The Good The Bad & The Indifferent

[richlove]

Dan, have you been upgrading the USMC and US Army Rifle Squads to their '43 versions?

[Canoerebel]

1st USMC has '43 infantry squads and combat engineer squads. I think the US Army units are lagging, though I haven't even checked of late since none of them are currently involved in combat.

I haven't persuaded any of my tank units to upgrade to Shermans yet. There are enough devices in the pools (at least, there were the last time I checked). Perhaps I forgot to turn off upgrade somewhere far away and totally uselss (like San Diego) and drew the pool down, but last time I looked there were roughly 80 Shermans in the pool.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

KB moved boldy north, eight hexes closer to Diego. Patrols now report 263 F, 206 B, 16 Aux on 3 CV, 3 CVL, 1 CVE, 3 BB. I've put some fighters and divebombers at Diego, but it's no more than token opposition against a force this size. Meanwhile, that big transport/supply TF is just two days from moving on map on it's Capetown to Colombo journey. Zoiks.

Isn't it possible for you to change the hex the TF enters board while it's in transit? IIRC you just set a waypoint for a hex (as in over near Scoodra) and get it pop out farther from the KB. Sending it backwards might freeze it but the waypoints worked for me.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

They can fly to carriers and land and they can fly from carriers to land. I've just done it recently. But I think you're correct that they don't act normally when on a carrier. That they count as something like 5x their actual size puts the carrier way over its maximum plane load.

I believe it is 3x their normal size. That model of plane did not have foldable wings so even though it could land on the carrier, the space they took up on the deck and in the hold was much greater than what a normal carrier plane would be.

This is a complete assumption on my part but it sounds really good!!!

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

KB moved boldy north, eight hexes closer to Diego. Patrols now report 263 F, 206 B, 16 Aux on 3 CV, 3 CVL, 1 CVE, 3 BB. I've put some fighters and divebombers at Diego, but it's no more than token opposition against a force this size. Meanwhile, that big transport/supply TF is just two days from moving on map on it's Capetown to Colombo journey. Zoiks.

Isn't it possible for you to change the hex the TF enters board while it's in transit? IIRC you just set a waypoint for a hex (as in over near Scoodra) and get it pop out farther from the KB. Sending it backwards might freeze it but the waypoints worked for me.

In my experience the destination is what determines the entry hex, not any of the waypoints. But you can just set the destination hex in the middle of the ocean as appropriate to set the entry hex you want.

The downside is that you have to then manually change the destination, or else make the real destination be 'home' port.

[Canoerebel]

Just back from a seven-mile "run" on Lavender Mountain on a gorgeous late-winter afternoon. As usual, my thoughts ran heavy towards the game, what's been going on, and what might be in the offing.

1. One interesting fact about the IJ division that just evicted that weak picket RCT on the west-road hex. The RCT had just 52 AV and had recently been pummeled in combat, but John's division managed only 4:1 odds. (He schock attacked but got a (-) for Op Mode). The report doesn't indicate he's hurting for supply. But I would have expected much higher odds for a fresh division against a beat up picket unit:

Ground combat at 43,75 (near Sinabang)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 12856 troops, 124 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 372
Defending force 1651 troops, 30 guns, 45 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Japanese adjusted assault: 340
Allied adjusted defense: 79
Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
307 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled

Allied ground losses:
374 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (8 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
10th Division

Defending units:
58th (Sep) Infantry Regiment

What occupied most of my thoughts is the KB south of Diego. What's it doing out there? I came up with three possibilities:
1. It is a probing force that was sniffing around to see if there were any TFs moving between Oz and India at map's edge.
2. John is trying to entice the Allied carriers into offering battle before the Hellcats become a factor. I don't think he knows where my carriers are. And I don't think he knows how well the F4Fs have recovered. But he can probably make decent guesses.
3. The KB is covering for an invasion of Diego Garcia. This possibility is intriguing. There I have something like 120 AV behind six forts with shoreguns and 100% prep. I think John would need a division plus strong bombardment to take this hex in a reasonable amount of time.

I am glad to know where the KB is (or this branch of it, anyhow). I'm glad it's out here rather than upgrading and off my radar screen. But I don't want to lose Diego as that will seriously complicate things for the Allies in this theater.

[witpqs]

I don't really know how much move mode versus combat mode penalizes an attacker, but if that was not a river crossing (and he kept them moving to save a day) then it was just a plain mistake. Maybe due to his time constraints?

His division did not suffer much for the outcome, so if not for that error perhaps they would have smashed the RCT, but good.

[Lowpe]

There is only a small penalty for being in move mode. At least according to the manual, and my personal experience.

[Canoerebel]

Well, shoot. I was hoping the low odds portended tough times to come for the Japanese army marching up Sumatra's west coast.

I took a closer look at the US Army divisions. Americal at Sabang is upgrading to mostly '43 combat squads now. The two divisions in the jungle hex south of Langsa still have '42 units. I've changed the settings to allow 27th Div. to begin upgrading.

A closer look at Diego: It has 168 AV behind those six forts. The defenses includes a marine regiment (at 91 AV), two Marine CD units (each with eight 155mm guns) a US CD unit (also with eight 155mm guns) and an Indian CD unit with 12 six inch guns. So Diego certainly isn't a freebie. Will John come for it? On the one hand, I doubt it (and I've had no SigInt suggesting it, though John would know to avoid that like the plague); but on the other, taking it would really secure his left flank. I'd say 50/50 he's coming for it.

[witpqs]

Remember that device upgrades require the LCU be in a friendly base. You might have to rotate units through.

[witpqs]

PS: That sounds like a nasty defense at DG!

[JohnDillworth]

1&2, not 3

[Canoerebel]

Screenshot shows the location of the KB, south of Diego, and the current situation in Sumatra, where the Japanese are moving up the west coast road and may soon try to push up the east coast road.

[JeffroK]

Have you anything available to play with Jiii's mind, spare/useess LCU at Sabang that can move, or pretend to move to meet his attackers? Might make him think for a bit.

I also think that Move mode doesnt "cripple" the attacker, maybe a 25% effect (SWAG) Its how I blitz Malaya & the Philippines. You just have to be careful not to run into a dug in Marine Division

[JocMeister]

Don´t think he will come for Diego. Atolls are bad business and I´m not sure John has the finesse to pull it off.

Although it would be fun to see him try to land 5 IDs there... [:D]

[Lecivius]

I tend to agree. He's hunting, not covering. He has to much going on near Sabang, and in Burma.

[Canoerebel]

A big question is whether John will be content to consolidate his defences, as the Sumatra campaign begins to wind down over the next month or two, or if he will get ambitious and set his sights on forwards positions (Ceylon, Diego, Perth, Fiji, Midway are probably the most likely areas if he is inspired to "go hunting.")

I hope he isn't content to concentrate on the defensive. I hope he does have ambitiions. Because that will create opportunities and/or Tar Babies (an obscure reference from Joel Chandler Harris in American folklore - somethin you grab and then can't shake loose). For that reason, I'd love to see him go for Diego.

But usually, an opponent doesn't do what you'd like them to do.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

A big question is whether John will be content to consolidate his defences, as the Sumatra campaign begins to wind down over the next month or two, or if he will get ambitious and set his sights on forwards positions (Ceylon, Diego, Perth, Fiji, Midway are probably the most likely areas if he is inspired to "go hunting.")

I hope he isn't content to concentrate on the defensive. I hope he does have ambitiions. Because that will create opportunities and/or Tar Babies (an obscure reference from Joel Chandler Harris in American folklore - somethin you grab and then can't shake loose). For that reason, I'd love to see him go for Diego.

But usually, an opponent doesn't do what you'd like them to do.

John III doesn't just like being aggressive, he seems to need the high of smashing things. He is experienced enough to know that Japan should limit its expansion and build defences for later, but he seems to get "victory disease" and keeps attacking when the Allies have grown stronger, even dangerous.
You bloodied his nose a couple of times and he reined in for a week or two, then went back at risk-taking again.

[Canoerebel]

Here's hoping!

[Lecivius]

True, but it's coming on mid 43. He is fighting to retain. John is nothing if not aggressive, but 'He ain't stupid'.