Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[DOCUP]

Early on Thai units are kinda crappy.  What does he have at Prome?  Also how is your supply for your troops in Burma?  If you can threaten Toungou (sp), he will have supply problems and face being cut off.  So he will have to run or attack your forces in the south.
 
Trying to catch up on your AAR.  Nice job in the air by the way.

[BBfanboy]

I'm guessing that a bombardment mission means the DMS do not stream their paravanes. A minesweeping DMS force followed (on the routing page) by a Surface TF might work, or just a Surface TF with DMS embedded. Or make it an Amphib TF without any xAPs/xAKs. The DMS always seem to clear a path when embedded with an Amphib TF and the cruisers respond to gunfire to suppress it.

[JocMeister]

Hey Docup! I now have 4(!) readers! [:D]

You can probably learn a lot from reading my AAR! Just do exactly the opposite of what I have done and you should do great! [:D] I have had some major problems switching from defense to offense. I just can´t get it right. Partly from this being my first PBEM and partly loosing all CVs. I´m slowly getting the hang of it I think. At least after the PM adventure is over I know a lot of stuff I shouldn´t do! [:)]

The air war is pretty much the only thing I´m pretty proud of. I mainly havn´t done much until recently. We have a HR that plane can not go higher then their 2nd best MVR band. This kind of killed the air war. Once his Tojos arrived in numbers the only thing I could do was sit back and train and stay on CAP. Hence I now have a pool of some 1500 70EXP fighter pilots!

BB, Thats a very good thought! I´ll try it out and let you know how it went!

[JocMeister]

13th -16th October -43

Lots of skirmishers in the air culminate into a massacre on the 16th.

Port Moresby area

Allied bombers continue to pound PM. Not doing a lot of damage in terms of casualties but I´m hoping disruption is through the roof by now. The 4 fast BBs add to the carnage.

Night Naval bombardment of Port Moresby at 98,130 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

12 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BB Alabama, Shell hits 3
BB Massachusetts
BB Indiana

Japanese ground losses:
255 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 12 (8 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

I will go in once more with the BBs before doing the deliberate attack. I have roughly 1800 RAW AV against his 850. But I have a command HQ and a Corps HQ 100 prepped and will also drop a Para unit. I have also reinforced with 50 Shermans and additional combat engineers. Fingers crossed. If this fail I don´t have any additional troops to reinforce with. No backup plan in place either. I MUST succeed.

On the 16th I establish air dominance and forces Erik to withdraw all his fighters back to PM. The 90 Fighters at Umboi island are smashed by a Combination of Hellcats/P47/Corsairs. The 25 P47 go first and do okay and then the Corsairs just smash into them downing 13 for 1 loss. Erik has had some TFs moving around the area. I know feel confident enough to station some 50 DBs and 28 TBs at Terapo. Hopefully they will find something tomorrow!

Burma

Supply suddenly just disappeared for my Northern stack [&:] For two turns now they have been about 4K supply short. Had to halt them for now. No idea what caused this. My western stack is moving for Ramree while a big chuck continue south. I will advance slowly here until I know if Ramree can support the invasion.

In the air things really heat up. Erik swept Akyab on the 15 with a small Tojo unit. The P40s outnumber them 1 to 4 and actually down quite a lot of them. But on the 16th Erik smash into them. The Frank makes it combat debut. Don´t think Erik is too pleased despite him being outnumbered! [:D]

Japanese aircraft
Ki-84a Frank x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 125


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-84a Frank: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 5 destroyed

He then sends in a massive sweep wiping out 44 P40s. I´m not to bothered by this as the pilots are completely green and I had some 200 (I think) Ks in the pool and havn´t even started on the N5 version yet. I sweep Shwebo with great result for revenge. VERY bloody day the 16th!

CENTPAC

I´m bombarding Canton both by air and sea.

Night Naval bombardment of Canton Island at 153,143

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB Idaho
BB Maryland
DD Crane
DD Kennison
DD Dent
DD Schley
DD Abner Read
DD Hoel
DD Heermann
DD Hazelwood

Japanese ground losses:
361 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)

I´m a bit worried by intervention from the KB so I only dare to use a portion of the attack groups for ground strikes.

Morning Air attack on 4th Garrison Unit , at 153,143 (Canton Island)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes


Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 88
SBD-5 Dauntless x 72
TBF-1 Avenger x 54


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
167 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)

This will go on for at least a week more before I will try and land. 4 CAs will add to the bombardment. I will also bombard Baker with a small CL force to shut down the airfield there.

Attached a screen of the carnage!

[JocMeister]

KB SPOTTED!?

I´m "only" 95% sure. Its not only the course and the reason why he would a TF here. But also a dead give away. For the last 10 turns or so Erik has been showing me a small CV TF at Koepang. Its only small, something like 2-3 CVLs. But Erik knows I see them and yet shows them time and time again. A little bit too blunt even for me to fall for! [:)]

So the question is what will I do about it? Well. Pretty much nothing. I will withdraw of course and let Erik burn all that fuel for nothing! I will scatter the Amphibs East incase he goes between Christmas and PH. The SCTFs and oilers will head south towards Pago Pago.

The CV force together with the CVEs will take station just east of Christmas Island. For now. If Erik comes for them I might let him. Not sure if its worth the risk yet though. I have some 500 Hellcats on board and another 300 in 2 turns at Christmas Island. Thoughts?

EDIT: Don´t think Erik knows I spotted him. No intel at all on the TF. It just popped up there.

[BBfanboy]

If he is monitoring detection levels on that TF, he will know it has been spotted, even if the composition is not identified yet.
It is common for the IJN to send a SCTF or ASW pickets ahead of KB so it they turn out to be those, the KB should be expected just out of search range.
This is one of the times the Allies wish they had subs that carry seaplanes![:D]

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Early on Thai units are kinda crappy.  What does he have at Prome?  Also how is your supply for your troops in Burma?  If you can threaten Toungou (sp), he will have supply problems and face being cut off.  So he will have to run or attack your forces in the south.

.........................

+1 Toungoo [;)] is key. Hit the 'y'key and one can see that both of the raillines join at Toungoo. From my perspective there are two open hexes to the North that are very vulnerable to 4E/2E attack and the one hex just north of Pegu. Drive on these hexes and if the IJ resist .. bomb them into the stone age .. Pursuit is very very key in this area once you get the 2:1 no forts once you get the IJA retreating British Armor has the firepower to keep the momentium rolling .. Armor in the Irraddywaddy Valley is devastating ... [;)]

The forces from the 14th Army should be ready to deploy by now.

I have only two PBEM games under my belt but I dealt with those RTA forces early .. they are crappy and cannot be rebuilt once destroyed ..

[JocMeister]

BB, Yeah I would really LOVE a seaplane carrying sub right now! Pretty nervous turn coming up. But he cant really get to me this turn. I did some calculations and he needs to go flank speed for 3 turns before catching up to anything valuable. He can catch the slow cargo TF with 12 AKs after just two days. But that means getting within range of LBA at Christmas Island.

I decided on the original plan. So everything runs while the CV/CVL/CVEs get within range if CI. With the LBA I should be able to put up close to 800 Hellcats. Erik is very agressive but going up against the surely is folly?

Crackaces. Welcome! [:)]

After reading your comment I spend almost an hour looking at Burma. I think you are right! Going for Toungoo will also be a less risky then going straight for Prome. I´m thinking the best way to cross will be the hex just north of Prome. This will force Erik to cover three different possible crossings if you include Prome itself. I will have to leave some divisions on the other side to prevent flanking and secure Ramree. I´m thinking I´ll leave 3 divisions and some BDEs on the other side and cross with the best 8 divisions and all the armor and guns. Sounds reasonable?

I havn´t sent any extra tank units to India so I´m stuck with the intended troops. I did a quick count and I have around 400 Heavy Tanks mostly LEEs. A lot of M3s and even some 50 M4s. Hope that is enough to cause some problems for him! [:)]

[JocMeister]

Both Erik and I are leaving today for our Christmas destinations. Only managed to do a few turns and for the first time since we started this game I was unable to send him a turn yesterday despite being home. Was impossible to concentrate and I don´t want to do anything in a rush right now.

I´ll have a laptop with me and hopefully we can do a turn or two. I can hopefully update the AAR with the latest turns tomorrow. In short not much happened. No sign of KB and a sweep in Burma went in after the bombers. RAF took a major beating but I think I can get them back in business.

I now have a 6 hour drive in snowfall on winter roads with a 10 weeks old in the back to look forward to!

[BBfanboy]

Enjoy your holiday and give your family your full attention. We can wait!

[ny59giants]

stay safe!!

[DOCUP]

Be careful and have fun.

[JocMeister]

Thank you guys! Drive went almost perfect! Ida was asleep most of the time and we beat a huge snowfall with a few hours! [:)]

Don´t think Erik and I will manage any turns until I get home. The laptop I borrowed has a really small screen. I think its only 12 or 13 inch and only support 1024x600. AE can´t handle that resolution and messes up the screen. I get a lot of distortions!

I´ll update the AAR with some thoughts and plans for the future. No maps though as I can´t take screenshots.

I´m not compalaining though. Its minus 5 degrees here and almost 40 cm of snow. I´m spending the days with the father in law drinking beer and whiskey in the outhouse pretending we are showeling snow! [:D]

[JocMeister]

Planning ahead.

Not being able to do any turns have given me a lot of time to think through my game and where I want to go with it. Browsing through the forum I came by an exellent post by Bullwinkle that I think will help a lot. Here is what he wrote:

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
To what others have said about not getting blindered to all possibilities I would only add that one way to structure a plan is to go to 1/45 and work backward to 1/44. Where do you want to be in 1/45? In that month you should be putting the final actions in play which will end the war and the game. How do you see the end happening? Base VPs? Destruction of the IJN? Economic war? Strat bombing the HI? Is auto-vic in 1944 an objective and if so how much risk can you live with?


Start with a clean sheet of paper. Do a 1/45 and a 1/44 statement. Then back up to 6/43. What do you need to do in the next six months to get to that standing point? Six months is a good planning horizon for LCU prep, ship repair, supply dumps, fuel dumps, buying COs, PP accumulaiton, etc. 6/43 will be right after Aden opens to the Med as well; this changes a lot of logistic considerations.

Think big. Focusing on Western Australia is thinking small. After you think big, think medium. Then think small. IOW, the next month.

2 cents. Have fun. [:'(]

This got me thinking. Where do I wan´t to be by the end of 44? So I sat down and looked at the map and decided on 3 major things I want to accomplish before we roll in to 45.

I´m not sure any of the three things I decided on is really doable but just having them as a goal I think will help a lot. It will help focus the allied war machine.

So here is what I came up with.

[center]1st objective[/center]

Reach the South China Sea by land.
This probably requires a collapse of Japanese resistance in Burma. We have yet to lock horns there but the air war is showing promise. With some 25 allied divisions in place this is where the main focus will continue to be.

[center]2nd objective[/center]

Land forces on Mindanao.
This might be the most optimistic goal of them all. It will require that the Moluccas are secured no later then September/October. I really need to secure PM fast in order to get moving. Rabaul will be bypassed if needed to buy time.

[center]3rd objective[/center]

Invade and secure the Marshalls
This is really just for fun and practice. Mostly practice. I have some 4-5 divisions slated for operations. I will begin by invading Tarawa/Abemama/Makin in April/May. I hope to include Wake in this.

I will break each objective down later and add sub objectives and try and set a time table for them.

What do you guys think? I know its very optimistic but I think it should be! I´m running out of time here! [:)]

[ny59giants]

Burma - you really need to be aggressive here NOW!! Like I've stated before, use large amounts of AA units with your spearheads to keep his bombers away. If his infantry divisions have been in one of those jungle/rough type hexes that give a x3 terrain bonus with forts built up to level 3 or better and you will not get through. You will need to be like water and find places that you can mass your forces and pour through. I would say that you should be able to have two main thrust with this number of troops.

New Guinea - Taking Port Morseby allows you safer access to the southern side of NG to push into the SRA. I would say going down to Milne Bay and steadily up the north side of NG.

What benefit do you get and what does it do to Japan if you take the Marshalls at this stage?? I would move all four of your American "X" Pacific Command HQS to NE Australia and besides having one prepped for PM and the other three prepping for you next three objectives.

Merry Christmas Jocke!!

[JocMeister]

Hi Michael! Merry Christmas to you too! [:)]

Burma,
I´m going to try and flank around his fortresses for now. He is probably dug in like crazy behind level 5-7 forts. I do have two thrusts working, but the northern one suddenly can´t get in supply any more. It will move south as soon as possible. With the main one just outside Ramree Island I´m going to strike east and cut the central plans off from Rangoon.

Going up the north coast of NG is my plan. [:)] Already have forces prepped for many of the places including Woodlark, Milne and Finshafen. As soon as PM falls I will start investing in them! I will also try and liberate Darwin during the first haf of 44. Can´t do it by sea though as Erik probably have KB lurking by ready to strike!

Marshalls,

I know this is a waste of time really. But I have long since given up trying to get to the HI before the end of the game. I made far too many mistakes for that. I still want to use this game as a training platform. I think my weakest side is the naval combat and I think going through the Marshalls can offer me opportunity to practice both naval combat and amphibious operations. Most of the BFs and HQs are already in Townesville! But I will go through the forces when I get home and see if I can transfer some more to OZ.

[JocMeister]

Here is the view from where I´m currently planning the downfall of the Japanese Empire! Doesn´t really fit with the pacific but rather with the Eastern front! [:D]

[BBfanboy]

Beautiful place to plan a war, JocMeister! It reminds me of my childhood in northern Canada where I could walk out of town in about five minutes and enjoy the peace of the forest.

Re: NG, I am not sure if you are aware of the unusual path between Port Moresby and Buna. In real life this was a horrible path with slippery, muddy, steep mountain climbs and all kinds of disease and discomfort. In the game it allows movement of troops and supplies on the scale of a developed road! An overland attack can be easier than planning an amphib landing.

[JocMeister]

Back home. Won´t rush with this turn though as I have had zero life signs from Erik. He havn´t responded to my merry Christmas mail so that probably means he is having troubles getting on the internet.

I will take my time going through the map and start prepping for the next objectives.

BB, I know about the Buna trail as you made me aware of it some time back! [:)] A bit reluctant to send more then a divisions worth of troops as we are trying to keep this somewhat plausible. Then again... Erik sent 250.000 men and 3000 tanks up through the mountains to Lanchow 2 years ago. He said he had pumped "hundred of thousands supply into China" and that would justify the supply flow. Perhaps I shouldn´t restrain myself here? I can dump a million supply at PM if given a month or so! [:D]

What do you guys think? Would marching 2 divisions or so over to Buna be outrageous? In light of Eriks earlier death star in China I think 2 divisions wouldn´t be too much to argue about?

I will do a proper update tomorrow. Just spent 5 hours in the car after sleeping for 4 hours last night. I´m really tired! [:)]

[DOCUP]

Nice pic Joc, very beautiful.  What about marching the troops up from Milne Bay along the coast?  To me marching troops with heavy equipment across those mountains would be close to impossible, but if he did it to you all is fair in love war and AE.