Caledonia Strategic Dilemma (no B. Fagan please)

[Jorge_Stanbury]

being small, they are actually very easy to repair, returning to pool is also possible; can be a bit gamey if it is a completely isolated base (cause then they will teleport back to pool)

scuttle means destroying so that would be my last option

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Working on the production/resource changes as suggested. Here is a screenshot of the brave paddle boats, canoes, driftwood swimmers, call 'em what you want. They are bravely rushing to secure Luganville, the main base i'll need to support either taking Noumea or leaving it.

As for Caledonia, fortunately this is New Caledonia so i can leave the McTranslator behind

[Cap Mandrake]

Call for volunteers....send out a few AKL's to follow the barges..set them to "refuel"on the "merge, refuel, follow" pull down menu.

If they catch up to the barges at night they will refuel before the sun comes up and they are potentially destroyed.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Already an AK on the way to help the barges. They hopefully will make it to the beach at Luganville just as the paddlers are swimming in their own boat.

Reinforcements coming from the DEI and a regiment on the way to finish off Koepang and secure the Australian flank. I have been digging in like crazy all around the Empire, i think by the end of 1942 i will have a decent ring of Fort 6 islands and bases around the whole thing. Then to work on a second ring to support the outer layer- as my opponent can probably pick and choose where to mass and surprise the IJ forces.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

JULY 20th 1942 UPDATE: p.s. no reading my opponent B-Fagan!

Well, the paddle boat barges are almost to Luganville! 2 more hexes, and a refueling AK is close by. Another convoy of about a dozen paddle boats on the way to Tanna however was discovered by 36 SB Dauntlesses out of Noumea and sunk. Well, they were the distraction really-- I was desparate to get ground troops on to Luganville before he did.

As Q-ball mentioned, I think the Allied landings at Ndeni and Efate are gifts to the Emperor. Ndeni has about 6,000 men in 3 units, possibly a regiment, base force and tank unit. They were just bombarded by a BB and some cruisers and some dive bombers from the KB. The port size 1 is already at 68 damage and several PBY Catalinas were damaged. I think I can put Ndeni "out of commission" and prep to destroy it. Efate has Marine paras and probably not much else.

These two vulnerable Allied bases, Ndeni & Efate, do raise a question-- should I take the bird in the hand, annihilate Ndeni & Efate, and evacuate New Caledonia? Or concentrate all on New Caledonia, where La Foa is rapidly building up to Airfield size 2 and port 2 soon. I have several squadrons of Oscars, A63M Zeroes ready at Truk and Rabaul to fly in en masse. I think its possible to get sucked into a war of attrition over New Caledonia, similar to Guadacanal historically. But then again I might be able to mass overwhelming force at least on sea and air, and eventually land. We'll see soon enough!

CHANGSHA: On an important side note, my artillery seems to be knocking off 15 AV from the Changsha garrison. Their adjusted combat value has declined each turn, 1702 down to 1687, down to 1672 AV, etc etc. I can muster about 5,000 AV- but I think i may just try to bombard the Chinese at Changsha down to 1,000 before deliberately attacking again.

[Saros]

3:1 at Changsha will be enough even if it is expensive. The terrain is only 2x. Make sure to move the relevant corps HQ's there to improve your attack odds and grind the defenders into dust.

A war of attrition over New Caledonia is pretty much exactly what you want right now. As you control the seas he will struggle to reinforce and resupply and he cant use his best weapon, 4E bombers, as they are extremely vulnerable to shore bombardment due to their high service ratings and limited replacements. It gives you a chance to attrit the allied fleet and airforce under favorable terms, you'll never get another chance this good.

[Cap Mandrake]

Ndeni and Efate are literally zero threat (other than recon activity) until they reach level 2. At that point he can base SBD's (if he has aviation support). The 5400 men at Ndeni are even less supportable for the Allies than are their boys of Noumea.

Having lived through the defense of Noumea from the Allied side, it is evident that Saros is correct. The problem is that you are behind the curve a bit from a logistical support standpoint, but you seem to have carrier superiority so that can be rectified. Tanna is useful as a base to seal off Noumea even when the carriers are not about.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Yes looks like Changsha is just a matter of time. Then i can attack some other key resource cities in China and roll him up a bit.

And around New Caledonia, its feeling "fun"- -usually a good sign for one's strategic and tactical position. I am not yet sure i can take Noumea, but i do think that his troops and ships outside of Noumea are fair game and very vulnerable.

It should only be a week or two before i have decent air bases and ports around the Caledonia islands, and La Foa could be a strong base as well. My opponent may be convinced i'm evacuating, because i withdrew the IJ Infantry from Noumea back to La Foa. I also shuttled some units back towards Koumac, so it does look like a retreat. He thought my barges were evacuating troops, as opposed to in my mind securing the supply chain at Luganville. My opponent may be sighing relief-- "Noumea is safe, I snuck another American division in, he can't land troops without ports or air cover, so I [the Allies] am ok for now". The problem for him is how long this Caledonia campaign goes on and how many resources he wants to throw in past the KB Gauntlet. I think i can beat him up in this area for another 6 months before its time to stay or go.

On an important side note, the two American CV's were again spotted bombing Midway for target practice. They are far from causing me trouble down south...

[catwhoorg]

Against the AI I did successfully create a trap for the IJ forces at Noumea, but I think the overall situation was very different.

I'd be salivating at the prospect of destroying so many good allied troops, plus the ships and aircraft in the area around here.

Unless he commits his carriers, you will win the sea battle. (Even if he does I think you will still win it)
You with the sea battle those troops will die in place (or on evac transports which is arguably better for you)

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

JULY 26th, 1942: (Do not read Bfagan!)

An interesting twist-- my Allied opponent seems to think I am weak outside Noumea and on the way out. His forces are on the move! Who is the predator and who is the prey?

As Japanese forces stream in towards Luganville & New Caledonia to reinforce and create a supply chain from Rabaul, my opponent has bombarded La Foa with a fleet of 4 BB's and a half a dozen cruisers. This bombardment fleet may be coming straight out of Noumea, Oz, or Fiji. American troops are also apparently sallying from Noumea, in what strength I am not sure. Last I know he had 1,000 AV in Noumea, enough to deter my first assault. But he does not have enough to push me off the island.

As you can see from the attached map, the dark green allied infantry from Noumea appears to be moving on La Foa, as the Japanese also appear to be retreating all along New Caledonia towards Koumac. But this is a feigned withdrawal, in fact there is 1,100 AV at La Foa and the Imperial Guards division at 400 AV resting and refitting one hex away. Support units have been moving back and forth to fake the retreat. He also thinks my paddle boats racing around are evacuating troops, when in fact they are being used to take the surrounding islands like Luganville and next turn Tanna.

The short term tactical dilemma is how can I punish his fleet of 4 BB's, which is still protected by Noumea's substantial Allied fighters. I do not want to waste the KB's fighters in an attrition battle like that, so I have more army air squadrons on the way from Truk and Rabaul to try and either 1) gain air superiority or 2) get enough force in to protect my transports delivering or evacuating troops in the area. Part 2 i think i can do for sure, and hopefully protect bombardment ships that i may move in to pummel Noumea's airfield. The invasion forces for his islands of Ndeni and Efate are also on the way.

Its actually been encouraging how fast the buildup can occur from Rabaul to New Caledonia. Even if I don't take Noumea, its gonna be a real bear for the Allies to retake all these strong islands which are going to be much stronger than they were historically. Also, anything he tries to build up, like Efate & Ndeni, are as one commenter noted: "gifts to the Emperor." His strength is in Noumea, the rest is too weak if i concentrate on it.

On a side note, he is building up a base north of Darwin at Bayar that i discovered. I will have to start blasting that to bits and keep him from skipping the Rabaul theater and trying a run "up the middle" from Darwin to Davao....

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

July 29th, 1942

The Americans did sally forth from Noumea against my troops 1 hex away at La Foa, and I decided to roll the dice with a shock attack against what my recon indicated were two units of 3700 men with 30 AFV's. Those two units sallying to La Foa turned out to be the Americal division and the 24th Infantry Regiment!!! Great recon!

The results of are below.

Meanwhile the American battleships did not bombard Luganville like i thought, and my light carrier Shoho's Kate's did no damage during a brief attack. So right now i have a few transport fleets going back and forth in the Coral Sea, and a surface fleet of US BB's and CA's prowling west of Luganville. I don't know what he intends to do with this fleet, because unless it heads back to Noumea or Port Moresby its in trouble. I'll try to hunt it down either way.

IJ troops are landing to take Tanna. My Oscars at La Foa held off a raid from Noumea quite well, looks like i can at least protect my transports in this area. Gaining air superiority might be difficult over Noumea, but not over the rest of the ocean and islands nearby. So I think I'll stick around a while and clobber US troops, planes and ships as the opportunity arises. Like the APD's you can see on the map trying to reinforce Efate. My opponent definitely seems willing to fight it out here, and that's good for me as long as i can keep the fighting on my terms each time.


Ground combat at La Foa (114,159)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 30033 troops, 300 guns, 236 vehicles, Assault Value = 1175

Defending force 13709 troops, 253 guns, 331 vehicles, Assault Value = 508

Japanese adjusted assault: 1102

Allied adjusted defense: 424

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
4414 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 310 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 56 disabled
Guns lost 24 (3 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (2 destroyed, 9 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3645 casualties reported
Squads: 101 destroyed, 100 disabled
Non Combat: 140 destroyed, 98 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 46 (20 destroyed, 26 disabled)
Vehicles lost 80 (50 destroyed, 30 disabled)
Units retreated 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
38th Division
53rd Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 1st SNLF
86th Naval Guard Unit
89th Naval Guard Unit
16th Recon Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
48th Naval Guard Unit
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
47th Naval Guard Unit
87th Naval Guard Unit
23rd Nav Gd Unit
88th Naval Guard Unit
16th Engineer Regiment
15th Naval Guard Unit
16th Army
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
26th Air Flotilla
2nd Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
Americal Infantry Division
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment

[Saros]

Is that a heavy surface force right next your carriers? Oh dear.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

It is a heavy surface force next to the CVL Shoho and 3 IJ cruisers--- which are on the way to Luganville, where I have 5 BB's and 20 Cruisers. So if he chases me... Also the KB is off map but should be in the area in a turn or two

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

July 30th, 1942..

Ouch... That US surface fleet you saw in the screenshot above did catch up to the CVL Shoho and the 3 CA's, and the Shoho didn't make it. My surface fleet nearby did not react either and so his battlewagons are apparently headed SE towards Efate. The KB is in town now, and my battleships are going to protect it lest i lose another carrier . That was a very touch and go cat and mouse game-- I had hoped my air force and carrier planes would have attacked his surface fleet and he would have run away. Instead none of my planes attacked in the heavy rain and he got the CVL Shoho and a cruiser. I have no idea what will happen this next round. If his battlewagons stick around it will be very interesting. If not, chalk one up for the Allies. Though at least i got a round in last turn after having smashed the Americal Division and the 24th American infantry regiment at La Foa.

Perhaps I could have moved my BB surface fleet at Luganville after him. I was unsure where he would go and i didn't want to risk him attacking the transports at Luganville. I had played it "safe" and lost the Shoho. Sigh. Also I probably should have had more air power in the area capable of sinking ships-- most of my squadrons are Oscars and Zeroes to protect the transports. Lately I have been playing its safe building up the supply chain of islands in the area and my opponent just tested that. Though I can't count on him slipping up, but if he does i have a lot of nets to catch the American battlewagons...

In other New Caledonia news, the air battle over La Foa did not go as well this round. Successive waves of Allied planes from Noumea and bombers from Fiji and Oz wore down my cap of 30 Oscar's and 12 Zeroes. I had to pull them out this round to Luganville. I think I'll be able to protect transports on the way to Noumea, but the attrition battle for air superiority over Noumea proper may be just that- an attrition battle i think the Japanese player may be unable to fight. Taking Tanna will help distract him. At this point the Allies have almost half a dozen air bases and ports to attack to keep me at bay, and I only need one to build up sufficiently to protect the transports.

[Cap Mandrake]

Ouch!

Still, sending the Americal Div and another regiment packing at La Foa will have disabled about 1/4 of their strength, or more. That is a big win.

The fastest way to lay low the airfield at Noumea is with night surface bombardment supported by the KB to cover the ingress and egress of the bombardment force.

Are we to understand his BB's are continuously on station at Noumea?

What is the composition of the Arried force?

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

Estimates of Allied Forces in the area:

Naval: 4 BB's, 8 cruisers & 6 DD's moving SE to Efate after destroying my CVL Shoho and 1 CA. I imagine they are on station at Noumea, eventually that may cost him. Some APD's at Efate probably reinforcing, coming from Noumea. His 2 CV's are near Midway last, but could be at Noumea in a few turns if he was rushing them there. Its possible but i doubt it. Some subs at my bases trying to pick off transports.

Ground:
Efate: 1 USMC para battalion, APD's bringing unknown extra reinforcements
Ndeni: 8,000+ men, possibly one tank battalion. Probably 1 infantry regiment + 1 base force. 12 PBY Catalinas (though airfield under constant bombardment). I am prepping some units to annihilate this base.
Noumea: Last, 60,000 men, 1200 AFV's. Americal Division & 24th Infantry Regiment badly mauled, possibly to 50% strength. I don't know why he advanced only half his 1,000 Av to La Foa, which got sent running back home to Noumea, but he also probably wonders why i exposed the CVL Shoho.

Air: Noumea: 80 fighters, 36 SB Dauntless, 40 level bombers. Fiji & Oz: Level bombers that are sporadically bombing the airfields at La Foa, Koumac and Luganville.

The next turn could be either really really good, or really really bad. I did move my BB's to protect the KB, so hopefully it will be a good turn. If the weather is good and he leaves his BB's to protect the APD's at Efate, the KB might maul him. Once Luganville and Tanna are built up a bit more the night bombardments of Noumea will commence .


Besides my continuing dilemma here, what would you do? I have another question for the forums-- did you ever catch the Japanese this far in and punish them? Seems like the Diego Garcia AAR did. Or did the Japanese win?

p.s. I did finish reading "Japanese Military Strategy in the Pacific War" by James B. Wood, very helpful in establishing a long term japanese strategy. I've already moved more of my subs towards the Hawaii- SF sea lanes with good results so far. Also i have construction battalions on nearly 15 key islands surrounding japan buildings forts up. My next holes to fill are in Burma, DEI and the Hollandia coast. Thank you Chickenboy for that recommendation

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: leehunt27@bloomberg.net

p.s. I did finish reading "Japanese Military Strategy in the Pacific War" by James B. Wood, very helpful in establishing a long term japanese strategy. I've already moved more of my subs towards the Hawaii- SF sea lanes with good results so far. Also i have construction battalions on nearly 15 key islands surrounding japan buildings forts up. My next holes to fill are in Burma, DEI and the Hollandia coast. Thank you Chickenboy for that recommendation

You're welcome. It was kindly given me by my friend and nemesis AW1Steve. Alas, he retained a copy for himself. [:D]

Note the images of shipping patterns in the book-describing when they were in use and why. Preserving these and strengthening these is very important.

I think I've already made myself clear about Noumea for you. Your opponent is neutralizing any advantages you have there and you've not evicted him. If you choose to try to do so, you'd best get on it. Otherwise, I revert to my previous recommendation to not become embroiled in this area in a tit-for-tat exchange. Particularly not at the expense of developing your rear bases.

[leehunt27@bloomberg.net]

July 31st, 1942

Alfred Thayer Mahan would be proud-- the finest battleships on both sides slug it out near Luganville for domination of the sea around New Caledonia and Luganville. Check out the screen shot below. I let the battle run (took 15-20 minutes and my baby daughter was mesmerized for by the shellfire thunder), and looks like the Japanese came out on top. Some of my BB's are gonna be in the shipyard repairing for a month but the US battlewagons are probably way more damaged and need to be towed back to Oz or Pearl. Hopefully my subs can pick some off along the way. The KB managed to fly a sortie after rushing from Wallis Island last round and running out of fuel. Unfortunately 2 squadrons of Kate's could not locate the enemy but some other squadrons did.

On a game tactical note, my surface fleet of BB's was given a react of 6 and orders to follow and protect the KB, which was 3 hexes east of Luganville refueling from AO's. The BB's reacted 2-3 hexes south to intercept the US fleet apparently en route to Efate, and half the IJ ships ended up in Luganville, the other half chased the US surface fleet away. So a lot can happen with that kind of order flexibility!

For now, the balance of power around Caledonia remains; Japan dominating the sea, the US dominating air at least around Noumea, and equal on ground. Though on ground i have taken Tanna and Efate and Ndeni are going to be taken soon enough.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Efate at 119,154, Range 8,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 4 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CS Chiyoda
BB Haruna, Shell hits 2, on fire
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 4, on fire
BB Nagato, Shell hits 3, on fire
BB Yamato, Shell hits 1
BB Ise, Shell hits 1
CA Tone, Shell hits 1
CA Chikuma
CA Myoko, Shell hits 2
CA Nachi, Shell hits 3
CA Aoba, Shell hits 2
CL Sendai
CL Nagara, Shell hits 2
CL Natori
CL Kinu
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 1
CL Oi
DD Kagero
DD Arare, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Murasame, Shell hits 3
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ariake
DD Ayanami
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Shell hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
BB Idaho, Shell hits 2
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 15, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 7
CA Northampton, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA Chester, Shell hits 10, heavy fires
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 1
CL Helena
CL Phoenix
CL Nashville, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CL Boise, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Fanning
DD Mahan
DD Cummings
DD Lamson, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Case, Shell hits 1
DD Conyngham
DD Shaw
DD Cushing, Shell hits 1
DD Perkins
DD Smith


Then the KB launches, though 2 squadrons of Kate's could not find the target and the Val's fly with reduced bomb loads of 60kg, not sure why (doh!):

Morning Air attack on TF, near Efate at 118,155

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 60 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
B5N2 Kate x 15
D3A1 Val x 9



Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Colorado, Bomb hits 6, heavy damage
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
BB Mississippi, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
DD Cushing



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

[Cap Mandrake]

Santa Maria! It's Jutland in the South Pacific.

Those are some seriously unwieldy task forces on both sides. Can you imagine a night battle with that many ships? It's a nightmare. Probably many ships never got a round off. Even so the Long Lance did its work.

Of the USN cruisers and BB's only perhaps Idaho, San Francisco, Helena and Phoenix can still fight.

Don't let anything bigger than a DD get within SBD range of Noumea until you are ready to press your attack.

Rearm to the battleworthy BB's, get the recon over Noumea up to 9 and come back and finish the airfield. You might be able to put the carriers SSE of Tanna somewhere to cut off the retreat of damaged USN ships. Most likely, they will go to Noumea but will eventaully have to be scuttled.

[Chickenboy]

In general, more than 15 ships in a TF is unwieldy. In practice, there is also some diminution of efficacy when combining so many different ship classes as well.

Still, you came out on top. See what you can do with KB about picking off some stragglers too. Remember to not track KB along the pathway of probable retreat, but rather within airstrike range of same.