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ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

From 30,000 feet, I think you're far too sanguine about the loss of Singapore. Once he's east of Sumatra is Sumatra really useful to you? Especially since he can operate out of Singers yard-wise, load-speed-wise, and AF-size-wise? Given the status of CRB and Saigon you're really pushed back to Manila any time he wants to get angry with his navy and B-29s. Enjoy what oil you can get out for now. It won't be much longer.

The DEI is what it is. He can bleed you, but he doesn't have to. I think you're correct to worry about forting up Formosa. It will happen faster than you think. Or somewhere similar. He's into the body and he's got heavy equipment to dig with. He broke the dermal layer getting ashore on Sumatra and northern Malaysia and the torso is full of soft, fleshy organs.

Sumatra's usefulness will only last as long as the oil/refinery complex does.

With it, Sumatra is a nice unsinkable airbase in easy range of Singers and has organic supply production. Without that, I'm evacuating everything to Java, and thence the PI. Hell, once I get the turn back I'll probably start withdrawing everything from Minadano south up to Luzon.

You are on to something, though. I'm stil considering Manila as a rear area base because the Allies haven't quite moved up yet. That needs to end.

Now you have me really worried, I've three BB's repairing at Manila and the CAP is only a hundred planes or so...

He has P-51s and B-29s. Pbang is only a matter of him caring enough to take it down. He doesn't need the oil. He doesn't need to take it the base. He just needs to burn it. The rest of Sumatra is unsinkable sure, but his 4E forces now make any airbase he wants to take out pretty easy. There's not enough VPs left on Sumatra to matter that much in terms of slogging. Batavia OTOH is pretty fat.

You need to think about yards. You've got Manila and HK before it's HI time. I don't know if he goes amphib on Formosa, or slogs into China through the south, or takes Luzon. But any way he goes he has the navy and amphibs to do them.

So far, he hasn't. He made one good go at Pbang's airbase, and he seems to have pulled back from a second strike. He could probably have torched it as well on day two without much difficulty. Up until he does burn Pbang I want to make it as difficult as possible. The ball of yarn CAP I have over Palembang is the strongest defense, but I can have it transfered to Luzon in five days, tops.

Yeah, the location of naval shipyards has factored into my planning for the late war. Singapore is gone, obviously, as is Saigon.

I've rammed all the CD guns I have into Bataan, and Manila has level 9 forts, so it's pretty secure. Hong Kong has level 6 forts, and it's x3 terrain, so 2000 AV should do nicely to keep the Allies off it for a while. That just leaves Formosa and Okinawa - both of which are fairly under-garrisoned. Time to spend the 2k PP's I've saved...

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I've rammed all the CD guns I have into Bataan, and Manila has level 9 forts, so it's pretty secure. Hong Kong has level 6 forts, and it's x3 terrain, so 2000 AV should do nicely to keep the Allies off it for a while. That just leaves Formosa and Okinawa - both of which are fairly under-garrisoned. Time to spend the 2k PP's I've saved...

I've only taken Manila in AI games. Never past Bataan. Always up from Legsapi (sp?) Level 9 is a pain, but Manila is a prize. As is the case everywhere in the late-war, it's a question of supply.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I've rammed all the CD guns I have into Bataan, and Manila has level 9 forts, so it's pretty secure. Hong Kong has level 6 forts, and it's x3 terrain, so 2000 AV should do nicely to keep the Allies off it for a while. That just leaves Formosa and Okinawa - both of which are fairly under-garrisoned. Time to spend the 2k PP's I've saved...

I've only taken Manila in AI games. Never past Bataan. Always up from Legsapi (sp?) Level 9 is a pain, but Manila is a prize. As is the case everywhere in the late-war, it's a question of supply.

Considering Loka's going at the PI from the west rather than the east I doubt he'll do the traditional Legsapi landing and overland march northwards. He can probably get away with landing north of Manila, and that's not as good ground for me. I've already got the engineers digging the beachside pillboxes, but at this stage pretty much every hex needs a division to be sure to hold out past D-Day +1. We will see.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

I'm honestly clueless about China at this point. If I fight in the north, I'll deny the re-spawned horde, but he can take Hong Kong. If I hold Hong Kong, he can barrel north and free up a great deal of AV.

On top of that I still hold hopes for getting most of the Vietnam Army back to Korea for the Soviet activation...

Any suggestions?

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

I've rammed all the CD guns I have into Bataan, and Manila has level 9 forts, so it's pretty secure. Hong Kong has level 6 forts, and it's x3 terrain, so 2000 AV should do nicely to keep the Allies off it for a while. That just leaves Formosa and Okinawa - both of which are fairly under-garrisoned. Time to spend the 2k PP's I've saved...

I've only taken Manila in AI games. Never past Bataan. Always up from Legsapi (sp?) Level 9 is a pain, but Manila is a prize. As is the case everywhere in the late-war, it's a question of supply.

Considering Loka's going at the PI from the west rather than the east I doubt he'll do the traditional Legsapi landing and overland march northwards. He can probably get away with landing north of Manila, and that's not as good ground for me. I've already got the engineers digging the beachside pillboxes, but at this stage pretty much every hex needs a division to be sure to hold out past D-Day +1. We will see.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

I'm honestly clueless about China at this point. If I fight in the north, I'll deny the re-spawned horde, but he can take Hong Kong. If I hold Hong Kong, he can barrel north and free up a great deal of AV.

On top of that I still hold hopes for getting most of the Vietnam Army back to Korea for the Soviet activation...

Any suggestions?

It is the victory points. Everything boils down to victory points.

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Considering Loka's going at the PI from the west rather than the east I doubt he'll do the traditional Legsapi landing and overland march northwards. He can probably get away with landing north of Manila, and that's not as good ground for me. I've already got the engineers digging the beachside pillboxes, but at this stage pretty much every hex needs a division to be sure to hold out past D-Day +1. We will see.

Good point. Coming from the west is new and improved. He might try the north-south pattern the AI does in December 1941. A lot of really good landing ports. Whether he would do it in one jump from Singers is a good question. A lot of supply--a million at least I'd say--would need to do the long reach east. I'd want to secure at least most of the southern flank--Miri, etc--before I threaded that needle.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

I'm honestly clueless about China at this point. If I fight in the north, I'll deny the re-spawned horde, but he can take Hong Kong. If I hold Hong Kong, he can barrel north and free up a great deal of AV.

As you've seen with Loka, in terms of his "wandering Chinese through the jungle" move to upset the cart in Vietnam, and as I'm seeing in our game in a couple of ways, he's not traditional. He gets bored re-creating history. He likes to push the engine to "just see" what he can get it to do. It's a way to stay interested for him. I like that part of his style. But it also means you can't well predict what he would do in a situation like China. Early activation of the Soviets is very rare. So he might like that aspect. I don't know. I get it's hard to do both. But I'd look at raw numbers in the Horde, once they're in supply. A really fun tool to swing.

On top of that I still hold hopes for getting most of the Vietnam Army back to Korea for the Soviet activation...

Hurry. [:)]

Any suggestions?

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58




I've only taken Manila in AI games. Never past Bataan. Always up from Legsapi (sp?) Level 9 is a pain, but Manila is a prize. As is the case everywhere in the late-war, it's a question of supply.

Considering Loka's going at the PI from the west rather than the east I doubt he'll do the traditional Legsapi landing and overland march northwards. He can probably get away with landing north of Manila, and that's not as good ground for me. I've already got the engineers digging the beachside pillboxes, but at this stage pretty much every hex needs a division to be sure to hold out past D-Day +1. We will see.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

I'm honestly clueless about China at this point. If I fight in the north, I'll deny the re-spawned horde, but he can take Hong Kong. If I hold Hong Kong, he can barrel north and free up a great deal of AV.

On top of that I still hold hopes for getting most of the Vietnam Army back to Korea for the Soviet activation...

Any suggestions?

It is the victory points. Everything boils down to victory points.

I don't really play by the victory points. Loka does, I don't. To me, it's an Allied win when they've broke my will to fight or captured Tokyo, whatever comes first.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Considering Loka's going at the PI from the west rather than the east I doubt he'll do the traditional Legsapi landing and overland march northwards. He can probably get away with landing north of Manila, and that's not as good ground for me. I've already got the engineers digging the beachside pillboxes, but at this stage pretty much every hex needs a division to be sure to hold out past D-Day +1. We will see.

Good point. Coming from the west is new and improved. He might try the north-south pattern the AI does in December 1941. A lot of really good landing ports. Whether he would do it in one jump from Singers is a good question. A lot of supply--a million at least I'd say--would need to do the long reach east. I'd want to secure at least most of the southern flank--Miri, etc--before I threaded that needle.

Unless you have very grand plans for China, and maybe early Soviet activation, HK is usually too much for too little IMO. But you can get there overland too. Or, if he wants to re-birth the Horde, he doesn't have to go through HK at all if he already has most of Vietnam.

I'm honestly clueless about China at this point. If I fight in the north, I'll deny the re-spawned horde, but he can take Hong Kong. If I hold Hong Kong, he can barrel north and free up a great deal of AV.

As you've seen with Loka, in terms of his "wandering Chinese through the jungle" move to upset the cart in Vietnam, and as I'm seeing in our game in a couple of ways, he's not traditional. He gets bored re-creating history. He likes to push the engine to "just see" what he can get it to do. It's a way to stay interested for him. I like that part of his style. But it also means you can't well predict what he would do in a situation like China. Early activation of the Soviets is very rare. So he might like that aspect. I don't know. I get it's hard to do both. But I'd look at raw numbers in the Horde, once they're in supply. A really fun tool to swing.

On top of that I still hold hopes for getting most of the Vietnam Army back to Korea for the Soviet activation...

Hurry. [:)]

Any suggestions?

I agree with you regarding the north-south approach to Luzon. The terrain is pretty bad for me as the defender as well - two open hexes. At the very least, being within range of both Luzon and Formosa complicates things for him.

You are proving somewhat sagacious - recent turns showed carriers escorting amphibs dropping off extra troops at Miri. I'm interdicting and suppressing Miri with LBA from Balikipapan, but who knows for how long...

As you've seen with Loka, in terms of his "wandering Chinese through the jungle" move to upset the cart in Vietnam, and as I'm seeing in our game in a couple of ways, he's not traditional. He gets bored re-creating history. He likes to push the engine to "just see" what he can get it to do. It's a way to stay interested for him. I like that part of his style. But it also means you can't well predict what he would do in a situation like China. Early activation of the Soviets is very rare. So he might like that aspect. I don't know. I get it's hard to do both. But I'd look at raw numbers in the Horde, once they're in supply. A really fun tool to swing.

The great thing about this game is that Loka and I are both out doing things I've never seen before.

My IJNAF is on steriods, I'm supersizing IJA bomber groups on IJN carriers and the Manchurian Army is in Vietnam.

Loka's 4E's fly no higher than 2000ft, his attack bombers on night raids wreck my airbases with night fighter defence and he's untold thousands of AV rampaging throughout Thailand and Vietnam.

Stratosweeps are the norm, and it's anything goes regarding naval warfare.

And it's great fun!

China will need some thought. I doubt the possibility of defending both the respawn points for the Chinese horde. It may have been feasble to stall Chungking or Chengtu on their own (look how long Chungking lasted in this game!), but I don't think I can hold both.

In that case I think my best course might be to try and hold along the Vietnam border, leave 3000AV or so in Hong Kong to deny the shipyard and run back to Manchuria as fast as possible. IDK. Much thought required.

When I wrote that I didn't know he was anywhere near Miri. Uh oh.

Long ago Alfred said something I wrote down. It probably had conditions attached, but it's still essentially true: Balikpapan cannot be defended. I believe he was talking about 1941, but it's true for you too. Miri represents the "safe" oil for Japan in most games. The last hold-out on the interior of the torso.

The yard at HK is OK, but it's only average. I'd rather have Manila and its isolation from big LBA bases in China. Singers might even be enough given the volume of warships he has now. Transit time loss isn't that big a deal.

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
My IJNAF is on steriods, I'm supersizing IJA bomber groups on IJN carriers...

You mean IJN bombers right? IJA airgroups usually do not have the resize option, or am I missing something, or is this a mod woth resizing enabled?

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

When I wrote that I didn't know he was anywhere near Miri. Uh oh.

Long ago Alfred said something I wrote down. It probably had conditions attached, but it's still essentially true: Balikpapan cannot be defended. I believe he was talking about 1941, but it's true for you too. Miri represents the "safe" oil for Japan in most games. The last hold-out on the interior of the torso.

The yard at HK is OK, but it's only average. I'd rather have Manila and its isolation from big LBA bases in China. Singers might even be enough given the volume of warships he has now. Transit time loss isn't that big a deal.

I'm convinced that Loka is leaving the oil alone in a bid to tempt me to defend the DEI at the expense of the interior perimeter. Right now I've a little smoke and mirrors going on while I shift assets out of the DEI.

I expanded HK to size 50 in my current game, so it's a tempting target to capture. I can't remember Singers shipyard size, but it's either 20 or 30. But I think that you are right in saying shipyards won't be a major consideration from him.

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
My IJNAF is on steriods, I'm supersizing IJA bomber groups on IJN carriers...

You mean IJN bombers right? IJA airgroups usually do not have the resize option, or am I missing something, or is this a mod woth resizing enabled?

No, I mean IJA bomber groups.

They can be resized by converting them to the Ki-76 Stella, which is carrier capable. They can then be transferred to an IJN carrier and resized. Upsizing the IJA bomber squadrons is a massive boon, as it gives you the capacity to start dishing out the NavT and LowNav skilled pilots for late-war anti-shipping operations.

My $0.02 ...

He's got Vinh and its 10/44 ... I would bail out of the DEI entirely (ok, maybe leave a couple BDE's as road bumps, but not much ....) Get every usable unit inside your perimeter which now should be PI/Formosa/Hokkaido. You're not going to get enough oil/fuel from the DEI now to make any difference, but you need all those units in defense. And time is short ...

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

When I wrote that I didn't know he was anywhere near Miri. Uh oh.

Long ago Alfred said something I wrote down. It probably had conditions attached, but it's still essentially true: Balikpapan cannot be defended. I believe he was talking about 1941, but it's true for you too. Miri represents the "safe" oil for Japan in most games. The last hold-out on the interior of the torso.

The yard at HK is OK, but it's only average. I'd rather have Manila and its isolation from big LBA bases in China. Singers might even be enough given the volume of warships he has now. Transit time loss isn't that big a deal.

I'm convinced that Loka is leaving the oil alone in a bid to tempt me to defend the DEI at the expense of the interior perimeter. Right now I've a little smoke and mirrors going on while I shift assets out of the DEI.

It's interesting reading your AAR and seeing how he thinks from the Allied side as I labor mightily to beat him with the Allies. Not going gangbusters for me. You can get inside the wheels-within-wheels of his mind when you can see him play both, a rare thing for most opponents. My impression, and it's just an impression as he's pretty closed-mouth with email chit-chat on the game--we usually talk about him building a patio or fixing a car--is that as a Japan player he's pretty "meh" about the oil. I think he sees a responsibility to haul enough while it's safe in a very efficient manner and then not worry about its destruction when and if. He made a comment about three game weeks ago that he was having "fun" seeing how much stuff he could haul home. I've been searching for his convoys mostly in vain for years. I find he's using the Palawan Passage for example, and after that it's bare cupboard time. Over half of my subs have been on tanker duty since the first torpedo healing, and I've found and sunk a bare handful.

So, if it's possible his Japan attitude leaks over to Allied play, he may not care about your oil in any major way. Not saying that's true, but it would jibe with his overall attitude about recreating history. He doesn't care for it.

Also, as an Allied player only, if I am into the torso, east of Singers and attacking Miri, the DEI is a lower left leg. It's a backwater. It might be worth sniping for some VPs and 4E training, but why invest there? He knows how to run the Japanese economy at least as well as you do. He has the spreadsheets. He can see the date, so he knows the theoretical maximum oil you can have moved to the HI.

I'd echo PaxMondo. You need to pull back, eat what groceries you have, but forget about any more big DEI set-pieces. My opinion.

I expanded HK to size 50 in my current game, so it's a tempting target to capture. I can't remember Singers shipyard size, but it's either 20 or 30. But I think that you are right in saying shipyards won't be a major consideration from him.

I forget you guys can expand yards. Yeah, 50 is a sweet yard. Still not sure that's enough to entice him when he can walk into China, but maybe.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

When I wrote that I didn't know he was anywhere near Miri. Uh oh.

Long ago Alfred said something I wrote down. It probably had conditions attached, but it's still essentially true: Balikpapan cannot be defended. I believe he was talking about 1941, but it's true for you too. Miri represents the "safe" oil for Japan in most games. The last hold-out on the interior of the torso.

The yard at HK is OK, but it's only average. I'd rather have Manila and its isolation from big LBA bases in China. Singers might even be enough given the volume of warships he has now. Transit time loss isn't that big a deal.

I'm convinced that Loka is leaving the oil alone in a bid to tempt me to defend the DEI at the expense of the interior perimeter. Right now I've a little smoke and mirrors going on while I shift assets out of the DEI.

It's interesting reading your AAR and seeing how he thinks from the Allied side as I labor mightily to beat him with the Allies. Not going gangbusters for me. You can get inside the wheels-within-wheels of his mind when you can see him play both, a rare thing for most opponents. My impression, and it's just an impression as he's pretty closed-mouth with email chit-chat on the game--we usually talk about him building a patio or fixing a car--is that as a Japan player he's pretty "meh" about the oil. I think he sees a responsibility to haul enough while it's safe in a very efficient manner and then not worry about its destruction when and if. He made a comment about three game weeks ago that he was having "fun" seeing how much stuff he could haul home. I've been searching for his convoys mostly in vain for years. I find he's using the Palawan Passage for example, and after that it's bare cupboard time. Over half of my subs have been on tanker duty since the first torpedo healing, and I've found and sunk a bare handful.

So, if it's possible his Japan attitude leaks over to Allied play, he may not care about your oil in any major way. Not saying that's true, but it would jibe with his overall attitude about recreating history. He doesn't care for it.

Also, as an Allied player only, if I am into the torso, east of Singers and attacking Miri, the DEI is a lower left leg. It's a backwater. It might be worth sniping for some VPs and 4E training, but why invest there? He knows how to run the Japanese economy at least as well as you do. He has the spreadsheets. He can see the date, so he knows the theoretical maximum oil you can have moved to the HI.

I'd echo PaxMondo. You need to pull back, eat what groceries you have, but forget about any more big DEI set-pieces. My opinion.

I expanded HK to size 50 in my current game, so it's a tempting target to capture. I can't remember Singers shipyard size, but it's either 20 or 30. But I think that you are right in saying shipyards won't be a major consideration from him.

I forget you guys can expand yards. Yeah, 50 is a sweet yard. Still not sure that's enough to entice him when he can walk into China, but maybe.

I am curious to see how Loka does as the Japanese; he's played a great Allied game so far. Sure, he might have done better in 1943, but he dragged it back with this landing at Sabang in mid-44.

What you're telling me, combined with whats happening within the game is making me think that Loka's counting on me defending the oil. P-bang could have been torched weeks ago, yet it hasn't. And last turn a dozen Allied DD's came steaming up the river to duke it out with the IJN CA's off P-bang.

My next move is pretty clear now, and it's to get everything out of the DEI, as soon as possible. I'll leave the stuff on Sumatra for dead, and try to get everything else out. Got lots of transports moving from Japan, just need to work out an evacuation plan.

The longer I stare at the Chinese situation, the less hope I have. I'll need to siphon up 4000 AV to prevent (or at least delay) the horde from respawning, and the only defensive line I'd think remotely workable would be Hong Kong-Canton-Kukong-Changsha.

The problem with China is that it's so big, but with so many good roads. Any Allied tank army would have a field day racing down the major roads to outflank any line of mine. At least the Hong Kong-Changsha axis has very few open terrain hexes (which means death by massed 4E for any LCU).

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
My IJNAF is on steriods, I'm supersizing IJA bomber groups on IJN carriers...

You mean IJN bombers right? IJA airgroups usually do not have the resize option, or am I missing something, or is this a mod woth resizing enabled?

No, I mean IJA bomber groups.

They can be resized by converting them to the Ki-76 Stella, which is carrier capable. They can then be transferred to an IJN carrier and resized. Upsizing the IJA bomber squadrons is a massive boon, as it gives you the capacity to start dishing out the NavT and LowNav skilled pilots for late-war anti-shipping operations.

Oh, that is one neat trick, thank you very much! I enjoy collecting neat tricks )

Edit: Still have to reach Peggy(T) for the NavT training though I believe

ORIGINAL: mind_messing


I am curious to see how Loka does as the Japanese; he's played a great Allied game so far. Sure, he might have done better in 1943, but he dragged it back with this landing at Sabang in mid-44.

What you're telling me, combined with whats happening within the game is making me think that Loka's counting on me defending the oil. P-bang could have been torched weeks ago, yet it hasn't. And last turn a dozen Allied DD's came steaming up the river to duke it out with the IJN CA's off P-bang.

My next move is pretty clear now, and it's to get everything out of the DEI, as soon as possible. I'll leave the stuff on Sumatra for dead, and try to get everything else out. Got lots of transports moving from Japan, just need to work out an evacuation plan.

The longer I stare at the Chinese situation, the less hope I have. I'll need to siphon up 4000 AV to prevent (or at least delay) the horde from respawning, and the only defensive line I'd think remotely workable would be Hong Kong-Canton-Kukong-Changsha.

The problem with China is that it's so big, but with so many good roads. Any Allied tank army would have a field day racing down the major roads to outflank any line of mine. At least the Hong Kong-Changsha axis has very few open terrain hexes (which means death by massed 4E for any LCU).

Just to be clear, I don't know what he's planning. I don't know what he's thinking. I don't know what you should do. But oil is in there. And tanks. Certainly tanks.

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

You mean IJN bombers right? IJA airgroups usually do not have the resize option, or am I missing something, or is this a mod woth resizing enabled?

No, I mean IJA bomber groups.

They can be resized by converting them to the Ki-76 Stella, which is carrier capable. They can then be transferred to an IJN carrier and resized. Upsizing the IJA bomber squadrons is a massive boon, as it gives you the capacity to start dishing out the NavT and LowNav skilled pilots for late-war anti-shipping operations.

Oh, that is one neat trick, thank you very much! I enjoy collecting neat tricks )

Edit: Still have to reach Peggy(T) for the NavT training though I believe

Yeah, it makes it much easier for training IJA bomber pilots, as well as using up old airframes. I've a bunch of 72 sized squadrons ready to convert to the old single-engine early war bombers in order to fly kamikaze missions when the Allies get within range of the Home Islands.

I got the Peggy T in mid-44, which has gave me plenty of time to train pilots in NavT. It doesn't take long to reach basic competency in NavT, and I threw a bunch of pilots with NavT skills in the 50/60 range into the squadrons to do some on the job learning. They've done a good job at making the squadrons effective while the experts in the 70 skill range get trained up.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing


I am curious to see how Loka does as the Japanese; he's played a great Allied game so far. Sure, he might have done better in 1943, but he dragged it back with this landing at Sabang in mid-44.

What you're telling me, combined with whats happening within the game is making me think that Loka's counting on me defending the oil. P-bang could have been torched weeks ago, yet it hasn't. And last turn a dozen Allied DD's came steaming up the river to duke it out with the IJN CA's off P-bang.

My next move is pretty clear now, and it's to get everything out of the DEI, as soon as possible. I'll leave the stuff on Sumatra for dead, and try to get everything else out. Got lots of transports moving from Japan, just need to work out an evacuation plan.

The longer I stare at the Chinese situation, the less hope I have. I'll need to siphon up 4000 AV to prevent (or at least delay) the horde from respawning, and the only defensive line I'd think remotely workable would be Hong Kong-Canton-Kukong-Changsha.

The problem with China is that it's so big, but with so many good roads. Any Allied tank army would have a field day racing down the major roads to outflank any line of mine. At least the Hong Kong-Changsha axis has very few open terrain hexes (which means death by massed 4E for any LCU).

Just to be clear, I don't know what he's planning. I don't know what he's thinking. I don't know what you should do. But oil is in there. And tanks. Certainly tanks.

It's alright, I don't know what I should do either. At the very least I've got two more divisions pulled out of the Home Islands and on their way to Luzon. It doesn't help that I'll need to rebuild the five or six divisions lost in Thailand, but that's spilled milk at this point.

October 11th to October 22nd, 1944

North Pacific

I keep getting a lot of SigInt hits up here, and after my luck in rumbling the Sabang landing force, I'm diligent on following up any and all reports from SigInt. To that end, I've beefed up the air presence in the Kuriles and on Hokkaido and send a pair of slow E ships off to be an annoyance and to see what's up.

Central Pacific

Allied troops land and take Ponape with a minimum of fuss. Fortunately I'd lifted the good defending units out beforehand. Truk is now the new frontline here, defended by a rag-tag force of units flown out from the Marshalls.

South-West Pacific

The Allies are still static at Sorong/Waigeo. I've taken this lull to move a division from Babeldoab to Luzon, and plan to lift a second division from Yap to Luzon as well.

Eastern DEI

The Allies continue to land more troops on Timor, and continue to take massive losses to the unloading troops when doing so. The losses seem to occur in the "defending troops fire at landing craft" stage, meaning that the bombarding Allied ships aren't doing much to stop it.

The Allies are approaching AV parity at Latuem, and while the defending Japanese troops have level 6 forts, they're pretty much out of supply. However, the time they've bought has been a great boon, as pretty much all the combat units from Dili to Soerabaja have been, or are in the process of being sent to Luzon/Formosa.

Western DEI

The string of attrition off Palembang continues. There's one inconclusive engagement on the 12th October, before a more general battle develops on the 14th:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 3,000 Yards

Japanese Ships - I give TF command to Tanaka, what a good move!
CA Tone
CA Chikuma
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 1
CL Oi, Shell hits 1
DD Isonami, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Hailey
DD Owen
DD John Rodgers
DD Farenholt
DD Welles
DD Caldwell
DD Hobby
DD Kalk
DD Satterlee
DD Russell
DD Roe, Shell hits 1
DD Case
DD Quiberon
DD Quadrant, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Quality, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Queensborough
DD Racehorse, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Rocket, Shell hits 3

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Tone, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 3
CA Suzuya
CL Oi, Shell hits 3

Allied Ships
DD Hailey
DD Owen
DD John Rodgers
DD Farenholt
DD Welles
DD Caldwell
DD Hobby
DD Kalk, Shell hits 1
DD Satterlee, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Case, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Quiberon, Shell hits 1

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 48,91, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Hailey, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
DD Owen
DD John Rodgers
DD Farenholt
DD Welles
DD Caldwell
DD Hobby
DD Kalk, on fire
DD Russell
DD Roe
DD Case, on fire
DD Quiberon, Shell hits 4

TF 5 encounters mine field at 49,90 - Entrance hex to Palembang

Allied Ships
DD Case, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Roe, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
DD Caldwell
DD Welles
DD Farenholt
DD Hobby, Mine hits 1

7 mines cleared

To complete the poor showing for the Allied destroyers, IJA dive bombers put some more hits on the retreating destroyers when day breaks.

However, this pretty much spells the end of the IJN naval resistance of Sumatra - the IJN ships are forced to Batavia to reload, and not a moment too soon, by the 16th, a much larger force of US and British ships sweeps up the river, including modern CA's.

The Allied ships bombard Palembang, and close the airbase. Follow on airstrikes from the 17th to the 21st attack other airbases on Sumatra and attempt to bomb the oil at Palembang. Japanese air power does a good job at resisting, but is mostly confined to operating from Oosthaven and Batavia. Even so, the combination of level 6 forts in Palembang, combined with heavy flak and bad weather means that only 20 points of oil is knocked out of action.

More Allied troops land at Singkawang, but the Japanese defenders have managed to dig forts back up to level 3. I'm unsure as to what the Allies have landed, but they'll still be facing about 450 AV of Japanese units. I'm very happy to have held here for so long - I get the impression that it's interfering with the timetable to move eastwards from Singapore.

Vietnam

The situation is still stable here, but is hanging by a thread. I am of the opinion that if I get one more week to consolidate, I can make a fighting retreat across China. Further supplies and troops are being dropped off in China in preparation.

Upwards of 8 divisions have already been abandoned, along with artillery and HQ units. Most are being bought back for deployment to Luzon/Formosa.

Luzon/Formosa

Big supply and troop convoys inbound to both islands, and I'm flying in troops from Minadano by plane for good measure. Luzon is now the hub for most of my air power, and I'm jumping at the chance to get some squadrons rested and trained.

Wow! Save the OI!!!!

It will upgrade soon to Kaitens![:)]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Wow! Save the OI!!!!

It will upgrade soon to Kaitens![:)]

Are the Kaitens any good? Stat wise they look impressive, but does the combat code treat them as just another set of torpedo launchers?

The ignominy of page 2. A small update to tide me over: a '44 carrier clash where the Japanese don't lose a single carrier.

[&:]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Wow! Save the OI!!!!

It will upgrade soon to Kaitens![:)]

Are the Kaitens any good? Stat wise they look impressive, but does the combat code treat them as just another set of torpedo launchers?

They are treated as torpedoes.

Alfred