Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Mike Solli]

Yeah, that would suck. This is definitely a new game for me. I've been much more aggressive in expansion than ever before and did it earlier than ever before too. Fortunately, the worst is behind me. Other than keeping up with periodic engine/airframe increases, it's pretty much done. Most of the ongoing increases are:

Ha-35 - 33 (x3)
A6M2 - 6 (x2)
Ki-43-Ic - 16 (x3)
Oil - 146 (Miri)
Shipyard Repair - 101 spread out over 6 locations

That's over 400 there and it's pretty much all required. I just did it earlier than before. I should have held off on the shipyard repair facilities though. The longest one there is 32 remaining for Tokyo to get it to 50, which is necessary for CVL conversions.

Keep in mind that most of my bases in Honshu have 35k - 150k supply. I'm not really hurting there. Of the 492 points, 140 of it is in Japan at 20 facilities. 13 of those will be complete in 1-8 days, including all 7 complete tomorrow. Not too bad over all.

[Cribtop]

Sounds like you're going to be fine. I was a little worried with 16K at Tokyo, but if you average 20K at the other Honshu bases (a good, even necessary thing, IMHO), you'll be tight but in good shape.

[ny59giants]

Since Ted has the turn and he's at work, I had some time to check things out. Whoever said to check the division commanders was right. The 5, 18 & 48 Div commanders are all Colonels. Gotta spend the PPs to change them. I suspect several other divisions that are broken down will need changes as well.

Cut off your shipyard repair expansion until things slow down. I hope you don't expect to use up all that avaialbility in the near future. [;)]

Double check your bases in Honshu to make sure they need all that extra supply. Some you may be a able to dial back some.

[Mike Solli]

I think I increased the minimum at too many of Honshu's bases. I still haven't figured out that darn thing.

[Cribtop]

It's tough because ideally you want around 12 - 15K at any base where you want to expand industry to stay over the 10K mark.

[Mike Solli]

I wish I knew the formula for increasing supply at a base. I set them for 12k and they ended up with 30-35k supply at each base. Guess I have to play with it.

[Mike Solli]

Just got a turn. [:D] I'll play with it to see what happens next turn.

[Cribtop]

Mike, I think it still tries for 3X the level you set, so a setting of 12K and observed levels of about 35K seems pretty close to confirming that is still the rule.

[Mike Solli]

That makes sense. That would mean I could reduce it to ~5 and be good. I'll try that with a couple to confirm it.

[jrcar]

Quick catch up.

Chiang Mai is an excellent base to build, from there you can cover most of Burma on trhe offensive, and on the defense it gives a good base to rest units back. Being on the rail line and ina different "supply zone" really helps. We have also built up Uttaradit and Raheang using the Thai forces (they have a couple of engineers). These bases will be the front line one day, are a nice tight "group" for mutual protection and Uttardit is on the rail line.

I really don't see the fascination of increasing ship yards in Japan. It is a waste of HI and supply IMHO. Sorebaya yes, Manila maybe.

And supply it tries to get 3x the amount requested

Cheers

Rob

[Mike Solli]

Rob, I tend to increase a couple of my Japan repair yards to 100, just in case. In one of my previous games (WitP), I got several large ships beat up and didn't have enough large yard space. I suspect it is a waste but I have them, just in case.

Just ran the turn. Supply looks good in Japan and it's on the increase overall. Seven facilities completed their construction (6 vehicle factories and the Sally factory) with more completing in the next few days. I think the worst of it is over. I am keeping closer track now.

I'll post the turn later. Relatively quiet, but good advances for me.

[Mike Solli]

24 Dec 41

Sub War

The Ro-67 pulled into Terapo and launched a couple of torpedoes at the CL Adelaide. Unfortunately, they missed. At Pt. Moresby, there are some other ships. I kept the Ro-67 at Terapo and sent another sub to Pt. Moresby. Maybe one of my subs will get lucky.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

The Rabaul Invasion fleet is landing. There are 3 Hudsons there that unsuccessfully harassed my BBs there. The garrison there is B Coy/NG Rifles, Lark Battalion and Rabaul Det. Base Force. They won't be able to stand up to my force. The attack will be tomorrow.

KB didn't attack the ships at Pt. Moresby and Terapo. Too bad....

China

Nothing new to report.

Burma

33 Division is landing at Bangkok. They should be on the road in a couple of days.

Mindinao

I took Cagayan in a DA. I lost 303(4) to 674(145) Allied casualties. The troops there are being defeated one after another and the remnants are flowing south toward Davao. The 16 Recon Bn caught up with the battalion they defeated earlier and pounded them again a hex SE of Cotabato. Casulaties were 9(0) Japanese to 61(12) Allied troops.

Borneo

The 21 Division took Tarakan. Unfortunately, the infrastructure was not intact. The oil facility and refinery both are 63(27). I have diverted a cargo convoy with 56k supply there. The garrison will be a JAAF base force and 2x construction companies. I will also station an IJA 1E bomber chutai for ASW work. The 21 Division will load and head for Balikpapan.

Philippines

The Hong Kong artillery will land the day after tomorrow. Until then, air and ground bombardment of Clark Field will continue. I did divert a Sally sentai to begin bombing the airfield at Bataan.

Malaya

Preparations continue for the destruction of the 8 cut off British/Indian units and the assault on Singapore. Troops continue to flow into the Malay peninsula. The attack on the surrounded Georgetown garrison will happen tomorrow. Three of the eight units are there.

I shot down 3 Buffalos and sank 2x HDMLs at the cost of 1 Betty. There are about a dozen Buffalos remaining in Malaya. The bombers have either fled or have been destroyed. I will begin sweeps of Singapore to kill off the remaining Buffalos.

Other Stuff

I replaced the commanders of the 5, 18 and 48 Divisions and the 65 Bde. That cost me precious PPs but was necessary.

[Mike Solli]

25 Dec 41

Sub War

Well, I lost my first sub. The valiant Ro-65 boldly steamed into Pt. Moresby harbor and confirmed what I had thought. My nasty old opponent had laid a minefield there. The Ro-65 graciously swept two of them for me and promptly sank. [8|]

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

The engineer battalion at Wake is slowly repairing the airfield damage (to the tune of a whopping 18 points today). The current damage is 73 points of port damage, 45 points of service damage and 14 points of runway damage. At this rate, it'll take over a week to repair before they can start working on forts. Maybe another engineer battalion is in order. Truk is getting 3x naval construction battalions tomorrow. I'll probably ship one to Wake temporarily.

The Nauru Invasion force has left Jaluit and will arrive in 2 days.

Nauru and Ocean Islands produce resources which I will ship to Truk and then to the Home Islands when a convoy is leaving Truk for that destination. I'll place an SNLF Co as a garrison for each location as well as an AS company and some recon at Nauru. They are merely early warning speed bumps.

SE Fleet

Rabaul has been liberated by our victorious forces. We lost 326(2) troops to 711(67) Aussies. The B/NG Rifle Company was destroyed but the Lark Det and the Rabaul Base Force retreated into the jungle. Three Hudsons were destroyed on the ground. I'm leaving the Maizuru 1 SNLF as a garrison along with a Base Force, which landed with the invasion troops. The 23 Air Flotilla HQ will land tomorrow. I have already stationed 45 Zeros, 27 Bettys and 6 naval Babs there, with most of the remainder of the flotilla's planes to fly in shortly.

The remainder of the invasion force is loading up for Pt. Moresby. The 90 Infantry Regiment is still enroute and will join the invasion fleet wherever they may be.

KB launched several attacks against Pt. Moresby and the surrounding area shooting down 4 P-40Es (of 12 spotted) and sinking 3x xAKLs and an xAP, all empty unfortunately. I lost 1 Val and it's pilot. I don't think Ted could have put anything in Pt. Moresby that can hold off my invasion. The worst thing that will happen is a loss of shipping to mines. There's really nothing I can do about it, so I'll just hold my breath when they go in. The BB TF is meant for cover and will not enter Pt. Moresby. Hopefully, Ted will flee at the sight of KB. If not, he'll just lose more ships.

In addition to it's anti shipping mission, KB is sending 2 daitai of Zeros on a sweep mission over Pt. Moresby, hopefully to kill off the rest of the P-40s there. An extra elite pilot or two wouldn't hurt either. [;)]

China

Nothing new to report.

Burma

The build up of Pt. Blair continues. In addition to most of the 1 Raiding Regiment, a construction company has been flown in. Next on the agenda is an AS unit so I can put some fighters over the place to protect it.

The invasion force is only 29 miles away from Moulmein. The 33 Division is still unloading at Bangkok but should be entirely aboard the train in a day or two.

Borneo

Zuiho's Claudes shot down 3 more attacking 139WH-3s today. Just think what they will do when they can find a port and upgrade to Zeros!

The 21 Division continues to load to head to Balikpapan.

Mindanao

Nothing new to report.

Philippines

More bombardment of Clark Field. I am keeping track of the 6 Allied combat units in the hex. Most of them grow continually weaker each day from the bombardment. Here's the list:

3/45 PA Bn - This unit is almost destroyed with an AV <10.
57 PS Infantry Regiment - AV of 45 but slowly losing ground.
71 PA Division - Losing 5-8 AV a day. Currently at 29.
91 PA Division - Similar to 71st. Currently at 30.
1 Constabulary Regiment - Steady at 52.
2 Constabulary Regiment - Steady at 71.

The artillery will begin unloading tomorrow at Iba (largest port at 2). We'll see how long this takes.....

Malaya

Georgetown was captured, destroying 3 units and getting 2 Buffalos on the ground. The manpower there is 1(1) and the HI is 4(1). I'm going to repair that last HI and will leave it until the area is secure. Then I'll decide whether or not to increase HI here.

That leaves 5 units isolated north of Singapore. I will continue to build up as well as destroy these units. The 5 Division is crawling from Mersing to Johore Bharu. It's taking forever. Tomorrow, I am sweeping Singapore with 18 Zeros from Yamada. There are no more than 12 Buffalos left, and they are all at Singapore. Once the RAF is destroyed, I'll send in the Sallys. I have 70 at Alor Star currently bombing the interior troops. Once I capture Mersing (5 Div is 33 miles away), I'll set up a fighter base there and relocate the Sallys to Kuantan. Then I'll start airfield bombardment of Singapore to prevent additional fort building.

Other Stuff

My fighters are gaining experience very rapidly. Right now, I have 1 IJA and 1 IJN pilot in TRACOM. The IJN land based fighters have 5 elite pilot, IJN carrier based fighters have 13 elite pilots and the IJA fighters have 15(!) elite pilots. After Malaya and Java are captured, I'll move some of the pilots to training units and some will go to TRACOM. I have a horde of pilots that are currently at 80 as well so I expect more elite pilots in the days to come. Of particular note is the Kaga fighter daitai, with 5 elite pilots!

The turn is back. Gotta go!

[ny59giants]

The engineer battalion at Wake is slowly repairing the airfield damage (to the tune of a whopping 18 points today). The current damage is 73 points of port damage, 45 points of service damage and 14 points of runway damage. At this rate, it'll take over a week to repair before they can start working on forts. Maybe another engineer battalion is in order. Truk is getting 3x naval construction battalions tomorrow. I'll probably ship one to Wake temporarily.

I focus on getting Rabaul AF to size 7 so I can upgrade air groups locally rather than go all the way back to Japan.


You should send a group of your 19 knots minesweepers to Truk. You don't start the game with any to take care of those pesky mines in the South Pacific. [;)]


Malaya - set your ground units to "move" until they almost get to their destination and then switch back to "combat." Unless they are being attacked by the Allies this is the best way to operate here.
HI - I expand it to 100 total between Georgetown and Singapore.

[Mike Solli]

I agree with the airfield at Rabaul. I just got 3 more naval construction bns at Truk (to make 4 total there). One is off to Wake now (making 2). Two to Rabaul and the 4th remaining at Truk.

Yeah, I should have sent some minesweepers to Truk. Most of them are at Saigon waiting for Singapore to fall. That was dumb. I'll see how long it'll take to get them down there but they're probably too far away now.

You know, I just realized that you should change from move to combat when a unit is just outside the target hex. I've always kept them in move mode the entire way all these years. [8|]

[ny59giants]

Wake Island - Why the focus on getting this base repaired so quickly by sending a second engineer unit there?? I would consider trying to get the port up to level 2 if you don't want that CD unit to stay there when it comes in as a reinforcement.

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

You know, I just realized that you should change from move to combat when a unit is just outside the target hex. I've always kept them in move mode the entire way all these years. [8|]

Dood....[8|]
[:D]

Seriously, though-that probably cost you a couple days at Hong Kong. The disruption difference by the initial 'move' attack probably allowed HK to last that much longer than normal.

[Mike Solli]

26 Dec 41

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

As I said above, Wake is getting another construction battalion.

The Nauru Invasion force lands tomorrow.

I received the I/84 Naval Guard at Saipan. I sent some xAKLs there and will use this unit to take Saipan. Some Bettys out of Babeldaob flew a port attack mission catching an AM in port there.

SE Fleet

The sweep of Pt. Moresby netted all 3 P-40Es that rose to meet them. I suspect there won't be much in the way of enemy air power. Ted has lost at least 6 of the 12 P-40s that were there a day ago. I haven't spotted any naval power other than the Adelaide a couple of days ago and she vanished. Still, I am searching with subs and recon.

Mindanao

Nothing new to report.

Borneo

I took Jesselton netting 58(12) Allied troops to no losses.

The 21 Division is loading for the trip to Balikpapan. Ted sent another 3x 139WH-3s and Hosho's Zeros shot them down this time. Very strange but he's frittering away his air power, often without fighter escort and leaving a lot of it on the ground to be overrun.

China

Nothing new to report.

Philippines

Nice bombardment today. The 3/45 PA Bn is now combat ineffective. It'll repair some disrupted squads for tomorrow, but they'll start getting killed off more frequently now. The 6 Singapore artillery units are unloading. The 3 heavy battalions are not completely unloaded yet the the other 3 are finished and have begun movement to Clark Field. Soon his distuptions/kills will begin to climb.

Malaya

Nothing new to report here. Preparations continue.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Wake Island - Why the focus on getting this base repaired so quickly by sending a second engineer unit there?? I would consider trying to get the port up to level 2 if you don't want that CD unit to stay there when it comes in as a reinforcement.

You can't build anything up until the damage is repaired. That's why I want it repaired. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

You know, I just realized that you should change from move to combat when a unit is just outside the target hex. I've always kept them in move mode the entire way all these years. [8|]

Dood....[8|]
[:D]

Seriously, though-that probably cost you a couple days at Hong Kong. The disruption difference by the initial 'move' attack probably allowed HK to last that much longer than normal.

Ah well, we live and learn. What's the point of the game if you know everything. [:'(] [:D]