The armchair strategists club of temptations – Hartwig (A) vs. Aztez (J), no Aztez

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

Of course, the D-days also have a second meaning… Aztez keeps unloading… and unloading… and unloading… which makes me think that maybe the TF composition was oriented on a situation where the Japanese invasion bonus was still on…

Have a look yourself:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 31, 42
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Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

80 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DMS W-19
DMS W-12
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

DMS W-19 fired at enemy troops
DMS W-12 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

86 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Asakasan Maru
xAP Asama Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Arimasan Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage [:D]
xAK Atutasan Maru
DMS W-19
DMS W-12
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
192 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Asama Maru at 6,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Arimasan Maru at 6,000 yards
DMS W-19 fired at enemy troops
DMS W-12 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

84 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Asakasan Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy fires [:D][:D]
xAK Arimasan Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage
DMS W-19
DMS W-12
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
101 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Asakasan Maru at 12,000 yards
DMS W-19 fired at enemy troops
DMS W-12 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

72 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DMS W-19
DMS W-12
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

DMS W-19 fired at enemy troops
DMS W-12 fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

Here’s what he managed to bring ashore on the second day:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Defending force 3745 troops, 57 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 148



Assaulting units:
Port Moresby Brigade
32nd Infantry Div /1
3rd Marine Defense Battalion
15th RAAF Base Force
1st RAAF M/W Sqn /1

Defending units:
3rd Ind. Engr Rgt /1
48th Division
4th Tank Rgt /1
48th JAAF AF Bn /1
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Bn /1
47th Fld AA Bn /1


On to day 3:


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 01, 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

91 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Atutasan Maru
xAP Tatsuta Maru
xAP Asama Maru
xAP Kamakura Maru
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
87 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Atutasan Maru at 13,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Atutasan Maru at 13,000 yards
xAP Asama Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Tatsuta Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Kamakura Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

87 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Atutasan Maru
xAP Kamakura Maru, Shell hits 1
xAP Asama Maru
xAP Tatsuta Maru
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Atutasan Maru at 7,000 yards
6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Kamakura Maru at 7,000 yards
xAP Asama Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Tatsuta Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Kamakura Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

87 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAK Atutasan Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires [:D][:D][:D]
xAP Tatsuta Maru
xAP Asama Maru
xAP Kamakura Maru
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAK Atutasan Maru at 7,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAK Atutasan Maru at 7,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAP Tatsuta Maru at 7,000 yards
xAP Asama Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Tatsuta Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Kamakura Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

92 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAP Tatsuta Maru
xAP Asama Maru
xAP Kamakura Maru
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
77 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Tatsuta Maru at 11,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAP Asama Maru at 11,000 yards
xAP Asama Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Tatsuta Maru fired at enemy troops
xAP Kamakura Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

Again, the strength at PM:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Defending force 6476 troops, 57 guns, 84 vehicles, Assault Value = 236

Assaulting units:
Port Moresby Brigade
32nd Infantry Div /1
3rd Marine Defense Battalion
15th RAAF Base Force
1st RAAF M/W Sqn /1

Defending units:
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engr Rgt /1
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
47th Field AA Battalion
48th JAAF AF Bn

Hmmm. Nowhere near the raw AV I had expected for Japan. Either he will have to unload much more stuff, or he has to cope with much higher losses. I do have an unexpected surge of points for destroyed Japanese troops (are troops that were lost on sinking ships counted now – I think at least for a while they were not , and I could imagine quite well that Arimasan Maru was sunk) on the info screen as well. Both sounds good to me.

What I liked especially is that he used xAK that carry fuel for the invasion. A single CD gun hit inevitably starts heavy fires.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

The last thing I want to report are some news from our Chinese friends (thus the subject).

As you know, I am trying to create a situation in Southern China and Eastern Burma which causes aztez to dilute his main efforts. Therefore, I try to get some attention by lashing out to Lashio (is that a pun?) and bases in Southern China. Actually, in Southern China I may be able to deal some damage to Japanese units at the same time [8D]

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Ground combat at Amoy (83,61) (#3 in the attached picture... ahem screenshot)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4699 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 188

Defending force 3159 troops, 37 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 41

Allied adjusted assault: 152

Japanese adjusted defense: 74

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2 [:D]

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), op mode(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
65th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
Amoy Special Base Force
32nd JNAF AF Unit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Lashio (62,46)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1085 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 48

Defending force 1063 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 29

Japanese adjusted defense: 22

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3 [:)]

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

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

Allied ground losses:
88 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
36th Chinese Division

Defending units:
144th JAAF AF Bn
12th JAAF AF Coy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The results of these attacks were better than expected. Unfortunately, on day 2 all my Chinese have spent their supply, thus adjusted AVs plummeted down…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Amoy (83,61)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4653 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 185

Defending force 2178 troops, 27 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 26

Allied adjusted assault: 8

Japanese adjusted defense: 22

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled


Assaulting units:
65th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
Amoy Special Base Force

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

Ground combat at Lashio (62,46)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1031 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 42

Defending force 1055 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 13

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), supply(-)

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

Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
36th Chinese Division

Defending units:
144th JAAF AF Bn
12th JAAF AF Coy

The turn on whose resolution I wait should bring 2 additional Chinese corps to Amoy, thus it is likely that base will fall in the turn after that. At the beginning of the scenario, there are 80k of fuel available at the place, the conquest of which could be nice for the Chinese economy.

Here’s a picture... ahem, screenshot of Southern China:

Japanese 115th Regiment (#1 in the picture) should be in trouble again soon. The same is true for #2, 32nd JNAF AF unit. I think that currently I am in process of obtaining superiority in the southern part of China. For now, Hongkong and Canton are too strongly garrisoned to attack them with prospect of success, but unless Aztez moves forces south I should be able to continue to grind down the Japanese assets in that region, potentially including the stuck Japanese attacks 4 ( 1 Ind. Rgt) and 5 (composition see previous reports on Chuhsien-Attack).

As always, thanks for your interest.

Hartwig

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

Gentlemen,

Of course, the D-days also have a second meaning… Aztez keeps unloading… and unloading… and unloading… which makes me think that maybe the TF composition was oriented on a situation where the Japanese invasion bonus was still on…

What I liked especially is that he used xAK that carry fuel for the invasion. A single CD gun hit inevitably starts heavy fires.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

With a little bit of planning, these issues are easy to avoid for the JFBs. He has plenty of transports, however, one needs to do the calculations for offload, put heavy equipment only on the AKs or LSDs, and never, never use the large fuel and supply carrying transports for amphib operations...This is true for AFBs too; don't use the large Liberty ships, or you will load fuel with the supplies. I have not tested what happens if you chose load troops only. Does the game engine only load the minimal amount of supplies required for amphib and not load any fuel? I suspect this would work, however; these ships are unneccessarily large for amphib ops. Both classes, allied and japanese, are best used moving strategic stocks between large ports.

[modrow]

Wirraway_Ace,

thanks for posting. It is most welcome, as I am hoping for a turn tonight - got no turns from Monday till today- and keeps me from checking my mail every 10 minutes.

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace
With a little bit of planning, these issues are easy to avoid for the JFBs. He has plenty of transports, however, one needs to do the calculations for offload, put heavy equipment only on the AKs or LSDs, and never, never use the large fuel and supply carrying transports for amphib operations...This is true for AFBs too; don't use the large Liberty ships, or you will load fuel with the supplies. I have not tested what happens if you chose load troops only. Does the game engine only load the minimal amount of supplies required for amphib and not load any fuel? I suspect this would work, however; these ships are unneccessarily large for amphib ops. Both classes, allied and japanese, are best used moving strategic stocks between large ports.

in general, I agree that this may be avoidable. However, there is one other possible explanation: in this scenario the ship distribution on day 1 is "special", as shipping is concentrated in very few ports. It might be that my opponent used what was available in order to pull off an early move.

Frankly, I was also a bit confused about the TF composition. There is a Japanese SCTF at PM, so he could have moved a cruiser or two into his amphibious TF which I would have assumed to be beneficial. Still, he seems not to have done so.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

Wirraway_Ace,

thanks for posting. It is most welcome, as I am hoping for a turn tonight - got no turns from Monday till today- and keeps me from checking my mail every 10 minutes.

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace
With a little bit of planning, these issues are easy to avoid for the JFBs. He has plenty of transports, however, one needs to do the calculations for offload, put heavy equipment only on the AKs or LSDs, and never, never use the large fuel and supply carrying transports for amphib operations...This is true for AFBs too; don't use the large Liberty ships, or you will load fuel with the supplies. I have not tested what happens if you chose load troops only. Does the game engine only load the minimal amount of supplies required for amphib and not load any fuel? I suspect this would work, however; these ships are unneccessarily large for amphib ops. Both classes, allied and japanese, are best used moving strategic stocks between large ports.

in general, I agree that this may be avoidable. However, there is one other possible explanation: in this scenario the ship distribution on day 1 is "special", as shipping is concentrated in very few ports. It might be that my opponent used what was available in order to pull off an early move.

Frankly, I was also a bit confused about the TF composition. There is a Japanese SCTF at PM, so he could have moved a cruiser or two into his amphibious TF which I would have assumed to be beneficial. Still, he seems not to have done so.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

Hartwig,

you are certainly right about what drove his composition of the amphibious TF. I would still have avoided using the big xAKs to carry supplies for the beachhead because they will load fuel too.

Mike

[modrow]

Mike,

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace
Hartwig,

you are certainly right about what drove his composition of the amphibious TF. I would still have avoided using the big xAKs to carry supplies for the beachhead because they will load fuel too.

Mike

I agree completely and think that possibly the invasion might suffer from the consequences of this. Consider my response as an illustration that I am currently in process of analyzing my opponent and don't want to rush to incorrect conclusions.

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

as I had some time available and no turn to do, I tried to trace what might have induced the use of these cargo ships for the invasion.

I believe that the key aspect was that aztez was looking for speed. I guess he wanted to have a convoy capable of doing 4 hex at cruise speed, which seems to lead inevitably to ships that can also carry fuel.

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

another brief update:

1) one more turn received on Sunday, replied on Monday, so the wait is on again [>:]

2) two more days of unloading at PM, raw AV is now about 320 (Japan) vs 215 (Allied)

3) three % of the AAA ammunition of the CA that was supposed to raid Rabaul were spent against an attack of 17 Betties escorted by 13 Zeros out of Rabaul, which did not score a hit. The skipper skipped the raid.

4) four P38E from an "upgrade" of a squadron in the US were finally released into the pool, allowing me to create my first P38E squadron in Oz. Howevere, I still need to optimize the pilot composition a bit.

5) five is the new AF level of Cairns. I have a few B17 squadrons eager to use the base.

That's about all I can report right now. Next turn should bring about some ground combat in China - and perhaps finally the first "real" attack on PM (Aztez did bombard with his artillery unit this turn, achieving - nothing [:'(], but of course that is true for my automatic bombardment attack as well.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

Gentlemen,

as I had some time available and no turn to do, I tried to trace what might have induced the use of these cargo ships for the invasion.

I believe that the key aspect was that aztez was looking for speed. I guess he wanted to have a convoy capable of doing 4 hex at cruise speed, which seems to lead inevitably to ships that can also carry fuel.

Hartwig

Interesting. He has plenty of small, 18 knot xAPs and a few AKs that he could have used, but they must have been too far away at the start of this scenario (or committed to other operations).

[modrow]

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace

Interesting. He has plenty of small, 18 knot xAPs and a few AKs that he could have used, but they must have been too far away at the start of this scenario (or committed to other operations).

Well, he had virtually freedom of choice - the ships he used start at Osaka, so do the AKs (which, however, may be considered to be more important for operations where quick unloading is more essential).

Re. xAPs - which class do you refer to ? I thought 18kt xAP = Buenos Aires Maru class, but I think there are only 2 of these. Or did you intend to type 17kt xAP (which are capable of doing 4 hex on cruise speed and seem to be available in large numbers) ?

Another potentially relevant factor may be fuel availability, which may favor use of few high endurance ships. Anyway, we will see where and when the alternatives are about to be used.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

ORIGINAL: Wirraway_Ace

Interesting. He has plenty of small, 18 knot xAPs and a few AKs that he could have used, but they must have been too far away at the start of this scenario (or committed to other operations).

Well, he had virtually freedom of choice - the ships he used start at Osaka, so do the AKs (which, however, may be considered to be more important for operations where quick unloading is more essential).

Re. xAPs - which class do you refer to ? I thought 18kt xAP = Buenos Aires Maru class, but I think there are only 2 of these. Or did you intend to type 17kt xAP (which are capable of doing 4 hex on cruise speed and seem to be available in large numbers) ?

Another potentially relevant factor may be fuel availability, which may favor use of few high endurance ships. Anyway, we will see where and when the alternatives are about to be used.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

Hartwig, yes you are correct. I meant the 17kt Dairen Marus that can make 4 hex speed. They have short legs for a transport, but their small size (about 3,500 tons) make them a better choice for amphib operations than the other xAPs. After the excellent AKs, the next best for Japan are the 14kt Toho Cargo Class xAKs, again about 3,500 tons.

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

I received the turn yesterday evening and it was a fun turn to watch (even though only some things worked as planned). One of the reasons for that is that there were some unlikely heroes.

As the likelihood that aztez can send a turn is significantly higher at the weekend compared to during the week, my priority No.1 right now is to get the turn back to him ASAP. Still, in view of having fallen on page 2 of the AAR page and to provide a teaser I would like to present unlikely hero #1 right now:

Please raise your glasses to salute CA Astoria.

As you know, she was to raid Rabaul. Aztez stopped that raid by ambushing her with a surface TF at night, and for an US CA with low night exp she did remarkably well:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Rabaul at 106,125, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Tatsuta, Shell hits 1
DD Sazanami
DD Mutsuki
DD Yayoi, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Astoria, Shell hits 1, on fire

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 60% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 16,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
Japanese ships attempt to get underway
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 10,000 yards
Baba, Yoshifumi crosses the 'T'
CL Tenryu engages CA Astoria at 10,000 yards
CL Tenryu engages CA Astoria at 10,000 yards
DD Yayoi engages CA Astoria at 10,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Mutsuki at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
CL Tenryu engages CA Astoria at 3,000 yards
DD Asanagi engages CA Astoria at 3,000 yards
DD Mutsuki engages CA Astoria at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
CL Tenryu engages CA Astoria at 7,000 yards
CA Astoria engages CL Tenryu at 7,000 yards
CA Astoria engages DD Asanagi at 7,000 yards
DD Yayoi engages CA Astoria at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
CL Tenryu engages CA Astoria at 9,000 yards
Scanland, F. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 8,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
CL Tatsuta engages CA Astoria at 12,000 yards
CA Astoria engages CL Tenryu at 12,000 yards
Task forces break off...

A Katori class CL and a DD have appeared on the sunk ships list. I am not sure this is what really happened, but at the very least it means yardtime for the CL and the DD. Excellent.

On her return leg, Astoria was ambushed again by Betties, which scored a torpedo hit. But it looks like she will survive.

Ok, this is the teaser. Oh, wait, maybe I should add that there was ground combat at PM as well [;)].

More later

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

the turn was sent back to my opponent, thus let us arise from our comfortable chairs and raise the glass for a toast for another unlikely hero:

DD Nagatsuki

Astonished ? Well, it suits a gentlemen well to honor heroic behaviour of his foes has well (specifically if they have been eliminated after all).

In this specific case, a raid into Rangoon found another convoy. First contact occured at 2000 yards, and in the very first round of combat Nagatsuki managed to put a fish into Glasgow. Glasgow and Norman finished her off afterwards, but Glasgow was hurt badly and is trying to limp home at 1 hex/phase. Not sure that she will survive.

Here's the combat report:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Rangoon at 54,53, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Kasagi Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAK Ikoma Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAK Mikasa Maru

Allied Ships
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Norman, Shell hits 1

Not very heroic were the results of a sweep against Mandalay, where I lost 15 Hurricanes (with lots of good pilots) against 2 zeros [:(]. Not sure what went wrong there. We have a height limit of 30k feet, which both sides adhered to. One of the sweeping squadrons was of the type that has a ceiling limit of 29.x k feet and it got caught in a bounce loop.

Someone must have tampered with those electronic dice [:D]...

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

here are reports from our heroes in China:

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Ground combat at Tolun (98,36)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4070 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 129

Defending force 636 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 27

Allied adjusted assault: 117

Japanese adjusted defense: 7

Allied assault odds: 16 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Tolun !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
128 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1


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


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
11th Chinese Corps
17th Group Army

Defending units:
5th Mongol Cavalry Division



A number of garrison units in this region are even weaker then a Chinese corps, so they can be roughened up. Of course, the corps is doomed [;)]

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Ground combat at 82,60

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 7856 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 249

Defending force 2825 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 99

Allied adjusted assault: 195

Japanese adjusted defense: 195

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
411 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled


Assaulting units:
25th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
115th Infantry Regiment



This means 115th Inf Rgt will make it to the bulk of the Japanese army at Canton. A pity. The attack occurred on day 1 of the turn, at the end of it they had reached the next hex.

I was aware of this movement attempt, thus I had to attack this turn in spite of the fact that mya backup corps was stuck at 44 miles in the neighboring hex.


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Ground combat at Amoy (83,61)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 20698 troops, 119 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 792

Defending force 2148 troops, 27 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 28

Allied adjusted assault: 700

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 70 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Amoy !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
744 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 73 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Allied ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
70th Chinese Corps
65th Chinese Corps
86th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
Amoy Special Base Force

Here, at least, we deal some losses. Unfortunately, though, we did not conquer much fuel. The base has a nice airfield, though. Supply situation in China is too bad to start a real bombing campaign, but perhaps it can be used for the purpose of distraction, if dealing destruction in a relevant way is not possible for this reason.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

edited for spelling

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

last not least: PM. As stated in yesterday's teaser, the first attack did occur, but not until after -guess what- some more unloading had occurred:

Invasion Support action off Port Moresby
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

96 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
xAP Kamakura Maru, Shell hits 1
xAP Tatsuta Maru, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Asama Maru, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Aikoku Maru
xAP Hokoku Maru

Japanese ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Kamakura Maru at 9,000 yards
5in CD Gun Battery engaging xAP Tatsuta Maru at 9,000 yards
6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Asama Maru at 9,000 yards
6" Mk XI/XII Gun Battery engaging xAP Kamakura Maru at 9,000 yards
xAP Aikoku Maru fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

Actually, further unloading was indicated in remaining phases of the turn, but it did not effect the combat report any more, thus I guess it was just unloading supplies.

Here's the (deliberate) attack that went in afterwards and the bombardment response of my troops induced by the unloading. Interestingly, there was neither an attempt to support the result by naval bombardment or air strikes. Maybe next turn...

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9840 troops, 113 guns, 102 vehicles, Assault Value = 336

Defending force 5282 troops, 120 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 217

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 124

Allied adjusted defense: 359

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
829 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 49 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 7 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
296 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 37 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
47th Field AA Battalion
48th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
Port Moresby Brigade
32nd Infantry Div /1
3rd Marine Defense Battalion
15th RAAF Base Force
1st RAAF M/W Sqn /1

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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3011 troops, 110 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 181

Defending force 9235 troops, 136 guns, 102 vehicles, Assault Value = 277


Assaulting units:
Port Moresby Brigade
32nd Infantry Div /1
3rd Marine Defense Battalion
15th RAAF Base Force

Defending units:
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
47th Field AA Battalion
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
48th JAAF AF Bn

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Most of my losses affect the PM brigade (whose strength was brought down sufficiently to upgrade to AIF - as an aside, I have upgraded the Australian Bn sized units to AIF now, thus by disbanding these I can induce an upgrade of the brigades at will. Right now, however, this is not preferable because I would like to use the CMF infantry squad replacement rate to bolster the brigades - the "maintain trained squad" principle must be exploited as strongly as possible), the GIs and the Marines are still in good shape. Specifically the GIs have been gaining exp during combat and are rapidly approaching 60; the exp(-) likely stems from a roll for PM Bde. We'll see what happens next...

For now, please keep your fingers crossed that I receive another turn tonight [8D]

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig

edited for grammar

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

... For now, please keep your fingers crossed that I receive another turn tonight [8D] ...


Hartwig

Me thinks someone still doesn't want to do the mowing tomorrow morning.[:)]

Alfred

[modrow]

Alfred,

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Me thinks someone still doesn't want to do the mowing tomorrow morning.[:)]

Alfred

well, where I live the mowing season is essentially over. Snow shoveling season is about to start any day. Which is preferable to mowing, but not the most preferred activity.

Hartwig

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

sorry about the silence in the club... well, unless you count snoring, that is - only yesterday evening did the turn arrived. We are currently proceeding at 1 turn/week [>:], I guess I'll ask aztez how much longer his job frenzy will last.

In spite of the rabid interest of some of our most senior club members in my home and gardening activities, I refrained from posting reports after these actions. Now, there would have been lots of stuff to report - 4 piled metres of wood were processed to firewood and moved into the shack (still need to stack half of it), 4 120 litre bags of fallen leaves removed from the driveway (you just don't want to have it under snow, and we had the first snow on Wednesday), and -to greyjoy's grief if he reads this thread- some bushes really needed to be cut back.

Anyway, whereas as usual the top priority is to get the turn back to aztez, hoping he has nothing else to do tonight and thus the action reporting is delayed for now, I want to try to stir up some discussion. As the thoughts on deep battle (which may reemerge at some point of time in my shallow strategic ramblings in this thread), it has to do with transferability of concepts onto AE.

I guess all of us armchair strategists are well aware of the general concept that flanking attacks on an enemy thrust, preferably at the basis of a salient are supposedly advisable (frantically arranging salt and pepper shakers).

What I have started to do with the onset of the Japanese PM action is exerting pressure on Rabaul with surface assets. You know about Astoria's heroic action, this turn Phoenix paid a visit, next turn there should be the next raid - assets are in position already. There are numerous reasons why I think this approach is useful which I will list in a later post, but first I am interested in your views

a) whether putting pressure on Rabaul is a reasonable thing to do (the visible changes to base infrastructure relative to the beginning of the scenario are that he reinforced Lae, probably Shortlands, took Tulagi and invaded PM, I have had no reports from Lae, Shortlands and Tulagi on successful AF expansion) and

b) whether this can be considered to be an example of a valid transfer from a principle from ground combat to the virtual reality of AE.

Thank you for your views !

Hartwig

[modrow]

Double post - deleted

[modrow]

Gentlemen,

no, not a history quiz, sorry to disappoint you. Commented excerpts from the combat report for the turn of the week:

a) my esteemed opponent attacked Chuhsien again. It does not get any better for him. As a reminder, check the results of the last attack in my post #61, where the enemy had started with 648 raw AV.

Ground combat at Chuhsien (88,56)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21127 troops, 192 guns, 72 vehicles, Assault Value = 700

Defending force 15804 troops, 81 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 522

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 552

Allied adjusted defense: 535

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
639 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 126 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled


Allied ground losses:
411 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Assaulting units:
22nd/A Division
17th Division
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment
22nd/B Division

Defending units:
88th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
3rd War Area
25th Group Army


The attack continued on day 2:

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

Ground combat at Chuhsien (88,56)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19880 troops, 192 guns, 72 vehicles, Assault Value = 603

Defending force 15495 troops, 81 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 498

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 487

Allied adjusted defense: 538

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
957 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled


Allied ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
22nd/A Division
17th Division
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment
22nd/B Division

Defending units:
88th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
3rd War Area
25th Group Army

On the one hand, this illustrates the problem that I face in the end - my opponent is able to get disabled squads back into fighting shape and/or replace them much more quickly than I am. At the same time, though, he is currently disabling his units more quickly than mine [:D].

b) The second action of interest is my continuing attack on Lashio. I'll admit that I was a bit confused to find the base virtually in the same state as whe I had last attacked it (no influx of AV so far). All the better - even though I am still sort of short of troops, as the Chinese corps is rather weak. In any case, it did its job - a turn or two of rest and then we'll try again. If there are no reinforcements, maybe we can crack the nut.

Ground combat at Lashio (62,46)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1044 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 46

Defending force 1064 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 26

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

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


Allied ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
36th Chinese Division

Defending units:
144th JAAF AF Bn
12th JAAF AF Coy

And day 2:

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

Ground combat at Lashio (62,46)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 962 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 35

Defending force 1055 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Allied adjusted assault: 22

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

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


Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Assaulting units:
36th Chinese Division

Defending units:
144th JAAF AF Bn
12th JAAF AF Coy


c) The third action worth mentioning was the visit of CL Phoenix and friend to Rabaul. Unfortunately, Phoenix was sunk on her way out (in the third Betty raid she had to face). Still, I think the trade-off is acceptable, as the raid appears to have sunk an enemy DD, damaged another CL heavily and damaged a second enemy DD.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Rabaul at 106,125, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Tatsuta, Shell hits 13, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sazanami, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
CL Phoenix
DD Helm



Reduced sighting due to 28% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 28% moonlight: 9,000 yards
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 8,000 yards
Japanese ships attempt to get underway
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 8,000 yards
CL Tatsuta engages CL Phoenix at 8,000 yards
CL Tatsuta engages DD Helm at 8,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Mutsuki at 8,000 yards
DD Sazanami engages DD Helm at 8,000 yards
Range closes to 2,000 yards
CL Phoenix engages CL Tatsuta at 2,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Sazanami at 2,000 yards
DD Sazanami sunk by CL Phoenix at 2,000 yards
Baba, Yoshifumi orders Japanese TF to disengage
Range increases to 8,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Asanagi at 8,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Mutsuki at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 10,000 yards
CL Tatsuta engages CL Phoenix at 10,000 yards
DD Helm engages DD Asanagi at 10,000 yards
DD Mutsuki engages DD Helm at 10,000 yards
Range increases to 13,000 yards
CL Tatsuta engages CL Phoenix at 13,000 yards
DD Asanagi engages DD Helm at 13,000 yards
DD Mutsuki engages DD Helm at 13,000 yards
Task forces break off...


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Torokina at 107,130

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
G4M1 Betty x 13



Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Phoenix, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Helm



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Ok, that's all the action I habe to report tonight.

Thanks for your interest

Hartwig