Wild Sheep Chase - obvert (J) vs JocMeister (A)

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]2E BOMBER POOLS - IJA[/font]
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The arrival of the Peggy (T) was meant to change everything for the IJAAF in fighting off invasions. While it's a great plane I've found it hard to get them to fly en masse with the beta version of game, and also the necessarily low pilots exp. It's impossible to train TB pilots before the plane arrives, which is not ideal, and so none still are over 55 exp that have 65-70 TB skill. I've been training some 65-70 exp groups, which takes forever, but could be worth it even if they get to 60 TB skill, as they will be much more likely to fly and punch through.

So after considering the options carefully, I upgraded many factories to the Peggy Ib as this will be one of the best kami planes in the arsenal. It's fast, highly durable, with a decent bomb load, and I have a ton of experienced low naval trained pilots. I'll go about half kami and half (T) now for the IJAAF 2E groups.

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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]2E BOMBER POOLS - IJN[/font]
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The Francs has proven itself time and again, and with the naval pilots and good escorts this airframe is invaluable in defense. Some groups are training as kamis now but most are still using torpedoes. I'm still training TB pilots, although to less high levels. Now the finish line is around 45 exp, 65 TB skill,and a bit of naval search, usually to about 50 skill, just enough to bring exp up. Once in groups these continue to train search as they fulfill search and ASW duties until put into use in strikes.

I'm scraping the G3M2 as I think they're too slow for kamis and not as useful for search as the G3M3 with it's great range.
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]SHIP LOSSES[/font]
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IJN losses have been light lately, but the loss of 21 subs in port hurt. A lot. Maybe. Maybe not. I'm really not sure once the massed Allied fleets get moving forward if my recent tactics will still be effective. If he comes now I'm pretty sure it'll be with everything.

A lot of new small E have been lost hunting subs as well, but their numbers are still increasing, and their losses have been useful as seen in the next post. [:)] Endless small ships. Wish they had built a LOT more of the fast 30 knot torpedo boat Es. Now those would be useful.
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]SHIPS SUNK[/font]
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Getting the Prince of Wales was good recently, and the Astoria recently showed up which I'm not aware of having sunk. Lots of subs on here and most of those are likely for real. Small victories at this point.
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]PILOT RESERVE[/font]
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Here is some info on the pilots we have ready to go. It seems like a good reserve, although most trained fighter pilots in reserve are in groups or WIA right now. A lot are returning each month though so that helps fill out the pools with those trained in groups. Most of the training groups will now have to transition into Home Islands defense, and this means training will be severely compromised. I have only one IJAAF dedicated fighter training group and now for the IJNAF. Float planes are being used to train some Navy pilots, but it's not keeping up with demand as it is now.

Quality will likely decrease, there will be more strain on those in groups to fly more missions, and with potential upcoming battles escort pilots will likely be exhausted and raw trainees will have to be put into this role. That will not be good. I've lowered standards to 45exp 60 air skill, but that is still not going to make the training go quickly enough. So in spite of the ability to train pilots throughout the war and my concern for fighting over my territory as much as possible, I'll still face severe experience and skill drop offs soon.
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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]PILOT LOSSES[/font]
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As mentioned above the goal for pilots has been to train them to a high level and then try to retain them by flying over my own territory as much as possible. This seems to have reduced losses overall, and I do still have a good core of pilots in groups, but the losses will outstrip our ability to train soon enough.

There are a lot of WIA and MIA pilots, and these are filtering back in which helps. lately I'm getting a message every few days about a found pilot wandering out of the jungle.

I'd be curious to know whether this is about average or more or less pilots than are usually lost by this point in the war.

One pilot just did hit the 12 kill threshold, which is great!
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[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: obvert
(They just downed 10-12 B-29s in the last turn during an attack on Nagoya!).

This is GREAT news. When I tested the last official patch, I couldn't get NF's to do anything except make aces out of the B29 pilots. With NF's working, now there is at least a method of deterence. As you note, night flak doesn't do diddly ...

[&o][&o][&o]

[PaxMondo]

Also, interesting that you find the Irving radar to helps as it is only a surface search radar (supposedly). The only air search plane bases radar IJ has is the FD-2 carried by the Denko and the Randy c.

Maybe the surface search radars have some air component?

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]ENGINES AND AIRFRAMES[/font]
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Here is the list of airframes and the corresponding engines. The airframe factories in blue are currently turned off to use the engines for other higher priority airframes. I'll consider whether I can change these to another airframe going forward.

The Ha-45 engines specifically are running low and the Ha-43 will be compromised by the arrival and production of the Ki-83 in January. A few just got destroyed, and from now on it'll be a battle to try to make sure there are engines to use for the various planes in production. The Jacks have a lot of Ha-32 engines to go through and there is a large pool of Ha-35 for the later kami planes and the currently producing night fighters. I won't repair the damaged Ha-35 factories in Tokyo from the last raid.
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[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Also, interesting that you find the Irving radar to helps as it is only a surface search radar (supposedly). The only air search plane bases radar IJ has is the FD-2 carried by the Denko and the Randy c.

Maybe the surface search radars have some air component?

I could be wrong, or maybe it is the slightly different armament. I think the Irving J1N1-Sa has a forward facing as well as the upward facing canons? Am I right on that? Maybe also the pilots were better or simply some other setting, but I could swear I noticed better results immediately when they had filled out the first group and were used at Palembang.

I had no idea those were surface search radars. Thanks for the head's up. I'll keep a lookout on how each functions.

Even more reason to invest in these two late models much more than I did i note beginning of this one.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: obvert
(They just downed 10-12 B-29s in the last turn during an attack on Nagoya!).

This is GREAT news. When I tested the last official patch, I couldn't get NF's to do anything except make aces out of the B29 pilots. With NF's working, now there is at least a method of deterence. As you note, night flak doesn't do diddly ...

[&o][&o][&o]

I'll write it up soon, but I had just added another group to Nagoya anticipating an attack. I try to read the DL and also I am pretty sure he'll be going for bases with a lot of airframe factories. Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Gifu, Maebashi and a few others will have some protection. Only 1 was listed shot down by the combat report, but after the turn in the air losses screen 11 total were listed lost, 10 in air-to-air.

I haven't tried to use the NF on a CAP setting with a longer range than 0. Seems to me they'd be too slow to catch the B-29 if they had to travel, and if they can get up early due to radar they can outnumber the first wave and get a few kills. I'm not in an experimental mood in game right now and I don't have time for tests, but if anyone has any experience of this, let me know.

[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT[/font]
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The research and development phase of game is winding down. There are some decent additions I'd love to try out as they arrive, but the ones that could really make a difference are still far off and unlikely to arrive in time to change much. The one airframe still to arrive that will give an added punch to the IJAAF is the Ki-83. This is a plane I've heard a lot about. It's expensive with it's two engines, but the only Japanese airframe that can match Allied fighters for speed, armament and durability.

The night fighters would be incredibly helpful, but come very late and will probably only add a bit if their factories are not destroyed before they even start producing.

The jets? Well, they are so far off I can't imagine I'll even get to try them which is a bit sad. We'll see. Maybe a last hurrah CAP in late 45.

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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]AIRFRAME PRODUCTION[/font]
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I thought I'd show this version of the production numbers as well in order to see how it's distributed. Some airframes are spread over quite a few centers. Others not so much. This will be interesting as the individual factories become targeted.

I've only been changing out a few obsolete factories. I may try some more at some point, but right now I need to get supply back to safe levels.

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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]ENGINE PRODUCTION[/font]
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Engines are always in severe demand. I've just had to keep increasing as new factories came online and to get pools deep enough to avoid running out once these factories are nailed. The Ha-45 is pretty low still and there will be some crunch in a few weeks when the Ki-83 starts producing with the Ha-43 engines. It didn't help that 10 were hit in the Tokyo attack. Important enough to repair though right now.

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[obvert]

[font="Times New Roman"]17 - 18 December 1944[/font]
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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] The SS Kete is hit hard and most likely sunk near Indochina.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]PI:[/font] The Allies hit Aparri hard. The strike takes out about half of the ASW planes that filled up the base, but only a few pilots. I have plenty of these pilots still as fewer groups are working ASW now. The Kate and Jill pools are not deep, but I don't use them for much either, so this is easily replaced. I can't really protect the whole island, so if he wants to bomb around, he'll be able to. So much of Luzon is clear it'll be hard to defend from aerial bombing.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]STRAT BOMBING:[/font] Nagoya is targeted and this time we have NF in place. I'd just moved another group here after their transit from the DEI. These are Irving J1N1-Sa with radar. Pax above a few posts stated that their radar doesn't work for air search, but the report seems to indicate that it might. The 'some CAP have air radar' message makes me think they do work against air strike targets. They certainly seemed to find and stick in with several waves of attacks, and right up to the last there were NF present and damaging the beasts.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CHINA/INDOCHINA: [/font] Many troops now fleeing North to China.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]THAILAND: [/font] In addition to the big stack shocking and failing to break out of the Allied lockdown, the Allies bombarded in Bangkok. They got a pretty bad result with slightly more troops in hex, so I'm sure this gave jocke pause about going for the base right away. This should lend some time for the next plan; selective evacuation.

Also, on the 18th the paratroops stationed in Malaya made use of their skills to interdict the transport and supply of Allied troops by taking back Ayuthia. It'll be short-lived I'm sure, but still fun. I was hoping to also catch some free supply here, but no go on that one.

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR December 17, 44
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Morning Air attack on Aparri , at 82,73

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 15

Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 6 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 31000 feet

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1/C with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 7 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes

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Morning Air attack on Aparri , at 82,73

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 27
B-25D1 Mitchell x 67
B-25G Mitchell x 6
B-25H Mitchell x 18
B-25J1 Mitchell x 15
B-25J11 Mitchell x 15
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 4 destroyed on ground
B6N2a Jill: 7 destroyed on ground
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 3 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-25J1 Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 damaged

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

Airbase hits 68
Airbase supply hits 15
Runway hits 83

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x PBJ-1D Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 55,59 , near Tavoy

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Allied aircraft
Liberator B.VI x 9
Liberator GR.VI x 3
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D Liberator x 5
B-24J Liberator x 65
B-25D1 Mitchell x 12
B-25H Mitchell x 29
B-25J1 Mitchell x 3
B-25J11 Mitchell x 3
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 14

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator GR.VI: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 9 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
360 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x PBJ-1D Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Ground combat at 55,59 (near Tavoy)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 168715 troops, 2013 guns, 2438 vehicles, Assault Value = 5414

Defending force 79249 troops, 1291 guns, 968 vehicles, Assault Value = 2381

Japanese adjusted assault: 430

Allied adjusted defense: 5857

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 13

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

Japanese ground losses:
28212 casualties reported
Squads: 366 destroyed, 1920 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 141 disabled
Engineers: 49 destroyed, 203 disabled
Guns lost 155 (21 destroyed, 134 disabled)
Vehicles lost 255 (81 destroyed, 174 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
664 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 96 (7 destroyed, 89 disabled)
Vehicles lost 68 (4 destroyed, 64 disabled)

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Ground combat at Bangkok (56,62)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 70917 troops, 1319 guns, 943 vehicles, Assault Value = 3037

Defending force 80874 troops, 851 guns, 523 vehicles, Assault Value = 1933

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

Allied ground losses:
303 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 19 (4 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Assaulting units:
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
XV Corps Engineer Battalion
209th Combat Engineer Battalion
41st Infantry Division
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
18th British Division
IV Corps Engineer Battalion
2nd British Division
36th British Division
6th Australian Division
9th Australian Division
Southeast Asia
2/9th Field Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
XV Indian Corps
2/13th Field Regiment

Defending units:
34th Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment
6th Ind.Infantry Brigade
35th Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Division
2nd INA Gandhi Regiment
48th Division
36th Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th Division
4th South Seas Det.
33rd Road Const Co /1
87th JAAF AF Bn
65th Construction Battalion
21st Field AF Construction Battalion
39th Army
33rd Army
17th JAAF AF Bn
61st Construction Battalion
14th Base Force
Southern Army
72nd JAAF AF Bn
21st Air Defense AA Battalion
13th JAAF Base Force
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
9th Air Division
54th Const Co
23rd JNAF AF Unit
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
30th JAAF Base Force
12th Field AF Construction Battalion
82nd JAAF AF Bn
11th Shipping Engineer Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
67th JNAF AF Unit
23rd AA Rgt /2

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR December 18, 44
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ASW attack near Cam Ranh Bay at 65,71

Japanese Ships
AK Noto Maru
AK Yodogawa Maru
E Chiburi

Allied Ships
SS Kete, hits 9, heavy damage

SS Kete is sighted by escort
E Chiburi fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Chiburi attacking submerged sub ....
Large oil slick appears over area of attack!
Escort abandons search for sub

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Night Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 61 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 14
J1N1-Sa Irving x 23

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-S Irving: 1 destroyed
J1N1-Sa Irving: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged

Manpower hits 4
Fires 2700

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
S-804 Hikotai with J1N1-Sa Irving (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
S-812 Hikotai with J1N1-Sa Irving (3 airborne, 9 on standby, 2 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
S-851 Hikotai with J1N1-S Irving (4 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes

Some CAP have air radar This makes me think the radar works in the air

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Night Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 1
J1N1-Sa Irving x 15

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-Sa Irving: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 3 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
S-804 Hikotai with J1N1-Sa Irving (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
S-812 Hikotai with J1N1-Sa Irving (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
S-851 Hikotai with J1N1-S Irving (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead

Some CAP have air radar

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Night Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

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

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 6
J1N1-Sa Irving x 19

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 4 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-29-25 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet *
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Night Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 70 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 16

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-1 Superfort: 2 damaged

Manpower hits 72 [X(]
Fires 19250

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Night Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 16 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-29-1 Superfort x 3

No Allied losses

Manpower hits 4
Fires 141480 [X(]

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-29-1 Superfort bombing from 9000 feet
City Attack: 20 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Ground combat at 55,59 (near Tavoy)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 4547 troops, 267 guns, 325 vehicles, Assault Value = 2287

Defending force 164329 troops, 2051 guns, 2884 vehicles, Assault Value = 3356

Japanese ground losses:
155 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Ground combat at Ayuthia (56,61)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 366 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 26

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

Japanese adjusted assault: 25

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 25 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Ayuthia !!! [:D]

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

Assaulting units:
2nd Raiding Rgt /1

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Reinforcements:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]134th AA Regiment arrives at Tokyo
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade arrives at Tokyo
12th Ind.Mixed Regiment arrives at Tokyo[/font]

Losses: none.

Ships Sunk:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]SS Kete is reported to have been sunk near Cam Ranh Bay on Dec 18, 1944
xAK Chios is reported to have been sunk near Darwin on Mar 10, 1944
Previous report of sinking of CVE Fanshaw Bay incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]A look at Burma and Thailand after the 17th but before taking Ayuthia back. [/font]
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[LoBaron]

For all I know the game does not distinquish between air and surface search radars.

[LoBaron]

Shock attack against late war Allied firepower is destined to fail except when you for some weird reason have outnumber the enemy by a factor of 5 or 6.

Before your own fire phase you will receive double ammount of the Allied fire phase as per shock attack rules. Every advantage in adjusted AV you might have gotten through shock attack bonus will crushed by the Allied guns before it ever can be factored into adjusted AV calculations. You might as well forget about that button.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Shock attack against late war Allied firepower is destined to fail except when you for some weird reason have outnumber the enemy by a factor of 5 or 6.

Before your own fire phase you will receive double ammount of the Allied fire phase as per shock attack rules. Every advantage in adjusted AV you might have gotten through shock attack bonus will crushed by the Allied guns before it ever can be factored into adjusted AV calculations. You might as well forget about that button.

Good to know. In that situation if I had supply I might have been okay due to the huge amount of heavy arty units there. I was consistently winning the bombardment and counter only a few months ago against a much bigger stack. I thought there it was my only chance to break out, and if I didn't it would wreck the units at least putting it into his mind that he might want to reduce the stack, at least allowing me to buy a few back.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

For all I know the game does not distinquish between air and surface search radars.

Great news. I haven't tested but in game it really seems to make a difference using the Sa version of the Irving so I suspect it's the radar working.

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[font="Times New Roman"]19 December 1944[/font]
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Only a one day update as I screwed up the turn run last night by copying the file into the wrong folder. I then thought Jocke had not finished the turn. [8|]

Then this morning I forgot to bring my power cord to work and can't now finish the turn. GRRRRR![:@]

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] An xAP heading to the Bonins gets nailed, but no troops on board. This will notify Jocke of my presence and intentions, which is not ideal though. I'm pulling from the Marianas and loading up the 30k max islands, then pulling more back as I need to to fill in further defenses on Okinawa, Daito and other small islands. So the loss of the xAP isn't huge, but the strategic implications could be difficult if he puts the various information together.

In an interesting combat the Icefish also tries for a convoy near Saigon and is forced to the surface where it guns down two small To'su PBs! They sink, contact is lost with the sub, and who knows if it's still going.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]DEI:[/font] Macassar is invested. This is the first jump into range from Soerabaja, but the ships left before the day air phase. No he'll have a good base from which to sweep and bomb Soerabaja, plus to cover amphibs in the area. Time to bug out in other words. I'll again send more critical units back to Batavia to get off the island. Only a bare-bones operation will be left here.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CHINA/INDOCHINA: [/font] Armor has stopped and is not yet advancing into Indochina proper. Waiting for support units perhaps?

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]PI: [/font] A very strange thing happened at Luzon. Waves of Allied bombers came in right at Manila and bombed the troops!!! With no sweeps! I knew this was a case of settings mistakes. Jocke wrote later that he'd been aiming at Cebu but those troops had vanished after the previous turn and he didn't reset the groups.

It all turned out fairly well for the Japanese for several reasons. Firstly we shot down almost 50% of the bombers heading this way on the day! [:)]
Secondly the CAP had been severely reduced just the day before (sending units to cover rear bases on Luzon), but still performed really well. This could have two effects. One it lets Jocke now that we have teeth still. Two it tells him that the smaller CAP up that day is still strong and he'll notice a bigger CAP there tomorrow. Nice to get those kills and increased experience. He loses a lot of planes to flak as well, 14 4E in total. About 40 4E and another 10-12 2E are shot down in A to A for 16 fighters. Much better than usual due to the good ratio of defenders to attackers.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]THAILAND: [/font] Just more bombing here. The troops in Bangkok aren' doing anything and I don't see anything moving toward Ayuthia. He doesn't bomb my paras which I'm sure he could vaporize, but probable doesn't want to get into a big shootout right now needing to support his troops in the field soon. Maybe he's also gearing up for a shot at Bangkok itself?

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR December 19, 44
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Sub attack near Chichi-jima at 111,71

Japanese Ships
xAP Teibi Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Koryu Maru
AK Nitti Maru
xAP Tatsuta Maru
E Naryu

Allied Ships
SS Chub

SS Chub launches 4 torpedoes at xAP Teibi Maru
Chub diving deep ....
E Naryu attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

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Pre-Invasion action off Makassar (65,106)
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

4 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CL Phoenix
CL Ceylon
DD Hammann
DD Sims
DD Satterlee
APA Cambria

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

CL Phoenix firing at 1st JNAF Coy
DD Satterlee fired at enemy troops

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Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 33
J2M5 Jack x 25
N1K1-J George x 17
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 23
Ki-84r Frank x 15

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 11
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 2 destroyed by flak
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 4 destroyed by flak [:)]

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

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 26
J2M5 Jack x 21
N1K1-J George x 11
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 18
Ki-84r Frank x 12

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 22
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 9 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 2 destroyed by flak
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 14
J2M5 Jack x 13
N1K1-J George x 7
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 8
Ki-84r Frank x 5

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 6 destroyed, 10 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M3 Jack x 4
J2M5 Jack x 6
N1K1-J George x 1
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Ki-84r Frank x 2

Allied aircraft
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M5 Jack: 1 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-84r Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
PBJ-1D Mitchell: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x PBJ-1D Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Submarine attack near Saigon at 61,73

Japanese Ships
PB Noshiro Maru #2, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC Ch 41
xAK Daishin Maru
xAK Asukasan Maru
E No.42
PB Takunan Maru #3, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Icefish, hits 7, heavy damage

SS Icefish launches 2 torpedoes at PB Noshiro Maru #2
Icefish bottoming out ....
E No.42 attacking submerged sub ....
SS Icefish forced to surface!
PB Noshiro Maru #2 firing on surfaced sub ....
E No.42 firing on surfaced sub ....
PB Takunan Maru #3 firing on surfaced sub ....
PB Noshiro Maru #2 firing on surfaced sub ....
Contact with submarine is lost

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Reinforcements:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]30th Field Artillery Regiment arrives at Tokyo
3rd South Seas Gsn arrives at Tokyo
E No.55 arrives at Tokyo
E No.69 arrives at Tokyo[/font]

Losses:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Loss of PB Noshiro Maru #2 on Dec 19, 1944 is admitted
Loss of LB-520 on Dec 08, 1944 is admitted
Loss of xAP Teibi Maru on Dec 19, 1944 is admitted[/font]

Ships Sunk:

[font="Trebuchet MS"]Previous report of sinking of CL Cleveland incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service[/font]
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[font="Trebuchet MS"]Here's a shot of the PI a few days ago. It's pretty close quarters here, but his main bases are farther back at Illoilo and Cotabato. Wherever he has a 4E base he stacks up A LOT of fighters. The same is true in the Marianas now as well. Hard to imagine breaking through that to do any damage, but I'll look for opportunities should he lessen the CAP or after any big air battles when there might be a few days of slight rebuilding.

A bunch of pilots got multiple kills, two became aces.

2LT Matsu-ura, T. of 26th Sentai is credited with kill number 7 This guy is our most used pilot in game with more than 1000 missions in just over three years!!! [&o][X(]
PO1 Hagiri A. of S-304 Hikotai is credited with kill number 7
WO Sonokawa B. of 26th Sentai is credited with kill number 5
WO Sonokawa B. of 26th Sentai attains ace status!!
PO2 Kasai C. of Akagi-1 is credited with kill number 5
PO2 Kasai C. of Akagi-1 attains ace status!![/font]
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