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

[aztez]

Hi guys!
 
As always appreciate the comments. Sorry for the "lack of updates recently".
 
Reallife events has kept me busy but I will do an update later this evening. At work so no access to the game data.
 
 Rob: Hmmm, you referring that the assault will directed towards Changhteh region or towards the mountains north of Ichang.
 
Dave is definately moving towards Lanchow and to be honest no way to stop this nor does it serve any real purpose to even attempt to do so at the moment.
 
I have ordered few units to move out of bases to serve kind of picket defense/recon. This way I will get alarm if he is moving massive forces around. There is now one
additional recon (bomber) squadrons operating in china.
 
The chinese airforce is 80% at India. I'am using 2 fighter squadrons as kind of harashment for his bombers. We have shot down few of them this way.
 
Agreed. The Suva campaign has achieved what it was sent out to do. The base still holds which is good news too.
 
cfullbright: I did switch to P40E's simply because the H81 pools became dry. Otherwise would have kept them in action. Unfortunately the replacement rates and losses
were not in my favour.
 
Monter_Trismegistos: Good to "see" you. I will post few cut and paste combat reports. The last turn indicated that he has moved his airforce into Rangoon. I guess the losses became too high for him to handle.
 
Yeah, it was an temporary ceasefire. It is now over and the action resumes. This gave me an chance to reorganize my defense and have some chance of defending the country. We agreed this upon the fact that both felt that china isn't modelled correctly.
 
Yamato_Blitzer: The carriers aren't ready for action for weeks since the upgrades and repairs. So, there are no chance of intervening if he goes in the soon.
 
The allied infantry stack is also somewhat low due to this early stage of war.
 
Dave is moving towards Katherine and I will abandon the base next turn. No need to defend it and the risk is that troops will retreat towards Darwin.
 
I have no intel whether he target NZ or Oz. The signit hasn't given any indicators lately.
 
I'am just moving some fighters/bombers not extra troops. I have now some 2500av sitting at Pearl Harbour. This is not enough to go into offensive yet since once we get rolling we get rolling for good.
 
LoBaron: Hopefully and that is the way it should go. Looking forward to seeing how my better equipped troops handle the IJA infantry squads.
 
I think H81 model is better than P40E but to be honest didn't notice much diffrence in terms of combat capability
 
jrlans: The chinese have few usable corps but most of them are badly equipped as you stated.
 
The good thing is that ANZAC forces are beginning to upgrade and there are not many militia squads left.
 
wpurdom: Hmmm, no reason to get offended. The question you asked was good since reserve mode isn't exactly described in detail in manual.

[aztez]

Burma (july 6th - 9th 1942)


Last turn the skies above Magwe was almost empty. The weather wasn't good but RAF managed to hit few refiniries and oilfields here.

There was no enemy CAP above the base. This is first time that this has happened so maybe Dave judged that his losses didn't correlate with the gains. We shall whether he has upped the CAP for next turn.

IJA 38th division marched and seized the base at Paoshan. I wasn't expecting an full size division to enter here but this is fine by me. The unit will have long supply lines and also the terrain will hinder its movement. Thus making it unavailable for offensive operations in the near future.

I can also destroy this unit if it will march even further into china. At the moment though I'am more than happy to let it advance.

Here are few examples what has been ongoing here... (there has been plenty of more of these in past few weeks)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 13



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-27b Nate: 4 destroyed
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 4 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 45 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 21
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 27



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

... lets say that average turn has maybe 8-12 of these encounters. That is why the losses has been so high.

[aztez]

Northern Oz (july 6th - 9th 1942)


Allied HQ has given orders to abandon the base at Katherine. I know he will gain size 6 airfield but that is also fine by me.

I rather give an base than let him trap my forces there. The troops will march towards Daily Waters in combat orders mode since Dave is trying to cut off these troops.

The bombers have been temporarily withdrawn for rest and refit but they will deployed back into action soon. These squadrons have inflicted quite a few hits on his tank regiments marching towards Katherine.

The same concept will be used here. The further he will go the longer his supply lines get and the resistance will become stiffer too.

There is no sign of enemy carriers at the moment. These propably have withdrawn for refuel.

[aztez]

China (july 6th - 9th 1942)


No major battles have been fought as of yet. The recon flights are intensive though and he has been bombing Changhsa and Kweilin daily.

I did draw most likely routes of advance into the map.

Red arrows = Like enemy movement.
Blue arrows = Less likely enemy movement.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Hi Aztez

Hmmm, you referring that the assault will directed towards Changhteh region or towards the mountains north of Ichang.

toward changsha , but not a direct move. cut it off and let it rot while artillerying(is that a word ?) the stack to death would be a good move for the japanese imo.

Thats assuming he goes in that direction and not clearing the north 1st, just my 2p.

I'd also agree on your red arrow markers too. assuming he goes for changsha at all. Maybe not the most northerly one as that gains him nothing that i can see. Its the Ichang SW move thats of most concern to my mind at least.

That said however If i was Japan i'd clear up the north and grab all those small resource sites for free and maybe not much damage given chinas complete lack of engineers. [;)]. then he really can concentrate a huge force for a drive on the rest of china, supported by troops from burma. Just thinking about that he's moved out a division from Burma already. much more and me may well be vulnerable to a suprise invasion. IE Rangoon ! .. no holds barred allied landing. [:D]. Thats a long way off though. maybe early 43 ? Japans continued bombing has a dual benefit for him, trianing + stops/slows your recovery of damaged squads.

anyhoo .. i'm starting to ramble again ..

bye

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: aztez

Northern Oz (july 6th - 9th 1942)


Allied HQ has given orders to abandon the base at Katherine. I know he will gain size 6 airfield but that is also fine by me.

I rather give an base than let him trap my forces there. The troops will march towards Daily Waters in combat orders mode since Dave is trying to cut off these troops.

The bombers have been temporarily withdrawn for rest and refit but they will deployed back into action soon. These squadrons have inflicted quite a few hits on his tank regiments marching towards Katherine.

The same concept will be used here. The further he will go the longer his supply lines get and the resistance will become stiffer too.

There is no sign of enemy carriers at the moment. These propably have withdrawn for refuel.

Yes, there is a lesson here for Allied Fanboys. If you rapidly develop your northern OZ bases before you are strong enough to defend them then you are providing port space and airfields that can actually help the Japanese Invaders. I have stopped all upgrading of bases that I can't defend in the area and will keep Katherine as a level 2 airfield until I get sufficent mobile ground troops in OZ to defend them. Those are not great roads leading to Katherine. I wonder if there is enough supply is flowing to his advance units.

Aztec, you are taking the hits so that we do not have to.....[:D] What size ports were Derby, Wyndham and Broome when he captured them?

[seydlitz_slith]

As Japan, the best way to build up a base is to let the allies build it up for you and then take it. It takes forever for your construction units to build them up for you.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: seydlitz

As Japan, the best way to build up a base is to let the allies build it up for you and then take it. It takes forever for your construction units to build them up for you.

Yes, reading this AAR has caused me to re-examine the way I am defending. If they want Darwin, make them come through the front door or via level one ports. The same applies to airbases in China, North Burma, Akyab and so on. Don't build up the bases. Make the Japanese use his scarce engineers.

This applies to IJN Fanboys as well. When planning your perimeter you need to be very selective about the bases you build up. Of course, the Allies have lots of engineers but at least it can be a speedbump.

God bless you Aztec for jumping in the deep water before me.......[;)]

[aztez]

I have so busy with reallife stuff that have managed barely to do 2 turns since last update. The good news is that next week seems "normal" so there should much more spare time on my hands.

Not much action to report but the map is showing signs that all hell will break loose soon.

Rob: I don't see how he could cut off changhsa area without committing his troops in battles that will be huge?

To me the whole china front is looking odd but it will ignite very soon. The bombing runs are intensive and and he definately moving troops around.

The IJA division is moving towards inner china from Burma. I don't see the point here since movement is very slow and thus his supply lines becomes longer.

I have kept bombing Magwe and the industry is coming down nicely. With the resources gone here I wonder whether he will actually fight here? It seems so since that division is moving further into china.

British troops are getting nice reinforcements but invasion of Rangoon is too risky at the moment.

crsutton: Glad to help you out! That is definately good advice that can should be followed all around the map.

As for the Derby and other bases. Well, I didn't build up the ports there which is good thing. However I did upgarde the airfields 1-2 levels.

I would do some things very diffrently if I would start new game now but hindsight can be forgotten here.

seydlitz: Yeah, those are freebies. On an another note I really need to catch up with your AAR during next week.

[aztez]

Northern Oz (july 10th - 14th 1942)


The picture below speaks it all. Dave is using paratoopers and tank regiments in order to move forwards with speed.

That was to be expected but unfortunately we have encountered an movement bug described below. I had units almost 40 miles out of Katherine moving towards south and Daily Waters.

These troops were on combat mode. Well, we moved an ended up north of Katherine!

...well I will email Dave and ask him to stop moving towards Katherine so my units can bypass the base.

Otherwise no significant developments other than that we have spotted CV Junyo and submarines are enroute to intercept.

[aztez]

China (july 10th - 14th 1942)


IJA has bombed the cities around Changhsa and some raids were launched in the southern areas.

No real ground assaults yet allthough some 40 000 men pushed an small cavalry corps out and into Changhteh. No intel whether there are more enemy units enroute towards the city.

Dave also "cut" the railroad line between Kweilin and central china. I would assume he is trying to avoid me sending units towards central china via strategic movement.

That is the only reasonable explanation I can come up with.

The situation is very tense though in whole country.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: aztez

China (july 10th - 14th 1942)


IJA has bombed the cities around Changhsa and some raids were launched in the southern areas.

No real ground assaults yet allthough some 40 000 men pushed an small cavalry corps out and into Changhteh. No intel whether there are more enemy units enroute towards the city.

Dave also "cut" the railroad line between Kweilin and central china. I would assume he is trying to avoid me sending units towards central china via strategic movement.

That is the only reasonable explanation I can come up with.

The situation is very tense though in whole country.

Smart move on his part. He cuts the rail, occupies the most defensible hex near the village, and ensures that any retreat will be north into the valley and away from Kweilin. He would not want any of your forces to move down there as he is weaker there and the terrain would multiply the effect of any additional defenders, possibly beyond what his southern force could handle. However, by keeping you north of the forest he can engage with his central china forces and can bring more force to bear if needed.

[offenseman]

He can also move those six units across the river without having the automatic shock attack. Time consuming move but time is not a problem for him at this point. (in China that is)

[witpqs]

Regarding that para-drop in Australia, I thought the game only allowed para-drops at bases?

PS: I think they should be allowed into any hex, but I thought they weren't.

[seydlitz_slith]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Regarding that para-drop in Australia, I thought the game only allowed para-drops at bases?

PS: I think they should be allowed into any hex, but I thought they weren't.

I was thinking the same thing. Paradrops can only target base hexes. That, plus the sudden north move by his unit that was moving south may mean that there is a pwhex error in Australia.....

[aztez]

At last an free evening so had time to do an turn update. Few things come into light.

The intel from china is getting better and decisions needs to be made asap from these. I made no adjustments last turn but when next one arrives it is decision time.

Overall somewhat disappointed with the AE now. It all seemed so polished and ready but after playing this extensively it is quite obvious that I whole heartedly don't see eye to an with the game model.

The biggest disappointed is china. Enough said already and I think this theatre hasn't been looked properly. If it had than I don't understand how it made into final product in this state.

Other thing is these weird and bizarre ground combat model. The latest movement saga in the northern oz is absurd. Dave stated that it is working as planned, well maybe but if so than it is even far worse.

Taking these into consideration you wonder "why bother" dedicating so much time into this when some basic concepts are not realistic at all. No, I'am not qutting or anything just very disappointed.

Enough of that though and on with the update.


seydlitz: I think your analysis is spot on in china. See the map for the better recon part.

As for paratroopers. It seems that not all of them are paratroopers though but the initial assault againts Daily Waters was done with them.

Dave seems to have splitted up his tank regiments and dashed forward with them too.

offenseman: Yes, he can do that. The terrain is good there too so I expect him to do just that.

witpqs: Yeah and I think he did just that. He dropped them into Daily Waters and spliited them up.

Also there are parts of tank regiments there which have moved forward through countryside.

[aztez]

Burma (july 15 - 16th 1942)


Dave has moved new fighters in order to provide CAP above Magwe.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 1



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIa Trop x 4
Hurricane IIb Trop x 15
P-38E Lightning x 14


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed


The enemy is also doing nightime bombing runs againts Imphal. These bombers are propably flying out from Rangoon.

Japanese paratroopers also seized the base at Cox's Bazar. I don't mind him doing this since this just gives me an base which to conduct training missions with bombers.

[aztez]

Northern Oz (july 15th - 16th 1942)


The picture speaks volumes. Dave has paratroopers and part of tank regiments down in the south.

His main force with IJA infantry divisions have now entered Katherine.

He has agreed on the following rule which gives these troops passage towards south...

"I'm clearing a path between you aussies and Daly waters. you'll need to move to hex 77,128 first (there's a unit there but it's in the process of getting out of the way), then you can move to daly waters. (There is a welcoming committee at Daly waters, you can either try to retake it or head cross-country, don't tell me which because if you go cross-country I might decide to chase them"

This very annoying since we really should have to go through these "hoops".

[aztez]

China (july 15th - 16th 1942)


Two things became very apparant with last turn intelligence.

a) He has troops moving towards Changhsa.
b) There is sizeable enemy force just outside Hengyang.

Addition to these there has been large scale bombings againts Hengyang,

As stated now it is time to deciede whether or not to abandon central china front and move in organized fashion towards inner china.

That decision needs to made now. I have put this off long enough...

[offenseman]

That move into Cox's Bazaar bothers me.  I strongly suspect that he is coming north with a few divisions to land at Cox and blast into Chittagong.  If I were him and wanted to attack India, I'd send mini-Kb up there with a surface warfare groups protecting a bunch of AKs with base forces and a few hard hitting infantry divisions.  It would not surprise me if his incursion into Northern Australia is a diversion to keep your Navy down there while he sails up that coast to Cox.  Do you have decent Navy assets near Cox?