Australia:
If Thomas goes for an all-out invasion of OZ, I imagine he will invade Darwin and Perth area as precursors, and then land his main force in the Townsville region or in Port Augusta. If I were the Japanese, I think I would go after Port Augusta. Landing here cuts Perth off from the rest of the country, and it is above the “line of death.” I imagine that before a major invasion of place with a line of death, the Japanese would attempt to clean up everything before activating reinforcements, that way, the reinforcements (activated mostly in ADEN), will have little impact on the battle for the line of death areas. With Darwin to Perth in Japanese hands, getting Aden units successfully to OZ will be a huge pain.
Port Augusta has a decent port level, and can be used to quickly and safely unload an army.
Of course, Townsville is safer, closer to PM and DEI SLOCs.
My idea is to fight a rearguard in Townsville with the bulk of the armor units that have withdrawal dates. These Motor and Cav BDES can maneuver faster than foot-infantry, and therefore will make a fighting withdrawal. Plus, allied armor *should* really rough up Japanese armor in open terrain.
In Port Augusta, I hope to outright refuse a landing. May be delirious thinking on my part.
Sydney:
1st OZ DIV in the city
Two independent BDES (One from Tasmania) protecting Port Kembla and Newcastle.
BDE from Perth, broken into BNs, protecting three nearby airfields.
Melbourne:
2nd OZ Div in the City
3rd OZ Div, broken into regiments, protecting three cities near Melbourne, but prepping for Port Augusta, which I feel is the most likely beachhead.
Adelaide:
4th OZ DIV two regiments with Motor BDE in the City, two BNs protecting inland airfields linking Adelaide with Melbourne. Adelaide is south of Brisbane, so an invasion here would activate line of death troops.
Every airfield between Brisbane and Port Augusta has a BF and a BN.
Port Augusta: I imagine D-day to be here, I want to refuse any Japanese landing:
5th OZ Div, combined.
Also, 3rd OZ Div is broken into BDEs protecting Melbourne area, it is prepping for Port Augusta and will be railed there and combined if an invasion is imminent.
Some armor
AT guns
US Arty
16 x CD guns
AA units
I’ll mine this port heavily if I smell an OZ invasion.
Extra ENG units to get the forts up.
Perth: tricky, any units dedicated to this AO can easily be lost, but I’ll not lose it without a fight.
I evacuated the Dutch Regiment that starts on the Island off of Soerbaja. It is cheap when attached to I OZ Corps (switched to ABDA). This is a one-hit wonder BDE, as there are not many Dutch replacements. It will fight a rear-guard at Geraldton along with CD guns and some armor (I’m really hoping my armor whips him in open terrain, I just need to make sure to have a lot of AA in hexes with armor).
6th OZ Div will land here from Aden, hopefully will be in place by mid-Feb 1942
An OZ BDE will fight a rearguard at Bussleton along with the small CD from Perth.
A BN and BF each at Cunderdin and Kalgoorlie (two cities linking Perth with Sydney). By any standard of maneuver warfare, Thomas would have to cut-off Perth before laying siege. I’ll have a good 4-5 forts by the time he can invade, along with a division, arty, and armor. I’m thinking that a BN and a BF can hold the airfields from paratroopers, especially if I can get level three or four forts. Is this delusional? I have no experience with airborne assault as the AI doesn’t do it. The armor units in Perth will maneuver here to fight overland invasions as well as possible.
20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
First of all, good luck! PBEM will give you a lot of sweat and some outright whoops at the replay screen. It's so much better playing a person.
Not sure why the PH strike did so well. Can't see much in the settings, other than he he did use many of the Vals on port strike where some players use them primarily for the airfields.
The altitudes below are release altitudes for the Vals. They will fly in between 10-15k and dive to drop their ordnance. They release at different altitudes dependent on pilot and leader quality, etc. The lower the better for accuracy.
As for your planes. DB and TB usually fly at different altitude settings. As IJ I fly DBs from 10-14k depending on the situation, and 5k for TB is supposed to be ideal, but I vary that at times and depending on what I'm attacking.
Many players layer CAP even more than you have, with planes low, medium, and medium high on CVs. Like 5k, 10k, and 15-20k. Some do more.
Here are some settings. Each type requires different settings for different missions. It gets fairly complicated. Read LoBarons thread for coordination.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2382494
Not sure why the PH strike did so well. Can't see much in the settings, other than he he did use many of the Vals on port strike where some players use them primarily for the airfields.
The altitudes below are release altitudes for the Vals. They will fly in between 10-15k and dive to drop their ordnance. They release at different altitudes dependent on pilot and leader quality, etc. The lower the better for accuracy.
I’m looking closely at his altitudes here: 3,000, 2,000, and 1,000 feet for the bombers. He obviously could only do this b/c of Dec 7th surprise, correct?
1) How do I do what Thomas did in a PBEM?
My biggest concern is I don’t want to go into this game using tactics that apply only to the AI. For example, my carriers air wing is generally set to
All bombers at 9,000 feet (in hopes of getting coordinated strikes.
60% CAP (2/3 of the cap is set at 9,000 feet to coordinate with bombers, 1/3 at 15,000 feet to protect the fleet.
40% escort
I will change this default setting based on the target, but that is typically how I do it. It’s always worked devastatingly against the AI, what do you guys set your air wings to?
As for your planes. DB and TB usually fly at different altitude settings. As IJ I fly DBs from 10-14k depending on the situation, and 5k for TB is supposed to be ideal, but I vary that at times and depending on what I'm attacking.
Many players layer CAP even more than you have, with planes low, medium, and medium high on CVs. Like 5k, 10k, and 15-20k. Some do more.
Here are some settings. Each type requires different settings for different missions. It gets fairly complicated. Read LoBarons thread for coordination.
http://www.matrixgames.com/forums/tm.asp?m=2382494
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- Bombingaltitudes.jpg (210.75 KiB) Viewed 197 times
"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Thanks for this Obvert. After letting the smoke clear the week following Dec 17th, I saw that my catalinas, forts, and fighters at Pear were in remarkably good shape. So all those extra hits on the BBs are a bummer, but on the other hand, the shortages of Catalinas and B-17s will be far less acute than normal. All of the BBs at Pearl will be ready to go to big US ports in 2-3 months (when system damage is gone, they're all at pierside mode now), and as long as I don't do something stupid, they will live to support late-war American invasions.
I am terrified of my CV settings... My CVs are the source of so much stress right now.
I will try your settings.
For some reason, using all of my standard setting, my CVs didn't fly a strike mission against a raiding AMC in CentPac. The search aircraft dumped a few 500 lb bombs on it during the search phases, but a strike never flew, my CVs are only 4 hexes away. I'll have to look at weather.
I am terrified of my CV settings... My CVs are the source of so much stress right now.
I will try your settings.
For some reason, using all of my standard setting, my CVs didn't fly a strike mission against a raiding AMC in CentPac. The search aircraft dumped a few 500 lb bombs on it during the search phases, but a strike never flew, my CVs are only 4 hexes away. I'll have to look at weather.
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Regarding my defense of Australia: can Darwin be held?
What If I sent the entire 8th OZ div, the Dutch BDE, some American Arty and two Australian Armor units, and stuffed as much supply into the place until Ambon/ Timor become operational airfields? I’m thinking BNs and BFs can hold the inland bases from para assault, and the Dutch BDE with OZ armor support can hold the river-crossing hex between Wyndham and Katherine so as to avoid envelopment. As long as the road between Alice Springs and Darwin remain open, enough supply will trickle to keep the army alive. Large air campaigns and such will require sea-based resupply, which will not come until 1943 at the earliest….. Just thinking, The entire 8th OZ is loaded on ships already, they are more or less intact.
My Australian Defense plans call for 8th OZ to be in Brisbane acting as a QRF and the Dutch BDE to help hold Perth. If Perth falls, Darwin will be even more isolated.—Thomas needs to come back from vacation so I stop changing plans midstream. I wonder what the pros and cons of holding Darwin versus having a powerful, unrestricted QRF hanging out in Brisbane? Once Port Moresby and Timor fall, 8th OZ will be restricted to mainland until I have enough CVs to move it around (whether it’s at Brisbane or Darwin).
It seems to me there is no good reason for the Japanese to invade mainland Australia (holding Perth-Darwin is a good idea, but not Townsville-Port Augusta). I feel it is far wiser for the Japanese to take out India, if possible, than Australia. Of course, Thomas just might take them both….
What If I sent the entire 8th OZ div, the Dutch BDE, some American Arty and two Australian Armor units, and stuffed as much supply into the place until Ambon/ Timor become operational airfields? I’m thinking BNs and BFs can hold the inland bases from para assault, and the Dutch BDE with OZ armor support can hold the river-crossing hex between Wyndham and Katherine so as to avoid envelopment. As long as the road between Alice Springs and Darwin remain open, enough supply will trickle to keep the army alive. Large air campaigns and such will require sea-based resupply, which will not come until 1943 at the earliest….. Just thinking, The entire 8th OZ is loaded on ships already, they are more or less intact.
My Australian Defense plans call for 8th OZ to be in Brisbane acting as a QRF and the Dutch BDE to help hold Perth. If Perth falls, Darwin will be even more isolated.—Thomas needs to come back from vacation so I stop changing plans midstream. I wonder what the pros and cons of holding Darwin versus having a powerful, unrestricted QRF hanging out in Brisbane? Once Port Moresby and Timor fall, 8th OZ will be restricted to mainland until I have enough CVs to move it around (whether it’s at Brisbane or Darwin).
It seems to me there is no good reason for the Japanese to invade mainland Australia (holding Perth-Darwin is a good idea, but not Townsville-Port Augusta). I feel it is far wiser for the Japanese to take out India, if possible, than Australia. Of course, Thomas just might take them both….
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Defense of China:
Main goals:
Long term, I want NCAC (all of it, 3 or 4 superheavy corps) in northern Burma, resting, training, and taking all/ most of the 350 Chinese squads produced every month.
Their mission is to reopen the Burma Road. I want to launch this mission in October, 1943 (according to my understanding, that is when the monsoon ends in Burma, I understand it to be May-October, am I wrong)
Once I can get some supplies into China, then I will start doing things in China other than hiding in the deepest forts, forests, and mountains I can get the army into.
I have a feeling India will fall or be seriously invested in this scenario 2 game, so NCAC Chinese Corps may end up participating in the defense of India. If I can get them there in time, they will hold Northern Burma, starting at (and especially) Chittagong.
Getting these Corps from China to Burma is going to be a nightmare, and 5 Corps (the one that starts out around Tsyunung) will probably have to fight a lonely delaying action in Burma while the others skedaddle. That Corps will probably be ruined for years. Burma is only being held by 1st Burma division and scattered weak Bns, so speed is of the essence.
In China proper I am pulling back the scattered, demoralized armies and setting up defensive positions in forests, mountains, and certain key bases.
Main goals:
Long term, I want NCAC (all of it, 3 or 4 superheavy corps) in northern Burma, resting, training, and taking all/ most of the 350 Chinese squads produced every month.
Their mission is to reopen the Burma Road. I want to launch this mission in October, 1943 (according to my understanding, that is when the monsoon ends in Burma, I understand it to be May-October, am I wrong)
Once I can get some supplies into China, then I will start doing things in China other than hiding in the deepest forts, forests, and mountains I can get the army into.
I have a feeling India will fall or be seriously invested in this scenario 2 game, so NCAC Chinese Corps may end up participating in the defense of India. If I can get them there in time, they will hold Northern Burma, starting at (and especially) Chittagong.
Getting these Corps from China to Burma is going to be a nightmare, and 5 Corps (the one that starts out around Tsyunung) will probably have to fight a lonely delaying action in Burma while the others skedaddle. That Corps will probably be ruined for years. Burma is only being held by 1st Burma division and scattered weak Bns, so speed is of the essence.
In China proper I am pulling back the scattered, demoralized armies and setting up defensive positions in forests, mountains, and certain key bases.
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Defense of Northern China:
1st War Area is my delaying force, I expect them to get chewed up holding Chengchow-Nanyang line, and eventually retreating to Sian to R&R.
I am establishing an unorthodox defense of Sian hinged on Tsiaotso. Most Allied players make a fight (and retreat) at Chengchow and Loyang because of the river. I moved most of 1st War Area(I screwed up in the image below, labeling it 5th area army, too lazy to fix the image) into Tsiaotso. Four reasons:
1) It is strategic: it lies on the central approach to Sian (Yenan being the northern/ Chengchow/ Nanyang being the southern). It should be able to draw some supplies over the road and through the forest from Sian. The time it will take Japan to outflank or reduce this position should allow me to get the defense on the road to Sian very well prepared.
2) It has 40 light industry and auto-generates 40 supply a day (I think light industry stops producing when enemy units are in the hex?)
3) It is a dot hex, so Japanese cannot bomb the airfield, preventing forts and spoiling supply (Will be at level three before the first Japanese arrive, combined with terrain bonus, it'll be bloody!)
4) Its flanks are protected by an empty forest hex (flanking Japanese units would have to travel through one hex of forest. And it is protected to the east by a mountain pass with a Corps dug in there. As soon as Japanese try to flank at either end, I will withdraw the troops from Tsiaotso and send them to Sian.
Fifth and a good part of Second War Area will dig in on the Southern and Northern approaches to Sian (only delaying forces at Yenan) one hex in from the clear hexes near Nanyang. They will move there shortly before Nanyang falls, giving them some time to relax at Sian and some time to dig in along the road. I want a two rough-hex barrier between Japanese and Chinese forces, so Jingcha/ Red Army reserves can dig in behind the 2nd and 5th if the line looks like it will soon collapse.
Jingcha War Area is the reserve. Along with the the much vaunted 8th Route Army, these large, decent units will be resting/ building forts in Sian and taking on limited replacements (I want most replacements to go to NCAC, heading to India).
Together, this should make Sian a very tough nut to crack.
All units are making best possible speed to these positions. The Japanese have yet to catch and spank any sizable Chinese units.
My units in Tsiaotso are established, two Japanese units (A div and a Regiment, I think) are closing in. We shall know soon if the Tsiatso defense is viable or foolish. I really don’t want that Army cut off, but every day the Japanese are trying to reduce that tough nut, Sian gets more impenetrable.
1st War Area is my delaying force, I expect them to get chewed up holding Chengchow-Nanyang line, and eventually retreating to Sian to R&R.
I am establishing an unorthodox defense of Sian hinged on Tsiaotso. Most Allied players make a fight (and retreat) at Chengchow and Loyang because of the river. I moved most of 1st War Area(I screwed up in the image below, labeling it 5th area army, too lazy to fix the image) into Tsiaotso. Four reasons:
1) It is strategic: it lies on the central approach to Sian (Yenan being the northern/ Chengchow/ Nanyang being the southern). It should be able to draw some supplies over the road and through the forest from Sian. The time it will take Japan to outflank or reduce this position should allow me to get the defense on the road to Sian very well prepared.
2) It has 40 light industry and auto-generates 40 supply a day (I think light industry stops producing when enemy units are in the hex?)
3) It is a dot hex, so Japanese cannot bomb the airfield, preventing forts and spoiling supply (Will be at level three before the first Japanese arrive, combined with terrain bonus, it'll be bloody!)
4) Its flanks are protected by an empty forest hex (flanking Japanese units would have to travel through one hex of forest. And it is protected to the east by a mountain pass with a Corps dug in there. As soon as Japanese try to flank at either end, I will withdraw the troops from Tsiaotso and send them to Sian.
Fifth and a good part of Second War Area will dig in on the Southern and Northern approaches to Sian (only delaying forces at Yenan) one hex in from the clear hexes near Nanyang. They will move there shortly before Nanyang falls, giving them some time to relax at Sian and some time to dig in along the road. I want a two rough-hex barrier between Japanese and Chinese forces, so Jingcha/ Red Army reserves can dig in behind the 2nd and 5th if the line looks like it will soon collapse.
Jingcha War Area is the reserve. Along with the the much vaunted 8th Route Army, these large, decent units will be resting/ building forts in Sian and taking on limited replacements (I want most replacements to go to NCAC, heading to India).
Together, this should make Sian a very tough nut to crack.
All units are making best possible speed to these positions. The Japanese have yet to catch and spank any sizable Chinese units.
My units in Tsiaotso are established, two Japanese units (A div and a Regiment, I think) are closing in. We shall know soon if the Tsiatso defense is viable or foolish. I really don’t want that Army cut off, but every day the Japanese are trying to reduce that tough nut, Sian gets more impenetrable.
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- Tsiatso.jpg (218.68 KiB) Viewed 197 times
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
The base
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RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
I have neglected this AAR, We are now in mid-March 1942, so I’ll update it a bit here. It has been an interesting game, a sort of modified Sir Robin on the part of the Allies paired with a very aggressive and efficient assault by scenario 2 Japanese, and I think maybe some readers will be interested in reading about the problems with this approach.
My overall strategy was to fight delaying actions while consolidating all assets between Australia and San Francisco. I failed absolutely bitterly on the delaying actions, but am firmly in possession of the SLOCs between the West Coast and Oz. I’ll speak to my delaying-action failures in more detail below. First, a general overview of the last three months:
Thomas is an armor officer in the Danish Army, and they must drill home the idea of massed force… a schwerpunkt, if you will, because he has used this principle to devastating effect. He grouped together a massive and unchallengeable army consisting of 9 of his 13 unrestricted divisions:
2nd Division
4th Division
5th Division
18th Division
21st Division
33rd Division
38th Division
6th Guards Division
Imperial Guards Division
These are joined by HQ units, 6 combat engineer units, 10 Tank regiments, and 10-15 Artillery units.
This entire army landed in Malaysia through Kotu Bharu and Mersing, and crossed together into Singapore, completely destroying the place in the first shock attack on Jan 2nd! Is this the earliest Singapore has fallen in the game? The Army was then picked up intact, and escorted to Java by his entire navy (minus a good part of KB) and LBA out of Sinkawang, where they nonchalantly landed just south of Batavia, and within three weeks overwhelmed the entire island (size three forts, 2X defensive bonus, 500 AV at Batavia, similar forces at Surabaya). This army then lifted up, in toto, and landed nearly all forces in one day at Diamond Harbor (March 1st 1942) The Army completely destroyed the armor, BDE, BF, and fort at Diamond Harbor, and easily advanced into Calcutta, where I finally “delayed” him, giving his army a bit of a bloody nose. Calcutta could easily still fall, but more on that later.
Some observations on this tactic:
I did not even know the Japanese possessed the sealift to shuffle 9 divisions and 25 or so other combat units around the map and effectively land them in one day! Obviously, this can only be done with the invasion bonus, because many of those ships are not amphib ships, and the units were not prepped at all.
This is devastating, and worked well. All of the careful defense I laid in Singapore, Java, and India collapsed at the mere sight of this juggernaut. I bought absolutely no time in Singapore or Java, there was no way to counter this move.
My own choices and failures nicely complemented Thomas’ aggression and efficiency. First, I successfully withdrew the Australian BDEs at Singers (as per my Australia first defense). But, most damning, I made a huge blunder by leaving nearly all of my combat units in rest mode when he crossed into Singapore. I could have bloodied his units a lot more. 90% of that mistake was just an accident. But, I was also partially surprised with the speed he managed to make it to Singapore with such a large army (as were the Brits in real life). I managed to make General Percival look like a military genius.
Why my attempts at delaying failed:
Stymied at sea:
The early capture of Singapore, and the savaging of my DEI surface forces on December 7th, emboldened Thomas. His carriers sunk Boise and Prince of Wales, and severely damaged Houston and Repulse along with a host of escorts on day one, leaving me with only Dutch ships to counter him in surface combat. The speed of Singapore’s fall precluded a larger investment of forces from outside the theatre. A hasty attempt to reinforce Darwin with a Dutch BDE and some ABDA forces resulted in a bloodbath when mini-KB caught them. Basically, Thomas kept the Kaga CVTF and Sinkawang Betties blockading the West end of the DEI, and Mini KB and LBA out of Kendari blockading the East end. It was a more or less airtight seal that kept reinforcements effectively out of the DEI.
And frustrated in the air:
Then, there was the issue of my ABDA air force. I am very frustrated by some issues here. They were completely ineffective, and further emboldened Thomas’ quick advance. Thomas didn’t bother to land at Palembang, satisfying himself to blockade the port with unchallenged Zeros, Betties, and surface raiders, while literally bombing the units I had there into dust (three Bns, and BF). These units were completely destroyed by air, and small units simply marched over from Oosthaven to occupy it (I’m sure there was little to no damage to facilities there).
This is important to my air force complaints, because, while he was doing this, he casually moved amphibious and surface forces within two hexes of Batavia for fully two weeks, barely covered by effective CAP. At one point, a juicy cruiser SCTF literally parked four hexes off of Batavia for a week. I had three level four airfields in range of the SCTF, along with 36 Wildebeests and Swordfish, and every Dutch fighter. There was an Air HQ, plenty of AVsup, and tons of search aircraft spotting and identifying the SCTF every day. The strike aircraft never flew! I was escorting them with Dutch fighters, and sweeping Ooosthaven and CAPping Palembang, where I destroyed some spill over CAP. After a few days of refusing to fly, I dropped a bunch of PPs to change all of the strike aircraft commanders to high aggression leaders. Not a single sortie. One day, my bombers finally flew on an airfield strike against Ooosthaven (I don’t know why, didn’t order them to) where they flew unescorted, and were savaged by a tiny CAP.
I did not fly a single sortie against Thomas in the DEI, despite setting up all sorts of ambushes and raids. The only exception was the Philippine B-17Ds, which flew some very good raids against the oilfields at Tarakan, destroying about half of the oil production there before getting shot down (I didn’t buy them out, but kept them in theatre till they were all lost).
All of this combined for Thomas to sweep the DEI extremely quickly, and have his entire land army come ashore at Diamond Harbor, more or less intact, by March 1st. Very much a failure of delaying action.
More to continue, including my successes in CentPac, NoPac, and against KB…
My overall strategy was to fight delaying actions while consolidating all assets between Australia and San Francisco. I failed absolutely bitterly on the delaying actions, but am firmly in possession of the SLOCs between the West Coast and Oz. I’ll speak to my delaying-action failures in more detail below. First, a general overview of the last three months:
Thomas is an armor officer in the Danish Army, and they must drill home the idea of massed force… a schwerpunkt, if you will, because he has used this principle to devastating effect. He grouped together a massive and unchallengeable army consisting of 9 of his 13 unrestricted divisions:
2nd Division
4th Division
5th Division
18th Division
21st Division
33rd Division
38th Division
6th Guards Division
Imperial Guards Division
These are joined by HQ units, 6 combat engineer units, 10 Tank regiments, and 10-15 Artillery units.
This entire army landed in Malaysia through Kotu Bharu and Mersing, and crossed together into Singapore, completely destroying the place in the first shock attack on Jan 2nd! Is this the earliest Singapore has fallen in the game? The Army was then picked up intact, and escorted to Java by his entire navy (minus a good part of KB) and LBA out of Sinkawang, where they nonchalantly landed just south of Batavia, and within three weeks overwhelmed the entire island (size three forts, 2X defensive bonus, 500 AV at Batavia, similar forces at Surabaya). This army then lifted up, in toto, and landed nearly all forces in one day at Diamond Harbor (March 1st 1942) The Army completely destroyed the armor, BDE, BF, and fort at Diamond Harbor, and easily advanced into Calcutta, where I finally “delayed” him, giving his army a bit of a bloody nose. Calcutta could easily still fall, but more on that later.
Some observations on this tactic:
I did not even know the Japanese possessed the sealift to shuffle 9 divisions and 25 or so other combat units around the map and effectively land them in one day! Obviously, this can only be done with the invasion bonus, because many of those ships are not amphib ships, and the units were not prepped at all.
This is devastating, and worked well. All of the careful defense I laid in Singapore, Java, and India collapsed at the mere sight of this juggernaut. I bought absolutely no time in Singapore or Java, there was no way to counter this move.
My own choices and failures nicely complemented Thomas’ aggression and efficiency. First, I successfully withdrew the Australian BDEs at Singers (as per my Australia first defense). But, most damning, I made a huge blunder by leaving nearly all of my combat units in rest mode when he crossed into Singapore. I could have bloodied his units a lot more. 90% of that mistake was just an accident. But, I was also partially surprised with the speed he managed to make it to Singapore with such a large army (as were the Brits in real life). I managed to make General Percival look like a military genius.
Why my attempts at delaying failed:
Stymied at sea:
The early capture of Singapore, and the savaging of my DEI surface forces on December 7th, emboldened Thomas. His carriers sunk Boise and Prince of Wales, and severely damaged Houston and Repulse along with a host of escorts on day one, leaving me with only Dutch ships to counter him in surface combat. The speed of Singapore’s fall precluded a larger investment of forces from outside the theatre. A hasty attempt to reinforce Darwin with a Dutch BDE and some ABDA forces resulted in a bloodbath when mini-KB caught them. Basically, Thomas kept the Kaga CVTF and Sinkawang Betties blockading the West end of the DEI, and Mini KB and LBA out of Kendari blockading the East end. It was a more or less airtight seal that kept reinforcements effectively out of the DEI.
And frustrated in the air:
Then, there was the issue of my ABDA air force. I am very frustrated by some issues here. They were completely ineffective, and further emboldened Thomas’ quick advance. Thomas didn’t bother to land at Palembang, satisfying himself to blockade the port with unchallenged Zeros, Betties, and surface raiders, while literally bombing the units I had there into dust (three Bns, and BF). These units were completely destroyed by air, and small units simply marched over from Oosthaven to occupy it (I’m sure there was little to no damage to facilities there).
This is important to my air force complaints, because, while he was doing this, he casually moved amphibious and surface forces within two hexes of Batavia for fully two weeks, barely covered by effective CAP. At one point, a juicy cruiser SCTF literally parked four hexes off of Batavia for a week. I had three level four airfields in range of the SCTF, along with 36 Wildebeests and Swordfish, and every Dutch fighter. There was an Air HQ, plenty of AVsup, and tons of search aircraft spotting and identifying the SCTF every day. The strike aircraft never flew! I was escorting them with Dutch fighters, and sweeping Ooosthaven and CAPping Palembang, where I destroyed some spill over CAP. After a few days of refusing to fly, I dropped a bunch of PPs to change all of the strike aircraft commanders to high aggression leaders. Not a single sortie. One day, my bombers finally flew on an airfield strike against Ooosthaven (I don’t know why, didn’t order them to) where they flew unescorted, and were savaged by a tiny CAP.
I did not fly a single sortie against Thomas in the DEI, despite setting up all sorts of ambushes and raids. The only exception was the Philippine B-17Ds, which flew some very good raids against the oilfields at Tarakan, destroying about half of the oil production there before getting shot down (I didn’t buy them out, but kept them in theatre till they were all lost).
All of this combined for Thomas to sweep the DEI extremely quickly, and have his entire land army come ashore at Diamond Harbor, more or less intact, by March 1st. Very much a failure of delaying action.
More to continue, including my successes in CentPac, NoPac, and against KB…
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Carrier Update
I used my CVs somewhat aggressively, resulting in good things for the Allies, despite some setbacks resulting from my bad habits from playing the AI.
Through carefully laid CAP ambushes I stripped the entire aircraft complement of the Kaga twice. The first was in late December 1942, where I orchestrated a surprise AVG CAP over a dummy TF, I shot down every plane the Kaga was carrying in one day. After retiring for a bit, Kaga escorted the India invasion in March 1942. She escorted the 6th Guards division that landed it Vizagpatnam. Her wing tried to bomb retreated units to slow them down for his pursuing units, when I jumped him with P-39s flying out of Hyderabad in their combat debut. I had shipped the 51st FG to Bombay via Cape Town, while carefully training pilots on the West Coast and conserving P-39s. They barely made it in time to upgrade and take on the trained pilots. They acquitted themselves well, killing a lot of carrier pilots over hostile territory.
In CentPac and NoPac, I made a lot of noise with allied CVs. I caught a CL and 4 X DD SCTF near Adak, sinking them all. I caught a few AMCs and other surface raiders, as well as some AOs and AKs, especially in NoPac raids. Lexington has been hit by torpedoes and repaired THREE times in three months! First off of Canton on Dec 10th or so, she got only 6 flt damage, but had to retire to the WC for repairs. Then, the CL SCTF I sunk in Nopac first suicide attacked my CVTFs at night, putting a Long Lance into Lady Lex for 36 float damage. Finally, after quick repairs at Seattle’s size 200 drydock, she engaged in a very successful campaign to reinforce Suva, where a sub put another Torp in her, for 42 major float damage. She is nearly to San Francisco now, where she will repair and upgrade. I think the high rate of success for torpedo attacks stems from my bad habits playing the AI. I think that, when my CVs come online again after April upgrades, I’m going to use a wholly dedicated ASW TF (maybe with a CL using Kingfishers on ASW, so as to not spot subs with my dauntlesses, giving away the position of my CVs?) to shadow each CVTF. I'll also put more DDs in the actuall CVTFs. There have been far too many successful submarine attacks against my capital ships.
The reinforcement campaign at Suva was a roaring success, resulting in the loss of Japanese CV Junyo. I assembled I Amphib Corps, planning for Suva from day one with the intent to reinforce or quickly take back the island immediately. By early Feb I accrued the necessary PPs to attach the below to I Amphib Corps:
Americal division
27th Division
2 Tank Regiments
1 Combat Engineer Regiment
2 heavy Artillery regiments (48 155mm guns)
I embarked this large force, along with two heavy AA units, 1 USAAF, 1 USN, and 1 USA BF, 1 Air HQ, 1 90-Av Sup unit, two EABS, and the large 54-gun American CD onto several Amphibious TFs. I snuck them past his submarine and air patrol screen, and landed them within a week along with 100k supply. By the end of February Nadi and Suva were defended by a full corps, adequate engineers and supplies, along with a huge CD and 500 mines at Nadi. This island will not fall, and is a lynchpin to my strategy. (Nadi will be a large airbase, so I need mines and CD guns to protect from bombardment)
By the time Thomas reacted, he sent KB into a massive submarine trap between Truk and the Marshalls and Fiji. CV Junyo ran over Dutch Submarine O 24, which I’m certain sunk her after putting two torpedoes in her. This move was no accident, I snuck some of those awesome small NZ land units with 6 AV and 2 aviation support, along with a Marine paratrooper BN and some supply into an empty atoll north of Fiji, deep in enemy territory. I stationed some Catalinas there when my reinforcement convoy got close to Suva, and spotted KB well before it was threat to my landing forces. Also, my spotting of KB directed nearly every sub in my trap to react to the CVs, causing contact in the midst of a vast ocean. Resounding success. I took one torp to Lex, who will survive, in exchange for a solid bastion in the Pacific and one lost Japanese CV, and several damaged Japanese submarines. (How could I have sunk the Junyo when it doesn’t arrive until May 1942, can Japanese shipbuilding be accelerated that much, this early on? Or is it just fog of war?)
Currently, all American CVs are headed to the West Coast for April upgrades and to fill out with F-4Fs and SBD-3s (none lost yet, knock on wood). Two British CVs and Hermes are based out of Sydney, along with the entire British Navy, protecting Australia. (This is per my Australia-first defense strategy. I could not have hurt him in the Indian Ocean, and the Brits did move their entire fleet away from the India after the Hermes was lost, so I don’t think it’s too ahistorical)
Overall, my submarines have been great. I’m using them aggressively, they’ve fired on CVs (especially the Kaga) numerous times, but always have duds (except the Junyo!)
I have submarine contingents in the Indian Ocean, DEI, Around Formosa, Saigon, truk, and from NoPac to the Home Islands. They are getting decent kill rates (considering the 1942 torpedo issues), getting sunk only when I get lazy and forget to move them around.
I have not lost any major ships since the massive bloodbath in the opening days of the war.
KB and mini-KB did have a series of successfully raids around Diego Garcia, Darwin, and one big one ranging from Sydney to Auckland. I lost several important land units (some Australian AT guns headed to India to stem the Japanese India Panzer Corps), a dutch BDE, and about half of my xAKLs. These units get sunk because of their low endurance and slow speed (meaning they can’t high speed escape, because they simply run out of fuel and are dead in the water). Still, they successfully carted supplies to the important places—Diego Garcia, Norfolk Island, and various other outposts.
Coming up next: Update on the Land war in China and India, and general strategy
I used my CVs somewhat aggressively, resulting in good things for the Allies, despite some setbacks resulting from my bad habits from playing the AI.
Through carefully laid CAP ambushes I stripped the entire aircraft complement of the Kaga twice. The first was in late December 1942, where I orchestrated a surprise AVG CAP over a dummy TF, I shot down every plane the Kaga was carrying in one day. After retiring for a bit, Kaga escorted the India invasion in March 1942. She escorted the 6th Guards division that landed it Vizagpatnam. Her wing tried to bomb retreated units to slow them down for his pursuing units, when I jumped him with P-39s flying out of Hyderabad in their combat debut. I had shipped the 51st FG to Bombay via Cape Town, while carefully training pilots on the West Coast and conserving P-39s. They barely made it in time to upgrade and take on the trained pilots. They acquitted themselves well, killing a lot of carrier pilots over hostile territory.
In CentPac and NoPac, I made a lot of noise with allied CVs. I caught a CL and 4 X DD SCTF near Adak, sinking them all. I caught a few AMCs and other surface raiders, as well as some AOs and AKs, especially in NoPac raids. Lexington has been hit by torpedoes and repaired THREE times in three months! First off of Canton on Dec 10th or so, she got only 6 flt damage, but had to retire to the WC for repairs. Then, the CL SCTF I sunk in Nopac first suicide attacked my CVTFs at night, putting a Long Lance into Lady Lex for 36 float damage. Finally, after quick repairs at Seattle’s size 200 drydock, she engaged in a very successful campaign to reinforce Suva, where a sub put another Torp in her, for 42 major float damage. She is nearly to San Francisco now, where she will repair and upgrade. I think the high rate of success for torpedo attacks stems from my bad habits playing the AI. I think that, when my CVs come online again after April upgrades, I’m going to use a wholly dedicated ASW TF (maybe with a CL using Kingfishers on ASW, so as to not spot subs with my dauntlesses, giving away the position of my CVs?) to shadow each CVTF. I'll also put more DDs in the actuall CVTFs. There have been far too many successful submarine attacks against my capital ships.
The reinforcement campaign at Suva was a roaring success, resulting in the loss of Japanese CV Junyo. I assembled I Amphib Corps, planning for Suva from day one with the intent to reinforce or quickly take back the island immediately. By early Feb I accrued the necessary PPs to attach the below to I Amphib Corps:
Americal division
27th Division
2 Tank Regiments
1 Combat Engineer Regiment
2 heavy Artillery regiments (48 155mm guns)
I embarked this large force, along with two heavy AA units, 1 USAAF, 1 USN, and 1 USA BF, 1 Air HQ, 1 90-Av Sup unit, two EABS, and the large 54-gun American CD onto several Amphibious TFs. I snuck them past his submarine and air patrol screen, and landed them within a week along with 100k supply. By the end of February Nadi and Suva were defended by a full corps, adequate engineers and supplies, along with a huge CD and 500 mines at Nadi. This island will not fall, and is a lynchpin to my strategy. (Nadi will be a large airbase, so I need mines and CD guns to protect from bombardment)
By the time Thomas reacted, he sent KB into a massive submarine trap between Truk and the Marshalls and Fiji. CV Junyo ran over Dutch Submarine O 24, which I’m certain sunk her after putting two torpedoes in her. This move was no accident, I snuck some of those awesome small NZ land units with 6 AV and 2 aviation support, along with a Marine paratrooper BN and some supply into an empty atoll north of Fiji, deep in enemy territory. I stationed some Catalinas there when my reinforcement convoy got close to Suva, and spotted KB well before it was threat to my landing forces. Also, my spotting of KB directed nearly every sub in my trap to react to the CVs, causing contact in the midst of a vast ocean. Resounding success. I took one torp to Lex, who will survive, in exchange for a solid bastion in the Pacific and one lost Japanese CV, and several damaged Japanese submarines. (How could I have sunk the Junyo when it doesn’t arrive until May 1942, can Japanese shipbuilding be accelerated that much, this early on? Or is it just fog of war?)
Currently, all American CVs are headed to the West Coast for April upgrades and to fill out with F-4Fs and SBD-3s (none lost yet, knock on wood). Two British CVs and Hermes are based out of Sydney, along with the entire British Navy, protecting Australia. (This is per my Australia-first defense strategy. I could not have hurt him in the Indian Ocean, and the Brits did move their entire fleet away from the India after the Hermes was lost, so I don’t think it’s too ahistorical)
Overall, my submarines have been great. I’m using them aggressively, they’ve fired on CVs (especially the Kaga) numerous times, but always have duds (except the Junyo!)
I have submarine contingents in the Indian Ocean, DEI, Around Formosa, Saigon, truk, and from NoPac to the Home Islands. They are getting decent kill rates (considering the 1942 torpedo issues), getting sunk only when I get lazy and forget to move them around.
I have not lost any major ships since the massive bloodbath in the opening days of the war.
KB and mini-KB did have a series of successfully raids around Diego Garcia, Darwin, and one big one ranging from Sydney to Auckland. I lost several important land units (some Australian AT guns headed to India to stem the Japanese India Panzer Corps), a dutch BDE, and about half of my xAKLs. These units get sunk because of their low endurance and slow speed (meaning they can’t high speed escape, because they simply run out of fuel and are dead in the water). Still, they successfully carted supplies to the important places—Diego Garcia, Norfolk Island, and various other outposts.
Coming up next: Update on the Land war in China and India, and general strategy
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Hi jb123. Just read your AAR for the first time. I have never done a PBEM but have played against the AI and "sandboxed" [played both sides to set up clashes and see the results] a few scenarios. I have read very many AARs on the forum so I have some sense of what has been working and what is a dangerous gamble. Consider me an "armchair quaterback".[;)]
First comment - your strategy to secure your LOC is sound, provided you have some mobile force to strike where he is weak and make him disperse his assets. Several players forgo the trans-Pacific route to Oz and use the Capetown - Perth/Adelaide/Melbourne routes. This exposes the shipping to less on-map time at sea but is also vulnerable to a sweep by the IJN down the sea West of Oz.
Some of your questions seem to be grounded in your stated intention to stay somewhat "historical" - e.g. the one about defending Darwin. Scenario 2 gives the Japanese more of everything so the answer is - he can take all of Northern Oz if he wants, and lots of NE or NW Oz if he draws forces from China or Burma, or bypasses most of the Philippines. Do not use Real Life WWII to estimate his capabilities!
About IJN shipping, open up a fresh game, any scenario, as the Japanese. Take a look at the xAKs and larger xAKLs. The ALL can carry troops! So, yes, Japan does possess the sealift for multi divisions all at once. Her Achilles heel is that she also needs that shipping bringing resources and fuel back to Japan and carrying supplies to all those far-flung new bases. After the four-month landing bonus expires he will have to allocate a lot of it to pure logistics and will not be able to lift the same number of troops again. Sinking xAKs may not be as cool as sinking warships but it will slowly bleed his economy. IRL US subs sank 70% of all Japanese shipping losses, and Japan lost about 90% of her merchant marine. In this game, your opponent knows the importance of ASW and you will not have quite as good results, but your subs can hurt him.
Good luck, and have Oriental Patience!
First comment - your strategy to secure your LOC is sound, provided you have some mobile force to strike where he is weak and make him disperse his assets. Several players forgo the trans-Pacific route to Oz and use the Capetown - Perth/Adelaide/Melbourne routes. This exposes the shipping to less on-map time at sea but is also vulnerable to a sweep by the IJN down the sea West of Oz.
Some of your questions seem to be grounded in your stated intention to stay somewhat "historical" - e.g. the one about defending Darwin. Scenario 2 gives the Japanese more of everything so the answer is - he can take all of Northern Oz if he wants, and lots of NE or NW Oz if he draws forces from China or Burma, or bypasses most of the Philippines. Do not use Real Life WWII to estimate his capabilities!
About IJN shipping, open up a fresh game, any scenario, as the Japanese. Take a look at the xAKs and larger xAKLs. The ALL can carry troops! So, yes, Japan does possess the sealift for multi divisions all at once. Her Achilles heel is that she also needs that shipping bringing resources and fuel back to Japan and carrying supplies to all those far-flung new bases. After the four-month landing bonus expires he will have to allocate a lot of it to pure logistics and will not be able to lift the same number of troops again. Sinking xAKs may not be as cool as sinking warships but it will slowly bleed his economy. IRL US subs sank 70% of all Japanese shipping losses, and Japan lost about 90% of her merchant marine. In this game, your opponent knows the importance of ASW and you will not have quite as good results, but your subs can hurt him.
Good luck, and have Oriental Patience!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: 20/20 Hindsight Versus the Fog of War jb123 (A) Versus tlkiilerich (J)
Thanks for the reply, BB. It's great knowing somebody else looked at my ravings here.
That's crazy with the japanese sealift. Sadly, my airforce and surface fleet has not hurt these ships nearly enough. Although, Diamond Harbor's guns and mines sank quite a few, and damaged enough so severely they had to put into port at the freshly captured Diamond Harbor, where my blenheims actually had a chance to sink a few.
I am finding "historical" to be a quaint notion. My big thing is I am going to try to play with some political/ logistical considerations in mind. But, yeah, Japan can do (is doing) whatever it wants.
My mobile force right now is built around 2nd Marine division (still filling out) Those regiments, tanks, engineers, and arty are prepped for Canton and Baker, I think I will try to take those islands as soon as the CVs finish upgrading.
Thanks again for the comments!
That's crazy with the japanese sealift. Sadly, my airforce and surface fleet has not hurt these ships nearly enough. Although, Diamond Harbor's guns and mines sank quite a few, and damaged enough so severely they had to put into port at the freshly captured Diamond Harbor, where my blenheims actually had a chance to sink a few.
I am finding "historical" to be a quaint notion. My big thing is I am going to try to play with some political/ logistical considerations in mind. But, yeah, Japan can do (is doing) whatever it wants.
My mobile force right now is built around 2nd Marine division (still filling out) Those regiments, tanks, engineers, and arty are prepped for Canton and Baker, I think I will try to take those islands as soon as the CVs finish upgrading.
Thanks again for the comments!