Greyjoy(J) vs. Obvert(A) - The air war in China- DBB, SLs, PDU OFF

[GreyJoy]

Feb 15- 22, 1944

Another week has passed.
Here's a summary:

India: we took Tricomale without problems. every single unit in Ceylon seems to be massing at Colombo. I chose Trico because of its road system: you can be in Colombo pretty fast from there! and didn't want to land in front of 40,000 allied entrenched men!
Anyway, now the 25th army is reaching Colombo. The allied air force tried to resist, but 90 Zeros did the job and in a single day downed 52 enemy fighters (losing 19)[8D]
In the meanwhile, we also took Madras (another abbandoned city).
we're expanding...but not a single sip of fuel has been found so far.. not even a single supply point... that's a problem guys... The Whole indian adventure is pointless if i can't bag any resources (expending them on the contrary!!!)
Chittagong fell and Imphal too. Now getting close to Ledo.
Enemy's B17s are burning the indian cities... but without fuel i cannot really use those industries, so let the burn[:o]


DEI: 3 IDs are closing on batavia. Should start the attack soon hopefully.

CHINA: nothing new

PI: the 26th ID took Cebu and now will end the resistance at Mindanao.

NOPAC: the first troops are being sent to the Kuriles, along with some base forces...

Northern OZ: getting ready to move to Darwin in the next 2 weeks

[GreyJoy]

KB reached Singapore safely, but also the Yorktown got to PH without a scratch... my subs didn't do the magic again

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Colombo holds a fair amount of fuel at start. You should get a good amount there.

When I played against NJP I moved the fuel to the mainland so when he took Ceylon he got about 6K ;]

He managed to empty all the fuel/supplies stocks even from mainland...[:@]

[rook749]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy
He managed to empty all the fuel/supplies stocks even from mainland...[:@]

At this point this is becoming the standard allied moved in India and Ceylon. As an allied player why should I leave a single resource, fuel or oil point for the Japanese? I want you to pay the cost in supplies/fuel to operate in my country and not fund your invasion.[;)]

[ny59giants]

If Erik is emptying the big industry bases, then the AI will pull out everything to another base, except for 1000 times bases' port size, I think.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

If Erik is emptying the big industry bases, then the AI will pull out everything to another base, except for 1000 times bases' port size, I think.

I've done the same against Mr.Kane but when he conquered everything up to Bombay, he told me his adventure in India gained him 1,5 millions of supplies and 500K fuel!!!
Oh well, i guess i can't do much more than what i'm doing here[:)]

[CaptBeefheart]

Regarding Tricomalee, like I said, you must have excellent reasons. [:)] If it's more or less empty, then it's a great landing spot.

Cheers,
CC

[Wuffer]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

If Erik is emptying the big industry bases, then the AI will pull out everything to another base, except for 1000 times bases' port size, I think.

I've done the same against Mr.Kane but when he conquered everything up to Bombay, he told me his adventure in India gained him 1,5 millions of supplies and 500K fuel!!!
Oh well, i guess i can't do much more than what i'm doing here[:)]

all men must die


a true Machiavellian charakter would poor Obvert tell the same... *evil grining*

back in the shadows, just wanted to thank for this entertaining match

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Wuffer

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

If Erik is emptying the big industry bases, then the AI will pull out everything to another base, except for 1000 times bases' port size, I think.

I've done the same against Mr.Kane but when he conquered everything up to Bombay, he told me his adventure in India gained him 1,5 millions of supplies and 500K fuel!!!
Oh well, i guess i can't do much more than what i'm doing here[:)]

all men must die


a true Machiavellian charakter would poor Obvert tell the same... *evil grining*

back in the shadows, just wanted to thank for this entertaining match

Valar Morghulis my friend. Valar Morghulis...

[GreyJoy]

Feb 23, 1942

The 4Es come again for Hyderabad (another city recently conquered...empty. No troops, no fuel, no supplies). Fires are burning everywhere and the city is in ruins.

From Madras my IDs are now moving to Bangalore (more or less empty). In Central India, the 15th army is advancing towards Gownpore, while the 21st Army (recently arrived) is moving towards Ledo.

A pesky sub sinks a modern DD at Tricomale [:@], while the 26th ID is reaching Malalabay in Mindanao (the last enemy resistance in the isle).

Bombings in Luzon continue. The enemy fighters have not come back after the indian invasion.

In China everything is quiet... which is bad for me, I know.

Convoys are now running smoothly from Sumatra and Borneo to Singapore. More convoys are moving from Rangoon.

Singapore HI has been expanded to 70, while repair yard to 60. If I can't use indian HI (am not repairing Calcutta), I better start expanding a bit the ones I already have and that can be considered more or less safe

[GreyJoy]

One more month of amphib bonus...

What we wanna do?

Here's the general idea:
16th Army, once Batavia is conquered, will move to Northern Oz.
The 16th Army is composed by:
- Imperial Guards Division
- 56th Division
- 4th Division
- 26th Division
- 6 SNLF Units
- 3 Tank Rgts

Always attached to the 16th Army are 2 Mixed Bdes and one Mix Rgt. These guys will conquer Balikapan and the rest of Borneo


What to do in India with the amphib bonus?
Bombay has 56K troops... tempting... but the experience with the destruction of Calcutta is pretty scaring...
I think i'll stick with my original plan: i'll go for Diego, Attu and Male in order to cover, along with Ceylon, the whole NW flank.

In the while garrisons are sent to the pacific outposts. Ponape, Kusiae, Wake etc. I have 400 AVs fully prepped for SUVA, but I don't think I can get there anymore. I'd need the full KB in support and I confess that I am a bit unbalanced with my assets at the moment (a lot is still in India or Singa)... I won't change their preparation however... who knows...[:)]

[GreyJoy]

With the third month of the war going to end soon, it's time to make a review of the economic situation of Japan.

The overall supplies have dropped from 5,200,00 to 3,800,00... quite a lot!
The fuel stocks have dropped from 6,600,00 to 5,900,00
Oil from 4,900,000 to 4,400,00

Finally we managed to fix the demand for resources of Honshu. Hokkaido has been emptied of its stocks of res and oil and the situation is now normalized.

Fuel and oil are flowing fine from Sumatra to Singapore.

In India only the LI is working...not a single sip of fuel is left there, a part from the little we've sent from Rangoon in order to keep the fleet moving... that's not a good sign for my indian plans...

Hopefully, once Java and Borneo are conquered, things should be easier for what concerns fuel and oil. I'll be doing the "old" way, creating some mega-convoys with AVs and CVEs as escort from Singapore to Formosa and from there to Japan.

The air industry is proceeding as planned. We are still short of a lot of engines (especially Ha-31 and Ha-33) but we're slowly building up the production.

The RnD environment is, I think, as good as it could be in a PDU OFF scenario. We are looking forward to get the KI-43 IIa in July 42 probably and the A6M3 in May. In the meanwhile we are producing 130 A6M2s and 100 KI-43 Ics. Not nearly enough but Obvert isn't contesting the air really much, so losses are quite light for the moment.

[ny59giants]

Did you capture the HI north of Calcutta intact?? Could you ship in some fuel from Rangoon to Calcutta rather than have all that spoilage getting it from Magwe without any road or rail network in place??

Outside of India, how much Oil do you still need to repair??

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Did you capture the HI north of Calcutta intact?? Could you ship in some fuel from Rangoon to Calcutta rather than have all that spoilage getting it from Magwe without any road or rail network in place??

Outside of India, how much Oil do you still need to repair??

More or less intact, but his 4Es are already working to destroy it. The question is: is it really worth to invest resources to defend those industries there? I could surely move some fuel from Rangoon...but wouldn't that fuel be more useful if brought back to Japan?
To be honest, I had hoped to conquer something at Calcutta and simply defend that big industrial basin. With many small industries around the country it becomes really impossible to defend them all (AA, base forces, fighters ect).
My attack against India was more "grab all" oriented rather than "use their HI" oriented. The fact that I have found a completely destroyed Calcutta and not a single sip of fuel or supply in the whole subcontinent kinda screwed my plans[:D]

[GreyJoy]

Just checked. At Diamond H. there are 30K fuel (brought by Singapore along with the invasion), enough to run a bit the small HIs conquered intact in India. I'll load some more transports from Rangoon with fuel, but I don't really know how much it is worth.

Would be very very important to conquer Ledo intact...but with all the troops massing there, I guess it won't be the case

However the 21st Army will do its best there

The 6th Guards ID is moving to India as we speak. The 5th Guards ID is not yet formed, even if its 3 regiments are already marching towards Ledo. We're waiting for the arrival of the tank regiment of that division in a couple of weeks in Thailand

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

Just checked. At Diamond H. there are 30K fuel (brought by Singapore along with the invasion), enough to run a bit the small HIs conquered intact in India. I'll load some more transports from Rangoon with fuel, but I don't really know how much it is worth.

Would be very very important to conquer Ledo intact...but with all the troops massing there, I guess it won't be the case

However the 21st Army will do its best there

The 6th Guards ID is moving to India as we speak. The 5th Guards ID is not yet formed, even if its 3 regiments are already marching towards Ledo. We're waiting for the arrival of the tank regiment of that division in a couple of weeks in Thailand

I think it's worth it to run the industry in India for as long as you can, at least with the Fuel from Burma. It's a much shorter trip than to your other HI, except maybe to Java (which isn't shorter, just safer, and it has a Fuel surplus anyway).

[GreyJoy]

Feb 24-25, 1942

The advance in India continues. The bombings of the USAAF too.
Fuel is being loaded at Rangoon: destination Calcutta (thanks for the tips guys).

The first attack at Colombo goes so and so. Reinforcements are on the way. Should fall pretty easily soon anyway.

Ground combat at Colombo (29,48)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29221 troops, 331 guns, 123 vehicles, Assault Value = 909

Defending force 30663 troops, 247 guns, 365 vehicles, Assault Value = 410

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 580

Allied adjusted defense: 424

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2364 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 192 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled

Allied ground losses:
295 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 17 (1 destroyed, 16 disabled)
Vehicles lost 35 (1 destroyed, 34 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Division
18th Division
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
25th Army
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
2nd Royal Tank Regiment
100th Indian Brigade
Colombo Fortress
99th Indian Brigade
98th Indian Brigade
222 Group RAF
1/3 Ceylon Base Force
21st Light AA Regiment
222 RAF Base Force
Eastern Fleet
1/1 Ceylon Base Force
2nd Ceylon H AA Regiment
1st RM Heavy AA Regiment
22nd Light AA Regiment

Tomorrow we'll attack Batavia.

Today Malalabay fell[&o]

round combat at Malaybalay (80,90)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21878 troops, 222 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 692

Defending force 9440 troops, 41 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 280

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 284

Allied adjusted defense: 142

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Malaybalay !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
901 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
11044 casualties reported
Squads: 546 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 450 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 59 (59 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 4

Assaulting units:
8th Tank Regiment
Kure 2nd SNLF
26th Division
5th Amphibious Brigade
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
3rd PA Constabulary Regiment
102nd PA Infantry Regiment
102nd PA Infantry Division
III Philippine Corps

Mindanao is now completely liberated[8D]

Plans for Northern Oz are on the way.



Here's a list of the base conquered in the last 8 days... we're still moving fast!

[GreyJoy]

In Burma, at Mitikyna, our troops are now facing a stiff resistance. 10,000 men are defending the base, while more 20,000 are at Lashio and 15,000 at Ledo. I think we'll need to divert some consistent assets in order to overcome these tommies. But they are out of hope, anyway.

[GreyJoy]

Feb 26, 1942

Another step towards victory in Java:
The enemy resistance in the South of the Island finally is over.

round combat at Banjoewangi (57,107)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10175 troops, 89 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 260

Defending force 7884 troops, 35 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 114

Japanese adjusted assault: 151

Allied adjusted defense: 30

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Banjoewangi !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
239 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
10406 casualties reported
Squads: 233 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 580 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 40 (40 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 13

Assaulting units:
21st Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF

Defending units:
3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
6th KNIL Regiment
2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Prajoda Garrison Bn /1
2/12th Avn Sup Afd
2/2nd Avn Sup Afd
1/12th Avn Sup Afd
224 Group RAF
1/2nd Avn Sup Afd
NI-MLD
Soerabaja KM Base Force
2/9th Avn Sup Afd
106th RN Base Force

At Batavia we obtained a 3-1. Good. The city is doomed.

round combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41874 troops, 390 guns, 137 vehicles, Assault Value = 1330

Defending force 20041 troops, 176 guns, 78 vehicles, Assault Value = 407

Japanese adjusted assault: 1392

Allied adjusted defense: 431

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1171 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 123 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Guns lost 15 (7 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
710 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards Division
4th Division
56th Division
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
16th Army
5th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
1st Regt Cavalerie
1st KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
1st KNIL Landstorm Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
West Borneo KNIL Bn /1
ABDA
KNI Leger
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Batavia KM Base Force
KNI Zeemacht
Batavia Defenses
ML-KNIL
Teloekbetoeng Base Force
6th Avn Sup Afd





In India, we managed to ambush the Flying fortresses... mixed results. 8 or 9 B17Es destroyed but we lost 6 fighters in the process and two pilots...ouch!

Morning Air attack on Benares , at 51,27

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 63
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 24

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 16 damaged

Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
3rd Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (8 airborne, 24 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
13th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (8 airborne, 23 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
260th Sentai with Ki-43-Ib Oscar (6 airborne, 18 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes

Nakakariya, K. in a A6M2 Zero makes head on attack ... forces B-17E Fortress out of formation


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Benares , at 51,27

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 19

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
3rd Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (14 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 57 minutes
260th Sentai with Ki-43-Ib Oscar (1 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
10 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
13th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (7 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 71 minutes

However we're estabilishing a strong foothold in Central India. More zeros are on the way and AAs too!

[GreyJoy]

...hopefully, in a couple of months, we should be able to get the first KI-45a...the real bomber killer!
I have 4 Sentais that should be able to upgrade to the Nicks... will use them ASAP in India