Into The Unknown Taxcutter vs. Ironman

[GetAssista]

In my own campaign against IJ Ironman it rapidly hammered into my head that if he needs the base bombed nothing can stop him. My fighter pools will be gone with the wind in a matter of weeks no matter pilot quality. Initial grace period shoud be used for building forts like crazy, and then I just let him bomb a bunch of fortified AA. Only way to deal with Ironman airpower is to capture his airfields. Or keep them shut down with constant bombing/bombardment while you prepare for the former

[Taxcutter]

Ironman seems to have infinite tolerance for losses. He is fixated on Akyab, but without it supplying troops in south Burma is a tall order. He pounds every base in China, even if it just gets him 4-5 dead Chinese.

Ironman insists on bombing Darwin with unescorted Betties. I pound him with Spit Vs and P-39s

[jwolf]

ORIGINAL: Taxcutter

Ironman insists on bombing Darwin with unescorted Betties. I pound him with Spit Vs and P-39s

I'm playing the ordinary hard AI and they do the same, though occasionally with Zeroes escorting. Rarely, they target Wyndham or one of the bases south of Darwin, maybe in an attempt to spread out my CAP. As you said, this continues regardless of losses. My fighter groups at Darwin have kill ratios of 10:1 or higher.

[Taxcutter]

Update April 3, 1943

Finally got an air base operational at Thousand Ships Bay. Level 1 AAF and port. P-39s present.
Base at Tassafronga Point almost ready. I'll have the XIII USAAF providing CAP over Lunga. Now I can re-supply, reinforce, and blockade without needing my death star hovering about.

Even with dud torpedoes my subs are going wild in Japanese waters. Boats are returning to Midway the way I like them to return: Empty torpedo rooms and little damage. Another pulse of boats heading to Japan.

I haven't a clue as to the whereabouts of Ironman's mega KB. That's why I keep my CVs together. Hellcats beginning to appear in pools.

[jmalter]

Sounds like your sub war is active, that's great. At this point, IMO just having your boats in action & firing torps is giving them increases in crew experience, so it doesn't really matter if your hits are duds - any sinkings are a bonus as you learn the enemy's trade-routes.

[Taxcutter]

Yes, my sub war is going well. biggest problem is smoothing out how many bots I have on-station. Currently, I try to keep 33% of my Gato-class boats on station with the rest either under repair/replenishment or in transit. A time-consuming chore.

Stymied again in Burma. 23rd FG is at 85% but 51st is <40%. Pilots not a problem, but P-40K pool is at 0. I've been putting a couple RAF squadrons back into Hurricane Ia.

Whole different air war elsewhere. Port Moresby is completely suppressed. P-39s are in active CAP over Thousand Ships Bay and Lunga.

I'm assembling my Woodlark Island amphib force. A US infantry division plus a battalion of tanks should win this one easily enough. This will be my last invasion without lots of APA and AKA types.

Partial KB sightings. Spotted Kaga and a bunch of surface elements running into Truk. Ironman sent 1 CV off into the Indiana ocean and it sank a hapless British freighter supplying Diego Garcia. Beyond that, no trace of KB.

I've offloaded six artillery battalions at Lunga and have six more loading up at Brisbane to send to Guadalcanal. By time I get done I should have 14 battalions plus the organic artillery of three divisions and two regiments. See if I can pulverize his forces. Gotta watch my supply on the island.

5 Brooklyns and a couple of DD are now blockading Guadalcanal. 2 squadrons of B-25C are pounding the airfield.

Time to get the Omaha class CLs off front-line service. At Kiska the Suzuya reminded me that these are truly obsolete ships.

[Taxcutter]

April 19, 1943 update.

I seized Woodlark Island. Easy enough. One US army division and one tank battalion. Two days. My assault forces are loading up to return to Brisbane to plan for attacking Buna. Before tht another force will nab Kiriwina Island.

Now that i've flattened Port Moresby, Ironman seems to have no land-based air assets in the Coral Sea basin. My Corsairs are sweeping all over the place looking for Zeros. There may be some at Rabaul totally defensive but my early-model corsairs don't have the drop tanks or range to molest that place. At any rate Rossel Island is at a level 7 air base with 150 planes stationed there. Engineers are migrating to Woodlark.

I'm building up for a settling of accounts at Lunga. I now have eleven battalions of artillery pounding away and my combat engineers are near built back up. Combat reports from artillery (and naval) bombardments have been not overly impressive. I do have cruisers (4 x Brooklyn)and S-boats blockading Lunga but he still keeps repairing the airfield so he must still have supply. Two US Army regiments are en route to reinforce the final assault. In am at a 4:1 AV (raw) ratio and his forts are down to level 2.

Sub war still going well but China and Burma are comatose.

BTW shipping oil to Sydney does cut down on fuel being siphoned off for Sydney industry.

Overall logistical situation is looking good.

Fighter airframes are still the limiting factor.

Outlook:
Invasion pace to pick up in New Guinea/Solomons and I'll open up the Torre Strait - allowing a drive through central DEI. Ellice islands are on the menu.

Not too rosy in Burma and China. Until I can start unloading serious supply in Akyab, Rangoon (and the Burma Road) is a bridge too far.

[jwolf]

I am at a 4:1 AV (raw) ratio and his forts are down to level 2.

This should be close enough to just take the thing after 2 or 3 more attacks, or so I would think.

[Taxcutter]

Looking to pick up the pace in the Solomons.

I now have enough shipping to bypass Guadalcanal even though I'll stay after it to get that big airfield Ironman built.

I have enough APAs and LSTs to drop a whole Marine Division and a couple of tank battalions of Vella Lavella and smaller transports to drop a lesser force on Munda. If I can blitz those two islands and get some Seabees unloaded I'll be able top bring more of my XIII AF to bar. All my assault land units are prepped.

I have more supply (but less fuel) at Noumea and Brisbane than at Pearl Harbor.

On the New Guinea front, I'm developing Woodlark Island. Rossel is maxed out and has almost two hundred planes on it. Ironman can send his super-KB by anytime he feels like it. I have a welcome for it. I have one division prepping for Kiriwina, and another one about 40% prepped for Buna. The Australian I Corps just started prepping for an assault on Port Moresby.

If i can get the Torres Strait cleared by fall of 1943 I can quickly buildup Darwin for an offensive through the eastern DEI.

[Taxcutter]

April 27, 1943 Update:

Got surprised by Ironman at Chittagong. I was preparing to grind him some more by running a small (two xAKL) supply convoy Calcutta-Chittagong-Cox's Bazaar-Akyab to draw out his Betties so my now-fleshed out P40K FGs could massacre them. I ad all my P-40Ks on the ground at Chittagong to bring them to full strength and had 32 Hurri IIcs on CAP. Ironman had been merrily crunching coral at Akyab for weeks.

The day before I was gonna spring my attack he threw hundreds of Oscars, Lilies, and Sallies. He overwhelmed the Hurris and pounded the airfield. Long and short of it: He destroyed about 20% of my P-40s and damaged 50% of them (avg 2 days). So I'm at 25-30% strength with a 59% damaged airfield and all of one operational Hurri present. I've got to go to 100% CAP and transfer in as many Hurris as I can scrape up. For some reason my RAF squadrons will not tap the Hurri replacement pool. HQs don't help. Supplies don't help. My US FGs readily access the P-40K pool.

Ironman (as usual) is careless about his LCU so I have scatter-hell going all over Burma, but with short supply, my huge forces can boot him out of Rangoon.

China is comatose. Will be for months.


Things look better in NG/Solomons. I'm getting the garrison at Lunga ground down - terrain, forts and all notwithstanding. Maybe 3-4 days but my assault force will be out of it for weeks.
I am moving shipping to attack Vella Lavella (a Marine division and a tank battalion) and Munda (one Raider battalion - recon shows nobody home. a follow-up transport TF carries Seabees and base forces. Holding Vella Lavella puts Rabaul in Corsair range.

I'm also prepped to retake the Ellice Islands to keep an eye on my flank.

Ironman still has supply at Port Moresby. I laid off the sirfield for a couple days and it is back to 32% damaged. Oh, well. My B-17E BGs are rested.

My subs are going wild. 16 hits claimed and I still have crummy torpedoes. A fresh wave of subs is entering Japanese waters so I can relieve winchester subs.

Logistics going well. I'm building up 'service groups" of 1xCVE, 8 DD, and a 13 knot AO to give 100% escort for straighter routes. Fletchers are running Bagleys and Farraguts out of fleet service.

[jwolf]

For some reason my RAF squadrons will not tap the Hurri replacement pool.

Do you have auto replacements on? If so, sometimes a squadron that is down just one plane will pick that up but then they have to wait a week (I think that's right) to get any more.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

For some reason my RAF squadrons will not tap the Hurri replacement pool.

Do you have auto replacements on? If so, sometimes a squadron that is down just one plane will pick that up but then they have to wait a week (I think that's right) to get any more.

You need enough supply and a large enough AF, but you can get up to 12 at a time. I think an Air HQ in range helps too.

[Taxcutter]

may 1, 1943 update.

Big news! Lunga has fallen and all Japanese on the island have been exterminated. I have an EAB unit on site and have BF, AA, and Seabees on the way.

For some reason Ironman let me off the hook at Chittagong. After surprising me and reducing my fighters to 20% strength, he went back to pummelling Akyab again. Now I'm back to 80% strength on my P-40K FGs. If I can just get my British engineers (weak on engineering vehicles) to fix the runways (at 50% damage) my op damages will drop off. US Army TRACON now fully staffed with 85+ EXP/20+kill aces. at the rte the air war in Burma is going I might have some aces with more kills than Richthofen.

Ironman continues to be a lousy land general. In a day or three I should take Prome. He let me isolate three REMF units to fight a whole Indian infantry division. If I can hold Prome I can at least get a trickle of supply across the river and Rangoon is in sight. With Rangoon in sight, I now have a use for the Royal Navy. I have a half-million tons of xAK and xAP making the two month round trip to the East Coast USA to stoke up my supplies at Cape Town. I'll have to split that to run supply into Rangoon to clear central Burma and get the Burma road running.

China remains comatose, although I did rescue 12 Chinese corps (<100 AV) from northern China. I've shortened my defensive line and put it all on double and triple terrain. The weak units are going to Chunking for refitting.

Sub war gets better and better. Last two days reported 12 and 15 hits in Japanese waters. Morton and Dealey are scheduled out of Midway in a couple days.

[Taxcutter]

Quick update:

Prome (in southern Burma) has fallen and the IV Indiana Corps holds it in force.

Also, Ironman carelessly left a An Ching Tui brigade out by itself and my Chinese wiped them out.

Enlighten me. What is a An Ching Tui (or is it Ching An Tui?) brigade anyway?

[BBfanboy]

Some Chinese bought into the narrative that the Japanese were there to liberate the Chinese people from the Western oppressors, and were formed into army units by the Japanese. In game, they have virtually zero training or weapons because they can have 80 infantry squads but their AV is still 0.

EDIT: I looked at the Chinese units fighting for the Japanese in China (RGC divisions, Ching An Tui brigades), and they have 0 AV in early 1942, but their morale and fatigue isn't as dismal as many of the Allied units. So I now think the 0 AV is because they have "squads" on paper, but no men have yet arrived to fill them out.

[Taxcutter]

Update May 19, 1943

I invaded Munda. Airedales were right - Nobody home. Seabees beavering away on the bases.

A larger invasion force is on the way to Vella LaVella. Second Marine Division plus some armor. Airedales report one unit there. Follow-up convoy just departed Noumea. I want this place bad. It puts Rabaul within Corsair/Dauntless range and airedale recon shows hundreds of ships at anchor - more than I ever leave at San Francisco. Could be a real massacre.

My recon-variant B-24s found KB right where I thought it would be - at Truk. Nine CVs and surface units. Not really surprising. When I play the IJN, operating east of Truk is difficult.

Ironman has a killer daitai at Kiriwina Island. Pilots must all be Saburo Sakai clones. They have mangled two squadrons of Corsairs (Exp = 70+).

Taking Prome has dran all Ironman's IJA bombers and they've forgotten Akyab & Chittagong. Thus, I'm building up.

Also I moved 64 Vultee Vebgeances to Silchar and I intend to pummel IJA units in north and central Burma supporting the small units I've infiltrated in. I want to pin these guys while I slog toward Rangoon.

China remains comatose.

I'm moving regiment-sized units to Adak and will move on Kiska shortly.

[BBfanboy]

The early Corsair model 1A is apparently a dog that can't fight. Several players have complained about how much its performance was dialled back in the interest of "game balance" for the Japanese player. Don't rely too much on it to win against superior enemy numbers.

[Taxcutter]

Update May 25, 1943

My rapid-fire invasion of Vella Lavella went well. My TF comprised mostly of APA and LST unloaded the 2nd Marine Division and a battalion of tanks in a single day and they overwhelmed the poor SNLF Ironman garrisoned the place with. My follow-on TF dumped Seabees, flak and BFs. By today I have a Level 1 port and AF at both Munda and Vella Lavella and I have at least a squadron of fighters in each.

Now I'm bogged down unloading the rest of the REMF units and supply from the TFs. As soon as I get some more air capability in place I'll send my CV TF back to Noumea to replenish. I want them to turn around quickly and unleash a big attack on all those ships at anchor in Rabaul. I've routed ten pre-Gato SS to the waters around Rabaul to have a go at anything fleeing the port when the airedales strike.

Drop tanks for Mildcats are showing up as are Hellcats for the CVs, so I won't be so dependent on Corsairs for bomber escort.

CV Essex and five Fletcher DD are on their way to Noumea although he Essex SBD squadrons are a little short-handed in the SBD-3 to SBD-5 swap program.

I've lost track of KB. They don't seem to be a Truk anymore although there are a lot of other ships anchors there.

For reasons I cannot fathom my Hurri IIc pools finally fleshed out my beaten-up squadrons. 51st and 23rd FG (P-40K with excellent pilots) are at about 70% strength.

Interesting land battle brewing in southern Burma. My poorly-supplied XV Indian Corps vs Ironman's poorly-led troops. He is drawing units out of central Burma to make a fight for Rangoon.

China remains comatose but I am near to surrounding 29,000 Japanese at Ichang.

I'm collecting some modest amounts of shipping to re-take Kiska. I have a regiment of infantry, a battalion of tanks and a regiment of combat engineers prepped for invasion. recon shows just a couple of REMF units.

[Taxcutter]

Update June 2, 1943

As a good simulation WitP-AE gets one thing right. Turns and turns of watching ships ooze across the vast Pacific at 12 knots but momen5s of furious action.

On May 30 I had a furious fur-ball over Chittagong. Ironman sent 5 Sallies escorted by no less than 230 Oscars. (Didn't the British call that a rhubarb or a rodeo or something like that?) Bombers as bait to provoke a fighter battle) I was waiting with 145 P-40Ks (with the best pilots I have) and 16 Beaufighters. Long story short - mucho gas-burning but no very little shooting down of aircraft. I shot down 9 Oscars and one Sally. Ironman got four P-40s (pilots were all rescued). Looks like either a lot of very good defensive pilots or some very half-hearted warfare. He hasn't been back since. Ironman has not only a very productive aircraft industry but apparently enough (and active enough) schools to keep his pilots proficient enough I can't just slaughter them. I do maintain about a 2:1 kill ratio (except for one daitai of Zeros on Kiriwina Island that beats up anything I send there).

The land battle in southern Burma has Ironman diverting Sallies and Lillies from bombing my airfield. We are in a stalemate outside my Prome bridgehead.

I'm almost ready to put a heavy blow on 82 ships that my recon says are anchored at Rabaul. Five squadrons of Marine SBD-3 from Woodlark Island, heavily escorted by Corsairs. 48 B-24s and 48 B-25s from Rossel Island (escorted by 2 squadrons of P-38G) to work on the airfield. Plus I have my entire CV force steaming to join the fray. Even two extra Corsair squadrons over Rabaul. One a sweep and one a strafing run on the airfield. I've run all my S-boats and pre-Gato subs into the area to maybe pick up some easy shots. I even have five Brooklyn cruisers to maybe pickup some action.

I will have to scrupulously keep my CVs out of range of the Betties at Truk. Recon shows 500 bombers at Truk.

Port Moresby and Buna are suppressed. Now it's my turn to re-arrange the debris everyday.

I have to go fetch the 2nd Marine division off Vella Lavella and the Americal Division off Guadalcanal. Otherwise I have all my (not too badly beaten up) assault units resting and training at Noumea. My ships are in refit (I've come to love AKAs) so I will run a sideshow and try to retake the Ellice Islands in a blitz.

After that, on to Bougainville and Kiriwina. Assault forces are about half-prepped.

USS Essex is working its way across the Pacific. By time it gets there I'll have to suspend CV ops to refit and reorganize my carrier forces. My CV fighter squadrons are about half converted to Hellcats and I should have enough in the pool to convert about half my bombing squadrons to SBD-5. By time I get all my Fletchers refitted, the DD escorts for all CV TFs will be updted Fletchers with their 272 flak rating.

China is quiet. I have a number of beaten-down corps (AV<10) marching into Chunking to flesh them back up.

Strategic subs having a fine old time in Japanese waters. I should start "changing the guard" in about a week.

[Taxcutter]

Update June 9, 1943

The hammer dropped on Rabaul. Other than some B-17s keeping Port Moresby down I threw the kitchen sink at Rabaul. I caught them with 84 ships anchored in the harbor nd no fighters.
Sent all my big CV air groups at them except those on Essex (she is still en route). Figure 190 SBD-3, 75 TBD and bout 40 Mildcats nd hellcats in Escort. Follow up with 125 Marine SBD-3s from Woodlark Island escorted by a squadron of Corsairs. Add a squadron of Venturas escorted by Corsairs and a squadron of Corsairs strafing the air field. Follow on with a BG of B-25D1 and B-24s hitting the airfield.

I followed up with five Brooklyns barging into the harbor doing what Brooklyns do.

So far the take is 32 ships. 4xCL, 2xDD, the rest SC and marus. My subs got five more marus fleeing towards Truk.

My carriers have enough remaining ordnance for three more days. Then I'll pull back and mine the harbor (3xCM+1xDM 340 mines). AF damage = 79% Port damage = 62%. Things could get hungry for the 71,000 men spotted there. KB slipped off to the NW from Truk. Subs spotted them but couldn't get shots. Apparently the script has no problem with me mugging Rabaul.

The great 6/43 AKA conversion is on. Handy ships. Lotta stuff in refit, but my troops aren't prepped for their next invasions so Ihave a chance of getting up-to-date.