Wrangling Loki - Mind_Messing (J) vs Lokasenna (A)

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

This is the second time in this game where the value of certain hexes hasn't been aparent until it's too late. First was New Ireland as a move to outflank Rabual. Now it's Cocos as a threat against Palembang.

Lesson learned.

In our game right now there's a donnybrook going on over Pt. Blair. I'm down about 700 VPs, 3-4 cruisers (lost track) an APA and a CVE and a lot of good transports. But two big IDs ashore that dropped Forts 5 by one on the first attack. He lost Mogami.

But in the same way Pt. Blair isn't about Pt. Blair. It's about Rangoon. I know that and he knows that. He has an ID-plus at Blair behind the forts. He has, I think, five carriers of various sizes in the slot, to my 2.5. But it's a pivotal battle for Burma.

That reminded me that I had to swap out a brigade at Pt Blair for a better one, thanks!

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

In the meantime you need multiple, prime CAP units at Pbang and they'll need to stay there . . . forever. That's the real power of Cocos. Not what it can do, but what it makes you do.

+1; good luck on trying to keep it suppressed.[:(]

It can be an Island deathtrap for Allied planes potentially. On the positive side.

Hopefully. The fact that there's not an airbase on the island yet gives me some hope. If I can suppress it before he can get it to level 2, I think I may escape the hangman's noose yet.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

In the meantime you need multiple, prime CAP units at Pbang and they'll need to stay there . . . forever. That's the real power of Cocos. Not what it can do, but what it makes you do.

+1; good luck on trying to keep it suppressed.[:(]

It can be an Island deathtrap for Allied planes potentially. On the positive side.

Alfred said long ago something I never forgot, but don't or can't always do. Paraphrasing: "If you want to hold an island you must have air superiority AND sea superiority. Neither is sufficient alone."

Way too often in AARs we see players try to defend islands only with air power. Can't work. To defend a key island you must be prepared to lose ships as well. That's the problem I have. I don't care a whit for airplanes, but my ships are like children. [:'(]

I have the same problem. Playing Japan, it's probably an advantage, at least in the early game. The real issue is that by '44, the Allies have such a quantitative edge that you need to send a big hammer at the Allied fleet to be sure of breaking through the multiple task forces that every invasion is going to have escorting it. The qualitative edge means that your ships will likely get sunk, so you need to sink something worthwhile.

[mind_messing]

March 12th to March 13th, 1944

The war is heating up!

North Pacific

Port raid on Shemya meets night fighters, 7 Betty lost for nothing in return.

Central Pacific

The Allies continue to off-load troops at Kusaie on the 12th, and are finished by the 13th. The coastal guns got some good hits in, and perhaps sunk an AP.

On the ground, the first Allied attack at Kusaie doesn't bode well for the defenders:

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14801 troops, 223 guns, 723 vehicles, Assault Value = 641

Defending force 18989 troops, 323 guns, 94 vehicles, Assault Value = 427

Allied adjusted assault: 494

Japanese adjusted defense: 681

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
612 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 80 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 29 (3 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
325 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 24 (1 destroyed, 23 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)

Assaulting units:
6th Infantry Division
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
XIV US Corps
1881th Engineer Aviation Battalion

Defending units:
44th Naval Guard Unit
Combined 8th SNLF
Kure 3rd SNLF
1st Amphibious Brigade
62nd Naval Guard Unit
30th JAAF AF Bn
55th Field AA Battalion
66th JNAF AF Unit
16th JNAF AF Unit
65th Field AA Battalion
8th JAAF Base Force
66th Field AA Battalion
144th JAAF AF Bn

Elsewhere in the Marshalls, the Allies put troops ashore at Ailinglaplap, a dot hex base, and narrowly manage to scrape a 2:1 -

Ground combat at Ailinglaplap (133,117)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1967 troops, 48 guns, 45 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Defending force 1456 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 49

Allied adjusted assault: 9

Japanese adjusted defense: 4

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Ailinglaplap !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
324 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (9 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st USA Defense Battalion
5th USA Defense Battalion
7th USA Defense Battalion

Defending units:
89th Naval Guard Unit

As my troops are not destroyed, I'll fly the paratroopers in to see if they can't provide the edge needed to dislodge the Americans.

The best news of all comes from Maloelap, where the 5th Marine Regiment is wiped out:

Ground combat at Maloelap (136,117)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3805 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 118

Defending force 2380 troops, 92 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 28

Japanese adjusted assault: 68

Allied adjusted defense: 16

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1225 casualties reported
Squads: 140 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 158 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 63 (63 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 39 (39 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
Maloelap Naval Fortress
41st Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 4th SNLF
1st Raiding Rgt /1
25th Air Flotilla
Maloelap Base Force

Defending units:
5th Marine Regiment

This is a nice little bonus, even if it's hardly a drop in the ocean at this point.

SWPAC

March 12th finds the Allied fast battleship force that I missed last turn is still sticking around off Hollandia. Kate's are sent this time, instead of Lily dive bombers, and they do good work!

Morning Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 96,116

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 27
N1K2-J George x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 13 damaged
B5N1 Kate: 8 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BB Maryland, Torpedo hits 2
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1
BB California, Torpedo hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 96,116

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 8
N1K2-J George x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

To top it all off, on the 13th, Betty's find and torpedo one of the light cruisers that had been escorting the battleships:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Aitape at 97,116

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 5
Ki-100-I Tony x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CL Gambia, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Pringle

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

However, we pay a heavy price on the 13th, as Allied 4E's make a massed daylight attack on Hollandia, closing down that base with 30 aircraft destroyed on the ground. I've pulled back to Biak and Sarmi until Hollandia is operational again.

Tracker is showing the three battleships as well as the Gambia as sunk. Considering I've not spotted any cripples running for Rabual, this may well be true. If it is - Banzai! If not, it's three battleships that are down and out for repairs for six months.

DEI

As is the recent trend, the DEI is the focus of the action on the 12th and 13th.

Thunderbolts sweep Latuem on the 12th, and Japanese search spots Allied amphibious ships moving from Darwin towards Saumlaki. By luck, a significant portion of the Japanese Navy is on hand to respond: two crusier forces and the fast battleships are loitering off Timor in preparation to bombard Latuem - all three forces are sent to intercept, as well as some PB ships on ASW duties.

The 13th of March opens with a crusier engagement that goes poorly for the IJN:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Lautem at 72,115, Range 24,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 12, on fire
CA Kako, Shell hits 7
CL Naka, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage Sunk later in the day
DD Makigumo, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
DD Makinami, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Suzunami
DD Fujinami, Shell hits 3
DD Hayanami, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Kiyonami, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Wichita, Shell hits 3
CL Richmond
CL Cleveland, Shell hits 2
CL Columbia
CL Montpelier, Shell hits 5
DD Converse, Shell hits 2
DD Daly, Shell hits 2
DD Terry, Shell hits 1
DD Russell
DD Cassin, Shell hits 1, on fire

However, the PB ASW force is able to slip in among one of the transports task forces and causes chaos:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Saumlaki at 78,117, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Manyo Maru
PB Ronsan Maru
PB Yamabato Maru, Shell hits 5

Allied Ships
DD Peary
DMS Long, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Am. Manufacturer
xAP Cape Meares
xAP Abigail Adams, Shell hits 2
xAP Amos Kendall
xAP Andrew D. White, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAP Charles P. Steinmetz, Shell hits 1
xAP Jane Addams
xAP Jeremiah S. Black
xAP Clan Macnair
xAP Hadleigh
xAP Silksworth
LSI(L) Monowai

Not to be out-done by the surface ships, the IJNAF strikes, and makes it's contribution to disrupting the American reinforcement of Saumlaki:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 77,117

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 11
J2M2 Jack x 13
N1K2-J George x 12

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 1 destroyed
N1K2-J George: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Charles P. Steinmetz
xAP Andrew D. White, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Hadleigh

Allied ground losses:
940 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 122 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 63 (62 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 79,118

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 116 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 14
N1K2-J George x 10

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 95

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K2-J George: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Intrepid
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 35 on standby, 0 scrambling)
17 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 35000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
41 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 29 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 13000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
23 planes vectored on to bombers

Fuel storage explosion on CV Lexington

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 77,117

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 16 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 18
Ki-45 KAIc Nick x 11

Allied aircraft
P-38J Lightning x 13

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Abigail Adams, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Am. Manufacturer, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAP Amos Kendall
xAP Clan Macnair

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

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Saumlaki at 79,118

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M2 Betty x 21
J2M2 Jack x 8

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 85

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M2 Betty: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M2 Betty: 5 destroyed by flak
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires
CVL Monterey, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CVL Cowpens
CV Intrepid

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-35 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 4 scrambling)
40 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 33000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 97 minutes
35 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
23 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
28 planes vectored on to bombers

Ammo storage explosion on CVL Monterey
Ammo storage explosion on CVL Monterey
Ammo storage explosion on CV Lexington

Tracker reports the Lexington as sunk. I think the Monterey is a goner as well. If the Allies keep their remaining two carriers around tomorrow, they'll likely go down as well.

Japanese losses were moderate - 156 planes, 50 of which were planes destroyed on the ground at Hollandia. Actual losses to my torpedo planes were minimal, and I've rotated the fighter groups to maximize my strength.

All in all, a good day. The Mini-KB, loitering off Ambon in the hope of an 8 hex strike, is withdrawing westwards to Kendrai - it is no longer needed. I've flown in another hundred strike planes, and they'll be more than enough to force the Allies to withdraw or suffer heavy losses.

The two IJN cruiser forces and the fast battleships will make a run at Saumlaki to see what they can sink, before hightailing it back to the shelter of Timor.

The forced bombardment attack reveals that the Allies may have landed enough troops to end the stalemate on Saumlaki.

Ground combat at Saumlaki (78,117)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13304 troops, 117 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 592

Defending force 24219 troops, 405 guns, 259 vehicles, Assault Value = 967

Japanese ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
90th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
5th Ind.Mixed Brigade
30th Div /3
35th JNAF AF Unit
32nd Special Base Force
20th JNAF AF Unit
11th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
Port Moresby Brigade
3rd Australian Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
33rd Infantry Div /2 New unit
43rd Infantry Division
30th Australian Bde /36
14th RAAF Base Force

I will need to do some reinforcing of my own as soon as possible. The good news is that the US 33rd Division took a great many disablement in the landing, and may not be good for combat for some time yet.

At Cocos, the two Tone-class cruisers are in position for their high speed attack. A second cruiser force is assembling off Oosthaven.

The KB is three days out from Surabaya.

Burma

No action of note in Burma.

[Lowpe]

You got thru an 85 plane CAP with 8 fighters and 21 bombers. [X(] How in the world...I would love to see Lok's settings.

[Bullwinkle58]

In most cases now any tank unit in a landing is going to be Shermans. At some point soon also flamethrower tanks.

Tracker typically reports anything struck by a torpedo as sunk. Then it withdraws the statement later.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

You got thru an 85 plane CAP with 8 fighters and 21 bombers. [X(] How in the world...I would love to see Lok's settings.

I stack my torpedo bombers to go in very low or very high. The dive bombers typically take the middle band. It seems to work well.

In most cases now any tank unit in a landing is going to be Shermans. At some point soon also flamethrower tanks.

Tracker typically reports anything struck by a torpedo as sunk. Then it withdraws the statement later.

More fun toys for the Allies. At least I get 20cm rockets and other cool things as some small compensation.

It's not tracker that has me suspecting that those battleships sank, it's the lack of any cripples fleeing towards Rabual or Manus. They shouldn't have been able to make the trip in one turn, but my search hasn't spotted them.

At any rate, sunk or not, they're gone from the Allied OOB for some time.

[mind_messing]

March 14th, 1944

Back in sunny Scotland, so service resumes as normal.

North Pacific

I've been keeping a close eye on the western-most Allied bases in the Aleutians, and it doesn't seem that there's much going on. I'd love to get a peek into Adak, so I may send a floatplane sub over to have a look.

[center][/center]

Otherwise, all is quiet here. I've relocated much of the IJNAF training units to Hokkaido, so I've about a hundred dive bombers and a hundred torpedo bombers (obsolete models, mind you) ready to respond to any invasion in a pinch.

Central Pacific

Our attempt to retake Ailinglaplap with the support of paratroopers fails, and our transports are chewed up by flak. Our efforts now are going to be focused towards pulling troops back from the Marshalls and into the Maraianas. Hopefully I can use Roi-Namur as a pickup point for these troops, as at present the Allies don't have any airbases in range.

[center][/center]

At Kusaie, I'm trying to smuggle supply in, now that the Allied fleet is withdrawing. This would go a long way towards making this fight another long, drawn out affair, and I'd love nothing more than for another US division and supporting tanks to get bogged down for a month or two.

South-West Pacific

Massive air bombardment keeps Hollandia closed again. Aitape is back up and running, however. This is quite good, as I hope to be able to bounce aircraft between the bases to keep Loka's bombers on their toes. I've not been able to get a good CAP up yet, at least not one big enough to last through the sweeps and get to the bombers.

[center][/center]

Work on building up Biak continues at a furious pace - I'm working on the principle that I need to have at least two bases in reserve in case of an Allied landing behind my lines in New Guinea. The exiles from Buna and Lae are making their slow way northwards through the jungle, so they'll get to fight another day.

DEI

Our hopes of a surface engagement with important Allied surface units are shattered when we catch some minnows: LCVP's, for the most part. However, we do drive off the Allied naval units.

Our battleships and cruisers withdraw to Dili, where they are attacked by some 80 odd American torpedo bombers, escorted by Corsairs and Thunderbolts. All three airframes suffer heavy losses in exchange for a single torpedo hit on the battleship Hiei that does minimal damage.

[center][/center]

The battleships and cruisers will loiter about Dili for two or so days until 40k of supply and extra artillery is unloaded, then the battleships will withdraw to Surabaya for repairs and re-armament, while the cruisers shift to Bolea to bombard Allied bases at Taberfane and Dobo.

At Cocos, we've nearly got two cruiser groups in position to bombard the base in the next two turns. If they can get their shells delivered without any issues, then the only thing that can save Cocos is the re-appearance of Allied carriers. I would welcome that - I intend to base the KB out of Batavia for the time being.

[center][/center]

Burma

Our localized counter-attacks are shaping up nicely. The Allies may have vastly more troops, but the transport network in Burma favors whoever holds Rangoon, so I've been able to juggle troops about with surprising speed.

One Chinese corp is about to be routed on the Akyab road (direct NW of Prome), as I can't see a single Chinese unit wanting to stick about after 120 IJA bombers plaster it from 3000ft and two crack IJA divisions attack it.

The Paoshan Army is also going to attack tomorrow. 4 IJA divisions (3 of them crack units) and a tank regiment will need to defeat 5 Chinese units. It's over 18,000 enemy troops, but they're reported as having only 15 guns, so hopefully we can take full advantage of the superiority in equipment.

The 2nd Tank Division is holding off further attacks on the Chinese unit direct NW of Toungoo for the present. Reinforcing tanks are about four turns away, and after that we should be able to throw that unit back as well.

Additional IJA units are pouring in from Thailand and Malaya. Destroyed units that have been bought back are replacing them in their garrison duties, so these units can add their combat power to the front.

Once the front between Prome and Toungoo has been stabalized, I'm debating a big counterattack to destroy that salient of troops near Pegu, but we'll need to see what the situation is at that point.

[center][/center]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is there any use for the machine cannon units?

Hi guys. I've been reading this AAR. Pretty interesting so far. I'm only to May 42, so I have a lot to read to catch up. In my opinion, anything that can shoot at a plane is valuable. In my AAR, at Adak I have nothing bigger than 2x 25mm and 12x 20mm AA guns (2x MC companies) and I shot down a B-24 last turn. They don't shoot down much, but they do hit occasionally. Use everything in your arsenal.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is there any use for the machine cannon units?

Hi guys. I've been reading this AAR. Pretty interesting so far. I'm only to May 42, so I have a lot to read to catch up. In my opinion, anything that can shoot at a plane is valuable. In my AAR, at Adak I have nothing bigger than 2x 25mm and 12x 20mm AA guns (2x MC companies) and I shot down a B-24 last turn. They don't shoot down much, but they do hit occasionally. Use everything in your arsenal.

The IJN airfield battalions get a TOE upgrade in early '43 that gives them some more 25mm guns, and the IJA get some 20mm guns in mid '44. This is a nice upgrade, but it doesn't seem to do much for night bombing raids.

Daylight raids seem to take a fair bit of damage from flak, but it's much reduced for night raids. At this stage I'm a battered veteran in regards to nightbombing - two NF squadrons arrived last turn, and I get the Zero NF in a couple of weeks, so I want to see if I can resize the NF squadrons as I would the carrier squadrons.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing
Daylight raids seem to take a fair bit of damage from flak, but it's much reduced for night raids. At this stage I'm a battered veteran in regards to nightbombing - two NF squadrons arrived last turn, and I get the Zero NF in a couple of weeks, so I want to see if I can resize the NF squadrons as I would the carrier squadrons.

I think I saw someone else with resized nf groups...

[mind_messing]

March 16th to March 19th

It's been an interesting few days.

North Pacific

Nada up here.

Central Pacific

I surge some bombers and fighters back in to the Marshalls to jump the "milk run" convoys and air strikes that Loka had set up. We jump a bunch of 4E's over Mili and sink a few xAPs and xAK's that are kicking about. I'm almost tempted to surge some IJN assets in to this region, but it's a sideshow and I'd be liable to lose them.

Kusaie still holds strong, throwing off a big Allied deliberate attack handily:

Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14094 troops, 223 guns, 734 vehicles, Assault Value = 555

Defending force 18363 troops, 320 guns, 94 vehicles, Assault Value = 366

Allied adjusted assault: 569

Japanese adjusted defense: 893

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
498 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 23 (1 destroyed, 22 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1143 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 151 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 41 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 35 (2 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Vehicles lost 29 (1 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Assaulting units:
6th Infantry Division
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
XIV US Corps
1881th Engineer Aviation Battalion

Defending units:
Kure 3rd SNLF
Combined 8th SNLF
1st Amphibious Brigade
44th Naval Guard Unit
62nd Naval Guard Unit
66th JNAF AF Unit
66th Field AA Battalion
65th Field AA Battalion
8th JAAF Base Force
55th Field AA Battalion
16th JNAF AF Unit
30th JAAF AF Bn
144th JAAF AF Bn

I'm overjoyed that Kusaie is going to be another long slog of a campaign. I'm flying more troops in and doing what I can to ship in supply - we'll do our utmost to keep a US Army division and a bucket-load of tanks fighting here.

We put a torpedo into the Repulse as it heads to bombard Kusaie, and I've more subs on route to make this part of the ocean a dangerous place for Allied warships, but ASW is so strong now that most attacks send my subs to the bottom or to the repair yards.

SWPAC

The Allies land and storm Madang, cutting two IJA divisions and some support troops off from Hansa Bay. The outlook for them doesn't look rosey, but such is 1944 for Japan. I'd prefer them to be destroyed so I can buy them back, but if they can escape through Medang and get to Hansa Bay they'll add to the AV at least and make things a whisker more difficult.

Elsewhere, it's just a case of trying to stem the Allied tied. I'm moving some fast E-class ships in to Sarmi to see if they can't cut up an LST convoy or two.

DEI

As is the norm as of recent, the main theater.

The two Tone-class crusiers jump two Allied convoys off the North-West of Austrailia: one cargo and one troop convoy. Results are good, with likely about a dozen merchantmen sunk and several more damaged. Troops reported lost as well, so it's a good day here. The Japanese ships are out of ammo and torpedoes, so it's back to Java for rearmament.

The KB is at Surabaya, has refueled and replenished and headed now to secure the sealanes around Cocos. Allied carriers are still hanging out west of the island, so hopefully I can bring the full might of the KB to bear on them.

At Latuem, the push back against the Allies continues. Our first counter-attack on the 16th gets 1:1 odds, which is a good sign!:

Ground combat at Lautem (72,115)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25767 troops, 256 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 900

Defending force 13138 troops, 264 guns, 869 vehicles, Assault Value = 385

Japanese adjusted assault: 914

Allied adjusted defense: 583

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1207 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 31 (14 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Division
56th Division
14th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
25th Army
21th JNAF AF Unit
44th Field AA Battalion
71st Field AA Battalion
21st JAAF Base Force
22nd JAAF Base Force
59th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
194th Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
3rd Motor Brigade
762nd Tank Battalion
15th NZ Brigade
2nd Medium Regiment
76th Coast AA Regiment
Sixth US Army
2/16th Field Regiment
249th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment

There are now 9 dedicated artillery units on Timor, ranging from 75mm pop-guns to 32cm monstrosities. Combined with the IJN bombardments I can't see the Allied foothold here holding out till April. I'm taking no chances, another 900 AV will be en-route to Dili to join in the fight within a week. This means pulling one divison from Java

What's even better is that the Allies have still been unable to wrest control of the skies over Timor from me. Things here are going well.

Burma

Well, I'm no Walter Model. Rather than a resoudning series of victories over weak and isolated Allied units in Burma, things have turned into a bit of a slogging match. While it may lack finesse, we're still inflicting losses on the Allies.

At hex 54,49 (Directly north-west of Prome, on the Prome-Akyab trail), we throw a strong Chinese corps out with heavy losses:

Ground combat at 54,49 (near Ramree Island)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 37032 troops, 355 guns, 87 vehicles, Assault Value = 1143

Defending force 14189 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 342

Japanese adjusted assault: 1098

Allied adjusted defense: 358

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1339 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled

Allied ground losses:
5220 casualties reported
Squads: 165 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 134 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 8 (3 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
110th Division
32nd Division
1st Division

Defending units:
53rd Chinese Corps

We do get a bit of a lucky break on the trail from Taung Gyi to Thailand, when a wayward Chinese corps blunders across a river into the arms of two waiting Japanese divisions. Needless to say, shock attacks across rivers into x3 terrain are hard.

Ground combat at 61,50 (near Taung Gyi)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 17030 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 625

Defending force 26370 troops, 246 guns, 222 vehicles, Assault Value = 989

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 5146

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), supply(-)

Allied ground losses:
10315 casualties reported
Squads: 408 destroyed, 162 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 92 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 13 (2 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Assaulting units:
78th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
37th Division
9th Tank Regiment
21st Division
40th Field AA Battalion

The following day, the Japanese troops counterattack and push the survivors back across the river. I'm debating the worth of another counter-offensive here towards Taung Gyi. I can throw three full IJA divisions at three Chinese units with 20k men and 50 guns, but I wonder if it will be worth the losses for the river crossing shock attack...

We'll see.

The drive for Lashio is still bogged down 46 miles east of that base, faced with a strong force of Chinese troops - including Mao Zedong! We'll dislodge them within a few turns, but it's a few turns that the Allies can use to bring more troops to bear against this drive, so I fear we may be running back to Paoshan before we see April. Still, it's worth it if I can get Loka reacting to me here.

round combat at 63,46 (near Lashio)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 48289 troops, 546 guns, 262 vehicles, Assault Value = 1409

Defending force 21242 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 495

Japanese adjusted assault: 725

Allied adjusted defense: 862

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1495 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 106 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1174 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 221 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled

Assaulting units:
51st Division
116th Division
14th Division
48th Division
4th Tank Regiment
13th Mortar Battalion
RGC Army
6th RF Gun Battalion

Defending units:
32nd Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
1st Group Army
Red Chinese Army
2nd Group Army

By the 21st, we'll have struck the Allies at another point in Burma, this time at hex 56,49 (directly NW of Toungoo). Here, we have a tank division, six tank regiments and a crack infantry division in place to fall upon a Chinese corp and an Indian brigade. I hope to throw these two units into the open, then turn all these troops around and rail them to Pegu, where they'll hopefully be able to strike at the Allied salient east of Toungoo.

Burma has turned quite interesting. I doubt I'll throw the Allies out, but we're winning victories here, and that I suppose is the main thing.

[mind_messing]

Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.

[Rio Bravo]

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.

Good attitude mind-messing-

Fighting the Allies in '44 must feel like a cow being led to the slaughter-house.

But as you noted, just hang in there and take those small victories as they come, like hanging around to be stubborn at one place or another for a few days longer that one would think possible!

*sending you 100,000 Kamakazi aircraft from Mars*

Best Regards,

-Terry

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

ORIGINAL: mind_messing

Turns have stopped due to tech issues on both ends, but hopefully they'll be resolved in the next few days.

For the benefit of readers (and to rescue me from page 2 ignominy), I'd like to share my experiences as the Japanese player after nearly 3 months fighting in 1944.

- Kamikaze pools. Build them early and make them deep. Don't be afraid to over-build IJA 2E bombers, the excess planes will make much better kamikaze aircraft than the single-engine ones (although they are twice as expensive).

- Supply. Allied airbase attacks eat up large chunks of it, so make sure that you keep your major hub bases either well protected by CAP or out of Allied bomber range.

- Force disparity. By this point, just about every Allied squad device has better stats than the IJA or SNLF squads, and the difference becomes greater as the war progresses. To that end, it's essential to make use of terrain and forts as the big force equalizer for the Japanese. Forget about defending in clear terrain - point blank. The x2 hexes are worthwhile if you can get forts up to level 4 or 5. You should look try to channel the fighting into x3 hexes as possible.

- ASW is important. At this point in this game, Allied subs are killing between one and two ships per turn. Interestingly, my losses are highest among ships transiting the open ocean. I've managed to keep my main shipping convoys fairly safe by using coastal routing from Singapore to Japan. Most of the losses are on direct routes between these two bases. I can't really say how effective my ASW program has been, but over the next few months I hope to reform my use of it from passive ASW to offensive ASW. More details to follow.

- Air doctrine. My thinking on how to fight the air war as Japan at this point in the war has changed. My view now is that it pays to have an "air force in being", rather than tying particular squadrons to airbases. I've been keeping as few fighters on the frontline as possible (enough to defend against sweeps and medium-sized bomber raids) while massing as many squadrons as I can behind the lines, ready to respond to any major Allied moves. Hopefully this will resolve my past issues I had, where air units were too worn down in day-to-day combat to respond to major Allied moves.

- Psychology. At this point, I think the most important thing is for the Japanese side to maintain morale. I've never seen a game AAR'd here where the Allied player took Tokyo; the Japanese side's morale always broke first. To that end, it's all about focusing on the small victories. The fact that the Allies are bogged down on Kusaie Island won't matter in the long run. My counterstrikes in Burma won't really change the dynamic of that theater. Even if I push the Allies off Timor, it is at best a minor setback for the Allies. In game terms, unimportant. In terms of keeping me motivated to play the game, it's critical.

Good attitude mind-messing-

Fighting the Allies in '44 must feel like a cow being led to the slaughter-house.

But as you noted, just hang in there and take those small victories as they come, like hanging around to be stubborn at one place or another for a few days longer that one would think possible!

*sending you 100,000 Kamakazi aircraft from Mars*

Best Regards,

-Terry

Tanks! I'd describe it as feeling somewhat like Sisyphus might have felt - so many of the things you try come to naught.

I think the real key to being "good" at Japan is just simple psychological immunity to losses. I'm at the stage now where I'll happily trade 200-300 aircraft for to get a couple of hits on Allied carriers.

Your not going to win every fight, you're not going to even win half. The important thing is to make sure the fights that you do win cost the Allies enough to make up for the ones you've lost!

[pontiouspilot]

My god man if you are feeling the effects of Sisyphus see a bloody doctor!! They must have doctors in Scotland but the mind boggles at what the treatment might be.

[mind_messing]

ORIGINAL: pontiouspilot

My god man if you are feeling the effects of Sisyphus see a bloody doctor!! They must have doctors in Scotland but the mind boggles at what the treatment might be.

Huh? I don't follow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sisyphus_effect

[:D]

[mind_messing]

I've been thinking on Manchuria. By the time the Soviets roll through, you don't have a chance of holding it. Too many tanks and too much artillery. Still, that's no excuse for not making Manchuria as unpalatable as follows for the Allies.

Below is my thinking on Festung Manchuria.



The red perimiter represents the frontline I hope to man with IJA units. It's all at least x2 terrain, and with decent interior lines of communication. The salient south-west of Changchun is the weakness, so the best units will go here to make sure the Soviets don't eat the heart out of my defense.

The purple perimeter will be stuffed full of the Manchurian units, sub-par IJA units and whatever I can get from China. In other words, a large speed-bump, but hopefully one that can tie down some Russian units for a week or so.


The line in Korea, that's the last ditch line. When the Russians break through, that's the point everyone's going to be running for. It's a nice short line in x3 terrain, with good communication between hexes. It's as good a place as any to fight the Russians.

Everywhere else in Manchuria will be abandoned, bar some scattered units here and there to force the Russians out of move mode and to spend a turn attacking rather than marching.

I'm debating my strategy for China once '45 rolls around. As things stand, I'll likely end up building festungs in the Chinese respawn cities to keep the Chinese from resurrection and running everything else to Hong Kong, Shanghai or the cities in the north-east to deny the Allies the port and repair bases. That's for another post, however.

[mind_messing]

March 20th to March 28th, 1944

We're nearly through March!

Home Islands

Odd that I'll have to start considering this theater again after nearly two years of neglect!

The first two of the Home Island defense divisions arrive. These units have pretty good TOE's, but need some training before being combat ready. Despite the temptation to ship them out to the Marianas or the Philippines, they'll stay in Japan and train up until fresh units arrive. At this point, I need to consider the possibility that Loka will try a landing on Honshu directly to avoid grinding through my defenses elsewhere.

North Pacific

Nothing really new up here, bar the arrival of two divisions on Hokkaido. One is unrestricted with a crap TOE, the other restricted with a decent TOE. Both need to be trained up to the 55 EXP maximum. I'll keep both of them on Hokkaido for training, which will free up an IJA amphibious brigade for deployment to the Central Pacific and any future reinforcements here can be sent to the Kuriles or elsewhere.

Central Pacific

We still hold out on Kusaie Island, though the last Allied attack dropped the forts to level 3. The forces on the ground are roughly equal in terms of AV, but the Japanese troops are hampered by the large numbers of Allied tanks and the fact that most of their combat power comes from smaller SNLF units: they're just too brittle in combat

I've been fortunate so far with my supply smuggling operations - single 14kt PB's have been able to drop off a couple thousand tonnes, and I'm setting up a regular shuttle service between Kawajalein and Kusaie.

If the Allies leave me in peace to do this, I may even see about reinforcing Kusaie by sea. Currently, I've a fair number of air transports in range, and if I can get a decent supply stockpile on Kusaie I may start flying some of the Marshalls garrison to suppliment the defense of Kusaie. If they're going to die, they may as well do it on Kusaie!

South-West Pacific

No real change in the frontlines here. The Allies have every Japanese airbase south of Hollandia pretty much suppressed. Two IJA divisions and a bunch of support troops are cut off in the jungle north of Lae, and supplies all along the coast are getting low.

Not much I can do here - with Manus in Allied control, the closest base I can keep even remotely operation is Sarmi.

On the grander scale, I'm refocusing my defense around the North-west tip of New Guinea. With Truk still running I'll be able to keep a close eye on Allied operations from this point onward. North-west New Guinea is the priority for reinforcements at present, closely followed by Babeldoab.

In about a month, I'll need to start looking at filling in the gap between New Guinea and Minadno.

DEI

We get a couple of bombardment runs into Cocos Island, which provokes the Allies to send a carrier task force to try to cover the island. The carrier Intrepid gets a torpedo (two hit, one dud) and a fuel storage explosion for it's troubles. The KB, based at Singapore, will sortie in case we can hunt it down.

The Mini-KB is off shadowing several big amphibious task forces that were shuttling troops and artillery to Timor.

The Timor Sea will make great diving once the war is over. The Allies lose a CA and a CL off Saumlaki in what I assume was a botched bombardment mission. Most of the IJN is sitting in the shipyard at Surabaya, but we've still enough active ships to keep two heavy cruiser forces and a pair of slow battleship defending off Timor.

On the ground, at Latuem, we've got the Allies outnumbered, but it's proving difficult to actually beat them:

Ground combat at Lautem (72,115)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36349 troops, 549 guns, 330 vehicles, Assault Value = 1006

Defending force 13584 troops, 270 guns, 858 vehicles, Assault Value = 421

Japanese adjusted assault: 789

Allied adjusted defense: 729

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
2214 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 257 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Guns lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
271 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 14 (2 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (4 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Assaulting units:
5th Division
56th Division
30th Division
22nd JAAF Base Force
25th Army
21st JAAF Base Force
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
71st Field AA Battalion
21th JNAF AF Unit
14th RF Gun (Pack) Battalion
3rd Medium Mortar Battalion
11th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
44th Field AA Battalion
9th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
6th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
10th Ind. Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
59th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
3rd Motor Brigade
762nd Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
194th Tank Battalion
15th NZ Brigade
17th Australian Bde /2
2/16th Field Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
Sixth US Army
249th Field Artillery Battalion
76th Coast AA Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

We've another division en route, plus another 300 or so AV sitting in reserve. Southern Army HQ is also en route to help with replacements. If that doesn't do the trick, nothing will. The Allied troops deployed here are some of the best of the Commonwealth, and destroying them outright would be a nice little boost.

Burma

We at last get the results that we're looking for, sending two separate Chinese corps back in retreat with heavy casualties; one north-east of Pegu, the other north-east of Tavoy.

The Paoshan offensive is officially a bust, with the IJA units running back to the safety of the level 6 forts at Paoshan itself. On the bright side, we've distracted 9 Chinese units to eastern Burma to deal with this threat.

I've now got a fairly strong mobile force of about 2000 AV that will move to stabilize the frontline east of Toungoo. Based on the results of the Paoshan drive, I no longer think we can throw the Allies out of x3 terrain, but at the very least we can switch hexside control to our advantage.

Lots of Allied ships reported moving out of Madras and heading south-west. IJN subs are in pursuit and naval search planes will try to shadow. I'm not sure if it's a drive for Sumatra or reinforcements for Cocos. Either way, time will tell!

R&D

Come April, I'll get some nice goodies. The Peggy (T), Zero NF and the Nick NF all come online. Combined, these three planes will massively boost my anti-shipping capability, as well as be a nice expansion to my night fighter strength. Banzai!

[mind_messing]

Latest News from Burma!

Massive Allied attack repulsed with ease!

Ground combat at 55,48 (near Ramree Island)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 219515 troops, 1368 guns, 1280 vehicles, Assault Value = 6103

Defending force 97302 troops, 1290 guns, 1246 vehicles, Assault Value = 3167

Allied adjusted assault: 2160

Japanese adjusted defense: 17356

Allied assault odds: 1 to 8

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
3951 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 326 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 93 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 42 disabled
Guns lost 41 (2 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (4 destroyed, 32 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
20780 casualties reported
Squads: 561 destroyed, 1874 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 331 disabled
Engineers: 33 destroyed, 147 disabled
Guns lost 167 (25 destroyed, 142 disabled)
Vehicles lost 120 (5 destroyed, 115 disabled)

Assaulting units:
8th Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
23rd Indian Division
14th Army Engineer Battalion
21st Chinese Corps
2/3rd MG Battalion
18th Chinese Corps
50th Tank Brigade
65th Chinese Corps
54th Chinese Corps
Gardner's Horse Regiment
68th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
5th Chinese Cavalry Corps
75th Chinese Corps
16th Light Cavalry Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
20th Indian Division
24th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps Corps
Guides Cavalry Regiment
5th Chinese Corps
27th Group Army
11th Group Army
32nd Group Army
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
5th IAF Advanced Base Force
31st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
29th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
30th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Group Army
7th Aus Div Cav Regiment
4th War Area
117th RAF Base Force
2nd Indian Field Regiment
104th RAF Base Force
8th RAF Advanced Base Force
6th Medium Regiment
12th Group Army
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
26th Group Army
221 Group RAF
33rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
6th War Area
34th Group Army

Defending units:
34th Division
11th Division
3rd Division
10th Division
1st Tank Division
16th Division
55th Division
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
12th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Army
10th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Fld AA Gun Co
16th AA Regiment

20k Allies dead, over 500 squads destroyed!

The best part is that nearly all the Japanese casualties are disabled squads. Take this as a lesson on the importance of x3 terrain when it comes to defense.

[Walker84]

That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...

[tiemanjw]

ORIGINAL: Walker84

That's an incredible result! - did you have any forts built to add to the defence?

My recent games have stacking limits so unlikely to see such huge numbers involved in a single hex...

My guess would be largely Chinese units (and the 2 Indian Divisions are none too sharp either). A lot of allied players see large AVs and assume that if only they could supply those Chinese hordes they will steam roll everything, but in fact they are quite fragile. Even with good experience they aren't that sharp. They just don't have the firepower. (Look at the CR and notice that although Loki has more than 2x the troops, he has nearly the same number of vehicles and guns).