Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

10-13 April 1943

What's that line about the best laid plans of mice in men? Or perhaps the one about no plan survives contact with the enemy. I finally had enough a/c repped up and ready to go at Rangoon (I had upgrade 51st FG to P-38G) to start a run at Bangkok. Of course the weather socked in Rangoon so no fighters flew. Instead the 4E flew from Akyab unescorted. Carnage ensued but all in all it ended up ok. Air losses were 5 to 1 in my favor and Bangkok now sits at 51 Damage. Now if the B-25's and P-38 will run down from Rangoon next turn, I may get a TKO on this base. If I can get the AB effectively shut down, there are 42 ships in port at Bangkok. So present plan is AB, Port, HI, then Resources. I figure hitting this base should keep me busy for a few months.

LBA finshed off CL Kinu and another DD north of Nanumea. I sent in the 4E from Nukufetau at Tarawa at max altitude. I guess Tojo's can climb that high becasue losses were high. The B-17 and B-24 pools are empty now. Very few of the units with these models are at full strength. Big B 1.4 severely limts 4e production until 9/43. THen B-17G production comes on line and bumps up total production to 25. That is offset by B-24J production coming online at 90 per month plus the 40 -D models convert. This will finally give me staying power in my 4E units. Ironically there are 230 Liberator III's in pool. You think the Brits would lend a few airframes back to the USAAF. P-47C production starts in 16 days. I will task these to my units in PM. The -C model only has a max range of 5. These will be most helpful in NG.

Speaking of PM, counter air ops against Dobodura have been productive. This base is now down to just 15 Japanese fighters present.

Elsewhere, Wasp is at 8 Syst damage but has that darn 4/43 upgrade looming. Neveda went green in the last few days. This is the last of the PH BB's to go green. Arizona is at 3 syst and fully upgrade at San Diego. WV is up at Vancouver at 8 syst. North Carolina is at 8. CVL Cowpens is due in 6 days. ANother CVL follows 26 days after that. May should be the month. If counter air against Tarawa continues to go well, I will move on Abemama soon to put all the units there I need to build this AB up. This AB at level 4 would effectively isolate Tarawa. That's the plan man

[vettim89]

14 April 1943

The LBA from Rangoon finished off the AB at Bangkok. Damage is 86 and air losses were 63 to 8 today in favor of the Allies. Many of the Japanese air losses were on the ground at Bangkok with 38 Tojo and 17 Tony being destroyed. That has to put a dent in Larry's pools. Pressure continues at Dobodura with more Japanese fighters being chewed to pieces there. I have two more fighter squadrons in bound from Pago Pago - one P-38G and one P-40E. They will land in Oz, rep up and enter the fray in New Guinea.

Just waiting for my CV's to repair now. Wasp is at 8, Enterprise at 32, and Yorktown at 39. In 45 days I should be able to seriously unload on Larry in the CentPac. That is exactly what I plan to do.

[vettim89]

15 April 1943

The war of attrition continues. Larry and I exchanged raids in NG. He raided PM fro Lae and I raided Dobodura from PM. All in all a slight edge for the Allies. Yet I know my airframe production exceeds his by a long shot. He seems to be using Tojos a lot. WIth the recent loss of over 100 of those airframes at Bangkok, he may need to change some units soon. I only see three fighter airframes in numbers these days: Tony's, Tojo's, and A6M3/A6M3a.

Port attack at Bangkok was a big success:

Day Air attack on Bangkok , at 29,39


Allied aircraft
Boomerang II x 10
Vengeance I x 9
Beaufort I x 12
Beaufighter VIC x 4
Beaufighter Mk 21 x 12


Allied aircraft losses
Vengeance I: 2 damaged
Beaufort I: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Kogi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Genkai Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Juko Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Konzan Maru, Bomb hits 2
AP Tutukami Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tatuwa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kyokusei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kureha Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Horai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Higashiyama Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Hiyama Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Enju Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Eiko Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Beaufighter VIC bombing at 2000 feet
7 x Vengeance I bombing at 2000 feet
7 x Beaufighter Mk 21 bombing at 2000 feet
10 x Boomerang II bombing at 2000 feet
4 x Beaufort I bombing at 6000 feet
2 x Beaufighter Mk 21 bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Vengeance I bombing at 2000 feet
3 x Beaufighter Mk 21 bombing at 2000 feet
3 x Beaufort I bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Beaufort I bombing at 6000 feet
2 x Beaufort I bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bangkok , at 29,39


Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 20
B-25C Mitchell x 43
B-25J Mitchell x 31
F-4 Lightning x 5


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed
B-25J Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Tatuwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Genkai Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kureha Maru #3, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Mie Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Turusima Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Terukuni Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Hiyama Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Enju Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Eiko Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Kinkai Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kyosei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tofuku Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Akashisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Teikin Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tatsuwa Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Kyokusei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Taizin Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Shoun Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Horai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Konzan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Sugiyama Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Huso Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Tenyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Sasako Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kamo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported

Port hits 4
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
25 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
5 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet

Why are all these AP's disbanded at this port? Why would Larry leave them there without fighter protection? If he doesn't move them soon, he will loss them all

[vettim89]

16-17 April 1943

Almost time to ramp up for the CentPac offensive. CVL Belleau Wood arrives next turn. CV Wasp is down to 5 syst damage as is BB N. Carolina. These units will be allowed to upgrade. At Pago Pago, there is CV Essex and two CVL's. I believe that two CV's and 3 CVL's should be enough to cover the Abemama operation especially is I can do some damage to Tarawa's AB in the weeks leading up to it. Looks like it will be Mid-May for this operation. That puts the Tarawa invasion in the Mid June area.

In New Guinea, the slugging match continues but I am about to apply the equalizer. About 120 4E transfer out of Darwin to Cooktown. After the mandatory one day rest, these units will hit Dobodura hard. Hopefully this will be a death blow to the Japanese air resistance in this area. Once Dobodura is neutralized, we will move on to Lae. Still over a month away from being able to upgrade a P-40E squadron to P-47C.

The constant pouonding of Bangkok has yielded very satisfying results. So far there are 14 AP's and 5 AK's confirmed sunk. I decided to push overland to Tavoy as the next step in SE Asia. The 2nd UK ID is pressping for Port Blair at Chittagong. The UK CV force will be repaired and ready for operation with Corsair II's by late June/early July. The Chinese units commited to SEAsia command are repairing very slowly. Still these units have experience in the high 80's/low 90's. Still leaning towards sending them back home. I have an area in central China that may be the perfect place to use them

[vettim89]

18-19 April 1943

The carnage at Bangkok continues. Seven more AP are reported sunk! Cursor intel still says there are at least 8 ships in port. Also there are two TF's at Bangkok that I assume are trying to flee. LBA hits both the port and the TF. Larry had 380 AP's to start the game. He has lost more than 5% of that number in the last few days. I am planning on doing an eighteen month into the war update on May 7. It will be interesting to see how the numbers look by then.

Bad weather in PNG on the 19th so nobody flew. This is good as it gave my squadrons a chance to repair. CVL Belleau Wood is heading for LA where she will meet up with Wasp and possibly North Carolina.

[ny59giants]

The Chinese units commited to SEAsia command are repairing very slowly. Still these units have experience in the high 80's/low 90's. Still leaning towards sending them back home. I have an area in central China that may be the perfect place to use them

I would keep them in SE Asia and if you have the PPs to move more over to Burma. Why?? You have plenty of supply in Burma/India and these troops have the replacement rate high enough to afford you to get them beat up hard, pull back to rebuild, rinse, repeat. [:D] I have read enough AARs of Allied players to see the wisdom of using them to keep the pressure on the Japanese in this theater. In China, you always have supply issues.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

The Chinese units commited to SEAsia command are repairing very slowly. Still these units have experience in the high 80's/low 90's. Still leaning towards sending them back home. I have an area in central China that may be the perfect place to use them

I would keep them in SE Asia and if you have the PPs to move more over to Burma. Why?? You have plenty of supply in Burma/India and these troops have the replacement rate high enough to afford you to get them beat up hard, pull back to rebuild, rinse, repeat. [:D] I have read enough AARs of Allied players to see the wisdom of using them to keep the pressure on the Japanese in this theater. In China, you always have supply issues.

Well I have a philosophic issue with using them. In RL, it was a major political undertaking to get the Chinese to release these units for use even to keep the Ledo Road open. In truth, I think it is a bit gamey to have used them to liberate Burma. Gen Chang would not be too pleased to see them move further away from China or worse would expect to be paid for their use perhaps even in territory. One of our informal House Rules is that if they wouldn't do it in RL, you shouldn't do it in the game. Larry and I have played a very clean game with very little gaminess on either side.

But ............. one could counter my argument with this: these units are now the best trained and best equipped troops in the Chinese Army. There aren't but a few units in China that could stand toe to toe with them. Ergo, perhaps Gen. Chang would fear their return to CHina more than having the Brits "borrow" them. Hmmmmm

[ny59giants]

China has been an easily overlooked theater in WITP. With the stock map, it is easy for Japan to overrun most of the country. In CHS, the map changes made it more difficult to do. A Nik mod had some forts at start with Chinese LCU as static. In RHS, there are rivers that can support barge movement all the way to Chungking (there are 3 Group Armies that can get their TO&E to over 1000 squads and over 1000 Assault Value!).

Since you have a HR on keeping things more like RL, then you may need to just play along the lines you already have. This theater may not get all the glory of others (land vs. naval combat), but I'm looking to see what they do in AE with this seemingly confusing theater.

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

China has been an easily overlooked theater in WITP. With the stock map, it is easy for Japan to overrun most of the country. In CHS, the map changes made it more difficult to do. A Nik mod had some forts at start with Chinese LCU as static. In RHS, there are rivers that can support barge movement all the way to Chungking (there are 3 Group Armies that can get their TO&E to over 1000 squads and over 1000 Assault Value!).

Since you have a HR on keeping things more like RL, then you may need to just play along the lines you already have. This theater may not get all the glory of others (land vs. naval combat), but I'm looking to see what they do in AE with this seemingly confusing theater.

In Big B 1.4 all the Chinese bases have a moderate to large amount of STATIC units. This keeps the Chinese from being overrun but blocks any ahistorical Chinese offensive. Critical for the Japanese player to surround any base he chooses to attack because if the Chinese units retreat, not only are they able to defend the next base in line but are now "free to move about the country". So barring a complete series of encirclements, every base the Japanese take only makes the China situation worse for them. It promotes a historically course in this vast country with a huge antagonistic populace

[vettim89]

20-21 APril 1943

The battle for Bangkok is over with the final toll yet to be determined. My guess is that over 30 AP/AK's were sunk with most being AP's. I rest my fly boys in Burma after a mighty Huzzah is given.

The last turn arrived with Larry making a comment about when Kamikaze's became avaialble. I had just checked that info this morning as I knew I had penetrated the inner defense perimeter. Then I ran the turn and you can see why he asked. He sent two unescorted bombing raids into Kweilen where they were met by 80 CAF fighters. The losses were incredible!. I have to beleive this was a mistake. Wither Larry failed to note the fighter strength, failed to do recon, failed to assign fighters or the game really screwed him. I hope it is not the latter.

My Dobodura raids cost me 9 B-17's but with his a/c loss I don't feel so bad about this. Damage at Dobodura is now 41. Going to keep pushing.

[Capt. Harlock]

He sent two unescorted bombing raids into Kweilen where they were met by 80 CAF fighters. The losses were incredible!. I have to beleive this was a mistake. Wither Larry failed to note the fighter strength, failed to do recon, failed to assign fighters or the game really screwed him. I hope it is not the latter.

My Dobodura raids cost me 9 B-17's but with his a/c loss I don't feel so bad about this.

Were the B-17's responsible for the Tojo and Zero losses on the ground?

[vettim89]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

He sent two unescorted bombing raids into Kweilen where they were met by 80 CAF fighters. The losses were incredible!. I have to beleive this was a mistake. Wither Larry failed to note the fighter strength, failed to do recon, failed to assign fighters or the game really screwed him. I hope it is not the latter.

My Dobodura raids cost me 9 B-17's but with his a/c loss I don't feel so bad about this.

Were the B-17's responsible for the Tojo and Zero losses on the ground?

Yes. Fighting has been intense and very back and forth in NG. Even though I lost 9 of the preciouos B-17 airframes (three weeks worth of production for the record), the raid caught a large number of Tojo's and Zero's on the ground. I would assume these are damaged airframes from the high intensity combat associated with my raids from PM. For the record, the game is now on 25 April 1943 and Dobodura has been abandoned. Lae is next but there is another development. More on that later

[vettim89]

Late April update

Larry and I have been running turns like crazy lately. I honestly don't know the date of the last turn - either 25 or 26 I think. Things are getting a slight bit more interesting again. Quick updates by area

Burma

UK/Indian troops have been given orders to prep for Tavoy and Rahang. I will try to take these two bases while my CV's continues their repairs. Once that is acomplished I will retake Port Blair. From there I will move the troops from Tavoy (assuming I have taken it by then) to Sabang. I will probably need to transfer some AP's from CentPac for that mission.

China

Larry has started a northern offensive crossing the RIver both NW and SSE of Honan. The force NW may be strong enough to dislodge the single corps I have here. The force to the SE is no where near strong enough to move the three corps plus two Guerilla brigades. Honan itself has 5 corps plus level 9 forts. Supplies there are 15K and more can be flown in. There are six IJA units in the hex SW of the river crossing hex SE of Honan. If these units join they may be able to push everything into Honan. I have three corps unengaged and they are moving south. There is a Japanese base just two hexes from this group that is VERY lightly defended. If Larry moves any more units towards Honan, I will try to take this base. I activated the theatre reserve which is about eight corps. These units are moving toward Hengchow for now. Once there, they will move NE to dislodge the two units two hexes NE of the city. There is a blocking force of five corps one hex NE of the city now. This will give me thirteen corps to move these units out. Once this is accomplished, I will cross the river and strike east. I have no delusions of success here but I want to throuw the Chinese Command into a panic. Central China is very lightly held by the Japanese and even a modest force could cause problems. I also am going to surprise Larry a bit by moving 10th AF units into China for a prolonged stay.

CentPac/SoPac

Just waiting for CV's. Belleau Wood is about ten days out of PH. CV Wasp is at 8 syst damage after her upgrade. Abemama op is still on for mid-May.

SWPac

Here things are going to get interesting. Dobdura is done. Once I build up fighter strength, it is Lae's turn. I am also moving units into Thursday Island. This will clear the Torres Strait so I can move lift in for the Timor op. But I got a little surprise for Larry planned. Merauk on the north NG cost was never taken by the Japanese. It has a level one AB. Once Thursday Island is built up, I intend to move the Sparrow and Gull Forces (from Timor at war's start) to Merauk. Then fly in some BF and establish an air presence here. This will mimick the RL Wau operation.

[vettim89]

29 April 1943

Things had been pretty mundane until the last two turns. Larry had moved a boatload of fighters in Bangkok on the 28th and chewed up the minimally escorted raid on the HI there. So I put together a max package to hit it on the 29th. First the UK bombers based at Moulmein went in and were chewed to pieces - nearly 80% losses. I think this fatigued the Japanese fighters though. Then the main raid went in from Rangoon: 132 P-38G's, 60 B-25's, 90 B-24's, and 60 Liberator III's. Huge air battle and I lost 29 precious P-38's and quite a few pilots. That was offset by Larry losing 153 frontline fighters!!!!![X(]

I have no idea how many Tojo's he can produce right now - would the map icons give me accurate info as far as factory size? He has lost over 200 of these airframes in the past few weeks. Bangkok is empty of Japanese a/c as of now. WIll shut the base back down and then concentrate on the HI and Resources.

Again - WOW!

[vettim89]

Update on the situation in China. The force SSE of Honan has grown to 12 units. The attacked on the 29th and made 2 to 1 but my units did not retreat. I am moving my theatre reserve towards the Hengchow/Changsha area. If things go well I will loop around and hit the interior Japanese bases. Larry has 21 units in the Honan area and 28 near the Crossroads. That is a lot of firepower pinned down. I am becoming even more inclined to send the SEAC Chinese units back to China. If my offensive gains any momentum, these units could tip the scales. I may pull a SHerman and march to the sea - Shanghai!!!!

[Capt. Harlock]

I am becoming even more inclined to send the SEAC Chinese units back to China. If my offensive gains any momentum, these units could tip the scales. I may pull a SHerman and march to the sea - Shanghai!!!!

Sounds like fun -- but "Marching Through The Central China Plains" doesn't have the same ring as "Marching Through Georgia".[:D]

[vettim89]

4 May 1943

Quick update. My forces have arrived at Tavoy and are ordered to attack. Only some engineer units and 1/3 of an ID. Base AV is 2700 for Allies (and growing) vs 150 for Japanese. The base is mine I would think rather quickly. Throwing the LBA into the mix.

The IJA units SSE of Honan have dislodged most of the defenders. They retreated to Honan. This is gonna end badly for me. My units are crawling towards Hengchow. No supply. Grr. My C-47's/Dakotas are back in Burma supplying the Tavoy offensive.

CVL Belleau Wood arrives PH on the 5th. CV Wasp is just 7 days out. My Corsair pool is building up which is good becasue I will need them to reduce Tarawa.

[vettim89]

5-12 May

Obviously form the span of turns, very little is happening in the game right now. Larry's offensive continues in CHina with IJA troops arriving at Honan. Currently the CHinese AV is more than two times as much as the IJA behind level 9 forts. Larry saw me moving towardds Sinyang and reinforced it. Where cursor intel once said two units at 200 troops, it now has five units at 17 k. Oh Well, but if nothing else it pins those units down.

CV Wasp and CVL Belleau Wood are now five days out of Pago Pago. They will immediately reorganize with CV Essex and two CVL's located there to escort a large force to Abemama. Very interested in how Larry may choose to oppose this move.

Larry tried another one of his midnight SCTF moves at Tavoy. results below:

Naval bombardment of Tavoy, at 28,37

Japanese Ships
DD Kari
DD Shirayuki
DD Kawakaze
DD Arashio
DD Makinami
CL Abukuma
CA Kako
CA Suzuya
BB Nagato


Allied ground losses:
293 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

Day Air attack on TF at 27,37


Allied aircraft
Avenger I x 9
Boomerang II x 5
Vengeance I x 9
Beaufort I x 7
Beaufighter VIC x 10
Beaufighter Mk 21 x 22


Allied aircraft losses
Avenger I: 6 damaged
Vengeance I: 6 damaged
Beaufort I: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kari, Shell hits 4
CL Abukuma, Shell hits 12, on fire
CA Suzuya
DD Shirayuki, Shell hits 44, on fire
CA Kako, Shell hits 24
DD Arashio


The Beuafighters were set to 100 ft as the idea was to bust some barges. They chewed up the DD's pretty badly I would say. One TT on Nagato had the severe flooding message. Unfortunately bad weather over the BoB grounded my aircraft. DO not know where this crippled TF is right now. Hoping to see them still in range come morning

[vettim89]

13 14 May 1943

The doldrums brought on by the big CV battle a few months ago are almost over. CV Wasp and CVL Belleau Wood are three days out of Pago Pago. Will start loading everything next turn. Two IJN subs are spotted near the CVTF. I am sortieing a lot of ASW. I am not worried about the CV's as much as I am the two large transport convoys nearby.

Good turn in the BoB. Larry is trying to reinforce Tavoy with barges and small TF's with one or two AK's. The UK fliers had a day with the first (and second and third ....) successful skip bombing. Sending in the B-25J's tomorrow. P-38's out of Rangoon (51st FG) intercepted IJA bombers over Tavoy and Topsy transports. Rotating the AVG over to LRCAP so as not to build fatigue. Finally, the last message of the day was ..... BB Nagato sinks! That's five (I think) BB's sunk including Yamato.

CVL Cowpens arrives Panama City tomorrow. CV Yorktown is down to 17 syst and CV Enterprise is down to 20 Syst. Both these ships will need upgrades when repaired. BB Washington is now at 5 Syst damage at LA and will undergo upgrade when she hits 3 syst. Over in the CBI, the UK CV's are below 10 and should be done repairing right about the time they can upgrade to Corsair II's next month. They do not upgrade until 12/43.

[vettim89]

15-17 May 1943

Summuary of operations:

In China, Larry's Northern offensive has ground to a halt. At Honan he has most of his blob in place yet I have the superior AV at a 3 to 2 ratio. As long as I keep supplies in shape this is yet another quagmire he has stepped into. My counteroffensive grinds to a halt north of Hengchow as the two units blocking here are two full ID's. Still now these guys are pinned down too. This is my plan: to pin down as much force as possible so when I counterattack out of Changsha, he will be hard pressed to pull a reserve together.

In the BoB, only three more units need to make their way to Tavoy and they are almost there. LBA is now pounding on barges instead of AK's as it seems Larry is tired of losing ships. I lost 3 MSW off Rangoon on th 15th as Rangoon, Moulmein, and Ramree Is were all socked in and no CAP flew at all.

Off Buna, my LBA killed two more AK's. Again seeing barges now in this area. Thursday Island now has a Kittyhawk IV Squadron for defense.

Units should finish loading in a day or two at Savali. These guys will move to Nukefutau then Nanumea to appear to be a supply run. Then they will turn north to Abemama under the cover of 2 CV's and three CVL's. The TF's are combat loaded for as quick of an in and out that can be accomplished. Operation Louey so long delayed is on in 48 hours