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[Erkki]

May 20th

Solomons:

The aerial war plan almost works... Torpedo bombers sortie twice to Tulagi: they sink 2 large transports that are literally FILLED with... tanks! I hope that was a full armored regiment that went in the drink.  Their escort was pathetic 2 old destroyers, and while some bombers are damaged, not one is actually lost. During the raid 2, however, there werent enough torpedoes to arm all bombers with them... I'm increasing the torpedo reserve to 120 now. We probably missed an easy kill there.

And as expected, the medium bomber raids are immediately aborted. Unfortunately the weather stops the Zero sweep to Buna from flying, but B-17s strike Rabaul: of the 36 attackers, 9 are damaged and 1 shot down to no loss, and they dont hit a thing.

9 Ki-45s and 9 A6M2-Ns now in the area... Ki-45s are tasked solely with CAPing Rabaul together with Chitose Ku S-1.

Tomorrow:

72 Zeroes ordered to sweep Buna in hopes of catching some more P-40s and P-39s

Torpedo bombers held back unless targets are close

Standard CAP over Rabaul

9 x A6M2-N sweep Gasmata, I want to show them to my opponent 

Burma: standard action: 1 x 60kg bomb hit on a transport... A fresh Ki-21 unit is moved there, they will bomb the British units that rot in the jungle, to burn their supplies and increase their fatigue and disruption and to lower their morale. Some of those units have very, very long supply paths in the jungle with no roads.

BB Yamato is ready! She is immediately sent to Singapore, and her float plane wing is upgraded to E13A1, size increased to 7, more pilots added etc etc.

Anyone wants a new map?

[Hyo]

I don't think there's been any large territorial changes yet, so I'm fine.

But still, er, how are those troops in Burma not dead yet? From what I look of it, it's a wonder if anything, literally anything ever reaches them through their... er, "supply routes".

[Erkki]

I don't think there's been any large territorial changes yet, so I'm fine.

But still, er, how are those troops in Burma not dead yet? From what I look of it, it's a wonder if anything, literally anything ever reaches them through their... er, "supply routes".

I dont think they are well supplied.. They can hang in there but replacing losses or fighting effectively will be impossible. I have a map this time any way..


May 21th

Solomons: nothing at all. Bad weather again cancels the sweeps, and Allies apparently dont like flying, other than a couple of B-26s visiting Medang.

Burma/Rangoon: G4Ms visit Rangoon again, this time with 800kg SAP bombs instead of the usual, lousy, "naval attack" load of 2 x 250kg and 2 x 60kg GP bombs. 2 hits are scored, and I'm expecting 2 xAK kills(1 was confirmed).

The map:

Spoiler: Air war over New Britain and the Solomon Sea (click to show/hide)

[Sheb]

Damn, Port Moresby seems like a spine in your side. I guess it's so heavily fortifed that there is no hope of ever taking it? Could you blockade it as you did with Rangoon?


Also, one thing isn't clear to me. You now are stuck on the defensive, and from what you said, your opponent is bound to slowly out-build you. How can you expect to win the game?

[Demonic Spoon]

Gain enough victory points to get a truce iirc. Make winning be too costly a proposition basically.

[Hyo]

Well, it should be possible if the Japanese clear out all the pacific islands and gain a powerful foothold in Australia - somewhere populated too, not the desert. That or we need to stand out the storm and drop a few bombs on LA and such, I guess.

[Sheb]

And can we know how many victory point we have so far?

[Erkki]

Damn, Port Moresby seems like a spine in your side. I guess it's so heavily fortifed that there is no hope of ever taking it? Could you blockade it as you did with Rangoon?


Also, one thing isn't clear to me. You now are stuck on the defensive, and from what you said, your opponent is bound to slowly out-build you. How can you expect to win the game?

P-39, P-40 or even P-38(now available to Allies, in small numbers, but havent seen them yet) dont have the range to reach Rabaul from Buna, and Gasmata is "shut down" and small. It is easily suppressible. Even when Allies later receive drop tanks and P-38 will be in range it has horrible service rating and I dont think a squad or 2 has the chance.

Port Moresby is too far, its in range of Zero but the Navy's bombers G4M and G3M just arent good enough and will die like flies if the CAP gets through escorts. Rangoon is easier as its in range of multiple airfields and the Ki-43, and it doesnt seem to have much of air defenses, while I could bet 50€ on my enemy having dedicated CAP air units and multiple AAA battalions at Port Moresby...

Port Moresby is takeable, but is it worth committing carriers, land based air force, battleships and multiple divisions? I dont think so. I actually hope my enemy to commit ever more of his forces here, where my chain of supply is shorter, most fighting is above friendly territory(cutting down my pilot losses to at least 1/4, increasing his) and should he try to conquer Rabaul by land, he needs a major commitment of his Navy, Marine and Australian land units. Dont disrupt your opponent when hes making a mistake! 

Historically Allies had the Solomons and Eastern New Guinea by early 1943, and I'm not intending to hold any longer. If I can, and make it hurt the Allies more than it hurts me, I will keep fighting, however. Its all really a buffer zone that I want to burn the Allied men, planes, equipment, ships and especially time.

Gain enough victory points to get a truce iirc. Make winning be too costly a proposition basically.

Yeah, the more time, men, ships and planes(planes now at 1:4 ratio, pilots probably 1:10...) he burns bombing, securing and conquering some otherwise nearly useless islands and jungle, the better as those same resources are away from fighting for stuff that actually matters.

Well, it should be possible if the Japanese clear out all the pacific islands and gain a powerful foothold in Australia - somewhere populated too, not the desert. That or we need to stand out the storm and drop a few bombs on LA and such, I guess.

Unfortunately this is Scenario 1 and Japan doesnt have the additional planes, air units, ships, industry and those 4+ infantry divisions they have in most PBEM games that are Scenario 2. I could invade Australia but it would IMHO be just throwing away units.

I'm actually already planning an LA/SF raid in a month, but I'm hoping my search plane equipped submarines to find out where the surviving American CVs are hiding, first. Then I'm going hunt them down

And can we know how many victory point we have so far?

I'll give you some Tracker charts soon, an hour or 2.

[Erkki]

Here!

First, the sunk ships. Japanese graphs are 100% accurate, red being number of ships and green the points, ie. relative score of what the ships are actually worth. Both Allied figures are under FOW, and you can see the graphs actually go downwards at times when it was found out some ships werent sunk after all... And the other way around. Turn 83-85 spike is the carrier battle at Marshalls, where I lost 20 ships of different classes and Allies lost some carriers and other war ships the following 2 days, while the early spikes in Points are BB Nagato, and CV Lexington + all its escort cruisers and destroyers.



Then, the lost planes. Again, Japanese losses are 100% accurate, while Allied is under FOW. Losses to all reasons in this graphs, not just combat... Note the spikes again. 



And then the summed victory points. The ratio is currently 1,6:1 for Japanese, and 4:1 is required for Allied surrender... Looks like not going to happen. What a surprise. 

[Hyo]

Well, who knows? If you actually manage to catch and sink the remains of the Allied Fleet, it means that you'll have free-rein in the pacific. It might actually be possible to bomb the American industry that the Japanese so feared!

Remember, it's not the American Navy you're fighting, it's the American production lines.

[yamo]

Well, who knows? If you actually manage to catch and sink the remains of the Allied Fleet, it means that you'll have free-rein in the pacific. It might actually be possible to bomb the American industry that the Japanese so feared!

Remember, it's not the American Navy you're fighting, it's the American production lines.

Not gonna happen

[Erkki]

Well, who knows? If you actually manage to catch and sink the remains of the Allied Fleet, it means that you'll have free-rein in the pacific. It might actually be possible to bomb the American industry that the Japanese so feared!

Remember, it's not the American Navy you're fighting, it's the American production lines.

The required VPs mean I need either all of China and India, or Australia and New Zealand... Just sinking and shooting stuff at >4:1 ratio also works but since VPs are also scored from just holding bases and having units, its very, very difficult to achieve without those extra units and boosted industry of Scenario 2. Especially to a n00b like me. 

Now take turn number 167...

[Sheb]

But that's for a ally surrender, right? You can get some other results like a normal peace?

[Erkki]

But that's for a ally surrender, right? You can get some other results like a normal peace?

Victory Conditions are:

Allied Decisive: >=1,75:1 for Allies
Allied Marginal: >=1,25:1 for Allies
Draw 0,75<VP<1,25
Japanese Marginal: >=1,25 for Japan
Japanese Decisive: >=1,75 for Japan

Those scores are checked January 1st 1946

IF the game ends that date, level is moved 2 to Japanese favor(so its at least a Draw)

If the Allies use more than 2 nuclear bombs, the level against shifts 1 step for Japan.

Once a year has been played, it is possible for the game to end immediately, and side meeting the criteria wins automatic victory

January 1st 1943: VP ratio 4:1
January 1st 1944: VP ratio 3:1
January 1st -45 and -46: 2:1

So, holding to 1946 and its a draw. If score is more than 50% of Allied, its a marginal victory. If the Allies have used more than 2 nukes, its a decisive victory... 

[Erkki]

May 22nd

Another quiet day...

Java: Tjilatjap falls! Now the only Dutch/Allied bastions left are Batavia in the North and the Southern tip of the island.

Solomons:

As semi-expected, Allied bombers raid Kavieng... 39 x B-25s! Defenders(10 Zero, 1 floatplane-Zero) shoot down 2 bombers and damage at least 10 more, but 5 Zeros are lost on the ground and 2 lost to gunner fire. However, there are again no pilot fatalities. This was the combat debut of the A6M2-N, and the single example that took part did pretty well in that it shot down a B-25 and made it home despite (apparently minor) damage.

In addition to those 2 shot down, there were possibly more OPS losses and written off B-25s so +-0. Airfield damage in only minor and we have the CAP increased for tomorrow(expecting B-17s to visit Rabaul), including Ki-45s. Next time I'm expecting a pause in these raids I'm going to LRCAP Medang, hoping to catch some A-24s Banshees that visit it daily...

Tomorrow:
CAPs and LRCAPs in place, now fingers crossed the Allyboys come...

G3Ms revisit Gasmata, I want to tie the enemy fighter units to LRCAP it as well as keep my bombers airborne should B-17s attack Rabaul again.

BB Yamato bombards Foochow on its way to Singapore. 3 bomber squadrons will also attack before ground units, with tank support, assault.

In 4 days we have aviation support ready at Koepang, and I will have a Zero and a G4M unit moved in. Raids to Darwin will be began... Expecting those 3-4 squadrons of P-39s to still be there.