Here We Go Again
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Here We Go Again
For those of you who lack the time, etc to do PBEM or other games against real humans, I'd recommend Scenario 2. It is very competitive.
RE: Here We Go Again
I usually crush the Japanese in scenario 2.
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
; Julia Child
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
; Julia ChildRE: Here We Go Again
That's why you are MLoM.
I will eventually. This is my first try on it. I keep running across surprises.
I will eventually. This is my first try on it. I keep running across surprises.
RE: Here We Go Again
I crush the Japanese in 1942 . . . [:D]
Seek peace but keep your gun handy.
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
; Julia Child
I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!
“Illegitemus non carborundum est (“Don’t let the bastards grind you down”).”
; Julia ChildRE: Here We Go Again
Good for you.
I'm still getting a handle on just how this scenario varies from others.
Lots more CVEs. Their air wings are not up to KB standards but are still formidable.
Land warfare far less aggressive in CBI, but persistent in WesPac. It gives me a lot of scope to crush him in detail.
Allied air assets less than Scen #1. Very weak RAF.
I'm still getting a handle on just how this scenario varies from others.
Lots more CVEs. Their air wings are not up to KB standards but are still formidable.
Land warfare far less aggressive in CBI, but persistent in WesPac. It gives me a lot of scope to crush him in detail.
Allied air assets less than Scen #1. Very weak RAF.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep July 19, 1942
Situation fairly stagnant. AI-San patrols PM with surface combatants for a while and runs out of fuel and has to run back to Rabaul to gas up. While the cat is away the Allies run some supply out to PM. I almost have his ground pounders isolated. AI-San is aware of that little minefield I laid at PM (he "encountered" it) and now is cautious about entering the PM hex with anything substantial, so surface bombardment - while not completely gone - and less often and less grandiose. His ground-pounders are withering albeit too slowly for my tastes.
I have rationalized a few things. I sent all my Dutch remnant other than subs to Ceylon. The remnant of the ANZAC cruiser force now minds the store at Perth. With CBI nearly comatose orders phases go quickly now.
I did get Luganville firmly under control, and AI-San hasn't revisited Midway.
Problem is that Scenario 2 nerfed the hell out of my aircraft pools. Since I am merely a doddering old fool, and not a WiTP-AE potentate like RJ I have to settle for a classic war of attrition.
Situation fairly stagnant. AI-San patrols PM with surface combatants for a while and runs out of fuel and has to run back to Rabaul to gas up. While the cat is away the Allies run some supply out to PM. I almost have his ground pounders isolated. AI-San is aware of that little minefield I laid at PM (he "encountered" it) and now is cautious about entering the PM hex with anything substantial, so surface bombardment - while not completely gone - and less often and less grandiose. His ground-pounders are withering albeit too slowly for my tastes.
I have rationalized a few things. I sent all my Dutch remnant other than subs to Ceylon. The remnant of the ANZAC cruiser force now minds the store at Perth. With CBI nearly comatose orders phases go quickly now.
I did get Luganville firmly under control, and AI-San hasn't revisited Midway.
Problem is that Scenario 2 nerfed the hell out of my aircraft pools. Since I am merely a doddering old fool, and not a WiTP-AE potentate like RJ I have to settle for a classic war of attrition.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep August 5, 1942
Making a little progress around PM. AI-San had to return to Rabaul because his tankers ran out of fuel and his CVE strike squadrons got a bit thin. I was ready and have already ran 4500 tons of supply into PM and have another brigade of the 6th Aus ready to dash in. My cargo ships are hiding under a 125 fighter umbrella courtesy of the II Fighter Command.
Airedale recce shows the Japanese have a 55,000 man garrison on Guadalcanal with a level 6 airfield.
I've repaired a lot of the damage done to surface combatants earlier in July. I am also preparing to move my carriers to Pearl shortly. I'm still training pilots but I think a raid on the Marshalls will garner my pilots some experience.
Combat along the Imphal ridge is truly half-hearted. Neither side has enough to do anything in the tough terrain. The minelayer Abdiel had an interesting mission. I sent her out to mine Akyab and damn if there wasn't two Kongo class BB and three CLs there. Needless to say the Abdiel ran like hell and her running like hell is spectacular. 38 knots sustained. Nothing fouls up your gunnery like a 38 knot target. The Abdiel got away with nothing but some saltwater on her weather deck. Gotta get more recce airedales to Chittagong before I try that again.
AI-San seems not the least interested in Darwin so far. I have that place well-supplied and now I'm moving fuel in for a larger submarine campaign in the DEI and South China Sea. I have Dutch and USN Asiatic fleet boats with tenders and repair ships at Darwin under a fair fighter umbrella.
Chiang surprised two divisions in the Pearl River valley and thanks to exterminating those Chiang has the Canton-Hong Kong pocket fairly well penned in. Chiang is also massing for a offensive from Changsha to Wuhan. Gotta go slow as my Hump operation is held up by a shortage of C-47s.
Making a little progress around PM. AI-San had to return to Rabaul because his tankers ran out of fuel and his CVE strike squadrons got a bit thin. I was ready and have already ran 4500 tons of supply into PM and have another brigade of the 6th Aus ready to dash in. My cargo ships are hiding under a 125 fighter umbrella courtesy of the II Fighter Command.
Airedale recce shows the Japanese have a 55,000 man garrison on Guadalcanal with a level 6 airfield.
I've repaired a lot of the damage done to surface combatants earlier in July. I am also preparing to move my carriers to Pearl shortly. I'm still training pilots but I think a raid on the Marshalls will garner my pilots some experience.
Combat along the Imphal ridge is truly half-hearted. Neither side has enough to do anything in the tough terrain. The minelayer Abdiel had an interesting mission. I sent her out to mine Akyab and damn if there wasn't two Kongo class BB and three CLs there. Needless to say the Abdiel ran like hell and her running like hell is spectacular. 38 knots sustained. Nothing fouls up your gunnery like a 38 knot target. The Abdiel got away with nothing but some saltwater on her weather deck. Gotta get more recce airedales to Chittagong before I try that again.
AI-San seems not the least interested in Darwin so far. I have that place well-supplied and now I'm moving fuel in for a larger submarine campaign in the DEI and South China Sea. I have Dutch and USN Asiatic fleet boats with tenders and repair ships at Darwin under a fair fighter umbrella.
Chiang surprised two divisions in the Pearl River valley and thanks to exterminating those Chiang has the Canton-Hong Kong pocket fairly well penned in. Chiang is also massing for a offensive from Changsha to Wuhan. Gotta go slow as my Hump operation is held up by a shortage of C-47s.
RE: Here We Go Again
I'm still awake.
Sitrep Sept. 1 1942
Well I finally got a couple of small (7,000 ton) resupply/reinforcement convoys into Port Moresby. It's been a struggle. AI-San has been mostly sitting on that possibility for a while. When he can't maintain CVEs out there he uses big (Nagato/Mutsu) BBs to discourage my CA-escorted convoys. We had a fair big dust-up in the middle of the Coral Sea. For some reason my clouds of search planes didn't notice a combined BB/amphib TF headed for Cooktown just as I was running a reinforcement convoy to PM. My convoy got away but my cruisers took a beating. I lost a Treaty cruiser and four more will be enjoying a vacation in major shipyards. However, I did hit Nagato 46 times (probably all unarmored stuff - having six Brooklyns will mess up unarmored systems.) To add insult to injury I has 54 USN Dauntlesses trained for naval bombing and when they were done, Nagato and Furutaka were burning cheerily and limping off toward Rabaul. He had a small CVE with a dozen Zeros but the Wildcats I had escorting the Dauntlesses got them through. In addition to the Nagato and the cruiser, the CVE was seriously on fire last I saw of it. At any rate Is tripped off the damaged CAs and sent the convoy - escorted by CLs on to PM.
My reinforcements to PM included a CD unit (sixteen 6" guns) - firepower roughly equivalent to a Brooklyn and unsinkable. This will slow down his amphib resupply efforts. I have his PM force cut off from land-based supply. Maybe I can start whittling him down some.
As soon as the Washington reaches San Diego I'm relocating the fleet (CVs, BBs, and lots of DDs) to Pearl. I'm looking to sneak up on his CVEs with my main body of CVs and sink a couple or three. I have five refueling bases and lots of AOs to deal with the fuel hogs. I have the entire Colorado class plus the Warspite working together.
Otherwise things have been quiet. Scenario #2 nerfs the allied pools so I have to be less than fangs-out aggressive.
Sitrep Sept. 1 1942
Well I finally got a couple of small (7,000 ton) resupply/reinforcement convoys into Port Moresby. It's been a struggle. AI-San has been mostly sitting on that possibility for a while. When he can't maintain CVEs out there he uses big (Nagato/Mutsu) BBs to discourage my CA-escorted convoys. We had a fair big dust-up in the middle of the Coral Sea. For some reason my clouds of search planes didn't notice a combined BB/amphib TF headed for Cooktown just as I was running a reinforcement convoy to PM. My convoy got away but my cruisers took a beating. I lost a Treaty cruiser and four more will be enjoying a vacation in major shipyards. However, I did hit Nagato 46 times (probably all unarmored stuff - having six Brooklyns will mess up unarmored systems.) To add insult to injury I has 54 USN Dauntlesses trained for naval bombing and when they were done, Nagato and Furutaka were burning cheerily and limping off toward Rabaul. He had a small CVE with a dozen Zeros but the Wildcats I had escorting the Dauntlesses got them through. In addition to the Nagato and the cruiser, the CVE was seriously on fire last I saw of it. At any rate Is tripped off the damaged CAs and sent the convoy - escorted by CLs on to PM.
My reinforcements to PM included a CD unit (sixteen 6" guns) - firepower roughly equivalent to a Brooklyn and unsinkable. This will slow down his amphib resupply efforts. I have his PM force cut off from land-based supply. Maybe I can start whittling him down some.
As soon as the Washington reaches San Diego I'm relocating the fleet (CVs, BBs, and lots of DDs) to Pearl. I'm looking to sneak up on his CVEs with my main body of CVs and sink a couple or three. I have five refueling bases and lots of AOs to deal with the fuel hogs. I have the entire Colorado class plus the Warspite working together.
Otherwise things have been quiet. Scenario #2 nerfs the allied pools so I have to be less than fangs-out aggressive.
RE: Here We Go Again
Minor action report.
Sitrep Sept 7, 1942
Couple of minor actions to titillate the masses.
The British noticed a lot of marus but no surface combatants at Akyab. Nobody much fears the IJAAF Sallies and Sonias. So Palliser took a half-dozen old 1916 vintage CLs to Akyab and enjoyed a maru-massacre. Having emptied his magazines sinking a dozen marus and - submariners rejoice - five PB and E escorts. Then Palliser gagged his safeties and hauled butt for Columbo. If AI-San is this negligent again not only will I send CLs to kill marus but some old "R" class scows to roto-till his base.
AI-San sent a single CVE to raid Midway. His CVE is going home with no strike planes as he ran into a 140 plane BARCAP. Inexplicably my Dauntlesses did not a counterstrike. Moral of the story for AI-San: If you wanna mess with Midway, send KB.
Also, the more observant citizens of San Diego got up this morning and noticed the naval roadstead was nearly empty.
Sitrep Sept 7, 1942
Couple of minor actions to titillate the masses.
The British noticed a lot of marus but no surface combatants at Akyab. Nobody much fears the IJAAF Sallies and Sonias. So Palliser took a half-dozen old 1916 vintage CLs to Akyab and enjoyed a maru-massacre. Having emptied his magazines sinking a dozen marus and - submariners rejoice - five PB and E escorts. Then Palliser gagged his safeties and hauled butt for Columbo. If AI-San is this negligent again not only will I send CLs to kill marus but some old "R" class scows to roto-till his base.
AI-San sent a single CVE to raid Midway. His CVE is going home with no strike planes as he ran into a 140 plane BARCAP. Inexplicably my Dauntlesses did not a counterstrike. Moral of the story for AI-San: If you wanna mess with Midway, send KB.
Also, the more observant citizens of San Diego got up this morning and noticed the naval roadstead was nearly empty.
RE: Here We Go Again
Incident report Sept 9, 1942
Cogniscienti in Honolulu notice roughly 200 planes flying due east from the Honolulu area.
Cogniscienti in Honolulu notice roughly 200 planes flying due east from the Honolulu area.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep Sept 15, 1942
Suddenly it was completely obvious. Naval yard patrols and Coast Guard vessels shepherded the big warships to their berths. The bar owners and pimps along King street and Sand Island were overjoyed.
The fleet had returned to Pearl Harbor. Battle ships both the Standards that had been savaged in December and sleek-looking new "fast" battleships, seven fleet carriers and even a whole lot of destroyers and minelayers had returned.
With them thousands of sailors and officers. There was money to be made. Even the Royal Hawaiian looked for increased revenues. While they had done OK with sub officers the fleet brought more senior officers who had bigger per diems than the Lieutenants and Lieutenant Commanders who had had the run of the place.
The Corps of Engineers contractors were furiously putting up temporary shelter at Fort DeRussy and in Pearl city.
The pimps had planned for this. All the Japanese-looking girls were stashed away in the cane brakes and the oldest profession would have to make do with Polynesian-looking girls.
Down in New Guinea the Navy had gotten a 6,000 ton convoy through unscathed. A bigger one was forming.
Suddenly it was completely obvious. Naval yard patrols and Coast Guard vessels shepherded the big warships to their berths. The bar owners and pimps along King street and Sand Island were overjoyed.
The fleet had returned to Pearl Harbor. Battle ships both the Standards that had been savaged in December and sleek-looking new "fast" battleships, seven fleet carriers and even a whole lot of destroyers and minelayers had returned.
With them thousands of sailors and officers. There was money to be made. Even the Royal Hawaiian looked for increased revenues. While they had done OK with sub officers the fleet brought more senior officers who had bigger per diems than the Lieutenants and Lieutenant Commanders who had had the run of the place.
The Corps of Engineers contractors were furiously putting up temporary shelter at Fort DeRussy and in Pearl city.
The pimps had planned for this. All the Japanese-looking girls were stashed away in the cane brakes and the oldest profession would have to make do with Polynesian-looking girls.
Down in New Guinea the Navy had gotten a 6,000 ton convoy through unscathed. A bigger one was forming.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep Oct. 1, 1942
After a somewhat desperate month, I feel like I'm turning the corner at Port Moresby. AI-San was starving me out until I threw another whole fighter group into the fray. After two bloodbath raids from his KB B-team planes, AI-San seem to have lost interest for the moment. In the meantime I jammed in the rest of the 6th Australian and about 20,000 tons of supply.
The War Department in its infinite wisdom upsized the 18th Fighter group up to six 25-plane squadrons. So I pulled it out of Midway and moved back to Pearl, replacing the 18th with the four-squadron 15th. Plenty of defense for Midway. I re-equipped part of the group. Now it has three squadrons of P-40Bs with very well-trained pilots. Excellent defense but no legs for offense. The other three I re-equipped with P-38Fs with somewhat less train pilots. But the long legs of the P-38 give men a capability of sweeping/escorting for bombers. I'm building up Cooktown to escort supply convoys to PM without carriers and to bomb his bases on New Guinea to goo.
I did not leave the fleet united at Pearl very long. I have my main carrier force (which I will not let out from under land-based fighters any more than I have to) and I intend to try to catch his CVE KB out and put 250 strike planes over them. I also sent out a BB division (all the Colorado class plus the Warspite in case he comes out with the Mutsu and Nagato.
AI-San is throttling down on my fuel deliveries to Darwin so sub ops in the DEI and South china Sea are curtailed. I have CVE loaded with fighters to get some fuel through from Perth.
India/Burma are quiet. Neither AI-San nor I want to tangle with a hundred miles of terrific defensive terrain. AI-San tried an amphib action against my right flank at Cox's Brassiere, but I have a level 5 fort with two well supplied Indian divisions there, so his boys are now food for the salt-water crocs.
Chiang Kai-shek's success in the Pearl River Valley stung Chairman Mao into action in the north. Mao rounded up the whole Red Army and drove AI-San out of Loyang, Chenchow, and Kaifeng. AI-San didn't take this well and he has rounded up a 90,000 man army to drive Mao back. Should gbe interesting. I'm not in bad shape for late 1942.
Pools are filling up and I now have enough Liberty ships for long-distance hub-to-hub runs.
After a somewhat desperate month, I feel like I'm turning the corner at Port Moresby. AI-San was starving me out until I threw another whole fighter group into the fray. After two bloodbath raids from his KB B-team planes, AI-San seem to have lost interest for the moment. In the meantime I jammed in the rest of the 6th Australian and about 20,000 tons of supply.
The War Department in its infinite wisdom upsized the 18th Fighter group up to six 25-plane squadrons. So I pulled it out of Midway and moved back to Pearl, replacing the 18th with the four-squadron 15th. Plenty of defense for Midway. I re-equipped part of the group. Now it has three squadrons of P-40Bs with very well-trained pilots. Excellent defense but no legs for offense. The other three I re-equipped with P-38Fs with somewhat less train pilots. But the long legs of the P-38 give men a capability of sweeping/escorting for bombers. I'm building up Cooktown to escort supply convoys to PM without carriers and to bomb his bases on New Guinea to goo.
I did not leave the fleet united at Pearl very long. I have my main carrier force (which I will not let out from under land-based fighters any more than I have to) and I intend to try to catch his CVE KB out and put 250 strike planes over them. I also sent out a BB division (all the Colorado class plus the Warspite in case he comes out with the Mutsu and Nagato.
AI-San is throttling down on my fuel deliveries to Darwin so sub ops in the DEI and South china Sea are curtailed. I have CVE loaded with fighters to get some fuel through from Perth.
India/Burma are quiet. Neither AI-San nor I want to tangle with a hundred miles of terrific defensive terrain. AI-San tried an amphib action against my right flank at Cox's Brassiere, but I have a level 5 fort with two well supplied Indian divisions there, so his boys are now food for the salt-water crocs.
Chiang Kai-shek's success in the Pearl River Valley stung Chairman Mao into action in the north. Mao rounded up the whole Red Army and drove AI-San out of Loyang, Chenchow, and Kaifeng. AI-San didn't take this well and he has rounded up a 90,000 man army to drive Mao back. Should gbe interesting. I'm not in bad shape for late 1942.
Pools are filling up and I now have enough Liberty ships for long-distance hub-to-hub runs.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep Oct. 15, 1942
I'm continuing to get an advantage at Port Moresby. I have a 45,000 ton supply convoy about to dock at PM. I have lost a Benham-class DD to air strikes but I can keep enough LRCAP over them to get close and next turn the convoy will be docked and under a 150 fighter umbrella. Now, I'm getting the 7th Aus and the rest of the Aus I Corps ready to ferry over. Scenario 2 has denied me the USA 41st Div so I'll have to make the Americans bit players in SWPac. I have the 32nd planning to invade Milne Bay.
AI-San has built Guadalcanal up to a huge level so I'll just island hop it. I have the 1st Marines prepping for Munda. My Colorado-class BBs are in Noumea (under strong fighter cover and my CVs are due in a few days. I moved both in by a circuituitous route to stay beyond Betty air search range. My 18th FG convoy (3 squadron of P-40B and 3 squadrons of P-38F for long range sweep/escort. I have a convoy leaving Frisco with 10 squadrons of B-26s well-trained at ground bombing. If I can get them deployed safely they should pulverize Buna (AI-San re-took it as I only had a single battalion holding it), Salamauae, Lae, and Finschhaven. The B-26s are an interim solution. Their pools are shallow but they'll do til I get some 4E bombers in.
Chairman Mao's forces can't stand up in cultivated terrain. AI-San drove him back across the Yellow River. Chiang Kai-Shek can't drive AI-San out of Hankow/Wuhan - not enough supply - but at least AI-San is no longer on the offensive in China. In India/Burma AI-San and I continue air sparring but neither of us wants to take on the Imphal ridge line.
I have a CVE moving toward Perth to escort tankers to Darwin. Sub ops into the DEI/South China Sea are minimal due to short fuel. AI-San is waging a limited (1 squadron of Betties and 1 squadron of Zeros against Darwin but I have two squadrons of Kittyhawk with the cream of Aussie pilots fighting totally defensive there. I'll stay totally defensive for at least six months but Spitfire Vs are beginning to show up and the Aussies won't be at such an equipment disadvantage.
Liberty ships are beginning to appear and their mega-endurance allows me to use them to stock up supply hubs at Noumea, Brisbane, Sydney and even Perth without the need for escorts.
I'm continuing to get an advantage at Port Moresby. I have a 45,000 ton supply convoy about to dock at PM. I have lost a Benham-class DD to air strikes but I can keep enough LRCAP over them to get close and next turn the convoy will be docked and under a 150 fighter umbrella. Now, I'm getting the 7th Aus and the rest of the Aus I Corps ready to ferry over. Scenario 2 has denied me the USA 41st Div so I'll have to make the Americans bit players in SWPac. I have the 32nd planning to invade Milne Bay.
AI-San has built Guadalcanal up to a huge level so I'll just island hop it. I have the 1st Marines prepping for Munda. My Colorado-class BBs are in Noumea (under strong fighter cover and my CVs are due in a few days. I moved both in by a circuituitous route to stay beyond Betty air search range. My 18th FG convoy (3 squadron of P-40B and 3 squadrons of P-38F for long range sweep/escort. I have a convoy leaving Frisco with 10 squadrons of B-26s well-trained at ground bombing. If I can get them deployed safely they should pulverize Buna (AI-San re-took it as I only had a single battalion holding it), Salamauae, Lae, and Finschhaven. The B-26s are an interim solution. Their pools are shallow but they'll do til I get some 4E bombers in.
Chairman Mao's forces can't stand up in cultivated terrain. AI-San drove him back across the Yellow River. Chiang Kai-Shek can't drive AI-San out of Hankow/Wuhan - not enough supply - but at least AI-San is no longer on the offensive in China. In India/Burma AI-San and I continue air sparring but neither of us wants to take on the Imphal ridge line.
I have a CVE moving toward Perth to escort tankers to Darwin. Sub ops into the DEI/South China Sea are minimal due to short fuel. AI-San is waging a limited (1 squadron of Betties and 1 squadron of Zeros against Darwin but I have two squadrons of Kittyhawk with the cream of Aussie pilots fighting totally defensive there. I'll stay totally defensive for at least six months but Spitfire Vs are beginning to show up and the Aussies won't be at such an equipment disadvantage.
Liberty ships are beginning to appear and their mega-endurance allows me to use them to stock up supply hubs at Noumea, Brisbane, Sydney and even Perth without the need for escorts.
RE: Here We Go Again
FLASH Traffic Oct 17, 1942
Kiss my butt! How did that happen?
I was moving my carrier fleet from Pearl to Noumea when one of AI-San's subs put four torpedoes into the Enterprise and sank her. Now she's on the bottom waiting forty years for a visit from Bob Ballard. Took a good air wing down with her. At least they didn't get Adm. Halsey.
She was in a two CV TF with Saratoga, a BB, eight DDs, and an Atlanta. ASW =40. In order to keep them from being spotted I was running FOUR hexes south of a route I normally use for unescorted 12 knot merchants. I've literally run thousands of merchies through there and never seen a sub. I had an ASW patrol out and was running at mission speed.
Well, that takes the aggression out of my CV ops. I will be six months before Essex shows up with her green-as grass air wing.
Kiss my butt! How did that happen?
I was moving my carrier fleet from Pearl to Noumea when one of AI-San's subs put four torpedoes into the Enterprise and sank her. Now she's on the bottom waiting forty years for a visit from Bob Ballard. Took a good air wing down with her. At least they didn't get Adm. Halsey.
She was in a two CV TF with Saratoga, a BB, eight DDs, and an Atlanta. ASW =40. In order to keep them from being spotted I was running FOUR hexes south of a route I normally use for unescorted 12 knot merchants. I've literally run thousands of merchies through there and never seen a sub. I had an ASW patrol out and was running at mission speed.
Well, that takes the aggression out of my CV ops. I will be six months before Essex shows up with her green-as grass air wing.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep Nov. 19, 1942
Things moving slowly.
By concentrating resource I can now pretty much get supplies and reinforcements to Port Moresby and AI-San cannot. I have a big fighter presence now led by the 35th FG equipped with P-40Ks and staffed by mostly veteran pilots. By using some xAKLs as bait I did lure AI-San into sending his B-team carriers for easy pickings. Not so easy. 220 fighters make for tough sledding, even if most of my planes are P-39s and P-40Es. His raids get weaker and weaker and are down to maybe twice a week.
I have one more brigade of the 7th Aus to get in, and that will fill out the I Aus Corps. (9th Aus not due for a couple months.) I have mountains of supply and all my Australian units are at near full strength. Maybe I can kill all AI-San's infantry off in a couple of months.
AI-San is in for more bad news. I have USMC Wildcats and Dauntlesses ready to move into PM, so I can scour all his scurvy ships out of the eastern New Guinea area. Scenario 2 does not give MacArthur more than a single division of US troops, but I have them prepping for Milne Bay and SoPac is prepping the 1st Marine Div for islands on the edge of the Coral Sea.
AI-San is waging war on the cheap around Darwin and it is mostly making a lot of Aussie aces. Apparently Darwin is out of Zero range and Kittyhawks shoot down Betties quite nicely. I am trying to sneak a tanker into Darwin escorted by a CVE loaded with Wildcats. I have minimal fuel at Darwin (but OK supplies) and have had to cut back sub operations in the DEI/South China Sea. If this single CVE scheme blows up in my face I have four more CVEs stashed at Pearl to up the ante.
The whole CBI theater is a massive sitzkrieg. Both sides do little beyond lobbing grenades and mortar shells at each other. Chairman Mao's offensive came to grief. AI-San scratched up some reserves and chased Mao back across the Yellow River.
An observation: Just maintaining colonial occupation in India is a job by itself. Indian Army divisions are poorly equipped (although better than Chinese or Japanese divisions and the forbidding terrain just paralyzes both sides.
As for the rest of my operations, cue up Rogers & Hammerstein's Guadalcanal March although my pools are not as deep is in other scenarios.
Odd thing about scenario 2: I am hip-deep in SeaBees - way more than other scenarios. I should be able to fashion follow-up SeaBee TFs to come in on the second wave of invasions and get air strips ready to go quickly.
Sometimes I feel like a NFL General Manager. I manage the pools and the war of attrition gains its own momentum.
Things moving slowly.
By concentrating resource I can now pretty much get supplies and reinforcements to Port Moresby and AI-San cannot. I have a big fighter presence now led by the 35th FG equipped with P-40Ks and staffed by mostly veteran pilots. By using some xAKLs as bait I did lure AI-San into sending his B-team carriers for easy pickings. Not so easy. 220 fighters make for tough sledding, even if most of my planes are P-39s and P-40Es. His raids get weaker and weaker and are down to maybe twice a week.
I have one more brigade of the 7th Aus to get in, and that will fill out the I Aus Corps. (9th Aus not due for a couple months.) I have mountains of supply and all my Australian units are at near full strength. Maybe I can kill all AI-San's infantry off in a couple of months.
AI-San is in for more bad news. I have USMC Wildcats and Dauntlesses ready to move into PM, so I can scour all his scurvy ships out of the eastern New Guinea area. Scenario 2 does not give MacArthur more than a single division of US troops, but I have them prepping for Milne Bay and SoPac is prepping the 1st Marine Div for islands on the edge of the Coral Sea.
AI-San is waging war on the cheap around Darwin and it is mostly making a lot of Aussie aces. Apparently Darwin is out of Zero range and Kittyhawks shoot down Betties quite nicely. I am trying to sneak a tanker into Darwin escorted by a CVE loaded with Wildcats. I have minimal fuel at Darwin (but OK supplies) and have had to cut back sub operations in the DEI/South China Sea. If this single CVE scheme blows up in my face I have four more CVEs stashed at Pearl to up the ante.
The whole CBI theater is a massive sitzkrieg. Both sides do little beyond lobbing grenades and mortar shells at each other. Chairman Mao's offensive came to grief. AI-San scratched up some reserves and chased Mao back across the Yellow River.
An observation: Just maintaining colonial occupation in India is a job by itself. Indian Army divisions are poorly equipped (although better than Chinese or Japanese divisions and the forbidding terrain just paralyzes both sides.
As for the rest of my operations, cue up Rogers & Hammerstein's Guadalcanal March although my pools are not as deep is in other scenarios.
Odd thing about scenario 2: I am hip-deep in SeaBees - way more than other scenarios. I should be able to fashion follow-up SeaBee TFs to come in on the second wave of invasions and get air strips ready to go quickly.
Sometimes I feel like a NFL General Manager. I manage the pools and the war of attrition gains its own momentum.
RE: Here We Go Again
Sitrep Dec. 5, 1942
The struggle for New Guinea enters a new phase.
I finally got most of the Aus I Corps at Port Moresby. The 9th won't come into theater til spring. That pesky Rommel rascal, ah reckon. All the same I have the 6th and 7th in place an reunited plus all the engineers and artillery for the Corps. Mostly an Australian show on the ground. I have two weenie 75mm field gun battalions and a battalion of Marine Raiders. AI-San's force is cut off from overland supply and I pretty much have his amphibious shenanigans beaten down. Two battalions of 6 inch coastal defense guns made his latest attempt at amphib reinforcement an adventure in creation of artificial reefs. AI-San's force is getting low on supply. My first deliberate attack killed 10% of his force. Of course, this could take a while.
I finally have rock-solid air dominance over PM and now I'm beginning to expand that dominance. I've gotten off a couple of big strikes (100+ B-26s) on Buna and Milne Bay. AI-san committed a sentai of pretty good Nick drivers but I see less and less of them after each raid. His KB frags have disappeared for now.
I managed to squeeze in 9,000 tons of fuel into Darwin and now I can run some US subs into the South China Sea and Dutch subs into the Makassar Strait. The sub war ain't much. Between Mk. 14 torpedoes and the short range of the Dutch subs, I'm not getting much done and my DE hunter killer groups are discouraging AI-San from the usual Japanese hunting grounds.
Mostly I'm stockpiling supply/fuel at Sydney, Brisbane, Noumea, Perth and my refueling bases at Pago Pago and Christmas Islands.
CBI is completely comatose. AI-San and I mostly lob hand grenades and small mortar shells and run pointless night air raids.
The struggle for New Guinea enters a new phase.
I finally got most of the Aus I Corps at Port Moresby. The 9th won't come into theater til spring. That pesky Rommel rascal, ah reckon. All the same I have the 6th and 7th in place an reunited plus all the engineers and artillery for the Corps. Mostly an Australian show on the ground. I have two weenie 75mm field gun battalions and a battalion of Marine Raiders. AI-San's force is cut off from overland supply and I pretty much have his amphibious shenanigans beaten down. Two battalions of 6 inch coastal defense guns made his latest attempt at amphib reinforcement an adventure in creation of artificial reefs. AI-San's force is getting low on supply. My first deliberate attack killed 10% of his force. Of course, this could take a while.
I finally have rock-solid air dominance over PM and now I'm beginning to expand that dominance. I've gotten off a couple of big strikes (100+ B-26s) on Buna and Milne Bay. AI-san committed a sentai of pretty good Nick drivers but I see less and less of them after each raid. His KB frags have disappeared for now.
I managed to squeeze in 9,000 tons of fuel into Darwin and now I can run some US subs into the South China Sea and Dutch subs into the Makassar Strait. The sub war ain't much. Between Mk. 14 torpedoes and the short range of the Dutch subs, I'm not getting much done and my DE hunter killer groups are discouraging AI-San from the usual Japanese hunting grounds.
Mostly I'm stockpiling supply/fuel at Sydney, Brisbane, Noumea, Perth and my refueling bases at Pago Pago and Christmas Islands.
CBI is completely comatose. AI-San and I mostly lob hand grenades and small mortar shells and run pointless night air raids.
RE: Here We Go Again
What is happening in the Gilberts/Marshalls chain? Has the AI tried to move into India or the Aleutians?
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Here We Go Again
Yeah, an overview is overdue as this marks the first year of the war.
Sitrep: Dec 7, 1942
By and large I have met the historical mission set early on. I have stopped Japanese expansion cold, but I had to give ground to do so.
AI-San took the PI in their entirety.
AI-San took Malaya in its entirety.
AI-San took the DEI in their entirety.
AI-San took Burma in its entirety.
Outside of Port Blair AI-San has not taken a square foot of India and I doubt - even if he abandoned China and Manchuria - he has enough boots on the ground to breach the Imphal ridge line.
The India Army does not have the firepower at this time to root him out of any of Burma. I bomb Magwe from time to time.
I am dug in deep on Ceylon and have plenty of very mobile Indian troops to drive off an amphib assault into India.
The China theater is comatose. AI-San and I lob hand grenades and small caliber mortar fire at each other.
I don't see much scope for movement in any part of CBI for a minimum of a year.
Other than some nuisance amphib raids, AI-San has not taken a square foot of Australia or New Zealand proper.
I have Dutch Harbor strongly garrisoned with infantry, CD guns and mines. A couple Omaha cruisers kill off any marus that come by for amphib raids. The Aleutians/Kuriles are nothing but a cul-de-sac.
Not much action in the Marshalls/Gilberts. A few bombing raids and sub patrols.
As in the historical war, most of the action is in New Guinea and the Solomons. More the former than the latter but that is changing.
My Aussies have AI-San's force at Port Moresby in a mini-Stalingrad. I have the base and the logistics and outnumber him by 4:1.
I am coiling up for an attack on Milne Bay. Scenario 2 does not include more than a division of US Army troops but AI-San is thin at Milne. I expect to take Milne Bay by coup-de main in the first quarter of 1943. I have scads of SeaBees and think I can build a good base there in three weeks.
Sub warfare sucks. AI-San must have an air force the size of the Luftwaffe patrolling the Home Islands. I cannot come within five hexes without being detected. AI-San simply does not traverse Makassar Strait as far as I can see. The Strait is crawling with short-legged Dutch subs and they rarely report being detected.
At least the hemorrhage of ships has abated, but I sure miss Enterprise.
Sitrep: Dec 7, 1942
By and large I have met the historical mission set early on. I have stopped Japanese expansion cold, but I had to give ground to do so.
AI-San took the PI in their entirety.
AI-San took Malaya in its entirety.
AI-San took the DEI in their entirety.
AI-San took Burma in its entirety.
Outside of Port Blair AI-San has not taken a square foot of India and I doubt - even if he abandoned China and Manchuria - he has enough boots on the ground to breach the Imphal ridge line.
The India Army does not have the firepower at this time to root him out of any of Burma. I bomb Magwe from time to time.
I am dug in deep on Ceylon and have plenty of very mobile Indian troops to drive off an amphib assault into India.
The China theater is comatose. AI-San and I lob hand grenades and small caliber mortar fire at each other.
I don't see much scope for movement in any part of CBI for a minimum of a year.
Other than some nuisance amphib raids, AI-San has not taken a square foot of Australia or New Zealand proper.
I have Dutch Harbor strongly garrisoned with infantry, CD guns and mines. A couple Omaha cruisers kill off any marus that come by for amphib raids. The Aleutians/Kuriles are nothing but a cul-de-sac.
Not much action in the Marshalls/Gilberts. A few bombing raids and sub patrols.
As in the historical war, most of the action is in New Guinea and the Solomons. More the former than the latter but that is changing.
My Aussies have AI-San's force at Port Moresby in a mini-Stalingrad. I have the base and the logistics and outnumber him by 4:1.
I am coiling up for an attack on Milne Bay. Scenario 2 does not include more than a division of US Army troops but AI-San is thin at Milne. I expect to take Milne Bay by coup-de main in the first quarter of 1943. I have scads of SeaBees and think I can build a good base there in three weeks.
Sub warfare sucks. AI-San must have an air force the size of the Luftwaffe patrolling the Home Islands. I cannot come within five hexes without being detected. AI-San simply does not traverse Makassar Strait as far as I can see. The Strait is crawling with short-legged Dutch subs and they rarely report being detected.
At least the hemorrhage of ships has abated, but I sure miss Enterprise.
RE: Here We Go Again
Thanks for the update. I am surprised about the Japanese Air ASW strength. But with a limited expansion the places their ships have to support are known so your subs should be able to find the routes and patrol beyond Air ASW range.
Looks like AI-San continues to break itself on PM. I think the script targeting PM runs out in early 1943 so things may go quiet there and the IJ forces will threaten elsewhere or dig in where they are.
Looks like AI-San continues to break itself on PM. I think the script targeting PM runs out in early 1943 so things may go quiet there and the IJ forces will threaten elsewhere or dig in where they are.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Here We Go Again
FLASH TRAFFIC: Dec. 14, 1942
The last of AI-San's ground-pounders at Port Moresby were liquidated. I already hold the Kokoda Trail over the Owen Stanley passes, so I'll rest the 6th and 7th for a few days and begin marching for Buna. It looks lightly garrisoned - no match for the experience Aussies. Also the 9th Australian is due in theater in a month or two.
I am gathering forces at Brisbane to make an American effort at Milne Bay. It does not appear to be heavily held. I think the 32nd Infantry and some tanks can take the joint. I have enough shipping that I can land SeaBees and base forces quickly and build up the base.
If I can nab Milne Bay and Rossel Island in the next couple months I'll have the Solomons outflanked. If I can get bases built and populated with P-38s (and later Corsairs) I won't need to risk my carriers against KB for quite a while.
Yeah, I have flared my subs away from the Japanese coast to stay undetected. I don't get the dozens of contacts, but I can keep my subs on station and occasionally get Mk. 14s to explode.
I am starting to get enough fuel & supply into Darwin to begin heavier action in the South China Sea. That appears to be his oil route.
The last of AI-San's ground-pounders at Port Moresby were liquidated. I already hold the Kokoda Trail over the Owen Stanley passes, so I'll rest the 6th and 7th for a few days and begin marching for Buna. It looks lightly garrisoned - no match for the experience Aussies. Also the 9th Australian is due in theater in a month or two.
I am gathering forces at Brisbane to make an American effort at Milne Bay. It does not appear to be heavily held. I think the 32nd Infantry and some tanks can take the joint. I have enough shipping that I can land SeaBees and base forces quickly and build up the base.
If I can nab Milne Bay and Rossel Island in the next couple months I'll have the Solomons outflanked. If I can get bases built and populated with P-38s (and later Corsairs) I won't need to risk my carriers against KB for quite a while.
Yeah, I have flared my subs away from the Japanese coast to stay undetected. I don't get the dozens of contacts, but I can keep my subs on station and occasionally get Mk. 14s to explode.
I am starting to get enough fuel & supply into Darwin to begin heavier action in the South China Sea. That appears to be his oil route.