He's going to struggle to find another opponent if he continues to try to nerf the allies even more than he has already.
When I played as Japan, knowing full well the capabilities of 4Es (or even massed 2Es, something which Japan excels at in '42), any move in the open in Indian country has decent AA covering it.
Those 10cm guns that you can buy out for about 4 PP each from the HI are ideal.
The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
John knows and loves WWII history as a student and teacher. As a gamer, I think he yearns for chess, where both sides are relatively equal in capability into late game; like the old Avalon Hill game, Blitzkrieg.
He has some big airfields past Manila: Clark, San Fernando, and Appari are each at least size 7. Manila is also size 7 and has been closed by Allied 4EB bombing irregularly over the course of a month. At first, John had 200 fighters at Manila, but he lost most of them in the air and on the ground.
SigInt has reported massive deployments of Japanese air at Home Island bases. John may be training hard there or this may be his defenses against the Superforts.
One thing I'm not sure about is the quality of his pilots. My guys seem to handle his guys in nearly all combat situations. My pilots are mostly highly experienced and skilled in their missions. It may be that he's struggling to keep up with his losses. Or that may be wishful thinking on my part.
He's had kamikaze capability for two months now. Based upon one of his emails, I think he'll be working that angle hard. And I think he envisioned a time when he could combine LBA (including kamis) from big airfields along with KB to deliver a devastating attack. I worried about that happening in the Philippines early on. But with Manila beat down, and with Mindanao probably suffering from supply woes, he doesn't have the right airfields (I think) until I move closer to Formosa/Okinawa.
He may not have enough aviation support either. The Philippines campaign did catch him by surprise (he was leaning into Celebes), so I don't know if he attended to base staffing and building up supply levels.
He's still pretty strong at sea and in the air and will strike hard one of these days, but overall you can see that he hadn't given real thought to defending the Philippines.
Now he has at least four divisions on Luzon, which won't be nearly enough if he tries to fight south of Manila. He can still bring in reinforcements, but starting in about 20 days, I'll begin imposing a blockade on his ports to prevent that from happening.
He has some big airfields past Manila: Clark, San Fernando, and Appari are each at least size 7. Manila is also size 7 and has been closed by Allied 4EB bombing irregularly over the course of a month. At first, John had 200 fighters at Manila, but he lost most of them in the air and on the ground.
SigInt has reported massive deployments of Japanese air at Home Island bases. John may be training hard there or this may be his defenses against the Superforts.
One thing I'm not sure about is the quality of his pilots. My guys seem to handle his guys in nearly all combat situations. My pilots are mostly highly experienced and skilled in their missions. It may be that he's struggling to keep up with his losses. Or that may be wishful thinking on my part.
He's had kamikaze capability for two months now. Based upon one of his emails, I think he'll be working that angle hard. And I think he envisioned a time when he could combine LBA (including kamis) from big airfields along with KB to deliver a devastating attack. I worried about that happening in the Philippines early on. But with Manila beat down, and with Mindanao probably suffering from supply woes, he doesn't have the right airfields (I think) until I move closer to Formosa/Okinawa.
He may not have enough aviation support either. The Philippines campaign did catch him by surprise (he was leaning into Celebes), so I don't know if he attended to base staffing and building up supply levels.
He's still pretty strong at sea and in the air and will strike hard one of these days, but overall you can see that he hadn't given real thought to defending the Philippines.
Now he has at least four divisions on Luzon, which won't be nearly enough if he tries to fight south of Manila. He can still bring in reinforcements, but starting in about 20 days, I'll begin imposing a blockade on his ports to prevent that from happening.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
But the easiest fix is to simply take Miri.
I like your style! [:D]
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
John is completely consumed with the naval aspects of "his" mod - he loves throwing gobs of ships and carriers around & inflicting "crushing" defeats on the allies, for as long as he possibly can.
On the other hand, he's never shown much subtlety when in comes to the land war aspects of the game in general. He's a bit more comfortable in the air game, but his play in this game & past AARs show a distinct lack of "combined arms" experience. The lack of AA in the PI, then his complaining about allied bombers (which were the bane of the existence of both German & Japanese infantry from 1943 on) is just sour grapes.
While I understand the desire to achieve some measure of balance, especially in the mid to late game, John has created a mod that appears to be solely designed to give him so many toys to play with, as to make what is already a miserable Allied early game, nearly impossible to play....and now with John appearing to want to nerf any allied advantage, I concur that I don't know why anyone would want to play him.
Just my $0.02
On the other hand, he's never shown much subtlety when in comes to the land war aspects of the game in general. He's a bit more comfortable in the air game, but his play in this game & past AARs show a distinct lack of "combined arms" experience. The lack of AA in the PI, then his complaining about allied bombers (which were the bane of the existence of both German & Japanese infantry from 1943 on) is just sour grapes.
While I understand the desire to achieve some measure of balance, especially in the mid to late game, John has created a mod that appears to be solely designed to give him so many toys to play with, as to make what is already a miserable Allied early game, nearly impossible to play....and now with John appearing to want to nerf any allied advantage, I concur that I don't know why anyone would want to play him.
Just my $0.02
Never Underestimate the Power of a Small Tactical Nuclear Weapon...
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
There's no doubt John is a Navy guy first and foremost and most of all. He loves that aspect of the game above all others. And you're right, the air war is next in his heart. Then probably production. And lastly the ground war, though he does enjoy the early war rampages through Australia or other places.
He's aggressive and wants to play offense, so he's not well-suited to the end game. The phased withdawal never occurs to him, as he demonstrated in Burma and now in the DEI/Philippines. That worked for him in Sumatra (but that was 1942 and early '43, a different paradigm entirely) and it worked for him but really against him in Celebes.
You readers of John's AAR will have a better understanding of the strategy he employed following Big Tent (Allied invasion of the DEI in November 1943). From what I could see, he kept an offensive mindset and mainly positioned his assets forward, working towards a big clash around the Torres Strait. I thought, at the time, that was a big miscalculation: that he needed to be shoring up his defenses further back. But John is thinking offense all the time, even when giving a nod to defense.
And thus he triggered his Celebes attack, the most costly and counterproductive decisive Japanese victory I think I've ever witnessed.
He loves his navy so much that he can't bring himself to attack now, a fact he related in an email about two weeks ago.
He's chewing and spitting nails now. I wonder what he'll do?
He's aggressive and wants to play offense, so he's not well-suited to the end game. The phased withdawal never occurs to him, as he demonstrated in Burma and now in the DEI/Philippines. That worked for him in Sumatra (but that was 1942 and early '43, a different paradigm entirely) and it worked for him but really against him in Celebes.
You readers of John's AAR will have a better understanding of the strategy he employed following Big Tent (Allied invasion of the DEI in November 1943). From what I could see, he kept an offensive mindset and mainly positioned his assets forward, working towards a big clash around the Torres Strait. I thought, at the time, that was a big miscalculation: that he needed to be shoring up his defenses further back. But John is thinking offense all the time, even when giving a nod to defense.
And thus he triggered his Celebes attack, the most costly and counterproductive decisive Japanese victory I think I've ever witnessed.
He loves his navy so much that he can't bring himself to attack now, a fact he related in an email about two weeks ago.
He's chewing and spitting nails now. I wonder what he'll do?
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Thanks for the big picture map... I know real world geography, but I'm still getting used to the WITP version. 
Im still reading both AAEs so I can't comment much... But thanks for keeping this up as long as you guys have. I've learned a ton reading it.
Im still reading both AAEs so I can't comment much... But thanks for keeping this up as long as you guys have. I've learned a ton reading it.
Occasionally also known as cf_dallas
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Good job clearing out the "backwater". The large map is looking good.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
6/2/44
Fun House: For the most part, Allied 4EB declined to fly today, giving the IJA a reprieve. But I think John got the message. It looks like some or all of his army may be retiring towards Manila. That's the only move that makes sense given the circumstances.
That means I won't get a chance to rough up the Japanese army in the open as I had hoped, but it likely means that my army will advance in good shape and can besiege Manila. He'll have the advantage of the urban terrain, but my engineers will be building airfields at Atimonan (and possibly Lucerna or Batangas).
This will not be a blitzkrieg campaign, as I noted at the outset of Fun House two months ago, but I don't think John has a real chance of stopping the Allies now. The infrastructure (bases, aircraft, supply, ships) needed to properly support a big offensive are present.
Fun House Borneo: I think I'll sortie Death Star today. That's a big decision, given fuel consumption and prior experience against enemy subs. But I think moving on Miri (and a few other related missions) is a worthwhile objective.
Burma: The infantry is up, so tomorrow will see the first deliberate attack in the hex west of Rahaeng. John has 20k troops there, so this won't be easy given the terrain. But 20k shouldn't be enough to stand. He's probably buying time and I'm willing to concede time in return for keeping his attention focused in Indochina.
Elsewhere: About three weeks ago, I made a key decision that triggered all kinds of moves all over the map. I've kept quiet about this for op sec purposes, but the curtain will be pulled back in another week or so.
Fun House: For the most part, Allied 4EB declined to fly today, giving the IJA a reprieve. But I think John got the message. It looks like some or all of his army may be retiring towards Manila. That's the only move that makes sense given the circumstances.
That means I won't get a chance to rough up the Japanese army in the open as I had hoped, but it likely means that my army will advance in good shape and can besiege Manila. He'll have the advantage of the urban terrain, but my engineers will be building airfields at Atimonan (and possibly Lucerna or Batangas).
This will not be a blitzkrieg campaign, as I noted at the outset of Fun House two months ago, but I don't think John has a real chance of stopping the Allies now. The infrastructure (bases, aircraft, supply, ships) needed to properly support a big offensive are present.
Fun House Borneo: I think I'll sortie Death Star today. That's a big decision, given fuel consumption and prior experience against enemy subs. But I think moving on Miri (and a few other related missions) is a worthwhile objective.
Burma: The infantry is up, so tomorrow will see the first deliberate attack in the hex west of Rahaeng. John has 20k troops there, so this won't be easy given the terrain. But 20k shouldn't be enough to stand. He's probably buying time and I'm willing to concede time in return for keeping his attention focused in Indochina.
Elsewhere: About three weeks ago, I made a key decision that triggered all kinds of moves all over the map. I've kept quiet about this for op sec purposes, but the curtain will be pulled back in another week or so.
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"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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anarchyintheuk
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Buying out Aussie and NZ brigades gets pretty expensive but there aren't a lot of options.
It would be nice if you could split the (Sep) regiments.
It would be nice if you could split the (Sep) regiments.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: Canoerebel
John knows and loves WWII history as a student and teacher. As a gamer, I think he yearns for chess, where both sides are relatively equal in capability into late game; like the old Avalon Hill game, Blitzkrieg.
He has some big airfields past Manila: Clark, San Fernando, and Appari are each at least size 7. Manila is also size 7 and has been closed by Allied 4EB bombing irregularly over the course of a month. At first, John had 200 fighters at Manila, but he lost most of them in the air and on the ground.
SigInt has reported massive deployments of Japanese air at Home Island bases. John may be training hard there or this may be his defenses against the Superforts.
One thing I'm not sure about is the quality of his pilots. My guys seem to handle his guys in nearly all combat situations. My pilots are mostly highly experienced and skilled in their missions. It may be that he's struggling to keep up with his losses. Or that may be wishful thinking on my part.
He's had kamikaze capability for two months now. Based upon one of his emails, I think he'll be working that angle hard. And I think he envisioned a time when he could combine LBA (including kamis) from big airfields along with KB to deliver a devastating attack. I worried about that happening in the Philippines early on. But with Manila beat down, and with Mindanao probably suffering from supply woes, he doesn't have the right airfields (I think) until I move closer to Formosa/Okinawa.
He may not have enough aviation support either. The Philippines campaign did catch him by surprise (he was leaning into Celebes), so I don't know if he attended to base staffing and building up supply levels.
He's still pretty strong at sea and in the air and will strike hard one of these days, but overall you can see that he hadn't given real thought to defending the Philippines.
Now he has at least four divisions on Luzon, which won't be nearly enough if he tries to fight south of Manila. He can still bring in reinforcements, but starting in about 20 days, I'll begin imposing a blockade on his ports to prevent that from happening.
Well, to be fair... if the planes are going to be returning to base, you don't need air support there. Just supplies.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
You don't need all of those bases in the PI. Some are redundant. Besides, I don't think your opponent really is in position to saunter into the PI in an attempt to take bases back. Even if he were lucky enough to snatch one or two back it would not matter in the long run. A base or two won't undo his screwed up position in the PI or affect the outcome. I would not lose to much sleep over garrisons. I would just keep a fire brigade handy with some air transport ready. Paratroopers are good for that.
I am the Holy Roman Emperor and am above grammar.
Sigismund of Luxemburg
Sigismund of Luxemburg
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk
Buying out Aussie and NZ brigades gets pretty expensive but there aren't a lot of options.
It would be nice if you could split the (Sep) regiments.
I just bought out a Kiwi brigade, so I know what you mean.
Some or all of the Aussie units seem inexpensive, however. The actual cost I spend is far less than the cost quote provided by the game. For instance, when I guy out a restricted Aussie division it might cost 300 PP rather than 1,300.
I'll be buying a bunch of Aussie units soon. They are prepped for bases I want to take on my LOC, but I keep finding higher-priority needs up around Fun House. Eventually I've got to attend to Port Moresby or Darwin or a few other bases, but it's hard to see those as top priorities when the Battle for Manila is looming.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
In my (limited) experience, the Aussie units are not too expensive, but the Kiwis cost a fortune. I really don't understand why the disparity.
The Aussie 6th division (going to Miri, 240 AV) seems kind of weak, or badly beaten up. Sorry, I've lost track -- what happened to it?
The Aussie 6th division (going to Miri, 240 AV) seems kind of weak, or badly beaten up. Sorry, I've lost track -- what happened to it?
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
As Fun House opened two months ago, 6th Aus. Div. invaded Tacloban at full strength. About a month ago, I switched prep for Miri. Then I got confused and dropped the division on Puerto Princesa rather than Miri. That unprepped landing resulted in high disablements. But the unit has been regaining strength steadily and has decent prep now for Miri. I think she'll do well in the role. She can then sit at Miri for a long time while prepping for another major target. Palembang is a possibility.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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JohnDillworth
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Does Miri produce fuel? Would solve some logistics problems
Today I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat, do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. - Yasser Arafat Speech to UN General Assembly
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MakeeLearn
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Then I got confused and dropped the division on Puerto Princesa rather than Miri. That unprepped landing resulted in high disablements.
Criminally negligent behavior......Title 10, Section 892, Article 92.... Dereliction of duty
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Oh, it was a nightmare. For those who weren't reading then, let me tell you how things devolved and are now evolving.
A month back, Death Star and the Herd departed Legaspi for an important operation that included contested landings at Miri and Puerto Princesa and uncontested landings at Balabac Island and Sandakan, Borneo. The embarkation of troops was complicated and confusing, involving multiple ports and the putting together, taking apart, and then putting together again of the various assault components. I got myself good and confused so that the very first landing got screwed up, as 6th Aus. Div. came ashore at Puerto Princesa rather than Miri. The unit took high disablements, but I knew she would likely be enough to handle the modest enemy garrison. Then CV Lexington took a torp. Then I had to figure out what to do with 7th Aus. Div/A, prepping for Puerto, the only unit available to hit Miri. I didn't like the looks of that, so I diverted the Aussies to vacant Beaufort, which they took. The landings at Balabac and Sandakan went well.
I had to cross my fingers and hope that 6th Aus. Div. would take Puerto. I kept the unit prepping for Miri, in hopes that eventually I could turn my attention to that base.
Despite all this carnage, I ended up with four good bases, the engineers have built aifields at Beaufort and Balabac to level two, 6th Australian is now 55% prepped for Miri, and John apparently hasn't reinforced the base. So an operation that seemed to be swirling down the toilet turned into a pretty successful venture.
A month back, Death Star and the Herd departed Legaspi for an important operation that included contested landings at Miri and Puerto Princesa and uncontested landings at Balabac Island and Sandakan, Borneo. The embarkation of troops was complicated and confusing, involving multiple ports and the putting together, taking apart, and then putting together again of the various assault components. I got myself good and confused so that the very first landing got screwed up, as 6th Aus. Div. came ashore at Puerto Princesa rather than Miri. The unit took high disablements, but I knew she would likely be enough to handle the modest enemy garrison. Then CV Lexington took a torp. Then I had to figure out what to do with 7th Aus. Div/A, prepping for Puerto, the only unit available to hit Miri. I didn't like the looks of that, so I diverted the Aussies to vacant Beaufort, which they took. The landings at Balabac and Sandakan went well.
I had to cross my fingers and hope that 6th Aus. Div. would take Puerto. I kept the unit prepping for Miri, in hopes that eventually I could turn my attention to that base.
Despite all this carnage, I ended up with four good bases, the engineers have built aifields at Beaufort and Balabac to level two, 6th Australian is now 55% prepped for Miri, and John apparently hasn't reinforced the base. So an operation that seemed to be swirling down the toilet turned into a pretty successful venture.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Canoerebel
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
ORIGINAL: JohnDillworth
Does Miri produce fuel? Would solve some logistics problems
Miri produces oil and has a refinery. Does that mean she'll generate fuel? If so, Shazaam! This should've been a higher priority.
All my combat ships and carriers have freshly refueled at Legaspi, which still has about 125k fuel on hand. So Death Star and associated combat TFs can likely operate for another month or two without running out of fuel.
More fuel is on the way and there are reserves, including fuel in the DEI and 300+ merchant ships disbanded at Legaspi, most of them with lots of fuel in their tanks.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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JohnDillworth
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RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
Truth be told I have been wondering why you have not been looking to pick up Tarkan or Miri as a gas station. Even if they are damaged you have engineers who can have those pumps running in a weekMiri produces oil and has a refinery. Does that mean she'll generate fuel? If so, Shazaam! This should've been a higher priority.
Today I come bearing an olive branch in one hand, and the freedom fighter's gun in the other. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. I repeat, do not let the olive branch fall from my hand. - Yasser Arafat Speech to UN General Assembly
RE: The Good The Bad & The Indifferent
If you are buying out Aussie units at a 25% discount then it sounds like you are transferring them to an unrestricted HQ that is in the same command structure rather than say a US HQ. There is an aussie corp that allows this. You'll find the same thing happens if you buy out US units under the unrestricted air HQ that sits inside the restricted command structure. For this reason many players have a HR that full PP must be paid when buying out units.