Matrix Games Forums

May 16th, 1943

No night bombing.

Lots of submarine actions...IJN minelaysers (with ASW ratings) torpedoed and sunk in the CentPac; an xak sunk returning to Singers. The SS Mingo reportedly sunk off Balikpapen.

Morning strikes in Burma: Lots of Allied ships sighted in Akyab, but severe storms over Magwe prevent any flights, and two supporting strikes of Kates are underescorted and fly in only to get destroyed by local CAP. Ugh.

Hit me, I violated my rule on big strikes only again!

The Allies bomb Prome, where I have moved a relatively large squadron of Jakes to help with spotting, but then in a surprise the planes at Magwe fly, a break in the clouds...

The first strike is fighter heavy and bomber light...

The Betties are escorted thru no problem, only to target an xak first....

But they finally find a big boy...

Interestingly, quite a few of the fighter squadrons ended up sweeping in the combat report...

Subsequent followup attacks go thru...Betties try to torpedo the Whipporwill (AM) and miss.

Some nube, me, left one squadron of Betties on bombing and they miss the CL Java...

Helens fly in last, half retreat because they are unescorted and afraid of the 1 remaining P40 on CAP, but the 11 that strike hit an xak once.

So, not great...but another British BB with torpedo damage...

Burma...

Ships at Akyab, IJN subs all around, what to do next....

What will the Allies do next...

I really dislike the limitation on sighting reports.

Probably 50+ float on the BB from two good torpedo hits; two xaks probably toast too. Other than Kates and Oscars, plane losses very light.

I count 30 enemy subs in my shipping lanes across the Empire...only going to get worse.

Have you tried using land based B5N2, well trained in ASW, at 2000 feet? i find them very useful in sinking enemy subs too close to main bases and chokepoints.

Other news:

3-1 deliberate attack at Changsha (China) knocks forts down to 3, should have the base in 2 weeks or less. Still 50 Chinese fighters there, but my sweeps don't fly.

Finally my second Irving NF factory repairs to 30. Took two months to get 1 point repaired.

ORIGINAL: MrBlizzard

Have you tried using land based B5N2, well trained in ASW, at 2000 feet? i find them very useful in sinking enemy subs too close to main in bases.

I used 2/3rds of a squadron in Burma on naval strike, but the rest are all on ASW. And they are pretty well trained now, too.

When I find some subs too close I put all the kate sentai in ASW setting also the sectors and the distance to match the sub position. In this way I manage to have several attacks each turn. After few turns the subs are gone, sunk or damaged.
ASW exp is ~65.

ORIGINAL: MrBlizzard

When I find some subs too close I put all the kate sentai in ASW setting also the sectors and the distance to match the sub position. In this way I manage to have several attacks each turn. After few turns the subs are gone, sunk or damaged.
ASW exp is ~65.

I will give it a go, I don't do any of that...perhaps a high inspiration leader will help too (more planes in the air)[&o]

I pulled back most of air force from Burma, anticipating heavy night strikes on Magwe or heavy sweeps and bombing during the day or both.

I did move 150 Zeroes and 30 Betties to strike from Chiang Mai...maybe they will get lucky.

Allies moving more troops into Rangoon, probably base forces to use the air field more or infantry to kick me out of the hex.

I reserved the most damaged division at Changsha and attacked deliberately again at Changsha.

Okay folks!, guess where the Allies will hit me next:

Kuriles?

Wake Island?

Marshalls?

Solomons?

New Guinea?

Darwin: no choice, I am abandoning it now.

Lower SRA?

Invasion Indochina?

Upper SRA (Sumatra)?

Cocos Island?

And for the truly bold: Bonins? Hokkaido? Marianas?

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Okay folks!, guess where the Allies will hit me next:

Kuriles?

Wake Island?

Marshalls?

Solomons?

New Guinea?

Darwin: no choice, I am abandoning it now.

Lower SRA?

Invasion Indochina?

Upper SRA (Sumatra)?

Cocos Island?

And for the truly bold: Bonins? Hokkaido? Marianas?

Any chance of a global map before I place my bets?

I'll lay my chips down on the Marshalls.

I'll put my extra credit marker on Port Blair/western coast of Malaysia (Tavoy/Moulmein).

Port Blair is already British. It always was.

Here is the map.

Marcus Island is a choice too.

Looking at the map, Wake and Marcus. He can advance in the center through the Marshalls, so I think you need to watch for the big right hook to Wake and Marcus that will expose the Marianas.

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Looking at the map, Wake and Marcus. He can advance in the center through the Marshalls, so I think you need to watch for the big right hook to Wake and Marcus that will expose the Marianas.

Okay: Wake and Marcus are both 6K Atolls very far from friendly air bases.

What are American worries:

Within Betty/Nell strikes but not much else. IJN KB is a worry.

Atoll: Limited to 6k troops defensively, Wake known to have the fearsome Wake CD unit (although they are elsewhere in this this game).

Solutions: Grab Ailinglaplap or elsewhere in the Marshalls and bomb Wake to negate the CD guns. Or, cushion your invasion force with lots of battleships and hit the defenses with carrier planes and other naval bombardments as you can. Provide air CAP over Wake.

To maximize offloading do you need to be there for two phases? Probably.

Divert the KB to the other side of the Empire. Or, depending on date, this would be a good place to fight the KB. Allies know the KB would come from the west most likely: Day 1 inv fleet spotted, day 2 invasion, day 3 move American carriers west of Wake looking for a carrier engagement as the KB is moved into position to strike at the landing? You could make this quite nasty by flooding the area with subs too.

Japanese Steps:

So, defenses: one AA unit. CD unit. Infantry to fill out the island. Mines. Mini subs: ideal placement for mini subs as they can't be scouted ahead of time (still they will all die like flies). Good search radius to maximize early warning. Glen equipped sub in likely gathering spot for invasion?

Prep a division to take the base back?

Standby IJN surface group to hit the base? Where could they be based at? Fast, with lots of torpedoes? Or heavy as in super heavies? How would they have air coverage on the way out.

Just let them take the islands and not commit any ships?

What am I missing?

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I'll lay my chips down on the Marshalls.

I'll put my extra credit marker on Port Blair/western coast of Malaysia (Tavoy/Moulmein).

Marshalls are kind of lost with the solid Allied air control. He simply hasn't moved quickly at all for some reason...perhaps simply waiting for the Essex or BBs to repair or prep. Maybe he is worried about the KB which is known to be in the area. I will give some more thought to this later today...especially for your extra credit pick.[:D]

Would it be gamey to fly out splinter parts of the more expensive units in the Marshalls/Nauru area?

So, defenses: one AA unit. CD unit. Infantry to fill out the island. Mines. Mini subs: ideal placement for mini subs as they can't be scouted ahead of time (still they will all die like flies). Good search radius to maximize early warning. Glen equipped sub in likely gathering spot for invasion?

I think that's the best you can do. Make the Allies bring the big hammer to take the islands and hope for the best. A bad roll on the attacking units, a few mine hits on amphibs or a plucky mini-sub hit or two on BB's. Throw in some PT boats if you can, and perhaps a bunch of the 1 VP tuna-boat SC's to mess with Allied TF's.

When it comes to fighting the Allies at sea from 1943 onwards, you need to go in with everything, or you shouldn't go in at all.