Sneer vs Raver , Banzaiiii!!!!

[veji1]

well... There was the though....

An anyway if I were the Japs I'd be happy to have 4/3 of the CEA.....

[Sneer]

it is easy
i have 25-30 big units that are not used for garrison duties in china i think 6-8 units will go sooner or later
i need to move 10 to india/burma - i estimate that 15 division as long as covered from air and with strong tank component will be ok - 5 division will be from burma army - tanks from southern army

about 6-8 will be needed to reinforce coastal cities - these one will be taken from reinforcements

i think that southern army - majority + 3-4 ex- chinase div will be enough for pacific + dei especially 4th fleet will get equivalent of 3-4 big units - many of them soon - it will be over 20 big units total ( from memory)
15-20 divsions left
1-2 to kuriles - it is possible that these units will be taken from home Isl
up to 5 as strategic reserve and rest to russia
it means some 5k AV + kwantung will get quite a lot of new units - question is if I have enough equipment in pools to fill them
but i think answer is positive
i would not be surprised if i will have 15k AV in fresh units and next 5K in forming up ones - behind lvl 9 forts they should stand as long as supplied
it is air power about which i'm worried
number of units and vastness of russian pools means i will be unable to cover this front from air
so LCU will not be a problem

[Sneer]

it is how i see next 6 moths
red - certain fight of high intesivity and most probable enemy assault axis

yellow - risk areas where surprise attack is possible and where mostly fleet is expected to maintain security

[BrucePowers]

Raver can very very tricky.

[Raverdave]

Apart from India....Sneer has it mostly right.   The British army will not be in anyway ready to go toe-to-toe until at least mid'44.  Untill then it is going to be airwarfare.  I want to try and make him bleed aircraft and pilots over India....but that will not happen until I get better fighters with longer range.

[Raverdave]

Sneer and I did very well last night with 10 turns done over 7 hours[8D].  We hope to try and do the same again tonight.

[veji1]

well this is good, but we need a proof to believe you, hence 7 combat reports are to be posted very soon. 

[Sneer]

nothing really happen
usual japanese helens over chungking and allied 4e over timor
some subs moving
logistics
building up R&D factories
raising HI (to15.5k)
repair shipyard visiting  - Hiyo finished upgrade - 2 months ago this ship had  38 sys  dmg
planning sth nasty for Raverdave - i need to be always one step ahead of him if i want to surprise him  and catch some of his assets
1st action of night fighters over jamshedpur - no result
hard thinking why my LCU at chungking are always few points of suppliue below their req.

[veji1]

Actually, i have never been far away in game to know what to do with them... What's the use of the Irving, the Randy, the KAI Dinah etc ?

I guess you can use them to defend bases behind the front line ?

Are they good against B29 for instances ?

[Sneer]

we are far from B29 at this moment
i have ki45 introduced - FB and NF version but not many planes in service - there is no possibility to upgrade fighter sqn to them so 2 NF and 1NF sqn at the moment
NF are in need as Raverdave do not want to see my fighters in daylight and found 4e losses too high in normal action
FB - I don't find big use of ki 45 FB - if they had bigger range they would be nice killers of smaller ships - barges ,Pts etc but with current there is little to do
Randy is a plane from 44 so long time to go , kai dinah i think too
soon i will have Irving as night fighter - daitai is organising currently - its effectivness will be checked soon
there are quite a lot of them in reinforcements - unfortunately it is navy plane so no ability to streamline production with army ki 45
from new planes Jacks are great - it is best JAF fighter and i can send them easily against p 38
george is 8 months away and zeke 5 months away
i don't remeber when franks are expected but i think early 44 too
so no revolution  - old toys
 

[Raverdave]

I have nodoubt that Sneer is planning something nasty......a spoiling attack against Noumea or in that area is the most logical point to hit.  Most other places I am well covered by my air umbrella.   He could also try a raid on the Aussie northeast coast....but there is not much there to be had.  Hitting one of the remote aussie towns such as Durby or Broome might be interesting.    Either way I feel that I am ready for him.    This last month has shown that Sneer does not like being on the defensive, and as the IJN player if he sticks his neck out too far at this stage of the game he will get it lopped off. 

[veji1]

Regarding B29, i Meant that maybe from experience you  knew if NF and FB where efficient against them, even though in this specific game they are quite far away...

Are these planes any good against unescorted bombers on rear bases ?

I know the fact that this is a joint AAR prevents you from giving to much info away, but concerning your airforce, how do you plan on working ? keeping lots of frontline units, or rather using frontline units as a picket line and having second echelon concentrations ready to be brought forward when it heats up ?

[Sneer]

whole southern Pac is like allied highway
i get so many info about shipping that i'm confused what to do
veiji1 - no more unescorted bombers going to rear bases - it was too painful to Raverdave
 
as far as my statement about Jacks
Raverdave checked forum and decide to test it at Asanol
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/15/43
Day Air attack on Asansol , at 31,21
 
Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 19
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 62
 
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 62
 
Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 9 destroyed, 3 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 29 destroyed, 4 damaged
 
nothing to comment

[veji1]

Looks like he is building there exp the hard way :

Send 70 pilots with 50 exp in harms way, 35 come back with exp 55... Rinse and repeat until you get a unit with a good core of high exp pilots... Thing is this training method is frame and pilot consuming

[Sneer]

as far as stickig head too far
light forces duties is small combat action and enemy harassment
if enemy moves unguarded and light forces are not active it is close to war crime
also bigger units need to be seen and relocate - this way enemy must spend time and fear + never know where fleet main body stays
during last month i had KB split to 3 TFs staying in diffrent places. does it mean it is a risk - yes - but my enemy fear combined KB so no active partols from him
what if he try to catch me ?- he never knows when it will be combined again
similar with bigger units
reading PZB AAR shows that 44 will be a year of limited options

Allied player gains strenght fast and i can't really hurt him at this stage of war - not unless i want to atritt myself too and losses 1:1 are real defeat to me
i need to gain 2:1 to say that everything works fine
my fleet is strong and this opened possibilities to me
i have strong doubts if Raverdave would be able to hold a CENPAC base taken by surprise if i decide to press it with my fleet and reserves
i'm focused currently on building stockpiles of fuel in critical locations 
looks like last 3-5 months fleet action resulted in net balance of sth like -800k of fuel
i can keep activity but it would lower it to critical levels within 6 month - time when allied fleet will raise heads again
BTW if allied moved too fast and put their head too far - like it was few months ago it will be cut too [:D]

[Raverdave]

I lost 20 not 29 P-38s.  Exp now upto 63 from 61. 

[veji1]

Boy, PZB's AAR really is full of lessons for late jap players, the way he involved KB too early, depriving himself of a hammer with which he could have caught allies blocked by steep resistance in one of their invasions...

Main use of KB in late war is to force allies to commit fully to one offensive, because they cannot risk facing KB without being properly covered... Then as we've seen in PZB's AAR, force the allies to keep their navy concentrated, and fight for small victories around there main force, attacking convoys, escorts, and all the logistic line behind the main push... An be patient and wait for the one or two occasion were you'll have a chance to strike at his fleet when low on ordinance or after his done a mistake, or after he's been tricked by decoy CVEs or something like this...

Even though most of PZBs attempts were foiled, you learn so many nasty tricks from his AAR that you can apply later on...

[Sneer]

ORIGINAL: Raverdave

I lost 20 not 29 P-38s.  Exp now upto 63 from 61. 

29 were in air losses report - as far as I remember but can be wrong

[Sneer]

options are limited in 44
fleet in being is best of them but can't be played as only one otherwise it will loose its value

[veji1]

well actually options in 1944 are illimited me thinks, it is just that all you do will only bring tiny results, so you actually have to try to achieve them committing the lest forces that you can... ie better to sink 2DDs and 4AKs with a light surface group than with the whole KB...

In a way I guess operating lone CVs and CVLs in small TFS for buccaneering purposes behind his lines is a good way to go, it will force him to create bigger convoys, to assign part of his CVEs and CVLs to these... I meen using the 53 planes CVs and the CVLs this way is better then using them as meat fodders... The only problem will be the lack of escorts... I hope you haven't lost too many of them...

And with 1.801 Subs are really going to be a tool in your defensive strategy, as PZB's AAR showed, Putting a fish in a BB or a CV during one big allied invasion can create an awfull mess for the allies from which you can take advantage...

I guess the whole thing is to keep trying sneaky low cost attacks to try to disrupt his effort, and if and once you manage to mess his plans a bit, hit where it hurts... And run away...