DaBigBabes C - Diary of a Masochist: CT Grognard (J) vs Arnhem (A) (no Arnhem, please)

[CT Grognard]

Hi obvert,

He's already tried to have a go at mini KB, which is why she is now reinforced (2x CLs, 14x DDs).

On the evening of 3 January 1942, we had sighted an Allied cruiser force north of mini-KB, so she scooted eight hexes to the west, but then was set upon during the night of 3/4 January by CL De Ruyter, CL Marblehead and two DDs, then later by CL Tromp and 9 DDs. CV Kaga took two shell hits to her flight deck but suffered almost no actual damage.

Dawn broke and mini KB had her retribution, CL Tromp and at least 7 (probably 9) destroyers were sunk.

On the night of 5/6 January another Allied SCTF consisting of CL Perth, CL Achilles and six DDs had a go but were blocked by Nagara flotilla and then my heavy SCTF (2x BB, 6x CA) - we suffered three damaged DDs but he lost two CLs and five DDs sunk.

BC Repulse took two torpedoes at Singapore on the first day of the war, BB Prince of Wales was last sighted blasting apart my Ambon invasion force and presumably has run for southeast Australia.

All his remaining warships in Darwin harbour are damaged - CA Australia has now taken seven 250kg SAP bombs and two torpedoes; CA Canberra has taken two 250kg SAP bombs; CL Dragon has taken three bombs (including a 800kg AP); CL Marblehead took a 800kg AP bomb yesterday (and was already carrying damage from earlier in the campaign); CL Leander has taken two 250kg SAP bombs, CL De Ruyter took three shells off Timor trying to sink mini-KB, DD Paul Jones took a 800kg AP bomb yesterday and should sink; DD Vampire and DD Electra were last seen ablaze and Van Ghent took two 250kg bombs.

[CT Grognard]

See below graphic comparing industry as at 7 December 1941, and industry as at 7 January 1942:

[CT Grognard]

As you can see from the above, there have been the following movements in production centres (damaged in brackets):

Manpower: +36 (7)
HI: +104 (3)
LI: +190 (3)
Refinery: +300 (176) (all the damaged refineries are at Miri. I am not going to repair those.)
Oil centres: +320 (172) (all damaged oil centres are at Miri, and ARE being repaired.)
Resource centres: +486 (14)
Armaments Factories: unchanged
Vehicle Factories: +130 (71) (almost half of the factories I expanded are still repairing)
Engine Factories: +64 (111) (42 engine factory halted)
Air Factories: +166 (106) (2 air factories halted)
Naval Shipyard: +50 (21)
Merchant shipyard: +50 (50)

We are currently producing 23,816 tons of supply and 10,431 tons of fuel per day.

[CT Grognard]

Here are my net movements in stockpiles after one month (I have been careful to expand my industry slowly and carefully, it's been more important getting supplies out to my operational areas, I can always expand aircraft production later):

Resources: -79 840
Oil: -241 884
Fuel: -185413
Supply: +284 715
HI: +38 854
Armament: +1 805
Vehicle: -922
Manpower: +70 242

Now the decreases in resources, oil and fuel I expected - but I am very pleasantly surprised by the 285k increase in total supplies after a month of heavy fighting! This has of course been helped by the capture of large supply stockpiles in liberated enemy cities.

[CT Grognard]

Current shortfalls and excess capacities

I am short by 410 resources per day - that is, 21 Resource Centres. Not too concerned about that, I will soon capture some more RCs in the Philippines and will likely soon have excess resource production.

I have excess Refinery capacity - there is still capacity to refine an additional 787 Oil Centres' worth of production. This is why the repair of the damaged refineries at Miri are a waste of supplies and I'd rather haul the oil back to Japan.

With current production of fuel, I am short by 3 671 fuel points per day. This means I need to capture, ceteris paribus, at least another 408 Oil Centres if I am to address this deficit.

At current production, I am producing around 2,400 excess HI per day.

[CT Grognard]

NAVAL MOVEMENTS

RO-68 is twice sighted by USS Henley off Noumea, but the destroyer cannot engage.

My ASW CVE TF has sighted a total of five submarines off Saishu To in the home waters, one of the Jeans tried to attack a Triton-class SS but no hits were reported.

94 Vals and Kates strike the trapped Allied shipping at Darwin at dawn. It is quite a successful attack - CA Australia is hit by 2x 800kg AP and 3x 250kg SAP bombs, CA Canberra takes a 250kg, CL De Ruyter takes a 800kg and a 250kg, CL Marblehead and CL Leander each take a 800kg AP bomb, while CL Dragon takes another 250kg bomb.

TK British Sailor takes a 800kg AP bomb hit which sets its fuel cargo ablaze.

There is a second strike in the afternoon which score some more 250kg SAP hits.

Main KB will strike Darwin tomorrow morning - 180 fresh Kates and Vals.



MALAYA

I am resting my 2E bombers in Malaya for a day or two, they will be cycled between Johore Bahru (launching ground attacks on Singapore) and Khota Bharu (standing down to recuperate).

There are now 91,660 troops (2,452 AV) at Johore Bharu - we are overstacked by 22% and this is eating supplies and reducing fatigue recovery, I will start moving across the causeway towards Singapore in two days time, currently my divisions at Johore Bharu looks as follows:

2nd Division - 462 AV - Singapore(94) - 6 Fatigue
Imperial Guards Division - 417 AV - Singapore(29) - 17 Fatigue
18th Division - 435 AV - Singapore(14) - 19 Fatigue
5th Division - 482 AV - Singapore(6) - 15 Fatigue

That is the Singapore First Wave right there, almost 1800 AV that will start advancing on Singapore on January 11th under massive aerial support. The Singapore Second Wave will consist of 25th Army HQ, four infantry regiments, two tank regiments, four engineer regiments, and eight artillery regiments - another 650 AV.

In support of the Singapore offensive, two cargo convoys (total capacity 60,000 tons of supply, 30,000 already loaded) will sail from Saigon for Mersing to offload there.

PHILIPPINES

Fifty IJAAF bombers carry out a rather successful ground attack on Bataan, and encounter virtually no flak. Interesting, Arnhem appears to have supply problems. Recon also indicates that there are 75,000 Allied troops at Bataan, which means the hex is overstacked (Bataan has a stacking level of 45,000) and consequently this will eat supplies and increase fatigue and disruption.

I will continue carrying out bombing attacks while my troops repair the airbase at Clark and rest for a bit. My supply situation in Luzon is fantastic, there's over 80,000 tons of supply at Clark.

We bombard Malaybalay again. I am waiting for another unit to march to Malaybalay before I shall press my attack in the mountain stronghold.

CHINA

I forgot to have 116th Division move out of Nanyang. Arnhem has moved a lot of troops there - and I suffer very heavy casualties in a deliberate attack.

Arnhem has heavy troop concentrations at Changsha (280,000) and Nanyang (71,500), he appears to have abandoned the Loyang-Chengchow plains. We are holding at Nanning, waiting for supplies to move up. I'm strongly considering landing troops at Haiphong to march on the main road towards Nanning to support an offensive to capture the road from Nanning-Liuchow-Kweilin and then later threaten Changsha from two sides.

[CT Grognard]

[font="Courier New"]AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 08, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Noumea at 115,160

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68

Allied Ships
DD Henley



SS RO-68 is sighted by escort
RO-68 bottoming out ....
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Noumea at 115,160

Japanese Ships
SS RO-68

Allied Ships
DD Henley



SS RO-68 is sighted by escort
DD Henley fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Darwin , at 76,124

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N2 Kate x 54
D3A1 Val x 40



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CM Gouden Leeuw, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Perak, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Leander, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AVP Orion, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Dragon, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
CA Australia, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
CA Canberra, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Zannis Cambanis, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Wulin, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
xAP Poelau Bras, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AMc Bantam, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Van Landsberge, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Hong Kheng, Bomb hits 1
xAK Toendjoek, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK British Sailor, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires


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


Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 1 x 800 kg AP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manila Bay Defenses , at 78,77 (Bataan)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 81 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 26
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 25



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
156 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
25 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
26 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Darwin , at 76,124

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N1 Kate x 16



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Bintang, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Kota Agoeng, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Sipora, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AGP Eridanus, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AG Deneb, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CM Gouden Leeuw, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B5N1 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

Massive explosion on xAKL Sipora


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

Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 14354 troops, 163 guns, 38 vehicles, Assault Value = 373

Defending force 15818 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 425



Assaulting units:
15th Division
13th Army
China Expeditionary Army
4th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
100th Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps
25th Group Army
14th Chinese Base Force


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

Ground combat at Nanning (72,55)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 7999 troops, 72 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 177

Defending force 9771 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 141

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



Assaulting units:
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment

Defending units:
52nd Chinese Corps
35th Group Army
9th Chinese Base Force


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

Ground combat at Malaybalay (80,90)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10490 troops, 116 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 361

Defending force 2936 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 92


Allied ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
33rd Infantry Regiment
146th Infantry Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
1st Ind Engineer Regiment
Sasebo 2nd SNLF
16th Army
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
102nd PA Infantry Regiment
3rd PA Constabulary Regiment
III Philippine Corps
Del Monte AAF Base Force


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

Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 46625 troops, 152 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1413

Defending force 12037 troops, 102 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 353

Allied adjusted assault: 1830

Japanese adjusted defense: 178

Allied assault odds: 10 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
5336 casualties reported
Squads: 120 destroyed, 108 disabled
Non Combat: 120 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 24 (6 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Allied ground losses:
631 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 55 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
41st Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
4th Construction Regiment
2nd Group Army
5th War Area
22nd Group Army

Defending units:
116th Division[/font]

[CT Grognard]

Here is a screenshot of my dedicated anti-submarine warfare CVE task force, centred around CVE Hosho.

It consists of:

CVE Hosho with 18x B4Y1 Jean bombers armed with 2x 250kg GP bombs each - current average stats 40 (and climbing) ASW and 54 LowN;
4x Kozan PBs (3 ASW each)
8x Ch-13 Class SCs (4 ASW each)

Combined ASW value for this task force is 44, and it carries a total of 248 Type 95 Depth Charges.

Hopefully this task force will start making its presence felt on the US submarines soon!

[CT Grognard]

Royal Navy Warship Threat Assessment

CVL Hermes – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
BB Warspite – location unknown (starts in Seattle)
BB Prince of Wales – last sighted 27 Dec 41 off Ambon. Not at Darwin. Assumed to have sailed for southeast Australia.
BC Repulse – last sighted 7 Dec 41, having taken two torpedoes outside Singapore. Assumed to have sailed for southeast Australia.
CA Cornwall – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
CA Exeter – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
CL Enterprise – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
CL Danae – last seen 27 Dec 1941 off Ambon, location unknown
CL Dragon – last seen 7 Jan 1942 in Darwin harbour with heavy damage
CL Durban – location unknown, assumed Palembang (recon has spotted CL there)
CL Dauntless – location unknown (assumed India area)
CL Ceres – location unknown (assumed India area)
CL Mauritius – sunk 13 Dec 1941 near Singkawang
CL Glasgow – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
CL Capetown – location unknown (assumed India area)
CL Colombo – location unknown (assumed India area)
CL Caledon – location unknown (assumed Ceylon/India area)
DD Scout – sunk 18 Dec 1941 near Balikpapan
DD Thanet – sunk 8 Dec 1941 near Hong Kong
DD Tenedos – assumed sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Electra – last sighted 3 Jan 1942 in Darwin on fire with heavy damage
DD Encounter – last encounter 23 Dec 41 off Singkawang – undamaged, assumed to be at Palembang at the moment (recon has spotted DD there)
DD Express – last seen on 27 Dec 41 off Ambon with heavy fires – assumed sunk
DD Isis – last seen on 13 Dec 41 off Singkawang with heavy fires and heavy damage, assumed sunk
DD Jupiter – sunk 23 Dec 1941 near Singkawang
DM Stronghold – last seen 23 Dec 1941 near Singkawang, undamaged, location unknown

The Royal Navy still has considerable power concentrated in the Indian Ocean - the fleet there consists of:

1x CVL
2x CAs
6x CLs

However, what the RN will be desperately short of are destroyers in the Indian Ocean. This area will become a focus for IJN submarines shortly.

I believe BB Prince of Wales and BC Repulse along with CL Danae has gone to SE Australia to find a repair yard large enough to patch up Repulse. BB Warspite is probably still sitting in Seattle.

Remaining forces in the SRA are believed to be the undamaged CL Durban, DD Encounter and DM Stronghold at Palembang (if recon is to be believed).

Aside from that CL Dragon and DD Electra are heavily damaged in Darwin's harbour.

The Royal Navy will get CL Emerald at Mombasa in the next few days, BB Royal Sovereign and CA Dorsetshire at Aden and Cape Town in about a week, and then CV Indomitable at Aden in about 10 days.

[CT Grognard]

Dutch Warship Threat Assessment

CL Java, sunk 20 Dec 1941 near Balikpapan
CL De Ruyter, last seen 8 Jan 1942 in Darwin harbour with heavy damage
CL Tromp, sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Piet Hein, sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Kortenaer, assumed sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Evertsen, sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Witte de With, sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Van Nes, sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Banckert, assumed sunk 4 Jan 1942 near Truscott
DD Van Ghent, assumed sunk 6 Jan 1942 near Darwin

The Dutch fleet in the Netherlands East Indies has suffered terribly, with 4 January 1942 being an especially black day for the Dutch.

It is assumed that the only remaining Dutch warship is CL De Ruyter, which is heavily damaged and trapped in Darwin.

The Dutch are to get DD Tjerk Hiddes at Mombasa in a week, and CL Sumatra at Soerabaja in about 20 days' time.

[CT Grognard]

The sole French warship in the region, DD Le Triomphant, is assumed sunk on 6 January 1942 near Darwin.

[CT Grognard]

Australian Warship Threat Assessment

CA Canberra – heavily damaged in Darwin harbour
CA Australia – heavily damaged in Darwin harbour
CL Perth – sunk 6 Jan 42 near Darwin
CL Hobart – assumed still in Aden
DD Stuart – sunk 6 Jan 1942 near Darwin
DD Voyager – sunk 6 Jan 1942 near Darwin
DD Vampire – last seen 4 Jan 1942 near Koepang, on fire
DD Vendetta – sunk 6 Jan 1942 near Darwin
DD Nestor – assumed still in Aden
DD Napier – assumed still in Aden
DD Nizam – assumed still in Aden

Not sure about the fate of DD Vampire, but it appears that after I am done at Darwin the RAN will be reduced to CL Hobart and 3 DDs, all at Aden.

[CT Grognard]

New Zealand Warships Threat Assessment

CL Achilles - sunk on 4 Jan 1942 near Darwin
CL Leander - heavily damaged in Darwin harbour

[CT Grognard]

Looking at the results, the British and Commonwealth will have an extreme shortage of escorts, specifically destroyers, in the Indian Ocean.

At most they will have two British and three Australian destroyers, with plenty of heavier ships (9 or 10 cruisers).

Some surface raiding by IJN destroyer assets might not be off the cards here... [:D]

[CT Grognard]

I'll do an assessment of US Navy warships this evening, but the Yanks at the moment have at least an estimated 80 destroyers in the PTO.

The backbone of Arnhem's supply convoys will need to be protected by these.

It is clear that Noumea is going to be built up as a supply depot by him, judging by shipping sighted there by submarines of mine.

I'm guessing he will also use Suva, Pago-Pago and Christmas Island - I will have purpose-created reconnaissance submarines scour this area.

[CT Grognard]

As stated, Johore Bharu now has over 90,000 Japanese troops, the hex has a stacking limit of 75,000 - I am therefore over 20% overstacked.

Chapter 8.9 in the manual applies to overstacking, in this case I'm looking at the following:

1) 1-5 Fatigue and Disruption to ALL units if the base is overstacked (I'm guessing the lower the overstacking percentage, the less an impact the contributor to fatigue and disruption);
2) Supply usage (wastage) increases by 20% for every 10% overstacked - therefore I'm looking at a 40% supply wastage at Johore Bharu (hopefully only for the next two days).

I'm hoping that having my LCUs at Johore Bharu in Rest Mode will mean they recover fatigue and disruption quicker than they gain from the overstacking penalty.

There are around 85,000 Commonwealth troops at Singapore. Once I move my 95,000 strong Army there, the island will contain 180,000 soldiers from both sides. However, Singapore has a stacking level of 210,000 - so no overstacking.

The overstacking implications are extremely compelling in the Philippines. Bataan has a stacking limit of only 45,000, and recon indicates there are 75,000 US-Filipino troops there - i.e., 67% overstacked, this means increased fatigue/disruption for the troops there and, if I understand it right, an increased 120% supply usage (wastage).

Once I move my 45,000 combat troops into Bataan, the hex will be 267% overstacked...[X(][X(][X(]

This will result in supply usage (wastage) increasing by an incredible 320% UNCAPPED for both sides.
 
I have lots of supply stockpiled in Luzon - I am going to wait until I have at least 150k supplies at Clark Field before I advance on Bataan.

The stacking limits can be really useful to encourage realistic and historical play, in my opinion, since it will also prevent uberstacks being used in, say, China, or it makes the usage of a Sir Robin in the Philippines really, really untenable...

[CT Grognard]

The other thing I've been thinking about is how an overall Sir Robin strategy in DBB "C" with stacking limits becomes suboptimal and problematic to the Allied player.

Overstacking penalties are severe. Singapore is vital to the Japanese player as a port to support a later offensive in Java - assuming Java is aggressively defended. The Philippines can hold up Japanese troops for a long time if an aggressive, calculated forward defense is used which invariably results in damage to base facilities.

For one thing, the shortage of engineers means it takes a very long time to repair bases and the Japanese player never has enough engineers to go around.

The strategy here then would be to aggressively reinforce "non-negotiable" Japanese oil targets (Palembang, Miri, Tarakan, Balikpapan), especially with any and all engineers available to ensure that, once those bases do fall eventually, damage to the oil centres are maximised. Also, I'd concentrate surface warships in these ports, utilising them for hit and run missions every now and again, even if the Japanese player then decides to port strike these ships it's counter-effective since it will result in damage to the port facilities there - and the Japanese player wants port facilities intact at these oil centres.

(I have this dilemma at Palembang at the moment, recon indicates a British CL and DD are in port there, but I don't want to bomb the port since I don't want to damage the port...)

Extensive use of mines at choke points should also be used by the Allied player, e.g. the the choke points near Tawi Tawi and Jolo, and then the entrance to the Sulu Sea from the Makassar Strait (i.e. near Samarinda and Donggala). Other options are between Taliaboe and Loewoek, and Mangole and Obi.

Another factor here is aggressive and strong denial of any and all Level 4 airbases in the Dutch East Indies. It takes a long time in DBB-C to build up a Level 3 airbase to Level 4 - it took me three weeks at Singkawang and I tried concentrating numerous engineers there. Therefore, aggressively reinforce bases like Kendari, Ambon and Cagayan. The longer combat at these bases take place, the greater the runway and service damage will be once they are captured. This buys the Allied player more time.

[CT Grognard]

ORIGINAL: CT Grognard

As stated, Johore Bharu now has over 90,000 Japanese troops, the hex has a stacking limit of 75,000 - I am therefore over 20% overstacked.

Chapter 8.9 in the manual applies to overstacking, in this case I'm looking at the following:

1) 1-5 Fatigue and Disruption to ALL units if the base is overstacked (I'm guessing the lower the overstacking percentage, the less an impact the contributor to fatigue and disruption);
2) Supply usage (wastage) increases by 20% for every 10% overstacked - therefore I'm looking at a 40% supply wastage at Johore Bharu (hopefully only for the next two days).

I'm hoping that having my LCUs at Johore Bharu in Rest Mode will mean they recover fatigue and disruption quicker than they gain from the overstacking penalty.

There are around 85,000 Commonwealth troops at Singapore. Once I move my 95,000 strong Army there, the island will contain 180,000 soldiers from both sides. However, Singapore has a stacking level of 210,000 - so no overstacking.

The overstacking implications are extremely compelling in the Philippines. Bataan has a stacking limit of only 45,000, and recon indicates there are 75,000 US-Filipino troops there - i.e., 67% overstacked, this means increased fatigue/disruption for the troops there and, if I understand it right, an increased 120% supply usage (wastage).

Once I move my 45,000 combat troops into Bataan, the hex will be 267% overstacked...[X(][X(][X(]

This will result in supply usage (wastage) increasing by an incredible 320% UNCAPPED for both sides.
 
I have lots of supply stockpiled in Luzon - I am going to wait until I have at least 150k supplies at Clark Field before I advance on Bataan.

The stacking limits can be really useful to encourage realistic and historical play, in my opinion, since it will also prevent uberstacks being used in, say, China, or it makes the usage of a Sir Robin in the Philippines really, really untenable...

JWE has graciously indicated that my understanding of the stacking limits as set out in this post is incorrect - stacking limits in a hex are for each side.

So at Bataan, for instance, the Allies and Japanese could both have 45,000 troops in the hex, i.e. 90,000.

So if I were to advance on Bataan with my 45,000 or so troops at Clark, I would not be suffering ill effects from overstacking but my opponent would since he is overstacked by 67% - i.e. his supply usage (wastage) will increase by 120%.

[Andav]

Hi CT,

I have been lurking here for a while because witpqs and I are playing this mod as well. While the stacking limits are tough in the PI, just wait until you make progress in China. I just posted in the Tech support forum about an attack in China. It was ugly. Taking Wenchow was a major pain as well because of the stacking limits.

Good luck with the game and know there are people reading.

Wa

[CT Grognard]

Thanks, Andav. I really like the stacking limits since it prevents the Land Death Stars I've seen in other AARs.

I'm hoping your result was an anomaly. What was the planning levels like, incidentally?