Now when the land rings with the clash of arms –No soliinvictus please

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fcharton
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Now when the land rings with the clash of arms –No soliinvictus please

Post by fcharton »

The evening drum has emptied every street,
One autumn goose screams on its frontier flight,
The crystal dew is glittering at my feet,
The moon sheds, as of old, her silvery light.
The brothers, -- ah, where are they? Scattered each;
No home whence one might learn the other’s harms.
Letters has oft miscarried: shall they reach
Now when the land rings with the clash of arms?

(Du Fu, tr. H. Giles)



I blame the holiday season!

Last Thursday, in the train back home, I thought I might use those two weeks off to have a first attempt at a PBEM game. It looked like a simple and harmless idea, back then: one short scenario, as the allies, which would probably keep me busy for a couple of weeks.

That was the plan, but somehow I got a little carried away, and ended up accepting an offer from SoliInvictus202 (Roland) to play Japan, over a 1 day turn Scenario 2 campaign. Now, this might take slightly more than a couple of weeks…

This is my first PBEM, and my very first attempt at playing Japan. I am well aware that I am not being reasonable. I am taking a week to get used to being a Japan Fanboy, and prepare for the great voyage. I open this AAR in the hope that people more learned than me (that would mean everybody here), will comment, discuss, criticize, and therefore help me.

My short term goal is to try to avoid running Kido Butai aground in Etorofu before the war even begins.


Our game will probably begin in the first days of 2011. I'm not rushing. We are assuming 5-7 turns a week, probably slightly less at start...

My opponent suggested Scenario 2, and minimal house rules:
- only existing Allies TF can move in turn one, no new TF created,
- China is free to move,
- no 4E bombers on naval bombing below 10k.

There are no special provisions on PP or strat bombing. We do agree to avoid gamey behavior, though. I plan to limit myself to one port attack on turn 1, ie not attack both Pearl and Manila (I can't see how surprise could be achieved, given the 18 hour time difference between the two bases).

As for options, we’re pretty standard : Allies Damage Control on, Bad US torpedoes, first turn surprise, realistic R&D. I asked for PDU Off (more interesting).


The version of the program we’ll start with is yet undecided. Right now, we use the last stable (October 2010) version. I am very tempted to use the current beta, since I believe the land radar, AA and search arc changes do make a lot of difference. However, I’d rather not have to redo the terrible first turns, because (we agree) some current bug spoil them.

What is the common reasoning on this? Would you go for the last version? Wait a few days for the next one? Keep the previous and upgrade later? Does it make such a difference?


Francois
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))–No soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

While I am sill getting ready, I might as well ramble on the grand scheme of things... Comments are welcome, of course.

Winning as Japan

There are two roads to victory as Japan.

A military road, in which the Empire tries to expand while the Allies are weak, search and destroy their naval assets, grab their bases, eliminate their units, and break their will to fight. In game terms, the objective is an early victory (presumably in 1943), through a large VP ratio. If this fails, plan B is to secure a large perimeter by 1943, dig in, and hold until the bitter end. In such an approach, speed is crucial, and victory is won by the troops (and ships and planes). The role of the economy is to keep the army and navy at maximal strength, and supplied, during that (hopefully) short war.

An economic road, built upon the assumption that war will be long, which strives to build a powerful war machine so as to remain in the game throughout 1944, and 1945, when the Allies get strong. The objective is to hold until 1946 (or perhaps get an automatic victory as Japan in 1945), there is no plan B. In this setting, the economy comes first, and the military is there to allow economic growth.

I begin this war inexperienced, but hope to improve as months go by. For what I have read on my opponent, he seems to be aggressive, and have a good tactical flair. I expect him to conduct a fighting retreat every time he can. I also believe he starts the war better prepared than me. For this reason, I anticipate slower buildup than in games handled by competent JFB. Mistakes will be made, setbacks will happen, and I will be late on schedule. I need a strategy that can accommodate a rookie like me. This suggests the economic road to war, since I will certainly be too slow and inefficient for the military path.

Therefore, my strategic goal in this game, is to build the Japanese economy into something that can withstand Allies assaults in 1944 and 1945. In the long run, this means :

- secure a large enough perimeter so that my economy does not get targetted too soon (by strat bombing campaigns), yet not too large, so it can be defended with limited assets (and maintain reasonable lines of communication)
- maintain and train a large reserve to counterattack and foil allies attempts at reconquest
- keep production high, to defeat attempts at attrition of front line troops, more than holding one's ground, the end of the war is about replacing losses (this results from the nature of the combat model, I believe)

To achieve thes goals, territorial expansion will happen, for three reasons

- First, to secure resources, and especially oil
- Then, to protect resources and industry, therefore helping Japan maintain production as long as possible
- Finally, to prevent or delay allied attacks on Japanese economy

Francois (edited a large part of this, too wordy...)
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))–No soliinvictus

Post by Captain Cruft »

The way I play is to act as if I'm "broke" from the start and I regard the SRA as a temporary bonus. I find it hard to ship all the stuff it produces anyway due to the small port sizes and lack of tankers.

Therefore things like 2E bombers are "luxuries" and I try to find a use for every single aircraft that I possess. Even Idas are useful in the right place.

It's mostly a tactical game IMO, don't get hung up on the economy. Always try to get a favourable exchange rate in every battle, and if you can't then if possible don't fight. This can work wonders at any stage of the game. Nobody likes losing battles, and angry frustrated players make mistakes ...
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))–No soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 7, 1941,

- So, what did you do on Sunday?
- Nothing unusual … Went boating off Hawaii, spent some time on the beaches. Lost a dozen planes, sank a couple ships…
- Planes? Ships? What do you mean?
- Let me explain…



Unusual Hawaii

KB’s morning raid on Pearl Harbor was launched at close range (2 hexes), with all torpedo bombers targeting the port, dive bombers and a few zeroes the airfields, and the remaining fighters flying sweep or escort.

There was something strange with this turn. The weather was clear, the raid was detected in advance, yet no allied planes flew. Usually, you get a handful of them. What did show up in numbers, though, was the flak.

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed by flak
B5N2 Kate: 17 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 6 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 43 damaged
D3A1 Val: 7 destroyed by flak

As you can imagine, a number of those damaged planes never made it to their carriers.


In return, only 21 Allied planes were destroyed on the ground.

Allied aircraft losses
B-18A Bolo: 3 destroyed on ground
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 4 destroyed on ground
B-17D Fortress: 2 destroyed on ground
A-20A Havoc: 2 destroyed on ground
SBD-1 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 4 destroyed on ground
O-47A: 1 destroyed on ground
C-33: 1 destroyed on ground
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed on ground

Yet the attack on ships was good (a lone midget sub torpedo into BB West Virginia must be added to this). Note the high number of torpedo hits.

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
BB California, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AM Rail, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AV Curtiss, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AVP Swan, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AV Tangier, Torpedo hits 1
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1
DD Hull, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AD Whitney, Bomb hits 1
CL Helena, Torpedo hits 1
DM Pruitt, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Farragut, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Aylwin, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

There was another smaller air raid in the afternoon, which resulted in more flak losses

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 17 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 5 destroyed by flak

And more torpedoes

Allied Ships
CL Honolulu, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Nevada, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Oklahoma, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Maryland, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
BB Tennessee, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

At the end of the day, intelligence claims one BB and one AVP sunk. Combat reports say 2 and 2. Several battleships are in probably in bad shape. Five of them were hit by four or more torpedoes, two others had three torpedoes each.

It seems a lot of torpedoes were used, which caused my planes to flow low, and become easy targets for enemy flak.

Now, should KB stay another day?

My original plan was to rush at full speed after the raid, refuel en route, and arrive as early as possible either in New Guinea to support invasions, or in the Celebes to surprise raiders and fleeing convoys. Heavy first turn losses, to both sides, make this a reasonable idea.

On the other hand, staying one more day would probably make a big difference. Since (as I expect) many BB are in bad shape, a second attack might finish some, and allow my torpedo bombers to focus on lighter ships. Of course this would also mean heavy losses to the air groups, and need for an operational pause to rearm and replace (in Truk or Japan). In scenario 1, the heavy pilot losses would probably rule this out, but in scenario 2, I can afford of bit more pilot losses.

I’m still undecided as I write this.


Warping in the East Indies

I wanted to take advantage of the fast TF Japan is given at game start (task forces with (*) at the end of their name) to make several landings on the first turn. Apart from KB, there are a score of those, in Japan, Babeldaob, Vietnam, Hainan and Formosa. They represent task forces that left (or would have left) their bases several days before the 7th (historically, KB left the Kuriles on the 25th of November). I decided to use several of them - it is a non historical turn, after all - but not to send them deep into enemy territory - this would mean surprise could not be achieved on the seventh.


In Malaya, I considered that Mersing was too close to Singapore to be a potential warp target, and kept the main landing in Khota Baru, Pattani and Singora. In the north of the peninsula, troops were concentrated at Chumphon, to allow for an early conquest of Victoria Point

The invasion of Batan Island was called off. The two task forces assigned there (together with additional cover) were sent to Kwangchowan and Pakhoi. The former was empty and will fall on the 8th. The latter has a Chinese corps, which might prove a bit too much for my small invasion force. Probe and see…

Luzon goes by the historical plan, with landings in Vigan and Appari on the 8th or 9th. Atimonan will probably be the southern beachhead. The short term goal is to set up airbases in the north, reduce Allied airforce, and let defenders pack into Manila, Clark and Bataan. After that, there are two options. Either reinforce the initial landings, and go for a short campaign, or bottle the enemy in its bases and go for a long siege. I am waiting on my opponent reaction in Singapore and Sumatra to decide. Meanwhile, I am sending the 14th army, and building a reserve in Formosa (and soon in Hong Kong).

In Mindanao, a large (warp) invading force landed in Davao, which should fall on the 8th or 9th. I want a short campaign there. “Micro KB” (Ryujo and friends, waiting for the rest of the mini KB to arrive) was sent to the Celebes Sea, to catch whatever tries to retreat, and complicate the evacuation of the Philippines and Borneo. Ryujo had some success, CL Marblehead was sunk in the afternoon.

Boise and Houston are now around Jolo. They probably intended to rush towards Java, perhaps joining there with the Dutch cruisers to go raiding. It will be interesting to see what they try to do now. I don’t think they are a match for micro KB. I have a CVL, 3 CA and several DD, whereas they are split into 4 separate task forces, Boise and Houston alone, plus two small destroyer forces. To attempt anything, they should link up first, which would give Ryujo enough time to sink some of them, and after that, their numbers would a problem. If they try to force their way through the Celebes Sea, they are likely to be sunk. Their most logical route of escape is due east, but my opponent might try something.

I anticipate surface action in the Celebes Sea around the 11th. Force Z, at full speed, could arrive in the region on the morning of the 10th. By then Micro KB will be out of sorties and Mini KB will not have arrived, but I have a plan…


Other first day landings focused on the southern Dutch East Indies, in Hollandia, Manado and Ternate. I expect the three to fall on the 8th. My goal is to help closing the Celebes Sea to Allied traffic, and complicate the decisions my opponent has to make, by threatening his rear in Java and Timor.


So, what happened on that seventh of December?

It was not such a great start. I lost over 40 planes to flak, and a dozen more in a badly coordinated strike over Malaya. Allied air losses are higher than mine, but just barely. Some damage was done in return, with about 50 allied planes destroyed on field, 20 in the air, a battleship and a light cruiser sunk, but I’ve seen better Sundays.

10k years !

Francois

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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))–No soliinvictus

Post by marky »

id say head for the PI to hit some fleeing ships [:)]
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))–No soliinvictus

Post by Canoerebel »

You'll never get such a chance again to sink heavily damaged US battleships. You have to stick around another day or two. Doing so may get you two to four more BBs.

(P.S. Q-Ball hit Pearl Harbor four consecutive days in our PBEM Scenario Two game; he trashed my fleet).
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

@canoerebel and marky, thanks a lot for the comment and advice, as you will soon understand, I do need advice, badly...

December 8th 1941,

See how the Fates their gifts allot,
For A is happy - J is not.
Yet J is worthy, I dare say,
Of more (Greater Co-)prosperity than A!
(Gilbert and Sullivan, slightly adapted)


Hawaii, land of wonders

So, in the end, I decided I would stay for another day. I moved KB a bit (6 hexes away), checked everything was right (it was) and got ready to finish the battleships.

The enemy managed a night intercept, but came in with too little (one light cruiser and five destroyers). The combat report announced a hit on Zuikaku (flight deck damaged, the replay said) and a hit on one destroyer. In reality, only the destroyer had some light damage (4 sys). So far, so good.

And then...

Then, nothing. Nagumo apparently had bad sashimi the day before and spent the day in bed, or something. Not a single plane flew out of my fearsome Kido Butai.

This is getting really embarrassing, and face dictates that I remain one more day. Ironically, this might surprise my opponent, who probably believes (that is what I thought as I watched the replay) that he caught me leaving, or that the damage done my carriers sent KB reeling back to Japan.

Something unusual is afoot here (not the weather, everything is clear), and I am very curious to see what happens next around this island of wonders. At this point, I am half-expecting USS Nimitz.


Of rookies and blunders

The little intelligence I had on my opponent pointed towards an aggressive style of play. This was the case in the AAR he posted, and I thought my avowed newbie status would encourage him. This is now confirmed. In the long run, I am hoping that this will land him into trouble. But right now, I am still a rookie, and I get punished.

So, while Nagumo was meditating, alone on the deck of his carrier, watching the sun rise, his saber laid down in front of him, a few random notes of koto sounding in the background, thinking that war is hell, my opponent was doing what enemies often do. He was being very bad, rushing his carrier (or carriers, not sure at this point, but I suspect the plural) towards Rabaul, and managing to intercept my Tarawa invasion force, with one detached cruiser.

I know, I should have thought of it. I had changed the course of my oilers, and the timing and path of invasion for Wake and Guam, lest an opportunistic captain sail this way, but I forgot the Tarawa Beach Boys.

After a long and sad replay, things looked like this:

Japanese Ships
CM Tokiwa, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
CM Okinoshima, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
PB Nagata Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Tenyo Maru, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kamikaze Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, Shell hits 3

Japanese ground losses:
2553 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 82 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 29 (27 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Yeah, banzai fcharton! A couple more like this one, and I'll be home before the leaves fall !

The (very thin) silver lining is that I now know where his carriers are, and have a good guess of where they are going. They are moving at full speed to intercept Kavieng and Shortlands, where invasions are supposed to happen¡­ I believe they will proceed in this direction: my opponent now knows KB is behind him, his Tarawa gamble worked and my opening move on Hollandia suggested an intention to land early in Rabaul.

I believe that against a capable Japanese player, such a bold move, so close to Japanese bases and subs, would be punished, and I will actually try to achieve this (and probably not succeed, but that's not a reason for not trying)

One amusing aspect is that the US CV went where KB was planning to go after his after raid on Pearl Harbor. If I had rushed to the Philippines, as Marky suggested, a cute situation might have ensued.


But don't expect this rookie to make one mistake a turn. Blunders, in this game, will come in packs of three (and like the Musketeers, the three will usually be four).

Today, blunders two and three were the result of two pretty good moves by my opponent.

South of the Phillipines, he bombed Babeldaob, with his B17, sinking a couple of minelayers and cargo ships. I sort of flunked this blunder: several better targets, including CVE Taiho, were out of town for the day. It could have been worse.

North of Luzon, he managed two very daring attack with his Catalinas, against my Appari and Vigan landing parties. Never knew Catalinas could do this. Tried it before, never seen it happen. That will not prevent the landings, but I lost 2500 men.

I had cover for both landing forces, but one was apparently fishing or waterskiing one hex back, and the commander of the other was probably busy chatting on MSN with Nagumo or something (I'm also positively certain that I forgot some important switches when planning those task forces, the post mortem is in process)


My fourth foot landed in my mouth in Pakhoi (I know this sentence sounds strange, don't expect correct English syntax from me, I'm French). My landing force there was grossly inadequate, and was wiped out by a shock attack by a Chinese Corps. I cannot resist quoting the Combat Report in full, for the enlightenment of other would be Japanese rookies. Rookies, don't do that, ever!

Ground combat at Pakhoi (72,58)

Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 4488 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 169
Defending force 1391 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Allied adjusted assault: 126
Japanese adjusted defense: 2
Allied assault odds: 63 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1544 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 81 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 26 (26 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
64th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
Sasebo 1st SNLF

Total cost of my four blunders, about 15 ships and 6500 soldiers. I probably can do worse, but I will need preparation and good die rolls.



Where all ends well after all, (well, not all, and not so well, and not after all, but sort of)

Admit it, gentle reader. At this point, you have the impression of having been cheated into reading the most embarrassing AAR ever. But actually, a couple of things went right, too, on this 8th of December.

In the air, life was good. A sweep campaign over Luzon (and Burma, Malaya and China) trimmed down Allied fighters squadrons. 34 Allied planes went down, for 5 Japanese. Adding operational damage, total air losses are 45 to 14, still a 3 to 1 ratio. The 45 were mostly fighters (17 P35, 15 P40, 4 Buffaloes, and 3 I-15).

While fighters were sweeping, bombers went hunting over the South China Sea, helped by a few surface combat forces. Six cargoes out of Hong Kong and six patrol boats were sunk. Two US subs were damaged, one is reported sunk but I doubt it.

On the ground, things went fine too (except for the Pakhoi madness). Kuangchowan and Hollandia fell, undefended. In Ternate and Davao, the garrison surrendered. In Manado, fortifications have been reduced to zero. My landing party is bit light, but I expect the base to fall tomorrow. Khota Baru fell first try (1600 Allied casualties, for 200 Japanese).

In China, my troops have begun arriving in Hong Kong, bombardment will commence tomorrow, while the infantry rests. I also took Pucheng (yeah, you don't know where it is, never mind)



All over the map

Here is a general overview of the situation today. I'll add map pictures tomorrow.

In Burma, the enemy seems to be evacuating. Several TF are moving towards India. Fighter squadrons are nowhere to be seen. I'm on naval attack tomorrow, will go on sweeping, just in case, and will soon know where I stand, but my money is on retreat to India. A blocking force seems to have been left in Moulmein. With no air cover, this seems like a bad idea. I have troops moving towards Pisanuloke, but the first phase of the campaign will be bombing galore (my bombers have lots of free time while I'm sweeping Malaya and Luzon).

Allied planes also seem to have left North Malaya. They probably are in Singapore. I am waiting for the air support to arrive in Khota Baru to base fighters, start sweeping, and see if he keeps an air force there. His bombers tried a few sorties (bad idea). On the ground, troops seem to concentrate in Alor Star. It is better terrain than Georgetown, but easy to cut off, and only a size 1 port. I am sending three regiments there, to probe his forces, and troops from Pattani are moving to cut the road south of him. I have several ideas about why he would do this, more on the subject tomorrow.

At sea, a large force sails between Toboali and Billiton, towards Java. I have subs there too, see what happens. They seem to be planning a raid in the DEI. But they could double back to Borneo too, time will tell.

I am moving planes to Davao and Ternate, to chase whatever sails around. Manado is next on the list, and I am considering Sorong. Most of my naval forces are converging towards this region. I feel he will come raiding, and I think I can defeat him here, with ships and land based air.

Around Luzon, my opponent is apparently sending his fleeing boats to the East. I have task forces waiting there, others scheduled to arrive, and mini KB on its way. I expect bad days for the merchies. Since I hold Ternate and Manado, I don¡¯t understand how they intend to flee, but I like this course of action. Chasing the merchants drives my SCTF towards the DEI, which is where want them to go.

The main unknown is his carrier group. KB will not arrive in the region soon (it is staying in Pearl, and will then need to refuel and rearm). My idea is that he will soon be short of fuel (too much travel at full speed), and will need to turn south after hitting air in Kavieng. But you never know.


So, what happened today ?

A day was lost in Pearl (no damage either way, just time wasted), KB is in for another day.
Allied carriers raided and sunk my Tarawa force. Next stop seems to be Kavieng, I will try to do my best.
I realized I am awful at naval operations, but the air war is going fine. I suspect my opponent is the opposite. If so, it will be interesting.
Some elements of enemy strategy seem to appear. They need to be confirmed, but I'm betting on a "raiding Robin" approach to the game.
It is now obvious for my opponent that I am not very bright, and that he can try a few bold moves. I agree with this analysis, and this plan. Again, I'll do my best.
I'm having a lot of fun, even though I'm suffering. I need to spend some time next turn or the following one to settle a few things on production, convoys and the like.


If I were Fortune - which I'm not
J should enjoy A's happy lot,
And A should die in miserie
That is, assuming I am J.



萬時 ! 10k hours !
(If I go on blundering like that, this is all it will take¡­)

Francois
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by Capt. Harlock »

After a long and sad replay, things looked like this¡­

Japanese Ships
CM Tokiwa, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
CM Okinoshima, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
PB Nagata Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Tenyo Maru, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kamikaze Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, Shell hits 3

Japanese ground losses:
2553 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 82 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 29 (27 destroyed, 2 disabled)

C'est manifique, mais ce n'est past la guerre.
Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by Captain Cruft »

That SNLF at Pakhoi must have had about 1 prep points. Bad idea ... You don't need to rush in that area, and I would tend to go the overland route, FWIW. The Marines are needed more in the DEI.

I find that simply having CAP in the vicinity of the Luzon landings will help to prevent the Catalina Naval Attacks. For example, in Turn 2 just put some Nates or Zeroes on Batan Island with a CAP setting and a range of at least 3. Then when you have Vigan and/or Aparri move some fighters to these bases immediately. The aviation support can follow later if necessary. Fighters can fly CAP & Escort without it, they just won't repair when damaged.

No idea why KB did nothing, would need to see the settings ...

Surface Combat TFs which are covering landings need to have a Patrol Zone defined and React set to > 0. I tend to use a value of 3. Or just put them in the same hex as the amphib TFs themselves.

Using the B-17s for Port Attacks at Samah, Takao, Babeldoab etc. is a well-known tactic. Having any fighters at all on CAP at these bases will stop the attacks from being effective though. This is what Nates and Claudes are for - they won't shoot anything down but less bombs will hit the target.
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

Hi Captain Cruft,

Thanks for the tips. The best I can do is not repeat the same errors...

I took a better look at Northern Luzon, and now understand a number of things I did wrong.

1- I did set the TF to direct route, but forgot the full speed, so they probably stayed more at sea than they should... (and speed is most certainly a factor when defending against naval attacks at sea)
2- I had CAP in the region, but no LRCAP, and didn't take Batan Island (which is in "spill CAP range" of Appari). As a result, the TF were only protected a few hexes off Formosa

The cover was in the same hex as the TF, set to follow at zero hex, but apparently did not provide any flak. The same day, another raid of the Catalinas on another TF with cover had more typical results. This one looked as if the cover was not there (even though the TF had a little AA capability).

In Babeldaob, the raid was detected (at 115 NM I'm told), and I actually had a Claude squadron on CAP (30%), which did scramble, but arrived too late. The next day, the same raid happened, CAP arrived on time, and no hits were scored. Why it didn't work the first day remains a mystery (I did check the saved turn for differences...)

The one thing I think I have learnt here (which is probably obvious to you) is that, in the case of incoming bombers, the role of CAP and flak is much less to shoot down enemy planes than to cause them to lose formation, and miss their targets. Claudes won't shoot those B17, but they will make them inefficient. Would that mean that, so long no enemy fighters turn up, even CAP by very small squadrons is enough?

In Pakhoi, the landings went fine. I lacked preparation, that's for sure, but the marines managed without. It was a warp TF, so they were ashore on the 7th. The only problem was that I had a battalion against a chinese corps, in open terrain... The chinese bombarded on the seventh, this gave away my strength, shock attacked on the eighth was inevitable, as were the results...

For KB, anticipating on the next installment of this AAR, KB did attack the next day, and I did not change the parameters (I wanted to test that...). I had ordered him two hexes from PH, but Nagumo moved 8 away, and only attacked with his Kates and Zeros (and with bombs only, whereas the first day was torpedo galore). Now, on the 8th, I had ordered KB 5 hexes from Pearl Harbor, and found him 7 away at the end of the turn. Is it possible that KB, having been intercepted, sailed out of range? Also lots of torpedoes had been used on the first day. Total stock was about 2/3, but some carriers below 50%. I'm mentionning that because I observed a relatively similar situation in the Aussies vs Aussies AAR (this is the only similitude, mind you, the other game features competent japanese players...). Their first day raid used a lot of torpedoes, which scored a lot of hits, then KB was intercepted at night, at the second raid, planned at short range happened 8 hexes away, without torpedo hits (whereas the Kates went in).

Whether the intercept or the number of torpedoes used (or both) are the reason for Nagumo's prudence, I don't know, but this might be interesting to look into.

@capt Harlock : isn't it the other way around? (ce n'est pas magnifique, mais c'est la guerre)

Francois



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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by Capt. Harlock »

@capt Harlock : isn't it the other way around? (ce n'est pas magnifique, mais c'est la guerre)

Yes, that might have been a better way of putting it.[:D] But my post was a quote from General Pierre Bosquet, upon watching the charge of the Light Brigade, one of history's more famous slaughters. (I believe you'll find it in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.)
Civil war? What does that mean? Is there any foreign war? Isn't every war fought between men, between brothers?

--Victor Hugo
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 9th, 1941

Don’t expect a quote per day…

Hawaii, KB at last…

Nagumo finally decided to attack. My opponent did not try to intercept it (he was probably convinced I had left), and several raids took place, but from 8 hexes and without the Vals. Two morning raids cost 5 Zeroes and 8 Kates, in exchange for 8 enemy fighters. Battleships were bombed again, a few other ships got hit too.

Allied Ships
BB California, Bomb hits 8, on fire
DMS Boggs, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Arizona, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
AD Dobbin, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 7, on fire
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Downes, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Jarvis, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Maryland, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 1

In the afternoon, a small and unimpressive raid took place. KB’s Air to Air performance was unimpressive: 4 Zeroes and 3 Kates, for three enemy fighters. 4 battleships got one more bomb.

Allied Ships
BB West Virginia, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
BB California, Bomb hits 1
BB Oklahoma, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Bomb hits 1

The two battleships reported sunk in the first raid did not show up, so I believe they are gone for good. I doubt the others will sink (we’ll see in a few days), but I believe they are in shipyard for a while.

In the afternoon, the enemy launched two raids on KB, with B17 and Bolos, resulting in 3 B17 and 2 Bolos destroyed.

KB will now return, meet the oilers south of Wake, and rearm and refit in Truk. Overall, the raid achieved something on the first day, with 2 BB sunk and the 6 others probably heavily damaged, but at a heavy cost in terms of planes. The extended stay did not bring much, apart more lost planes.

Ce n’est pas magnifique, mais c’est la vie !
Or I suppose…


Enemy carriers

Remember the Air Combat TF detected near Tarawa yesterday? It stayed around today, and staged a raid over Jaluit, which hit thin air.

Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 4
F4F-3 Wildcat x 2
SBD-2 Dauntless x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15
TBD-1 Devastator x 12

The plane mix is interesting. Numbers suggest one carrier, but there are two kinds of fighters… I believe the Wilcats were extricated from Wake. This suggests my opponent sent this carrier (Lexington, I believe) hunting around Wake to try to get a landing force, or the oilers, and then down to Mili, to fetch CA Louisville. This is where I found him yesterday. All this was probably done at full speed.

Why stay here? It might have been waiting for another large force, which appeared East of Makin. Ten ships, two cruisers, smells of the Enterprise, joining at normal speed…

What next, then? KB is less than 3 days behind, and might be heading for Truk for refit, so I doubt they move North or East. My bet remains on Rabaul, and then southern Australia, or New Zealand. I have for subs within 5 hexes of the task force, course set towards it. I believe the chances of an intercept are low, but I will never know unless I try.


Not every day can be interesting…

Elsewhere, little happened. Sweeps over Malaya, Burma, and China (Changsha) found the bases deserted. All the fighters seem to have gone to Singapore, so I know where I am flying tomorrow… The AVG has gone, either India, or Chungking (I would love the latter, but I bet on the former…) Like in Burma, a general retreat seems to be happening in Malaya, towards Singapore. Will he try to evacuate Singapore?

9 Warhawks were shot down over Manila, for 3 Zeroes. Less and less fighters are showing up. Unless he uses replacements, bombing should begin soon. Apart from KB (which did not even achieve 1:1 in planes shot), that 3:1 ratio of losses in the air seems to be the norm. I am happy with this.

B17 showed up today over Babeldaob. Claudes flew cap, 8 B17 out of 14 were damaged, no hits were scored. Catalinas in Vigan were a little more lucky, but not as yesterday.

My landing forces finally hit Appari and Vigan, both will fall tomorrow, and the Appari party is large, but little is left of the Vigan first wave.

So, Tuesday?

KB finally attacked, and was unimpressive.
Both US CVs are probably spotted south of the Marshalls, moving West or South West.
Tomorrow, I have landings arriving in Wake, Guam and Miri, and Mini KB arrives in the region.

Francois
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by Captain Cruft »

Is KB set to "Remain on station"?
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
Is KB set to "Remain on station"?

It was not, why?

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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 10th 1941

Everything reactionary is the same; if you don't hit it, it won't fall. This is also like sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish of itself.
(Mao Tsetung)


Sweeping, ground bombing and those air-o-plain thingies in general

About 100 fighters based in Khota Baru swept Singapore on the 10th. Having no aviation support there (an Air HQ is on its way), I was a bit concerned, but everything went fine. At the end of the day, 23 Buffaloes and 3 Blenheims are reported missing. Over Luzon, operations continued, with 10 enemy fighters reported shot. 4 Wildcats were written off as ops losses, they are not my fault, but I’m taking them anyway. A total of 41 enemy fighters were lost, in exchange for 3 Zeroes and 12 Oscars.

Also I finally got Zeroes on long range CAP over Luzon and the Pescadores (silly me!). They downed 14 Catalinas and 4 B17D…

Aircraft losses for today are 18/58, in favor of Japan. Overall losses are 180/250, the ratio is lowered by the sad performance of KB over Hawaii. But at this point of the game, I seem to achieve that 1:3 ratio almost systematically. I understand fog of war probably makes this nicer than it really is. But it does feel nice.

I have also been experimenting with ground bombing, and seem to get nice results over open terrain. Over Georgetown, my raids caused 180 casualties yesterday, and 90 today. Similar casualty rates occurred around Nanchang.

I am slowly learning to use my planes. Right now, my goal is to search and destroy enemy fighters. Without them, enemy bombers are vulnerable, and friendly bombers are deadly…

I have not started working on plane production (except restarting production of Kates). I am waiting for a better understanding my daily loss mix, and a better idea of where my squadrons go after the three first air campaigns (Philippines, Rangoon and Singapore) to dig further into this. Before, I might expand Zeroes, restart Oscar 1b, and expand the Nakamichi 35. Can’t really go wrong with those, I believe.


Wish there were less of those blue hexes

Japanese subs missed the Lexington… The two CV groups are now sailing south west, towards Fiji or New Zealand. Sydney is the logical endpoint. My subs will try to follow them for a while (they still are in range of my Mavis patrols in Jaluit)

In central Pacific, Wake was invaded and fell today, and there were landings on Guam.

The same day, planes in Saipan spotted the Boise and Houston, north of the Mariannas, sailing East. They seem to be leading the escape convoys from Manila. Interestingly, my Rabaul landing forces, and its cover, happened to be very close, and undetected. I am sending the landing party to Truk, and will do a bit of raiding with the cover force.

Around the Philippines, I did not sink much shipping, and a destroyer managed to put a torpedo into CVE Hosho. She is at 19sys 48float, so she’ll probably make it, but this is not nice… All carriers (KB and mini KB) are converging to Truk. Should I do one or two carrier groups, I don’t know.

All this confirms I am terrible with ships. The good thing with this is that, as war proceeds, I will have less and less of them, to blunder with…

Talking about all those blue hexes, I am trying to pinpoint possible enemy ships… Both CVs are now south of the Marshalls, heading towards Sidney. Other Pearl Harbor ships are probably still there, my opponent could not be sure KB would not attack today. Philippines Cruisers and Destroyers are north of the Mariannas, heading towards Hawaii. There are sightings of cruisers in Soerabaja. I would believe the Dutch cruisers are there.

This leaves Force Z (and assorted RN cruisers) and the Australian Cruisers unaccounted for.


Attacking in a different direction

Almost all forces in Northern Malaya have now retreated, and airfields north of Singapore (Kuantuan, Kuala…) are empty. In Luzon, everyone seems to be stacking in Clark Field. Saved lone fleeing merchants, no enemy ships or planes have been detectedl around Borneo, in the Celebes, or close to Ambon (where I have an invasion force arriving, and surface forces scouting).

A similar situation prevails on the continent. He does not seem to reinforce or supply Rangoon.

In Northern China, the nicely defensible base of Tsiaotso was abandoned, and my divisions moving towards Sian along the railway line are apparently pushing fleeing troops before them. In the Yellow River Plain, he seems to be stacking in Zhengzhou and Luoyang, but that’s pretty much all.

The only enemy action in the region is around Ichang. Chinese troops moved in after I evacuated it. They now seem to be moving again, intending to catch my garrison, which is now in better terrain, and have been reinforced. I was planning to move forward, but I might let them come attack.

So, as I was watching the long line of merchants ships, following Boise and Houston, and stretching from Leyte to Saipan, I was thinking of those minstrels, dancing and playing the flute, following a famous knight of the round table…

This needs to be confirmed, but this suggests a general retreat is under way.

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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))¨CNo soliinvictus

Post by Captain Cruft »

ORIGINAL: fcharton
ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
Is KB set to "Remain on station"?

It was not, why?

With Retirement Allowed, a TF will move to the destination hex and then IMMEDIATELY try to move back to its home port. This is why the KB has not been where you want it to be.

For example, if the destination hex is two hexes from the current position, and assuming that KB has a cruise speed of 4 hexes, then it will move to the destination during the night phase and then move two hexes back towards the home port. Followed by another 4 hexes in the day phase.
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))NCNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 11th, 1941

Dark nights gave me those dark eyes,
That I am using to search for the light
(Gu Cheng)



Letters to the Editor

Captain Cruft, thank you very much for the explanation. This does explain KB's attitude during those three days. Chocolate sushis and paper flowers have been sent to Nagumo, whom I unfairly accused. I did use the "remain on station" setting before, but never realized how important it was.

This confirms something I have often been thinking about this game (and others). Most of the time, when something really bad happens, we, the players, are to blame. In rare cases, the enemy is to be blamed for doing his job correctly. Other typical excuses (die rolls and the system) are just straw men. This does not mean the game is perfect, of course, just that they seldom are the cause of all the bad results we like to associate with them.

To a very large extend, this is a solitaire game, even when playing PBEM.

Right, enough pontificating (I'm not really in a position to do this), and back to the game.


Dull days in Davao

East of the Philippines, surface task forces, submarines on patrol and planes on naval attack sank a number of merchant ships. 10 AKL and one AP (President Madison) were done with.
A Dutch submarine was sunk by one of my subs in the Macassar straits, pretty lucky, I believe.
My surface forces attacked enemy patrol boats, 2 were sunk.

Two of my cargoes were torpedoed close to Pattani, one of them sunk, the other one (99% float) has been rushed to Pattani. Will she make it?

In Malaya, an empty Alor Star was occupied today, bombings continued on the Georgetown garrison, with the usual 100 casualties. Hong Kong was bombarded, I will attack tomorrow. In Borneo, the Miri invasion is ashore, will attack tomorrow. In the Celebes, and enemy AKL and AVP were sunk off Ambon. I am not sure what they were doing there. The landings in Ambon went fine, attacks will commence tomorrow. No enemy ships are detected in the region. I will remain prudent, but I'm still hearing the minstrels sing.

This suggests rapid action in that region. The idea would be to go for Kendari (and Koepang?), to cut the region. Invade Jolo and northern Mindanao, while eastern Borneo is peacefully liberated. This would secure all the oilfields there by Christmas, and complicate allied communications between Australia and the Indian Ocean.

In the air, the sweeps continued, rates are good (5/19 overall, 1/14 air to air, with mostly Buffaloes shot down, but my fighters are beginning to lack targets. Almost no fighter showed up over Luzon, and combat patrols over Singapore were lighter than the day before.

I will try another day tomorrow, but I expect the ratio to go down (and end up being dominated by my ops losses, since I am operating at long range). This means fighters will mostly be needed for escorts now, and this will some for forward bases in Borneo and the Celebes.


Overall, I will probably have to mark a pause, to move troops and supplies south in Singapore, reinforce Luzon, march on Rangoon, reinforce the bases in Sarawak, the Celebes and Mindanao, and get the next invasions on their way.

Now, my opponent may have naval assets in the region (so far, the only ship I sank was the Marblehead). I will soon have lots of planes patrolling over those seas, but I certainly need to cover the operational pause by a few makeshift aggressive moves. I am now looking on "useless but bold" bases, to keep him on his toes. I will also prepare to punish too daring a raid.


Chinese thoughts

I am attacking HK tomorrow, deliberate attacks to begin with. I have about 750AV for 250 enemy AV, forts are level 3. Not sure how long it will hold, but it will fall anyway. I am uncertain on what I want to do in southern China, after HK falls. Linking up with Vietnam seems tempting. That would probably mean Pakhoi and Nanning.

A couple of other ideas in China.

I fail to understand the importance of Changsha. This seems to be a magnet for many Japanese players. I understand it has a railroad, and helps communication between HK and Shanghai, but... so what? On the other hand, I would love to go for Kunming, which means the Burma road, once reopened, would not feed China. It does seem like a lofty goal, though...

I want northern China, I'm concentrating troops in Taiyuan and Kweisui, to move towards Sian and Lanchow. I want the oil there, and I want to cut supplies to the Sichuan Basin. The real prize in China is the Sichuan Basin (Chengtu and Chungking), if the campaign here is successful, this is what I am aiming for.

In China, I want to starve the troops. No rules prevent me from bombing the cities, and I am seriously considering it...

I'm open on comments on the gameyness of it, but, just to put a perspective, let me mention that whereas chinese light industry was indeed a "cottage industry", so was japanese light industry. If we consider strategic bombing of Japan is accurately portrayed in the game, why forbid it in China?


äÝ?ô !
10k plans !

Francois
(anyone knows how to get chinese characters inside posts? last time it works, today it does not...)
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))NCNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 12th 1941

Chance

I am a cloud in the sky
Which, perchance,
Cast its shadow over your heart
No need to be surprised
Even less to rejoice
An eye blinks, I am gone.

You and I met on the sea,
A dark night
You went your, I went my, way
May you remember
Or, better still, forget
The light exchanged during that encounter.
(Xu Zhimo)


Long quote, short turn, China, mostly

Over Singapore and Luzon, I swept but no one came... As a result, I lost more planes to ops than the enemy to air to air. Tomorrow, I will try a big port attack on Singapore, see what I find there, and what damage the flak can do. In Sarawak, Miri fell, next stop is Brunei.

That Cargo at 99 float torpedoed off the coast made it to port. This is good to know, since my opponent is using his subs around the coast. When torpedoed, a ship tends to return to her base. If it is far away, she will never make it, but if she is close to some friendly port, she may survive.

I am detecting more and more Allied submarines in shallow waters. My opponent is trying to stalk my convoys. I am organizing ASW patrols, experimenting with different mixes. We'll see who wins.


The first deliberate attack on Hong Kong reduced the fortifications, and achieved a 1 to 1 ratio. This is not bad, but the city does not fall. I will try again tomorrow. If it does not succeed, I will rest one day and try again.

In northern China, the enemy has moved troops to Kweisui. A first bombardment showed a pretty weak force. One infantry division arrived today. It is still in strategic mode, so I will bombard until it is combat ready, and then... I have the impression other troops are closing on Paotow. I'm fine with this too: I have another division arriving soon.

South of Taiyuan, Tsiaotso was taken "by proxy", and I lost a VP because it was not garrisoned. This is strange. I did not ask it to fall now, since I have troops arriving tomorrow, but the game decided to take it, and is now blaming me for not garrisoning it! I intend to build this place into a forward airbase. It is very well situated.

In the plains, a tank regiment arrived in Kweitei, which seems to have been deserted. Apparently, all troops in Henan went to Loyang and Chengchow. I am happy with this. Plans are to cut them off, bomb, and see what happens. I am betting on a very short siege.

Interesting developments are happening around Hankow. It seems that the enemy, elated after their victory in Ichang (they took an empty city) are moving to attack the Ichang garrison. I have one good Japanese and two Chinese collaborationist divisions, about 600 AV, in woods. Against the whole Ichang party, they will not suffice, but if the enemy arrives in piecemeal fashion, he might not like what happens.

Not far, between Hankow and Sinyang, two divisions and a tank regiment I was sending to Nanyang were met by what seems to be a relatively small force (probably a typical Chinese corps, around 150 AV). Since I am in cultivated terrain, ie good tank country, I want to try something I read in the manual. My two divisions will shock attack and the tank regiment has been put in reserve.

To conclude on China, I have the impression the enemy is trying to "form a line". I do not think it can work, especially if he wants Sinyang to be part of it. But right now, the net effect is that he is evacuating regions I was planning to invade, like the central plains, and the Zhejiang and Fujian hinterland (Chuhsien, Pucheng, Kanhsien). I am moving slowly, and doing a lot of recon.

In Central Pacific, Guam held. I am now resting the troops, will attack again in a day or two (and perhaps send a couple more from one of the islands). I sent a couple of Betties and Patrol planes from Japan to the Bonin Islands, and the Mariannas. The long cohort of evacuees, each TF following the next three hexes away, is passing right in between.

I realize I am running a number of risks today. My port attack on Singapore might be met with strong flak, and achieve little (shades of Pearl Harbor). My shock attack in China might find a stronger force than anticipated. Hong Kong might prove tougher than I believe. Yet, I am beginning to feel a little more comfortable with the system.

10k lucks!
äÝ‹g

Francois
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))?NCNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 13th, 1941

No quote today, but a link…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt7QJ9_nY38

For once, I will provide a bit of context. The singer is Shirley Yamagushi, aka Li Xianglan, aka Yoshiko Ōtaka. The beginning is sung in Japanese, but the rest is in Chinese, which she speaks perfectly. She was born in Manchukuo, from Japanese settlers, and made a career in China, where she became one of the “seven singing stars” (七大歌星). After the war, she was arrested and tried for collaborating with Japan, and then released once the court realized she was not Chinese but Japanese, and therefore could not be a race traitor (漢奸). Yelaixiang, the title of the song, is the name of a flower, which literally means “night perfume”.


Fists of fury

Yesterday, south of Sinyang, a chinese corps moved in an open terrain hex where I had two divisions and one tank regiment. I tried a shock attack, with the tanks in reserve, set to pursuit.

Unfortunately for my opponent, a second corps and a HQ moved in this turn. This more than doubled the number of enemies in the hex, still, it was not enough. And the new units were in move mode. Allied Fanboys, if you are reading this, never, ever, do this…

Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 23743 troops, 224 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 831
Defending force 11195 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 337

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
505 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Units pursuing 1

Allied ground losses:
8549 casualties reported
Squads: 183 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 300 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 5 (5 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

The number of squads destroyed (almost 500) speak for themselves. I believe armor in pursuit explains this. Those two corps are out of the game for a very long time.

Problem now, my armor regiment followed the enemy into a wooden hex. I need a week to get it back. But it was worth it, and there was a lot of rejoicing here at the Imperial HQ.

A short video of our IJA cheerleaders, celebrating… (and teaching english to officers who will soon be in occupation duties in Wyoming or Montana)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1VO3TF2LBs


Elsewhere in China, I am still bombarding in Kweisuei (two days to go before the division is ready). I am slowly moving troops north of Paotow, to follow the road to Lanchow and Hami. I am also reinforcing : I want Ningsia, and then Lanchow. Another column is pushing west : towards Sian.

In the plains, Kweitei was taken. I now control a pretty good rail network, and am having more and more units in strat mode, waiting to be sent to some rail-base.

In the south, Hong Kong did not fall. Fortifications were reduced to 1, and I lost as many troops as the enemy. I am resting the infantry tomorrow, disruption is in the 20s.

Tomorrow, I am sending a couple squadrons on city bombing over Changsha and Chengchow, I want to see what it can acheive. I know many house rules forbid this, I don’t understand why. In real life, Chinese cities were bombed a lot (Chungking, notably, but I was told even Sining, far as it is, had a couple of visits of Japanese planes).


Darn dull blue hexes (say that 5 times quick)

My port attack on Singapore was a Very Bad Idea ™. I lost about 20 planes, to 5 port damage, yeah!!!
Over Clark, new fighters kept appearing. Whether they are replacements or just repairs, I don't know. I will sweep more.

At sea, two tankers, two oilers and an escort, fleeing the Philippines, were sunk around the Mariannas. Near Pearl Harbor, a sub put a torpedo into the New Orleans. It is reported as sunk, I doubt it.

In Luzon, Laoag, Tuguegarao and Atimonan fell. The enemy is now holed up in Clark Field. I am resting the troops which just landed, and will move on Manila, and set siege on Clark. Reinforcements should arrive in Appari tomorrow.

In Malaya, Victoria Point fell. I am now moving troops south. The enemy is in Singapore. No stand in Kuala or other places seem to be in order, and no evacuation seems to have happened. My short term goal is to use the troops currently in Malaya to conquer the peninsula, and only send reinforcements (by rail) for the assault on Singapore. I probably need about a month for this.

Invasion forces for Brunei and Kuching are on their way. I will soon begin to plan the Tarakan and Singkawang parties. I want to hold Borneo, the Celebes, and Mindanao at the end of the month.

Francois

PS crazy, that ! Chinese characters work, now... So, dear reader, the characters for Dec 11th were 萬策 (10k plans) and those for the 12th 萬吉 (10k lucks)

Today, I'll just go for the old Banzai 萬歲 (10k years)
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RE: Now when the land rings with the clash of arms (fcharton(J) vs soliinvictus(A))?NCNo soliinvictus

Post by fcharton »

December 14, 1941,

An operational pause of sorts is taking place. I am resting my attacking troops in Ambon, Guam and Hong Kong, my next invasions (Kuching and Brunei) are sailing. KB and mini KB will be in Truk soon. My opponent is not doing much either.


Fighting lurkers, stalking tankers

Under the seas, SS Permit has now taken position in the south of the Yellow Sea. It was detected yesterday. Today, it launched torpedoes at a convoy (in vain), and was shot at by an ASW Destroyer task force I have patrolling over my Manchuria resource convoy route (no hits either). A number of other US subs were detected in the seas surrounding Japan.

Enemy subs seem to operate in shallow waters, close to the coast. This is both a good and a bad strategy. It does increase the chance to intercept shipping, but also the proximity to my ASW assets, which are waiting in ports, and subs are more vulnerable in shallow waters.

Right now, my approach to ASW is relatively simple. I escort all convoys following coastal routes, and have dedicated destroyers patrolling those lines. The rest of the assets sits in ports, and are sent on short missions every time a sub is detected. So far, it means I usually get two ASW attacks on the sub the next day (while he will generally get to shoot torpedoes once).

I don’t know the maths of ASW warfare, but my idea is that the enemy has some “sinking probability” per sub and per attack, and I have a probability of getting the sub (damaging or sinking) per attack, depending of the ASW value of my TF. If my overall prob is better than his, he’ll lose his subs.

I sank two submarines in the first week of the war. On the eleventh, KXI (Dutch) was sunk by one of my subs, in the Macassar straits, and on the 8th, S-36 (US) was sunk off Appari by an ASW task force.

In the meantime, I lost 5 xAK to dutch subs, along the coast of Malaya and Vietnam. My ASW operations there took a while to organize (I was busy with all the rest), but I am getting there.


My submarine operations are only beginning. So far, I have set up patrols around the West Coast, Pearl Harbor, and the straits in the SRA, but a large fraction of my subs are just moving around, waiting for me to decide where I want the packs to be.

So far, no submarines (save the midgets in Pearl) were lost, and none of my subs have damage larger than 4 sys or 1 eng. Enemy ASW is nowhere to be seen. Six enemy ships are reported sunk by submarine torpedoes, three cargoes, two tankers (including the Esso Richmond today, off the US coast) and the New Orleans (I’d love this to be true!)

Right now, I have 7 subs off the West Coast and Canada, 5 around Hawaii, and about 5 around Borneo. I am considering West and South Australia, and Ceylon, as my next patrol zones. Meanwhile, I need to learn how to set sub bases. I have no idea of how to do this.


Philippine Robin

Seven ships (5 AM and two cargoes) were sunk around the Mariannas today. The hunt will continue for a while, I can probably sink half a dozen more. Then I am considering sending the chasers to Wake, in case some bombardment raid is planned (this seems to be a typical Allied early game activity). Then, probably back to Truk, and the DEI.

The cover forces for the Wake invasion (3 light cruisers and 4 destroyers) was sent towards the fleeing TF.


In hindsight, it seems to me that the eastern escape my opponent chose for the Philippines is not such a good idea. As the Allies, there are three routes: West to Singapore and Sumatra, South to Java and Darwin or East towards Pearl.

In my opinion, the West route is too dangerous. There are just too many Japanese bombers looking for targets, and the cover forces from the Malaya and PI landings will intercept you in no time.

The East route looks like a good idea, because in the first turns, it creates a tension for the Japanese Fleet : do you want to chase merchant shipping, or support the landings? As such, the Allied player will lose less ships in the first turns. But the trip to Pearl is very long, and the merchants are slow. Japan can commit a couple TF to sink lots of them.

As the Allies, I would probably only consider the southern escape…


Resource convoys

Whereas I am convinced logistics play a very important part of the game, I also realize there is little point taking care of it before I get a decent picture of my production, consumption, where things heap up, and where they are needed.

The only things I organized, so far, are the resource convoys to the home islands. In case someone is interested, here is the method I followed.

First, you need to know where resources “flow”. Each hex has a resource output (when there is a resource centre) and a resource demand (when there is industry there, or a port). Each turn, resources move from production hexes to demand hexes. As a result, any extra resources tend to move towards ports with high demand (ie lots of industry). There is usually one such “destination hex” per region (they are called sinks, in graph theory). In the current beta patch, sinks are Shikuka for Sakhalin, Hakudate for Hokkaido, and Keijo for Mandchuria and Korea. This is where the resources will pile up, and where your convoys should go.

(Note : from one patch to the other, and due to ports growing, industry expanding, etc., the position of these sinks might change. One needs to check this from time to time. Tracker makes this very easy : look for zones with large stocks, and look at the history… If the stock is always going up, from turn to turn, then you have a sink.)

The quantity of resources you can extract from a sink is limited by the port daily load capacity, which depends on port size and production of resources (see manual chapter 6). The best you can do is maximum capacity every day, or 30 times that per month. This will happen if a task force is loading every day. This means building “sink ports” is very important. As this also applies to unloading, it implies your destination ports should be at least as large as the sink.

Note also that loading capacity is also limited by port size, on a ship by ship basis. This means port size determines the size of the ships you should use in your convoy task forces. I try to have ships slightly smaller than maximum daily load, and dimension the TF so that they can load in about a day.

So, the TF size calculation is relatively simple. Ship size is the largest ship that can load in a day. Number of ships per TF is determined by maximum port capacity. The goal is to load/unload in a day.

How many TF do I need, then? If I want to load a TF a day, I need as many TF as there are days in a “round trip”. So, if I have 2 days travel, 2 days back, 1 loading, 1 unloading, this is six days, and I will have 6 Task Forces.

To summarize :
Size of ships and TF is determined by port size, and maximum load capacity.
Number of TF is the number of days in a round trip, determined by ship speed, distance, and load/unload time

(Be careful to have all convoys at same speed, or you will end up with traffic jams…)

Using this method, I need about 100 cargoes, 42 for Keijo, 26 for Hokkaido, and 36 for Sakhalin. Hokkaido and Korea use ships in the 3000-3500 ton range, Sakhalin uses smaller ones.

In theory, these should bring about 1.1 million resource points per month, from Hokkaido, 650 000 from Korea, and 300 000 from Sakhalin. This is very close to the industrial needs of the Home Islands.

The good thing is that the number of ships needed is relatively low. I have replacements sitting in ports, in case some of those are sunk.
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