EA Damian(J) V Nemo(A) "Renaissance"

[n01487477]

Have you pulled significant troops out of the normal Philippine attack? It seems--for the end of Jan 42--that you haven't done much in this theatre. I tend to wipe out Singapore ASAP, move into Java, and THEN take the Philippines. Others have a far different strategy...

John, in a normal game, the Philippines would be mostly secure by now, as would Singapore.I would follow the "party line" and do pretty much what you suggest. What makes this game so challenging for me is invading Russia turn 1 & the hordes of Chinese waiting for any sign of weakness to make me pay . 2-3 Div earmarked for the Philippines, went to China. Any surplus PP's went into my invasion of Russia, which would normally have gone into allocating troops to Malaya, Philippines & Java.

[edit]Also Michael, is a good enough player to not do an about face and actually defend the Philippines as it should be done.

I really tried to cut off the troops retreating to Singapore and if this had worked more effectively, Singapore would be mine by now. I invaded Mersing - Kota Bharu 2-3 days too late. (Below you can see, that I've just filled out some units and they are heading into Singapore in 2 days ... I might just have enough to take it)...It is all a ripple effect ... the waves are getting bigger.

In Russia, my troops are packed like sardines ... If and when I take the HI rich area's, I'll be able to withdraw some of these troops ... this had been my plan all along, to take out Russia, take Singapore, Sumatra and Java and come back to the Philippines. I see this as a bit of a mistake now - but that is the game I'm playing.

I have the troops to accomplish more, but not the PP's to do much in the short term. All the troops in this mod come in with the HQ assigned to Japan. It makes for interesting allocation ... and if I hadn't invaded Russia, then maybe I'd be doing much better.

[n01487477]

4/2/42 - Kodiak bug out!

Remember MASH, in the episode where they have to bug out, cause the Nth Korean are getting close, Hawkeye and Hoolilan stay to save the life of a dying man ... and I remember some sizzle ...

Anyway, my visual picture is of only the tent frames, a few pots and pans lying discarded - a real ghost town! Kodiak is pretty much that now ... with just some fragments remaining, trying to save my battered ego.

My decision was based on the last combat round, I was nowhere near to taking the Island, new allied troops had been flown in, and my shipping was going to be pounded by LB and SS attacks. I don;t have the PP's to land a Division or two, and without air cover, I'm as good as dead.

It was a gambit, that with the right planning might have worked, but I really need to bring more, land simultaneously on various islands, secure some air support and as with all travel,plan(recon), halve the clothes(risk by adding air support) and double the money(troops)... and never travel in winter or public holidays.

My fallback position is now being established on Adak and Dutch Harbor, which I really hope I can take...
from here I can assess the situation more clearly.



I had to reveal KB last turn as LR-cover for my AP's loading troops, I'm very adverse to doing this and was hoping the smaller force could have provided enough cover.But alas, I had to tip my hand ... I just hope the American carriers are not a few hexes out.

The troops I did have at Kodiak, were just too green (exp 40-50), and even though they were prepped at about 80+, I lost 1/4 to a 1/3 just landing (and one underprepped unit lost 1/2). I should have waited a month and done it properly, but as we all know the sands of time for Japanese invasions, is well, short lived.

[John 3rd]

Wow. 

That is a lot of firepower!  I keep forgetting that this is EA and not a more standard Mod. 

What do you have going up at Kodiak? Do you want to take Anchorage?

[n01487477]

John & other readers (see post above John's)

I had been hoping to secure Kodiak, and then launch into the Alaskan wilderness, alas now the cat is out of the bag, my aims are going to be more modest in the next month and then see if I can pull off something with more troops assigned to the Nth area. And take a more piece-meal approach.

[edit same pic with details]



{Edit} CV Yamoto & Zuikaku is NW of Wake (actually the eta is prob 6-7 days), I'm thinking about sending them North, to combine back with KB, leaving the Southern region empty. And moving some CVL's from Borneo to take care of the Sth Pacific ... I'm not sure this is a favourable thing to do ... what do readers think ?

[n01487477]

5/2/42

Troops lifted off Kodiak, mainly successfully, but a little fragment remains, and I'm willing to live with that. Dutch Harbour is ready for an Assault, which I hope will capture the Island. I need this Lvl 3 port to replenish my TF's, despite AO's having fuel, I need to restock my ships.

Not sure if this is caused by the bug ... (for those that don;t know, Soviets active from the beginning, doesn't allow the Japanese to attack Soviet airspace, but the Soviets are able to ...)

Day Air attack on Heiho [Chosen] , at 66,25

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 19
Ki-27 Nate x 15

Allied aircraft
I-16 Type 24 x 42
MiG-3 x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
A5M4 Claude: 10 destroyed
Ki-27 Nate: 10 destroyed

Grrr ... Death Stars are only human ...(a few days of bombardments planned and then a big push again).

Ground combat at Khabarovsk [AMUR]

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 188631 troops, 2425 guns, 1428 vehicles, Assault Value = 4387
Defending force 54720 troops, 863 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 1814

Japanese max assault: 3727 - adjusted assault: 1703 [X(][X(][X(]
Allied max defense: 1797 - adjusted defense: 3077 [X(]

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2) -- started at Lvl 4

Japanese ground losses:
6320 casualties reported
Guns lost 134
Vehicles lost 6

Allied ground losses:
655 casualties reported
Guns lost 37

[n01487477]

Just a picture update today ... Will try to keep the visuals coming so you can see the relative movement of the fleet ... Hordes of SS's spotted and many 4 reported hit by my TB's flying off the CV's ... can't keep that up for long, but for now I have search planes out, until I think it safe to withdraw.

As you can see I took Dutch Harbour with a shock attack, there was some port damage, but I'm just happy the Allies didn't defend this base strongly. So now I can now replenish my forces with fuel and more supplies, which are on the way.



Other news:
[*]Betty's are now so vulnerable to Flak at Singapore, that I will have to raise the alt from 9000 to 13-14 K.
[*]Singapore assault starts, I don't believe I have enough to take this base quickly, but I wanted to at least wear down the British and Malayan forces
[*]Did I tell you, that Port Moresby was captured yesterday ... a side line really ... to the main action at present.

Ground combat at Singapore [UK]
Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 86582 troops, 1044 guns, 1990 vehicles, Assault Value = 2143
Defending force 47379 troops, 809 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 1286

Japanese max assault: 1888 - adjusted assault: 773 [:@]
Allied max defense: 1278 - adjusted defense: 1419

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 5) --- this is what happens when you wait !

Japanese ground losses:
5210 casualties reported
Guns lost 135
Vehicles lost 24

Allied ground losses:
531 casualties reported
Guns lost 33

[n01487477]

AirLosses to date

[n01487477]

6/2/42 CAPTURE Naga & Victory at Sinyang

[*]Allies finally pushed out of Sinyang ... I will update the Chinese encirclement soon.
[*]Philippines becoming more stable ... Allies withdrawal from Lingayen

[floydg]

I think you're stuck with the Ops losses if you're transferring a lot of planes. The other choice is to pack 'em on an AK, but that's slow.

[Nemo121]

Just split your transfers into a number of smaller transfers each of which is within the normal range of the plane involved. Do that and ground them during really foul weather and your ops losses will really plummet.

[John 3rd]

I need to learn that lesson for AE!  Thanks Nemo...
 

[n01487477]

7~8/2/42
Thanks for the responses ... Michael was saying he doesn't know much about the Russian airforce ... all he needs to know is that they are better than the Japanese. I'm waiting for the Mike 109 & Tojo ... I hope they are a somewhat better match, until the '43 production planes are available. Or just keep the away from them ... I'm sure the Allies will move them around a bit ...

Day Air attack on Heiho [Chosen] , at 66,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zeke x 33

Allied aircraft
MiG-3 x 59

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zeke: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
MiG-3: 6 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Heiho [Chosen] , at 66,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zeke x 11

Allied aircraft
I-16 Type 24 x 10
MiG-3 x 27
R-12 x 3
Yak-1 x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zeke: 19 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Yak-1: 4 destroyed

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x MiG-3 bombing at 2000 feet
6 x MiG-3 bombing at 2000 feet

[n01487477]

9/2/42 Ground combat

Ground combat at Khabarovsk [AMUR]
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 185274 troops, 2329 guns, 1436 vehicles, Assault Value = 4252
Defending force 53778 troops, 827 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 1788

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese max assault: 4102 - adjusted assault: 1472
Allied max defense: 1788 - adjusted defense: 4029

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese ground losses:
8727 casualties reported
Guns lost 153
Vehicles lost 9

Allied ground losses:
462 casualties reported
Guns lost 33

Soon as the Fort is rubble, I might do a shock attack, probably another 6-7 Days away.

Other News worthy items:
[*]Baguio/Balinta Pass is captured as the Allies fall back to Manila.
[*]CV's replenish at Dutch Harbour
[*]More supplies heading to the Aleutians.
[*]All reinforcements turned off to make sure the 3 large grounds units come in (2Days away) as full as possible - if not at max strength.
[*]Singapore ground combat planned for tomorrow.
[*]The invasion of Java is being prepared and planning details will emerge in coming days.(but it is really dependant on what occurs at Singapore in the coming days)
[*]Offensive planned for China, before I'm surrounded ...

[n01487477]

Pictures...
[*]withdrawal of troops at kharbarovsk too !!

[n01487477]

China ... zonal marking

[n01487477]

Java ... preliminary planning, and thinking ... Although with Singapore holding firm ... hmmm I might just wait a while.

[n01487477]

Not much happening today ... infact the smallest combat report so far.The Allies are withdrawing from kharbarovsk on-mass. Just the Fort to go and I hope the HI is left mostly intact.

In the Aleutians, I'm really waiting for some more logistical support, then I'm going to make a move on Cold Bay, with some additional units + those I used in the failed attempt on Kodiak. If this doesn't draw a response from the Allied CV's then I'm sure, they are getting shore leave further Sth. If I were the Allies though I'd be stationed under an umbrella of cap and pretty close enough to sail 2-3 days.

I'll have 7 CV's plus 3 CVL's, unfortunately I can't unload some of my bombers and torpedo bombers and replace them with zero's ... I don't have enough and they are covering other areas of operations. Also because I failed to take the mid point airbase at Petrovolosk ... I can't move any in.

So do I make a quick dash for the Home Islands or wait it out ? Maybe with this much fire power and a 2-1 advantage, I wont need to worry ... splitting them into 4 X 2 CV groups, makes sense...but with no real airbase...it could be a recipe for disaster. An AR is on the way to Dutch Harbour, just in case.

My other CVL's are heading toward the Sth Pacific to join up with Zuikaku in an attempt to take Savaii.My 5 CVE's will cover operations around Java. Be a bit of a surprise, If the Allied carriers are here instead!

[n01487477]

Captain Sabita and crew of I-5 (including Ito the cook, who might have been "accidentally" lost overboard shortly after the food poisoning incident), return home to Sendai...

As you can see the float damage continued to reduce ... 2 months of repairs and they will be back to sea. Unfortunately today her sister ship was sunk in the Aleutian's after successfully torpedoing AP Canberra. These American ASW patrols are deadly!

I-122, put 2 swordfish into an AK off the West Coast of Australia.

Khabarovsk is captured with light damage, as Russian troops quickly withdraw North. I'm on the pursuit, with additional troops ready to launch a two pronged attack, hopefully to destroy some of these Russian units. I wont attack however until my forces reach there. (HI now 13143 )

Some troops were also broken off, so as to finally take the Russian outpost of Petropavlosk.

[n01487477]

My primary focus, now that Clark Field has been taken on the Philippines, is to capture Singapore.

Over 250 aircraft bombed her airfields, although from 15,000 feet, then a deliberate attack reduced the forts to 4. I have a large Lcu and some more artillery on the way.

Ground combat at Singapore [UK]

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 70140 troops, 747 guns, 1923 vehicles, Assault Value = 1768

Defending force 47506 troops, 772 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 1285

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4--> I'm guessing this reduction occurred due to the number of Vehicles ???[&:]

Japanese max assault: 1461 - adjusted assault: 892

Allied max defense: 1258 - adjusted defense: 2509

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4)


Japanese ground losses:
2756 casualties reported
Guns lost 78
Vehicles lost 12

Allied ground losses:
519 casualties reported
Guns lost 38
Vehicles lost 1

Other news:
[*]I might have spotted a group of large SC's or maybe nothing at Sitka???
[*]A Deliberate attack on Rangoon is repulsed easily.

[n01487477]

14/2/42 ~ not much happened today as my troops move into position at Rangoon,Singapore and Dutch Harbour. Lvl Bombers are hitting Singapore everyday as well as Batavia & Djokjakarta. But supply levels are dropping fast and I must halt these operations soon. As adverse as I am to moving supplies out of Japan, due to the heavy construction levels, I've had to send more to Palembang,Tarakan and Balikapapan.

I'm getting pretty credible intell that the multiple force as Sitka is something "big" ... here is my operational plan, if I find in the next few days something is afoot ... why risk this ? Well because, I want to really cut his Pacific strength now before he gets more CV's and this is the best force I can muster.

I wont have protection, but I will have a hell of a lot of CV's and I hope the weather favours the brave

Banzai ... more on load out and leaders in coming posts.