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GJ, why do you think the combat results in China are so unfavorable? You lost 17 squads; he lost 27. That suggests that the Japanese have a favorable position in that hex. You know what happens when the Japanese force the Chinese to retreat? It's ugly. So, if you're making good progress, inflicting more losses than you're taking, and your getting the upper hand in a hex, why become discouraged?

And this is my defensive plan for SOPAC-SWPAC

...I think for July we should have everything ready!

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

GJ, why do you think the combat results in China are so unfavorable? You lost 17 squads; he lost 27. That suggests that the Japanese have a favorable position in that hex. You know what happens when the Japanese force the Chinese to retreat? It's ugly. So, if you're making good progress, inflicting more losses than you're taking, and your getting the upper hand in a hex, why become discouraged?

Because He has stopped me everywhere else in China. I'll keep on pushing, but a lot of his units are getting better in experience and i never see any supply problems for him.... however i'll keep on bombing (if weather gets better...so awful in northern China!!!) and keep on rotating my units...but the bright days of the easy advances are now passed...now it becomes a simple war of attrition...

The Resources and Oil situation

Notice how in this scenario Japan is short of nearly 80,000 resources DAILY!

And here's the supply/fuel statistics... notice how Sumatra don't produce any supply...everything must be shipped from Japan

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

The Resources and Oil situation

Notice how in this scenario Japan is short of nearly 80,000 resources DAILY!

Yes GJ,
But the other details you don't look at are the telling ones.

1. Hokkaido,China, Manchukuo,Korea and Sakhalin give a total of 77,155 available Resources/day. Therefore a shortfall of only 1945/day (interesting date number too).
2. Your efforts to extract Res from Hokkaido and Sakhalin are not enough. There are 2,930,700 Res available there. Enough for 37 days full production. While this seems bad the real value is in the fact that your real shortfall is only -1945.

So, if you were hauling efficiently, this ( 2,930,700 + 1,425,322 = 4,356,022 / 1945 = 2239 days) - and this is without the stuff in China, Manch and Korea. Therefore, in your game you have enough Res locally to play the whole war out. Sure the extra stuff is good to haul on a supply-res route. But my maths (unless I'm wrong) shows what you need to do.

3. I think you really need to rearrange your Res convoys to local producers - In the beginning, I pull everything out of Sakhalin, Manchukuo and Hokkaido and then rearrange & reduce the convoys to match the surplus. I'm in Feb '42 with Floyd and have Res all sorted for the rest of the war (5.5 mil in Japan and hauling at surplus rate in the territories).

A warning - at 17days you are going to start getting "brown outs*" at some HI centres pulling Res from place to place. This is a priority.

* = a term usually used for not enough electricity causing shut downs, obviously I'm saying it regarding Res here.

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

GJ, why do you think the combat results in China are so unfavorable? You lost 17 squads; he lost 27. That suggests that the Japanese have a favorable position in that hex. You know what happens when the Japanese force the Chinese to retreat? It's ugly. So, if you're making good progress, inflicting more losses than you're taking, and your getting the upper hand in a hex, why become discouraged?

I agree with this. Hammer him as hard as you can with air power and keep attacking. You might want to check all of your leaders in that hex, you didn't get a leader(+) in that combat. It costs him supply to defend, it costs supply to repair damaged devices, and it costs supply to replace destroyed devices. He will probably never replace those guns, or at least until 1944. Keep the pressure on and soon you should start seeing some supply(-) in the combat reports. From what I see of your reports and pictures, you are doing well in China. Keep your units supplied and use all the air power you can and use large amounts on a single hex to help with disruption, fatigue and morale.

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

Ok, i took my decision.

Two factories ( 30(0) and 27(3) ) will be moved to Tojo IIc (passing through Tojo Iib for one day)All the other factories will go producing Tojo IIa!

This should enable me to get immediately nearly 120 Tojos/monthly (and to reach the 160 within the next month), while keeping 4 R&D points/Daily for the Tojo IIc (with the engine bonus kicking in!).

There is no need to wait one day, you can change the factories twice on the same day without damage. Just change the KI44IIa to KI44IIb and immediately to KI44IIC.

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

GJ, why do you think the combat results in China are so unfavorable? You lost 17 squads; he lost 27. That suggests that the Japanese have a favorable position in that hex. You know what happens when the Japanese force the Chinese to retreat? It's ugly. So, if you're making good progress, inflicting more losses than you're taking, and your getting the upper hand in a hex, why become discouraged?

Because He has stopped me everywhere else in China. I'll keep on pushing, but a lot of his units are getting better in experience and i never see any supply problems for him.... however i'll keep on bombing (if weather gets better...so awful in northern China!!!) and keep on rotating my units...but the bright days of the easy advances are now passed...now it becomes a simple war of attrition...

The way I think of China now is very different than when I started my first campaign there as the IJ. I was so discouraged when I'd get a 1:2 and lose a bunch of squads and have to wait to attack again. After having seen the collapse happen, I now think in terms of percentages and ability to regenerate troops. I noticed in about April of 42 that Chinese troops were not regenerating devices destroyed in these kinds of attacks, but if I kept throwing supply into China, I could.

If you're taking out a number of squads destroyed, that's only part of the victory of your 1:2 attack. The other part is that the large majority of the infantry, support, engineers and guns will not be regenerated in time to fight again any time soon, so by the next attack, when your losses are made up and your units strong again, his are still wrecked from the previous combat.

If he's pumped a lot of supply into China it may take a while before this effect is noticeable. Soon though, if you're bombing the major centers of supply, Chungking, Changsha and maybe eventually Chengtu, big chunks of supply are burning up every day. All of the Chinese squads may not be set to take replacements, but they will all be trying to heal disabled squads and devices. This takes supply. So if you're bombing troops, even more supply

Thinking of things this way the squads destroyed are not even as important as the squads disabled. You may have destroyed 27 infantry squads, but those might have already been disabled and thus not counting in the AV adjustment. You also disabled 27 squads. Those will not count in the next AV adjustment because they most likely will not be healed in time.

The growing experience levels of the Chinese units won't matter much when there are no healthy squads to fight. I never saw the supply problems in the combat reports until later, but Jocke told me that by the summer of 42 there were more infantry squads in China than there were supply points in total! [:)]

Basically what Dan Nichols and CR said.

Why not leave the 27(3) factory on the Tojo IIb until it is fully repaired, then switch it to the IIc?

It should repair faster since it has a closer production date, and until it's done repairing won't contribute to your R&D effort.

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

And this is my defensive plan for SOPAC-SWPAC

I believe that looks sweet, though I would be tempted to turn Tagula Island into an big defensive air base. his 4E bombers need to attack somewhere. How do you look in the Gilbert Islands

GreyJoy,

I echo what obvert and Dan Nichols have said about China. Supply is the key for both sides. Don't just think in terms of the Chinese supply situation, but yours as well. Keep Q-Ball engaged on those secondary roads and in rough terrain and he'll run into supply issues. Focus your main effort on main roads where you draw supply easily, send units back to bases with large supply and support to recover your disablements and draw replacements faster than the Chinese can. Keep sending supply from Japan or elsewhere, the more supply you have, the faster you will recover. The Chinese can't hope to replace losses as quickly as you can. That's the key, keep your own forces in good shape and eventually China will simply collapse.

I'd concentrate your effort on blocking the main road access from Lanchow to the Central Plains. Once you stop the fuel flowing from Lanchow, the Chinese supply situation will become critical. Ever see the movie "Force 10 from Navarone" where they blow a dam to release a river of water to knock down a bridge in WW2? When the explosives first blow it looks like nothing has happened to the dam, but eventually some cracks appear, then leaks, eventually chunks of concrete and mortar start to fall away. The next thing you know, the damn is ruptured and that water is flowing freely. This is China, but in terms of supply. Weaken the Chinese supply base which you have done, but just that extra little bit more (fuel from Lanchow) and China's "dam" will rupture and the whole theatre will crumble with it.

Sorry for the movie analogy, but what appears on the surface doesn't mean that things aren't working behind the scenes. China's supply situation will become critical, just keep the pressure on.

Supply is the key. Learn it, live it, love it!

Sorry for the delay guys...

May 1-3 1942

We listened to your wise suggestions. Severly improoved the number of convoys from Hokkaido. Now we should be able to ship nearly 80,000 resources/day from there...let's hope everything goes for the best.
I also re-organized the fuel convoys from Palembang/Miri to Singapore. From Singapore to HK and from HK to Sasebo. Seems to work now...need a couple more weeks in order to get all the needed ships into the starting ports, but we're getting there.

Military speaking, the last 3 days have seen an encreased allied activity in SOPAC/CENTPAC. Lots of convoys are spotted from Pago Pago to Sydney...something is moving fast down there.
Our subs spotted at torpedoed the CV Formidable 3 hexes NE of Pago Pago, which probably means he's moving all his 5 US CVs + the british ones from WC to OZ... Only one torpedo hit and i bet nothing severe has been inflicted to the solid hull of the british carrier, but for sure she'll have to spend some time into a yard...not bad [;)] It's the second enemy CV our subs damage since the beginning of the war!

Our defences in the Marshall/Gilberts are not that good as the ones in the Solomons/NG...however we're doing our best in order to reach a certain safety from Tarawa up north... Troops are flowing to Makin as we speak and one more Air HQ is being moving in the area. However the lack of engineers and base forces is really killing me!

Same goes for southern DEI. We are stretched...Wyhndam is still in allied hands and we simply don't have enough forces nor ships, nor supplies or fuel to move fast enough what we need down there.

Padang finally fell, but it required 3 Bns and the Imperial Guards Division!!!... now Sumatra is completely cleared.

Completely another story for Batavia... we deliberate attacked and we got a bloody nose. 1-2 with 7000 casualities, against his 1400... forts are down to 2 but i got 3 SNLF units completely wiped out (5/15!!!!). We need more troops there. Sending in a tank division, the imperail guards and the 21st... another effort that will slow down my defensive plans in the region...

Mini KB spotted a convoy north of Christamas Island IO... hoepfully it's not a trap...we'll try to attack tomorrow!

In Burma our advance towards Mitikina is slowed down by his air force...not less than 100 fighters and 50 B-26s every day attack our troops... i'm not sending our zeros on LRCAP cause he's sweeping those hexes and i don't want to lose my crack pilots in this losing missions...

In china i agree with you guys. It's a supply race! we're doing our best to keep his AFs suppressed and to bomb his troops into submission... but it's not that easy...weather is always bad and 2 days out of 3 our bombers never fly... we've now rotated again our units into the contested hex north of Sian... 2 divisions, 2 Mixed Bde and 1 heavy arty unit, along with the 1st Army HQ (44,500 men out of 45,000 allowed by the stacking limits) will attack in two days. Bombers are ordered to attack again...let's hope in a clear sky!

He abbandoned Clark Fields and retired at Manila [X(]... strange as it may sounds, we will attack the base tomorrow with the 65th Bde... hopefully it's not a trap.
If he really abbandons clark, that means i'll be probably able to get to bataan...if i can conquer bataan my BBs will be able to bomb Manila and the whole game will be over sooner than expected

Tojo entered into production, finally! We're already building 130, with more 70 factories repairing[8D].
Tojo is being researched. Not as fast as i thought however. We have 1 x 30 and 2 x 16 factories R&Ding it...so i hoped in 2 points daily + 2 points from the engine bonus... No, doesn't work like that! [:o]

Lots of efforts are being given to create a solid air ASW asset from Singapore to Hokkaido. I'm repositioning several IJAF coy units, in order to have a constant air search in all the sealanes used by my convoys. I'll try to have at least one AV with 9 floatplanes on each of my biggest fuel convoy. Several Helens units, with pilots in their 70s of ASW skill, are being placed in key places. think that, by the end of the summer, i should have secured my northern sealanes.

.

I would make two 'super' Army fighter groups that will be upgraded to Tojo first. They will sweep in India/Burma or from Tuyun to Chungking, your choice. I would transfer in some of your best pilots. Mr Tojo will make a big difference. [:D]

5th of May 42... everything is quiet.
 
We made a couple of great sweep over Chittahong. 20-2 kill rate in 2 days...using zeros[8D]
Tojos are almost ready to equip the first Sentai...in Burma...it's a group that has 72 avg experience...can't wait for the results!
 
We're assembling a new army for Batavia...4 full divisions, plus 3 indipendent regiments will partecipate to this last effort, along with 150 bombers from Palembang...we need to finish the whole Java campain ASAP!!!!!!
 
In China...rotating units into the usual hex... boring [:o]
 
We're dropping a convoy with 500k fuel at Sasebo...and the resources stockpiles in Japan have reached the 20 days... we're improving!
 
Thanks to your support guys... wouldn't be here without you!
 
Hope in the upcoming week to update this AAR with more interesting infos...
 
 

Oh, forgot to say that on may 3rd we managed to sink a small convoy (1 ap, 1 ak and 1KV) moving from india to Cocos.... Reading from the number of guns destroyed it was probably bringing a CD unit there... The more i think of it the more i hate the idea of invading Cocos... What do u think guys? Would it be worth the risk?

That CV you torped has to feel good, even if it is moderate damage. I always am on the edge of my chair whenever an enemy capital ship is in the sights.

I would agree with stacking a couple of groups with top pilots for your Tojos... you will love the results.

These stacking limits make me like this scenario more and more...I have always heard the ASW and AA adjustments in DaBabes is very nice. Love the map too.

Curious to see how Burma plays out for you.

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

Oh, forgot to say that on may 3rd we managed to sink a small convoy (1 ap, 1 ak and 1KV) moving from india to Cocos.... Reading from the number of guns destroyed it was probably bringing a CD unit there... The more i think of it the more i hate the idea of invading Cocos... What do u think guys? Would it be worth the risk?

Back when you were aggressively expanding, taking Cocos to provide a recon and TB base for interdiction of allied convoys or sighting of their naval forces made a lot of sense. Since you now seem to have decided to stop the expansion and fight defensively, I have to question what you would want Cocos for? Leaving it in Allied hands gives them some recon ability but if you are not moving much toward India or Western Australia, he can recon empty ocean all he likes without hurting you. I don't think it is big enough to stage in troops for an invasion of Port Blair or Sumatra. Given your current plans I vote No to taking Cocos.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

Oh, forgot to say that on may 3rd we managed to sink a small convoy (1 ap, 1 ak and 1KV) moving from india to Cocos.... Reading from the number of guns destroyed it was probably bringing a CD unit there... The more i think of it the more i hate the idea of invading Cocos... What do u think guys? Would it be worth the risk?

Back when you were aggressively expanding, taking Cocos to provide a recon and TB base for interdiction of allied convoys or sighting of their naval forces made a lot of sense. Since you now seem to have decided to stop the expansion and fight defensively, I have to question what you would want Cocos for? Leaving it in Allied hands gives them some recon ability but if you are not moving much toward India or Western Australia, he can recon empty ocean all he likes without hurting you. I don't think it is big enough to stage in troops for an invasion of Port Blair or Sumatra. Given your current plans I vote No to taking Cocos.

Yes, i agree with you BBfanboy. By now Cocos will surely has its stacking limit maxed out (15,000 men), with plenty of AA and CD guns (and forts!).
I have two divisions, 2 tank regiments and 2 Indipendent Eng Rgts prepping for that island, but i'll only be able to land a division, a tank unit and an Ind. Eng Rgt at time due to the stacking limit...which means a slaughter, i'm sure of that.
Moreover i'll be very exposed...he will see easily my invasion fleet coming and a trap may be right beyond my horizon... imagine 5 US CVs waiting for my 10 hexes west of Cocos...out of Betties range...out of my mavis range....

mmmm... doesn't sound good!

The only problem i see with Cocos is that he'lll be able to bomb Java and even Palembang from there....nothing serious, mind you, but this menace will force me to keep a constant air defence in the area... More: he'll be able to easily see my weak spots in the western DEI...

It's an hard call....