Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Dante Fierro]

Mike - I am curious what Realism Options you & Ted agreed upon for game? I tried looking at beginning of thread but couldn't find it. Sigh.
For example, did you choose Fixed reinforcements, variable, or extremely variable? I suppose I should throw in "Game Options" as well, such as
"Set all Facilities to Expand at Start".

Or is this question really truly Noob and I just should assume defaults were used! [:D]

[zuluhour]

honest and of the highest integrity.

Perhaps someone in here should be making a run for office? Nah, then you would have -6 to the integrity dice roll and an honorable dice roll would have to be made while your opponent is in the head.[:D]

Sorry for the cheap advertisement Mike.[:'(]

[Mike Solli]

Dante, we have reinforcements fixed. In one of our previous games, we had reinforcements set to +60 days. We didn't like that because you'd get weird things like carriers arriving with up to 120 days before its planes arrived. That sucked.

We also have facilities and reinforcements set to off. I want to pick and choose who gets reinforcements and when. Same with facility upgrades. As the Japanese player, you have to be very careful about when you upgrade factories and use replacements. Likewise, both sides have to be careful when they use aircraft replacements. The Allied player has to be particularly careful when he uses certain ground reinforcements.

Zulu, you're just plain nuts. [:D]

[Dante Fierro]

Ah ok thanks! I can hear the conversation on the bridge of the new Haraku CV now:

Captain of Haraku: Launch First Air Patrol toward Bokalu.
Senior Officer on Bridge: Sir, we have no planes in the hangar for launch.
Captain: Looks at officer with a puzzled stare. What?

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

Dante, we have reinforcements fixed. In one of our previous games, we had reinforcements set to +60 days. We didn't like that because you'd get weird things like carriers arriving with up to 120 days before its planes arrived. That sucked.

I didn't know that would happen. I thought the airgroups arrived with the ship, whenever that was. OMG, let me check my current game. I have the reinforcements set to max days! [X(] [X(] [X(]

<scurrys off to inspect his game> [:(]

[Mike Solli]

Pax, that was way back in the WitP days. Not sure how it is now.

[PaxMondo]

OK, I looked at my ship vs air group arrivals.&nbsp; MOST of them are ok as they arrive at the same time.&nbsp; Then I looked at a couple of the ones that aren't ok in the editor, they appear to be scheduled that way.&nbsp; Meaning, they aren't linked to the ship, but are a separate ship named group with its own arrival date.&nbsp; I think I am reading the editor correctly.&nbsp; If I am, then this has been "fixed".&nbsp; Appreciate anyone with expertise (dev? hint hint) chiming in to confirm/correct.

[Historiker]

Mike, I'm on page 10 of your AAR now. A most interesting read for every Jap player.

I should've read that option to cut Malaya in half before I started my PBEM with USS America. I thought about it myself but considered it too risky for my forces. I didn't think about getting a CV to help. As my strikes on PH have been useless, this would've been a better use...

Anyways, very interesting and helpfull!

[Mike Solli]

Thanks Historiker.

I've been busy in real life. I did get some turns done but haven't had much time for this. Anyway, here goes....

[Mike Solli]

30 Jan 42

Sub War

Ted’s DDs are harassing me off Hawaii. We both keep missing.

5 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing new to report.

SE Fleet

Ted’s Do-24s damaged a PB and a Dutch sub sank another xAKL off Saidor today. They’re offloading supply. I’m pulling the TF out of there. It’s not worth it. No damage to any of the Dutch units.

The Soryu is still sitting in the port of Rabaul. Too many Allied subs to risk moving her.

Philippines

Nothing new to report.

China

The surrounded 11 Chinese Corps and 17 Group Army (1 hex east of Paotow) finally succumbed today. Losses were 45(0) to 3442(452). I’ll leave it to you to figure out who lost what.

Malaya

Aerial and ground bombardment of Singapore continues. The infantry divisions need more rest before they can attack again. Bomber losses are a constant drain on the IJA. Today was particularly bad, with 5 Sallys going down to flak. So far this month, 26 Sallys, 4 Lilys and 3 Bettys have been lost over the skies of Singapore, all to flak. The real issue right now is the lack of trained bomber pilots in the pool. Today I will cull the training units. My goal is 50+ experience and 70+ stat being trained. I will most likely reduce the stat to ~68 for bomber pilots this month to get more into the front line bomber units. I suspect it won’t be an issue later, but there just hasn’t been enough time to train up the rookies yet.

SRA

The Yamada det’s 18 Zeros flew a sweep mission over Batavia and one lonely B339D met them. It was damaged and became an op loss. I wonder where the other Dutch fighters are hiding? Some Bettys bombed the airfield in an attempt to destroy some Dutch bombers but had no luck.

My Bettys and Nells bombed Soerabaja port again (and ignored the TFs there again). For the loss of 1 Nell, I obliterated two more AMcs and hit the CL Sumatra again. Before the attack, the Sumatra was showing heavy damage and after the attack (4x 250 kg and 3x 60 kg hits) she showed heavy fires and heavy damage…….again.

I’m at a loss as to what to do to get a naval attack against the TFs in the hex. I have the bombers at 20% search with an arc that includes Soerabaja. I’m going to try a tiny arc that just covers Soerabaja this time. If they fly a naval attack, they can do some serious damage. They have fighter cover and Ted has no fighters in Soerabaja. The 22 Air Flotilla is at the airfield and would allow them to launch torpedoes. Edit: I did just that with the arcs. I have 68 bombers (-20% for naval search) on this mission.

The Java/Sumatra invasion forces continue to congregate. There still is a BB TF showing up sitting in Soerabaja. That’s a real concern. I’d send my 4x BBs there but there are mines there.

I took Pontianak unopposed. The infrastructure was intact (resources of 20(0) and manpower of 1(1)).

Other Stuff

Today’s reinforcements:

Kure 3 SNLF – SE Fleet – heading to Truk
12 Naval Construction Bn – SE Fleet – heading to Truk

As I said above, I’m going to cull my training units. Since only 2 months have passed, there still aren’t many pilots that meet the 50+/70+ criteria, although many are close. I’m still good with IJN pilots in the pool (primarily from losing the Hiryu) but the IJA pool is basically empty.

All 12 Mutsukis are in port awaiting the first of the month to begin their upgrades. This is nice because it’ll give me 12 more DDs that have DC racks. The Mutsukis will form a DesRon with Yubari and are scheduled to escort the 7 fast AOs (77k capacity).

In addition, 5 of 13 Minekazes and 6 of 9 Kamikazes are in port waiting to begin upgrades. The remaining members of these classes will upgrade as they become available. The 9 Kamikazes will form a DesRon along with Natori to escort the 7 remaining slow AOs (56k capacity).

The 13 Minekazes, along with Isuzu, will form a DesRon stationed at Ominato. Along with Kiso and Tama, they will form the 5 Fleet, tasked primarily with escort and ASW duties in that frigid region. That may not last long given the relative shortage of DDs. Their low endurance (2500) prevents them from taking part in many duties but they may be reassigned to escort MKB in the future.

I’m upgrading the surviving DMSs as they become available. Currently, 3 are upgrading as I type and the remaining 10 are on mission and will upgrade as they become available.

KB (Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku and Zuikaku) are disbanded in Truk harbor. The Ryujo will join them but is still with MKB. Soryu will join them when she finally is repaired.

MKB (Ryujo, Zuiho and Hosho) is at Davao. Brand spanking new Shoho is one day out from joining them, escorted by the 9 newly upgraded Fubuki Is. The Fubukis will then escort Ryujo from Davao to Truk, which is their duty station.

All functional carriers are at full strength in planes and pilots with no ship damage.

The Taiyo is awaiting tomorrow’s substantial naval air reinforcements. There are 6x small units. 4x belong to 13 AF, and 1 each to 3 Fleet and 24 AF. The last two will be increased to size 27 on Taiyo. All will be used as training units. Once the size increase is complete, there will be an additional 74 DB and 14 TB training slots. Some of the DB units will be used to train TB pilots in a bombing role. I haven’t figured out how many yet. We’ll see how many TB pilots are finished training on their torpedo mission.

There are 5x E Momis that don’t get DC racks until Jun 42. They’re absolutely worthless right now and, on top of that, their endurance is a whopping 1750, not much better than the Ch- classes. I’m going to note their crew experience put them in a surface TF and have them move between Tsingtao and Pt. Arthur. I’m going to track their experience increases (if any). Hopefully, their experience will be not quite horrible by the time they get DC racks. I’ll probably do that with the 8 surviving Otoris too.

I finally finished the turn. I ended up taking only the 70+ IJA bomber pilots. I got 9 of them, 1 recon, 3 fighter pilots and 1 IJA Naval Search pilot. Not a lot, but then I didn’t expect a lot. There are a lot of pilots that are close though, so I expect to get a nice haul next month. I don’t have any IJN transport units training (there are only 3 units overall) so I’ve placed extra pilots in those three units to train extra pilots. I really don’t see any other way to do it, but it doesn’t really matter that much. As the overall experience increases, I’ll pull some out for the reserve and replace them with rookies. If anyone else has an idea, I’m all ears.

I’m moving naval auxiliary units around to cover everything I want. For example, I’m placing 2x AKEs in each of the following ports: Balikpapan, Rabaul, Cam Ranh Bay, Truk, Singkawang and Davao. I’ll move them around as needed.

I have decided to upgrade all of the DMS as soon as I can. Most are in ports and the rest are headed there. They get the upgraded DCs, the first to do so, I believe. I need a weapon that is effective. The Allied subs just plain suck.

I am setting up a line of single ship ASW TFs along the route I want to take Soryu to get her out of Rabaul. The route will be west out of Rabaul along the coast and then north. Earlier, I sent a single ship along this route and it didn’t encounter any Allied subs. By placing these TFs in the hexes along the route, I hope to spot any subs lurking there. They’ll sit for a few days and if there are no subs, I’ll risk moving Soryu. When she does move, she’ll be escorted by 2 BBs, Kitakami and Oi and close to a dozen DDs.

Time to run the next turn…..

[Mike Solli]

31 Jan 42

Very quiet day overall. Soerabaja’s port was hit again. CL Sumatra took 5x 250 and 10x 60 kg bombs leaving her burning fiercely and heavily damaged again. In addition, 2x AMcs were sunk. The 1x BB TF is still hanging around in port.

The PB down by Saidor on the New Guinea coast succumbed to her wounds.

Lots of reinforcements:

AG Kinesaki
SC Cha-27

4 Air Division – Kwantung Army
52 & 58 Bdes – 11 Army (China)
56 & 62 Bdes – 13 Army (China)
60 Bde – 1 Army (China)
54 Bde – 12 Army (China)
69, 99, 201 & 205 JAAF AF Bns – Kwantung Army

31 Ku T-1 – 12 D3A1 – 24 Air Flotilla (will increase to 27)
33 Ku T-1 – 6 B5M1 – 13 Air Flotilla
33 Ku T-2 – 6 D3A1 – 13 Air Flotilla
35 Ku T-1 – 9 D3A1 – 3 Fleet (will increase to 27)
40 Ku T-1 – 6 D3A1 – 13 Air Flotilla
40 Ku T-2 – 6 B5N1 – 13 Air Flotilla (will convert to the Jean)

All air units will become training units. All infantry brigades are filling out and will move to the front to assist in offensives.

[Mike Solli]

1 Feb 42

Sub War

Near Milne Bay, the Ro-67 got the KXII in her crosshairs…….and missed. Darn. Missed another effective sub.

The Ro-64 and Ro-68 each caught and sank an xAKL between Pt. Moresby and Cooktown. I have 8x Ro class subs patrolling around there. At least the can kill the small, unescorted merchant ships.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Other than the sub attacks above, not much else happened.

The ASW ships stationed along Soryu’s potential escape route from Rabaul have not spotted any Allied subs. Apparently, Ted is not having the subs patrol. He has them sitting in 4 hexes and I have ASW TFs and air all over them. I get a couple of alleged sub hits each turn but I doubt any of them are real. Nothing ever changes. The subs stay in the hexes and my ASW TFs sit in the hexes watching them. I put the Soryu, 2 BBs, 2 CLs and 13 DDs in a TF and will have them attempt escape. Fingers crossed.

China

I attacked a couple units near Chuhsien successfully. My losses were 114(0) to 1407(154) Chinese.

SRA

Tobali successfully made a level 3 airfield.

I attacked Singkep unsuccessfully. In a 1:2 attack, my losses were 31(0) to 47(0) Allied losses. Low supply coupled with (I suspect) a poor die roll were most likely the main culprits. The attacker was a full strength SNLF and the defender was a weak Dutch garrison unit.

Other Stuff

23 DDs (of an eventual 34) entered refit.

[Mike Solli]

2 Feb 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Lae finally made a level 2 airfield! Tomorrow the 27 Zeros stationed there will sweep the estimated 2-3 dozen Allied fighters stationed at Pt. Moresby.

Even better, the Soryu apparently escaped!!! She is now north of Rabaul after taking a convoluted path around the Allied subs and is 2 days out from Truk. Once she arrives at Truk, she’ll have her flotation damage repaired from the ARD stationed there (if the ARD can handle something that big). Then she will head to the Home Islands to repair her engine damage.

Philippines

Nothing to report.

Malaya

The infantry needs some more time before they can attempt another DA.

SRA

The Sumatra and Java invasion forces are still congregating at Tobali, Singkawang, Bandjermasin, Balikpapan and Makassar. Soon. I’m still concerned about the BB TF at Soerabaja. The Bettys and Nells went after the port again, hitting the Sumatra again, leaving her burning and heavily damaged again. She’s now taken 18x 250 and 30x 60 kg bombs. The port is keeping her alive. Amazing.

The SNLF at Singkep got some more supply and did its job. Singkep fell to a 5:1 DA. Losses were 94(1) Japanese casualties to 671(56) Dutch losses. The resources were intact at 20(0).

Other Stuff

I received a Std-D xAK, which will sit in port until Jun 42, when it will convert to a TK along with the 16 Std-Cs.

The CLs Tenryu and Tatsuta, along with 6x DDs, entered refit. That leaves 5 DDs to go for the Feb 42 refits.

[Mike Solli]

3 Feb 42

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The 3x Zero chutai sweeping Pt. Moresby out of Lae performed admirably. Taking 2 losses (2 pilots MIA), they shot down 8x P-39Ds, with another 4 P-39s lost as op losses. 25 P-39Ds took part in the battle. It’s interesting that Ted is using this type of aircraft instead of P-40Es. He must be running low on the Warhawks. Very good. I’ll keep the pressure up on Pt. Moresby. In a couple of days, Gasmata’s airfield will reach level 2. Then I’ll have a 27 plane daitai of Zeros available there to sweep Pt. Moresby as well. I’m waiting for B-17s to show up.

After a few more days of sweeping Pt. Moresby, I’ll begin a bombing offensive to beat down its airfield. I’m not sure when (or if) I’ll take Pt. Moresby, but I’ll keep it battered as long as possible. Killing Allied fighters is a wonderful thing!

The Soryu TF is 1.5 days south of Truk. There are no subs at all in the area (that I can see). It looks like she should make it. Her damage is 0-36(36)-9(9)-0. Her air complement is currently at Truk. It’s pretty interesting. The fighters are training new rookies. (One elite pilot and a great commander along with 23 rookies.) Their A2A skills are coming along nicely but their experience is still in the 30s for the most part. At any rate, they’ll get switched out for vets when the Soryu is back in service most likely. The DB and TB daitai are training ASW. I chose this option because they are already very experienced in their primary missions. This will only give them an additional capability. When the Soryu is back in service with KB, these daitai will be the primary ASW platforms for KB when that capability is needed. One decision I need to make is whether to leave Soryu’s air complement at Truk or send them back with Soryu. I’ll probably send them back. That would give her 54 ASW aircraft (in addition so some floatplanes) for added protection during the journey home.

Philippines

Nothing to report.

China

The squeeze on the isolated Chinese units continues. Loyang is now isolated and has 20 units (10 of the original garrison and 10 battered units from Chengchow). I have forces besieging the hex but not enough force to take it yet.

Malaya

The infantry is marginally able to attack today. I’ll most likely wait one more day before I attack.

SRA

I landed an SNLF by fast transport at Kendari yesterday. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much supply available and today’s attack was unsuccessful. My losses were 36(0) to 8(0) Dutch losses. I have another SNLF enroute with more supply. That should be enough force (and supply) to take it.

Nells flying out of Singkawang hit a TF at Merak today sinking two AMcs. How many Dutch AMcs are there?!

I have the 1 Yokosuka SNLF and the 2 Raiding Regiment at Singkawang. I’m toying with the idea of landing the SNLF at the base just SE of Palembang. That hex is not garrisoned. I’m pretty sure I can get the whole unit and some supply there in one turn. I can LRCAP it from Tobali easily, but I don’t see any Allied aircraft in southern Sumatra currently. After landing it, I have another SNLF available (non-para) that I can fly in to reinforce. The 4 Division (and some independent engineer and tank regiments) will land at Oosthaven as the main landing force. This force will be at Tobali by tomorrow.

The Merak invasion consists of the 21 IMB and support forces. It’s also staged at Tobali.

From Tobali it’s a one day trip to both invasion sites.

The BB TF at Soerabaja disappeared. Hmm… I am seeing 3x CLs in port however. Really strange.

[Historiker]

Mike, do you send pilots to TRACOM?

[Mike Solli]

Yup, I send as many as I can. The IJA has only 4 as of 4 Feb 42. The IJN has 26. I keep only 1 per fighter unit with a couple rare exceptions. If you haven't caught up, a page or two back I discuss maximizing elite pilots. The Yamada get is getting all the 80 experience pilots I can lay my hands on. Once they hit 81, off they go into TRACOM. They are the main Dutch Air Force killing group.

[Captain Cruft]

Mike you don't need to get ships to move around to train up. Just put them in a TF at a port and undock it. It's slow but it works and little risk.

[Mike Solli]

Didn't know that. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

[Deleted by Admins]

[ny59giants]

Soerabaja - Besides assigning a fighter group the role of sweeps only, you haven't overlooked dividing up your recon groups and having them start a systematic recon of all his bases in Java?? If he has fighters hidden someplace besides Soerbaja, then the AI may believe he has too much CAP there to have you launch Naval Attacks, but not too much for Port Attacks. We both know that the AI (code) is picky when it comes to launching 'some' attacks. [;)]

Soryu - I would have her TF ordered to follow a 4 ship ASW TF. Set any FP or the DB/TB to search a very narrow arc to see if they can spot any subs and increase the DL leading to a successful depth charge attack by the ASW ships. I would order the TF to go due NW so it easy to set the ASW search arcs and then micro-manage it to go NW rather than due north to get the most out of your search efforts. Zig and zag all the way to Japan, but with more micro-management that normal. A "PITA" for other players, but those of us who read your AAR, known how much you love this part of the game. [:D][:D]