Empire of the Sun - DesertWolf101 (J) vs Andy Mac (A)

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

If you can take the base near Sakhalin then go up the river with an invasion, there should be no CD guns there but the only two Soviet on map aircraft factories. This might also cut off any automatic supplies to Sakhalin as well as fuel movements to Siberia.

Check and see where his naval units come in and try to capture those bases. I think that might destroy them.[:D] Lay mines there otherwise. Check where his minefields are, then subs can wait and lay minefields on the night of the second turn so the Soviets will not see them until the third turn - unless some of their ships clear may mines the hard way.

Take any base along the Siberian-Pacific coast that has any oil, resource, and/or supply generation to help starve the Soviets.

Switch sides and take a look at the Soviet starting position then any reserves coming in at bases as well as those fort units. If they only have 45mm AAA, those don't go up that high. Bomb all such units, even with just a few aircraft, possibly from multiple vectors to have as many different attacks as is possible. Each attack increases the supply consumption by 10%. You can also do a few naval bombardments where there are no CD guns as well.

Thanks RJ, I am tracking with many of these recommendations, especially with regards to the mines and the AA effective ranges.

[DesertWolf101]

August 14-15, 1942

Siberian Winter

As the kick off date rapidly approaches, my turns are taking longer to finish as I finalize my arrangements. So many details to keep track of!

Arabian Sea

I've ducked the CAP for a long time and scored some big successes with the G3M3s, but on August 14 I lost nearly 20 of them when they decided to fly straight at the shipping at Karachi even though I deliberately avoided placing search arcs over that hex. What I think ended up happening was one of my glen subs got into range and picked up the ships for the G3M3s and they flew to their doom. Ouch.

On August 15 the MKB staged a raid on British warships moored off Socotra and put a couple of fish into the side of Battleship Resolution and Heavy Cruiser Dorsetshire. Nothing fatal however and I expect both ships to survive and eventually be repaired. The MKB will pull back to safer waters.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Siberian Winter - The Ground War
Strategic Intent

Advancing through Western Mongolia will put you in the clear terrain and away from your CAP coverage. However outdated his Soviet airforce is, he will have no trouble concentrating bombers where it counts, that is away from your modern CAP. And then his tanks can really hurt your disrupted IDs. I've always seen Western Mongolia as no-man's land in the war against the Soviets - swathes of open land with no value, where anyone advancing is eventually at a disadvantage.

Another point: AFAIR AARs that pulled off Soviet invasion relatively successfully concentrated on dividing Soviets in two along the siberian middle and then dissecting/shrinking/starving out Kyibyshevka/Vladivostok pocket. With starving out being a priority cause offensive is very costly against those developed and arty-rich strongholds. Soviets have limited supply generation in the pocket though, that's where you airforce can shine with bombing supply dumps/industries as long as you attrite his outdated resistance. You have ample time for the blockade game too, starting this early. This also is a strong pull for the Allies to try sending help along the Aleuteans, creating more attrition opportunities. If Soviets try moving in themselves in the east, you can have your own defenses and bombing waiting, attriting his supply even more. In a nutshell it is a supply game more than anything else

Judging by what I see in my AI game in summer 1942 you are looking at ~1.5mil supplies in Vlad

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Siberian Winter - The Ground War
Strategic Intent

Advancing through Western Mongolia will put you in the clear terrain and away from your CAP coverage. However outdated his Soviet airforce is, he will have no trouble concentrating bombers where it counts, that is away from your modern CAP. And then his tanks can really hurt your disrupted IDs. I've always seen Western Mongolia as no-man's land in the war against the Soviets - swathes of open land with no value, where anyone advancing is eventually at a disadvantage.

Another point: AFAIR AARs that pulled off Soviet invasion relatively successfully concentrated on dividing Soviets in two along the siberian middle and then dissecting/shrinking/starving out Kyibyshevka/Vladivostok pocket. With starving out being a priority cause offensive is very costly against those developed and arty-rich strongholds. Soviets have limited supply generation in the pocket though, that's where you airforce can shine with bombing supply dumps/industries as long as you attrite his outdated resistance. You have ample time for the blockade game too, starting this early. This also is a strong pull for the Allies to try sending help along the Aleuteans, creating more attrition opportunities. If Soviets try moving in themselves in the east, you can have your own defenses and bombing waiting, attriting his supply even more. In a nutshell it is a supply game more than anything else

Very true, logistics trumps everything.

So also look at where you can quickly capture resources to starve the big 1200 LI from resources so it won't make supply. Every little base counts in this regard. You can push towards his bases in the middle of Siberia and some are empty so if you drop small packets of paratroopers (if allowed) from any remaining from the initial invasion turn.

Don't forget to look where his mine defenses may be where his ships start out, knowing that with no ACMs many mines will be gone, then mini-subs can go visit on turn two. [8D]

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Siberian Winter - The Ground War
Strategic Intent

Advancing through Western Mongolia will put you in the clear terrain and away from your CAP coverage. However outdated his Soviet airforce is, he will have no trouble concentrating bombers where it counts, that is away from your modern CAP. And then his tanks can really hurt your disrupted IDs. I've always seen Western Mongolia as no-man's land in the war against the Soviets - swathes of open land with no value, where anyone advancing is eventually at a disadvantage.

Another point: AFAIR AARs that pulled off Soviet invasion relatively successfully concentrated on dividing Soviets in two along the siberian middle and then dissecting/shrinking/starving out Kyibyshevka/Vladivostok pocket. With starving out being a priority cause offensive is very costly against those developed and arty-rich strongholds. Soviets have limited supply generation in the pocket though, that's where you airforce can shine with bombing supply dumps/industries as long as you attrite his outdated resistance. You have ample time for the blockade game too, starting this early. This also is a strong pull for the Allies to try sending help along the Aleuteans, creating more attrition opportunities. If Soviets try moving in themselves in the east, you can have your own defenses and bombing waiting, attriting his supply even more. In a nutshell it is a supply game more than anything else

Very true, logistics trumps everything.

So also look at where you can quickly capture resources to starve the big 1200 LI from resources so it won't make supply. Every little base counts in this regard. You can push towards his bases in the middle of Siberia and some are empty so if you drop small packets of paratroopers (if allowed) from any remaining from the initial invasion turn.

Don't forget to look where his mine defenses may be where his ships start out, knowing that with no ACMs many mines will be gone, then mini-subs can go visit on turn two. [8D]

what's your strategy?  ||   home  |  

Not sure what you mean when you refer to the 'big 1200 LI'. As far as I know the USSR doesn't have anything close to that amount of light industry in the far east in the game.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
Siberian Winter - The Ground War
Strategic Intent

Advancing through Western Mongolia will put you in the clear terrain and away from your CAP coverage. However outdated his Soviet airforce is, he will have no trouble concentrating bombers where it counts, that is away from your modern CAP. And then his tanks can really hurt your disrupted IDs. I've always seen Western Mongolia as no-man's land in the war against the Soviets - swathes of open land with no value, where anyone advancing is eventually at a disadvantage.

Another point: AFAIR AARs that pulled off Soviet invasion relatively successfully concentrated on dividing Soviets in two along the siberian middle and then dissecting/shrinking/starving out Kyibyshevka/Vladivostok pocket. With starving out being a priority cause offensive is very costly against those developed and arty-rich strongholds. Soviets have limited supply generation in the pocket though, that's where you airforce can shine with bombing supply dumps/industries as long as you attrite his outdated resistance. You have ample time for the blockade game too, starting this early. This also is a strong pull for the Allies to try sending help along the Aleuteans, creating more attrition opportunities. If Soviets try moving in themselves in the east, you can have your own defenses and bombing waiting, attriting his supply even more. In a nutshell it is a supply game more than anything else

Judging by what I see in my AI game in summer 1942 you are looking at ~1.5mil supplies in Vlad

To be sure, there is some risk to the advance across Mongolia but the advantages are considerable if I pull it off. Instead of cutting off only half the Soviet Army, success in this operation would cut off virtually all of it. The logistics and supply factors are indeed critical, and that feed directly into my plan.

To my knowledge there are three AARs where the Japanese player deliberately triggered the Soviets. One failed in 1942, one was in 1945 when it was too late, and the third was was in the middle of 1942 with mixed results. It succeeded in taking Vladivostok but the Russians kept a hold on the Trans-Baikal area. I want to deny the Russians their fall back area by going for the Trans-Baikal area in the first push.

[RangerJoe]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: GetAssista


Advancing through Western Mongolia will put you in the clear terrain and away from your CAP coverage. However outdated his Soviet airforce is, he will have no trouble concentrating bombers where it counts, that is away from your modern CAP. And then his tanks can really hurt your disrupted IDs. I've always seen Western Mongolia as no-man's land in the war against the Soviets - swathes of open land with no value, where anyone advancing is eventually at a disadvantage.

Another point: AFAIR AARs that pulled off Soviet invasion relatively successfully concentrated on dividing Soviets in two along the siberian middle and then dissecting/shrinking/starving out Kyibyshevka/Vladivostok pocket. With starving out being a priority cause offensive is very costly against those developed and arty-rich strongholds. Soviets have limited supply generation in the pocket though, that's where you airforce can shine with bombing supply dumps/industries as long as you attrite his outdated resistance. You have ample time for the blockade game too, starting this early. This also is a strong pull for the Allies to try sending help along the Aleuteans, creating more attrition opportunities. If Soviets try moving in themselves in the east, you can have your own defenses and bombing waiting, attriting his supply even more. In a nutshell it is a supply game more than anything else

Very true, logistics trumps everything.

So also look at where you can quickly capture resources to starve the big 1200 LI from resources so it won't make supply. Every little base counts in this regard. You can push towards his bases in the middle of Siberia and some are empty so if you drop small packets of paratroopers (if allowed) from any remaining from the initial invasion turn.

Don't forget to look where his mine defenses may be where his ships start out, knowing that with no ACMs many mines will be gone, then mini-subs can go visit on turn two. [8D]

what's your strategy?  ||   home  |  

Not sure what you mean when you refer to the 'big 1200 LI'. As far as I know the USSR doesn't have anything close to that amount of light industry in the far east in the game.

All the way to the edge of the map, think MOSCOW. I don't have my game open today so I can't look at the name and I don't remember it. If you cut the rail line, it will be hard to get the resources from the Far East to that base so any resources that can get to there will feed that place but it will not be enough. So the LI will only run part of the time.

There are undefended bases on the way there. Paradrop in, then either reinforce by air or pull out the paratroopers. See where his air units start out.

[DesertWolf101]

Ah yes of course, I see what you mean RJ, you are referring to the 1,400 off map light industry. Yes that and the 4,000 free supply generation the Russians get from off map is what I am aiming to stop from flowing to the rest of the far east by seizing the Lake Baikal zone around Irkutsk.

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
To be sure, there is some risk to the advance across Mongolia but the advantages are considerable if I pull it off. Instead of cutting off only half the Soviet Army, success in this operation would cut off virtually all of it. The logistics and supply factors are indeed critical, and that feed directly into my plan.

To my knowledge there are three AARs where the Japanese player deliberately triggered the Soviets. One failed in 1942, one was in 1945 when it was too late, and the third was was in the middle of 1942 with mixed results. It succeeded in taking Vladivostok but the Russians kept a hold on the Trans-Baikal area. I want to deny the Russians their fall back area by going for the Trans-Baikal area in the first push.

As far as AARs go, the third one was not mixed results I believe, but a realistic goal achieved. It is this one that employed blockade and starve out strategy for the Vlad pocket, and hence harvested VPs from troops and prevented a protracted Soviet front later. It would be very hard for you to achieve a meaningful cutoff for the Mongolia based Soviet army, if you opponent is worth some salt he would immediately fall back to the rail line chain, and you have no mobile means of preventing this unless he cooperates. The battles along the chain will be tough and bloody. I would no get hopes up for seizing Baikal area any time soon, you can lose more than you can gain in VPs there.
Cutting off and eventually destroying Kyibyshevka and beyond looks realistic, given you move to cut the rail line immediately on activation and then push in the center to reinforce the blocks. Diverting your limited forces to somewhere less realistic will hurt here.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101
To be sure, there is some risk to the advance across Mongolia but the advantages are considerable if I pull it off. Instead of cutting off only half the Soviet Army, success in this operation would cut off virtually all of it. The logistics and supply factors are indeed critical, and that feed directly into my plan.

To my knowledge there are three AARs where the Japanese player deliberately triggered the Soviets. One failed in 1942, one was in 1945 when it was too late, and the third was was in the middle of 1942 with mixed results. It succeeded in taking Vladivostok but the Russians kept a hold on the Trans-Baikal area. I want to deny the Russians their fall back area by going for the Trans-Baikal area in the first push.

As far as AARs go, the third one was not mixed results I believe, but a realistic goal achieved. It is this one that employed blockade and starve out strategy for the Vlad pocket, and hence harvested VPs from troops and prevented a protracted Soviet front later. It would be very hard for you to achieve a meaningful cutoff for the Mongolia based Soviet army, if you opponent is worth some salt he would immediately fall back to the rail line chain, and you have no mobile means of preventing this unless he cooperates. The battles along the chain will be tough and bloody. I would no get hopes up for seizing Baikal area any time soon, you can lose more than you can gain in VPs there.
Cutting off and eventually destroying Kyibyshevka and beyond looks realistic, given you move to cut the rail line immediately on activation and then push in the center to reinforce the blocks. Diverting your limited forces to somewhere less realistic will hurt here.

If Andy falls back to the rail chain and does not contest my push then that is preferable for me than him defending in the prepared and fortified positions on the way there. That scenario would allow me to march forward and seize the clear terrain in front of Irkutsk. Then the battles along the chain would be the same type of battles that I would fight against his defended positions as I starve them out.

I am not saying this is an easy operation by any means. It is arguably even more risky given its more ambitious scope. I do prefer it however as it offers a way to deny the enemy key terrain that he could use for a counterattack. As a matter of fact, I had a conversation recently with Rader (the person who took Vladivostok that we were discussing above) and he actually agreed that if he did it again he would also go for the Irkutsk zone first.

[RangerJoe]

Yes, sorry that I was wrong on the amount of LI. But if you can cut the Vlad pocket off from those supplies, then cut the rail and road links to the units in the middle of Siberia, those supplies will have a hard time making it to those units. Even bombing various units with 1/3 or even less of an Ida light bomber unit causes a 10% increase in supply usage for the entire stack. It does not matter if the hit anything so it probably would be worth doing if there was no heavy AAA there and if you lose a few aircraft here and there but massively increase the Soviet supply usage . . . [:D]

If you can use the long range Emilies and Mavises for dropping fragments of paratroop units on an ungarrisoned base . . . [X(]

[DesertWolf101]

August 30, 1942 - China Conquered

Wenchow falls - all Chinese bases are now under the control of the Japanese Empire. Next stop, USSR!

[DesertWolf101]

The Scoreboard

I will likely be at about 50,000 points when Siberian Winter kicks off in what I anticipate to be about a month's time.

[DesertWolf101]

August 15-31, 1942

Industry

Supply and fuel have been rising faster than I anticipated and are now at 4 million and 5.5 million respectively. Oil is still declining but relatively slowly and is now at 2.6 million. Overall the trend is heading in a positive direction so I am not concerned but this may change with what I anticipate to be the massive supply drain of Siberian Winter.

Sweeps

The A6M3a has made a large impact on my ability to step up my sweeping operations, especially against distant Allied airbases. As long as I make sure to not abuse my pilots and airframes, even extended range sweeps are having a significant impact in the number of downed Allied fighters. In the latest sweep that can be seen in the scoreboard above for instance 12 Wildcats and Warhawks were shot down for a single lost Zeke.

Australia

The A6M3a and G3M3 combination has opened the door for long range strategic bombing raids in Australia which have led to some nice Allied strategic loss points.

Tankers

Every single tanker is at sea and all ships that can convert to tankers or AOs are doing so, and still I can't get enough of these ships for my needs. I only lost a single tiny tanker in the entire war thus far too. I am not sure how other players go around this problem, but maybe I need to resort to some xAK types to fill the gaps?

[RangerJoe]

Just get the oil and fuel to the Asian landmass and you should be fine. Remember, you have taken more than the Japanese historically did take.

[DesertWolf101]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Just get the oil and fuel to the Asian landmass and you should be fine. Remember, you have taken more than the Japanese historically did take.

I'm just debating whether the use of large xAKs for the task is worth the fuel the fuel they would use, but yeah, I can always look for more efficient way to bring that fuel to the landmass and the Home Islands.

[DesertWolf101]

Destroyer Raid

Not a bad way to ring in a new month with a daring DD raid into the lion's den at Karachi. Now for the hard part - escape.

[DesertWolf101]

Sweeps Over Delhi - September 3, 1942

I decided to use the Ki-44-IIa for the first time in a large and risky sweeping operation over Delhi where Andy has around 200 fighters stationed. Weather and coordination failures hobbled my efforts early on leading the A6M3a squadrons to go in small packets first where they took considerable losses before the Tojo and Nick units finally showed up in large numbers towards the end and inflicted heavy damage.

[DesertWolf101]

Beware the G3M3! - September 8, 1942

[RangerJoe]

Very nice! [&o]