DD
45 AP/AK

Throw in all the mine sweepers, patrol boats, etc....81 ships sunk. The Japanese have lost 5 warships. What does that mean? That means the Japanese have one hell of a naval force out there ready to pounce should Miller get really bold. He will go as far as I let him go and on my schedule. OK....enough of that. Hehe![:D][:'(]

Ahhh, I just got a new carrier and more DD´s, a couple CL´s.

Air Losses...Allies,

B26B 85
B17E 66
Hudson 63
B25D 48
B24D 9

A total of 271 Allied bombers have been destroyed. Bomb me to the stone age...wipe out my supplies...a smoking crater.[:-] I don´t think so. That is an incredible figure anyway you look at it and certainly a rate that can´t be sustained for very long. I know they`re hurting because I`m unloading transports at very forward bases now without even being attacked by bombers. Despite his recon calling them out by name.

Anyways...Allies have lost 872 total aircraft.

Japanese air losses....

Betty´s 56
Nells 26

What these 2 numbers mean? It means I have a huge bomber force. Betty replacement rate is 18 a month. I have aquired 108 and lost 56. I`m in the plus column on Betty´s. I keep these guys on ASW to get experience.

My Nells. Nell replacement rate is 4 a month. So I´ve gained 24, lost 26. I`m 2 in the red. I`ve only used these guys during my attack on Port Moresby and keep them in reserve. Reason being the Nells have experience levels in the 80´s. They are crack ship killers within normal range.[&o]

These numbers mean I have aprox. 250 bombers, mostly highly trained waiting. Soon to be over 300 with new groups coming in. They have but one objective. To destroy invasion fleets in my defensive zone. They do nothing else except train and wait for that. They don´t transport, they don`t do recon. That`s all they do.

Using my land based fighters to sweep his CAP over an invasion site, to wear them down, break their morale and then turn ¨on¨ my bomber force. Hmmm...the result would be predictable. Put this with long lance armed fast task forces attacking at night. Mines in the thousands. Yes....it could get real ugly real fast.[8D]

All these things together have but one aim. To slow, damage, stall, frustrate and destroy an Allied advance as much as possible.

It´s not if he wins, it´s ¨when¨ he win. It`s not if he captures a base, it`s ¨when¨ he captures a base.

So the Japanese situation going into mid October is VERY secure on all fronts and I hold the reigns to a very mean monster indeed. [:D]

Now Miller can tell you why everything I`m doing is wrong. [:D]

[Miller]

Hi Ike.....I suggest you re-read my AAR against Canoerebel. You will lose Muhahahahaha[:@][;)]

[borner]

Where is that AAR, I would like to read it also!
 

[Ike99]

Hi Ike.....I suggest you re-read my AAR against Canoerebel. You will lose Muhahahahaha

Hi Miller. Well one thing about that game and this one is it was scenario 19, we are playing 17. Should point that out for anyone reading who isn´t aware.

Yes, I have read that AAR. It seems my setup defensively is much different from yours though.
One thing that strikes me is Canoberel says you lost 3,900 more aircraft than him....

¨mostly in the first 11 months¨

That´s a lot of points and hopefully I can shave a couple thousand off of that in our game. I don´t think I could do that anyways as I simply don´t have that many aircraft on Scen. 17. We´ll see how it goes though.

[Ike99]

Miller laughs at my supply barges...he LAUGHS mind you...BUT!! My supply barges deliver over 7,000 supplies to forward bases per month largely un-noticed [;)]

[Ike99]

October 20th

Miller invades Irau by fast transport. Four cruisers and 3 destroyers hit mines delivering the first wave.