Canoerebel v Miller Scn 19

[Miller]

Update for 16-31 Jul 43.

Well, about to enter the home straight for this game and I would say the odds are now against the empire pulling off a draw never mind a victory.

Not much of note during this period either. As expected he finally evicted my troops from Goodenough Is.....a whole Division down the sh itt er, I wish I had just let him have the base unoppossed as I badly needed those troops elsewhere[:@] Oh well war is all about making mistakes....

.....on the subject of which i made another sending yet another surface fleet to strike there which achieved nothing for the loss of another CL and 3 precious DD's (I did badly damage a CA but uber allied damage control should save it).

Just a question of where Dan decides to strike next. My troops at PM and GG are cut-off so I doubt he will waste any resources taking them, especially as he has a size 9 airfield a few hexes north at Dobadura to play with.......why oh why did I build this base up so high and then leave it almost undefended[8|]??

I have plenty of troops at Lae, which I believe may be his next target but he could move east towards Woodlark Is....if this falls I am in big trouble as it will give him an excellent platform for his 2E bombers to hit my main bases in the Solomans [X(](Lunga, Shortlands and Munda).

So now just a matter of trying to redistribute what troops I have to try and make Dans life difficult when he chooses his next target. I fight on....

[Miller]

Update for 1-15 Aug 43.

Very little to report[>:]

Dan has started to build up Kiriwani, a couple of hexes NE of Goodenough Is. From there all my main bases and fleets docked as far north as Kaeving are within range of his medium bombers. I have already started taking damage as a result. All non-essential ships/air units are to be recalled to Truk until an urgent need arises.

A strange little CV battle did take place...I sent the KB (2 CV, 4 CVL - with about 150 Zeros and a paltry 50 Vals/Kates) directly south to see of they could ambush any shipping traffic going from Noumea towards the NG area. By (bad) luck they spotted a CV group and launched a strike at extreme range - which was shredded by his Corsair/F6F CAP......I hightailed it north to avoid any possible riposte the next day[X(]

Seems the KB has had its day.......time to land the air groups and send the ships home to Tokyo[&o]

Dan sent a message saying he was unsure if he would be able to overturn the 4000 points gap........I think it just depends on his logistical situation now.....he has the planes, warships and men but I think he is struggling for transports......time will provide the answer.

[Miller]

Update for 16-31 Aug 43.

Backs to the wall time now.

Dan has invaded (and captured) Buka.......my Solomons bases are now isolated[:@]

I threw all my LBA at his invasion fleet but they were all but anihalated by his 150 strong Hellcat and Corsair CAP (he had at least one CV and 3 CVL covering the transports).

For three days running my planes rose to the air to be knocked down like flies....I estimate 300 a/c destroyed......in return for a couple of bomb hits on a CVL.....not a good rate of exchange[X(]

I did have a couple of surface fleets in the area but they were attacked by carrier a/c, more pain as several more precious DD's went under for nothing plus others out of the game[8|]

What now? I hear you ask. Well at the moment I am basically powerless to do anything. All my surviving air units have zero morale so I have sent them as far away from danger as possible to try and recover. All my warships are now at Truk as this is the only port safe from air attack now. As for Dan's next move...who knows? He can either turn north towards Rabual or south for Lunga/Munda.....whatever he decides I can do little to hold him up[:-]

Points Gap down to under 3000 now. I have no doubt Dan will overtake me, hopefully I can keep his overall victory level down to a "marginal" level.......

[Miller]

Update for 1-15 Sept 43.

Little activity of note, Dan has also taken Kavieng (I only had a small infantry unit there). However I believe it is (just) to far away from Truk for him to launch bombing raids from so I am not worried about losing it.

Whilst he was engaged elesewhere I sneaked a supply transport group towards Lae where I have plenty of troops but no supply. It took a pounding off LBA from Dobadura, losing about half its supplies en-route but enough got ashore to keep the troops happy[:'(]

No sorties by my a/c other than recon, I am trying to build up enough for one big blow when he goes for one of my main bases (Rabual, Shortlands or Lunga). He is keeping his carrier group (1-2 CV plus 3CVL a believe) next to his invasion/supply fleets...I hope when the time is right a few a/c can get through to put some bombs onto these flightdecks, opening the way for the fleet to get amongst his transports.....

I notice his 2E/4E bombers have been very quiet this period, I think the logistical strain is starting to take its toll on supply levels......he has lost a lot of transports and those heavy missions suck up supply[8D] This game is not over yet[&o]

[Miller]

Update for 16-30 Sep 43.

Like a biblical plague Dan continues to work over my bases, Gasmata on the south tip of New Britain has been captured, undefended Madang in NG also and Wewak is on the verge of falling.

I assume Dan has got his supply situation sorted out now as all his LBA is in action pounding my bases. PM is again a crater, although in the previous lull I managed to get out a crack Zero sqd that had been trapped there for over a year[:'(] Lae is my only major base left in NG with any supply but I doubt it will last much longer and I have already written off the likes of GG and Woodlark Is......

I cannot move any ships as they are plastered with ordenance the minute they are sighted[8|] I have quite a lot LBA sqd's now but I am waiting till Dan hits one of my heavily defended bases like Rabual or Shortlands before releasing them into the meat grinder[:o]

Down to a bare 1500 points advantage and I will probably be behind by the end of this month......but its all about honour now - the emperor will be defended by every last man[:@] BANZAI!!!

[Miller]

Update for 1-15 Oct 43.

Wewak falls. Gilli Gilli is in the process of being invaded. I did have the bulk of my fleet based at Lunga but several raids by over 200 heavies has forced me to send all of it back Truk.

It is pointless CAP'ing any of my bases now as Dan has developed a clever tactic......sweeping a base with loads of fighters the day before a big raid to sap the defenders morale and increase fatigue, I cannot remember the last time I shot down a 4E bomber with fighters[:(]

Taking about a minute to do a turn at the moment[8|]such is the fortunes of war.......and to cap it all England have been knocked out of the World Cup today[:@]

[Miller]

Update for 16-31 Oct 43.

Gilli Gilli is the next base to fall, and with that Dan overtakes my points total[:(]

He seems to be refueling and getting his next invasion fleet prepared.....its destination unknown. Lunga is being pounded by his heavies and supply is running low....so I guess it may be his next port of call....

I have managed to get a few 100 plus LBA raids out of Lunga against his weaker bases (Nevea/GG/Buka) but they take big op losses for little gain...

I had toyed with the idea of sending every last transport and warship covered by my CV's full of Zeros on a one way trip to Luganville in the faint hope of landing enough troops for an auto-victory.....but I know this would fail on two counts:

A) Most of the transports would be blown out of the water before getting there, and

B) Even if by some miracle they did manage to get most of the available troops ashore it would still not be enough to take the base[8|]

Not all over yet though, there are no "easy" bases left to capture now, the likes of Lunga, Rabual and Shortlands all have plenty of troops in position[:-]

Many a Yankee will die between now and the end of the game[:@]

[anarchyintheuk]

Well played game. Your fleet certainly didn't let you down. That's pretty good damage inflicted for what was suffered.

In retrospect, do you think Dobodura was the turning point?

[Miller]

Yes it was a big bonehead decision to build Dobodura up to the max and then garrison it with two men and their dog - I don't think I even had any use for it before it was captured[:@] Credit to Dan for seeing the opening and taking it.

However my worst mistake was frittering away the KB's strike aircraft in pointless attacks on his surface fleets off Nevea and Gavigamana after I had already sunk all his available carriers. If I had nursed them back to full strength for when they were really needed (i.e NOW!) his current CV fleet would not be sailing round with impunity[:-]

[Miller]

Update for 1-15 Nov 43.

Port Moresby is next to go under the Allied steamroller. I had plenty of troops there but no supply.....they held out for a few days but were forced into a final banzai charge and died to a man.....such devotion to the emperor[&o]

This gives Dan a lead of 1000 points. However as we speak I have commited all my remaining land, sea and air power into retaking a base (I will not name it yet in-case any spy's are lurking[;)]). The odds are very much against me, but better to do something pro-active rather than just spend the last six weeks soaking up his endless heavy raids...

Full report of the outcome of this operation will follow in the next update!

[Miller]

Update for 16-30 Nov 43.

Well my attempt to re-take the base in question (Kavieng) failed. Not unexpected, but for his use of every C-47 he had to transport reinforcements there I may of had a chance of taking it. As it stands now it is stalemate....I cannot recapture it but I doubt he can throw my troops out.

In the process I lost most of the remainder of my transports (I have about 5 left in theatre now!) but this is irrelevant as I have no further use for them now. I did manage to inflict some meaningfull damage for the first time in a while however.

Dans CV fleet went walkabout after my transports leaving a large surface fleet uncovered, my LBA managed to damage 3 of his BB's badly enough to make for Buka port....where they ran into my surface fleet containing my last 3 BB's - Musashi, Nagato and Kirishima....Tanaka sent all his damaged BB's to the ocean floor as well as a CL and several DD's.....all for the loss of only a couple of DD's[:'(]

As a bonus his CV's failed to launch any counter-strikes against my fleets although its CAP shredded all my subsequent LBA raids on it......I have no real air threat left now.

I have also been busy harrassing his shipping around Dobadura/Goodenough Is with surface fleets consisting of a couple of CL's and DD's.......he has lost several tankers and transports to these raids, but these losses are only an irritation to him, nothing more.

So as we enter the final month Dan has a lead of 1500 points......probably enough for a marginal victory. Recon indicates he has a transport group at sea ready to hit one of my remaining "big" bases (my money is on Lunga). If he manages to capture it he will gain a decisive victory, I must try and prevent that.

All I have left now is 3 damaged BB's, a couple of CA's/CL's and a dozen destroyers, plus about 200 LBA with shredded morale and 40's experience levels[8|]

Lets see what happens.......

[Miller]

Update for 1-15 Dec 43.

The game is rather fizzling out now as I have no offensive capability left. Dan has taken Woodlark Is (long since abandoned) and his LBA sink the BB Kirishima and CA Tone. I now have one transport left in the whole theatre[&o] and I think that will be sunk before the 31st of Dec.......

What few ships I have left now are sitting in Truk....one last suicide mission perhaps??[:@]

[Miller]

Update for 16-31 Dec 43.

And so the game comes to an end.......in rather a muted fashion I must admit.

I sent one last surface force south on a kamikaze mission lead by Tanaka......the CL Yubari (which has always been a lucky ship for me) plus every DD left (about 6). I did still have two BBs left but they were damaged and to slow to include.

Did my ships get to fight one last glorious night action?.....No[:@] they were swamped by CV aircraft.......Yubari and a few shattered DDs managed to stagger into Rabual port....the end of the IJN navy complete[:(]

The remnants of my LBA air attacked his CV group but again I lost a zillion planes without getting a single bomb hit. Oh how the mighty have fallen[:o]

So the game ends with Dan on 22455 points and myself on 20338.....a marginal victory for him which looked unlikely not so long ago....

Final ship loss tally:

IJN - 1 CV, 1 CVE, 2 CS, 8 BB, 14 CA, 10 CL, 85 DD, 8 APD, 2 AV, 30 SS, 44 MSW/ML/PC/PG, 5 TK/AO, 176 AP.

USN - 8 CV, 8 CVL/E, 8 BB, 12 CA, 11 CL, 6 CLAA, 80 DD, 14 APD, 2 AV, 9 SS, 82 SC/PG/PT, 126 AP/AK, 30 LST/LCI, 18 MSW/DM/DMS, 12 AO/TK.

So apart from the obvious difference in carrier losses the other ship totals are remarkably similar. However it must be noted all my carrier air groups were anihalated making the carriers themselves useless, I sent most of them home months ago as they were nothing more than floating VPs.....

As to aircraft losses I was the clear loser:

A2A - USN 2325/4251 IJN
GROUND - USN 511/440 IJN
FLAK - USN 584/869 IJN
OPS - USN 1623/3374 IJN[X(]

I wish I had rested and rotated my sqds properly as my OP losses make up 15% of Dans overall score[:-]

It only remains for me to say thanks to my opponent for sticking with the game when most others would have quit.......and well done for pulling back the points gap to win the game. Cheers Dan[&o]

[Canoerebel]

Greetings!

As the Allied player in the only UV game I've ever played all the way to the end, it's been a pleasure dealing with Miller (a gentleman) and the game itself was challenging, sometimes fun, sometimes tedious, and occasionally vexating.

Miller played about as well as a Jap player can. He got by far the best of every CV battle, repelled a number of Allied invasions (including Nevea, which I eventually took, and both Irau and Lae which remained Jap territory the entire game), and managed to hold the important Jap bases of Lunga, Shortlands, Rabaul, and Truk until the end.

So how does a Jap player who does all that and holds an incredibly lopsided CV advantage (16 Allies CVs/CVLs sunk to 2 for the Japs - yikes!) lose?

Primarily its because the game is ridiculously lopsided. In 1942, the Japs are able to run amock because of the quality of Jap airforce. For most of 1943, the Japs don't stand a chance because of the quality of the Allied airforce. Unless the Japs win an auto victory on 1/1/43, there is no way the Allies should lose - at least if the Allied player is somewhat experienced. Hats off to Miller for sticking around the last six months when for weeks at a time there was essentially nothing meaningful he could do.

I wish I had waited even later to begin my "comeback." I initiated the first effort to move north from L'ville in January '43. I should've waited until April or so when the Allied forces really had superiority. There would have been plenty of time to take the bases I needed.

The Allied victory was due to the following factors:

1) The Japs suffered 3900 more aircraft losses. This disparity became obvious pretty early in the game and it became a key part of the Allied strategy to work on the Jap airforce as much as possible. Miller says he wishes he hadn't depleted his air arm, but I don't know there was much else he could do. Either he fights or he doesn't. Many of the planes he lost went down during those first 11 months of the game were flying CAP or participating in strikes against the beleagured Allied navy.

2) The Jap suffered about 800 points more in ground losses. What this really meant was that the Allies didn't lose any large garrisons of important bases.

3) I finally figured out how to open a second front (around April '43), fast transporting some engineers to Goodenough Island. Right under Miller's nose, they constructed a level 1 airfield. I timed it so that just as the airfield was finished, I transported in a base unit and fighters. At the same time, a large invasion TF covered by Goodenough's fighters hit Dobadura. I had gambled on the possibility that Dobadura was lightly garrisoned and I was right. More than anything, Dobadura and Goodenough Island acted as magnets drawing Miller's attention. He committed alot of men and material to contest my hold on these bases and, fortunately, the Allies were able to hold until other forces could be committed to the action (air transport of men to Goodenough was probably the key to this campaign and perhaps the key to ultimate Allied victory - thank goodness I hadn't squandered my Dakota squadrons on less important missions earlier). Oddly enough, although Dobadura was a level 9 airfield, I was never able to put it to any significant use due to supply problems. Just 10 or 15 B-17s ever left Dobadura on an offensive mission and eventually I moved all my heavy bombers to other bases (primarily L'ville) where they had adequate supply to fight.

So why didn't the Allies get a decisive victory? Other than the obvious problem with the CV losses, it was logistics. The last six months of the game I was down to a bare minimum of transports to handle supply and a few moderate invasion efforts (Buka, Kaeving, Wewak, GG, PM, and Woodlark fell during this interval). I had plenty of troops to invade other bases, and I had plenty of bombers that sat quiet at rear airbases, all because I just didn't have the ships to transport men and supplies. With 30 more AP/AKs, I believe the Allies would have easily attained a decisive victory (the Allies took the point lead in November, I think, and ended up with a 2100 point advantage but needed about 5500 for a decisive victory).

There were some frustrating glitches in the game causing me to question whether I want to commit another ten months to another battle, but I'm thinking it might be fun to try it with Miller again. We've both learned alot!

[Miller]

Well Dan pretty much covers everything.[8D]

As for a rematch - perhaps later in the year, I need a breather from UV at the minute and besides that I have an ongoing battle with the daughter just to get on the computer - Damn the Barbie and Bratz websites[:@][;)]

[anarchyintheuk]

Great aar.

Miller, hope Duff is worth the money. [:)]