Quisling! An AFB does Japan (No PanzerKat)

[Aurorus]

Do you use tracker? I would be interested to see how your global fuel and supply are developing. In my game against Opilot, I am using my BBs far more than I ever have before, and I was very worried about fuel. He is more aggressive than any of my previous allied opponents, has made a concerted effort to defend forward, and is not afraid to bring out his naval assets. I captured a nice fuel depot at Rangoon, however, when he hurredly retreated after the Burma front collapsed, and I took the fuel sites in the DEI very early. So, I was surprised to see that my global fuel situation is actually better than in previous games.

Keep in mind that repeated expeditions to the south of OZ use a lot a fuel, especially if you are sending the fleet CVs and any BBs.

[John B.]

I'm not using tracker and I suppose that I should. My BBs have barely budged in this game. I have not pressed him anywhere where is navy might be and even the expedition to Oz is designed to keep myself as far away from the US and Royal navys as I can. I don't see any fuel shortages thus far but it's only April 1942.

[Aurorus]

Why would you want to avoid the U.S. fleet at this point? Go right at them. This is the time to take them on... not later. They only get stronger.

You will not see any fuel shortages yet, no matter how much you have used. I am pretty spendthrift with fuel for the first 4 or 5 months and only really start to worry about it in mid 1942. If Japan does not extend far into the South Pacific or make a move for Australia, fuel will not be a factor ever in my experience. However, if you do move on Australia or into SoPAC, you will want to keep a close eye on your global fuel situation, because you can get to the point where there is not enough to move your fleet and run your industry.

[John B.]

That's a good point about the US fleet. The general plan is to get into Oz and then the KB will be free to go hunting. I have no idea what sort of shortages wind up hitting Japan so I'm trying to be cautious and conserve items while I build up Japanese industry and fortify key points. For example, I'm digging in on Guam and Saipan and also Moulmein in Burma. I don't think that I"ve been spendthrift with fuel since large parts of the IJN sit around in port and there are 100,000s of points of fuel in Palembang and Soerebaja. Frankly, my TKs and AOs are tasked with shipping oil to the HI so I don't have bottoms to move the fuel anyplace.

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: John B.

That's a good point about the US fleet. The general plan is to get into Oz and then the KB will be free to go hunting. I have no idea what sort of shortages wind up hitting Japan so I'm trying to be cautious and conserve items while I build up Japanese industry and fortify key points. For example, I'm digging in on Guam and Saipan and also Moulmein in Burma. I don't think that I"ve been spendthrift with fuel since large parts of the IJN sit around in port and there are 100,000s of points of fuel in Palembang and Soerebaja. Frankly, my TKs and AOs are tasked with shipping oil to the HI so I don't have bottoms to move the fuel anyplace.

I played without tracker for years as Japan, mostly against the AI. I started using tracker in January of this year. I find it very helpful, especially for tracking the global situation and comparing one game to the next. For example, I found, in my game against Opilot, that moving directly into the DEI and bypassing Luzon netted me an additional 150k-200k fuel, though 821Bobo was doing a nice job pulling as much fuel as he could from the DEI.

I recommend tracker, especially because this is your first game as Japan, and you do not have 5 years of playing against the AI as a background from which to be able to "eyeball" the situation. You want to be sure that you begin building a stockpile of supply globally at some point beginning in early-mid 1942 to withstand the allied juggernaut that is to come. Tracker can help you see if you are doing so or not, and identify supply leaks (such as expanding air R&D at Gifu while it is only a size 2 airfield and losing supply to spoilage.)

[John B.]

I used tracker once as the allies several years ago and it was such a pain to get it to work on my old laptop that I've been avoiding putting it in the new one. Perhaps I should bit the bullet!

[John B.]

You know it's going to happen some day but it's nice when it does. Bataan fell and fattened up the VP total by about 800 VP or so (or, by two fully loaded CVs). Operation OZ is about a week away and Scott is getting more and more fiesty in the So. Pac. I've sent three empty CVLs to near Rabual in the hopes that his naval air search will see it (and keep his focus there) and now they're headed back to Tokyo.

The real KB is headed to its attack positions and nothing is flying on it. If he has subs out there in the middle of nowhere I"d rather take the chance at getting off a shot at a CV then to have them report carrier planes searching for them.

I tried to load tracker last night and got hung up right away when it wanted to know what program I wanted to use to open up tracker.properties. I gave up.

[Aurorus]

Just use notepad to open the tracker properties then edit them to fit your game.

Here is my tracker.properties from my game against Apbarog (password removed). If you want, you can just use notepad to cut and paste this into your tracker.properties file. Just change the password and the number of the savefile for the slot that you use to send your turns to Scott. If you have your copy of WiTP in some other directory than C:\Matrix Games\.... you will have to change that line as well.

# WitPTracker AE properties file
# Directory of the game
Dir=[C:\Matrix Games\War in the Pacific Admiral's Edition]
# Type of game. 0=AI, 1=PBEM
GameType=[1]
# Side you are playing. 0=Japan, 1=Allies
Side=[0]
# Password. Only needed for PBEM
Password=[XXXXXXXXXX]
# Name of the base save file
SaveFile=[wpae005.pws]
# Mode the program will look for save files.
# 0 = just in the local folder
# 1 = just in the game folder: [Dir]/SAVE
# 2 = local and then if not found there, the game folder
SaveMode=[2]
# Text to put in the header of the main window
Header=[wpae005]
# Turn cycle (days per turn). 1 or 2 are supported
TurnCycle=[1]

[John B.]

Aurorus,

Thanks for the tip. Once I figure out what notepad is I'll be in business. In other words, my letter of computer sophistication is very very very low. I'll give it a shot when I get back into town.

John

[John B.]

Thousands of years of happy reign be thine;
Rule on, my lord, till what are pebbles now
By age united to mighty rocks shall grow
Who's venerable sides the moss doth line.

The Japanese national anthem is playing on the decks as the AP and AK-t careen towards Port Augusta. Just two hexes out now and night is falling. Radio reports indicated that the other TFs are heading for shore with the tank regiments set to hit Esperance at the same time and the 3 inf. divisions at Geraldton in two days (they could not get too close and risk detection).

The KB found an allied AK convoy about 20 hexes outside of Perth today but it's too late for the allies. The trap is springing. the only question is, can the infantry regiment take Port Augusta after two weeks in the stinking holds of the ship and against unknown opposition. We'll know soon enough.

[John B.]

Ugh is the best way to put it thus far. The invasions went off very well, but my surface TF missed his Cl TF heading to Esperance where my tanks were landing. He had to CLs (dutch) and two DDs and comppletely destroyed my landing TF of about 8 AK-ts and APs plus a CL, DD, and E. It was one of those fights where he kept closing and would not go away until everyone one of my ships was sunk. I was amazed at how poorly my escorts did only getting in a total of 4 hits. Meanwhile the BB TF sailed blissfully on and even managed to miss an allied AO TF heading away from Perth. As for Port Augusta he got in two DMSs that sank the AP and AK while my DD escort did not even hit them. My surface escorts were not horribly overmatched but this was an very bad result.

Sigh.

Even so, there are large tank formations ashore on Esperance so I can continue but the Port Augusta shock attack did not take the town and those poor boys are very disrupted and low on supplies (but high on morale and not fatigued at all). So, another push with them with fingers crossed. It does not look like I'll be able to cut off Kalgoorlie after all. So, the Aussie operation looks dicey at best. It seems a bit early to call it off but the thought is crossing my mind. I'll buck up it's the surprise loss of the TF that has me down. Forturnes of war.

China continues to amaze with the ability to put so many troops in any hex I attack. I did an airdrop on the road to kunming (the name escapes me at the moment). His troops there outnumber me by a large margin but have no supplies and can't push me out.

[Aurorus]

What is the objective in western OZ? As long as you can complete the objective, there is no reason to withdraw. The loss of a CL, DD, two tank regiments, and a few AK-ts is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things. In June, you will have a lot more ships that can convert to Ak-ts, with the Tosans, though they are a bit slower. Additional CLs are in queue, and frankly, the purpose of Japanese CLs is to be in fast transport or amphib groups and take casualties. With the exception of Oi, Kitakami, Tenryu, and Tatsuta (which convert to CLAAs early enough to make a difference), they are not your most dynamic ships.

Chin up. In a while you will be sending 100 aircraft and 100 pilots to certain death frequently and trying to get your fast BBs through 3 SCTFs, a large CV covering group, a wolfpack of 45 submarines, and 3 TFs of minesweepers to attack U.S. transports.

[Aurorus]

Do not worry so much about China. That big stack will destroy his supply in China eventually if you manuever to ensure that it has a convoluted supply path. In fact, letting it draw supply through a convoluted path is preferable to isolating it, so that it will drain all the supply in China. If the big stack does not contain too many AA units, bomb it from low altitude. The new Lilly IIA, with armor, should be available to you and this plane can abosord light ground fire without being destroyed. Get every Chinaman with a rifle firing at those planes. Combine this with a convoluted supply path, and that one stack will destroy the entire China theater for the allies by consuming all the supply in the theater. That is why you should not build big stacks unless absolutely necessary as a final stand.

[John B.]

Aurous,

thanks for the pep talk! I'm still pressing on and girding myself for the carnage that is Japan in 1944. Geraldton and Espereance each fell this turn to the tanks are heading off to Kargoolie and the e inf. divisions in Geraldton are on their way to Perth.

Here is a very important question, can the allies strat move through Port Augustus while I have a unit there even though he controls the base? In other words, could he strat move a unit from Syndney to Perth while I have a unit in Port Augustus or does he have to kick me out of the hex to use the railroads?

The goal in western Oz is to take Perth, kill units while doing so, and, if I can get kargoolie, it will be very hard for him to take it back.

[Rusty1961]

Don't use the Mavis for transporting supplies or troops. To valuable a plane, and in limited numbers, to use for a mission it wasn't designed.

[John B.]

Good point. but there are some mavis that are only transport planes.

[Rusty1961]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Good point. but there are some mavis that are only transport planes.

Obviously, it goes without saying, that if it is a transport it should only be used as a transport.

[Aurorus]

ORIGINAL: John B.

Aurous,

thanks for the pep talk! I'm still pressing on and girding myself for the carnage that is Japan in 1944. Geraldton and Espereance each fell this turn to the tanks are heading off to Kargoolie and the e inf. divisions in Geraldton are on their way to Perth.

Here is a very important question, can the allies strat move through Port Augustus while I have a unit there even though he controls the base? In other words, could he strat move a unit from Syndney to Perth while I have a unit in Port Augustus or does he have to kick me out of the hex to use the railroads?

The goal in western Oz is to take Perth, kill units while doing so, and, if I can get kargoolie, it will be very hard for him to take it back.

No. He cannot strat move through a hex that contains one of your units, even if he controls the relevant hexsides. He can strat move out of a hex that contains your units, but only if he is already in strat mode. He cannot enter strat mode in a hex that conatains one of your units, and any unit plotted to strat move through the hex will stop there and automatically begin unpacking. He can strat move into that hex, however, change stance, attack, and take the hex.

[John B.]

Ah, that's helpful. so, my regiment may buy me (fingers crossed) a week and a half or so to take Kalgoorlie. Thus far he only has the Port Augusta base force and part of a machine gun battalion (that I'm sure he's flying in). If he had a division in brisbane three days to put into strat mode, two days to Port augusta, three days to clear me out then back into strat mode and on the road to Kargoolie. I have five tank units who are on the road there going 30 miles per day (secondary road) so my port Augusta plan still has a chance of working out. Meanwhile, the divisions are heading down to Perth on the main road and they're also do 30 miles per day.

BTW, I picked up six strat warfare points but I have not bombed his industry. Do port hits give you start vps?

[Aurorus]

Probably much more. That is not a main rail-line the entire distance if I recall correctly. So movement is only 5 hexes in strat mode along the portions that are minor railways. Moreover it is probably more like 13 days to pack, unpack, attack, pack, and then unpack.

I have been thinking a good bit about Australia lately. Australia is a catch-22 for Japan. There is really no good solution,
but something must be done. In the worst case, you will have important and quality unrestricted units bogged down fighting restricted allied units: a recipe for disaster in the long run as Japan. On the other hand, if you do nothing to deplete the Australian force pool, he can buy out many Australian units and make the U.S. attack even more formidible.

Moving into Australia is either a full-on invasion (which carries a large set of inherent risks) or a very complex and difficult hit-and-run. The possibility of failure in any type of Australian adventure is large, but the penalty for doing nothing in Australia is harsh.