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

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Allied Armor in Korea[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

M4 Sherman - 720
M4 Zippo - 50
M24 Chaffee - 140
LVT (A)1 - 225
M36 Jackson - 180

A small panzer army. Payback for the first year in China.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: witpqs
That's right. The losses were like scraping your knuckles when changing out your automobile's engine. Something was inevitable but maybe that was more than was necessary. Still the job got done and the 'real' situation is altered as planned because of it.

Thanks witpqs. [:)]

[ny59giants]

Just need a 'few' Apache helicopter groups and you're all set.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Just need a 'few' Apache helicopter groups and you're all set.

Have any to give me? [:D]

[Encircled]

If only you controlled Allied Production, you could have advanced them by now [;)]

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister


I´ve done some more testing the morning and I still can´t replicate it. That being said I´m not using nowhere near as many enemy TFs or planes for the testing. So far every single test have had them move "as expected".

I´ve kept a separate save of the turn though. When the game is done I´ll ask Erik to run it again and see if I can replicate it "live" sort of speaking.

I think re-running the actual is the only way to get a read, and maybe not even then. Trying to sandbox won't work unless you have perfect knowledge of what he had where. You don't, but the engine did.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

I would give my left pinky to know how close he is to the garrison requirement. 9k?, 10k? 12k? It could go really fast regardless. All it take is one lost major battle and the armor will be all over his retreating troops. He is already down 2 IDs. Fighting in mostly clear hexes against Allied late war LCUs while suffering negative supply modifiers...one retreat and the pursuing allied Armor could wreck thousands of AV in a couple of days. There are good roads in Korea and Armor will move at 1 hex per turn on those roads so he can´t outrun them.

I´ll try and secure the southern part of Korea and see what kind of resistance he throws up. Erik is hard to read sometimes. Going by his usual MO he will Superstack around Keijo. If he does the terrain will make it hard for me to inflict casualties. There is a line with x3 terrain across entire Korea there. But if he moves to the south in force meeting me in the clear terrain his losses could become horrendous pretty fast. If so I will throw everything I got at him and see what happens!

I guess I will let Eriks actions decide how I should play this. Given the opportunity I will certainly try and wreck as much AV as possible!

You can't know how close until the switch flips. So don't worry about it. I would spend an hour or two dong everything in the USSR possible pre-activation pilot-wise, airframe swapping-wise, fort-building-the-border-wise. I think you said you had kept up with the Soviets all along, but now is the time to issue activation orders. Check your COs too.

If you think Keijo is likely try to use the armor to get around and play anvil to the IDs', especially the USMC IDs, hammer. Put the bombers on Ground and not AF. He'll burn supply in the defense battles. AV can die cheaply from the air. Open terrain is nice, but work with what you have.

Use up your armor if you have to achieve activation. Once you get it the Sovs have more tanks than you can ever use in the time you have left. If you go for early-activation don't be subtle or slow. Smash and move.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58
You can't know how close until the switch flips. So don't worry about it. I would spend an hour or two dong everything in the USSR possible pre-activation pilot-wise, airframe swapping-wise, fort-building-the-border-wise. I think you said you had kept up with the Soviets all along, but now is the time to issue activation orders. Check your COs too.

If you think Keijo is likely try to use the armor to get around and play anvil to the IDs', especially the USMC IDs, hammer. Put the bombers on Ground and not AF. He'll burn supply in the defense battles. AV can die cheaply from the air. Open terrain is nice, but work with what you have.

Use up your armor if you have to achieve activation. Once you get it the Sovs have more tanks than you can ever use in the time you have left. If you go for early-activation don't be subtle or slow. Smash and move.

Yupp, I´ve kept the Soviets ready. The air force is upgraded and ready. Last training cycle is flying CAP now to gain EXP. Should be in the 60s in a month or so! [:)]

My armor went east in pursuit of his retreating troops. I´ll get a map up.

[koniu]

Do You accepting situation that soviets are using US controlled AF or vice versa.
(Personally i will allow Soviets to fly from Soviets controlled fields only,the same with Western allies planes as it will simulate how this looks in reality).

Soviets and USA are maybe officially allies but Cold War start in day Berlin fall.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Korea[/font]
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I´ve reached a decision what to do with 6500 AV held in reserve at Naha. At least for now. While I´m itching to open a new front in China they may have a better use. If Erik throws everything in Korea they would present a perfect opportunity to smash the Manchuria garrison limit...I think its highly unlikely Erik believes I have such a force in reserve.

The prudent thing for Erik to do at this point would be to realize Korea was lost the same second 220.000 allied troops landed and withdraw North to better defensive terrain. This would fit well with his usual MO. Superstack in good terrain.

However, with the recent Japanese victories he may be suffering a bit from victory decease. He has posted more in his AAR in the last two day then what he has done in the last 6 months. Its not improbable he believes he has beaten the Allied fleet and can contain the landing.

So for now I´ll hold the reinforcements back. I have 2 IDs semi prepped (55-60) for Kaishu (see map). If Erik comes crashing far south into Korea I can land those followed by the rest of the reserves and crush the Manchurian garrison between 12000 Allied AV. The only threat to a landing that far North would be the KB striking from the Sea of Japan. Erik will probably smash the KBs strike planes once more if I present him with some nice juice ships prior to any landing though removing that threat. A couple of old BBs or some empty APA/AKAs will probably do. Erik seems very keen on sinking ships for the sole reason of sinking ships.

In essence its a pretty straight forward plan. If Erik moves deep into South Korea and its clear terrain with much of the Manchurian garrison I will land behind him and destroy him. I´ll set every available recon on watching the Korean approaches next turn. Even if I wouldn´t be able to trigger a SU activation having those troops walk around in the open in Korea is far better then having them in defensive positions in Manchuria.

We will see what Erik does. But I smell a good opportunity here. I already see movement from the Japanese Soviet border. How far south will he go? A couple of thousand AV around Keijo would spoil any attempt for now though. I think in 7-10 days we will know.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: koniu
Do You accepting situation that soviets are using US controlled AF or vice versa.
(Personally i will allow Soviets to fly from Soviets controlled fields only,the same with Western allies planes as it will simulate how this looks in reality).

Soviets and USA are maybe officially allies but Cold War start in day Berlin fall.

I don´t know. I have always assumed this wouldn´t be allowed.

EDIT: I should add here that I also believe the Soviet Air Force will be quite insignificant by the time of the Activation. Fighters are hopelessly outclassed by latest generation of Japanese air planes. Only the La-5 comes close to 400MPH. Replacement rates are hopeless with only some 150 Fighters per months. Half of those the much slower Yak 9. If Erik wants to he can shatter the Soviet Air Force in a couple of days.

What it will do though is tie a lot of Japanese fighters to provide CAP over Japanese troops. I have 2000 (!) IL-2s in the pool. While only carrying 6x100Kg bombs there are a lot of IL-2 and SB-2 Squadrons. 800 planes making that is 4800x100kg bombs. Per day. It will add up.

And while he have to proved low altitude CAP for his troops in Manchuria they are now within Sweep range of Allied P47Ns...

[Bullwinkle58]

RE the Soviet air forces, when I've played them in AI the air game is just a distraction. It's a hard adjustment to make, but the planes just slow the advance down. Nothing in the game comes close to what playing the 1945 Red Army is like. You have to adjust your mindset a lot to the scale of what you have available. The artillery is just massive, for one. Take a minute and go look at the OOB.

The question isn't how to beat Japan; it's just where to drive the bus. A stack with 5000 late-war tanks and 60 heavy arty units is easy to amass. Nothing on land matches a motor-rifle division. The sappers melt forts like butter. By the time you clear a major city (days, not weeks) and build an AF you can be two or three big cities down the track. The air forces are not needed. What you do need in the air is a little recon, a little naval search, and support for whatever the Red Fleet is going to be up to. The ground-pounders don't need the help.

Until you've wielded that sword you won't get it. You think the USMC divisions are great? Check out a Guards Tank Army.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

RE the Soviet air forces, when I've played them in AI the air game is just a distraction. It's a hard adjustment to make, but the planes just slow the advance down. Nothing in the game comes close to what playing the 1945 Red Army is like. You have to adjust your mindset a lot to the scale of what you have available. The artillery is just massive, for one. Take a minute and go look at the OOB.

The question isn't how to beat Japan; it's just where to drive the bus. A stack with 5000 late-war tanks and 60 heavy arty units is easy to amass. Nothing on land matches a motor-rifle division. The sappers melt forts like butter. By the time you clear a major city (days, not weeks) and build an AF you can be two or three big cities down the track. The air forces are not needed. What you do need in the air is a little recon, a little naval search, and support for whatever the Red Fleet is going to be up to. The ground-pounders don't need the help.

Until you've wielded that sword you won't get it. You think the USMC divisions are great? Check out a Guards Tank Army.

I´m kind of drooling already. And have been for some time. [:)] I just hope Erik doesn´t send everything into Korea and its already destroyed by the time the SU activates.

I mean look at THIS. Its silly!

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]17th May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Overall a pretty good day.

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Korea
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Our armor finish off the troops evicted from Moppo.

Ground combat at 101,54 (near Moppo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18532 troops, 90 guns, 2743 vehicles, Assault Value = 1484

Defending force 18422 troops, 215 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 517

Allied adjusted assault: 548

Japanese adjusted defense: 57

Allied assault odds: 9 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
4503 casualties reported
Squads: 323 destroyed, 154 disabled
Non Combat: 412 destroyed, 74 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 123 (76 destroyed, 47 disabled)
Units retreated 6

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 74 (2 destroyed, 72 disabled)

Erik is moving some sizable forces into Masan. Its a x2 terrain hex so a little bit better cover for him. There are some 15k troops there plus what was just blasted by the armor. Another 25k troops are coming from Fusan. My armor will get there first though. The 25k troops are in a clear hex...and probably in move mode... [:D]

Have to keep a balance here though. I don´t want to overdo it as I want to encourage Erik to move more troops into the area. But I would really like to have Masan. Infantry is still 6-8 days out. If the armor fails I should be able to secure it once they arrive depending on how much Erik piles on.

My recon for Northern Korea rained in. I also airlifted in more engineers. 1200 in place now. I feel pretty confident Erik won´t be able to close the airfield whatever he does. Should reach 2000 tomorrow.

Supply down to 99k.

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Okinawa
------------------------
Lessened the CAP a bit on the islands to fit some more 4Es. I now have some 200 flying from different bases. Lots of clear hexes in Korea for them to work on. [:)]

Erik is again flying out troops from Formosa. [8|] I decided to let him continue that. He is burning supply doing it and the troops won´t be of any use anyway. Especially without their heavy equipment they are just cannon fodder at this stage. And more mouths to feed.

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The Fleet
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The CVE fleet that ended up on the Kyushu coastline reached Naha this turn. In an effort to try and offset the losses somewhat I upgraded all "CAP squadrons" to Corsairs even on the CVEs. I had to downgrade a whole lot of LBA squadrons though but that should sort itself once all fragments can be flown gathered and disbanded or downgraded.

I did some quick counting and in 60 days I should be back at 3000 CV planes.

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China
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Some good news here. Erik has basically given away Canton/HK to me.

Ground combat at Canton (77,59)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 95064 troops, 1671 guns, 1362 vehicles, Assault Value = 3390

Defending force 14657 troops, 179 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 399

Japanese ground losses:
88 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
9th Indian Division
41st Infantry Division
XV Corps Engineer Battalion
IV Corps Engineer Battalion
5th Chinese Corps
14th Army Engineer Battalion
14th Indian Division
26th Indian Division
36th British Division
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
5th Indian Division
6th Mixed A/T Mtr Regiment
33rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
31st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
8th Belfast Heavy Regiment
III Indian Corps
Southeast Asia
85th Medium Regiment
134th (East Ang) Regiment
1st Indian Medium Regiment
30th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
18th SP Field Artillery Regiment
163rd Light AA Regiment
86th Medium Regiment
134th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
17th Ind.Mixed Brigade
7th Guards Inf. Regiment
37th Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th South Seas Det.
Canton Special Base Force
7th Base Force

Most of my troops (including a Command/Corps combo) is prepped 100 for Canton. While Eriks move to get his troops out was a nice one I think it was a strategic mistake. I´ve been dying for a level 9 AF deeper into China and he has given away two of them... This most likely means I can rebase my entire bomberfleet 11 hexes East probably within 2 weeks. In the meantime Eriks superstack is on the move and very exposed. In 1-3 days they will have to cross a clear hex...

Ground combat at 81,58 (near Kanhsien)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 83240 troops, 1747 guns, 1491 vehicles, Assault Value = 3104

Defending force 138356 troops, 1453 guns, 760 vehicles, Assault Value = 4098

Japanese ground losses:
799 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled

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

Guess I caught him in move mode with that one. [:'(] Once he crosses into the clear hex I hope to delay him with the bomber fleet and get an attack in with my ground troops before he can leave the clear hex. If I succeed that will most likely mean the end of that superstack. And the last resistance in China.

[Bullwinkle58]

You look at Canton/HK and see a big AF. I see a huge port that is a sponge for east/central China. And another nice shipyard to help out Manila with the load.

Supply in Korea is about 250,000 light for a major 4E campaign IMO. It's expensive to get in right now. Don't starve the doggies. Give the IDs and armor first crack.

Fusan might have some supply to steal?

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

You look at Canton/HK and see a big AF. I see a huge port that is a sponge for east/central China. And another nice shipyard to help out Manila with the load.

Supply in Korea is about 250,000 light for a major 4E campaign IMO. It's expensive to get in right now. Don't starve the doggies. Give the IDs and armor first crack.

Fusan might have some supply to steal?

The port will certainly help. I have had good success using Pakhoi (level 4 port) with about 1000 NavSupport. Unloaded 500.000 supply from a 100 ship cargo TF in 5 days. [:)]

4Es are flying from Oki to bomb in Korea for now. I only have Fighters at Moppo. Fusan is probably empty of supply as Erik is constantly getting the negative supply modifier. I won´t count on anything being there. If I can even get there!

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]18th May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

Another good day. [:)]

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Korea
------------------------
I feel Moppo is pretty secure now. 400 Mines are in place together with 80 PT boats. The 50+ subs are in position. Will be very risky for Erik to try naval bombardments here. I´m also bringing in even more CD guns to complement the 50 already in place. Another batch of 250 mines will be dropped by British subs tomorrow. To complement this I will use aerial mines drop from B29s to heavily mine the straight between Korea and Japan. It will cost Erik time to sweep them. Time I need to get the Fleet back in position.

2008 Engineers are now in place. Oddly enough supply rose to 108k this turn? Some unit must have had excess supply that went back to Moppo? How much supply can you airlift in per cargo capacity? AF expanded to 6! Should reach 7 in two days! [&o]

Looks like the troops heading from Fusan to Masan are just arty and two small RGT. They took a pounding from the air this turn as well. No idea why Erik is bring forth Arty at this point with his supply issues. Even if they do reach Masan in time they don´t have any AV so I think I have a pretty good chance to dislodge him. My armor will arrive next turn.

Erik had some Ki-83s on CAP. Luckily they were too high at first and later sucked at shooting down bombers. [:)] During the day I think I caused around 1000 casualties and knocked out most of the guns. Last 2-3 strikes only hit "vehicles" which is probably Motorized support. I doubt the troops will be combat effective after this.

Ordered a lot of Sweeps tomorrow if Erik puts up a stronger CAP.

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Morning Air attack on Chinhae , at 103,54

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M5 Jack x 11
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 3
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 1
Ki-83 x 3

Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M5 Jack: 4 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed
Ki-83: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x F4U-1D Corsair sweeping at 32000 feet

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Morning Air attack on Chinhae , at 103,54

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M5 Jack x 15
Ki-83 x 12

Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M5 Jack: 4 destroyed
Ki-83: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1A Corsair: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x F4U-1A Corsair sweeping at 32000 feet

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Morning Air attack on Chinkai Naval Base Force, at 103,54 (Chinhae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J2M5 Jack x 5
Ki-83 x 28

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 66

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
473 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 78 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 30 (2 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Also attacking 78th Infantry Regiment ...
Also attacking 10th Mortar Battalion ...
Also attacking Chinkai Naval Base Force ...
Also attacking 28th Mountain Gun Regiment ...

With the arrival of the PT boats Erik had a couple of strikes take off for them. This will be a dilemma for him. Either he has to deal with the CAP at Moppo or lower the range of the strikes to stay outside Moppo. Either one is a win for me. I have 100 P47N and 100 Spit VIIs flying CAP. As an added bonus the Moppo CAP is taking out about 20 Search planes per day right now. This makes Eriks ASW and Naval search really hard for him. He will either has to eat the losses or reduce their range. Good news! [:)]

I have 200 P47Ns held as a reserve at Apparri. They are earmarked to rotate in and out of Moppo.

------------------------
China
------------------------
Canton is secured in the first attempt! [&o]

Ground combat at Canton (77,59)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 103803 troops, 1671 guns, 1530 vehicles, Assault Value = 3412

Defending force 14603 troops, 178 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 392

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 5

Allied adjusted assault: 7126 [&o][&o][&o]

Japanese adjusted defense: 401

Allied assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 5)

Allied forces CAPTURE Canton !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
6739 casualties reported
Squads: 107 destroyed, 181 disabled
Non Combat: 243 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 38 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 87 (66 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 6

Allied ground losses:
754 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 92 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 31 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)

BFs left Haiphong aboard Amphibs. We move straight for HK with the troops.

Outside Kanhsien we get another good bombardment in on his superstack. A big portion shifted hex this turn. A shame I didn´t order a deliberate attack!

Ground combat at 81,58 (near Kanhsien)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 83261 troops, 1747 guns, 1491 vehicles, Assault Value = 3108

Defending force 34003 troops, 161 guns, 419 vehicles, Assault Value = 733

Japanese ground losses:
416 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

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

So the superstack will be in the clear hex tomorrow. All the 4Es will strike at 6000ft. Erik has a lot of AA in that stack but I hope to combat and movement has used up most of the supply. If not I´ll lose some planes tomorrow!

------------------------
Air War
------------------------
With the arrival of the P47Ns and its 100 planes per month my pools are quickly recovering. Upgrading my best P47D25 squadrons to P47Ns I now have a good pool of 400 P47D25s. P51D pools is also up to 400. P38 pools are hovering around 700. I have moved some of the P39/P40 squadrons forward from OZ to Manila and upgraded them to P38s to use for escort.

All in all I have 1500 Fighters sitting at Luzon awaiting orders. Most of them are 3rd Gen fighters! I even have the first 2 Spit F XIV squadrons in place. They will move to Moppo as soon as they are ready.

Time to start applying some pressure again.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Aircraft pools[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

USAAF fighter pools are better then ever. This is largely because I´ve let the Navy Corsairs and the British do most of the work. Navy pools arn´t that good but I just upgraded 300 Hellcats to Corsairs. The P47N has also meant a dramatic drop in A2A losses. [:)]

But I think the largest reason for recovering pools is a change of tactics. I only Sweep the peripheries of Eriks CAP and try to only hit lower altitude LRCAP. Its the only way for me to fight the Japanese Air Force at this stage. Perhaps when the P51H comes online in September I may finally have the means to try and break the Japanese Air Force.

British and OZ pools are great. No idea why they get so many planes for so few squadrons.

4E pools are...as usual. [:(]

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]19th May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

A little bit of this and that.

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Korea
------------------------
My armor are attacked by the entire IJAAF! [X(]

Morning Air attack on 710th Tank Battalion, at 101,54 , near Moppo

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M2 Betty x 14
P1Y2 Frances x 60
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 82
Ki-100-I Tony x 36

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 56 (3 destroyed, 53 disabled)

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Morning Air attack on 762nd Tank Battalion, at 101,54 , near Moppo

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
P1Y2 Frances x 114
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 1
Ki-84a Frank x 29
Ki-100-I Tony x 74

Japanese aircraft losses
P1Y2 Frances: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 95 (2 destroyed, 93 disabled)

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Morning Air attack on 192nd Tank Battalion, at 101,54 , near Moppo

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 36
Ki-67-Ib Peggy x 11
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy x 109
Ki-84a Frank x 10
Ki-100-I Tony x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy: 5 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 114 (14 destroyed, 100 disabled)

...and about 5 more strikes

Obviously I´m a bit worried when I open the turn...only to find 7 disabled scout cars and about 80 disabled motorized support! [:D] Disruption is between 22 and 0. Most under 10. Quite adorable! [:D]

I considered providing LRCAP for tomorrow but I doubt I will receive any damage at all in the wooded terrain. Better to let Erik burn supply.

My own 4Es hit Erik troops but only 2 HQ units remain. I will try an attack tomorrow at Masan. Erik has 100.000 troops in place but 25k of those are the wrecked Moppo defenders. Erik also railed in about 50k troops on the 18th. Its quite possible I can catch them in "strat mode" tomorrow. If I fail I will simply wait for the cavalry in 3-4 days. I doubt x2 terrain will be enough for him. The difference between x2 and x3 are substantial.

If the 50k troops Erik railed in are still in strat mode I have a really good chance. If not it will be tough. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!

Supply: 112k?! I can´t airlift in that much can I? (4k + for the day) [X(]

Another 15 Search and Recon planes are shot down. [:)]


------------------------
China
------------------------
I think Erik made a big mistake here. I might have a chance to cut off his superstack! See map for details. The 4Es hit his troops in the clear hex but heavy rain prevent much of the damage. Around 1500 casualties are inflicted during the day.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]20th May -45[/font]
______________________________________________________________________________

A little bit of this and that again.

------------------------
Korea
------------------------
Erik managed to assemble another superstack in Masan. My recon must have been off!

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Ground combat at Masan (102,54)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13143 troops, 64 guns, 2066 vehicles, Assault Value = 1450

Defending force 108190 troops, 1165 guns, 209 vehicles, Assault Value = 3782

Allied adjusted assault: 214

Japanese adjusted defense: 3713

Allied assault odds: 1 to 17 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1585 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 115 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 47 (16 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 370 (27 destroyed, 343 disabled)

Assaulting units:
706th Tank Battalion
640th Tank Destroyer Battalion
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
194th Tank Battalion
CenPac Amphib Tank Brigade
767th Tank Battalion
4th USMC Tank Battalion
716th Tank Battalion
671th Tank Destroyer Battalion
1st USMC Tank Battalion
192nd Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
710th Tank Battalion
670th Tank Destroyer Battalion
711th Tank Battalion
713th Flame Tank Battalion
762nd Tank Battalion
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn

Defending units:
120th Division
14th Division
57th Division
19th Division
160th Division
140th Infantry Regiment
150th Division
112th Division
30th Infantry Regiment
123rd Division
11th Division
77th Infantry Regiment
96th Division
111th Division
Yosu Fortress
121st Division
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
26th Field Artillery Regiment
29th RF Gun Battalion
76th JAAF AF Bn

No supply modifier this time. Drat. This means the chance for a quick conquest of Korea is out the window. It also means Erik has decided to fight down here. I was contemplating loading the assault on Kaishu but thought better of it. The Amphibs are already loaded with all the fragments and Engineers. Would cost me at least 3 days to swap them. Patience...I have LOTS of arty with the infantry coming up and supply doesn´t seem to be an issue as I seem to be able to fly in more then what I need. Another 50.000 troops are coming up from Fusan. Looks like Erik will pile on all he has here. This hasn´t worked since Burma and it won´t work now either. I´ll do some bombardments here for a while and then feint the armor North toward Gunzan. This should draw Eriks reserves (if he has any) towards Gunzan and I´ll follow that up with the planned landing at Kaishu. Not very elegant but it will work. [:)]

My armor is fine. Only a couple of light tanks and scout cars disabled. The rest is Motorized support. [:)]

Supply is down -2k (from the attack probably). Moppo passes level 7 and ends up at 7.21. Should be level 8 in two more days.

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China
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Weather is better today and my bombers cause havoc on Eriks superstack in the open.

Morning Air attack on 69th Division, at 81,57 (Kanhsien)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
Liberator B.VI x 9
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-17F Fortress x 12
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 3
B-24J Liberator x 86
B-25G Mitchell x 10
PBJ-1D Mitchell x 12

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator B.VI: 1 damaged
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 30 damaged
B-25G Mitchell: 3 damaged
PBJ-1D Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
1371 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 279 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 102 (14 destroyed, 88 disabled)
Vehicles lost 32 (6 destroyed, 26 disabed

I think Erik suffered some 3000-3500 casualties during the day. Not sure how combat effective his stack will be after this. If I can keep them in that hex for 2 more days I might be able to completely neutralize it. The stack is still moving NW. What the heck is he doing?! [X(]

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Strat bombing
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As I have used the 4Es to strike at Korea nothing has flown against the HI in the last couple of days. This can´t be helped for now. I´ve taken the opportunity to do an extensive recon campaign of the HI to map where Eriks factories are. I´m primarily looking for NF factories right now.