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ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

January 11, 1942

The skies over Singapore were filled with explosions, tracers, and flaming aircraft today as the Allies faced off against the Japanese air offensive.

Using Nates (and losing them together with good pilots) in the frontline already shows the frustration of your opponent. And it will just grow bigger with these losses. All these pilots in Nates lost for probabyl no gain should be flying in Tojos in mid 42 where they are more than a match for your Warhawks.

I think the heavy use of Nates is due to solid resistance/pressure from the Allies, this being a PDU OFF game, and the low production numbers of better airframes for the Japanese given the still very early period. Your point on this hurting Slith's pilot quality later on is on point though.

ORIGINAL: Platoonist

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

I am on the lookout for more openings to inflict damage on the Japanese, but Slith's embrace of the slow advance with overwhelming force makes this more difficult. If nothing else, at least this is giving me time to prepare my overall defenses.

You do seem to have him rattled. [:D]

I think so. The early successful Allied strikes likely made him overcautious in his operations. I may have overdid it though as I am sensing Slith's potential loss of enthusiasm for the game.

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: Platoonist

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

I am on the lookout for more openings to inflict damage on the Japanese, but Slith's embrace of the slow advance with overwhelming force makes this more difficult. If nothing else, at least this is giving me time to prepare my overall defenses.

You do seem to have him rattled. [:D]

I think so. The early successful Allied strikes likely made him overcautious in his operations. I may have overdid it though as I am sensing Slith's potential loss of enthusiasm for the game.

Let him know that if nothing else, he is learning. He is probably doing a lot better than I would have done!

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

ORIGINAL: Platoonist




You do seem to have him rattled. [:D]

I think so. The early successful Allied strikes likely made him overcautious in his operations. I may have overdid it though as I am sensing Slith's potential loss of enthusiasm for the game.

Let him know that if nothing else, he is learning. He is probably doing a lot better than I would have done!

I am [:)]

I actually think he is a solid player. I believe it just comes down to the pressure of playing as Japan and the expectation that events should go really well for your side given the very small margin of recovery available to the Empire. Others might have a different opinion on this, but my view is that, given players of equal skill, the Allied side will generally have a much easier game. For instance I don't see myself as either an AFB or a JFB as I very much like to play both sides, but I do find that not least from a psychological point of view, it is far easier to play as the Allies.

ORIGINAL: DesertWolf101

I actually think he is a solid player. I believe it just comes down to the pressure of playing as Japan and the expectation that events should go really well for your side given the very small margin of recovery available to the Empire. Others might have a different opinion on this, but my view is that, given players of equal skill, the Allied side will generally have a much easier game. For instance I don't see myself as either an AFB or a JFB as I very much like to play both sides, but I do find that not least from a psychological point of view, it is far easier to play as the Allies.

I agree, with the caveat that it's much easier to play the Allies when the VP situation doesn't compel you to make moves before you're ready. When you're hovering on auto-victory, less so.

Part of the challenge is keeping the VP ratio healthy for the Allies, and that means picking your battles in 1942.

AE is predominantly a naval game, and in that aspect the game is far more forgiving to the Allies than Japan, where mistakes that cost you ships (especially capital ships) have serious ramifications from the get go.

Well, yes, PDU off is a challenge for IJ, but I would agree with others, your opponent should be doing better.
30 days into the game, he should have several Ki-43 Ic factories running flat out now. Granted, the Oscar Ic is only marginally better, but the 12.7 mm at least can get kills, the 7.7 takes a lot of luck even against the P40.

In PDU OFF, a lot of air groups do NOT upgrade to Tojo, the IJA is stuck with Oscar for a long time. Many players then deploy a LOT of IJN fighter groups with A6M which is a far better plane than the KI-43 (until you get to the last model).

Anyway, interesting game ... you are doing well and i suspect that your opponent is stressed ...

January 21, 1942

I've been busy at work so it's been a while since I last updated the AAR. Slith and I have since picked up the pace in sending turns however so the game itself is proceeding at a steady rate. In the last ten game days since the last update, Japanese forces have made further gains by landing and taking Port Moresby (which I had largely abandoned aside from the resident restricted garrison force), have pushed further in the SRA taking places like Tarakan, Ternate, Manado, Singkawang, and have just taken Balikpapan. Slith continues to sail his invasion convoys with extremely large escorts, sometimes at a rate of four to five warships per transport ship, but I still managed to sink a few loaded transports through a combination of mines, coastal guns, submarines, air attack, and destroyer attacks on the margins. No major naval clash has occurred recently however.

In other sectors, the Malay peninsula has fallen entirely under the Empire's control. Japanese forces are now massing at Johore Bahru for the expected crossing into Singapore. Singapore itself continues to come under regular air attack but I have not abandoned its air fields just yet. In the Philippines my main forces there are bottled up in the Clark/Bataan pocket. I expect Slith to attempt to dislodge me here soon to free up the significant amount of forces he used for his Luzon invasion. Finally in China I am doing pretty well for now. I am not annihilating Japanese forces en masse like I did in the 'Revenge of the Enterprise' pbem but I did maul the Japanese division near Wuchang a second time and I am keeping Slith on edge with mobile operations that he scrambles to respond to. This has delayed any major Japanese offensive until now, but the Empire looks finally ready to push hard, specifically against Wenchow and the Chengchow/Loyang/Tsiaotso sector.

I am doing a rather decent job in the air war thus far even if I do occasionally suffer bloody noses to some of Slith's excellent ambushes. Naval losses on both sides are quite low all things considered, especially since the successful Allied evacuation of the vast bulk of the shipping that is threatened in the SRA at the start of the war.

Below is a good example of the extensive protection Slith offers his invasion convoys. This is just the immediate escort for these four large transport ships. For this same invasion, the Japanese have also allocated a screening task force of five destroyers and a covering force of four heavy cruisers and about four destroyers. I still managed to sink one of these transports through air attack though.

With an enemy being so cautious with escorts...is there a long term opportunity to setup an attrition trap?

I.e. a location that is attractive for him to take but ties down his escorts because you can interdict his supply routes to it?

ORIGINAL: DanielAClark

With an enemy being so cautious with escorts...is there a long term opportunity to setup an attrition trap?

I.e. a location that is attractive for him to take but ties down his escorts because you can interdict his supply routes to it?

That would work only if overextends himself and moves into an area where I am substantially stronger, for instance the South Pacific in a few months time. His heavy use of escorts does create potential openings though to strike in areas where they are not present.

January 22, 1942

Japanese forces landed at Kendari today under the cover of aircraft carriers that I am pretty sure includes two fleet carriers from the KB. Interesting, Slith is not always keeping the KB concentrated. The Japanese brought with them the 21st Air Flotilla so I can shortly expect a naval bomber threat from this base.

In the meantime I sent my heavy bombers to strike the oil facilities in Balikpapan that I just lost to the Japanese. Unfortunately the bombers could carry only half their payloads due to insufficient airfield infrastructure at Soerabaja were they are based but that was immediately rectified at the end of the turn when level 5 airfields was completed there.

January 23, 1942

Intel reports that Japanese forces have begun their operation to cross into Singapore. Allied troops in defensive positions are gripping their Enfield rifles in anticipation.

Round two on the Balikpapan airfields with increased Japanese fighter interference. This time the heavy bombers flew with full payloads, and despite thunderstorms, scored a good amount of hits.

The Japanese begin their assault on Wenchow. I suspect Slith got a pretty decent die roll on this one, but he did bring four infantry divisions and a brigade to do the job so I doubt the siege will last very long.

January 24, 1942

Flying Fortresses scored more than 30 hits on the Balikpapan oil fields today but at a steep cost in lost bombers. 10 D and E models were lost to all causes. About a third of the oil wells at Balikpapan are now knocked out but Slith has sent enough fighter units to the area to make more raids impractical, especially given limited numbers of bombers.

January 25, 1942

Second round at Wenchow with a substantially better outcome than the first round despite lower forts. The next turn or two I suspect Slith and I will have a couple of big battles, including very likely the Singapore crossing.

January 26, 1942

Massed Japanese air strikes hit the Singapore garrison, all but confirming the imminent Japanese assault. Some Buffalos got caught up in the attack and were chewed up by the Oscar escorts, but the flak did well against Slith's bombers.

In China, a very significant Japanese force was detected on the move towards Tsiaotso and I mobilized my own forces in response. Just as the Japanese attacked, Chinese reinforcements poured in across from Loyang and prevented the base's capture.

Back to Singapore, where the Japanese charged in from the Malay peninsula. The Singapore fortress stands strong!

If the enemy fighters are at Balikpapen, then they are not elsewhere to protect the LI or Resources. It will also cost a lot of supplies to repair the oil not to mention the lost oil production. The game for now is all about costing the enemy as many supplies as is possible.