Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Capt. Harlock - I have to think that that single hit on Mustin was in the magazine. No shame to the surviving DC parties for getting off the wreckage before it went down!

Re: Oi, it starts the war as a regular cruiser with guns and 8 TT [4 per side]. I think you refer to a mid-war mod when it was fitted out as a torpedo cruiser with 40 TT and almost no guns. I suspect this mod is not yet available to the Japanese and if it is, there is a possibility that Steve did not do it.

Not sure about the fast transport conversion but IRL the Japanese scrapped the torpedo cruiser idea when it became clear that the close-in knife fights of the Solomons battles were a thing of the past. They converted her again to an AA cruiser. I think a sub got her after all that.

Oi (and Katakami) starts as a torpedo CL. 40 long lance. It can be converted later to less torps, more AA.

The Allies have good information on both bases. Recon of Kuching has been going on for months (9/10 detection level holding steady). Sambas was an Allied base until about two weeks ago. When the little Brit base force finally "evaporated," hex control flipped control of the base. I'm counting on both being empty, but it isn't the end of the world if I guess wrong.

The Allies have also been reconning a number of bases in Malaya and western Sumatra for at least six months. So I have good information to go on there if the Allies eelect to invade at Victoria Point.

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Capt. Harlock - I have to think that that single hit on Mustin was in the magazine. No shame to the surviving DC parties for getting off the wreckage before it went down!

Re: Oi, it starts the war as a regular cruiser with guns and 8 TT [4 per side]. I think you refer to a mid-war mod when it was fitted out as a torpedo cruiser with 40 TT and almost no guns. I suspect this mod is not yet available to the Japanese and if it is, there is a possibility that Steve did not do it.

Not sure about the fast transport conversion but IRL the Japanese scrapped the torpedo cruiser idea when it became clear that the close-in knife fights of the Solomons battles were a thing of the past. They converted her again to an AA cruiser. I think a sub got her after all that.

Oi (and Katakami) starts as a torpedo CL. 40 long lance. It can be converted later to less torps, more AA.

Interesting - I didn't look at Scenario 2 - I checked my Intel Info - Sunk Ships screen from my Scenario 1 game and when I sunk Oi on Dec. 31/41 it had only 8 TT and the usual 5.5 inch guns for the Kuma class. Didn't know the ship features could vary between scenarios in the same timeframe.

Interesting - I didn't look at Scenario 2 - I checked my Intel Info - Sunk Ships screen from my Scenario 1 game and when I sunk Oi on Dec. 31/41 it had only 8 TT and the usual 5.5 inch guns for the Kuma class. Didn't know the ship features could vary between scenarios in the same timeframe.

IRL the conversion of Oi into a "torpedo cruiser" was complete by the end of September 1941. Just one year later, she was converted into a fast transport. Not that it matters, since Scenario 2 is not bound by what happened historically.

1000 words is sometimes three letters

OMG is right - CR has a ready-made allied offensive highway already paved & ready to go once the resources are available....

11/26/42

Borneo: Allied paratroops take vacant Kuching and Sambas. The army moving on Singkawang has made 40 miles, so it will move to the hex adjacent to the target tomorrow. The Pensacola TF finished off two heavily damaged xAK at the base. Three TFs will visit the port tonight to guard against enemy reinforcement attempts. No signs that Steve is trying anything by air transport yet.

Singkep: Heavy attention from enemy bombers. SigInt reports additional IJA reinforcements en route.

Sumatra: Tomorrow, an Aussie brigade to attack three weak IJ units west of Padang.

Burma: The Allies are besieging Pegu. The Allied force moving on Prome will arrive in a few days.

NoPac: What appears to be an enemy combat or fast transport TF may be en route to Amchitka in a re-supply effort.

CenPac: The Japanese take vacant Vanuriko.

SWPac: Allied troops transports carrying garrison units to Suamlaki and Taberfane (north of Timor, true map) should arrive in about two days.

The slow wave is moving forward inexorably.

After seeing the recent maps I also wonder whether some of the Thai and French IndoChina bases might be acquired on the cheap with a para-drop? Luangprabang and Vientian come to mind, as does Lao Cai north of Hanoi.

It would certainly send him scrambling if you could pick up a few of these or especially the Nakhom base near Bankkok. I had to ask, considering the state of the rest of the map currently.

I think CR is wise to move forward cautiously & methodically at this point. Chaz still has a lot of toys at his disposal (though the IJN is pretty roughed up). Once 1943 rolls around, CR should be like the tide rolling in....for now, I think slow and steady wins this race.

Oil is the objective in 1943, not territory.  I recognize that may seem heresy, and in most games it would be.  As Q-Ball and I and many others have stated, there are two Allied objectives in AE:  choking off resources and closing on Japan to engage in strategic bombing.  In many games, the latter is the most important or viable objective.  So, if this was a "normal" game, I'd be very interested in jumping all over the Philippines even if doing so in early 1943 presented sizeable risks.
 
But in this game chocking off resources is paramount.  Japan only has a few major oil-producing bases in the DEI.  With the Allies in possession of Palembang and Djambi since the start fo the war, with Magwe haven fallen in early 1942, and with Japan's hold on Medan so tenuous, the Allies should be able to strangle Japan's economy.  The only major oil bases in Japanese hands are Miri, Balikpapan, Tarakan and Soerabaja.  Those are my targets in early 1943.
 
Taking southern Malaya and western Sumatra is also important, primarily to open up a secure route of passage for Allies shipping into the theater (the Sunda Straight is narrow and somewhat dangerous given enemy subs and the presence of big enemy bases nearby).
 

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

Ugh. I had no idea about the number of uncaptured bases Chez has left in the central PI. He's really opening himself up for a speedy Allied re-lodgement here.

HOW could these bases NOT be taken??!! Once you break him in the current battle Dan just get some supplies up here and you'll cut the DEI right away from the Japanese...

I don't know how these bases haven't been taken.  It's the great mystery of the game.

But how exactly do the Allies get supply in any meaningful quantity to the Philippines?  It's not like Steve wouldn't contest the effort.  (Well, I suppose it's remotely possible he wouldn't, but far more likely that he would jump at the chance, and in doing so would have the larger force of carriers and land-based air).

To me, the Philippines represent ripe fruit on the tree available for the picking.  It's unbelieve the bases are out there, vacant or controlled by the Allies.  But the fruit is in all likelihood poisoned.  Mounting a major operation to move that deeply into enemy territory is asking for a major clash on terms most beneficial to Japan.

So I think the Allies are better served dealing with objectives that are more important and more attainable at much less risk.

CR, I have not read each and every page of this AAR, so I do not have a complete picture of the geography, or the Japanese surviving OOB. I also know it's early.

BUT, in line with my brute force approach to stuck pickle jars and AE, I invite your attention to Miri. I know now, after 'extensively' playing the Japanese side into Feb 1942 [:)], that Miri is no slouch of a fuel source, although it is usually taken quite damaged. He has to be on fumes not having Palembang. Loss of Miri would, as Mr. Doyle Brunson, the finest Texas Hold 'Em player in history, says 'put him to the test for all of his chips.' Miri is not a long stretch forward from your current lines. If you have to risk your carriers to do it (not sure you do, at least not all of them) you will soon have many more, but the war could be over by then.

By 1943 he begins to get much better planes and a new wave of low-mix combatants. Waiting might be 'safer' and it might not be. I know you can win in 1943, 44, 45, or 46. But I also think, given that extraordinary map you posted, you can win now if you loosen your grip a bit and bet on the river card. At minimum he has to respond to a Miri landing--he has to--and you get another, near-future chance to maul him.

Miri or Balikpapan will be the next major objective.  The Allies will feint toward one while the "real thing" moves towards the other.  The KB may be caught a bit out of position since it has to go around northern Borneo to move from one to the other - a successful feint won't mean a great deal of time, but it should buy some.

By the way, SigInt suggest that Steve is reinforcing Miri and Brunei pretty quickly.  I think Beufort, just to the north, is vacant.  (111th Chindit is prepping for that base.)
 
I haven't had any SigInt regarding Banjermasin, Balikpapan or Samarinda in months.  I suspect, but I'm not positive, that they are lightly held.  I am not going to recon any time soon as I don't want to arouse Steve's attention. 
 
At this point, I would think a major feint towards Miri would be just what Steve is expecting.  He'd jump all over it.  That would create a nice opening to then move on the Balikpapan complex.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Miri or Balikpapan will be the next major objective.  The Allies will feint toward one while the "real thing" moves towards the other.  The KB may be caught a bit out of position since it has to go around northern Borneo to move from one to the other - a successful feint won't mean a great deal of time, but it should buy some.

Balikpapan is good too, but in my experience a bit more 'air intense' given the bases on Java, Celebes, Timor, and the like. The strait there is also a huge choke point for subs to hunt. Depending on what (and where) he has naval-wise in the PI Balikpapan can be a day's sail closer for him, with multiple routes out of the PI itself (Cebu, Davao, etc.) Miri is closer to Manila I think, without checking. Miri is open to the sea on 180 degrees of the compass, and the daughter bases on north Borneo are relatively small air-wise. Strikes due north from the larger bases are at long range.

That said, he's probably getting a bigger volume of POL out of Balikpapan as his transit routes to the HI are not as exposed.

FWIW, when I took Miri in my game it had 180 damage to the refineries, and about 130 to the Oil. That's a lot of supply shipped in to fix things up. His damage, like mine, would be random, but he might have only recently gotten anything useful out of Miri. You could cut its head off early and really frustrate him. I haven't taken Balikpapan yet, so I can't speak to its possible condition.

IIRC Miri begins the game with Oil 50% damaged - 150(150).

ORIGINAL: witpqs

IIRC Miri begins the game with Oil 50% damaged - 150(150).

Ah, OK. I was extrapolating from its condition on Feb 5. Oil (106)194. Refineries (112)188. I don't think I've gotten a ship's worth of anything out yet since the Allies are raiding from Singers still. But I've shipped in a whole lot of supplies.

In this game, Miri is about 150 (150).  Steve took it belatedly and hasn't repaired any of the damage.  That's another in the list of reasons oil should be his Achilles Heel.
 
As for the Philippines, Cebu is still an Allied base. [X(]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Oil is the objective in 1943, not territory.  I recognize that may seem heresy, and in most games it would be.  As Q-Ball and I and many others have stated, there are two Allied objectives in AE:  choking off resources and closing on Japan to engage in strategic bombing.  In many games, the latter is the most important or viable objective.  So, if this was a "normal" game, I'd be very interested in jumping all over the Philippines even if doing so in early 1943 presented sizeable risks.

But in this game chocking off resources is paramount.  Japan only has a few major oil-producing bases in the DEI.  With the Allies in possession of Palembang and Djambi since the start fo the war, with Magwe haven fallen in early 1942, and with Japan's hold on Medan so tenuous, the Allies should be able to strangle Japan's economy.  The only major oil bases in Japanese hands are Miri, Balikpapan, Tarakan and Soerabaja.  Those are my targets in early 1943.

Taking southern Malaya and western Sumatra is also important, primarily to open up a secure route of passage for Allies shipping into the theater (the Sunda Straight is narrow and somewhat dangerous given enemy subs and the presence of big enemy bases nearby).

So now you are an Oil Man, eh! Saw a movie about oil men a couple of years ago. What was the name of it? ... Oh yeah - There Will Be Blood ! Come to think of it that describes the action in the DEI for some time now!