Matrix Games Forums

9/30/42

A few raids on Cam Ranh Bay generate several naval engagements, and the Allies swamp the route with subs...getting shots on two different carriers and missing. Soo many subs.

Naval search...I knew there was PT boats, but was hoping the sweeping destroyers would catch them, and the big girl here would catch a cruiser force.

Not so, two engagements with massed PT boats and Yamato also puts the finishing touches on the AKE TF attacked earlier by the sweeping destroyer squadrons.

Pakse falls to massed allied tanks shock attacking, Tourane holds barely (even with massed naval bombardments), and Temuloh fall (north of Singers).

Allied land strength is simply overwhelming.

Another good day in the inflicting losses on the Allies...

Just skimmed over this for the first time. Kudos for going with the accidental Soviet activation, I don't think many others would have done so! Makes me feel better about the current position I am in in my game...

Oct 3, 1942

The Massive Soviet Armored strike here might be blunted, but Japan cannot make any headway either. Meanwhile, other ares of the Soviet line offer no opportunity either for Japan....

The supply costs in this huge long front are simply amazing.

Can you say disaster?

Malaya and area...

Well, I understand that facing SOV in mid '45 is a nightmare but it's very very far in the game. I feel that most of the game has already been decided somewhere else when SOV hordes arrive.

Of course they are a problem, but if you have USA strat bombing your industry at short range and no more industrial power... Well you are done in any case.

On the other side, if you are somehow holding the ground in mid '45, SOV will cause you a lot of troubles but you can try to slow them down for some months.




Regarding China: raw AVs are not very indicative. Good Chinese troops are a big problem but they still lack of heavy equipement and there is no way they can have sufficient supplies just holding CK plains.
Those damn cities provide them some industrial power but it's nothing that changes the balance in the Theatre.



India. It's horribly complex to attack India. I landed there at the end of January and I still had to conquer Burma so it has been a very brutal campaign with thousands of squad destroyed and many LCUs razed.
Moreover, I have been blocked around Calcutta for 4 months.

Therefore, I do not advice to attack India unless you are so sure of what you are doing that you can bear the burden of months and months of terrible losses everywhere.
On the other side, now that I am besieging Hyderabad and Bombay with just USA reinforcements to contest me, I feel that attacking India is a big deal. Well, 'big' is an euphemism...

Securing India provides a lot of OIL (300 undamaged from Magwe and 70 from Ledo), RES, HI and LI. And, something very important, it blows up Commonwealth's armies: they have a chronic shortage of everything and if you destroy some divisions leaving the others barely alive, it becomes really difficoult for an Allied player to gather a threatening force for a very long time.

I decided to bet on India rather than other places and I am completely satisfied with my choice, even if very bloody (in August I have used 800 IJA inf squads for example).

10/5/1942

IJAAF bombers are hitting hard this major Chinese push. Today Tojos' swept away the P38s, and for now the 4E beasts haven't had success hitting the IJA troopers.

Oct 6, 1942

Another major Soviet thrust...

It still floors me that the Soviets have such huge forces available in the Far East at a time when historically they were in a desperate fight for survival against the Germans.

My thoughts of the subject of beating the Soviets after Chungking:

- The correct move for the entire Chinese Army is to run on Dec 7th for Burma, and thence India if Burma falls. Burma/India has supply, China does not.
- The IJA China Expeditionary Army needs to move to destroy as much of the Chinese Army as possible, following it to Burma as necessary.
- The Kwantung Army needs to support the China Expeditionary Army to the fullest extent possible in the capture of China.
- Afterwards, the best elements of both the CEA and Kwantung Army need to be picked off for deployment against the Allied forces in the Pacific.
- The IJA is vastly outnumbered throughout most of the game: there's little value on bringing more on.

It still floors me that the Soviets have such huge forces available in the Far East at a time when historically they were in a desperate fight for survival against the Germans.

The issue with the Soviets was never manpower (at least not until the very late war) but equipment shortages. The Soviet forces in the East are all at near full TOE, so it makes sense that there's manpower to funnel in to the units.

However, it's mainly a balance decision. If the Soviets had zero or very low levels of replacements, then it would be the meta move for the IJA to immediately attack the Soviets on Dec 7th to start a war of attrition that they'd be certain to win before '45. Then you'd have the usual tears on the forum about ahistorical play.

Alfred once commented that the developers had very limited data about the Soviet forces in the Far East.

October 7, 1942

These two heavy cruisers have been stuck in a heavily damaged state since Jan of 1941, prior to Soviet activation. They got into a slugging match with some Allies cruisers near Singers, and then they retreated north up thru the Malacca Straits rather than east or south. Hence, they have been out of the game for the entire war...

Here they make a mad dash for Miri and are caught close to Singers...

So many subs...and the IJN is mounting an attempt to rescue some troops south of Cam Ranh Bay.

Allied subs finally connect with one torpedo...

Most likely both Soviet Tank Divisions here...infiltrating deep. Huge piles of Soviet artillery position are to the north shelling.

No joy for the cruisers, by the end of the day everyone is sunk. Allies even sortied PBYs against them.

Soviet tactics are to tie down the IJA with equal to slightly lesser numbers but concentrate their artillery in huge batteries while sending their tanks forward to infiltrate in the west, while in the east they are just used overwhelming force.

Chinese, supported by a few Soviets, just used overwhelming attacks...

Imagine the scene, the dispirited defenders of Cam Ranh Bay and points west huddled onto this outcropping being shelled, attacked and bombed daily when the IJN pulls up with many destroyers seeking to rescue some of the troops...but there is only space for 20-25%.

Chaos!



There are two squadrons of PT boats now north of Hue...they were hunting the KB.