Tale of the Sheep! - JocMeister (A) vs. Lowpe (J)

[obvert]

Japanese Supersubs?!? [:D]

Your air game here is looking great! This shows maybe what could have happened if the USAAF in the Pacific had gotten some of the better airframes sent to Europe in the war. Your flak is doing a nice job too!

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Fighter pools[/font]
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As can be seen here there is no pressure on the plane pools. This is a great boon as I can continue to field only the most modern air frames with very good pilots. This maximizes the performance and leads to a positive spiral where I got more planes to spare for training which leads to very good pilots.

I now have a healthy pool of trained fighter pilots and I can now rotate out combat veterans (75+ EXP) to save them for superior AC like the P47 and Spitfire. This only leads to a small decrease in combat efficiency as their replacements are very good (60+ EXP) since they have been able to fly backwater CAP in full squadrons for quite some time.

This is usually the area that causes me the most concern but so far the air war have been pretty stress free. And it will only get easier from now on.

-21 days to Hellcats.
-3,5 months to P47s.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Japanese Supersubs?!? [:D]

Your air game here is looking great! This shows maybe what could have happened if the USAAF in the Pacific had gotten some of the better airframes sent to Europe in the war. Your flak is doing a nice job too!

You know how I hate those things! Grrrr!

Yeah, any Japanese player contemplating invading the WC should REALLY take those P47s into consideration. They shot down 158 planes for 8 own losses. And this was fighting the KB airwings and LBA Tojos. Try defending against 75 P47s using Zeroes and Oscars...[X(]

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]VPs[/font]
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As can be seen here the fall of Chungking had little impact on the overall VPs. He has still to eliminate the troops though which should give him some extra VPs. On the other hand I have yet the 13 divisions on the WC to harvest the VPs for.

Looking very good overall.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]West Coast[/font]
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First attack at Camp Pendleton goes well.

Ground combat at Camp Pendleton (226,77)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 80923 troops, 1537 guns, 3339 vehicles, Assault Value = 2762

Defending force 135049 troops, 1306 guns, 795 vehicles, Assault Value = 3149

Allied adjusted assault: 803

Japanese adjusted defense: 901

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
7737 casualties reported
Squads: 322 destroyed, 157 disabled
Non Combat: 38 destroyed, 158 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 46 disabled
Guns lost 254 (112 destroyed, 142 disabled)
Vehicles lost 60 (16 destroyed, 44 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Allied ground losses:
1210 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 328 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 41 disabled
Guns lost 96 (7 destroyed, 89 disabled)
Vehicles lost 80 (13 destroyed, 67 disabled)

The US 41st ID took most of the losses and their PP price dropped with almost 600 which is nice. Still short about 800 VPs to buy them out though.

Don´t think the Japanese will last very long. Two or perhaps three attacks before they are so wrecked they stop inflicting losses on the Allies.

Went through the bases on the WC and "found" about 20 more construction battalions. Half of them will remain on the WC to help expand the NORPAC region. Fresh intel reveals Japan will fight for Coal Harbor. This was a bit surprising but we have more than enough troops prepped. I expect forts to be high though.

Engineers are on their way to Prince Rupert to expand the port there. It will be our main base for a long while I think. Also diverted some naval assets from SOPAC and SEA. They will arrive in about 2 months time. We will mostly rely on smaller ships but I have diverted 2 heavy cruisers as well. We also have Idaho, New Mexico and Mississippi down in California but given the geography its unlikely I will commit them in NORPAC as proving CAP would be mostly impossible.

Our initial plan of starting to move here in May/June is still on schedule. Besides Coal Harbor I don´t expect much opposition until further north.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]KB[/font]
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Remains unspotted since the raid in the Solomons 4 weeks ago. SIGINT confirmed Soryu in the area about the same time. I´m getting a lot of traffic at Truk but not enough to let me see anything.

Where would he station KB given the situation? Personally I would probably put them in Singers to safeguard the DEI. He doesn´t have the troops to protect it from the ground but KB could wreck any landing attempt.

Thoughts?

[obvert]

Probably went in for upgrades.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: obvert

Probably went in for upgrades.

Don´t you think he did that at PH prior to the WC invasion?

[JocMeister]

Almost on page 2.

Sorry for the lack of updates. Life is just a nightmare right now with work, kids and life in general. Hopefully I can get something up on Saturday. We are making good progress in SOPAC and most recently Burma where we wrecked the 4th Guards ID and the 5th Division. Allied armor is racing down the coast towards Akyab.

Jeff has renewed his interest in the game hitting back here and there. Last days we have done two turns per evening!

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Burma[/font]
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We reached the 24th of March. Progress in Burma is good and we recently brushed aside the 4th Guards and the 5th ID.

Ground combat at Cox's Bazar (54,43)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 42655 troops, 708 guns, 1810 vehicles, Assault Value = 1777

Defending force 22686 troops, 241 guns, 92 vehicles, Assault Value = 583

Allied adjusted assault: 1030

Japanese adjusted defense: 343

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Cox's Bazar !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
9126 casualties reported
Squads: 176 destroyed, 143 disabled
Non Combat: 275 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 77 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 152 (135 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 91 (91 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4

Allied ground losses:
374 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 65 (5 destroyed, 60 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
763rd Tank Battalion
7th Armoured Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
267th Armoured Brigade
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
255th Armoured Brigade
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
70th British Division
254th Armoured Brigade
2nd British Division
2/1st Med Regiment
2/9th Field Regiment
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
6th Medium Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
95th Heavy AA Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
4th Guards Division
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
36th Field AA Battalion

Jeff has tried hitting back from the air but have been unsuccessful so far. Allied armor will continue to push south. Stacking limits makes things a bit tough right now and I have many divisions unable to participate in combat due to overstacking.

The push down the Imphal road came to a sudden halt. Not sure what happened but despite having armor + 2 Aussi divisions we suffered a humiliating defeat in our last attack there. I´m starting a flanking movement using 2 Indian divisions.

[BBfanboy]

Good to see you back!

Re: Imphal - that is getting toward the end of the road system, so was supply an issue in your attack?

[Rio Bravo]

Jock-

When you have time, please advise what you have at Paoshan?

Best Regards,

-Terry

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Good to see you back!

Re: Imphal - that is getting toward the end of the road system, so was supply an issue in your attack?

Nope, they were in supply. I think it might have been just a very odd roll of the dice. I shall find out next turn as another attack is ordered. Fingers crossed!

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

Jock-

When you have time, please advise what you have at Paoshan?

Best Regards,

-Terry

I have the 5th Corps and 3rd New Corps totaling 700 AV behind level 4 forts. Both Corps are in good shape and plenty supply. Jeff hasn´t tried anything here in a long while. The Imperial Guards have been sitting here since the start of the game.

[ny59giants]

India/Burma - Per JWE/Symon, its good to have an American Marine CD LCU or two as you drive down the coastal roads. They serve dual purpose of giving you the best artillery and limited protection from naval bombardments. Years ago, I asked him in a PM why the Allies didn't have many heavy artillery to go toe-to-toe with Japan's heavies. This was his answer along with use of FBs in ground attack in RL, but which flak is usually too good to be allowed in AE. You should have enough American CD LCUs by now to divert a few this way if you haven't already.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]Burma[/font]
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Much more reasonable losses this turn at Imphal. The 25th Division will soon be routed. [&o]

Ground combat at Imphal (60,40)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28999 troops, 462 guns, 463 vehicles, Assault Value = 965

Defending force 10951 troops, 105 guns, 34 vehicles, Assault Value = 284

Allied adjusted assault: 864

Japanese adjusted defense: 334

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
466 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 16 (4 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (10 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
391 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Assaulting units:
6th Australian Division
7th Australian Division
50th Tank Brigade

Defending units:
25th Division
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion

[Rio Bravo]

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Rio Bravo

Jock-

When you have time, please advise what you have at Paoshan?

Best Regards,

-Terry

I have the 5th Corps and 3rd New Corps totaling 700 AV behind level 4 forts. Both Corps are in good shape and plenty supply. Jeff hasn´t tried anything here in a long while. The Imperial Guards have been sitting here since the start of the game.

Jock-

Sweet!

Best Regards,

-Terry

[RangerJoe]

It is nice that the game is continuing, I was concerned that someone gave up on it.

Strafing by fighters would work best on units moving in the open, definitely on units that are retreating but not when some units with AA guns enter the hex in combat mode. In the game, it does not show just how good the American fighters were in that role. Also, the rockets are not used as weapons in the game which the American fighter bombers used extensively. The IL2/10 also used rockets to good effect as well. Not everything can be modeled in the game very well or it gets too big. It reminds me of another game where people wanted to attack enemy infantry with the mine clearing flail on the front of the Sherman tank, just how would you model that?

If the Burma/Indian border area is well defended, are there any weakly held bases that could fall to a para drop? Then supplies and light units could be flown in to create havoc? Not to mention aviation support squads and fighter operating from said bases.

[JocMeister]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe
If the Burma/Indian border area is well defended, are there any weakly held bases that could fall to a para drop? Then supplies and light units could be flown in to create havoc? Not to mention aviation support squads and fighter operating from said bases.

Its a thin crust of 4 divisions defending. Three of them are on the Akyab road and two of those have just been routed. So I don´t think a paradrop will be necessary.

This was the current Allied OOB 3.

------------------------
Allied forces
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-1st Marine Division (Being pulled out and replaced by 32nd US ID)
-2nd, 18th British Division
-6th, 7th and 9th Australian Division
-9th, 17th and 25th Indian division. (19th Indian is en route too)
-6th Chinese Corp
-7th, 254th and 255th armored Brigade.
-763rd Tank Battalion.

Also have 4 Indian divisions in strategic reserve. None have full TOE and are bought out though.

[JocMeister]

[font="Verdana"]SOPAC[/font]
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Moving slowly but surely. No opposition since the CV strike in late January. Only meaningful Japanese forces are at Horn Island and Rabaul.

I´m still using only xAKLs for moving forward here. Its slow going but its safe and it frees up the Navy to do other things. We just unloaded about 700k fuel at Auckland, Sydney and Noumea so fuel wise we will be good to go for a few months. This brings the total up to about 1 million fuel. Supply is around 2 million.