Andy Mac v PZB This time India will Stand !!!!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Hi Andy , Good to see the game carrying of after PZB's enviable trip to the USA.

Could i ask a couple of questions pls ?

1) can you post a screenie of Burma and how much supply is where.

2) How do you keep them in supply ? I'm in 11/42 still holding Mandalay and Supply is a complete nightmare , any tips ? and yes i'm using every darn plane to haul supply in to Myth and letting the AI move it by rail. There are numerous screenies in my AAR if your interesting in having a look .

Thank you regardless and good luck.

[Andy Mac]

Will do when I get the next turn I have basically split the front into 6 sectors or fronts.

1. Katha Front - Katha/Mykytina/Warazup (all fully or close to fully upgraded which is vital for supply so katha is AF 9 fort 6 for example
2. Arakan Front - Akyab/Cox Bazaar
3. Imphal Front - Imphal/Kohima/Kalameyo/Silchar

and 3 support sectors

4. Ledo Sector Dimapur/Jorhat/Ledo
5. Dacca Sector Dacca/Comilla/Chittagomng
6. Rangpur Sector Tezpur/Rangpur/Darjeeling

Fundamnetal is keeping Command HQ's and building bases supply is currently a little lower than I would like I only have 300,000 supply between those bases but I have 2m at
Madras and 2m at Colombo so I expect it will improve quickly as I have taken corrective action - p.s. I have c 400 transport aircraft in theatre and c 2,000 combat aircraft

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thank you , so building up the closest bases on the Indian border while having HQ's in the bigger ones all help draw supply to them and thereby allow a bigger % to trickle through to Burma. Good to know, I have been building some up , namely ledo and Imphal. spread out some Air HQ's to cover all bases within 5 hexes and have the Indian main HQ in Imphal as well as others covering and prepped for Mandalay.

I'll concentrate more engineers on the other bases Kalemyo/warazup especially (actually just abandoned Warazup recently) in the hope of getting more into theater.

Actually I love the way Burma is a nightmare to supply , seems much more realistic than the old supply swamp it was in witP, good work on that btw.

[Andy Mac]

PZB intorduced his two new fighters last turn as botht he george and Frank made an appearance....

Not a disaster my fighters kept them off the bombers and I got 121 loss rate but the Hurricanes lost heavily 6 for no loss while on sweep...

I have 811 currently operational fighters and fighter bombers in India at present of which only

50 x P38's
60 x Spits (marginal but no choice)
106 x P47's
25 x P51's

can be considered capable

236 Hurricanes
141 P39/P40's
48 Mohawk/Buffalos (training command sqns)
49 F4F's
44 Beaufighters
52 Fulmers (FAA trainign Sqns)

are all no no's for tanglign with these opponents

At present the Spitfire VIII has entered service and I get 32 a month so probably enough to convert 1 sqn per month to this type
Thuds start arriving for the RAF in April 44

Until then apart from the Spit Sqns the RAF is out of the air superiority game and needs to focus on Air to Mud which the Hurricane IIc is actually quite good at with 4 x 20mm cannon and 2 x 500lb bombs so the Hurricane force will need to re tasked to air to mud and rear area security as are the Fulmers, Beafighters

The USAAF is in better shape but even there its not great

P51's can only maintain the sqn I have at 9 per month no opportunity to convert more sqns
P47's/P38J's balancing the needs of SWPAC and SEAC I get 106 per month so the 141 P40/39's can probably be cnverted over the next month or so especially if I further strip non essential theatres replaicing the sqns currently inthose types on rear area securtiy with Hurricanes

Now its not all bad news I predicted this would happen in a couple of months so I have 6 x 25 uSAAF Fighter Sqns arriving at Aden in a few days all with P40's but still a welcome boost.

I also have about 250 land based USMC or USN Sqns arriving a mix of Texans,F4F's F6F's and F4U's

So a 50% increase in my fighter strength inside of 30 days taking me up to c 1200 - (I have 500 F4F's in the pool and am getting 78 F4U's per month)

So I may stand down for a few weeks or at least lower the intensity to hit one target hard per day rather than spread out as I need to concentrate my good fighters onto keeping the pests at bay

[Nemo121]

Well, if you limit your incapable fighters to CAP so they get a shot at escorting fighters and bombers you will greatly lessen the loss differential. Of course sweeps will still hurt but so long as he's sweeping he isn't bombing and, even there, leavening the mix of fighters with some high capability airframes does wonders for the survivability of low-quality airframes.

In my 1945 game defending Japan I have found that mixing in 100 top-range fighters with 200 beginners in old airframes ( A6M5s etc ) really lets the lower quality guys survive the inevitable fighter sweeps and still be in the air when the bombers come calling, at which point in time they can do some damage.

[Andy Mac]

True the Spit VIII on paper is a match for the Frank I will feel better when a few more Sqns have converted.

I will take a tithe of my best pilots out of any Sqn committed with Huirricanes I want to save enough for 3 - 4 good Sqns when I get Thuds for the RAF

[Rob Brennan UK]

Just out of curiosity Andy , whats the exp levels and skills like for the RAF in India/Burma ?

[Andy Mac]

The RAF are 50 - 70 Exp for all fighter Sqns (70 - 75 A2A, 70 Defence)
Land Sqns 50 - 70 Exp and Ground Bombing 70 - 75 land bombing is more variable but several sqns are 70 for nav and low nav

Most of my Dive bomber sqns are better at naval

Major japanese reonforcements pouring into Burma excellent news !!!

[Andy Mac]

We upgraded to the latest patch I am a little nervous because of the Georges he willnow get but cest la vie fair is fair

I have a small attack underway in the Marquesas to try and recapture them - a bit of a sideshow now to be honest but I have to rebuild and start slow.

Andy

[Andy Mac]

Busy week not managed to many turns.

The reconstituted 3rd Marines took Nuka in the Mrquesas yes its a side show but any progress is good progrss at present and as smash and grabs go this one seems to have worked.

KB has been spotted moving into the Bay of Bengal not sure why most of my AF's are inland and protected by fighters and AA guns madras has a few ships in port but nothing he can do will devastate the fleet and knowing where KB is is priceless.

I have redeployed some fighters to a more defensive posture and have closed down the Burma front for a day or two to be prepared.

I am in no rush in Burma the more he redploys there the happier i will be

I know I am picking around the edges but the floodgates are about to open as men and material flow in.

The patch has given me a couple of opportunities.

I have a 40 aircraft FAA Sqn equipped with Fulmars - its been a training Sqn for FAA fighter pilots - with the loss of the RN carriers I dont need as many pilots so these well trained pilots in a nice big Sqn are going to upgrade to Hurricane FRIIb's that wil give me a large Sqn to spearhead future sweeps or for low level naval attacks.

Roll on the Thuds for the RAF !!!

[Andy Mac]

ps a 20 sub wolfpack is operating in the Bay of Bengal....KB could do some real damage to itself if I get lucky.

Andy

[Rob Brennan UK]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

The RAF are 50 - 70 Exp for all fighter Sqns (70 - 75 A2A, 70 Defence)
Land Sqns 50 - 70 Exp and Ground Bombing 70 - 75 land bombing is more variable but several sqns are 70 for nav and low nav

Most of my Dive bomber sqns are better at naval

Major japanese reonforcements pouring into Burma excellent news !!!

I am impressed you kept the fighter pilot quality that high given some of the combat losses you have suffered, separate nationality pools have + points as well as - ones it seems [;)].

thnk you taking the time to look and reply, much appreciated.

[Andy Mac]

Ok last few days have been interesting.
 
I decided to start the attriotianl battles in Burma and Burma Corps went onto the offensive with 2,500 AV supported by lots of air to ground mostly hitting the LOC at Magwe and Schwebo - keeping those two bases low on supplies and constantly punded will keep PZB back
 
Burma Corps 1st attack secured a 1:2 but with even casualties PZB ONLY has  2 Divs of 15th Army holding me back .
 
That means I win - 2 Divs cannot stand against 2,500 AV not well supported as mine are with a surplus of support and with arty in support plus air supremacy.
 
Its just a matter of time to wear down - the key is to atrtack on successvie days even if the attack on day 1 is 1:2 as long as fatigue, supply and disruption are ok you are still good to attack - battles of this natutre took weeks IRL so a few attacks are expected.
 
I rested a day and then on day 3 attacked again must keep up the pressure got a 1:1 on day 3 so I attacked on day 4 and retreatred a large chunk of PZB's army - about 2 weeks ahead of schedule so IV/XV and XXXIII Corps are moving into position - Auchileck and the boys of Burma Corps did their job and oforced PZB back onto the plain
 
This is going to be a long campaing but I hope to draw in massive amounts of LCU's to Burma !!!

[Andy Mac]

Yestersay I saw 300+ fighters at Magwe so PZB prepping a surprise - well so was I I am going downtown to rangoon 300 fighters escorting or sweeping for 200 bombers
 
Results were ok havent had the turn back so far but my sweeps appeared to deal with CAP and my heavies took losses but pounded rangoon AF - he will need to disperse some more
 
 

[Andy Mac]

ps I am pretty slow at tutrns these days still on holiday in Scotland and my mums comp is sooo slow.....

[Andy Mac]

Burma Corps is now driving on Scwhebo the RAF and USAAF are taking a toll on the retreating Japanese forces
 
Two para Bdes await int he wings in case an opportunity presents itself.
 
IV Corps and XV Corps are also on the move
 
XXXIII Corps has arrived at Aden and will be shipped to India ASAP to provide the amphib reserve.
 
1st USN Wildcat Sqn joined the fray today (lots of wildcats in pool so going to use them for escort and CAS - may as well not got enough carriers any more....)

[Andy Mac]

I aus Corps is slowly getting back to South Australia as are the two reconstituting US Corps operations in SWPAC and the return to the DI are not a million miles away just need to wait for forces to re gather in southern bases.
 
CENPAC operations are merely awaiting the repai and arrival of more ships

[Andy Mac]

PZB picked up IV Corps moving forward this turn and attacked it.

lead Div is 90 miles from Ramree lead armoured cars of the Guides Cavalry Regt moved into the hex where PZB's blocking force awaits.

50th Indian Para bde will air assault Ramree to try to take it by Coup de Main tomorrow night backed by the air mobile Chindit Bde (77th) more and more air units and LCU's are pouring into Burma I want to suckl all PZB's reserves into the theatre.

Looks like Bur Corps is facing at least 5 Japanese Divs on the Schwebo plain including 2nd Tank Div so it should be a good bun fight.

XV Corps advancing on both banks of the Chindwin and moving towards the Irrawaddy Delta will also give a good account of themselves.

XXXIII Corps just needs to be shipped from Aden to India and III Corps is now re assembling in Australia also awaiting shipping

[Andy Mac]

Interesting turn 77th Chindits siezed Ramnree only to be faced with a full out para counterattack but they held on.

The blocking force is the Guards Tank Div which I do wonder why its in the mountains I have a couple of Inf Divs and attached armour closing in and should be able to wear them down and destroy them in the mountains so thats good.

Need to take a long look at what PZB is up to but more and more stuff is starting to arrive in Burma so I should be able to keep some nice pressure on in Burma Burma Corps is a little exposed on the Schwebo plain but 36th Indian Div is now driving down the North Bank of the Chindwin so should be in a position to pocket him if he stands to far north

[Andy Mac]

I am pretty hopefull that a full strength Indian Inf Div with basically 8 extra mixed Mech Bns can deal with a Japanese Tank Div even if I do need to rely on air support.

I have them at 2:1 in bad terrain and the jap div will be light on Inf and support and I am heavy on Arty as 5th indian Div is still on a heavy TOE with 3 full regts of 25 pounders and a shed load of A/T guns

Follow on forces will continue to drive south to try and surrpund the Japanese tanks