Groundhog Day! - No NJP

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I hate using and then losing any APs that become APAs in early '43. Its easier to use your plentiful xAPs despite their slow unload rates.

Slow unload rates were not an option for most of this operation. I did not lose many troops because they unloaded fast enough to get everything on the ground before the attack.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

NJP sends a strike in against my landing force at Tarawa. It is heartbreaking to watch troop ships burn!!

Luckily the embedded Portland puts some punishing rounds into the Furutaka and leaves it heavily burning.

I know it's early, and there are limited options, but I'd consider not using the 12 knot ships in the same TF with the AP/AK which are faster. Also, if that is all one TF it's pretty big. A lot of Allied players tend to go over 15 ships but I've tried not to do that for two reasons; one you have less ability to coordinate escort against subs, AA and suffer more collisions, and two, you risk ALL being caught by one SCTF or CV TF. I've seen escort perform better in smaller TFs too, but here it's likely it wouldn't matter against those CAs.

Not at all sure the situation here but if the AP/AK unload faster they also might get out before the rest, thus not getting hit at all. I only learned this because Jocke was very good at quick one day amphibious ops where unless i predicted and took a chance at it, he would be gone before I could react.

What is the final talley after the several battles here?

Agreed about the ships but that was what was available for such a large convoy. I tend to break off unloaded ships and either just put them in port or head them back for further operations.

Maybe several smaller task forces would have been better but I didnt have enough DD's to cover each individual force then. The CA's were never on the radar so I did not see them coming.

It is very likely that he lost a cruiser and 2 destroyers. Another cruiser is severely wounded/on fire and may or may not survive the contact. Nothing has shown up on the sunk ship list but he entered the combat with 6 ships and when it was over he had a TF of 1 ship (a CA) which I believe was the cruiser that broke off at the first encounter and was likely escorted by a destroyer that was also crippled. That or the destroyer just wasnt picked up in FOW.

The other TF was 2 ships and the one CA never suffered significant damage so that would definitely be that TF.

On my side I definitely lost 4 nice AP's. The total could be 5-6 AP's. On the flip side only about 120 troops were lost, the remaining troop ships were driven back to Tabituea where they are unloading the remainder of the units.

I got over 400AV unloaded on Tarawa which was not defended. Airfields are at 36% to level 1 there. At Tabituea which was never in japanese hands the airfield is 60%. Many other troop transports are inbound with advanced air bases, construction troops, etc. Also, many of these waves will be hitting near Pago Pago and other smaller islands within the next week or so.

Lets see what NJP decides to do.

My plan is to continue to push into the Pacific until it gets too dangerous.

Well, losing CAs is never good for Japan, so could be to your benefit. At least you're doing something while he's over-extended.

[Mike McCreery]

August 4, 1942... The courageous dutch troops continue to hold the mountain high ground.

They have re-built the forts to 2 and still have slightly over 200 AV and more than 2000 supply.

[Mike McCreery]

The DD that slipped through my lines and attacked a transport heading for New Zealand is engaged two more times and takes heavy damage in the second combat. The ship is just 1 hex northwest of the base at this time which might suggest it is in serious trouble.

[Mike McCreery]

NJP mentioned I was doing well against him in the Pacific last turn. Probably due to the attack on his destroyer at Savii and the amphibious landing at Ta'u. There will be two more landings next turn, one on Pago Pago and one on Upolu.

He never increased the airfields in this area beyond level one so I do not fear any dive bombers or torpedo bombers. Maybe he can use some of his patrol planes to attack me but with 3 invasions going on simultaneously I dont think he can repel them all.

This is the repercussions of trying to embargo Australia.

[Mike McCreery]

Having trouble withdrawing a troop ship. Moved it to Sydney but it will not let me withdraw it.

Where is the closest port where I can withdraw this ship?

Sydney is a level 9 port which should allow withdrawl.

[setloz]

there is another rule, in order for withdraw to be available, no IJ troops should be within 10 hex distance.

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: setloz

there is another rule, in order for withdraw to be available, no IJ troops should be within 10 hex distance.

I learned this one the hard way recently trying to withdraw from a level 9 Rangoon while IJA troops sat at Moulmien.

Had to race to Colombo and lost PPs for two days in the transaction.

[Mike McCreery]

Major Troop Movements appear to be occurring in eastern Australia.

I think NJP has realized the potential cost of a siege of the continent. Otherwise he is shifting assets to assault either Sydney or Melbourne although I do not believe he would remove these units if he did intend to move forward on the siege.

I have managed to insert a few companies in between him and Brisbane and that may have added to the concern.

So, I can expect a presence in the Pacific soon.

[Mike McCreery]

Tarawa and Tabituea are firmly under allied control. I lost about 7 transport ships but it was worth the position in the Pacific.

We shall see if NJP contests these areas or reinforces farther north and west. Once Tarawa fell in the last game I knew that the Marshall and Gilbert islands would be under my control due to the reach of 4EB.

Tabituea is already level 2 and well on the way to dominance in the area.

Based on the activity of eastern Australia, I believe that activity will heat up in the Pacific although I cannot be sure of the timeline. Also, India is not completely off the table if NJP thinks he can get away with it. I have moved a good deal of the forces at Comilla away. A standoff at Chittagong is not what I am looking for.

Maybe I can leapfrog over him.

[Mike McCreery]

August 20, 1942

BANZAI!!!!

My troops are pretending it is 1944.

A landing goes in against Canton Island and despite 100% prep the regiment landing destroys itself on the beach. 72 disabled squads and 18 destroyed. The tank unit landed mostly in one piece. Time to pick up the pieces and scuttle them back to Christmas to repair. Fortunately, I have a spare regiment at Christmas also with 100% prep so I will move it up.

Meanwhile, the Japanese have made another amphibious landing in Southwest India. A large army is approaching from the west to confront them. It is too late for NJP to contest India as far as I am concerned. But I am a fool so who knows what will happen ;]

[Mike McCreery]

He has about 3 divisions in and around Imphal that I am mobbing with troops and bombarding to diminish their supply and readiness. A few artillery units just started adding to the carnage at Kohima.

[Mike McCreery]

In Australia units are moving on Melbourne, Port Augusta and Towomba. I hope to cut off and destroy some units but it may be a bit early for that.

[Mike McCreery]

The pacific is building nicely and about 4 advanced air bases will arrive at Tabituea in 3 days and then a shotgun will go out toward the west expanding my range.

[Mike McCreery]

There are so many fantastic targets to chose from. NJP did not expand any of the bases he took in teh new hebrides or santa cruz islands so they are easy pickings.

[Mike McCreery]

State of the War - Late August 1942

The allies are on the march in every sector of the game map.

NJP is moving his forces and at this time the KB and mini-KB have been gone from sight long enough to be anywhere.

I am going to advance on the pacific in small unit actions developing bases until we clash.

The vector will be toward Kavieng/Rabaul and then up the coast towards the Philippines.

I like the opportunites for LBA cover while I advance with my forces.

NJP killed 2 heavy cruisers that I sent along with other surface forces up by Ceylon. I have managed to kill a few light cruisers and maybe a heavy cruiser or two of his as well.

A lot of ships have been seen around Ponape and others up near Roi-Namur but nothing close to my forces at this time.

I expect a forceful response when it happens.

[Rio Bravo]

Hello Wargmr-

I've only read like the last two pages of your AAR. I am going to back up now, go to the beginning. This looks to an interesting read.

One thing I noted by what I've read, that stands out to me, is your ability to confine The Empire to a small piece in India and of which you are strongly contesting at those locations. Secondly, you have all of the Gilberts!

Well done..gives me hope!

Regards,

-Terry

[Leandros]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

On turn 2 I start prepping for the exodus of the short legged Dutch auxiliaries by using the small (1825 capacity) tankers to distribute fuel to the small island bases between Java and Timor.

Once the fueling stations are set up the exodus begins.

Against the AI the entire Dutch navy, air force and most of the army can be transferred to Timor to create a bastion the AI can't deal with.

Obviously, against a human opponent this isn't viable and to get them to a relatively safer location you would need to facilitate a longer "jump" to OZ.

This can be facilitated by coupling the short legged craft with a long legged ship to refuel them every couple of hexes.

Granted, this will be an inexorably slow move, fraught with peril all the way, but I would rather take a shot at getting them to a place they can survive and serve longer than simply leaving them in place to be lost
when the Japanese arrive.

At one occason I tried to evacuate Dutch ground forces on Sumatra when Java was invaded but they wouldn't board the ships....even if my intention was to move them
to another DEI island. The many small freighters, however, operated nicely as you have recommended here. I'm assembling the Dutch remnants in Wyndham.

Fred

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

Hello Wargmr-

I've only read like the last two pages of your AAR. I am going to back up now, go to the beginning. This looks to an interesting read.

One thing I noted by what I've read, that stands out to me, is your ability to confine The Empire to a small piece in India and of which you are strongly contesting at those locations. Secondly, you have all of the Gilberts!

Well done..gives me hope!

Regards,

-Terry

Rio,

Some people have called me aggressive ;] Some really aggressive people have called me aggressive as well. I think that I am just impatient but whatever!!

Strategically my opponent decided to make a play for all of Australia. I believe that is a mistake as defending the territory taken is difficult and it is as far away from the Japanese Home Island as possible and provides zero oil for the effort. It would cause an Auto victory if he managed to roll me over but it didnt happen.

Because he had the KB and mini-KB stashed in the southwest corner of Australia he could not project proper power in the Gilbert/Marshalls and thus I have made an early move in that direction.

What I like to do is overwhelm my opponent by pushing from many directions at once. The KB can be only one place and the auxiliary carrier force can only be in one place so he can cover 2-3 areas max. By moving in multiple vectors I stress out the capabilities of the Japanese and exploit the weak spots while causing the Japanese player to start to react to my moves rather than execute his own plan.

The difficulty of an early strategy is that the allied fighter forces are weaker than the Japanese forces into late 43. By mid to late 43 the allies should be able to project power where they needed to and be on the assault.

You may want to check out my AAR in the first game against NJP called "What Could Possibly Go Wrong?". We went into January of 1945 where I won by invading the Japanese homeland. It is every combat in the game and some say hard to read but you can just scroll fast until you hit pictures and those parts are commentary.

Thanks for stopping by!

[Mike McCreery]

Australia - Late August 1942

As said previously the Allies think it is 1944.

A large stack of men and tanks are moving toward Adelaide while a much smaller force moves along the dirt trail from Broken Hill to Port Augusta.

He has a large amount of shipping at Adelaide and it appears troops are disappearing either by rail or by ship loading.

I think he is pulling out but cannot be completely sure.

Strategically it is my believe that he has moved much of his carrier force away from Australia given my moves in the Pacific. I may be wrong but it is my intention to find out.

To that end I am sending all my carriers and a couple cruiser groups as escort to Auckland and to threaten the southern coast of Australia and his shipping.

If NJP doesnt have his carriers in the area he may be tempted to pull them back there. If he does have them there it will serve to pin them while I conduct further operations in the pacific.

Just in case NJP is going to do an amphibious assault closer to Sydney or Melbourne and try to cut me off I have 700+ AV of troops which just took tamworth moving by rail to Ballrat as a mobile reserve.

If things go well, Adelaide should be back in Allied hands within a month.