Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

When one commits a coup de main one should take care not to settle for operational goals but rather strategic goals.

3 islands is operationally significant but not strategically decisive.

In any strategic coup de main there is an initial operational phase.... followed by the truly decisive strategic phase.


Strategic Bombing:
If done right strategic bombing can knock Japan out of the war in weeks, not months. At low level during the daytime it is utterly devastating. Far, far too devastating compared to real life actually. I speak here as someone who HR'ed this while playing as Japan and Allies in 1944/45 so I've seen both sides of this coin.


pws,
Recon, literally, about two days before landing. Prior to that it was all SIGINT ( so as to avoid tipping of hands ).


GJ,
Small tip. If you set CAP over your CVs at 40% but let them fly a strike mission the other 60% of fighters will go off escorting the strike. End result only 40% of your fighters are on CAP and your CVs get slaughtered.

So, rotate the CV TFs you let launch ground attacks. So if you have 4 TFs let one launch ground strikes each day so that the other 3/4 will still have all fighters available for CAP. Also, 1 CV TF + the CVEs ( or actually just the CVEs alone really ) should be more than enough to suppress his small ground forces.

So far so good but don't forget, you've just achieved an operational victory so far. The next 4 to 6 days will determine whether you can transition this into a strategic victory.

So True Nemo.
In fact my CVs aren't launching those attacks. Only the CVEs are...and most of my CVEs are equipped only with fighters, in order to provide max cover.
But you're right...all those fighters aren't needed in escort role right now...i will keep a deeper eye on them!
Thanks!

Still few minutes...and i'll finally have the turn in my hands...

ORIGINAL: obvert

Well played. You used his overconfidence against him very well. Once you started reconning NO PAC at all he should have built everything and added tons of troops. He just assumed you would have to take the Eastern portion.

This is a good lesson for us all I think. Never trust GreyJoy again![:D]

Well, truth is that i started reconning NOPAC in late 42 and stopped in nov 43...so he have probably assumed i was concentrating on somewhere else and i needed those recon planes on more important theatres...

today results

The phrase "SUDDENLY HAIRY" might go on to become part of the forum lore.  [:D]

A good title for T's autobiography?

Oh wait...no that would be suddenly hairless.

Few questions to the more experienced players here;

1. Did not GJ now also activate quite a few IJA divisions as well as the Kamikazes? (not condemming, far from it, just wondering)
2. Is the Sakhalin (sp?) garrisons counted towards the USSR activation limit?

@Greyjoy - nicely done [&o]

Terje

1. Yes, this invasion triggers kamikazes.

2. Yes, this invasion triggers certain auto reinforcements that will appear in Japan. These consist of "depot divisions" that are restricted. I think they are roughly 200 to 250 AV each. None of these appear in the Kuriles. I don't think any of them appear on Sikhalin Island. I'm not even sure any appear on the big island of Hokkaido. That means rader will have to pay PP to unrestrict them, will have to prep for counterinvasion targets, and will have to round up the shipping to tote counterinvasion forces.

Think you misunderstood my intention about #2 Canoerebel

If the Sikhalin IS counted towards the USSR activation limit, does not this also open up a possibility Raeder will have to guard against?
And can he not airlift those new units without paying the PP (too long since I've had to work with restricted units is my games for me to remember).

Sorry about the highjack GreyJoy

Terje

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: pws1225

I'm curious about something GJ. How far ahead did you begin reconning your targets? A few days, a week, or just go in blind?

I started to recon his bases right last turn...Nemo is right then: only SIGIN reports till that moment...almost blind

Perfect!

ORIGINAL: terje439

Few questions to the more experienced players here;

1. Did not GJ now also activate quite a few IJA divisions as well as the Kamikazes? (not condemming, far from it, just wondering)
2. Is the Sakhalin (sp?) garrisons counted towards the USSR activation limit?

@Greyjoy - nicely done [&o]

Terje

Not yet. But i will soon....

...tomorrow we will land at Bihoro (Okkaido), along with Kunashiri and Shukotan (see map).

Rader seems to have pulled out his air units...i bet he's reorganizing them near Ominato or at Sapporo... But we cannot wait. We have to push forward.

The plan must unfold now and timing is everything.

Tomorrow the 6th Army (2nd Marine Div, 37th Inf Div, 14th Can Bde and the 364th Inf Rgt) will conquer Uruppu, while another corp composed of the 33rd Inf Div, the 3rd and the 4th USMC Div will take Etorofu.
Shimushiri will be invested by the 1st USMC Div, 1st CAV Div, 22nd African Bde, 22nd USMC Rgt, three US Inf Rgt and 3 tank Battallions.

At Bihoro will land an Army composed of 2 Corps formed by the 38th, 32nd, 7th, 40th,41st, 43rd and 93rd Infantry Divisions, along with the 8th Indian Div, the 9th Aus Div and the 81st African Division

Kunashiri will be held by the Americal and the 6th, along with the 58th Inf Rgt

Shikotan: 112th Cav Rgt,. 298th Inf rgt and the 27th Aus bde

CVs and CVEs will provide close support cover.

We expect harsh attacks and several losses...


Enemy CVs and BBs spotted north of Wewak...[X(][&:]


HURRAHHH!!!

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy
Enemy CVs and BBs spotted north of Wewak...[X(][&:]

So he probably had placed the carriers in a position where they could handle your "impending" attack on the DEI. [:)]

....the story...second part:


So by mid Feb everything was ready...all my LCUs were fully prepped at PH and the ships were ready to be loaded....my combat ships moved out, while 4 old CLs and 25 DDs remained in the Solomons in order to support the Chiuseul operation....

All my subs except for 50 (25 in India and 25 in the Solomons) were redirected to PH.
I stripped all the RN and moved it all to PH, along with several Australian LCUs and the best Indian Divisions
The idea was to avoid the usual route "Addu->Paramushiro¡¨ and take the southern route...from Midway up to Uruppu ...a long trip....

The key was the absolute silence. Nothing had to revail my plans. No naval search, no ASW...nothing¡...
At perth I kept on moving ships, in the hope to transmit some radio signals that could be captured by his lurking ships...
The invasion TFs took forever to load...and my CVs took forever to be moved from Ndeni to Suva, from Suva to Thaiti, Christmas and PH (long route to avoid his subs and his damned glens)....
----finally by the first week of march our invasion fleet met our combat fleet near Midway....and then we moved forward...

...silence..

...sweating...studyin every single sigin report that could show a Rader's interest for Nopac...
....the days were passing by...nothing...
...the KB was disappeared but all his fighters and bombers were still in SOPAC.... his combined fleet must have been somewhere nearby but I was pretty sure it was not waiting for me in NOPAC....and my invasion fleet wasn¡¦t getting spotted...

...my subs opened and created a security shield of 10 hexes around my advancing ships...
....my TFs were too big¡Ktoo slow¡Klots of collisions¡Klots of slowing down...i was getting mad...

...but, day after day, we were getting closer¡Kand day after day we were undetected... I could not believe my eyes!

Then, few days ago, one of my DD TFs bumped across a PB picket ship 20 hexes south of Uruppu¡Kdamn! I¡'ve been detected!...that¡¦s why I ordered the assault with my 4Es against Rabaul¡Kneeded to slow down his transferring of LBAs from Sopac to Nopac¡K the attack went far beyond my expectations tough...

However it seemed that he wasn¡¦t fully aware yet¡Kno transferring of units reported by the intel...and yet 1500 planes were caught at Rabaul the next day as we¡¦ve seen... So we gained another day and we decided to rush forward!
...and here we are....at the very gates of japan....with 1260 ships, 2,000,000 of supplies 1,000,000 of fuel, AVs for an equivalent of 25 divisions...1,500 LBAs...12 CVs, 6 CVLs, 30 CVEs...and an army strong of 24 divisions plus endless support units, tanks, engineers, HQs....

These are the critical days...if I manage to get ashore and estabilish some operative AFs¡K Rader will be in trouble. If I don¡¦t...well...the war will be lost

All that you've done already....and still to come you have ten divisions (seven American) coming ashore on Hokkaido?!  Holy acts of Congress, Batman!

I guess those troops coming out of India are not going where they thought they were going.The good news is they are going home, the bad news is, just to pick up their winter underwear.  And they were so looking forward to that DEI vacation

GJ, with regard to your elaborate feinting in Oz and the eastern DEI, didn't you recently drop a para unit on one of the islands north of Darwin?

What an interesting turn of events. [:)]

This is not the most interesting or the most commonly used approach (NPAC) and it will certainly hurt that he can now use Kamis (as his general pilot experience is probably too low for anything useful anyway).

But this is exactly the kind of counter blow that was needed to stay in the game. Without it the clock would have run out for quasi Japanese victory.

Congratulations GreyJoy to pull off a stunt of that dimension. You made this game so much more interesting for Rader... and the Forumites and probably for yourself. [:D][;)]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy
...and here we are....at the very gates of japan....with 1260 ships, 2,000,000 of supplies 1,000,000 of fuel, AVs for an equivalent of 25 divisions...1,500 LBAs...12 CVs, 6 CVLs, 30 CVEs...and an army strong of 24 divisions plus endless support units, tanks, engineers, HQs....

Incredible how this huge armada went from Midway to Uruppu totally undetected. A few subs with Jakes stationed on the Northern Route could have ruined surprise...

I'm up way too late but I can't stop watching this unfold. Hokkaido too!!![&o][&o][&o]

GJ, when time permits...tell us how you dealt with this in real life.  I mean, organizing such a huge and exciting and risky (risk of detection) must have left you kind of "on pins and needles."  Did you have trouble concentrating on real life:  sleeping, working, attending to the girl friend?  Are you currently sleep deprived but running on highest-octane adrenaline?