Full Court Press - Cruft vs The AI (Scen 16)
Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:16 pm
Since I am unable to do PBEM (no internet at home) I thought I would set myself a challenge against the (not very bright) AI. So ...
WitP vs 1.20 (will update as further patches are released)
Scen 16
I am Japan
Difficulty Historical
Sub Doctrines both Off
All other Realism settings On
The challenge I have set myself is to invade everywhere except India, Russia, USA (incl. Alaska), Canada, Hawaii, Midway, Palmyra, Australia & New Zealand. "Everywhere" may include Sakhalin and/or the Aleutians, I haven't decided yet. If you like, the primary purpose is to take the whole of China and thus turn Japan into an "industrial giant", well relatively speaking anyway. In order to keep the US at bay, and delay/prevent any buildup in Australia, I intend to take the entire South Pacific region and thus form a "blockade" between the US and Oz. The IJN will be primarily devoted to this task, with the IJA being responsible for pretty much everything else. I do intend to take New Guinea and the Solomons but this will have to wait until the Noumea-Suva-Canton axis is secured.
I won't be including any combat reports because it would be a real hassle for me to upload them. Instead the DAR will focus more on the big picture and how I struggle to achieve my goals. Of course any noteworthy battles will be reported in summary.
Current Status
Late December 1941
Out in the Pacific
KB is at Kwajalein and will remain based there until a suitable base can be taken further forward (Suva?, Pago-Pago?). Nagumo is under strict instructions not to set sail unless there is a prospect of engaging the enemy's capital ships. It's really not worth losing the pilots for anything else.
Kwajalein is a bit short of being a full fleet base at this stage but steps are being taken to remedy this. All available AR/AE/AD ships are on their way as well as boatloads of supply, fuel and, most importantly, engineers. Further ARs, AEs etc have been ordered from the shipyards.
Currently attempting some long-range commerce raiding in the Pago-Pago region are two Kongo class battlecruisers and two Takao/Tone class cruisers (apart from CVs I think in terms of classes not actual ship names). These ships, all with endurance c. 14,000 nm are ideally suited to this task, especially if you don't encumber them with destroyers (a calculated risk worth taking at this stage of the game IMHO). Their sister ships are all on the way to Kwajalein to join them in this endeavour along with a Nisshin class CS (Mizuho?) coming from Palau. So far, probably due to the AI's routing of convoys from Brisbane to Madras via Anchorage no ships of any kind have detected. Indeed the whole area is bewildering quiet, with no Allied air around other than an unknown quantity at Suva (I think this is because the AI will withdraw air groups from bases with less than "needed" supply). Therefore the mini battle fleet has been indulging in its secondary mission of bombarding any bases that it finds. Pago-Pago and Tongapuato (sp?) have both been hit hard. Though this will have little effect on the long-term viability of these bases what it does do is eat supply, which will delay building work ... Possibly not a good idea given that I intend to use them myself but what the hell
On the invasion front, Tarawa and Nauru have been taken against no opposition. Tarawa will be built to size 4 to serve as a Betty base whilst Nauru is already a floatplane base, courtesy of a small AV-based TF (I am using the Kashii type slow cruisers as AV escorts along with a bunch of PGs. They all make 18 kts). Baker Island will be next, this is just a denial operation using a naval guard unit. Following that will be Canton Island, spearheaded by the South Seas Detachment, once they have recovered from their Wake Island ordeal (see below). Canton will likewise become a Betty base, as will Pago-Pago and Suva (hopefully). The plan is to eventually have the entire Nell/Betty fleet operating in this area. Ambitious? Yes. Foolhardy? Against a human player undoubtedly so, against the AI we will see ... The only thing that worries me is having enough engineers to get things done quickly enough.
Wake Island - this was the only problem I have had so far, thanks to the "blessed" coastal guns. These took out three DDs, a couple of PCs, and most importantly enough transport to cause the initial invasion to fail completely. The naval guard unit was wiped out to the last man. So, I took the South Seas Det from their waiting position at Iwo Jima and used them instead. Despite being 100% prepped for Guam (which I took instead with the 5th Base Force from Saipan) they performed admirably and took the island despite heavy losses.
I don't intend to use Wake other than as part of a early warning system. Floatplanes from the Yokusuka group will be stationed there performing naval search as soon as I can get a base force installed. The rest of the Yokusuka group will be stationed on Marcus and Bonin performing the same function. In the Kuriles I have similar plans for the Ominato group of squadrons. NOTE: I have an idiosyncracy for keeping similarly named airgroups reasonably close together.
Around Truk
I believe that Rabaul will be a tough nut to crack (based on previous experiences). Therefore I am allocating 3 NLF units to the task, they are currently prepping up at Truk. I will likely use a bombardment task force for preparation based on the cruisers that accompanied the South Seas Det to Wake, which are en route. Both Kizarazu groups of Nells are at Truk but I am currently just using them for recon and naval search.
In the meantime I have deposited a naval guard unit on Emirau Island, just in the interests of "pushing out the perimeter" and gaining a few VPs I only intend to actually use Rabaul, Lae, Shortlands, Lunga & PM as bases in this area. Interestingly, PM is currently devoid of air, again I think this is the AI responding to lack of supply.
Phillipines
I took a different tack in Luzon and invaded Tuguegaroa and Lingayen first. Both were only weakly held and also produce resources which was supposed to help with the initial supply buildup (it didn't make a lot of difference actually). Since I knew the AI would gradually withdraw all its air units to ABDA and all the LCUs into Bataan I basically invaded the place without air power (obviously the Dec 7 Clark Field strike is already accounted for in the scenario). Naga fell with a bit of a fight and Davao surprisingly easily. This was just using the units pre-assigned to these places.
As of now Clark Field is taken (thankfully without inheriting any US air units) and Manila should fall next turn. I am just basically going to leave Bataan to starve until I can re-allocate some of my army level bomber force from other areas to start reducing the place. I don't fancy putting dive bombers through the flak.
There has been some fun stuff in the seas around the PI. "Little" KB (Zuiho & Hosho joined up with Ryujo a few turns ago) has taken out a few fleeing ships but I have not pushed it in an attempt to preserve the pilots. There's very little point in destroying an empty Allied AK ... More interestingly, for some reason i.e. the AI's stupidity, a force of British and Dutch cruisers and destroyers were spotted to the north of the Sulu Sea heading east. For a laugh, and to practice, I deliberately stood down the Kates on the carriers and tried to do a surface intercept instead. Tanaka was despatched at full speed from Camrahn Bay with a small, fast force of 3 CLs and 4DDs. As it happened, next turn the Nells from Saigon and Tainan had a go at the Allied force, resulting in CA Cornwall sinking immediately but also scoring torpedo hits on three other cruisers. This helped vastly in predicting where the ships might be because I could now assume they would only be moving 1 or at most 2 hexes per phase. Well ... I was right but it took a while because the silly AI kept changing direction for no apparent reason. Eventually Tanaka caught up with them in the Sulu Sea south of Taytay (sp?). In both a night and day surface action the three wounded cruisers (Exeter, Enterprise & De Tromp) of the Allied force were despatched for nary a scratch on the Japanese ships, which was nice The destroyers got away but I'm sure we'll meet again.
(More to follow ...)
WitP vs 1.20 (will update as further patches are released)
Scen 16
I am Japan
Difficulty Historical
Sub Doctrines both Off
All other Realism settings On
The challenge I have set myself is to invade everywhere except India, Russia, USA (incl. Alaska), Canada, Hawaii, Midway, Palmyra, Australia & New Zealand. "Everywhere" may include Sakhalin and/or the Aleutians, I haven't decided yet. If you like, the primary purpose is to take the whole of China and thus turn Japan into an "industrial giant", well relatively speaking anyway. In order to keep the US at bay, and delay/prevent any buildup in Australia, I intend to take the entire South Pacific region and thus form a "blockade" between the US and Oz. The IJN will be primarily devoted to this task, with the IJA being responsible for pretty much everything else. I do intend to take New Guinea and the Solomons but this will have to wait until the Noumea-Suva-Canton axis is secured.
I won't be including any combat reports because it would be a real hassle for me to upload them. Instead the DAR will focus more on the big picture and how I struggle to achieve my goals. Of course any noteworthy battles will be reported in summary.
Current Status
Late December 1941
Out in the Pacific
KB is at Kwajalein and will remain based there until a suitable base can be taken further forward (Suva?, Pago-Pago?). Nagumo is under strict instructions not to set sail unless there is a prospect of engaging the enemy's capital ships. It's really not worth losing the pilots for anything else.
Kwajalein is a bit short of being a full fleet base at this stage but steps are being taken to remedy this. All available AR/AE/AD ships are on their way as well as boatloads of supply, fuel and, most importantly, engineers. Further ARs, AEs etc have been ordered from the shipyards.
Currently attempting some long-range commerce raiding in the Pago-Pago region are two Kongo class battlecruisers and two Takao/Tone class cruisers (apart from CVs I think in terms of classes not actual ship names). These ships, all with endurance c. 14,000 nm are ideally suited to this task, especially if you don't encumber them with destroyers (a calculated risk worth taking at this stage of the game IMHO). Their sister ships are all on the way to Kwajalein to join them in this endeavour along with a Nisshin class CS (Mizuho?) coming from Palau. So far, probably due to the AI's routing of convoys from Brisbane to Madras via Anchorage no ships of any kind have detected. Indeed the whole area is bewildering quiet, with no Allied air around other than an unknown quantity at Suva (I think this is because the AI will withdraw air groups from bases with less than "needed" supply). Therefore the mini battle fleet has been indulging in its secondary mission of bombarding any bases that it finds. Pago-Pago and Tongapuato (sp?) have both been hit hard. Though this will have little effect on the long-term viability of these bases what it does do is eat supply, which will delay building work ... Possibly not a good idea given that I intend to use them myself but what the hell
On the invasion front, Tarawa and Nauru have been taken against no opposition. Tarawa will be built to size 4 to serve as a Betty base whilst Nauru is already a floatplane base, courtesy of a small AV-based TF (I am using the Kashii type slow cruisers as AV escorts along with a bunch of PGs. They all make 18 kts). Baker Island will be next, this is just a denial operation using a naval guard unit. Following that will be Canton Island, spearheaded by the South Seas Detachment, once they have recovered from their Wake Island ordeal (see below). Canton will likewise become a Betty base, as will Pago-Pago and Suva (hopefully). The plan is to eventually have the entire Nell/Betty fleet operating in this area. Ambitious? Yes. Foolhardy? Against a human player undoubtedly so, against the AI we will see ... The only thing that worries me is having enough engineers to get things done quickly enough.
Wake Island - this was the only problem I have had so far, thanks to the "blessed" coastal guns. These took out three DDs, a couple of PCs, and most importantly enough transport to cause the initial invasion to fail completely. The naval guard unit was wiped out to the last man. So, I took the South Seas Det from their waiting position at Iwo Jima and used them instead. Despite being 100% prepped for Guam (which I took instead with the 5th Base Force from Saipan) they performed admirably and took the island despite heavy losses.
I don't intend to use Wake other than as part of a early warning system. Floatplanes from the Yokusuka group will be stationed there performing naval search as soon as I can get a base force installed. The rest of the Yokusuka group will be stationed on Marcus and Bonin performing the same function. In the Kuriles I have similar plans for the Ominato group of squadrons. NOTE: I have an idiosyncracy for keeping similarly named airgroups reasonably close together.
Around Truk
I believe that Rabaul will be a tough nut to crack (based on previous experiences). Therefore I am allocating 3 NLF units to the task, they are currently prepping up at Truk. I will likely use a bombardment task force for preparation based on the cruisers that accompanied the South Seas Det to Wake, which are en route. Both Kizarazu groups of Nells are at Truk but I am currently just using them for recon and naval search.
In the meantime I have deposited a naval guard unit on Emirau Island, just in the interests of "pushing out the perimeter" and gaining a few VPs
I only intend to actually use Rabaul, Lae, Shortlands, Lunga & PM as bases in this area. Interestingly, PM is currently devoid of air, again I think this is the AI responding to lack of supply.Phillipines
I took a different tack in Luzon and invaded Tuguegaroa and Lingayen first. Both were only weakly held and also produce resources which was supposed to help with the initial supply buildup (it didn't make a lot of difference actually). Since I knew the AI would gradually withdraw all its air units to ABDA and all the LCUs into Bataan I basically invaded the place without air power (obviously the Dec 7 Clark Field strike is already accounted for in the scenario). Naga fell with a bit of a fight and Davao surprisingly easily. This was just using the units pre-assigned to these places.
As of now Clark Field is taken (thankfully without inheriting any US air units) and Manila should fall next turn. I am just basically going to leave Bataan to starve until I can re-allocate some of my army level bomber force from other areas to start reducing the place. I don't fancy putting dive bombers through the flak.
There has been some fun stuff in the seas around the PI. "Little" KB (Zuiho & Hosho joined up with Ryujo a few turns ago) has taken out a few fleeing ships but I have not pushed it in an attempt to preserve the pilots. There's very little point in destroying an empty Allied AK ... More interestingly, for some reason i.e. the AI's stupidity, a force of British and Dutch cruisers and destroyers were spotted to the north of the Sulu Sea heading east. For a laugh, and to practice, I deliberately stood down the Kates on the carriers and tried to do a surface intercept instead. Tanaka was despatched at full speed from Camrahn Bay with a small, fast force of 3 CLs and 4DDs. As it happened, next turn the Nells from Saigon and Tainan had a go at the Allied force, resulting in CA Cornwall sinking immediately but also scoring torpedo hits on three other cruisers. This helped vastly in predicting where the ships might be because I could now assume they would only be moving 1 or at most 2 hexes per phase. Well ... I was right but it took a while because the silly AI kept changing direction for no apparent reason. Eventually Tanaka caught up with them in the Sulu Sea south of Taytay (sp?). In both a night and day surface action the three wounded cruisers (Exeter, Enterprise & De Tromp) of the Allied force were despatched for nary a scratch on the Japanese ships, which was nice
The destroyers got away but I'm sure we'll meet again.(More to follow ...)