Excel Empire - F Krieg vs Great Went - DBB-C 28

[FeurerKrieg]

October 20th, 1942

India/Burma
A good day in India as our forces at Jameshedpur catch the 23rd Indian Division, the XXXIII Indian Corp HQ and the 6th Medium Artillery before they leave Jameshedpur. Our attack results in a 12:1 result against level 4 forts, in the jungle no less. The enemy loses about 3,000 men, 42 guns and 57 vehicles in the retreat. The enemy troops join their British friends southwest of the base. I believe I have all the units in place to surround them. The only current escape route is through a rough terrain hex to the southwest. I'll be moving an AA unit there just to try and get it blocked off. I'll test the resistance of the enemy troops before I decide whether to try and destroy them now or bypass them and come back to them after they have starved a bit.

The air losses screen says we captured 11 Lysanders on the ground at Jameshedpur. More importantly, the industry was barely scratched (only one HI point damaged) and we add another 20 LI, 55 HI and 420 Resources to our India production operation. That's an extra 150 supply a day. Resources are flowing into Calcutta at an amazing rate now, and I have several convoys running resources to Georgetown to enjoy the gravy train while it lasts.

A rain forecast that is the best I've had in many days, so I order a para drop on what recon says is an unoccupied Vizagapatnam. Our third of a division at Cuttack is ordered to strat mode so it can immediately rail into Viz to continue the march west. Our Armor Divisions continue their drive northwest and once they reach Nagpur, they will split and one will go east and one will go southwest (game map reckoning).

Meanwhile, we have a tank unit in Ranchi, which will be joined by another third of a division crossing the river. Both units will attack tomorrow. The 65th Brigade west of Patna, will cross the river to the northwest to pursue the units that retreated from Patna while an SNLF unit is railing into Patna to ensure no enemy units sneak in an grab it.

Also, our two divisions that are closing on the British pocket from the west attack the 7/12 Frontier Force Battalion which is on their road today. They get a 431:1 result and the unit is destroyed outright. Another 884 casualties added to the points coffer.

[center]
Map of the various activities in India[/center]

DEI/N Australia
Sallys continue bombing the Australians south of Katherine. Our ground troops are in position now and will try a deliberate attack tomorrow. The enemy troop count is significant, but I think some of the units have retreated before, and I'm also hopeful that they don't have full supply given the poor roads to Daly Waters.

Pacific
Another dot base near Suva, Kabara, is landed on and captured today.

China
Two divisions arrive at Liuchow. They will wait there for a few more days while the 8th and 21st Divisions rail over from Kukong. Then all four divisions will march on Tuyun together. Added to the troops already there, I am hoping for an easy win and then a fast march on Kweiyang before John can react. Once Kweiyang goes down, then we can easily clean up the road to Burma and finish blocking in Chungking.

Our air units continue to hit Changteh. Today our assault managed a 1:1 result against fort level 1. The forts dropped to zero, so tomorrow while our infantry rest our planes will switch to airfield attacks to prevent any forts from being rebuilt. In the course of the fight the enemy 33rd Group Army HQ unit was destroyed.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 21st, 1942

India/Burma
Our 38th/B Division crossed the river into Ranchi today. The already present 14th Tank Regiment also shock attacks and we do okay, getting 1:1 and dropping forts from 1 to 0.

Despite clouds over Vizagapatnam, our L3Ys successfully drop the 3rd Raiding regiment onto the unoccupied base and they seize it. Reinforcements are ordered to rail in ASAP, although I don't see any enemy units that can threaten the 3rd Raiders for at least a few days.

[center]
Continued fighting in India[/center]

DEI/N Australia
Our first attack on the enemy south of Katherine goes pretty well. We get a 1:1 results and favorable casualties: 1153 men for us (only 5 destroyed squads) and 1843 men, 28 guns, and 7 vehicles for the enemy. They didn't have a supply modifier either, so I think we did well. Maybe for our next attack (tomorrow) they will be low on supply. Based on watching the unit numbers during the replay, our 1st Art Mortar Regiment really did a lot of damage. Also intersting to see they have an Anti Tank Regiment - guess it is good my tanks are busy cleaning up the Darwin refugees.

[center]
Headed south in Australia[/center]

Pacific
I-170 near Christmas Island decides not to fire at a subchaser. That SC proceeds to unload all its ASW ammo on I-170, but our sub missed it all thankfully.

China
Bombers hit Changteh to prevent fort building. They get a lot of supply hits too, so hopefully that will be helpful. We will attack again tomorrow.

Up north, our armor car unit finally cross the river and closes the last hexside that is containing about 100,000 Chinese troops. Now I can pull a couple of my units out of there and just leave that stack to rot.

Other
Aircraft J2M3 Jack advances R&D to 2/44

Today we lose one Lily in China. Aircraft losses continue to be light since we have stood down the airforces in India.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 22th, 1942

India/Burma
The second attack at Ranchi easily takes the base with a 3:1 result. Enemy units retreat to the northeast which works well since that is the direction I wanted to march.

The trapped enemy stack is moving to the northwest. We will try an attack tomorrow to measure their resistance before deciding whether to try and block them in after they moved one hex, or try to destroy them in place before they can move.

[center]
Ranchi is captured[/center]

DEI/N Australia
Our Nicks and Sallys hit the enemy stack in Australia, but they still manage to exit the hex before we can attack. We will pursue, should take 4 days to catch up. Hopefully our bombing will give us a chance for another attack before they can link up with the couple units that are sitting in Daly Waters.

China
We attack at Changteh again but only get 1:2 odds. Casaulties are good though, we only have 1 squad destroyed, whereas they lose 57 squads and 19 guns. With no supply their squads should stay gone.

In the south the 8th Division is packed and will leave Kukong for Liuchow tomorrow.

Other
Aircraft B6N2 Jill advances R&D to 8/43

[FeurerKrieg]

October 23rd, 1942

India/Burma
Off the coast near Akyab SS Gato hits one of our smaller xAKs (6 vps) that was headed to Calcutta to get resources. One non-dud torpedo is enough to sink the ship. Some Helen's at Akyab are switched over to ASW duty to help prevent future attacks.

[center]
An Allied torpedo works[/center]

With a fair bit of air support, we launch an attack on the British/Indian stack southwest of Jameshedpur. The 20th Indian Division looks to take the brunt of our assault. The 23rd Indian Division is already wrecked from being retreated at Jameshedpur. The 267th Armoured Bge doesn't look to take any losses and the 2nd British Division is only lightly touched. The enemy is not showing a supply negative. Results were 1:2 but very close to 1:1 (1216:1255). I'll send one division back out to block the way in case this stack is able to exit the hex before my blocking unit cross the hexside. In the meantime, I'll keep up bombardments to burn their supply and hopefully slow their movement.

DEI/N Australia
Bombing of the enemy stack north of Daly Waters continues.

Pacific
A battleship TF, heavy cruiser TF and light cruiser TF all arrive at Rabaul today to remain on station in the event the Allies try something in this area. As 1943 gets closer, I expect that John may try a move somewhere given that P-38's should be in the field now. For now any foothold will probably be contested if possible as I try to keep the enemy bombers out of escorted range.

China
Bombing continues at Changteh. 21st Division is one hex out from Liuchow, which means we are probably 3 days from starting the march on Tuyun and Kweiyang with this new four division strong push.

Other
After a discussion in the war room, I have learned that nav support doesn't help the loading of fuel. Given this, I will relocated some of the dock workers I piled up in Palembang. Most will probably got to Calcutta to help with the resource extraction effort there. Other possible desintations include Fusan, Manilla and maybe Port Hedlands for a little while.

Learn something new everyday with this game!

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

More importantly, the industry was barely scratched (only one HI point damaged) and we add another 20 LI, 55 HI and 420 Resources to our India production operation. That's an extra 150 supply a day. Resources are flowing into Calcutta at an amazing rate now, and I have several convoys running resources to Georgetown to enjoy the gravy train while it lasts.

Why I love fighting in India ... a regular storehouse of goodies. [:D]

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

After a discussion in the war room, I have learned that nav support doesn't help the loading of fuel.
Learn something new everyday with this game!

About the only thing that nav support doesn't help with, but it makes sense. HAving guys standing around looking at pumps and hoses doesn't make them push more oil. [;)]

[FeurerKrieg]

Yea, agree it makes perfect sense. Just something I had overlooked in the rules all these years.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

Yea, agree it makes perfect sense. Just something I had overlooked in the rules all these years.

The learning curve in this game is........

[FeurerKrieg]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr



The learning curve in this game is........

Endless!

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

ORIGINAL: Wargmr



The learning curve in this game is........

Endless!

+1

[FeurerKrieg]

October 24th, 1942

India/Burma
After the heavy air attack on the Jameshedpur stack yesterday, I though John might try to catch my bombers with some CAP. So I stood down the bombers to rest and flew some Tojo sweeps. Sure enough there were 5 Hurricane IIc present and we shot them all down. It is possible they were just CAP leakers from Sambalpur, but I'll take RAF kills anyway I can get them.

[center]
Easy picking for the IJAAF[/center]

Our heavy artillery bombards the stack near Jameshedpur and we notice that the 2nd British Division has slipped away to the northwest! Clearly I underestimated how fast that unit would move through the jungle. In hindsight it makes sense of course. The 2nd British had left Jameshedpur before I captured the base, so it had a good 2-4 days of movement before I even started moving into the same hex.

I'm that worried though. The 2nd has walked into a hex where one third of the 38th Division is. It is jungle, and hopefully our attack yesterday ran the 2nd British out of supply. Additionally, I will send every bomber I can to hit the 2nd British in case they do try an attack. If CAP is heavy over the 2nd British, then we may take some losses tomorrow as I was running into stacking issues and so I went light on escorts. Hopefully the Nicks on ground bombing can dump their cargo and take care of the fighters if need be.

Just need to hold them for a couple days while the 55th Division arrives. If we can hold them there, then it is actually easier for me to eliminate them. In the worst case, if they get away, I still have the 1st and 2nd Armor division about to enter (and hopefully capture) Raipur tomorrow. Assuming they do, they can double back and help block the 2nd British from escaping.

Meanwhile, I've ordered all units, other than the 55th Division, to attack the remainder of the stack now that the backbone of it has left the hex. Hopefully that will push the Indians into the jungle/rough hex to the southwest that has no roads. Some smaller units can block them in.

DEI/N Australia
Bombings continue near Daly Waters. Today Bettys from Koepang take the long trip down and say hello with some 250kg and 60kg bombs.

Also, tomorrow we will try an attack on the Darwin stack in the swamps east of Darwin.

Pacific
Finally get around to dropping a few Naval Guard squads off on Makin and capture the atoll. I should probably make a small airbase here.

China
The enemy stack northwest of Sian that is fully trapped tries a shock attack against our troops today. They outnumber us 4:1 but are surrounded and presumably have no supply. We have level 2 field forts. Results are 1:8 and the Chinese lose about 5,000 troops and the 8th New Chinese Corp was destroyed. We take 1300 casaulties, but I think we'll be okay. No disruption or fatigue was picked up in the battle.

The Chinese do a bombardment at Changsha, but our counter battery fire takes out 300 enemy troops.

2 more days for the march on Tuyun and Kweiyang to start.

Other
Aircraft D4Y4 Judy advances R&D 1/45

[FeurerKrieg]

October 25th, 1942

India/Burma
As planned, wave after wave of our bombers and Nicks attacked the 2nd British Division. The jungle and moderate clouds prevented us from doing much direct damage. Their AA guns were firing often though, so hopefully that burned up some supply. In any case, the British didn't attack. The 55th Division reached Jameshedpur and will turn west and march on the British. If the British don't attack tomorrow, or my troops hold, then we will be fine because the 55th will arrive on the scene the day after tomorrow.

We did lose a fair amount of planes, about 13, to flak. Tomorrow we will continue but we'll fly in at a higher altitude of about 11,000. Plus I'll stand down the Nicks to give them a rest.

Southwest of Jameshedpur, where the main stack is, our attack does well with a 5:1 result. Everyone except for a Ghurka Battalion and the XXXIII HQ retreat to the rough jungle hex to the southwest. The enemy loses 5,000 men, 70 guns and 107 vehicles in the process. That should render the two Indian divisions combat ineffective so they will be easily trapped and eliminated shortly. One more attack will clear the hex.

Meanwhile, to the northeast of Ranchi, the 38th/B attacks the enemy troops from Ranchi and pushes them back inflicting 30% casualties. That stack is down to about 900 men over two units.

Finally, the surprise of the day, is at Raipur. Our two armor divisions cross the river into the base. I was expecting just a light garrison force. However, along with three small units (including the 6th Heavy AA), was the 268th Motor Brigade which was showing a decent AV. Thankfully our numbers carried the day with a 6:1 result. The enemy units retreated northwest taking heavy losses of 1,250 men, 75 guns and 172 vehicles lost. We also captured 8 Hurricane IIc Trop on the ground. Our armor will rest a day to gather supplies, and then will resume the speed run to Nagpur. The 4th SNLF, already in strat mode at Calcutta, will rail in to cover the garrison until other smaller units arrive via water transport.

[center]
Another railway junction is captured[/center]

DEI/N Australia
Bombings continue on the retreating stack. Our troops will enter their hex tomorrow. We'll see if we are able to attack again before the enemy reaches Daly Waters. Failing that, I will use the small SNLF units to surround Daly and the two divisions will move in to run them out of supply.

In the swamps east of Darwin we attack with the 19th Nav Guard and 2 tank regiments. We manage a 2:1 result and inflict about 500 enemy casualties versus 11 for us. Supplies are low so I'll rest tomorrow and then resume the attack. There are about 2,700 enemy troops left so it shouldn't take to long to eliminate this stack.

Other
Ternate expands airfield to size 3

[FeurerKrieg]

October 26th, 1942

India/Burma
We continue to bomb the 2nd British division today. No AA fire though, so hopefully that means the enemy unit is out of supply. No attack from them, so we should be in the clear. The 55th will arrive in the hex tomorrow.

Oddly, the 4th Raiders were taking the rail to Raipur. I thought they would go along the coast and then north, but they went via Jameshedpur instead and got 'stopped' in the hex with the British. We own the hexsides in and out, so I gave them orders to continue on. I'm not sure if they will move on tomorrow or not.

The two armor divisions shed their disruption and gathered supplies, so they are ordered to continue the drive to the northwest. If the 4th Raiders are indeed stuck, then the 3rd Raiders are already in strat mode and can move here tomorrow to cover the garrison requirement.

Our troops in the jungles southwest of Jameshedpur attack again and although the 171 Wing Base Force retreats to the southwest, we manage to destroy the XXXIII Indian Corp HQ unit. Our SNLF unit has already moved into the hex to the west, and a division will follow tomorrow, so the enemy units that have retreated to the southwest won't be able to go far.

DEI/N Australia
The dot base at Banggi was missed until now, and we unloaded a few squads there. They will capture the base tomorrow.

In Australia we catch up the enemy stack. We will attack tomorrow, and hopefully catch a least a couple units before the leave the hex. Either way, the next move will be the two divisions heading into Daly Water, while several SNLF units surround the base and attempt to close all hexsides. Intel has shown movement on the trail from the east coast of Oz, so the only way to hang on here in the near future will be to wipe out this stack at Daly in short order.

Pacific
We occupy the last dot base that we will be taking in the Pacific today at Vanua Balavu.

Heavy Radio Traffic detected at Tahiti. I wonder if John is building up a large force there to hit Suva with? I have a Glen sub at Suva in the process of fixing their Glen. Once repaired, I'll send the sub down to investigate and see if we need to bring the KB down for guard duty. In the meantime I've moved an extra Sentai of Nells and Zeros to Suva. I'm probably just jumping at shadows, but with so much territory under the Rising Sun, there are a lot of places the Allies could try to take a nibble.

China
We attack at Changteh today getting a 1:1 result, but the casualties are very lopsided in our favor. Forts are still at zero and given the lack of disruption to our troops we will try another attack immediately tomorrow.

Four division set out from Liuchow on the road to Tuyun. With luck this surge will be enough to clear Tuyun and Kweiyang. That will open to door to the Chinese bases west of Kweiyang over to Burma, as well as give us a couple divisions that can close the southern hexes to Chungking. I would love to have Chungking fully closed before the end of the year.

In the northeast, at Paotow, most of the elements of the 1st Division are there and will attack to clear some Chinese guerrillas. I figure it should give the 1st Div some experience. It is about ten more days before the last element is bought and the unit is formed up. I'm thinking it could go to Suva if I see signs of an offensive down there.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 27th, 1942

India/Burma
Off Rangoon a small transport is hit by an enemy sub, sinking the ship along with some resources. I've been waypointing my convoys west of Port Blair to avoid these subs, but I missed this one apparently.

DEI/N Australia
The dot base at Banggi (northeast corner of Borneo) is occupied. This coy will load up and head to a dot base I missed on New Guinea.

After another attack on the trapped stack near Darwin, we are low on supply and will rest tomorrow. Results were 4:1 and we suffer no casualties so shouldn't be much longer.

Father south, we manage to catch the enemy stack headed towards Daly Waters. They have supply and are tougher than expected. Still, we manage a 1:1 result and casualties are favorable, but it was a tough fight. Our troops will need to rest a day and I suspect the enemy stack will make it to Daly Waters in that time. We'll need to surround them and keep supplies away in order to defeat the enemy troops. Once the stack near Darwin is finished, I'll have another 3 tank regiments to lend a hand.

Pacific
SS S-30 managed to put a torpedo into CL Natori. The sub will move off to Baker and then Truk for repairs.

[center]
Enemy submarine activity[/center]

China
We try another attack at Changteh today and although results are better, it is still only 1:1 and we'll need to rest a day. Tomorrow we will hit the airfields to prevent any fort rebuilding. Also, we'll take the opportunity to let our forces on the road between Changteh and Changsha try an attack.

To the northwest, our attack at Paotow easily ejects the Chinese with a 4:1 result against level 2 forts. About 35% of the enemy are lost in the retreat, so I suspect they will have a harder time taking bases in the in future.

Submarines
I lined up several subs in the path of convoy headed to Pearl yesterday. Today I-6 got chased away. I have a couple more in the path, maybe we can get a shot off tomorrow.

[FeurerKrieg]

October 28th, 1942

India/Burma
We bombard the 2nd British which is firmly contained now. Tomorrow another division will arrive and the next day our two heavy artillery and another division will arrive, then we will start our attacks to hopefully eliminate yet another British division.

On the right side of our front, the 38th/B Division attacks the 99th Indian Brigade causing the enemy unit to surrender. Another Indian unit (albeit a small one) destroyed - Banzai!

The enemy units at Benares have retreated to the base to the northwest, presumably to defend in a larger force. We will capture Benares for free tomorrow along with its 20 Light Industry. Once the 14th Tank and 38th/B catch up, I might try to cross the river behind that base and attack it without having to cross the river.

[center]
Another unit destroyed[/center]

DEI/N Australia
Despite Nicks on ground attack, the enemy stack successfully left our hex and joined their comrades at Daly Waters. Our units will split up and attempt to surround the base. Four small SNLF units are doing the surrounding while the two divisions march into the base proper to attempt to keep the defenders occupied.

We sent the Sallys to hit the airbase at Daly Waters mainly to prevent fort building and destroy supplies, but we got lucky and destroyed a couple Kittyhawk IA on the ground.

China
Our attack on the road between Chengteh and Changsha went okay with a 1:2 (815:867) but it was close to 1:1. Casualties were about even. One more day of rest and we will resume attacks at Chengteh.

Submarines
The line up of submarines had a busy day today. First I-172 fired at DD Clark and missed. Then I-6 was spotted by ASW twice but got away cleanly. Next I-169 fired at DD Flusser, also missing.

During the day, I-169 took another shot, this time at DD Jarvis, but again a miss. Through all the day and night attacks we did not suffer any damage thankfully. One of the enemy destroyers ran out of ASW ammo. It is clear that John sent out a couple ASW task forces to escort these transports in the rest of the way, so I've order the subs to move farther northwest away from Pearl. Hopefully the next convoy we spot will have less ASW help.

Other
Aircraft Ki-43-IV Oscar advances R&D to 8/44

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

October 28th, 1942

Other
Aircraft Ki-43-IV Oscar advances R&D to 8/44

Nice, When do you expect to get this?

[FeurerKrieg]

I will have the Oscar IV available to build on June 20, 1943. I'll let at least one of the R&D factories roll into production so that I have some initial build on it right away.

[FeurerKrieg]

And the A6M8 is set to be available on April 1, 1943.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

I will have the Oscar IV available to build on June 20, 1943. I'll let at least one of the R&D factories roll into production so that I have some initial build on it right away.

Ahh, didn't know you were realistic RnD ... But you should have some production factories to upgrade to the IV model as well, correct?

Oscar IV in 4/43 is a very competitive plane.

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: Feurer Krieg

And the A6M8 is set to be available on April 1, 1943.

A6M family to me doesn't do much after the A6M3a. Sure the 5c gets armor and the 8 gets the 33 engine, but the stats don't change much and the armament is static.
Compared to what the Oscar IV represents in the Oscar line, the A6M line doesn't really have one. So, you want to move right along to George/Jack and Sam ASAP.