A most decisive battle. War in the Pacific (Saros v Paradigm, IJN Thread).

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > A most decisive battle. War in the Pacific (Saros v Paradigm, IJN Thread).

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Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Hirohito posted:

By the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial, enjoin upon ye, Our loyal and brave subjects:

We hereby declare War on the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war. Our public servants of various departments shall perform faithfully and diligently their respective duties; the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of Our war aims.

December 6, 1941.

Welcome to the IJN side of mine and Paradigm Blue's combined War in the Pacific LP.

We will be playing a rather seriously modified version of the game created by Paradigm called Focus Pacific. It adds in French, Germans and a whole lot of non-historical capabilities to both sides. How much you ask? Well, I honestly couldn't tell you. This is functionally going to be a blind LP for me as while I am fairly experienced with the base game I have not looked at the changes to the scenario in any great detail. I know the allies are a lot stronger and have new toys like the P-50 skyrocket but details elude me.

Paradigm's thread can be found here . Please refrain from sharing info between threads and feel free to set up a third thread for commentary.

If you enjoy this thread check out my other LP of Advanced tactics gold featuring a 8 sided brawl between goons, diplomacy, threats and backstabbing abound!

Anyway the changes to the Japanese side can be summarised here in Paradigm's words:

quote:

Naval Changes
Notable Japanese Additions

While Japan gets many additional ships, probably the most significant additions are to its carrier fleet, its battleship fleet, and the inclusion of select German ships.

Japan starts the game with 2 more CVs, 5 more CVLs and 5 more CVEs than in stock. One of these additional CVs starts in the KB, giving Japan even more turn one punch. The number of CVLs and CVEs gives Japan more flexibility with its carriers, giving it the ability to provide carrier support landings in multiple theaters at once.

Japan also begins the game with three additional battleships, which can be used in carrier TFs, to bombard or to create the core of deadly surface TFs. By the end of the game, Japan has a total of 10 more battleships than in stock, many of which outclass their allied counterparts until 1943-1944.

German ships make an appearance in the game, including the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and Battlecruisers Admiral Lutzow and Admiral Scheer. These ships appear in the Indian Ocean or the South East Pacific, and can wreak havoc on an allied player that hasn't escorted their shipping. Perhaps more impactful even than the capital ships are the German U-Boats. Japan receives 11 of them through the game, and they are led by crack German captains. Japanese players should be able to use these boats to devastating effect.

Land Changes
IJA

The base of Focus Pacific is AndyMac's Ironman scenario, and the Japanese player benefits greatly from the additions. With 40 more infantry divisions, 38 more infantry brigades, 8 more infantry regiments, 18 more battalions, 9 more armor units and 33 more engineer units, the IJA is more powerful than ever. This expansion in power is tempered by the fact that Soviets are active on day one. Much of that expanded OOB will be needed, either to invade Soviet Russia or to hang on to Manchuko if the Soviets themselves decide to invade.

Air Changes

Mitsubishi G5N2 Liz, G5N3 Liz and G8N1 Rita

The Mitsubishi G5N3 Liz and it's successor the Rita provide Japan with a long-range strategic bomber. Those that have played BTS are already familiar with this plane, and how it changes the dynamics of the war. The extended reach of this aircraft allows the Japanese player to execute the kind of strategic bombing campaign that in stock only the allies are capable of. Potential uses include basing these aircraft off the coast of Canada and executing a strategic bombing campaign of the US West Coast. It's hard to over-state the reach of these planes - the Rita has an amazing 32 hex extended range, but building 4 engine bombers is an expensive proposition for the Japanese economy.

Ki-64 Rob

Using counter-rotating propellers to propel it to 429 mph, the Ki-64 Rob is a phenomenal Japanese late-game interceptor. With an impressive service ceiling of 39,000ft, and a solid armament of 4 Ho-5 cannons, the Ki-64 Rob will make the cut for research for most Japanese players. Despite all it's advantages though, the Rob does suffer from a few drawbacks - limited range compared to other Japanese fighters, a service rating of 2, and the fact that unlike most Japanese fighters, it needs two engines to produce, significantly increasing the industry cost of each aircraft.

That is a pretty incredible amount of toys to play with if I can actually get the industry off the ground to build them all (definitely not a guarantee.) Normally I could roll through most of India and Australia with this sort of forces availabe but the allies capabilities will no doubt br greatly boosted as well.

There are a few other changes to the initial setup. Firstly the declaration of war was given the previous day in a right honorable Japanese fashion, this means that every allied base is on high alert. The normal surprise attacks (Pearl harbor) are difficult if not impossible and we will have to pay in blood for every bit of sucess on the first day.

Finally the loving Soviet Union is active from the very start of the game rather than their normal 1945 attack. This is really really bad, a whole new front right next to the Japanese Home Islands which I have no doubt will suck away enormous amounts of resources that should rightfully be persecuting the British and Americans.

Game settings:

Allied Damage Control = ON
Player Defined Upgrades = ON
Historical 1st Turn = OFF
December 7th Surprise = OFF
Reliable USN Torpedoes = OFF
Realistic R&D = OFF
No Unit Withdrawals = ON

So without further ado onto the planning stage.

:sureboat:

Saros fucked around with this message at 17:13 on May 24, 2016

# ? Sep 2, 2015 01:34

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# ? May 12, 2024 23:03

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

First things first, what does the Japanese Empire need to survive? The answer to that is simple: Oil. There are two primary sources of oil I can acquire. The Dutch East Indies (DEI) and the Soviet posessions north of the Home Islands (new to this mod).

Everything else is theoretically superfluous.

With that in mind my current plan is this.
Phase I, sieze the DEI and Soviet Oil with maximum speed and hurt the allies as badly as possible doing it.
Phase II, Select a target beyond the normal level of expansion (below) and go after it with everything I can spare. Posiible targets include the Soviets, Australia or India but I need to see how the initial expansion goes against a toughened allied force. Ideally we can force a 'decisive battle' with the Allied fleets at this point before they have time for their overwhelming industry to outpace us.

Luckily we have a pretty serious fleet to do it with.

Like, wow, holy poo poo that is a lot more ships than i'm used to. The quality is also higher across the board. The allies are in for a rough time.

The Japanese Empire 6 Dec 1941

White is it's current extent and Yellow indicates my hopes for boundaries after phase I.

---------------

Turn 1 planning:

Turn 1 is somewhat limited due to the allies expecting us and being prepared.

The Phillipines:
The Allies are ready for us and expecting an attack. This rules out Pearl harbor, intel reports over 300 fighters present and enormous AA capabilities and I am simply not prepared to sacrifice my precious carrier planes and pilots attacking into such a meat grinder.

This leaves the exposed Allied fleet base at Manilla. I will be directing the Both my primary and secondary carrier forces to launch an attack on this, assisted by land based craft from Formosa. Invasion forces and Paratroopers are sent to the North of the Phillipines.

Dutch East Indies:

Invasion forces are also sent along the Malaysia coast, Kuching on Brneo and Manado in the Celebes sea.

China:

Heavy battleships including two Yamato class are tasked to bombard the French port oh Kwangchowang to destroy French naval and air assets in the area.

Soviet Union:

Stikes from Manchuko and the Home Islands are sent after the Soviet fleet presence in and around Vladivostok.

----------

Many many smaller operations are ordered but these are the main Air/Naval ones. I will post the breakdown of planned Army operations tomorrow.

Saros fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Sep 2, 2015

# ? Sep 2, 2015 01:35

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Dec 7 1941

Full combat report

Subs

The attack gets off to an auspicious start with a minisub sucessfully penetrating pearl harbor to put a torpedo into the Battleship California.

In another coup for the sub forces I-88, sent to lay mines at Port Moresby, puts two fish into CL Adelaide then turns around and hits it with another two! Adelaide is definitely sunk.

China

Our bombardment force on the way to Kwangchowan runs into some British destroyers outside Hong Kong. It is extremely one sided and two are sunk outright by hits by 18inch shells.

Then my bombardment force annihilates the French China air force.

Phillipines

An underescorted strike from Formosa runs into a strong fighter presence at Manilla and is punished for it.

code:

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77 
 
Weather in hex: Light cloud
 
Raid detected at 67 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 3
      G3M2 Nell x 3
      G4M1 Betty x 24
 
Allied aircraft
      P-26A x 4
      P-35A x 15
      P-36A Mohawk x 4
      P-40B Warhawk x 35
      P-40E Warhawk x 40
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G3M2 Nell: 2 destroyed
      G4M1 Betty: 15 destroyed
      G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-35A: 1 destroyed
 
Allied Ships
      SS Sturgeon, Bomb hits 1

Then the rather annoyingly tardy zeroes sweep through and soundly thrash the defenders.

code:

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77 
 
Weather in hex: Light cloud
 
Raid detected at 94 NM, estimated altitude 29,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 43
 
Allied aircraft
      P-26A x 3
      P-35A x 7
      P-36A Mohawk x 3
      P-40B Warhawk x 20
      P-40E Warhawk x 32
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-26A: 2 destroyed
      P-35A: 2 destroyed
      P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
      P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed

Finally the carrier strikes on Manilla begin. Hundreds of planes from two separate task forces sweep aside the remaining defenders and leave the port a smoking ruin. Large numbers of submarines are sunk at anchor as well as numerous other craft.

Main force strike (KB):

code:

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77 
 
Weather in hex: Light cloud
 
Raid detected at 112 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 105
      B5N2 Kate x 180
      D3A1 Val x 153
 
Allied aircraft
      P-35A x 1
      P-36A Mohawk x 3
      P-40B Warhawk x 10
      P-40E Warhawk x 12
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
      D3A1 Val: 1 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed
      P-40B Warhawk: 2 destroyed
      P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
      P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
      PBY-4 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
      SOC-1 Seagull: 1 destroyed on ground
 
Allied Ships
      SS S-41, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Pike, Bomb hits 3,  heavy damage
      xAK Yu Sang, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      AVD Childs, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AM Tanager, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AM Quail, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      SS Seadragon, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Sealion, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Sargo, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Porpoise, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Stingray, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS S-38, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
      xAP Rochambeau, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      SS S-37, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      AV Langley, Bomb hits 4,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      xAKL Anakan, Bomb hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
      DD Pillsbury, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Shark, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      PT-32, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Salmon, Bomb hits 1
      SS Sailfish, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
      PT-35, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      SS Tarpon, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Perch, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
      xAK Tantalus, Bomb hits 2,  on fire
      SS Permit, Bomb hits 2,  heavy damage
      ARD YFD-1 Dewey, Bomb hits 2,  on fire
      xAK Ethel Edwards, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      DD Peary, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      SS Sculpin, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      DD John D. Ford, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Skipjack, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Pickerel, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      AS Canopus, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AO Trinity, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      SS Sturgeon, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      AS Holland, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      xAP Neptuna, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      DD Pope, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      TK Gertrude Kellogg, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      AS Otus, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
 
Allied ground losses:
      12 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Repair Shipyard hits 8
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 24
Port hits 15
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 1

Magazine explodes on DD Pillsbury
Massive explosion on SS Sailfish
Massive explosion on SS Perch
Massive explosion on SS Perch
Massive explosion on SS Pickerel

Secondary force strike (Mini KB):

code:

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77 
 
Weather in hex: Light cloud
 
Raid detected at 99 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A5M4 Claude x 32
      A6M2 Zero x 58
      B5N1 Kate x 78
      B5N2 Kate x 9
      D3A1 Val x 18
 
Allied aircraft
      P-40B Warhawk x 1
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
      LB-30 Liberator: 1 destroyed on ground
 
Allied Ships
      SS Seal, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Swordfish, Bomb hits 1,  heavy damage
      PG Tulsa, Bomb hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
      SS Seawolf, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      SS Snapper, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
      xAP President Madison, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      SS Searaven, Bomb hits 1,  heavy damage
      SS S-40, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      xAP Rochambeau, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires
      SS Saury, Bomb hits 1,  heavy damage
      PT Q-112, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      xAK Si Kiang, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      ARD YFD-1 Dewey, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AV Langley, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AM Whippoorwill, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires
      AS Canopus, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      PT Q-113, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
      AO Trinity, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

It doesnt go all my way however, some USN dive bombers in the Phillipines sortie against my small carrier force. They break though the fighters and terrify the poo poo out of me making runs on my CVL. Luckily the AA fire is up to the job and they all miss.

Malaya
Fighting rages up and down the Malayan peninsula, in the north mostly small strikes upressing the RAF.

My landings along the Malayan coast are heavily contested by the RAF. We hold them away from our transports in the morning and shoot down a number of biplane torpedo bombers but in the afternoon they get their act together and strike in force against our depleted CAP.

code:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kuantan at 51,79
 
Weather in hex: Heavy cloud
 
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 6
      Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 19
 
Allied aircraft
      Buffalo I x 29
      Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
      Swordfish I x 24
      Vildebeest III x 3
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
      Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Buffalo I: 2 destroyed
      Swordfish I: 1 damaged
      Swordfish I: 1 destroyed by flak
 
Japanese Ships
      AK Sakura Maru, Torpedo hits 1
      xAK Kiyozumi Maru
      AK Hirokawa Maru
      xAP Brazil Maru
      AKL Matsutan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
      xAK Kuroshio Maru, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire
      AK Sasako Maru, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
 
Japanese ground losses:
      5238 casualties reported
         Squads: 144 destroyed, 56 disabled
         Non Combat: 116 destroyed, 70 disabled
         Engineers: 11 destroyed, 5 disabled
      Guns lost 72 (67 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Not good at all, about a regiment worth of soldiers drowned and a lot of valuble artillery pieces lost.

A carrier also launches a small strike of Abacores against out Kuching landing. After a terrible fright I realise they aren't carrying torpedoes so are ineffective against our battleships.

Mostly though the troops get ashore in decent order ready to attack next turn.

Dutch East Indies

Our invasion force at Manado comes under much heavier Coastal Defence (CD) fire than expected. Luckily the escorts are up to the job. A small cargo ship is mauled but otherwise the landing goes off fine.

This is extremely worrying for me, if even such a minor base has a decent CD emplacement I can expect serious issues with my future landings.

Pacific

Very little happens, mostly troop movements and relocating ships for future invasions.

Soviet Union

Most of the strikes against the socviet fleet do not fly due to poor weather and possible cowardice.

A sub is sunk and another couple damaged.

Summary

Not a bad first turn. Not the devastating strikes of a normal game but we got about a 2:1 aircraft kill ratio and sunk 20+ submarines, 4 destroyers and a light cruiser.

Most importantly we didnt lose any of our invasion forces other than that little incident off Malaya which shouldnt be enough to stop that landing.

Saros fucked around with this message at 13:56 on Sep 2, 2015

# ? Sep 2, 2015 13:05

Jalak: Nov 23, 2013

I love how that second manila raid didn't destroy that lone warhawk up in the air.

Also, how many soldiers would those 40 extra divisions actually bring to the fight? Do the soviets get some sort of mega-reinforcements if they start getting pushed too far, like the american west coast does with an invasion?

# ? Sep 2, 2015 14:57

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

In terms of what I can bring to bear in the pacific the divisions won't contribute a lot. They are distributed across the 5 years of the game and many will be restricted to fighting the Soviets or Chinese. A IJA division is about 12,000-15,000 soldiers depending on how it is structured. As for the Soviets I am not aware of any emergency reinforcements they get but the Eastern command are probably significantly stronger and recieve more reinforcements than normal. My only real hope is to encircle Vladivostok and surrounds and siege them out before enough forces arrive to break the back of my Manchuko army.

Quality wise their rifle divisions are superior to my army divisions and they have way way better tanks. Once T-34 start arriving in decent numbers I am totally screwed.

I mean look at these things, this is whatI am fielding at the moment:

# ? Sep 2, 2015 15:59

pthighs: Jun 21, 2013; Pillbug

What's the word on research settings (I forgot the name, the one where you decide which planes get researched)? I look forward to pages of chat on that topic, as well as optimal pilot training techniques.

Also the other settings you are playing with (sub doctrine, etc.).

# ? Sep 2, 2015 19:59

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

I swear I put them in the first post but apparently not. I'll edit them in there now.

Allied Damage Control = ON
Player Defined Upgrades = ON
Historical 1st Turn = OFF
December 7th Surprise = OFF
Reliable USN Torpedoes = OFF
Realistic R&D = OFF
No Unit Withdrawals = ON

Realistic R&D being off means I can go pretty wild with research (at a cost) but considering the much larger number of allied planes and reinforcements I will probably need to.

Saros fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Sep 3, 2015

# ? Sep 3, 2015 17:29

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Dec 8 1941

Full combat report

Subs

I-60 puts a fish into AD backhawk off Balikpapan while mining the port and U-126 (German sub!) hits an Allied AKoff Ceylon.
SS KXIV hits an AV off Camh rahn bay but it will survive.

China

We hunt down the last british destroyer near Hong Kong.

On land forces are moving around and the Hong Kong is advancing . Not much action today as strikes on Kwangchowang did not fly.

Soviet Union

More sweeps by the Army and Navy over Vladivostok. We do pretty well, the Soviets have no answer to our Zeroes and lose about 50 fighters for maybe 30 Oscars/Zeroes.

Malaya

The RAF sorties again from Singapore against our landings. This time our CAP is alert and ready and it goes extremely poorly for them.

Then what I feared last turn happens. The British Carrier from Singapore launches its albacores against the Kuching cover force armed with torpedoes. Lack of CAP means they have an easy time of it...

code:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Kuching at 58,88
 
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
 
Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
 
Allied aircraft
      Albacore  x 13
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Albacore : 6 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      BB Kongo, Torpedo hits 1
      CA Takao
      BB Yamato
 
Aircraft Attacking:
      13 x Albacore  launching torpedoes at 200 
               Naval Attack:  1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo

Luckily BB Kongo is a tough bastard and the hit is not bad.

She will have to retire but is in no danger of sinking.
Paradigm then flies (even more! where are they all coming from) US dive bombers into Singkawang to attack the Kuching force. A transport is sunk and another two badly damaged.

code:

Allied aircraft
      SB2U-3 Vindicator x 5
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Giyu Maru
      xAKL Kembu Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
---
Allied aircraft
      SB2U-3 Vindicator x 5
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Teisen Maru, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      xAK Giyu Maru, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires

All the frenzy in the air changes nothing as Kuching falls to the landing force giving me a Betty base equipped to strike deep into the Dutch east indies.

code:

Ground combat at Kuching (58,88)
Attacking force 9890 troops, 87 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 249
Defending force 2612 troops, 16 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 45
Japanese adjusted assault: 121 
Allied adjusted defense: 47 
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0) 
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kuching !!!
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
 morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: 
 
Japanese ground losses:
      254 casualties reported
         Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      937 casualties reported
         Squads: 13 destroyed, 9 disabled
         Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 8 disabled
         Engineers: 22 destroyed, 1 disabled
      Guns lost 7 (4 destroyed, 3 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 3
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Khota Baru likewise with the remnants of the 8th Indian Bde being pushed back into the jungle.

code:

Ground combat at Kota Bharu (51,75)
Attacking force 8639 troops, 90 guns, 68 vehicles, Assault Value = 304
 Defending force 7076 troops, 52 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 156
 Japanese adjusted assault: 233 
 Allied adjusted defense: 42 
 Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 2) 
 Japanese forces CAPTURE Kota Bharu !!!
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), morale(-)
 experience(-)
Attacker: 
 
Japanese ground losses:
      89 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      3699 casualties reported
         Squads: 104 destroyed, 18 disabled
         Non Combat: 155 destroyed, 29 disabled
         Engineers: 49 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 3
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Due to the loss of troops in the landing Kuantuan goes... less well. We will try again tomorrow.

Phillipines

We stand down the bombers and sweep Clark field to attempt to obtain air superiority. Losses are acceptable against a strong US fighter presence.

Later various unescorted UK/US torpedo bombers try disrupt our landings. They lose a few and flee back south.

Our carrier forces move in to attack ships fleeing Manilla. Land based air tries to provide cover from Clark fied but mostly fails.

Lots of small strikes, too many to show them all here.

The eastern force also gets in on the action.

Dutch East Indies

We pick off some fleeing ships with out Manado cover force.

We also beat back some sporadic attacks on the invasion forces with CAP the cover force. A small transport sinks and others are damaged by the CD fire.

Frustratingly the landing force fails to take the place.

code:

Ground combat at Manado (75,99)
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 8327 troops, 62 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 282
 
Defending force 2814 troops, 18 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 73
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 109 
 
Allied adjusted defense: 51 
 
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1) 
 
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: 
 
Japanese ground losses:
      138 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      288 casualties reported
         Squads: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
         Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

It should fall next turn however.

Pacific

Little action, small invasion forces move towards the Rabaul area and the wake invasion concentrates itself awaiting capital ships to distract the coastal batteries. Most action is waiting until carrier forces arrive on the scene.

Summary

Worryingy high zero losses but otherwise acceptable.

Looks like the Manilla raid bagged 22! subs. Quite a haul.

Overall things are going well. The hit to Kongo and the failed ground attacks are frustrating but not huge setbacks. The loss of the RAF torpedo bombers is also very good for us.

Please let me know any formatting feedback and if you want any other information I have not included here I am kind of figuring it out as I go along. Once the initial wave of invasions is over there will be less action per turn so I will probably do shorter reports unless some major action happens.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 18:50

acidia: Oct 31, 2012

Eagerly following along. I expect you to do everything you can to sink the Enterprise at the first opportunity.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:07

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

Formating works fine and the right level of detail too.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 20:51

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

One thing I forgot to add is a report from a Glen equipped sub in the Pacific, a task force, tentatively id'd as a cruiser and destroyer moving between wake and pearl harbour. Probably a carrier task force sent to pick up the wildcats from wake is.

Nothing is near to intercept but it means I am keeping the wake invasion close to friendly territory for a few days, he can see most of my carriers in the DEI so knows that I mustnt have much in the Pacific.

# ? Sep 3, 2015 21:08

oystertoadfish: Jun 17, 2003

the writing and level of detail are good. every once in a while, if you feel like it, i'd enjoy write-ups and maps of your supply chain as the game rolls along. all those mouse clicks devoted to setting up the infrastructure are worth reading about too!

# ? Sep 4, 2015 05:23

Jobbo_Fett: Mar 7, 2014; Slava Ukrayini; Clapping Larry

Probably not my place to give advice and all that, but you should consider dropping bombing altitude to increase their hit rates. If no AA is expected, get them really low. Unless you're carrying a string of big bombs, there's no sense trying to carpet bomb at high altitude.

*Edit*

Saros posted:

I mean look at these things, this is whatI am fielding at the moment:

They had less than 20 of those :colbert:

Jobbo_Fett fucked around with this message at 08:05 on Sep 4, 2015

# ? Sep 4, 2015 08:02

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Generally I will fly at 10k for land bombing missions as below that you get wrecked by small caliber AA fire (40mm variants usually have a ceiling of 9800.) If you fly below 6k you use the 'lowground' skill for your pilots which none of mine are trained for so they are even less accurate than flying at 6k. Strafing is possible as well but its largely suicide with the new AA rules as you will just get wrecked by AA machineguns.

The only troops that low level bombing is worth it against is generally Chinese forces. My bombing has been unusually ineffective this game and I am not quite sure why, I suspect its a combination of the new AA rules with the latest patch and its possible some changes from the DBB series of mods have been incorporated as they had tweaks to decrease bombing effectiveness.

[e]
Baby tanks everywhere

Saros fucked around with this message at 09:54 on Sep 4, 2015

# ? Sep 4, 2015 09:46

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

December 9 1941

Full combat report

Subs:

code:

TF 164 encounters mine field at Palembang (48,91)
 
Allied Ships
      DD Isis, Mine hits 1,  heavy damage
 
Magazine explodes on DD Isis

-----

TF 466 encounters mine field at Cam Ranh Bay (64,72)
 
Allied Ships
      SS KXV, Mine hits 1

Mwahahaha those sub mines I laid at Palembang are paying off and Paradigm is getting a bit brave near heavily mined ports. SS KXV hits three separate mines and is almost certainly sunk. Otherwise a fairly quiet day for subs, they hit four light transports throughout the DEI but nothing of note.

China

Very bad things nearly happen.

Two french destroyers I had no idea were there sneak into Samah harbour (big Island near China) and attack a loading amphibious task force. Luckily the E's and TB guarding the convoy see them off with a few hits and then they lose contact in the dark. A lucky break there, several of these ships were heavily laden with men and equipment.

Soviet Union
Sweeps down 15-20 fighters over Vladivostok for only 4 losses. I judge the airforce over Vladivostok sufficiently beaten down and order in the bombers again.

code:

Morning Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46 
 
Weather in hex: Severe storms
 
Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      Ki-21-Ic Sally x 69
      Ki-27b Nate x 24
      Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 29
      Ki-48-Ib Lily x 37
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      Ki-21-Ic Sally: 6 damaged
      Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
      I-16m24: 2 damaged
      I-16m24: 1 destroyed on ground
      MBR-2: 1 damaged
      MBR-2: 1 destroyed on ground
 
Allied Ships
      DD Stalin, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      SS ShCh-107, Bomb hits 2,  heavy damage
      DD Buistro, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires
 
Allied ground losses:
      15 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 11

Other raids net :
Allied Ships
SS L-10, Bomb hits 1
SS ShCh-124, Bomb hits 1
SS ShCh-116, Bomb hits 1

Storms prevent good results.

I also launch Betties against ships fleeing along the soviet coast and up the big river whose name I forget.

4 xAK, an xAP and a Tanker are presumed sunk, storms again hamper effectiveness. Looks like many of them will escape.

Malaya

Mostly a quiet turn here, my fighters were exhausted so I stood as many of them down as possible. I bomb British forces in the North to slow them down and prevent escape and a small number of RAF bombers sortie against Kuching, they lose a few and hit a transport, it should live.

I get a tank rgt south of his retreating forces at Alor Star. Most of a division is only a couple of days behind so hopefully I can cut of these 10k men.

Strikes fly fron Kuching but he seems to have fled with his Carrier and Force Z after the base fell. Only a few transports are sunk.

Finally Kuantuan falls at last.

Ground combat at Kuantan (51,79)

code:

Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 15154 troops, 126 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 358
 
Defending force 4251 troops, 52 guns, 99 vehicles, Assault Value = 88
 
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 287 
 
Allied adjusted defense: 121 
 
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0) 
 
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kuantan !!!
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Allied aircraft losses
      Hurricane IIb Trop: 4 destroyed
      Blenheim I: 1 destroyed
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(-), preparation(-)
 fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: 
 
Japanese ground losses:
      417 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
         Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      1445 casualties reported
         Squads: 35 destroyed, 22 disabled
         Non Combat: 131 destroyed, 5 disabled
         Engineers: 35 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 32 (32 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 41 (41 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 2
      Units destroyed 1

Phillipines

I send a destroyer squad down the coast to pick off some PT boats I see hanging out, only 1 is sunk however before the others flee.

More laden transport are hit by carrier planes, valuble large AP's this turn! Also a half dozen small transports go down carring what looks like a base force.

40 or so B-17 and Liberators attack my airbase at Vigan from Clark field. They brush aside the CAP of zeroes like its nothing (gently caress I hate allied heavy bombers) and blow up a few planes on the ground. Most fighters are stood down due to exhaustion as well.

Dutch East Indies

Manado falls finally

code:

Japanese ground losses:
      66 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      1078 casualties reported
         Squads: 32 destroyed, 1 disabled
         Non Combat: 44 destroyed, 7 disabled
         Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 14 (12 destroyed, 2 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Units retreated 2

Some minor strikes fly against fleeing transports.

I have a subby surprise waiting for force Z outside Soerabaja.

Pacific

Nothing of note happens, we spot a cruiser near Nauru island and task Betties to fly naval strike, will see if it actually happens next turn.

Summary

Pretty quiet day due to pilot exhaustion.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 10:48

Triple A: Jul 14, 2010; Your sword, sahib.

Today is not a good day to be a VVS/PVO pilot.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 12:07

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

^^ I'm not sure if any day is a great day for them.

10 December 1941

Full combat report

Subs gone wild

My subs go a bit nuts today.

Sadly the four minisubs I sent to investigate Vladivostok all hit mines to no effect.

China

Some PT boats I formed up and sent out as a revenge for his destroyer raid run into some transports in the dead of night. I think this is what you call a target rich environment.

I am thrilled to say the least then it hits me and I realise what Paradigm has been up to. I had been wondering why his Hong Kong transports hadn't run for it (to their probable deaths). They have been shuttling troops and supplies from Hong Kong to Kwanchowang to make the place a fortress and force me to waste time marching serious forces out there. This is confirmed when my first attack at Hong Kong goes in at the end of the day and finds the place a ghost town.

poo poo, this could take some time to clean up.

Betties from formosa go after the survivors of the PT boats.

I also manage to land bombs on a french DD and AV in Kwangchowang port.

Soviet union

Another busy day in the skies over Vladivostok. He has flown in more fighters from somewhere in the SU so his CAP is back up to strength. Sweeps mostly go in first but low CAP % means he reserves planes for strikes later in the day.

Losses are light and I hit more ships and bag 6 Aircraft on the ground.

I also fly betties against his ships up the river, unfortunately there is CAP no and I lose 6 Betties for a torpedo hit on a tanker.

Malaya

Quiet day in Malaya, sporadic bombing of his northern troops continues while I try cut as many as possible off. I count 200 fighters & 150 bombers at Singapore, the place is going to be tough to crack.

Phillipines

Mostly quiet as well, some USN planes get chewed up by CAP and my transports have mostly finished unloading the second invasion wave (basically all of 14th army).

The DEI

Carrier planes and betties slaughtering transports mostly.

Then the betties find more interesting prey.

CL marblehead takes two penetrating 250kg hits, she should be out of action for a while. The betties are not torpedo equipped because of some fuckup in the first turn orders, the air HQ didnt load properly into the invasion TF so its shuttling down in a fast AP the long way, probably 3 days out at this point. This at least should make Paradigm wary about moving ships about.

Force Z and the CV dodge my subs and settle into Soerabaja.

Pacific

A small invasion lands at Kavieng north of Rabaul, its just a small SNLF detatchment and some air support to establish a floatplane base to let me see what he's got in the area.

Annoyingly betties refuse to fly against whatever is hanging around Nauru is. Some subs are tasked to investigate.

Summary

It's always a bad day for the VVS.

Not a bad day, things are ticking over and the all important Palembang invasion is almost ready to launch.

# ? Sep 4, 2015 17:21

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

A lot more even in the air today, and the allied losses were mostly lovely Soviet planes. How's the Zero stock holding up compared to production?

# ? Sep 5, 2015 07:47

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

11 Dec 1941

Today loving sucked.

I havent finished working the turn and probably wont till tomorrow. P-50 sweeping at 34000 feet (in 1941... seriously?) breaks the game more than a bit, almost all the zero losses were to them. Also all my bombers basically across the map decided to go in before the sweeping fighters and without escorts.

Just a clusterfuck all around. Proper report tomorrow hopefully.

# ? Sep 5, 2015 15:51

Jobbo_Fett: Mar 7, 2014; Slava Ukrayini; Clapping Larry

Saros posted:

I havent finished working the turn and probably wont till tomorrow. P-50 sweeping at 34000 feet (in 1941... seriously?) breaks the game more than a bit, almost all the zero losses were to them. Also all my bombers basically across the map decided to go in before the sweeping fighters and without escorts.

How does the game model the differences in altitude? Do planes have a harder time catching units, or missing them altogether, if a large height gap exists between the two groups?

# ? Sep 5, 2015 16:05

Velius: Feb 27, 2001

There is a bonus to attacking from higher altitude, usually referred to as the dive bonus. From reading AARs it looks like maybe trying a layered cap where you have some planes low to eat the dive, while you have other planes above that to dive in return might work? Just an idea, I have yet to launch a game myself despite buying it on sale a bit ago...

Anyway enjoying the AAR so far. Looking good aside from your Zero losses, hope you've been expanding the factories.

# ? Sep 5, 2015 16:12

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Yeah it was triple layered zero cap at 15k 20k and 25k with 80 experience/skill pilots. Didn't matter though, still went down at 6:1 ratio which is frankly ridiculous. The most frustrating thing about the game is the dive bonus and the escort malus are both way way too large to the point where most players just send rookies on escort duty in trash planes because the malus is so severe they will just get slaughtered anyway against any decent CAP.

[e] I lie it was nearly a 10:1 ratio in the air. That's significantly worse than the great Marianas turkey shoot and these zero pilots are literally the best pilots in the game not raw recruits.

This game is sometimes extremely frustrating when you do everything right and get hammered anyway.

Saros fucked around with this message at 16:43 on Sep 5, 2015

# ? Sep 5, 2015 16:38

pthighs: Jun 21, 2013; Pillbug

You may want to consider a house rule on sweep heights. That seems to be a common thing to avoid exploiting the game engine.

# ? Sep 5, 2015 19:49

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

11 Dec 1941

Full combat report

Subs

Not a huge amount of action. Four allied transports go down total.

China

One last transport is caught off Hong kong.

His French destroyers come looking for action and get somewhat more than they bargained for. Both ought to be sunk with multiple 250kg bomb hits.

and finally Hong Kong falls. The begining of the end for the British empire?

Pacific

Guam invasion lands with fairly heavy losses to the CD emplacements. I brought a whole division because I assume it would be heavily reinforced, turns out not as much as expected.

I take Kavieng and fly in some Mavis flying boats, tomorrow we should get a picture of what he has in the area.

Soviet Union

More sweeps and bombing over Vladivostok. Same old same old, we maintain a favorable ratio.

I spot the base next door to Vladivostok is where the new fighters are coming from and he recon now tells me he has parked over 200 bombers and auxilliaries there on a size 4 airfield. I task everything to bomb the poo poo out of this base, hopefully we can cripple the SU bomber wing. Ground forces are sorting themselves out from their rail moves and begin advancing on Vladivostok from 3 directions.

Malaya

Not much exciting action here either. I have sucessfully cut off his forces at Alor Star so I stand down the bombers to rest them for a turn and send tank regiments racing south along the roads. It looks like he has totally withdrawn to Singapore.

Palembang invasion is loading, two divisions, base s and an Air HQ.

DEI

B-17's come after Manado, fairly ineffectively with low losses on both sides.

Bombing of helpless transports in the Celebes continues, he seems to be trying to evacuate the forward bases but is losing a bunch of ships doing it.

The Dutch airforce tries fairly ineffectively to provide air cover.

Phillipines

P-50 Skyrockets from Clark field take a big steaming poo poo all over my zeroes protecting the landings.

Final score in the air is 30-3 in favor of the Americans. :suicide:

Luckily most of the pilots survive as it is over a friendly base.

Enormous amounts of zero reinforcements are rushed in to protect the landings. I hope he tries a naval strike they ought to get eaten alive.

Summary

A pretty lovely day. Betty losses were mostly over Kwangchowang in china when he flew British Hurricanes in from Hong Kong to reinforce the base.

# ? Sep 7, 2015 14:20

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

The new toys of the IJN.

I have a lot more surface ships than I am used to and option to build even more.

The most obvious is starting with three Yamato class in action and another building. The 'ultimate' battleship but doomed to obsolesence by the Carrier.

Next in the line up is the brand new Yoshino class BC's. I have three of them as well. Lovely ships, functionally identical to the Kongo's however.

I also have 4 Kongo class in service and another 4 under construction instead of the historical four.

2 Nagato in service and two building over the historical two. Not sure if i'll finish them, the 40cm guns are nice but they are very expensive and 25kt just isn't competitive past 1942.

Two each of the Ise and Fuso class, same as historical.

As for Carriers I have the original 6 of the KB in action. Plus two Junho carriers which, boasting a 72 plane complement are a bit better than historical. At 25kt though they are not gonna be playing with the real fleet carriers.

I have 5 Chitose class CVL as well replacing the seaplane carriers, wonderful little ships if rather fragile.

Finally 6 Kaiyo CVE. Pretty poo poo but good enough to cover invasion forces as they will likely spend their entire careers doing.

Next time, cruisers! Holy poo poo so many cruisers, (also Germans).

# ? Sep 7, 2015 16:44

Jalak: Nov 23, 2013

I had to laugh at the end of the latest report: Hong Kong falls, Guam undefended, destroying allied shipping and about to wreck the soviet bomber force...
...Buuuuuut I just lost an air-battle over the Philippines, so this day has been poo poo."

Just to clarify, is it poo poo because you're not supposed to lose that many in one go like that in the first stage of the war?

# ? Sep 7, 2015 18:36

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

It's true I probably didnt do a great job of clarifying why it's bad. Firstly its that Hong Kong is going to fall, Guam is going to fall etc, these are all things that wont change so they dont really feel like 'victories.' Secondly its bad because of what it means for the Manilla campaign and the zero losses. 50 P-50 went up against 80 zeroes and kicked the poo poo out of them right over my primary landing point. There is over half a division on ships there at the moment and a number of base forces, all covered by two cruiser squadron. I'm lucky that he probably didn't expect the sweeps to be so sucessful so didnt order naval strikes. If he had I would have probably lost a cruiser or two and had a whole lot of drowned infantry.

I now have to call in zeroes from everywhere to provide cover and also beef up the other landing point as well. I am also completely out of zeroes at this point due to the cumulative losses and the fact my production is still ramping up. Losing 173 planes for only 100 in a single day hurts as well, especially early war when i'm supposed to be the one with the favorable exchange ratio.

# ? Sep 7, 2015 19:05

i81icu812: Dec 5, 2006

Yeah, that is why house rules on sweep height exist.

# ? Sep 7, 2015 20:02

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

Seems the engine (despite years and years of patching) still has severe issues with this. Isn't there a maximum bonus that a plane can get from having superior altitude/energy over another? There are physical limits to how much extra energy you can effectively employ (without ripping your loving wings off). Such a weird thing.

# ? Sep 7, 2015 20:27

Alchenar: Apr 9, 2008

Yeah the game models different planes performing differently at different altitudes, but it turns out that the bonus from 'being higher' totally outweighs being at your optimal altitude.

# ? Sep 7, 2015 21:04

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Being higher is doubly bad on the defender becasue the dive bonnus (I think) is just a flat bonus no matter how much higher you are, no accounting for the fact that diving through 15000ft would tear your wings off. However if a defender puts his CAP up high the game does take height into account when intercepting bombers so bombers will sail right past under you. It's very frustrating and like I said before, combined with the escort malus it's the two must frustrating things about the game.

I think I will have to approach Paradigm about a sweeps rule as he has done it again this turn.

# ? Sep 9, 2015 10:30

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

12 Dec 1941

Full combat report

China

My patroling ships find his PT boats and transports fleeing hong kong.

2 PT boats and the transports go down.

Minesweeping begins at Hong Kong while Val's flown in sink the remnants of his transports.

We are at the gates on Changsha but I doubt this advance force can take the place. They will secure the position and we will try and flank the city.

Soviet Union

:mediocre:

Our airforce fails to do poo poo all to the targeted airfeld. Severe storms, again, like every other day. His bombers seem totally unhindered by the storms and about 150 of them (mostly unescorted!) give a good pasting to two of my airfields, maybe 80 hits total while my CAP dallies about and does very little. 150 well escorted IJA bombers get about 15 hits between then. Luckily sweeps go well as usual so we still come out ahead in numbers for the day.

Malaya

Not much happens, some betties from Kuching sink a transport coming from (I think) Singapore.

30,000 troops reported at Palembang along with 500 guns and 80 vehicles, I pray this is a false report because if so I am totally screwed. Even if I can take the place the oil will be destroyed in the battle which basically means game over. My invasion force is maybe 4-5 days out at this point.

DEI

Resistance is increasing and my carriers are running low on planes and sorties. I pull them back to cover upcoming invasions.

Second wave of invasions is moving in now, I spot what might be one of those daft Flight cruiser things at the edge of detection and some betties have a go at Marblehead again.

Phillipines

Oh hello friends.

Another massacre of my CAP over a different base. Something like 25-5 in his favor today despite his skyrockets being heavily outnumbered.

To my great delight he set his P-40E on naval attack and they go after the closest ships rather than the base he swept. 120 zeroes are waiting, 44 P-40 go out, 8 come back. I think he has learned a valuble lesson about why you use escort instead of sweep.

Pacific

A strike from Truk goes after some ships at Rabaul.

Most interestingly there are fighters from a carrier squadron there and the report indicates they responded from nearby. I have a cruiser spotted 2 hexes south of Rabaul, it's probably the French CVL Bearn.

Carriers spotted near the Marshals. I wonder what he's doing here?

No idea what happened at Guam, my divison falls all over itself to acheive nothing. Low Fatigue and disruption, extremely high experience and an amazing commander. Sometimes the dice just hate you I guess.

Summary

:mediocre:

Not much to say really. Nothing quite worked like it was supposed to today but bagging all those warhawks was nice

# ? Sep 9, 2015 11:26

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

13 Dec 1941

Full combat report

Subs

Lots of action today.

code:

xAP Tairea, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 4,  on fire,  heavy damage
xAP Takliwa, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 4,  on fire,  heavy damage
xAK Alexandre Varenne, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
xAP Khai Dinh, Torpedo hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
AS Janssens, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy damage
xAP Boschfontein, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy damage
xAP Kota Gede, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage

-----
Sub attack near Oosthaven  at 49,96
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-121
 
Allied Ships
      CA Exeter
 
SS I-121 launches 4 torpedoes at CA Exeter

So close!

I-158 is the hero of the day however. Warned of the passage of a british surface TF by I-121 she lies in wait off Toboali.

She puts a fish into glasgow with a 6 TT spread, tracks her while reloading and launches another 6 with two more hits. Glasgow rolls and sinks almost immediately. Glasgow was a very valuble modern 12 gun CL.

China

No real action.

Soviet Union

I stand down my bombers to repair as many as possible and step up CAP over my bases. We get some bombers but he's coming in low and many go under my fighters. Flak is mostly not deployed yet but soon this will stop being a viable tactic.

I order the first probing attacks on the approaches to Vladivostok, we will see the results next turn.

Malaya/Sumatra

I get the fright of my life when Dutch bombers appear over Shokaku (covering the Palembang invasion force). I seem to have forgotten to turn the CAP of my carriers back on after I stood them down to rest while I was in port. Holy shiiiiit I am lucky that was just a couple of crappy Dutch bombers at long range.

Some RAF bombers also try to raid Kuching and get roughly handles by the CAP.

My motorised forces and tanks take Georgetown on the west coast of Malaya before continuing on south.

Phillipines

Both our air forces stick to their own bases today. My troops advance to one hex north of Clark field.

DEI

Marblehaead remains strangely immune to Betty strikes. Hopefully this will chnge tomorrow with the arrival of torpedoes.

Pacific

Paradigm gets a bit cheeky with some Catalina's against my small invasion forces.

My sub picket at wake is overflown and spotted by a carrier bomber. This almost certainly means on of his fleet carriers is close and unspotted. I'm extra glad I didnt send the invasion in yet.

The attack at Guam is a disaster again, somehow the allies lose not a single man despite being outnumbered 15:1.

code:

Ground combat at Guam (106,95)
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 14987 troops, 138 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 349
 
Defending force 6074 troops, 196 guns, 151 vehicles, Assault Value = 90
 
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 226 
 
Allied adjusted defense: 615 
 
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0) 
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(-), preparation(-)
 experience(-)
Attacker: 
 
Japanese ground losses:
      446 casualties reported
         Squads: 3 destroyed, 40 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
 
Assaulting units:
    44th Infantry Division
    15th Base Force
 
Defending units:
    Guam Coast AA Regiment
    Guam USN Base Force
    Guam Defense Battalion

No idea what is going on here it seems ridiculous to me.

Summary

Not a lot of action today. Lots of movement behind the scenes and I found something wonderful. There is a factory upgrade path to Franks and the KI-201 Messerschmit 202 knockoff through the Oscar line. Optimistically you can expect Jet fighters in mid 1944 if we make it that far!

# ? Sep 9, 2015 18:22

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

A better turn, some rest will do your airforce good.

As for Guam, the invasion mechanics are wonky as poo poo and prone to way loopsided results. Guam shouldn't be giving you overstacking penalties, but you do have some big modifiers loving you up:
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), <--forts gone this turn though
leaders(-), preparation(-), experience(-)

# ? Sep 9, 2015 19:12

pthighs: Jun 21, 2013; Pillbug

Saros posted:

I get the fright of my life when Dutch bombers appear over Shokaku (covering the Palembang invasion force). I seem to have forgotten to turn the CAP of my carriers back on after I stood them down to rest while I was in port. Holy shiiiiit I am lucky that was just a couple of crappy Dutch bombers at long range.

This is what I love about WITP.

*Walks by pilots sipping Sake in the ready room, glances up at the empty sky above*
"Sir, I can't help feeling like we are forgetting something today."

# ? Sep 9, 2015 20:08

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

Look at the combat report again those modifiers are all on him and the terrain is jungle so only x2. It's also during the first three months so the IJN invasion bonus is still active which means preparation is not very necessary. I am just confused as to why his infantry seems immune to dammage, the previous turn had a bunch of his guns getting thrashed but again almost no damage to infantry.

I've been playing this game on and off for five years and i've never seen results like this before.

[e]After talking to Paradigm it seems fog of war is in play, he is seeing casualties on his side.

Saros fucked around with this message at 21:40 on Sep 9, 2015

# ? Sep 9, 2015 20:12

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

Gotta be some defeatist :japan:

officers to not claim at least some kills, sack the lot of them :colbert:

# ? Sep 11, 2015 16:06

Saros: Dec 29, 2009; Its almost like we're a Bureaucracy, in space!

I set sail for the Planet of Lab Requisitions!!

14 Dec 1941

Full combat report

Subs

Not much action today, we tag a xAP retreating from the Makassar strait. Paradigm remarks that the strait must look like ironbottom sound by now.

We miss a Dutch sub transiting the chokepoint of the strait.

China

Not a lot happens, mostly a war of manouver.

Soviet Union

Our defensive stance across our bases pays off. His bombers come in and are cut to pieces some more. He loses about 40 for little effect. First probing attacks confiem he has not reinforced the border forts, we will overrun them tomorrow.

Malaya

The situation is tense. I have the KB and a huge naval force including the three Yamato's, two BC's and over a dozen cruisers in various task forces covering the Palembang invasion. I know he has Force Z as well as the two dutch battlecruisers available.

They will pause at the mouth of the Palembang river tomorrow and send cruisers and aircraft to sweep the harbour clear (ships over 15000T cant go up rivers). I have no sightings of Allied warships other than a small cruiser squadron (probably the RN cruisers Glasgow was with) in Palembang but I am very concerned about them trying to break through to the KB with surface ships as well as running over a submarine or two. I am also worried about the RAF in Singapore but I am attempting to keep out of torpedo range.

We will just have to see what tomorrow brings.

Phillipines

We advance to the outskirts of Clark field.

An invasion force lands to take Zamboanga, it should fall easily tomorrow.

DEI

An invasion force approaches Ambon, some dutch bombers sortie but are easily beaten back by the covering zeroes and AA fire. I am hoping he doesnt use any of those flight deck cruisers to jump the invasion as this is probably the worst protected invasion so far. It does have LRCAP flying from Manado and two BB's along however.

Pacific

Quiet. His ships around Rabaul have disapeared.

Summary

One week of war! It seems like longer but things are progressing just fine. My second invasion wave is mostly landing tomorrow and if all goes well Palembang wil soon be in our hands. We wil see what sort of surprise Paradigm has cooked up for me off Palambang.

Saros fucked around with this message at 18:06 on Sep 11, 2015

# ? Sep 11, 2015 18:03

Velius: Feb 27, 2001

How big are the pools for the P-50s? Are they SR3 or anything to make up for apparently having a huge flight ceiling and being really good?

# ? Sep 12, 2015 01:14

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# ? May 12, 2024 23:03

Pimpmust: Oct 1, 2008

At least in War Thunder they were fragile as gently caress :v:

This was a really bloody war in the air considering it's been just a *week*, but it's hard to compare because of the expanded pools and all the Soviet/French etc added (garbage) planes.

# ? Sep 12, 2015 07:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Let's Play! > A most decisive battle. War in the Pacific (Saros v Paradigm, IJN Thread).

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