Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

Thought I would give the big picture view. Burma is a mess but I know once I bring the Japanese to a halt deep in the Jungle, they are through. Oz is a concern becasue if Larry gets more units into Darwin, I could still lose a lot of ground here. SoPac is wide open and I have indicated my possible lines of advance. Centpac is defintely going to Tarawa but question remains if I go through Baker Island, Nanumea or both. SoPac will move up through the New Hibrides and Santa Cruz Islands and then either up the Solomns or towards Nauru Island. SWPac will either move to oust the Japanese from NW Oz or go by sea across the southern coast of NG towards the SRA. The sea route is problematic as I really lack lift capability. Start getting LST's in about 180 days. From the map you can see how much of the NEI and central Pacific Larry has failed to clean up

[Big B]

ORIGINAL: vettim89

19 July 1942...{snip}

China is just a quagmire. There are over a half a million troops total for both sides in the Nanchang-Changsha corridor. Kweilen upgraded to level 4 AB today and I am basing Chinese bombers out of there now. Now its just a stalemate. At Changsha, I have 7700 AS vs 1367 for Larry but I know I can't budge him.
...

Reading stuff like that makes my heart glow [:)]

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: vettim89

Thought I would give the big picture view. Burma is a mess but I know once I bring the Japanese to a halt deep in the Jungle, they are through. Oz is a concern becasue if Larry gets more units into Darwin, I could still lose a lot of ground here. . .

. . . From the map you can see how much of the NEI and central Pacific Larry has failed to clean up

He sure has! Even the PI still has a few bases hanging on. And the oil in Borneo and Sumatra must have problems getting back to Japan . . . Maybe that's what's slowing him down.

[vettim89]

24-25 July 1942

Posting from work so limited a little bit as to what I can do and obviously no screenies. I will post again at lunch because I want to show what is going on in CBI.

I think we may have the synch bug because it appears Larry got into Pago Pago without me even seeing a combat replay. I however do have some badly damaged ships that were in port. That is frustrating to suffer damage and not even see what happened. Of course his "cloaked" SCTF escaped northward without even being seen. GRRRR!

Larry has been moving up the east coast of Sumatra and now only Sabang remains in Allied hands. The west coast of this island is still all green. No other invasions seen

I have been thinking about why we are where we are and I have to wonder if Larry is experiencing serious logistic issues. I know how nearly impossible it is for me to keep fuel stocks up in OZ and he has dozens of places to keep supplied. I have not seen his carriers in a month and now wonder if its a fuel issue as much as it is hoarding resources. At present he outnumbers me in operational CV's not counting the various CVL's/CVE's he might have about

[vettim89]

The situation in CBI. I find it amusing that the whole of all the action in this game at present can be condensed in one screen shot. I have no idea how the supplies got so maldistrubuted in China. Very frustrating. Larry has moved additional units into Rangoon. I have to wonder if he is making Burma his priority and maybe thinking about an AMphibious Op towards Akyab. He now has 104 Fighters at Rangoon so I shifted my LBA to ground attack at Taung Gyi

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: vettim89

The situation in CBI. I find it amusing that the whole of all the action in this game at present can be condensed in one screen shot. I have no idea how the supplies got so maldistrubuted in China.

Since the Burma Road is still open, maybe you could reverse it and bring in supplies from those three 100K stockpiles in China?[:D]

[saj42]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

ORIGINAL: vettim89

The situation in CBI. I find it amusing that the whole of all the action in this game at present can be condensed in one screen shot. I have no idea how the supplies got so maldistrubuted in China.

Since the Burma Road is still open, maybe you could reverse it and bring in supplies from those three 100K stockpiles in China?[:D]

It's a glitch in the display......we all get it [&:]
When you click on a base you see the supplies stocked in that base.
When you click on a stack in a NON-Base hex the screen shows you the total supplies in ALL of China (at least that is my interpretation). The only supplies in clear and forest hexes are what the LCUs are carrying for themselves.

Those Jap units on the trails at Meiktila are going to be held up a long time moving at 2-3 miles per day - gives you plenty of time to get units into Mandalay.
Get those Chinese LCUs back to Lashio - if the Burma road is cut then China is in trouble.

[vettim89]

26 July 1942

This is the second attempt at this post as the server seems to be having hiccups tonight. Did a full map review this turn and came up with this little tid bid from China. These guys are flying out of Changsha. The biplane squadron based there has 12 kills to boot! Larry discoverd my Chinese bombers were flying out of Kweilein and sent in the bad guys. I moved a couple of squadrons of fighters down to help out.

Japanese troops performed a Deliberate Attack at Taung Gyi which came off at 0 to 1 and reduced forts to 2. My AS is still about 105 there. Maybe they can hold out through the next attack. The two Chinese units departed Mandaly for Lashio which will raise the AS there to 1100. Mandaly will be reinforced with an additional 800 AS within a few days. The last unit will slog out of the mud tomorrow to the hex with the RR in it (distance traveled 59 nm - missed it by that much). The other three units will arrive in Mandalay either tomorrow or the next day.

Suddenly the area between PH and Pago Pago is almost devoid of Japanese subs. I have been punding on them with LBA and ASW TF's. Three are confirmed sunk and those not sunk have got to be limping home. My first SC's will make PH in a few days. From there they will be based at Palmyra and Canton Island to hunt subs.

[vettim89]

27 -29 July

My computer died - think its the video card. Fortunately I am self employed and took the two hours to install WiTP on one of my work computeres (AB extended map slowed it down) I think Larry has pulled at least one Inf Div out of Burma. There are 38 troops at Rangoon but only 6 K at Moulmein. He has only 8 units in the area of Meiktela (Sp?) including one that is one hex south of Mandalay.

I-165 torpedoed an AK near Canton Island and then was damaged heavily by an ASW TF. It is limping west where it were be pursued until within LBA of Tarawa. I think this is one of the floatplane carrying subs and I am putting a priority on sinking it.

While my home puter is down, Larry and I will only be able to do one turn a day most likely - boo

[Capt. Harlock]

My computer died - think its the video card. Fortunately I am self employed and took the two hours to install WiTP on one of my work computeres (AB extended map slowed it down)

Condolences -- is it just me or is electronic equipment getting less reliable these days? In the lat few months I've had a mainboard, and LCD TV, and a PDA all go south on me.

[vettim89]

30 July 1942

Thanks Capt. Of course its a Dell and of course the broken item is proprietary which means it has to be shipped off. I am reminded of the scene in the cartoon version of The Grinch That Stole Christmas where Grinchy Claus announces to Cindy Lou that, "This tree has a light that won't light on one side. I'm going to take it back to my workshop. I fix it there and then bring it back here". I think I'd rather have a three-decker toadstool and saur kraut sandwhich with arsenic sauce.

Very slow turn. I-175 managed to torpedo an AK carry part of 32nd infantry division (ouch), but then underwent a pretty mean retalitory DC attack - FOW says 6 hits, heavy damage. Then I-15 tried to emulate her sister but was discovered by my 6 DD dedicated ASW TF. What followed was the single longest ASW sequence I have evere witnessed without sinking the sub. It easily lasted 3 or 4 minutes and FOW says: 12 hits, heavy damage, on fire. I think I-15 is a goner even if it takes a few days. I know every mod is different , but I wish there was a list some where of which Japanese subs carry Glens. Nonetheless in the last 3 days I have lost 2 AK but have sunk one and heavily damaged two additional Japanese subs. My SC arrive at Canton Island in a few days and will start to sanitize Larry's favorite hunting grounds. Never used the SC's in Big B but I know they are awesome in stock.

Only a bombardment attack at Taung Gyi. No attacks in China or Burma in days. August is fast approaching. Historically that means I should be thinking offensive. Right now I need to shore up Oz because I have a sneaking suspicion one or two more divisions are going to should up soon. My TF are almost to Pago Pago where they will refuel and then head to Cooktown/Adelaide

[vettim89]

31 July 1942

A completely uneventful turn with three exceptions:

1. A DD hit a mine at Kwajalein. The reason this is important is that I was considereing calling off my campaign against this hex because the Japanese were sweeping faster than I could laying them. In the last week a DD and an AK have hit mines. Neither sunk but its just the encouragement I needed to press on

2. Larry moved part of 33rd ID into Taung Gyi and it fell. These units will fall back toward Mandalay. This likely ends the Burma Campaign for some time as Larry no longer has enough units to get anywhere at either Mandalay or Lashio. It will take some time for me to assemble enough force to oust him also.

3. The IJA crossed the Yangtze 120 nm NNE of Changsha. The result shock attack by the Japanese came off at 1 to 1 but the Japanese suffere five times the casualties. I ordered a shock attack to try to push the one unit back across. I am outnumber two to one in this hex so this is my only hope. Conceivably the Japanese could push west towards Chunking from here but I don't think that is wise. If Larry thought the AS at Changsha was bad, he doesn't want to see Chunking (8000+). I think Larry is just trying to put some pressure on my left flank. The hex immediately NNE of Chansha is much stronger and The Japanese will find it much harder to push through this hex. This is important because this hex holds the road juncture that leads to Chunking

Big monthly wrap up to follow. It has a very bloody month for both sides.

[vettim89]

1-3 August 1942

Hard to keep up with this AAR from work. Quite frankly the only time I could do it would be at the end of the day when I am tired, hungry, and am often carrying various animal "scents" from a day's activities. In short, I just want to go home. Not a whole lot going on now but I will hit the high points

* SWPac units are past Pago Pago and making for Brisbane. This turn south is necessary as FOW is giving me odd read outs NW of Canton Island. I first thought it was the whole FOW calling a spotted sub something else - you know the whole 1 AP heading SW thing. But now I have several TF in the area one of which is being read to me as BB, CL, AP, AP, AP. So the US CV's are lurking in the area. CV Wasp has sortied from PH and is racing south to meet up. Need to be careful here because the IJN can still match the USN in CV's and exceed them in CVL/CVE.

* I was a bit spooked when Larry threatened my left flank in the Changsha area so I ordered a deliberate attack at Changsha. It came off as 7 to 1 and all the Japanese units retreated. This area is completely screwed up now. I have insurmountable forces at the bas hexes but am vuneable out in the open. I need to be very careful of encirclement. will post with a screenie soon.

* Another Dutch ML hit a mine at Akyab in spite of the heavy MSW presence. I saved this one and it is in port at Chittagong. This now leaves my total dedicated minelaying force at two ships. One ML at Diamond Harbor and one DM at PH. You can add SS Argonaut (which has not been upgraded) to the mix but that's it.

* Cursor recon now shows closer to 10 Japanese units in Burma. I know at least one ID is divided so this may be a bit inaccurate. Still he does not have enough to budge either Mandaly or Lashio. I predict a long bloody quagmire here. On the good new front, The air war certainly went the allies way as air losses for 3 August were 6 brand new A6M3 and 1 A6M2 for 1 Hurricane and 3 I-153 Biplanes. AVG is now battle ready and I may rotate them up to Mandaly soon to regain some experience

[vettim89]

4-18 August 1942

Hey, nothing like a once every two week update. Having issues with the baby laptop overheating while running WiTP. Have had multiple shut downs with several of them (like maybe 6 or 7 times) it happened in the process of saving a file. So no AAR as I don't want to tax the poor little guy any more than I already am. Lots to report in two weeks. Here are the highpoints.

* IJA invades and takes Bali (yawn)

* IJA moves on and takes Magwe - this is Larry's last hurrah in Burma unless he moves considerably more troops in

* IJA takes the hex that is two hexes NNE of Hengchow in China. I only had two units acting as flank security here so no big whoop. The hex immediately NNE of Hengchow has an AV of nearly 1000 and level 9 forts. His two divisions will not make any progress here

* With the IJA evicted from Changsha, I moved about 3200 AS into Hengchow. These units are waiting here for Larry's next move which will either be to the NNE or to the south.

* IJN subs are wreaking havoc in both the Pacific and IO. My ASW forces are doing their best but my DD shortage is really showing here.

* Larry sent a SCTF up towards Diamond Harbor for what had to be a commerce raiding mission. Instead he found the UK CV force which torpedoes a CA for slight damage. He withdrew imediately which is good becasue all the LBA at CHittangong had been switched over to Naval Attack. That could have gone very wrong for Larry.

* No movement at all in OZ. My subs did a little damage with Larry's last supply convoy but it was too small to be doing anything but moving supplies. No a/c are based at Darwin. I evacuated the BF at Derby by sea. This base is now empty and now exposd to a para landing but I think Larry is having a hard time supporting Darwin let alone another base. Darwin is now mined also.

* SWPac units are now just two to three days away from Townsville. They will move to Cooktown and immediately expand the AB there. Once up to snuff I have nearly 150 B-17's that will attack Dobodura.

* The NZ Brigade released to SoPac is now at Lungaville. A BF and a hefty amount of supplies are loading at Noumea and will arrive in less than a week.

Now for the intersting part:

Larry discovered I was using Pago Pago as a supply hub and sent KB in to attack. Through an incredible stroke of good luck, the vast majority of convoys moving from WC to here were either on the way back to WC or far off. Still, I lost a few TK and AK as well as about 6 DD's (OUCH!). My CV's were escorting my Oz bound troops and I had them meet up at Suva, rufuel, and head out. There were three TF's with a CV in each (Lexington, Saratoga, and Yorktown). They were all set to follow Yorktown's TF. Instead, Lexington's TF wondered two hexes away from the other two and was ambushed and of course sunk. My CV's did not react nor was there any counter strike. KB hung around for two more days as I withdrew all ships as fast as possible.

KB has now returned and is hovering off Pago Pago. On the good luck side, one of the TF's mauled by the first KB run had a squadron of P-40E's on board. These offlaoded at Pago Pago and are nipping at the massive KB strikes like a crazed Jack Russell Terrier. As you can imagine, they are getting the worst of it but are still doing damage. Larry told me his Naval Pilot pool was already empty so even losing 6-8 Vals/Kates per strike is hurting him. If Larry wants to piss away his Naval Air Arm to sink several already crippled transports, fine by me

My CV's are now saferly to the east heading for Jarvis Island and then will head home. Hornet is down to 9 SYST damage and Enterprise is at 15. Sara and Yorktown are late for their July upgrades. And, of Course, Lexington II is only 505 days away. Absolute supidity that I have to lose a CV to get one that was being built anyway. My CV's will make for PH, repair and upgrade, then get ready for offensive operations.

I already had set up Papete as a secondary base and it is now my new waypoint for troops heading this way. Thank you to whoever it was that suggested I establish a fall back position in the Society Islands. While adding a few days to the trip, this is a much safer route.

So we are now approaching September 1942 and I need to figure out where to go. Most importantly I need to draw Larry into a batle of attrition somewhere to whittle down his forces. With KB operating in the SoPac, my Gilberts plan is looking less inviting. The Solomons are now looking much more inviting. In a few weeks, I will have 5 operational CV's. Even with them, I think I need to move in an area where LBA can be a factor. My Options are in most likely order:

Solomons
Counteroffensive in Oz
New Guinea (only after building up PM)
Gilberts
Wake
Burma (would require massive shift of men, material, and ships)

Hvae about two to three weeks of game time to plan

[vettim89]

18 August 1942. Larry is moving on the base SE of the Changsha/Hengchow area whose name escapes me right now. One out of 14 units arrived this turn and I assume the rest will follow.. I have been waiting for thsi to happen so the game will lock down this force. I am moving south out of Hengchow to the crossroads two hexes south. This will isolate the large force to the east. Simultaneously I am moving on Canton from the NW. Only a few units block the path of this advance and if successful, Larry is due for some heartburn

[vettim89]

After thinking about it, I decided to go the Solomons route at least initially. This will allow me to build supporting AB to bring my ever growing LBA power to bear. In the meantime. Centpac forces will be follwing this plan to build up bases for the attack into the Gilberts now planned for most likely the first quarter of 1943. Now this bars some miraculous fight that disables KB. If that were to happen, I will proceed with my originale plan. My feeling is that going the CentPac route through the Gilberts and Marshalls is the direct path to Japan. The supply chain will be shorter and the distance traveled will be less

[vettim89]

19-22 August 1942

The last few turns have been very slow with little more going on then bombing of LCU's in CBI. KB continues to hover NW of Pago Pago. I think he has a replinishment TF some where south of Tarawa. I am moving some subs down there to hunt.

Larry moved a bunch of A/C up to Magwe. Why I cannot comprehend. He could attack almost any target he want to in Burma from Rangoon without fear of reprisal. I can engage him here from three seaperate AB's. I am moving more Hurricanes into the area. I have 230 A/C of various models including LB-30 off the souther coast of Australia. These planes will add to the striking power in this theatre.

There are finally A/C at Darwin and they are attacking the troops at Katherine. The first troops have unloaded at Cooktown and immediately started building the AB up. In a few weeks I should be able to start offensive ops against NG.

[vettim89]

23 August 1942

The air battle over magwe went the Allies way - over 25 Japanese aircraft were lost in exchange for 4 P-40E and 4 Blenheim IV. Magwe now has 15 runway damage and cursor intel reveals all the bombers were pulled out. I will go back for one more raid before standing down for R&R. The AVG has its usual high level of damaged A/C.

KB is hovering 5 hexes NE of Pago Pago and cursor intel reveals there is an aditional TF with it. Is it an invasion TF or maybe a replenishment TF. Time will tell.

In China Kahnsien is completely isolated. I have been supply by air but am unsure if this will be enough. My counter offensive to threaten the Japanese left flank is not materializing very quickly. Units are moving disorganized with an engineer unit arriving first

[vettim89]

24 August 1942

By active areas....

Oz

IJA troops moved out of Darwin and are now one hex north of Katherine. I am thinking of moving a sizable force up to Alice Springs but still am concerned about leaving SE Oz weak. I have hundreds of A/C in OZ but what I lack is AV support. I have 51st Aviation RGT at SF but at present lack the lift to move them. My current plan is to draw the IJA deeper into the Outback if I can before springing a trap. Cooktown AB is nearly level 2. A few weeks should do it.

China

My units moving south out of Hengshow are nearly in position and the crossroads west of Kanhsien is blocked. My units moving out of Wuchow have all arrived 1 hex NW of Canton except for the last two which are at 58 nm distance traveled. I will show a screenie next turn(because I want to show something else this turn). I have effectively rolled up the IJA's left flank here

Burma

Todays airbattle over Magwe was not nearly as successful but the Japanese were still on the losing end of the loss ratio. Larry did a deliberate attack on the units that had retreated from Magwe (these are actually the last units from Rangoon). These units were trapped in the hex between Magwe and Mandalay. His assualt can off at 9 to 1 and to both of surprises, they retreated to Mandalay (nothing like a 60 nm teleport threw dense tropical jungle). I thought the would retreat north up the trail to Imphal and Larry thought they would surrender. There is no way to express how pleased I am at this. I was sure these guys would spend months in the jungle with me having to air drop supplies in to them. Instead they end up at a base with oodles of support and ample supply.

Pago Pago

A new twist as a SCTF moves in and bombards. I had created a bunch of PT boats there last turn and they did a little damage for the loss of 6 boats. I really screwed up and created 36 PT's. I thought the button didn't work the first time I hit it and then thought it was 6 boats per click. Well its 12 boats per hit and I hit it three times. It is a level 3 port and I have no AGP there so I hope Larry considerers it no harm/no foul. We do not have any HR's regarding PT's but I know if this was done on purpose it woudl be considered very gamey. The bombardment means Larry is coming within 14 days. My CV's are waiting at PH for some AP's to make it in. I will load 40th ID plus a large BF and try to get it in before he arrives. If successful, I can use CVE Casablanca which is at Noumea to ferry in some more a/c. I will be using Hornet which is down to 7 Syst damage. Enterprise remains at Bremerton (I know it says Seattle on the map but it is really Bremerton) with 12 Syst Damage. Would have liked to wait a few weeks on this but my hand is forced. I sortied every SS in the HI with less than 5 syst damage towards Pago Pago (about 5 each of S-Boats and newer classes) I also sent the 5 undamaged old BB's from SF to PH. They may need to enter the fray

[Capt. Harlock]

KB is hovering 5 hexes NE of Pago Pago and cursor intel reveals there is an aditional TF with it. Is it an invasion TF or maybe a replenishment TF. Time will tell.

In the meantime, knowing the location of the KB is a very useful thing . . .