'twas a perfect day: the 100 Japanese army bombers from Clark couldn't fly because of rain, but approx. 60 LB from Cagayan took off and - in two waves - inflicted casualties on BOTH Japanese divisions.
Don't have the save yet, so I don't know if some of my units are at Lucena, too (all set to pursuit). I was hoping that they would move to Clark Field - mind you, I'm not complaining. [:D]
VSWG,
I'm glad to see you counter-attacking at Manilla... and doing so succesfully.
As to Lucena vs Clark Field... Lucena is better for you as with only 2 to 3 more Shock Attacks ( doable within 5 to 7 days) depending on which way the Japanese retreat from Lucena you should be able to push these 2.5 divisions into the sea and force their surrender. Japan has about 12 divisions available for combat operations. Removing approximately 1/5th of this force and retaking much of the Phillipines will cripple the Japanese timetable completely.
The key is to continue shock-attacking as quickly as possible. Friendly losses are irrelevant. You must strike hard and fast now as the potential rewards are well worth it.
John Dillworth: "I had GreyJoy check my spelling and he said it was fine."
Well, that's that settled then.
A stunning victory at Manila: my combat units are in excellent shape, and two tank units have followed the fleeing Japanese army to Lucena. They are ordered two shock attack again. Together they can muster 90 AV (180 with shock attack, see screenshot), while the Japanese had defended themselves at Manila with 713 AV - only 178 without urban bonus, and they should be in a worse shape right now, too! All LB from Cagayan have been set to ground attack Lucena.
I would habe preferred a retreat into Clark, because now I have to divide my army into a part that pursuits the Japanese divisions and a part that conquers Clark. For now I'm going to send the larger part to Clark, SigInt reports at least two small Japanese combat units north of Manila, while the Japanese division at Lucena should pose no threat anymore. Two Filipino divisions which actually do show some combat damage (fatigue and disruption between 20 and 30) will stay at Manila as reserve, all other troops have disruption and fatigue below 10 (mostly 0!).
Right now the 20.000 supplies at Manila are all I have, but maybe we can capture some large Japanese supply dumps. The LBs at Cagayan (only 4000 supplies ar eleft on Mindanao though):
Planes from India and the DEI are scrambling to the Philippines: all Blenheim IV's have moved from Calcutta / Burma to Chungking today and will be ready to fly to Manila tomorrow. Several Hurricane squadrons will follow.
Before 3 Warhawk squadrons (only 20 planes combinded, though), some Dutch fighters and the Dauntless from Java can relocate to Luzon I have to fly some aviation support to a small island northwest of Amboina - Namlea. From there they can reach Davao, and finally Luzon. Primary mission of the new USAFFE air force will be the prevention of Japanese reinforcements arriving at Luzon. Fortunately, most Japanese APs are either A) near Java B) in SoPac or C) at the bottom of the sea. A squadron of PT boats (have to refuel at Puerto Princessa), and last but not least CL Boise will be ready to attack all landing attemps. This should be fun...
What happened elsewhere... not much:
DEI:
An aborted bombardment attempt of the Japanese BBs at Tijlitjap! At least that's what I think it is, they are some hexes to the northwest of the base, heading northwest - and Repulse and Royal Souvereing are still lurking west of Christmas Island...
Due to bad weather the Martins and Dauntless on Java decided to fly their secondary mission - a raid on Batavia AFB, with good effect: only few planes flew, but the runway is already 30 % damaged. The convoy at Merak must have unloaded most of its cargo by now.
Finally the Japanese units from Malang have moved to Soerabaja, the city will fall tomorrow.
SWPac:
Some Wirraways and A-20s attacked Lae AFB today - 20 % runway damage, very good: this forces Gary to defend Lae too (some Zeros are flying CAP at Rabaul), or risk the airfield getting closed.
SoPac:
Japanese carriers have been spotted moving towards Kwajalein. Might be a good idea to send KB to Luzon...
Tomorrow another 2 Chinese divisions will arrive at Meiktila, and then my troops will attack immediately: another Japanese unit is reported 120 miles to the south, moving towards Meiktila.
Ground combat at Meiktila
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 2548 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 305
Defending force 26971 troops, 174 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 658
Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Java:
Yamashiro anf Kongo returned to Tijlitjap and bombarded the base. All planes had relocated to Bandoeng, though, from where they flew two nice raids:
Day Air attack on TF, near Merak at 19,59
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 23
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 24
Vildebeest IV x 3
Martin 139 x 25
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb: 5 destroyed, 8 damaged
Martin 139: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Atsuta Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AK Ina Maru
AP Tsuyama Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Manko Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Ryugi Maru
AK Tekkai Maru, heavy damage
AP Koan Maru
AP Teizui Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
More transports that won't be carrying troops / supplies to Luzon!
Day Air attack on TF at 18,60
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 12
Vildebeest IV x 3
Martin 139 x 36
Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 1 damaged
Martin 139: 2 destroyed, 11 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Minazuki
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 1
CA Atago, Bomb hits 1
Of course all hits on bounced during the second raid, but Kongo and Yamashiro are both reported fuming.
Not sure if I should send in BB RS and Repulse... besides that AO, there's nowhere I can refuel in the DEI anymore, and now Batavia and its level 4 AF is Japanese... sending some cruiser to Merak would be a suicide run, unless the weather worsens ('clear' right now). For now I'm retreating several hexes to the west.
AP Van Rees, carrying evacuees from Java, got lost near Sumatra and apparently wanted to take a short cut to India... a couple of Nells from Palembang sunk her immeadiately.
On the ground, the situation is more dire: Japanese troops have arrived at Bandoeng, and the airbase was abandoned (back to Tijlitjap). Another unit is reported on the coastal road to the east. To my surprise Soerabaja defeated the Japanese attack. All Inf LCUs save on KNIL Rgt at Tijlitap are at Madioen, to avoid being cut of from Tijlitjap. I'm considering moving them to Soerabaja, and a single unit to Malang (1 unit left) to cut off the Japanese divsions from their supply source before they can conquer Soerabaja - but would they arrive in time?
Philippines:
The day started with air raids on Allied and Japanese troops at Lucena:
Day Air attack on 16th Division, at 43,53
Allied aircraft @ 6000 feet
Hudson I x 43
B-17D Fortress x 16
B-17E Fortress x 20
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Nice, but the Japanese attack was more effective, despite flying twice as high...?
Day Air attack on 192nd US Tank Battalion, at 43,53
Japanese aircraft @ 12000 feet
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 23
Ki-21-II Sally x 60
Ki-48-I Lily x 14
Ki-49 Helen x 11
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
188 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 9
Both attacks devastated the affected units - see screenshot below. This and the fact that a Japanese tank unit appeared at Lucena caused my shock attack to fail. But a closer look at the assault values of the Japanese units (taken during the Jap. bombardment attack) reveals that the units must be in a sad shape - my Southern Luzon Army should be able to deal with them. The tank units are in good shape actually (still 70% ready squads), but highly disrupted, so I've ordered them back to Manila for one or two days of rest before sending them to northern Luzon, where they will be more useful.
Nemo, I've opted for a weaker southern Army because acquiring supplies has a higher priority at the moment than destroying these two divisions. Those 20.000 supplies in Manila won't last long, especially if I want to base a large bomber force at Clark, so I desperately need to conquer the resource center in northern Luzon and Japanese supply dumps (I assume they are larger here than at Naga/Legaspi - closer to HI). There are only 125 resource center at Naga, and 375 in northern Luzon. The plan is to blitz northern Luzon before larger Japanese reinforcements can arrive. I'll keep bombing those divisions from Cagayan, though, and hopefully I can eliminate them lateron.
I'm moving fewer, but more powerful units to northern Luzon to make that axis of attack look weaker. Maybe I can fool Gary for a while...
On a more general note: the recent turn of events is a major strategic defeat for Gary. Actually I cannot lose here: every unit, every plane and every ship he is going to send to Luzon is already a victory for me: these units will be missing in SoPac/DEI/Burma/India. He probably had to cancel some more ambitious plans already (conquering Port Moresby, maybe), and an invasion of India is definitely off now. Should I be able to capture enough supplies and Clark Field, I'm threating his precious SLOC from the HI to the DEI - he cannot ignore this threat, he has to deal with it NOW. Until Luzon is subdued again, he has lost the initiative in the entire Pacific - and suddenly, some more ambitious plans in SoPac, CentPac and SWPac become very feasible...
China:
Stable.
SWPac:
A Japanese submarine appearead at Townsville. Bad idea, this is were my ASW TFs are based....
SoPac:
No Japanese TFs reported. Third wave of Operation Passenger (now near Papaete) is moving back towards Pago Pago.
CentPac:
Nothing to report.
Near Japan:
Ise and Mutsu got away. Yesterday their escorts attacked SS Tautog, and after that Gary made their course a little less predictable. The two submarines (boo! hiss!!) and several others are now moving to Luzon, to take their toll (yeah, right! [8|]) on the Japanese reinforcement convoys.
Also congratulations on the manilla attack, don't forget that each retreat will cause c 20% kills(of total troops) on top of whats given in the report so i suspect nemo has it right if you can drive him back another hex or two they will be utterly wrecked. Doubt you could make them surrender though.
And i think you might have a japanese 'surrender' on your hands soon (hopefully not) [;)]
Well done !
sorry for the spelling . English is my main language , I just can't type . and i'm too lazy to edit
The last Chinese units have arrived at Meiktila, and tomorrow all troops will shock attack, hopefully supported by some Wirraways and Blenheims flying ground attacks:
Malaya:
The daily bombardment attack:
Ground combat at Singapore
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 2976 troops, 55 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1242
Defending force 79937 troops, 557 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 988
Allied ground losses:
236 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
My AV is decreasing due to lack of supplies. The base has 5000 left, but is in the red, so they won't move into the units. No air raids.
Java:
Soerabaja fell today, but no planes appeared due to the lack of Japanese aviation support. Bandoeng held, and reinforcements arrive here tomorrow, but defending this base became pointless because of that Japanese unit moving with lightning speed on the coastal road. Tomorrow all units will start retreating to Tijlitjap, from which as many ENG LCUs as possible will be evacuated. 3 transport plane squadrons are already flying units to Bali, and south of Christmas Island a small fleet is gathering, waiting for bad weather to make its run to Tijlitjap Dunkirk-style. 2 RAAF Hurricane squadrons are flying CAP, and all Dutch Martins plus some recon planes will try to attack either the convoy at Merak or Batavia's airfield again.
100 ships at Balikpapan? I find this hard to believe.
Philippines:
The Northern Luzon Army is already at Clark Field! Gary has evacuated all planes, so he doesn't think that he can hold the base. There should be some damaged bombers here, as today they flew a ground attack on an AA unit. I've ordered another shock attack+pursuit at Clark.
The Southern Luzon Army is lagging behind, the pursuit feature has screwed up their movement as they were reported to march west (and rather slowly), but had the correct destination. Only two artillery units which I had manually sent to Lucena have arrived today. I've fixed the movement orders now, and they seems to have kept the already marched distance, so hopefully all units of the Southern Luzon Army arrive at Lucena tomorrow. The 100 LB from Cagayan are flying some very nice daily raids, I like the fact that their attacks are split up and damage both divisions. One tank unit is back at Manila, the second unit was probably delayed by the Japanese bombardment attack by several cruisers.
Some Japanese TFs are appearing around Luzon, but today 70 Blenheim IVs from India arrived at Manila (via Chungking) and have been set to naval attack (6000 feet). Their secondary mission: recon Aparri/Lingayen/Tuguegarao/Laoag/Vigan. I want to know what I'm facing here, the troops at Clark report only one unit at Baguio (the base in central Luzon) besides the 4 units at Clark and the 2 units at Bataan. As soon as Clark falls, the Blenheims will move to that base (2 base forces are already on their way), and 48 Hurricanes can make it to Luzon from Wuchow (Wuchow-Clark: 12 hexes, max range). In the DEI the Warhawks, some Dutch fighters and the Dauntless have moved to Namlea, and will fly to Davao tomorrow. Soon I will have a sizeable air force on Luzon, but will I have the supplies to keep them flying?
The MTBs have arrived at Manila and are set to max react. Maybe they'll attack that convoy north of Aparri. I can't send them manually, because the pathfinding routine routs them around all Japanese bases and therefore the distance is too far. Submarines are also closing in from all sides, and then there's still CL Boise at Mindanao... can't wait to see her slam into the first larger Japanase reinforcemnt convoy - CAP'ed by Hurricanes and Warhawks! [:D]
Gary recon'ed Namlea today, he must have anticipated that I would use it as a stepping stone between Java/Timor and Mindanao - very clever. In case he sends a bombardment TF I've set the Dauntless to naval attack and the fighters to escort.
SWPac:
The Japanese submarine at Townsville was on a minelaying mission. My ASW minesweepers cleared the field immediately, but an annoying bug caused PG Yarra to hit a mine. Admiral Laurent had reported this bug, and I can now confirm it: if a minefield is completely swept by a TF that contains at least one non-MSW ship, this ship will always hit a mine.
SoPac:
Everything quiet. Good - the third wave is a week away from Pago Pago. Savaii is building up nicely, a level 3 AF will be created in a couple of days, and then 100+ LB will begin their reign of terror in SoPac.
Also congratulations on the manilla attack, don't forget that each retreat will cause c 20% kills(of total troops) on top of whats given in the report so i suspect nemo has it right if you can drive him back another hex or two they will be utterly wrecked. Doubt you could make them surrender though.
Surrender: probably impossible, agreed. Wreaking them: doable, but it has a lower priority than securing northern Luzon and its local resource centers and supply dumps - I hope Gary was busy sending supplies:
Sun Tsu: "Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy.
One cartload of the enemy's provisions is equivalent to twenty
of one's own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is
equivalent to twenty from one's own store."
[;)] [:D]
And i think you might have a japanese 'surrender' on your hands soon (hopefully not) [;)]
LOL! I hope not, this game became quite unique because of the recent happenings. I would love to see how it works out. He's sending me a turn every day BTW.
How many BF's have you gotten out of PI and SRA to northern Australia?? You will need some there to build up the fortification levels and for aviation support.
I'm glad you asked this question ny59giants, because by now I had lost track of all those evacuation missions myself. It was high time to take a closer look at all units which I had evacuated so far...
Okay, since Dec. 7th I had two general principles for evacuating units:
1. no evacuation of combat units until the very, very last moment.
2. Dutch units go to Perth/southwest Australia (or Darwin, and then Perth), USAFFE units to Darwin/northern Australia, and all British/CW units go to Calcutta/India.
As a rule of thumb, my priorities have been, in this order: HQs, Aviation Support Units, Combat Engineers, Base Forces, Engineers, Combat Units.
And here's the List (capital L):
'small fragment': less than 10 squads
'fragment': less than 50 squads
'large fragment': more than 50 squads
percentage: part is the parent unit
Dutch Units:
ABDA HQ (3x AK, near Australia: small fragment, 6x SS, near Australia, small fragment)
2 NEIAF Aviation (Namlea: 81%, Darwin: large fragment)
West Sumatra Garrison Bn (Ceylon: 100%) [no idea why I took this INF unit with me...]
1st NEIAF Base Force (Darwin: 15%, Perth: small fragment)
2nd NEIAF Base Force (Perth: fragment)
5th Dutch Naval Base Force (Christmas Island (IO): fragment)
6th NEIAF Base Force (Geralton: 55%)
7th Dutch Naval Base Force (Perth: 56%, 2x AK, near Australia: large fragment)
8th NEIAF Base Force (Bali: 25%, Perth: small fragment)
10th NEIAF Base Force (Koepang: fragment)
11th NEIAF Base Force (Christmas Island (IO): fragment, 2x AK, near Australia: small fragment, Darwin: small fragment)
12th NEIAF Base Force (Perth: fragment)
16th NEIAF Base Force (Christmas Island (IO): fragment, Perth: fragment)
17th NEIAF Base Force (Perth: 58%, Christmas Island (IO): small fragment)
British units:
Malaya Army HQ (1x AK, Indian Ocean: fragment)
IND III Corps HQ (Calcutta: small fragment)
224 Group RAF HQ (1x AK, Indian Ocean: fragment)
MAF Aviation (Calcutta: fragment)
1st Burma Brigade (Ceylon: 60%) [from Rangoon]
2nd Burma Brigade (Ceylon: 82%) [from Rangoon]
Rangoon Force (Port Blair: 52%) [from Rangoon]
1st ISF Base Force (Calcutta: fragment)
2nd ISF Base Force (Calcutta: large fragment)
3rd ISF Base Force (Calcutta: small fragment, 1x AK, Indian Ocean: small fragment)
No. 101 RN Base Force (1x AP, Bay of Bengal: fragment)
No. 103 RN Base Force (Calcutta: 68%)
No. 106 RN Base Force (1x AP, Bay of Bengal: small fragment)
No. 109 RN Base Force (1x AK, Indian Ocean: fragment)
No. 106 RAF Base Force (Port Blair: 26%)
No. 107 RAF Base Force (Calcutta: fragment, 1x AK, Indian Ocean: fragment, 1x AP, Indian Ocean: small fragment)
No. 108 RAF Base Force (Calcutta: 59%, 2x AK, Indian Ocean: large fragment)
No. 113 RAF Base Force (Calcutta: small fragment)
USAFFE units:
USAFFE HQ (Darwin: large fragment)
4th Marines Rgt (Pearl Harbor: small fragment) [/b][OK, so I lied about Darwin...][/b]
5th USAAF Base Force (Katherine: large fragment)
803rd EAB (Darwin: 93%)
11th PAF Air Base Force (Darwin: 100%)
120th USN Base Force (Darwin: 62%)
14th PS Eng Rgt (Darwin: 100%)
Okay, looks like I have enough Dutch stuff lying around... But something went wrong with USAFFE: I have complete units at Darwin, but I definitely remember evacuating parts of Asiatic Fleet and more USAFFE Base Forces, too. I think I lost some fragments when Balikpapan fell early, and perhaps some transports got sunk while carrying troops.
Now here's an overview of stuff of which I haven't evacuated at least a fragment from:
Manila:
Asiatic Fleet HQ [top priority!!]
4th USAAF Base Force
20th USAAF Base Force
109th USAAF Base Force
118th USN Base Force
192nd US Tank Bn
194th US Tank Bn
Filipino units
At Singapore:
223 Group RAF HQ [whooops!]
SSVF Bde
FMSV Bde
6th Indian Bde
8th Indian Bde
12th Indian Bde
15th Indian Bde
22nd Indian Bde
28th Indian Bde
1st Malaya Bde
2nd Malaya Bde
22nd Brigade AIF
27th Brigade AIF
6x AA units
No. 109 RAF Base Force [what?]
No. 110 RAF Base Force [no way!]
No. 111 RAF Base Force [how could...]
No. 112 RAF Base Force [...this happen?!]
DEI:
ABDA Float HQ [AP got sunk, will send another one]
1 NEIAF Aviation (at Bandoeng) [still needed on Java]
12x NEIAF Base Forces [sorry, guys]
2x Dutch Naval Base Forces
Dutch combat units (KNIL Regiments? Mobiele Eenheid?)
3x Dutch AA units
Obviously I missed some Base Forces at Singapore, too. [:-] I guess I'll move my transport planes from Java to Singapore and fly more British units out to Sabang. Of course I'll also try to evac more fragments from units that are already 'safe'. Most fragments are rather large, especially when all parts will be combined (see USAFFE units), but I want to increase their size further and am willing to lose some AKs/APs in order to do so.
Questions:
1. Should I also fly out some combat units from Singapore? The city will fall rather soon, is it worth to have some cadres from these Indian Bdes? Many people make the 2 AIF Bdes a high priority - why?
2. USAFFE: What about Filipino units? 2 units have spawned at San Francisco because Bataan fell early, should I evac more units so that I can draw from their pool? What about those Tank units, will I need them later?
3. DEI: Dutch combat units, especially the KNILs: hot or not? Or even more Base Forces?
I would try to get out some LCU fragments from Singapore as best you can. I ended up sending single AK/AP from Batavia to pick them for as long as possible and use Dutch transport planes to take some from Singapore to Palembeng.
I would agree with those who say the armor units are important. Besides the Naval HQ, they would be priority 2a and 2b. Then would be more BF's, if possible, but don't lose ships at the rate Gary is. [:D] [:D]
1. Should I also fly out some combat units from Singapore? The city will fall rather soon, is it worth to have some cadres from these Indian Bdes? Many people make the 2 AIF Bdes a high priority - why?
2. USAFFE: What about Filipino units? 2 units have spawned at San Francisco because Bataan fell early, should I evac more units so that I can draw from their pool? What about those Tank units, will I need them later?
3. DEI: Dutch combat units, especially the KNILs: hot or not? Or even more Base Forces?
1. More combat units from Singers? Desirable, but not a priority IMO. With the rate of Indian replacements, it will still take a long time to fill out your partial-strength divs that started in India, let alone additional units.
I think the AIF brigades are a priority for some because they have relatively high experience. Plus they would be easier to fill out. There's fewer ANZAC replacements, but far less demand for them as well.
2. Personally, I don't evacuate Filipino units. IRL I don't see how major Filipino forces could be mustered outside the Phillipines. In the game, you'll probably need every Filipino replacement for the 2 units currently in SF, once they see combat.
3. Again, a poor replacement rate for the Dutch infantry. If you think you can pull 1 or 2 out in full - go for it. Otherwise I'd recommend base forces.
While this very well may change, my current attitude towards evacuations is this: if I think I can pull enough of a unit to help me short-term, I'll try to do so. If not, it fights! [:)] Long-term the allies will have enough troops that a few small fragments won't matter. I'd rather have most/all of one unit than small fragments of 4.
1. Should I also fly out some combat units from Singapore? The city will fall rather soon, is it worth to have some cadres from these Indian Bdes? Many people make the 2 AIF Bdes a high priority - why?
As said the AIF repair faster, indian ? upto you really they will further dilute the indian replacements. Personally i get some of the mayala brigades out as they seem to repair quicker
than the indian ones too.
2. USAFFE: What about Filipino units? 2 units have spawned at San Francisco because Bataan fell early, should I evac more units so that I can draw from their pool? What about those Tank units, will I need them later?
PI units arriving at SF ? never seen that before and if they are using PI squads then don't get any more out (5/month iirc). Philipino replacments could be justified by saying that philipino/US citizens could elect to join up with a home unit rather than be distributed randomly. you wont need
the tank units imo. and its a tad gamey unless the PI fails to fall before april( as it won't). after then it's gloves off and take what u like . just my 2p
3. DEI: Dutch combat units, especially the KNILs: hot or not? Or even more Base Forces?
Not really worth it as the inf squads take forever to rebuild and are possibly more useful in the
rebuilding BF's .. some small garrison units are useful for "multi-stacking" in Timor , but its gone in your game. maybe get some to make port blair look better defended than it is. IE useful for
giving false recon (eg 6 units ) while the actual combat power is pathetic. Just don't expect them to be any good or even rebuild as the BF's need replacemnets on for the support personell and AA
guns so the inf units get nowt.
sorry for the spelling . English is my main language , I just can't type . and i'm too lazy to edit
Okay, lets try something different for once: a commented combat report. (without the boring China stuff). Of course the real reason for not posting any screenshots today is that it is pretty late here already... [;)]
I'll reply to your posts tomorrow guys, but thanks for the feedback!! [&o]
February 19th, 1942 Naval bombardment of Lucena, at 43,53 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Maya
CA Ashigara
CA Chokai
Allied ground losses:
316 casualties reported
Guns lost 13
Again! Tomorrow MTBs and a sub are waiting at Lucena for them.
Day Air attack on 48th Division, at 43,53
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 26
B-17D Fortress x 5
B-17E Fortress x 15
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
66 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 65th Brigade, at 43,53
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 22
B-17D Fortress x 6
B-17E Fortress x 9
Two units at Lucena get hit again. Gary told me that the 16th Div was totally trashed even before the shock attack at Manila, so all three INF units should be in bad shape.
Day Air attack on TF, near Boela at 41,75
Allied aircraft
P-35A x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 6
A-24 Dauntless x 16
Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Dauntless: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
PG Shinko Maru #2
AK Sumanoura Maru
AK Syozin Maru
AK Ryotoku Maru
PG Tosho Maru -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Boela at 41,75
Allied aircraft
P-35A x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 14
A-24 Dauntless x 21
Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Dauntless: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
AK Ryotoku Maru
AK Sumanoura Maru
PG Tosho Maru
AK Shinsei Maru
The planes from Namlea found a convoy at Ambonia. They couldn't find their mark, though, and have have now moved to Cagayan.
The following attacks are the Blenheim IVs (all at 6000 feet) that arrived at Manila yesterday. 4 convoys, almost all with APs, were reported in the area west of Manila today!! However no convoy seems to be destined for Luzon.
Day Air attack on TF at 43,48
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 34
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AK Hakodate Maru
AK Columbia Maru
AK Ryoka Maru
AK Yuzan Maru
AK Lima Maru
AK Komaki Maru
AK Toa Maru
AK Taibun Maru
DE Patrol Boat No. 46
AK Yuri Maru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 42,49
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 5
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AK Hokuyo Maru
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 39,50 [this is the bombardment TF from Lucena]
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 8
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Maya
CA Ashigara -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 39,50
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 37
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai
CA Ashigara
CA Maya
DD Arashio -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 39,50
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Hikawa Maru
DD Hayabusa
[8|] [8|] [8|]
To their defense, they were a bit fatigued, but that doesn't explain everything. Apparently they suck at naval attacks, so tomorrow they will fly recon over northern Luzon: I NEED INTEL!!!
My Dutch boys (at 6000, too) showed the Brits how to bombard ships today, this is the Merak convoy (now moving back to Kuching):
Day Air attack on TF at 22,58 [:D]
Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 4
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 21,59 [:D] [:D]
Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 37
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AP Kaishi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Daifuku Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Tutukami Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tekkai Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
AP Yoshinogawa Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 21,59 Back in the afternoon after some tea and biscuits at Tijiltjap! It can be so easy... [:D] [:D] [:D]
Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 35
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
AK Nittei Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tutukami Maru, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
AP Yoshinogawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Daifuku Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Tekkai Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
In return, two blocade runners got hit by Nells, one will survive. I definitely have to wait for bad weather before going in with more ships.
Day Air attack on TF, near Tjilitjap at 20,63
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 14
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
AP Lancashire, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Rajula, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
The northern flank on Java. To my great relief the Japanese unit on the coastal road has moved back to Batavia, apparently just a scouting unit.
Ground combat at Bandoeng
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 6803 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 173
Defending force 10113 troops, 68 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 130
Japanese max assault: 142 - adjusted assault: 66
Allied max defense: 124 - adjusted defense: 55
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0
Japanese ground losses:
165 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Allied ground losses:
192 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
At the southern flank, I have started Operation Apple Strudel... [:'(] It's even madder than the Manila shock attack, details tomorrow. [:)]
Ground combat at Meiktila
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 2568 troops, 71 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 313
Defending force 33510 troops, 213 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 869
Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
AND
Ground combat at Meiktila
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 30551 troops, 188 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 868
Defending force 16899 troops, 121 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 313
Allied max assault: 1508 - adjusted assault: 729
Japanese max defense: 321 - adjusted defense: 1327
Allied assault odds: 0 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
144 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Allied ground losses:
1757 casualties reported
Guns lost 39
Okay, this didn't work. However this only means that the stalemate at Meiktila will continue. I would blame the LBs and FBs that didn't fly their ground attack missions because of rain, but it wouldn't have worked anyway.
Ground combat at Lucena
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 29043 troops, 109 guns, 58 vehicles, Assault Value = 452
Defending force 19271 troops, 159 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 489
Japanese max assault: 145 - adjusted assault: 84
Allied max defense: 517 - adjusted defense: 312
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1
Japanese ground losses:
655 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
233 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
[:D] This adds insult to injury for Gary: yesterday ony two artillery units and a tank brigade were present at Lucena, so he ordered this attack, but most of the Southern Luzon Army arrived just in time. One Reserve Division (100 AV) and another artillery unit is still at Manila, but I decided to gamble again and ordered another shock attack. Lets hope for another day of ground attacks by my LBs from Cagayan, those guys deserve some medals!!
Ground combat at Singapore
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 2922 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1282
Defending force 80036 troops, 556 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 991
Allied ground losses:
224 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Will start flying out some stuff tomorrow.
Ground combat at Clark Field
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 24574 troops, 144 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 718
Defending force 16537 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 84
Allied max assault: 1532 - adjusted assault: 1646
Japanese max defense: 87 - adjusted defense: 92
Allied assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 0)
Allied forces CAPTURE Clark Field base !!!
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
238 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Allied ground losses:
277 casualties reported
Guns lost 8 Todays highlight! My Northern Luzon Army is cutting through the Japanese defenses like a hot knife through butter! Only a Para unit and two ENG units defended the base and retreated to the base to the northwset (San Fernando?); my troops will follow. But the airfield is damaged, 77%?!? Yesterday Japanese LB were flying from here, and today no bombardment runs were made...?
Anyway, the damage will be repaired soon, and then the Hurricanes from Wuchow can fly in, and my LB will have a nice level 8 AF to fly from. [:)]
That' it, an entire day in the life of Gary and Martin. [:D] Hope you can manage without screenshots for one day, just use your imagination! [:'(]
Did you capture any supply at Clark??
Is there any Resources at Clark or are they in other parts of Northern Luzon??
Just curious of where you will get resources from your re-conquest to keep your supplies at Manila being replenished.
Did you capture any supply at Clark??
Is there any Resources at Clark or are they in other parts of Northern Luzon??
Just curious of where you will get resources from your re-conquest to keep your supplies at Manila being replenished.
I didn't capture much supplies at Clark Field. [:(]
I've reloaded the last turns and made a spreadsheet detailing the exact amount of supplies I have on Luzon since the shock attack at Manila (Feb. 16th). I have 30.000 supplies to work with, and ground combat action costs me approx. 500 supplies each day. With the capture of Clark Field my supply level increased by 1600, but there was a lot of combat, and the Blenheims flew for the first time from Manila, so I've captured more than 2000 supplies.
There's not much supply generated on Luzon (no heavy industry, just resource center), and my shock attack at Clark Field damaged 20 of the local resource center already. I have to be more careful at San Fernando and Lingayen, the next targets of my Northern Luzon Army. I need to capture some Japanese supply dumps!!
POP QUIZ!! [X(]
Everyone grap a pen and a sheet of paper... [:'(]
Question 1: Based on the intel reports posted below, what is the distribution of Japanese troops in southern Java? [4 points]
Question 2: What mistake did Mr. Childress make? [3 points]
Question 3: With the few forces available, devise an operation that delays the Japanese troops in southern Java as long as possible [10 points]
Hint: The operation I have in mind rates very high on the lunacy-o-meter, and has in case of success an annoyance value of something between "utter frustration" and "instant heart attack" on the Childress-scale... [:D]
Unfortunately for Childress he has put himself in a position where, unless he's very quick, you can take Malang and its planes before he can react. At the very least it will allow you to unbalance his dispositions, force him to split his forces between two axes and prevent him from assembling overwhelming force along a single axis.
In addition if you do take Malang and march into Soerabaja you will prevent any supplies going to his forces in the coastal hex north of Soerabaja. There are a lot of troops there and while that gives strength while they are supplied it also means that they will run out of supplies very quickly.
All in all his position, while appearing strong, is very weak if you confound the conventional wisdom and take on the role of the aggressor, in a measured manner.
John Dillworth: "I had GreyJoy check my spelling and he said it was fine."
Well, that's that settled then.
DingDingDing, we have a winner! [:)] I knew it: the readers of my AAR ar the most intelligent members of this forum! [8D] [:D]
Planes at Malang?
*chuckles
Gary forgot to bring aviation support squads to southern Java! The airfield icon represents exactly 9 auxilliary planes (probably float planes) that cannot be repaired...
Probably only 1 KNIL Rgt will make it to Malang, the other 2 are at Kragen and will most likely arrive together with the Japanese divisions at Madioen, too late to march to Malang/Soerabaja. So the attack on the Japanese Tank Rgt. (on top of a mountain hex!) will be tricky, and depend on the support of my level bombers at Tijlitjap and the bombardment by BC Repulse and escorts (BB RS is too slow for such a mission and will stay behind). But weirder things have succeeded in this game... shock attacks at Manila, for instance.... [;)]
VSWG,
LOL! Nothing weird about them. Just the logical result of objective analysis of the situation unclouded by subjectivity . All very, very Soviet. I think that if you manage to push him back in Java and the Phillipines that it really would be almost impossible for a Japanese player to carry on with any realistic chance of achieving a historical frontline.
John Dillworth: "I had GreyJoy check my spelling and he said it was fine."
Well, that's that settled then.
Lox a-lordy ! .. Offensive in Java .. I bet gary won't see that coming at all. With the PI rapidly being re-conquored and if you can stall him long enough in java he'll be having kittens with worry. Looks like the weak PI assault has rebounded badly on him.
allied victory in 43 ? quite possible by the looks of it. Keep the PI alive long enough for the allied Essexs and co. to bully through a few HUGE convoys in 43 and it's all over bar the shouting.
This is one fun ( and very well presented game) [&o]
sorry for the spelling . English is my main language , I just can't type . and i'm too lazy to edit
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. All very, very Soviet. I think that if you manage to push him back in Java and the Phillipines that it really would be almost impossible for a Japanese player to carry on with any realistic chance of achieving a historical frontline.
