Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[rustysi]

Yes, 5 Fleet HQ is a command HQ, but it's only at 11% for Adak.

Its been my experience that something is better than nothing, especially when it comes to the attacking ground units themselves. How much this will help seems to be 11%.[:D]

[rustysi]

One last thing before I end. My concern with your whole op here is the amount of force you are willing to dedicate to this theater. I understand (or at least I think I do) your desire to alleviate the threat form this direction. Although its one of the areas of the game I believe is weak, because I doubt the region could be a viable avenue of approach for large scale ops given the terrain and especially the weather. That said if I were Ted and had to direct a force large enough to expel you my inclination would be to just continue on as I've already committed the force. Thus the whole op defeats its own purpose, and makes the Aleutian gambit a main avenue of approach for the Allies. Especially since he seems to be stuck in the other current main thrust area, namely the SE. IOW are you creating 'a self fulling prophecy'. Just one of my many meanderings when if comes to this game.

[Mike Solli]

Rusty, I hear ya. I have a different opinion of that AO though. I feel that if the Allies kick the Japanese out of the Aleutians, they will have a nice base that is very close to Japan to carry the war there. To this point, the Home Islands are very safe. Yeah, the occasional sub gets a hit, but overall there really is no threat to the Japanese there. The nearest base is Midway, and it isn't very big. Wherever the Americans land, they can dump a thousand engineers and build up that base in no time. They can also dump several hundred thousand supply and fuel just as easily. Station a few divisions and a few hundred fighters there, and it's theirs forever. That's what I fear in the Aleutians. You're right, the weather there sucks. But, if they simply use it as a forward base, the weather protects them. If Adak becomes that base I just described, then he can station a large fleet there and sail whenever he likes. I don't really know how to defend against that and defend the SRA. The Japanese fleet just ain't big enough. The last surface warship I got was a DD on 26 April. I really don't want to know what Ted has gotten since then.

I think Ted thought he could get Adak on the cheap. When he landed a division and realized it wasn't enough, he sent 2 more brigades hoping to overwhelm the defenses. And he would have had I not reinforced with 2 divisions. My intent here is to kill off the invasion and then pull out some of the troops for other duties. I hope to do it slowly, a ship or two at a time so he may not notice. I hope he decides it's not worth it anymore. He's lost 2 or 3 BBs up there. Yeah, he gets a lot, but that still has to hurt. I've lost nothing larger than a DD. Yeah, I'm using fuel and supply, but both are still increasing and I'm shipping fuel and oil to the Home Islands as fast as I get the stuff. I'm happy as long as he focuses on the Solomons. The. more time there, the better. I'll sacrifice every ground unit I have down there if he wants to waste his time there.

[PaxMondo]

your sig is back. definitely weird.

[PaxMondo]

Well, with 5th fleet nearby, your units will be able to upgrade. take advantage of that.

[Mike Solli]

Guess I should catch up...

3 Jun 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

I sent my "bombardment" fleet as a surface fleet to raid Dutch Harbor. I also had a small TF of 6x DDs with a lower TF number headed to the same place. The DDs arrived first finding the DD Cushing. After exchanging a lot of torpedoes and gunfire, they parted ways with a single shell hit on Ushio doing little to no damage. This was not the first time we would see that damn DD. [:@]

Next came the big TF of 4x BB, 2x CL & 6x DD. They found a TF of 4x AMs and put them all down. Next they found 3x SCs and put down 2 before the third one ran. Then they found a couple of YMS and sank them. Then they caught up with the surviving SC and sank her. Then, DD Cushing. [8|]

Ok, all those ships against little Cushing. She charged right in and planted a couple of shell hits on Musashi. I doubt it even scratched the paint. No problem. Everybody and their brother was shooting at Cushing and missing. Then, Musashi planted an 18" shell on her, so her commander said. There wasn't even any smoke. [8|] In all the confusion (remember, 1 US DD) the CL Oshio and DD Naganami collided. [:(] I couldn't tell what damaged occurred. All I knew was there was no smoke during the battle. Little Cushing got away and the battle ended. What I didn't know was that the damn engine pulled Naganami out into its own TF. I guess the damage was severe.

Now daylight. I learned that Ted has at least a dozen SBDs at Unmak. Poor ole Naganami ended up right in Unmak's hex and was plastered by 3x 1000 lb bombs. She's now a fish apartment. Everyone else got away.

Damn Cushing!

The bombardment fleet will bombard Adak tomorrow to help soften up the Allies for the attack on them.

4 Fleet

I invaded Canton Island in the hopes of killing off the PBYs stationed there. The SNLF landed and did a pretty feeble shock attack. No forts but still a 1:6 attack. Losses were minimal. I had about a third of the marines disabled. The American unit there is the 110 Base Force. Apparently they have a small contingent of troops to protect them. I'll drop some more supply there and try again in a couple of days.

SE Fleet

Ted focused his (air) attention on Tassafronga. He also has some carriers there. I think it's a CV (Enterprise?) and a CVE. Not sure but there isn't much there and they're focusing on bombing the troops there into the Stone Age. Some 2E and 4E bombers participated but they didn't do too much. Bombing jungle isn't very effective.

Both Rabaul and Gasmata have no damage.

SRA
Burma
China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The Ki-84a Frank R&D advanced to 2/44 (expected ~8/43).
The P1Y1 Peggy R&D advanced to 10/43 (expected 9/43).

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

your sig is back. definitely weird.

It could be your ISP having spotty access to the server it is hosted on.

[Dirtnap86]

USS Cushing Terror of the Japanese fleets in the Aleutians!

Capable of 37 knots and armed with 5x1 5"/38 guns, she carried 3x4 torp launchers. She met her fate at Guadalcanal in real life, seeing off the IJN bombardment fleet that was targeting Henderson Field, 12 Nov 1942.

[Mike Solli]

Very cool, thanks Dirtnap. Now it's really embarrassing seeing how old she really is. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

5 Jun 43

Sub War

The Haddock has been hanging around a deep hex just off Soerabaja. I have an ASW TF with 3x SCs that have spent most of the war guarding that patch of water. The Haddock fired a full dozen torpedoes at them before finally hitting one. She lingered off most of the day before finally sinking. Her two surviving sisters used up most of their depth charges killing fish (not haddock) and retired to port to replenish.

5 Fleet

The long awaited shock attack went off without a hitch. Here are the details:

Ground combat at Adak Island (162,52)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 37825 troops, 479 guns, 316 vehicles, Assault Value = 1197

Defending force 14770 troops, 280 guns, 311 vehicles, Assault Value = 351

Japanese adjusted assault: 794

Allied adjusted defense: 271

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
958 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 136 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1008 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 88 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 46 (3 destroyed, 43 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
19th Division
71st Division
4th Garrison Unit
Maizuru 3rd SNLF
23rd Tank Regiment
67th Naval Guard Unit
22nd Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Field AA Machinecannon Company
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Mortar Regiment
35th Const Co
7th Base Force
39th Field AA Machinecannon Company
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Medium FA Rgt /1

Defending units:
41st Infantry Division
58th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
153rd(Sep) Infantry Regiment
151st Combat Engineer Regiment

There's some good intel there. They are short supply and they're fatigued. Also, my losses were lower than reported. My total losses for both attacks are 8 infantry, 3 engineer, 3 HMG squads and 4 tanks. My disruption and fatigue are all no higher than 10 with the exception of 16 disruption for the 4 Garrison unit. I also came very close to 3:1 odds. I'm not sure if it makes any difference when the defender doesn't own the base, but I know Allied troops will surrender more easily than Japanese troops when in that situation. We'll see.

I like to track the AV during attacks. Yes, it can be FOW, but it still gives a general trend. The engineer regiment was trashed (AV = 0) after the deliberate attack and was still 0 for the shock attack. The two infantry brigades ended the shock attack at 38 and 35 AV and the 41 Division ended the shock attack at 7 AV. I am going to shock attack again tomorrow and I'm throwing in my reserves, the Naval Guard and SNLF units, an additional 122 fresh AV.

It's interesting to note that there are 2 Allied TFs in Adak's hex, totaling 3 ships if my intel is correct. I have 2 midget subs and a MTB sitting in Adak's hex and they are just watching them. Also, my Judy chutai didn't attack and they're set for naval attack. Not to mention the mines in the hex..... [8|]

I wonder if he's trying to get a slice of some of the units out to rebuild them. Anyway, MKB was sailing south to Truk but I turned them around to come back just in case they can catch some of those ships. I made sure to keep them out of range of Unmak. I want them to go after ships, not enemy planes. They were spotted heading south. I hope Ted thinks they're leaving the AO. Could be a fun surprise for him.

4 Fleet

My SNLF on Canton Island is resting one more day. I have Glen subs surrounding the area and there's nothing spotted coming to their rescue.

SE Fleet

Ted bombarded Tassafronga with 2 CA and 3 CL and quite a few land based planes, along with the carrier planes, doing little damage (there's not much there to kill). I let the air attack go at normal speed. Sometimes you can get info on the air units attacking and I was not disappointed. The two I saw were VRF2T and VT37. Anyone have an idea who they belong to?

I am setting up another ambush down here. A couple of days ago, I sent the Shokaku, Zuikaku and Ryujo (Soryu is still repairing some accumulated damage) on a wide arc east then south to surprise the US carriers from the east. They total 102 Zeros, 36 Vals and 54 Kates. The US carriers (I think there are 2- CV & CVE) are focused on bombing Tassafronga. My will be in range tomorrow so it may be interesting down there. My carriers have not been spotted yet.

I pulled the fighters out of Gasmata. They were slowly being worn down (number wise) and their morale has been dropping. I also fear an invasion. The bombardment from a couple days ago may just have been a sightseeing visit however. Rabaul is in great shape with no damage. Bring em on!

My first George daitai will be fully repaired at Truk and available for deployment tomorrow. I've never used a George before and am excited at the opportunity it affords. [:D] Can you guys remind me of what the George should be deployed against? Fighters or bombers? What altitude? You know, all that good stuff. [;)]

SRA
Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Not much to report here either. I made 3 deliberate attacks against renegade Chinese units scattered around the map, trashing them all. The important area is Chungking. I now have all the units in the area pushed into Chungking with 2 of my 4 major armies adjacent to that base. The other two are enroute. Chungking is effectively surrounded (with 620k troops there [X(]).

Other Stuff

The A6M5c R&D advanced to 10/43 (expected to become operational in 7/43).

Ted has the turn and is off today. Expecting it soon!

[mind_messing]

China

Not much to report here either. I made 3 deliberate attacks against renegade Chinese units scattered around the map, trashing them all. The important area is Chungking. I now have all the units in the area pushed into Chungking with 2 of my 4 major armies adjacent to that base. The other two are enroute. Chungking is effectively surrounded (with 620k troops there ).

Having went through the Siege of Chungkingrad myself, in retrospect it's a better move to leave a single hexside open for the Chinese to retreat through than to close the hex off and eliminate the Chinese completely.

If you leave a hexside open, you'll have an easier time actually taking the city and you'll force the Chinese defenders out of good defensive terrain and into the open, where your troops and bombers will have a much easier time destroying them.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

China

Not much to report here either. I made 3 deliberate attacks against renegade Chinese units scattered around the map, trashing them all. The important area is Chungking. I now have all the units in the area pushed into Chungking with 2 of my 4 major armies adjacent to that base. The other two are enroute. Chungking is effectively surrounded (with 620k troops there ).

Having went through the Siege of Chungkingrad myself, in retrospect it's a better move to leave a single hexside open for the Chinese to retreat through than to close the hex off and eliminate the Chinese completely.

If you leave a hexside open, you'll have an easier time actually taking the city and you'll force the Chinese defenders out of good defensive terrain and into the open, where your troops and bombers will have a much easier time destroying them.

+1

My opinion as well, but as I play AI I wouldn't give it much weight. I know there is a great variance in opinion on this.

[Mike Solli]

MM & Pax, I think that's a great idea. I have 2 hexes covered so far. Looking at the map, I think I may leave the NW hex open for the Chinese retreat. It's a clear hex so he'll die much quicker that way.

[PaxMondo]

Exactly the one I leave open ...

[Mike Solli]

6 Jun 43

Sub War

The RO-107 was heading back to Truk for replenishment and ran right into three US DDs. She didn't survive the experience. [:(]

Ted is definitely becoming more aggressive with his subs. One or 2 of them found a PB (Ansyu-C on a fast transport mission) just east of Etorofu. The first badly wounded her and the second put her out of her misery.

I need to find a new way to employ my subs. They just can't survive the enemy destroyers any more.

5 Fleet

Ted found a solution for my Oscars at Adak: 3x B-17Es. [8|]. They shot down 2 of my Oscars (1 WIA) for no loss (possibly an op loss) but did no damage.

I tried another shock attack today. This one fared better but those surviving Americans are still hanging on. In the 4:1 attack, I took 720(17) casualties (mainly tanks) to 1135(104) Americans. Their losses are definitely going up dramatically. I'm confident they are doomed but it's just a matter of how long now. Three attacks in as many days (2 of them shock attacks) have finally fatigued my troops. I'm going to let them recover tomorrow and will bombard with my nice pile of artillery. Just a note: during this attack, the 58 SEP IN Bde reached 0 AV by the end of the battle. I'm curious to see if they recover. The 151 Combat EN Reg hasn't recovered since they hit 0 AV, back on 4 June. The 41 Div is down to 5 AV and the 153 SEP IN Bde is holding the line with 28 AV.

I'm pretty sure the two Allied TFs sitting in Adak's hex are subs now. I can see them but no one is attacking them, which makes sense since I have nothing with ASW capability there. I need to rectify that glaring error. As I'm typing, I'm thinking of finding a DB chutai that's training (or maybe an IJAAF unit), give them some ASW pilots and send them in to practice on live targets. It's 7 am on a Saturday. Why hasn't Ted gotten up to run the turn?! [:D]

4 Fleet

I'm whittling down the US defenders of Canton Island. Tomorrow I think I'll bombard with the CA and a couple of DDs to hasten their departure. [;)]

SE Fleet

Nothing exciting here really. Ted is bombing the former Madang garrison (rabble in the jungle) and the Tassafronga garrison with his bombers. Nothing to write home about. Hell, the poor electronic soldiers can't write home anyway. They're all cut off and starving for the most part.

He did get a whiff of my carriers and his little carrier group scattered to the west. Nothing was in range of my carriers so I'm pulling them out. They'll hang around for a couple of days in case he returns. I doubt it though. It really won't delay the attack on Tassafronga because the 2 Marine Division is crawling overland to attack them.

My Georges deployed to Rabaul to get a little bomber action. No bombers came to play, however. [:'(]

SRA
Burma
China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: xAK Peking Maru - Std-C, will convert to a TK

[Mike Solli]

7 Jun 43

Sub War

Nothing to report (thankfully).

5 Fleet

My carriers are still hanging around to the south of Adak. Fuel limitations will allow them to stay for a few more days. I sent them back to within range of Adak just in case the enemy TFs were ships. I'm going to test my sub theory. I've detached 4 DDs and am sending them to Adak. Lets see if they are subs or not.

I bombarded today. And yes, the 58 SEP IN Bde did not regain any AV. The bombardment reduced all four of the US units to 0 AV. I'm going to try another shock attack tomorrow using all my infantry. I'm not sending in the 23 Tank "Regiment". It has a whopping 4 operational tanks right now with about 45 or so disabled ones. Pax, I learned that if there are enemy troops in the hex, you cannot rest a formation. Guess it'll have to wait.

Today, 4x B-17Es came for a visit. This time they shot down 4 Oscars (2 WIA) for no loss and no damage to me. At this rate, they'll destroy the Oscar sentai in ~10 days. I split the sentai and upgraded one of the chutai to the Tojo IIc. Lets see if that helps (when they repair, of course).

4 Fleet

I bombarded Canton Island and did a shock attack. Killed a couple more enemy infantry. Death by 1000 cuts.

SE Fleet

Same as yesterday. Air bombardment of the former Madang garrison and Tassafronga. Wasted day for the Allies here. [:D]

SRA
Burma

Nothing to report.

China

I attacked and took Patung, trashing the starving Chinese Corps defending. I now have liberated every base in China except for Chungking (and one base in clear terrain where ~100k Chinese are trapped and starving). There are a number of wandering Chinese units scattered around the countryside, but they have no supply. I also have another Chinese army of ~70k surrounded in the middle of nowhere. My bombers are bombing both bases and other units in the hopes of eventually destroying them. I'm slowly moving all my freed up units toward Chungking to form a massive army to do a sightseeing tour of Chungking. Lots of artillery too. It'll be a while. My goal is to enter Chungking by August. We'll see.

Other Stuff

The Ki-43-IIIa Oscar R&D advanced to 8/43 (will become operational in 7/43).
The Ki-100-II Tony R&D advanced to 11/43 (will become operational in 7/43). Yay!!

[ny59giants]

If you're not attacking at Adak for a few days, I would divide my divisions to allow each to recover disabled squads quicker. Instead of just 1 or 2 squads in the whole division recovering each turn, it will happen in each of the three combat commands. Recombine just before you attack again.

EDIT: Since you cannot use "Rest" try putting the worse in "Reserve" and "No Pursuit" to recover. They are not pulled into combat unless odds are worse than 2:1 against you.

[Mike Solli]

Thanks for the reminder, Michael. That didn't enter my mind. I usually do that after a successful battle but didn't think to do it "during" a battle.

[ny59giants]

Don't forget that whole Japanese divisions will ONLY go to forts 2 in non-base hexes. If you divide them, they will go higher. In some places in China, I've had the three combat commands go to 4, then recombine them (still retaining the fort level (3 or 4). [;)]

[Mike Solli]

Now that I never knew. Always learning with this game.

I found a suitable unit for ASW work at Adak. There is a 12 plane chutai with a restricted HQ at Tokyo and it has been training ASW. The pilots are all 50+ experience and 70+ ASW skill. I will change them to Helens and an unrestricted HQ next turn and then fly them to Adak. Then put them on to ASW at 0 range. Hopefully, there will be fireworks.