[&o]
Thank you for the detailed and extremely well thought out post.
This should be included with any future strategy guide/Wiki.
VERY helpful.
Allied vs. Jap AI
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Blah Blah Blah
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
This AAR is for the period March 9th to March 24th, 1942
General Observations
Well, in happy news...sort of...I finally know where the Japanese Carriers are.
The KB finally showed itself...and accomplished nothing but burn fuel in the process. For a few days, the KB and a bunch of other task forces simply "hung around" to the North of Baker Island. My only guess on KB's appearance here was that the AI was "desperate" to run in supplies and reinforcements to Baker Island...every other transport run into Baker Island had been intercepted by my surface TF based at Canton. KB attacked nothing. And since I was aware of it's presence, I simply routed my ships well away from the KB...just in case it chose to dive South. However, since my intelligence screen showed nothing, I wasn't too terribly worried about a raid deep into the South Pacific. I moved my four carriers (plus the Hornet which is in route) to Pago Pago. I'll keep them there a few more turns, but then I'll send the Lexington/Saratoga group back to Pearl to begin their March refit.
More Japanese Carriers are "parked" at Oosthaven, where they've been bombing Batavia for the past week...tring to provide some support for the still-understrength Japanese land units that are trying to take Batavia.
This is good news, in a way. Knowing the appx locations of Japanese Carriers frees me up to do other things I might otherwise do...particularly in the Indian Ocean and around Moresby.
The other good news...in a way...is that no "big disaster" have befallen the Allies yet. The first 8 months of the war are the "worse" period for the Allies. If they can survive it without sustaining too high of losses, and slow down the Japs in a few spots, then the Allies will be set up reasonably well for future offensives and have the capability of blunting further Japanese advances. As it's late March now, the Allies have made it through the "worse of the worse" period. The Allies will only get stronger from here on out, slowly as it seems at times.
Japanese subs continue to be "less than impressive." I think I've finally figured out the problem the Japanese are having. It's not that they aren't necessarily in a bad position...I do come across them more frequently in the Noumea and Sydney areas. Instead, I think the problem is that I'm simply not running that many convoys...they can't sink anything because there isn't much to sink! My convoys are large and infrequent, and often using wandering waypoints that defy easy prediction. Other than around Noumea, West Coast ports and Sydney, there is no "obvious" place where my transports always run. In particular, I suspect the AI has sent lots of submarines up to Alaska. But I'm lucky to run one convoy every two weeks up there, which doesn't make for superb hunting by the Japanese. And on the West coast, I have that area blanketed with lots of ASW patrol aircraft. They haven't sunk anything, but all that aircover forces the subs to stay "below the water", which greatly limits their effectiveness.
All in all, the past two weeks, I think Jap submarines got two transports...an xAK near Suva and, oddly, an xAKL in the Cook Islands (near Tahiti). Why the AI sent a submarine way the hell down there, I don't know. lol, the ship the submarine sunk will probably be the last ship I ever send down there, as I've pulled everything else out and moved it forward!!
Transport Slaugher Continues
Japanese transport slaughter continues. PT boats aren't part of the equation now, though. Instead, submarines (particularly the Dutch and British ones) are nailing ships every day around Palembang, Batavia and Singapore. One surface TF raid caught a large transport convoy trying to offload supplies in Akyab. And I made another raid on a large TF offloading in Buna. This Jap TF in Buna WAS escorted...and escorted well. It had one CA, one CL and several DD's. But it didn't matter! My Surface TF sunk the Japanese CA and one DD, then roared in and sunk all the transports. As an added bonus, it then stumbled across a TF trying, again, to invade Woodlark Island. It didn't sink any ships, but it did chase the invasion task force away. So more time bought!!
To give an idea how "conservative" I've been with my ships, and how much the Japanese have lost, here's some tally's from the information screen.
Japs Ships Sunk - 284 (more than 240 of these are transports of various kinds!)
Allied Ships Sunk - 144
Jap Points for Allied Ships Sunk - 1600
Allied Points of Japs Ships Sunk - 2150
Yes...the Allies are ahead of the Japanese in ship points!! Considering I lost 5 BB's and some other heavy surface combat units in the first days of the war, to be ahead of the Japs by 500 points in mid-March tells you how successful my campaign against Japanese shipping (and my efforts to protect my own shipping) has been!
India/Burma
The Japanese marched one division from Akyab to Chittagong. The division now sits in Chittagong, but hasn't attacked my forces yet. It's just sitting there. I suspect the AI knows that it's vastly undermatched against all the artillery/armor and 800 AV I have there. So it's bringing in more land units...which has been confirmed in my intelligence screen.
Unfortunately for the AI, the weaknesses in the "land march to Chittagong" strategy (as highlighted in my previous post about ways to attack India), is showing itself. I have three surface TF's now running around in the Indian Ocean. At night, one of them moves into Akyab seeking to bust up any transports that might have arrived. If nothing is there, they bombard the port...thus reducing the supply...which in turn reduces the supplies available to the land unit the Japs have in Chittagong. Bombers in Calcutta are also raking the Jap land unit.
Akyab is also a miserable place to use as a "hub" for the invasion of India. Right now, it still has a 0 size port...probably because my surface TF's sunk the follow-on forces that followed in behind the initial invasion. There isn't even a base force in Akyab right now.
If the Japanese continue to try to bring in reinforcements to Akyab, unless they commit some CV's and significant surface TF's to protect the transports from my roaming BB's and CA's...they are going to take hideous casualties and accomplish nothing. Moreover, the division in Chittagong will essentially "wither away" from lack of supply. Eventually, I'll feel confident enough to do some attacks...and that will gradually wear down this division.
With all Japanese Carriers accounted for, and a long ways away from Colombo, I'm no longer worried about a Ceylon Invasion. In a month, I get one British Division and a Indian Division (both full strength and well trained) as reinforcements. One of these will be based in Ceylon, while the other one goes to India. This will boost Ceylons defense (which currently stands at around 700 AV in Colombo and 200 in Tricomalee) to levels that will make it nearly impossible for the Japanese to take. If the Allied player has 1000+ AV or more on Ceylon, and the units are dug in and good quality, it simply will take too much time/transports/land units for the Japanese to take Ceylon. The opportunity to take Ceylon for the Japanese runs from the beginning of the war through early/mid April of 1942. That window of time is rapidly closing...and with the Japanese carriers weeks away from Colombo...I think that "window" will be fully closed before the Japanese could regroup everything and arrive.
Port Moresby and Vicinity
Another strong infantry brigade and tank unit is moving up to Port Moresby, along with more AA units. Once they arrive, Port Moresby will have over 70K supply and around 700+ AV, with significant armor and artillery. Any sea borne invasion the Japs do is going to have to be a REALLY strong one to get over the 4 fortifications, deep supply, coastal defense guns and armor/artillery. The artillery doesn't have an "assault value." But it does have a combat modifier. Far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much artillery and anti-tank regiments in a hex!
I have five dedicated P-40 and P-39 fighter units tasked for the defense of Port Moresby. I base them in townsville and cairns, then rotate them up to Port Moresby when whatever I have in moresby gets run down due to combat. I call it the "Cairns-Townsville-Moresby" air shuttle system.
I have two surface TF's running around, trying to prevent any future Jap TF's from invading Milne Bay or Rossell Island.
Noumea and Vicinity
More LCU's, supply and fuel continue to flow into Noumea.
Ndeni finally has a size 1 port and size 1 airfield...allowing more "heavy units" to be offloaded, slow as it may be. In two weeks or so, the port service unit should arrive...making offloading of supplies and units far less slow and painful. Ndeni, I think, is going to be a very handy airfield. When PP's permit, I'll definitely be landing an Army regiment on this island to further strengthen the garrision (along with some artillery, of course!). I would like to increase Ndeni's port to size 2 as well, although that will take some time.
Efate is still empty, but one of these weeks I'll put a small baseforce and garrison on the island. But right now, other missions take priority over Efate.
Australia
The 7th Australian Division has arrived in Perth. The 7th Australian will be my reserve...a unit (several briagades and one armor unit) that I can shuttle around and use when the need arises. I won't place it at Port Moresby. Most likely, one brigade will eventually find it's way to Milne Bay...but that operation is still some time away.
Supply in Australis is excellent...Sydney has more than 250K supply, and Melbourne has 130K. Fuel is lower, but enough to get the job done. Simply keeping Noumea and Sydney stocked with enough fuel is using up most of my non-British tankers.
Pacific Islands
All is quiet. Only operation underway is landing an infantry battalion on Funfati and removing the Marine Parachute Battallion that is currently there. First APD's are also arriving in the South Pacific area, too.
Alaska
Beyond more supply to Umnak Island and picking up the infantry battalion to garrison it, nothing is happening here, either.
Dutch East Indies
The Japanese continue to land in-mass in the DEI. More units arrived in Merak. Then more units arrived in Semarang...AFTER I retook it. Currently, there is 1+ division in Semarang, 1+ division in Batavia, and a smaller force (that is cut-off) in Tjillitap.
Unfortunately for the AI, it's going to need more. The force in Batavia still isn't strong enough to take it, although more troops were unloaded directly into Batavia just last turn (so maybe they'll soon have enough). I also don't think the new force in Semarang is strong enough to take Soerbaja, either. And the force in Tjillitap was always weak, due to my PT boats ravaging the TF when it was unloading.
A strong Jap carrier TF is parked in Oosthaven. it bombs Batavia every day, with little effect. Sooner or later Java will fall. But, I'll admit, I'm surprised that I still hold Java this late into March. The turning back of the first Jap landing TF at Semarang, the scattering of the invasion TF at Merak a month ago, along with preventing the first invasion of Balikipan nearly two months ago probably really threw off the Japanese time table...forcing the AI to scramble to come up with new units and a new plan to take Java.
As things stand now, I suspect I'll still hold Java into early/mid-April.
General Observations
Well, in happy news...sort of...I finally know where the Japanese Carriers are.
The KB finally showed itself...and accomplished nothing but burn fuel in the process. For a few days, the KB and a bunch of other task forces simply "hung around" to the North of Baker Island. My only guess on KB's appearance here was that the AI was "desperate" to run in supplies and reinforcements to Baker Island...every other transport run into Baker Island had been intercepted by my surface TF based at Canton. KB attacked nothing. And since I was aware of it's presence, I simply routed my ships well away from the KB...just in case it chose to dive South. However, since my intelligence screen showed nothing, I wasn't too terribly worried about a raid deep into the South Pacific. I moved my four carriers (plus the Hornet which is in route) to Pago Pago. I'll keep them there a few more turns, but then I'll send the Lexington/Saratoga group back to Pearl to begin their March refit.
More Japanese Carriers are "parked" at Oosthaven, where they've been bombing Batavia for the past week...tring to provide some support for the still-understrength Japanese land units that are trying to take Batavia.
This is good news, in a way. Knowing the appx locations of Japanese Carriers frees me up to do other things I might otherwise do...particularly in the Indian Ocean and around Moresby.
The other good news...in a way...is that no "big disaster" have befallen the Allies yet. The first 8 months of the war are the "worse" period for the Allies. If they can survive it without sustaining too high of losses, and slow down the Japs in a few spots, then the Allies will be set up reasonably well for future offensives and have the capability of blunting further Japanese advances. As it's late March now, the Allies have made it through the "worse of the worse" period. The Allies will only get stronger from here on out, slowly as it seems at times.
Japanese subs continue to be "less than impressive." I think I've finally figured out the problem the Japanese are having. It's not that they aren't necessarily in a bad position...I do come across them more frequently in the Noumea and Sydney areas. Instead, I think the problem is that I'm simply not running that many convoys...they can't sink anything because there isn't much to sink! My convoys are large and infrequent, and often using wandering waypoints that defy easy prediction. Other than around Noumea, West Coast ports and Sydney, there is no "obvious" place where my transports always run. In particular, I suspect the AI has sent lots of submarines up to Alaska. But I'm lucky to run one convoy every two weeks up there, which doesn't make for superb hunting by the Japanese. And on the West coast, I have that area blanketed with lots of ASW patrol aircraft. They haven't sunk anything, but all that aircover forces the subs to stay "below the water", which greatly limits their effectiveness.
All in all, the past two weeks, I think Jap submarines got two transports...an xAK near Suva and, oddly, an xAKL in the Cook Islands (near Tahiti). Why the AI sent a submarine way the hell down there, I don't know. lol, the ship the submarine sunk will probably be the last ship I ever send down there, as I've pulled everything else out and moved it forward!!
Transport Slaugher Continues
Japanese transport slaughter continues. PT boats aren't part of the equation now, though. Instead, submarines (particularly the Dutch and British ones) are nailing ships every day around Palembang, Batavia and Singapore. One surface TF raid caught a large transport convoy trying to offload supplies in Akyab. And I made another raid on a large TF offloading in Buna. This Jap TF in Buna WAS escorted...and escorted well. It had one CA, one CL and several DD's. But it didn't matter! My Surface TF sunk the Japanese CA and one DD, then roared in and sunk all the transports. As an added bonus, it then stumbled across a TF trying, again, to invade Woodlark Island. It didn't sink any ships, but it did chase the invasion task force away. So more time bought!!
To give an idea how "conservative" I've been with my ships, and how much the Japanese have lost, here's some tally's from the information screen.
Japs Ships Sunk - 284 (more than 240 of these are transports of various kinds!)
Allied Ships Sunk - 144
Jap Points for Allied Ships Sunk - 1600
Allied Points of Japs Ships Sunk - 2150
Yes...the Allies are ahead of the Japanese in ship points!! Considering I lost 5 BB's and some other heavy surface combat units in the first days of the war, to be ahead of the Japs by 500 points in mid-March tells you how successful my campaign against Japanese shipping (and my efforts to protect my own shipping) has been!
India/Burma
The Japanese marched one division from Akyab to Chittagong. The division now sits in Chittagong, but hasn't attacked my forces yet. It's just sitting there. I suspect the AI knows that it's vastly undermatched against all the artillery/armor and 800 AV I have there. So it's bringing in more land units...which has been confirmed in my intelligence screen.
Unfortunately for the AI, the weaknesses in the "land march to Chittagong" strategy (as highlighted in my previous post about ways to attack India), is showing itself. I have three surface TF's now running around in the Indian Ocean. At night, one of them moves into Akyab seeking to bust up any transports that might have arrived. If nothing is there, they bombard the port...thus reducing the supply...which in turn reduces the supplies available to the land unit the Japs have in Chittagong. Bombers in Calcutta are also raking the Jap land unit.
Akyab is also a miserable place to use as a "hub" for the invasion of India. Right now, it still has a 0 size port...probably because my surface TF's sunk the follow-on forces that followed in behind the initial invasion. There isn't even a base force in Akyab right now.
If the Japanese continue to try to bring in reinforcements to Akyab, unless they commit some CV's and significant surface TF's to protect the transports from my roaming BB's and CA's...they are going to take hideous casualties and accomplish nothing. Moreover, the division in Chittagong will essentially "wither away" from lack of supply. Eventually, I'll feel confident enough to do some attacks...and that will gradually wear down this division.
With all Japanese Carriers accounted for, and a long ways away from Colombo, I'm no longer worried about a Ceylon Invasion. In a month, I get one British Division and a Indian Division (both full strength and well trained) as reinforcements. One of these will be based in Ceylon, while the other one goes to India. This will boost Ceylons defense (which currently stands at around 700 AV in Colombo and 200 in Tricomalee) to levels that will make it nearly impossible for the Japanese to take. If the Allied player has 1000+ AV or more on Ceylon, and the units are dug in and good quality, it simply will take too much time/transports/land units for the Japanese to take Ceylon. The opportunity to take Ceylon for the Japanese runs from the beginning of the war through early/mid April of 1942. That window of time is rapidly closing...and with the Japanese carriers weeks away from Colombo...I think that "window" will be fully closed before the Japanese could regroup everything and arrive.
Port Moresby and Vicinity
Another strong infantry brigade and tank unit is moving up to Port Moresby, along with more AA units. Once they arrive, Port Moresby will have over 70K supply and around 700+ AV, with significant armor and artillery. Any sea borne invasion the Japs do is going to have to be a REALLY strong one to get over the 4 fortifications, deep supply, coastal defense guns and armor/artillery. The artillery doesn't have an "assault value." But it does have a combat modifier. Far as I'm concerned, you can never have too much artillery and anti-tank regiments in a hex!
I have five dedicated P-40 and P-39 fighter units tasked for the defense of Port Moresby. I base them in townsville and cairns, then rotate them up to Port Moresby when whatever I have in moresby gets run down due to combat. I call it the "Cairns-Townsville-Moresby" air shuttle system.
I have two surface TF's running around, trying to prevent any future Jap TF's from invading Milne Bay or Rossell Island.
Noumea and Vicinity
More LCU's, supply and fuel continue to flow into Noumea.
Ndeni finally has a size 1 port and size 1 airfield...allowing more "heavy units" to be offloaded, slow as it may be. In two weeks or so, the port service unit should arrive...making offloading of supplies and units far less slow and painful. Ndeni, I think, is going to be a very handy airfield. When PP's permit, I'll definitely be landing an Army regiment on this island to further strengthen the garrision (along with some artillery, of course!). I would like to increase Ndeni's port to size 2 as well, although that will take some time.
Efate is still empty, but one of these weeks I'll put a small baseforce and garrison on the island. But right now, other missions take priority over Efate.
Australia
The 7th Australian Division has arrived in Perth. The 7th Australian will be my reserve...a unit (several briagades and one armor unit) that I can shuttle around and use when the need arises. I won't place it at Port Moresby. Most likely, one brigade will eventually find it's way to Milne Bay...but that operation is still some time away.
Supply in Australis is excellent...Sydney has more than 250K supply, and Melbourne has 130K. Fuel is lower, but enough to get the job done. Simply keeping Noumea and Sydney stocked with enough fuel is using up most of my non-British tankers.
Pacific Islands
All is quiet. Only operation underway is landing an infantry battalion on Funfati and removing the Marine Parachute Battallion that is currently there. First APD's are also arriving in the South Pacific area, too.
Alaska
Beyond more supply to Umnak Island and picking up the infantry battalion to garrison it, nothing is happening here, either.
Dutch East Indies
The Japanese continue to land in-mass in the DEI. More units arrived in Merak. Then more units arrived in Semarang...AFTER I retook it. Currently, there is 1+ division in Semarang, 1+ division in Batavia, and a smaller force (that is cut-off) in Tjillitap.
Unfortunately for the AI, it's going to need more. The force in Batavia still isn't strong enough to take it, although more troops were unloaded directly into Batavia just last turn (so maybe they'll soon have enough). I also don't think the new force in Semarang is strong enough to take Soerbaja, either. And the force in Tjillitap was always weak, due to my PT boats ravaging the TF when it was unloading.
A strong Jap carrier TF is parked in Oosthaven. it bombs Batavia every day, with little effect. Sooner or later Java will fall. But, I'll admit, I'm surprised that I still hold Java this late into March. The turning back of the first Jap landing TF at Semarang, the scattering of the invasion TF at Merak a month ago, along with preventing the first invasion of Balikipan nearly two months ago probably really threw off the Japanese time table...forcing the AI to scramble to come up with new units and a new plan to take Java.
As things stand now, I suspect I'll still hold Java into early/mid-April.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: dpazuk
[&o]
Thank you for the detailed and extremely well thought out post.
This should be included with any future strategy guide/Wiki.
VERY helpful.
Sure, glad you found it helpful.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
This AAR covers the period March 24th through March 31st.
General Observations
Japanese artillery bombardment attacks can be brutal. Bataan fell easily more than a month ago, due to vicious bombardment attacks by the Japanese that were inflicting more than 2000 casualties per attack. Now, similar results are being seen in Batavia. Japanese bombardment attacks are leading to 300-600 casualties at a whack. Meanwhile, my counter-bombardment attacks are very lucky to lead to 100 Japanese casualties. Allied bombardment attacks against the Japanese division in Chittagong isn't providing much more, either...despite the presence of LOTS of artillery, much of which has good experience levels. So what is it about Japanese artillery that is leading to such shockingly high casualties for the Allies??
The KB has split in two. Three of the carriers are bombing Batavia. The rest? Who knows. Perhaps going through upgrades?? Perhaps conserving fuel for a big operation that I suspect coming up in the Indian Ocean. I have no intel of anything planned in the Indian Ocean, but right now, a good chunk of Jap carriers are in the vicinity of Signapore. Suspect the rest will show up in a few weeks and bomb Colombo. Most of Colombo has been evacuated of ships. Once the japanese secure Java, I'll flee all ships out of Colombo.
Other than that, everything is rather quiet.
Ship Upgrades Coming Up
April 1st is the big ship upgrade day. Since th 4/1 upgrade often provides significants boosts in AA and ASW power, a good chunk of my ships will be upgrading on 4/1...leaving the US Navy a bit thin for the next two weeks. Three carriers will be upgraded on 4/1, and the other two will traverse down to Sydney for their upgrades once their current mission is over.
Port Moresby, Australia and Vicinity
One final big amphib task force is unloading another brigade of the 6th Australian, more artillery and a big tank brigade. This will bring PM's AV to around 750+, with many artillery and armor units. Supply is ample, and the two figher squadrons here have made mince-meat of unescorted Betty and Sally bomber attacks..
The 7th Austrlian Division is "on the rails" from Perth, about to arrive in Sydney.
The overall supply situation in Australia is excellent. I've been bringing in supplies from Cape Town periodically. These supplies then get "filtered around" Australia. Fuel situation could be better, but it is adequate...for now. I at least have enough to keep the ships moving.
Noumea and Vicinity
Another fighter and dive bomber squadron arrived at Noumea. All five fighter squadrons in Noumea are training, and are getting some pretty vicious anti-air values. I've also put some fighters that already had solid anti-air values into "further general training." This general training increases the overall experience levels of the pilots more quickly then select training (it seems, at least), plus it also boosts the "Defn" value of the pilots, too (which I assume is the defensive skills of the pilot). I'm trying to avoid "lopsided pilots" that are good for one thing and only one thing.
Another tanker convoy and reinforcement convoy will soon arrive in Noumea, too
Luganville - An aviation base force is off-loading. Luganville has a size 3 port and soon a size 3 AF.
Efate - Off-loading a base force on Efate. Efate will likely be nothing more than a "patrol base." I plan on garrisoning it with a weak battalion...just something to prevent the Japs from walking on. Efate is "semi-protected" from Japanese assault by Luganville and the new base at Ndeni.
Ndeni - About to reach a size 2 AF. 1/3 of the way to a size 2 port. Have begun to offload the first base force. Now that the port is sized 1, I'm able to use strategic transport to offload "heavier stuff," like motorized support. It's painfully slow going, but going none-the-less. Goal is to get Ndeni up to a size 2 port and size 5 airfield. Naval support from Christmas Island will arrive in a week or so that will provide a big boost to the ability to offload stuff.
The Garrison on Ndeni is weak right now. I've dedicated an army regiment to garrison it in Los Angeles, but I need a few more PP's to activate it. Right now, Ndeni only has 80AV...not much. It needs more (particularly AA, artillery and an armor unit and a coastal gun regiment), especially since Ndeni will be the "closest base" to the Japanese in the South Pacific for sometime to come.
If I had to "take a guess," I'd say a good chunk of the action in the South Pacific over the next 4-6 months will be taking place in two spots...the vicinity of Ndeni (as the Japs in Lunga/Tulagi bomb it and bombard it) and Port Moresby. Thus, my game will likely somewhat mirror real-life, where the bulk of the action in mid-late 1942 was Port Moresby and Lunga. In some ways, Ndeni has become a "substitute" for Lunga since the Japanese took Lunga before I could and just recently got the airbase up to Level 1 (thank god Japanese engineers are sloooooooooow).
Pacific Islands
I recently "discovered" some units scattered among all those tiny islands on the bottom of the map...in the vicinity of Tahiti. They were, of course, out of supply. So, I've run some supply transports over there and am also running an amphib task force to pick up a few of the units, moving them to bases where they'll be more useful. Only plan in this region is to keep that tiny garrison on Tahiti...and move all the other forces off those islands to someplace else.
A second Japanese surface raider task force met a watery grave in the vicinity of Canton Island. I truthfully have NO idea where this task force was going...it was more than 15 hexes to the Southeast of Canton. My only guess is that the AI figured that my supply lines had to go through that area (which it does), so it sent a raider force deep behind the lines. Unfortunately for the Japanese, this raider force had bad luck. After successfully avoiding detection by my Catalina's in Canton, it was detected by a CV TF that I was sending back to Pearl for it's upgrades. The entire force of two CA's and two DD's were sunk.
Suva - Has been reinforced with an army regiment and a new, larger base force with naval support is about to arrive. Once that base force unloads, I'll take the base force that i there now and move it up to Canton Island (the "mini-base force" that starts the game in Canton is scheduled to be withdrawn in less than 100 days).
Dutch East Indies
Japanese are finally pouring forces into Java. They outnumber the defenders of Batavia now, after having offloaded more infantry and some tank regiments. Other forces are now freely prowling around the Java interior. A final force is approaching Soerbaja.
All PT boats are out of ammo now and have no hope of getting more (the last AGP was sunk a week ago), although for their "final moment" they sunk three more xAK's and one DD. Right now, they're "drifting" back to Soerbaja, where hopefully i can repair enough damage to allow them to be sent back "to the pool".
India/Burma
The Japanese unit in Chittagong continues to sit and do nothing...not even bothering to bombard my defenders. The reason it does nothing, I suspect, is because it has no supply. I have three surface TF's running around the Indian Ocean now, doing nothing but sniffing out Japanese transports that might be on their way to Akyab. So far, I've destroyed every TF that has run into Akyab (one of which included a base force and an infrantry regiment). And since Akyab still has a 0 port, offloading of supplies will be painfully slow in any event. My tactic so far has cost me a damaged battleship (from a torpedo by a Betty), but I'll get the BB back in a month, so no big deal. Basically, I'll throw the whole British Fleet at preventing the supply/reinforcement of Akyab. The only thing that can stop the British from marauding around the Indian Ocean is the KB...and so far, it hasn't shown itself.
But I think it will. I'm fully expecting the KB to strike Ceylon once Java falls. But since Java will probably hold out for another two or so weeks, there's still time to prepare defenses and remove ships to "safer places."
Everywhere Else
Hawaii - swelling up with supplies as I send more Cargo TF's to it. Nearing 500K supplies. Fuel is also approaching 500K.
Midway - That pesky base force continues to "get larger." Thus, Midway is now overstacked with land units by 450 men. So far, I've seen no effects on fatigue/disruption of the units on Midway. However, I've seen a BIG jump in supply usage. I imagine I'll have to be running a small supply TF here constantly to keep Midway properly supplied.
Alaska - Umnak Island up to a level 3 AF. The base force from Sitka will arrive in a week or so. Umnak Island is garrisoned by a weak infantry battalion I dragged over from some island along the Canadian Coast. Otherwise, all else is quiet here.
Last Dutch/US Bases Behind the Lines - The Japanese are slowly swallowing up all those undefended bases that are left in the PI/Celebes and New Guinea.
General Observations
Japanese artillery bombardment attacks can be brutal. Bataan fell easily more than a month ago, due to vicious bombardment attacks by the Japanese that were inflicting more than 2000 casualties per attack. Now, similar results are being seen in Batavia. Japanese bombardment attacks are leading to 300-600 casualties at a whack. Meanwhile, my counter-bombardment attacks are very lucky to lead to 100 Japanese casualties. Allied bombardment attacks against the Japanese division in Chittagong isn't providing much more, either...despite the presence of LOTS of artillery, much of which has good experience levels. So what is it about Japanese artillery that is leading to such shockingly high casualties for the Allies??
The KB has split in two. Three of the carriers are bombing Batavia. The rest? Who knows. Perhaps going through upgrades?? Perhaps conserving fuel for a big operation that I suspect coming up in the Indian Ocean. I have no intel of anything planned in the Indian Ocean, but right now, a good chunk of Jap carriers are in the vicinity of Signapore. Suspect the rest will show up in a few weeks and bomb Colombo. Most of Colombo has been evacuated of ships. Once the japanese secure Java, I'll flee all ships out of Colombo.
Other than that, everything is rather quiet.
Ship Upgrades Coming Up
April 1st is the big ship upgrade day. Since th 4/1 upgrade often provides significants boosts in AA and ASW power, a good chunk of my ships will be upgrading on 4/1...leaving the US Navy a bit thin for the next two weeks. Three carriers will be upgraded on 4/1, and the other two will traverse down to Sydney for their upgrades once their current mission is over.
Port Moresby, Australia and Vicinity
One final big amphib task force is unloading another brigade of the 6th Australian, more artillery and a big tank brigade. This will bring PM's AV to around 750+, with many artillery and armor units. Supply is ample, and the two figher squadrons here have made mince-meat of unescorted Betty and Sally bomber attacks..
The 7th Austrlian Division is "on the rails" from Perth, about to arrive in Sydney.
The overall supply situation in Australia is excellent. I've been bringing in supplies from Cape Town periodically. These supplies then get "filtered around" Australia. Fuel situation could be better, but it is adequate...for now. I at least have enough to keep the ships moving.
Noumea and Vicinity
Another fighter and dive bomber squadron arrived at Noumea. All five fighter squadrons in Noumea are training, and are getting some pretty vicious anti-air values. I've also put some fighters that already had solid anti-air values into "further general training." This general training increases the overall experience levels of the pilots more quickly then select training (it seems, at least), plus it also boosts the "Defn" value of the pilots, too (which I assume is the defensive skills of the pilot). I'm trying to avoid "lopsided pilots" that are good for one thing and only one thing.
Another tanker convoy and reinforcement convoy will soon arrive in Noumea, too
Luganville - An aviation base force is off-loading. Luganville has a size 3 port and soon a size 3 AF.
Efate - Off-loading a base force on Efate. Efate will likely be nothing more than a "patrol base." I plan on garrisoning it with a weak battalion...just something to prevent the Japs from walking on. Efate is "semi-protected" from Japanese assault by Luganville and the new base at Ndeni.
Ndeni - About to reach a size 2 AF. 1/3 of the way to a size 2 port. Have begun to offload the first base force. Now that the port is sized 1, I'm able to use strategic transport to offload "heavier stuff," like motorized support. It's painfully slow going, but going none-the-less. Goal is to get Ndeni up to a size 2 port and size 5 airfield. Naval support from Christmas Island will arrive in a week or so that will provide a big boost to the ability to offload stuff.
The Garrison on Ndeni is weak right now. I've dedicated an army regiment to garrison it in Los Angeles, but I need a few more PP's to activate it. Right now, Ndeni only has 80AV...not much. It needs more (particularly AA, artillery and an armor unit and a coastal gun regiment), especially since Ndeni will be the "closest base" to the Japanese in the South Pacific for sometime to come.
If I had to "take a guess," I'd say a good chunk of the action in the South Pacific over the next 4-6 months will be taking place in two spots...the vicinity of Ndeni (as the Japs in Lunga/Tulagi bomb it and bombard it) and Port Moresby. Thus, my game will likely somewhat mirror real-life, where the bulk of the action in mid-late 1942 was Port Moresby and Lunga. In some ways, Ndeni has become a "substitute" for Lunga since the Japanese took Lunga before I could and just recently got the airbase up to Level 1 (thank god Japanese engineers are sloooooooooow).
Pacific Islands
I recently "discovered" some units scattered among all those tiny islands on the bottom of the map...in the vicinity of Tahiti. They were, of course, out of supply. So, I've run some supply transports over there and am also running an amphib task force to pick up a few of the units, moving them to bases where they'll be more useful. Only plan in this region is to keep that tiny garrison on Tahiti...and move all the other forces off those islands to someplace else.
A second Japanese surface raider task force met a watery grave in the vicinity of Canton Island. I truthfully have NO idea where this task force was going...it was more than 15 hexes to the Southeast of Canton. My only guess is that the AI figured that my supply lines had to go through that area (which it does), so it sent a raider force deep behind the lines. Unfortunately for the Japanese, this raider force had bad luck. After successfully avoiding detection by my Catalina's in Canton, it was detected by a CV TF that I was sending back to Pearl for it's upgrades. The entire force of two CA's and two DD's were sunk.
Suva - Has been reinforced with an army regiment and a new, larger base force with naval support is about to arrive. Once that base force unloads, I'll take the base force that i there now and move it up to Canton Island (the "mini-base force" that starts the game in Canton is scheduled to be withdrawn in less than 100 days).
Dutch East Indies
Japanese are finally pouring forces into Java. They outnumber the defenders of Batavia now, after having offloaded more infantry and some tank regiments. Other forces are now freely prowling around the Java interior. A final force is approaching Soerbaja.
All PT boats are out of ammo now and have no hope of getting more (the last AGP was sunk a week ago), although for their "final moment" they sunk three more xAK's and one DD. Right now, they're "drifting" back to Soerbaja, where hopefully i can repair enough damage to allow them to be sent back "to the pool".
India/Burma
The Japanese unit in Chittagong continues to sit and do nothing...not even bothering to bombard my defenders. The reason it does nothing, I suspect, is because it has no supply. I have three surface TF's running around the Indian Ocean now, doing nothing but sniffing out Japanese transports that might be on their way to Akyab. So far, I've destroyed every TF that has run into Akyab (one of which included a base force and an infrantry regiment). And since Akyab still has a 0 port, offloading of supplies will be painfully slow in any event. My tactic so far has cost me a damaged battleship (from a torpedo by a Betty), but I'll get the BB back in a month, so no big deal. Basically, I'll throw the whole British Fleet at preventing the supply/reinforcement of Akyab. The only thing that can stop the British from marauding around the Indian Ocean is the KB...and so far, it hasn't shown itself.
But I think it will. I'm fully expecting the KB to strike Ceylon once Java falls. But since Java will probably hold out for another two or so weeks, there's still time to prepare defenses and remove ships to "safer places."
Everywhere Else
Hawaii - swelling up with supplies as I send more Cargo TF's to it. Nearing 500K supplies. Fuel is also approaching 500K.
Midway - That pesky base force continues to "get larger." Thus, Midway is now overstacked with land units by 450 men. So far, I've seen no effects on fatigue/disruption of the units on Midway. However, I've seen a BIG jump in supply usage. I imagine I'll have to be running a small supply TF here constantly to keep Midway properly supplied.
Alaska - Umnak Island up to a level 3 AF. The base force from Sitka will arrive in a week or so. Umnak Island is garrisoned by a weak infantry battalion I dragged over from some island along the Canadian Coast. Otherwise, all else is quiet here.
Last Dutch/US Bases Behind the Lines - The Japanese are slowly swallowing up all those undefended bases that are left in the PI/Celebes and New Guinea.
Well...That's a Bummer
AAR covers April 1st to April 4th
Just a quickie AAR. Soerbaja almost fell, but still holds on. Guess the Japanese shock attack wiped out the Japanese division just as much as the Dutch. Still, there isn't much left of the defenders of Soerbaja, so in a few turns, it will fall. Batavia, on the other hand, continues to hold on well. Suspect it will hold out for at least another 1-2 weeks, although artillery bombardments by the Japanese continue to be vicious.
One Thing to Remember
If you want to convert some of your old DD's to DE's or APD's on April 1st, be sure to turn the upgrade option for those destroyers OFF. I had moved about 8 or so of these DD's into port, so as to be able to convert these old DD's to DE's. But alas, I forgot to turn the upgrade option off. As such, these old DD's "upgraded" automatically...which provides little benefit in terms of improved AA or ASW. Worse, the option to convert these old DD's to DE's is now gone. I won't be able to convert these old DD's to DE's now until April 1943.
If there was any good news, once I figured this out, I tracked down all the remaining destroyers (that were at sea) and turned the upgrade option off. So, I'll still be able to convert 6-8 destroyers over the next 1-2 months. Still, it's a big, bad bummer to lose the vastly improved AA and ASW capability of 8 destroyer escorts!
Other News
The big upgrade happened on April 2nd, as expected. As such, a lot of ships are sitting in port and won't be going anywhere for the next 1-2 weeks. That's the worse thing about these big upgrade cycles...the Navy suddenly becomes smaller in a hurry in terms of sea capable vessels. On the other hand, getting the upgrades done and over with ASAP gets it out of the way and makes a noticeable improvement in AA and ASW combat. I still have enough sea going vessels to keep doing what I want to keep doing. Hopefully the Japs stay "quiet" for the next two weeks.
Various Bases and Areas
Ndeni - Now has CAP and naval support. I've shipped out an army regiment from San Francisco using a semi-high speed transport (using high speed xAP's and high-speed xAK's...16 knots or greater speed). I'll probably also ship out a Marine regiment from Noumea to enhance the garrison. I'll replace what I'm taking from Noumea with a regiment from the 3rd marine Division, which recently arrived. Ndeni has a 2 size AF and a 1.5 size port. I also plan on landing a coastal gun regiment, now en route from the eastern seaboard.
Alaska - Have begun preparations to garrison Adak Island. Now that Umnak Island is ready to go (the base force is in route), it's time to expand the Allied presence in Alaska. A baseforce is in Seattle. I'll move that, along with an infrantry battalion from Juneau, out to Adak. This will take at least a month to do, as most of my shipping is elsewhere. I only have two transport TF's active in the North Pacific.
Port Moresby - Big reinforcement convoy successfully dropped off 1 more brigade, armor unit, AA unit and lots of supply. Betty's tried to sink some ships, but the CAP beat them off. Only one xAP was damaged, and that happened after all the troops were off.
Rossell Island - 70% of the way to having a port here. Want the port first, then worry about the airfield later (I don't have a free base force for the place right now, anyways). I'm using LRCAP from Enterprise to cover the amphib force that is now landing more supplies.
Milne Bay - The Japs tried, for the third time, to land something here. And, for the third time, the Japanese naval force that tried was wiped out by the Allied Surface TF that I have prowling in the vicinity of Milne Bay and Rossell Island. So, while Milne Bay is technically controlled by the Japanese, there is nothing there. Just a "red dot." I do have plans to land stuff at Milne Bay, but for the moment, getting Ndeni up and running and getting some more forces to Rossell Island take precedence.
China - Nothing going on here. I turned "replacements off" for some ground units in China, in hopes of improving the supply situation. We'll see in a few weeks if it works. The supply situation in China had started to incrementally improve before I made this change, so hopefully this will speed things along.
Just a quickie AAR. Soerbaja almost fell, but still holds on. Guess the Japanese shock attack wiped out the Japanese division just as much as the Dutch. Still, there isn't much left of the defenders of Soerbaja, so in a few turns, it will fall. Batavia, on the other hand, continues to hold on well. Suspect it will hold out for at least another 1-2 weeks, although artillery bombardments by the Japanese continue to be vicious.
One Thing to Remember
If you want to convert some of your old DD's to DE's or APD's on April 1st, be sure to turn the upgrade option for those destroyers OFF. I had moved about 8 or so of these DD's into port, so as to be able to convert these old DD's to DE's. But alas, I forgot to turn the upgrade option off. As such, these old DD's "upgraded" automatically...which provides little benefit in terms of improved AA or ASW. Worse, the option to convert these old DD's to DE's is now gone. I won't be able to convert these old DD's to DE's now until April 1943.
If there was any good news, once I figured this out, I tracked down all the remaining destroyers (that were at sea) and turned the upgrade option off. So, I'll still be able to convert 6-8 destroyers over the next 1-2 months. Still, it's a big, bad bummer to lose the vastly improved AA and ASW capability of 8 destroyer escorts!
Other News
The big upgrade happened on April 2nd, as expected. As such, a lot of ships are sitting in port and won't be going anywhere for the next 1-2 weeks. That's the worse thing about these big upgrade cycles...the Navy suddenly becomes smaller in a hurry in terms of sea capable vessels. On the other hand, getting the upgrades done and over with ASAP gets it out of the way and makes a noticeable improvement in AA and ASW combat. I still have enough sea going vessels to keep doing what I want to keep doing. Hopefully the Japs stay "quiet" for the next two weeks.
Various Bases and Areas
Ndeni - Now has CAP and naval support. I've shipped out an army regiment from San Francisco using a semi-high speed transport (using high speed xAP's and high-speed xAK's...16 knots or greater speed). I'll probably also ship out a Marine regiment from Noumea to enhance the garrison. I'll replace what I'm taking from Noumea with a regiment from the 3rd marine Division, which recently arrived. Ndeni has a 2 size AF and a 1.5 size port. I also plan on landing a coastal gun regiment, now en route from the eastern seaboard.
Alaska - Have begun preparations to garrison Adak Island. Now that Umnak Island is ready to go (the base force is in route), it's time to expand the Allied presence in Alaska. A baseforce is in Seattle. I'll move that, along with an infrantry battalion from Juneau, out to Adak. This will take at least a month to do, as most of my shipping is elsewhere. I only have two transport TF's active in the North Pacific.
Port Moresby - Big reinforcement convoy successfully dropped off 1 more brigade, armor unit, AA unit and lots of supply. Betty's tried to sink some ships, but the CAP beat them off. Only one xAP was damaged, and that happened after all the troops were off.
Rossell Island - 70% of the way to having a port here. Want the port first, then worry about the airfield later (I don't have a free base force for the place right now, anyways). I'm using LRCAP from Enterprise to cover the amphib force that is now landing more supplies.
Milne Bay - The Japs tried, for the third time, to land something here. And, for the third time, the Japanese naval force that tried was wiped out by the Allied Surface TF that I have prowling in the vicinity of Milne Bay and Rossell Island. So, while Milne Bay is technically controlled by the Japanese, there is nothing there. Just a "red dot." I do have plans to land stuff at Milne Bay, but for the moment, getting Ndeni up and running and getting some more forces to Rossell Island take precedence.
China - Nothing going on here. I turned "replacements off" for some ground units in China, in hopes of improving the supply situation. We'll see in a few weeks if it works. The supply situation in China had started to incrementally improve before I made this change, so hopefully this will speed things along.
RE: Well...That's a Bummer
Excellent AAR. Being extremely new to the game your posts are quite insightful and entertaining.
I'm curious though as to how you are dealing with Jap land based air? It sounds like your surface forces have run roughshod over just about everything the japs have put in the water. Everything bigger than a PT boat that I've put into a surface combat TF has been promptly sunk by long distance bombing raids.
Thanks!
I'm curious though as to how you are dealing with Jap land based air? It sounds like your surface forces have run roughshod over just about everything the japs have put in the water. Everything bigger than a PT boat that I've put into a surface combat TF has been promptly sunk by long distance bombing raids.
Thanks!
RE: Well...That's a Bummer
The key thing is to stay outside of "Betty Range." Thus, when the first Betty's appeared around Java, I pulled the surface forces back. The past two months, virtually all surface action has occurred in the vicinity of Milne Bay, Akyab and Canton Island. Canton Island is, currently, a long ways from any sort of Betty's.ORIGINAL: olivedrab
Excellent AAR. Being extremely new to the game your posts are quite insightful and entertaining.
I'm curious though as to how you are dealing with Jap land based air? It sounds like your surface forces have run roughshod over just about everything the japs have put in the water. Everything bigger than a PT boat that I've put into a surface combat TF has been promptly sunk by long distance bombing raids.
Thanks!
The Milne Bay, obviously, is within Betty Range. What I do here is have a surface TF (or two) prowl to the south of the unpassable hexsides between Milne Bay and Rossell Island. When I see a TF approaching any of the islands, I make a "night strike" with my surface TF to Milne Bay or wherever else I think the Japanese are going. Usually, the surface TF I send is then able to "bug out" before day. Twice, though, they've been within 10 hexes, in broad daylight, of Rabaul. Only once did the Betty's take a shot at them, and they missed.
I'm killing transports near Akyab pretty much the same way. Betty's are based in Rangoon and perhaps Mandalay, but they are too far away and there aren't enough of them to really threaten my surface TF's (only one ship has been hit). I have three British surface TF's prowling the waters of the Indian Ocean. When I see a TF approaching Akyab (or see it in my intelligence), I run a surface raider to Akyab at night. I then set the TF to "retirement allowed" so that it immediately retreats back to Diamond Harbor...where it's under friendly air cover. The next day, after my surface task force has been refuelled, it heads out into the Indian Ocean..prolwing the waters within 6-9 hexes away from Akyab. This is why the "road march" to Chittagong isn't such a hot idea. Without naval cover from Japanese BB's or CV's, transports are a sitting duck to marauding British raiders.
The key thing is to keep your surface TF's away from obvious spots where they'll be spotted and at the "outer edge" of the Betty's effecvtive range.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
AAR covers April 5th - to April 9th
General Observations
The Japanese are congregating near Baker Island. Several CV's and a bunch of transports have been hanging around Baker Island for the past week. I can think of one reason, and only one, why the Japs would hang around here....the AI is waiting for all the ships to arrive for the eventual invasion of Canton Island. Since Canton Island is a 6000 man limit island, I'm not hopeful about holding it. Yes, it's relatively well defended...a Marine Defense Battalion, a smaller infantry battalion, a field artillery regiment and a full sized base force (which has a few coastal guns and some assault value). Still, the 80 AV, give or take a bit, is unlikely to hold back what the Japs unleash on the island.
Other Events
India
The Japanese tried to reinforce Akyab. The entire task force was sunk by two surface TF's I have roaming the Indian Ocean. Judging by the loss of infantry and guns, I'd say a regiment was lost. Some of the regiment probably got a shore...as the transports were already there for a half-turn when my raider force arrived, but a lot of damage was done nonetheless.
I continue to reinforce Chittagong. It's clear the japanese are determined to do the road march routine...as I've seen other units in Burma slogging through the jungle toward Akyab. My guess is 2+ divisions will, eventually, be involved in trying to take Chittagong. Currently, I have 850 AV here, with ample artillery and armor. With the arrival of a full-strength Indian Division and a new, highly trained British Division (part of which is slated for the defense of Chittagong, the rest goes to Colombo), I feel confident about holding back the Japanese advance. Only if the Japanese bring in ample naval forces to chase away my British marauders and do a sea borne reinforcement/invasion do they have a good probability of success at Chittagong.
Java
Soerbaja will soon fall...I'm surprised I still hold it. Batavia also will be lucky to last more than a week. However, the attacks to take these two cities have been costly to the japanese...they lost 4000 casualties in their first shock attack on Batavia.
I'm quite surprised I still hold these two cities on April 9th!
Port Moresby
The two fighter squadrons (one p-39 and one p-40) continue to chew up bombing raids, escorted and non-escorted alike. This CAP is allowing me to continue to run supplies and reinforcements to Port Moresby. However, before I move to Moresby, I have one more place to reinforce.....
Milne Bay and Noumea Area
One nice thing about the KB being "parked" at Baker Island and Oosthaven...I know exactly where the bulk of Japanese carriers are. This has given me the ability to do something a "bit bold," at least this early in the game. The Japanese seem hell-bent on capturing Milne Bay, and sooner or later, they'll succeed. So, I'm putting together a Milne Bay Invasion Force, using every single AP and AK I have, along with a bunch of xAP's. Total assault value will be around 250 AV, with artillery, armor and a small base force. Plus a Marine engineer unit and a naval construction unit. This will be more than ample to wipeout the tiny base force that is sort of stranded there.
This is sort of a scratch operation, and it's made possible by the smart choice I made to congregate all available AP's at Noumea. They're about to arrive in Sydney, where they'll pick up a brigade of the 6th Australian, an armor regiment, artillery and a base force. Four other AP's in Noumea will transport a Marine Combat Engineer unit and an Army Regiment.
Air cover for the operation will be provided by one CV TF that consists of two CV's, plus LRCAP from Moresby. Japanese land based air isn't horrifying strong yet out of Rabaul/Lae, and my air and naval air has easily been able to deal with it. Thus, NOW is the time to invade Milne Bay, before Rabaul expands further and more Betty's make their way down to the South Pacific. True, it will be a bitch resupplying Milne Bay. On the other hand, by having a strong garrison with air power at Milne Bay, I further protect Port Moresby as Milne Bay makes it more difficult to do a "sail around invasion" of Port Moresby. It also makes a "sneak invasion" or "sneak bombardments" of Port Moresby impossible.
This operation will temporarily make Noumea a "bit weak"...around 600 AV after this. However, I have the 41st division en route, plus a Marine regiment and three Army regiments...all destined for Noumea and vicinity. With the KB occupied in other areas, I should be ok during the three weeks or so it takes for all these reinforcements to arrive.
One of the Army regiments arriving is destined to beef up the garrison at Luganville. I'll likely send another army regiment and a Marine regiment to Ndeni...the garrison there is weak and I personally suspect that Ndeni will be seeing lots of action in the months ahead. The remaining army regiment and the 41st Division (still not up to full strength) will increase the garrision at Noumea.
General Observations
The Japanese are congregating near Baker Island. Several CV's and a bunch of transports have been hanging around Baker Island for the past week. I can think of one reason, and only one, why the Japs would hang around here....the AI is waiting for all the ships to arrive for the eventual invasion of Canton Island. Since Canton Island is a 6000 man limit island, I'm not hopeful about holding it. Yes, it's relatively well defended...a Marine Defense Battalion, a smaller infantry battalion, a field artillery regiment and a full sized base force (which has a few coastal guns and some assault value). Still, the 80 AV, give or take a bit, is unlikely to hold back what the Japs unleash on the island.
Other Events
India
The Japanese tried to reinforce Akyab. The entire task force was sunk by two surface TF's I have roaming the Indian Ocean. Judging by the loss of infantry and guns, I'd say a regiment was lost. Some of the regiment probably got a shore...as the transports were already there for a half-turn when my raider force arrived, but a lot of damage was done nonetheless.
I continue to reinforce Chittagong. It's clear the japanese are determined to do the road march routine...as I've seen other units in Burma slogging through the jungle toward Akyab. My guess is 2+ divisions will, eventually, be involved in trying to take Chittagong. Currently, I have 850 AV here, with ample artillery and armor. With the arrival of a full-strength Indian Division and a new, highly trained British Division (part of which is slated for the defense of Chittagong, the rest goes to Colombo), I feel confident about holding back the Japanese advance. Only if the Japanese bring in ample naval forces to chase away my British marauders and do a sea borne reinforcement/invasion do they have a good probability of success at Chittagong.
Java
Soerbaja will soon fall...I'm surprised I still hold it. Batavia also will be lucky to last more than a week. However, the attacks to take these two cities have been costly to the japanese...they lost 4000 casualties in their first shock attack on Batavia.
I'm quite surprised I still hold these two cities on April 9th!
Port Moresby
The two fighter squadrons (one p-39 and one p-40) continue to chew up bombing raids, escorted and non-escorted alike. This CAP is allowing me to continue to run supplies and reinforcements to Port Moresby. However, before I move to Moresby, I have one more place to reinforce.....
Milne Bay and Noumea Area
One nice thing about the KB being "parked" at Baker Island and Oosthaven...I know exactly where the bulk of Japanese carriers are. This has given me the ability to do something a "bit bold," at least this early in the game. The Japanese seem hell-bent on capturing Milne Bay, and sooner or later, they'll succeed. So, I'm putting together a Milne Bay Invasion Force, using every single AP and AK I have, along with a bunch of xAP's. Total assault value will be around 250 AV, with artillery, armor and a small base force. Plus a Marine engineer unit and a naval construction unit. This will be more than ample to wipeout the tiny base force that is sort of stranded there.
This is sort of a scratch operation, and it's made possible by the smart choice I made to congregate all available AP's at Noumea. They're about to arrive in Sydney, where they'll pick up a brigade of the 6th Australian, an armor regiment, artillery and a base force. Four other AP's in Noumea will transport a Marine Combat Engineer unit and an Army Regiment.
Air cover for the operation will be provided by one CV TF that consists of two CV's, plus LRCAP from Moresby. Japanese land based air isn't horrifying strong yet out of Rabaul/Lae, and my air and naval air has easily been able to deal with it. Thus, NOW is the time to invade Milne Bay, before Rabaul expands further and more Betty's make their way down to the South Pacific. True, it will be a bitch resupplying Milne Bay. On the other hand, by having a strong garrison with air power at Milne Bay, I further protect Port Moresby as Milne Bay makes it more difficult to do a "sail around invasion" of Port Moresby. It also makes a "sneak invasion" or "sneak bombardments" of Port Moresby impossible.
This operation will temporarily make Noumea a "bit weak"...around 600 AV after this. However, I have the 41st division en route, plus a Marine regiment and three Army regiments...all destined for Noumea and vicinity. With the KB occupied in other areas, I should be ok during the three weeks or so it takes for all these reinforcements to arrive.
One of the Army regiments arriving is destined to beef up the garrison at Luganville. I'll likely send another army regiment and a Marine regiment to Ndeni...the garrison there is weak and I personally suspect that Ndeni will be seeing lots of action in the months ahead. The remaining army regiment and the 41st Division (still not up to full strength) will increase the garrision at Noumea.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Note to self - Need to cover Akyab better somehow
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: jimh009
ORIGINAL: siganm
ORIGINAL: mg62
Excellent AAR. I've been reading and re-read some spots. Can you include a description of your supply convoy network?
As a newbie to this game myself and sitting puzzling my way through the prep for game turn 2 as the allies I would also be very interested in how you set up the supply and resource support network!
Sure, I'll give it a try. Supply works somewhat differently in this game than in stock, so I've been learning "as I go"...it's something that is still in flux and adapting.
First off...convert as many xAK's and xAKL's to xAP's as possible. I made the decision early to convert into these ships and I'm REALLY glad I did! xAP's are indispensable for running troops from the West Coast to where-ever you want them. By having many xAP's, this frees up your dedicated AP's to invasion TF's. Use the xAP's to move your troops between friendly ports, and use the AP's to run between friendly ports and hexes (friendly or otherwise) that do NOT have ports. Because of this, I base my AP's in Hawaii and Noumea...they never get to the West Coast.
Secondly...be sure to convert some xAK's to AKE's. AKE's are how you replenish the guns in your surface TF's. I have AKE's "parked" in port at Christmas Island, Pago Pago, Suva, Noumea and Luganville. This allows me to replenish my surface TF's with ammo without having to run back to Pearl Harbor or Australia. Small ports will no longer replenish the guns of many surface ships, so AKE's are very important!
For the allies, as far as resources go, don't ever worry about it for the first month. Only place you need to ship any is Hawaii...and just a little bit of it. If you evacuate the Dutch East Indies similar to how I do it, you might want to load up some of the resources and take them to Australia with you, but that's a players preference. Instead of doing that, I used my fleeing transports to load up on supply and fuel...which I then dropped off at Port Moresby, Noumea, Horn Island, Perth, Darwin, Brisbane and Sydney. That initial surge of supplies/fuel to those locations helps the allied player get up and running a bit earlier than they otherwise would...particularly in regards to fuel.
Here's how my supply network has started to shape up as well as currently supply/fuel levels for key bases
Hawaii - 300k supply/480k fuel
Christmas Island - 10k supply/10k fuel
Pago Pago - 30k supply/40k fuel
Suva - 15k supply/40k fuel
Noumea - 125k supply/75k fuel (plus fully refueled TF's and two full replenishment groups)
Sydney - 250K supply/60k fuel
Perth - 30k supply/40k fuel
Port Moresby - 50k supply/0 fuel
Hawaii - Initially, I shipped nothing to it, as Hawaii has tons of supply and fuel initially. Recently, though, I've gotten enough shipping to have a small computer controlled tanker convoy running back and forth between Hawaii and Los Angeles. As I get more tankers, I'll add more ships to the convoy. Whenever I notice "idle transports" in either San Francisco or Los Angles, I gather some up and ship over some cargo TF's...they recently unloaded about 75k worth of supplies. I've been risking subs and running these cargo TF's without escort...so far, so good.
Noumea - This island is a beast to get supplied enough for future operations. I have 700 AV there now...with more on the way...and tons of support/tanks/armor. It's absolutely vita that you use a USN Base Force in Noumea that has 100 Naval Support. I also have a special port detachment in Noumea, too. Before landing many LCU's, be sure to land this base force and port detachment...they are vital to building up Noumea. Also be sure to gGet engineers to Noumea ASAP and get working on the port.
Getting all the supply/fuel and LCU's I have at Noumea now has not been an easy feat. What I've been doing is to send to Noumea, about once a week or two, one large...and sometimes gigantic...transport or amphibious convoy. This convoy, which is well escorted and takes a very wandering route to reach Noumea....will contain supplies, tankers and land units. Initially, I had all convoys be amphibious convoys...as the port at Noumea wans't large enough. Due to all the naval support, unloading was very fast. I would also "peel off" the tankers from this task force once it reached Noumea and put them in a transport TF, which I then docked. Due to the initial small size of the port, I had to spend lots of time "cycling through" the ships...docking/undocking them as the ships unloaded.
Now that Noumea has a port size 4 (soon to be 5), I'm using transport TF's to Noumea almost exclusively. I've created a computer controlled taskforces for both cargo and fuel that are escorted. These task forces run between Los Angeles and Noumea, and use the way point system to take a meandering route to get there. These task forces are designed in size to be "just small enough" to be able to dock at Noumea's port.
Noumea serves as the "port" to supply Luganville and will serve as the hub for future bases in the area, too.
Suva/Pago Pago - I've set up small cargo TF's controlled by the computer, using waypoints, to run between the West Coast and these two ports. Initiallly I sent some tankers there and slowly offloaded fuel. But I don't have enough tankers to have regular supply drops to these islands. My unofficial goal is just to keep 30K fuel or so in each port.
Australia - Australia generates enough supply to meet it's own "defensive needs". Thus, it isn't nearly as critical to run supplies there as it was in the original WiTP. However, if you plan to use Australia for offensive operations, you DO need to run supplies here. Additionally, you need to run fuel here as well.
I don't have enough escort ships to run "computer controlled convoys" here yet. Instead, what I've been doing is to run large, escorted transport convoys that contain everything...land combat units, fuel, supply. My last convoy consisted of 5 land combat units, 6 tankers and 10 or so xAK's carrying supply. I run these large convoys to Sydney. These transport convoys are too large again for the port. So, once they reach Sydney, I cycle through the ships, undocking/docking them as needed. A bit cumbersome, but it gets everything unloaded quickly and, just as importantly, minimizes the number of convoys you need to run.
Sydney serves as the "hub" for supply and land combat reinforcements for Port Moresby. For this reason alone, you need lots of fuel in Sydney...as many ships will go through here. Half of the non-British tankers are probably being used to keep Sydney supplied with fuel.
Stop and Go Transports - This is a new creation I've started using for AE. In stock, the Allies never had to do this. But in AE, it's a handy way to deliver a large amount of goods to multiple ports while using few escorts. I've used this type of transport twice for air units. These transports consist of units that I want to drop off at multiple ports...such as Suva, then Noumea then Sydney. The transport will be very large. It will go to the first port and stop (and not unload). I'll then peel off the ships I want to unload, while the rest of the transport then moves on to the next port (where I'll peel off the ships I want to unload at that port). Once the transport TF unloads all ships, I repeat the process "going home."
Thus, for example...I had a huge convoy initially go to Suva. I peeled off the ships to unload and set the rest of the TF to Noumea. Once the TF reached Noumea, I peeled off the ships to unload, and sent the rest of the TF to unload at Sydney. Once the TF unloaded at Sydney, I sent it back to Noumea to pick up the ships that were dropped off. From there, it went back to Suva and picked up the ships previously dropped off before heading back to Los Angeles.
This is a good way to ship lots of stuff to multiple ports with limited escorts. It's drawback is that it can be kind of a pain to manage at times.
Perth - The best way to supply Perth is from Cape Town. I've run a few fuel and supply transports from Cape Town to Perth. I do this when I have "free supplies" and ships available...I don't use automated convoys for this, at least not yet.
Supply for Alaska - I use few ships for this. Right at the very beginning of the war, when I send up ground reinforcements to Dutch Harbor, I run extra supply ships there. This has allowed me to "forget" about Dutch Harbor for the past few months (it still has 35K supply and 40K fuel). I also immediately ran some transports up to Nome (which is so easy to forget about). Since then, all I do is run one computer controlled TF between Seattle and Anchorage. I also had to run supply TF's to some of the other scattered Alaskan/Canadian bases...but you don't need to automate it. These bases require very little supply...the load from a single xAKL will last months and months.
New Zealand - Similar to Australia, New Zealand is self -sufficient in supplies. But it does need fuel. I've sent two dedicated convoys carrying fuel (and some cargo) to Auckland. I run few operations out of New Zealand, so lots of fuel isn't needed. However, it's always a good idea to keep Auckland up around 50K fuel. If you plan to run more offensive operations from here, obviously more fuel and supplies will be needed.
India/Burma and British Forces - India generates the supplies it's needs for basic defensive needs. However, you still need to run supplies/fuel to Colombo. I run two automated convoys now between Abadan and Colombo and Bombay for fuel, and one automated convoy between Cape Town and Colombo for supplies. I have over 250K supplies in Colombo and 130K fuel...so no worries about shortages here. From Colombo, I'll run some tanker TF's down to Diamond Harbor to dump some fuel there, too.
Keep in mind that Colombo is rather vulnerable to an attack by the KB. For this reason, I've been basing most of my transports for India/Colombo in Abadan, Aden and Cape Town. I then run them down to India/Colombo to drop off land units, supplies and fuel as needed.
Your post right here is what I have been wanting to ask someone to do, but have not asked yet. Everyone has strategies and they are all great, but the little details such as conversion of ships is something I would never have known to do.
Thank you very much!
KurtC in the WITE PBEM module.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Thanks for the info on the logistics. I appreciate the time it took to put that together.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: Andy Mac
Note to self - Need to cover Akyab better somehow
lol, yeah...the AI has been hammered here. Two+ infantry regiments have been sunk, along with many, many transports. Without naval support, using Akyab as a hub to unload troops is iffy due to its location. Hurricane fighters have also kept the Japanese bombers in check, too...and, rather surprisingly, have worked well in providing LRCAP for British surface forces on occasion.
Not sure what the AI can do beyond dragging in elements of the KB or a very strong surface force...and then keeping them there for the duration of the operation to take Chittagong. The strong British surface TF's also have the potential to lead to some high naval losses for the Japanese (the Brits would absolutely love to trade BB's with Japan!).
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: mg62
Thanks for the info on the logistics. I appreciate the time it took to put that together.
Sure, glad some people found it helpful.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: hgilmer3
Your post right here is what I have been wanting to ask someone to do, but have not asked yet. Everyone has strategies and they are all great, but the little details such as conversion of ships is something I would never have known to do.
Thank you very much!
You're welcome. Glad you found it useful. Converting to xAP's is huge. I initially just did a few conversions,, then a few more, then a few more, and now, pretty much any ship that can be converted to a xAP has been...and I still barely have enough ships to move the troops!
Remember, unlike the original WiTP, you can't move any units that contain "troops" in normal cargo ships.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Your assuming I have a way of telling the Ai to use Akyab properly
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: Andy Mac
Your assuming I have a way of telling the Ai to use Akyab properly
Yeah, that's the difficulty. Only so much the AI can "anticipate". Still, the AI is way, way improved over stock...so congratulations on what you've accomplished with it. It will be interesting to see how the AI reacts as the war progresses.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Hey Jim, great reporting!! Since Im lagging behind in terms of gametime, anyone offer some thoughts on my defense of this area? Plan is to fortify Sabang and use the airbase to interdict Malaya. Decided on a two pronged defense of mainland at Georgetown and Singapore. Evacuated several INF Bde's out of Singapore already. Cheers, Doug
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RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
I think your defense idea is a good one. Run like hell in Malaya back to Singapore and reinforce Sabang. I tried to fight it out at Georgetown, sort of, and got my butt kicked. Hopefully you have better luck.ORIGINAL: brittad
Hey Jim, great reporting!! Since Im lagging behind in terms of gametime, anyone offer some thoughts on my defense of this area? Plan is to fortify Sabang and use the airbase to interdict Malaya. Decided on a two pronged defense of mainland at Georgetown and Singapore. Evacuated several INF Bde's out of Singapore already. Cheers, Doug
The AI had problems taking Sabang in my game, and had to call in reinforcements. It's about the only place...beyond Batavia...where the Japanese have had troubles dealing with Dutch ground forces.
Brining in some troops from Malaya will likely slow the Japanese down a bit...no question there. Only big thing is...would those troops be better utilized defending Colombo and India?? Always a trade off!
Looming Showdown in Port Moresby
This AAR covers the time period from April 10th through April 12th
Japanese Propaganda
Tokyo Rose proudly announced the sinking of two carriers and one BB at Port Moresby. I couldn't resist smiling, as the Japanese task force that raided Port Moresby encountered and sank exactly one ship...a local minesweeper! The task force contained two BB's, two Ca's and some DD's. So I know now there's some Japanese surface combat forces lurking in the area.
The raid on Port Moresby also reminded me to start making use of my own BB TF that has been parked at Noumea for the past two months. So, it will be joining the great invasion of....
Milne Bay
All troops have been loaded and are now sailing for Milne Bay. One CV TF (Yorktown, Enterprise) will provide CAP. Invasion force includes tank regiment, base force, Australian engineer team, port detachment, one brigade of the 6th Australian, One US Army regiment and one us Marine combat engineer team. Total assault value is somewhere around 300, I guess. LRCAP from Port Moresby will also be used.
The Japs still have a base force here, but that's all. They've still been unsuccessful in reinforcing it. Betty's and Sally's continue to try to chase away my Allied Raiders stalking in the vicinity of Milne Bay. But so far, no luck...although I did have to send back a DD due to bomb damage from a Betty raid.
I expect this invasion to be a messy one. It's a scratch, spur of the moment invasion. I've loaded all the assault LCU's on AP's. But all the other stuff, except the engineers, are loaded on a gaggle of xAP's. They'll unload all the stuff, but it will be slow...although the naval support I've included in the invasion force should help greatly. Obviously, while this motley assortment of 50+ ships unloads,it will be open season on transports by the Betty's and Sally's based in Finschaven, Lae and Rabaul. I fully expect to lose some transports. The question will be...how many? And will they be offloaded of troops before they sink? Long as the assault forces get ashore, with enough supply to last a while, I'll be a happy person.
Trying to be sneaky, I'm also using 15 xAP's for supply only. These xAP's, which only have a tiny capacity and limited range (4000)...as they were converted xAKL's...are sort of there to be "bombing bait." I have too many of these tiny xAP's, and no real use for them since they are so slow (10 knots). With some luck, these xAP's will take some of the heat off the larger xAP's and AP's.
The BB task force I have will also be parked in Milne Bay...no doubt it too will act as a bomb magnet from land based air. But as the surface raid on Port Moresby a few turns ago reminded me, they're needed to protect the invasion force.
The whole Milne Bay operation is taking on more significance now, too, because.....
Port Moresby Invasion
For the past three days, I've been getting loads of intelligence about various elements of the Japanese 48th division. It's either "loaded on a ship headed toward Port Moresby" or is "planning to attack Port Moresby." My gut feeling is that it's already loaded and on it's way. Moreover, the division is split into multiple units (I'm seeing things like 12/48th division is on xAKL headed toward Port Moresby). I suspect that at LEAST 30 ships are being used to transport the 48th division to Port moresby. So, this is a big invasion.
Undoubtedly, this invasion force will be covered by the same surface TF that raided Port Moresby a few days ago. The big question is...how many carriers will there be?
The other big question is...when will it arrive? The whole timing of the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby and my invasion of Milne Bay is interesting....our forces could easily clash in Milne Bay (mine invading Milne Bay while the Japanese are on their way to Port Moresby!).
I do know that the full KB won't be involved...half of it continues to sit at Baker Island. So, that's good news.
With some luck, I can get my ground forces landed before the Japanese show themselves. It will take about a week for the initial invasion to happen...and figure about 3 days to unload all the ground forces and leave enough supply behind. I never expected to unload ALL the supply I'm dragging up there. Hopefully I can just leave enough behind to keep my forces well fed for the next few weeks.
Java
Sorebaja fell on April 10th. Meanwhile, the Japanese continue to POUR forces into Batavia. Right now, Japan has, at least, 10+ artillery/mortar batallion units, 3 infantry divisions and two infantry regiments in Batavia. No small wonder the Japanese bombardment attacks have been so devastating!
I still hold batavia, but there isn't much left of the defenders. Figure two or three more deliberate/shock attacks and it will all be over.
Still, I have zero complaints. After all...it's mid-April, and the Japanese are still fighting it out on Java. Good news indeed!
India/Burma
After the last slaughter, no further ships have attempted to land troops or supplies in Akyab. I figure some of the forces in Java now will, eventually, make their way to the India/Burma theatre.
Meanwhile, I continue to use bombardment attacks against the Japanese division sitting in Chittagong. I have 900 AV there now, with another 400 or so on the way. Unlike the units there now, the units "on the way" are well trained and full strength. I think the "window" to take Chittagong has come and gone. Only if the AI throws a LOT more ground units into the mix will it be able to force the Brits out.
China
The Sitzkreig is in full force. Beyond a few bombardment attacks that accomplish nothing, nobody is doing anything.
Other Stuff
Fuel is getting very low in Australia. Had to divert a tanker TF on it's way to Pago Pago to drop more fuel off in sydney. Another huge TF containing LCU's and aircraft (plus a few tankers) should also arrive in Sydney in 10 days or so.
This Milne Bay operation is the cuplrit, really. 50+ ships, most originating from Australia, depleted half the 40K fuel in Sydney. I was down to 10K fuel in Noumea, but a tanker TF just arrived, boosting the level back to 50K. Damn the lack of tankers in this game!!!!
More ground forces are on the way to noumea and vicinity. In 10 days or so, an army regiment should also land in Ndeni, providing a welcome boost.
Things to Remember
The initial base forces in Palmyra, Canton and Johnston Island all withdraw in June or July. As such, you need to land some new base forces on each of these islands. I've been scrambling around putting together the fores necessary to do it. The Canton Island base force was successfully landed...despite the Japanese carrier force loccated just 10 hexes away (what IS it doing there???). I also just landed the Johnston Island base force. Still to come is the Palmyra base force (currently based in Pearl Harbor).
Check those off map bases! I forgot to check the off-map Eastern USA base for two weeks or so. There was a nice pile of artillery, AA and an infantry regiment...already to go.
Japanese Propaganda
Tokyo Rose proudly announced the sinking of two carriers and one BB at Port Moresby. I couldn't resist smiling, as the Japanese task force that raided Port Moresby encountered and sank exactly one ship...a local minesweeper! The task force contained two BB's, two Ca's and some DD's. So I know now there's some Japanese surface combat forces lurking in the area.
The raid on Port Moresby also reminded me to start making use of my own BB TF that has been parked at Noumea for the past two months. So, it will be joining the great invasion of....
Milne Bay
All troops have been loaded and are now sailing for Milne Bay. One CV TF (Yorktown, Enterprise) will provide CAP. Invasion force includes tank regiment, base force, Australian engineer team, port detachment, one brigade of the 6th Australian, One US Army regiment and one us Marine combat engineer team. Total assault value is somewhere around 300, I guess. LRCAP from Port Moresby will also be used.
The Japs still have a base force here, but that's all. They've still been unsuccessful in reinforcing it. Betty's and Sally's continue to try to chase away my Allied Raiders stalking in the vicinity of Milne Bay. But so far, no luck...although I did have to send back a DD due to bomb damage from a Betty raid.
I expect this invasion to be a messy one. It's a scratch, spur of the moment invasion. I've loaded all the assault LCU's on AP's. But all the other stuff, except the engineers, are loaded on a gaggle of xAP's. They'll unload all the stuff, but it will be slow...although the naval support I've included in the invasion force should help greatly. Obviously, while this motley assortment of 50+ ships unloads,it will be open season on transports by the Betty's and Sally's based in Finschaven, Lae and Rabaul. I fully expect to lose some transports. The question will be...how many? And will they be offloaded of troops before they sink? Long as the assault forces get ashore, with enough supply to last a while, I'll be a happy person.
Trying to be sneaky, I'm also using 15 xAP's for supply only. These xAP's, which only have a tiny capacity and limited range (4000)...as they were converted xAKL's...are sort of there to be "bombing bait." I have too many of these tiny xAP's, and no real use for them since they are so slow (10 knots). With some luck, these xAP's will take some of the heat off the larger xAP's and AP's.
The BB task force I have will also be parked in Milne Bay...no doubt it too will act as a bomb magnet from land based air. But as the surface raid on Port Moresby a few turns ago reminded me, they're needed to protect the invasion force.
The whole Milne Bay operation is taking on more significance now, too, because.....
Port Moresby Invasion
For the past three days, I've been getting loads of intelligence about various elements of the Japanese 48th division. It's either "loaded on a ship headed toward Port Moresby" or is "planning to attack Port Moresby." My gut feeling is that it's already loaded and on it's way. Moreover, the division is split into multiple units (I'm seeing things like 12/48th division is on xAKL headed toward Port Moresby). I suspect that at LEAST 30 ships are being used to transport the 48th division to Port moresby. So, this is a big invasion.
Undoubtedly, this invasion force will be covered by the same surface TF that raided Port Moresby a few days ago. The big question is...how many carriers will there be?
The other big question is...when will it arrive? The whole timing of the Japanese invasion of Port Moresby and my invasion of Milne Bay is interesting....our forces could easily clash in Milne Bay (mine invading Milne Bay while the Japanese are on their way to Port Moresby!).
I do know that the full KB won't be involved...half of it continues to sit at Baker Island. So, that's good news.
With some luck, I can get my ground forces landed before the Japanese show themselves. It will take about a week for the initial invasion to happen...and figure about 3 days to unload all the ground forces and leave enough supply behind. I never expected to unload ALL the supply I'm dragging up there. Hopefully I can just leave enough behind to keep my forces well fed for the next few weeks.
Java
Sorebaja fell on April 10th. Meanwhile, the Japanese continue to POUR forces into Batavia. Right now, Japan has, at least, 10+ artillery/mortar batallion units, 3 infantry divisions and two infantry regiments in Batavia. No small wonder the Japanese bombardment attacks have been so devastating!
I still hold batavia, but there isn't much left of the defenders. Figure two or three more deliberate/shock attacks and it will all be over.
Still, I have zero complaints. After all...it's mid-April, and the Japanese are still fighting it out on Java. Good news indeed!
India/Burma
After the last slaughter, no further ships have attempted to land troops or supplies in Akyab. I figure some of the forces in Java now will, eventually, make their way to the India/Burma theatre.
Meanwhile, I continue to use bombardment attacks against the Japanese division sitting in Chittagong. I have 900 AV there now, with another 400 or so on the way. Unlike the units there now, the units "on the way" are well trained and full strength. I think the "window" to take Chittagong has come and gone. Only if the AI throws a LOT more ground units into the mix will it be able to force the Brits out.
China
The Sitzkreig is in full force. Beyond a few bombardment attacks that accomplish nothing, nobody is doing anything.
Other Stuff
Fuel is getting very low in Australia. Had to divert a tanker TF on it's way to Pago Pago to drop more fuel off in sydney. Another huge TF containing LCU's and aircraft (plus a few tankers) should also arrive in Sydney in 10 days or so.
This Milne Bay operation is the cuplrit, really. 50+ ships, most originating from Australia, depleted half the 40K fuel in Sydney. I was down to 10K fuel in Noumea, but a tanker TF just arrived, boosting the level back to 50K. Damn the lack of tankers in this game!!!!
More ground forces are on the way to noumea and vicinity. In 10 days or so, an army regiment should also land in Ndeni, providing a welcome boost.
Things to Remember
The initial base forces in Palmyra, Canton and Johnston Island all withdraw in June or July. As such, you need to land some new base forces on each of these islands. I've been scrambling around putting together the fores necessary to do it. The Canton Island base force was successfully landed...despite the Japanese carrier force loccated just 10 hexes away (what IS it doing there???). I also just landed the Johnston Island base force. Still to come is the Palmyra base force (currently based in Pearl Harbor).
Check those off map bases! I forgot to check the off-map Eastern USA base for two weeks or so. There was a nice pile of artillery, AA and an infantry regiment...already to go.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
@brittad:
I don't know how successful a defense in Georgetown and Singapore is. It is probably best to move those troops to Singapore first if possible. From your screenshot it is too late. You don't have anywhere near enough AV in Malaya to put up a fight except with everything in Singapore rested up. The same holds for Sabang. The problem you will have with Sabang is keeping it operational and in supply as you are going to get hammered there by Jap air. On the other hand, it is a good place to keep open as long as possible because you can evac air units there and then on to India. If you are going to spend PP and time and energy to evac troops from Malaya, I'd probably try to get them to somewhere in India instead. Otherwise you are going to spend PP just to have them die a bit later.
I don't know how successful a defense in Georgetown and Singapore is. It is probably best to move those troops to Singapore first if possible. From your screenshot it is too late. You don't have anywhere near enough AV in Malaya to put up a fight except with everything in Singapore rested up. The same holds for Sabang. The problem you will have with Sabang is keeping it operational and in supply as you are going to get hammered there by Jap air. On the other hand, it is a good place to keep open as long as possible because you can evac air units there and then on to India. If you are going to spend PP and time and energy to evac troops from Malaya, I'd probably try to get them to somewhere in India instead. Otherwise you are going to spend PP just to have them die a bit later.
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