Turnaround? Lowpe (J) vs Tiemanj (A) Stock

[ny59giants]

I have 5 divisions I can task for something, and I had been generally planning for a Ceylon offensive prior the unpleasantness in Burma -- now not so sure. A major push in Burma is possible or simply defensive posturing and preparation.

Since it is now '43, I would go with where they can protect your economic assets. Ceylon doesn't help at this point, IMO. Thinking along this line I would go with Burma and/or northern Australia to protect the vital oil in the SRA.

I pull out of active duty my APs that can convert to APAs in 3/43 as soon as they get to USA in early '42. Thus, in April the Allies will have some assault shipping to use and the Hellcats will start to become a nuisance.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Moving oil out of Manchuria and Korea will cause the AI to sense the need and pull it out of Urumchi. As far as I know, that is the only way to get it out of this base.

I hope so. I am pulling a very little out of Urumchi, it is near its max, but it is much better than nothing.

How?! Mine sits at max every turn

[Lowpe]

Jan 11, 1943

No night air attacks.[:)]

Burma: Allied bombers are back, hitting Rangoon's troops during the day. Lightning sweeps hit Moulmein where the Tojo's seemingly do well 3 losses to 2, but then on the loss page I am down a dozen. However, all is not bad cause 3 B24d buy the farm too attacking Magwe I believe...I may put the Tony squadron up into action at Moulmein to see how it fares.

Well, in Burma Allies are pushing forward. The British brigades, at least one, is moving to Rangoon across the river. Two Chinese units show up in the jungle to the far north of Shwebo. And the Chindits in Tuang Gyi are marching east into the jungle road (what is up with that?)

Allies bombard again at Rangoon and suffer 22 casualties. So Allies are definitely making a play for Rangoon and not a breakout.

Iboat finds and sinks, sinking sounds heard immediately after combat replay, two xaks near Akyab.

[Lowpe]

Fusan:

I counted, and I am up to 29 cargo ships pulling mostly resources out of Fusan, but 4 pull fuel out, and another cargo ship pulls 2k fuel out of adjacent Chinhae.

Below are the three that currently pull oil out. I started with one, waited awhile, added a second, and now it is up to 3. No clue why I set them to go to Hiroshima [&:]

I just got another 6 Yusen N at Fusan and have added two more single ship convoys pulling resources and oil from Fusan. I will monitor the oil pull, and keep adding more ships to transferring the black gold.

These three ships, have to be pulling the oil from Urumchi...however slowly.

The trend at Urumchi is still down, it is almost below the start point on the graph.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
I pull out of active duty my APs that can convert to APAs in 3/43 as soon as they get to USA in early '42. Thus, in April the Allies will have some assault shipping to use and the Hellcats will start to become a nuisance.

I haven't seen any APs since I sank a bunch near Makin...

You make sense about Ceylon, even if I would take it relatively painlessly, it would be hard to get the supplies out...and in truth I have more than enough action in Burma and Darwin and Port Moresby and the Marshalls -- not to mention the Kuriles.[:)]

Interestingly enough, Ramree is able to pull enough supply somehow to keep the soldiers in bullets there. Max draw is 500 and the 92 assault value there needs 242 supplies and the base is staying comfortably over 540 and seems to be heading towards 600.

I am so glad I took your advice early on and snared the base...

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Fusan:

I counted, and I am up to 29 cargo ships pulling mostly resources out of Fusan, but 4 pull fuel out, and another cargo ship pulls 2k fuel out of adjacent Chinhae.

Below are the three that currently pull oil out. I started with one, waited awhile, added a second, and now it is up to 3. No clue why I set them to go to Hiroshima [&:]

I just got another 6 Yusen N at Fusan and have added two more single ship convoys pulling resources and oil from Fusan. I will monitor the oil pull, and keep adding more ships to transferring the black gold.

These three ships, have to be pulling the oil from Urumchi...however slowly.

The trend at Urumchi is still down, it is almost below the start point on the graph.

Yeah, maybe this is my problem. I just figured that the Oil would flow to Lanchow, where there is a Refinery. Guess I was wrong. I probably need to create a positive demand for Oil in Fusan, which will draw from Manchuria and therefore from points farther away...

[Lowpe]

Pretty quiet everywhere else...

I cycled in and out fighters at Moulmein, and set their intercept level to 2 hexes to cover Rangoon at a whole bunch of altitudes all low. There are A6M5cs, Tonies, Tojo IIa, Nick KAIa. We will see how they fair.

Radar, btw, is working much better. I should be able to send some more fighter groups to Burma since Darwin is so quiet. Trying to focus the armored planes there...

Industry notes: Singers added across the board. I may need to continue shipping out of there, but I will give it some time.

One of the last big tankers still making a transit ate a torpedo from a Sub. No less than a heavily protected tonan whaler with a full load! [:(] Luckily the damage is minimal and nothing caught fire.[:)] I disbanded her in Iriomote and will shepherd back when the sub peril is reduced.

I seem to be hitting several subs pretty hard each day, and have 3 sunk since Jan 1, 1943, 2 of which were scuttled. Subs get put on the list and taken off very frequently but I feel pretty good about these three. Allies may change strategies and start using submarines as an advance scout for naval operations...I am not sure if that is good or bad.

I have dispatched 20 destroyers to raid Tarawa, home of the PT boat infestation, but also some shipping. 1-2 days to sneak into position and then they will be going in as 3 ship groups.

The Akyab bombardment force is one day out, and has a dozen fighters CAP. Probably not enough, but we will see what happens.

At Darwin, the pursuit forces are making 15 miles a day chasing the Australian 4th ID and other remnants. They are being heavily bombed, so maybe I can catch them before they make Broome. Bathurst will be invaded today...

[Lowpe]

Allied bomber losses so far. What do you think? Fairly heavy?

[String]

It should be rather easy to compare the losses against total production. At least for the british bombers the pools should be very low.

[Lowpe]

Jan 11, 1943

No night raids again.

Marshalls: Allied air returns and Lightning sweep of Kwaj shoots down a dozen Zeroes (A6M2) for no losses. I had Nicks flying out of Roi helping with CAP, but they didn't bleed over, only the Zeroes did. I take that back, there was one Lightning op loss.

4E bombers attack Maloelap for 62 percent damage and lose a plane or two to flak. For the day I lose 23 allies only 7.

Relative quiet everywhere else. Bombers attack the Australian 4th ID near Broome, Port Moresby bombed, an American submarine gets 10 dc hits, and a sub south of Perth sinks an empty Australian xAP.

450 Assault value will be in Toungoo tomorrow, so hopefully they will knock the chindits there out into the jungle.

[Lowpe]

Burma:

Not spotted, and now in position a cruiser and destroyer task force should bombard Akyab air base tonight. I will send in two submarines too.

Allies keep sending more troops forward, reinforcing Rangoon. At Taung Gyi there are 20 aux planes in a level one airbase that is slightly damaged.

Depending upon fatigue, I may attack the Chindits in Toungoo tomorrow, probably bombard a day first since there is some ART there. The strong 45th Brigade is there now, with 252 AV.

Ramree staying in supply...must be using bicycles to get the supplies there and then rafts.[:D]

I still think the Allied advance here is a mistake, and very dangerous. His supply must be tenuous, and the more troops he pours forward the more tenuous it must become no matter what stockpile Rangoon had.

Once I take Toungoo back, I can railroad 3 divisions plus support up to Magwe and launch a slow attack due west to take the road. Meanwhile more troops will keep arriving from the south to put pressure on the Allied spearhead. Building fighter strength here to cover the troops while the march in the open.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: String

It should be rather easy to compare the losses against total production. At least for the british bombers the pools should be very low.

Production level only tells part of the story, there are also reinforcement groups.

B17D production is 55; B17E is 209; B17F is 48; B17G is 1694[X(]

B24D is 161; B24D1 is 338; B24J is 3902[X(]

Plus the battle losses are subject to inflated fog of war reports.[:)]

[Lowpe]

China:

Haven't shown a map here for a while, as always events move slowly. The Chinese have opened an escape route across the river in the north east (circled).

I have a 1/3 of a division there that has been bombarding them daily, plus they get hit with about 30 bombers each day, and the Chinese have been cut off for a long time.

Unfortunately, they have 450 assault value to my 150+. They are in nasty terrain.

Any ideas on how to stop these guys from escaping. Should I try a deliberate attack? How about a paratroop drop to the dot base hex they are marching to? I can move more bombers to the area too.

[Lowpe]

Economic: Interestingly enough, oil at Singers drops by 2000. Hmm., maybe it will ship out by railroad.[:)]

1st Tank Division is loading at Batavia and heading for Singers, from railroad north and then on foot thru the jungle until finally Burma. The first 3 divisions from Java have reached, or are very close to Moulmein. One division will beef up the defenses at Rangoon, the other two will be held in reserve at Moulmein for counter offensive I think.

I am pretty sure I will throw most reserve divisions to Burma and look to cut off the Allied offensive. Lets see how well my infantry does at Toungoo first...

Moulmein has 130 fighters, with another 100 fighters in reserve at Bangkok. Another 3 sentai on the way...plus more engineers are shipping out of Fusan today.

[Lowpe]

Jan 12, 1942

I-boat misses a large tanker off Karachi.[:(]

One of my small tankers, 2vp, blunders into a minefield I laid to catch Allied submarines. Great.[:-]

The destroyer sweep rushes in first at Akyab, gets a little engine damage to flank speed, but catches a nice transport fleet there.

[Lowpe]

The bombardment fleet gets cold feet and doesn't go in -- I hope they haven't exposed themselves to air attack...

Meanwhile, some Nicks sneak in and strafe at Tuang Gyi -- not a bad result but no planes caught.

The supply hits are nice since the Chindits are deep behind the lines.

I do so very few offensive air actions here...

[Lowpe]

Allies respond by bombing the troops at Toungoo, and that is about the day.

An I-boat spots a CL, 3DD British task force off Ceylon...

For the first time in a long time some Chinese Lancers fly they get one Helen at the cost of one Lancer.

2 DC-3 and 1 Skytrain are op losses. I wish I could catch them with fighters sometime.

At Broome/Derby IJA army forces will forcing the river crossing against the fleeing 4th ID. The Australians have been heavily bombed each day, but I am not sure I can catch them before they escape into Broome.

Burma:

Bombardment fleet not spotted. Akyab has 260 planes...

3 units at Tuang Gyi?[&:] 2 Units at Toungoo? What is up with that?

2nd ID is at Moulmein, and will go into SR. 4th ID might head up to Toungoo depending upon how tough the Chindits there are. Rangoon seems pretty safe, level 4 forts for the troops there...

Deliberate attack at Tuang Gyi against the elite Chindits plus whatever else he flew in. I will LRCAP my troops there heavily...my airbases are in pretty good shape in Burma currently with only Pegu down.

How in the world does he think he can hold onto Toungoo and Tuang Gyi?

[Lowpe]

I will break these destroyers down into small groups and make a run in. All these PT boats really hamper my abilities to shore bombard.

Risk vs reward: PT boats are 1 vp, and all it takes is for them to get lucky with one torpedo to take a destroyer down...but there are some other nice ships there this turn, too.

[Lowpe]

Lots of action for tomorrow:

1. Deliberate attack at Toungoo: 21st Independent and 4th Brigade will attack the Chindits. Artillery provided by the 8th Mountain Gun Rgt. 100 fighters flying LR CAP. Another 100 fighters flying CAP over Moulmein, Pegu and Rangoon while 24 Nicks fly LR CAP over Tuang Gyi. Lots of dogfights I will wager.

2. Destroyer raid on the swarms of small boats and other prizes at Tarawa. Submarines stationed to the east to catch any ships fleeing. A6M5c flying CAP out of Nauru. Japanese fighter strength centralized to Roi, all others have fallen back to support bases. Several PB's bringing forward supplies to the atolls in the Marshalls.

3. A slim chance for a shock attack on the 4th Australian and misc. units near Broome. They have been bombed heavily since the attack, and my infantry has been able to march while his are being knocked back to combat mode each day.

4. Naval bombardments of Broome; Akyab; and Darwin!

Should be fun![:D]

What will the Allies counter with: Massed sweeps of Toungoo or very heavy bombing of the jungle in an attempt to save the Chindits there? Night bombings of my air bases? A naval strike at Wake?

Everyday there is major radio intercepts in the North Pacific? Would he try something there in the winter. Picket subs are out...watching.

[Lowpe]

Mini subs are working the Marshalls

I have three task forces of mini subs in the Marshalls. They rotate into Mili, and then come out again once they are spotted. If they fire, they get disbanded back to pools.

So far I have had two attacks, one hit, and now the ship hit has shown up reported lost.[:)]

I looked at the torpedo these little guys carry and it is quite potent! I never noticed that before.

I am using Mini subs at Wake and also in the Kuriles. The Kuriles might not be the best choice right now, since 2 out of 3 of them have had mechanical issues and sunk -- I am guessing because of the winter weather?