Nomonhan Redux: Seydlitz (Japan) vs. MBatch729 (Allies)

[seydlitz_slith]

2nd Manchukuo. Another lower exp unit that is being told to hold the trenches while the other troops regroup.

[seydlitz_slith]

That is about it for the turn. I apologize for the extreme number of posts for one turn, but I wanted to show just how much combat is going on in the Russian theater even on a relatively quiet turn.

The war does still continue in the SRA and on Davao, but I didn't want to take up further space on this during the turn. However, for the plane top watchers I will include a snap of my air raid on Kuantan in Malaya.

Hopefully some of my screen shots were helpful or instructional. As a Japanese player, you can use my pool info to gauge how you are performing in your game. As an allied player, it should help you better understand how much Japan really has or can build by the end of January. She is certainly not the production powerhouse that some would want you to believe at this stage of the war. I will, however state that I still have one year of oil stored so even if the Russian campaign delays my SRA conquests by a couple of months I should be ok.

I really am starting to consider popping the Luzon forces up to the Russian theater for a couple of months to tip the balance there before going after Java. Those Russian forces around Vladivostok are just plain huge.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 57 01 Feb 1942

I continued to pound Vladivostok from Japan by night. This must be highly aggravating to him.

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Night Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Light rain

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 52


Allied aircraft
I-153 x 21
I-16m24 x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Do J Wal: 1 destroyed on ground anybody know what this is?



Manpower hits 6
Fires 1669
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
22 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

The city bombing is to make him mad as much as anything. If I get a few fires carrying over I might shift everything to it and try to start a firestorm.

I also bombed Singapore again, hitting a DD in port.

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Night Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 23


No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Vendetta, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
23 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 13000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet....
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes...

[seydlitz_slith]

We also pounded Vladivostok unopposed during the daylight.

I am trying to knock out his supplies more than anything and trying to destroy planes as a bonus.

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Afternoon Air attack on Vladivostok , at 112,46

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 19
G4M1 Betty x 20



Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16m24: 3 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
19 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

[seydlitz_slith]

I landed at Alexandrovsk during the turn. My cruisers stayed engaged with the shore batteries for most of the turn. Between the continuing air attacks and the coastal defenses I lost two AKs here during the turn.

At least I am ashore and next turn I will have zeroes flying top cover.

[seydlitz_slith]

His forces did an ineffectual bombardment during the ground phase so here is an idea about what he has here.

[seydlitz_slith]

At Okha, CH-128 tried a second time to penetrate the harbor. She got in, but her torpedoes were duds, and her only reward was a depth charging.

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ASW attack near Okha at 128,37

Japanese Ships
AMC Asaka Maru
DMS W-19
DMS W-10
xAP Kokuryu Maru
xAP Hakone Maru
xAK Daisin Maru
xAK Somedono Maru
xAK Anyo Maru
DD Numakaze
DD Namikaze

Allied Ships
SS ShCh-128, hits 2



DD Numakaze fails to find sub, continues to search......
DD Namikaze attacking submerged sub .......
SS ShCh-128 eludes DD Namikaze by diving deep...
DD Numakaze fails to find sub and abandons search...
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search......
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search......
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search......
DD Namikaze fails to find sub, continues to search......
Escort abandons search for sub...

[seydlitz_slith]

As the Ise battlegroup continued their high speed transit into the Sea of Japan and eventually to Kure, they were attacked by Soviet seaplanes. No hits were scored but we could not do anything about the planes since we were out of AA ammo.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Olga at 116,48

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes


Allied aircraft
MBR-2 x 9


Allied aircraft losses
MBR-2: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
BB Hyuga



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x MBR-2 bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 100 kg SAP Bomb

[seydlitz_slith]

Here is what the Sea of Japan and Sakhalin Island area looks like.

[seydlitz_slith]

My zeroes flying cover over the border fort west of Kotou successfully intercepted a large incoming raid and downed several Soviet aircraft without loss to themselves.

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Morning Air attack on 11th Border Defense Fortress, at 115,42

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 11
DB-3M x 25
Mig-3 x 2
SB-2 x 27


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 2 destroyed
DB-3M: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
Mig-3: 1 destroyed
SB-2: 6 destroyed, 6 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SB-2 bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
19 x DB-3M bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 100 kg GP Bomb
10 x SB-2 bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb
5 x DB-3M bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 100 kg GP Bomb
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Morning Air attack on 11th Border Defense Fortress, at 115,42

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8



Allied aircraft
I-16m24 x 2
DB-3M x 11
Mig-3 x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
DB-3M: 4 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
11 x DB-3M bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 100 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 11th Border Defense Fortress, at 115,42

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
TB-3 x 6


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
TB-3: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x TB-3 bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 250 kg GP Bomb

[seydlitz_slith]

Here are the aircraft losses for the turn.

Soviet

[seydlitz_slith]

And Japanese...

[seydlitz_slith]

Up north, neither of my two shock attacks were successful because the terrain gave the enemy very favorable modifiers. I really need to get either some additional units up there or figure out a way to get air support this far north.

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Ground combat at 109,25

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 42915 troops, 418 guns, 188 vehicles, Assault Value = 1319

Defending force 12099 troops, 152 guns, 116 vehicles, Assault Value = 436

Japanese adjusted assault: 474

Allied adjusted defense: 873

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
3208 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 242 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 187 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 39 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 7 (6 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 63 (58 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Assaulting units:...
78th Infantry Regiment...
30th Infantry Regiment...
36th Infantry Regiment...
19th Division...
29th Division...
1st Recon Regiment...
26th Recon Regiment...
6th Manchukuo Cav Brigade...
1st Ind. Field Artillery Regiment...
6th Army...
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment...
8th Mountain Gun Regiment...
3rd RF Gun Battalion...
7th RF Gun Battalion...
...
Defending units:...
33rd Tank Battalion...
209th Rifle Division...
188th NKVD Regiment...
35th Tank Battalion...

[seydlitz_slith]

And the other one....

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Ground combat at 108,27

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 30559 troops, 228 guns, 111 vehicles, Assault Value = 897

Defending force 19254 troops, 174 guns, 1282 vehicles, Assault Value = 682

Japanese adjusted assault: 1248

Allied adjusted defense: 796

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1311 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 81 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 79 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 85 (1 destroyed, 84 disabled)


Assaulting units:...
14th Division...
23rd Division...
...
Defending units:...
61st Tank Division...
111th Tank Division...

[seydlitz_slith]

Here is how the bombardment attacks went at Voroshilov. I did very little damage because most of my artillery was in reserve. My units in reserve seemed to have removed about half of their disruption and 1/4 of their fatigue during the turn. I will continue this strategy.

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Ground combat at Voroshilov (112,45)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 16848 troops, 503 guns, 582 vehicles, Assault Value = 2289

Defending force 84761 troops, 1734 guns, 1081 vehicles, Assault Value = 2355

Japanese ground losses:
239 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

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Ground combat at Voroshilov (112,45)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 75476 troops, 1592 guns, 1035 vehicles, Assault Value = 2352

Defending force 110146 troops, 1216 guns, 1290 vehicles, Assault Value = 2277

Japanese ground losses:
1353 casualties reported
Squads: 25 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 38 destroyed, 102 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 75 (22 destroyed, 53 disabled)
Vehicles lost 43 (12 destroyed, 31 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Down on Mindanao, I captured Cotobatu.

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Ground combat at Cotabato (78,90)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 9631 troops, 85 guns, 184 vehicles, Assault Value = 332

Defending force 435 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 19

Japanese adjusted assault: 307

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 307 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cotabato !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
231 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1

[seydlitz_slith]

During the orders phase, I sent I-123 with 42 mines to mine the straits off Victoria. Hopefully I will snag ships going to Vancouver or Seattle.

[Xxzard]

Mining the straits near Seattle... highly devious.

Good luck on the ongoing Russian operations, I salute you for taking the plunge and testing out this strategy.

[Smeulders]

Is it possible to mine non-base hexes ? If so it might be better to mine the hex just to the West of Victoria, less chance that he'll have local minesweepers clearing that hex. 

[LoBaron]

Wow must have been a small heartstopper on the Ise...

How about suspending the offensive in the north and put as much pressure as possible on the area around Vladivostok?
If you are able to defeat him there that frees up a whole lot of units you can send to support the attack to the north.

[ComradeP]

Do J Wal: 1 destroyed on ground anybody know what this is?

Not sure what your question is. You've probably been playing WITP for ages, so I might misinterpret your question as: "what is this plane?", but I'll answer.

Dornier Do J Wal (Wal=Whale in German, not short for Walrus), later designated Do 15 and Do 16 by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (Reich Air/Aviation Ministry) during WWII.

The Do J was a modern floatplane for the 1920's, though it wasn't actually produced in Germany until the early 1930's due to the restrictions from the Versailles Treaty. In the 1920's, it was primarily produced in Italy by CMASA and Piaggio. Main military users were the Spanish and the Dutch, who both built licensed versions (by CASA in Spain, and by Aviolanda in the Netherlands).

The Soviet Union also bought a few planes, not sure how many.

You should encounter more in the Dutch East Indies, a handful were in operational service when the Japs arrived, although I'm not entirely sure where they appear, if at all.

-

Having said that: the bombardment attacks against the Soviet Union seem a bit whack. It seems that as long as more units are not in reserve, casualties increase more or less exponentially for every unit in the stack.

When units are in reserve, they stop taking casualties due to being in what I'm envisioning as prepared positions in the rear, but the few units that do still take a pounding should be taking an enormous amount of casualties, because all the tubes are now focussed on only a handful of units.

However, judging by the bombardment results, that is not the case.

Ah well, perhaps Soviet artillery is less effective by design due to their artillery doctrines, (or as a counter to their uber biplanes[;)]).

Two questions:

-Which combat vessels did you lose thus far, could you post a naval losses screen for the campaign for combat vessels?

-Do you have many ships in the yard in Japan, undergoing repairs, or is most of the fleet still at sea? I'm curious about that because you said you were stretched pretty thin, so not having most of the fleet at sea could be a problem if your opponent tries something clever against a more exposed area of the Pacific.