Matrix Games Forums

03 Jan 1942

Borneo and Mindanao.

Cotabato fell to the rowboat corps, which means I now have to garrison the place. Quite annoying.

03 Jan 1942

A hive of activity around Hokkaido. The resources at Hakodate are being drained at a rate of around 10,000 tons per day.

Captain Cruft wrote: Sat Aug 10, 2024 4:39 pm I don't generally do Shock Attacks.

What you say is correct, but I really don't want this thread to become a discussion about the pros and cons of 3 day turns. As I said above the idea is to focus on the strategic/operational rather than the tactical.

I understand but I just wanted to point it out. Shock attacks may occur during river crossings and invasions.

Captain Cruft wrote: Sat Aug 10, 2024 4:48 pm 03 Jan 1942

A hive of activity around Hokkaido. The resources at Hakodate are being drained at a rate of around 10,000 tons per day.


hokkaido.png

Not really drained - Sapporo alone has 900 resource output points which means 18,000 per day. Some of the other Hokkaido locations have lots of resource output too.

14 Feb 1942

Manila and Singapore are under siege.

26 Feb 1942

Manila has fallen, and Singapore will not last much longer.

Meanwhile, closer to home something is afoot.

It's a Long War ...

The rationale for doing this is simple.

I am fighting the whole war, not just the first two years. Given that, the only chance of taking the Soviets on at anything like equal terms is early on.

So here we go ... Definitely a huge gamble, but should at least make for some interesting carnage.

Captain Cruft wrote: Sat Aug 10, 2024 4:39 pm I don't generally do Shock Attacks.

What you say is correct, but I really don't want this thread to become a discussion about the pros and cons of 3 day turns. As I said above the idea is to focus on the strategic/operational rather than the tactical.

I like the idea of 3 day turns. Intriguing. Ranger Joe, i suggest you try 2 day turns with a live player. It is also interesting.

01 Mar 1942

Lots of air action on the first day of the Russian campaign.

The Soviet fighters are out-classed by Oscars and Zeroes, and seemingly about equal to Nates.

Not a bad outcome, most of my losses were bombers. I should be able to achieve at least temporary air superiority.

Landings on Sakhalin and up the Amur river

All the troops are landed, but the fortress at Nikolaevsk is nasty, and has accounted for several transport ships.

The force approaching Khabarovsk from the west is taking a very long time to march through the swamp. This move is essential though, I want to cut the Trans-Siberian railway and isolate Vladivostok from mother Russia.

Up North

We are also moving a force to hopefully take Kuibyshevka, and cut the rail line in two places.

04 Mar 1942 - Soviet Fleet attempts to flee to the USA

Many Soviet transports attempt to flee to the Aleutians by way of the northern passage around Sakhalin.

I had anticipated that this might happen and posted surface forces appropriately. However a few ships did it make it through.

Not really sure what is in the Soviet navy. I am presuming no capital ships, but perhaps some cruisers? Along with the fleeing transports we encountered a couple of destroyers and numerous subs.

Komsomolsk taken

This IMO is one of the more important bases in Far East Russia. It has a repair shipyard and an oil refinery, alongside an aircraft factory making IL-2 and IL-4 bombers. This has automatically converted into a Japanese vehicle factory. Very nice!

More strategically possession of this port means that I can to some extent "flank" from the sea, and am not just limited to head-butting in Manchukuo.

I realize that this may sound stupid, but why didn't you lay minefields at the Soviet ports when you declared war?

You can't send any ships to a Soviet port until activation occurs. Also, I landed at some of these ports as you can see, and most of them have fortresses which would make short work of any minelayers.

I estimate that about 5-10 transports have escaped. No biggie.

This brings back memories of when I invaded the Soviet Union. Not to be a downer, but I suspect you will come to find that triggering the Russian Bear is a mistake since I don't believe you have achieved the prerequisite goals to make it a more feasible endeavor. Without securing China and the majority of the SRA first, you are likely to find both your air and land forces severely overstretched.

Regardless, good luck with your campaign. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

Yes it's definitely a huge gamble, but at the very least it makes the initial phase of the game a lot more interesting.

BabesLite is definitely a good mod and 3-day turns add quite lot more...randomness..in the game. Or...friction of command...

I myself find 2-day turns being the best for solitary play.

07 Mar 1942

Nikolaevsk falls. Okha is proving tougher, there is an actual rifle division there as opposed to NKVD regiments.

This turn air losses were about even. Although his Soviet fighters aren't much cop there are a lot of them. The AVG has also popped up in Kweilin and shredded some Nates at Canton and Wuchang.

He seems to be advancing on Shikuka (in Sakhalin).

Adding Soviets into play definitely add lot more excitement...