ALLIED ONLY: aztez (A) vs erstad (J) ...2nd ROUND

[aztez]

China (april 4th and 5th 1942)

The battles south of Sian started last turn. The initial offensive was rejected with heavy losses to both sides.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 84,42

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 95212 troops, 742 guns, 277 vehicles, Assault Value = 2915

Defending force 59645 troops, 347 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1541

Japanese adjusted assault: 1051

Allied adjusted defense: 1963

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3222 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 161 disabled
Non Combat: 34 destroyed, 162 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 35 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 42 (0 destroyed, 42 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2766 casualties reported
Squads: 26 destroyed, 255 disabled
Non Combat: 33 destroyed, 170 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:
3rd Division
13th Tank Regiment
6th Mongol Cavalry Division
8th Ind.Mixed Brigade
35th/A Division
41st Division
35th/B Division
11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
26th Engineer Regiment
37th Division
4th Cavalry Brigade
12th Indpt Infantry Regiment
6th Division
35th/C Division
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
North China Area Army
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
57th Chinese Corps
1st Chinese Corps
38th New Chinese Division
90th Chinese/A Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
90th Chinese/B Corps
8th Route Army
41st Chinese Corps
95th Chinese/B Corps
22nd Group Army
5th War Area
Red Chinese Army
1st Artillery Regiment
21st Group Army
7th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment
34th Group Army
56th AT Gun Regiment

...not bad but I was hoping for better. At least we actually killed few squads this time around which is freshening news.

Chinese army also cleared an patch for retreat to those units trapped further down south of Sian. At least we should not lose them completely now.

Reinforcements are not that far off from Sian so maybe we can stop him here but it is still very "iffy" situation.

[aztez]

Java (april 4th and 5th 1942)

I think the japanese army is regrouping before the final assaults.

Nomore bases were seized last turn but I think Dave has an huge army operating here. I bumped into IJA division and tank regiment near Tijilitjap. I thought there was an small armoured unit plus maybe an naval guard units occupying the hex.

Japan keep on making huge bombing runs all over Java. The remains of ABDA airforce is conducting an ground offensives with some success. This is really more to annoy and slow him down a bit and will have no big diffrence in final outcome.

Mini KB is busy covering his advance towards Timor. The road here is quite open and he has lba support flying from Kendari and Ambona too.

[aztez]

Samoa Islands (april 4th and 5th 1942)


KB was busy in action conducted several raids againts our positions at Pago Pago.

Here are the combat logs from past two days.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
D3A1 Val x 82



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 8


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed, 33 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (0 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Overcast

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 31


Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 5 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
20 x D3A1 Val diving from 10000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 51
D3A1 Val x 59



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 20


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 41 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

...he has moved his carries even further down south here.

This was not an raiding party though since he has landed at least 5 units into Savaii. The marines defending the base will be overrun swiftly.

We lauched 20 B26 Marauders againts these ships but managed to hit nothing. At least that was reported.

This is something that I do not like at all and "the puck stops here". We shall fight this out with force since I'am not about to give him free pass here.

The most immediate concern is to figure out how to get fighters into Pago Pago area without shipping them? This seems like an big problem now.

Other steps needs to taken too here. What those are.. well I haven't decieded quite yet. As said the most important thing now is move in more fighters to provide solid CAP here.

[jwilkerson]

ORIGINAL: aztez
The most immediate concern is to figure out how to get fighters into Pago Pago area without shipping them? This seems like an big problem now.

If you have any carriers left, you can use a "fly off" mission. Load some P40s or Wildcats aboard the carriers, sail them to within transfer range and then fly the fighters to the destination base. I used the RN carriers to move a bunch of American planes from Perth to Java in an earlier game using this technique.

[aztez]

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

ORIGINAL: aztez
The most immediate concern is to figure out how to get fighters into Pago Pago area without shipping them? This seems like an big problem now.

If you have any carriers left, you can use a "fly off" mission. Load some P40s or Wildcats aboard the carriers, sail them to within transfer range and then fly the fighters to the destination base. I used the RN carriers to move a bunch of American planes from Perth to Java in an earlier game using this technique.

Appreciate the idea Joe. That is doable but it might be very risky indeed.

I have already lost 2 US carriers and really cannot afford lose more of them at least not without an good fight.

The seas around Samoa Islands aren't exactly peaceful either and KB can crash towards these "transfer" carriers if spotted so I need to think this through once the turn arrives.

Very good advice maybe not for the current situation though.

Damn I hope the CVE Long Island would be operational.

[aztez]

Java (april 6th and 7th 1942)

The april 6th saw fall of Badoeng. Thus meaning enemy is now some 80 miles out of Batavia.

ABDA airforce continue their ground bombardment missions and maybe these strikes are slowing Dave down a bit.

The mini KB is still providing aircover to IJN operations near Timor. Damn, I would love to have few Dauntless divebombers on hand there.

[aztez]

Burma (april 6th and 7th 1942)

Allied forces continue their organized withdrawal into Schwebo.

The artillery fire has been lethal to say at least. These guns killed around 100av value of troops just in 2 days of bombardment.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 30641 troops, 460 guns, 165 vehicles, Assault Value = 759

Defending force 22843 troops, 180 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 496

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1403 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 26 disabled
Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 87 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 13 (4 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (0 destroyed, 8 disabled)


Assaulting units:
38th Division
55th Cavalry Regiment
112th Infantry Regiment
33rd Division
16th Infantry Rgt /1
47th Field AA Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
15th Army
45th Field AA Battalion
48th Field Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Bn /1

Defending units:
12th Burma Rifles Battalion
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
4/14th Punjab Battalion
4/8th Ghurka Battalion
9/11th Sikh Battalion
2nd Burma Brigade
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
2nd King Own YLI Battalion
10th Burma Rifles Battalion
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
BFF Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
108th RAF Base Force
103rd RAF Base Force
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
221 Group RAF
27th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
106th RAF Base Force
Burma Corps
AVG Ground Echelon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 42687 troops, 503 guns, 214 vehicles, Assault Value = 1291

Defending force 22019 troops, 181 guns, 83 vehicles, Assault Value = 464


Allied ground losses:
1098 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:
55th Cavalry Regiment
33rd Division
38th Division
16th Infantry Regiment
112th Infantry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
47th Field AA Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
15th Army
45th Field AA Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
4/8th Ghurka Battalion
4/14th Punjab Battalion
BFF Brigade
10th Burma Rifles Battalion
12th Burma Rifles Battalion
2nd King Own YLI Battalion
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
2nd Burma Brigade
9/11th Sikh Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
16th Indian Brigade
108th RAF Base Force
103rd RAF Base Force
106th RAF Base Force
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
221 Group RAF
Burma Corps
27th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
AVG Ground Echelon

Those massive losses to the british burmese army. I had level 3 forts here but these didn't amount to anything. As said 100av lost in just 2 days of bombardment.

Things are not looking up here at all.

[aztez]

China (april 6th and 7th 1942)


I don't actually know whether it was a good thing to open the pocket.

Dave launched an immediate ground assault and it was shocking in terms of troops lost.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 85,43

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 66558 troops, 457 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 1881

Defending force 47104 troops, 268 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 574

Japanese adjusted assault: 719

Allied adjusted defense: 49

Japanese assault odds: 14 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2133 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
15583 casualties reported
Squads: 311 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 884 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 24 (24 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 17


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
59th Infantry Brigade
138th Infantry Regiment
5th Mongol Cavalry Division
15th Ind.Mixed Brigade
13th Indpt Infantry Regiment
15th RGC Temp. Division
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Armored Car Co
110th Division
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
24th NCPC Route Brigade
15th Division
28th Engineer Regiment
3rd NCPC Infantry Brigade
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion

Defending units:
27th Chinese Corps
47th Chinese Corps
96th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
9th Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese/C Corps
1st War Area
4th Chinese Base Force
14th Group Army
36th Group Army
8th Group Army
Jingcha War Area
10th Chinese Base Force

It seems that those circled troops battled much better without an retreat path.

Too late to think these now since we have more imminent problems in this region.

Our reinforcements are moving forward day by day, I estimate that the first major infantry units should arrive within an weeks time.

AVG is building up at Chenghtu after their upgrades in India.

[aztez]

Samoa Islands (april 6th and 7th 1942)


BB Kirishima and BB Hiei conducted an naval bombardments offshore at Pago Pago. Thankfully these were not the nuke bombardments we all were used to in the classic witp.

The japanese forces conducted an offensive at Savaii and captured the base back.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Savaii (146,159)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8990 troops, 53 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 312

Defending force 1253 troops, 57 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 39

Japanese adjusted assault: 262

Allied adjusted defense: 28

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Savaii !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
275 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2779 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 49 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 113 (112 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Assaulting units:
83rd Naval Guard Unit
67th Naval Guard Unit
144th Infantry Rgt /1
2nd Indpt SNLF Coy
52nd Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 1st SNLF /3
2nd JNAF Coy /3

Defending units:
7th Marine Defense Battalion

...our brave Marines were unable to do anything to stop this.

The enemy carriers were also active yet again and bombed + sweeped our defenses at Pago Pago.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 20


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 4 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 25000 feet

CAP engaged:
50th PG/12th PS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
35th PG/40th PS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters to 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
35th PG/41st PS with P-39D Airacobra (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 20000.
Raid is overhead

...this is definately no minor operation ongoing here.

[Monter_Trismegistos]

I see you have a lot of separate battalions in Schwebo. Can't you combine them?

[Xxzard]

Could you give us an idea of the effects of the naval bombardment on Pago Pago?

In a game versus the AI, I have some BB's available, notably the Oklahoma that survived the PH attack, and I know the location of all Jap carriers, but old BB's are slow fuel hogs. So I think the best purpose they can serve is to make bombardment runs, and some clue of the effect of these would be nice.


Thanks!

[cfulbright]

Aztez,

It looks like he had a lot of Vals damaged at Samoa. Hopefully this will quiet down his KB some.

[jwilkerson]

ORIGINAL: aztez

ORIGINAL: jwilkerson

ORIGINAL: aztez
The most immediate concern is to figure out how to get fighters into Pago Pago area without shipping them? This seems like an big problem now.

If you have any carriers left, you can use a "fly off" mission. Load some P40s or Wildcats aboard the carriers, sail them to within transfer range and then fly the fighters to the destination base. I used the RN carriers to move a bunch of American planes from Perth to Java in an earlier game using this technique.

Appreciate the idea Joe. That is doable but it might be very risky indeed.

I have already lost 2 US carriers and really cannot afford lose more of them at least not without an good fight.

The seas around Samoa Islands aren't exactly peaceful either and KB can crash towards these "transfer" carriers if spotted so I need to think this through once the turn arrives.

Very good advice maybe not for the current situation though.

Damn I hope the CVE Long Island would be operational.

Otherwise, you'll just have to find another nearby Island and fly them in from there.

[LoBaron]

Hi!

I think theres a few questions which have to be answered before you can decide how to react
on the savaii situation.

- whats your troop composition at Suva?
- whats you troop situation at Pago Pago?
- hows your supply situation in both places?
- whats the airfield size on Savaii and Pago Pago?
- what intel have you got on the fleet composition of the invasion TF? is it possible he got more troops there and
will use them against Pago Pago?
- can you reach Savaii with your B17s located on the Fijis? this would be my first counter, bombing the port there
to reduce his supplies to a minimum, you bet he will try to get LBA there ASAP.

the most important thing is not to lose the Fijis followed closely by doing everything possible to prevent him from taking
Pago Pago.


one possible reaction would be to wait until KB hast to retreat (but this depends on his ability to replenish at Savaii)
and then make reinforcement runs to both Fijis and Pago including LBA to pound Savaii.

a second option could be an attack on his Flank, invading some islands north of Savaii to cut him off and attrition him
making his own offense useless.

finally you could try a second counterinvasion of Savaii itself, seems like his second attack wave didnt have the troops
to handle a brigade or smal division.

all three options would be best to originate from PH if you got the troops/AC available simply because its closer
than West Coast and have CV support just in case.

i think this developement is critical because if you cant stop him right where he is now
hes gonna off australia and you have to fight every convoy into sidney, probably with high losses.

btw: how does NZ look like? if his strategy is really cutting off Australia then after finishing Fijis id turn to NZ
and finish it right there.

heads up aztez i think he is running a high risk operation himself there and this could work to your benefit if you
find the right counter.

edit: forget the B17 questen. just seen that if you can reach Noumea then Savaii should be easy. and you could support the
B17 attacks with P39 sweeps from Pago Pago...

[Rob Brennan UK]

LoBaron beat me to it (again) [;)]. Use the B17's in suva on ground attack duties (it'll become clearer later in the post) as they wont hit the broadside of a barn on naval attack (unless they have been training for it since day1 ).

As for getting beter a/c to pago, heres a high risk /high gain option for you . Depends on AV support in Pago but i'll guess its about 125 ish. Get a CV or 2 into transfer range (max for the TB's) and fly the entire air components onto Pago.Obviously you run away as fast as you can after doing this [:D. They are your BEST aircrew and best planes. on an unsinkable island they will cause Dave a massive headache as the good xp DB will flatten invasion convoys and the TB's scare his CV away a few hexes. Any unneccasary A/C in pago you cant fly out. Disband them to get more space.

I can't emember the poster who originally came up wih the idea that disbled squads suffer many more kills in combat is imo 100% correct. In my AI game japan unloaded a fresh Div at akyab and marched upto cox's bazaar. Allied forces were enough to make sure he didnt get it early and since then i've been shelling him daily for 100-200 losses. initially it was almost all disablements, the after a while kills crept up and up as (i assume) disabled squads were hit again. Re chinese losses, this explains your heavy casualties there as all chinese formation have a huge number of disabled at game start and they repair with agonising slowness. Poor morale/exp affects this too as Burmese formations always suffer a lot worse than the few good quality commonwealth troops available in india. IE 25th tank brigade and reinforcing Aussie inf divs. This brings me back to the point of using the B17's hitting Savali, you need to disable as much as possible and they seem your only option atm. Sweeps from Page will escort the bombers too should they actually meet up (seems like 50/50 in my experience) but sweeps wont seperately engage LRCAP so your P39's will be disadventaged even more vs the Zero. Worth bearing in mind imo. If the 17's can fight through alone save the 39's for pagos defence.

That said you can afford to lose Pago ,annoying as it will be. But Fiji is crutial as its a far better base overall. Fingers crossed you won't lost it anyway. But its also a lot safer to air transfer from CV's to Suva then to Pago (SBD's have the range but i wouldnt expect the short legged TB's to do the same).

Thats just my 5p for today. Re.Sian (again based on japanese kills in the woods i suspect he's hurting a bit with disblements himelf in that stack. With any luck his next assult will roll a 1 and you will start getting some nice kill numbers sooner rather than later.

monster rant over.

Good Luck

[LoBaron]

hehe Rob i may have beaten you to it but your post is the usual 10/10 [:D]
 
I have only seen now that you commented on the risk of a CV clash this early in the war and totally agree.
 
Most of all since using Carrier AC on Pago or Suva is much less risk than leaving them on the flattops. Great idea!
Can they transfer between Pago and Suva or is this out of range for the Dauntless?
Also im not sure on the use of TB. Wouldnt they need an air HQ´s to use torps?
 
I forgot that a sweep mission doesnt tackle LRCAP and they are probably more of use in the CAP role anyway.
 
Aztek, also, if you transfer the DBs and Wildcats you could use all Wildcats to escort the strikes while using the P39
for island defense. This would make any invasion at least risky if not outright suicidal even with KB support.
 
Must-Buy-Admirals-Expansion-Damnit...

[aztez]

Monter_Trismegistos: I think I could combine them. I haven't done any such things since I wanted to keep them separated due to land and ground bombardments. That was the initial idea at least.

Xxzard: I will post an summary of those bombardments. They are tuned down quite a lot which I find it to be good thing.

Those old battleships are fuel hogs for sure, I think I have 7 of them parked at Pearl Harbour. Just waiting to get them into action.

cfulbright: Hopefully. There were actually same kind of assault made by those Val's. The intel screen indicates 20 of them lost but I'am somewhat skeptical about it.

jwilkerson: Yeah. Thankfully those drop tanks do give fighters at least some legs. That is an very nice addition into the game.

LoBaron: I will take an pic from the troop composition next turn.

It is an mixed bag though which has infantry + artillery and support units located both at Fiji's and Pago Pago.

I have some 400av behind lvl 4 forts placed at Pago Pago and these troops are well supplied too.

Fiji's have in nearly 600av in total of av placed there. These bases are also well supplied.

I think the airfield size at Suva is 6 and at Pago Pago it is currently 4.

The intel is lacking since it seems that Dave is trying to neutralize the airfield at Pago Pago. I did spot an TF further up the north. I wonder whether these are actual invasion TF's or the oilers of the KB. I send out an submarine to check this out.

I have actually thought about the flanking movement in Samoa Islands. Maybe it is worth the risk but the main thing is to keep him busy here.

The supply situation off Australia is not that bad. You can use Cape Town --> Melbourne route if necessary. It is a bit longer route but pretty much impossible to cut off. I have hauled in a lot fuel and supplies already. So, the loss of Samoa or Fiji is not an total disaster but personally I want to stop him here.

NZ haven't received any reinforcements in terms of ground units. As Sardaukar posted a bit earlier allied shall get decent reinforcements if he assaults the NZ. I doubt this target is in his top priority at the moment. Instead he seems to be focusing on China, Fiji/Samoa and Burma theatres.

Yeah, I'am definately looking for opportunities and errors. There have been few but the going will get tougher day by day so this is pound to happen sooner or later.

The only problem with moving aircraft out of carriers is the new stacking limits. This has really changed from the witp. The limits are two ways.. either number of squadrons or number of aircraft. That deliveres few problems on its own. Yeah, torpedo bombers do require on HQ or very sizeable airfield.

I highly recommend you too buy this product! You will notice that AE delivires so many "new problems" for the allied side.


Rob: So true, allied lba bombers don't seem to hit anything at least when targeting naval assets. ABDA bombers are the prime example since only ones hitting ships were those withdrawn Banshee bombers.

I'am still thinking about the possible carrier squadrons and such. It is high risk / reward situation. Dave seems to be pounding the airfield and tries to get it shutdown at the moment.

I have some 15 B17's at Suva now. If the situation warrants I will be moving more into Suva. They actually flew againts Savaii last turn but zero's managed to distrubt them enough so we didn't hit his ground units. At least we tied down 1 squadron of carrier zero's though. Next turn the bombing runs continue now at 27 000 feet.

Absolutely those disablements are horrific if taken into battles. We propably have already lost 2000-3000av points worth of troops at China. We shall whether those disablements start to hurt him too but I'am not too optimistic about it. That way you can only get an positive suprise.

Appreciated "the monster rant".

[aztez]

Java (april 8th and 9th 1942)

Nothing major happened. Japanese army is now just 40 miles outside of Batavia. I have flown recon and it seems he has 7 units in that stack,

ABDA bombers have actually managed to knock down few tanks and armoured vehicles at least if the combat reports are to be believed.

I will continue to fly out these missions since at least his movement rates might be down a bit. It is very hard to predict on how fast he can actually capture the Java area.

There has not been any naval movements lately in this area so I guess Dave is happy with forces he landed so far.

[aztez]

Burma (april 8th and 9th 1942)

We got "lucky" here since japanese did launch 2 ground offensives againts our defensive line in Mandalay.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 47721 troops, 531 guns, 214 vehicles, Assault Value = 1298

Defending force 21062 troops, 180 guns, 83 vehicles, Assault Value = 425

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 840

Allied adjusted defense: 504

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
504 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 25 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3594 casualties reported
Squads: 82 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 104 destroyed, 91 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 11 (5 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (20 destroyed, 10 disabled)


Assaulting units:
112th Infantry Regiment
38th Division
33rd Division
16th Infantry Regiment
55th Cavalry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
45th Field AA Battalion
47th Field AA Battalion
15th Army
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
48th Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
2nd King Own YLI Battalion
4/14th Punjab Battalion
10th Burma Rifles Battalion
12th Burma Rifles Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
2nd Burma Brigade
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
4/8th Ghurka Battalion
9/11th Sikh Battalion
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
BFF Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
108th RAF Base Force
221 Group RAF
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
106th RAF Base Force
Burma Corps
103rd RAF Base Force
27th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

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Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 47054 troops, 531 guns, 214 vehicles, Assault Value = 1265

Defending force 18086 troops, 177 guns, 70 vehicles, Assault Value = 335

Japanese adjusted assault: 262

Allied adjusted defense: 95

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
529 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1360 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 79 disabled
Non Combat: 135 destroyed, 125 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 12 (3 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Assaulting units:
16th Infantry Regiment
55th Cavalry Regiment
33rd Division
38th Division
112th Infantry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
47th Field AA Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment
15th Army
2nd Mortar Battalion
9th Field AF Construction Battalion
45th Field AA Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
9/11th Sikh Battalion
4/8th Ghurka Battalion
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
4/14th Punjab Battalion
10th Burma Rifles Battalion
2nd Burma Brigade
6th Burma Rifles Battalion
12th Burma Rifles Battalion
2nd King Own YLI Battalion
BFF Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
108th RAF Base Force
221 Group RAF
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
27th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
103rd RAF Base Force
Burma Corps
106th RAF Base Force
AVG Ground Echelon

The forts are now down to level 0. Luckily for us our troop movement out of the hex is at 42/46 so we should be able to withdraw into Schwebo before the next assault arrives.

It slow going though with the combat orders used here.

[aztez]

Samoa Islands (april 8th and 9th 1942)


Japanese are still conducting large scale carrier operations here. Last two days saw some huge bomber waves lauched againts Pago Pago.

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Morning Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
D3A1 Val x 122



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-400 Airacobra x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed, 28 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 3 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 38

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Morning Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 23 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 8
P-400 Airacobra x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed

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Morning Air attack on Pago Pago , at 148,161

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
D3A1 Val x 116



Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed, 25 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 3 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed on ground
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
B-26 Marauder: 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 53

The obvious aim is to close down the airfield here. The runway damage and service damage is around 40-50% at the moment. So, the base is still operational.

I did send few of the depleted P39's into Suva for rest and refit. You can fly them out using drop tanks at the game.

In return I moved some 50 P40E's into Pago Pago in order to counter the next carrier raid againts the base. Lets see how this goes.

BB Hiei and BB Kirishima are still bombarding he base here...

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Naval bombardment of Pago Pago at 148,161

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 29

BB Kirishima firing at Pago Pago
BB Hiei firing at Pago Pago

The damage is not anything like you would have gained in the old witp classic.

Overall the situation is very tense here and I wonder how long can he support these strikes due supply situation and ammo problems.