Tough choice but can understand it. No point in chasing after a bad cause. Do you plan to evacuate fragments of the units by sub or just rebuild them?
There are fragments of U.S. 25th Division at Wake Island and Pearl Harbor. The other units will be reconstituted from scratch. I'll post later what is being sacrificed at Marcus Island.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Here is New Guinea and the Solomons. Here's the theatre I feel most confident in, and where I'll concentrate my initial efforts to keep some pressure on Japan.
I'll consolidate the position on New Guinea and establish local air superiority. I'll reinforce Guadalcanal and the neighboring islands, before making a push for Munda and Shortlands. I don't know how much concern Erik has for this theatre, so I want to push and find out.
Oops, that should read Aus. 30th Bde. at Nadzab.
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Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Here is New Guinea and the Solomons. Here's the theatre I feel most confident in, and where I'll concentrate my initial efforts to keep some pressure on Japan.
I'll consolidate the position on New Guinea and establish local air superiority. I'll reinforce Guadalcanal and the neighboring islands, before making a push for Munda and Shortlands. I don't know how much concern Erik has for this theatre, so I want to push and find out.
This promises to be a very good matchup here, as Obvert was fighting GreyJoy here as the Allies so both sides are comfortable and have thought a lot about fighting in this area.
Here's the troops left to their fate at Marcus Island on 1 Nov 43.
USArmy BFs are nothing special in my book - lots of general support but only 16 air support and no engineers or naval support. No great loss there.
The cavalry division I have never seen before - no doubt you will miss it a bit, but you get lots of tank battalions and regiments you can mass on any landing.
The surprise is the USMC Amphib Tank Bn - bought out to Bomber Command - looks like avoidance of paying PP to me! That unit is valuable because of the speed it can land the tanks. I hope you have a cadre to keep it alive.
No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth
The surprise is the USMC Amphib Tank Bn - bought out to Bomber Command - looks like avoidance of paying PP to me! That unit is valuable because of the speed it can land the tanks. I hope you have a cadre to keep it alive.
That was my fear too I'm afraid. There's a few LCU's bought out under air commands. It's not something that I do, so I'll probably mention to Erik there are a few cases for disclosure. It doesn't seem to be prevalent.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
I hope you have a cadre to keep it alive.
Not that big of a deal as you can buy back any unit now ... I rarely ever keep cadres any more.
But if he really wants to, his CATS should have range to get him one ...
I'm with Pax on this one.
Initially, there was what was left of an amphibious taskforce with supply on hand withdrawing from Marcus. I turned it around to unload the supply to see how much it might help. One of the AM's from this taskforce was the one that depth charged a Japanese RO on the 31st.
With the over-stacking, I decided there was no point unloading the supply. Instead, I ordered the transports to pick up whatever troops they could. If they survive, I should have a fragment from the USMC Amphib Tank Bn. and the 1st Cavalry. If they don't survive I'll reconstitute from scratch.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
The surprise is the USMC Amphib Tank Bn - bought out to Bomber Command - looks like avoidance of paying PP to me! That unit is valuable because of the speed it can land the tanks. I hope you have a cadre to keep it alive.
That was my fear too I'm afraid. There's a few LCU's bought out under air commands. It's not something that I do, so I'll probably mention to Erik there are a few cases for disclosure. It doesn't seem to be prevalent.
All depends upon the HR's and I don't recall from the original AAR's what they were. As you say, disclose to Erik and move on.
This promises to be a very good matchup here, as Obvert was fighting GreyJoy here as the Allies so both sides are comfortable and have thought a lot about fighting in this area.
I have experience counterattacking in this theatre with the Japanese in my first PBEM against smeulders. No experience cracking it with the Allies. However, I think I'll be able to handle it and have a few ideas.
My first impression is that Rabaul and Kavieng are the pillars of the defence. They are to be thorns in my side if I try and bypass them. Erik is a master of air transporting troops to/from islands. I have an idea on how to deal with this, because I'm going to encounter it...a lot!
First order of business is reinforcing the theatre and suppressing both Kavieng and Rabaul, so that they can be bypassed. [8D]
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
American CV's are still withdrawing towards Pearl Harbor.
The first large concentration of support troops have left Pearl Harbor en route to Christmas Island. Christmas Island will develop into a major staging area for distribution of troops to the Central and South Pacific. To that end, every APD currently based at Pearl is heading to Luganville. The APD's will be invaluable getting reinforcements quickly into the Solomons.
The reorganization in Burma begins. Allied air is defensive until I get a better handle on things. Certain air units have been rebased in central India. Designated bomber bases are being established, and aviation support is being redistributed.
Allied AA units leave Celyon on whatever shipping is available in a mass exodus. Everything will rail to Chittagong and begin marching into Burma.
Within a week, every available tanker and transport in the entire Pacific War theatre will be moving fuel, supply and troops forward. Everything! Some will run out of fuel, others will be stranded for a short period of time, but I need to cram at least eight months of logistics into two. Love it!
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
A turn back from Erik already. I mentioned to him about the possible PP abuse so the issue could be put to bed. He didn't sound thrilled, but wasn't sure there was anything to be done. I might note which units were assigned an air HQ and look at a new game to see if any advantage was gained. If anything feels wrong, I'll try to make it right in some way.
I'll run the replay, but tonight is a turn for Francois and a model night for me. Time to get back to the workbench.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Chester Nimitz sits in his office staring at the wall map of the Pacific, still smarting from his face to face with Admiral King in Washington over the Marcus Island disaster. To a casual observer Nimitz seems outwardly calm, non-plussed and contemplative. To those that know him, it's not his demeanor or posture that give rise to his innermost thoughts, but his eyes. The pale blue eyes are cold and penetrating, burning as deeply as the coldest frost on a Winter's day. No one is a harsher critic to oneself than Nimitz, and he feels personally responsible for the defeat about to unfold before the American people.
Too many rising sun flags, like measles or some such pestilence, covering the map. Where, where do we strike now? Where do we restore the morale of the navy and our sister services? He slowly rises from his chair, walks up to the map and reaches for an American flagged pin. A moment and it's done. He takes small satisfaction from feeling the wall's resistance prior to the pin piercing the map, just next to the pin representing the Empire of Japan. Here is where we start to erase the memory of failure. Here is where we begin anew. With that he leaves his office to change and head out on his daily run. He already feels the tension leaving his body, but his eyes, they still shimmer with the cold intensity of an icy blue frost.
The name on the map...
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Heavy Japanese air activity in Burma and China today, but first an air action over New Guinea.
My first encounter against the N1K1-J George doesn't bode well, but two lessons learned. Don't deploy single squadrons to a forward airbase without radar, and certainly don't set them to a low CAP. I'm still in the process of sorting out my air dispositions and should have withdrawn this squadron to Port Moresby. The good news is only one pilot was lost and there are 142 Spitfire Vc's in the pool. AAR follows:
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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 38
Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
30 x N1K1-J George sweeping at 31000 feet
CAP engaged:
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 8 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x N1K1-J George sweeping at 31000 feet
CAP engaged:
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 18000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
Now to Burma and China.
Heavy sweeps against Ramree Island and Paoshan.
Against Paoshan...meh.
Thunderstorms over Ramree Island reduce the effectiveness of the Japanese bombing. The airbase repairs more than is damaged from the previous day though.
Allied CAP is strictly defensive over Chittagong and Calcutta until I sort out my dispositions. I've withdrawn all the bombers to Calcutta in an effort to avoid losses to airbase bombing. I can't protect all the fields adequately, so I choose to defend only two. Once the theatre is reinforced with more FLAK, let's see if Erik continues to bomb at 8k.
Thoughts:
I'm in limbo at the moment. Just trying to sort out my forces and how best to deploy them for my style of play. After only two days of my changes, I see an improvement in supply in Burma already. It's still going to be hard to supply the forward positions though. Unfortunately, all but three Allied divisions withdrew successfully from near Taung Gyi. I somehow missed that they weren't set to withdraw. If Erik moves forward he could catch and trash all three. I'll know soon enough.
I'm really happy with my moves to strengthen New Guinea and the Solomons. Once I learn more about the Japanese dispositions I'll begin to move forward where I can.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
More encounters with the N1K1-J George today, this time over Rekata Bay. Allied transports unloading an American construction unit drew the attention of the Japanese. AAR's follow:
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Morning Air attack on Rekata Bay , at 113,134
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 34
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
27 x N1K1-J George sweeping at 31000 feet *
CAP engaged:
VMF-441 with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 16000.
Raid is overhead
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 113,134
Weather in hex: Severe storms
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Allied Ships
xAK Empire Condor, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Empire Grenfell, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AM Bombay
Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 16 (7 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
CAP engaged:
VMF-441 with F4U-1 Corsair (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 16000.
Raid is overhead
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Empire Condor
I didn't anticipate the sweep, which was why my CAP was set low to intercept a possible naval air strike. I'm impressed how well the Corsair held it's own, but I lose three on the day for only two Zero's in return. I can't trade losses with my best aircraft, so I'll have to improve my air defences. Both transports hit sunk later in the turn. This was a holdover from Historiker's side of things that I let continue. In hindsight, I should have pulled the transports back because landing engineers at Rekata Bay serve no useful purpose at this time. I'm having to do this all over the map and I've missed a few things. In this case, I should have stopped the operation, but didn't knowing it could go bad.
CentPac:
Japanese Betty and Nell bombers hammer Marcus Island today. Losses are heavy from the over-stacking and no supply. It sucks to watch, but I remind myself this isn't on me. As I pick up the pieces, I can't help but wonder why this operation was even conducted.
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Morning Air attack on 25th Infantry Division, at 123,85 (Marcus Island)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Aircraft Attacking:
26 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
18 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 9000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on 1st Cavalry (Spec) Cavalry Division, at 123,85 (Marcus Island)
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Aircraft Attacking:
10 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 9000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
Burma:
I perform my first offensive missions of the war that are my own today. A squadron of P-47's sweeps Shwebo followed by Beafighter VIc's set to strafe a small Japanese force at the base. There is no Japanese CAP. AAR follows:
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Morning Air attack on 2nd Raiding Regiment, at 59,45 (Shwebo)
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Beaufighter VIc bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
Ok, nothing exciting, but I'm just probing to get a feel of the theatre and how Erik defends. This tells me there's no LRCAP set from Taung Gyi.
All Allied forces in Burma are supplied this turn. I'm curious to see if I can maintain the supply levels during periods of no combat. The first batch of Chinese units rail out of Ledo bound for Karachi. I'll reorganize my Chinese forces there before recommitting them to the theatre. I'd like to use them to secure my flank in Burma from a Japanese offensive out of China.
Other than that, I continue to pull bomber units back to rear area bases and redistribute my aviation support along the Burma/India border. I feel much better about this theatre now and will accelerate my offensive plans somewhat.
In logistic news, 37930 fuel reaches Pearl Harbor. This was a leftover from Historiker as well. At least I'll be able to refuel some of the ships returning from the Marcus Island operation. There is a new tanker TF inbound from San Francisco carrying 175k+ of fuel and more on the way. Why were these tankers left sitting idle on the west coast with Pearl Harbor almost dry? [8|]
The first of the Amphibious TF's involved at Marcus Island arrived in Pearl Harbor today. Three damaged light cruisers and an APA are bound for the yards. All will be repaired within 17 days.
As I get more familiar with my position, sadly I'm noticing quite a few Allied LCU's assigned to air HQ's and RAF Groups in Australia and India. I don't know for sure if this was done to save PP's, but it seems so to me. I also noticed an American CV at Sydney and three British Martlet Squadrons that had been resized to 90 aircraft each and drawing replacements and pilots. I've begun resizing them. At first I thought why Marlet's and British pilots, if you're going to pull a fast one use American airframes and pilots. [:D] Not much I can do other than try and quietly fix what I consider gamey. The LCU's really put me in a tight spot, because I just don't know how much of an advantage was gained.
All that aside, I'm feeling much more comfortable and not so overwhelmed. After some marathon sessions, I'm now in a position to crank out a turn in an hour.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
Quiet turn. All the activity on Japan's side. Sweeps in Burma and New Guinea go unanswered by the Allies. More bombing of Marcus Island. Unfortunately, I notice Wake is over-stacked too. Why would anyone choose to advance along an indefensible LOC where atoll stacking limits are 6k. Why? [&:]
I'm almost there. Pretty much everything is sorted out now. Just a few remaining Chinese air force squadrons to redeploy from Ledo and I'm done the reorganization in Burma. Reinforcements are arriving at Chittagong, primarily AA and engineering units. The bomber force has been withdrawn to rear area bases so only fighters remain at forward airbases.
Supply is dropping in Burma again, so that tells me Nov. 4th was a resupply day. I'll see how long it takes for the next topping up. It's still going to take a major effort to get supply into the theatre. I'm thinking Ramree Island will be key, so I'm planning an amphibious operation to heavily reinforce and resupply the island. The timing will be during my ground offensive through the Irrawaddy Valley. I figure if I provide so many targets to Erik, something will get ashore.
Once things develop a little farther in Burma I'll start to show the Allied dispositions.
In the Solomons, I pull back from reinforcing Lunga as the DL on all my forces has increased substantially. Erik is being very aggressive with his air force and I'm not in a position to counter it yet. I'm heavily reinforcing Luganville with air and naval units. This will be my base of operations to consolidate the Guadalcanal area.
There were almost 8-10 PBY squadrons based at Pearl and the West Coast doing nothing. They are all being deployed to the Pacific. Right now my search capabilities are nil, so once I get everything set up I can make better decisions moving forward.
I caught another 90 aircraft squadron, this time of Avenger's. I'm busy resizing these air units. [:-]
Pretty boring for most of you at the moment, but things will start picking up soon as my first efforts to shore up the Allied position are underway. The priority remains logistics and making the Allied forward position sustainable. It's been a blast improving my inherited position, which isn't all bad I must say. At least I have something to build on.
Luck is the residue of design - John Milton
Don't mistake lack of talent for genius - Peter Steele (Type O Negative)
