Jorge's(A) crusade to the fabled kingdom of PresterJohn(J) DBB-C --- Allied AAR

[IdahoNYer]

Good idea on using bombers as well as the recon a/c to saturate an area. I saw the PBY-4-1Ps coming in (Dec 42?), and I've totally neglected training navy pilots in recon - just repurposed a stateside Kingfisher squadron to recon training!

[Jorge_Stanbury]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

Good idea on using bombers as well as the recon a/c to saturate an area. I saw the PBY-4-1Ps coming in (Dec 42?), and I've totally neglected training navy pilots in recon - just repurposed a stateside Kingfisher squadron to recon training!

I also neglected recon training for Navy pilot. If you are in a hurry, you can let the Marines take the arriving liberators: VMD-54 upgrades for free as it is the historical upgrade path.

Since I have more squadrons than planes, my plan is to let the navy pilots train using F2A-2P and F4F-3P while VMD-54 slowly upgrades to liberators and VMO-251 keeps the F4F-7P and F4F-3P

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Quiet turn, but I have a question:

I have had significant challenges to supply Chittagong and Akyab. To the point that I have fought a few naval battles trying to defend supply convoys from Calcutta to Chittagong
A few turns ago I even withdrew a lot of troops to places like Dacca, as Chittagong was highly overstacked

But then I notice Japanese troops near Akyab, and I sent my only two real recon assets to take a look... this is what they found:
So question is... if I am having issues with supply, in a base hex, with road, near Chittagong...how sustainable is for Japan to support almost 40 thousand troops in a jungle-road hex, far from his bases?
should I start worrying?

[BBfanboy]

Chittagong has a railroad connection that should deliver more than the road one, but you do not show us the part of the RR at Dimapur in the upper right. Any interdiction there would cause supply flow problems. Even if there is no interruption, the RR is skinny and a long arc from Calcutta, and the size of Chittagong may not draw well enough.

For the Japanese, their units can trace supply paths over three or four hexsides per unit, so they are getting more supply than just a single difficult path. Akyab is constrained by sea on three sides, enemy to the SE and E and the only path is a secondary road to the NE.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

My biggest problem was that Chittagong was severely overstacked until a few turns ago... severe means more than double the 95K maximum
this was somehow corrected and I now have only 109K vs 95K and 2 divisions are moving to Cox's

I had also sent several supply TFs to Chittagong, easily most of the supply there is due to this

Rail is fine... I have been using it to bring support or AA LCUs and they would not have arrived with interdiction

I don't disagree on your assessment of Japan's having better paths.. but 16 LCUs? 40K troops? that must be a challenge to support...

[BBfanboy]

Not saying the Japanese don't have supply problems, just that they are not going to be at 0 supplies. They may be able to get enough to fill their marching needs but one combat will drain it.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Several minor news :

- Chungking attacked, but results were great considering the poor decisions [;)] made recently. I think his timing was poor, as he attacked just when a bunch of new troops spawned at 1/3
No forts reduced... 1146 enemy squads disabled [X(] [:D]

- KVII hit AK Kinka Maru: Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires

- Oscars executed a surprisingly effective naval bombing on Cox's Bazaar: CM Prins van Oranje sunk.. but no big deal, this minelayer was already demoted to escorting duties, as there are too few mines.
an xAKL also hit and burning, might sink soon

- Air battles over Akyab: Martlets II performed poorly, 12 shot down against minimal Japanese losses. I already changed their squadron to Hurricanes IIc.


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Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 165337 troops, 1756 guns, 582 vehicles, Assault Value = 3849

Defending force 145073 troops, 531 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1013

Japanese adjusted assault: 1512

Allied adjusted defense: 3031

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 6)

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

Japanese ground losses:
11452 casualties reported
Squads: 99 destroyed, 1146 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 120 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 72 disabled
Guns lost 107 (5 destroyed, 102 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
5189 casualties reported
Squads: 169 destroyed, 82 disabled
Non Combat: 69 destroyed, 363 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 78 (9 destroyed, 69 disabled)

Assaulting units:
17th Division
34th Division
3rd Division
104th Division
59th Division
6th Division
41st Division
63rd Division
110th Division
70th Division
37th Division
36th Division
26th Division
32nd Division
138th Infantry Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
12th Army
China Expeditionary Army
11th Army
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
1st Army
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
23rd Army
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st AA Regiment
6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
8th Ind Engineer Regiment
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
21st Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion

Defending units:
2nd Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
86th Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
47th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
63rd Chinese Corps
21st Chinese Corps
31st Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
35th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
14th Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
2nd Prov Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps
31st Group Army
7th Artillery Regiment
Red Chinese Army
57th AT Gun Regiment
12th Construction Regiment
39th Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army
1st War Area
32nd Group Army
33rd Group Army
17th Group Army
3rd War Area
8th Group Army
16th Group Army
22nd Group Army
48th Chinese Corps
7th War Area
15th Group Army
36th Group Army
41st AA Regiment
56th AT Gun Regiment
2nd Group Army
1st Chinese Base Force
4th Group Army
62nd Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
4th Heavy Mortar Regiment
China Command
23rd Group Army
39th Group Army
4th Chinese Base Force
37th Group Army
13th Group Army
67th Chinese Corps
38th Group Army
3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment
3rd Chinese Base Force
5th War Area
7th Group Army
89th Chinese Corps
24th Group Army
10th Construction Regiment
8th Construction Regiment
13th Construction Regiment
Lusu War Area
14th Group Army
49th AA Regiment
12th Chinese Corps
Central Reserve
3rd Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment
12th Group Army
1st Artillery Regiment
10th Chinese Base Force
10th Group Army
11th Construction Regiment
18th Artillery Regiment
CAF HQ
Jingcha War Area
4th War Area
34th Group Army
83rd Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Base Force

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Sub attack near Rangoon at 51,56

Japanese Ships
AK Kinka Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
AK Hirokawa Maru
E Otori

Allied Ships
SS KVII

Massive explosion on AK Kinka Maru
SS KVII launches 2 torpedoes at AK Kinka Maru
KVII bottoming out ....
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 18

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 14
P-38G Lightning x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 5 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 20000 feet

CAP engaged:
No.136 Sqn RAF with Martlet II (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(14 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 14 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
51st FG/25th FS with P-38G Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Cox's Bazar at 54,43

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CM Prins van Oranje, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-43-IIb Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cox's Bazar at 54,43

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 3
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Loa Koeloe, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-43-IIb Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

[Jorge_Stanbury]

This is Northern Australia

I was planning to use the Doormans Dutch TF (Sumatra, DeRuyter, Marblehead) to bombard Broome, but instead I will send it to investigate this xAK TF


In Derby there is only one enemy LCU, I plan to 1st close the retreat path, then I will attack

[Jorge_Stanbury]

The Dutch didn't catch anything.. situation looks interesting... did he just pack and left? if so I came one day too late

5/6 recon should show LCUs... at least Doorman was not spotted, I will keep it there one more turn, I don't want to bombard an empty base
and even if he spotted it and is sending some TF to intercept, I would prefer that he fights with a full ammo magazine



Derby will be attacked tomorrow

What else is new? I lost an AVD, [:(]

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Not a lot of news, Derby was liberated on the 1st attempt and retreating Kure 3rd SNLF will soon be destroyed

Broome is confirmed empty, and tanks will arrive tomorrow to capture it.

Doorman's Dutch TF will move to Derby, the Japanese left 648 units of fuel that will come handy



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Derby (64,127)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7155 troops, 18 guns, 633 vehicles, Assault Value = 395

Defending force 1935 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 63

Allied adjusted assault: 254

Japanese adjusted defense: 6

Allied assault odds: 42 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Derby !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1099 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 24 (7 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
754th Tank Battalion
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/5th Armoured Regiment
762nd Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
1st Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
2/9th Armoured Regiment

Defending units:
Kure 3rd SNLF

[jwolf]

Doorman's Dutch TF will move to Derby, the Japanese left 648 units of fuel that will come handy

Heh. Kind of like many Eastern Front games where a lot of German effort goes into capturing Soviet fuel stocks for their drive eastward.

Is that it for Australia in your game? That is, with the exception of this one retreating unit have you driven the Japanese out of the continent?

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Yes for Continental Australia, Horn Island is still in Japanese hands, and it might be for a few more months. I am not too concerned as the supply situation in Darwin is OK. And I have a small xAKL TF moving supply from Normaton to Darwin, with Darwin's LBA's providing cover.. funny that as soon as I re-based Spitfires here, he stopped sweeping and bombing it... sometimes you win just by reputation.

Australia was never Prester John's focus, and for me it has become a "depot" of LCUs... I am getting new construction battalions or base force LCUs almost every day, and I am simply running out of space in the smaller islands.. so when I don't know where to send some LCU I just embark them to Brisbane or more recently New Zealand.
I will soon send some of those construction battalions to Broome, of course using the long route, through Perth

And yes... fuel is becoming a bit critical because the Dutch ships are short ranged... the initial plan was a simple hit and run, but because of lack of targets, they had remained a few days longer than I anticipated. Fuel at Derby will help, and likely there will be more in Broome.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Several, small good news:

- Today the Kure 3rd SNLF got mauled, this means that in the next few days, Japanese Northern Australia invasion will be completely defeated

- SS Whale put a fish on TK Kaizyo Maru.. fuel burning, heavy fires. Hopefully it will sink

- My first LST arrived [:)] sooner than later I will have a fleet of these, then life will be much harder for Japan

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Ground combat at 64,128 (near Derby)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 2338 troops, 0 guns, 150 vehicles, Assault Value = 287

Defending force 940 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3

Allied adjusted assault: 61

Japanese adjusted defense: 2

Allied assault odds: 30 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
416 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2nd Tank Battalion
1st Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2/9th Armoured Regiment

Defending units:
Kure 3rd SNLF

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Sub attack near Amami Oshima at 98,63

Japanese Ships
TK Kaizyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
PB Tatsumiya Maru
SC Ch 23
TK Tonan Maru #2
TK Kyokuyo Maru
DD Hatsuharu
PB Tonon Maru

Allied Ships
SS Whale

SS Whale launches 4 torpedoes at TK Kaizyo Maru
DD Hatsuharu fails to find sub and abandons search
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[Jorge_Stanbury]

I forgot to mention. Vanikoro:

This is running smoother than I originally anticipated, I bet he is not having naval search pointing in this direction

So long story short:
- I did a parachute drop to secure it (3rd USNMC parachute battalion).. Important to mention, it was already Allied, he never conquered it
- Then AVDs and fast banana boats with supply
- Then APDs to get the engineers (too heavy to paradrop)
- Then more APDs and a small AP carrying a a construction battalion (the 23rd)

As of today, most of the troops are already in Vanikoro, supply is at 3,527, fort at 1, airbase at 0.07
I estimate I can have a working airfield in 10 days, then Ndeni is doomed
I am thinking about stopping construction as soon as it reaches 90something % as to keep it secret until I am ready

[IdahoNYer]

You heading to Ndeni next??

[BBfanboy]

Agree with holding construction on the cusp of level 1 AF, so you can build a level 1 port too. Once you put fighters on an airfield there you can go through supply quickly (especially if he bombs or bombards) so you need a port that can unload stuff faster than 100 per turn.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Agree with holding construction on the cusp of level 1 AF, so you can build a level 1 port too. Once you put fighters on an airfield there you can go through supply quickly (especially if he bombs or bombards) so you need a port that can unload stuff faster than 100 per turn.

Problem is that Vanikoro is port level 0(0)... meaning it will take forever to build a port. I am not saying I won't, but just that realistically I might not have it ready before my offensive starts.

I will have to rely on my lone LST and AVDs for supplying if he goes crazy with naval bombardment...
plus PT boats, mines and SCTFs... so that if for some reason he stays longer than he should, I will have a lot of bombers at Luganville (level 8 airfield)... I will be happy to get a "Carnarvon carnage" in my game

[Jorge_Stanbury]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

You heading to Ndeni next??

Yes, as per my recent recon, there is really no other feasible target. I suspect he will not challenge Ndeni... it is still at level 1 air/ port. No LBAs, just a few troops. It will be easy, but at this point in the war, I still need "easy". I simply lack the amphibious assets to try something more interesting. Once Ndeni is conquered and built, I will see what is next, maybe Kirakira or Tabiteau. Both will need division sized invasions, something I simply can't do now

I have almost the entire USN moving to the SW pacific... this includes all USN CVs and CVEs. In your AAR I recently wrote that the CVEs were at port, training, this was true up to a few turns ago, I didn't want to say that they are on the move because my opponent can read your AAR.

In a few weeks, I will have 6 CVs, 5 CVEs, 3 fast BBs, more than 20 cruisers and around 40 destroyers ready for Santa Cruz Islands (Ndeni) invasion; with Luganville and Vanikoro supporting... more details to follow once they are in position.. will take some time.

To your question about CVEs, I have all 4 Bogue class carrying one 28-plane Wildcat squadron each. I plan to use these for providing a strong CAP over the real carriers. I have the lone Long Island CVE carrying marines SBDs trained in ASW. I am more than willing to sacrifice them if they take hits instead of the real carriers

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Another quiet turn, with minimal news:

- Sweeps over Santa Maria Island (near Luganville), maybe he is testing the range of my CAP? I have it at 0
or maybe he saw some of the ships moving to Vanikoro? in any case, unloading is complete, except for some supplies, time to run away and keep things quiet here.
Supply is at 4,000 now, airbase at 0.17 fort at 1.30

- 3rd Kure SNLF destroyed.. and with it Northern Australia's campaign is finished

- Kunming straffed by Oscars.. heavy enemy damage, 12 planes lost according to FOW tracker

Ground combat at 64,128 (near Derby)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 7060 troops, 0 guns, 450 vehicles, Assault Value = 288

Defending force 665 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 244

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 244 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
546 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2/5th Armoured Regiment
1st Tank Battalion
2nd Tank Battalion
2/9th Armoured Regiment

Defending units:
Kure 3rd SNLF


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Morning Air attack on 22nd New Chinese Division, at 69,48 (Kunming)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 8 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 6 destroyed by flak

Aircraft Attacking:
23 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 30 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 96th Chinese Division ...
Also attacking 22nd New Chinese Division ...

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Morning Air attack on Santa Maria , at 120,149

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 20

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x A6M3 Zero sweeping at 19000 feet



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Morning Air attack on Santa Maria , at 120,149

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 3

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x A6M3 Zero sweeping at 19000 feet

[IdahoNYer]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

You heading to Ndeni next??

Yes, as per my recent recon, there is really no other feasible target. I suspect he will not challenge Ndeni... it is still at level 1 air/ port. No LBAs, just a few troops. It will be easy, but at this point in the war, I still need "easy". I simply lack the amphibious assets to try something more interesting. Once Ndeni is conquered and built, I will see what is next, maybe Kirakira or Tabiteau. Both will need division sized invasions, something I simply can't do now

I have almost the entire USN moving to the SW pacific... this includes all USN CVs and CVEs. In your AAR I recently wrote that the CVEs were at port, training, this was true up to a few turns ago, I didn't want to say that they are on the move because my opponent can read your AAR.

In a few weeks, I will have 6 CVs, 5 CVEs, 3 fast BBs, more than 20 cruisers and around 40 destroyers ready for Santa Cruz Islands (Ndeni) invasion; with Luganville and Vanikoro supporting... more details to follow once they are in position.. will take some time.

To your question about CVEs, I have all 4 Bogue class carrying one 28-plane Wildcat squadron each. I plan to use these for providing a strong CAP over the real carriers. I have the lone Long Island CVE carrying marines SBDs trained in ASW. I am more than willing to sacrifice them if they take hits instead of the real carriers

Understand you're need for "OPSEC" with the CVE comment!

Question - your 28 plane Wildcats - are these to be used as replacements or CAP/LRCAP for the CVs? If CAP, are they the original replacement squadrons, or Marine squadrons? Just curious...I didn't think the replacement squadrons would function as normal squadrons...I'm still trying to figure out a best use on these units.