KDonovan vs Miller41 Scenario 13-Nik Mod 5.0 (Allies)

[Rob Brennan UK]

humm range .. im not convinced it helps is a non base hex. and i thought corps were range 3 anyway .. i could well be wrong on both counts mind you .

if you only facing an snlf you should be fine imo .. armour bonus will null its AV superiority ,,

[KDonovan]

operation WHIRLWIND was a marginal success....details to come

July 28th - due to bad weather, my attack on Canton was disrupted. The major bomber attack out of Wuchow and Chunking was cancelled, however i did manage to get my fighter sweep off the ground at Hengchow. 120 P40's were launched at Canton from Hengchow, where they met a mere 11 Oscar's. Needless to say the Oscar's were torn to shreds with all eleven of them shot down. Later, my attack Wellington attack from Kumming attack the now defenseless AF at Canton, however with only 30 planes only minor damage was done.

Over at Darwin, the Japanese launched another assault on the base there...but were repusled. The recent arrival of the 1st Aus Corps Headquarters had a clear effect on organizing a more stubborn defense. Meanwhile my B-25's continued to pound the helpless transports around Darwin. This time 5 more AP's were sunk outright, and another 2 sinking from air attacks the day before.

July 29th - once again in China my heavy hitting raid out of Chungking was cancelled due to rain, but all the other base's got off their attacks. However, operations weren't as smooth as they ought to be. First, my Wuchow raid, arrived over Canton before my P40's were able to sweep the skys. Despite out numbering the Japanese Oscars 9:1...my chinese fighters only managed to shoot down 5 Oscars and losing 7 of their own. Then came my P40's (late), which massacred the rest of the Oscars in the sky. Finally came my Kuming raid of 20 Wellingtons causing minor damaged once again to the AF.

Back at Darwin, my bombing raids on the Japanese troops on the railroads caused minimal causalities to troops there, but more importantly, ID'd both units as SNLF's.

Plan - the end results of Operation WHIRLWIND was 21 Oscars shot down, to 1 P40B and 7 Chinese fighters. Not bad. But more importantly my bombers failed to put the AF out of commision, therefore it is deemed as only a marginal success. In light of this, all force's that participated will be stood down for rest and refit. However, my bombers out of Chunking that failed to get off the ground will attempt a ground attack on the troops at Nanning.

Over in the Darwin theatre, my B25's will continue as usual. However it appears that i sunk everything, as the latest Catalina search only spotted one ship (quite possibly the damaged CL Sendai). Also i've formed a bombardment TF with the cruisers at Derby to hit the Jap SNLF located 60 miles outside Derby.

Thats about it...i'll be posting a 3 month update and progress report as soon as the next turn come's in....so stay tuned

PS: I have a question for those that are listening...currently i have a tank rgt straddling the railroad junction b/t Whydham and Darwin. A Japanese SNLF has currently moved into the hex with me. My question is.....if my troops in Darwin are defeated...will they retreat...or will they surrender...since the path is partially blocked by the SNLF occupying the same hex as my Tank rgt.

[Rob Brennan UK]

"PS: I have a question for those that are listening...currently i have a tank rgt straddling the railroad junction b/t Whydham and Darwin. A Japanese SNLF has currently moved into the hex with me. My question is.....if my troops in Darwin are defeated...will they retreat...or will they surrender...since the path is partially blocked by the SNLF occupying the same hex as my Tank rgt.
"

AH .. i thought you had engaged one hex away from the rail junction , whoops .

AFAIK .. dawin wont surrender as surrounding hexes are allied/neutral. BUT if i was japan i'd move a land unit around darwin to isolate it before seriously attacking. Supply will be your main problem i think . it wont flow through a contested hex. you really need to shift that SNLF .. what size is that tank unit ? maybe shock attack as his supply won't be great i think.

[KDonovan]

AFAIK .. dawin wont surrender as surrounding hexes are allied/neutral. BUT if i was japan i'd move a land unit around darwin to isolate it before seriously attacking. Supply will be your main problem i think . it wont flow through a contested hex. you really need to shift that SNLF .. what size is that tank unit ? maybe shock attack as his supply won't be great i think.

yeah i'm probably gonna have to move that SNLF unit out of the way....as supply is important. Currently i have 20,000 at Darwin...so that will suffice for now, but it will be dropping. I already have a Aus Cav Div on the moves torwards the contested hex.....will be there in about 2 weeks. In the meantime..i think i'll give that shock attack a whirl with my Tank Rgt....its not like they are dug in...and this is whats tanks are built for...open field warfare...so we'll see what happens

[KDonovan]

I was gonna due this at exactly the 3 month mark...but Miller41 is going on a trip to Texas for days. Therefore boredom forced me to do this 2 days sooner...so here it is

First....the sunk ships list thus far. (i lead the score 251 to 221)

[KDonovan]

Here's the Japanese count

[Nikademus]

Yikes....no wonder the Army treated naval plans lukewarmly

PS.....are you certain he's not trying to draw units away from more valuable targets in sourthern Oz?

[KDonovan]

here's the aircraft losses list. I've lost about 645 planes..and Miller has lost about 575 planes. The good thing is that the top 3 planes on the list are good Japanese planes. However, below the blue line...my fighters aren't doing as well as i would like, with the Japanese scoring about a 1.5 : 1 advantage over me in air to air kills

[KDonovan]

here's my list of pilot Ace's...or lack there off.....looks like i'm the only one [:D]

[KDonovan]

PS.....are you certain he's not trying to draw units away from more valuable targets in sourthern Oz?

not totally sure. Therefore i still have a Div located in each of my major cities (Melbourne, Sydney, Brisban, and Townsville). I also have a US Div landing in a few days. I'm only bringing up Bde's and Cav Div's to fight the defense of NW-Australia as of now. 5 CV's are currently at Noumea with Avengers...so any incursion into E. Australia will compel me to release my carriers on the Japanese.

Of interest though, latest intel report did indicate that the 21st Jap Div is preparing for an assault on Imphal. Now the 21st was initially based in Hanoi, and since we have a house rule of no Vietnam incursions...he's free to release that force...so its probably not a "trick". Also the 33rd Jap Div was recently located at Mandalay. So perhaps Miller is looking for a little India adventure. Would be quite risky as my air power in the region is huge...with some 200 Hurricanes, 200 P40B's and 50 P40E's, plus about 100 Wellingtons, 40 LB30's and about 50 Beauforts. And of course there is something like 2 UK Div's and about 15 Bde's in that part of India. PLUS..theres no supply in burma, besides Ragoon. So looks to be suicidal on his part...if he decides on this.

PS: btw Nik...great mod...i love how much it slows down the bloodiness of the game. Not sure what it was historically...but 600 planes lost on each side in 3 months of fighting seems about right.

[Nikademus]

Glad your enjoying it. fun reading.

Your gonna love your Avengers. very very tough planes. Zeros hate em. [;)]

[KDonovan]

today my General Staff presented me with there 1st draft in the defeat of japan The blue arrows show major axis of advance, while the green arrows are diversionary strikes. The plan is to cut off the southern theatre from japan, leaving thousands of troops isolated and unable to reinforce the home islands. The plan is also divised to limited the amount of costly atoll invasions.

While the plan is bold indeed, i'm concerned about the exposed left flank to counter attack...therefore further review is needed

[Rob Brennan UK]

Im itching to see how that tank unit handles teh SNLF .. as you say 'open warfare' might even work. worst that can happen is you lose and he forces u back . but thats no biggie at all.

WOW .. japanese ship losses are amazing ! Congrats you really hurt him in N australia.

hope he comes back soo . he's probably twitching in a hotel room in the evening, dreaming of WitP. [:D][:D][:D]

[KDonovan]

well we are back at it...a day early i might add...nothing much to report however...

July 30th - well the last of the Japanese transports were hit today with the sinking of the AP Tarushima Maru. However, this doesn't look like the end of it...as another transport TF was spotted at the end of my Darwin Catalina search range, near Kendari. Could this be a reinforcement TF??..Intel did indicate that the 35th Inf Bde was prepping for an attack on Darwin, so maybe this is it. No sign of KB though, would be suicidal for him to bring in more ships without fighter cover. Meanwhile, near Darwin, that SNLF near the railroad junction launched an assault on my tank rgt, and were easily mowed down.

July 31st - nothing much to report, just some of the usual bombing raids in China on both sides.

Plan - that SNLF near Darwin, has seen its last days, as my Tank rgt prepares to launch a shock attack on the hastely formed defenses. Should be an easy victory. Also, a massive air raid is being launched on that other SNLF near Derby. So its not looking like a good day for SNLF's

Elsewhere, in Burma a huge fighter sweep is being launched from Imphal on Mandalay. The force will consist of some 200 fighter's (hurricans, and P40B's).

Lastly, the KB has now been missing for some 10 days and has got me thinking. I figured i would've seen it in the NW-australia area by now, but i haven't. This lets me to believe that Japan may be planning an assault elsewhere. In an email to me, Miller mentioned he wants to extend his defensive line as far as possible, thereby delaying my assault on his inner island chains. Looking at the map, i believe that Baker Is. may be his next target. It's only defended by a BF, and would make for a good defensive base, as any incursion into the Gilberts would be delayed until Baker Is is in allied hands. Therefore, i'm moving major forces to island that includes....
2 CD-units
2 EAB's
1 Sea Bee's
1 RCT
2 BF's
1 AA Rgt
Also i'm moving all my CV's to Canton, to provide a reaction force to possible invasion. I feel confident that my CV's can go toe to toe with the Japanese CV's now that i have Avenger's. One area i'm lacking is LBA bombers in the area, with most of them active in the Australia theatre. So this will have to do for now

[Rob Brennan UK]

good move defending baker. its a good strpping stone into the marshalls.

and death to the SNLF ... even rhymes [:D]

[KDonovan]

sadly Rob, there was no "death to the SNLF" this turn as my tank rgt, failed to launced its attack...must've out of gas...anyways...

Aug 1st - the day saw 151 Hurricane's and P40B's sweep into Mandalay, where they were met by 40 Oscar's and Zero's. A fierce air battle erupted with my forces coming out on top, downing 31 planes and losing 22 of their own.

Elsewhere, the Japanese launched another assault on the fortifications at Darwin, but were yet again repulsed. However, causalties on both sides were heavy. Fort level is currently at level 3, but work is being down on another line of fortications which should be completed in a few days.

Also some good news, for the 1st time Churchill wasn't groveling for more ships to be sent back to home waters

Aug 2nd - my fighter sweep went in again this turn, this time with only 128 planes. They were met by 38 jap fighters. Looking for more blood, my pilots tore through the japanese fighters downing 29 planes and losing only 13 of their own. So overall the mission was a success as 60 japanese pilots will never be seen again for the lost of 35 allied pilots, that's almost a 2:1 ratio...not bad

Also some more good news, a small jap ML and a troop transport were sunk today, the result of the previous 500lbs bomb hits from B25's

Plan - fighters in burma will be stood down to rest, however my fighters in China are ready for another raid...and Wuhan is the target.

Elsewhere near Darwin, the KB has been spotted (figure's). It is escorting a massive reinforcement fleet to Darwin. A bombardment group also appears present. Therefore, after looking at the state of my costal defense forces at Darwin, it was decided to move out my B25C's to Alice Springs for the time being. This was based on the fact that half my 6in CD guns have been knocked out. Meanwhile my B17's out of Derby will be set to Naval Attack. Also, my Bde near Derby will attack a Jap SNLF stranded in the desert, and my Tank rgt near Darwin will attempt to attack the SNLF at the railroad junction

Overall, tts looking pretty bleak for my forces at Darwin. My strongest unit, the 1st Aus Div, is currently at 1/2 strength, and most of my forces are suffering badly. Supply is strong, but the japanese eng unit are doing a number on my fortifications. I would be happy to last another 3 weeks.

here's a screen shot of the battle over Mandalay

[Nikademus]

Actually keep in mind, when he's fighting over his own turf....a good number of those shot down pilots will survive.

[KDonovan]

doesn't sound like the bushido code to me [:D]

[Nikademus]

yeah well you'd be suprised to know that many Japanese pilots did wear parachutes and bailed out of their planes when stricken. [;)]

[KDonovan]

Aug 3rd - the day began with a successful fighter sweep of Wuhan, where 10 oscar's were shot down, to no loss of my own. Then came my usual bombing raid of Andaman Is, but unlike before, i encountered A6M3's instead of the usual Nate's, which was a wake up call. None of my Liberators were shot down, but half were shot up pretty badly.

Back in the Aus. theatre, my Aus Bde successfully drove back a jap SNLF unit outside of Derby. However, all was not well as my Tank Rgt near Darwin failed to dislodge the jap SNLF unit there with a frontal assault

Aug 4th - a 8 cruiser bombardment group showed up off the shores of Darwin and wrecked the base, destroying 1 Catalina in the process. Causalties were surprisingly heavy. This was followed up by the landing of the 38th Jap Inf. Div at Darwin. In response 12 B17's out of Derby attack the invasion force, but were easily repelled by the 55 Zero's on CAP....losing 4 irreplacable bomber's.[:@]

Plan - unfortunately only 1/4 of my B17 force flew last turn, resulting in that disaster. Hopefully they will do better next turn, as they will stay on naval attack.

Meanwhile, my 5 CV's enroute to Canton Is. will pay a visit to Tarawa for a bombing run to build up pilot confidence and test out the new Avengers

Also, i've begun moving ships, planes, and troops in position for the invasion of Andaman Is. Forces should be in place in about 3 weeks. The operation is being dubbed NOVA

Lastly, my fighters out of Hengchow will sweep Canton next turn in conjuction with an air bombardment by Chinese planes from Wuchow