The Hive - Cruft PBEM (Japan, Scen 2 Beta + Stacking Limits)

[Captain Cruft]

I am slightly paranoid now that we are actually in the decisive phase.

obv what do you reckon to the casualties at Hong Kong last turn? I was very pleased.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

I am slightly paranoid now that we are actually in the decisive phase.

obv what do you reckon to the casualties at Hong Kong last turn? I was very pleased.

Actually glad you point me there, I missed that post. Wow. Looks like you may have him stymied there for a good while. If he hasn't been bombing and bombarding your troops to get disruption up this wil be the result for a few more attacks I'd think. Nicely done!

I can imagine it's getting tense seeing how the plan will actually work when challenged. So far so good though. [;)]

[JocMeister]

The bulk of his losses are most likely among the hordes of Chinese. Not to mention the smaller BDEs. If I were him I would have left the BDEs out of it as they always take tremendous losses in big battles.

So it might look worse then it is. The troops that will decide the battle are the Indian/Brit/OZ/US divisions and the armor. If you are unlucky they will be quite intact! I guess you will know in a week or two depending on an attack or not! [:)]

The destroyed engineers will have hurt him though!

[Captain Cruft]

The stack contains 3 Chinese corps, all the rest is Commonwealth.

I am sending some small but high quality naval reinforcements to Hong Kong in order to delay the agony longer.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

The stack contains 3 Chinese corps, all the rest is Commonwealth.

I am sending some small but high quality naval reinforcements to Hong Kong in order to delay the agony longer.

The Chinese don't do well against forts. In mine 18k AV against 2k AV still didn't get a positive modifier against +2 territory and 6 forts.

[Sangeli]

My thoughts on the Battle of Hong Kong is that the small Commonwealth units took a real beating in addition to Chinese units. However, I'd wager that most of the destroyed squads are probably Chinese and not Commonwealth because most likely the Chinese started with a higher percentage of disabled squads going into the battle. But if the Commonwealth units went into the battle already beaten up then the destroyed squads may be worse for them.

However, sending reinforcements right now to Hong Kong is probably not the way to go. You have enough there already to really make him bleed and in my opinion, enough to make him bypass it. Unless he decides to take out Taiwan you should be able to get reinforcements and supply there without too much trouble so there really isn't an urgency to get units there right now. And I just have a feeling after this he's going to step back and continue his advance east rather than trying to take out Hong Kong any time soon.

[Captain Cruft]

No he needs Hong Kong and its 50,000 ton Repair Shipyard. Otherwise damaged CVs and BBs have to go back to Singapore for repair. In addition he has not bypassed anywhere so far. Every base gets hoovered up, even the empty and worthless ones.

Hong Kong is also worth a shedload of VPs.

[Captain Cruft]

28 July 1944

Liuchow is still his forward airbase in China. I have been trying to bomb it at night with Nells from Formosa, and this turn they finally took off. Quite good results IMO.

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Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 112 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 11

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 11 damaged
P-40N Warhawk: 3 damaged
P-40N Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 10 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 8

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25H Mitchell: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 6

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 13 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 4 damaged

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

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Liuchow , at 74,55

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 8

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

[Captain Cruft]

It would also seem that he may not in be fact pushing to the east. A westward arrow has sprouted from his troops at Kanhsien.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
Every base gets hoovered up, even the empty and worthless ones.

Interesting. I guess every player is different. I guess you did say your opponent was a cautious one.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

28 July 1944

Liuchow is still his forward airbase in China. I have been trying to bomb it at night with Nells from Formosa, and this turn they finally took off. Quite good results IMO.

I would agree ... those would be good results for me as well.

[PaxMondo]

Not sure of your HR's, but with the fall of HK imminent, I would start thinking about retracting your perimeter. HK->Tokyo is 37 hexes ... to Osaka 33 ... Once he has HK, its better than owning the Marianas for the allies as it can be a AF9 for his 4E's. As the allies, I wouldn't even care about the Marianas any more ... I've essentially bypassed them for a better base ... Formosa would be my next target if I were the allies ... Just me though ... no idea how your opponent will see things.

[Captain Cruft]

I'm not sure that the fall of HK is imminent. Besides which he already has Canton.

That said, I am withdrawing from the more remote areas in China and Manchuria, but not in the Pacific.

[Captain Cruft]

30 July 1944

Target Rabaul.

I managed to sneak the full 10 CV, 25 ship KB to within 6 hexes of Rabaul, where they pulled off a perfectly co-ordinated port/airfield attack. However the results were quite disappointing. I lost 170 planes, and possibly because of the Severe Storms weather did not annihilate the shipping at the port in quite the way I had wanted.

Still, no harm done. The carriers will head for home un-touched and I have plenty of planes and pilots to re-build the airgroups.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 142 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 194
B6N1 Jill x 88
B6N2 Jill x 93
D3A2 Val x 77
D4Y1 Judy x 134
D4Y2 Judy x 84

Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 24
P-39D Airacobra x 19
P-400 Airacobra x 24
P-40K Warhawk x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 8 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 6 destroyed
D3A2 Val: 3 destroyed, 6 damaged
D3A2 Val: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y1 Judy: 9 destroyed, 10 damaged
D4Y1 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
D4Y2 Judy: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 4 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 7 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 2 destroyed on ground
P-40K Warhawk: 3 destroyed
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
xAK Salamaua, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Mormacstar, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Anson Burlingame, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Adhara, Bomb hits 1, on fire
ACM Bastion, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AVP Avocet, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Regulus, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
AS Fulton, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Manulani, Bomb hits 1
xAK Mana, Bomb hits 1
xAK San Gabriel, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Cassiopeia, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Mintaka, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK San Lucas, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Lyman Beecher, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Bintang, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AG Arctic, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Lyra, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AD Dobbin, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAP William S. Colley, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK San Bernadino, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
AK Naos, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP President Coolidge, Bomb hits 1

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

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 24
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
11 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
15 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
15 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
16 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
11 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
11 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
14 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
15 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
10 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
9 x B6N2 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
10 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
18 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x B6N1 Jill bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
15 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
10 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
11 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
11 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
7 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
5 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
1 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
1 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
12 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
4 x D4Y2 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D4Y1 Judy releasing from 1000'
Port Attack: 1 x 500 kg GP Bomb
8 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire VIII (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 10 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
49th FG/8th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 16 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 7000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 26000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 10 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
8th FG/36th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 10 scrambling)
14 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes

[Cribtop]

Well done. Weather can mess up the best laid plans, unfortunately. Still, deep strikes and surprises often have a strong impact on conservative players, so perhaps this will cause a misallocation of resources by the Allies.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

Well done. Weather can mess up the best laid plans, unfortunately. Still, deep strikes and surprises often have a strong impact on conservative players, so perhaps this will cause a misallocation of resources by the Allies.

+1

Way to keep him reacting to you!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Cribtop

Well done. Weather can mess up the best laid plans, unfortunately. Still, deep strikes and surprises often have a strong impact on conservative players, so perhaps this will cause a misallocation of resources by the Allies.

+2 [:)]

[Captain Cruft]

31 July 1944

This was a very quiet turn. The KB has now fuelled from AOs at Truk and will head for pastures new.

[Captain Cruft]

I have been reinforcing some of the rearward Chinese cities. Here as an example is Nanking.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft
I lost 170 planes

Really? The strike you posted could not have had much more than 40 planes shot down. Where did the other 130 planes get lost?