I´m into 11/43 now in my game and have some observations to share.
The Corsair is fantastic. I love it! [:)] It superior to anything the IJ can throw up in the air and in 1/43 its simply awesome! Despite the low replacement rate (30) I have never had any shortage of it. You will get a lot of full strength squadrons arriving with Corsairs. And used properly you will loose very few. Only drawback is the high SR. I have used it solely as a high altitude sweeper.
I also found that the P38 are good enough against any plane but it will suffer losses. I usually use them on second day sweep after Corsairs/P47 have went in. I wouldn´t try using them too offensively on their own. As you point out the pools can´t really sustain it and they do take losses. As crsutton says the Hellcats is good enough and as they arrive in good numbers they can sustain some attrition.
Don´t worry about the George. As long as you can let your Corsairs/Hellcats/P47 deal with them you won´t have a problem. I suspect the same with the Frank but I have yet to face it in numbers. P47 really does rule the sky! [:)]
Use the Corsairs/P38s/P47 with your very best pilots and they will deliver. [:)]
Hairy Yankee Reports: Q-Ball (A) v Greyjoy (J)
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Defeat
3-4-43:
Thanks all for the airpower help.....I was afraid there was no magic bullet. In scen #2, the Japanese have numerical and qualitative superiority for awhile, particularly if he doesn't use airplanes aggressively. Greyjoy does not take on Allied fighters, period. He hasn't tried to bomb Darwin once, or anything moving into it. So he is hoarding all his aircraft.
That's probably wise, and means I have limited opportunity to do damage. Even 4Es, which in earlier versions of WITP-AE were pretty much invulnerable, are pretty easy to shoot down. They can't do much without an escort, which means their great range isn't any use for other than search for the most part.
So, I guess we can't advance until I have the US Navy....
Northern Australia:
A couple items of note the last 2 weeks.
First, I was incredibly stupid, then very lucky. I left a BB TF sitting at Derby, and forgot to CAP them. Greyjoy sortied from Timor; he put a TT into REVENGE and ROYAL SOVERIEGN. Both are damaged enough to sit out for awhile, one of them permanently, as they all have 1943 withdrawl dates. Not a huge deal, but annoying.
Greyjoy used ALOT of IJN ships, including BBs, CAs, and a CVL or two, to move the 20th Division to several bases. Intel indicates one Regt is at Kaimana, and another headed to Taberfane. More ships are unloading at Kai Island, so the third part may be there. The 20th is a strong formation originally in Korea. I hope to leave them where they are!
Finally, I had alot of planes on Nav Attack for 8 hexes, hoping to nail anything trying to reinforce Samlauki or Babar. Instead, they attacked heavily Capped MGBs at Lautem, losing 25 fighters. OUCH!
That's about it. Greyjoy is only exposing forces with huge escorts.
Truscott:
I literally JUST discovered this base in Northern Australia! You can't see the dot very easily; it's north of Wyndham. Wish I had seen it sooner. We are putting engineers there to first build a pier (It's port size is 0), then build up the airstrip. This airbase is within 8 hexes of Roti/Koepang, so it will come in handy later, when I have decent planes. For now, we dig.
Repairs:
WASP, YORKTOWN, and HORNET are all under 30 days in Sydney. LEX and SARA are sailing for the West Coast, and should be fine, barring a sub.
PENNSYLVANIA is fully repaired.
Thanks all for the airpower help.....I was afraid there was no magic bullet. In scen #2, the Japanese have numerical and qualitative superiority for awhile, particularly if he doesn't use airplanes aggressively. Greyjoy does not take on Allied fighters, period. He hasn't tried to bomb Darwin once, or anything moving into it. So he is hoarding all his aircraft.
That's probably wise, and means I have limited opportunity to do damage. Even 4Es, which in earlier versions of WITP-AE were pretty much invulnerable, are pretty easy to shoot down. They can't do much without an escort, which means their great range isn't any use for other than search for the most part.
So, I guess we can't advance until I have the US Navy....
Northern Australia:
A couple items of note the last 2 weeks.
First, I was incredibly stupid, then very lucky. I left a BB TF sitting at Derby, and forgot to CAP them. Greyjoy sortied from Timor; he put a TT into REVENGE and ROYAL SOVERIEGN. Both are damaged enough to sit out for awhile, one of them permanently, as they all have 1943 withdrawl dates. Not a huge deal, but annoying.
Greyjoy used ALOT of IJN ships, including BBs, CAs, and a CVL or two, to move the 20th Division to several bases. Intel indicates one Regt is at Kaimana, and another headed to Taberfane. More ships are unloading at Kai Island, so the third part may be there. The 20th is a strong formation originally in Korea. I hope to leave them where they are!
Finally, I had alot of planes on Nav Attack for 8 hexes, hoping to nail anything trying to reinforce Samlauki or Babar. Instead, they attacked heavily Capped MGBs at Lautem, losing 25 fighters. OUCH!
That's about it. Greyjoy is only exposing forces with huge escorts.
Truscott:
I literally JUST discovered this base in Northern Australia! You can't see the dot very easily; it's north of Wyndham. Wish I had seen it sooner. We are putting engineers there to first build a pier (It's port size is 0), then build up the airstrip. This airbase is within 8 hexes of Roti/Koepang, so it will come in handy later, when I have decent planes. For now, we dig.
Repairs:
WASP, YORKTOWN, and HORNET are all under 30 days in Sydney. LEX and SARA are sailing for the West Coast, and should be fine, barring a sub.
PENNSYLVANIA is fully repaired.
RE: Defeat
Here is a screenie of my game with Viberpol. It is scen #2 and we just entered 1945. Note his air losses vs mine. And, I can say that I have not seen any drop in the efficiency or numbers of Japanese aircraft. So if you are playing scen #2 this is what you can expect from a competent Japanese opponent.
However, Allied aircraft and now Allied pilot skills are such that the Allies can win the air battle at most any point chosen. You won't, however, be able to win an attrition battle.
However, Allied aircraft and now Allied pilot skills are such that the Allies can win the air battle at most any point chosen. You won't, however, be able to win an attrition battle.
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- Jan45.jpg (69.95 KiB) Viewed 294 times
I am the Holy Roman Emperor and am above grammar.
Sigismund of Luxemburg
Sigismund of Luxemburg
RE: Defeat
Thanks for sharing. Kinda confirms what I thought. You gotta press the IJ non-stop on all fronts/modalities. If you sit back, IJ economy is big enough to crank out a lot of a/c and create big problems for you. However, if you are pressing them hard with land combat losses in India/Burma; naval losses in the Pacific; and air losses throughout, then the IJ can't turn off those ARM/VEH/NAV/MERCH industries to focus on a/c.ORIGINAL: crsutton
Here is a screenie of my game with Viberpol. It is scen #2 and we just entered 1945. Note his air losses vs mine. And, I can say that I have not seen any drop in the efficiency or numbers of Japanese aircraft. So if you are playing scen #2 this is what you can expect from a competent Japanese opponent.
However, Allied aircraft and now Allied pilot skills are such that the Allies can win the air battle at most any point chosen. You won't, however, be able to win an attrition battle.
To me, this is consistent against RL. Allies did not sit back at all in '42. Coral Sea, Burma, Midway, Solomon's ... always pressing hard during a time period where they had very little to press with. And what did that do to IJ? Really messed up their economy. A couple of unrecoverable losses and the whole war changes. Same in the game. But you have to press in both 42 and 43 before you have all of your advantages. You can recover from any losses ... IJ can't and they are that much weaker the next time. If you don't, then the clouds of kamis you will meet in '45 ... scary.
Basically, I think you are doing all the right things here. IJ has gotten a little lucky, but you haven't really suffered. Keep rolling those dice. One good roll for you and everything goes downhill in a hurry for IJ.
Man, is this a good game or what? [8D]
Pax
RE: Defeat
3-5-43 to 3-16-43
A couple interesting events the last couple weeks. It's likely you heard about them if you also read Greyjoy's AAR, because one of us is better than keeping up than the other![:D]
Battle off Samlauki:
A Jap Transport TF was unloading at Samlauki on the 5th. So, we sent a cruiser TF centered on the about to be withdrawn HMS DEVONSHIRE on the 6th.
Unfortunately, we ran into a big IJN cruiser TF! We lost DEVONSHIRE, plus 2 DDs. One of the DDs was LE TRIOMPHANT, which isn't an important unit per se, but I love that big French DD! Sad!
I've lost alot of cruisers, but it's not coincidence that alot of those are RN cruisers with withdrawl dates, like DEVONSHIRE. I sent her largely because it doesn't cost me in the long run.
A defeat for us!
Port Attack on Boela:
But, Greyjoy learned a lesson that many WITP players have learned the hard way: Don't leave ships disbanded in port within 4E range, particularly not within P-38 range. We piled Darwin high with 4Es and launched a huge port raid on Boela.
We sank at least 30 ships, including a dozen or so CMs, some PBs, xAKs, xAPs, nothing huge, but alot of hulls nonetheless.
So that was good anyway.
China:
See below; pretty much that's it!
A couple interesting events the last couple weeks. It's likely you heard about them if you also read Greyjoy's AAR, because one of us is better than keeping up than the other![:D]
Battle off Samlauki:
A Jap Transport TF was unloading at Samlauki on the 5th. So, we sent a cruiser TF centered on the about to be withdrawn HMS DEVONSHIRE on the 6th.
Unfortunately, we ran into a big IJN cruiser TF! We lost DEVONSHIRE, plus 2 DDs. One of the DDs was LE TRIOMPHANT, which isn't an important unit per se, but I love that big French DD! Sad!
I've lost alot of cruisers, but it's not coincidence that alot of those are RN cruisers with withdrawl dates, like DEVONSHIRE. I sent her largely because it doesn't cost me in the long run.
A defeat for us!
Port Attack on Boela:
But, Greyjoy learned a lesson that many WITP players have learned the hard way: Don't leave ships disbanded in port within 4E range, particularly not within P-38 range. We piled Darwin high with 4Es and launched a huge port raid on Boela.
We sank at least 30 ships, including a dozen or so CMs, some PBs, xAKs, xAPs, nothing huge, but alot of hulls nonetheless.
So that was good anyway.
China:
See below; pretty much that's it!
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- 1China.jpg (275.66 KiB) Viewed 294 times
RE: Defeat
3-17-43 to 3-22-43:
Ambush:
I got a little lazy, and Greyjoy ambushed a TF I had parked, like forever, at Chittagong. They occasionally bombarded Akyab. He sank CA HAWKINS, and a DD. HAWKINS is kind of an old CA, so whatever, but I can't keep losing cruisers, even crappy ones.
Bombs Away:
We followed up the great raid on Boela with a bombing of the airstrip. We torched 12 Mavis transports among other planes. Clearly, he is using floatplane transports on those 3 bases that I can reach via air from Bathurst (Samlauki, Babar, Selaroe).
Not much I can do at present, other than torch planes, and continue to build Truscott, which is now a level-3 airbase and growing
Repairs:
All CVs damaged are safely in port. LEXINGTON has the longest repair estimate, and will be completed by mid-May; about the same time that I'll have lots of Hellcats, and starting to get new CVs (ESSEX and otherwise). Plus, the CVEs get a big flak upgrade in April. So, all these things together point to a big June/July move.
IN the meantime, I am planning a modest move I can do without CV support
Kido Butai:
I found KB docked at Truk, via long range Recon. Greyjoy will probably be more careful now about putting them there. Here's the thing, they moved right after I moved a whole bunch of fighters to Arorae, near Tabiteua. Greyjoy is really reconning bases looking for tea leaves, I guess....I plan to build a CAP TRAP there, to hopefully shoot down some CV planes, in exchange for some crappy xAKLs or something. We'll see if it works.
Ambush:
I got a little lazy, and Greyjoy ambushed a TF I had parked, like forever, at Chittagong. They occasionally bombarded Akyab. He sank CA HAWKINS, and a DD. HAWKINS is kind of an old CA, so whatever, but I can't keep losing cruisers, even crappy ones.
Bombs Away:
We followed up the great raid on Boela with a bombing of the airstrip. We torched 12 Mavis transports among other planes. Clearly, he is using floatplane transports on those 3 bases that I can reach via air from Bathurst (Samlauki, Babar, Selaroe).
Not much I can do at present, other than torch planes, and continue to build Truscott, which is now a level-3 airbase and growing
Repairs:
All CVs damaged are safely in port. LEXINGTON has the longest repair estimate, and will be completed by mid-May; about the same time that I'll have lots of Hellcats, and starting to get new CVs (ESSEX and otherwise). Plus, the CVEs get a big flak upgrade in April. So, all these things together point to a big June/July move.
IN the meantime, I am planning a modest move I can do without CV support
Kido Butai:
I found KB docked at Truk, via long range Recon. Greyjoy will probably be more careful now about putting them there. Here's the thing, they moved right after I moved a whole bunch of fighters to Arorae, near Tabiteua. Greyjoy is really reconning bases looking for tea leaves, I guess....I plan to build a CAP TRAP there, to hopefully shoot down some CV planes, in exchange for some crappy xAKLs or something. We'll see if it works.
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JocMeister
- Posts: 8258
- Joined: Wed Jul 29, 2009 10:03 am
- Location: Sweden
RE: Defeat
ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
I plan to build a CAP TRAP there, to hopefully shoot down some CV planes, in exchange for some crappy xAKLs or something. We'll see if it works.
Fingers crossed! [:)]
RE: Defeat
3-23-43 to 3-29-43
A little slow at the moment, as I have a crushing work project, and Greyjoy is off skiing. At least one of us is having fun![:D]
China:
Greyjoy seems to be attempting to knock-off some of the units outside Chungking. With no retreat paths left in China, every successful combat on his part results in a surrender, with those units then, unhelpfully, re-constituted in Chungking in 30 days.
I am marching units out of Chungking to the south, for the sole purpose of keeping Chungking under 160,000 troops. Not sure I can do it, I control about 5 hexes or so, but eventually I may run out of stacking space for everyone.
The lines around Kunming continue to hold, and we actually have plenty of supplies there too, unlike the rest of China.
Burma:
I have been admittedly lazy in Burma. A couple maxed stacks couldn't crack his lines, and Greyjoy has the entire Burmese border lines with at least 15K guys in every hex, and all of them get terrain bonuses. Not sure how to crack Festung Burma; he definitely had the right strategy here, though it did take alot of IJA Divisions (and commitment of the entire RTA).
As soon as I can, I am bypassing it, and landing elsewhere. I have already moved several British formations out of India, and plan to take out another Para Bde for operations elsewhere.
But I will take another crack at the lines near Katha before monsoon season. I am massing the RAF, which finally has enough planes for it's units, to take a shot at Mandalay. If nothing else, I'll tie down some air units. Hopefully.
Tabiteua:
I have landed reinforcements here, and no movement by the Japanese at all, despite my moving warships and transports in larger groups south of Arorae. Oh well.
Plan B is to move 2 Regts to Arorae, and just land at Tabiteua via barge. There is nothing he can do about that move; the barges unload quickly, and air attacks won't matter. This is the plan.
Solomons:
I hate the Solomons, but when one has no CV support, one has to improvise. We are landing at Kirakira, which is a base within spitting distance of Tulagi. After building an airstrip, I plan to advance up the lower Solomons mainly via barge, supported by P-40s, and covered by PTs. We'll land at unoccupied bases, and just creep toward Rabaul. This will be a cheap and low-risk advance, using just "Rat Navy", Brown-Water forces.
A little slow at the moment, as I have a crushing work project, and Greyjoy is off skiing. At least one of us is having fun![:D]
China:
Greyjoy seems to be attempting to knock-off some of the units outside Chungking. With no retreat paths left in China, every successful combat on his part results in a surrender, with those units then, unhelpfully, re-constituted in Chungking in 30 days.
I am marching units out of Chungking to the south, for the sole purpose of keeping Chungking under 160,000 troops. Not sure I can do it, I control about 5 hexes or so, but eventually I may run out of stacking space for everyone.
The lines around Kunming continue to hold, and we actually have plenty of supplies there too, unlike the rest of China.
Burma:
I have been admittedly lazy in Burma. A couple maxed stacks couldn't crack his lines, and Greyjoy has the entire Burmese border lines with at least 15K guys in every hex, and all of them get terrain bonuses. Not sure how to crack Festung Burma; he definitely had the right strategy here, though it did take alot of IJA Divisions (and commitment of the entire RTA).
As soon as I can, I am bypassing it, and landing elsewhere. I have already moved several British formations out of India, and plan to take out another Para Bde for operations elsewhere.
But I will take another crack at the lines near Katha before monsoon season. I am massing the RAF, which finally has enough planes for it's units, to take a shot at Mandalay. If nothing else, I'll tie down some air units. Hopefully.
Tabiteua:
I have landed reinforcements here, and no movement by the Japanese at all, despite my moving warships and transports in larger groups south of Arorae. Oh well.
Plan B is to move 2 Regts to Arorae, and just land at Tabiteua via barge. There is nothing he can do about that move; the barges unload quickly, and air attacks won't matter. This is the plan.
Solomons:
I hate the Solomons, but when one has no CV support, one has to improvise. We are landing at Kirakira, which is a base within spitting distance of Tulagi. After building an airstrip, I plan to advance up the lower Solomons mainly via barge, supported by P-40s, and covered by PTs. We'll land at unoccupied bases, and just creep toward Rabaul. This will be a cheap and low-risk advance, using just "Rat Navy", Brown-Water forces.
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- 1coralsea.jpg (128.75 KiB) Viewed 294 times
RE: Defeat
3-30-43 and 3-31-43:
We are conducting a couple fake ops; mostly, I want to make Greyjoy jumpy, or just immune to when the real thing hits. There is some risk; I've had a couple torp hits from subs running fake ops, because to "sell" it you need to sortie alot of ships, and run some bombing missions.
Hard to say if any of this works or not, but I have to make noise. Greyjoy has reacted well, so I hope I can get him on his heels at some point.
PT Boats:
We had our best success to date with PT Boats.
I have had many PTs plying the waters north of Bathurst. I have a small AO parked off Bathurst to give them more range, and Greyjoy has not molested this ship, probably for fear of Cap Traps (justified). I also havent' seen alot of subs lately, not since I put a bunch of planes on ASW, and they scored a bunch of bomb hits.
We had 4 TFs finally hit the big group of shipping at Lautem. 1 TF tangled with DDs, and we lost 3 of them. Another sank an IJN PT (nice!). But here was the best result:
Day Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 5,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
PB Myoken Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
PB Taiko Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire
PB Kensin Maru
PB Kasyu Maru, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (LATER SANK)
PB Kogane Maru
PB Konsan Maru, Shell hits 1
PB Marei Maru
Allied Ships
PT-127
PT-187
PT-189
PT-219
PT-224, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-295
PT-296, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-297, Shell hits 1, on fire
PT-300
These were the big Ansyu-C PBs, so that's nice. I bet I can get even better results when they all have Radar (some do, some don't). I also need to check the TF commanders, because another TF ran into these PBs.....and ran!
I also can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get these PTs to get there in NIGHT. It's probably because they have to top-off tanks the day before, or they don't have the range.
It's a strange TF composition; why group a bunch of Ansyu-Cs together like that?
We are conducting a couple fake ops; mostly, I want to make Greyjoy jumpy, or just immune to when the real thing hits. There is some risk; I've had a couple torp hits from subs running fake ops, because to "sell" it you need to sortie alot of ships, and run some bombing missions.
Hard to say if any of this works or not, but I have to make noise. Greyjoy has reacted well, so I hope I can get him on his heels at some point.
PT Boats:
We had our best success to date with PT Boats.
I have had many PTs plying the waters north of Bathurst. I have a small AO parked off Bathurst to give them more range, and Greyjoy has not molested this ship, probably for fear of Cap Traps (justified). I also havent' seen alot of subs lately, not since I put a bunch of planes on ASW, and they scored a bunch of bomb hits.
We had 4 TFs finally hit the big group of shipping at Lautem. 1 TF tangled with DDs, and we lost 3 of them. Another sank an IJN PT (nice!). But here was the best result:
Day Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 5,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
PB Myoken Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
PB Taiko Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire
PB Kensin Maru
PB Kasyu Maru, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (LATER SANK)
PB Kogane Maru
PB Konsan Maru, Shell hits 1
PB Marei Maru
Allied Ships
PT-127
PT-187
PT-189
PT-219
PT-224, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-295
PT-296, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-297, Shell hits 1, on fire
PT-300
These were the big Ansyu-C PBs, so that's nice. I bet I can get even better results when they all have Radar (some do, some don't). I also need to check the TF commanders, because another TF ran into these PBs.....and ran!
I also can't, for the life of me, figure out how to get these PTs to get there in NIGHT. It's probably because they have to top-off tanks the day before, or they don't have the range.
It's a strange TF composition; why group a bunch of Ansyu-Cs together like that?
RE: Defeat
Fast transport of supplies or equipmment probably. The Ansyu's can carry 1kt if placed in a FT task force.
RE: Defeat
ORIGINAL: Saros
Fast transport of supplies or equipmment probably. The Ansyu's can carry 1kt if placed in a FT task force.
Probably, though they don't move real fast, only 4 hexes in night phase.....they can't get to Babar cleanly. As it happens, a couple unloaded at Selaroe, while I didn't have any DBs on Nav Attack...oops, my bad.
4/1/43:
Kido Butai is sighted at Sea, approx. 8 hexes east of Kaveing, in the middle of the sea. I had a couple subs in the area, and one of them took a shot at a BB (missed, though). But HADDOCK did send back a positive sighting report.
I'll be careful on these impending moves, I intend to move fast and not risk anything.
WASP and all the CVEs are undergoing upgrades; may as well while several CVs are still repairing, and Hellcats are coming on-line.
RE: Defeat
4/5/43:
Dead PBs:
Those PBs were fast transports, but they didn't work very well; we sank 3 trying to supply Selaroe. One of them struck a mine of mine.
I wonder if those bases north of Darwin are running low on supplies; it's risky to send in such ships, and I've been bombing them for 2 months now.
What Next?
I feel like I am not being aggressive enough.....Ideas?
I can't take on KB and live right now, and he has a ton of LBA. I count at least 750 fighters in my front; that might be all of them, but that's still alot.
I am keeping busy hauling stuff to Australia for future use; Oz is awash in fuel, stacked high with beans and bullets, and Yanks everywhere terrorize the locals while waiting for action. Even forward bases like Darwin have plenty of everything. Except targets I can get to easily.
I have a couple moves planned: Solomons, north of Darwin, etc, but nothing grand, not yet.
Suggestions?
Burma:
Not sure what I am doing wrong, or Greyjoy is doing right, but I'm stuck here.
I planned a re-do of the air offensive, by bombing Mandalay, but recon showed over 300 figthers! No thanks, not with RAF replacement rates. I'll lose that battle of attrition. That's alot of the 1943 problem vs. Scenario 2; the Japanese have more planes, and more replacements for those planes, than the Allies. That will change, but not quite yet, and the RAF is particularly constrained.
On the ground, he has made good use of the terrain. I tried breakthroughs in a couple spots, starting with 2-3 weeks of ground bombing (which doesn't do much in rough terrain, but does cause some disruption), followed by attacks by Maximum Stacks. Nothing even close to success. The only option is to OVERSTACK maybe, and try that, but supply is tough enough along that border without that problem. It's the only place on the map that supplies are a problem for the Allies.
I think long-term I'm not going anywhere here. There are alot of Japs and Thais there, and I may be better served sailing around them, when I can.
Any ideas? Bomb a stack for a couple weeks, attack with Tanks and all you got....that's the only formula I know.
Dead PBs:
Those PBs were fast transports, but they didn't work very well; we sank 3 trying to supply Selaroe. One of them struck a mine of mine.
I wonder if those bases north of Darwin are running low on supplies; it's risky to send in such ships, and I've been bombing them for 2 months now.
What Next?
I feel like I am not being aggressive enough.....Ideas?
I can't take on KB and live right now, and he has a ton of LBA. I count at least 750 fighters in my front; that might be all of them, but that's still alot.
I am keeping busy hauling stuff to Australia for future use; Oz is awash in fuel, stacked high with beans and bullets, and Yanks everywhere terrorize the locals while waiting for action. Even forward bases like Darwin have plenty of everything. Except targets I can get to easily.
I have a couple moves planned: Solomons, north of Darwin, etc, but nothing grand, not yet.
Suggestions?
Burma:
Not sure what I am doing wrong, or Greyjoy is doing right, but I'm stuck here.
I planned a re-do of the air offensive, by bombing Mandalay, but recon showed over 300 figthers! No thanks, not with RAF replacement rates. I'll lose that battle of attrition. That's alot of the 1943 problem vs. Scenario 2; the Japanese have more planes, and more replacements for those planes, than the Allies. That will change, but not quite yet, and the RAF is particularly constrained.
On the ground, he has made good use of the terrain. I tried breakthroughs in a couple spots, starting with 2-3 weeks of ground bombing (which doesn't do much in rough terrain, but does cause some disruption), followed by attacks by Maximum Stacks. Nothing even close to success. The only option is to OVERSTACK maybe, and try that, but supply is tough enough along that border without that problem. It's the only place on the map that supplies are a problem for the Allies.
I think long-term I'm not going anywhere here. There are alot of Japs and Thais there, and I may be better served sailing around them, when I can.
Any ideas? Bomb a stack for a couple weeks, attack with Tanks and all you got....that's the only formula I know.
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- 1China.jpg (240.24 KiB) Viewed 294 times
RE: Defeat
ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
4/5/43:
Dead PBs:
Those PBs were fast transports, but they didn't work very well; we sank 3 trying to supply Selaroe. One of them struck a mine of mine.
I wonder if those bases north of Darwin are running low on supplies; it's risky to send in such ships, and I've been bombing them for 2 months now.
KB:
About 4 days ago I sighted KB via Sub near Ootong Java. Today, I spotted KB at TRUK, via one of those PB4Y Recon planes which are AWESOME, by the way. I wish I had 50!
What Next?
I feel like I am not being aggressive enough.....Ideas?
I can't take on KB and live right now, and he has a ton of LBA. I count at least 750 fighters in my front; that might be all of them, but that's still alot.
I am keeping busy hauling stuff to Australia for future use; Oz is awash in fuel, stacked high with beans and bullets, and Yanks everywhere terrorize the locals while waiting for action. Even forward bases like Darwin have plenty of everything. Except targets I can get to easily.
I have a couple moves planned: Solomons, north of Darwin, etc, but nothing grand, not yet.
Suggestions?
Burma:
Not sure what I am doing wrong, or Greyjoy is doing right, but I'm stuck here.
I planned a re-do of the air offensive, by bombing Mandalay, but recon showed over 300 figthers! No thanks, not with RAF replacement rates. I'll lose that battle of attrition. That's alot of the 1943 problem vs. Scenario 2; the Japanese have more planes, and more replacements for those planes, than the Allies. That will change, but not quite yet, and the RAF is particularly constrained.
On the ground, he has made good use of the terrain. I tried breakthroughs in a couple spots, starting with 2-3 weeks of ground bombing (which doesn't do much in rough terrain, but does cause some disruption), followed by attacks by Maximum Stacks. Nothing even close to success. The only option is to OVERSTACK maybe, and try that, but supply is tough enough along that border without that problem. It's the only place on the map that supplies are a problem for the Allies.
I think long-term I'm not going anywhere here. There are alot of Japs and Thais there, and I may be better served sailing around them, when I can.
Any ideas? Bomb a stack for a couple weeks, attack with Tanks and all you got....that's the only formula I know.
RE: Defeat
A landing south of him (Pegu or Moulmein) if you could pull it off with enough supply and troops would do it. If he isn't reconning the Indian Ocean heavy, you might be able to sneak in before he could get the KB there ... especially if he is leaving it near Truk like a lot of people do. IJ doesn't have enough units to garrison the Malay/Thai penninsula properly.
Pax
RE: Defeat
Bomb his LCU along the Burma/India border, chew up his supplies and dont be afraid to overstack where it is needed.
can he afford to keep his unbroken front in an area usually known for poor supply lines.
Choose a juicy target, say 2 hexes east of Cox's Bazaar and sweep, LRCAP and bomb it to bits.
Its only 2 hexes from Chittagong so your bombers should be at full strength.
Then choose another one.
can he afford to keep his unbroken front in an area usually known for poor supply lines.
Choose a juicy target, say 2 hexes east of Cox's Bazaar and sweep, LRCAP and bomb it to bits.
Its only 2 hexes from Chittagong so your bombers should be at full strength.
Then choose another one.
Interdum feror cupidine partium magnarum Europae vincendarum
RE: Defeat
4/6/43 to 4/11/43:
The last couple days we made successful landings at two minor locations, Kirakira and Tabiteua. Hopefully, though, these will draw off some air strength from other areas.
Tabiteua:
I expected this one to go smoothly; we have a large airbase at Arorae, only 2 hexes away, so a snap landing was easy. I had alot of fighers at Arorae flying aircover, so when the Japanese attacked the landing from Makin/Tarawa, it was a one-sided slaughter; we shot down about 50 planes for no losses.
Base fell immediately; I think Greyjoy pulled the garrison with Flying Boats (it was an SNLF unit). I am getting more engineers to build the strip, and them move on.
Next stop: Either Tarawa, or a landing at Nauru. Probably Nauru; the airbase is still level-0.
Air Campaign Over Timor:
To cover these moves, I started an air campaign over Timor.
First, cruisers bombarded Lautem during a night run; they sank a couple CMs, and hit the strip. During the day, 4Es from Darwin kept bombarding. I followed that up next day with raids on Dili and Pantar.
We've shut those airbases down, and I've noticed that it takes a long time for him to repair damage on other spots; so we'll keep the pressure up, and hope to suppress these bases in preparation for a landing on Samlauki.
Kirakira:
We also successfully landed at Kirakira, 3 hexes from Tulagi. Japanese air attacks sortied from Munda, and 32 Nells did make an attack run, despite LRCAP from Ndeni. Flak fire was strong, however, and the only ship hit was an APA, the Wm Holbrook, which sank. But all warships and everything else unloaded, and withdrew.
I landed 7 untis at Kirakira, so we should have an airbase there quickly, and even a pier. The next move will be to Thousand Ships Bay, then up the Solomons on undefended bases. I hope to strand Lunga and Tulagi in my rear as self-guarding POW camps.
The last couple days we made successful landings at two minor locations, Kirakira and Tabiteua. Hopefully, though, these will draw off some air strength from other areas.
Tabiteua:
I expected this one to go smoothly; we have a large airbase at Arorae, only 2 hexes away, so a snap landing was easy. I had alot of fighers at Arorae flying aircover, so when the Japanese attacked the landing from Makin/Tarawa, it was a one-sided slaughter; we shot down about 50 planes for no losses.
Base fell immediately; I think Greyjoy pulled the garrison with Flying Boats (it was an SNLF unit). I am getting more engineers to build the strip, and them move on.
Next stop: Either Tarawa, or a landing at Nauru. Probably Nauru; the airbase is still level-0.
Air Campaign Over Timor:
To cover these moves, I started an air campaign over Timor.
First, cruisers bombarded Lautem during a night run; they sank a couple CMs, and hit the strip. During the day, 4Es from Darwin kept bombarding. I followed that up next day with raids on Dili and Pantar.
We've shut those airbases down, and I've noticed that it takes a long time for him to repair damage on other spots; so we'll keep the pressure up, and hope to suppress these bases in preparation for a landing on Samlauki.
Kirakira:
We also successfully landed at Kirakira, 3 hexes from Tulagi. Japanese air attacks sortied from Munda, and 32 Nells did make an attack run, despite LRCAP from Ndeni. Flak fire was strong, however, and the only ship hit was an APA, the Wm Holbrook, which sank. But all warships and everything else unloaded, and withdrew.
I landed 7 untis at Kirakira, so we should have an airbase there quickly, and even a pier. The next move will be to Thousand Ships Bay, then up the Solomons on undefended bases. I hope to strand Lunga and Tulagi in my rear as self-guarding POW camps.
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RE: Defeat
4-11-43 to 4-18-43
A few events the last few days
KiraKira:
This base is already a size-2 airbase; I love Allied engineering! I really need a pier of some sort, and that's being built as well, though slowly.
Once Kirakira is up to snuff, which should be about a week or two, I will land paras on 1000 Ships Bay, and follow that with engineers. That is an aggressive move, bypassing Lunga and Tulagi, which is sure to attract IJN attention.
Darwin and Vicinity:
This is the area of greatest action.
First, I have had a continuous air campaign to shut down various airbases. Though my 4E losses have been high, I have been hoarding them and the P-38s, and using all sparingly, so we have some cushion.
We have shut down Lautem, Dili, Alor, Taberfane, and Dobo, and should close Boela tomorrow. He can still get airpower over Samlauki/Babar, but only at a distace of 8+ hexes. Still, I need that for aircover purposes. I will likely be heavily atttacked, and I need to get in and out to minimize losses, or at least limit losses to transports (which I can afford).
I am also trying an advance in this area with no CVs at all....crazy, or what? I have unlimited LBA from 6 hexes out, which is a bit unreliable, but it's all I got. I need to get ashore somewhere.
Lucky:
I also sent cruisers to LAUTEM to close the strip again. I messed-up the settings, exposing a cruiser TF to massed attacks from Netties and Kates! OVer 100 planes!
Only 1 hit was scored, on NEW ORLEANS, and it was a non-fatal one. In fact, Greyjoy sent a DD TF I think to try to finish her off, but she was still with the main cruiser group. 2 of the DDs went down. NEW ORLEANS made Darwin easily, and will just need a month or so of yard time at Sydney.
PTs ply the waters everywhere, and I think he is wary of taking them on.
CV Updates:
KIDO BUTAI appears to be at Truk still; I have buzzed the place for a few days, and spotted a CV TF of some sort, and it appears to be KB.
A baby KB operates out of Kendari; not sure the composition, I suspect CVEs or something minor, in support of lots of IJN surface assets I know he has around that area
USN CVs:
YORKTOWN and HORNET are repaired, and operational. They have HELLCATS!
WASP is upgrading (her repairs are complete), and will be available in 5 days
SARA and LEX will have repairs completed in about 28 days in San Fran. By then, they should have Hellcats as well.
This collection, plus HMS VICTORIOUS and CVEs, is enough to take a few risks
Of course, July sees the reinforcement of several CVs and CVLs, so looking forward to that!
Also, I have decided on the first "Named" CVs:
CONSTELLATION
CONGRESS
ALLIANCE
...obviously going the old USN sailing ship route!
A few events the last few days
KiraKira:
This base is already a size-2 airbase; I love Allied engineering! I really need a pier of some sort, and that's being built as well, though slowly.
Once Kirakira is up to snuff, which should be about a week or two, I will land paras on 1000 Ships Bay, and follow that with engineers. That is an aggressive move, bypassing Lunga and Tulagi, which is sure to attract IJN attention.
Darwin and Vicinity:
This is the area of greatest action.
First, I have had a continuous air campaign to shut down various airbases. Though my 4E losses have been high, I have been hoarding them and the P-38s, and using all sparingly, so we have some cushion.
We have shut down Lautem, Dili, Alor, Taberfane, and Dobo, and should close Boela tomorrow. He can still get airpower over Samlauki/Babar, but only at a distace of 8+ hexes. Still, I need that for aircover purposes. I will likely be heavily atttacked, and I need to get in and out to minimize losses, or at least limit losses to transports (which I can afford).
I am also trying an advance in this area with no CVs at all....crazy, or what? I have unlimited LBA from 6 hexes out, which is a bit unreliable, but it's all I got. I need to get ashore somewhere.
Lucky:
I also sent cruisers to LAUTEM to close the strip again. I messed-up the settings, exposing a cruiser TF to massed attacks from Netties and Kates! OVer 100 planes!
Only 1 hit was scored, on NEW ORLEANS, and it was a non-fatal one. In fact, Greyjoy sent a DD TF I think to try to finish her off, but she was still with the main cruiser group. 2 of the DDs went down. NEW ORLEANS made Darwin easily, and will just need a month or so of yard time at Sydney.
PTs ply the waters everywhere, and I think he is wary of taking them on.
CV Updates:
KIDO BUTAI appears to be at Truk still; I have buzzed the place for a few days, and spotted a CV TF of some sort, and it appears to be KB.
A baby KB operates out of Kendari; not sure the composition, I suspect CVEs or something minor, in support of lots of IJN surface assets I know he has around that area
USN CVs:
YORKTOWN and HORNET are repaired, and operational. They have HELLCATS!
WASP is upgrading (her repairs are complete), and will be available in 5 days
SARA and LEX will have repairs completed in about 28 days in San Fran. By then, they should have Hellcats as well.
This collection, plus HMS VICTORIOUS and CVEs, is enough to take a few risks
Of course, July sees the reinforcement of several CVs and CVLs, so looking forward to that!
Also, I have decided on the first "Named" CVs:
CONSTELLATION
CONGRESS
ALLIANCE
...obviously going the old USN sailing ship route!
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: Defeat
I would look to use the USN Special Construction Battalions in some of your invasions. They can assist in unloading like Naval Support and then help build up the base afterwards.
Engineers:
The “name” of a device does not matter, only the device data matters. Any Eng unit can always build, but if it has Anti-Armor <1, it cannot reduce forts. If it has Anti-Soft <9, it cannot AV. If it is “named” Construction or Labor Eng, but is a Type = 23 (squad), it will not build. If it also has a-a <1, and a-s <9, it won’t do anything but eat (i.e., nothing but ‘bodies’). So there is a matrix of different Eng squads that represent a mix of abilities; build stuff, reduce forts, able to AV, some of the above, none of the above. DaBigBabes uses this matrix (according to our appreciation as to how it falls out) to help limit in-game tempo, by limiting in-game infrastructure.
Shore Party:
Shore Party is a sub-set of Nav Sup. Shore Party devices assist in loading/unloading but do not assist in repairing or rearming. Repair/rearm bases were very far and few between, for both sides, and thus with BigBabes, but both sides recognized an imperative for stevedoring and non-integral lift capability. Thus Shore Partys and a skoosh of code that lets them give an unload bonus to TFs. A Shore Party switch may be set for a Vehicle, such as an LVT-2 Amph Trac; It may be set for a Type = 24 Eng squad, like USA Port Srvc Sq, in which case it may also help build; It may be set for a Type = 23 Squad, like USA Amph Sup Sq.
Check the editor often, and become familiar with all the different kinds of units available. For example:
USMC Pioneer Sq – Squad type – No Build, Yes AV, Yes Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
USN Constr Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, Yes AV, No Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
USN Spec Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, No AV, Yes Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
USN Base Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, No AV, Yes Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
USA Port Svc Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, No AV, Yes Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
USA Amph Sup Sq – Squad type – No Build, Yes AV, Yes Shore Party, No Reduce Forts
IJA Shipping Eng Sq – Squad type – No Build, No AV, No Reduce Forts, Yes Shore Party, LC = 17
IJA Cmbt Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, Yes AV, Yes Reduce Forts, No Shore Party, LC = 17
IJA Const Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, No AV, No Reduce Forts, No Shore Party, LC = 17
IJA Const Labor Sq – Squad type – No Build, No AV, No Reduce Forts, No Shore Party, LC = 20
IJN Const Eng Sq – Eng type – Yes Build, No AV, No Reduce Forts, No Shore Party, LC = 17
IJN Const Labor Sq – Squad type – No Build, No AV, No Reduce Forts, No Shore Party, LC = 20
So IJ Const Labor doesn’t 'do' anything and, what’s more, has a larger load cost. This represents the large manual labor component (Chinese/Korean) that results in 1000 man Eng Bns/Rgts without giving much additional capability. Typical IJA Const Bns/Rgts have 32 Const squads (590 ‘men’, 1088 total with the support, etc.), but 16 squads are Const Eng, while 16 are Const Labor. It's a way to have 32 squad (1000 man) Bns/Rgts with half the capability of a corresponding 32 squad Allied unit.
Even though many squad devices don’t ‘do’ anything (and many Eng devices can’t assault), they are still marginally useful (apart from the Eng devices being able to build). Anti-Soft = 8 (typically) so these units may still ‘shoot’ during the pre-assault fire phase. They ‘shoot’ better than the default firepower of a 251 Eng or 252 Sup device, so that’s something.
Different load costs also allow Const Bns/Rgts to be tailored as to troop count and, therefore, load ability and troop population on atolls and small islands.
per JWE
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[/center]RE: Defeat
Thanks! That's handy Michael
I do have several of those "Boat and Shore" Bns prepped; they have the Nav support, and some assault value too
But I like the Special Const Bns.......using a couple of those
4-19-1943 through 4-21-1943
Kido Butai Amended:
KB dropped-off the grid at Truk on the 19th; but a sub, the USS HERRING, spotted her at 111,117, which is a few hexes off Kaveing.
That will accelerate my plans for a move elsewhere, where KB is NOT
That is also the 2nd time in a month that HERRING has spotted KB............nice job skipper!
I do have several of those "Boat and Shore" Bns prepped; they have the Nav support, and some assault value too
But I like the Special Const Bns.......using a couple of those
4-19-1943 through 4-21-1943
Kido Butai Amended:
KB dropped-off the grid at Truk on the 19th; but a sub, the USS HERRING, spotted her at 111,117, which is a few hexes off Kaveing.
That will accelerate my plans for a move elsewhere, where KB is NOT
That is also the 2nd time in a month that HERRING has spotted KB............nice job skipper!
RE: Defeat
4-22-43 to 4-24-43
Kido Butai:
KB is still loitering off Green Island, about 3 hexes East of Rabaul. Greyjoy must have anticipated a move further up the Solomons, which I was planning. But I can't move as long as KB is there; that would be bad. We are hanging out in case they move, we do have a little move planned there.
Darwin:
See below; we have ships constantly moving around this area. We are bombarding Babar tomorrow night, and we move transports, barges, tankers, PTs, everything all over the place willy-nilly.
There is a purpose: one, I have a good handle on the limits of Greyjoy's Nav attack settings, and 2, he is now used to seeing ships constantly at sea around Bathurst Island. There is a purpose to this.
Kido Butai:
KB is still loitering off Green Island, about 3 hexes East of Rabaul. Greyjoy must have anticipated a move further up the Solomons, which I was planning. But I can't move as long as KB is there; that would be bad. We are hanging out in case they move, we do have a little move planned there.
Darwin:
See below; we have ships constantly moving around this area. We are bombarding Babar tomorrow night, and we move transports, barges, tankers, PTs, everything all over the place willy-nilly.
There is a purpose: one, I have a good handle on the limits of Greyjoy's Nav attack settings, and 2, he is now used to seeing ships constantly at sea around Bathurst Island. There is a purpose to this.
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