Matrix Games Forums

Picked up a Downfall game vs Cpn Cruft with the following HR’s

Max altitude for all aircraft = 28k
Only City Attacks, with the potential to target HI should City Attacks prove ineffective

The Strategic Goal is to invade and conquer as much of Japan as possible, in one year’s time, as almost all of the high VP targets are in Japan proper. Japan must prevent this.

To understand Japan’s position, a quick review of Panzerjaeger Hortlund’s AAR details Japan’s basic strategy:

tm.asp?m=2846865

Japans weaknesses are low HI (and, near half of Japan’s HI is located in Osaka/Kyoto and Tokyo), and starting LCU location (lots of AV and experienced units are in China/Korea – and need to get home to Japan).

I must exploit these weaknesses and invade Japan. To begin this task, I will target Japan’s HI with my 4E until Japan’s HI is gone. I’ll try to blockade Korea/China from Japan. I’ll use my other forces to either strike quickly at Japan, or to invade in locations where I have unsinkable carriers in short range of the Home Islands.

Sept 1, 45’s action began with targeted strikes on Hamamatsu by P-51’s and B29’s. I chose Hamamatsu for 2 reasons. It has 20 HI and probably won’t be capped, but Nagoya probably will and I hope to suck his Nagoya CAP in pieces, thereby gaining a localized advantage in quantity and quality, and score large victories and put a psychological umph into the game.

Nothing flew at night anywhere, btw

A quick strike attempt on Yakushima and Tanegashima (islands SW of Kyushu) met the Jap 9th Garrison SNLF and 10th Garrison SNLF (they didn’t show up in the Downfall scenario I have loaded. Sigh).

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 01, 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 11



Allied aircraft
P-51D Mustang x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 7 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
1 x P-51D Mustang sweeping at 28000 feet



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 29,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 24


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
24 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 28000 feet

CAP engaged:
50th Sentai with Ki-43-IV Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 8
A6M7 Zero x 8
A6M8 Zero x 30
N1K1-J George x 8
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 11
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 27



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M7 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 5 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 5 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 5 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 7 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
23 x P-51H Mustang sweeping at 28000 feet


The rest of the CR for this action shows the Japanese fighters slowly leaking over from Nagoya – and as a result – 27 Jap losses at no P51H losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 2
A6M7 Zero x 4
A6M8 Zero x 26
N1K1-J George x 3
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 1
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 3
Ki-84a Frank x 15



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M7 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 9 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 5 destroyed

The plan is a definite success!!!!!

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
19 x P-51H Mustang sweeping at 28000 feet




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kanoya , at 102,61

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 29
A6M5b Zero x 11
A6M7 Zero x 8
A6M8 Zero x 59
J2M5 Jack x 8
Ki-84a Frank x 20



Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 4 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M7 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 8 destroyed
J2M5 Jack: 2 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
27 x P-47N Thunderbolt sweeping at 28000 feet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 44 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M7 Zero x 2
A6M8 Zero x 3
Ki-61-Ib Tony x 2
Ki-84a Frank x 5



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M7 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-61-Ib Tony: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-51H Mustang sweeping at 28000 feet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M7 Zero x 3



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M7 Zero: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x P-51H Mustang sweeping at 28000 feet


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kanoya , at 102,61

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 13 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 21
A6M5b Zero x 8
A6M7 Zero x 7
A6M8 Zero x 38
J2M5 Jack x 4
Ki-84a Frank x 14



Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M7 Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 5 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47N Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x P-47N Thunderbolt sweeping at 28000 feet



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Soc Trang , at 58,73

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M8 Zero: 3 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 9



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shobu Group Army, at 81,73 , near Aparri

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
Beaufighter 21 x 24


Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter 21: 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 10th Div Remnants , at 82,72 , near Aparri

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
Mosquito FB.40 x 17


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Mosquito FB.40 bombing from 2000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb, 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 52
B-29B Superfort x 94

No more leaky cap by the time the Superforts come in.


No Allied losses



Manpower hits 58
Fires 26650

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x B-29B Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 18 x 500 lb GP Bomb
34 x B-29B Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 18 x 500 lb GP Bomb
34 x B-29B Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 18 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
30 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hamamatsu , at 111,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 31


Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 1 damaged
B-29-25 Superfort: 1 destroyed by flak



Manpower hits 4
Fires 24300

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 15000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Oshima Naval Guard Unit, at 98,64 (Amami Oshima)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25H Mitchell x 12
B-25J11 Mitchell x 41
P-47N Thunderbolt x 52


Allied aircraft losses
B-25J11 Mitchell: 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
30 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-25H Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-25H Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking Amami Oshima Fortress ...
Also attacking Oshima Naval Guard Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Oshima Naval Guard Unit, at 98,64 (Amami Oshima)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25H Mitchell x 48
B-25J11 Mitchell x 24
P-47N Thunderbolt x 2


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
24 x B-25J11 Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
24 x B-25H Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
24 x B-25H Mitchell bombing and strafing from low level
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kanoya , at 102,61

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 17
A6M5b Zero x 5
A6M7 Zero x 4
A6M8 Zero x 19
J2M5 Jack x 4
Ki-84a Frank x 7



Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 8
B-24J Liberator x 66
P-47N Thunderbolt x 28


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M7 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M8 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed
G4M2a Betty: 1 destroyed on ground
G4M2 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 destroyed
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 24000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
22 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 24000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
22 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 24000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 24000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hong Kong , at 77,61

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 31


No Allied losses



Manpower hits 21
Fires 9750

Aircraft Attacking:
31 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 20000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38L Lightning x 4


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x P-38L Lightning sweeping at 18000 feet



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 13th Garrison SNLF, at 110,75 (Haha-jima)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 45
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 15
TBM-1C Avenger x 15


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Tanegashima (102,62)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 406 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 41

Defending force 3168 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 109

Allied adjusted assault: 25

Japanese adjusted defense: 353

Allied assault odds: 1 to 14 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
503rd Parachute Rgt /1

Defending units:
10th Garrison SNLF


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Yakushima (101,62)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 156 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Defending force 1740 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 388

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)


Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
28th Airborne Tank Bn /1

Defending units:
9th Garrison SNLF


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Allied Unit(s) Wiped Out at Yakushima by attrition!!!!!!

Summation of air losses for Sept 1, 45.



Nice to see a 14-1 Air-to-Air kill ratio.

For today's turn, I'll send in whatever B-29's didn't fly on Sept 1, in a night firebombing attack at 15k feet. I'll rest my P51H's, for a sweep the following day (weather permitting). I'll try to attack a base that is 1 hex from his major cities, to again draw leaky cap. We'll see how long it takes him to set his cap to range 0... then I'll have a surprise for him

Actually, my A-A kill ratio is better than 15-1.  I lost 6 P47's and 1 P51H - compared to all those losses by Japan.  Kill ratio is more like 30-1.  That would be nice if I could sustain this level

Sept 2, 1945:

Strategic Bombing Campaign:
Hamamatsu (HI) P51H's swept Hamamatsu again, scored about the same kill ratio. 200 B-29's went firebombed the city. 46k total Fires to Hamamatsu. Both groups of P51's swept before the heavies went in - for the 2nd day in a row.

Hong Kong (China): B24's manpowered attack, no significant fires started.

North Pac:
Units being transported to the Aleuts to provide search coverage over the northern portion of the map. The only way the KB can really hurt me is to get behind my lines... I hope to close this portion of the map and bottle up the KB in restricted waters.

Yellow Sea: Multiple small SCTF's are moving to patrol these waters. SCTF's typical composure is 2-4 DD's, with a couple of tf's having 1CL 3 DD configurations. I hope to use these to intercept any ASW platforms trying to have a field day on my subs.

Elsewhere: Fleets, Airgroups, LCU's moving into position. I've sent 2k AV to deal with the remaining Nipponese in the PI. I'm moving to expand my number of airfields in the Ryukyu Islands... multiple islands can be built to level 5-7. These will make great unsinkable CAP bases to cover Kyushu... should I decide to land there.

Other concerns:
1) I am working on a way to cut off Korean forces from Japan. Any help would be appreciated.
2) I must have loaded an old version of Downfall when planning my strategy - as the version I was looking at - all the Ryukyu Islands were empty. Now they all seem to have 100-200 AV behind 2-4 forts.

Sept 3rd:

Hamamatsu (HomeIslands) results: Over the last two days, I've done the following damage: 1 Aircraft factory damaged, 8 resources. No HI hits. No nothing else. Bunk. My opponent offered to allow HI in daytime, but only night manpower attacks. IMHO this is fair and right. So I sent in 2 groups of P47N's based at Iwo to sweep Nagoya (with a 30% rest rating) - hoping that the last two days of the Japanese flying CAP at range 1, getting slaughtered, has increased the Japanese fatigue and lowered their morale. It did. By the time the P-47's were done, there was no cap to contest the 525 B-29s sent to HI attack, losses again ultimately 1 sided for the Allies.. and they knocked out 200 HI centers at Nagoya. I am going to start thinking about a massive sweep on Tokyo - to knock out the Japanese elite fighter pilots.

Fleet Surface Action:
2 of my Fast Raider Attack Fleets faired very well:
Tori Shima and Aogshmia (Izu Islands): A US Fleet (1 CL 3 DD) knocked out a pair of transports trying to sneak in supplies and men. No damage to the US fleets

Yellow Sea: Fast Raider Attack Fleet 2 (US DD's Metcalfe, Thompson, Dale, Gilmer, Sands) intercepted 2 separate Japanese fleets in the Yellow Sea, sinking 2 ML in the first action and 1 E, 2 PB, 3 AM, and 6 xAKL in the second. All US ships were unscathed.

Ryukyu Islands: Tokunoshima falls to the Allies Paratroopers Kume-Jima shall fall on a deliberate attack scheduled for today.

Concerns/Notes: Cycling 4 groups of fighters (2 P51H, 2 P47N) so that 2 sweep Home Island Cities while 2 rest is keeping fatigue down, morale up, and aircraft in good working condition (all aircraft in those 4 groups are at less than 10% damage). Also at Iwo I keep another 4-6 fighters rotating on CAP (some daytime, some night). For all 4 days, my fighters swept (and all fighters finished their sweeps) before the heavies went into attack. Losses at this time are quite sustainable. Just wait until I have bases where my Corsairs, Hellcats, and 2E's are in range of Japan.

This is what it must feel like to be a JFB up to 1945.

ORIGINAL: AcePylut
Concerns/Notes: Cycling 4 groups of fighters (2 P51H, 2 P47N) so that 2 sweep Home Island Cities while 2 rest is keeping fatigue down, morale up, and aircraft in good working condition (all aircraft in those 4 groups are at less than 10% damage). Also at Iwo I keep another 4-6 fighters rotating on CAP (some daytime, some night). For all 4 days, my fighters swept (and all fighters finished their sweeps) before the heavies went into attack. Losses at this time are quite sustainable. This is what it must feel like to be a JFB up to 1945.

Here is a screen of the airplanes in 21st Air Group at Iwo Jima. Notice the aircraft fatigue is all good (especially when I have 20-30% of my planes sent to rest. This allows the aircraft a chance to be repaired instead of flown.)... for the missions flown.

Sep 04, 45

Heavy Industry Attacks: All B29’s, P51-H’s rested this turn. More P47N’s (drop tank range 16/20) reach Iwo Jima. I’ll begin rotating sweeps between the various P47N and P51H groups stationed at Iwo. Tomorrow I’ll strike at the airfield 1 hex southeast of Tokyo. I intend to suck as many planes from Tokyo’s cap as possible, and destroy them.

Naval Action: In naval action, my Fast Raider fleets have entered enemy waters between China and Korea, and quickly are making their presence known. I have multiple Fast Raider fleets operating in the vicinity. Composition of my Fast Raider fleets is anywhere between 2DD and 5DD, some interspersed with a CL. These fleets aren’t being capped, as I’m relying on their small size and speed to avoid most enemy attacks. If the enemy does attack, that’s more IJN fatigue/morale/kamakazi losses to not deal with when the big boys come.

So how’d my raider fleets do?

In the night phase:
-US subs sink an xAKL, TK
-1 US DD hits a mine
-In the Izu Island Chain SW of Kyushu, 8 Jap APD evade 4 US DD’s near Kagoshima at nighttime in partly cloudy conditions and 3% moonlight, not once, not twice, but three times!
-One of the fast raider fleets composed of 2 DD sink 4 Jap ML sunk near Shimizu
-19 xAK and 7 TK evade 3 US DD, then 6 TK’s escapes the same. This action occurred at night around Ningpo. Bummer – 26 unescorted juicies, and my boys don’t engage.

In the day phase:
-Those 8 APD’s were attacked by 4 US DD’s. The US DD’s light all of them up and use all their ammo doing so, and then the US DD’s withdraw. I took a couple of shell hits, and left all of their APD’s burning/sinking.
- Fast Raider fleet comprised of CL Vincennes and 3 DD sinks 8 E boats operating between China and Korea. Based on the effectiveness of the E boats, this will save about 200 Allied subs and well worth the risk of a CL.
-US APD Goldsborough eats a torp
-US SS Lancetfish hits a mine
-US SS Gar suffers 5 hits of asw.

During the AirStike phase, Capn Cruft sortied over
-12 Vals escorted by 30 Zeros come up empty vs a 4DD fleet.
-36 Betties and 9 Zeros put a torp into a CL. 8 Betties won’t make it home
- 7 Sen Baku and 9 Frances miss the same CL, but loe 3 a/c doing so.
-20 Judy’s swing and miss against a 4DD fleet, for 3 Judy’s
-11 Zero and 6 Betty Kamakazi fail against 2DD. The Betty’s were kamakazi’s.
-19 Zero and 33 Grace from the KB put a bomb into a CL and a DD
-31 Zero and 27 Betty whiff against a CL and 2 DD
-9 Betty and 9 Frances miss against a CL
-6 Zero and 3 Betty kamakazi and 1 Betty hits a DD, which promptly vanishes.
-19 Zero and 15 Grace from the KB put a bomb into a DD, but 6 Grace’s die.

A lot of Japanese planes died to put a few hits into ships of which I have plenty of. I have around 5-10 more fleets inbound to the area.

Other Action:

A Brit CV fleet hits the CL Kitakami running from Palemburg to Samah.

IJA bombers from Formosa and China night attack Laoag to no effect as I have a group of fighters on night cap.

US 2E’s from the PI night attack Takao and knock out of a few Betties, however, I think I had more losses than inflicted. Next turn all 2E’s will finish up the Japs in PI

I the daytime, I hit the Jap soldiers at Laoag in the PI with 200 1E, 320 2E, 110 4E. Japan shock attacks in the LCU combat phase and further destroy themselves. Tomorrow I will deliberate attack with forces tomorrow and wipe them out.

Here is the Fast Raider fleet that took the brunt of the Japanese airstrikes. As you can see, the damage is light across the board. I did use up 45% of my AA ammo and 68% of my gun ammo however, so this fleet is going to retire home.

Strategic Concerns:

Having read some AAR's (Greyjoys and Raders), I'm a bit concerned about putting a massive invasion fleet into "one hex", and have been working on ways to get around this.

I have coming to to the idea that I should spread my ships around 7 hexes (center hex and all adjacent hexes)... spread CV's, CVE's, BB's, amphibs, etc. etc. around those 7 hexes, and put all my fighters on 2 hex CAP (1 hex for any ship in the center hex) and see what happens.

I figure that if the Japs come in uncoordinated, I'll chew them up easy. If they come in one massive strike, I'll lose a hexes worth of ships... but considering the limitations on CAP (i.e. 200 firing passes max), should a large coordinated strike come against a hex that has all my fleets in it (instead of spread out over 7 hexes), then I'd lose the entire fleet.

So I figure I'll lose 1/7th of my ships instead of all of them. Dunno... My initial invasion force is going to be in theater soon, so we'll see how it goes. Targets will most likely be the islands SW of Kyushu - as was the historical plan.

Sep 05, 45

Heavy Industry attacks:

80 4E firebomb Hong Kong at night from 7k feet. Attacks came in uncoordinated over about 7 phases. 50k Fires started and 15 Manpower hits result. No bombers lost. Cruft had a small cap of about 5 Randy’s that did nothing. IN the daytime, 40 4E do 15 HI hits and another 50k fires.

P51H's sweep Chiba, 1 hex SE of Tokyo

- 50 P51H sweep against 125 CAP, 20 Nips fall to 1 P51
- 16 P51H sweep against 67 cap, 11 Nips fall to no losses (incl 2 Shindens)
- 16 P51H sweep against 31 cap, 10 Nips fall to 1 P51 (notice the decreasing cap)

Weather socked in my B29 AirForce in the Mariana’s. They will all be put to attack for tomorrow’s action.


Naval Action:

Night time:
-US SS Spadefish torps a TK
-The 19 AK and 7 TK Japanese fleet moving from China to Korea evades combat AGAIN, *twice* this time, against a 2 DD fleet this time!! Grrr.
-Fast Raider fleet comprised of 5 DD hits the 5TK fleet running away, and 2 TK’s fall.
-Slow Raider fleet of 4 PF follows up against the remaining 3 TK, but they evade.
2 US DD sink a RO-boat.
-SS Threadfin parks 2 torps into a TK
-SS mingo takes 4 hits from a Jap ASW fleet
-SS Rock takes 3 hits from a 6 APD fleet
-2 US DD sink a Ha-boat
-A small invasion force lands at Vinh (in Indochina) to cut the rail line to China. They encounter 37 enemy LCU’s (must be in strat mode railing to China).
-A small Brit invasion force lands at a base 120 M SE of Bangkok. They will march into Bangkok and stop HI production.


Daytime Action:
-Fast Raider fleet of 4 DD’s operating near Etorofu sink 2 IJN PB’s.
- 2 US DD and 1 CL sink another Ha-Boat

Daytime Airstrikes on Fast Raider fleets:
-10 Zero, 6 Jill, 9 Betty park a torp into CL Houston on it’s way back home. 3 Japanese pilots give their lives for the Emperor in doing so.
- 31 Zero, 11 George, and 27 Betty whiff against 2 DD. 5 Betty’s lost.
-9 Frances swing and miss against 2 DD
-15 Judy put 2 bombs into CL Houston. 3 Judys die.
-8 Zero, 10 Jills strike out against CL Atlanta and 2 DD. 2 Jills wont return.
-20 Zero and 9 Jill miss against a US DD.
-12 Zeros, 12 Jacks, and 12 Judys all kamakazi the CL Atlanta. 8 Kami’s hit it.
-15 Zeros kamakazi the Atlanta, but nothing hits as it’s sinking.
-8 Zeros and 3 Vals hit the CL Atlanta with another bomb. I guess it’s still afloat.
-13 Franks and 8 Kates try to hit a Fast Raider fleet, but I threw up a group of P38’s on LRCAP (keep him off his toes, don’t let him think I won’t cap anything ) and they destroy 7 IJ planes at no losses.
-18 Helens and 6 Sallys miss against 2 DD
-6 Sallys miss against 2 DD
-19 Zero and 19 Grace miss against the same 2 DD fleet
-3 Zero and 7 Vals put a bomb each into those 2 DD’s

Phillipine Islands:

185 1E, 340 2E bomb IJ units in the Phillipines to dust.
IJ units at Laoag are wiped out in my deliberate attack. Just one hex of IJ troops to go, then I can put full focus on Japan.

Truk gets a visit from B17’s and B24’s.


Thoughts/Concerns:
My P51H’s are wiping the Japanese homeland of airplanes. P47’s will start cycling the sweeping. Attacking 1 hex away from large concentrations of enemy planes seems to be working great to keep those numbers high. The strat bombing campaign is going according to plan.

The Fast Raider fleets are working as I want them to. They are attacking Japanese fleets and will force Capn Cruft to rethink how he wants to extract forces from China. They are being attacked by kami’s and while I’ve lost 2 CL and 3-4 DD, I’ve done far more damage to his fleets and airgroups. I like when 30 Bettys all kamakazi and hit nothing.

My invasion forces have moved just west of Okinawa. Now to decide on the best place to go. My goals are to cut off China and Korea from Japan, and provide airbases in short range of Japan to provide CAP for the “big invasion fleet” coming in a couple months.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Sep 06, 45

Strategic Bombing:

Saigon takes 12 HI hits (~60-70 4E strike), but 4 planes don’t return

Kobe gets swept by thee waves of P47’s and 55 enemy die to 1 P47. By the third wave, CAP was gone.

Fast Raider Fleets:
Fast raider fleets intercepted and sunk the following ships. 10 MTB, 2 DD, 16 LB, 5 xAkl, 4 ML, 3-5 APD, 2 DD took hits, 1 SS. (That big 19 xAK 7 TK fleet turned out to be landing barges!!!!)

In return, 2 of my DD’s, 1 CA, and 1 CL took a shell for minimal damage.

4 subs took mine hits at Tshushima – will reroute them the long way and work on getting some DMS’s in the hex next to that Fusan-Tsushima-Kyushu trifecta of Jappo mines blocking the Sea of Japan.

In the daytime, the following airstrikes occurred:

(18) Zero and (15) Judy kamikaze a 1CA/2DD fleet but miss.
(13) Nell (14) Georgesink 2 US APD’s.
(27) Jill sink 2 DD
6 Zero’s kamikaze against 1CA/2DD, no hits.
(9) Judy (12) Jacks attack a CA/2DD fleet, 7 Judys flame out, no hits.
(27) Jill put a torp into a CA, but 7 die doing so.
(9) Zero and (12) Sally sortie against 4DD and lose 8 Sallys, no hits.
(5) Sally kamikaze the CA Chicago and two strike home.

Formosa: All bases get swept and bombed by 1E/2E from the PI. 8 Jap and 8 Allied planes won’t return.

Carriers:
2 large concentrations of Allied Carriers have entered the East China Sea. Main Body (14CV, 4 CVL, 9BB) moved 2 hexes off of Shangai. Jeep CVs (24CVE) covering 5 Amphib TF’s, 1 LC TF, 3 SCTF, 5 Fast Raider TF’s, 10 SS’s, 2 Minesweepers, are moving on a track towards Saishu To.


The Main Body was targeted by Japanese airstrikes in the AM phase.

In the first wave, (36) D4Y4 Judy attack against (224) F4U-1D Corsair and (344)Hellcats. Needless to say, 25 Judy are gone for good.

In the second wave, 92 Japan 2E (Sally, Helens) escorted by 57 Oscar Tojo meet 500 Cap. 52 Japan ac die, 1 US fighter dies… the CV BonHomme Richard takes a bomb and kamakazi, the BB Wisconsin takes a kami.

In the third wave, (26) Sally/Helen escorted by 33 fighters meet 400 Cap. 23 attackers are shot down for no losses and no hits on ships.

In the afternoon, Main Body sorties against Shanghai, 192 torpedo bombers, 171 DB’s, escorted by 165 cap destroy 12 aircraft on the ground

(73) B29’s target the airfield at Shanghai (of course, in the afternoon, after all the Empire airgroups have sortied) and are met by 44 CAP. No B29’s lost, and they pummel Shanghai, destroying 30 confirmed ac on the ground and 101 Airfield hits.

BonHomme Richard damage stands at 14/5/3. She will continue operations.

For the CVE’s, I accidentally left 2 groups of Avenger’s set to long range naval attack escorted by Wildcats. Well the dummys decided to attack some ships in Nakasaki, and my 110 Wildcats and 15 Avengers met 141 CAP. 17 Wildcats and 6 Avengers were lost before the strike commander decided to turn back.

British Fleet:

The British CV’s get into action first, sinking (6) xAK, (3) E Boats, (1) AK, (1) DD, and the CL Kitakami fleeing Palembang.

Invasions:
Daito Shoto and Amami Oshima are invaded, Daito Shoto falls to the Allies.


Thoughts/Concerns
I had decided to move against the islands off of Kyushu, but after reading Greyjoy and Rader’s aar’s – putting all your eggs into one hex leads to 300 bombers getting through CAP. So I’ve decided to split all my forces and spread them around a hex and all it’s adjacent hexes. Each hex will have major forces in it. The most forward hexes (to the Home Islands) will have a couple of CVE fleets. The second line of defense will have the Amphib forces, the rest of the CVE’s, and a couple of CV fleets. The third line will have the remaining Main Body CV’s. All fighters will be on range 2 CAP, and the islands to be targeted are as shown. I hope to land with overwhelming force, take the islands quickly, and begin building up level 6 and 7 airfields.

Nice work so far AP. I never would have guessed that sweeping a hex adjacent to enemy fighter concentrations could be so effective! Now I know why some players complain about the leaky CAP killing their air defence.

Your plan to take the small islands looks like a great way to cut off shipping from China and southern Korea. Will your bombers be able to reach the bases at the NE corner of Korea too? If not, they will be able to extract IJA units from there through the Sea of Japan.

If you plan to force the Straits of Tsushima you will need to eliminate forts at Fusan, Tsushima or the island south of Tsushima. It took me 2-3 weeks of continuous bombing to eliminate the one on Tsushima. If you plan to bombard with ships, you need to sweep mines just before. Japan seems to have an endless supply of minelaying vessels and no limits on mine production [8|]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Nice work so far AP. I never would have guessed that sweeping a hex adjacent to enemy fighter concentrations could be so effective! Now I know why some players complain about the leaky CAP killing their air defence.

Your plan to take the small islands looks like a great way to cut off shipping from China and southern Korea. Will your bombers be able to reach the bases at the NE corner of Korea too? If not, they will be able to extract IJA units from there through the Sea of Japan.

If you plan to force the Straits of Tsushima you will need to eliminate forts at Fusan, Tsushima or the island south of Tsushima. It took me 2-3 weeks of continuous bombing to eliminate the one on Tsushima. If you plan to bombard with ships, you need to sweep mines just before. Japan seems to have an endless supply of minelaying vessels and no limits on mine production [8|]

Or he could just stage a proper airdrop, unless his opponent has reinforced the Tsushima fortress.

Paratroops are a good idea - unless somebody put Monty in charge of the operation![8|] He's sure to try an island too far so he can personally end the war quickly before that upstart Patton gets in theatre.

I'm pretty sure Cruft has Tsushima heavily fortified. In this game, I can reach those airbases in Korea, but there's too many of them that I think that to shut them all down would take my bombers away from more important tasks - namely, invasion support and HI targeting. I don't need to force the straights, I have a plan

In this game, nearly all the high VP locations are in Japan proper. If I want to win, I think I need to be landing on Japan by the 2nd month of the war. Korea I believe would be great strategic-wise, if this were real war and I wasn't under time constraints to win. I do have a plan for Korea though Weather I put it into effect shortly, or not, remains to be seen, and it's decision is more of a response to Cruft's moves.

He's got choices too... does he evac Korea as much as possible thus giving me the peninsula and all it's airbases and plenty of game time to make it hurt, or does he keep enough forces in Korea to prevent me from taking it too easily? He needs to extract the forces from korea when holding it is no longer a game-winning strategy. He needs to give me those airbases when surrendering them to the allies no longer helps me win the war faster. I have no idea what "date" that is.

The reason I'm sweeping 1 hex away from enemy concentrations is that a proper air defense does not put all fighters into 1 hex on range 0 cap.

A proper air defense, imho, should have all airgroups on CAP with range far enough to provide coverage over multiple airfields. This way, if the enemy targets a base for destruction, the cap and other airplanes are dispersed over enough airfields that it's not 100% wiped out on a single air raid.

As such, I want to drive that CAP range to 0 across Japan, so that any planes flying CAP over Tokyo won't help any planes flying in Yokohama (sp) for example, and then I can really sweep the large cities and wipe out their infrastructure with B29's.

To do that, I need to sweep 1 hex away from Tokyo until Cruft gets pissed off at losing his cap to sweeps against a nothing hex, that he goes through and sets all his CAP ranges to zero... and thus completely loses that airfield interlocking defense feature.

Devious, my friend, devious. I like it.

Good luck!

Cheers,
CC

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

I'm pretty sure Cruft has Tsushima heavily fortified. In this game, I can reach those airbases in Korea, but there's too many of them that I think that to shut them all down would take my bombers away from more important tasks - namely, invasion support and HI targeting. I don't need to force the straights, I have a plan

In this game, nearly all the high VP locations are in Japan proper. If I want to win, I think I need to be landing on Japan by the 2nd month of the war. Korea I believe would be great strategic-wise, if this were real war and I wasn't under time constraints to win. I do have a plan for Korea though Weather I put it into effect shortly, or not, remains to be seen, and it's decision is more of a response to Cruft's moves.

He's got choices too... does he evac Korea as much as possible thus giving me the peninsula and all it's airbases and plenty of game time to make it hurt, or does he keep enough forces in Korea to prevent me from taking it too easily? He needs to extract the forces from korea when holding it is no longer a game-winning strategy. He needs to give me those airbases when surrendering them to the allies no longer helps me win the war faster. I have no idea what "date" that is.

Wasn't thinking of him evacuating Korea but using Korean ports to move his China/Indochina armies back to the home islands. As long as you can reach those ports with your bombers to make shipping pay dearly, you don't really need to take any Korean bases. I doubt he will have much effective fighter cover to put at those ports when he needs them for the Home Islands.

Will be watching for your plan to reveal itself! Good luck!