ok, back to the game - sorry for the tangent
9/24/1943
Black Mamba
In the north, the 2nd RTA Division was left behind when the 33rd pulled out. At first, I just deliberate attack to feel him out. This attack gets good odds, so the next day I shock attack. The division is gutted, but for some reason, doesn't retreat. So a second shock attack hits him the following day causing more death and destruction. He still doesn't retreat, so a 3rd shock attack is ordered, but in the move phase he gets out. My 41st ID and the 29th British Bde are now advancing to the crossroads. Once there, they will link up with the forces out of Taung Gyi and attack the 33rd division. Meanwhile, the arty that was at Taung Gyi is bombarding him every day and has caused him to lose about 10% of his raw AV. Effects on fatigue, disruption, moral, and supply must be accumulating as well.
In the south, the road between Prome and Magwe is now clear. South of Prome, the 4th Marine division had some success at first, but he has since moved the 2nd Guards Division up and we are now at a standstill. The mixed horde (Chinese, East African, Americans) that cleared the road north is moving into positions for an assault - probably a day or 2 out.
Hummingbird
I was thinking Trinkat was a lost cause. He has moved significant elements of the 4th division to the island, and this past day bombarded with 4 BBs (including the big boys) along with air bombing. But those pesky paratroopers hold on despite every (-) modifier I think the game has and turn back his assault. Plus Wahoo manages to put 2 into Kongo.
This same day, 3 USMC para Bns jump on Car Nicobar and quickly sweep aside a few garrison troops and engineers. All kinds of support troops will be airlifted in over the next day so that I can project airpower (in the form of fighters) over Sabang.
1 CA and a handful of CLs and DDs from the Naval Battle of Port Blair have repaired, rearmed, and transited down to the region. Another CA is putting the final coat of paint on her hull and will rejoin in a few days. A third CA damaged a long time ago is 3 days from finishing repairs in Colombo (along with a flock of DDs that escorted the more damaged cruisers from Port Blair there).
I kind of screwed up in my long term logistics here - I have no AKEs or even ADs in the area (the closest is an AD at Bombay). Since before battles have been fought near large bases of Chittagong and Calcutta, I haven't needed them. Crap. At least Port Blair’s size 3 port can rearm all the guns used by these ships with 100 Nav support or less. I have plenty of nav support in the region. Time to bump them up on the fly in list.
Kirkland
I haven't spoke of it before because of all the action in and around Burma. Kirkland is an aggressive CENTPAC move, that if successful will open up the entire eastern flank of his empire to attack at any point. Simply stated, the goal is to take the small islands of Wake and Marcus. Taking Wake will deny him eyes and taking Marcus will provide a FARP for DD raids into his Mariana supply lines. Both will also act as patrol and recon bases (Wake is in range of the Mariana's and Marcus can even "see" some of Japan).
That is the bright side. So far it has been tough going due to a combination of trying to do this on the cheap and some ill-advised mouse clicks.
Because the bulk of my forces are preparing for the next phase (Mariana’s invasion), I tasked 2 regiments each for Wake and Marcus. Both TFs sailed together, along with plenty of surface combatants, escort CVs, my fast CV strike group, and oilers and tenders of all types (to rearm / refuel at Wake before heading to Marcus). The approach was good, and no naval resistance is encountered.
On Sept 11, we hit the beaches and the trouble begins. The 2 regiments hit the beach. The 21st Infantry is hit hard, and takes about 60% casualties. The 24th is even worse off, taking over 90%. Except for a few guns, they are out of the fight for the duration. The forts fail to get reduced, and I'm thinking bug out. But he has to be hurting nearly as bad, right?
Ok... I have plenty of reserves. I'll put in a few and see where it goes. I shift the boats carrying the [rebuilt] Wake Defense Bn into the amphib TF that is unloading (I have 2 amphib TFs, one for unloading, one for reserves / Marcus assault set to "do not unload"), and something amazing happens. They get ashore cleanly - no shock attack, minimal disruption and disablement. In the ground phase, we trade bombardments. The results - he loses an entire unit trying to bombard me, and my bombardment back gets solid results. Further, his raw AV has dropped from 84 to 44.
Ok, lets pour it on him. The 11th Marine Def Bn (originally tasked to occupy Marcus) is set ashore (again by shifting into the unloading TF - and again no shock attack, and limited disruption / disablements). Again, he bombards and takes heavy casualties, while I lose a squad and a gun. An ill-advised deliberate attack weakens us both some more. The adjusted AVs are 9 for me an 11 for him. This is a brutal fight.
Meanwhile, I need a FARP. Elements of the 3rd USMC Para Bn land on unoccupied Bikini and AKEs and tankers are sent in. California and Colorado steam back to rearm. An emergency amphib TF is loaded with tanks originally set for Guam just in case.
Sept 14th and 15th are rest days (or as much as there can be "rest" in a combat zone). Both sides trade fire, and again, he gets the worse of it. His raw AV is now down to just 21. A stiff breeze should knock him over. The emergency tanks arrive on the 16th (along with an engineer regiment). I send in the house. Full alpha strike from the CVBG, multiple BB bombardments, send in the tanks and the fat lady sings.
The occupation force is now landed (and the beat up regiments are evacuated) and the airfield quickly put back in order. And this is when my biggest disaster happens. Somehow I must have clicked in the wrong place, and the Marcus assault force starts to land on the island. Doh! I quickly try to reload them, but the damage is done. They won't load correctly back on the transports, so now I have a bunch of APAs with little more than support troops ready to go to Marcus. I need to unload the entire force (taking several days), and reload them (taking several more days). They are still loading and probably will be for another 2-3 days. Once they are ready, it will be on to Marcus.
In the meantime, the airfield is repaired and 2 squadrons of PB4Ys are sent in to start reconning the Marianas. They poke into Saipan and Guam first and find a medium sized airforce (about 75 fighters and 100 bombers between them). A flight over Tinian then revels what I'm looking for - the KB, just parked there. A flight over Rota rounds out his defenses. All told about 200 bombers and 100 fighters are in the area. The KB appears to be fighter heavy - about 250 fighters and 120 bombers.
I must say, seeing the KB in a base hex is very tempting. I'll resist the temptation - for now. I am probing his air search arcs to see how close I can get. If I can work my way in tight enough without him noticing too much, I may just send in Burke with a fist full of DDs. If not, well, at least I know where he is.
As for Marcus, he can either respond with the KB, or not. I [think I] welcome a blue water fight right now. If he responds to Marcus, we should get it. What’s more, I shifted my subs to cover the approaches from Tinian, so if we fight, there is a good chance he does it in a fish farm.
SOPAC
This is quickly turning into a backwater. He has started to send in what I assume are fast transport TFs to withdraw what he can. His main base is still Rabaul, and it is protected by a bunch of fighters. And every day there are is a TF or 2 there. Constant sweeps from P38s just are not producing - He has those dang Georges there, and what I assume are solid pilots. I scrape up what CVEs I have (6) and all the escorts I could muster to try to shake it up a bit. I want to hit some of the ships there, just to make him think. Instead, on the day they arrive off Rabaul, the only thing that flies is a sweep, and it gets chewed up bad. Knowing this is only a 1 turn deal (he can fly in bombers from somewhere, I'm sure) I withdraw.
Then, what turns out to be a fast transport TF of 3 CAs gets caught east of New Ireland - 11 hexes from Ontong Java. I had moved some B25s with good LowN skill there, and set them to a radius of 11 (Rabaul is 12 away) in the hopes they would catch something. A morning and afternoon strike later, and I'm less a B25 - and he gained about 2 tons... of bombs. Ashigara is hit 4 times, Kumano and Haguro get 2 each - all 500 lb. SAP, all penetrate, and Ashigara is left with heavy fires / heavy damage and reported sunk.
Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
9/25/1943
Black Mamba
In the south (by Prome) the tanks and bulk of the infantry arrive in position to begin their attack on the 2nd Guards. In the north forces are about a day from linking up.
Hummingbird
He attacks at Trinkat again, trying to drive the paratroopers out. Again, he has no such luck and he takes heavier casualties. A small xAX drops off a few supplies before getting killed. It will still be a miracle if this force survives, but at least it is forcing him to use more and more resources.
On the water he has at least 2 small SAGs, each with a CL and a few DDs. He hits a few small xAKs unloading supplies at Trinkat and Car Nicobar, but a larger TF of landing craft drops its load and gets away clean. He stops short of approaching Port Blair and my growing naval forces assembling there. I'll begin to sortie DD squadrons south and see if we can pick a fight or 2.
On the plus side, 2 of his DDs hit mines around Trinkat. At least one should sink.
Some of the new long range anti shipping assets make their presence known. B25s and PV-1s fly from southern Burma and hit a large xAK unloading in Bangkok. They probably could have done a better job of spreading the wealth - the xAK is hit 11 times (with some bombs dropped after it sunk in the animation!) while the escorting E boat doesn't get any attention. Oh well, at least they had some fun doing something useful. For the future, radio chatter indicates a tank regiment is enroute to Haiphong. I move them to Lashio as well as some P38s for escort duty.
CENTPAC
The KB disappears from Tinian. One of Burkes DDs claims to have spotted a dive bomber 6 hexes south west of wake, but I'm skeptical. Otherwise, nothing new here. Still loading the Marcus invasion force.
Elsewhere, SS Trigger spots a HUGE convoy just outside Singapore. At least 17 xAKs with plenty of escorts. Trigger picks out the large Glasgow Maru, but of course only fires 2 torpedoes (both miss). Raton and Halibut take turns attacking Amagisan Maru off Nagasaki - again each launching only 2 torpedoes. 1 hit - she will probably limp into port.
Black Mamba
In the south (by Prome) the tanks and bulk of the infantry arrive in position to begin their attack on the 2nd Guards. In the north forces are about a day from linking up.
Hummingbird
He attacks at Trinkat again, trying to drive the paratroopers out. Again, he has no such luck and he takes heavier casualties. A small xAX drops off a few supplies before getting killed. It will still be a miracle if this force survives, but at least it is forcing him to use more and more resources.
On the water he has at least 2 small SAGs, each with a CL and a few DDs. He hits a few small xAKs unloading supplies at Trinkat and Car Nicobar, but a larger TF of landing craft drops its load and gets away clean. He stops short of approaching Port Blair and my growing naval forces assembling there. I'll begin to sortie DD squadrons south and see if we can pick a fight or 2.
On the plus side, 2 of his DDs hit mines around Trinkat. At least one should sink.
Some of the new long range anti shipping assets make their presence known. B25s and PV-1s fly from southern Burma and hit a large xAK unloading in Bangkok. They probably could have done a better job of spreading the wealth - the xAK is hit 11 times (with some bombs dropped after it sunk in the animation!) while the escorting E boat doesn't get any attention. Oh well, at least they had some fun doing something useful. For the future, radio chatter indicates a tank regiment is enroute to Haiphong. I move them to Lashio as well as some P38s for escort duty.
CENTPAC
The KB disappears from Tinian. One of Burkes DDs claims to have spotted a dive bomber 6 hexes south west of wake, but I'm skeptical. Otherwise, nothing new here. Still loading the Marcus invasion force.
Elsewhere, SS Trigger spots a HUGE convoy just outside Singapore. At least 17 xAKs with plenty of escorts. Trigger picks out the large Glasgow Maru, but of course only fires 2 torpedoes (both miss). Raton and Halibut take turns attacking Amagisan Maru off Nagasaki - again each launching only 2 torpedoes. 1 hit - she will probably limp into port.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
9/26/1943
Black Mamba
There is a large fight south of Prome as the assembled infantry and armor attack. He takes about 2200 casualties to my 1300. No tanks lost though. The 32nd Infantry gets hit the hardest with over 100 disabled squads. The attack will continue through... he is trying to retreat and fighting one of his good divisions in just 2x. Another Chinese division from the 6th Corps arrives to help press the attack.
In the north the 41st Infantry and 29th British Bde link up with the forces out of Taung Gyi. Today they begin their assault on the 33rd division and the supporting 41st Regiment (I'm not sure what happened to the RTA division).
Hummingbird
The airborne troops at Trinkat hold for another day. Attempts to get them supplies by sea continue to fail (airborne drops continue).
On the waves, first a Japanese CL/DD group of his runs into mixed nationally DD force. In a knife fight on a dark hazy night, DD Dyson picks on DD Shiranui and scores 2 torpedo hits sending her to the bottom. In return she takes 3 hits from CL Jintsu destroying her radar and aft 5" gun, but is otherwise unharmed (4 system damage / 4(2) float). Despite the damage, I can't afford to send her back for repairs yet (in a few days I'll have 7 DDs arriving / returning) so she'll have to help hold the line for a little while. I am able to swap her out for DD Aulick from my cruiser group, so she won't be leading any DD actions for a bit.
After my DDs retreat, he comes in with a larger CL / 5 DD group and finds a small supply convoy. 2 xAKs and DD Woodworth go down for a few dents on CL Kinu.
He starts with some night air attacks on Car Nicobar. All they manage is to hit a Kingfisher getting prepped for ASW work. In response, I'll send down one of my night fighter squadrons to see if I can discourage this kind of activity in the future.
CENTPAC
A ASW group drifts a bit close to Marcus Island. Before retreating back to Wake, I order a bombardment trying to groud a few search planes... but they have trouble with their aim, and nothing is hit.
A DD Squadron passes through Kusaie trying to hit a few small boats he has there - but they don't bother to even fight. I'll send PTs from Ailinglaplap tomorrow to see if they have more luck.
Search A/C spot a small DD group of his at Truk. I'll send my DDs there to see if they can draw him out into a fight. I'll stand off outside of react range and hope they don't do anything stupid, like react into the minefield I imagine he has there.
Infantry continues loading at Wake. Only 132 support squads left to go!
Two separate sub attacks north of the Marianas. Tarpon swings and misses at DD Mochizuki escorting a group of AKs and later puts 1 of 2 into the 4875 ton xAK Syunsei Maru. Why do they keep firing only 2 fish at these large transports!?!
Black Mamba
There is a large fight south of Prome as the assembled infantry and armor attack. He takes about 2200 casualties to my 1300. No tanks lost though. The 32nd Infantry gets hit the hardest with over 100 disabled squads. The attack will continue through... he is trying to retreat and fighting one of his good divisions in just 2x. Another Chinese division from the 6th Corps arrives to help press the attack.
In the north the 41st Infantry and 29th British Bde link up with the forces out of Taung Gyi. Today they begin their assault on the 33rd division and the supporting 41st Regiment (I'm not sure what happened to the RTA division).
Hummingbird
The airborne troops at Trinkat hold for another day. Attempts to get them supplies by sea continue to fail (airborne drops continue).
On the waves, first a Japanese CL/DD group of his runs into mixed nationally DD force. In a knife fight on a dark hazy night, DD Dyson picks on DD Shiranui and scores 2 torpedo hits sending her to the bottom. In return she takes 3 hits from CL Jintsu destroying her radar and aft 5" gun, but is otherwise unharmed (4 system damage / 4(2) float). Despite the damage, I can't afford to send her back for repairs yet (in a few days I'll have 7 DDs arriving / returning) so she'll have to help hold the line for a little while. I am able to swap her out for DD Aulick from my cruiser group, so she won't be leading any DD actions for a bit.
After my DDs retreat, he comes in with a larger CL / 5 DD group and finds a small supply convoy. 2 xAKs and DD Woodworth go down for a few dents on CL Kinu.
He starts with some night air attacks on Car Nicobar. All they manage is to hit a Kingfisher getting prepped for ASW work. In response, I'll send down one of my night fighter squadrons to see if I can discourage this kind of activity in the future.
CENTPAC
A ASW group drifts a bit close to Marcus Island. Before retreating back to Wake, I order a bombardment trying to groud a few search planes... but they have trouble with their aim, and nothing is hit.
A DD Squadron passes through Kusaie trying to hit a few small boats he has there - but they don't bother to even fight. I'll send PTs from Ailinglaplap tomorrow to see if they have more luck.
Search A/C spot a small DD group of his at Truk. I'll send my DDs there to see if they can draw him out into a fight. I'll stand off outside of react range and hope they don't do anything stupid, like react into the minefield I imagine he has there.
Infantry continues loading at Wake. Only 132 support squads left to go!
Two separate sub attacks north of the Marianas. Tarpon swings and misses at DD Mochizuki escorting a group of AKs and later puts 1 of 2 into the 4875 ton xAK Syunsei Maru. Why do they keep firing only 2 fish at these large transports!?!
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
Sorry for the lack of updates... very busy at work right now. But a beautiful sight for any AFB:
Drayton gets in tight, and takes 12 large caliber rounds, but she gets off 2 fish that hit home before succumbing to her wounds. Thatcher provides covering fire, raking the topside with AA ammo causing damage to the superstructure, then follows up with 3 torpedo salvos of her own scoring 5 hits. Sadly, both are lost (Thatcher is suck later in the day by a torpedo from Yugumo - I guess both the up and down side for changing out all your DD skippers with the meanest, nastiest, hairiest, mid grade officers PPs can buy).
Drayton gets in tight, and takes 12 large caliber rounds, but she gets off 2 fish that hit home before succumbing to her wounds. Thatcher provides covering fire, raking the topside with AA ammo causing damage to the superstructure, then follows up with 3 torpedo salvos of her own scoring 5 hits. Sadly, both are lost (Thatcher is suck later in the day by a torpedo from Yugumo - I guess both the up and down side for changing out all your DD skippers with the meanest, nastiest, hairiest, mid grade officers PPs can buy).
- Attachments
-
- Yamato.jpg (297.54 KiB) Viewed 103 times
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
Sorry for no updates in a while... very busy at work over the last few months. I assume anyone actually reading this is reading Lowpie's AAR and know what has all happened (he kicked my butt in the Andaman Islands, I moved in on the Marianas).
I'll try to start some more regular updates again soon as I get more free time.
For now if anyone has any questions as to WTF was I thinking when I did that!?! go ahead an ask.
But I have one question for people with more experience playing as the allies. Quick background, I'm getting near to launching my biggest amphib invasion yet that needs to hit multiple points on a few large islands (or larger than 1 hex at least), in a congested archipelago. I think I can neutralize / defend against the LBA threat - but I'm a bit worried about the beaches (and a potential counter attack early in the invasion). Using sigint, I have identified all the units that are on the islands. My question is, how accurate is that (assuming I look back over a long period of time). I don't care about the odd base force or engineering unit - but I don't want to miss a few divisions.
I'll try to start some more regular updates again soon as I get more free time.
For now if anyone has any questions as to WTF was I thinking when I did that!?! go ahead an ask.
But I have one question for people with more experience playing as the allies. Quick background, I'm getting near to launching my biggest amphib invasion yet that needs to hit multiple points on a few large islands (or larger than 1 hex at least), in a congested archipelago. I think I can neutralize / defend against the LBA threat - but I'm a bit worried about the beaches (and a potential counter attack early in the invasion). Using sigint, I have identified all the units that are on the islands. My question is, how accurate is that (assuming I look back over a long period of time). I don't care about the odd base force or engineering unit - but I don't want to miss a few divisions.
-
CaptBeefheart
- Posts: 2521
- Joined: Fri Jul 04, 2003 2:42 am
- Location: Seoul, Korea
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
I was reading the other AAR and would like to hear your thinking behind the Marianas strike. Well done on that, by the way. I won't comment on the other AAR.
Regarding your question, I take it you haven't been doing aerial recon of the target bases? I don't use Tracker myself, but someone else used it to predict what would be at invasion beaches and it seemed pretty accurate. Of course, recent additions may go unnoticed.
Cheers,
CC
Regarding your question, I take it you haven't been doing aerial recon of the target bases? I don't use Tracker myself, but someone else used it to predict what would be at invasion beaches and it seemed pretty accurate. Of course, recent additions may go unnoticed.
Cheers,
CC
Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
Welcome back to the alternate universe!
My impression is that Allied Sigint is pretty good, but can only give you part of the picture. You get signals intercepts when units are loading or moving, but not much when they are sitting there fort building. Personally, I would want air recon and air bombing/bombardment from the sea to identify the most dangerous units. If you are afraid of tipping him off about which islands you are interested in, throw in 5-6 that you intend to by pass so he has to guess which are the real targets.
The alternative is to do nothing in advance to achieve surprise, and keep a reserve force on ships ready to land if the opposition is too tough. In some cases you don't need to win the island right away, as long as you have too much there for him to push them off. More troops can be brought up later when you have some of the nearby islands for air support.
My impression is that Allied Sigint is pretty good, but can only give you part of the picture. You get signals intercepts when units are loading or moving, but not much when they are sitting there fort building. Personally, I would want air recon and air bombing/bombardment from the sea to identify the most dangerous units. If you are afraid of tipping him off about which islands you are interested in, throw in 5-6 that you intend to by pass so he has to guess which are the real targets.
The alternative is to do nothing in advance to achieve surprise, and keep a reserve force on ships ready to land if the opposition is too tough. In some cases you don't need to win the island right away, as long as you have too much there for him to push them off. More troops can be brought up later when you have some of the nearby islands for air support.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
ORIGINAL: Commander Cody
I was reading the other AAR and would like to hear your thinking behind the Marianas strike. Well done on that, by the way. I won't comment on the other AAR.
Thanks... I'd been planning the Marianas strike for a long time (a looong time). After taking the Marshall's, I needed to start planning the next move. Since I owned the Gilberts / Marshalls, the Solomons just seemed like a waste of time. Kusaie was a logical target at first, but he moved a division there and it no longer seemed worth it. I was going to hit Ponape, but why? I could neutralize Truk, but little more. I wanted to do something that would go a long way to winning the war.
So there is the Marianas. Aside from being in B29 range of the HI, they are more critical for Japan than Hawaii is for the US. From them I can go 4 o'clock to Truk, 5 o'clock to the Admiralties, 6 o'clock to Papua New Guinea, 7 o'clock to the Sarera Basin, 8 o'clock to the Yap, Palau, Mindanao axis, 9 o'clock to Luzon, 10 o'clock to Formosa, 11 o'clock to the Ryukyus, and 12 o'clock to the Bonins.
9 through 11 are an existential threats as they cut his supply lines - especially if I can break out of Thailand and drive on Saigon. 12 directly threatens the HI. 8 is a slightly longer way of getting to 9. The rest are a waste of time - except he needs a rear guard to withdraw what was bypassed. So now he has to defend a 120 deg arc containing about a dozen critical islands and probably a hundred bases - and he has to abandon everything south of the Palau islands.
Those are the positive reasons for the owning the Marianas early.
Of course, just as important, is to know how well they are defended. As I formulated the initial plan I didn't have bases in recon range to get any pictures, so I had to rely on sigint. A search of the sigint indicated no large combat formations on the islands (Saipan possibly excepted - I don't remember as it wasn't on the target list). Late in the planning, I then got a hit that a division was moving to Guam - but nothing else. It also seemed that he liked his divisions forward - Port Moresby, Lunga, Kusaie all had divisions (along with several in Burma), leaving little else.
So strategically game changing target that appears under-defended. No brainer, I think.
As to the timing, initially, I had planned to go late November. My CVs were worn out running around CENTPAC for 2 months and I wanted to get the rehabbed and upgraded. But then I got a sniff of his CVs in the Andaman (this was before he beat me up - he used his CVs to cover a bombardment). Being a quarter of the world away from where he needed them, I put an emergency rush on the invasion. The CVs (on their way to Pearl) were turned around to rest at Wake. Most of the amphibious shipping was either at or near where it needed to be, so invasion forces were loaded. Where the shipping hadn't been staged yet, units were left behind. Everything was then sent to assemble at Wake. I was also going nuts trying to confirm his CVs were still near the Andamans. Finally, just as the invasion forces were approaching Wake, he moved his CVs up into the Andaman again, and the invasion was on. So in a strange way, I was actually happy to see him bombing those British CAs at Port Blair.
The results of all this prep work I was mostly happy with. I encountered exactly what I expected... except there was a division at Tinian completely missed. I think the division was a recent addition to the Tinian defense, but I don't know that. Either way, it was missed, and this is what concerns me going forward.
Regarding your question, I take it you haven't been doing aerial recon of the target bases? I don't use Tracker myself, but someone else used it to predict what would be at invasion beaches and it seemed pretty accurate. Of course, recent additions may go unnoticed.
Cheers,
CC
My impression is that Allied Sigint is pretty good, but can only give you part of the picture. You get signals intercepts when units are loading or moving, but not much when they are sitting there fort building. Personally, I would want air recon and air bombing/bombardment from the sea to identify the most dangerous units. If you are afraid of tipping him off about which islands you are interested in, throw in 5-6 that you intend to by pass so he has to guess which are the real targets.
The alternative is to do nothing in advance to achieve surprise, and keep a reserve force on ships ready to land if the opposition is too tough. In some cases you don't need to win the island right away, as long as you have too much there for him to push them off. More troops can be brought up later when you have some of the nearby islands for air support.
I am a huge fan of all things recon. Sigint, air, subs - I'll use it all. At the same time, I don't want to tip off my target. I'd rather he have to bring his LBA in from a distance so that it attacks half fatigued and fragmented. So for now, subs are out. I have been using air recon over a large area to keep him guessing - but I can't quite reach the islands I want to hit - just the approaches.
Sigint suggests that there is 1 division (split between 3 locations), and 2 tank regiments (with a tank regiment at the primary landing sight). There are other units that were here at one point, but I've seen all the rest at different locations after the sigint hit.
I have 3 US Infantry Divisions and 4 tank Bns prepped for the target. A 4th ID prepped will be a bit late as it just arrived in SF. 6 more divisions are included - 2 are taking nearby islands before getting transferred to the main one, and the other 4 are prepped for follow on targets after the initial beachhead is established. In an emergency, any of these can be redirected / sent in early. So unless my sigint is way off, I should be able to out muscle him at the point of attack.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/16/44
Operation Bayou
It is no secret anymore - the big target is Hokkaido. After pouring through the sigint data the only major combat formations that could be located on the island are the 7th Division (split between Bihoro, Wakkanai, and Sapporo), the 22nd Tank Rgt (Kushiro), and the 23rd Tank Rgt (Bihoro). The strategic advantages to controlling Hokkaido should be obvious. So an excellent opportunity appears to present itself, but it is fleeting. My understanding is that the Japanese get an avalanche of low - medium quality LCUs and A/C formations throughout 1944. It may not be anything comparable to what the allies get, but with him on his home shores and me fighting across an ocean - it would close the gap some.
So the decision made to try, I'm sending just about everything that is not committed in Burma. I also want to prevent him from reinforcing his air component until as late as possible. To this end, a large recon operation was conducted over the PI. Recon A/C from the Marianas (southern PI) and Kumming (Manila area) heavily scouted the area - seeing and being seen. Submarines were stationed all around, again more to be seen than anything else. Days before the invasion force sailed into search plane range (of Japan), several submarines started performing recon of the beaches in the PI. I don't know if this had any effect - but the idea was to get him to start sending his ASuW and fighter A/C in and around the PI. If so, this would force them to make a multi-day, long range jump to reach the HI before being able to attack. This would (hopefully) cause any naval strikes he launched to come in fatigued and piecemeal.
The invasion plan calls for 10 divisions (supported by everything imaginable). D-Day targets include Kushiro (4 USA Divisions), Kunashiri (1 Aussie Division), and Shikotan (1 USMC Rgt). 3 more USMC divisions and 1 USA division wait on transports to exploit the island once a beachhead is established (or act as a reserve if necessary). They are each prepped for a separate location. Finally, one more Aussie division is ready to land on Uruppu Jima once I can supply air cover over it. This will protect later reinforcement convoys and provide an air bridge from Attu for many A/C to be brought in later.
For the run in all units will assemble at a point north east of Marcus island, just out of search range. The CVs will speed ahead to strike Ominato and Hachinohe - his only 2 size 9 AFs in the area. This is, again, another way to "encourage" his air strikes to come in fragmented (either because of damaged AF penalty or because he has to spread out his force between multiple bases).
The invasion force is packed into a few large (100 ship) convoys to better protect them - each one has multiple BBs, CAs, and about 20 escorts. One day out, they split into packages and head for the beaches. Ships not carrying D-day invasion forces will form up in the corral - the hex between the 3 invasion beaches for protection.
Operation Bayou
It is no secret anymore - the big target is Hokkaido. After pouring through the sigint data the only major combat formations that could be located on the island are the 7th Division (split between Bihoro, Wakkanai, and Sapporo), the 22nd Tank Rgt (Kushiro), and the 23rd Tank Rgt (Bihoro). The strategic advantages to controlling Hokkaido should be obvious. So an excellent opportunity appears to present itself, but it is fleeting. My understanding is that the Japanese get an avalanche of low - medium quality LCUs and A/C formations throughout 1944. It may not be anything comparable to what the allies get, but with him on his home shores and me fighting across an ocean - it would close the gap some.
So the decision made to try, I'm sending just about everything that is not committed in Burma. I also want to prevent him from reinforcing his air component until as late as possible. To this end, a large recon operation was conducted over the PI. Recon A/C from the Marianas (southern PI) and Kumming (Manila area) heavily scouted the area - seeing and being seen. Submarines were stationed all around, again more to be seen than anything else. Days before the invasion force sailed into search plane range (of Japan), several submarines started performing recon of the beaches in the PI. I don't know if this had any effect - but the idea was to get him to start sending his ASuW and fighter A/C in and around the PI. If so, this would force them to make a multi-day, long range jump to reach the HI before being able to attack. This would (hopefully) cause any naval strikes he launched to come in fatigued and piecemeal.
The invasion plan calls for 10 divisions (supported by everything imaginable). D-Day targets include Kushiro (4 USA Divisions), Kunashiri (1 Aussie Division), and Shikotan (1 USMC Rgt). 3 more USMC divisions and 1 USA division wait on transports to exploit the island once a beachhead is established (or act as a reserve if necessary). They are each prepped for a separate location. Finally, one more Aussie division is ready to land on Uruppu Jima once I can supply air cover over it. This will protect later reinforcement convoys and provide an air bridge from Attu for many A/C to be brought in later.
For the run in all units will assemble at a point north east of Marcus island, just out of search range. The CVs will speed ahead to strike Ominato and Hachinohe - his only 2 size 9 AFs in the area. This is, again, another way to "encourage" his air strikes to come in fragmented (either because of damaged AF penalty or because he has to spread out his force between multiple bases).
The invasion force is packed into a few large (100 ship) convoys to better protect them - each one has multiple BBs, CAs, and about 20 escorts. One day out, they split into packages and head for the beaches. Ships not carrying D-day invasion forces will form up in the corral - the hex between the 3 invasion beaches for protection.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/17/44
Operation Bayou - D-Day
A fantastic day overall. A few minor setbacks in the night as MTBs manage to cause a bit of havoc. The first ships to reach the invasion areas are the minesweepers. One is sunk by gunfire from a MTB. Later CA Minneapolis collides with an AM during a confused night attack. Vulnerable, she takes a fish. She should survive so long as she isn't hit again - but she is out of the fight (30 sys, 66(47) flood, 21(0) engine). A pair of escorts are sunk protecting the transports (DE Gilmore and DMS Long), and SC on picket duty is sunk by a pair of DDs (2 more damaged). He also sends in what seems like hundreds of mini subs - nearly every one of them is squashed like a bug by my DDs - though one manages to sink an LCI carrying a few trucks.
Landings at Kushiro and Shikotan begin at sun up. Kunashiri, requiring the day naval movement phase before the transports arrived, is hit later in the day.
Objective Shenandoah (Shikotan)
Shikotan is a bit of a mess. Shikotan is the red-headed step child of the invasion. Only the 22nd USMC regiment tasked to it (along with a tank Bn and an Aussie special forces Bn) - and it was one of the last to load. It was split into 4 separate groups - 2 (carrying about 2/3 of its combat power but no support troops) arrived at different times during the day. The rest of the Rgt is spread out over the Pacific between the objective and Pearl. The Marines land in decent order, but moderatly fatigued and disrupted. Since he has a healthy Bde here (34th Ind Mixed), the Shoup Dawg will have to hold on until I can free up air and naval power to allocate to him. Once he gets it though he should be able to carry the island. It is flat with no terrain bonus so air and naval gunfire should devastate his defenses once their weight can be brought to bear.
Objective Kansas (Kushiro)
This is the primary target and it went almost perfect. The 33rd and 24th Infantry land without incident, no fatigue and 2-3 disruption. The 6th Infantry is in nearly as good condition - except APA Feland collided with xAP Limerick a few days ago. She should land the balance of the division on D+1 so long as subs don't find her. In all 310 of its 380 AV is ashore and in just as good condition as the other 2. The 7th Infantry was loaded 3 fast xAPs that just met up a few days prior to the landing (their journey to be here was Karachi to Aden to Norfolk to San Fran to Pearl to Kushiro with only 3 days at Pearl to unpack). They have only landed about half their combat power - but it is in good order. Of the 4 Tank Bns 3 of them are in good shape but the 193rd is a bit disorganized. Only 2 issues occurred on this day - xAP Limerick (only slightly damaged by its collision with APA Feland a few days ago) tries playing bumper boats again. This time she loses and sinks shortly after unloading her naval base force. The second issue - he brought most of the combat power I have identified as being on the island to this point. His 7th Division B & C regiments are here along with both tank regiments (22nd and 23rd) and the 3rd Amphib Bde. Raw AV is 1848 (and growing) to 618 and his bombardment caused more casualties to him (123) than to me (0).
For tomorrow, I've ordered all units (except the disrupted tank Bn) to deliberate attack supported by the bulk of my CV air power and 2 fresh BBs. I'll test his forts in strength. If he appears weak, I'll go full shock next - otherwise the slow grind is on. I have also ordered a large portion of the support troops and the remainder of the arty to begin landing so that as soon as the base is captured, I can begin repairs / expansion and operations.
Objective Kentucky (Kunashiri)
The bulk of the 9th Australian Div (supported by Kiwi Armor and USA Combat engineers and shore party) gets ashore in the afternoon unload phase, but is moderately disrupted and fatigued. This, however, is an important objective as control will protect my fleet from northern incursions and provide a safe anchorage to rearm - so the attack will be pressed. A fresh BB is coming up - the West Virginia - the last Pearl BB to reenter the action! Her first salvo of shells specially forged from UXO in the Pearl harbor attack 2 years ago.
The good news is that this is his weakest point. He has 2 combat units here - the 24th Mixed Bde and 1st mixed Rgt, buy they are partial units an only combine for about 134 raw AV and few if any heavy weapons. A deliberate attack has been ordered to test the forts.
Objective Boston (Bihoro)
Originally Bihoro was to be taken by the 2nd Marines after coming ashore at Kushiro. However with the bulk of his combat power down at Kushiro, I'm going to risk sending them on an assault to see if they can get behind the bulk of his units. It is probable he has the 7th/A division here but if I can threaten a second beach head it will put him in a bind. Does he send reinforcements down to Kushiro or over to Bihoro? This is also a significant airbase for him, and getting troops on the ground here will force him to move them further away (and fatigue them even more) or risk losing them if the base should fall. They land tomorrow.
The Fleet
Apart from the small ships troubles mentioned above, the fleet is in excellent shape. Bombers struck ships at port in Hakodate - unmolested by his CAP. Most of my ships are nicely tucked away in the correl. The big blue blanket swatted down all comers on D-Day. I suspect his larger fleet units are nearing the area though so I'd like to get a base to get some long range PBY searches up. I don't fear his CVs (I think he has 3 left), but I worry a about a Leyte Gulf type blitz by his remaining BBs.
He also is gathering transports at Aomori protected by about 250 fighters. My guess is he is trying to reinforce the island. The sooner I can get LBA online the better. A handful of AKVs loaded with P47s sit in the corral waiting for a place to unload. They will be critical in getting air superiority over the Tsugaru Strait which should slow reinforcements to a trickle.
On D-1, he launched a lot of night strikes. They were ineffective (as was the combat debut of the F4U-2 Night fighter) - but my ships used up a lot of 5" ammo at them. A few ships are critical, and most are at about half load. I have a dozen AKE / AEs in my support fleet, but I need an anchorage. Gas is ok - several DDs and DEs were getting critical, but they were able to fill up from AOs in the corral.
Operation Bayou - D-Day
A fantastic day overall. A few minor setbacks in the night as MTBs manage to cause a bit of havoc. The first ships to reach the invasion areas are the minesweepers. One is sunk by gunfire from a MTB. Later CA Minneapolis collides with an AM during a confused night attack. Vulnerable, she takes a fish. She should survive so long as she isn't hit again - but she is out of the fight (30 sys, 66(47) flood, 21(0) engine). A pair of escorts are sunk protecting the transports (DE Gilmore and DMS Long), and SC on picket duty is sunk by a pair of DDs (2 more damaged). He also sends in what seems like hundreds of mini subs - nearly every one of them is squashed like a bug by my DDs - though one manages to sink an LCI carrying a few trucks.
Landings at Kushiro and Shikotan begin at sun up. Kunashiri, requiring the day naval movement phase before the transports arrived, is hit later in the day.
Objective Shenandoah (Shikotan)
Shikotan is a bit of a mess. Shikotan is the red-headed step child of the invasion. Only the 22nd USMC regiment tasked to it (along with a tank Bn and an Aussie special forces Bn) - and it was one of the last to load. It was split into 4 separate groups - 2 (carrying about 2/3 of its combat power but no support troops) arrived at different times during the day. The rest of the Rgt is spread out over the Pacific between the objective and Pearl. The Marines land in decent order, but moderatly fatigued and disrupted. Since he has a healthy Bde here (34th Ind Mixed), the Shoup Dawg will have to hold on until I can free up air and naval power to allocate to him. Once he gets it though he should be able to carry the island. It is flat with no terrain bonus so air and naval gunfire should devastate his defenses once their weight can be brought to bear.
Objective Kansas (Kushiro)
This is the primary target and it went almost perfect. The 33rd and 24th Infantry land without incident, no fatigue and 2-3 disruption. The 6th Infantry is in nearly as good condition - except APA Feland collided with xAP Limerick a few days ago. She should land the balance of the division on D+1 so long as subs don't find her. In all 310 of its 380 AV is ashore and in just as good condition as the other 2. The 7th Infantry was loaded 3 fast xAPs that just met up a few days prior to the landing (their journey to be here was Karachi to Aden to Norfolk to San Fran to Pearl to Kushiro with only 3 days at Pearl to unpack). They have only landed about half their combat power - but it is in good order. Of the 4 Tank Bns 3 of them are in good shape but the 193rd is a bit disorganized. Only 2 issues occurred on this day - xAP Limerick (only slightly damaged by its collision with APA Feland a few days ago) tries playing bumper boats again. This time she loses and sinks shortly after unloading her naval base force. The second issue - he brought most of the combat power I have identified as being on the island to this point. His 7th Division B & C regiments are here along with both tank regiments (22nd and 23rd) and the 3rd Amphib Bde. Raw AV is 1848 (and growing) to 618 and his bombardment caused more casualties to him (123) than to me (0).
For tomorrow, I've ordered all units (except the disrupted tank Bn) to deliberate attack supported by the bulk of my CV air power and 2 fresh BBs. I'll test his forts in strength. If he appears weak, I'll go full shock next - otherwise the slow grind is on. I have also ordered a large portion of the support troops and the remainder of the arty to begin landing so that as soon as the base is captured, I can begin repairs / expansion and operations.
Objective Kentucky (Kunashiri)
The bulk of the 9th Australian Div (supported by Kiwi Armor and USA Combat engineers and shore party) gets ashore in the afternoon unload phase, but is moderately disrupted and fatigued. This, however, is an important objective as control will protect my fleet from northern incursions and provide a safe anchorage to rearm - so the attack will be pressed. A fresh BB is coming up - the West Virginia - the last Pearl BB to reenter the action! Her first salvo of shells specially forged from UXO in the Pearl harbor attack 2 years ago.
The good news is that this is his weakest point. He has 2 combat units here - the 24th Mixed Bde and 1st mixed Rgt, buy they are partial units an only combine for about 134 raw AV and few if any heavy weapons. A deliberate attack has been ordered to test the forts.
Objective Boston (Bihoro)
Originally Bihoro was to be taken by the 2nd Marines after coming ashore at Kushiro. However with the bulk of his combat power down at Kushiro, I'm going to risk sending them on an assault to see if they can get behind the bulk of his units. It is probable he has the 7th/A division here but if I can threaten a second beach head it will put him in a bind. Does he send reinforcements down to Kushiro or over to Bihoro? This is also a significant airbase for him, and getting troops on the ground here will force him to move them further away (and fatigue them even more) or risk losing them if the base should fall. They land tomorrow.
The Fleet
Apart from the small ships troubles mentioned above, the fleet is in excellent shape. Bombers struck ships at port in Hakodate - unmolested by his CAP. Most of my ships are nicely tucked away in the correl. The big blue blanket swatted down all comers on D-Day. I suspect his larger fleet units are nearing the area though so I'd like to get a base to get some long range PBY searches up. I don't fear his CVs (I think he has 3 left), but I worry a about a Leyte Gulf type blitz by his remaining BBs.
He also is gathering transports at Aomori protected by about 250 fighters. My guess is he is trying to reinforce the island. The sooner I can get LBA online the better. A handful of AKVs loaded with P47s sit in the corral waiting for a place to unload. They will be critical in getting air superiority over the Tsugaru Strait which should slow reinforcements to a trickle.
On D-1, he launched a lot of night strikes. They were ineffective (as was the combat debut of the F4U-2 Night fighter) - but my ships used up a lot of 5" ammo at them. A few ships are critical, and most are at about half load. I have a dozen AKE / AEs in my support fleet, but I need an anchorage. Gas is ok - several DDs and DEs were getting critical, but they were able to fill up from AOs in the corral.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/18/44
Operation Bayou - D+1 - The Great Hokkaido Turkey Shoot
A moderately bad night is followed by an incredible day. PTs (or whatever the Japanese version is called) occasionally get in amongst a few important TFs (including the CVEs and a few large amphib). They cause no damage, but watch and laugh as we play bumper-boats all night long. Several CVEs scrape (minor damage) and a few transports whack each other head on. AK Blount and xAK Nicholas Sinnott are lost.
Later several small SAGs attempt to move in. There are several small naval battles - mostly between his small DD groups (there are also 2 CLs) and my submarine pickets. I lose 2 DDs and three Corvettes with another DD in dire condition. I think I get 1 of his DDs... maybe. All in all very disappointing shooting on our part - but the transports and carriers are protected. Finally, to end the night another DD hits a mine in the corral. She is touch and go right now.
As dawn breaks he continues his naval run in to Kushiro. Alabama and Indiana are waiting, but the crap shooting from the night carries over. They manage 2 5" hits on the CL causing little or no damage.
Then the air attacks start. And continue all day. Nearly all of them are focused on the ship assembly at Kushiro. In total I counted 1120 sorties - and 367 bombers and 217 fighters shot down for the cost of 53 Hellcats and 49 Wildcats and one torpedo hit on CVE Kasaan Bay (still operational - but barely). The brunt of the fight was carried by the jeep carriers. In the night, they moved to provide close cover to the Kushiro beaches. The big CVs, despite being nearby contributed nearly nothing to the defense.
The day sees 36 new aces minted. Not 1, not 5, not even a dozen, but 17 of them get 5+ kills on the day. Leading the way were ENS Sanders of VF-37 and ENS Madision of VC-63 with 7 kills each. VF-37 flying from St Lo is the hero squadron of the day. They have 86 kills (on the day), 12 pilots become aces with 9 scoring 5 or more kills on this day alone.
Due to the scale of attacks near the carriers, LR CAP did not fly to protect the landings at Bihoro (BB New Mexico hit with a handful of bombs, but only 4 sys damage and loss of a 5" mount). A TF approaching with support troops was also attacked. A pair of hellcats shot down or chased away about a dozen Nicks, but a later attack of Kates managed to get 2 fish into a transport and 1 into a SC. Both sink.
Due to the scale of his disaster in the air, I am moving my CVs a bit forward and launching sweeps on his remaining fighter concentrations. I am concerned about an attempt to move troops through the Tsugaru Strait. He has assembled a large number of transports at Aomori and has them protected by a good chunk of his remaining fighter strength. I want to get into a position to strike them over the next few days. On the waves I am combining my small ASW TFs into larger SAGs. Biloxi will also separate from the transports and move into a forward position. Burke will continue to move around, but dang! all game long he seems to be avoiding fights (always nearby, but never engages).
On the ground things go well, but are hardly decisive. The deliberate assault at Kushiro gets 3:1 and reduces the forts to 2. Causalities are moderate to high for both sides with his being a bit higher. The 7th Infantry takes the brunt of the assault and will take a day of rest. The remainder of the forces will shock attack to attempt to break him.
At Kunashiri, despite a 6:1 advantage in raw AV, we get 1:2 odds against and no fort reduction. Despite this, though, the battle is completely one sided with him taking over 900 casualties to my 57. The commonwealth forces there are little worse for the wear and will also shock attack. He has no vehicles and few guns so hopefully the Aussies and Kiwis will carry the day.
Chesty brings his 2nd Marine Division ashore at Bihoro. As expected the 3rd regiment of the 7th division is found there (7th/A). The infantry is in good shape (no fatigue or disruption to speak of), but the tank Bn in support is disorganized. I'll sit tight for a day or 2 before trying a probing assault. This will prevent him from reinforcing Kushiro from here and probably force him to withdraw his fighters based here.
Finally, he bombards at Shikotan. Shoup does his job and holds the line - giving better than he received. A few more days and I should be able to sink the island under battleship shells and aerial bombs.
Operation Bayou - D+1 - The Great Hokkaido Turkey Shoot
A moderately bad night is followed by an incredible day. PTs (or whatever the Japanese version is called) occasionally get in amongst a few important TFs (including the CVEs and a few large amphib). They cause no damage, but watch and laugh as we play bumper-boats all night long. Several CVEs scrape (minor damage) and a few transports whack each other head on. AK Blount and xAK Nicholas Sinnott are lost.
Later several small SAGs attempt to move in. There are several small naval battles - mostly between his small DD groups (there are also 2 CLs) and my submarine pickets. I lose 2 DDs and three Corvettes with another DD in dire condition. I think I get 1 of his DDs... maybe. All in all very disappointing shooting on our part - but the transports and carriers are protected. Finally, to end the night another DD hits a mine in the corral. She is touch and go right now.
As dawn breaks he continues his naval run in to Kushiro. Alabama and Indiana are waiting, but the crap shooting from the night carries over. They manage 2 5" hits on the CL causing little or no damage.
Then the air attacks start. And continue all day. Nearly all of them are focused on the ship assembly at Kushiro. In total I counted 1120 sorties - and 367 bombers and 217 fighters shot down for the cost of 53 Hellcats and 49 Wildcats and one torpedo hit on CVE Kasaan Bay (still operational - but barely). The brunt of the fight was carried by the jeep carriers. In the night, they moved to provide close cover to the Kushiro beaches. The big CVs, despite being nearby contributed nearly nothing to the defense.
The day sees 36 new aces minted. Not 1, not 5, not even a dozen, but 17 of them get 5+ kills on the day. Leading the way were ENS Sanders of VF-37 and ENS Madision of VC-63 with 7 kills each. VF-37 flying from St Lo is the hero squadron of the day. They have 86 kills (on the day), 12 pilots become aces with 9 scoring 5 or more kills on this day alone.
Due to the scale of attacks near the carriers, LR CAP did not fly to protect the landings at Bihoro (BB New Mexico hit with a handful of bombs, but only 4 sys damage and loss of a 5" mount). A TF approaching with support troops was also attacked. A pair of hellcats shot down or chased away about a dozen Nicks, but a later attack of Kates managed to get 2 fish into a transport and 1 into a SC. Both sink.
Due to the scale of his disaster in the air, I am moving my CVs a bit forward and launching sweeps on his remaining fighter concentrations. I am concerned about an attempt to move troops through the Tsugaru Strait. He has assembled a large number of transports at Aomori and has them protected by a good chunk of his remaining fighter strength. I want to get into a position to strike them over the next few days. On the waves I am combining my small ASW TFs into larger SAGs. Biloxi will also separate from the transports and move into a forward position. Burke will continue to move around, but dang! all game long he seems to be avoiding fights (always nearby, but never engages).
On the ground things go well, but are hardly decisive. The deliberate assault at Kushiro gets 3:1 and reduces the forts to 2. Causalities are moderate to high for both sides with his being a bit higher. The 7th Infantry takes the brunt of the assault and will take a day of rest. The remainder of the forces will shock attack to attempt to break him.
At Kunashiri, despite a 6:1 advantage in raw AV, we get 1:2 odds against and no fort reduction. Despite this, though, the battle is completely one sided with him taking over 900 casualties to my 57. The commonwealth forces there are little worse for the wear and will also shock attack. He has no vehicles and few guns so hopefully the Aussies and Kiwis will carry the day.
Chesty brings his 2nd Marine Division ashore at Bihoro. As expected the 3rd regiment of the 7th division is found there (7th/A). The infantry is in good shape (no fatigue or disruption to speak of), but the tank Bn in support is disorganized. I'll sit tight for a day or 2 before trying a probing assault. This will prevent him from reinforcing Kushiro from here and probably force him to withdraw his fighters based here.
Finally, he bombards at Shikotan. Shoup does his job and holds the line - giving better than he received. A few more days and I should be able to sink the island under battleship shells and aerial bombs.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
A bold move matched by a huge response - Great theatre!
Good luck to the good guys!
Good luck to the good guys!
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/19/44
Operation Bayou - D+2 - Breakthrough
Another excellent day! Resistance at the beaches collapses and the port and airfield at Kushiro are in US hands.
Kushiro has a decent airfield large enough for B24s (currently size 5)- but it needs to be expanded to handle the numbers that will be arriving in the coming days. Outlying fields also need to be constructed for fighter dispersal. The terrain is good though (it can be built all the way to 9) and the CBs will start that work as soon as they fix up the damage left by the retreating Japanese (and my BBs). The runways have already been cleared (damage down to 2) and has been declared operational.
Work on fixing up the port should also be done quickly - though the pathetic size 3 port is in desperate need of expansion. 500 Naval support squads will help the massive amount of unloading that is to be done in the coming days. Additionally, a large service squadron will drop anchor to provide support for everything from PT boats to battleships. Already 2 AKEs are in place - but that is just a start. 3 ASs, 2 ADs, an AGP, 5 more AEs/AKEs, and a horde of TKs / AOs will open their doors for business tomorrow. CM Salem is laying a defensive mine field.
With the airfield now open, aircraft pre-staged at Attu, Adak, and Marcus have begun flying in. 4 squadrons of Corsairs along with a VRF-B from Marcus followed a squadron of B24s in. 2 more USMC Corsair squadrons and a squadron of F-5As flew in from Adak / Attu area following a squadron of Ventura’s. The Corsairs will provide fighter cover over the beaches and harbor for now and the F-5s are my first recon assets (aside from float planes) to be able to provide intel over the island. The Ventura’s are trained and set for low naval strikes over the Tsugaru Straight. In addition there are 200 fighters (mostly P47s and F6s) on boats ready to unload. 50 are on AKVs, and could be operational as soon as tomorrow.
On the ground the 4 divisions slowly begin pursuit (ordered to move, but in rest mode). They need to get organized before all out pursuit can begin - though 2 tank Bns (still fresh) are ordered to chase at full speed. Bombers and battleships will attempt to slow him down. If I can keep him in combat mode, it should take his tired troops (what’s left of them) 8-10 days to clear the hex.
From here, the army troops will drive along the coast road to Muroran. There, they will turn north to take Sapporo. The 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions will disembark from their transports at Kushiro. They will lead the army in pursuit to Muroran, then drive down the western neck to take Hakodate from the land side.
At Bihoro, the 2nd Marines sat tight during the day. However, advanced elements notice that he has begun a slow retreat. They will cautiously attack tomorrow and we'll see what happens. If he breaks and runs, the marines will move up into the mountains and act as a blocking force out of Asahikawa as the army approaches Sapporo.
The good news doesn’t end there though... Kunashiri is overrun by the combined Australian and New Zealand troops. Kunashiri is nowhere near the size of Kushiro (1 port, 0 AF), but its location will allow me to project naval power into the Sea of Okhotsk. A small service support squadron will set up shop in the next day or 2 (4 AKEs an AR and a handful of tankers) (They would be set up today, but they got cold feet and ran south in the night). A few BBs and CAs will operate out of here while I reduce Bihoro and Shikotan. In addition, a few squadrons of float planes arrived late in the day and will begin operations tomorrow.
Speaking of Shikotan, Shoup sits tight another day. Another exchange of arty occurs, and today a handful of engineers digging trenches are exposed when the bombardment comes in. The good guys take another small bite out of the defenders. Tomorrow will be different though - Pennsylvania and about 10 DDs have been tasked to provide fire support for a probing attack on his defenses.
I have to say, I expected the air war to quiet down this past day, but it did not. Today though, very few bombers flew - most of the kills were against his fighters. 255 were shot down on the day, plus about 65 Nicks (mostly flying bomber missions). He also lost a few dozen Helens, Lily’s, Kates and assorted others that managed to escape the carnage of the first day. The bill was another 36 Hellcats, 19 Wildcats and a pair of Corsairs. Today, though, the CVE guys got (mostly) rest as the big boys took over. Not as many heroes on the day, as there are enough fighters in my main CV group to spread the wealth. VF-1s ENS Vincent, flying from Essex, lead the day with 5 kills. 34 new aces are minted (including Eugene O'Hare of VF-3 finally!). 4 more become double aces, and a pair of flyers from VF-3 on Enterprise become triple aces.
Sweeps over bases around the Tsugaru Straight also perform well. The only down side here is that they swept aside all resistance and the weather was good! I wish I ordered the ports bombed as well - they could have really hit home. Oh well. We'll order it for tomorrow. I'd really like to give my pilots some rest, but these opportunities won't last long. His fatigue is probably worse than mine, and his morale should be in the toilet after the past 2 days. I need to press the advantage.
On the sea, Burke shows up - and puts 2 torpedoes into DD Makugumo and chases away a CL. A few more of the pesky PTs are put to bed and the nightly bumper boat show takes a day off. With Kunashiri and Kushiro now captured, PTs are unloaded. They will try to return the bumper boat favor with a group of xAKs unloading (or loading?) at Hakodate. A small DD group will penetrate the Sea of Japan through the La Perouse Strait and look for shipping around Sapporo.
The only downer on the day was that a few of his CVs travel toward Marcus (they were in the Sea of Japan just west of the Tsugaru Strait yesterday) and managed to attack the stragglers that were fleeing the area. An APA, an AP, a AK, and a pair of AMs were sunk and another AK damaged. Everything was empty, so the damage isn't too bad. Hopefully I can corral the rest (especially the ones with troops on them still) back to Hokkaido before too much more damaged is done. Now that I can "home port" ships at Kushiro, hopefully they stop trying to run back to Marcus and Midway when his DDs (or PTs) show up!
I did get the last laugh here though as well. VT-1, flying from Essex, finds xAP Asama Maru off Sapporo. She rolls over and sinks after eating 4 fish - taking over 8000 troops into the icy sea with her.
Operation Bayou - D+2 - Breakthrough
Another excellent day! Resistance at the beaches collapses and the port and airfield at Kushiro are in US hands.
Kushiro has a decent airfield large enough for B24s (currently size 5)- but it needs to be expanded to handle the numbers that will be arriving in the coming days. Outlying fields also need to be constructed for fighter dispersal. The terrain is good though (it can be built all the way to 9) and the CBs will start that work as soon as they fix up the damage left by the retreating Japanese (and my BBs). The runways have already been cleared (damage down to 2) and has been declared operational.
Work on fixing up the port should also be done quickly - though the pathetic size 3 port is in desperate need of expansion. 500 Naval support squads will help the massive amount of unloading that is to be done in the coming days. Additionally, a large service squadron will drop anchor to provide support for everything from PT boats to battleships. Already 2 AKEs are in place - but that is just a start. 3 ASs, 2 ADs, an AGP, 5 more AEs/AKEs, and a horde of TKs / AOs will open their doors for business tomorrow. CM Salem is laying a defensive mine field.
With the airfield now open, aircraft pre-staged at Attu, Adak, and Marcus have begun flying in. 4 squadrons of Corsairs along with a VRF-B from Marcus followed a squadron of B24s in. 2 more USMC Corsair squadrons and a squadron of F-5As flew in from Adak / Attu area following a squadron of Ventura’s. The Corsairs will provide fighter cover over the beaches and harbor for now and the F-5s are my first recon assets (aside from float planes) to be able to provide intel over the island. The Ventura’s are trained and set for low naval strikes over the Tsugaru Straight. In addition there are 200 fighters (mostly P47s and F6s) on boats ready to unload. 50 are on AKVs, and could be operational as soon as tomorrow.
On the ground the 4 divisions slowly begin pursuit (ordered to move, but in rest mode). They need to get organized before all out pursuit can begin - though 2 tank Bns (still fresh) are ordered to chase at full speed. Bombers and battleships will attempt to slow him down. If I can keep him in combat mode, it should take his tired troops (what’s left of them) 8-10 days to clear the hex.
From here, the army troops will drive along the coast road to Muroran. There, they will turn north to take Sapporo. The 1st and 3rd Marine Divisions will disembark from their transports at Kushiro. They will lead the army in pursuit to Muroran, then drive down the western neck to take Hakodate from the land side.
At Bihoro, the 2nd Marines sat tight during the day. However, advanced elements notice that he has begun a slow retreat. They will cautiously attack tomorrow and we'll see what happens. If he breaks and runs, the marines will move up into the mountains and act as a blocking force out of Asahikawa as the army approaches Sapporo.
The good news doesn’t end there though... Kunashiri is overrun by the combined Australian and New Zealand troops. Kunashiri is nowhere near the size of Kushiro (1 port, 0 AF), but its location will allow me to project naval power into the Sea of Okhotsk. A small service support squadron will set up shop in the next day or 2 (4 AKEs an AR and a handful of tankers) (They would be set up today, but they got cold feet and ran south in the night). A few BBs and CAs will operate out of here while I reduce Bihoro and Shikotan. In addition, a few squadrons of float planes arrived late in the day and will begin operations tomorrow.
Speaking of Shikotan, Shoup sits tight another day. Another exchange of arty occurs, and today a handful of engineers digging trenches are exposed when the bombardment comes in. The good guys take another small bite out of the defenders. Tomorrow will be different though - Pennsylvania and about 10 DDs have been tasked to provide fire support for a probing attack on his defenses.
I have to say, I expected the air war to quiet down this past day, but it did not. Today though, very few bombers flew - most of the kills were against his fighters. 255 were shot down on the day, plus about 65 Nicks (mostly flying bomber missions). He also lost a few dozen Helens, Lily’s, Kates and assorted others that managed to escape the carnage of the first day. The bill was another 36 Hellcats, 19 Wildcats and a pair of Corsairs. Today, though, the CVE guys got (mostly) rest as the big boys took over. Not as many heroes on the day, as there are enough fighters in my main CV group to spread the wealth. VF-1s ENS Vincent, flying from Essex, lead the day with 5 kills. 34 new aces are minted (including Eugene O'Hare of VF-3 finally!). 4 more become double aces, and a pair of flyers from VF-3 on Enterprise become triple aces.
Sweeps over bases around the Tsugaru Straight also perform well. The only down side here is that they swept aside all resistance and the weather was good! I wish I ordered the ports bombed as well - they could have really hit home. Oh well. We'll order it for tomorrow. I'd really like to give my pilots some rest, but these opportunities won't last long. His fatigue is probably worse than mine, and his morale should be in the toilet after the past 2 days. I need to press the advantage.
On the sea, Burke shows up - and puts 2 torpedoes into DD Makugumo and chases away a CL. A few more of the pesky PTs are put to bed and the nightly bumper boat show takes a day off. With Kunashiri and Kushiro now captured, PTs are unloaded. They will try to return the bumper boat favor with a group of xAKs unloading (or loading?) at Hakodate. A small DD group will penetrate the Sea of Japan through the La Perouse Strait and look for shipping around Sapporo.
The only downer on the day was that a few of his CVs travel toward Marcus (they were in the Sea of Japan just west of the Tsugaru Strait yesterday) and managed to attack the stragglers that were fleeing the area. An APA, an AP, a AK, and a pair of AMs were sunk and another AK damaged. Everything was empty, so the damage isn't too bad. Hopefully I can corral the rest (especially the ones with troops on them still) back to Hokkaido before too much more damaged is done. Now that I can "home port" ships at Kushiro, hopefully they stop trying to run back to Marcus and Midway when his DDs (or PTs) show up!
I did get the last laugh here though as well. VT-1, flying from Essex, finds xAP Asama Maru off Sapporo. She rolls over and sinks after eating 4 fish - taking over 8000 troops into the icy sea with her.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/20/44 - 1/22/44
Operation Bayou - D+3-5 - Buildup and Minor Setbacks
The air war takes a couple of days off (for the most part), then starts to pick back up again as more of his squadrons arrive and units begin to absorb replacements. A pair of convoys bringing in support troops past the Kurils is hit by Lily's a few days in a row. A few transports are hit and sunk, but the damage isn't too bad. Most squads are rescued. I've sent a small CVE group to escort them in, and there have been no attacks since their arrival.
On 1/22 he sends huge bombing raids and sweeps to hit the port at Kushiro. There are plenty of juicy targets. For some reason my CAP is light, but steady throughout the day and consistently gets to the bombers. Several do leak through, only to find a flak nightmare. They do score a few hits. North Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia are all refueling / rearming and are each greeted with a hit doing little damage. The hard luck CVE Kasaan Bay though takes a lucky 800 kg, and sinks (she was port side repairing from the torpedo hit on D+1). In all he loses another 250 aircraft, including over 100 Helens, a few dozen Bettys, and about 75 - 100 fighters. CPT Morgan leads the way with 6 kills in his P47 on the day. This moves him up to 10th overall with 18 total kills. CPT Smith also gets the coveted "ace in a day", however he is latter shot down and wounded. All told, on my end P47s do the most damage, but also suffer the most. 14 are lost. 11 Wildcats, 8 Corsairs, and 4 Hellcats complete my bill.
At sea, his CVs travel back towards Honshu and disappear. Musashi shows up a day south of Hokkaido and sinks DD Abner Read before also disappearing near Honshu. At first, I move my CVs south to prevent him from running in on the beaches. However now that most of the unloading is done, I slide them east to hit the Kurils. I'll now move back west - southwest to attempt to prevent a run in and to provide an air bridge for about 100 Hellcats stranded at Marcus.
On land, the 2nd Marine probing attack at Bihoro manages to break resistance there, causing him to flee into the mountains. The Marines take off in pursuit as CBs and other support troops are sent up by rail to begin repairing and expanding the airfield. All combat units at Kushiro have recovered and have begun the pursuit in earnest. Unfortunately, the little yellow road doesn't actually make it all the way to the city - so progress is slow - at about 10 mi/day. It will be another 3 days before we can arrive at the next hex.
The only hold out is Shikotan, which stubbornly holds on. Devastating bombardments hit the island for the last 3 days. The latest attack showed all of his units at "0" in the combat animation, but I still fail to get even 1:1 odds - though he takes far more causalities. Shoup somehow gets recalled to Pearl (a lot of 22nds support squads are there and it became the "primary" without me noticing), and his replacement has a land rating of about 30. That being rectified, I'll try again tomorrow.
If all goes right, tomorrow will also see the first massed industrial raid. Osaka is targeted by 70 B24s. Nothing may come of it, as Kushiro is horrendously over-stacked. But if they fly, it will hopefully spread out his fighters gathering around the Tsugaru Strait.
Operation Bayou - D+3-5 - Buildup and Minor Setbacks
The air war takes a couple of days off (for the most part), then starts to pick back up again as more of his squadrons arrive and units begin to absorb replacements. A pair of convoys bringing in support troops past the Kurils is hit by Lily's a few days in a row. A few transports are hit and sunk, but the damage isn't too bad. Most squads are rescued. I've sent a small CVE group to escort them in, and there have been no attacks since their arrival.
On 1/22 he sends huge bombing raids and sweeps to hit the port at Kushiro. There are plenty of juicy targets. For some reason my CAP is light, but steady throughout the day and consistently gets to the bombers. Several do leak through, only to find a flak nightmare. They do score a few hits. North Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia are all refueling / rearming and are each greeted with a hit doing little damage. The hard luck CVE Kasaan Bay though takes a lucky 800 kg, and sinks (she was port side repairing from the torpedo hit on D+1). In all he loses another 250 aircraft, including over 100 Helens, a few dozen Bettys, and about 75 - 100 fighters. CPT Morgan leads the way with 6 kills in his P47 on the day. This moves him up to 10th overall with 18 total kills. CPT Smith also gets the coveted "ace in a day", however he is latter shot down and wounded. All told, on my end P47s do the most damage, but also suffer the most. 14 are lost. 11 Wildcats, 8 Corsairs, and 4 Hellcats complete my bill.
At sea, his CVs travel back towards Honshu and disappear. Musashi shows up a day south of Hokkaido and sinks DD Abner Read before also disappearing near Honshu. At first, I move my CVs south to prevent him from running in on the beaches. However now that most of the unloading is done, I slide them east to hit the Kurils. I'll now move back west - southwest to attempt to prevent a run in and to provide an air bridge for about 100 Hellcats stranded at Marcus.
On land, the 2nd Marine probing attack at Bihoro manages to break resistance there, causing him to flee into the mountains. The Marines take off in pursuit as CBs and other support troops are sent up by rail to begin repairing and expanding the airfield. All combat units at Kushiro have recovered and have begun the pursuit in earnest. Unfortunately, the little yellow road doesn't actually make it all the way to the city - so progress is slow - at about 10 mi/day. It will be another 3 days before we can arrive at the next hex.
The only hold out is Shikotan, which stubbornly holds on. Devastating bombardments hit the island for the last 3 days. The latest attack showed all of his units at "0" in the combat animation, but I still fail to get even 1:1 odds - though he takes far more causalities. Shoup somehow gets recalled to Pearl (a lot of 22nds support squads are there and it became the "primary" without me noticing), and his replacement has a land rating of about 30. That being rectified, I'll try again tomorrow.
If all goes right, tomorrow will also see the first massed industrial raid. Osaka is targeted by 70 B24s. Nothing may come of it, as Kushiro is horrendously over-stacked. But if they fly, it will hopefully spread out his fighters gathering around the Tsugaru Strait.
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/23/44
Operation Bayou - D+6 - Air Raid!
Shikotan finally falls! All night forward controllers directed bombardments across Japanese positions. 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, and 38 destroyers rain hate over the island. At dawn the marines cautiously advanced across the island then poured on the heat as the extent of the damage and disorganization became evident. As far as the big picture goes, this really doesn't mean anything anymore. The island was targeted as a backup to the backup. But being firmly entrenched at 3 other bases, including 2 on Hokkaido proper, makes this redundant. That said, it wasn't as if my surface navy was doing anything better at the time, so no opportunity was wasted. I don't feel safe attempting to bombard Honshu yet - and even if I could, he has little accessible by sea - and what is, is protected by mines.
On the waves, there is not much going on. I swung a pair of desrons around Hokkaido to the north along with a pair of DMs and a handful of PTs. So far, they haven't been discovered. Over the next few days I'll push the PTs into the Tsugaru Strait from the Sea of Japan side to "look" for minefields. If it appears safe, I'll run in the DDs to clean out anything followed by the DMs to lay a few offensive minefields for harassment purposes.
I would like to start projecting airpower over the Tsugaru Strait - but right now he has nearly 1000 fighters at Ominato. First I need to dislocate these fighters. To that end I have embarked on a campaign to attack his industry - and force him to spread out his defenses (more on this later). Once he is thinned out, I can strike at the surrounding ports forcing him to spread out more in the target area (either moving to different bases or using LRCAP). At that point, I can start isolating smaller portions and pick them apart.
The big news on the day is the 70 B24s I sent to fire bomb Osaka flew. Recon suggests they caused nearly 15k fires (is that a lot?).
My plan for the strategic air campaign is to attack his ability to resist. Man power hits are preferable as they cause fires that can destroy anything and everything. But there are only a few good man power targets in range (Tokyo and Osaka are far and away the best, with Kobe, Nagoya, and Yokohama as second tier targets). I'm guessing he can defend this many targets - at least as of right now. I want to maximize hits on soft targets to minimize my losses. So this mean moving on to factories in less well defended areas. He has (wisely in my opinion) built most of his factories away from such future infernos. This is a double edge sword for him though, as it provides an opportunity - he now has more targets then he can [hopefully] defend.
So if I'm forced to hit factories, I want to hit what will hurt. I'm guessing he brings in mostly fuel (instead of oil) - so refineries not too tempting. I also imagine he has plenty of vehicle and armaments points already stored up - we haven't had much ground fighting in this war. Industry is a good target, but it tends to be in the same locations as manpower. So two birds with one stone I suppose. When I can bomb man power, I will. Naval / merchant ship yards are inviting. But I think shutting down his air power - especially his fighters is the best road to victory. To that end, I mapped out his aircraft industry a few months ago (flying from Marcus). He has since changed a few things (for example he changed his Sam factories to Franks recently). I haven't done a full re-mapping recently, and I know some of his factories have changed, so some of this intel is out of date (I'm working to correct that).
I would like to target the following airframes:
Airframe (operational factories / damaged factories)
George (230/22)
Oscar (132/22)
Frank (109/43)*
Tojo (129/0)
Jack (53/21)
Zero (151/0)
Tony (193/23)
*Frank is not operational yet, so these are R&D factories I think.
George and Frank use the Ha-45 engine. Tojo, Oscar, and Zero use the Ha-35 and Tony the Ha-33. Jack the Ha-32.
As for engines:
engine (operational factories/damaged factories) (need / surplus)
Ha-45 (361/38) (511 / -150)
Ha-35 (609/76) (628 / -19)
Ha-33 (357/25) (615 / -258)
Ha-32 (324/10) (290 / 34)
note that this adds up all "operational" factories - even those that are R&D, as I don't know which is which. He doesn't yet have Frank, Grace, or Peggy I don't think, so the Ha-45 numbers may be off a bit.
It looks like he is running a bit of a surplus of Ha-45s (due to much of the shortfall being for R&D factories), though it is possibly vulnerable. I like the idea of hitting the Ha-45, as his most capable fighters use it.
The Ha-35 seems to be the most exploitable vulnerability. It is used mostly by fighters (about 40 Lilys and 40 Kates aside), none of which are R&D. And he is running about even on it.
His biggest Ha-35 factories
Yokohama (171)
Gifu (66)
Tokyo (366)
His biggest Ha-45 factories
Gifu (194)
Hamamatsu (165)
So the Ha-35 is mostly in large, well-protected cities. Since right now he is leaving the skies open during the day, I want to use the opportunity to hit non-manpower targets. Gifu is close to Osaka... I want to see his response before I tempt going that close to what I expect to become a hornets nest. So today I settle for the Ha-45 plant at Hamamatsu. Once I gauge his response, I'll move back to manpower or Ha-35.
Operation Bayou - D+6 - Air Raid!
Shikotan finally falls! All night forward controllers directed bombardments across Japanese positions. 6 battleships, 6 cruisers, and 38 destroyers rain hate over the island. At dawn the marines cautiously advanced across the island then poured on the heat as the extent of the damage and disorganization became evident. As far as the big picture goes, this really doesn't mean anything anymore. The island was targeted as a backup to the backup. But being firmly entrenched at 3 other bases, including 2 on Hokkaido proper, makes this redundant. That said, it wasn't as if my surface navy was doing anything better at the time, so no opportunity was wasted. I don't feel safe attempting to bombard Honshu yet - and even if I could, he has little accessible by sea - and what is, is protected by mines.
On the waves, there is not much going on. I swung a pair of desrons around Hokkaido to the north along with a pair of DMs and a handful of PTs. So far, they haven't been discovered. Over the next few days I'll push the PTs into the Tsugaru Strait from the Sea of Japan side to "look" for minefields. If it appears safe, I'll run in the DDs to clean out anything followed by the DMs to lay a few offensive minefields for harassment purposes.
I would like to start projecting airpower over the Tsugaru Strait - but right now he has nearly 1000 fighters at Ominato. First I need to dislocate these fighters. To that end I have embarked on a campaign to attack his industry - and force him to spread out his defenses (more on this later). Once he is thinned out, I can strike at the surrounding ports forcing him to spread out more in the target area (either moving to different bases or using LRCAP). At that point, I can start isolating smaller portions and pick them apart.
The big news on the day is the 70 B24s I sent to fire bomb Osaka flew. Recon suggests they caused nearly 15k fires (is that a lot?).
My plan for the strategic air campaign is to attack his ability to resist. Man power hits are preferable as they cause fires that can destroy anything and everything. But there are only a few good man power targets in range (Tokyo and Osaka are far and away the best, with Kobe, Nagoya, and Yokohama as second tier targets). I'm guessing he can defend this many targets - at least as of right now. I want to maximize hits on soft targets to minimize my losses. So this mean moving on to factories in less well defended areas. He has (wisely in my opinion) built most of his factories away from such future infernos. This is a double edge sword for him though, as it provides an opportunity - he now has more targets then he can [hopefully] defend.
So if I'm forced to hit factories, I want to hit what will hurt. I'm guessing he brings in mostly fuel (instead of oil) - so refineries not too tempting. I also imagine he has plenty of vehicle and armaments points already stored up - we haven't had much ground fighting in this war. Industry is a good target, but it tends to be in the same locations as manpower. So two birds with one stone I suppose. When I can bomb man power, I will. Naval / merchant ship yards are inviting. But I think shutting down his air power - especially his fighters is the best road to victory. To that end, I mapped out his aircraft industry a few months ago (flying from Marcus). He has since changed a few things (for example he changed his Sam factories to Franks recently). I haven't done a full re-mapping recently, and I know some of his factories have changed, so some of this intel is out of date (I'm working to correct that).
I would like to target the following airframes:
Airframe (operational factories / damaged factories)
George (230/22)
Oscar (132/22)
Frank (109/43)*
Tojo (129/0)
Jack (53/21)
Zero (151/0)
Tony (193/23)
*Frank is not operational yet, so these are R&D factories I think.
George and Frank use the Ha-45 engine. Tojo, Oscar, and Zero use the Ha-35 and Tony the Ha-33. Jack the Ha-32.
As for engines:
engine (operational factories/damaged factories) (need / surplus)
Ha-45 (361/38) (511 / -150)
Ha-35 (609/76) (628 / -19)
Ha-33 (357/25) (615 / -258)
Ha-32 (324/10) (290 / 34)
note that this adds up all "operational" factories - even those that are R&D, as I don't know which is which. He doesn't yet have Frank, Grace, or Peggy I don't think, so the Ha-45 numbers may be off a bit.
It looks like he is running a bit of a surplus of Ha-45s (due to much of the shortfall being for R&D factories), though it is possibly vulnerable. I like the idea of hitting the Ha-45, as his most capable fighters use it.
The Ha-35 seems to be the most exploitable vulnerability. It is used mostly by fighters (about 40 Lilys and 40 Kates aside), none of which are R&D. And he is running about even on it.
His biggest Ha-35 factories
Yokohama (171)
Gifu (66)
Tokyo (366)
His biggest Ha-45 factories
Gifu (194)
Hamamatsu (165)
So the Ha-35 is mostly in large, well-protected cities. Since right now he is leaving the skies open during the day, I want to use the opportunity to hit non-manpower targets. Gifu is close to Osaka... I want to see his response before I tempt going that close to what I expect to become a hornets nest. So today I settle for the Ha-45 plant at Hamamatsu. Once I gauge his response, I'll move back to manpower or Ha-35.
-
SqzMyLemon
- Posts: 4239
- Joined: Fri Oct 30, 2009 2:18 pm
- Location: Alberta, Canada
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
I've never gotten to the late game as either Japan, or the Allies, and have predominantly played Japan. From a Japanese perspective, I think hitting the airframe factories would be more effective than targeting the engines. My reasoning is this, as Japan I always have a healthy stockpile of engines, but hitting the airframe factories will mean a good proportion of engines that were built might never be used. I think you want to eat into his ability to produce airframes rather than engines, engines can't fly without an airframe. I'm sure opinions vary, but personally I think limiting the number of airframes he can produce immediately will help your situation. He could have many months worth of engines available, so you may not see a lessoning of his ability to put up an effective air force for quite some time if you concentrate on engine factories.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon
I've never gotten to the late game as either Japan, or the Allies, and have predominantly played Japan. From a Japanese perspective, I think hitting the airframe factories would be more effective than targeting the engines. My reasoning is this, as Japan I always have a healthy stockpile of engines, but hitting the airframe factories will mean a good proportion of engines that were built might never be used. I think you want to eat into his ability to produce airframes rather than engines, engines can't fly without an airframe. I'm sure opinions vary, but personally I think limiting the number of airframes he can produce immediately will help your situation. He could have many months worth of engines available, so you may not see a lessoning of his ability to put up an effective air force for quite some time if you concentrate on engine factories.
Thinking about it more, I agree. I've also had the chance to re-map most of his industry, and it looks like he is now producing a surplus of both engines. He could easily have a few hundred stored up. So I'll attack the aircraft plants as time permits. So many targets...
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
1/25/44
Operation Bayou - D+8
Nothing much happening right now. The 6 divisions marching west from Kushiro have finally moved a hex, only to find he got out the day before. They will continue to pursue. 2nd Marines gets into the mountains west of Bihoro and shock attacks the demoralized troops there. Again they flee losing most of what was left of their equipment. Still in good shape, Chesty pushes towards Asahikawa. Intel suggests little resistance is there as he continues to retreat. Tanks will move out in front to prevent a rail move back to Hakodate.
In the air, he continues massive sweeps over eastern Hokkaido. And takes notable losses. Moreover, many of the A/C that did make back are damaged... and George takes a long time to fix up.
Strikes on the Ha-45 plant don't fly, but that is just as well. Portions of a night strike on Osaka do fly the next day and start about 8000 fires (now down to about 1800). Recon suggests that this has having a positive effect (for me at least) on his industry.
My strike on Osaka 2 days ago had the intended effect of forcing him to spread out his groups across Honshu. This (and the few hundred A/C he lost over the past 2 days) have cut the number of fighters at Ominato down from nearly 1000 to about 350. Time to strike. All B24s (over 150 now operational) have been ordered to strike. The fields are still massively overstacked - but that's what I'm paying those good HQa leaders for, right?
At sea, I've picked 100 volunteer ships to start making its way back east. A CVE group is covering the withdraw. Once they get a few days out, the CVEs will turn back to get another. My CVs are now about 2 days out of Marcus where they will refuel (and if I'm lucky, take replacements). They will also load about 50 Aussie Spitfires waiting there so that they can fly off to Hokkaido. Those Spit VIIIs have been nasty over Thailand, and I hope to get me some of that action here.
An interesting bit of recon came in today as well. He appears to have several DDs and a CV at Hiroshima - and only 2 dozen fighters. If it stays that way for another day, I might have my next B24 target picked out. The rest of his fleet appears to be in Yokohama, but it is protected by about 200 fighters. Again, I'll keep an eye on it - and if after my CVs complete their resupply mission, I may use them to provide fighter cover for a raid here.
This brings up a good question - how to use my CVs? They are beat up from the high speed run in (to shut down Ominato while I was vulnerable on the beaches), but still operational. The bomber squadrons have been beat up, but I am still fat on fighters. Some thoughts:
Send them back for repairs
Use them to provide fighter cover over southern Honshu
Limited raids on Kyushu industry / infrastructure
Go hunting for merchants in and around the East China Sea
something else?
Operation Bayou - D+8
Nothing much happening right now. The 6 divisions marching west from Kushiro have finally moved a hex, only to find he got out the day before. They will continue to pursue. 2nd Marines gets into the mountains west of Bihoro and shock attacks the demoralized troops there. Again they flee losing most of what was left of their equipment. Still in good shape, Chesty pushes towards Asahikawa. Intel suggests little resistance is there as he continues to retreat. Tanks will move out in front to prevent a rail move back to Hakodate.
In the air, he continues massive sweeps over eastern Hokkaido. And takes notable losses. Moreover, many of the A/C that did make back are damaged... and George takes a long time to fix up.
Strikes on the Ha-45 plant don't fly, but that is just as well. Portions of a night strike on Osaka do fly the next day and start about 8000 fires (now down to about 1800). Recon suggests that this has having a positive effect (for me at least) on his industry.
My strike on Osaka 2 days ago had the intended effect of forcing him to spread out his groups across Honshu. This (and the few hundred A/C he lost over the past 2 days) have cut the number of fighters at Ominato down from nearly 1000 to about 350. Time to strike. All B24s (over 150 now operational) have been ordered to strike. The fields are still massively overstacked - but that's what I'm paying those good HQa leaders for, right?
At sea, I've picked 100 volunteer ships to start making its way back east. A CVE group is covering the withdraw. Once they get a few days out, the CVEs will turn back to get another. My CVs are now about 2 days out of Marcus where they will refuel (and if I'm lucky, take replacements). They will also load about 50 Aussie Spitfires waiting there so that they can fly off to Hokkaido. Those Spit VIIIs have been nasty over Thailand, and I hope to get me some of that action here.
An interesting bit of recon came in today as well. He appears to have several DDs and a CV at Hiroshima - and only 2 dozen fighters. If it stays that way for another day, I might have my next B24 target picked out. The rest of his fleet appears to be in Yokohama, but it is protected by about 200 fighters. Again, I'll keep an eye on it - and if after my CVs complete their resupply mission, I may use them to provide fighter cover for a raid here.
This brings up a good question - how to use my CVs? They are beat up from the high speed run in (to shut down Ominato while I was vulnerable on the beaches), but still operational. The bomber squadrons have been beat up, but I am still fat on fighters. Some thoughts:
Send them back for repairs
Use them to provide fighter cover over southern Honshu
Limited raids on Kyushu industry / infrastructure
Go hunting for merchants in and around the East China Sea
something else?
-
ny59giants
- Posts: 9883
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
Can you break down your carrier strength - fighters (Hellcats or Corsairs), DB, and TBs numbers?? I tried to use the carrier capable Corsairs as CAP only and first with my best fighter groups. Let the more numerous Hellcats escort strikes.
[center]
[/center]
[/center]RE: Better late than never (Lowpe (J) vs tiemanj (A))
You could do what Halsey and Spruance did in RL - put your most damaged CVs (up to 25%) and escorting ships in a TF and send them back for R&R. When they return send another group. When you take Hakodate you will have a shipyard, but it is much too close to Honshu to put CVs in it. Seattle has to be home base. Minor damage can be repaired at Adak or Prince Rupert, saving turnaround time.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth