Rumble in the Southwest witpqs-A vs Andav-J 2011-11-29 to 2017-02-08

[Quixote]

The George fighters are taking quite a toll of our bombers over Kunming. I can't get our 2x 25-plane P-38 squadrons at Paoshan to fly sweep (even with good commanders), so last turn I began flying an air HQ into range (but that will take a bit).

You're trying to sweep Kunming with P-38's from Paoshan? If I'm reading that correctly, you can quit bothering with the Air HQ. You won't be able to sweep bases that you already own, no matter what you try.

[witpqs]

1943 September 23

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:


There were Imperial amphibious operations at:


There were Allied amphibious operations at:




The attack at Truk was decent odds-wise but poor casualty-wise. And, yes, Shermans do get destroyed!

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Ground combat at Truk (112,108)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 23500 troops, 388 guns, 498 vehicles, Assault Value = 674

Defending force 16677 troops, 224 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 344

Allied adjusted assault: 1086

Japanese adjusted defense: 733

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
431 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 18 (10 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
812 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 55 (10 destroyed, 45 disabled)

Assaulting units:
763rd Tank Battalion
3rd Marine Division
1st Marine Division
762nd Tank Battalion
Otago (Mtd) Rifles Regiment
3rd Pioneer Battalion
Pacific Ocean Areas
1st AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
3rd NZ Division

Defending units:
46th Naval Guard Unit
Guards Mixed Brigade
30th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 5th SNLF
42nd Naval Guard Unit
48th Naval Guard Unit
41st Infantry Rgt /2
4th Base Force
Truk Naval Fortress
4th Port Unit

24th ID is loading and will head for Truk ASAP. Most of the CVEs need to replenish sorties, so one of the two TF will head for Kavieng. The other TF is operating mostly fighters.

CV Bunker Hill is at Tabiteuea and will head to Kavieng via Nauru before joining the fleet. CVL Cowpens will rendezvous with the fleet carriers tomorrow near Truk. CVE Natoma Bay is at Kavieng and will join the CVE TF that is returning to rearm.

It looks like the SCTF will be able to bombard Eniwetok in 3 days, so that will be the next attack.

Here are the troops at Truk.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Quixote

The George fighters are taking quite a toll of our bombers over Kunming. I can't get our 2x 25-plane P-38 squadrons at Paoshan to fly sweep (even with good commanders), so last turn I began flying an air HQ into range (but that will take a bit).

You're trying to sweep Kunming with P-38's from Paoshan? If I'm reading that correctly, you can quit bothering with the Air HQ. You won't be able to sweep bases that you already own, no matter what you try.

It accepts the order when I click on the enemy troops there - is it still a no-go?

I'm pretty sure those Georges are LRCAP to intercept my bombing of his troops, that's why I want to sweep. I would prefer not to LRCAP because the P-38s will get chewed up when the Georges sweep (he tried sweeping Paoshan to catch them).

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

ORIGINAL: Quixote

The George fighters are taking quite a toll of our bombers over Kunming. I can't get our 2x 25-plane P-38 squadrons at Paoshan to fly sweep (even with good commanders), so last turn I began flying an air HQ into range (but that will take a bit).

You're trying to sweep Kunming with P-38's from Paoshan? If I'm reading that correctly, you can quit bothering with the Air HQ. You won't be able to sweep bases that you already own, no matter what you try.

It accepts the order when I click on the enemy troops there - is it still a no-go?

I'm pretty sure those Georges are LRCAP to intercept my bombing of his troops, that's why I want to sweep. I would prefer not to LRCAP because the P-38s will get chewed up when the Georges sweep (he tried sweeping Paoshan to catch them).

You can't sweep your own base, unfortunately.

Can you not put a bit of CAP there at Kunming and LR CAP? That way you could get a layered CAP around him. If he's flying at LR CAP 12k and your LR CAP is at 15k, the bombers come at 10k, you'll eat em up. Best to have some CAP in base that will also in effect escort the bombers, as it will fly with each package that arrives as will the LR CAP.

[witpqs]

I would love to have local CAP, but the base is 100% damaged and has almost 0 supply. It's still about 300% stacked, and I'm still trying to get troops out to alleviate that. Even if I get supply and get the damage down, I have no air support available there. The Chinese Army is a shattered hulk right now. New units (rebuilt, I mean) are popping up in Chunking, which is sealed off and is itself massively over stacked. Units there are starving after arriving.

I think it will be a bit before I can arrange any local CAP at Kunming. Even Tsuyung can't support CAP right now, as he is still bombing the base. I am getting supply there now, though. Progress!

[witpqs]

Here is a look at the situation in the mountains of China. What is known about the enemy dispositions is shown. The troops that have been cleared from the upper Burma Road are not a factor right now so have been left off in the interest of space.

[witpqs]

The various defensive positions currently invested by the Empire. First is Mengtze.

[witpqs]

SE of Kunming.

[witpqs]

Kunming, part 1.

[witpqs]

Kunming, part 2. As mentioned previously I am moving out troops as quickly as possible to get near 100% stacking.

[witpqs]

And finally, Tsuyung.

[witpqs]

1943 September 24

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:


There were Imperial amphibious operations at:


There were Allied amphibious operations at:


Our subs claimed a CM overnight (as they did the previous night). The navy also did well at Biak, with in-game ground losses shown as 12x Tojo and 1x George.

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Night Naval bombardment of Biak at 87,110

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 9 damaged
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 14 damaged
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 8 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
CL Birmingham
DD John Rodgers
DD McKee
DD Fullam
DD Bullard

Japanese ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 32
Port hits 22
Port supply hits 9

CL Birmingham firing at Biak
DD John Rodgers firing at Biak
DD McKee firing at Biak
DD Fullam firing at Biak
DD Bullard firing at Biak


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At Kunming a recon bombardment was ordered by the wiley staff at DAW HQ, and they discovered the two Allied tank units without launching an assault. Drat! As repeatedly mentioned we are pulling troops out as fast as we can, but that is still a slow process. The two P-38 squadrons have been set to sweep the hex just to the east, in the hopes that Imperial LRCAP over Kunming will be drawn off and destroyed.

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Ground combat at Kunming (69,48)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 150 troops, 13 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 574

Defending force 60412 troops, 94 guns, 233 vehicles, Assault Value = 1217

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

Assaulting units:
10th Tank Regiment
17th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
51st Infantry Brigade
12th Tank Regiment
64th Infantry Brigade
4th Tank Regiment
23rd Tank Regiment
32nd/B Division
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
75th Chinese Corps
50th Indian Para Brigade
25th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
99th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
54th Chinese Corps
754th Tank Battalion
1st Army Tank Regiment
37th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
Y' Force
23rd Group Army
50th Chinese Corps
5th Group Army
3rd New Chinese Corps
78th Chinese Corps
6th Group Army
5th Chinese Cavalry Corps
11th Group Army
29th Group Army
18th Chinese Base Force

A cruiser squadron lead by Tom Phillips is at the river mouth off of Rangoon having just missed intercepting the small combatants there. They will retire to Chittagong for fuel.

At Truk we lost an xAK unloading supply. Several others are on site unloading but the process for them is very slow and little made it ashore. 24th ID loaded in one day and is on the way to Truk, with unloading possibly on the third day from now but certainly on the fourth. We've gotten several heavy cruisers back from repairing at both Pearl Harbor and Kavieng, so there will be no trouble keeping up daily bombardments by at least 2x CA for a while. There are 3 more CA repairing at Kavieng and none at Pearl Harbor, although one is still en route to the battle area.

[JocMeister]

Thats a REALLY good bombardment at Biak. Wonder if you caught some of his troops in strat mode or if forts are almost non existant?

[witpqs]

1943 September 25

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:


There were Imperial amphibious operations at:


There were Allied amphibious operations at:


The Empire's attacks at Lanchow are making progress and the time is short until that bastion cracks and crumbles.

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Ground combat at Lanchow (81,34)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44402 troops, 379 guns, 60 vehicles, Assault Value = 1159

Defending force 34847 troops, 100 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 574

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 621

Allied adjusted defense: 1087

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
2813 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 197 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1638 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 158 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Assaulting units:
36th/C Division
104th/A Division
102nd Infantry Regiment
37th Division
41st/B Division
7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
59th Infantry Brigade
110th/A Division
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
82nd Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
22nd Group Army
8th War Area
5th War Area
8th Chinese Base Force


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Ground combat at 70,44 (near Tsuyung)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4401 troops, 34 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 141

Defending force 3690 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 129

Japanese adjusted assault: 44

Allied adjusted defense: 217

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4

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

Japanese ground losses:
139 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Allied ground losses:
114 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
34th/B Division

Defending units:
55th Prov Chinese Division

Meanwhile (see just above), along the northern route from Tsuyung to the Chungking plain an Imperial unit has moved off the road. We have had a unit feigning movement there for some time to threaten the flank of their advance. It's good to get a unit off of the road, as that is the preferred avenue of advance to relieve Chungking.

We lost another xAK to CD fire at Truk. That convoy is still unloading, and tomorrow two more convoys will join them in dropping supplies to the troops. The day following that the 24th ID will land, then attack the next day.

A shock attack at Eniwetok in concert with a bombardment by the CL force. I would have ordered a deliberate attack but in light of the landing turn shock attack being missed this is an effort to at least partly undo the effects of that bug. Hopefully it won't trash the unit!

A very interesting display of ground losses this turn. It looks as though one of the recently torpedoed Imperial carriers has sunk. In Tracker, Taiyo was revealed as falsely reported sunk while Chuyo is now claimed sunk.

[witpqs]

Here are the troops at Truk.

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Thats a REALLY good bombardment at Biak. Wonder if you caught some of his troops in strat mode or if forts are almost non existant?

I suppose it's forts, but even so I was surprised by the results. This turn the number of fighters there is down substantially! [:D] It was at close range with escorts bombarding, so maybe that is more of a factor. I'll have to check, I used either 5,000 or 10,000 yards.

[witpqs]

I forgot to mention, Kunming is down to somewhat over 200% stacking (still too high) and units there are beginning to show supply on hand!

[witpqs]

1943 September 26

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:
Eniwetok

There were Imperial amphibious operations at:


There were Allied amphibious operations at:


Imperial troops are seen moving north from Moulmein in response to our march from Bassein toward the river into Rangoon. We shall bombard Moulmein with various cruiser and battleship forces beginning in 2 days. Victorious was withdrawn today.

Eniwetok is ours, but we probably would not have it (at least not now) except for the bug that prevented a shock attack upon the initial landing. Naval search via flying boats begins at once and support troops will arrive in two days. The CL force will take up patrol to the north, and fighters are taking up CAP.

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Ground combat at Eniwetok (127,108)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1260 troops, 8 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 43

Defending force 1313 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 32

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 68

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 68 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Eniwetok !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(-), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1457 casualties reported
Squads: 83 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (15 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

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

Assaulting units:
131st Cmbt Engineer Regiment

Defending units:
43rd Naval Guard Unit

We lost 5x xAK off of Truk to CD fire while landing supplies today. Tis is a part of my secret plan to burn through his supplies there. That's it. The remaining ships will continue to land supply regardless, as the 24th ID goes ashore tomorrow and supply consumption will rise substantially.

Here are the troops at Truk.

[witpqs]

1943 September 27

The Empire captured:


The Allies captured:


There were Imperial amphibious operations at:


There were Allied amphibious operations at:
Truk

The two P-38 squadrons at Paoshan were set to LRCAP Tsuyung but with aggressive commanders they CAPed Kunming instead. While they did 'OK' versus George sweeps they did lose overall, and as you know the Allies need to win with their predetermined pool of good planes. For the moment they are set to range 0 to CAP Paoshan.

Our bombardment TF in the Bay of Bengal might be in serendipitous position to intercept an Imperial convoy heading toward Rangoon.

The 24th ID is ashore. One APA will probably sink and two destroyers got beat up.

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Ground combat at Truk (112,108)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15159 troops, 214 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 360

Defending force 44635 troops, 578 guns, 704 vehicles, Assault Value = 972

Japanese ground losses:
270 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (7 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
42nd Naval Guard Unit
46th Naval Guard Unit
Sasebo 5th SNLF
Guards Mixed Brigade
48th Naval Guard Unit
30th Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Rgt /2
4th Base Force
Truk Naval Fortress
4th Port Unit

Defending units:
1st Marine Division
3rd Marine Division
763rd Tank Battalion
762nd Tank Battalion
24th Infantry Division
Otago (Mtd) Rifles Regiment
1st AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
Pacific Ocean Areas
3rd Pioneer Battalion
3rd NZ Division

As you can see from the screen pic below, supply usage is now far higher. The divisions are shown as having barely enough supply even though they each have a good deal more than after the last assault. The LST convoy standing by with another 22,000 tons of supply will unload tomorrow in an effort to have the attack be well supplied. Another 4x xAK were lost at Truk on the day, but with another 12,000 tons of supply on board the remaining merchants will continue unloading.

[witpqs]

Here is the location of that convoy.