Matrix Games Forums

ORIGINAL: apbarog

QUESTION:

I have 2 coastal bases in China that will be lost soon. A ton of resources is in each base. Pakhoi has over 439,000 and Kwangchowaa has over 250,000. These are huge stockpiles. I'd like these resources to be drawn to the interior of China so that the enemy doesn't capture them all.

Is there anything I can do? Will moving all of my troops out of the base help?

I'd like to know the answer to this, too. At least, if the resources cannot be saved by the Chinese, can they torch them so the enemy doesn't get them?

ORIGINAL: jwolf

ORIGINAL: apbarog

QUESTION:

I have 2 coastal bases in China that will be lost soon. A ton of resources is in each base. Pakhoi has over 439,000 and Kwangchowaa has over 250,000. These are huge stockpiles. I'd like these resources to be drawn to the interior of China so that the enemy doesn't capture them all.

Is there anything I can do? Will moving all of my troops out of the base help?

I'd like to know the answer to this, too. At least, if the resources cannot be saved by the Chinese, can they torch them so the enemy doesn't get them?

AFAIK you cannot destroy stockpiled resources - even oil. I know resources tend to flow toward where they are being/have been used or loaded, but not sure if they will go toward troop concentrations the way supply does. My guess is no. Japan has plenty of resources nearby at Sapporo to haul to Honshu, and the Chinese industries captured by the Japanese can be fed by the resource industries also captured, so I doubt they need the stockpiles. Don't sweat the small stuff.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: jwolf

ORIGINAL: apbarog

QUESTION:

I have 2 coastal bases in China that will be lost soon. A ton of resources is in each base. Pakhoi has over 439,000 and Kwangchowaa has over 250,000. These are huge stockpiles. I'd like these resources to be drawn to the interior of China so that the enemy doesn't capture them all.

Is there anything I can do? Will moving all of my troops out of the base help?

I'd like to know the answer to this, too. At least, if the resources cannot be saved by the Chinese, can they torch them so the enemy doesn't get them?

AFAIK you cannot destroy stockpiled resources - even oil. I know resources tend to flow toward where they are being/have been used or loaded, but not sure if they will go toward troop concentrations the way supply does. My guess is no. Japan has plenty of resources nearby at Sapporo to haul to Honshu, and the Chinese industries captured by the Japanese can be fed by the resource industries also captured, so I doubt they need the stockpiles. Don't sweat the small stuff.

The Japanese will never run out of resources. And a competent JFB will not run out of supply, HI, or other production until into 1945.

Fuel/Oil always seems to be the kicker..

22 Jul 42

In the Indian Ocean, a task force with an AO is spotted. KXVI fires at destroyer Harukaze, but misses. These ships are northwest of the Andaman Islands, so there's still ships out there needing refueling. No surprise.

Off the western side of India, a few ML's hit sub I-33. Maybe it won't make it all the way home. I'll try again by searching the coast south.

In China, near Pakhoi, an already hurting Chinese corp is further damaged by a tank regiment. The two coastal bases that I still own are now just waiting to be taken. But this turn, I see movement north, not west. The enemy may be hoping to cross the river to the north. I'm forming a line now. Whether it will be good enough of a defense, in the woods, remains to be seen.

US carriers near Auckland. Cruiser Canberra arrives at Sydney for a projected shipyard repair time of 20 days.

Every day is a day of more men and material leaving the West Coast for the South Pacific. Mostly material, at this point, but that will change.

I have another question being a novice player for the Allied side. I just got my first CVE, Copahee. It has an F4F-4 unit with 24 planes, and a SBD unit with 24 planes. The carrier capacity is only 28. I understand the limitations for flying aircraft when this overloaded...you can't. But these units are replenishment squadrons. Does the carrier do automatic replenishment to needy carriers when overloaded like this?

23 Jul 42

I do track down damaged I-33, moving south along the west coast of India, but get no depth charge hits this time.

At Yap, I had moved Searaven to wait for a transport task force that SigInt said was coming. Today, a patrol boat finds the sub, and gets a couple of direct hits. Searaven will probably survive, but it's a long way to safety.

Then Dutch sub KXIV penetrates Soerbaja's harbor and fires on a patrol boat, and misses. The sub takes some real damage from depth charges, and it too now heads for safety, in this case, Perth. It went to Soerbaja because enemy carriers had been there for a few days.

Batavia takes an artillery attack, and may fall to the first deliberate attack tomorrow.

And at Melak, Borneo, which is the inland base from Samarinda, an enemy SNLF unit appears and does a bombardment attack. My hopes for saving the Dutch air force here are gone. Most were sent back to Batavia and disbanded.

ORIGINAL: apbarog
I have another question being a novice player for the Allied side. I just got my first CVE, Copahee. It has an F4F-4 unit with 24 planes, and a SBD unit with 24 planes. The carrier capacity is only 28. I understand the limitations for flying aircraft when this overloaded...you can't. But these units are replenishment squadrons. Does the carrier do automatic replenishment to needy carriers when overloaded like this?

Yes, the planes will auto-replace even when grossly overloaded. They can't fly Missions, but their pilots will Train.
Copahee must be in a ReplTF, & the max transfer range is 7 hexes IIRC. CVs inside that range will auto-draw replacements if set to do so, or you can draw them manually. Only "VRF" airgroups provide this capability, they'll work when transferred to a land base, too.

Thanks jmalter, your explanation helps a lot.

24 Jul 42

The enemy is paying more attention to the Indian/Burma frontier southwest of Ledo, where a Japanese regiment is cut off and about to lose its last hexside for retreat. South of this hex, I now see 3 units with movement in this direction. I have to defend Ledo and the railline to Ledo, and hope to do so in the jungle just to the south. Enemy air hit a small Indian unit moving into the contested hex. It's currently next to Ledo in the open.

I have a British infantry division not far from this area, kept as a reserve in Strat mode. No need to panic yet.

Southeast of Ceylon, a few KV's find I-153 and get one good hit on it.

Great Nicobar in the Andaman's is invaded by a SNLF unit.

Batavia is deliberately attacked at 1 to 1 odds with the forts reduced to 2. Dutch losses are 2.5 times the enemy. The base will fall very soon.

In the interior of Borneo at Melak, the enemy attacks deliberately but only gets a 1 to 4 odds against a level 1 fort. The attackers were out of supply but only had 1 squad disabled.

3 US carriers go into refit at Auckland. It's a short 10 day refit. Wasp is repairing there also, and will be there for a few weeks.

At Pearl Harbor, the last damaged battleship from December 7th is repaired. Battleship Oklahoma immediately starts its long overdue refit.

Something substantial has rounded the northern tip of New Guinea and is headed to Truk.

25 Jul 42

Dutch sub O24 is off of the north coast of New Guinea, looking for something big heading to Rabaul. It finds a single xAK escorted by a patrol boat, but misses the cargo ship.

Batavia falls to the enemy. There wasn't much of a defense. Just 2 Dutch bases remain, and only the inland mountain hex base is strongly defended. It has a good amount of supply too. I'm sure that it will be a bombing target for a long while.

In China, the Japanese move into one of the last two coastal bases west of Hong Kong that the Chinese still own. It will fall quickly.

26 Jul 42

Just outside of Diamond Harbour, Dutch sub KXII torpedoes an inbound xAKL. It does not have troops. There are at least 3 other xAKL's and 1 xAK, escorted by a couple of patrol boats.

The interesting development today is on the India/Burma border. Just north of Myitkyina, I spot 5 units at the dot base. There had been just 2 units. And I'm seeing movement out of the hexes now, to the west and northeast. I'm not ready to say that this is a big offensive, but it is definitely a sign of an offensive. Also, at the dot base 2 hexes southwest of Imphal, I now spot 2 units.

In response, I start movement of a number of units to the area. I want to stall any offensive in the jungle. My biggest fear is an offensive that threatens Chittagong. Losing Chittagong opens up a threat to a flanking move on Calcutta.

It's getting a bit late for a meaningful offensive into India. In the next few months, a number of sizable Indian units appear. I haven't fought a big air war here, yet, but that may become necessary. Not to mention, I'd like to keep Ledo for ferrying supply to China.

27 Jul 42

Dutch sub KXII slips into Diamond Harbour and spots an xAKL, but elects not to shoot. Later in the day, the captain changes his mind and engages, sinking the small ship.

Northeast of Batavia, 2 enemy CL's and 2 DD's engages 4 Dutch HDML's that automatically fled Batavia when the base was lost. I don't know where the ships were going, but they aren't going anywhere any longer.

At Lunga, there are heavy air sweeps by the Japanese. 2 P40E units cannot stand up to the test. 4 squadrons of Zero's and 1 of Oscar's come in at 20k (our houserule max altitude for 1942). 19 P40E's and 7 Zero's are lost. I can't take this kind of attrition regularly here or in India. The only good news is that only 2 US pilots are KIA.

I'm starting to wonder if a big offensive in India is still in the cards. I've recently gotten SigInt of a new infantry division and a regiment heading to Singapore. Since I'm not seeing units disappearing from India/Burma, they just may be headed that way. And several divisions and many units will be freed up soon in Java.

In China, on the coast west of Hong Kong, Pakhoi is attacked by a tank regiment. I have just 1/3 of a Chinese infantry corp. Although the odds are only 2 to 1, and the forts reduced to 2, the Chinese take 169 casualties and the Japanese take none. No anti-tank capability means no defense here.

I have about a week until 3 US carriers come out of a quick refit at Auckland. They will meet a Brit carrier still in the area. Wasp has about a month of repairs to do. Rule number 1 still applies: don't engage KB yet.

I have a sub near Horn Island, and it just got lit up with detection levels for the first time. I think that something substantial is about to pass through the straits. It is the right amount of time for the carriers to get there from Soerbaja, where they were spotted last. At this point, KB could move down the east coast of Australia pretty easily. Bomber aircraft in Australia are weak, and few are skilled at naval bombing, and the ones that are have short range. I take some precautions, like moving the AS at Townsville into the small port nearby.

I'm half tempted to send my carriers to the Indian Ocean now, hoping that KB is coming to the Solomons. I could use some Brit ships as bait and send them into Diamond Harbour to bombard, like I did earlier, and have the carriers in trail and unseen. If KB really does show up in the Solomons, I could dominate the naval access to Diamond Harbour, bombard it regularly, shut down the enemy airfield, and maybe bag all those infantry divisions.

Probably wishful thinking, but I am thinking.

Do you have a picture of his naval search in the Bay of Bengal - i.e. have you sent out ships and subs to map where he searches and where he does not. If he has the Mavis at Rangoon he can cover a lot of water.

I do not have a good picture of his naval search in the Bay of Bengal. He had carriers lurking out in the middle of nowhere for a very long time. He still has something lurking out there now, but I do not know if it includes carriers or not. I do know that I saw big carriers at Soerbaja a week ago, and I've seen CVE/CVL's at Singapore very recently. So it is unlikely that all of KB is still in the Bay of Bengal, but part of it could be there.

The enemy does have Cox Bazar and Akyab in Burma, and is building them. Port Blair is a level 1 airfield and is being built also.

I don't know what search he has at Rangoon.

I do know that when I sent Repulse into Diamond Harbour awhile ago, it was spotted between Trincomlee and Diamond Harbour.

hi apb,

my plans for Wasp got a bit interrupted, she took multiple 60kg bombs from KB, which fortunately had expended all its torps at a reinf convoy transporting 1/3rd of an Aussie InfDiv to Port Moresby. Wasp needs a bit of work, so Hornet will become the dedicated CAP/ASW CV for now.

Jeez I got off light - lost some xAPs & half the /C component of the 4th Oz, but the Kates had no torps the next day, they could only bring 60kg bombs - Wasp took 10 hits, for 16sys & 4flt damage. Some other USN CAs took desultory damage in the same engagement, shouldn't be more than 4 days before they're back on line - Luganville has enough fuel, some several AEs, and an AR in port. NTM 2 USA Fighter groups on local CAP, hopefully we'll be OK.

29 Jul 42

Bandoeng is the last Dutch base left on Java. It is a mountainous hex. I've retreated enough for a fair defense here, and stockpiled over 40k supplies. It is being bombed now, daily, and that will be the case for quite awhile, I think. I hope to tie down as many enemy units as I can here. I did a token 3 bomber naval strike on some DMS's at Batavia. No hits, but should keep him a bit honest with CAP. I then disbanded my last bombers.

Pakhoi, China, continues to be reduced by an armored regiment.

I'm still thinking about what to do with the US carriers. My tentative answer is...nothing. I've gotten my foothold in the Solomons. If KB shows up, that area could get ugly. For that matter, the Japanese could strike anywhere with KB: eastern Australia, Luganville, Noumea, Suva, Pago Pago, even Christmas Island. I can't fight KB, yet. Land-based bombers aren't up to the task, yet. Maybe the best thing to do with the carriers is just keep them in reserve at Auckland.

I've considered sending them to the Bay of Bengal. It's a long trip. And a long trip back. They would be good for one surpise turn, and maybe they could bag a surface group, or a small carrier group. Right now, I don't know what is lurking there. Something still is. I just don't know if all that time and effort is worth the risk. I don't consider India to be a decisive place to fight. The Japanese are still at Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, but are being evacuated very slowly. There may be an enemy offensive brewing on the Burmese border. But even so, the US carriers are not going to do much after that one turn of surprise.

A decisive battle could very well occur in the South Pacific, though.

For now, I'll just wait. Time is on my side. Not to mention, I need my F4F-4 and SBD-3 pools to build.

I am prepping units for invasions of Tabituea, Nauru, and Ocean Islands. This would really be sticking my neck out, as Nauru isn't far from Truk. And it signals a flanking of the Solomons, which would be very bad for the Japanese. I do like that all of these bases are just level 1 airfields. Tarawa, the nearest threat, is also just a 1 airfield. I wouldn't have to worry about land-based bombers. But enemy carriers, if in the area, would be there in just a matter of a couple of days, and probably soon enough to interdict a landing. Just thinking for now.

ORIGINAL: apbarog
I'm still thinking about what to do with the US carriers. My tentative answer is...nothing. I've gotten my foothold in the Solomons. If KB shows up, that area could get ugly. For that matter, the Japanese could strike anywhere with KB: eastern Australia, Luganville, Noumea, Suva, Pago Pago, even Christmas Island. I can't fight KB, yet. Land-based bombers aren't up to the task, yet. Maybe the best thing to do with the carriers is just keep them in reserve at Auckland.

I've considered sending them to the Bay of Bengal. It's a long trip. And a long trip back. They would be good for one surpise turn, and maybe they could bag a surface group, or a small carrier group. Right now, I don't know what is lurking there. Something still is. I just don't know if all that time and effort is worth the risk. I don't consider India to be a decisive place to fight. The Japanese are still at Calcutta and Diamond Harbour, but are being evacuated very slowly. There may be an enemy offensive brewing on the Burmese border. But even so, the US carriers are not going to do much after that one turn of surprise.

A decisive battle could very well occur in the South Pacific, though.

For now, I'll just wait. Time is on my side. Not to mention, I need my F4F-4 and SBD-3 pools to build.

I would vote against sending them all the way to the IO. Better off having them in the Pacific because you never know if you're going to need them a few months from now. In my opinion, the wide open central and south Pacific are the best places to put your CVs. Just be sure you also have good patrol plane coverage so that even if the KB does come in that direction, you have sufficient warning. Even so, every carrier sortie carries a risk. A Japanese sub may come and put 2 torpedoes in a CV and cripple it. And if it is crippled enough it won't matter how much warning your patrol planes give you if the KB comes in for the kill.

30 Jul 42

In China, Kwanchoan and Pakhoi are both contested. Both will fall quickly. They are being bombed heavily, and with clear terrain, the casualties are high.

A couple of hexes southwest of Ledo, the Allies counterattack an infantry regiment in the jungle. It goes off at 1 to 5, and Indian casualties are 3 times the enemy's. All hexsides are closed for the enemy, so it should have supply problems from here on out. Regardless, the unit is pinned but won't be destroyed with the current Allied units there.

A fair number of Allied reinforcements are moving to the Ledo rail line area.

31 Jul 42

I brought a couple of xAKL's and an escort into Tulagi to unload supply, and put some P39's there for CAP. It worked out this time. 24 Oscar's swept Lunga and found nothing. 9 Nell's arrived unescorted and all were shot down. 12 Betty's were next, escorted by 27 Zero's. No Betty's were downed, but they got no torpedo hits. 4 Zero's were shot down for the loss of 2 P39's. A rare good day in the skies for the good guys. I move an F4F-3 squadron to Tulagi to help against the inevitable revenge attack.

In China, both coastal towns of Pakhoi and Kwangchowan were crushed. Now I just hope that the defensive river line to the north holds.

On Java, Buitenzorg falls. The only Dutch base left is the mountain base Bandoeng.

With a new month starting, many Allied air units resized somewhat. US heavy bomber units went from size 8 to 12.

US carriers will come out of refit in 2 days.

1 Aug 42

Some bombing in China, some at Bandoeng on Java. No activity in the Solomons. A small xAKL task force is unloading supply at Tulagi, covered by a couple of fighter squadrons. No interference this turn.

At Diamond Harbour, the enemy is down to 11 units, so the slow evacuation continues.

2 Aug 42

32 Zero's sweep Tulagi, as expected. My P-39's fly but my F4F-3's do not. Losses are close to even, but my ops losses are greater. Total losses for the turn are 11 P-39's and 5 Zero's. I move the P-39's out and move some P-40's in.

I continue to get SigInt of units loaded on xAK's moving to Singapore. Today was a JAAF airbase unit. Don't know where they are coming from, but most likely from Japan. I'm not seeing units withdrawn from Diamond Harbour yet. I think they are being unloaded in Burma.

I looked up the reinforcement rate for US Navy fighters and divebombers. They are shockingly low for the next year! That last carrier action I had, losing almost 80 SBD-3's amounts to about 4 months of reinforcements! I really do have to be careful with my carriers until well into 1943. They are good for one big battle and that's it, if heavy losses are taken. Losing so many bombers before to land based CAP was just stupid. I did learn from it, I guess that is something.

With some real life travel intervening, we have a few days of down time now. I will provide an detailed overview of each region in the next day or two.

2 Aug 42 - China

China has been mostly static for quite awhile. The Japanese early push toward Sian from the east and the southeast failed, and both sides have dug in for months now.

The only active front is east of Canton, where the enemy has recently taken Pakhoi and Kwangchoan on the coast. It's too early to tell if there will be an effort to break the river line to the north.

I'm very happy to have a static China for the most part. I've monitored China's supply by tracking Chungking's supply levels, and I've been able to keep that fairly constant at around 19,000 supply. Almost all of the China airforce has been in India training. Some now defends Ledo. I'm about to try an experiment in the far north of China, where I've sent an engineer unit to build up an airbase in the far, far north. I want to see if supply can be ferried over from far northern India and get distributed over a very long bad trail in China.