Spanking Lowpe (NJP72 vs Lowpe (A))

[Lowpe]

If only the fleet carrier burns...she has to be in trouble....

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[Lowpe]

Burma and China

Japan attacked one day too soon for our AT gun ambush on his IJA Tank Division Army....

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[Lowpe]

Atoll invasions are no joke...and most JFBs have very little experience with them post amphibious invasion bonus period. Exploiting that was definitely one of the goals of the Marcus Island invasion....and it has worked out better than I planned.

Japan sent their heavies....I was hoping to torpedo a battleship...but no joy there. Marcus Island facilities are now heavily destroyed so no fort building for a while. Need supply anyhow.


Night Naval bombardment of Marcus Island at 123,85 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 7 damaged

2 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Mutsu
BB Kongo
CA Kako
CA Takao
DD Kikuzuki
DD Amagiri
DD Hamakaze
DD Shiranui
DD Isokaze

Allied ground losses:
584 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 26 (3 destroyed, 23 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 33
Port hits 11
Port supply hits 1

[Lowpe]

Allied bombardments for the day:

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 11 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Helena
CL Trenton
DD Humphreys
DD Monaghan
DD Aylwin
DD Clark
DD Selfridge
DD Porter

Japanese ground losses:
313 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Resources hits 3
Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 52
Port hits 27
Port supply hits 6

Night Naval bombardment of Howland Island at 148,135

Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter
DD Worden
DD Balch
DD Drayton
DD McCalla

Japanese ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

[Lowpe]

Hunt for the Shokaku now commences! I calculate she can at most make four hexes a day and probably more like two. Fires on board, so nothing will be done to pump out the counter flooding until they are put out. Forcing Shokaku to to move is the key to making her founder.

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[Lowpe]

Question for you AFBs: Do you have a favorite slow battleship for bombardment duties?

Looks like I can get either 16" or 14" main guns some of 14inch platforms have fewer 5" guns too. Slightly increased damage but also greater supply consumption which I probably shouldn't worry about as the Allies. Perhaps fuel usage might be a concern...

Also, looking at the update schedule too....

The primary concern is Iboats and sub dropped mines. So the bombardment force will have at least one DMS and one clemson class DE perhaps more. Thinking of running 1 battleship, 1 dms, 1 de, 3 dd sized task forces. This group of 5 can then combine with other groups of 5 as the ships become available...but I like running with 5 escorts for each battleship unless really pressed.

For now the battleships will be used behind the lines so to speak...where the threat of IJN surface ships is exceptionally low.

[Encircled]

Never had an issue with bombarding BBs and mines to be honest

They can shrug them off quite well

No harm in putting a DMS among the bombardment group though

Just checked in my current one, I've had one CL hit by a mine bombarding, and then caught by air attack as she lost about half her speed. Unlikely you'll be using the older battleship on bombardment duty in range of significant air assets I'd have thought

[BBfanboy]

The 12 gun, 14" caliber BBs seem to be more effective than the Colorado class with their 16" guns and smaller ammo load.
If gunfire actually reduced forts, the 16" gun might be seen as necessary to destroy high level concrete forts - but since fort reduction is not in the mix, getting more shells on the enemy positions is more important.

[witpqs]

Go Tuna!!!

[witpqs]

Mostly I just try to match speeds on the slow battleships for bombardment, second if guns. I also break then up into manageable sized groups of BBs in the TFs or else the TFs take too long to reload. Also, (when otherwise feasible) have more TFs instead of 1 or 2 monster TFs allows more frequent bombardments which I think keeps the enemy units more disrupted.

[Lowpe]

Thanks you guys...sending off the Idaho with 12 14"ers.

The type 88 sub dropped mines can do a number even on a BB.

[Capt. Harlock]

One can only hope that Trigger's crew gained some points towards experience gains with those two attacks.

Roy Rogers is embarrassed!

[Lowpe]

October 12, 1942

All thru the night and day....our submarines make a hectic rush to catch Shokaku ---- but they come up empty. Our leading submarines have a DL of 10/10....so they are close!

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[Lowpe]

But as the air combat for the day finishes, and our submarines make their desperate last search.....Wahoo reports some anomalous compression sounds heard....and our codebreakers confirm -- The Shokaku is no more!

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[Lowpe]

With the amount of attacking these IJA Tank Regiments and Divisions do...they must be getting very experienced!

China teeters on the edge...can the 77th LRP get there in time....and will Piats be the magic weapon that saves Chungking?

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This graphic fits my viewing screen perfectly...is it too big for you guys?

[BBfanboy]

Once upon a time it was usual to have a house rule forbidding artillery death stars in China. Perhaps such a rule is required for tank death stars? At least in 1941-42?

[Lowpe]

I don't know BB, there are counters....you just have to work at it. I am not so sure that Japan could take China unless they had tank and artillery stacks. Optimally, you want them in the same hex, and for a while the IJA Tank divisions were attacking from this hex with the artillery death star...but forts 4-5 are kind of hard to break.

Here is Japan's artillery death star:

Ground combat at 80,50 (near Changteh)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2934 troops, 190 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 314

Defending force 44271 troops, 198 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 898

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
27th/A Division
27th/B Division
27th/C Division
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Army
11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
13th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion

Defending units:
48th Chinese Corps
14th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
70th Chinese Corps
8th Route Army

[Lowpe]

So far, I think these Indian Mountain Gun units have definitely been worth it in using PP to buy them out and send them to China. They have about a 25 armor attack, which is good up to a Type 97 medium tank. I wonder how many of the Type 1 Medium tanks Japan is fielding? Those guys are monsters...

The Stuarts I risked so much to get into China have been a complete failure...however, it may simply be my usage of them. Instead of picking a hex and letting them dig in to forts 3-4, I tried to use them against the IJA tank concentrations as a surprise. They would finish their move in combat mode and fight in the same day, but there were so many IJA tanks they were up against the poor stuarts simply got shredded. In future I will use them more defensively to anchor a position. The current unit is down to 5 Stuarts and withdrawals in 4-5 days. I have been having them just sit in the hex in reserve no pursuit mode which might be another excellent use of them.

I do have the 254th Armor heading for Kunming and they have a dozen plus Valentines which are armored beasts compared to a Stuart, but still not good enough to go toe to toe with Type 1 Medium tanks without lots of forts. I need to pick their defensive spot soon...to allow them time to dig in.

I have 45 of the Chinese 37mm AT gun in the pools...and I think I will turn off their stockpiling and start sending them out to bolster my Corps. I have 0 in the pools for the 105 and 75 artillery pieces for China.

I have been forced to use the Chinese artillery in reserve, and only sending them forward into battles and then pulling them back as I can't get them the supplies they need to operate on the front lines. So they dance in and dance out! The Indian Mountain units, come first in line for air drops and those greedy guys get the supplies before the starving Chinese, which is another reason why I really like them for China use.

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[Lowpe]

October 13, 1942

The Chinese Air Force puts some LRCAP up...four squadrons worth (48 planes at 70% LRCAP) and get 8 planes to show up hitting the IJA bombers at 5 hex range -- that is probably pretty good.

The Vanguard, which has slightly better guns, did the bulk of the killing. Two out of four squadrons were trained to 70 Air and 60 defense, while the other two squadrons probably shouldn't have been there as their pilots were weaker, with the weakest group at 46 Air and 36 defenese.

But, it was a safe bet no fighters would show as this run has been going on for a fair bit....and I wanted numbers to show up even if they weren't particularly effective. Destroyed 5 Sally and 2 Lilly for 0 losses...first combat these squadrons have seen the entire game.

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[Lowpe]

China

Will have to pull back our artillery park, as its appearance forced the IJA Tank Divisions to withdraw....they can go to basically four attack vectors.

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