Hi guys. I haven't had much time lately. Enough to either run turns or post here. Guess what I've been doing for the past week? I have 8 days of posts so here goes. [:D]
18 Feb 42
The I-2 returned to service and is moving back to Kwajalein from the Home Islands.
To even things out, the I-6 took a DC hit off Hawaii and will return to Kwajalein for temporary repairs before heading to the Home Islands for complete repairs. Her damage is 26-20(12)-6(3)-0. Ted seems to think she sunk. Heh, heh.
Celebes
The former Kendari garrison was caught a hex W of Kendari by 2 SNLFs and mauled again. The remnants withdrew to Kokala. The SNLFs will chase them to finish them off.
Tarakan
A PB sank from damage by CD guns from the former Tarakan garrison.
Manado
The former garrison Manado garrison, now 2 hexes SW of that town, was mauled again and withdrew into the jungle where they'll rot.
Singapore
I attacked again, achieving only 1:2 odds and not reducing the fort level from 2. On the plus side, I caused 2907 casualties (primarily killed) to 1688 Japanese casualties (primarily distuption) and killed off another Allied infantry battalion. That's important because every unit killed off can't recover.
Java
I captured Merak, effectively surrounding the Allied garrison in Batavia. Even though I have only the 38 Infantry Division available (along with 5x artillery and 2x tank units), I'll move into Batavia to start the seige. The 4 Division is a few days away and the 20 Division a few more days out.
SE Fleet
I landed at Tulagi, Lunga and Gasmata. Time to start cleaning up all those Allied dot bases in the area.
Other Stuff
Saigon's port reached level 7. I consider a level 7 port critical for ship repair and replenishment.
19 Feb 42
Reinforcement: 14 Nav Const Bn for SE Fleet. Heading to Truk.
Pretty quied day. My company chasing an enemy company caught them at Salamaua, killing 6 and driving the rest into the jungle. Now I control all of the bases in that part of New Guinea. I'm bombing the former PM garrison daily too.
Ominato's port reached level 7.
All 12 Mutsukis completed their upgrade and moved out to their new assignments.
21 Feb 42
Samarinda was liberated today. The oil facitlity was captured at 99(1). I'll repair the last point. Next is Balkipapan!
I attacked Batavia and got a 1:2 result. It was a great attack though. I reduced the fort from 3 to 2 and killed 383 Dutch for 29 Japanese losses.
I also took Sambas, in NW New Guinea.
I took Balikpapan, routing the Dutch. For the loss of 9 soldiers, I killed 1121. The remnants fled into the jungle. Best of all, I captured the oil and refineries almost intact, each being 295(5). I'll repair both the oil and refineries. This will allow only fuel to have to be sucked out of there. Balikpapan will also be used to refuel IJN naval assets in the area.
Singapore
I attacked today, reducing the fort level from 3 to 2. Losses were similar, 2515 Japanese to 2746 Allies. The only difference is that mine were primarily disruptions vs. losses for Ted.
China
I continue to maneuver to eventually close on Sian as well as push Ted west in the south. I attacked Wenchow, which is a group of weak units and 1 massive Chinese Corps. I didn't take the town but did beat on the garrison, causing 932 casualtes for 331 Japanese losses.
Other stuff
Four Kamikazes and 1 Minekaze completed their upgrades.
Miri's port maxed out at level 3. Now I'll be able to send convoys twice the size there.
23 Feb 42
Reinforcement: The I-27 arrived. She'll head to Saigon for operations in the Indian Ocean.
Malaya
I attacked at Singapore today, which was a mistake in retrospect. The already weary troops weren't up to the challenge. The 1:2 odds attack did reduce the fort level from 2 to 1 but I lost 4217 troops to 1919 Allied troops. Fortunately, they were mainly disruptions, but he units do need some rest.
I landed at Bintan.
Java
I attacked Batavia again, reducing the fort level from 2 to 1. In addition, I killed 1364 troops to 534 Japanese losses. The 4 Division is almost ashore. They should be enough to do Batavia in.
Reinforcements: 10 & 11 Garrison units - regimental sized units belonging to 14 Army. They will garrison Manila freeing up more combat units for the Bataan attack.
Manila
I took Bintan. The resources there are 79(1). Nothing else to mention here.
Burma
I attacked Rangoon, getting 1:1 odds. The fort level dropped from 3 to 2. and I killed 1277 troops for a loss of 770 Japanese. There were several battalion sized units, militia I think because they were decimated. In addition, the 1 Burma Division is there. I'll attack again tomorrow.
Celebes
The former Kendari garrison was finally caught at Kolaka and attacked by 2 SNLFs. The Kendari Battalion was destroyed and the remnants of the Kendari Base Force was routed into the jungle. I lost 40 troops for 623 Dutch losses. The resource center was 40(0).
Bataan
I attacked, thinking I could kill off a couple of units, but did not succeed. The fort level remained at 2 and I lost 2906 Japanese while causing 1579 casualties. I'm looking for some reinforcement infantry to push along the writing that has been on the wall for quite a while now.
China
Several attacks happened today. I tried hitting Wenchow again and almost took the city. I reduced the fort level from 1 to 0 and caused 1013 casualties to 857 Japanese losses. Hopefully, it'll fall soon and I can push him along.
I took the hex NE of Sinyang, routing the Chinese and causing 1625 casualties for 46 Japanese casualties.
Other Stuff
I had to withdraw a 27 plane Betty Daitai. My Betty pool is now up to 103 aircraft so I shut it off for awhile.
Mike, I'm not sure if you figured this out but the amount of resources that a base will have at the end of a turn is the days production plus 90 days of requirements of the LI and HI at that base. It would appear that production of the LI and HI take place before the resource centers produce.
Mike, although your economy is perfectly managed (and frankly, better managed than mine), I think you need to pick up the pace. You are not doing badly, but I think you need to take more risks and push harder. What is your Phase 2 objective, and when do you think you can make a move?
Q-Ball, it's interesting that you mention that (again). I was just pondering that very topic. I made a list of the important bases and the dates the Japanese historically took them. I'm way behind the power curve. [:(] The important bases in Borneo are now mine. Java has a nice foothold, with the 4 Division almost completely ashore and the 20 division loading up to move to Java to reinforce. Batavia should fall soon and then I'll push south to Soerabaja. The thing that is holding me back is a lack of infantry. It's just too spread out, at Singapore, Bataan and Java. I need to take Timor and then invade Darwin but have to wait until one of those three places falls. Now I know how the Japanese felt historically about the lack of ground troops!
Another attack at Wenchow failed, causing 571 Chinese casualties to 466 Japanese casualties.
I chewed up a Chinese corps 1 hex NE of Sinyang, causing 915 casualties to 87 Japanese.
Java
Another attack at Batavia further reduced the defenders, but I still can't take it. I reuced the forts to 0 and caused 1926 casualties to 283 Japanese casualties. The 4 Division will complete it's landing at Kaldjati and move to Batavia in another day or two.
Burma
Rangoon was liberated today! I took 601 casualties to 5814 Allied casualties. The remnants withdrew to the SW where I'll bomb them into oblivion. The victorious forces will move north toward Magwe. Rangoons infrastructure is: Manpower 1(2), Resources 19(1) & Refineries 188(12). I will not rebuild anything. I took cap and gown's advice and shut off the refinery. I hope the 20k oil moves south on it's own.
The attack on Wenchow missed the magic 2:1 odds by 1 AV. [8|]
The Chinese corps I hit 1 hex NE of Sinyang yesterday was hit again, and finally driven out of the hex. For 98 Japanese casualties, I caused 3354 Chinese casualties.
Other Stuff
The 4 Division still hasn't finished unloading. The 20 Division is loading from Tarakan and Balikpapan and will join the forces in Java.
I'm taking a look at available infantry to pull out of Kwantung Army. Unfortunately, I have enough PPs for only a regiment. I'll send whatever I can to Bataan to clean that place up and free up the 14 Army.
It is a tough call to clean up the PI OR isolate and drive south.
The benefit of cleaning it up is you suddenly have a massive force... it can be decisive anywhere you employ it... but the longer you wait (or are delayed) the longer the Allies have to prepare.
Early light, or heavy later.
The Japanese has significant advantage in recon assets, use them, find a target you can nicely chew and digest without a war of attrition, then go for it... smash and grab. Punch don't tickle.
You should also by now be identifying your defensive positions and preparing. The Japanese engineers take a while to get stuff going.
Hi Guys. I'm off to an Army school for the week. Ted is out of town for the week as well. Things finally worked for us. Usually we're offset with our travel schedules. Anyway, I don't have access to the game, but have been thinking about things when I can. I've been looking at fuel/resource/oil movement from the SRA to the Home Islands. Keep in mind that I don't have the map in front of me so I've been doing a lot of guessing.
Concerning TKs, there is a shortage unless one of two things happens. Either xAKs must be used to move fuel (very inefficient) or AOs need to be pressed into service to move oil and fuel. I like to reserve AO for their replenishment job, which means xAKs have to do the job. As an alternative to using xAKs, I propose that all available Std- class xAKs be converted to TKs. They're slow and mostly small, but they increase efficiency compared to when they're xAKs.
I plan on using the fast TKs (5x Tonan Whalers (15 kt), 8x Type-N TL (19 kt) & 8x Type-1 TL (18 kt)) for moving from hubs to the Home Islands. The hubs are Singapore, Formosa and Palau. Singapore moves to Formosa, which moves to the HI. Palau moves directly to the HI. I can shift the Palau hub to Davao if needed.
The remaining TKs as well as the converted Std classes will move oil and fuel from the originating ports to the hubs.
In addition, Truk will pull resources from Nauru and Ocean Islands and will send them to the HI as shipping moves in that direction. I just learned that xAPs can move resources; a change from WitP.
Back to moving stuff... I'm trying to task different xAK classes for different missions.
I'm going to convert all the Yusen S to the -t. It's 18 kt speed can augment the xAPs for quick movement of troops around the Pacific.
I currently have 5 AKEs. If I need any more, I'll use the Lima class, the largest xAK that can convert to an AKE.
The Yusen N will convert to AKs should I decide to do this conversion. I'm still not convinced conversion from xAKs to AKs is necessary.
The Yusen A will also be used for the -t conversion if I think I will need more. I don't think so at this point. If I decide to convert more ships to AKs, I'll convert from this class as well.
I like the Kyushu class for resource movement from hubs to the HI. It has a speed of 18 kts, so it can keep up with fast TKs and it also carries a small amount of liquid (300 tons), so it can augment the TKs for oil movement.
Just a couple of thoughts. I'll post the last couple of turns later this week.
Make sure you pay attention to cruise speed, not just max speed. Do not mix the 15kt cruise speed TKs with the 14kt cruise speed TKs. I myself would go ahead and use the fast AOs (which are also the big ones) to haul oil and fuel to the Home Islands while using the littler ones (8k capacity) in the replenishment/base resupply role. Make sure your escorts have a cruise speed to match or exceed that of the TKs. Have escorts with enough endurance that they are not constantly forcing the convoy to slow down to refuel them.
You only get 5 Tonan Whalers. These are not enough by themselves to form a convoy. I would mix them with some of the faster cruise speed xAKs to form a resource/oil convoy.
AKs are much faster unloading over the beach than xAPs or xAKs. I have basically converted every xAK I could to an AK and expanded its troop capacity. The AKs are going to serve as my ready reaction force to reinforce bases the allies invade. I plan on having them spread around various sectors and anchored in ports where my ready reserves are located. So for instance, a number of AKs will be anchored at Rabaul where a reserve force (I cannot say how big here) will also be located. Once an allied invasion materializes, the AKs will be formed into an amphibious force to load the reserves and sent to unload at the threatened base.
ADDED: Also, why not convert Std-A and Std-B cargo ships to TKs as well?
cap_and_gown, good stuff. I always match merchant speeds and make sure they get escorts at least as fast. I'm considering using the Tonan Whalers to move fuel from Singapore to Formosa. I suspect they can't move it all on their own, but can't figure that out until make it back home. I'm not sure they'll be able to dock at Takao in one TF, but again I have to check that out later.
I plan on converting all the Std- series, A through F. Somewhere earlier I may have mentioned just the C & D models because that's all I have right now. I'm not sure when the A & B models begin to arrive.
27 Feb 42
Reinforcements: I-30 & 15 & 17 Nav Const Bns for SE Fleet
Off Babeldaob, a Dutch sub put down the empty xAK Mitimei Maru. I've got a couple of ASW TFs prosecuting the sub, unsuccessfully so far.
I attacked Wenchow again. The odds were abysmal, 1:3, but I killed 618 for 509 Japanese casualties and destroyed a Chinese base force and construction regiment.
28 Feb 42
Reinforcement: CHa-29
I mauled a Chinese corps near Paotao, killing 2505 for the loss of 172 Japanese. Everywhere else, I did the normal bombing.
