AAR: Istfemer (A) vs zeke99 (J)

[Istfemer]

That has been a problem in Pacific War for its entire existence. The program heavily favors industry and supply dumps when targeting bases. Setting the bombers to the Naval Inderdiction mission will solve this, but then they won't attack anything else but ships.

I've had a little luck using Beauforts and Beaufighters, the only Allied medium bombers that can carry torpedoes. This payload option seems to make them somewhat more likely to go after shipping.

The problem in this case is that all tac/heavy bomber squadrons in the area (x2 Wellingtons, x1 B-17, x1 Hudson and x1 Beaufort) were set to Naval Interdiction. Apparently, my patrol planes failed to spot this Japanese task force during the search phase. I blame the weather. [:)] The game date was 9/27/42 --- the last week of monsoon season in India/Burma. Since version 3.2.8, monsoons actually have impact on air operations in the region. To be sure, release notes do not mention that air search is in any way affected, but I suspect it may well be.

[Istfemer]

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo

the torpedoes trick seem to work [:D]

It does, doesn't it? Torpedoes are definitely the most reliable way to send a vessel to the bottom.
By the way, my submarines are pretty good at sinking Zeke's merchant shipping. In our game, that's what they seem to do best.
For some reason, my subs seem completely unable to damage or sink even a single decent Japanese warship/troop transport. They've caught none so far. (they may have sunk a DE and a patrol boat or two, yes, but that's it.)

[Istfemer]

Situation on 10/4/42
---
CBI:
There were no fancy aerial battles this week. Just old, boring ground attacks. Japanese hardware is so highly combustible... [;)]
Allies focused on Japanese troops sitting near Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
To my great surprise, nothing was sunk on either side. The depths were SO peaceful and quiet.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 10/11/42
---
CBI:
Air battles over Calcutta: 61 Hurricanes defended Calcutta against 30 Ki-32 bombers escorted by 30 Ki-43 Hayabusas & 30 Ki-27 Setsus.
Total air losses: 19 fighters, 24 bombers for Japanese vs. 34 fighters for Allies.

Dacca. Major General H. M. Smith was eager to test Japanese defenses in the area and, with the help of our friendly (and friendly fire-happy!) close air support, he did just that. The results only confirmed what was already known: yep, the Japanese are still here, they are heavily entrenched and they won't be leaving willingly.

### Maj General H. M. Smith vs. Lt Gen Yamashita
Losses: 78 squads, 5 arty, 3 afvs for Allies; 36 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 3.
### Maj General H. M. Smith vs. Lt Gen Yamashita
Losses: 64 squads, 1 arty, 4 afvs for Allies; 13 squads, 1 arty for Japanese. Odds 2.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Elsewhere:
Wellingtons from Canton I. bombed Tarawa. Supply depot sustained Moderate damage.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 2 Japanese merchants (incl. one 10000t vessel) and 1 tanker.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 10/18/42
---
CBI:
More boring ground attacks. The Japanese 33rd Inf Div lost 8 squads and 14 guns.

Allies focused on Japanese troops sitting near Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 4 Japanese merchants.
Japanese sank 2 Allied submarines. (both were "S"-class coastal boats)

[Hattori Hanzo]

ORIGINAL: Istfemer

Situation on 10/4/42
---
CBI:
There were no fancy aerial battles this week. Just old, boring ground attacks. Japanese hardware is so highly combustible... [;)]
Allies focused on Japanese troops sitting near Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
To my great surprise, nothing was sunk on either side. The depths were SO peaceful and quiet.

all quiet on the Pacific Front.. [>:]

[Hattori Hanzo]

ORIGINAL: Istfemer

Situation on 10/11/42
---
CBI:
Air battles over Calcutta: 61 Hurricanes defended Calcutta against 30 Ki-32 bombers escorted by 30 Ki-43 Hayabusas & 30 Ki-27 Setsus.
Total air losses: 19 fighters, 24 bombers for Japanese vs. 34 fighters for Allies.

Dacca. Major General H. M. Smith was eager to test Japanese defenses in the area and, with the help of our friendly (and friendly fire-happy!) close air support, he did just that. The results only confirmed what was already known: yep, the Japanese are still here, they are heavily entrenched and they won't be leaving willingly.

### Maj General H. M. Smith vs. Lt Gen Yamashita
Losses: 78 squads, 5 arty, 3 afvs for Allies; 36 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 3.
### Maj General H. M. Smith vs. Lt Gen Yamashita
Losses: 64 squads, 1 arty, 4 afvs for Allies; 13 squads, 1 arty for Japanese. Odds 2.

some Storm after the calm.. [8D]

[Istfemer]

Situation on 10/25/42
---
CBI:
Allies focused on bombing Japanese troops around Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.
I'm upgrading all P-40 Warhawks to P-38G Lightnings. They'll be used in a fighter-bomber role in this theatre and beyond.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.
I changed all B-25 Mitchell squadrons in Australia to B-26 Marauders because 1 point of maneuverability is more important to me than 1 point of cannons.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Elsewhere:
Wellington raids on Tarawa and Wake I. continued and are expected to continue in the future.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 1 Japanese merchant.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 11/01/42
---
CBI:
Allies focused on bombing Japanese troops around Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.
The F4U-1 Corsair fighter entered production this week --- a perfect counter to the A6M Zero.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued.
I'm taking my time. I wonder how well/badly I'm doing at this stage of the war.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 1 Japanese tanker.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 11/08/42
---
CBI:
Allies focused on bombing Japanese troops around Dacca. Japanese stuck to their old routine of bombing Mandalay.
Ground fighting is about to resume. IJA must be pushed out of Burma + my LCUs need their experience built up anyway.

Australia:
At Townsville, my relaxed air bombing campaign continued. Japanese garrison at Townsville (3 regiments) was reinforced with the 18th IJA Inf Div. I responded by moving several Allied LCUs to Townsville. The Townsville-Rockhampton road is now blocked and both sides are free to bomb each other's ground troops. There will be no more 'relaxed' bombings, only intense ones.

South Pacific:
Fiji endured multiple airstrikes on supply depots, as per the new norm.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 7 Japanese merchants and 2 tankers.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 11/15/42
---
CBI:
Land battles at Dacca.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. General Terauchi
Losses: 64 squads, 10 arty, 2 afvs for Allies; 9 squads, 1 arty, 1 afv for Japanese. Odds 3.
### Lt. Gen MacArthur vs. General Terauchi
Losses: 53 squads, 3 afvs for Allies; 15 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 3.

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 4 squads, 6 arty, 2 afvs.
Allied ground losses: 1 arty, 1 afv.

South Pacific:
Zeke stopped attacking Fiji.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 1 Japanese tanker.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 11/22/42
---
CBI:
Land battles at Dacca.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. Lt. Gen Yamashita
Losses: 25 squads, 2 afvs for Allies; 14 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 4.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. Lt. Gen Yamashita
Losses: 23 squads, 2 arty, 1 afv for Allies; 31 squads for Japanese. Odds 5.

Getting there. [;)]
Weirdness: I definitely didn't create the 1/Philipine Bde last turn. Moreover, I definitely didn't activate it. And yet, it still attacked together with everyone else. Attacked at such low readiness... [&:]

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 4 squads, 12 arty, 1 afv.
Allied ground losses: 2 squads, 10 arty, 9 afvs.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 1 Japanese merchant and 1 DE.

[Hattori Hanzo]

it seem that Dacca is getting closer to fall.. [:D]

[Istfemer]

Situation on 11/29/42
---
CBI:
Land battles at Dacca.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. General Terauchi
Losses: 37 squads, 5 arty, 2 afvs for Allies; 41 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 7.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. Lt. Gen Yamashita
Losses: 13 squads, 1 afv for Allies; 27 squads, 1 arty for Japanese. Odds 13.

The Japanese 33rd division withdrew! (Zeke's orders)
Major General H.M. Smith was promoted to Lieutenant General.

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 5 squads, 14 arty, 1 afv.
Allied ground losses: 5 squads, 11 arty, 6 afvs.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 5 Japanese merchants.

---

ORIGINAL: Hattori Hanzo
it seem that Dacca is getting closer to fall.. [:D]

Hey, Dacca has been mine since the beginning of the game. I definitely don't want it to fall. [;)]

[Capt. Harlock]

CBI:
Land battles at Dacca.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. General Terauchi
Losses: 37 squads, 5 arty, 2 afvs for Allies; 41 squads, 2 arty for Japanese. Odds 7.
### Major General H.M. Smith vs. Lt. Gen Yamashita
Losses: 13 squads, 1 afv for Allies; 27 squads, 1 arty for Japanese. Odds 13.

The Japanese 33rd division withdrew! (Zeke's orders)

Apparently they got tired of training the allied troops! [;)]

[Hattori Hanzo]

Hey, Dacca has been mine since the beginning of the game. I definitely don't want it to fall.

since you were the attacker I thought that Dacca was in Japanese hands.. [X(]

[zeke99]

After I failed to take India there is no point to attack. Just causes losses with nothing to gain. From mid 1942 it is better for the Japs to take defensive positions.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 12/6/42
---
CBI:
Akyab. The 33rd IJA Inf Div launched a reckless attack on my advancing land forces.
### Lt. Gen Yamashita vs. Lt. Gen MacArthur
Losses: 6 squads for Japanese; 8 squads for Allies. Odds 0.

The Japanese are regrouping: IJA troops have been withdrawn from Mandalay to Rangoon.
SIGINT indicates that Rangoon's garrison now consists of 2 divisions and 1 detachment brigade.

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 3 squads, 11 arty.
Allied ground losses: 3 squads, 16 arty, 5 afvs.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 3 Japanese merchants. It was a pleasure to see the XIV- and S-class subs in action again.

These coastal subs are operating from Trincomalee. Or maybe they aren't. It could be a trick to confuse the Japanese intelligence. [:)]
In reality, these subs are actually operating from a super-secret Allied underwater sub pen, located halfway between Lingayen and Hainan island. You see, there's a bug in submarine range calculations. When I place a sub group right on top of Trincomalee (its home base), it says range 0. Next turn it's suddenly range 23 and my (coastal) sub group has just wasted a turn! Australian bases are similarly affected.

After several unsuccessful attempts to get around the bug (attempts that cost me precious turns), I just went with it.
So now I have 3 groups of coastal subs patrolling in the South China Sea at 2x-3x their max nominal effective range. [8|] They got 7 contacts this week.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 12/13/42
---
CBI:
We (Allies) recaptured Akyab. Allied bombers struck Rangoon and destroyed 3 Japanese squads and 9 artillery pieces + hit the depot twice for light damage.

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 7 squads, 9 arty, 1 afv.
Allied ground losses: 5 squads, 15 arty, 16 afvs.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 1 Japanese merchant.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 12/20/42
---
CBI:
Air bombing campaign at Rangoon.
Japanese ground losses: 9 squads, 17 arty, 3 afvs. Oil industry sustained light damage.

Australia:
Air bombing campaign at Townsville.
Japanese ground losses: 6 squads, 13 arty.
Allied ground losses: 1 squad, 18 arty, 15 afvs.

Weekly sub/antisub operations:
We sank 5 Japanese merchants and 3 tankers. Tasty-tasty tankers.