Banzais Don't Make Victories - Anachro (A) vs John 3rd (J) BTS 5.7

[BBfanboy]

There is a good chance that the heavy radio transmissions south of the Aleutians are the amphib TF carrying that Air HQ. Coming in from the north seems like his best approach to Midway.

I doubt he has 8 divisions concentrated in one hex in India - he may have brought 8 but there are lots of bases to cover and line of advance to explore. IMO John has a tendency to try and spread as far and wide as he can, in both seaborne invasions and land combat. I can't recall ever seeing a narrow phalanx thrust into an opponent's rear area with intention to stay and exploit.

[Anachro]

July 9-10 1942

I refrained from reporting the previous turn this morning because I wanted to await the follow-through from the 10th to report the action that takes place throughout. Both days are really one turn and this will be shown by the resolution of everything on the 10th. I will again note John's previous emails and the email I received tonight, which tell the story of the day:

ORIGINAL: John 3rd on July 8th

We have action at Midway. LOVELY. Better tell those marines coming to Midway that they need LOTS of coffins. “MALINES—You DIE!”

ORIGINAL: John 3rd on July 9th

Bring those bad BB on! MIDWAY is prepared to stand tall.

ORIGINAL: John 3rd on July 10th

That turn felt like a long, detailed 1944 turn…

Let's see what happens then, shall we?

India

In India, John is bombarding different airfields at different times to deny me their use and he is moderately successful I pull my fighters back to lick wounds from attrition. However, on the ground he suffers today as the 7th Australian Division and other units succeed in wrecking the IJA 4th ID, my tanks in the west wreck a Naval Guard Unit and tank Cocanada, and the 70th British ID meets a lone artillery unit (the 9th RF Gun battalion) which will be wrecked tomorrow. Meanwhile, I have some B17's port bomb Calcutta to middling results, but maybe it'll force him to post even more CAP there.

The real issues are how much can I slow down John's taking Asanol. If he continues to play poorly, I might even be able to hold it. Already, due to the damage done to the IJA 4th ID and some tank regiments near Ranchi and Patna, John is bring up an infantry division that was meant to support Asanol. Another division, the IJA 16th Division, is reinforcing Vizagapatnum by sea according to sigint and was originally at Calcutta. John, in other words, is diverting forces from his main thrust to ancillary and unimportant areas (particularly in the west). Vizagapatnum is not vital and he shouldn't be worrying about it.

His movements might hurt him. The 16th IJA ID reinforcing the brigade at Vizagapatnum might find itself in dire straits against a British ID, an Indian ID, and 400 tanks. The division moving up to support the wrecked 4th ID might find itself facing tanks and 3 divisions (a British, US, and Australian one - so GOOD STUFF for a change rather than poor Indian soldiers).



John has more units around Jamshedpur, but its unknown if they can actually take it (both Jamshedpur and Ranchi have 4 forts and 700+ AV with more that can be quickly railed in). Meanwhile, my reinforcements grow over time. How many more divisions can John quickly bring to India? The 2nd British ID is already on its way from Aden to Karachi (a number of Japanese subs lurking there have been sunk over the past few turns by ASW).

Morning Air attack on Calcutta , at 52,37

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAP Dairen Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Koan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Morning Air attack on Calcutta , at 52,37

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 8

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Keihuku Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAP Dairen Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Teikyo Maru, Bomb hits 1

Central Pacific

The real meat and potatoes for me (at least so far barring something unexpected next turn) is the near-perfect amphibious landing and taking of Midway all in one turn. Yes! Despite the bluster of John, it falls to the US 27th Infantry Division and supporting units. Midway will make a nice sub base and forward scouting base while also denying John the use of it to spy the movements of my fleets close to Pearl Harbor.

A number of Japanese coastal submarines (and perhaps some fleet ones) are sunk over the course of the night and day and the bombardment ships and capital ships embedded in the amphibious task forces do their job. US forces arrive onto the island largely unscathed and manage to take it in a triggered shock attack (fort level 3). No ships are hit by submarine torpedoes and only take glancing shell hits from coastal batteries. For now, we will retreat with our fleet, bring up the base units, and withdraw forces on the island over time. This is done to minimize risk of raiding Japanese fleets.

One thing I like about this operation is the use of the 27th Infantry Division, which is funny if you know its history during the war. In real life, the 27th ID was a bit unfairly maligned by Howling Mad Holland Smith for its performance at Saipan, where he viewed its progress as extremely too slow and cautious and thus (with Spruance's approval) relieved the divisional commander of his command, causing a huge crisis in relations between the army, marines, and navy. Ever since, various biographies by Marines (particularly in William Manchester's otherwise decent partial memoir/partial history book of the Pacific War Goodbye, Darkness) have castigated the 27th ID and its men as unfit for combat and cowards. In reality, the conditions the 27th ID faced on Saipan were probably the toughest of the battle by far and the Smith asked them for suicidal progress beyond any division's capabilities.

As irony here and in an effort to fix their reputation, the 27th ID launches the first successful amphibious operation of my Pacific War. They fought gallantly and with speed.



If you are interested in the full combat report to see how I structured my forces and how the landings went down, let me know. Needless to say, the ASW did its job and 2, maybe 3 subs were sunk (including a RO and I-class sub), bombardments sufficiently disrupted the garrison, and my ships embedded in the amphibious task forces largely soaked the damage that would otherwise have been inflicted on the transports. The 27th ID was 100% prepped.

Time to flee back south. The CVEs might move north to get the small transports TFs north of Midway. My CVs in the SoPac seem to be safe for now and are slowly approaching Pearl Harbor. CV Indomitable is already in port doing minor repairs.

[Anachro]

Australia

And then there is Australia. It seems my bombardment baits on Carnarvon have brought forth some sort of raiding force. I don't think these can be John's carriers and my carriers remain unspotted and its too soon for his carriers to have made it all the way down from India (I think? can someone check if my logic is faulty). Either way, my carriers will move north to await better recon on this force, which will presumably move south, and hit it on its way back north to home ports. I'm really hoping it's BBs or CAs. Would be a disaster if it turned out to be the full KB. My CVs won't attack without better info.

My forces at Carnarvon will attempt to take the base next turn.

[Anachro]

Given the last spotting of KB, this could very well be KB off of Australia. My cruisers have lots of fuel and will move south to Sydney. Shipping is moving to nearby ports. It seems KB (if that is what it is) will try a port strike/naval strike. CAP goes up at Perth. My carriers move northwest to await more information. Nav search is set.

[BBfanboy]

Nice result at Midway, but are you going to have to remove 27th ID to relieve stacking problems? Do you have a Defence Battalion or Tank Battalion to hold the island?

[Anachro]

It will hold. There is a lot of supply there. The 27th ID will be removed in the next week. Stacking limits aren't that much of a problem.

[Anachro]

I wrote an email to John remarking how Midway wasn't quite impregnable and also relaying what I had written on the 27th ID in my above post. I also pointed out a roving Japanese TF near Perth. He asked me to post his reply so that you might understand why he hasn't had time to update his AAR:

Original Poster: John 3rd

It was a very well conducted attack at Midway. I had higher expectations of my CD---though they did whack a number of warships--and SS. Knew you would logically come and felt pretty good about the defenses. Didn't work out and a WELL DONE to you that.

I cannot catch a break right now. Wanted ambush one of your bombardment TFs but missed by a damned day.

Can you POST this on your AAR? I've got some major store problems with am employee probably caught stealing so I have not been able to update my AAR.

Thanks.
John

[Anachro]

So I was looking into infantry TOE upgrades given that marine divisions are upgrading to '42 squads and army divisions are just about to start upgrading to '42 squads. It seems in this mod that while the "anti-armor" value improves when going from '41 to '44 USA Army Squads, the "anti-soft" value does not improve at all until '44 squads become available and even then, barely. This is different than stock where "anti-soft" improves in 42. Not sure about DBB-C and if its the same as this or not, but this seems a bit unrealistic given the disparities in performance during the actual war. Can anyone weigh in?



For comparison, in stock US Army squads go from 23 Anti-Soft in '41 to 30 Anti-soft in '42, all the way to 37 anti-soft in '44.

[Panther Bait]

Have you looked at the relative Anti-Soft values for the Japanese? I am wondering if there was a general slowing of anti-soft value/creep to slow down the casualty rate, but the ratios are similar? I don't really have much experience with the unit values to know how much effect these changes have, to be honest.

Mike

[Anachro]

Per your inquiry, PB:

IJA Infantry Squads seem to have 15 Anti-Armor and 20 Anti-soft throughout the war and this is the same in stock and John's mod. IJA Heavy Infantry Squads have 15 Anti-armor and 22 Anti-soft, rising to 25 Anti-Armor in '43. It appears to me that the values for Japanese infantry squads in the mod have remained as they are in stock. However, US infantry squads have been nerfed.



THESE CHANGES APPEAR TO BE A DBB CHANGE AND NOT A CHANGE BY JOHN

So forgive John for this one. [:D]

[ny59giants]

Neither John or I have made any changes to these values. They should be the same found in DBB mod.

[Anachro]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

Neither John or I have made any changes to these values. They should be the same found in DBB mod.

Right you are! I took a look at the DBB settings after my last post and saw that the changes came from there (I know John based the mod initially off of DBB). Thus, I edited my post. However, I do know that John has mentioned you guys plan to switch over from DBB to BigB's BMOD. Is that still the case? The infantry TOE there seems more similar to stock.

Also, as for the mod itself, I'm enjoying it a lot even if I throw a few barbs its way (more out of frustration as an ally player). I think it gives a fun challenge to the Allied side while giving Japan more toys to play with. I think as a whole the changes aren't too unfair to the Allied side given the additional carriers and upgraded carriers in the Allied OOB. A potential gripe in the future might be the ability for Japanese carriers to field Jacks, but we'll see how that goes.

Haven't used the Dutch ships' troop capacity much yet, though! [:D]

[adarbrauner]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

It seems in this mod that while the "anti-armor" value improves when going from '41 to '44 USA Army Squads, the "anti-soft" value does not improve at all until '44 squads become available and even then, barely. This is different than stock where "anti-soft" improves in 42. Not sure about DBB-C and if its the same as this or not, but this seems a bit unrealistic given the disparities in performance during the actual war. Can anyone weigh in?

No anachro, it's not unrealistic; the relative better performance of US infantry wasn't due to inner striking higher battle proficiency or power of the basic infantry tactical formation; American infantry held a slight advantage in firepower -much relative - and in doctrine and training; not that much;

good they made in DBB to drastically reduce the disparity between the power of US infantry and Japanese;

after all, the increase recorded by the game mechanics is due to ONE additional fireteam (centered on the BAR, itself markebly inferior to the Nambu counter part) for the US Army, and two for the USMC - personal antitank weapons excluded;

the practical real advantage of US infantry was the M1 Garand - and the mark 2 hand grenades - , + the Thompson/M4 (wherever the confronting Japanese wasn't equipped with their SMG, or additional LMG); it's a relative advantage only;

it came time that mods reassess this issue and reduce ALiied infantry firepower; Allied ought find their superiority through other means, airpower, supply, naval and relative field artillery; same story as in Normandy, just the same; would you say Germany basic tactical infantry formation was nferior by itself to the American and British counterpart? Of course not; practically the same with the Japanese;

[ny59giants]

CV capable aircraft - I lost that battle to John. [:(] I thought going with limited versions of the George, but this is his mod and he added the Jack.

Future version - I will be changing China over to Big B's mod version. I will be changing the CW armor tank usage. I have hundreds of the M3 Grant/Lee sitting in the pools for the Aussie troops. Many of those you have in India that are regiment size will use them. Both lines end up with Sherman V. This should make any invasion of India a little more difficult due to their availability.

I find the 75 PP/day to be a good number (My game is now at end of Sept '43). I have used it for JuanG's airframe purchase system to buy P-38s, Corsairs, and P-47s.

[Anachro]

July 11 1942

The good news is that the task force down by Perth is not the KB, but rather what appears to be a mini-KB composed of a few CVLs. The bad news is I doubt I'll be able to catch up to it. However, there is a cruiser force that John splits off from the mini-KB during the night through which he bombards Carnarvon. This I might be able to catch. Other than that, no action for now but we'll see what the next few days bring. My forces manage to evict the Japanese from Carnarvon, which is nice.

Night Naval bombardment of Carnarvon at 49,133

Japanese Ships
CA Haguro
CA Myoko
CL Shirbetsu
DD Yuzuki
DD Suzukaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Murasame
DD Shiratsuyu

Allied ground losses:
178 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 15 (3 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Ground combat at Carnarvon (49,133)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 7871 troops, 0 guns, 522 vehicles, Assault Value = 319

Defending force 2751 troops, 16 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Allied adjusted assault: 186

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 186 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Carnarvon !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
1381 casualties reported
Squads: 54 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 30 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2nd Tank Battalion
2/5th Armoured Regiment
2/9th Armoured Regiment
3rd Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
13th Armoured Regiment
Carnavon RAN Stn Base Force

Defending units:
65th Brigade

In India, John seems to be surrounding Jamshedpur and sigint shows heavy artillery preparing for it. Currently, there are 60,000 men at Asanol and what appears to be 3 divisions and a few tank regiments around Jamshedpur. My forces chasing the 4th division and the division reinforcing it might need to move back to reinforce Jamshedpur's position. Currently, Jamshedpur has ~730 AV with level 4 forts (making progress to level 5). The British division shocks and destroys a Japanese RF Gun Battalion.

In the west, my forces advance on Vizagapatnum. Sigint still shows the 16th division preparing for this hex, but I can probably bring in sufficient numbers for it. The transports at it today suffer attack from my DBs, but suffer only a little damage, whereas I lost ~45 fighters and bombers today. Shame. There are some sinking sounds, however.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vizagapatnam at 42,37

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 48 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
A6M2-N Rufe x 3
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 18

Allied aircraft
A-24 Banshee x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 23
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Banshee: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Sado Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Amagisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hokuroku Maru
xAK Tokai Maru
xAK Aratama Maru, Bomb hits 1
AK Tosan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Ground combat at 54,31 (near Patna)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 14883 troops, 259 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 671

Defending force 180 troops, 21 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 13

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 13 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 22 (22 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (18 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
Winnipeg Grenadiers Battalion
159th Mot Infantry Regiment
1st Somerset LI Battalion
Rifles of Canada Battalion
70th British Division

Defending units:
9th RF Gun Battalion

[BBfanboy]

You evicted the Japanese from Carnarvon but no IJA icon appears on the map. I wonder if the unit dispersed, as they often do when they are down to a few disabled devices.

Does John have any D/L on your carriers? If not, he might meander back your way- he has taken to feinting a retreat followed by a rush forward to try and catch helpless merchies.

[Anachro]

The carriers are undetected and are moving up with naval attack settings in place, either to intercept his cruisers or carriers if the opportunity arises. The brigade at Carnarvon fled to the hex just north but didn't appear there when I loaded the save. Perhaps it dispersed?

[Anachro]

July 12 1942

Quick post. Maybe more detail over the next few days.

India
Overall, things are going okay. The situation in India remains precarious and John could cause me great harm depending on the dice rolls and his actions, but on average things are in greater balance now than a few months ago. Rather than seeing India overrun and having to make a deeper, in-depth defense of Bombay or even Karachi, there is a glimmer of hope that the Japanese might be contained closer to Calcutta.

Northeast of Asanol, the decimated IJA 4th Division and supporting 5th Division flee three divisions (British, Australian, and American) and many AFVs. 6 divisions at Asanol continue to sit by and wait as the airforce bombs it in hopes of removing abundant supply. Jamshedpur is somewhat surrounded, but well dug-in with forts and supply. The same goes or Ranchi. If there is an area where I am at a certain disadvantage right now, it remains in air power where John's fighters reign supreme. No matter how well-escorted, my bombers usually take high attrition.

In the west, tanks arrive at Vizagapatnum defended by 4000 men and will soon be followed by a British division. Sigint says the 16th Division is coming to Viza by boat, but a reinforcement convoy hasn't appeared yet. The only convoy seen nearby is moving east. John did bombard to some extend last turn. CDs are moving in to protect my units. The bombardment did minor damage.



Australia
In Australia, my carriers get 3/3 detection and so will move back south rather than risking an adventure into the unknown, unscouted north. John's cruisers are too far away and there is no sign of his CVLs. The Japanese brigade evicted from Carnarvon does appear to be there retreating and will be followed and hopefully destroyed.



Elsewhere, my carriers are finally all fully refueled enough to make the trip back to Pearl, barring unfortunate sub attacks.

[ny59giants]

If there is an areas where I am at a certain disadvantage right now, it remains in airpower where John's fighters reign supreme. No matter how well-escorted, my bombers usually take high attrition.

P-38s and more P-38s. [:D]
Buy out via JuanG's purchase system and any that are in restricted air groups in USA.
Set to 33k or so and sweep your way to victory in India with your best pilots.
The Tojo and Zeros will melt away.
You will get some 'interesting' emails from John.

[adarbrauner]

they won't exactly melt away.

but...