The Power of Inexperience / GreyJoy(A)-Rader(J)

[GreyJoy]

At Tulagi we have the 1st US Corp HQ, composed of:
3rd USMC Division
23rd Marine Rgt
145th US RGT
148th US RGT
24th US RGT
754th Tank Bn
3rd USMC Tank Bn
627th Tank Destroyer Bn
3 Artillery units
1 Def. Marine Unit
1 Costal Defence Regiment
1 Combat Eng Rgt

For a total of 1280 AVs

If those 5 divisions are in the bad shape i suspect (after having starved there for nearly 4 months) my force should be enough...

[Saros]

Good luck! Whats the terrain bonus of the Tulagi hex?

[Jzanes]

bombarding for a turn before you deliberate attack is a good way to compare AVs. Units starve very slowly in AE and I suspect attacking 5 divs with what you have at Tulagi is going to be ugly. Air and naval bombardment may not kill many troops but will keep his units disrupted.

[crsutton]

Yes you might need another division, but a test deliberate attack might be in order. He might have been flying in supply but a few attacks will eat all of his supply away. Once he goes to zero supply then he will start to melt away no matter his AV. Zero supplycreates a lot of bad things so you might lose more on the first attack but eventually he will start to melt.

[Cribtop]

ORIGINAL: Jzanes

bombarding for a turn before you deliberate attack is a good way to compare AVs. Units starve very slowly in AE and I suspect attacking 5 divs with what you have at Tulagi is going to be ugly. Air and naval bombardment may not kill many troops but will keep his units disrupted.

Strong +1 to the idea of a bombardment attack first to make sure you don't hit a buzz saw. The tide is finally turning, don't hand Rader a freebie with an ill-advised attack.

[GreyJoy]

Unfortunately i already gave orders for the attack. I didn't want to bombard first not to enlight to him my idea and so avoid a massive air bombing to my troops right before the first attack. I hope a deliberate attack won't be too painfull in the case i get a negative result...

the terrain bonus is a +3....

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: House Stark

Does anyone think that Rader might attempt a massive evacuation or withdrawal in late March-early April if he still hasn't attained air superiority? He's got to know that once the Hellcats will get involved he won't be able to win with numbers alone.

I was reading back what we were writing about the battles of early march...and yes, i know feel you were right mate. Completely right.
Rader is not evacuating his garrisons, but he's evacuating his combat units...so i believe it's the right time to start reducing those troops at Tulagi and start thinking about the offensive

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

Unfortunately i already gave orders for the attack. I didn't want to bombard first not to enlight to him my idea and so avoid a massive air bombing to my troops right before the first attack. I hope a deliberate attack won't be too painfull in the case i get a negative result...

the terrain bonus is a +3....

Slowly, Slowly, catchee monkey!

You are not going to win this overnight, take your time and use the right tactics.

What can he do, bomb your troops in jungle terrain (jungle/rough)

You should have taken the bombardment rather than possibly (waiting on the result) smash them up yourself.

I vote for getting on the front foot, but not if its a dingo trap!

[GreyJoy]

Yet again you were right guys...a bloody nose for the allies at Tulagi[:'(]

We got a 1-3 with 100 squads destroyed and more 400 disabled....2 regiments and a half are out of the equation for some time, while the 3rd Marine Division barely suffered....
Oh well, i think we learnt another thing today[:)]

The 5 Japanese divisions are still out of supplies but their strenght hasn't decreased as i thought...still 1900 AVs...

Anyway, i think i can leave with these losses...in few weeks most of my disabled squads shoudl recover and my strenght should go up again....however we did understand a very important lesson today: never think to be able to win against overwhelming numbers even if they are in bad shape and your troops are better equipped...!

[GreyJoy]

Ground combat at Tulagi (114,137)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30934 troops, 750 guns, 737 vehicles, Assault Value = 1306

Defending force 58190 troops, 440 guns, 188 vehicles, Assault Value = 1978

Allied adjusted assault: 1225

Japanese adjusted defense: 4297

Allied assault odds: 1 to 3

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

Japanese ground losses:
796 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2146 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 489 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 101 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 79 disabled
Guns lost 129 (12 destroyed, 117 disabled)
Vehicles lost 60 (5 destroyed, 55 disabled)


Assaulting units:
148th Infantry Regiment
1st Marine Raider Battalion
145th Infantry Regiment
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
3rd Marine Division
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
23rd Marine Regiment
3rd USMC Tank Battalion
177th Construction Regiment
139th USA Base Force
181st Field Artillery Regiment
147th Field Artillery Regiment
179th USAAF Base Force
821st Engineer Aviation Battalion
97th Field Artillery Battalion
7th Marine Defense Battalion
102nd USN Base Force
353rd Construction Regiment
16th USN Naval Construction Battalion
96th Coast AA Regiment
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
34th Aviation Base Force
369th Coast AA Regiment
I US Corps
804th Engineer Aviation Battalion
57th Coastal Artillery Regiment
3rd USN Naval Construction Battalion
21st USN Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
5th Division
52nd Infantry Brigade
38th Division
4th Ind.Mixed Brigade
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
36th Infantry Regiment
4th Division
90th Infantry Regiment
Ichiki Det.
2nd Area Army


Despite the heavy losses and the plain defeat i still think we're reached a kind of a statlemate at Tulagi. If these are the results of the ground combats i think he won't be able to land a force so HUGE to be able to dislodge the equivalent of 2 and half divisions, behind 7 forts and in jungle terrain, from Tulagi.
My losses are more than acceptable in terms of destroyed squads and equipment. I just need some time to recover. I have lots of support and an front-HQ in range so it won't really be a problem to get back to the original strenght and his 80k men remain trapped at Tulagi.

Now we've spotted a HUGE combat TF at Shortland and another one at Thousands Ships Bay....think we're gonna have another naval battle soon....i'm ready!

[String]

I count four artillery units. It should be helpful to bring in a few more. With about 10 larger ones you should have quite effective bombardment results. Bombardment also works wonders in reducing enemy supplies, and without supplies, the disabled troops won't recover.

edit: I'd also think about giving the place some LRCAP when possible, he might start evacuating the place via air.

[CaptBeefheart]

Looks like he has a supply problem on Tulagi. Have you considered doing shore bombardments on Tulagi or are the other bases nearby more lucrative targets?

Cheers,
CC

[GreyJoy]

I think the problem is that the rule of the constant flow of supplies between ports at 1 hex of distance is applyin also in this case (japanese ports at one hex move supplies to stuck units at Tulagi)...cause i'm pretty sure he didn't para-dropped any supply there (been following constantly the op losses and there has been no sign of transport losses on jap side except when paras were used) and not a single ship tried to force the blockade of my PTs and subs...so that must be the case!

If that's the truth it's pointless to try to starve the japanese stack unitill i can close and starve Thousands S.B. and Auki...but it's just a matter of time....[;)]

[JohnDillworth]

Maybe you can use some of the less useful bombers (Hudson's and B-26's) to bomb Tulugi if he has no cap on it. Might keep his fighters tied down. spread them around a bit. He seems to like deploying his fighters in big numbers only. He can't guard everything and frankly, what are those B-26's doing anyway?

[GreyJoy]

My B-26s (what's left of them) and most of my 2Es (except for the newly arrived Mitchells) are doing ASW and Naval search duties...his subs remain a MAIN threat to my sealines and i badly need a good cover to my communication line between PH, Christmas, Pago Pago, Suva and Ndeni...
Then his leacky CAP from Thousands, Russell and Auki will prevent any use of my 2Es over Tulagi...he has more than 400 fighters spread on those 3 bases

[GreyJoy]

I'm foreseeing a bombardment run by those heavy SCTF based at Shortland...so i dispatched a SCTF (CL Richmond + 6 Fletcher DDs) to Tulagi and another 6 DDs TF to Lunga and Tulagi.
 
My SCTF will move to Tulagi in 2 different phases (so they should at least) and then retire to Karaikira where they'll be guarded by 170 Crack fighters (Hellcats, Corsairs, Spits, P-38s and P-40Ks).
 
Let's see what happens...

[wpurdom]

It's been a really long time since you commented about India. Are you planning on leaving him in control of its industry indefinitely. Any thoughts on how you're going to determine when you're ready for a test of strength?

It may be that your greatest problem in India is not having any experience with later war Allied formations and particularly armor. The strength of the individual components goes up to where AV calculations are very different later in the war than in early 1942. But you've got a major issue in deciding how to decide on when you're strong enough to defeat Radar head-on on the plains of India. You shouldn't put off forever at least having a plan on deciding when to launch your offensive.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: wpurdom

It's been a really long time since you commented about India. Are you planning on leaving him in control of its industry indefinitely. Any thoughts on how you're going to determine when you're ready for a test of strength?

It may be that your greatest problem in India is not having any experience with later war Allied formations and particularly armor. The strength of the individual components goes up to where AV calculations are very different later in the war than in early 1942. But you've got a major issue in deciding how to decide on when you're strong enough to defeat Radar head-on on the plains of India. You shouldn't put off forever at least having a plan on deciding when to launch your offensive.

Hi mate

The indian campaign isn't halted. My Eastern Army keeps on advancing towards Multan after a week of pause. Its march is constantly interdicted by 100/150 bombers that daily bomb my stack from 32000 feet, well above the max cieling of my AA....at the same time Karachi remains closed for good cause 200 Helens daily bomb the undefended AF and Port. We're however able to send there 5000 supplies every 3 days...
At Multan 100 enemy units are waiting for me. I know he has there all his armour and an unknown number of divisions... we still don't know if all those divs that were deployed in SOPAC and are now prepping for Tulagi/Lunga/Tassa but reported moving towards Calcutta are actually moving to India.

I do foresee 9 forts at Multan and probably 5/6000 AVs (at least)....without the help of my aviation i cannot hope to break thorugh that defensive line...but i think it's worth trying and test what he actually has there.
June is getting closer...and with June the Med will open and i will be able to move to Aden all the armoured units and the Infantry waiting in UK and CT....then it will only be a matter of time before i can storm through southern India.
The first step is to find a way to gain back the controll of the skies over Karachi. I still lack in a/c reserves...i have some 70 Hurricanes but i need more P-40s to be able to put a decent fight opver Karachi...I'll probably need my CVs...or at least my CVEs in order to escort the convoys from Aden to Karachi and to deliver to India some Marines squadrons (and so Hellcats and Corsairs).

So we'll test his defences at Multan but i don't expect much from this first offensive...too few supplies...no air cover...and a stiff defence...but you're right: it's time to put some pressure on Rader western front!

[JeffroK]

Have you still got those British/Indian Cavalry Regiments ?

Take a took at the angles and see if they can cut across the desert and cut some supply lines.

They dont have to be a permanent block, just create some noise when you are getting close to Multan. (Maybe draw a few AV out of his defences as well)

[ny59giants]

Tulagi -
double check the leaders of your infantry units;
make sure your Command HQ is prepping for this base;
since he had a (-) for supply, he 'may' have used up some of the organic supply in his units, but doesn't have any extra to pull in;
before next attack, run in a BB TF and use ground attack on his units to get maximum disruption.