The Hive - Cruft PBEM (Japan, Scen 2 Beta + Stacking Limits)

[Captain Cruft]

Industry Stockpiles

The screen below shows that I have 5.6m tonnes of fuel in total. Most is in the Home Islands. Is that enough to last the rest of the war? I have no idea.

[Captain Cruft]

19 Nov 1943

Lautem falls automatically and he has also landed at Babo by Fast Transport.

Kendari airfield gets trashed by 4Es. I was using it for search and recon. The air icon at Dili comprises 9 Jakes on Naval Search.

[seille]

Where will be your defense line in the DEI, Captain ?
Or will you just defend the HIVE Core and nothing else ?

[Captain Cruft]

I am trying to form a line which goes Soerabaja -> Makassar -> Manado, but this will probably not hold for very long. Beyond this the only oil production bases I will try and keep (for a while) are Palembang and Brunei/Miri. Obviously I will not give up Singapore easily either.

He is certainly getting more aggressive with his moves. Most of what I do in this area will be reactive, just trying to slow him down and/or attrit his key assets at a cost which is not too high.

The only combat forces I will commit at this stage are aircraft, submarines and possibly a few destroyers.

[Captain Cruft]

Palembang

In a way nothing would please me more than not having to manage this place. I have been unable to come up with an easy way to deal with shipping out the vast cornucopia of stuff it produces, and therefore have to arse about with it every turn.

Basically the port is not big enough, and oil doesn't load quick enough.

Anyway, here is what it looks like. The garrison is comprised of an SNLF and a local militia unit and the IJAAF provides a single fighter Sentai for protection. I built the airfield to size 5 purely to mitigate the malaria effect.

[Captain Cruft]

Singapore

I ship the fuel, oil and resources from Palembang to Singapore, from where the goodies are shipped by faster and larger vessels to points east. However, as you can see from the amount of fuel at the port this is not really happening quickly enough.

[obvert]

You can ship it all out. I've got every port in the DEI at essentially 20k or less through extensive regular convoy systems. Get those Tonan Whalers and 18 knot tankers and put em in big escorted convoy with an AV for air support.

I had Singers at 1.5 million at one point and got it to almost zero in about 4-5 months.

Your fuel in the HI for the remainder looks pretty good. You'll need a bit more I think, but of course that depends on how long you plan to fight. How much HI are you piling up per day?

[Schlemiel]

I'm assuming you have naval support at Singapore, can you spare any additional for Palembang? Given the Hive mentality, I'd probably have nearly all my naval support outside the hive concentrated at those two ports. Naval support is surprisingly useful to load tankers faster in my experience, and I'm not sure it caps anywhere near as quickly as av support.

[Captain Cruft]

obvert,

The 18kt AOs and Tonan whalers are already on the case. The issue is that I'm not sure how long I will have access to Singapore.

HI wise I don't really know but it goes up every turn. Being scientific about the production system is not something I want to do.

[Captain Cruft]

Schlemiel,

Naval Support does not help with loading oil. I don't have a problem with fuel at Palembang, just oil.

[Captain Cruft]

20 Nov 1943

Nothing of note happened this turn.

Reinforcements are coming in quite fast now. I am sending various infantry brigades and flak to islands in the Ryukyus that are not Okinawa, which is already garrisoned to a reasonable extent.

Another place I am very keen on making a hardpoint is Daito Shoto. This is an atoll, and I would really like to force him to land there. Being a size 6 IJN torpedo bomber airbase will hopefully make that happen.

The latest addition to the defence here will be 32 x 27cm mortars out of China. Then more aviation support, flak and infantry as they become available.

[Captain Cruft]

Naha

[Captain Cruft]

Nago

[Captain Cruft]

Takao

I really want to get this up to 500 av supp and 1,000 eng in order to properly support the 1st Air Army. This assumes the installation of the Beta at some point, probably when it goes official.

[Captain Cruft]

Nov 23 1943

He has landed messily at Boela. Frances' out of Ternate managed to only put a a single torpedo into an xAK despite launching in both phases.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Boela at 80,110

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 19
P1Y1 Frances x 13

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 5 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 13 damaged
P1Y1 Frances: 2 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CL Montpelier
CL Columbia

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-17 with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Boela at 80,110

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 12
P1Y1 Frances x 9

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 9 damaged
P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco
xAK Hauraki, Torpedo hits 1
CA Quincy

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-17 with F4U-1 Corsair (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead

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Amphibious Assault at Boela (80,110)

TF 284 troops unloading over beach at Boela, 80,110

Allied ground losses:
819 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 235 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 107 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 124 (0 destroyed, 124 disabled)
Vehicles lost 45 (0 destroyed, 45 disabled)

13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 43 accidentally lost during unload of Americal Infantry Div /12

[Captain Cruft]

24 Nov 1943

Boela falls. The Americal Division takes possession of the abandoned searchlight and radar which was all that was there.

A more successful attack out of Ternate sinks an empty APA and damages CA San Francisco.

Meanwhile, over in the Bay of Bengal a sub puts a torp into CA Frobisher, which had previously been damaged by Nicks at Rangoon.

I have a small surface detachment going into Boela overnight. Moonlight is at 3%, let's see how they do.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Boela at 80,110

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 20
A6M5 Zero x 19
P1Y1 Frances x 22

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
F4U-1A Corsair x 6
F6F-3 Hellcat x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
P1Y1 Frances: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1A Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Barton
CL Marblehead
LSD Ashland
APA McCawley, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA San Francisco, Torpedo hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
12 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x A6M3a Zero sweeping at 12000 feet
8 x A6M5 Zero sweeping at 12000 feet *

CAP engaged:
VF-17 with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
VF-33 with F6F-3 Hellcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 22000
Raid is overhead
VMF-217 with F4U-1A Corsair (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 17000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 3 minutes

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Sub attack near Bassein at 48,51

Japanese Ships
SS RO-36

Allied Ships
CA Frobisher, Torpedo hits 1
DD Rotherham

SS RO-36 launches 4 torpedoes at CA Frobisher
DD Rotherham fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Rotherham fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Rotherham fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Rotherham fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Rotherham fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[Captain Cruft]

25 Nov 1943

My little squadron did not find any worthy combatants at Boela. However they did manage to completely annihilate what was there.

He has done this before - withdrawn the escorts and left the transports exposed. I think he just basically hates losing warships.

Meanwhile, at Dili a very small detachment of marines manages to fight off an entire US army division. I would have wished for more casualties inflicted though.

There also looks to be a landing heading for Koepang.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Boela at 80,110, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Jintsu
DD Akatsuki
DD Ikazuchi
DD Inazuma
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
xAK Sidney Hauptmann, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK West Notus, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Meigs, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Zachary Taylor, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Peshawur, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Tantalus, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK City of Yokohama, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Japanese Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Allied TF begins to get underway
Reduced visibility due to Rain with 3% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Rain and 3% moonlight: 5,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 5,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 5,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 5,000 yards
CL Jintsu engages xAK City of Yokohama at 5,000 yards
xAK City of Yokohama sunk by DD Sagiri at 5,000 yards
xAK Tantalus sunk by DD Inazuma at 5,000 yards
Massive explosion on xAK Peshawur
xAK Peshawur sunk by DD Ikazuchi at 5,000 yards
xAK Meigs sunk by DD Ikazuchi at 5,000 yards
xAK Sidney Hauptmann sunk by DD Sagiri at 5,000 yards
xAK West Notus sunk by DD Inazuma at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
DD Ikazuchi engages xAP Zachary Taylor at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
xAP Zachary Taylor sunk by CL Jintsu at 2,000 yards
xAP Zachary Taylor sunk by CL Jintsu at 2,000 yards
Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk...

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Ground combat at Dili (71,115)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5989 troops, 189 guns, 75 vehicles, Assault Value = 226

Defending force 810 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 25

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 95

Japanese adjusted defense: 59

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
97 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Infantry Division

Defending units:
1st Sasebo SNLF Coy
3rd JNAF Coy

[Captain Cruft]

27 Nov 1943

All of Timor is now in Allied hands. Koepang saw the first attack by the dive-bombing Ki-48-IIc Lily, which delivered 4 bombs into CL Denver. One of these took out a 5in gun mount.

Manokwari also falls to USMC paratroops.

Over in Thailand the single Thai division at Uttaradit fell at the first attempt to the Allied forces as they crossed the river. Having a morale of 14 probably did not help the locals. This low value was caused by malaria and I could not work out a way to increase it. This is one of the main reasons I am not really fighting in the jungle.

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Koepang at 68,116

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 25
Ki-48-IIc Lily x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 11 damaged
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CL Santa Fe
CL Denver, Bomb hits 4
DD Mustin
DD Anderson

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
10 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb
8 x Ki-48-IIc Lily releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb

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Ground combat at Uttaradit (59,56)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 21416 troops, 216 guns, 644 vehicles, Assault Value = 965

Defending force 4619 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 236

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 1080

Japanese adjusted defense: 73

Allied assault odds: 14 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied forces CAPTURE Uttaradit !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
968 casualties reported
Squads: 71 destroyed, 114 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (6 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
285 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 39 (1 destroyed, 38 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
44th Cavalry Regiment
150th RAC Regiment
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
19th Indian Division
20th Indian Division
3rd Cavalry Regiment

Defending units:
1st RTA Division

[Captain Cruft]

Here is Burma and Thailand.

He has yet to deploy any air beyond Moulmein. I am bombing Tavoy and Mergui daily with Anns, Marys and Sonias out of Bangkok and Ayuthia.

I dropped some airborne mines at Rangoon, which have now been cleared. I have no idea how effective they were but I was surprised to see that 106 Type 3 mines have gone out of the pool as a result. I only used a single understrength Helen unit at Bangkok to do this over about 4 nights. It must be one mine per plane per attack.

Bangkok has 1,133 AV behind 6.30 forts. The AV grows daily as the 21st and 55th Divisions recover from their earlier travails. They are both at 76% percent of ToE now. Two Thai divisions (with 98 morale and Japanese commanders) flesh things out.

[CowboyRonin]

I just caught up with your AAR. As a new player looking into Japan, you're providing some very interesting late-war strategies and equipment options. I have one big-picture question (which I didn't see addressed): if you're so un-enamored with the Scenario 2 Japanese economy, which did you play Scen 2? I can't imagine an Allied player begging to get bludgeoned with the Scenario 2 Japanese OOB.