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

[GreyJoy]

Sep 22, 23 1943

Too many vacations...too many days with my brain off...

I've ordered the LRCAP over my Eastern Army...i messed up with the drop tanks issue and the result was that only 3 corsairs were where they were supposed to be!
However my 3 Corsairs killed 2 Georges, losing only 1 plane against overwhelming odds...

At TLT i ordered a mass bombing at Thousands with 3 bombardment TFs...don't know what happened but only 1 of the 3 TFs got in and bombed the place without scoring a single hit on the runaway (and yes, i had float planes on recon)....bad dice and rolls but God knows which orders i gave to my other TFs...[&:]

His KB remains at Kavieng...i'm pretty sure he wants to ambush my bombing TFs with one of his famous LBA+KB raid...

In India i foresee an incredible struggle to come....more units are reported to be moving there from Singapore...

[GreyJoy]

A part from the heavy fightings that will took place in October - both in the Solomons and in India - i think it's interesting to stress that the month of October 43 will see the arrival of the new model of Corsair that will be carrier capable and produced in the numbers of 78 monthly! This, along with the presence of a large supply of Hellcats, will give a boost to my Navy fighter units.
Also the Spits mk.VIII will start to arrive to the Australian units. 20 SpitsVIII monthly isn't much for the Aussies, but i i'm preparing to convert a crack 16 planes Aus squadron to Spit VIII. I will devote my top gun Aus pilots to the brand new fighter.
In November the Brits will start to get 32 more spits monthly. In India, considering the short range of the Spit VIII, it won't be usefull, so i'll use the RAF squadron i have in the Solomons.

I fear that by now he must have Franks coming online...i'm pretty sure in my next offensive i'll start to see these new beasts...

[DOCUP]

Since CR gave you a good Southern Welcome I'll just say Welcome back, hope you had a good time.
 

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Since CR gave you a good Southern Welcome I'll just say Welcome back, hope you had a good time.

Thanks mate!

Had a good time, yes, even if the weather wasn't 100% good and the "intestinal fever" striked the entire Hotel, binding me for hours to the W.C. (and in that country they don't have the darn bidet, so every time i had to take a shower...something like 10 showers every day [:o]).

A part from that and apart the extreme poverty of the island, the place is absolutely beautifull

[DOCUP]

Thanks for that mental image GJ.  LOL glad you had fun now get down to work and tear Rader another one.

[obvert]

Welcome back!

We've missed your 10-20 posts a day around here!

[cantona2]

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Thanks for that mental image GJ.  LOL glad you had fun now get down to work and tear Rader another one.

I take it DOCUP that the pun was intended? [:D]

[DOCUP]

Yes 5am and I am still up.  A little slap happy.[:'(]

[GreyJoy]

Made a long post and it got swallowed by the net [:@]
 
Sept 24,25 1843
 
Our activity of bombing his frontal bases in the Solomons is going well. Today we destroyed 30 planes on the ground at Rekata bay, while Auki was bombed again by a light cruiser TF.
Tomorrow our BBs will bomb Munda, while our 4Es will strike Thousands. We try to change the targets as often as possible not to be too predictable.
 
The goal is to keep Rader busy with a general sense of unsafety in his frontal bases in the Solomons.
 
our first PF unit sunk an enemy sub near SF, while we torpedoed another xAK near Truk.
 
Our CVs are assembling at SUVA. my brand new allied Death Star will be composed of 10 CVs and 4 CVLs... more than 1000 planes....not bad!
 
Tomorrow we'll try to LRCAP again our Eastern Army that is bombed every day...
 
I have a problem with the supply flow... i have more than 2 million supplies at Karachi not stockpiling...2 command HQs are with my Eastern Army but despite that i cannot get more than 35k supplies to it...the supply simply doesn't flow in more quantities...is that normal?
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Truk  at 107,113
 
Japanese Ships
      xAK Hokusho Maru, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
      SC CHa-12
      AK Amagisan Maru
      xAK Kisaragi Maru
      xAK Iwaki Maru
      xAK Matsue Maru
      xAK Koei Maru
      PB Kensin Maru
      PB Nikkai Maru
 
Allied Ships
      SS Sealion
 
 
  
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Rekata Bay at 113,134
 
Japanese aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      P1Y1 Frances: 16 damaged
      P1Y1 Frances: 3 destroyed on ground
      N1K1 Rex: 6 damaged
      N1K1 Rex: 1 destroyed on ground
      N1K1-J George: 18 damaged
      N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed on ground
      D4Y3 Judy: 5 damaged
      D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed on ground
      Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 24 damaged
      Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 5 destroyed on ground
      Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 5 damaged
      Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
      Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 damaged
      H6K4 Mavis: 3 damaged
 
Allied Ships
      DD Hammann
      DD Eaton
      DD Beale
      DD Fletcher
 
Japanese ground losses:
      12 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
 
 
 
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 41
Port hits 6
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Auki at 115,136
 
Japanese aircraft
      no flights
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      E13A1 Jake: 13 damaged
      E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed on ground
 
Allied Ships
      CA Hawkins
      CA Louisville
      CA Portland
      CL Denver
      CL Trenton
      CL Detroit
      CL Leander
      DD Perkins
      DD Cushing
      DD Conyngham
      DD Case
 
Japanese ground losses:
      322 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
         Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
         Engineers: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
 
 
 
Airbase hits 32
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 89
Port hits 24
Port supply hits 4
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Eureka  at 207,69
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-26, hits 11,  heavy damage
 
Allied Ships
      PF Long Beach
      DD Nicholson
      DE Charles R. Greer
 
 
 

[GreyJoy]

Ok, orders are given. My BBs stationed at Lunga (i moved them in last turn) will move out of the action of Russell-Thousands and bomb at night Munda base. I have devoted 3 BBs, 6 CAs, 4 CLs and 14 DDs divided into 2 TFs for this task. Ching and Lane the Commanders. A screen of 4 Fletchers will cover the two big TFs. PTs will move to Thousands, Russell, Auki and Rekata Bay. 200 4Es, escorted by 12 Boomerang will hit Thousands (clear weather forecasted).
My BBs will all retire to Tulagi instead of Lunga. This because as i move in the BBs he always tries to attack them with his LBAs...so, fearing the sweep+escorted naval attack combo, i changed the returning base...if he sweep Lunga he will find nothing and his escorted bombers will meet 200+ fighters based at Tulagi plus those 300 on LRCAP from Lunga...

[GreyJoy]

Here's my strategy problem:

In India i have 11k AVs ready to advance towards Multan. The Army united as it is now is a solid block that cannot be defeated. It's also self sufficient for what concerns aerial threat cause i have massed so many AAs that he's forced to bomb from 30k feet with no effect among my troops.
However to take Multan or to try to i have to dived my army...and here comes the problem.
I need to advance getting my flanks secure. As you can see the road system around Multan and the river system forces me to keep a blocking force in the hex directly west of Multan, while the rest shoudl advance north of it not to be forced to shock attack his positions directly.
Assuming he has 10k AVs available in India he can easily put 5k AVs at Multan, behind 6 forts and more 4k on the hex east of Multan in order to block my river crossing... is it thinkable to rivercross and shock attack against 4/5k AVs? will i face a fatal defeat here?

[crsutton]

Personally I think the grinding frontal attacks play into his plans. You really need to find a way to flank him. I would try to disperse my armor and run units around his rear. Your tanks can take care of any Japanese mobile unit and run away from any larger threat.

I do realize that you can't do this without air supremacy. That is the problem, and with only the two bases, not easily solved.

Rader deserves credit here. He was willing to make sacrifices to gain solid territorial gains. You do not have enough landing ships to use in both the Pacific and India and until you get enough (not for a while) he does not have to worry about his flanks in India.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Personally I think the grinding frontal attacks play into his plans. You really need to find a way to flank him. I would try to disperse my armor and run units around his rear. Your tanks can take care of any Japanese mobile unit and run away from any larger threat.

I do realize that you can't do this without air supremacy. That is the problem, and with only the two bases, not easily solved.

Rader deserves credit here. He was willing to make sacrifices to gain solid territorial gains. You do not have enough landing ships to use in both the Pacific and India and until you get enough (not for a while) he does not have to worry about his flanks in India.

A "frontal attack" is the only option i have here and the only air supremacy chance i have is to use 4Es to close Multan...nothing more.
I cannot flank him on a strategical level...i will try to flank him on a tactical/operational level but the road system is so complicated there that it will be very very tough...

But i have no choice...i need to grab him and force him to committ a encreasing number of troops on this front in order to stop him from sending those experienced divisions elsewhere in the pacific...

[Canoerebel]

You've got to give appropriate consideration to the stress and uncertainty that rader will be under. He cannot afford to have a major force at Multan isolated and defeated. Neither is he going ot be comfrotable attacking your stack across the river. He's going to develop a huge case of the willies if, from his perspective, it appears that there's a chance his force can be isolated. That means a big part of your strategy is simply doing everything you can to give credence to such a perception. Threaten his flank with a huge force just as your doing. But also disptach some armored units to go around the other way. When rader sees a big force to his west, a big force moving to the north and threating his escape route, and other units move around from the south...well, he's probably gonna get happy feet.

Do NOT shock attack a well-entrenched 4k AV force across a river; even if you have 12k AV.

[princep01]

Oh, very funny, Reek, very funny. I was writing you a missive and it turns out almost word for word the same as CRs note. My!....there is something there about great minds and all. Nonetheless, there was one other little point. Don't forget your paras. As your armor begins to envelop, thus inducing the dreaded "Willies" (a terrible thing), a drop behind him can accelerate the mind numbing, gut wrenching state of "Willies" even worse. It can become so terrifying that enemy troops will quell and run when they see one of your lend lease Willis Jeeps, thinking, of course, that it is, in fact, the dread Willies" come forth.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

You've got to give appropriate consideration to the stress and uncertainty that rader will be under. He cannot afford to have a major force at Multan isolated and defeated. Neither is he going ot be comfrotable attacking your stack across the river. He's going to develop a huge case of the willies if, from his perspective, it appears that there's a chance his force can be isolated. That means a big part of your strategy is simply doing everything you can to give credence to such a perception. Threaten his flank with a huge force just as your doing. But also disptach some armored units to go around the other way. When rader sees a big force to his west, a big force moving to the north and threating his escape route, and other units move around from the south...well, he's probably gonna get happy feet.

Do NOT shock attack a well-entrenched 4k AV force across a river; even if you have 12k AV.

Yeah, The only real concern is that with Rader's massive bomber force, he will be able to severely punish any tank unit that tries to sneak out from under GJs AA umbrella. Tanks in the open are pretty vulnerable. I found this out in North OZ. Until I got parity in the air my tank units really were asking for it when moving around without AA.

Viperpol and I wrestled in North Oz for the better part of a year, and came down to the one who held air superiority always held the initiative.

[witpqs]

Jodphur should be your target, not Multan. Let his forces at Multan rot.

[Crackaces]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

You've got to give appropriate consideration to the stress and uncertainty that rader will be under. He cannot afford to have a major force at Multan isolated and defeated. Neither is he going ot be comfrotable attacking your stack across the river. He's going to develop a huge case of the willies if, from his perspective, it appears that there's a chance his force can be isolated. That means a big part of your strategy is simply doing everything you can to give credence to such a perception. Threaten his flank with a huge force just as your doing. But also disptach some armored units to go around the other way. When rader sees a big force to his west, a big force moving to the north and threating his escape route, and other units move around from the south...well, he's probably gonna get happy feet.

Do NOT shock attack a well-entrenched 4k AV force across a river; even if you have 12k AV.

Yeah, The only real concern is that with Rader's massive bomber force, he will be able to severely punish any tank unit that tries to sneak out from under GJs AA umbrella. Tanks in the open are pretty vulnerable. I found this out in North OZ. Until I got parity in the air my tank units really were asking for it when moving around without AA.

Viperpol and I wrestled in North Oz for the better part of a year, and came down to the one who held air superiority always held the initiative.

A pure tank element is dog meat .. mixing some inf targets can spead out the pain .. I speak from doing this right now in Burma to the IJ player. One bombing using 60 Blenheim Iv's with 50+ trained pilots took out 1/2 an armored unit or about 60 vehicles mostly disabled, but I could see many more kills with greater numebrs of bombers ....then he moved with some adjoining infantry and my bombers have been killing squads rather than tanks

[Andav]

I have had entire recon units eliminated just by air attacks in Northern Oz. It only takes about 3 days for a small unit to be killed by Allied air.

princep01 Bolton will certainly take and least a few square inches of skin if not another finger if you lose armor this way.

Walter

[GreyJoy]

Guys, Crsutton is absolutely right. I've already tested myself the power of 3/400 Helens on isolated units...during the early stages of the japanese indian campaign i lost several units this way.
No thanks.
So i need to keep my AA united...i only see the chance of dividing my army in 3 different corps, each with a decent AA corp in it...not more.

Jodpur? what you mean? he has 40 AA units at Jodpur behind 9 forts...i've already impaled my 4Es on Jodpur many months ago and i'm not willing to try it back...lost several 4Es even at 22k...those jap AA units, if massed, are deadly!

SEP 26, 27 1943

I always screw things a little bit...
Only one of my TF bombed Munda...the other one bombed Tulagi [&:], while a DD division bombed on the second night Rekata Bay.
40 planes destroyed on the ground and, above all, we advanced the line behind which Rader can feel secure with his planes...
My 4Es striked Thousands and this time no LRCAP was found...nice!

My BBs got back to Tulagi unmolested...tomorrow we'll bomb Auki and we'll get back to Ndeni, while his KB is reported again north of Kavieng...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Munda at 111,134

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 83 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 84 damaged
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed on ground
H6K4 Mavis: 65 damaged
H6K4 Mavis: 4 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 33 damaged
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 3 destroyed on ground
E13A1 Jake: 13 damaged
E13A1 Jake: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-II Dinah: 4 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Indiana
BB Washington
CA Australia
CA Quincy
CL Santa Fe
CL Cleveland
CL Richmond
DD Meredith
DD Saufley
DD Bache
DD Aulick
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
317 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 37
Port hits 21
Port supply hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Rekata Bay at 113,134

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 18 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
N1K1 Rex: 2 damaged
N1K1 Rex: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 8 damaged
H6K4 Mavis: 3 damaged
N1K1-J George: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Conyngham
DD Case



Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 13
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

DD Perkins firing at Rekata Bay
DD Cushing firing at Rekata Bay
DD Conyngham firing at Rekata Bay
DD Case firing at Rekata Bay


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Thousand Ships Bay , at 114,136

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
Boomerang C-12 x 7
B-24D Liberator x 15
B-24D1 Liberator x 143


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

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



Airbase hits 33
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 67


Then in India my LRCAP performed poorly. I had 50 P-47s and 36 Corsairs on 50%LRCAPPING my Eastern Army...just 15 planes showed up and got obviously overwhelmed...we destroyed 16 planes in A2A against 6 planes of mine (2 KIA,2 WIA)...not bad but i hoped to get more planes in the air...but on LRCAP at 6 hexes of distance is difficult to achieve a decent number...







Morning Air attack on 14th Army, at 45,7 , near Hyderabad (Sindh)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 47 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 32



Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 10
F4U-1 Corsair x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 214th Coast AA Regiment, at 45,7 , near Hyderabad (Sindh)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 35



Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5
F4U-1 Corsair x 2


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses


etc etc etc....

Then the bombers arrived, after 4 more groups of 40 Tojos and obviously found no opposition...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 511th Coast AA Regiment, at 45,7 , near Hyderabad (Sindh)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 60
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 110



Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 28 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses





We then decided to try the forming Indian Bombing Army (still organizing it) against a lightly defended target...We attacked the troops at Ahmedabad...results were not entirely satisfying but still my bombing force is growing every day...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th JAAF Base Force, at 41,18 (Ahmedabad)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes


Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 28
Liberator GR.III x 16
Wellington Ic x 45
Wellington GR.VIII x 15
Wellington B.X x 18
B-24D Liberator x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 50
B-24J Liberator x 30
B-25C Mitchell x 30
B-25D1 Mitchell x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
427 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 102 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Vehicles lost 59 (3 destroyed, 56 disabled)