After my last PBEM with Jansako fell through due to real life obligations, I'm hoping this one with Togus will run a bit longer. This AAR should be mostly some planning and information dump in few in game day chunks.
We are playing LST's masterpiece, Bottlenecks in the Pacific, scenario 61, limited production. PDU off, otherwise pretty standard. Standard HRs apply, sweeping in 2nd highest MVR band, paying PP to cross national borders, no naval bombing under 2000 ft except for attack bombers, as well as LSTs suggested mod specific HRs.
Lets start evacuating those civvies and bringing pain to the Empire!
Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
WEEK 1
We are currently at December 15th. Situation as follows:
CONUS
We started the game with ships set to auto upgrade, and a lot of xAKs at the start dont have any armaments fitted, which means merchant shipping that started had a few days of port time to install them. Also all ships start with some amount of damage, and if you want to send clean ships to sea it means there will be some cooldown at start till they get repaired. So shipping out of CONUS in first week has been scarce, two tanker convoys departed for Auckland and some supply sent to Alaska and that is pretty much it. Three very valuable Catalina squadrons were sent to Hawaii to augment the ones struck hard on Dec 7th attacks, with pair of them left at West Coast flying ASW for now. Some sub sightings at Victoria and San Francisco, no attacks so far. Pilot training set up has been priority so far. Also, organizing units to be sent away when shipping is available. What I love in this mod is you dont start swimming in supply few days in, no more 1944 production in 1942, SF is currently sitting on only120k supply.
CENTPAC
Historical Pearl Harbor strike, some sub infestation, accounts for couple xAKLs. Trying to set up air search network to prevent any further surprises. Midway would be nice to hold and will get some reinforcements, but I wont risk too much for it. He tried infiltrating PH base with a sub, and defensive minefield did its job. Scratch one annoyance.
SOPAC
Usually this is my main early line of advance and, as historically, very important for guarding lines of communication with Australia and New Zealand. Noumea will get airframes, a regiment from 24th and 25th division, engineers and air support as soon as shipping is available. Suva gets one Marine Regiment for now (1st MarDiv starts restricted in this scenario), Pago Pago will get regiment from 2nd MarDiv when possible. Canton Island is another place I like to keep if possible, it will get US Army Separate Regiment, Marine Defense Battalion, some AA and Catalinas for now. Bora Bora or Tahiti will probably be developed as refueling stop for southbound convoys.
SWPAC
Darwin gets reinforced and pumped with supply and fuel before he gets Timor. Port Moresby will get 8th Aus Div from Singapore and some coastal guns and aircraft if it survives long enough. Another one of the bases important for my grand strategy in the area. Milne Bay I doubt will survive, but I will try to get some defense there as well. If they fall, Cairns, Townsville and Charter Towers get priority for buildup. Lots of shipping on the move to where they need to be. Longer legged ships go to CONUS to fetch units and supplies and aircraft, short legged stuff will be used closer to frontlines.
DEI/Malaya
Falling back to Singapore. So far I've never had ,much luck defending forward at Johore, my units would just get mauled for the final stand, so now Im mostly concentrating on fortifying Singapore itself. Force Z is evacuated further south in a remote island off of Java, waiting for better time to strike back. This time I will try defending DEI a bit more aggressive on the naval side, so Asiatic Fleet, some British and Dutch cruisers, basically ABDA fleet will stay and fight. No real land reinforcements for Java, mostly concentrating in Batavia and Soerebaja. Oh and civilians. Soooo many civilians to save. Most Dutch Dorniers are ferrying them from remote islands to a collection points.
Phillippines
Pretty standard, Manila, Clark, Bataan triangle on Luzon. Mostly Clark, Manila will be left with some 600 AV. Supply is on the move to Clark and Bataan. Subs are getting some hits, but nothing substantial. B-17s from FEAF have been hitting targets of opportunity, Cam Ranh Bay, Takao, Palaus, scoring some hits on CL Jintsu in CRB after she ate a torpedo, so she is out of action for a bit. Also consolidating defenses on some islands so they dont get destroyed piecemeal. There was a few unescorted strikes on Clark, resulting in 60ish IJN bombers going down in flames. Few days after Zero sweeps came and decimated my P-40s at Luzon and Buffaloes at Malaya.
CBI
Ahh, where to start here... My least favorite part of the game. Nothing special, regrouping at Rangoon, from there some units will go further north, most to stay in Rangoon or Pegu to hold the line. AVG is mostly in Burma, with one squadron in China trying to ambush unescorted raids. Chittagong needs reinforcements, Dacca needs engineers to work on its airfield. Ceylon will get 18th British Division and at least a brigade from Aus I Corps. In China forming a solid frontline is priority, also moving from vulnerable positions. Chengchow and Loyang are probably first to be struck so reinforcements are inbound. Sian will get some as well.
Thats pretty much it for the first week, I'd say Im off to decent start, no significant losses so far and I dished out some punches to his airforce as well.
We are currently at December 15th. Situation as follows:
CONUS
We started the game with ships set to auto upgrade, and a lot of xAKs at the start dont have any armaments fitted, which means merchant shipping that started had a few days of port time to install them. Also all ships start with some amount of damage, and if you want to send clean ships to sea it means there will be some cooldown at start till they get repaired. So shipping out of CONUS in first week has been scarce, two tanker convoys departed for Auckland and some supply sent to Alaska and that is pretty much it. Three very valuable Catalina squadrons were sent to Hawaii to augment the ones struck hard on Dec 7th attacks, with pair of them left at West Coast flying ASW for now. Some sub sightings at Victoria and San Francisco, no attacks so far. Pilot training set up has been priority so far. Also, organizing units to be sent away when shipping is available. What I love in this mod is you dont start swimming in supply few days in, no more 1944 production in 1942, SF is currently sitting on only120k supply.
CENTPAC
Historical Pearl Harbor strike, some sub infestation, accounts for couple xAKLs. Trying to set up air search network to prevent any further surprises. Midway would be nice to hold and will get some reinforcements, but I wont risk too much for it. He tried infiltrating PH base with a sub, and defensive minefield did its job. Scratch one annoyance.
SOPAC
Usually this is my main early line of advance and, as historically, very important for guarding lines of communication with Australia and New Zealand. Noumea will get airframes, a regiment from 24th and 25th division, engineers and air support as soon as shipping is available. Suva gets one Marine Regiment for now (1st MarDiv starts restricted in this scenario), Pago Pago will get regiment from 2nd MarDiv when possible. Canton Island is another place I like to keep if possible, it will get US Army Separate Regiment, Marine Defense Battalion, some AA and Catalinas for now. Bora Bora or Tahiti will probably be developed as refueling stop for southbound convoys.
SWPAC
Darwin gets reinforced and pumped with supply and fuel before he gets Timor. Port Moresby will get 8th Aus Div from Singapore and some coastal guns and aircraft if it survives long enough. Another one of the bases important for my grand strategy in the area. Milne Bay I doubt will survive, but I will try to get some defense there as well. If they fall, Cairns, Townsville and Charter Towers get priority for buildup. Lots of shipping on the move to where they need to be. Longer legged ships go to CONUS to fetch units and supplies and aircraft, short legged stuff will be used closer to frontlines.
DEI/Malaya
Falling back to Singapore. So far I've never had ,much luck defending forward at Johore, my units would just get mauled for the final stand, so now Im mostly concentrating on fortifying Singapore itself. Force Z is evacuated further south in a remote island off of Java, waiting for better time to strike back. This time I will try defending DEI a bit more aggressive on the naval side, so Asiatic Fleet, some British and Dutch cruisers, basically ABDA fleet will stay and fight. No real land reinforcements for Java, mostly concentrating in Batavia and Soerebaja. Oh and civilians. Soooo many civilians to save. Most Dutch Dorniers are ferrying them from remote islands to a collection points.
Phillippines
Pretty standard, Manila, Clark, Bataan triangle on Luzon. Mostly Clark, Manila will be left with some 600 AV. Supply is on the move to Clark and Bataan. Subs are getting some hits, but nothing substantial. B-17s from FEAF have been hitting targets of opportunity, Cam Ranh Bay, Takao, Palaus, scoring some hits on CL Jintsu in CRB after she ate a torpedo, so she is out of action for a bit. Also consolidating defenses on some islands so they dont get destroyed piecemeal. There was a few unescorted strikes on Clark, resulting in 60ish IJN bombers going down in flames. Few days after Zero sweeps came and decimated my P-40s at Luzon and Buffaloes at Malaya.
CBI
Ahh, where to start here... My least favorite part of the game. Nothing special, regrouping at Rangoon, from there some units will go further north, most to stay in Rangoon or Pegu to hold the line. AVG is mostly in Burma, with one squadron in China trying to ambush unescorted raids. Chittagong needs reinforcements, Dacca needs engineers to work on its airfield. Ceylon will get 18th British Division and at least a brigade from Aus I Corps. In China forming a solid frontline is priority, also moving from vulnerable positions. Chengchow and Loyang are probably first to be struck so reinforcements are inbound. Sian will get some as well.
Thats pretty much it for the first week, I'd say Im off to decent start, no significant losses so far and I dished out some punches to his airforce as well.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
December 26 1941
I'd say pretty standard start for me, nothing too game altering happening:
I'd say pretty standard start for me, nothing too game altering happening:
- CONUS accumulating supply. Some of it went out to Pearl, not too much considering shipping limitations. Huge troop, aircraft, supply, fuel convoy departed for SoPac and Australia under watchful eye of CVs Saratoga and Enterprise. I prefer sending them this big at first and under CV, ASW and surface escort.
- He seems to be pretty aggressive with his subs infiltrating ports, that resulted with 2-3 I-Boats hitting mines. Not sure how much damage Mk6 does to an I-Boat but that can't be healthy for them.
- Some Marines unloaded at Canton, as well as 2 AVPs and a Catalina squadron. One squadron is on the move towards Ellice Islands to further improve and interlock search patterns in CentPac and SoPac. Midway and Johnston have squadron each as well.
- 22nd AIF Bgd unloaded at Perth and will move to Port Moresby via Townsville. 27nd is following in a day or two.
- 18th UK Division on the move to Colombo.
- Zero sweeps proved deadly to Buffaloes and Warhawks early war, leaving Luzon and Singapore pretty much without air defense. B-17s left behind on Clark Field hit some targets of opportunity but without too much result. Buffaloes left for Java to rest and recuperate for imminent invasion. Supply is on the move from Manila to Bataan via barges to further the stockpile for the last stand there.
- Asiatic Fleet subs get a decent number of hits on large xAPs among others, but those darn Mk14's are so bad.
- ABDA Cruiser Force and Force Z is hiding in remote island off of Java waiting for an opportunity to strike, maybe at Balikpapan/Tarakan invasion? So far he took only Miri on Borneo, and it has 90/91 damage to its oil fields.
- Rangoon has 900AV and progressing to lvl 4 forts, but it seems to be too easy to isolate, so defending a bit forward at Pegu will probably be step #1 in Burma. Still not sure what to do with Northern Burma. Maybe buy out some Chinese units for defense? Chittagong got some engineers and 48th Gurkha Bgd for now.
- Quiet in China, used it to try some AVG sweeps followed by Chinese bombers at Hankow. Will see how that turns out next turn.
- Not trying to do full 'Sir Robin' but I'm evacuating some key assets, like sub tenders and large ARD from Manila, fast xAPs from DEI... He doesn't seem to be interdicting them too aggressively, losses are way less than my last PBEM.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
January 5 1942 - Into the New Year
- Convoy to reinforce New Hebrides left San Francisco with a marine regiment, some AA and base forces, as well as coastal artillery. No CV escort for this one, so routing is pretty far south, pit stop at Bora Bora.
- Shipping bottleneck is real, I currently have zero xAKs or xAPs at CONUS sitting idle, with troops patiently waiting to get in the fight.
- Interlocking air search further with VP squadrons at Funafuti and Suva, so other than through Coral Sea IJN shouldn't be able to penetrate Hawaii-Fiji barrier to the south, where our convoys go.
- 8th Aus Div is on mainland, awaiting shipping for New Guinea. Looking to really make a stand at Port Moresby, with 2 CD battalions, some arty, AA and 8th Division plus two CMF Brigades. A lot of mines and PT Boats as well, aircraft on the way.
- Lone AMC gets two good 16kn TKs off of Suva, but thats not enough to impact operations down south.
- CA SAG ambushes his pretty big supply run to Wake Island, sinking two CLs, AMC and 4 DDs.
- Our subs have been pretty ineffective so far, I deployed an AS and a squadron of subs at Brisbane to see if I can stir up some trouble at Truk and later Rabaul area. With increased mine production in this mod I have been using them pretty aggressively. DD hits one at Truk and is presumably sunk, multiple IJN subs hit them at Batavia, Soerebaja and Sydney, far from home.
- Still not sure what to do with my CVs, by the looks of some of the strikes at least 1 CV and 1-2 CVLs are in South China Sea. Im getting high volumes of radio traffic from Truk and Marshalls, so maybe they are on the way down south? Precautions are taken, with increased naval search and keeping an eye on high value assets in the area. So far my CVs are used mostly in large convoy escort duties till I can at least replace all Buffaloes and train pilots up.
- Defenses have been set on Luzon, now we are just waiting for hammer to drop. Bataan has stockpiled 45k supply, preparing for siege. Everything worth getting out has been evacuated, with negligent losses.
- Main order of business in DEI has been rounding up all the civilians and shipping them to safety. Batavia and Soerebaja are my main concentrations of troops, with ABDA SAG patiently waiting to come out to play.
- In China he seems to be pushing for Nanyang from south east, maybe looking to outflank Chegchow and Loyang?
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
Search patterns, but they dont seem to be displaying correctly in Tracker. Those arcs in CentPac are interlocking, and there is some B-17 search from Townsville covering entrance to Coral Sea.
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
China possible line(s) of advance
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
Air losses. Catalinas hurt by far the most
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
Ship losses. TKs hurt, but its still not a problem, TK capacity is sufficient for now.
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
January 13 1942
- IJN SAG detected entering Makkassar Strait from the East and ABDA Force comes out to play. IJN Atago goes down under alog with a CL and 4 DDs, in return dishing only minor damage to Boise.
- IJN gets revenge though, I-Boat torpedoes damaged CA Chicago returning from last weeks Wake Island mission. 4 torpedoes and it's gone.
- Still no moves for Balikpapan or Tarakan, which I expected would happen by now.
- Port Moresby got an AIF Brigade, some US arty and air engineers, so when they unload, an entire P-39 air group will get stationed there.
- Suva reinforced by newly formed 14th and 8th NZ Brigades. Marines on the way in a few days.
- Pago Pago got Marine Regiment and some Port Engineers. Bora Bora got station tankers and oilers to serve as a pit stop for stuff moving south.
- Oilers on the move to Tonga Islands to serve as SoPac carrier base. Far from action to be safe but not too far to be effective. Will get an AKE ASAP, but those take 90 days to convert in this mod.
- Noumea gets huge convoy in about 5 days under CV Enterprise cover. Most of the Americal Division gets loaded into converted liners at East Coast to go to Noumea as well and to cover Koumac further north on New Caledonia. Large aircraft convoy to arrive in Brisbane in about a week, to be a start of US Army Fifth Air Force.
- IJA troops a hex south of Manila, looking to make contact soon.
- Still short on shipping in CONUS, but in two days large contingent of xAKs will transit Panama Canal to serve in Pacific, which will help a lot. When I get some excess engineers I plan on moving some to Panama to improve base, to serve as another starting point for convoys to New Zealand.
- Still basing my subs out of Manila but I had zero luck so far with them. They may get another week there then of to Soerebaja.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
January 21 1942
Not much happening this week, I honestly have no idea why it's taking my opponent this long to assault some places like Balikpapan or Rabaul.
Not much happening this week, I honestly have no idea why it's taking my opponent this long to assault some places like Balikpapan or Rabaul.
- Empire advanced units have reached Johore, I assume consolidating for crossing Johore Strait.
- Some CV activity south of Truk, if Catalinas are to trust there is only one CV.
- While he waits Port Moresby gets beefier, as well as Noumea, Lugainville and Canton Island.
- He seems to be going backdoor to Chengchow in China, looking to cut off his spearhead once he moves a bit more forward. Chengchow has 2300 AV but needs supply.
- Lexington sisters and Yorktown day out of Tongatapu where they will top off from oilers and move north into Coral Sea.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
February 1 1942
A lot of action this past 10 days.
A lot of action this past 10 days.
- IJA crossed Johore Strait but still no attack. That is good since fortifications are 98% till level 4.
- 1700AV in Manila vs 800AV in defense. Will probably take couple of attack before the fall. Mindanao force is still holding out in mountains of Malaybay. Asiatic Fleet subs have been rebased to Soerebaja.
- Unexpected carrier clash in Coral Sea. I ran Enterprise up north to possibly interfere with Rabaul landings, and was spotted by IJN submarine east of Brisbane. I should have brought it back and abort the operation but I went through. Kido Butai then sprinted south and unleashed 150+ plane strike on Enterprise TF, just pure luck saved her as she only got 1 torpedo and another one struck a heavy cruiser, damage being minimal. Kido Butai seems to chill at Rabaul for the time being. TF is on its way to Sydney for repairs, and Japanese have a foothold in the area, holding Rabaul and Kavieng.
- Port Moresby now has 75 fighters and its land defenses get stronger day by day, to be reinforced by 29th Brigade. Airstrip is being prepped for 4EB operations.
- Lugainville and Noumea got its first wave of garrisons and engineers, Suva has 650AV there. Pago Pago will get a regiment and Canton Island will get 298th Regiment recombining at Pearl Harbor currently. Bora Bora operates as a pit stop for southbound convoys. Problem so far in south has been availability of fast oilers, having all of my CVs down south they eat up a lot.
- DEI is surprisingly quiet so far, still no moves for Balikpapan or Tarakan. He just started sweeping and bombing Batavia from Sinkagawak. A series of clashes happened on surface in Makkassar Strait. Exchange went to the Japanese. First Force Z reinforced by some ABDA cruisers ran into CA TF and sent 2CAs, a CL and couple destroyers under, but following that TF was 2BB squadron which aggressively pursued my shipa damaged and low on ammo, sinking PoW, Repulse and most of Dutch cruisers. ABDA squadron is now Houston, Boise, couple of British cruisers and an assortment of various destroyers.
- Loyang fell in China, its defenders retreating with minimal casualties to Chengchow. His supply must be sketchy since he has 3000AV worth of troops in the area. There ate currently guerilla operations in motion to disrupt it even further.
- Sub war has been very quiet on both sides. My subs dont even shoot a lot and when they do torpedoes dont work, and his sub force is I assume somewhat slowed down by the losses he took so far. His only success was hitting two unescorted tankers off of Ceylon, with only one sinking.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
February 11 1942
Line running Dutch Harbor - Midway - Hawaii - Line Islands - Canton Island - Samoa - Fiji - New Hebrides - Port Moresby - Darwin - Akyab - Ledo is looking good and will only get stronger. A bit forward there are speed bumps like Pegu with lvl 4 forts and 900AV, Clark Field which will take a while to reduce, a bit reinforced Java...
IJN Losses:
- Few attack on Singapore, only one managed to knock down forts to lvl 3. Regular bombing, as far as Im concerned he can keep going, I don't mind that heavy AA knocking down IJN bombers with its pilots. RAF evacuated Singapore long time ago and has successfully set up couple CAP traps at Palembang and Batavia.
- After couple deliberate attacks I withdrew Manila garrison to Clark Field. Manila fell February 6th as an open city.
- SWPac looking solid so far. Enemy recon over Port Moresby but that about it. I suspect KB is somewhere down south, maybe Truk, but I haven't seen it in last 10 days. I'm preparing reinforcements for Milne Bay. With the influx of air power from CONUS there is not enough aviation support, so now when there are enough xAPs in San Francisco, I'm buying out some CONUS base forces to go to Australia. MacArthur set up his command in Melbourne for now.
- My carriers are at Noumea with its oiler group, waiting for Enterprise TF to finish repairs to join them.
- All heavy surface forces evacuated Java for Australia, leaving behind token force of Dutch destroyers. Balikpapan fell, Tarakan will probably get attacked soon as well. Makassar Strait is swimming with friendly subs as my opponent has a habit of running SAGs down through there.
- Still no contact at Chengchow. Red Chinese guerillas cutting off IJA supply lines and fleeing. More diversions are planned.
- PT Boats from Corregidor attack Lingayen Gulf transport group, sinking two large xAPs, scoring 3 fish into each one. Submarines get two xAKs south of Tokyo and at entrance to Inland Sea. Those Mk 14s finally decided to work.
- Fuel situation down south could be better. Auckland has a decent reserve but Australia is short. Around 200k on the move from Los Angeles but it will take a while.
Line running Dutch Harbor - Midway - Hawaii - Line Islands - Canton Island - Samoa - Fiji - New Hebrides - Port Moresby - Darwin - Akyab - Ledo is looking good and will only get stronger. A bit forward there are speed bumps like Pegu with lvl 4 forts and 900AV, Clark Field which will take a while to reduce, a bit reinforced Java...
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
March 2nd 1942
Game progresses at a pretty nice pace , we have been doing two turns a day lately.
General
My opponent seems to be relatively passive or risk averse player. No aggressive expansion, no KB roaming around wreaking havoc, no aggressive sweeps, no surface raids on my LOC... At least that is my impression in the first few months of war, but who knows, maybe something big is brewing in the background. Not sure where KB is now and I dont like that, but I suspect it is at Rabaul or Truk. CV Hornet arrives soon as well as Doolittles bombers. I dont thing one off strike at Home Islands is worth the risk, so Im looking for a recommendation on where to unleash them. Maybe surprise raid on Truk, hoping to catch some shipping in port?
CONUS
Industry repairs nicely, I forgot to put oil centers to repair in CONUS so LA refinery failed to produce for a few turns. Not a big deal. Supply is good, with San Francisco running a 1M stockpile. Shipping bottleneck also eases up a lot, troop transports as well as cargo haulers. Submarine force remains mostly ineffective, with limited number of attacks and defective Mk XIV. Have to change sub skippers as they come into port for replenishment, one thing I forgot to do before. Want to get them at least attacking on surface with deck guns. Pilot training going well, a big batch of fighter pilots have been switched to training defense skill, as air already reached 70. Graduated some bomber pilots that reached 70 GrdB, and have some groups training NavB as well. Still have to get some Kingfishers to train sweeps and NavB for USN fighters and dive bombers.
Hawaii
Midway reinforced by some Marine Raiders, AA, CD guns and supply, some USMC Buffaloes as well. Few more months till the first storm is weathered and it will receive an AS and submarine squadron. Canton Island is now a bit overstacked but has formidable defenses in place, 298th Rgt from Hawaii, Marine Def Rgt, AA and CD guns. Minefields and tenders, Catalina squadron as well.
NoPac
Adak garrison is on the way with Army battalion and a battalion of CD guns for now. Will get construction unit and remaining two battalions of Army regiment. Other than that, nothing to report.
SoPac
My main effort to reinforce early war. Island of New Caledonia is where we draw the line for really committed defense. Koumac has regiment, Noumea has two divisions, service squadron of assorted tenders, oilers, minesweepers, a fighter group, as well as artillery, support units, and armor. Port and airfield progressing to lvl 5 and 4, respectively. For now Espirito Santu and Efate have some garrison, but not enough to turn back division-sized invasion. Suva should be safe, Pago Pago has 200AV but I doubt it will be one of primary targets before New Caledonia or Fiji. Airfield building up to serve as transit for heavy bombers from Hawaii to Australia. Fuel situation is a bit worrying, with 4 CVs based south for now it is on a bit of a shoestring. 60k at Auckland, 15k at Noumea and maybe 40-50k in oilers.
SWPac
Port Moresby faced Zero sweeps from Rabaul, and P-39s are no match. Lost maybe 30 of them, but still no bombing raids. Like Noumea, I thing Port Moresby is safe against divisional sized assault, and will get 6th Australian Div as well. Milne Bay has 29th Bgd for now, will get 7th Australian Division that is in transit from Aden. Lost two 17kn Dutch xAPs by IJN surface raiders at Milne Bay. Australia is good on fighters for now, and Port Moresby is building up for 4EB operations against Rabaul, but it will wait till we have a bigger concentration of them. No use in wasting them in piecemeal raids. Darwin needs some more defensive AV, probably will send some infantry and armor up north from Sydney on rail/foot. When stuff settles bit more it will be a base for short legged Dutch boats and S-Boats. Perth will host Fleet Boats once Soerebaja falls. Did a blunder in my CV TF orders and they roamed for a day on full speed. Not good for system and engine damage, so they will be in Sydney yard for some time. Lexington and Saratoga will go to Hawaii for repairs and removal of 8" guns and AA upgrades.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore holds, and keeps rebuilding forts between IJA attacks. It wont be too long, my AV is down to 600. No aggressive expansion into DEI, most of Borneo, Menado and that is pretty much it. Wondering how much will he have time to conquer before his amphibious bonus expires. Luzon troops have been in an artillery duel at Clark Field for a while, no deliberate attacks yet. Buys time for Bataan to build up forts. Some mop ups at Jolo and Palawan. Mindanao garrison still holds in mountains, no attempt to get rid of them by IJA. Some harassment by USN PT Boats.
CBI
Some limited success hitting his supply lines in China. More damage received than dealt. Artillery duel at Chengchow, but supply is critical. 2800-to-2600AV for IJA there. Pegu and Rangoon building up, hoping it will take him some time to punch through that, not sure how much of a problem will be that Pegu is clear terrain. Pumping supply into China while I still can. Behind that, Akyab, Cox Bazar and Chittagong has been building up as well, airfields and forts. Dacca will be bomber base for the future.
Game progresses at a pretty nice pace , we have been doing two turns a day lately.
General
My opponent seems to be relatively passive or risk averse player. No aggressive expansion, no KB roaming around wreaking havoc, no aggressive sweeps, no surface raids on my LOC... At least that is my impression in the first few months of war, but who knows, maybe something big is brewing in the background. Not sure where KB is now and I dont like that, but I suspect it is at Rabaul or Truk. CV Hornet arrives soon as well as Doolittles bombers. I dont thing one off strike at Home Islands is worth the risk, so Im looking for a recommendation on where to unleash them. Maybe surprise raid on Truk, hoping to catch some shipping in port?
CONUS
Industry repairs nicely, I forgot to put oil centers to repair in CONUS so LA refinery failed to produce for a few turns. Not a big deal. Supply is good, with San Francisco running a 1M stockpile. Shipping bottleneck also eases up a lot, troop transports as well as cargo haulers. Submarine force remains mostly ineffective, with limited number of attacks and defective Mk XIV. Have to change sub skippers as they come into port for replenishment, one thing I forgot to do before. Want to get them at least attacking on surface with deck guns. Pilot training going well, a big batch of fighter pilots have been switched to training defense skill, as air already reached 70. Graduated some bomber pilots that reached 70 GrdB, and have some groups training NavB as well. Still have to get some Kingfishers to train sweeps and NavB for USN fighters and dive bombers.
Hawaii
Midway reinforced by some Marine Raiders, AA, CD guns and supply, some USMC Buffaloes as well. Few more months till the first storm is weathered and it will receive an AS and submarine squadron. Canton Island is now a bit overstacked but has formidable defenses in place, 298th Rgt from Hawaii, Marine Def Rgt, AA and CD guns. Minefields and tenders, Catalina squadron as well.
NoPac
Adak garrison is on the way with Army battalion and a battalion of CD guns for now. Will get construction unit and remaining two battalions of Army regiment. Other than that, nothing to report.
SoPac
My main effort to reinforce early war. Island of New Caledonia is where we draw the line for really committed defense. Koumac has regiment, Noumea has two divisions, service squadron of assorted tenders, oilers, minesweepers, a fighter group, as well as artillery, support units, and armor. Port and airfield progressing to lvl 5 and 4, respectively. For now Espirito Santu and Efate have some garrison, but not enough to turn back division-sized invasion. Suva should be safe, Pago Pago has 200AV but I doubt it will be one of primary targets before New Caledonia or Fiji. Airfield building up to serve as transit for heavy bombers from Hawaii to Australia. Fuel situation is a bit worrying, with 4 CVs based south for now it is on a bit of a shoestring. 60k at Auckland, 15k at Noumea and maybe 40-50k in oilers.
SWPac
Port Moresby faced Zero sweeps from Rabaul, and P-39s are no match. Lost maybe 30 of them, but still no bombing raids. Like Noumea, I thing Port Moresby is safe against divisional sized assault, and will get 6th Australian Div as well. Milne Bay has 29th Bgd for now, will get 7th Australian Division that is in transit from Aden. Lost two 17kn Dutch xAPs by IJN surface raiders at Milne Bay. Australia is good on fighters for now, and Port Moresby is building up for 4EB operations against Rabaul, but it will wait till we have a bigger concentration of them. No use in wasting them in piecemeal raids. Darwin needs some more defensive AV, probably will send some infantry and armor up north from Sydney on rail/foot. When stuff settles bit more it will be a base for short legged Dutch boats and S-Boats. Perth will host Fleet Boats once Soerebaja falls. Did a blunder in my CV TF orders and they roamed for a day on full speed. Not good for system and engine damage, so they will be in Sydney yard for some time. Lexington and Saratoga will go to Hawaii for repairs and removal of 8" guns and AA upgrades.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore holds, and keeps rebuilding forts between IJA attacks. It wont be too long, my AV is down to 600. No aggressive expansion into DEI, most of Borneo, Menado and that is pretty much it. Wondering how much will he have time to conquer before his amphibious bonus expires. Luzon troops have been in an artillery duel at Clark Field for a while, no deliberate attacks yet. Buys time for Bataan to build up forts. Some mop ups at Jolo and Palawan. Mindanao garrison still holds in mountains, no attempt to get rid of them by IJA. Some harassment by USN PT Boats.
CBI
Some limited success hitting his supply lines in China. More damage received than dealt. Artillery duel at Chengchow, but supply is critical. 2800-to-2600AV for IJA there. Pegu and Rangoon building up, hoping it will take him some time to punch through that, not sure how much of a problem will be that Pegu is clear terrain. Pumping supply into China while I still can. Behind that, Akyab, Cox Bazar and Chittagong has been building up as well, airfields and forts. Dacca will be bomber base for the future.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
March 18th 1942
Busy week, good bit of action.
General
Kido Butai comes out to play, IJN subs hit US CV fleet hard.
CONUS
Nothing significant, pilot training, shipping out troops and supply.
Hawaii
USMC MAG disembarked at Midway, squadron of fighters and dive bombers as well. Some troops for Line Islands. Pearl currently sits at 500k supply and 750k fuel.
NoPac
Nothing to report.
SoPac
Fuel still a bit sketchy, 50k convoy to Auckland helped a bit. SoPac swimming with troops, so Im not worried anymore for Noumea nor Espiritu Santo.
SWPac
Two raids by V Bomber Command on Rabaul, destroying 20 aircraft on ground for couple Marauders and B-17s. Kido Butai raids troop convoy at Milne Bay, luckily already unloaded. My guess is there is 4-5 fleet CVs in that TF since I saw some Vals and a carrier in Java Sea. IJN subs hit US CV TF withdrawing to Sydney en route, Lexington got hit the worst and is in Brisbane for temporary repairs, and it is looking like 2-3 months at Pearl or CONUS. Enterprise got hit by one and is already repaired, as well as Saratoga. To repair time is unfortunately tacked a time of March refit for a lot of TF. Have some big upgrades in April as well, pretty much all of the DDs. Finally some F-4 Lightnings arrived at Port Moresby, so we can get some eyes on IJN bases.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore still holds despite there being less than 200 AV. Forts keep getting rebuilt to lvl 3 between attacks. Artillery duel at Clark Field, so he still doesnt have access to Manila facilities. Some mop up around Phillippines archipelago. Landings in the middle of Java looking to cut the island in two. Some hopeless sorties of Dutch bombers to attack invasion fleet, but British TBs stubbornly refuse to fly. Palembang fell after about a week of fighting.
CBI
Chengchow holding for a bit longer, despite 0 supply. It cost him probably two divisions worth of troops. Guerillas cutting railway from Tsingtao. Fortifying Rangoon, almost to lvl 5. Burma is safe as long as Singapore ties down enemy troops.
Busy week, good bit of action.
General
Kido Butai comes out to play, IJN subs hit US CV fleet hard.
CONUS
Nothing significant, pilot training, shipping out troops and supply.
Hawaii
USMC MAG disembarked at Midway, squadron of fighters and dive bombers as well. Some troops for Line Islands. Pearl currently sits at 500k supply and 750k fuel.
NoPac
Nothing to report.
SoPac
Fuel still a bit sketchy, 50k convoy to Auckland helped a bit. SoPac swimming with troops, so Im not worried anymore for Noumea nor Espiritu Santo.
SWPac
Two raids by V Bomber Command on Rabaul, destroying 20 aircraft on ground for couple Marauders and B-17s. Kido Butai raids troop convoy at Milne Bay, luckily already unloaded. My guess is there is 4-5 fleet CVs in that TF since I saw some Vals and a carrier in Java Sea. IJN subs hit US CV TF withdrawing to Sydney en route, Lexington got hit the worst and is in Brisbane for temporary repairs, and it is looking like 2-3 months at Pearl or CONUS. Enterprise got hit by one and is already repaired, as well as Saratoga. To repair time is unfortunately tacked a time of March refit for a lot of TF. Have some big upgrades in April as well, pretty much all of the DDs. Finally some F-4 Lightnings arrived at Port Moresby, so we can get some eyes on IJN bases.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore still holds despite there being less than 200 AV. Forts keep getting rebuilt to lvl 3 between attacks. Artillery duel at Clark Field, so he still doesnt have access to Manila facilities. Some mop up around Phillippines archipelago. Landings in the middle of Java looking to cut the island in two. Some hopeless sorties of Dutch bombers to attack invasion fleet, but British TBs stubbornly refuse to fly. Palembang fell after about a week of fighting.
CBI
Chengchow holding for a bit longer, despite 0 supply. It cost him probably two divisions worth of troops. Guerillas cutting railway from Tsingtao. Fortifying Rangoon, almost to lvl 5. Burma is safe as long as Singapore ties down enemy troops.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
March 30th 1942
General
Game moves on, III Indian heroically still holds Singapore.
CONUS
Graduating some pilots at the end of the month, bringing some destroyers in for their April upgrades to ASW rating of 6. Doolittle Raiders arrive in a day or two. Also 27th and RCT of 40th Infantry Division arrived, for now they will go to Hawaii.
Hawaii
Seabees unload at Midway. Once the base is maxed out it will host a submarine squadron. Shipyards at Pearl begin to empty, and in some time two wounded BBs will make their way to Eastern USA. A lot of April upgrades pending.
NoPac
Regiment, CD guns and AA guns unload at Adak. Still waiting on a Seabee influx in few months to really get some engineers up north.
SoPac
Nothing significant, just building up Espiritu, Noumea, Efate, Suva.
SWPac
No more raids on Rabaul, I want to preserve my bombers for best condition possible. Campaign will continue once Port Moresby airfield is maxed out. Milne Bay is looking better, 7th Australian is inbound, airfield is almost to level 2. Occasional Zero sweep still wrecks my Aircobras and Kittyhawks but layered CAP helps. One stray KB raid attacked transports at Port Moresby, but CAP shot down 20 Vals and Kates, hopefully thinning out KB pilots a bit. No building detected at Rabaul, wondering if he plans to focus on SoPac at all. Tulagi fell unopposed a week ago. Recon by bombardment discovered two IJN Guard units there. No troops on Bougainville if my F-4 Lightnings are to trust.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore is down to 30AV but still I keep getting adjusted defensive AV of 1000-1200, I have no idea how there is anyone still alive there. IJA tally is surely in around 10k casualties absorbed if not more. Java campaign seems to be the focus now, with KB active in Java Sea. Troops marching towards Soerebaja. Despite good supply there is not much AV on the island. Clark Field will last for a while, it's in good supply and AV is about 1900:1900.
CBI
Chengchow getting reduced. Otherwise quiet, aside from IJA bombers milk runs against some guerilla troops.
General
Game moves on, III Indian heroically still holds Singapore.
CONUS
Graduating some pilots at the end of the month, bringing some destroyers in for their April upgrades to ASW rating of 6. Doolittle Raiders arrive in a day or two. Also 27th and RCT of 40th Infantry Division arrived, for now they will go to Hawaii.
Hawaii
Seabees unload at Midway. Once the base is maxed out it will host a submarine squadron. Shipyards at Pearl begin to empty, and in some time two wounded BBs will make their way to Eastern USA. A lot of April upgrades pending.
NoPac
Regiment, CD guns and AA guns unload at Adak. Still waiting on a Seabee influx in few months to really get some engineers up north.
SoPac
Nothing significant, just building up Espiritu, Noumea, Efate, Suva.
SWPac
No more raids on Rabaul, I want to preserve my bombers for best condition possible. Campaign will continue once Port Moresby airfield is maxed out. Milne Bay is looking better, 7th Australian is inbound, airfield is almost to level 2. Occasional Zero sweep still wrecks my Aircobras and Kittyhawks but layered CAP helps. One stray KB raid attacked transports at Port Moresby, but CAP shot down 20 Vals and Kates, hopefully thinning out KB pilots a bit. No building detected at Rabaul, wondering if he plans to focus on SoPac at all. Tulagi fell unopposed a week ago. Recon by bombardment discovered two IJN Guard units there. No troops on Bougainville if my F-4 Lightnings are to trust.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore is down to 30AV but still I keep getting adjusted defensive AV of 1000-1200, I have no idea how there is anyone still alive there. IJA tally is surely in around 10k casualties absorbed if not more. Java campaign seems to be the focus now, with KB active in Java Sea. Troops marching towards Soerebaja. Despite good supply there is not much AV on the island. Clark Field will last for a while, it's in good supply and AV is about 1900:1900.
CBI
Chengchow getting reduced. Otherwise quiet, aside from IJA bombers milk runs against some guerilla troops.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
April 18th 1942
General
A bit overdue on update. Lots of combat ships and most of US subs are in yards for its upgrades, so sea war has been quiet. Air war pretty quiet as well, mop up operations in Sumatra, fighting in Java, fall of Singapore.
CONUS
Convoys have been brought home to upgrade its escorts. Now with pretty much all DDs having ASW rating of 6 situation gets better. IJN subs have been a pain in the ass recently, torpedoing CA going into San Diego for refit and few empty xAKs here and there. Redid my LOCs a bit, with San Diego shipping stuff for SoPac and Australia, and San Francisco handling Pacific Ocean Areas. With more infantry coming into theater, some preliminary preparations have started, with a reinforced division preparing for Kwajalein, Roi Namur and Majuro. Actual invasions depend on Kido Butai a lot, as well as available surface, air and shipping assets, but if given opportunity I like having them prepped to strike in late '42/early '43.
Hawaii
Upgrades and refits for most of April at Pearl Harbor yard. Preparing two BBs for transport to CONUS yards, probably another month or so till ready. Hawaii based Free French cruiser submarine infiltrates Truk lagoon and sinks large TK and an AMc.
NoPac
Adak port is now level 1 as it got some engineers. Nothing else to report here. Still a long way from working submarine base.
SoPac
CV Task Force consisting of at least 3 carriers spotted east of Tulagi moving SW. There is an air search gap in Coral Sea so all shipping there is on high alert next few days, fighter squadrons across entire SoPac have been raised from training and are flying active point defense over their home bases. CV Lexington is being escorted by Saratoga TF from Sydney to Noumea, damage form last months sub encounter being 3/33(22)/27(19). From there they will go to Wellington where is 55k ton floating drydock that will try to deal with damage without going back to Pearl. Some milk runs by B-17s over Lunga and Tulagi. No opposition, just getting some exp. Logistics are finally looking better, with 300k fuel in Auckland and 200k more in oilers and spread across other bases. There is some in Australia as well but I dont use it for USN naval operations. Auckland serves as a hub for supply as well, long range xAKs ferry it from CONUS down south.
SWPac
CA raid on Townsville-Milne Bay LOC, nothing serious, lost 4 xAKLs. Port Moresby airfield is 89% toward 7(4), soon it will host V Bomber Command B-17 force. Rabaul seems to not be building up, could he be short of supply in theater? Darwin gets a P-39 squadron just in case. 1st MarDiv started preping for Guadalcanal operation, 2nd MarDiv for Tulagi. Looking to strike there once opportunity presents itself.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore finally fell, after the most heroic stand I had in 2000h of playing this game. He has foothold in Java and there is fighting at Soerebaja, but he hasnt touched important bases as Ambon, Kendari, or Timor. Looks like he is running behind schedule, and it only gets harder with amphibious bonus expiring. Stalemate at Clark Field continues.
CBI
In China Chengchow falls after long siege, 80k KMT troops surrendered there. Sian, Changsha and their approaches will get special attention now as far as reinforcements go. With Singapore taking so long to reduce, it allowed me to significantly reinforce Burma with a lot of armor and supply. Pegu is lvl 5 forts with 950AV and its northern flank secure, Rangoon has lvl 5 forts, Myitkyina has lvl 4 forts with 800 AV. 70th British Division will be available somewhere close as theater reserve if needed. Weather has been very bas lately, but forces have been gathering for bombing operations against Bangkok. Sub infestation around Ceylon, getting a couple of tankers and xAKs, but fuel is not an issue in theater, with more than 1M stockpile in India and 700k in Colombo.
General
A bit overdue on update. Lots of combat ships and most of US subs are in yards for its upgrades, so sea war has been quiet. Air war pretty quiet as well, mop up operations in Sumatra, fighting in Java, fall of Singapore.
CONUS
Convoys have been brought home to upgrade its escorts. Now with pretty much all DDs having ASW rating of 6 situation gets better. IJN subs have been a pain in the ass recently, torpedoing CA going into San Diego for refit and few empty xAKs here and there. Redid my LOCs a bit, with San Diego shipping stuff for SoPac and Australia, and San Francisco handling Pacific Ocean Areas. With more infantry coming into theater, some preliminary preparations have started, with a reinforced division preparing for Kwajalein, Roi Namur and Majuro. Actual invasions depend on Kido Butai a lot, as well as available surface, air and shipping assets, but if given opportunity I like having them prepped to strike in late '42/early '43.
Hawaii
Upgrades and refits for most of April at Pearl Harbor yard. Preparing two BBs for transport to CONUS yards, probably another month or so till ready. Hawaii based Free French cruiser submarine infiltrates Truk lagoon and sinks large TK and an AMc.
NoPac
Adak port is now level 1 as it got some engineers. Nothing else to report here. Still a long way from working submarine base.
SoPac
CV Task Force consisting of at least 3 carriers spotted east of Tulagi moving SW. There is an air search gap in Coral Sea so all shipping there is on high alert next few days, fighter squadrons across entire SoPac have been raised from training and are flying active point defense over their home bases. CV Lexington is being escorted by Saratoga TF from Sydney to Noumea, damage form last months sub encounter being 3/33(22)/27(19). From there they will go to Wellington where is 55k ton floating drydock that will try to deal with damage without going back to Pearl. Some milk runs by B-17s over Lunga and Tulagi. No opposition, just getting some exp. Logistics are finally looking better, with 300k fuel in Auckland and 200k more in oilers and spread across other bases. There is some in Australia as well but I dont use it for USN naval operations. Auckland serves as a hub for supply as well, long range xAKs ferry it from CONUS down south.
SWPac
CA raid on Townsville-Milne Bay LOC, nothing serious, lost 4 xAKLs. Port Moresby airfield is 89% toward 7(4), soon it will host V Bomber Command B-17 force. Rabaul seems to not be building up, could he be short of supply in theater? Darwin gets a P-39 squadron just in case. 1st MarDiv started preping for Guadalcanal operation, 2nd MarDiv for Tulagi. Looking to strike there once opportunity presents itself.
DEI/Malaya/Philippines
Singapore finally fell, after the most heroic stand I had in 2000h of playing this game. He has foothold in Java and there is fighting at Soerebaja, but he hasnt touched important bases as Ambon, Kendari, or Timor. Looks like he is running behind schedule, and it only gets harder with amphibious bonus expiring. Stalemate at Clark Field continues.
CBI
In China Chengchow falls after long siege, 80k KMT troops surrendered there. Sian, Changsha and their approaches will get special attention now as far as reinforcements go. With Singapore taking so long to reduce, it allowed me to significantly reinforce Burma with a lot of armor and supply. Pegu is lvl 5 forts with 950AV and its northern flank secure, Rangoon has lvl 5 forts, Myitkyina has lvl 4 forts with 800 AV. 70th British Division will be available somewhere close as theater reserve if needed. Weather has been very bas lately, but forces have been gathering for bombing operations against Bangkok. Sub infestation around Ceylon, getting a couple of tankers and xAKs, but fuel is not an issue in theater, with more than 1M stockpile in India and 700k in Colombo.
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LargeSlowTarget
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Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
I'm not in reach of my computer at the moment and cannot check but if that 55k floating dry dock at Wellington ist the Jubilee dock, it needs to be nerfed to 17k lifting capacity.
I also have troubles taking Singers in my current Bottlenecks game against Jan, with almost nine IJA IDs and tons of tank, arty and combat engineer support and a sustained bombing campaign against the original unreinforced Malaya Command assets. After the initial shock and two deliberate attacks, six IDs and all Engineer Rgts are spent and need to be withdrawn for rebuilding. Forts at level 3 have not even been reduced and British raw AV of 1300 got bloated to a ridiculous 13k adjusted AV in the last DA. Bad dice maybe but I have had similar troubles in my game against Ed which was an unmodded DBB scenario and I start to think that Singers may need some nerfing of the potential to build forts.
I also have troubles taking Singers in my current Bottlenecks game against Jan, with almost nine IJA IDs and tons of tank, arty and combat engineer support and a sustained bombing campaign against the original unreinforced Malaya Command assets. After the initial shock and two deliberate attacks, six IDs and all Engineer Rgts are spent and need to be withdrawn for rebuilding. Forts at level 3 have not even been reduced and British raw AV of 1300 got bloated to a ridiculous 13k adjusted AV in the last DA. Bad dice maybe but I have had similar troubles in my game against Ed which was an unmodded DBB scenario and I start to think that Singers may need some nerfing of the potential to build forts.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
The dock in question is ARD 9, the one that starts the game in Singapore.LargeSlowTarget wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 6:56 am I'm not in reach of my computer at the moment and cannot check but if that 55k floating dry dock at Wellington ist the Jubilee dock, it needs to be nerfed to 17k lifting capacity.
I also have troubles taking Singers in my current Bottlenecks game against Jan, with almost nine IJA IDs and tons of tank, arty and combat engineer support and a sustained bombing campaign against the original unreinforced Malaya Command assets. After the initial shock and two deliberate attacks, six IDs and all Engineer Rgts are spent and need to be withdrawn for rebuilding. Forts at level 3 have not even been reduced and British raw AV of 1300 got bloated to a ridiculous 13k adjusted AV in the last DA. Bad dice maybe but I have had similar troubles in my game against Ed which was an unmodded DBB scenario and I start to think that Singers may need some nerfing of the potential to build forts.
And yes Singapore was brutal in my game, I had forts lvl 4 by the time he reached it and original Malaya garrison there minus 8th Division. It took him almost 3 months to reduce it and wrecked pretty much the entire attacking force. At the end I had 15k supply left. I also noticed AV bloating, my 23 AV in the last few days would be adjusted up to 1500 - 1800AV, never seen it happen before, so I wondered as well were those all just bad rolls for him and good for me.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
It took me until June (end of) to take Singapore in mine; after I tried a few DA's & kept getting those ridiculous 10-15k adjusted AV I basically just had to starve it.
I left enough forces there to take it eventually but just grabbed who I needed to take the rest of DEI. That way no supply can get in & then it is just a matter of time.
My only problem was that I needed to base some light/medium surface ships higher up in the straits to protect oil & fuel shipments from Medan & they kept going into the Singers hex when passing by (with predictable results). I know I used waypoints etc, but somehow those captains just wanted to mess with the 15 inchers. I imagine it was those pesky little motor boats that spawn in Singapore, they were tempting my CL & DD captains to go after them.
I agree w/LST that reducing the starting supply in Malaya would help. The Allied player can 'try' to get a convoy or two in but with Netties prowling the seas they would have to be really lucky to get in & the allied player would have to hoard their fighters to use them en-masse to give those ships a chance.
I left enough forces there to take it eventually but just grabbed who I needed to take the rest of DEI. That way no supply can get in & then it is just a matter of time.
My only problem was that I needed to base some light/medium surface ships higher up in the straits to protect oil & fuel shipments from Medan & they kept going into the Singers hex when passing by (with predictable results). I know I used waypoints etc, but somehow those captains just wanted to mess with the 15 inchers. I imagine it was those pesky little motor boats that spawn in Singapore, they were tempting my CL & DD captains to go after them.
I agree w/LST that reducing the starting supply in Malaya would help. The Allied player can 'try' to get a convoy or two in but with Netties prowling the seas they would have to be really lucky to get in & the allied player would have to hoard their fighters to use them en-masse to give those ships a chance.
Re: Lets try this one more time - Bottlenecks in the Pacific Axe vs Togus (J)
How did Burma go in that game? I had enough time to pack it with troops and supply and fortify enough for it to be a hard to crack, especially with monsoon coming up in a few weeks. India could have its coast a bit better protected with that troops but going for left hook is pretty risky option for him.JanSako wrote: Thu Dec 15, 2022 10:06 am It took me until June (end of) to take Singapore in mine; after I tried a few DA's & kept getting those ridiculous 10-15k adjusted AV I basically just had to starve it.
I left enough forces there to take it eventually but just grabbed who I needed to take the rest of DEI. That way no supply can get in & then it is just a matter of time.
My only problem was that I needed to base some light/medium surface ships higher up in the straits to protect oil & fuel shipments from Medan & they kept going into the Singers hex when passing by (with predictable results). I know I used waypoints etc, but somehow those captains just wanted to mess with the 15 inchers. I imagine it was those pesky little motor boats that spawn in Singapore, they were tempting my CL & DD captains to go after them.
I agree w/LST that reducing the starting supply in Malaya would help. The Allied player can 'try' to get a convoy or two in but with Netties prowling the seas they would have to be really lucky to get in & the allied player would have to hoard their fighters to use them en-masse to give those ships a chance.