Rise of the Sheep! JocMeister(A) vs. Obvert(J)

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Here is a comparison of the frontlines at 1/44 and 9/44.

Man...that is beautiful.. esthetically, I mean.

[JocMeister]

15th-16th September -44

The war continues on albeit slowly.

Celebes Sea/Mindanao
We do some sweeping around Mindanao flexing some muscles and showing strength. A massive P51B sweep caught some CAP over Naga.

Morning Air attack on Naga , at 81,81

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 53 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 2
J2M3 Jack x 24
N1K2-J George x 4

Allied aircraft
P-51B Mustang x 117 [X(]

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 6 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet
21 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet
22 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet
17 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet
20 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet
4 x P-51B Mustang sweeping at 31000 feet

Bombings of Jolo began with disappointing results. I lowered the altitude and set more bombers on the task. Last turn strikes didn´t take off due to weather so we have yet to see if it made a difference.

We managed to catch the ASW TF spotted in the Sulu sea. Two small battles were fought. This is the second one.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Zamboanga at 75,89, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kagero, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Yamakaze, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Hatsuharu, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Foote, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hale
DD Hopewell, Shell hits 2
DD Waller
DD McCalla, Shell hits 1
DD Frazier

In the first engagement the DD Young takes 4 heavy hits and is later sank by a sub. Erik has flooded the area with subs. ASW TFs will start moving in from Morotai.

Manado was finally cleared of troops last turn. Unfortunately the KB moved up just south of Kendari. I have learned my lesson and have pulled everything back a bit. I will not deploy the "anti KB" force just yet. I will wait until he comes closer to good allied bases.

Yap
Things finally soften up here. It has cost me some planes and pilots from the continued aerial bombardment though. But I can take the losses.

This is from the 15th.

Ground combat at Yap (96,97)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6820 troops, 129 guns, 524 vehicles, Assault Value = 382

Defending force 5916 troops, 69 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 214

Allied adjusted assault: 121

Japanese adjusted defense: 401

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
988 casualties reported
Squads: 29 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
45 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 22 (2 destroyed, 20 disabled) <-- These are motorized support. Not a single tank has yet been lost or disabled!

And on the 16th....

Japanese ground losses:
713 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (5 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (5 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

I will have to rest for a day or two now to bring disruption down. But it looks like my plan is working. Despite constant 1:4 odds and level 3 forts Erik can´t stop the tanks and is starting to take big casualties! [&o]

Erik quite sneakily flew in a bunch of fighters but luckily got nailed by a naval bombardment. I have to adjust my tactics a bit in general when it comes to this. From now on I´m going to close the airfields the first thing I do. Tomorrow 100 Corsairs will sweep Yap and the bombers will go for the airfield instead of the troops. I always forget that Jap engineers can´t keep the fields open. I always think of it like a waste of time because its almost impossible to close an allied airfield if there is engineers and supply in place.

Burma
Erik crossed over the river without further losses. I spent the turn going through all the troops rotating the most beat up back to Rangoon for some R&R. The US IDs and most of the armor is pretty banged up with disablements and will be gone for probably a few weeks. I´m sending in a large convoy with xAKs to dump a bunch of supply at Rangoon. The convoy will also pick up some of the most badly hurt troops and send them back to Calcutta. Bombers are resting.

DEI
With the KB parked in the Banda sea we simply sit and wait. No hurry. With Manado secured the DEI is almost completely irrelevant as ALL Japanese oil are now within B29 range!

Forgot to take a screen so you will have to live without it! [:D]

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake
Man...that is beautiful.. esthetically, I mean.

Thank you! [:)]

[Crackaces]

Despite constant 1:4 odds and level 3 forts Erik can´t stop the tanks and is starting to take big casualties

Adjusted AV only determine if defender stays and if the attacker disintegrates .. As you point out ,,adjusted firepower determines losses ...as long as you stay in place and he does not have the AV to attack back and dislodge you .. eventually the adjusted AV odds will go in your direction and this point will fall .. good job!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

Despite constant 1:4 odds and level 3 forts Erik can´t stop the tanks and is starting to take big casualties

Adjusted AV only determine if defender stays and if the attacker disintegrates .. As you point out ,,adjusted firepower determines losses ...as long as you stay in place and he does not have the AV to attack back and dislodge you .. eventually the adjusted AV odds will go in your direction and this point will fall .. good job!

Thank you! [:)] Hopefully it will fall soon! Something strange going on here though...more on that in the update!

[JocMeister]

18th-19th September -44

Mindanao area
We push on with the next invasion of Dumaguete! See screenshot for location. I knew Erik was going to try and oppose this from the air. But with the short distance from the now operational airfield at Oroquieta and Cotabato I manage to get a very good CAP up.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Dumaguete at 78,86

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 30
D4Y2 Judy x 28

Allied aircraft
P-51B Mustang x 49
F6F-3 Hellcat x 17
F6F-5 Hellcat x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 10 destroyed
D4Y2 Judy: 15 destroyed
D4Y2 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

This is followed up with another 3-4 raids. One good sized strike manage to get through CAP but goes for the Fletcher TF instead of the transports! [&o] No hits!

Only about half the TF unloaded but I decided to risk it and hang around another day. Hopefully Erik shot his bomber force again and its been a long time since I´ve seen something bigger than a DD in the area. Fingers crossed.

My flanking ID east of Cagayan reached its destination. Once the base is secured more troops will be flown in from Cotabato. Another deliberate attack is ordered at Cagayan tomorrow. I´ve been holding off an attack here to allow the support parts of the IDs to catch up. 50.000 Japanese are here but only 900 AV. They have a terrain advantage though.

Yap
Troops attacked again with good results on the 18th and rested on the 19th. Another attack is ordered for tomorrow. We are doing good progress here!

Ground combat at Yap (96,97)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6292 troops, 88 guns, 506 vehicles, Assault Value = 379

Defending force 4634 troops, 62 guns, 38 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Allied adjusted assault: 115

Japanese adjusted defense: 353

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
714 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (9 destroyed, 6 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
44th Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
775th Tank Battalion
37th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
190th USAAF Base Force
55th Coastal Artillery Battalion
5th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
17th Marine AA Battalion
6th Marine AA Battalion
110th USA Base Force /1

Defending units:
46th Naval Guard Unit
61st Naval Guard Unit
6th Guards Inf. Rgt /1
30th Recon Regiment
4th South Seas Gsn
4th Bde /1
64th JNAF AF Unit

Its time to withdraw the CVs now though. Had a close scare this turn!

Sub attack near Yap at 96,98

Japanese Ships
SS I-48, hits 4

Allied Ships
CV Intrepid [X(]
CLAA Oakland
CLAA Atlanta
DD Thompson
DD Henley
DD Warrington
DD Sampson

SS I-48 launches 8 torpedoes at CV Intrepid

This is bloody silly to be honest but I´m getting used to it. Some 40 TBs are flying ASW. There are about 100 ASW value in each of the TFs so roughly 400 ASW value in the CV TFs alone. Utterly silly how effective his subs are against my CVs. In 42 I can live with it. But in 44. Come on!

Weird moves by Erik?
I don´t get this. He is actually flying in troops to both Cagayan and Yap?! Why? Am I missing something here? Both bases are clearly doomed and flying in more is just sending them to their deaths for nothing. Or? [&:]

DEI
KB disappeared again. I moved in a CAT squad to Manado to get better coverage. He has allowed me to move troops to Babar without interruption. I have 200 TBs based at Darwin with a pretty short range. But if he moves in and gets held up until morning he could lose some ships.

Burma
Erik must have forgot to turn off his bombers because the follow my supply convoy right into the CAP at Rangoon!

There were 2 more strikes like this one!

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes Huh?! Again?! I have probably 40 radar sets at Rangoon!

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 12
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 34
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy x 6

Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 28
Thunderbolt I x 39
F4U-1 Corsair x 21
F4U-1A Corsair x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 6 destroyed
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy: 4 destroyed

Another bad day for Erik in the air with about 120 strike planes shot down. I know I can´t make a dent in his plane pools but perhaps pilot pools will start to get thin eventually. But I know he has been resizing float planes like crazy so he probably has a gazillion of them for training.

[JocMeister]

Strategic bombing
The first B29 raid flew from Cotabato this turn. Doing a night time run on Miri 200 B29s knocked out 183 oil points. [&o]

Erik sent me a note telling me he is not too happy with how effective they are. Can´t say I blame him. But at the same time I can´t do much about it. With the vulcan cannons mounted on the Jap fighters the only thing I can do is hide in the night. This is what the cries of overpowered 4Es led to. Had I been able to maintain a credible daytime bombing campaign I would. But with a very unhistorical Jap air force this is simply not doable.

[Lokasenna]

Well, it's not like he's going to be able to haul Oil out of Miri for much longer anyway... right? I'm still wondering about this Operation Fenrir [;)]

As for the ASW and your CV TFs, maybe these subs are just really sneaky and/or have high experience? As far as I know, ASW rating is simply the number of depth charge racks present and doesn't do much (or anything?) for detection, right?

[BBfanboy]

About the flying in troops: - the only thing I can imagine trying in that situation is to fly in some A/T guns to try to stop your armour. It is probably too late for Yap, but might pay off at Cagayan.

Looks like a tanker TF at Miri. Maybe tomorrow's strike should be on the port instead of the oil field. [:)]

[bigred]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Strategic bombing
The first B29 raid flew from Cotabato this turn. Doing a night time run on Miri 200 B29s knocked out 183 oil points. [&o]

Erik sent me a note telling me he is not too happy with how effective they are. Can´t say I blame him. But at the same time I can´t do much about it. With the vulcan cannons mounted on the Jap fighters the only thing I can do is hide in the night. This is what the cries of overpowered 4Es led to. Had I been able to maintain a credible daytime bombing campaign I would. But with a very unhistorical Jap air force this is simply not doable.

Looks like Balikpapan is next on the target list...

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: bigred

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Strategic bombing
The first B29 raid flew from Cotabato this turn. Doing a night time run on Miri 200 B29s knocked out 183 oil points. [&o]

...

Looks like Balikpapan is next on the target list...

For the record, that's my guess as well. Ready and (anxiously) waiting, Joc!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Well, it's not like he's going to be able to haul Oil out of Miri for much longer anyway... right? I'm still wondering about this Operation Fenrir [;)]
As for the ASW and your CV TFs, maybe these subs are just really sneaky and/or have high experience? As far as I know, ASW rating is simply the number of depth charge racks present and doesn't do much (or anything?) for detection, right?

Haha, sorry. I´m not intentionally trying to build tension! [:D] Weather has been appalling all over the map lately so I havn´t been able to get the recon I need. I promise to post as soon as I know if its a go!

About the ASW its a very good point. I should perhaps rather complain that his subs are able to (apparently) cruise around submerged at 20-25 knots to get good fire solution and/or have developed stealth technology so they can approach undetected at the surface! [:D]

Have I mention I think the whole ASW aspect in this game is bonkers?! [;)]

ORIGINAL: bigred
Looks like Balikpapan is next on the target list...

It actually is! But only the port as I intended to invade it and grab that nice fuel for myself! [:D]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy
About the flying in troops: - the only thing I can imagine trying in that situation is to fly in some A/T guns to try to stop your armour. It is probably too late for Yap, but might pay off at Cagayan.

Thats actually a pretty good guess! Could explain it! [:)]

[JocMeister]

20th September -44

Mostly a good day for the allies. But we suffer a setback at Jolo.

Mindanao and Celebes Sea
I finally manage to get BFs and supply into Manado. The airfield is now operational and 50 Corsairs are on CAP. Engineers will start on getting the airfield up to 9. I also launch a string of attacks from a paradrop at Tapul (see screen) to a deliberate attack on Cagayan.

Jolo did not go well. I have ordered the backup forces to start deploying and another 200 AV will help secure the base.

Ground combat at Jolo (74,90)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10291 troops, 190 guns, 179 vehicles, Assault Value = 398

Defending force 10560 troops, 84 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 296

Allied adjusted assault: 92 [:(]

Japanese adjusted defense: 431

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
376 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 82 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1523 casualties reported [:(]
Squads: 51 destroyed, 114 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 25 (1 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (2 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Assaulting units:
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
112th Cavalry Regiment
131st Combat Engineer Regiment
30th Australian Brigade
131st Field Artillery Battalion
109th Tank Attack Regiment

Defending units:
3rd Garrison Unit
9th Garrison Unit
25th Ind.Mixed Regiment
7th Garrison Unit
88th Infantry Rgt /1
48th JAAF AF Bn
4th Bde /3

Cagayan goes much better and will hopefully fold soon. Looking at the replay the 6th ID has recovered pretty well and is now the only close to 300 AV.

Ground combat at Cagayan (79,89)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 47765 troops, 827 guns, 1975 vehicles, Assault Value = 1947

Defending force 31476 troops, 331 guns, 37 vehicles, Assault Value = 909

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 494

Japanese adjusted defense: 1263

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
3540 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 187 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 162 disabled
Guns lost 76 (6 destroyed, 70 disabled)
Vehicles lost 10 (4 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
970 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 42 disabled
Guns lost 38 (2 destroyed, 36 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)

Assaulting units:
110th Combat Engineer Battalion
1st Cavalry (Spec) Cavalry Division
38th Infantry Division
I Corps Cmbt Engineer Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
CenPac Amphib Tank Brigade
1st USMC Tank Battalion
37th Infantry Division
192nd Tank Battalion
5th USMC Tank Battalion
2nd RAA Jungle Regiment
X Corps Artillery
XI Corps Artillery
15th NZ AA Bde
2nd Australian Hvy AA Regiment
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
251st Field Artillery Battalion
XI US Corps
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
225th Field Artillery Battalion
XIV US Corps
147th Field Artillery Regiment
33rd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
71st Engineer Regiment
64th Ind.Mixed Brigade
20th Engineer Regiment
56th Ind.Mixed Brigade
48th Ind.Mixed Brigade
6th Division
4th Raiding Regiment
28th Engineer Regiment
6th Garrison Unit /4
148th JAAF AF Bn
89th Field AA Battalion
61st Air Flotilla
25th Ind. Engineer Regiment
248th JAAF AF Bn
1st Ind.AA Gun Co
244th JAAF AF Bn
217th Naval Construction Battalion
34th Ind.AA Gun Co
4th RF Gun Battalion
216th Naval Construction Battalion
74th JAAF AF Bn
188th JAAF AF Bn
180th JAAF AF Bn

We are going to rest the troops for a day while the arty keeps pounding and try again in two days.

We also destroyed a NavGuard unit east of Cagayan.

Ground combat at Butuan (80,89)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9356 troops, 213 guns, 144 vehicles, Assault Value = 348

Defending force 384 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 14

Allied adjusted assault: 349

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 349 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Butuan !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
426 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

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

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division

Defending units:
I/84th Naval Guard Unit

I decided to skip this base and instead go for the next one further to the NE.

Yap
Another good result here. I will attack again tomorrow.

Ground combat at Yap (96,97)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6328 troops, 89 guns, 507 vehicles, Assault Value = 396

Defending force 4072 troops, 53 guns, 38 vehicles, Assault Value = 109

Allied adjusted assault: 201

Japanese adjusted defense: 339

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
403 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (15 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Assaulting units:
44th Tank Battalion
775th Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
37th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
5th USMC Field Artillery Battalion
6th Marine AA Battalion
17th Marine AA Battalion
190th USAAF Base Force
55th Coastal Artillery Battalion
110th USA Base Force /1

Defending units:
6th Guards Inf. Rgt /1
46th Naval Guard Unit
61st Naval Guard Unit
4th South Seas Gsn
30th Recon Regiment
4th Bde /1
64th JNAF AF Unit

CVs withdrew without incident. Yap has 52k supply and I don´t think Erik will try and fly more in as it is obvious now that Yap is lost.

CVs will replenish and then move for the next target...stay tuned! [8D]

DEI
I will try an land a small unit by barge at Damar, a dot base just NW of Babar.

Burma
Troops are resting away fatigue and disruption. A major reshuffle is going on here moving stuff to Rangoon. I will also dismantle Chittagong, Akyab and Ramree. As soon as the LST TF is finished unloading supplies at Rangoon it will start clearing out Ramree Island. A xAK TF will deal with the other two bases.

Bunker Hill
She can make pretty good speed (19kts). So I decided to detach a CVE escort with only fighters to escort her through the Pacific to Wake and then she will have to get to the WC with only Long Island and 8 DEs for ASW escort while the CVEs turn back to Sarmi.

[JocMeister]

And some more good news!

CV Junyo is reported to have been sunk near Manado on Aug 03, 1944

Thats the second confirmed CV sunk in the Celebes Sea battle. Akagi was earlier on the list but has since been taken off. But Junyo and Hiyo are now confirmed sunk together with CVLs Ryujo and Mizuho. All that for the price of CVE Marcus Island. A good exchange! [:)]

EDIT: Akagi is now back on the list again! Perhaps she is sunk after all?

[JocMeister]

21st-22nd September -44

Some interesting developments on Mindanao...

Mindanao
I´m not really sure why. But it looks like Erik is trying to flee from Cayguan. He might think I he can cut my flanking ID off. But there is no such thing in this game as he should now by now. So there is probably another reason for it. I´m hoping he will try to unite with his forces in the south. Either way its good news for me as he can´t run away nearly as fast as I can catch up. And being on the move has its price!

Japanese ground losses:
956 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Japanese ground losses:
227 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled

Japanese ground losses:
370 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 11 disabled

These are obviously not all airstrikes and tomorrow will be more of the same. I also ordered another deliberate attack for tomorrow. Unless he leaves the hex which is unlikely there is a good chance I will gut his forces. Judging by the last attack only the 6th division and and RGT still has combat power left in them.

Erik also did a paradrop on the base which he is moving for (Malaybalay). Again I have no idea what the purpose of this is. Anyone seeing something I´m missing?

I also secured the base on the westernmost tip of Mindanao. Even with only 11 prepp the RGT got onshore with only 1 disablement and 12 fatigue? What the heck? [&:] Is that because Eriks troops there were so disrupted by air attacks?

Btw, the paradrops where a waste of time!

Ground combat at Zamboanga (75,89)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2501 troops, 42 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 172

Defending force 1238 troops, 16 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Allied adjusted assault: 50

Japanese adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Zamboanga !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), morale(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
306 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (6 destroyed, 1 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
1st Australian Para Bn /1
111th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
503rd Parachute Rgt /1

Defending units:
1st Sasebo SNLF Coy
2nd Sasebo SNLF Coy
142nd JAAF AF Bn

One problem with this area and the collapse of the Japanese MLR is that no air bases are built in the area at all. I have to build almost everything up from scratch. Only Clark and Manilla is build up over the starting sizes. This has slowed me down more than expected. While to forces are ready I´m waiting for bases to be built. Clearing out the PI before the year is up might prove too optimistic.

KB
Spotted the KB again at Miri! Looks like Erik is refueling. This will be very interesting. I´m 95% sure he will try something again. I activated the "anti KB force" and withheld one convoy that was on its way to Cotabato.

The Anti KB force is basically 100 Attackbombers on NavBomb coupled with 150 TBs. This time the escort will be different though. 125 P38s will provide escort and only 50 Hellcats. I hope the P38s will have better staying power and allow the strikes to punch through. We will see shortly I´m sure. Erik will probably be itching to repeat his earlier success. He won´t sink any shipping this time though.

DEI
We land safely and unmolested at Damar. This base it not needed and I landed mostly just to keep Eriks SCTF in the area.

Ground combat at Damar (75,115)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 180 troops, 0 guns, 64 vehicles, Assault Value = 47

Defending force 378 troops, 0 guns, 21 vehicles, Assault Value = 15

Allied adjusted assault: 23

Japanese adjusted defense: 21

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

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

Assaulting units:
2/11th Armoured Car Battalion

Defending units:
5th Armored Car Co
52nd Const Co

Burma
Resting and moving stuff around.

Here is a screen of Mindanao and neighbouring area!

[BBfanboy]

That base in the Mindanao mountains (Malaybalay?) may be a speed bump so that he has more time to evacuate the forces in the south by Mavis and Emily. It has the +3 for mountain terrain and no malaria effect.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

That base in the Mindanao mountains (Malaybalay?) may be a speed bump so that he has more time to evacuate the forces in the south by Mavis and Emily. It has the +3 for mountain terrain and no malaria effect.

That might explain it. But wouldn´t he had been better off staying behind the level 4 forts at Cagayan with its +2 terrain? I had no HQ combo available that will be offset either. This is obvious for him when looking at the CR. And moving around only 2 hexes from all the 4Es at Cotabato. Very strange! Might just be a bad call by Erik although rare he has made them from time to time.

Or he has some devious plan. Either way he is going to have 400 tanks right on his heels as soon as he leaves or is kicked out of Cayguan!

[JocMeister]

Wow. I just watched the replay for the next turn. Erik did something really risky and transferred in 100 fighter to Cayguan. Bombers of course went in after the sweep for the first time in 6 days... [8|] Luckily the escort set for the "KB strike force" tagged along. I expected them to get slaughtered...but...

...I wonder if Eriks air force is starting to crumble? [X(] I just got a 2:1 in fighters this turn. Mine were all on escort...and freshly trained (50/70/70). Either he got some serious bad dice rolls or his pilot quality is really starting to take a nose dive. Or he expected them to get lost on the ground this turn and sent in untrained pilots.

[ny59giants]

Suggestion - take your time next turn and check out your Engineer LCUs. Click the "G" button, then right click on "Engineers." Sort by Load Cost and look for you large construction LCUs. In DBB, I get large SeaBee Rgt that can build up bases quickly.

I'm a year behind you and little things like construction engineers and then those AA units can be easily overlooked in day to day order giving.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Suggestion - take your time next turn and check out your Engineer LCUs. Click the "G" button, then right click on "Engineers." Sort by Load Cost and look for you large construction LCUs. In DBB, I get large SeaBee Rgt that can build up bases quickly.

I'm a year behind you and little things like construction engineers and then those AA units can be easily overlooked in day to day order giving.

Good advice! Found a big Engineer unit at Seattle and two MASSIVE RAF base forces at Kalemyo!! [&o]