Against the Wind: Cuttlefish (Japan) vs. Q-Ball (Allies)

[Chickenboy]

Cuttlefish,

Looks like some of the Allied Flores bases would come in range of IJAAF Oscar Cs (or whatever your IJA frontline fighter is du jour), particularly if you used drop tanks from planes based out of Kendari. I try to spare my A6M lines as much as possible and let the IJA carry its frontline burden too. Will naval fighters be pulling the yoke on this one or sharing sweep, CAP and LRCAP duties?

[Fishbed]

I would start a very big recon campaign over enemy bases. Flores area should be targeted first.

Use your DD for fast transport: muster dozens of them, and once loaded, they can actually leave Kendari or Makassar, land your troops (what about the eastern tip of Flores?), or you may even land directly on an enemy base, and get back to Kendari Full Speed in a single phase. With 30 DDs and CLs you can land several regiments and tons of supply in a matter of nights, and he'll never know about them (works with the Shortland-Lunga run in Guadalcanal games) while your ships will be under Kendari's air umbrella the whole time.

If you recon the bases well enough, the smaller ones on Flores can get easily obliterated by CA-led Bombardment forces, especially if they're not too fortified yet. Once on Flores you may take advantage of whatever he will have built there and blockade Koepang more easily.

[InHarmsWay]

Wow! Cuttlefish, great AAR! I can feel your concern with the Allied landings in Timor as my long time nemesis Admiral Wa did the same to me in a WitP game a while back. I did not react nearly as forcefully as it seems you are doing and in the end it cost me what should have been a win, into a draw that we called mid '43 once AE came out. Although by Aug '43 I had reduced the allies to ~2-3 CV's his use of LBA allowed him to march up the DEI and was getting into striking distance of the southern PI. Allowing the Allies decent LBA bases inevitably results in losing sea and air superiority. It was only a matter of time before I would have been hurting for oil and resources. Not sure how this will play out in AE with the supply lines favoring the Empire more (big gas station at Palembang, and all the supplies generated in the DEI) but I am looking foward to finding out! Thanks again for putting the time into another excellent AAR!

[vlcz]

In your picture I miss Makassar, I think it is a 3/6 base at ten hexes from Koepang, and you can put air support there very fast from Balikpapan, almost instantly via air transport indeed.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: vlcz

In your picture I miss Makassar, I think it is a 3/6 base at ten hexes from Koepang, and you can put air support there very fast from Balikpapan, almost instantly via air transport indeed.

Hm, I do have the Dash Backward Sentai nearby and there are a lot of DDs in the area...that's worth thinking about. I also have a brigade moving there via ship, it should be there in a couple of turns.

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fallen, it was blood.[/font]
- Edgar Allen Poe: Silence, A Fable

---

10/8/1942 – 10/13/1942

Three Japanese heavy cruisers and escorts hit Endeh at Timor overnight, sinking two AMs, an xAK, and xAPs Mariposa (a big one), Benjamin Franklin, and Edgar Allen Poe. If Ben and Edgar aren’t enough famous casualties, Oscars staged a raid on the daily RAF bombing run against the Japanese units below Akyab. Four P-40s and three Oscars went down, but one of the pilots involved was a guy named Rutins (I thought maybe it was even E. Rutins, but I’m not sure). His plane was last seen falling on fire towards the jungle and Rutins’ fate remains unknown.

Japanese forces continue to build up around the Timor area. In the meantime all eleven Japanese carriers have passed through the Lombok Strait and are now in the Indian Ocean. Unfortunately at least one of the forces was spotted by an Allied aircraft as they transited the strait. I am going to try to use this mishap to my advantage; there is a battleship TF following behind the carriers and I am going to turn it east and have it move slowly down the island chain. With any luck Q-Ball will track it, think this is what he saw, and think I am moving in on Timor. Meanwhile my carriers will go south, out of search range, and then move northeast towards Australia.

I’m not sure what the result could be. I might run into his carriers. I might find some shipping (there’s a lot of it through there both ways right now, my subs are keeping watch), or nothing. The one thing I will be careful of is not to engage him within range of the big airfields at Exmouth and Port Hedland.

Burma Murmurs: the Imperial Guard Division moved up from Prome and clobbered the Somerset Light Infantry. Q-Ball’s advance in this area seems to be a probe or a diversion and his units look to be holding position or falling back towards Akyab right now. The serious threat is in the north, where a fairly strong force has driven my regiment out of Myitkyina. He also seems to be trying to flank the divisions I have blocking the road/rail line a few hexes above Mandalay. I have units moving up to try and prevent this, however. Still, if he can apply serious pressure from enough directions at once it might mean problems for me.

He is flying a lot of bombing missions against my infantry divisions but while they are in combat mode and in the jungle it doesn’t seem to be having a lot of effect. It does force me to move slowly, however, if I think my units are being observed. The effects of bombing get a lot worse for units in move or, god forbid, strat mode.

Enter Tojo: the Ki-44 1a is starting to come off my production lines in some numbers now. I will soon have enough to upgrade one or two Oscar airgroups. Looking at the stats in this game the Tojo is an upgrade over the Oscar but the early versions, at least, still only have a firepower rating of 12. That’s not high enough to make it a good platform against bombers, though I am hoping it might at least make a good stopgap air superiority fighter for the Army. Not that I can complain about my Oscars. In the recent fight near Akyab, for instance, my Oscars were outnumbered and got bounced by Allied fighters and still gave better than they got.

[Miller]

The early Tojo and Tony are worse than the Oscar II in my opinion. All you get is an extra pair of 7.7mm guns and a higher top speed at the expense of greatly reduced range and manouverability. Until the later versions appear in mid/late 43 I will be sticking with the Oscar.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Miller

The early Tojo and Tony are worse than the Oscar II in my opinion. All you get is an extra pair of 7.7mm guns and a higher top speed at the expense of greatly reduced range and manouverability. Until the later versions appear in mid/late 43 I will be sticking with the Oscar.

This may well be true. I think I will go ahead, though, and upgrade at least one unit and test them in combat before I decide. The Oscar is a good plane in AE but with that gun value of 6 they sometimes resemble a swarm of moths trying to bite something to death.

Of course, the Japanese have been known to come up with some mighty big moths...

[Cuttlefish]

[font="Arial"]Not one of us who fought in the late war can forget --- nor should any citizen be allowed to forget --- that the national resource which enabled us to carry the war to the enemy and fight in his territory and not our own was our Merchant Marine.[/font]
- Chester W. Nimitz

---

10/14/1942 – 10/18/1942

Action has been heavy in the Timor region the past few turns. There have been no naval or carrier clashes as of yet but Q-Ball and I have been taking turns bashing each other’s merchant shipping.

Following my last successful foray Q-Ball retaliated with one of his own as his cruisers sank two xAKs, an xAKL, and a PB at Ambon in a night attack (these were empty, fortunately, pulling out after delivering supplies). So I hit another base at Flores and sank two small escorts and four small xAPs. Then his carriers spotted the task force that had just finished unloading the 65th Brigade at Kendari and sank three xAPs (the ships had decided to take the southern route back to Saigon instead of the northern route – stupid me forgot to specify a safe route). Finally, Kido Butai turned up off the Australian coast below Carnarvon and hit an escort and two fuel-laden tankers with a small raid.

Somewhere in here one of his destroyers hit a mine I laid at Koepang and Zeros swept the same base. The toll was 11 Zeros down for somewhere around 18 or 20 of his fighters. As I have found in other battles it was the Hurricanes that saved him from complete defeat. Of the total only two of them were lost and they accounted for most of the kills. The Warhawks and Kittyhawks were not nearly so effective. My fighters came in at 21,000 feet.

Right now he has ships unloading at Lautem in a follow-up invasion and he knows roughly where my carriers are (his are in the Sulu Sea at the moment). I will respond with LBA against the Lautem force and my carriers will begin moving towards his carriers. And then…well, we will see.

China: the sausage-grinder battle south of Changsa continues. So far his units are holding and in fact are inflicting something close to even casualties. But I will keep up the pressure. Meanwhile I have a force in place to resume the attack on Liuchow. They are just waiting for more supplies to be unloaded at Hong Kong before the attack resumes.

Burma: our forces have disengaged below Akyab. One Japanese division, the 38th, returned to Prome and from there they moved by rail to Schwebo and are now moving up to guard the flank of my units to the north. I am also going to need to send more units to Lashio, because it looks like he is sending a few units that way from Myitkyina.

Pacific: the wide blue waters of the Pacific have been a very quiet place lately for some reason...

Situation in Burma:

[Miller]

Forgot to add, the Tony also has a service rating of 3. The single sqd I updated had 3 out of 12 planes available after flying 80% CAP for two days. The 70 or so I have produced will sit in the pool until kamikaze duty beckons in '44.

[Alikchi2]

Have you been transferring LBA from the Pacific to Burma and the DEI?

And what's the overall strategy there - are you going to attrit him to death with said LBA, or swoop in with the KB and neuter him?

As always, complements on a really readable and enjoyable gameplay AAR.

[InHarmsWay]

Cuttlefish,

What are your thoughts on maintaining torpedos with the KB? You mentioned catching a couple of TKs and escorts with a small raid. Were torpedos expended? With the ability to replenish torpedoes close by (sorebaja), I would be tempted to keep them full, and as soon as a CV no longer has enough to fly with torpedoes I would head back. Makes for some interesting tactical decisions, especially if you know your opponent has used up torpedoes, or if he knows you have... Thanks againg for the AAR. One thing that can be guaranteed, we are all learning alot about AE and how it is different from WitP!

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Cuttlefish

ORIGINAL: Miller

The early Tojo and Tony are worse than the Oscar II in my opinion. All you get is an extra pair of 7.7mm guns and a higher top speed at the expense of greatly reduced range and manouverability. Until the later versions appear in mid/late 43 I will be sticking with the Oscar.

This may well be true. I think I will go ahead, though, and upgrade at least one unit and test them in combat before I decide. The Oscar is a good plane in AE but with that gun value of 6 they sometimes resemble a swarm of moths trying to bite something to death.

Of course, the Japanese have been known to come up with some mighty big moths...

I'm pretty sure that moths do not have mouthparts capable of biting...

[Menser]

Tell that to my wool clothing Chickenboy .......

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Menser

Tell that to my wool clothing Chickenboy .......

OK....this is wierd, but as you wish....

To: Menser's wool clothing
From: Chickenboy

"MOST MOTHS DON'T HAVE MOUTHPARTS CAPABLE OF BITING..."

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef609.asp

(now the larva on the other hand are quite voracious little buggers...)

[Capt. Harlock]

As I have found in other battles it was the Hurricanes that saved him from complete defeat. Of the total only two of them were lost and they accounted for most of the kills. The Warhawks and Kittyhawks were not nearly so effective.

Interesting -- that seems to be new to WitP. Is that from the Admiral's Edition?

And isn't it about time for Spitfire V's and P-38's?

[erstad]

ORIGINAL: Miller

Forgot to add, the Tony also has a service rating of 3. The single sqd I updated had 3 out of 12 planes available after flying 80% CAP for two days. The 70 or so I have produced will sit in the pool until kamikaze duty beckons in '44.

80% CAP? That seems excessive. I typically have in the 30-50%.

[Cuttlefish]

ORIGINAL: Alikchi

Have you been transferring LBA from the Pacific to Burma and the DEI?

And what's the overall strategy there - are you going to attrit him to death with said LBA, or swoop in with the KB and neuter him?

As always, complements on a really readable and enjoyable gameplay AAR.

So far I have not transferred any air units from the Pacific. I may end up having to do so but I'm trying to avoid it. As far as overall strategy goes a major carrier battle is probably not far off now. Attrition becomes a viable option if I can force his carriers to withdraw. That would seem to be a bad strategy for Japan in general but given the losses I have seen so far in this campaign the quality and morale of his fighter units seems poor compared to mine. I might just be able to tilt the balance in Japan's favor and rule the skies.

Maybe. He has four-engine bombers and I don't and that may prove to be a major factor. They aren't the killing swarm they were in WITP, that's for sure, but they are on Koepang and already making their presence felt.

ORIGINAL: InHarmsWay

What are your thoughts on maintaining torpedos with the KB? You mentioned catching a couple of TKs and escorts with a small raid. Were torpedos expended? With the ability to replenish torpedoes close by (sorebaja), I would be tempted to keep them full, and as soon as a CV no longer has enough to fly with torpedoes I would head back. Makes for some interesting tactical decisions, especially if you know your opponent has used up torpedoes, or if he knows you have... Thanks againg for the AAR. One thing that can be guaranteed, we are all learning alot about AE and how it is different from WitP!

I very carefully did not use torpedoes against his shipping, so my carriers are fully stocked. I won't face Q-Ball's carriers without 100% of my torpedoes unless I know his carrier force is split or damaged. On the other hand, he also seems to be careful not to expend torpedoes when he knows my carriers are not around, so I would say this is a factor we are both very aware of. It's different than WITP, that's for sure, and adds an interesting dimension to carrier operations.

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

As I have found in other battles it was the Hurricanes that saved him from complete defeat. Of the total only two of them were lost and they accounted for most of the kills. The Warhawks and Kittyhawks were not nearly so effective.

Interesting -- that seems to be new to WitP. Is that from the Admiral's Edition?

And isn't it about time for Spitfire V's and P-38's?

I haven't seen any Spitfires yet but P-38s have appeared in action for the first time in this operation. So far their losses have been quite heavy, around 30 to 35 planes, and I think this has hampered his long-range air operations. More about this the next time I update the AAR.

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Menser

Tell that to my wool clothing Chickenboy .......

OK....this is wierd, but as you wish....

To: Menser's wool clothing
From: Chickenboy

"MOST MOTHS DON'T HAVE MOUTHPARTS CAPABLE OF BITING..."

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef609.asp

(now the larva on the other hand are quite voracious little buggers...)

A vet with a sarcastic streak.......oh dear Thread. [:D][:D][:D]

[thegreatwent]

CF, the first ride was charmed.