Lunacy or Shrewdness?

[Redd]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121



I am going to have to choose no more than 1 of those 2 operations. I will either head for Pearl Harbour or go for New Zealand but I doubt very seriously that I am going to be able to do my initially proposed Northern Australia then New Zealand then Pearl Harbour sequence.

I think I'll have to choose to either invade Northern Oz in late July with New Zealand following in September OR just go for Pearl Harbour itself in September/October. Advice welcome.

I vote for New Zealand first. I think that your schwerpunkt is too far east to go for Pearl. If you go for N Oz then Perth then east and south his lines of supply and communication will be open the whole time. I say once India is secure, move your focus methodically down through malaysia and the DEI, then all of New Guiniea including PM, then the Solomans and down to New Zealand. At that point you can divide your forces between those that are front line units that will press on eastward against the US, and those who will invest Oz and try to reduce it (as well as providing training opportunities for your planes and ships ).

[Nemo121]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/20/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 20,41

Japanese Ships
MSW W.18

Allied Ships
SS Narwhal

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 19,9

Japanese Ships
APD APD-46
APD APD-39
APD APD-38
APD APD-37
APD APD-36
APD APD-35
APD APD-33
APD APD-31
APD APD-2
APD APD-1

Allied Ships
SS Grenadier

My estimate of Allied submarines lying in wait between Bombay and Karachi has risen to at least 10. The real problem is that my APD-based ASW TF cannot destroy them as it is intensely vulnerable whenever Karachi airbase is operable and therefore it has to spend most of its time in port. Still, I'll do what I can.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 25
Ki-48 Lily x 119
Ki-46-II Dinah x 6
Ki-15 Babs x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 33 damaged


Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Airbase hits 27
Airbase supply hits 13
Runway hits 179

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 18
Hudson I x 41


Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 4
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Catalina I x 4
Hudson I x 22


Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on French Frigate Shoal , at 104,68


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11


No Allied losses

Airbase supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 6th Chinese Cavalry Corps, at 45,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 32

No Japanese losses


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 81st PA Division, at 42,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 34
D3A Val x 140
B5N Kate x 195
Ki-27 Nate x 94
Ki-51 Sonia x 23
Ki-15 Babs x 4

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
244 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 40,36

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10175 troops, 162 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 193

Defending force 3321 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 92

Japanese max assault: 188 - adjusted assault: 388

Allied max defense: 87 - adjusted defense: 9

Japanese assault odds: 43 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

I'm trying to clear some of the situation in China up. The level of fortifications at Yunan is being frantically increased, troops at Chungking are being rotated out and my, I think, surprise diversion of effort toward Chengtu is proceeding according to plan. Elsewhere the efforts to destroy Chinese forces which threaten my lines of communication are continuing.

Below you can see the situation at Bombay/Karachi. The boxes represent known Allied submarine positions. The arrows show the path some Allied forces are taking in their effort to escape Karachi. I have two Nell Daitai on Naval Attack/50% Search at Colombo but there is a fair chance the Allied ships can slip past them. I have a plan to backstop these Nells though. Hopefully it will work out well for me.

[Nemo121]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/21/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 33,64

Japanese Ships
AP Midori Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #17

Allied Ships
SS Grayling

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 10th Group Army, at 39,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 55

No Japanese losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Karachi , at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 50

Allied aircraft
Mohawk IV x 1
Buffalo I x 2
Hurricane II x 6
Kittyhawk I x 6
Blenheim IF x 1
P-40B Tomahawk x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 damaged
Hurricane II: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 1 damaged
Blenheim IF: 1 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

The interesting point here is that while the Oscars still suffered more heavily than the Allied defenders they did shoot down 3 Hurricane IIs and a P-40B. That 2:1 exchange ratio is much better than they were managing just a fortnight before and is, I feel, indicative of a major drop-off in British pilot quality in the Indian theatre of operations. I'm going to risk a little and send in the battleline. I will see BBs and CAs torpedoed but so be it. That's just the price I'll have to pay. Karachi must fall and if that means weakening my thrusts into Australia or Pearl Harbour then so be it.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Karachi , at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 134
A6M3 Zero x 9
Ki-21 Sally x 193
Ki-49 Helen x 14
Ki-46-II Dinah x 12

Allied aircraft
Mohawk IV x 1
Hurricane II x 1
Kittyhawk I x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 4 destroyed, 38 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Mohawk IV: 3 destroyed
Hurricane II: 2 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 16 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 12 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 12 destroyed
Dakota I: 8 destroyed
LB-30 Liberator: 9 destroyed
Wellington III: 5 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 3 destroyed
Blenheim I: 2 destroyed
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 4 destroyed
IL-4c: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 30
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 206

I've heard people talking about "Monsoon" weather in India... Does anyone have a manual reference for this? I think it might explain why most of my bases around Karachi are perpetually closed by bad weather. Out of 3 bases within striking range of Karachi I seem to be able to only rely on one base being open every two days. This is, obviously, insufficient to keep Karachi closed... another reason I am going to have to commit the battleline.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 31
Ki-49 Helen x 23

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 56

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 12
Hudson I x 26


Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Catalina I x 2
Hudson I x 8


Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 1 damaged
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on French Frigate Shoal , at 104,68


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11


No Allied losses

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 36,25


Allied aircraft
SB-2c x 7


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 81st PA Division, at 42,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 33
D3A Val x 151
B5N Kate x 219
Ki-27 Nate x 97
Ki-51 Sonia x 23
Ki-15 Babs x 4

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
157 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49 Helen x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
TK Empire Lytton, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49 Helen x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Arrow, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-21 Sally x 6
Ki-49 Helen x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PG Thyme
MSW Cromarty, on fire, heavy damage

The level bombing attacks prove quite ineffective. This is, of course, due to the act that:
a) they were actually ineffective during the war ( a point which is often brought up by Allied players lamenting the ability of Bettys and Nells to carry torpedoes to anything within 15 hexes and pointing out how much less efective they would be if they were properly modelled... a very good point to be fair ... but as quickly forgotten when one turns to discussing Allied level-bombing and many of these same people suddenly become quiet... It is a great pity that it appears more important to many to limit the side they do not play than to accurately model the abilities and flaws in BOTH sides as accurately as possible).

b) they do not benefit greatly from the flawed game mechanic of accounting for each bomb individually ( which tends to ramp up to hit percentages as the bombload increases.... a fact which mainly benefits Allied bombers but also accounts for the fact that the Ki-48 is a better anti-ship platorm than either the Ki-21 or 49)...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 41,31

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12314 troops, 30 guns, 574 vehicles, Assault Value = 423

Defending force 16074 troops, 88 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 492

Japanese max assault: 622 - adjusted assault: 293

Allied max defense: 510 - adjusted defense: 87

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
522 casualties reported
Guns lost 13
Vehicles lost 24

Allied ground losses:
212 casualties reported
Guns lost 6


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 40,36

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10146 troops, 161 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 192

Defending force 3332 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 93

Japanese max assault: 189 - adjusted assault: 346

Allied max defense: 89 - adjusted defense: 9

Japanese assault odds: 38 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Chandpur

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 21267 troops, 150 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 406

Defending force 11128 troops, 157 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 144

Japanese max assault: 728 - adjusted assault: 141

Allied max defense: 151 - adjusted defense: 76

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
363 casualties reported
Guns lost 20

Allied ground losses:
195 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

I'm glad that Chandpur is close to falling as I could benefit from transferring the division there to Karachi. I am also considering taking one of the divisions from Colombo and transferring it to Bombay by ship. The level 8 forts there just seem to be too tough a nut for my forces to crack at present.

I'm going to launch further probing attacks on Karachi and Chungking, accept the massive casualties inherent in such attacks, try to drop the fort levels and then evaluate the results. I these attacks achieve little then I will pull my forces back for rest and refit and only attack again when fully prepared.

[Nemo121]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/22/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 19,10

Japanese Ships
APD APD-46
APD APD-39
APD APD-38
APD APD-37
APD APD-36
APD APD-35
APD APD-33
APD APD-31
APD APD-2
APD APD-1

Allied Ships
SS Gato, hits 9, on fire, heavy damage

Good, only 10 or 11 submarines in the area left to deal with [:D]. Sheesh!!! I probably won't lose any battleships but I'm sure quite a few are going to end up as yard birds for a long time during the operation to reduce Karachi.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 101,66

Japanese Ships
ML Saishu
ML Takashima
ML Ishizaki
ML Hoko
ML Hirashima

Allied Ships
SS Flying Fish

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 10th Group Army, at 39,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 63

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48 Lily x 68
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4
Ki-15 Babs x 8

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 1
I-16c x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 19 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 41

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Karachi , at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 14

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1
Kittyhawk I x 4
Blenheim IF x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

An A6M3 sweep goes well. It also gives these pilots a good deal of experience at an acceptable price. The A6M3 has impressed me when committed to combat. I think there is a noticeable improvement in performance over the A6M2.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 25
Ki-49 Helen x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 47

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 15
Hudson I x 43


Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
73 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
Catalina I x 4
Hudson I x 20


Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 1 damaged
Hudson I: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on French Frigate Shoal , at 104,68


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15


No Allied losses

Runway hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 81st PA Division, at 42,58

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 35
D3A Val x 152
B5N Kate x 209
Ki-27 Nate x 95
Ki-51 Sonia x 23
Ki-15 Babs x 4

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 2
Ki-21 Sally x 3

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1
Kittyhawk I x 1
Blenheim IF x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 1

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AK Empire Lightning

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49 Helen x 3

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1
Kittyhawk I x 1
Blenheim IF x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 1

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AK Empire Pennant, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 3
Ki-49 Helen x 6

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1
Kittyhawk I x 1
Blenheim IF x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
PG Genista
PG Thyme, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

And in contrast to yesterday it would seem the level bombers had a much better day today. Good. The fewer one ship TFs which are available to suck the ops points from my bombardment TF the better.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 102,66

Japanese Ships
ML Hirashima
ML Saishu
ML Takashima
ML Ishizaki
ML Hoko
ML Nasami

Allied Ships
SS Tautog, hits 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 41,30

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8689 troops, 9 guns, 553 vehicles, Assault Value = 293

Defending force 11907 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 354

Japanese max assault: 468 - adjusted assault: 432

Allied max defense: 326 - adjusted defense: 5

Japanese assault odds: 86 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
609 casualties reported
Guns lost 30


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!


I thought it was about time to illustrate the situation in China again. As you can see Trey is sending Chinese units to cut the Kunming/Kweiyang road. They will have no real combat power but will be able to discomfit me a bit. In return I have ordered the opening o the Nanning/Hanoi road and currently have two divisional-equivalents driving on Chengtu. There is a Provisional Tank Division just north o the river and an infantry division just south-east of Chengtu. It will take some hard fighting but the Provisional Tank Division will push the Chinese forces facing it back to the clear land north-west... and from there it should be easy to push it back again into Chengtu. That will slow the Infantry Division's drive as the infantry division will then have to annihilate the forces facing it using the "hold out" code... a major game flaw.

However, once that is done two divisional equivalents should be well able to take Chengtu, leaving Chungking as the only remaining city in Chinese hands. I will then have the luxury of having all the time in the world to reduce Chungking. Since I amn't intending to attack the Soviet Union prior to 1943 I am in no real rush and am confident of sewing up the continental land war ( China, India, Soviet Union) by late 1943.

Depending on results elsewhere this will give me either a one ( Eastern Pacific) or two ( Eastern Pacific and Australia) front war and an enviable position for the great defensive battles of 1944 and 1945. I will probably fall a little short of the high-water mark I hoped for at game's beginning since I will probably fail to take either Australia or Pearl Harbour ( or both) but my position should still be pretty good.

[ADavidB]

Is there any function in this forum for ignoring certain posters? And no, I don't intend to ignore you ADavidB ( infinitely preferable to being refered to as "guy" BTW) unless you choose to continue the misrepresentation. I see no need to indulge in a flamewar with you about things I never actually said.

You are right - I should have never said nor posted what I did in your AAR. It was bad judgement and stupid emotion on my part. You're playing a great game, and writing an excellent AAR, and it is no place for me to be standing on a soapbox spouting off my opinions. I was wrong in doing it, and I apologize. I've removed my two posts because they don't add anything of value to your AAR, and they just make me look like more of an idiot than I already do.

Sorry -

Dave Baranyi

[Nemo121]

ADavidB,
 
It takes a lot to be able to reconsider something one has done and admit it may not have been the right thing to do. You had an opinion, I had mine. We aired our differences and a miscommunication occurred. That has now been set right so I suggest we forget about it, say there's no need for any apology whatsoever and move on. Fair?
 
FWIW I'd be more than happy to outline the logistical issue I think lies at the heart of this in a war room thread in a couple of days time if you want to continue the discussion there... I do think it is an important discussion to have since land-based air power is such a vital component of this game.

[Redd]

   Nice to see everyone getting along again. Remind me never to piss Nemo off! [X(]

[Rob Brennan UK]

ORIGINAL: Redd

Nice to see everyone getting along again. Remind me never to piss Nemo off! [X(]

Hehe .. not a wise move , Nemo i suspect can batter most folk here with logical arguments and being a psycatrist<sp> he's rather eloquent too. [;)]

Nemo .. you stated you had betties and nells on 50% search in india . imo thats too high i find 20% seems to find evenything and allows bigger strikes . only good thing of 50% search is it does mitigate losses if your expecting enemy CAP and keeps fatigue and morale posibly higher than a lower search %.

Warspite deserves medals and muffins all round ! .. for an old ship she's given sterling service ( can't help being a RN fanboy even in a japanese AAR [;)]). He cant have much of a Navy left there by now though. shame about the 15" BB hits , they hurt .. bombay is a big port though . have you got AR's there yet ? ..

also hitting colombo with a bombardment run can be nasty with the 9inch CD guns . definately worth remembering to turn off escort bombard here , but i guess you learnt that the hard way [;)]. and it's all too easy to forget to check that button ( i always advise people then forget in my own games .. so its a case of 'do as i say' rather than 'do as i do' [:D]).

His AC losses in bombay must be hurting a lot. i'd guess his fighter pools are empty by now. however the beauforts and the american mediums have HUGE pools and as you say supply isn't a problem in Karachi. Nice going with the second Oscar sweep .. ouch on the original one .. i NEVER EVER send a/c on 100ft sweep missions .. way too easy to get horribly bounced and AA Mg's take a heavy toll on unarmoured japanese a/c.

Nice to see you catching up and i'm happy your being busy is a good thing .. I'll be away from tomorrow for a while ( more darn surgery .. the last one went tits up and i now have gangrene ! ).. no idea when i'll be back but in the meantime .. good luck and I definately look forward to catching up. although i may ask you for a summary as your not exactly 'stuck for words' .. hehe .

[Nemo121]

Redd,
[8D] Ah I just hate being misunderstood etc and I've learnt, over time, that getting angry about it doesn't solve anything. It is all sorted out now though and there's no rancour so we'll put it behind us and move on.

Rob,
The reason for 50% is that I think Trey might be sneaking a couple of AP/AKs out of Karachi with Aussi cadres. I want to stop this and since these are single-ship TFs I amn't worried about sending only a few bombers. 6 bombers would be more than enough to take care of a single AP or AK. The problem will be spotting them.
Bombay: Nope, no ARs... I have some on the way but they won't arrive until near the end of June. I am still bringing my ARs online and the ones I have produced so far ( minus the four tasked for Bombay) are entirely committed elsewhere ( Midway etc).
&nbsp;
Colombo: I forgot to turn escort bombard off. End result, two badly damaged DDs and one badly damaged CL. *sigh* You would think that after all this time the default when creating a bombardment TF would be to create it with "escort bombard OFF". Such a simple change but not one which has been made yet.
Based on what you said about bomber pools I did a little investigation. The results are shown below... Basically the first number is a rough estimate of the number of planes of each type which have either arrived in-theatre or been produced and the 2nd number is the number of this type which I've destroyed. The third number is the number of planes available for future action...
&nbsp;
B-17:&nbsp; 413 / 187 / 226 left.
B25: 536 / 8 / 528 left.
B26: 341 / 194 / 147 left.
Beaufort: 468 / 168 / 300 ( LOTS of Beauforts left for Karachi)
Blenheim: 633 / 518 / 115 left.
Buffalo I: 197 / 197 / 0 left.
F4F4: 720 / 250 / 470 (+ ones in newly arriving carriers)
Hudson I: 302 / 122 / 180 left. ( This is nice to know since it means it should be pretty easy to cut the Hudsons in Australia down to size quickly).
Hurricane II: 488 / 457 / 31 left ( Horrific Hurricane II losses.)
Kittyhawk: 276 / 205 / 71 ( Again, pretty horrific losses)
Mohawk: 168 / 141 / 27 left
P40B: 305 / 255 / 50 left.
P40E: 379 / 276 / 103 left ( Again, P40E pools are very low. This is important if I wish to head for Pearl harbour.)
Swordfish 92 / 83 / 9 left.
Vildebeest: 108 / 107 / 1 left
Wellington III: 232 / 228 / 4 left.
&nbsp;
So I've put a very significant dent in british aircraft pools and the large four-engined bombers. I've had very little opportunity to destroy B-25s ( I've only seen them around Amchitka and I have no fighters there at all) but the B26s, which I've had a chance to attrit, have suffered quite serious losses.
Overall it looks like the Allies have lost approximately 450 four-engined bombers out of a total force in-theatre of 975 and have suffered fairly heavy losses in all non-B25 twin-engined bombers. Nothing decisive of course.

[Redd]

I did not mean to imply that you were out of line in any way, it's just that I am very impressed by the way that you can get your point accross without name calling. Thats the point where the debate goes into the crapper. You are doing an outstanding job with this AAR, keep it up.

So now, did we decide on Pearl or NZ? How are your units doing in Karachi? How badly is your timetable impacted? Inquiring lurkers want to know!

[Nemo121]

I did not mean to imply that you were out of line in any way, it's just that I am very impressed by the way that you can get your point accross without name calling. Thats the point where the debate goes into the crapper.

No worries. I understood exactly what you meant . Wasn't always that way I assure you but I've learnt.

So now, did we decide on Pearl or NZ? How are your units doing in Karachi? How badly is your timetable impacted? Inquiring lurkers want to know!

I haven't decided yet. I'd like to hear what more people think. So far it is 1 each. I do have my own leaning but I'm not certain which is better yet. Hawaii is higher risk and much higher reward. New Zealand/Australia is lower risk but also significantly lower reward.


Karachi... I've pulled back from karachi to build Samir up with supplies, rebuild my morale and bring my units to full strength. After some further naval bombardments I'll advance on Karachi again. I think that my timetable is totally hosed. If Karachi were cut off from supply when beseiged ( as is only reasonable) then it would definitely fall to my forces sooner rather than later. As it is I think the pretty FUBARed automatic supply model at Karachi/Chungking and Chengtu makes these fortresses almost immune from attack.

In any case I'm setting up for a long siege using my battleline ( grievously damaged already with almost all ships at 10+ sys damage and a couple in the 20% sys damage range) to batter the support elements into nothingness so that the limitless supply matters not at all. It is my only chance.

How long will this take? To be honest I can't see this battle ending before the end of July. Anything sooner than that will be a bonus.

At that stage I'll be able to move against Australia at the beginning of September or Pearl at the beginning of October. If I can take Pearl then I'll move on New Zealand in early 43 and then settle in to my defensive positions ( while taking out the Soviet Union with my Chinese and Kwantung Armies). I think that taking Pearl would help slow the Allied counter-offensive by at least 6 months and so it is something I wish to do. I think that, overall, whether or not Pearl is practical will depend upon just how tough Karachi proves to be and how much damage it does to my battleline before succumbing.

Trey is pouring reinforcements into Karachi using the in-game teleport with 60 day delay function. I am happy for him to continue doing this since when karachi falls it should trap significant Allied forces in limbo forever. Gamey? Perhaps but not more so than teleporting divisions and 15,000 tons of supply per day into a besieged port. So as I've said before, I think it'll all balance out.

At least 1 more turn to come tonight.

[Sneer]

all will depend on your ground combat progress
if it will be fast than hawaii
else NZ
however i always thought than japanese assets are too thin with such long curtain

[veji1]

Well I guess the idea of conquering a big portion of the map isn't to try to defend everything later on... The goal with China and India, and maybe Russia, is to knock fronts out of the war for good, and then be able to focus your forces somewhere else... but I am sure that if he was to conquer OZ, NZ, etc... he wouldn't try to hard to defend it.. The goal there is to have room to manouver, have space with which you can buy time... Be able to do a bit of "burnt land" policy later on in the war...

[Sneer]

thin defence on vaste perimeter may be difficult as both reaction force and transport assets are often far from action
it means that losses from this doctrine can be higher not lower

[ny59giants]

I would have to say Hawaii over either NZ or Oz. Those two are self-sufficient when it comes to supply and getting enough troops for self-defense. However, no offense will come from there without the forces of the USA added to the mix.
While Hawaii is a higher risk, it would put any eventual counter-offensive by the USA be either CV supported or restricted to the North Pacific route.

Since he is using the 60 day "game mechanics" to move units in and out of Karachi, I wonder if he "could" spend enough points to get the static CD at San Fran sent over?? [&:]

[Nemo121]

ny59,
&nbsp;
Not only would that be possible. It is something I expect Trey to be doing. As far as I am concerned the only question is how long it will be before the static CD are sent over. On the other with all of the units flowing to Karachi I expect the Allied PPs to be relatively low. That might be saving me.
&nbsp;
I also know he has Chinese units respawning in the Soviet Union and moving around there and I think he has been flying bombers from karachi etc into the Soviet Union in recent days as the air balance in Korea and Manchuria has changed significantly... I don't mind though as those planes will be interred there for the duration of the war and it is as good as out of the war until such time as I invade the Soviet Union and re-activate them.
&nbsp;
So, it really is a proper lunacy game . 15 or 16 inch naval guns teleporting across oceans, Chinese troops moving around the Soviet Union while Soviet troops remain locked in place, bombers rebasing to be interred, China about to fall, Karachi beseiged, no stacking or transfer rules etc etc etc . It certainly is interesting though

[Nemo121]

One question:
&nbsp;
Does anyone know the best way to bring down fort levels in a siege?
&nbsp;
I've got about 5 engineer units at Karachi, a few artillery units, 8 infantry divisions and about 4 or 5 tank regiments. I am interested in trying to see how to use that force mix to bring the fort levels down as quickly as possible.
&nbsp;
I have read that setting everything to bombard except for one infantry division and the engineers which are set to attack works well but when I tried it at Chungking it failed bloodily. should I retry it or am I just best ordering general deliberate attacks&nbsp; in conjunction with naval bombardments, bombers on ground attack and parachute drops hoping to bring down the fortification levels that way? obviously bombarding alone won't do it since the enemy has limitless supply

[aztez]

Are you prepared in case Karachi does not fall??? I mean your opponent will receive quite a few reinforcements there and the supply levels will not be an issue.

[ny59giants]

I think you have enough engineers in both your engineer units and within your infantry divisions to bring down the forts. The question is to keep his port/airfields damaged enough to force his engineers to repair them first and not rebuild his own forts while your troops recover enough to launch another attack. From my own limited experience and from reading AAR's, there seems to be no set level that needs to be reached in combat odds to bring a fort level down by one (more a presence of "x" amount of engineers). It would be nice if there was some combat odds that had to be reached before a fort was reduced, but if that was the case certain atolls may become near impossible to captured (level 9 forts and high AV).

You are fortunate to have a base one hex away from Karachi to use as a recovery center for your seige. I think combining LBA and naval BB is the key, but you seem to have a sound strategy to use them to wear him down. Now if you can find someway to detect and destroy those "stealth" ships bring in troops and supplies, you would be in good shape. [:D][:D]

I would have liked to see your overall strategy played out in CHS with the larger map. [;)]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121


I've heard people talking about "Monsoon" weather in India... Does anyone have a manual reference for this? I think it might explain why most of my bases around Karachi are perpetually closed by bad weather. Out of 3 bases within striking range of Karachi I seem to be able to only rely on one base being open every two days. This is, obviously, insufficient to keep Karachi closed... another reason I am going to have to commit the battleline.

There is no "monsoon" season in WitP. Weather is completely random.