Absolute Trainwreck , Evoken (A) vs Desertwolf101 (J)

[Evoken]

Hello everyone , welcome to my AAR!

Desertwolf emailed me to see if i wanted to pick up as Allies in his Empire of the Sun game as his opponent slowed down a lot with the turns. His words in email were "clearly not the ideal situation for Allies" but i didnt expect this much of a trainwreck [X(] Its 10 May 1942 Allied losses are as follows ;

1)Complete loss of China , Burma , Eastern India , Northern Australia , Southwest Pacific
2)14k Allied Army points lost compared to 400 Japanese , 517 Allied ships sunk vs 44 Japan , 2000 Allied aircraft lost vs 1000 Japan

On top of all these issues , there is
Almost non existent training program , lack of support ships , lack of forward bases in pacific , lackluster fort building everywhere , critical amount lost of tankers and heavy bombers.

Desertwolf said he wants to play this untill the end , he is not playing for Auto Victory as its beyond recovery point from AV for Allies. VP ratio is 7 to 1 at 35k Japanese points and 5k for Allies.
Wolf said he will activate Soviets to help me but i am not sure if thats gonna help me at all as he can focus a massive Army to Soviet front as China is completely lost.

I asked for a small change to scenario to give fast transport capability to Allies like Japan has to help me recover a bit and if he feels mercifull he could activate NZ emergency reinforcements

Here are some screenshots ;
Strategic Map


Naval summary from Tracker ;


Allied Air losses from Tracker ;


Japanese Air losses from Tracker ;


Highest VP Allied Naval losses from Tracker ;
Does anyone know where Maiao is ? Looks like commander before me lost CV's there to what i suspect is a carrier clash


Highest VP Japanese Naval losses from Tracker ;
Wolf said he only lost 2 CVL's so i assume Kaga is still alive and kicking

[ushakov]

Maiao is one of the little islets off Tahiti. Guess it must have been a carrier clash, but that's maybe the oddest location for one I've ever seen in-game.

[Evoken]

Situation in India
There is about 2000 AV from competant units in India , i am thinking about pulling everything to Bombay as its x4 Terrain with a large port , if they hold long enough at Bombay i can reinforce them in the future. One downside is it will be open to naval bombardement , other option is hold in a landlocked place but i dont see any JR base i can reach in time and without a port it would make future relief operation really hard. I think i will opt for Bombay.

In China a lot of fighter squadrons are cut off from any retreat. I can withdraw them but question is , where would they show up with Chungking lost ? I am really hoping for Capetown.

[mind_messing]

Situation looks bad, but not unsalvageable.

Looking at the strategic map, I'd try to leverage the Allied toehold in the North Pacific to create a drain on the opposite side of the map from the main IJ strength in India.

A lot of ground lost in SWPAC. To me, that would make me look towards a CentPac campaign to bypass the Japanese gains south of Rabual. Given your position, I'd aim for a bid for Wake and Marcus by early 1943 to put more options on the table for later in 1943.

[Evoken]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Situation looks bad, but not unsalvageable.

Looking at the strategic map, I'd try to leverage the Allied toehold in the North Pacific to create a drain on the opposite side of the map from the main IJ strength in India.

A lot of ground lost in SWPAC. To me, that would make me look towards a CentPac campaign to bypass the Japanese gains south of Rabual. Given your position, I'd aim for a bid for Wake and Marcus by early 1943 to put more options on the table for later in 1943.

Absolutely , main issue is the KB. With only 2 IJN CVL lost vs 5 Allied CV's KB will have numerical superiority for a long time and i dont want to pull another Mundy vs Castor disaster by trying to go against a super KB in 43. I would only try such an operation if KB is guaranteed to be far away

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Evoken

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Situation looks bad, but not unsalvageable.

Looking at the strategic map, I'd try to leverage the Allied toehold in the North Pacific to create a drain on the opposite side of the map from the main IJ strength in India.

A lot of ground lost in SWPAC. To me, that would make me look towards a CentPac campaign to bypass the Japanese gains south of Rabual. Given your position, I'd aim for a bid for Wake and Marcus by early 1943 to put more options on the table for later in 1943.

Absolutely , main issue is the KB. With only 2 IJN CVL lost vs 5 Allied CV's KB will have numerical superiority for a long time and i dont want to pull another Mundy vs Castor disaster by trying to go against a super KB in 43. I would only try such an operation if KB is guaranteed to be far away

Not necessarily - the KB's ability to react is determined on both it's location, and the warning time it gets of a pending Allied move. The warning time depends on IJ naval search, and with borders like the image above, it's going to be stretched thin covering a lot of ocean. The KB being at Truk is meaningless if the Allies can get in undetected and away in two turns.

I would start sending DD's out to probe all along the South-West Pacific area, with a mission of generally drawing IJ interest and assets to that area, and looking to do damage where possible. In the Central Pacific, I'd be much more reserved - try to get a sense of what quantity of naval search is deployed. Nibble with paratroopers and fast transports to keep the IJ on the defensive - Nemo had some interesting ideas for this sort of operation in similar circumstances.

I would also consider a large scale deception prior to the commencement of a CentPac campaign - bang the drum and loudly signal your intentions of landing (and even invade for real) in an area where you've a good degree of intel on as a means of diverting the IJ's attention a week prior to the "real" invasion. Horn Island is a good candidate for this, given the geography involved and the proximity to good bases for land based air.

The other, higher risk approach, is to hedge your bets. Landing at Wake, Marcus and Iwo Jima all at the same time forces Japan to pick one and the expense of the other two.

[Lowpe]

M-M is right, he usually is.

Overall: Get good recon and navs up so you can figure out what you face.

Tactical Allied advantages to use: night bombing, destroyer raids, sub intelligence, intel, deep and over extended IJ perimeter, interior lines.

India: Before you begin a pell mell retreat, assess what you are facing and protect yourself from deep invasions. If you give up ground quickly, it allows Japan to take forward bases with minimal troops establishing their rail lines while your troops sit idle in the rear. What reinforcements are on the way there if any outside of the normally appearing?

Australia: Supply from Cape Town.

Midway: Don't lose it. use the dot bases around it.

Aleutians: Try to fight there, develop it. Build up Alaska and Canada ports.

My primary goal would be to hold as much of India as I could, while developing either a Tavoy invasion or Midway area for an early 1944 attack on Kuriles, Hokkaido, Marianas, Marcus, or even the Marshalls. Demonstrations could be made elsewhere, like Timor area.

With so much in India, I would favor an all out attack on Tavoy area with pretty much everything, after luring the KB out in the Pacific. Cut the Singers rail line and look to surround Bangkok. Japan is a giant egg, crack it and drive deep.

Of course that is easier said than done. You have to work at regaining some initiative somewhere...

[Bif1961]

Good luck and I hope you are a patient man. The good news is you can't do much worse.

[Nomad]

ORIGINAL: Evoken

Situation in India
There is about 2000 AV from competant units in India , i am thinking about pulling everything to Bombay as its x4 Terrain with a large port , if they hold long enough at Bombay i can reinforce them in the future. One downside is it will be open to naval bombardement , other option is hold in a landlocked place but i dont see any JR base i can reach in time and without a port it would make future relief operation really hard. I think i will opt for Bombay.

In China a lot of fighter squadrons are cut off from any retreat. I can withdraw them but question is , where would they show up with Chungking lost ? I am really hoping for Capetown.

They next go to Chengtu. If both are lost, they do not appear anywhere.

[CaptBeefheart]

You've lost a lot of xAKs and TKs it looks like. From a logistical perspective, you are probably doing this, but if not you should consider setting up supply and fuel runs from Cape Town to Hobart and Port Stanley to Tahiti (or an island further south) to Christchurch. That means you also need East Coast to Cape Town and Port Stanley runs (and you'll need to send naval support and engineers to Port Stanley).

You're in a tough situation but the allies still get a lot more toys. Some good advice from the chaps above on strategic moves.

Cheers,
CB

[Evoken]

Thanks for the good wishes and advice! I think i will take a carefull agression approach untill i am strong enough

[RangerJoe]

You might want to build up Karachi and the bases forward from it. It is easier to resupply from off map than Bombay plus the reinforcements from Aden can make it there easier and with less risk.

[RangerJoe]

Also, fortify and hold Socotra. If you hold Karachi, you can send convoys from Capetown to Aden thence to Karachi. Socotra protects these convoys.