Ironman insanity - Evoken(A) vs Guctony(Ironman Japan)

[Evoken]

Hello everybody i am starting my first grand campaign PBEM vs guctony with his ironman japan. I have played a few PBEM games before of smaller scenarios , marianas vs mind_messing , guadalcanal vs a discord friend and little bit of grand campaign vs ai but got boring real quick. I am still a bit of a noob but i am on forums reading AAR's everyday.

Here are the realism settings and house rules we agreed on with my opponent:
No December 7th suprise and allied player can create task forces on day 1 , Reliable US Torps - enabled , Realistic R&D , No Unit Withdrawals - enabled , played defined upgrades - enabled , extreme variable reinforcements , automatic replacements and all of that are disabled

House rules;
1)No CV Hunting turn 1
2)Paratroopers; Free to use fragments to capture small island bases but have to bring the whole unit if you are using it elsewhere , either in 1 turn or in the following turns if you cant bring the whole unit.
3)Units cutting retreat must be realistic size of brigade or above ; What does cutting retreat mean = surrounding a hex completely with units and no direction to escape.
4)All PT Boats in the same hex must be in the same task force
5)No Crossing Malacca strait with surface ships untill Japan controls Singapore
6)Fighter altitude limit 20k untill 06/42 , 25k 06/42-01/43 , 30k 43-44 , 35k 44-45 , 40k 45-46
7)No night strat bombing untill 44

My goal is ; try to prevent auto-victory for Japan. I am open to suggestions [:D]

[Evoken]

Lets start with some intell , Ironman Japan starts with 8 Fleet Carriers with capacity of 657 , 6 CVL's with capacity of 278 and 7 CVE's with capacity of 171 that brings the total capacity to 1106 [X(] and 14 more CV's , 9 CVL's + 8 CVE in the build list.
Battleships ; On top of the standart list they get 1 extra nagato and Yamato sisters already built , 1 with KB another one in Kota Baharu Heavy cover force. BB reinforcements ; +1 Yamato , +4 Kongo , +1 Nagato and 4 German BB's arrive at Indian Ocean i believe.
Cruisers: Heavy cruisers list only one and a half page long but they only get 3 German Cruisers as heavy cruiser reinforcements , Light Cruisers; A lot + 12 Building

Conclusion from this; I gotta be extra carefull with carriers , shift all the shipment to East Coast and have BB escorts with my convoys just like Atlantic convoys.

[Evoken]

I am thinking about abandoning China and moving all the chinese corps to india to make a proper defense there , question is do i try to hold untill i run out of supply or start leaving from day 1 ?

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: Evoken
I am thinking about abandoning China and moving all the chinese corps to india to make a proper defense there , question is do i try to hold untill i run out of supply or start leaving from day 1 ?

Sure, you should stand and fight in favourable terrain with sizeable rearguard. Defending is easy, and your units are rather expendable. It becomes harder for China when supply runs out, but until that it would be counterproductive to run

[HansBolter]

Suggestion: Don't agree to play the Allied side in a Japanese Fanbois doctored wet dream Ironman scenario.


When he asked if you would agree to play the Allies in an Ironman scenario the answer should have been 'sure as long as it is Ironman Japan'.


You have admitted that you have not played a full campaign scenario. You don't even have a feel for how things need to be done in a stock scenario, how can you expect to have any idea of how things will need to be done against an opponent on steriods?

A somewhat brutal assessment, but this looks headed for an early crash and burn.

[Evoken]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Suggestion: Don't agree to play the Allied side in a Japanese Fanbois doctored wet dream Ironman scenario.


When he asked if you would agree to play the Allies in an Ironman scenario the answer should have been 'sure as long as it is Ironman Japan'.


You have admitted that you have not played a full campaign scenario. You don't even have a feel for how things need to be done in a stock scenario, how can you expect to have any idea of how things will need to be done against an opponent on steriods?

A somewhat brutal assessment, but this looks headed for an early crash and burn.

I actually don't mind the alternative history scenarios even if its unrealistic. I love a good challenge thats why i agreed to this game and i dont mind losing.
PBEM games usually take 5-6 years minimum to playthrough , i believe i will improve a lot during this time period [:)]

[jwolf]

ORIGINAL: Evoken

PBEM games usually take 5-6 years minimum to play through ...]

Possibly a lot shorter against a human ironman! [;)]

[inqistor]

ORIGINAL: Evoken

I am thinking about abandoning China and moving all the chinese corps to india to make a proper defense there , question is do i try to hold untill i run out of supply or start leaving from day 1 ?

I don't recall AI being particularly strong in China in that Scenario, although it might be because of script. Are there extra Japanese forces in China? In stock Japan is quite weak between Shanghai, and Hong Kong, you should move few Armies there and try to attack.
You want to keep supply road from Burma open as long as possible, So move some Chinese to Burma, and let them fight there first.

Those German Raiders are funny, but they are so out of position, that you have great target for hunting with your CVs.

[HansBolter]

I play Ironman scenarios against the AI as they were designed for.

I too don't mind ahistorical scenarios and capabilities.

You either misinterpreted the point of my post or purposely chose a deflecting answer.

Agreeing to play a scenario designed to give the under performing AI a better chance, against a human opponent, who has added yet more personal tweaks, is the sign of a pure masochist.

All I can add is that I hope you enjoy it.

[ChuckBerger]

You either misinterpreted the point of my post or purposely chose a deflecting answer.

Wow. You made a suggestion / comment in a new AAR thread. The person writing the AAR responded courteously. And you come back with this? Dude...

[mind_messing]

Agreeing to play a scenario designed to give the under performing AI a better chance, against a human opponent, who has added yet more personal tweaks, is the sign of a pure masochist.

That's how you should describe every Japan player in the stock scenarios [;)]

[RangerJoe]

Lets see. The no surprise, reliable torpedoes, and no withdrawls do favor the Allies. PDU On helps both but Japan more with the Research and Development favoring Japan tremendously.

Build up all of your off map and CONUS/Canada bases for their VPs. Protect Portland from a smash and grab raid. Have units in CONUS ready to rail to any possible base as emergency anti-invasion forces. Do NOT forget to have pickets and naval search on the West Coast of the US and Canada.

Build massive forts at Prince Rupert as well as the base in the mountains along the rail line, also the base on the north end of Vancoover Island. You want to inhibit an invasion and strategic bombing of the US which could eliminate your industries and resources.

[Evoken]

Here is a quick glance at difference , looks like japan gets a lot more divisions + 2 tank divisions ready in manchuria

[Evoken]

ORIGINAL: inqistor

Those German Raiders are funny, but they are so out of position, that you have great target for hunting with your CVs.

I just looked at the editor , i was wrong about spawn position.

Admiral Scheer and 3 seperate AMC's spawns close to Port Blair
Admiral Hipper spawns close to Sydney
Admiral Lutzow spawns close to Cocos Island
Scharhorst , Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen spawns close to Perth

And we got extreme variation in Reinforcements +/-60 days it will make it very hard to predict when they will arrive

[RangerJoe]

Don't forget to protect the USSR either if he has a lot more units. With that areas resources and industry safe from your attacks, he can support a lot of action for a long time. He can then probably replace a lot more lost squads that you might think possible.

[Evoken]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Lets see. The no surprise, reliable torpedoes, and no withdrawls do favor the Allies. PDU On helps both but Japan more with the Research and Development favoring Japan tremendously.

Build up all of your off map and CONUS/Canada bases for their VPs. Protect Portland from a smash and grab raid. Have units in CONUS ready to rail to any possible base as emergency anti-invasion forces. Do NOT forget to have pickets and naval search on the West Coast of the US and Canada.

Build massive forts at Prince Rupert as well as the base in the mountains along the rail line, also the base on the north end of Vancoover Island. You want to inhibit an invasion and strategic bombing of the US which could eliminate your industries and resources.

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Don't forget to protect the USSR either if he has a lot more units. With that areas resources and industry safe from your attacks, he can support a lot of action for a long time. He can then probably replace a lot more lost squads that you might think possible.

Good advice , i will fortify west coast (specially Portland) and move some US Divisions to Canada as well. I suspect he will try not to trigger emergency reinforcements but i believe a strategic bombing campaign will be coming

[Evoken]

With No December 7th suprise i believe he will not attack Pearl Harbor but i will prepare as if he is going to. I can create task forces on day 1 so manilla attack likely cancelled or at least subs will survive , where could be his next target with KB ? I suspect a mersing gambit is coming day 1

[GetAssista]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe
Don't forget to protect the USSR either if he has a lot more units. With that areas resources and industry safe from your attacks, he can support a lot of action for a long time. He can then probably replace a lot more lost squads that you might think possible.

You cannot protect USSR because it is inactive until smashed and holed up in Vlad peninsula. Only China is nearby but has its own hands full.
What the OP can do is to prioritize stiff resistance in the North, so that there is opportunity to sneak supplies to the USSR in 43-44 to help them defend, and then later land units and bombers to stage strategic bombing from close by

[Cheesesteak]

Best of luck. You're gonna need it!

[CaptBeefheart]

Good luck. This should be a major challenge. It helps somewhat that your torps work and you can use restricted squadrons for pilot training throughout the war.

You're going to find that it's difficult to keep your RN flight decks full, as their torp bomber replacements are tiny. You might want to put some USMC squadrons on the Brit carriers. Actually, if you didn't boost your aircraft production at all, you'll be hurting for naval aircraft across the board into 1943. You'll want to choose your early CV battles very carefully.

I'd consider running a number of off-map convoys (such as Eastern US to Cristobal and Cape Town). You'll probably want to run convoys from Balboa to Christchurch or Wellington by way of Tahiti or thereabouts. Anyway, against the computer you have to do that--against a human your mileage may vary. The Indian Ocean will also probably be an unfriendly place for convoys.

Cheers,
CB