An exteremly quiet turn .. China is bombed ..we turn loose our rookie B-26's on port moresby .. get 45 bombers get 2 port hits
OZ:
Unfortunately WITP-AE neglects to inform you of the all important hits on Saki storage which really comes into play six months after the base is bypassed.
Impressed to see you mounting ground attacks in China. I'm having a bear with supply. I've heard mention you can fortify (level3?) a non base hex with engineers present. True? I don't see a button.[&:] ps I asked in my own thread a couple of times, any good link or thread dealing with paras?
ps Alfred has answered all I need/want to know about para Ops.
zuluhour,
Read this thread. It includes another one of my "101" posts.
Might I suggest in the future you concentrate your requests for assistance to your own AAR as that would make my life a lot easier in terms of discovering the next field of enquiry the TWITS of zuluhour HQ are undertaking.[:)] It may seem otherwise but I actually don't read every AAR.[;)]
We return this AAR back to its normal transmission.
Impressed to see you mounting ground attacks in China. I'm having a bear with supply. I've heard mention you can fortify (level3?) a non base hex with engineers present. True? I don't see a button.[&:] ps I asked in my own thread a couple of times, any good link or thread dealing with paras?
ps Alfred has answered all I need/want to know about para Ops.
zuluhour,
Read this thread. It includes another one of my "101" posts.
Might I suggest in the future you concentrate your requests for assistance to your own AAR as that would make my life a lot easier in terms of discovering the next field of enquiry the TWITS of zuluhour HQ are undertaking.[:)] It may seem otherwise but I actually don't read every AAR.[;)]
We return this AAR back to its normal transmission.
Alfred
No problem Alfred you are always most welcome here ... your thoughts have been most helpful in my campaign especally around figuring out supply and logistics. I figure I can ignore the thoughts of emaciated chineese, and focus on 60% of enough AV and 1/2 supply will move LYB's from areas I wish to project power -- knowing that the lack of supply means disrupted and disabled LCU's for a long time .. [;)] So far the 1's and 0's are not complaining ..[8D]
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
An alarming trend in transport aircraft operational losses is begining to surface. No these are not harrowing flights over the Himalayas or at night in Marshall's .. no it seems my 45 experinced guys flying from Alice Springs to Daly Waters cannot fly a couple of hundred miles without killing themselves on landing ..[8|] Operational losses exceed production by 150%!!!
Now I know somebody will cite some historical fact that operational losses were at this time of the war incrediably high ...[8D] but this includes lots of challanging conditions not a simple mail run ...ok next turn I will have to shut down my operations to keep up with production ..
We are goign to try a night raid on Namur-Roi .. wish me luck .. I just need them to fly and have some sort of coordination in 89% moonlight .. given 36 B-24's I need a few airbase/runway hits ..killing some zeros on the ground would be nice .. but the airbase hits are most desired ..
more later ..
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
An alarming trend in transport aircraft operational losses is begining to surface. No these are not harrowing flights over the Himalayas or at night in Marshall's .. no it seems my 45 experinced guys flying from Alice Springs to Daly Waters cannot fly a couple of hundred miles without killing themselves on landing ..[8|] Operational losses exceed production by 150%!!!
Now I know somebody will cite some historical fact that operational losses were at this time of the war incrediably high ...[8D] but this includes lots of challanging conditions not a simple mail run ...ok next turn I will have to shut down my operations to keep up with production ..
We are goign to try a night raid on Namur-Roi .. wish me luck .. I just need them to fly and have some sort of coordination in 89% moonlight .. given 36 B-24's I need a few airbase/runway hits ..killing some zeros on the ground would be nice .. but the airbase hits are most desired ..
more later ..
Might want to take the size of Daly waters and Alice springs airfields into consideration in your ops loss equation. Even what you think should be a milk run can result in ops losses if you are forcing your guys to land on level one grass airstrips. Upgrading both strips may significantly lower your losses.
An alarming trend in transport aircraft operational losses is begining to surface. No these are not harrowing flights over the Himalayas or at night in Marshall's .. no it seems my 45 experinced guys flying from Alice Springs to Daly Waters cannot fly a couple of hundred miles without killing themselves on landing ..[8|] Operational losses exceed production by 150%!!!
Now I know somebody will cite some historical fact that operational losses were at this time of the war incrediably high ...[8D] but this includes lots of challanging conditions not a simple mail run ...ok next turn I will have to shut down my operations to keep up with production ..
We are goign to try a night raid on Namur-Roi .. wish me luck .. I just need them to fly and have some sort of coordination in 89% moonlight .. given 36 B-24's I need a few airbase/runway hits ..killing some zeros on the ground would be nice .. but the airbase hits are most desired ..
more later ..
Might want to take the size of Daly waters and Alice springs airfields into consideration in your ops loss equation. Even what you think should be a milk run can result in ops losses if you are forcing your guys to land on level one grass airstrips. Upgrading both strips may significantly lower your losses.
Daily Waters is level 3 .. Alice Springs is level 7 .. but might I add that we must have drafted the worse pilots in teh world and purposefully filled the ranks of the transport squadrons ..[8|]
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
Damaged B-17F Fortress from 5th BG/23rd BS crashes on return leg, pilot reported killed
Damaged B-17F Fortress from 5th BG/23rd BS is missing
Damaged B-17E Fortress from 11th BG/431st BG does not return
B-18A Bolo from 28th CG/73rd BS is written off
Morning Air attack on 2/9th Armoured Regiment, at 76,124 (Darwin)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 17
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 33
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
..................
Naval bombardment of Darwin at 76,124
Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
CA Kumano
CA Myoko
BB Hyuga firing at 2/9th Armoured Regiment
BB Ise firing at 2/8th Armoured Regiment
BB Yamashiro firing at 2/9th Armoured Regiment
BB Fuso firing at 2/9th Armoured Regiment
CA Kumano firing at 2/9th Armoured Regiment
CA Myoko firing at 2/8th Armoured Regiment
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for CL Naka
A lot of explosions and very little to sow for the use of supply ..
CHINA:
In China the 35th Division crossed the river from Kaifeng to Chengchow. About equal forces, but the IJA forces are disrupted in the crossing, and I am behind level 5 forts .. it takes things to 1:5 and losses for the IJ . Kill ratio of 5.5:1 ..
Ground combat at Chengchow (88,44)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 11907 troops, 94 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 443
Defending force 11288 troops, 55 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 302
Defending units:
7th Construction Regiment
98th Chinese Corps
3rd Construction Regiment
13th Construction Regiment
39th Group Army
1st War Area
10th Chinese Base Force
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
ACOM Sutton, F.B. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 6
PO Kitley, A.J.H. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 6
WO Payne, R.C. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
PO Brown, E. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
WCDR Cuthbert, M.C.H. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 5
The final coup de gras on the 35th Divison. A previus river crossing in Southern China did not go that bad so the IJA try to force Chengchow .. last turn they were severely disrupted in the river crossing and took 2K dead .. I follow up with a shock attack and. this turn another 3K .. and the 35th Division will take at least 2 months to recover ...if no other units are being replaced ..
Ground combat at Chengchow (88,44)
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 8932 troops, 55 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 288
Defending force 9986 troops, 93 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 246
Allied adjusted assault: 376
Japanese adjusted defense: 49
Allied assault odds: 7 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
Japanese ground losses:
2904 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 98 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (9 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (6 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 1
Assaulting units:
98th Chinese Corps
7th Construction Regiment
3rd Construction Regiment
13th Construction Regiment
39th Group Army
1st War Area
10th Chinese Base Force
Defending units:
35th Division
More Later
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
It's about time to post a map of Burma. It is a most interesting situation. Chineese are moving toward Lashio while forces at Lashio are moving southward toward Mandalay. In between are the British with 1.4K AV and lots of armor .. at least for now .. some withdraw in 120 days .. but for now we are setting up a big clash.
The IJA are reinforcing like mad from Rangoon to Mandalay and moving forces toward the rail line. On our side, another 300 AV are about to join the party and we try an attack.
The desired plan was to block forces from Mandalay and then move on the forces from Lashio .. but it looks like the IJA are going to force the situation. We shall see how this develops ...
Attachments
BurmaOCT42.jpg (538.56 KiB) Viewed 415 times
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
Defending units:
2nd British Division
14th Indian Division
About 17% attrition of this force. The intellegence also indicates fragments of the 18th IJA Division. With the battle of Swebo that means these units and fragments of the 35th IJA Division are caught North of Mandalay. with support troops about 35K IJ LYB's.
OZ:
Long Range Sally ..
Hit our forces at Darwin ..
Morning Air attack on 3rd Australian Brigade, at 76,124 (Darwin)
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 21
Assaulting units:
2/9th Armoured Regiment
7th Australian Division
3rd Motor Brigade
6th Aus Cav Brigade
1st Motor Brigade
2/4th Armoured Regiment
2/8th Armoured Regiment
3rd Australian Brigade
2/9th Field Regiment
Defending units:
65th Brigade
11th Garrison Unit
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
18th JAAF AF Bn
Allied forces CAPTURE Darwin !!!
As I see this turn .. it represents completely severing Burma into two North/South entities. The 18th Division is shattered ..The units in the North are starving and cannot hold back the Allied offense. Mandalay can hold in '43, but Lashio will fall. Add to that the complete reversing the tide in Northern Oz with the fall of Darwin. and the IJ's morale has dropped.
November will be devoted to clean up and preparing for '43 ...
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
English sounding voice narrates film depicting fleeing IJA forces in panic drowning at a river, mascaraed attacking a railway junction, and routed in the desert; ..”In China, the Imperial Japanese 35th division attempted to cross the Yellow River at Chengchow. The swift current from recent rain storms scattered the attacking forces into weakly held disorganized pockets that were easily smashed by starving but enthusiastic Chinese [cut to a group of emaciated, but happy Chinese]]. In Burma, Operation Ivory Balcony achieves success as Burma is solidly cut into two halves. To the North, the 18th IJA division attempted to force a rail junction fighting their way South toward Mandalay. The IJ severely underestimated the ability of the British and Indian support units to supply 2 full Corps, and met disaster sealing the separation between IJ forces defending Lashio and forces defending Mandalay.”
In Australia, the I Australian Corps completed a 1500 Kilometer trek from Alice Springs attacking Tenent Creek, Daly Waters, Katherine, and finalizing the liberation of Darwin within 6 months. The Japanese commanders could not commit the forces to hold Northern Australia after being surprised by the ferocity of the Burma offensive”
“The American’s consolidated their bases under a new hex stacking plan that changed the concentration of forces. The USN quickly harnessed resources to pull troops from Makin, Tarawa, Lunganville, Nomea and redistributed forces to Suva and Pago Pago. In the meantime, aces from P-38’s flying from Makin swept and defeated the IJNAAF’s top land based pilots at Roi-Namur killing 3 without a loss.”
These victories have crushed the morale of the IJ forces but much harder fighting is to come ..[repeat scene of tanks on parade in front of the emperor] Where will the Allies attack next? The British and Australians are looking for a stronger push from the Americans that have avoided confrontation with the mighty IJN carrier force since defeating a light carrier force at Baker Island in February. Will the United States finally commit to battle?...[scene of MacArthur and Nimitz looking at a map and pointing to different things ..]
[This is only funny if you are a critic of "WWII in color" where they play the same scenes over and over again... but with different narrartion [;)]]
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
*************************** OCT 31st 1942 ************************************
Submarine warfare:
We dud .. [8|]
Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 100,63
Japanese Ships
PB Nigitsu Maru
PB Teiko Maru
Allied Ships
SS Grayling
SS Grayling launches 2 torpedoes at PB Nigitsu Maru
..............
We save a hot one to sink a small mine clearing operation ..
Submarine attack near Shortlands at 110,131
Japanese Ships
CMc Kurosaki, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS S-34
CMc Kurosaki is sighted by SS S-34
SS S-34 launches 2 torpedoes at CMc Kurosaki
CMc Kurosaki is reported to have been sunk near Shortlands on Oct 31, 1942
BURMA:
The sneakly LYB's come at night and hit Calcutta!
Night Air attack on Calcutta , at 52,37
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 7
No Japanese losses
Aircraft Attacking:
7 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
---------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Calcutta , at 52,37
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
No damage and note 15 of these are active right now ...
OZ:
Long Ranged Sally's hit Darwin:
Morning Air attack on Darwin , at 76,124
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 4000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
No damage ..
Lot's of bombing in China ..
One other piece of news of note ... BB Yamato is moving to Munda (111,134). [X(]
I suspect the IJN are up to no good ..
More later ..
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
The Map below tells it all. What was 2 IJ Divisions plus support has been reduced to 0 AV and relegated to defending a swamp. Now it is all about moving restrcited forces to Darwin and a Base force so we can station aircraft. The IJAAF are busy bombing the Manpower here ..
In other news, both sides are busy trying to force the other side to play their game. The IJ are begning to project enough power in the Solomon's to force the USN to defend. Meanwhile all my platforms are busy redeploying and reorganizing forces.
The West Virgina is 30 days away from the West Coast 81 flooding 26 eng damage but struggling along .. more damaged ships are on thier way with the California next ..
More later ..
Attachments
OzNOV42.jpg (461.82 KiB) Viewed 415 times
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
This was 7:1 attrition for the good guys. More so we are 21K vs 8K next turn as we continue to fly in supplies ... I suspect we have 10 more turns before the IJA slip south south east out of our trap...
In the Solomons things are not going as well for our PM surviors ..
Ground combat at Milne Bay (101,133)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1764 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 55
Defending force 2396 troops, 25 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 64
The B24's do absoutely nothing but burn fuel .. and make the IJ think about night CAP.
The P-38's assainate more Zero pilots while gaining experience
1LT Hastey, R. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 7
1LT Hastey, R. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 8
1LT Hastey, R. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 9
MAJ Boyington, G. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 9
2LT Gates A. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 4
2LT Gates A. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Gates A. of 35th FG/39th FS attains ace status!!
Lots of intelligece is indicating a IJ offensive in China ..
52nd Road Const Co is planning for an attack on Sinyang.
..........
3/54th Division is loaded on xAP Hoten Maru moving to Port Arthur
Hopefully we have some LOC through Lashio before the stuff hits the fan ...
More later ..
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
Everything is prepped to attack the rest of the Marshalls. The number of AP & AK platforms limit our landings to one division on one target at a time. But we should start commencing our next operation in December.
Once we have the Marshalls secured we are going to have a major decision to make. Attacking the Marians in '43 with an intact KB is suicide. The next chain within air cover after we clean out the Marshalls is the Carolines. With Truk and the KB it is going to be a very bloody contest but at least teh Carolines can be supported by Land absed air ...But it will take most of '43 and quite a few platforms lost .. giving the Marianas in '44 with maybe some Land Based air support ..
So the question remains .. go after the Carolines in '43? or devate into the Solomon's unitil the '44 OOB and then resume our march toward Formosa?
We think hard as the Solomon's are a sink hole of resources ...
"What gets us into trouble is not what we don't know. It's what we know for sure that just ain't so"
< IJ Forces
