I'm wondering how you keep attacking the convoys at Akyab. I get the move in at night thing, but with betty range of 17 hexes you'd have to be nearly at Madras to get completely out of dodge from betties at Rangoon.
May I also ask what you did with the Air HQ's in Malaya ? They seem pretty valuable in AE and having two just die on the peninsula seems like a bad idea.
Allied vs. Jap AI
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
The AE-Wiki, help fill it out
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: Smeulders
I'm wondering how you keep attacking the convoys at Akyab. I get the move in at night thing, but with betty range of 17 hexes you'd have to be nearly at Madras to get completely out of dodge from betties at Rangoon.
May I also ask what you did with the Air HQ's in Malaya ? They seem pretty valuable in AE and having two just die on the peninsula seems like a bad idea.
I haven't been immune from the Betty's. I keep my TF's lurking within 7 hexes or so from Akyab...which is in range of the Betty's. Every few days the Betty's find a TF and go after it. So far, they've missed everytime but one (a BB took a torpedo and is out a few more weeks). They don't attack every turn since they don't spot the TF's every turn (due to the big changes in detection in AE). It's definitely risky, for sure...as is my haunting of the Milne Bay area with a surface TF (one CA and one DD are in repair due to bomb damage from the Milne Bay area).
But it's worth it. Additionally, you can also count on the occasional LRCAP from Diamond Harbor or Chittagong helping on occasion, too.
The lack of air HQ's isn't a huge problem, yet. I have one in Colombo and one in Calcutta. That's pretty much all I need, at least for the moment. As for base forces (and the crucial aviation support), odd as it sounds, I have too many base forces! I evacuated everything from Burma (including the base forces), so was able to put those base forces at all important bases. Several reinforcement base forces with lots of aviation support have also arrived. I'm keeping two of the base forces in reserve for the moment...mainly because the British don't have nearly enough planes to make use of them.
Hopefully sometime soon I get a Air HQ reinforcement...a third air HQ would be handy. I'd put it at Imphal. With hindsight, I should have evacuated one of the Air HQ's from Singapore instead of evacuating one of the base forces.
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John Lansford
- Posts: 2664
- Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 12:40 am
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Smaller ships in smaller TF's also don't get spotted nearly as often as the big maximum sized ones. If you've got a couple of cruisers and 3-5 DD's in a TF, spotting it from the air is not as easy as you'd think. Plus, all those little ships are hard to hit with aerial launched torpedoes. Plus, all it takes to destroy a convoy is one or two warships in the middle of them. Having more than 4-6 ships in a convoy raiding TF is overkill from what I've seen.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
ORIGINAL: John Lansford
Smaller ships in smaller TF's also don't get spotted nearly as often as the big maximum sized ones. If you've got a couple of cruisers and 3-5 DD's in a TF, spotting it from the air is not as easy as you'd think. Plus, all those little ships are hard to hit with aerial launched torpedoes. Plus, all it takes to destroy a convoy is one or two warships in the middle of them. Having more than 4-6 ships in a convoy raiding TF is overkill from what I've seen.
A raider or anti-raider CVTF would have been 1 CV, 2-4 fast BBs/CAs, 4-6 DDs. In the IJN, you might have seen the Hiryu and Soryu operating together--they were designed for the raider/anti-raider mission.
Harry Erwin
"For a number to make sense in the game, someone has to calibrate it and program code. There are too many significant numbers that behave non-linearly to expect that. It's just a game. Enjoy it." herwin@btinternet.com
"For a number to make sense in the game, someone has to calibrate it and program code. There are too many significant numbers that behave non-linearly to expect that. It's just a game. Enjoy it." herwin@btinternet.com
So far...So Good
This AAR covers the period April 13th - April 17th, 1942
Milne Bay Invasion
Well, the Milne Bay invasion has been successful, so far. I took surprisingly high losses storming ashore...considering all that was there was one starving Japanese base force. I suspect having to use more xAP's than I wanted to led to some of the losses. Still, 200 AV is ashore, including tanks, engineering vehicles and two brigades. The biggest loser was the Marine Engineer Unit...for some reason, it lost half it's strength.
Japanese air raids on my invasion force which is parked in Milne Bay has been spectacularly unsuccessful. Only one raid dropped any bombs...some Sally's from 15K feet...hardly a recipe for success. Betty raids have been turned back due to LRCAP from Moresby and the CV's I have two hexes outside of Milne Bay. So far, not a single torpedo has even been dropped. I suspect the Betty attack on my carriers the turn before the invasion knocked back their effectiveness for a few turns...on that raid, half the Betty's were destroyed and most the rest were damaged.
One thing for sure, AP's are the assault ship of choice. They unloaded all troops in one day...meanwhile, the xAP's are still half full two days into the invasion. More AP's are on the way to the South Pacific. Once they arrive (in a month or so), I should have enough AP's to make a full strength division landing with nothing more than AP's. The AP's will obviously be needed for retaking Lunga sometime later this summer.
Have also unloaded more than 10K worth of supplies. Another 30K worth is sitting on ships. Hopefully, at least some of that gets unloaded. I am prepared to "bug out" the minute Japanese carriers show themselves. But, so far, they remain in hiding.
Java
Batavia fell...the Japs had 54K troops to my 17K. Not exactly even odds! I still hold a few bases in Java, so I suspect the japs will spend the next week chasing down those bases. But then, some of the troops in Java are bound to find their way to the South Pacific or the Indian Ocean.
Canton Island
I think my invasion of Milne Bay screwed up the Jap invasion plans for Canton Island. The Japs finally raided Canton Island using the 3+ CV's that had been parked there. I also saw some ships beginning to head to the south (by only 1 hex, but hey, it's movement!). But the next turn I invaded Milne Bay. The following turn, all ships in/around Baker Island had disappeared. The Buffalo's I had on Canton Island put up a good show...trading 1 for 1 with the Zero's and nabbing a few Kate's. Anyways, I think Canton Island is safe...at least for the moment. A coastal gun regiment will arrive one of the weeks, which will make things a bit more bloody for the Japanese should they try to take the island.
Noumea and Vicinity
Big tanker TF just unloaded at Noumea...delivering much needed fuel. More is on the way in a multi-ship TF a week away. And I just loaded up 8 tankers in LA with 100K fuel that's also now on it's way. So, in the fuel department, Noumea is "tolerable."
Ndeni is about to get substantial ground reinforcement, as an army regiment will land there in a few days.
Rossell Island is now a base...it has a size 1 port. Halfway to getting the airfield up. My next "operation" will be to drag a base force to Rossell Island, along with a brigade of the Australia Militia.
Yet more fighters have been dropped off at Noumea. They are doing nothing but training now.
Port Moresby
Intelligence is still showing the 48th division on it's way to Japan for an attack. Exactly where this TF is remains a mystery. However, perhaps in preparation for it, the Japanese land marched a unit (I think it's a infantry regiment) across the mountains from Buna and just this turn it arrived in Port Moresby. I have 800 AV in Moresby (maybe more), and I'll do a deliberate attack to get an idea of what's there. With some luck, I can devastate the infantry of this unit...making it useless for the rest of the Moresby campaign.
Getting the US Navy Back
Following the upgrades on April 1st, the USN tends to be hurting for ships. However, most of them are quickly coming back. I have three CV's in Pearl Harbor...two fully repaired, the Hornet needs about 10 more days to be fully repaired. But all are in "readiness" mode and can be used if the need arises.
Once I get these three CV's back and I move them to the South Pacific area, I'll send back the Yorktown and Enterprise for a well earned rest and upgrade. These two carriers have made life miserable for the Japanese in the South Pacific.
However....I do have five CV's now. If, and this is a big IF, the Japanese carriers show themselves around Baker/Canton Island like they've been doing the past few weeks...I am very, very tempted to take them on. The three carriers that have been parked there would likely be overwhelmed by my 5 CV's in four separate task forces. In short, such a carrier attack has the potential to be a winning situation for the USN...a rarity early in the war.
That said, much will depend on what the Japanese do. Another two weeks or so and I'll have a better idea what will happen.
India-Burma
Last turn the Japanese were bold and docked a transport at Cox's Bazaar. This upcoming turn I'll have yet another surface task force raid...but this time to Cox, not Akyab. Not sure what the Japs are unloading...but whatever it is...it won't be around long.
Chittagong now has 1100 AV, with another 300 on the way (two British brigades just landed at Karachi and are being transported down to Chittagong). I have 500+ AV in Imphal, and another 200 AV surrounding Imphal.
Another 2 British Brigades will be offloaded in Colombo, bringing that vital base back up to 1000 AV as well. In short, the time for an "easy victory" in Indian and Burma by the Japanese have passed. From here on out, they will have to work at it...using their carriers in the process.
Submarines Back in Business
For the past three weeks, I've had very few subs out on patrol. Instead, they've either been repairing in port (due to running out of fuel) or limping toward port one hex at a time (due to running out of fuel). More than 2/3 of my subs were knocked out of action from this. The computer clearly does not properly maintain enough of reserve to get a sub back to base. Particularly, despite me setting Pearl harbor as the base for all the subs based in the PI's at the start of the war, the computer didn't take this into account. I suspect it still based a sub's patrol time as coming out of Manila. The result...one dozen subs spending 1+ month limping toward home.
Happily, that is the past. I just finished repairing 25+ subs. Most are going to the South Pacific, a few around Guam and the others in the Marshall's. Sub operations in the South Pacific will be run out of Noumea, which has two AS's.
Figuring that the computer has a "bug" that does not properly set a subs patrol range when you change a base (even while the sub is docked at port), what I've done this time is send all the ships directly to Noumea first. From there, I'll set the patrol area for the submarine. I'm hoping this will prevent a repeat of the "running out of gas" problem from occurring.
China
My troops still starve away. The Japanese do nothing. Classic China...Sitzkreig.
The 41st Division
Whoever is in charge of loading the 41st division on transports should be fired. It's only taken TWO weeks (the transport went out to sea and off toward Noumea, then I noticed it didn't load the troops, so I had to call it all back!), and after all that, not everything got packed! lol, don't know what happened with this, but whatever...most of it is finally off toward Noumea. The last piece that remains will be bundled up on the next supply run to Noumea.
Milne Bay Invasion
Well, the Milne Bay invasion has been successful, so far. I took surprisingly high losses storming ashore...considering all that was there was one starving Japanese base force. I suspect having to use more xAP's than I wanted to led to some of the losses. Still, 200 AV is ashore, including tanks, engineering vehicles and two brigades. The biggest loser was the Marine Engineer Unit...for some reason, it lost half it's strength.
Japanese air raids on my invasion force which is parked in Milne Bay has been spectacularly unsuccessful. Only one raid dropped any bombs...some Sally's from 15K feet...hardly a recipe for success. Betty raids have been turned back due to LRCAP from Moresby and the CV's I have two hexes outside of Milne Bay. So far, not a single torpedo has even been dropped. I suspect the Betty attack on my carriers the turn before the invasion knocked back their effectiveness for a few turns...on that raid, half the Betty's were destroyed and most the rest were damaged.
One thing for sure, AP's are the assault ship of choice. They unloaded all troops in one day...meanwhile, the xAP's are still half full two days into the invasion. More AP's are on the way to the South Pacific. Once they arrive (in a month or so), I should have enough AP's to make a full strength division landing with nothing more than AP's. The AP's will obviously be needed for retaking Lunga sometime later this summer.
Have also unloaded more than 10K worth of supplies. Another 30K worth is sitting on ships. Hopefully, at least some of that gets unloaded. I am prepared to "bug out" the minute Japanese carriers show themselves. But, so far, they remain in hiding.
Java
Batavia fell...the Japs had 54K troops to my 17K. Not exactly even odds! I still hold a few bases in Java, so I suspect the japs will spend the next week chasing down those bases. But then, some of the troops in Java are bound to find their way to the South Pacific or the Indian Ocean.
Canton Island
I think my invasion of Milne Bay screwed up the Jap invasion plans for Canton Island. The Japs finally raided Canton Island using the 3+ CV's that had been parked there. I also saw some ships beginning to head to the south (by only 1 hex, but hey, it's movement!). But the next turn I invaded Milne Bay. The following turn, all ships in/around Baker Island had disappeared. The Buffalo's I had on Canton Island put up a good show...trading 1 for 1 with the Zero's and nabbing a few Kate's. Anyways, I think Canton Island is safe...at least for the moment. A coastal gun regiment will arrive one of the weeks, which will make things a bit more bloody for the Japanese should they try to take the island.
Noumea and Vicinity
Big tanker TF just unloaded at Noumea...delivering much needed fuel. More is on the way in a multi-ship TF a week away. And I just loaded up 8 tankers in LA with 100K fuel that's also now on it's way. So, in the fuel department, Noumea is "tolerable."
Ndeni is about to get substantial ground reinforcement, as an army regiment will land there in a few days.
Rossell Island is now a base...it has a size 1 port. Halfway to getting the airfield up. My next "operation" will be to drag a base force to Rossell Island, along with a brigade of the Australia Militia.
Yet more fighters have been dropped off at Noumea. They are doing nothing but training now.
Port Moresby
Intelligence is still showing the 48th division on it's way to Japan for an attack. Exactly where this TF is remains a mystery. However, perhaps in preparation for it, the Japanese land marched a unit (I think it's a infantry regiment) across the mountains from Buna and just this turn it arrived in Port Moresby. I have 800 AV in Moresby (maybe more), and I'll do a deliberate attack to get an idea of what's there. With some luck, I can devastate the infantry of this unit...making it useless for the rest of the Moresby campaign.
Getting the US Navy Back
Following the upgrades on April 1st, the USN tends to be hurting for ships. However, most of them are quickly coming back. I have three CV's in Pearl Harbor...two fully repaired, the Hornet needs about 10 more days to be fully repaired. But all are in "readiness" mode and can be used if the need arises.
Once I get these three CV's back and I move them to the South Pacific area, I'll send back the Yorktown and Enterprise for a well earned rest and upgrade. These two carriers have made life miserable for the Japanese in the South Pacific.
However....I do have five CV's now. If, and this is a big IF, the Japanese carriers show themselves around Baker/Canton Island like they've been doing the past few weeks...I am very, very tempted to take them on. The three carriers that have been parked there would likely be overwhelmed by my 5 CV's in four separate task forces. In short, such a carrier attack has the potential to be a winning situation for the USN...a rarity early in the war.
That said, much will depend on what the Japanese do. Another two weeks or so and I'll have a better idea what will happen.
India-Burma
Last turn the Japanese were bold and docked a transport at Cox's Bazaar. This upcoming turn I'll have yet another surface task force raid...but this time to Cox, not Akyab. Not sure what the Japs are unloading...but whatever it is...it won't be around long.
Chittagong now has 1100 AV, with another 300 on the way (two British brigades just landed at Karachi and are being transported down to Chittagong). I have 500+ AV in Imphal, and another 200 AV surrounding Imphal.
Another 2 British Brigades will be offloaded in Colombo, bringing that vital base back up to 1000 AV as well. In short, the time for an "easy victory" in Indian and Burma by the Japanese have passed. From here on out, they will have to work at it...using their carriers in the process.
Submarines Back in Business
For the past three weeks, I've had very few subs out on patrol. Instead, they've either been repairing in port (due to running out of fuel) or limping toward port one hex at a time (due to running out of fuel). More than 2/3 of my subs were knocked out of action from this. The computer clearly does not properly maintain enough of reserve to get a sub back to base. Particularly, despite me setting Pearl harbor as the base for all the subs based in the PI's at the start of the war, the computer didn't take this into account. I suspect it still based a sub's patrol time as coming out of Manila. The result...one dozen subs spending 1+ month limping toward home.
Happily, that is the past. I just finished repairing 25+ subs. Most are going to the South Pacific, a few around Guam and the others in the Marshall's. Sub operations in the South Pacific will be run out of Noumea, which has two AS's.
Figuring that the computer has a "bug" that does not properly set a subs patrol range when you change a base (even while the sub is docked at port), what I've done this time is send all the ships directly to Noumea first. From there, I'll set the patrol area for the submarine. I'm hoping this will prevent a repeat of the "running out of gas" problem from occurring.
China
My troops still starve away. The Japanese do nothing. Classic China...Sitzkreig.
The 41st Division
Whoever is in charge of loading the 41st division on transports should be fired. It's only taken TWO weeks (the transport went out to sea and off toward Noumea, then I noticed it didn't load the troops, so I had to call it all back!), and after all that, not everything got packed! lol, don't know what happened with this, but whatever...most of it is finally off toward Noumea. The last piece that remains will be bundled up on the next supply run to Noumea.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Yeah, i agree with this. My British BB TF seems to be spotted much more frequently than the two cruiser TF's I have in the Akyab area. Part of it is due to size, but also due to speed. British BB's are slow...20 or so knots...versus the 30+ knots of the cruisers/destroyers.ORIGINAL: John Lansford
Smaller ships in smaller TF's also don't get spotted nearly as often as the big maximum sized ones. If you've got a couple of cruisers and 3-5 DD's in a TF, spotting it from the air is not as easy as you'd think. Plus, all those little ships are hard to hit with aerial launched torpedoes. Plus, all it takes to destroy a convoy is one or two warships in the middle of them. Having more than 4-6 ships in a convoy raiding TF is overkill from what I've seen.
What are the Japanese Doing???
This AAR covers the period April 18th - April 23rd
General Observations
Well, I give up trying to figure out Japanese intentions around Canton Island. Yesterday, the big invasion force with half of the KB moved toward Canton. The carriers attacked the island, and a small bombardment TF bombarded it. I was all prepared for an invasion...but then nothing. The entire force disappeared!! It either retreated back toward Baker Island (for reasons unknown) or decided to do something else. I simply have no clue what the AI is doing right now.
The good news is that if the Japanese carriers are spotted back around Baker Island...and decide to hang out there for another two weeks...I'm going after it. My three carriers in Pearl are repaired, and the Milne Bay invasion is over...so the two carriers designated to that operation are heading back to Noumea. Once those airgroups are ready on those two carriers (lots of planes are down for maintenance)...I'll be ready for a carrier clash.
But that's assuming the Japs are still around!
Regardless, I've set a Marine Regiment on Noumea to plan for Canton Island...so i can take the island back, assuming the Japanese take it (or try to) anytime soon. I also have a Marine Raider on APD's parked at Pago Pago...sort of to be used as emergency reinforcements, or as part of the invasion force to retake the island if necessary.
A coastal gun regiment will also be arriving to Canton Island within a week, too.
Port Moresby and Vicinity
The Milne Bay Invasion was a success. Dive bombeers from the carriers even sunk all ships in a large transport group delivering reinforcements to Finschaven. I lost two transports...both carrying supply only, and both to submarines. Only one torpedo found it's mark...on the BB Warpsite, which did little damage. I also came way out ahead in "plane count". A lot of Betty's died trying to attack the invasion force.
On Milne Bay itself, I have 200 AV with 25K supply. The units are slowly rebuilding...they really took a lot of losses during the invasion. Once rebuilt (assuming I can keep Milne Bay up to 20K supply), I suspect the total AV has the potential to swell to over 300.
The airbase and port are halfway to completion. About another week or so and I should be able to base some fighters there, making resupply much easier.
The Japanese unit that moved across the mountains from Buna and arrived in Port Moresby was soundly thrashed. It made a bombardment attack against my forces...and lost over 300 troops to my 30. I then made a deliberate attack, and the unit lost over 3000 troops, with most of the squads "destroyed" instead of "disabled." I lost 50 troops! As I figured, it was an infantry regiment. Considering the high losses, there isn't much left of that unit now...I suspect it's out of action for at least three+ months.
Until yesterday, I continued to see intelligence saying that the 48th division was on it's way to Port Moresby. Where that task force is remains a mystery. In any event, it will have a nasty reception...especially since I beat back the land force that marched across the mountains and was likely suppose to "mate up" with the sea borne invasion. My guess is that the AI didn't expect the Allies to have 800+ AV in Port Moresby by early April!
Noumea and Vicinity
Ndeni - Army regiment is unloading at Ndeni, providing a much needed boost in strength. Port size is 2 and airfield is now 3. Ndeni is shaping up to be an important port. i suspect it will be a busy place in a few months (or less). Once the Japs get a level two airfield on Lunga, I suspect the air war is going to heat up significantly in the Ndeni/Luganville areas. I still need to bring up an AA force (or two), along with one more unit to garrison the island. I'd also like to find a coastal gun regiment to put there, too.
Luganville - Level 4 airfield and level 3 port. It also needs a bit more garrison (only has 200 AV). But it's ready for an air war...it has 100+ air support.
Noumea - An Air HQ finally arrived. I "might" move it up to Luganville...so it can provide support for Luganville and Ndeni. I don't anticipate a big air war over Noumea, so the Air HQ likely will be more useful in Luganville. I'm going through fuel very quickly at Noumea, but a solid stream of tankers continue to arrive. I'm not building up much of a "supply", but am able to keep the fuel levels between 10K and 50K.
New Zealand - Ample supply, but really needs more fuel. But it's last on the list for receiving fuel, so it might be a while before Wellington and Auckland receive any.
Australia
The last reinforcements from Aden have arrivved in Perth and made the rail ride to Sydney. Supplies are overflowing in Australia, as supply is arriving from both the US West Coast and Cape Town. But fuel is scarce. A tanker convoy with 50K fuel will soon arrive in Sydney, but Australia needs far more.
India/Burma
The lone transport that boldly docked at Cox's Bazaar was quickly sunk, taking whatever was loaded on it with it. Recon shows no LCU's in Cox Bazaar. Other than that, the Japanese have made no further moves in the Indian Ocean. 1300 AV is now in Chittagong...four times more than the Japanese have there now. I'm tempted to do a deliberate attack to see if I can chase out that division, but am a bit worried that my poorly trained militia troops might get mauled in the process. But I might do it anyways!
Submarines
Now that my submarines are back in business, they're starting to sink transports again. I still have 20 or so "in route" to their patrol zones (or to Noumea first), but the ones that have reached the patrol zones are Singapore/Palembang/Kwajalein are sinking 1-2 transports or tankers per turn. That's a sweet rate indeed.
Japanese Ship Losses
I'm showing 300+ transports sunk in my ship sunk list. I suspect I've sunk many more, too. While Japan has plenty of shipping at the beginning of the war, all these transport losses WILL hurt, eventually. The loss of transports will show up either in the slow grinding down of the Japanese economy or the inability to move troops/supplies from place to place.
Ship points for the Allies is 2615. Ship points for the Japanese are 1500. So the Allies are more than 1000 points ahead of the Japanese. Pretty amazing, considering that the bulk of the points came on the first day when 5 BB's were sunk.
I've also sunk a few submarines, finally. One surface TF sunk a submarine, and one ASW task force (helped by previous spotting of a submarine by a Cataline) sunk a submarine hanging around Noumea.
Aircraft Losses
In another happy sign, the Japanese have higher aircraft losses than the Allies. More specifically, the highest loss aircraft are Betty's...more than 450 are showing destroyed. The bulk of them (320) are from air to air combat. The rest are operational or flak losses. The Japanese still have no shortage of Betty's. But, they have 400+ less than they otherwise would have!
Upcoming Plans
Odd as it sounds, I really have no upcoming plans right now. Other than being prepared to retake Canton Island if the Japanese make a lunge at it, for the next two-three months, i'll be focusing on consolidating my position, building up my fuel reserves, upgrading my ships, reinforcing my bases, and in general getting the "pieces" put together for the late summer/fall offensives (assuming the Japanese let me!). I'm extremely pleased with my position in the war so far...I have all my carriers, most of my surface combat vessels, and more stuff arrives everyday. All my important bases are well garrisoned and strengthening, along with expanding their facilities.
To me, anyways, that is what the Pacific War is about. Building the infrastructure first (boring as it may be)...getting everything ready for future offensives. Except for the Japanese determination to capture Milne Bay and Rossell Islands, I wouldn't have taken either one, actually. But those two places were worth the hassle to capture and garrison in order to deny the Japanese use of them.
In any event, for the allies, the "end of the worse period" is almost over. Australia is safe and sound, as is Ceylon. The Japanese will have to try mightily hard to capture Port Moresby or Noumea now. And my strengthening surface fleet and five carriers can turn back all but the absolute most determined Japanese assault now. Only if the Japanese round up all their carriers and BB's can they "lay claim" to anyplace they want to without worry of interference by the Allies. But, with the shortage of Japanese shipping (I suspect), the ending of the amphibious bonus (sometime soon, I believe), the ending of the Zero bonus (think it already ended), the war is becoming "more even" and not so one-sided.
And that is the key for the Allies. Survive without taking unacceptable losses during the "one-sided" period.
As for future plans, the two places I'm considering for a fall offensive are, obviously, Lunga/Tulagi and Baker Island. Baker Island in particular, since it's far from land based air cover, and because having the Japanese there is kind of a PITA. However, Lunga will jump up in importance if either the Japanese use it as a major airbase for Betty's OR I can sink a few Japanese CV's without sustaining big losses myself.
Right now, the Japanese advantage in carriers is what stands between the Allies and major offensives.
General Observations
Well, I give up trying to figure out Japanese intentions around Canton Island. Yesterday, the big invasion force with half of the KB moved toward Canton. The carriers attacked the island, and a small bombardment TF bombarded it. I was all prepared for an invasion...but then nothing. The entire force disappeared!! It either retreated back toward Baker Island (for reasons unknown) or decided to do something else. I simply have no clue what the AI is doing right now.
The good news is that if the Japanese carriers are spotted back around Baker Island...and decide to hang out there for another two weeks...I'm going after it. My three carriers in Pearl are repaired, and the Milne Bay invasion is over...so the two carriers designated to that operation are heading back to Noumea. Once those airgroups are ready on those two carriers (lots of planes are down for maintenance)...I'll be ready for a carrier clash.
But that's assuming the Japs are still around!
Regardless, I've set a Marine Regiment on Noumea to plan for Canton Island...so i can take the island back, assuming the Japanese take it (or try to) anytime soon. I also have a Marine Raider on APD's parked at Pago Pago...sort of to be used as emergency reinforcements, or as part of the invasion force to retake the island if necessary.
A coastal gun regiment will also be arriving to Canton Island within a week, too.
Port Moresby and Vicinity
The Milne Bay Invasion was a success. Dive bombeers from the carriers even sunk all ships in a large transport group delivering reinforcements to Finschaven. I lost two transports...both carrying supply only, and both to submarines. Only one torpedo found it's mark...on the BB Warpsite, which did little damage. I also came way out ahead in "plane count". A lot of Betty's died trying to attack the invasion force.
On Milne Bay itself, I have 200 AV with 25K supply. The units are slowly rebuilding...they really took a lot of losses during the invasion. Once rebuilt (assuming I can keep Milne Bay up to 20K supply), I suspect the total AV has the potential to swell to over 300.
The airbase and port are halfway to completion. About another week or so and I should be able to base some fighters there, making resupply much easier.
The Japanese unit that moved across the mountains from Buna and arrived in Port Moresby was soundly thrashed. It made a bombardment attack against my forces...and lost over 300 troops to my 30. I then made a deliberate attack, and the unit lost over 3000 troops, with most of the squads "destroyed" instead of "disabled." I lost 50 troops! As I figured, it was an infantry regiment. Considering the high losses, there isn't much left of that unit now...I suspect it's out of action for at least three+ months.
Until yesterday, I continued to see intelligence saying that the 48th division was on it's way to Port Moresby. Where that task force is remains a mystery. In any event, it will have a nasty reception...especially since I beat back the land force that marched across the mountains and was likely suppose to "mate up" with the sea borne invasion. My guess is that the AI didn't expect the Allies to have 800+ AV in Port Moresby by early April!
Noumea and Vicinity
Ndeni - Army regiment is unloading at Ndeni, providing a much needed boost in strength. Port size is 2 and airfield is now 3. Ndeni is shaping up to be an important port. i suspect it will be a busy place in a few months (or less). Once the Japs get a level two airfield on Lunga, I suspect the air war is going to heat up significantly in the Ndeni/Luganville areas. I still need to bring up an AA force (or two), along with one more unit to garrison the island. I'd also like to find a coastal gun regiment to put there, too.
Luganville - Level 4 airfield and level 3 port. It also needs a bit more garrison (only has 200 AV). But it's ready for an air war...it has 100+ air support.
Noumea - An Air HQ finally arrived. I "might" move it up to Luganville...so it can provide support for Luganville and Ndeni. I don't anticipate a big air war over Noumea, so the Air HQ likely will be more useful in Luganville. I'm going through fuel very quickly at Noumea, but a solid stream of tankers continue to arrive. I'm not building up much of a "supply", but am able to keep the fuel levels between 10K and 50K.
New Zealand - Ample supply, but really needs more fuel. But it's last on the list for receiving fuel, so it might be a while before Wellington and Auckland receive any.
Australia
The last reinforcements from Aden have arrivved in Perth and made the rail ride to Sydney. Supplies are overflowing in Australia, as supply is arriving from both the US West Coast and Cape Town. But fuel is scarce. A tanker convoy with 50K fuel will soon arrive in Sydney, but Australia needs far more.
India/Burma
The lone transport that boldly docked at Cox's Bazaar was quickly sunk, taking whatever was loaded on it with it. Recon shows no LCU's in Cox Bazaar. Other than that, the Japanese have made no further moves in the Indian Ocean. 1300 AV is now in Chittagong...four times more than the Japanese have there now. I'm tempted to do a deliberate attack to see if I can chase out that division, but am a bit worried that my poorly trained militia troops might get mauled in the process. But I might do it anyways!
Submarines
Now that my submarines are back in business, they're starting to sink transports again. I still have 20 or so "in route" to their patrol zones (or to Noumea first), but the ones that have reached the patrol zones are Singapore/Palembang/Kwajalein are sinking 1-2 transports or tankers per turn. That's a sweet rate indeed.
Japanese Ship Losses
I'm showing 300+ transports sunk in my ship sunk list. I suspect I've sunk many more, too. While Japan has plenty of shipping at the beginning of the war, all these transport losses WILL hurt, eventually. The loss of transports will show up either in the slow grinding down of the Japanese economy or the inability to move troops/supplies from place to place.
Ship points for the Allies is 2615. Ship points for the Japanese are 1500. So the Allies are more than 1000 points ahead of the Japanese. Pretty amazing, considering that the bulk of the points came on the first day when 5 BB's were sunk.
I've also sunk a few submarines, finally. One surface TF sunk a submarine, and one ASW task force (helped by previous spotting of a submarine by a Cataline) sunk a submarine hanging around Noumea.
Aircraft Losses
In another happy sign, the Japanese have higher aircraft losses than the Allies. More specifically, the highest loss aircraft are Betty's...more than 450 are showing destroyed. The bulk of them (320) are from air to air combat. The rest are operational or flak losses. The Japanese still have no shortage of Betty's. But, they have 400+ less than they otherwise would have!
Upcoming Plans
Odd as it sounds, I really have no upcoming plans right now. Other than being prepared to retake Canton Island if the Japanese make a lunge at it, for the next two-three months, i'll be focusing on consolidating my position, building up my fuel reserves, upgrading my ships, reinforcing my bases, and in general getting the "pieces" put together for the late summer/fall offensives (assuming the Japanese let me!). I'm extremely pleased with my position in the war so far...I have all my carriers, most of my surface combat vessels, and more stuff arrives everyday. All my important bases are well garrisoned and strengthening, along with expanding their facilities.
To me, anyways, that is what the Pacific War is about. Building the infrastructure first (boring as it may be)...getting everything ready for future offensives. Except for the Japanese determination to capture Milne Bay and Rossell Islands, I wouldn't have taken either one, actually. But those two places were worth the hassle to capture and garrison in order to deny the Japanese use of them.
In any event, for the allies, the "end of the worse period" is almost over. Australia is safe and sound, as is Ceylon. The Japanese will have to try mightily hard to capture Port Moresby or Noumea now. And my strengthening surface fleet and five carriers can turn back all but the absolute most determined Japanese assault now. Only if the Japanese round up all their carriers and BB's can they "lay claim" to anyplace they want to without worry of interference by the Allies. But, with the shortage of Japanese shipping (I suspect), the ending of the amphibious bonus (sometime soon, I believe), the ending of the Zero bonus (think it already ended), the war is becoming "more even" and not so one-sided.
And that is the key for the Allies. Survive without taking unacceptable losses during the "one-sided" period.
As for future plans, the two places I'm considering for a fall offensive are, obviously, Lunga/Tulagi and Baker Island. Baker Island in particular, since it's far from land based air cover, and because having the Japanese there is kind of a PITA. However, Lunga will jump up in importance if either the Japanese use it as a major airbase for Betty's OR I can sink a few Japanese CV's without sustaining big losses myself.
Right now, the Japanese advantage in carriers is what stands between the Allies and major offensives.
Success in Chittagong
Just a quickie for April 24th
Well, the deliberate attack in Chittagong worked far beyond expectations. See the screenshot below. After results like that, the Japanese division that had parked itself in Chittagong is now basically combat ineffective for months.
Only other news to report is that a midget submarine snuck into Bombay, of all places, and heavily damaged an AS!! Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that!!
Well, the deliberate attack in Chittagong worked far beyond expectations. See the screenshot below. After results like that, the Japanese division that had parked itself in Chittagong is now basically combat ineffective for months.
Only other news to report is that a midget submarine snuck into Bombay, of all places, and heavily damaged an AS!! Gotta admit, I wasn't expecting that!!
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RE: Success in Chittagong
Just fyi there is no "zero bonus" in AE. They redid the A2A model so XP really matters so they didn't need an artifical bonus.
-Alpha Tester Carrier Force
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- Mod Maintainer (past) for ATG's WAW mod
- Mod Maintainer (past) for ATG's GPW mod
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RE: Success in Chittagong
ORIGINAL: bwheatley
Just fyi there is no "zero bonus" in AE. They redid the A2A model so XP really matters so they didn't need an artifical bonus.
Thanks...didn't know that. I just assumed the "zero bonus" lived on.
Pleasure Cruise and Curious Invasion
This AAR covers the period from April 25th - May 5th, 1942
General Observations
Well, not entirely unexpeced, half of the KB showed up in the Indian Ocean. It accomplished nothing beyond losing lots of it's own aircraft (the Hurricanes in Colombo really chewed up the Vals and Kates) and burning fuel. Only ships damaged by the bombing of Colombo were three subs that were stuck in dry dock, repairing (and thus couldn't be removed when I saw the carriers approaching).
The KB hung around Colombo for four turns. First turn it bombed Colombo. Second turn it did nothing. Third turn it, rather strangely, bombed Addu Island after making a thrust toward the map edge. On the fourth turn, it tried (but failed) to bomb Colombo again (my CAP really nailed this strike).
All in all...a rather useless undertaking by the Japanese (not so dissimilar to the raid the Japanese did in real-life).
Lunga Slaughter
Well, a few days ago, a large armada of ships showed up. One armada was heading toward Lunga, which my submarines indicated were pure transports (likely resupplying Lunga). A second Armada, consisting of many TF's, seemed headed toward either Buna or this was the long awaited invasion force for Port Moresby.
Unable to cover both at the same time, I dispatched a small surface TF to cover the Port Moresby area (one CA, CL and two DD's). I took my CV TF (yorktown, enterprise) toward Lunga, since it seemed unlikely to meet any resistance...and because with the forces available, it seemed I couldn't stop an invasion of Port Moresby via the Navy alone. So, I decided to take the "easy pickings" first...then move my carriers toward Port Moresby in hopes to picking off follow-on forces. The delay would also give me time to see if any Japanese Carriers were joining the invasion force.
My CV's caught the Lunga transports anchored and unloading. 12 transports were sunk. They then proceeded on toward Port Moresby, where things got interesting...
Curious Invasion Location
As a whole pile of Japanese transports passed Milne Bay and headed North toward Port Moresby, I was absolutely convinced that Port Moresby was the target. My small surface TF caught a well-escorted TF (had a CA and one DD) and, in a rather fierce engagement, sunk all the transports and the CA...I lost an allied CL. I suspect this was an infantry regiment lost at sea by the losses. Following this successful engagement, the task force then headed toward Port Moresby, where it bumped into a BB TF. Not a happy ending...the CA Australia was sunk, but the two DD's remaining were unharmed (and beat a hasty retreat toward Brisbane).
While that was going on, my carriers (now in enroute toward Port Moresby), caught another BB Task Force transiting the strait between Milne Bay and Rossell Island. Both BB's (the Hyuga and Nagato) were bombed and torpedoed, and were both left with heavy fires/heavy damage. Not sure if any of them have sunk yet, but I did see both BB's broken off from the main surface TF and be escorted as they retreated toward Rabaul.
My CV TF then proceeded on toward Port Moresby next turn, where it sunk a few more transports and damaged a few DD's and CA's. Unfortunately, I was out of torpedoes by then, and my pilot fatigue was high. Plus, the Catalinas I had on Milne Bay detected the Japanese Carrier force near Rossell Island.
Recognizing that I couldn't stop this invasion, I retreated my carriers along the Australian Coast where they met up with my BB TF and a replinishment TF. Thus, I had given the Japanese a bloody nose, but not bloody enough to stop the invasion.
Or so I thought. The invasion force, instead of trying to invade Port Moresby, continued NORTH and invaded the base north of Port Moresby, Terapo. This base, which doesn't even have a port [0(0) sized], is a curious base to invade indeed. I'm still scratching my head at why the AI thrust this huge invasion force into the Coral Sea, only to take this rather useless (if somewhat annoying, base). Since my surface TF had sunk the transports that were likely carrying either the base force or the assault force, what got ashore was weak...but strong enough to take the base.
Exactly what the AI plans to do with this base, I don't know. Supplying it from the sea isn't going to work out too well since I hold Port Moresby.
My only guess is that this is the "prelude" to the actual Port Moresby invasion. However, the Japanese have two problems in taking Port Moresby..
The Two Problems
Mascochistic that it is, the Japanese infantry group (the 163rd) that tried, and failed, to take Moresby via the overland march from Buna, tried again. The first attempt cost it over 3000 casualties...most destroyed, not disabled. Well, it moved back in again, and got promptly whipped again...taking a staggering 4000 casualties to the 40 casualties by the Australians! Needless to say, this infantry group is essentially useless now...and while it still sits between Moresby and Buna, is essentially a hollow force with little combat power. Thus, whatever help via the overland route the AI planned to give a sea borne invasion of Port Moresby will not be available.
Secondly, I've begun the long transit of my three CV's at Pearl toward the South Pacific. They should arrive in a few days at Luganville. These three carriers have the Corsairs aboard (why?) as a supplemental airgroup. The Corsair airgroups are carrier trained and, apparently, are part of the April upgrade for the Allies (they just mysteriously showed up during the upgrade). These carriers, and their escorts, also have the upgraded AA that happens in the April upgrades. So, in a few days I'll have five carriers to defend the South Pacific. As such, in order for the Japanese to make another sea borne lunge at Port Moresby, they will require a substantial force.
Lastly, I also plan on reinforcing Moresby, now that Japanese intentions are known. I have 800 AV there now, but I'll bring up another armor regiment and a brigade of the 7th Australian division, which will push the AV up to 1000.
India and Burma
Well, things have been interesting in Burma and India. In addition to the raid by Japanese carriers on Colombo, the Japanese infantry division that tried to take Chittagong a week ago (and lost 5K casualties to my 1K) in the process, tried again. I did another deliberate attack at Chittagong and this division lost another 5K to 500 casualties for the allies. So, this infantry division is essentially useless and broken for the foreseeable future, too.
However, while the Japanese have tried and failed to take Chittagong, they are now attempting the overland March via Imphal. A tank regiment was first noticed slogging through the woods toward Kalemyo (where the road ends to the south of Imphal). I left a baseforce and two small infantry battalions behind to garrision the place. Two other Japanese units (strength and composition unknown) have also been identified plowing through the woods toward the tank regiment.
The movement of the Japanese forces coincides with the intelligence I saw showing an infantry division was planning for an attack on Dacca. In order to get to Dacca, you have to go via Imphal. So this move by the Japanese is no surprise.
I had 500 AV in Imphal, plus light blocking forces all along the river. I've since moved up another 500 AV to Imphal from either Chittagong or Madras. Provided the Japanese show no more life in Chittagong, I'll remove more forces from there if needed. I've also moved two infantry brigades from Imphal to Kalemyo. I doubt the 250 AV or so I have there can stop a determined Japanese attack, but it's worth a try. I'm leery about committing more forces to Kalemyo from Imphal (my primary defensive base) because the Japanese could potentially cut-off Kalemyo from Imphal. Time will tell, I guess. Regardless, whatever happens at Kalemyo will provide me with solid intelligence about what the Japanese are bringing "through the woods" towards Imphal.
Other Stuff
Noumea is, finally, well stocked with fuel. Although now that I have 5 CV's operating the South Pacific, this fuel will go down quickly. Thankfully, I've been diverting more and more British tankers and they've begun to arrive on the West Coast. This is allowing me to have "just enough" tankers in transit to keep enough fuel in Noumea. A mid-sized tanker convoy also just docked in Sydney, and will be followed by a larger one within a week. So, for the immediate future, I have enough fuel for aggressive operations in the South Pacific...should it be needed.
More and more reinforcements continue to flow into the South Pacific. I'll be landing an army regiment on Pago Pago, which will boost the AV of that base up to nearly 400. In my intelligence, I saw a Japanese infantry division planning for Pago Pago, so this is "insurance." Moreover, in the event an attack never happens, having this Army regiment here will allow me to, in the future, remove the Marine Regiment and one of the Marine Defense Battallions and use them for future operations (while still keeping Pago Pago well garrisoned.)
The Japanese seem to have abandoned any operations on Canton Island, at least for the moment. I partially unloaded a coastal gun regiment, but the "big guns" wouldn't unload in strategic transport mode. So, I had to unload them at Pago Pago and put them in an amphib task force. With some luck, they'll be unloaded on Canton Island in a week. This will bring the total garrison up to 5800 people. Because the base force is large (and growing), I fully expect to have the same problem at Canton as I do at Midway (the garrison will exceed 6k men by a few hundred). So far at Midway, I've seen no negative effects beyond significant supply usage. Hopefully the same thing occurs at Canton...I can live with needing to provide more supply...I have no shortage of cargo ships, even this early in the war.
China
Dead quiet...as my Chinese troops slowly starve away from lack of any supply in some cities.
General Observations
Well, not entirely unexpeced, half of the KB showed up in the Indian Ocean. It accomplished nothing beyond losing lots of it's own aircraft (the Hurricanes in Colombo really chewed up the Vals and Kates) and burning fuel. Only ships damaged by the bombing of Colombo were three subs that were stuck in dry dock, repairing (and thus couldn't be removed when I saw the carriers approaching).
The KB hung around Colombo for four turns. First turn it bombed Colombo. Second turn it did nothing. Third turn it, rather strangely, bombed Addu Island after making a thrust toward the map edge. On the fourth turn, it tried (but failed) to bomb Colombo again (my CAP really nailed this strike).
All in all...a rather useless undertaking by the Japanese (not so dissimilar to the raid the Japanese did in real-life).
Lunga Slaughter
Well, a few days ago, a large armada of ships showed up. One armada was heading toward Lunga, which my submarines indicated were pure transports (likely resupplying Lunga). A second Armada, consisting of many TF's, seemed headed toward either Buna or this was the long awaited invasion force for Port Moresby.
Unable to cover both at the same time, I dispatched a small surface TF to cover the Port Moresby area (one CA, CL and two DD's). I took my CV TF (yorktown, enterprise) toward Lunga, since it seemed unlikely to meet any resistance...and because with the forces available, it seemed I couldn't stop an invasion of Port Moresby via the Navy alone. So, I decided to take the "easy pickings" first...then move my carriers toward Port Moresby in hopes to picking off follow-on forces. The delay would also give me time to see if any Japanese Carriers were joining the invasion force.
My CV's caught the Lunga transports anchored and unloading. 12 transports were sunk. They then proceeded on toward Port Moresby, where things got interesting...
Curious Invasion Location
As a whole pile of Japanese transports passed Milne Bay and headed North toward Port Moresby, I was absolutely convinced that Port Moresby was the target. My small surface TF caught a well-escorted TF (had a CA and one DD) and, in a rather fierce engagement, sunk all the transports and the CA...I lost an allied CL. I suspect this was an infantry regiment lost at sea by the losses. Following this successful engagement, the task force then headed toward Port Moresby, where it bumped into a BB TF. Not a happy ending...the CA Australia was sunk, but the two DD's remaining were unharmed (and beat a hasty retreat toward Brisbane).
While that was going on, my carriers (now in enroute toward Port Moresby), caught another BB Task Force transiting the strait between Milne Bay and Rossell Island. Both BB's (the Hyuga and Nagato) were bombed and torpedoed, and were both left with heavy fires/heavy damage. Not sure if any of them have sunk yet, but I did see both BB's broken off from the main surface TF and be escorted as they retreated toward Rabaul.
My CV TF then proceeded on toward Port Moresby next turn, where it sunk a few more transports and damaged a few DD's and CA's. Unfortunately, I was out of torpedoes by then, and my pilot fatigue was high. Plus, the Catalinas I had on Milne Bay detected the Japanese Carrier force near Rossell Island.
Recognizing that I couldn't stop this invasion, I retreated my carriers along the Australian Coast where they met up with my BB TF and a replinishment TF. Thus, I had given the Japanese a bloody nose, but not bloody enough to stop the invasion.
Or so I thought. The invasion force, instead of trying to invade Port Moresby, continued NORTH and invaded the base north of Port Moresby, Terapo. This base, which doesn't even have a port [0(0) sized], is a curious base to invade indeed. I'm still scratching my head at why the AI thrust this huge invasion force into the Coral Sea, only to take this rather useless (if somewhat annoying, base). Since my surface TF had sunk the transports that were likely carrying either the base force or the assault force, what got ashore was weak...but strong enough to take the base.
Exactly what the AI plans to do with this base, I don't know. Supplying it from the sea isn't going to work out too well since I hold Port Moresby.
My only guess is that this is the "prelude" to the actual Port Moresby invasion. However, the Japanese have two problems in taking Port Moresby..
The Two Problems
Mascochistic that it is, the Japanese infantry group (the 163rd) that tried, and failed, to take Moresby via the overland march from Buna, tried again. The first attempt cost it over 3000 casualties...most destroyed, not disabled. Well, it moved back in again, and got promptly whipped again...taking a staggering 4000 casualties to the 40 casualties by the Australians! Needless to say, this infantry group is essentially useless now...and while it still sits between Moresby and Buna, is essentially a hollow force with little combat power. Thus, whatever help via the overland route the AI planned to give a sea borne invasion of Port Moresby will not be available.
Secondly, I've begun the long transit of my three CV's at Pearl toward the South Pacific. They should arrive in a few days at Luganville. These three carriers have the Corsairs aboard (why?) as a supplemental airgroup. The Corsair airgroups are carrier trained and, apparently, are part of the April upgrade for the Allies (they just mysteriously showed up during the upgrade). These carriers, and their escorts, also have the upgraded AA that happens in the April upgrades. So, in a few days I'll have five carriers to defend the South Pacific. As such, in order for the Japanese to make another sea borne lunge at Port Moresby, they will require a substantial force.
Lastly, I also plan on reinforcing Moresby, now that Japanese intentions are known. I have 800 AV there now, but I'll bring up another armor regiment and a brigade of the 7th Australian division, which will push the AV up to 1000.
India and Burma
Well, things have been interesting in Burma and India. In addition to the raid by Japanese carriers on Colombo, the Japanese infantry division that tried to take Chittagong a week ago (and lost 5K casualties to my 1K) in the process, tried again. I did another deliberate attack at Chittagong and this division lost another 5K to 500 casualties for the allies. So, this infantry division is essentially useless and broken for the foreseeable future, too.
However, while the Japanese have tried and failed to take Chittagong, they are now attempting the overland March via Imphal. A tank regiment was first noticed slogging through the woods toward Kalemyo (where the road ends to the south of Imphal). I left a baseforce and two small infantry battalions behind to garrision the place. Two other Japanese units (strength and composition unknown) have also been identified plowing through the woods toward the tank regiment.
The movement of the Japanese forces coincides with the intelligence I saw showing an infantry division was planning for an attack on Dacca. In order to get to Dacca, you have to go via Imphal. So this move by the Japanese is no surprise.
I had 500 AV in Imphal, plus light blocking forces all along the river. I've since moved up another 500 AV to Imphal from either Chittagong or Madras. Provided the Japanese show no more life in Chittagong, I'll remove more forces from there if needed. I've also moved two infantry brigades from Imphal to Kalemyo. I doubt the 250 AV or so I have there can stop a determined Japanese attack, but it's worth a try. I'm leery about committing more forces to Kalemyo from Imphal (my primary defensive base) because the Japanese could potentially cut-off Kalemyo from Imphal. Time will tell, I guess. Regardless, whatever happens at Kalemyo will provide me with solid intelligence about what the Japanese are bringing "through the woods" towards Imphal.
Other Stuff
Noumea is, finally, well stocked with fuel. Although now that I have 5 CV's operating the South Pacific, this fuel will go down quickly. Thankfully, I've been diverting more and more British tankers and they've begun to arrive on the West Coast. This is allowing me to have "just enough" tankers in transit to keep enough fuel in Noumea. A mid-sized tanker convoy also just docked in Sydney, and will be followed by a larger one within a week. So, for the immediate future, I have enough fuel for aggressive operations in the South Pacific...should it be needed.
More and more reinforcements continue to flow into the South Pacific. I'll be landing an army regiment on Pago Pago, which will boost the AV of that base up to nearly 400. In my intelligence, I saw a Japanese infantry division planning for Pago Pago, so this is "insurance." Moreover, in the event an attack never happens, having this Army regiment here will allow me to, in the future, remove the Marine Regiment and one of the Marine Defense Battallions and use them for future operations (while still keeping Pago Pago well garrisoned.)
The Japanese seem to have abandoned any operations on Canton Island, at least for the moment. I partially unloaded a coastal gun regiment, but the "big guns" wouldn't unload in strategic transport mode. So, I had to unload them at Pago Pago and put them in an amphib task force. With some luck, they'll be unloaded on Canton Island in a week. This will bring the total garrison up to 5800 people. Because the base force is large (and growing), I fully expect to have the same problem at Canton as I do at Midway (the garrison will exceed 6k men by a few hundred). So far at Midway, I've seen no negative effects beyond significant supply usage. Hopefully the same thing occurs at Canton...I can live with needing to provide more supply...I have no shortage of cargo ships, even this early in the war.
China
Dead quiet...as my Chinese troops slowly starve away from lack of any supply in some cities.
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RE: Pleasure Cruise and Curious Invasion
ORIGINAL: jimh009
These three carriers have the Corsairs aboard (why?) as a supplemental airgroup. The Corsair airgroups are carrier trained and, apparently, are part of the April upgrade for the Allies (they just mysteriously showed up during the upgrade).
I believe this is a known issue fixed in the first patch.
A computer without COBOL and Fortran is like a piece of chocolate cake without ketchup and mustard.
First Japanese Carrier Lost
This AAR covers the period May 6th - May 14th, 1942
General Observations
The Japanese carrier Junyo and a few escorts decided to take a pleasure cruise down the Australian Coast. They sunk a few minesweepers and one PG. In return, my 5 CV's "cornered" the Junyo down by Sydney, and sank her, along with all but one of the destroyers escorting her. So, one less carrier to worry about. Additionally, since Sydney is a large port, I was able to rearm my carrier torpedoes in Sydney (something I couldn't do in Noumea, despite ther presence of tons of supply, a size 5 port and an AS). Hopefully as the port enlarges to size 6 or size 7, Noumea can replenish torpedoes on carriers.
I feel reasonably confident that I've sunk the BB Nagato. It took a beating from my carriers a week ago, and the ship showed up in the sunk ship list. A few days later, a submarine put a torpedo into the Nagato and I heard the wonderful "sinking sound" of a ship going under, although I still didn't receive confirmation. However, the ship is still listed in my sunk ships list, probably a good sign. The Hyuga BB is also beat up and will be out of the war for a long time, too.
The fuel situation isn't the greatest, but I'm still holding out. A larger tanker TF is about to arrive in Sydney, dropping off 100K fuel (although half of that will go to refuel ships currently there and the repenishment TF there). More fuel continues to arrive in Noumea, where I've been holding my fuel around 50K, despite the activity of the US Navy.
However, I've had to start using xAK's to deliver fuel to smaller port, such as Suva and Pago Pago. I just don't have enough tankers to hit everyplace that needs fuel on the map. So, I'll be using the tankers for Sydney and Noumea, and the xAK's for pretty much everything else.
Noumea and Vicinity
More land reinforcements continue to arrive...now at 1400 AV, with lots of support LCU's. I'll be fanning out some of these LCU's in the weeks ahead...delivering a base force and an army regiment to Rossell Islands.
India/Burma
The Japanese division in Chittagong tried one more time, and again failed. 4K casualties to none of the Allies. Every squad was destroyed (no disabled squads). Even prior to this latest battle, the division here was combat useless due to previous losses. After this one, I doubt this division has more than a few squads of infantry.
The Japanese are making a concerted attempt to take Imphal. I've confirmed two Japanese inffantry divisions and one tank regiment. They attacked Kalemyo, and after a few turns (where the Allies gave as good as they received), they took the town. The Japanese in Kalemyo had 900 AV. Right now, in Imphal, I have 1100 AV, with tons of armor and artillery. Another 400 AV is on the way. So, unless the Japanese have commited 4+ infantry divisions with lots of armor and artillery, I feel very confident about holding Imphal. Moreover, I can still move more forces here quite easily...I have 600 AV in Madras doing nothing but "resting" and can easily move them over to Imphal.
Since the Japanese are suiciding themselves at Chittagong, I can't strip Chittagong of too many forces. I have 800 AV there, and don't feel comfortable reducing it much more.
Diego Garcia
The Japanese invaded this island with a weak force. They haven't take it yet...I suspect the Japs thought this island wouldn't have any land forces here (glad I garrisoned it back in January). I'm assembling a small reinforcement TF, but it will take 1+ weeks to arrive. So, not sure if I can hold it. But, assuming I do hold the island, I'll just let the Japanese slowly starve.
Port Moresby & Vicinity
A Japanese carrier force parked itself off of Port Moresby. I planned to engage this carrier force (all CVL's and CVE's) after I finished off the Junyo, but alas, this carrier force has since retreated. So, the battle will have to wait for another day.
The same Japanese infantry division that has tried three times to take Moresby by land tried yet again. And, once again, the division was decimated in a deliberate attack.
Other than that, Moresby is secure and the fighters there have given as good as they're received.
Now that the Japanese fleet has left, I'll be reinforcing Milne Bay and Port Moresby further. Milne Bay is up to a size 2 port and size 2 airfield. Rossell Island finally has a size 1 airfield, too.
General Observations
The Japanese carrier Junyo and a few escorts decided to take a pleasure cruise down the Australian Coast. They sunk a few minesweepers and one PG. In return, my 5 CV's "cornered" the Junyo down by Sydney, and sank her, along with all but one of the destroyers escorting her. So, one less carrier to worry about. Additionally, since Sydney is a large port, I was able to rearm my carrier torpedoes in Sydney (something I couldn't do in Noumea, despite ther presence of tons of supply, a size 5 port and an AS). Hopefully as the port enlarges to size 6 or size 7, Noumea can replenish torpedoes on carriers.
I feel reasonably confident that I've sunk the BB Nagato. It took a beating from my carriers a week ago, and the ship showed up in the sunk ship list. A few days later, a submarine put a torpedo into the Nagato and I heard the wonderful "sinking sound" of a ship going under, although I still didn't receive confirmation. However, the ship is still listed in my sunk ships list, probably a good sign. The Hyuga BB is also beat up and will be out of the war for a long time, too.
The fuel situation isn't the greatest, but I'm still holding out. A larger tanker TF is about to arrive in Sydney, dropping off 100K fuel (although half of that will go to refuel ships currently there and the repenishment TF there). More fuel continues to arrive in Noumea, where I've been holding my fuel around 50K, despite the activity of the US Navy.
However, I've had to start using xAK's to deliver fuel to smaller port, such as Suva and Pago Pago. I just don't have enough tankers to hit everyplace that needs fuel on the map. So, I'll be using the tankers for Sydney and Noumea, and the xAK's for pretty much everything else.
Noumea and Vicinity
More land reinforcements continue to arrive...now at 1400 AV, with lots of support LCU's. I'll be fanning out some of these LCU's in the weeks ahead...delivering a base force and an army regiment to Rossell Islands.
India/Burma
The Japanese division in Chittagong tried one more time, and again failed. 4K casualties to none of the Allies. Every squad was destroyed (no disabled squads). Even prior to this latest battle, the division here was combat useless due to previous losses. After this one, I doubt this division has more than a few squads of infantry.
The Japanese are making a concerted attempt to take Imphal. I've confirmed two Japanese inffantry divisions and one tank regiment. They attacked Kalemyo, and after a few turns (where the Allies gave as good as they received), they took the town. The Japanese in Kalemyo had 900 AV. Right now, in Imphal, I have 1100 AV, with tons of armor and artillery. Another 400 AV is on the way. So, unless the Japanese have commited 4+ infantry divisions with lots of armor and artillery, I feel very confident about holding Imphal. Moreover, I can still move more forces here quite easily...I have 600 AV in Madras doing nothing but "resting" and can easily move them over to Imphal.
Since the Japanese are suiciding themselves at Chittagong, I can't strip Chittagong of too many forces. I have 800 AV there, and don't feel comfortable reducing it much more.
Diego Garcia
The Japanese invaded this island with a weak force. They haven't take it yet...I suspect the Japs thought this island wouldn't have any land forces here (glad I garrisoned it back in January). I'm assembling a small reinforcement TF, but it will take 1+ weeks to arrive. So, not sure if I can hold it. But, assuming I do hold the island, I'll just let the Japanese slowly starve.
Port Moresby & Vicinity
A Japanese carrier force parked itself off of Port Moresby. I planned to engage this carrier force (all CVL's and CVE's) after I finished off the Junyo, but alas, this carrier force has since retreated. So, the battle will have to wait for another day.
The same Japanese infantry division that has tried three times to take Moresby by land tried yet again. And, once again, the division was decimated in a deliberate attack.
Other than that, Moresby is secure and the fighters there have given as good as they're received.
Now that the Japanese fleet has left, I'll be reinforcing Milne Bay and Port Moresby further. Milne Bay is up to a size 2 port and size 2 airfield. Rossell Island finally has a size 1 airfield, too.
Decisive Victory in the South Pacific!!
This AAR covers the period May 15th - May 26th, 1942
Decisive Allied Victories!
Following the sinking of the Junyo task force, I moved the five Allied CV's up toward Milne Bay. I was hoping to nab the CVL's that the Japanese had parked around Milne Bay, but only expected to cover the reinforcements (Arny regiment, base force, AA, engineer unit) that was going to land on Rossell Island. I thought the Japanese CVL task force had moved away.
How wrong I was...and how bloody things so quickly became.
As the Allied CV's mmoved toward Rossell, Catalina's at Milne Bay saw the CVL task force. It had only moved back a few hexes. It was there, I suspect, to provide some sort of air cover for the Japanese BB bombardment TF that would, eventually, head toward Port Moresby. While I didn't know the location of all of the Japanese CV's, I at least knew where half of them were (around Signapore, likely recovering their aircraft after their failed Colombo raid). So, the Allies took a big risk and plunged ahead with all five carriers (in three task forces) toward Shortland Island...directly into the teeth of Japanese land based air.
The carrier battle was totally one-sided...2 Jap CVL's have no chance against 5 Allied CV's (even this early in the war), and the results showed it. Both CVL's were sunk on the first strike, with no torpedoes used (just out of torpedo range). The Japanese counter-strike, what little there was, was chewed up by CAP.
Elated by victory (1 CV and 2 CVL's sunk in a week), I moved up all the amphib TF's that had been lurking to the South of Rossell Island (kept there for a few turns out of harms way) and started to unload them on the island. The following turn, the "half KB" showed up unexpectedly and without warning...the Shokaku, Hiryu, and the Soryu.
The Japanese got off the first strike. When I saw this, my heart sank. I had ALL my AP's and AK's unloading at Rossell Island. About 1/3 of the fighters of my 5 CV's were allocated to LRCAP over Rossell Island, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.
At the same time, two Japanese surface task forces rounded the corner at Milne Bay and headed toward Port Moresby.
As fate would have it, the Japanese struck the Allied carriers instead of the amphibious TF's at Rossell Island. Not a single bomb or torpedo was dropped...the Japanese suffered 2/3 plane losses at the hands of my CAP, amazingly. Looking over the combat results, it seems the Allies had detected the raid far in advance...thus allowing them to scramble ALL fighters (both CAP and the LRCAP that was over Rossell Island). As such, Allied fighters effectively ambushed the incoming raid due to the early detection. Needless to say, the Allies got quite lucky...but that's war. I suspect the "upgrades" that happen on April 1st (three of the Allied CV's went through the April upgrade process), also helped...I believe the carriers get much better radar during this upgrade.
The initial Allied counterstrike performed poorly. Not a single hit...and they were one hex out of Torpedo range, so no torpedoes were dropped. Bummer! However, a secondary strike did manage to catch a BB TF transiting the strait around Milne Bay, severely damaging one BB.
The next day, the Allies peeled off a surface TF covering the landings at Rossell Island and headed it to Milne Bay...hoping to catch that Japanese BB TF. Since there was finally some aviation support on Rossell Island, some fighters were flown in to cover the landings. With the landings covered, the Allied carriers switched off all LRCAP, went to 60% CAP, and headed toward the last known location of the Japanese carriers.
As it turned out, the Japanese carriers didn't retreat. They moved South a few hexes. As Allied carriers mmoved North a few hexes, our CV task forces ended up 1 hex away from each other...with the Allies 1 hex NORTH of the Japanese.
With the decimation of the Japanese air group on the failed initial strike, I was hoping for "good things". I wasn't disappointed. Bombs and torpedoes found all three Japanese carriers. I didn't get any "sunk" intelligence, but I knew all Japanese carriers were heavily damaged. The Japanese counter-strike was non-existent...5 kates and 8 zeros.
Weather prevented a second strike this day. However, the weather didn't prevent a Betty strike on the BB surface task force that I peeled off. Two torpedoes found an already damaged BB Colorado (from an earlier torpedo hit a month ago). The Colorado peeled off and headed toward Townsville, but, a few days later, a Jap sub off Palm Island finished it off.
The third day of the carrier battle brought total Allied victory. Since Allied carriers were North of the Japanese, I suspected the Japanese would try to "run around" the Allies...going South of Lunga and then heading North toward Truk. My guess was right, as the three Allied CV TF's caught up to the Japanese at Rennell Island. Land based strikes were ineffective against the three CV TF's, and the Japanese carriers were too badly damaged to launch a strike.
The Allied strike, though, was devastating....all three Japanese carriers sunk, along with several escorting DD's. So...six Japanese carriers in two weeks!
The fourth day of the battle, Allied carriers raced back toward Milne Bay. The Japanese had snuck in yet more surface TF's to bombard Port Moresby. Once again, Allied carriers caught one of the BB TF's transiting the strait, and heavily damaged another BB. If the carriers hadn't been out of torpedoes, one or both of the BB's would probably have been sunk (pretty amazing how many bombs it takes to do any sort of damage to a Japanese BB). Oh well...can't have everything in life.
While this was going on, the Japanese continued to throw their entire compliment of land based air at either Rossell Island (trying to sink the amphibious task forces) or against the Allied Carriers. They failed against the carriers (losing a hell of a lot of planes in the process), but they did manage to severely damage one AP (happily, it's an AP scheduled to be withdrawn later in 1942).
After all this, Allied aircraft on the carriers were pretty well beaten up...it's amazing how "fast" fighter protection falls. All reinforcements had successfully landed on Rossell Island, so I saw no point in staying around to try to sink a few more ships...so I slunk away, content with a very decisive victory.
The nearly two week battle that happened in this area cost the Japanese CV Junyo, CV Shokaku, CV Hiryu, CV Soryu, and 2 CVL's, along with a CA and a half-dozen DD's. A few xAK's also somehow got involved in the mix. The Allies lost the BB Colorado and, maybe, one AP.
Decisive allied victory, no matter how you look at it!
How This Battle Changes Everything
Anyone who's been following this AAR knows I'm rather "conservative"...perhaps paranoid...about using my carriers early in the war. I only bring them out when I have a clear, unprotected target or I need to use them to provide aircover bringing in reinforcements. Otherwise, my carriers basically sit around in port and gather dust.
The reason for my skittishness is because the Japanese, when their carriers are together, have overwhelming superiority. More specifically, if the Allies lose their carriers needlessly (and take no or few Japanese carriers down with them), the Allied player has effectively conceded the initiative to the Japanese through early 1943. Without carriers, the Allies can still put up a halfway decent defense of their primary bases, but they have zero chance of launching any sort of a major offensive.
Moreover, the loss of Allied carriers frees Japan up to become even more aggressive and bold. Without the worry of a carrier clash, the Japanese can pretty much gobble up damn near anything in the Pacific if they so choose. This calculus changes, however, if the Japanese have to worry about Allied Carriers popping up unexpectedly in their midst.
For these reasons, I strive to the utmost to keep my carriers in-tact...even if it means running and hiding and giving up key territory. To me, at least, nothing but Pearl Harbor itself is worth losing your carriers over early in the war.
Now, however, the tables have been turned. The loss of the six Japanese carriers (including three of the original KB), has allowed the Allies (who still have their 5 carriers) to "share" the initiative with Japan now. I can't stop Japan from taking stuff, but I sure as heck can take it back. This battle also totally prevents a large-scale Japanese offensive against my key bases...whether that be Colombo, Noumea, Australia or Pearl Harbor. In short, the Japanese can still hack away at weaker, isolated bases (like Canton Island or Midway Island), but this battle has effectively prevented them from launching any kind of major offensive that would overwhelm allied defenses at primary bases.
Lastly, of course, the Allies now are much, much freer to launch offensives later this summer and into fall. An invasion of Lunga/Tulagi will absolutely happen, as will an invasion of that annoying Baker Island. It's also likely that I'll begin the "march up" the Solomon Chain, too.
When the CV Wasp joins the fleet in a few weeks, the Allies will have six CV's...with slowly improving airgroups as the F4 replaces the older F3's. Allied airgroups on their carriers also "enlarge" beginnning in July, greatly increasing the defensive and offensive striking power. The Japanese will be very hard pressed to stop Allied offensives later this year, as the striking and defensive power of the Allied CV's (when used together), will likely be greater than what the Japanese can now bring to bear.
Although the Allies still have to be careful...particularly in regards to the still strong Japanese surface TF's...everything in the South Pacific has now changed for the Allies, and all for the better!
India and Burma
The Japanese have been stopped cold in Burma. The division that has tried, repeatedly, to take Chittagong tried a fifth time. It lost 3K troops to zero for the allies. Intel show this division (which once had 20K troops), now only has 2K...none of which is likely infantry.
Meanwhile, a Japanese tank regiment arrived at Imphal one turn before the infantry did. This allowed the huge force I have at Imphal to do a shock attack...which eliminated this Jap tank regiment. Following that turn, the rest of the Japanese Army that is going to try to take Imphal arrived. It consists of two divisions and 3 artillery units. I don't think they have a chance, though. I have 1800 AV in Imphal, with excellent leadership, 5 fortifications and quickly improving experience levels. I did try a deliberate attack against this group, but it failed...Allied had 2K casualties to the Japanese 1K. However, the Japanese only have 700 AV at Imphal, way below what they need. Another 3 or more divisions will be needed to force me out of Imphal. I don't think the Japanese can find the divisions needed. Plus, I can still move another 400 AV out of various places in India...except Chittagong.
To make matters worse for the Japanese, I've begun marching an infantry battallion behind the Japanese unit, hoping to cut off it's supply route.
I suspect the "seige of Imphal" will go on for sometime. Unless the Japanese launch continuous attacks, thus weakening themselves, I don't think the Allies will have enough strength to boot them out. However, they don't have anywhere near enough to take Imphal, either. Thus, a stalemate...which is a good thing for the Allies this early in the war.
Last but not least, the Japanese slogged another infantry division through the woods and it's in Akyab. It's a very strong one. So, I'll be forced to keep the 800 AV I have in Chittagong for the foreseeable future...and might ahve to reinforce it a bit more in the future, too.
Diego Garcia
The Japanese force was too weak to capture the island. It would have worked just fine if I hadn't garrisoned Diego Garcia, but the 30 AV I brought there from Colombo was just enough to prevent the Japanese from capturing it. Some reinforcements are being unloaded now, which will bring the total AV up to around 80. This should be enough to, eventually, force the elimination of the Japanese unit (which is out of supply).
Oh, and people complain about "uber PT boats." Well...let's not forget about "uber Japanese TB boats!" A lone TB was escorting the Japanese invasion force at Diego Garcia. The British brought in a surface TF with one BB, one CA and two DD's to clean everything out. Gee...that TB put up one hell of a fight. During the night engagement, the Allies didn't score a single hit...but that little TB boat hit the BB Revenge several times, causing fires! During the daylight combat, the British finally sunk this brave little Japanese boat.
Canton Island
Supported by the CVL Ryujo and a small bombardment group, the Japanese two turns ago made a lunge toward Canton Island. Multiple task forces were coming right toward it. I figured...now's the time...finally!
Then the big carrier battle happened, and, rather oddly, the entire Canton Island invasion force turned back. Or, perhaps the AI finally got more intelligence about what the Allies have on Canton Island (100 AV plus some big coastal defense guns), and realized it didn't have enough to take it. Regardless, twice now the japanese have gathered up an invasion force, moved on the island, and then mysteriously "called everything back."
Once the Allied carrier airgroups have been reinforced, I plan on moving the carriers toward Baker Island. Hopefully, I can catch some of the ships that have been loitering around there...thus removing the threat to Canton Island once and for all.
Alaska
Infantry regiment landed on Umnak Island, which now has a size 4 AF. North Pacific HQ also just arrived in Dutch Harbor. With the decimation of the Japanese carrier force, I expect very little, if anything, to happen in Alaska now...so I won't be paying much attention to this theatre.
China
Supply situation ever-so-slowly improving. But the Chinese are a long ways away from having enough supply to even remotely consider going on the offensive.
Things to Watch
I'm so used to WiTP, I never bothered to check Hawaii...to see if reinforcements were arriving there. Finally, I did, and gee...look at all those nice AirHQ's (which I desperately need at Port Moresby and Luganville, among other places). All sorts of aircraft also arrive in Hawaii as reinforcements. In WiTP, virtually everything arrives at San Francisco, LA or San Diego. So I'm not used to all this "stuff" showing up at all these other bases.
Fuel situation is holding steady, although the active operations likely will gulp down most of the fuel supply I've built up at Noumea. Lack of fuel will definitely be something that holds the Allies back in the months ahead. But so far, the Allies have just enough fuel to do what they want to do. Hopefully that trend continues.
Decisive Allied Victories!
Following the sinking of the Junyo task force, I moved the five Allied CV's up toward Milne Bay. I was hoping to nab the CVL's that the Japanese had parked around Milne Bay, but only expected to cover the reinforcements (Arny regiment, base force, AA, engineer unit) that was going to land on Rossell Island. I thought the Japanese CVL task force had moved away.
How wrong I was...and how bloody things so quickly became.
As the Allied CV's mmoved toward Rossell, Catalina's at Milne Bay saw the CVL task force. It had only moved back a few hexes. It was there, I suspect, to provide some sort of air cover for the Japanese BB bombardment TF that would, eventually, head toward Port Moresby. While I didn't know the location of all of the Japanese CV's, I at least knew where half of them were (around Signapore, likely recovering their aircraft after their failed Colombo raid). So, the Allies took a big risk and plunged ahead with all five carriers (in three task forces) toward Shortland Island...directly into the teeth of Japanese land based air.
The carrier battle was totally one-sided...2 Jap CVL's have no chance against 5 Allied CV's (even this early in the war), and the results showed it. Both CVL's were sunk on the first strike, with no torpedoes used (just out of torpedo range). The Japanese counter-strike, what little there was, was chewed up by CAP.
Elated by victory (1 CV and 2 CVL's sunk in a week), I moved up all the amphib TF's that had been lurking to the South of Rossell Island (kept there for a few turns out of harms way) and started to unload them on the island. The following turn, the "half KB" showed up unexpectedly and without warning...the Shokaku, Hiryu, and the Soryu.
The Japanese got off the first strike. When I saw this, my heart sank. I had ALL my AP's and AK's unloading at Rossell Island. About 1/3 of the fighters of my 5 CV's were allocated to LRCAP over Rossell Island, but I knew it wouldn't be enough.
At the same time, two Japanese surface task forces rounded the corner at Milne Bay and headed toward Port Moresby.
As fate would have it, the Japanese struck the Allied carriers instead of the amphibious TF's at Rossell Island. Not a single bomb or torpedo was dropped...the Japanese suffered 2/3 plane losses at the hands of my CAP, amazingly. Looking over the combat results, it seems the Allies had detected the raid far in advance...thus allowing them to scramble ALL fighters (both CAP and the LRCAP that was over Rossell Island). As such, Allied fighters effectively ambushed the incoming raid due to the early detection. Needless to say, the Allies got quite lucky...but that's war. I suspect the "upgrades" that happen on April 1st (three of the Allied CV's went through the April upgrade process), also helped...I believe the carriers get much better radar during this upgrade.
The initial Allied counterstrike performed poorly. Not a single hit...and they were one hex out of Torpedo range, so no torpedoes were dropped. Bummer! However, a secondary strike did manage to catch a BB TF transiting the strait around Milne Bay, severely damaging one BB.
The next day, the Allies peeled off a surface TF covering the landings at Rossell Island and headed it to Milne Bay...hoping to catch that Japanese BB TF. Since there was finally some aviation support on Rossell Island, some fighters were flown in to cover the landings. With the landings covered, the Allied carriers switched off all LRCAP, went to 60% CAP, and headed toward the last known location of the Japanese carriers.
As it turned out, the Japanese carriers didn't retreat. They moved South a few hexes. As Allied carriers mmoved North a few hexes, our CV task forces ended up 1 hex away from each other...with the Allies 1 hex NORTH of the Japanese.
With the decimation of the Japanese air group on the failed initial strike, I was hoping for "good things". I wasn't disappointed. Bombs and torpedoes found all three Japanese carriers. I didn't get any "sunk" intelligence, but I knew all Japanese carriers were heavily damaged. The Japanese counter-strike was non-existent...5 kates and 8 zeros.
Weather prevented a second strike this day. However, the weather didn't prevent a Betty strike on the BB surface task force that I peeled off. Two torpedoes found an already damaged BB Colorado (from an earlier torpedo hit a month ago). The Colorado peeled off and headed toward Townsville, but, a few days later, a Jap sub off Palm Island finished it off.
The third day of the carrier battle brought total Allied victory. Since Allied carriers were North of the Japanese, I suspected the Japanese would try to "run around" the Allies...going South of Lunga and then heading North toward Truk. My guess was right, as the three Allied CV TF's caught up to the Japanese at Rennell Island. Land based strikes were ineffective against the three CV TF's, and the Japanese carriers were too badly damaged to launch a strike.
The Allied strike, though, was devastating....all three Japanese carriers sunk, along with several escorting DD's. So...six Japanese carriers in two weeks!
The fourth day of the battle, Allied carriers raced back toward Milne Bay. The Japanese had snuck in yet more surface TF's to bombard Port Moresby. Once again, Allied carriers caught one of the BB TF's transiting the strait, and heavily damaged another BB. If the carriers hadn't been out of torpedoes, one or both of the BB's would probably have been sunk (pretty amazing how many bombs it takes to do any sort of damage to a Japanese BB). Oh well...can't have everything in life.
While this was going on, the Japanese continued to throw their entire compliment of land based air at either Rossell Island (trying to sink the amphibious task forces) or against the Allied Carriers. They failed against the carriers (losing a hell of a lot of planes in the process), but they did manage to severely damage one AP (happily, it's an AP scheduled to be withdrawn later in 1942).
After all this, Allied aircraft on the carriers were pretty well beaten up...it's amazing how "fast" fighter protection falls. All reinforcements had successfully landed on Rossell Island, so I saw no point in staying around to try to sink a few more ships...so I slunk away, content with a very decisive victory.
The nearly two week battle that happened in this area cost the Japanese CV Junyo, CV Shokaku, CV Hiryu, CV Soryu, and 2 CVL's, along with a CA and a half-dozen DD's. A few xAK's also somehow got involved in the mix. The Allies lost the BB Colorado and, maybe, one AP.
Decisive allied victory, no matter how you look at it!
How This Battle Changes Everything
Anyone who's been following this AAR knows I'm rather "conservative"...perhaps paranoid...about using my carriers early in the war. I only bring them out when I have a clear, unprotected target or I need to use them to provide aircover bringing in reinforcements. Otherwise, my carriers basically sit around in port and gather dust.
The reason for my skittishness is because the Japanese, when their carriers are together, have overwhelming superiority. More specifically, if the Allies lose their carriers needlessly (and take no or few Japanese carriers down with them), the Allied player has effectively conceded the initiative to the Japanese through early 1943. Without carriers, the Allies can still put up a halfway decent defense of their primary bases, but they have zero chance of launching any sort of a major offensive.
Moreover, the loss of Allied carriers frees Japan up to become even more aggressive and bold. Without the worry of a carrier clash, the Japanese can pretty much gobble up damn near anything in the Pacific if they so choose. This calculus changes, however, if the Japanese have to worry about Allied Carriers popping up unexpectedly in their midst.
For these reasons, I strive to the utmost to keep my carriers in-tact...even if it means running and hiding and giving up key territory. To me, at least, nothing but Pearl Harbor itself is worth losing your carriers over early in the war.
Now, however, the tables have been turned. The loss of the six Japanese carriers (including three of the original KB), has allowed the Allies (who still have their 5 carriers) to "share" the initiative with Japan now. I can't stop Japan from taking stuff, but I sure as heck can take it back. This battle also totally prevents a large-scale Japanese offensive against my key bases...whether that be Colombo, Noumea, Australia or Pearl Harbor. In short, the Japanese can still hack away at weaker, isolated bases (like Canton Island or Midway Island), but this battle has effectively prevented them from launching any kind of major offensive that would overwhelm allied defenses at primary bases.
Lastly, of course, the Allies now are much, much freer to launch offensives later this summer and into fall. An invasion of Lunga/Tulagi will absolutely happen, as will an invasion of that annoying Baker Island. It's also likely that I'll begin the "march up" the Solomon Chain, too.
When the CV Wasp joins the fleet in a few weeks, the Allies will have six CV's...with slowly improving airgroups as the F4 replaces the older F3's. Allied airgroups on their carriers also "enlarge" beginnning in July, greatly increasing the defensive and offensive striking power. The Japanese will be very hard pressed to stop Allied offensives later this year, as the striking and defensive power of the Allied CV's (when used together), will likely be greater than what the Japanese can now bring to bear.
Although the Allies still have to be careful...particularly in regards to the still strong Japanese surface TF's...everything in the South Pacific has now changed for the Allies, and all for the better!
India and Burma
The Japanese have been stopped cold in Burma. The division that has tried, repeatedly, to take Chittagong tried a fifth time. It lost 3K troops to zero for the allies. Intel show this division (which once had 20K troops), now only has 2K...none of which is likely infantry.
Meanwhile, a Japanese tank regiment arrived at Imphal one turn before the infantry did. This allowed the huge force I have at Imphal to do a shock attack...which eliminated this Jap tank regiment. Following that turn, the rest of the Japanese Army that is going to try to take Imphal arrived. It consists of two divisions and 3 artillery units. I don't think they have a chance, though. I have 1800 AV in Imphal, with excellent leadership, 5 fortifications and quickly improving experience levels. I did try a deliberate attack against this group, but it failed...Allied had 2K casualties to the Japanese 1K. However, the Japanese only have 700 AV at Imphal, way below what they need. Another 3 or more divisions will be needed to force me out of Imphal. I don't think the Japanese can find the divisions needed. Plus, I can still move another 400 AV out of various places in India...except Chittagong.
To make matters worse for the Japanese, I've begun marching an infantry battallion behind the Japanese unit, hoping to cut off it's supply route.
I suspect the "seige of Imphal" will go on for sometime. Unless the Japanese launch continuous attacks, thus weakening themselves, I don't think the Allies will have enough strength to boot them out. However, they don't have anywhere near enough to take Imphal, either. Thus, a stalemate...which is a good thing for the Allies this early in the war.
Last but not least, the Japanese slogged another infantry division through the woods and it's in Akyab. It's a very strong one. So, I'll be forced to keep the 800 AV I have in Chittagong for the foreseeable future...and might ahve to reinforce it a bit more in the future, too.
Diego Garcia
The Japanese force was too weak to capture the island. It would have worked just fine if I hadn't garrisoned Diego Garcia, but the 30 AV I brought there from Colombo was just enough to prevent the Japanese from capturing it. Some reinforcements are being unloaded now, which will bring the total AV up to around 80. This should be enough to, eventually, force the elimination of the Japanese unit (which is out of supply).
Oh, and people complain about "uber PT boats." Well...let's not forget about "uber Japanese TB boats!" A lone TB was escorting the Japanese invasion force at Diego Garcia. The British brought in a surface TF with one BB, one CA and two DD's to clean everything out. Gee...that TB put up one hell of a fight. During the night engagement, the Allies didn't score a single hit...but that little TB boat hit the BB Revenge several times, causing fires! During the daylight combat, the British finally sunk this brave little Japanese boat.
Canton Island
Supported by the CVL Ryujo and a small bombardment group, the Japanese two turns ago made a lunge toward Canton Island. Multiple task forces were coming right toward it. I figured...now's the time...finally!
Then the big carrier battle happened, and, rather oddly, the entire Canton Island invasion force turned back. Or, perhaps the AI finally got more intelligence about what the Allies have on Canton Island (100 AV plus some big coastal defense guns), and realized it didn't have enough to take it. Regardless, twice now the japanese have gathered up an invasion force, moved on the island, and then mysteriously "called everything back."
Once the Allied carrier airgroups have been reinforced, I plan on moving the carriers toward Baker Island. Hopefully, I can catch some of the ships that have been loitering around there...thus removing the threat to Canton Island once and for all.
Alaska
Infantry regiment landed on Umnak Island, which now has a size 4 AF. North Pacific HQ also just arrived in Dutch Harbor. With the decimation of the Japanese carrier force, I expect very little, if anything, to happen in Alaska now...so I won't be paying much attention to this theatre.
China
Supply situation ever-so-slowly improving. But the Chinese are a long ways away from having enough supply to even remotely consider going on the offensive.
Things to Watch
I'm so used to WiTP, I never bothered to check Hawaii...to see if reinforcements were arriving there. Finally, I did, and gee...look at all those nice AirHQ's (which I desperately need at Port Moresby and Luganville, among other places). All sorts of aircraft also arrive in Hawaii as reinforcements. In WiTP, virtually everything arrives at San Francisco, LA or San Diego. So I'm not used to all this "stuff" showing up at all these other bases.
Fuel situation is holding steady, although the active operations likely will gulp down most of the fuel supply I've built up at Noumea. Lack of fuel will definitely be something that holds the Allies back in the months ahead. But so far, the Allies have just enough fuel to do what they want to do. Hopefully that trend continues.
RE: First Japanese Carrier Lost
ORIGINAL: jimh009
This AAR covers the period May 6th - May 14th, 1942
General Observations
Additionally, since Sydney is a large port, I was able to rearm my carrier torpedoes in Sydney (something I couldn't do in Noumea, despite ther presence of tons of supply, a size 5 port and an AS). Hopefully as the port enlarges to size 6 or size 7, Noumea can replenish torpedoes on carriers.
An AS is a sub tender. An AE ship might help. Port size 7 is the big cutoff. There is a table on page 211 of the manual that shows rearm levels. You'd have to check what the level is for your ships against the port size.
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HistoryGuy
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- Location: Woodbridge, VA
RE: First Japanese Carrier Lost
Very interesting AAR. I am amazed at the different tacts taken by the Japanese AI. My DEI defense lasted until June 1942 when Batavia fell to 94,000 Japanese troops (I diverted the British 18th Division from Singapore to beef up the Dutch). Sent the Pensacola convoy to Buna, where they fought with two Aussie units for a long period before the Japanese finally took that place. Unfortunately, the Japanese then went after Port Moresby and took it also - which convinced me to FINALLY send US carriers down to Australia. The Japanese had similar problems in my game in Burma, except that I had managed to hang onto Akyab. Otherwise, all CW forces are along the Imphal "line" with precious little fighting having occurred south of that location. The Japanese landed on Canton Island and got kicked off, landed north of Noumea and perhaps evacuated it already, tried to land at Suva and got annihilated by a Surface TF, tried to land at Lord Howe Island and got hit by a US naval airstrike enroute, tried to land on Norfolk Island and got tangled up with a simultaneous NZ landing which secured the island before the Japanese could get their forces ashore AND landed at Midway but 1/2 KB did not stick around so the Japanese amphibious fleet got sunk by the Wasp - leaving parts of an Independent Regiment, SNLF, and a Naval Guard unit stuck on Midway. Interesting thing is that the AI and myself are being very cautious with regard to Carrier operations. Both sides have lost NO carriers, although the British had two carriers damaged west of Batavia when they hit Japanese amphibious task forces trying to overwhelm the Dutch defenders in late May. I have also taken some Marine fighter squadrons and dispaced some US Navy DB and TB squadrons on the American carriers to make "fighter carriers" that chew up Japanese air attacks (thus attriting the pool of experienced pilots) while preventing harm from coming to the American TF. Northern and Eastern Australia are VERY well defended now, with all the Australian units having been transported home from Aden. Ceylon is well defended also and Imphal/Akyab are packed with CW troops backed by ample airpower. Now where are those Japanese carriers hiding?
And I will admit to not having paid MUCH attention to China, where both sides are trading punches. But my Chinese forces are getting a bit more aggressive as of late as guilt sets in.....
And I will admit to not having paid MUCH attention to China, where both sides are trading punches. But my Chinese forces are getting a bit more aggressive as of late as guilt sets in.....
RE: First Japanese Carrier Lost
ORIGINAL: Graymane
ORIGINAL: jimh009
This AAR covers the period May 6th - May 14th, 1942
General Observations
Additionally, since Sydney is a large port, I was able to rearm my carrier torpedoes in Sydney (something I couldn't do in Noumea, despite ther presence of tons of supply, a size 5 port and an AS). Hopefully as the port enlarges to size 6 or size 7, Noumea can replenish torpedoes on carriers.
An AS is a sub tender. An AE ship might help. Port size 7 is the big cutoff. There is a table on page 211 of the manual that shows rearm levels. You'd have to check what the level is for your ships against the port size.
I had an AE in port at Noumea, too, but it didn't do anything but reload ships guns. I checked the manual. Size 7 port is the key. Until Noumea further enlarges...guess US CV's are stuck going to Sydney to acquire more torpedoes for carriers.
Upcoming Plans for the Allies
I was just looking over the map today. Due to the sinking of 6 Japanese CV's (against 0 sunk for the Allies), the Allies now have considerable leeway in what they can do later this summer and into fall. So, this post will take a look at the future plans for the Allies...with future defined as late summer and the rest of 1942. This is all assuming, of course, that the Japanese don't make a "big lunge" somewhere that requires the Allies to scrap plans in order to counter the Japanese thrust. The game has gone through the May 25th, 1942 turn so far.
Immediate Plans (June - July '42)
Before reaching the future, we need to get through the rest of the summer. The Enterprise and Yorktown still haven't done the April upgrade, and the other three carriers will be due to the June upgrade. Thus, for this period...the Allies will have at most 2-3 carriers available...the rest will be in port upgrading.
Only time will help mend the rather low strength of the allied carrier airgroups, too. And more time will be needed to "flush them out" once the enlargement happens on Allied carriers in July.
Because of this, the Allies have no offensive plans during this time period. Instead, the next two months will be a period of consolidation...moving more forces to Noumea/Pearl Harbor and preparing them for upcoming operations. Building up (or trying to) fuel supplies in Noumea and Sydney. All primary bases are well garrisoned, so I won't be adding to the garrison at bases like Suva, Pago Pago, Ndeni, Milne Bay or Christmas Island. Instead, it will be all about getting forces in position for the late summer/fall offensives.
A stalemate has already set in in China. And a stalemate seems to be shaping up in India, too. If things continue that way for the rest of the summer, the Allies will be quite happy!
In terms of AAR action...this is likely to be a very boring time unless the Japanese do something very unexpected or something "happens" in India/Burma that I don't foresee.
August 1942
With 6 fully upgraded and rearmed Allied carriers available, it will be time for offensives. While Baker Island would be easier to take, having the Japanese hold Lunga has the potential to be the most deadly base. The Japanese on Baker Island really accomplish nothing...it's just annoying having to "skirt around" Baker Island. As such, an operation to capture Lunga/Tulagi is my highest priority.
Just like in real-life, I'll be using all the brigades of the 1st Marine Division, an Army tank brigade, field artillery regiment and AA unit for the Lunga operation. I'll use a regiment of the 2nd Marines to take/hold Tulagi. Engineering units will also go to both places, too. Goal here is to remove any/all air threats to my shipping lanes to Australia and my key bases of Luganville and Noumea. Additionally, by capturing Lunga and having a strong air base here, the allies will then have a solid, early warning line that stretches along this arc...Port Moresby - Milne Bay - Rossell Island - Lunga - Ndeni - Funafuti - Canton Island
September/October
Much of this period will be spent consolidating Lunga/Tulagi and running in supplies. However, more can be done.
Baker Island - Time to capture this annoying base. I'll only leave a Marine Defense battallion to garrison it, with a small base force. Just want this base to remove the ability of Japan to see "what sails beyond" Canton Island.
Funafuti - Since I have it, might as well find a base force and land it here. However, if I can't find any free base forces (a distinct possibility), I'll just base an AVD here with some Catalina's. The key thing here is just to remove any "open ocean" where Japanese raiders can slip into my sea lanes undetected. Funafuti helps close a big gap. I currently own the base and have supplies there, but the Japs at Baker Island prevent me from using it...they could bomb any ship I happen to park in port. Plus, I don't have enough Catalina's to use the place now, either.
Terapo - That strange base a few hexes North of Port Moresby. I have no use for the place, but I don't want the Japanese there, either. Basic idea is to knock the Japanese out of there so they can't start using Terapo as any sort of a base.
November/December
Assuming all goes well in Lunga, then....
Work Up the Solomon Chain - Munda might be too far of a lunge, but slowly working up toward Shortland is a distinct possibility. Just take perhaps one base to the North of Lunga to provide for more early warning. Not sure if there will be enough land based air power to provide enough protection if the Allies make the "lunge" toward Munda.
Buna - Take it either by overland march or by seaborne invasion. Not sure if the units would remain in supply if they go to Buna via the overland route, though. Anybody know??
Prepare for early 1943 offensives - In particular, Tarawa, Makin, Ocean Island and vicinity.
Immediate Plans (June - July '42)
Before reaching the future, we need to get through the rest of the summer. The Enterprise and Yorktown still haven't done the April upgrade, and the other three carriers will be due to the June upgrade. Thus, for this period...the Allies will have at most 2-3 carriers available...the rest will be in port upgrading.
Only time will help mend the rather low strength of the allied carrier airgroups, too. And more time will be needed to "flush them out" once the enlargement happens on Allied carriers in July.
Because of this, the Allies have no offensive plans during this time period. Instead, the next two months will be a period of consolidation...moving more forces to Noumea/Pearl Harbor and preparing them for upcoming operations. Building up (or trying to) fuel supplies in Noumea and Sydney. All primary bases are well garrisoned, so I won't be adding to the garrison at bases like Suva, Pago Pago, Ndeni, Milne Bay or Christmas Island. Instead, it will be all about getting forces in position for the late summer/fall offensives.
A stalemate has already set in in China. And a stalemate seems to be shaping up in India, too. If things continue that way for the rest of the summer, the Allies will be quite happy!
In terms of AAR action...this is likely to be a very boring time unless the Japanese do something very unexpected or something "happens" in India/Burma that I don't foresee.
August 1942
With 6 fully upgraded and rearmed Allied carriers available, it will be time for offensives. While Baker Island would be easier to take, having the Japanese hold Lunga has the potential to be the most deadly base. The Japanese on Baker Island really accomplish nothing...it's just annoying having to "skirt around" Baker Island. As such, an operation to capture Lunga/Tulagi is my highest priority.
Just like in real-life, I'll be using all the brigades of the 1st Marine Division, an Army tank brigade, field artillery regiment and AA unit for the Lunga operation. I'll use a regiment of the 2nd Marines to take/hold Tulagi. Engineering units will also go to both places, too. Goal here is to remove any/all air threats to my shipping lanes to Australia and my key bases of Luganville and Noumea. Additionally, by capturing Lunga and having a strong air base here, the allies will then have a solid, early warning line that stretches along this arc...Port Moresby - Milne Bay - Rossell Island - Lunga - Ndeni - Funafuti - Canton Island
September/October
Much of this period will be spent consolidating Lunga/Tulagi and running in supplies. However, more can be done.
Baker Island - Time to capture this annoying base. I'll only leave a Marine Defense battallion to garrison it, with a small base force. Just want this base to remove the ability of Japan to see "what sails beyond" Canton Island.
Funafuti - Since I have it, might as well find a base force and land it here. However, if I can't find any free base forces (a distinct possibility), I'll just base an AVD here with some Catalina's. The key thing here is just to remove any "open ocean" where Japanese raiders can slip into my sea lanes undetected. Funafuti helps close a big gap. I currently own the base and have supplies there, but the Japs at Baker Island prevent me from using it...they could bomb any ship I happen to park in port. Plus, I don't have enough Catalina's to use the place now, either.
Terapo - That strange base a few hexes North of Port Moresby. I have no use for the place, but I don't want the Japanese there, either. Basic idea is to knock the Japanese out of there so they can't start using Terapo as any sort of a base.
November/December
Assuming all goes well in Lunga, then....
Work Up the Solomon Chain - Munda might be too far of a lunge, but slowly working up toward Shortland is a distinct possibility. Just take perhaps one base to the North of Lunga to provide for more early warning. Not sure if there will be enough land based air power to provide enough protection if the Allies make the "lunge" toward Munda.
Buna - Take it either by overland march or by seaborne invasion. Not sure if the units would remain in supply if they go to Buna via the overland route, though. Anybody know??
Prepare for early 1943 offensives - In particular, Tarawa, Makin, Ocean Island and vicinity.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
This AAR covers the period May 27th to June 7th, 1942
General Observations
With one exception, a very quiet period...as expected. The Japanese took heavy losses in May and will need time to regroup. As such, I've been busy moving stuff around. The entire first Marine Division in on it's way to Noumea. I've set it's future goal as Lunga, along with a few other units already at Noumea. Lunga will be the Allies first major operation, and will likely involve the landing of at least 600 AV plus all related support and supplies. I've spent quite a bit of time examing allied land units, selecting which ones will be participating. Right now, I'm simply gathering them up and shipping them all to Noumea via strategic transport.
The Lunga invasion will all be based out of Noumea. It will take multiple turns to load up all the units involved, but it's still easier than trying to coordinate an amphibious attack originating from multiple bases.
All in all, the future allied invasion of Lunga will be a very big operation.
The heavy action in the South Pacific the past few weeks took a toll on Allied CV airgroups. They will spend lots of time rebuilding, I suspect. Three CV's are headed back to Pearl for upgrades (Enterprise, Yorktown, Lexington). These carriers will be stopping by Canton Island...paying the Japanese invaders a visit.
Canton Island
Well...three times is finally a charm. After two aborted invasions the past few months, the Japanese finally found the courage to invade Canton Island. With all my naval forces engaged in the Coral Sea area, Canton Island was "on it's own" for five days. The japanese landed a Guards Brigade (10,000 troops) with an assault value of nearly 300. I figured the odds of the Allieds holding Canton Island were slim to none.
Yet, the Allies still hold it. This Japanese unit made it ashore in one piece, for the most part. But, the coastal defense guns must have sunk/driven away the supply/follow-on forces. For reasons I still can't quite figure out, this Japanese brigade is just "sitting" on Canton Island. It hasn't even made an attack yet. The only thing I can figure is that the coastal defense guns caused enough disruption during landing (very few troop losses, but the big coastal defense guns did "drive away" a Japanese follow-on force), has prevented this Japanese unit from making an attack.
Well, whatever the reason, daily artillery bombardment attacks (plus, I'd assume, lack of supply) against this Japanese unit has degraded it from 300 Assault Value down to 180 Assault Value.
A BB task force finally arrived and has barricaded Canton Island, preventing any further Japanese intrustions. The arrival of three CV's will further help keep the Japanese away until Canton Island is secured.
I have a Marine Combat Regiment, a Marine Raider Battallion and a Marine Engineer Unit floating on amphibious task forces a few hexes outside of Canton Island. They were supposed to be the force I was going to use to retake Canton Island. Instead, they'll be the reinforcements...if they're needed. And so far, they aren't needed. As of yet, since the Japanese unit on Canton Island hasn't made any attacks...allied defenders on Canton Island have taken zero casualties.
Unless something unexpected develops, I'll continue to use bombardment attacks against this Japanese unit until the assault value has dropped to below 100 (Canton Island AV is 80). Then, I'll try some deliberate attacks in order to eliminate this unit.
Failing that, I'll land the Marine Regiment to provide a big boost to the assault value.
India/Burma
The seige at Imphal continues, and not to the Japanese favor. They haven't moved in any more units. And what is in Imphal now gets whacked daily by air raids and artillery bombardment attacks. In another month, it's distinctly possible the Allies will have enough firepower to oust the Japanese from Imphal.
China
The Japs have opened up a limited offensive in Central China. Not sure if it's a prelude to bigger things to come.
Other Things
The island of Funafuti has been reinforced with a Marine Defense Battalion that I pulled up from Pago Pago.
The Japanese have landed a small force on Woodlark Island. It's a lousy place to try to have a base for the Japs, since the bases I have a PM, Milne Bay and Rossell Island will make supply of Woodlark Island impossible.
Been busy withdrawing all the airgroups that need to be withdrawn in June and early July. To get the task over with, I'm just emptying out the east coast bases well in advance of when the aircraft are due to be withdrawn. I'm sorely tempted, when I find myself bored someday and the current game is over, to go into the editor (once I figure out how) and get rid of all the "annoying housecleaning" stuff that eats up so much time. Basically, just nuke the tiny airgroups that need to be withdrawn (so they never arrive at all), stop the withdraw of air units that "come back" a few months later, modify the locations of ship/air reinforcements that arrive in Eastern USA, UK, Cristobal and Balboa (have them all arrive at Balboa instead), and a few other tweaks that take a lot of time to manage. While I guess some of this removes a whisker of the historical setting of the war, I find the time spent dealing with all these little things takes away from the game. And removing these irritations will provide little/no advantage to the allied player, either.
General Observations
With one exception, a very quiet period...as expected. The Japanese took heavy losses in May and will need time to regroup. As such, I've been busy moving stuff around. The entire first Marine Division in on it's way to Noumea. I've set it's future goal as Lunga, along with a few other units already at Noumea. Lunga will be the Allies first major operation, and will likely involve the landing of at least 600 AV plus all related support and supplies. I've spent quite a bit of time examing allied land units, selecting which ones will be participating. Right now, I'm simply gathering them up and shipping them all to Noumea via strategic transport.
The Lunga invasion will all be based out of Noumea. It will take multiple turns to load up all the units involved, but it's still easier than trying to coordinate an amphibious attack originating from multiple bases.
All in all, the future allied invasion of Lunga will be a very big operation.
The heavy action in the South Pacific the past few weeks took a toll on Allied CV airgroups. They will spend lots of time rebuilding, I suspect. Three CV's are headed back to Pearl for upgrades (Enterprise, Yorktown, Lexington). These carriers will be stopping by Canton Island...paying the Japanese invaders a visit.
Canton Island
Well...three times is finally a charm. After two aborted invasions the past few months, the Japanese finally found the courage to invade Canton Island. With all my naval forces engaged in the Coral Sea area, Canton Island was "on it's own" for five days. The japanese landed a Guards Brigade (10,000 troops) with an assault value of nearly 300. I figured the odds of the Allieds holding Canton Island were slim to none.
Yet, the Allies still hold it. This Japanese unit made it ashore in one piece, for the most part. But, the coastal defense guns must have sunk/driven away the supply/follow-on forces. For reasons I still can't quite figure out, this Japanese brigade is just "sitting" on Canton Island. It hasn't even made an attack yet. The only thing I can figure is that the coastal defense guns caused enough disruption during landing (very few troop losses, but the big coastal defense guns did "drive away" a Japanese follow-on force), has prevented this Japanese unit from making an attack.
Well, whatever the reason, daily artillery bombardment attacks (plus, I'd assume, lack of supply) against this Japanese unit has degraded it from 300 Assault Value down to 180 Assault Value.
A BB task force finally arrived and has barricaded Canton Island, preventing any further Japanese intrustions. The arrival of three CV's will further help keep the Japanese away until Canton Island is secured.
I have a Marine Combat Regiment, a Marine Raider Battallion and a Marine Engineer Unit floating on amphibious task forces a few hexes outside of Canton Island. They were supposed to be the force I was going to use to retake Canton Island. Instead, they'll be the reinforcements...if they're needed. And so far, they aren't needed. As of yet, since the Japanese unit on Canton Island hasn't made any attacks...allied defenders on Canton Island have taken zero casualties.
Unless something unexpected develops, I'll continue to use bombardment attacks against this Japanese unit until the assault value has dropped to below 100 (Canton Island AV is 80). Then, I'll try some deliberate attacks in order to eliminate this unit.
Failing that, I'll land the Marine Regiment to provide a big boost to the assault value.
India/Burma
The seige at Imphal continues, and not to the Japanese favor. They haven't moved in any more units. And what is in Imphal now gets whacked daily by air raids and artillery bombardment attacks. In another month, it's distinctly possible the Allies will have enough firepower to oust the Japanese from Imphal.
China
The Japs have opened up a limited offensive in Central China. Not sure if it's a prelude to bigger things to come.
Other Things
The island of Funafuti has been reinforced with a Marine Defense Battalion that I pulled up from Pago Pago.
The Japanese have landed a small force on Woodlark Island. It's a lousy place to try to have a base for the Japs, since the bases I have a PM, Milne Bay and Rossell Island will make supply of Woodlark Island impossible.
Been busy withdrawing all the airgroups that need to be withdrawn in June and early July. To get the task over with, I'm just emptying out the east coast bases well in advance of when the aircraft are due to be withdrawn. I'm sorely tempted, when I find myself bored someday and the current game is over, to go into the editor (once I figure out how) and get rid of all the "annoying housecleaning" stuff that eats up so much time. Basically, just nuke the tiny airgroups that need to be withdrawn (so they never arrive at all), stop the withdraw of air units that "come back" a few months later, modify the locations of ship/air reinforcements that arrive in Eastern USA, UK, Cristobal and Balboa (have them all arrive at Balboa instead), and a few other tweaks that take a lot of time to manage. While I guess some of this removes a whisker of the historical setting of the war, I find the time spent dealing with all these little things takes away from the game. And removing these irritations will provide little/no advantage to the allied player, either.
RE: Allied vs. Jap AI
Fascinating story jimh009. Thanks! I am about 3 months ahead in time as your game, but in a similiar position. It will be interesting to see the outcome of yours (if you can maintain the enthusiasm for you writing) [;)]
I would be interested in you thoughts on the replacement capabilities for allied aircraft. From about May 42, I was finding that I had a severe shortage of aircraft replacements. The factories were just not keeping up with losses. (In the defence of the brave pilots - thay had destroyed nearly 1300 Betty's) Are you having the same problem?
I would be interested in you thoughts on the replacement capabilities for allied aircraft. From about May 42, I was finding that I had a severe shortage of aircraft replacements. The factories were just not keeping up with losses. (In the defence of the brave pilots - thay had destroyed nearly 1300 Betty's) Are you having the same problem?