Forged in War - Tempered in Blood (J) Durnedwolf VS DOCUP (A)

[durnedwolf]

AAR 24DEC41

The I-158, near Trincomalee, put a torpedo into the AVP Orion. It's on fire with heavy damage.

The I-165, near Bandjermasin, found the xAKL Sipirok and gave her a fish for breakfast. I don't think the meal set well with her tho, as she erupted in fire with heavy damage…

A bombardment TF from Japan found the DM Tracy near Guam during the night and gifted her with three shell hits, leaving her on fire. The task force continued to Guam and pounded the island, damaging and destroying several aircraft. Enemy troops were disabled/destroyed and the airfield and airbase took significant damage. This TF, along with three others, will resupply at Truk and continue bombardment operations at Guam in rotation.
After finishing bombardment operations my TF swung back to the burning Orion and finished her off with another gift of 8 shell hits.
In this mod, Guam is the forward presence of America. The Philippines have their own military and never agreed to allowing American forces to be stationed locally.
During the day I'm sweeping and attacking the AF at Guam from Saipan. This base has a lot of supplies and a fairly strong defensive force so I really-really want to soften this target up.

Things were not totally one-sided. Joe used his 4E, flying from Singapore, to attack Saigon's port. I didn't have any fighter CAP over the base as I've been moving air groups to Malaya for future operations against Singapore… I lost a light cruiser and I've got several merchant ships plus a pair of cruisers now in repairs. I moved fighters to Saigon to detour future attacks from Singapore but what this really means is I need to step up my own operations to shut down Singapore AF.

Operational Spotlight: Philippines, 25DEC41

I've got 2 Divisions with boots on the ground and another two that are unloading @ Aparri.

The 48th Division is @ San Fernando and advancing upon Lingayen. Resistance @ Lingayen is expected to be little to none. Joe has been in Sir Robin mode for most of the campaign in the PI.

The 16th Division is at Bayombong and marching upon Cabanatuan. I think Cabanatuan is undefended.

The 10th and 24th Divisions are currently unloading at Aparri. I expect unloading operations to complete by the 26th of December, after which the two divisions will march up towards Clark with four artillery units in tow.

I'm working to build Vigan as my main field for air operations. To that end, I'm expanding the airfield, which is currently at 2.36 in size. I unloaded four AA units and a pair of construction units at Laoag last turn. They are moving south for Vigan to provide a bit of air defense plus help speed up the AF construction operations.

I'm also working on gaining air superiority in the region. I've got a fighter group sweeping Manila and Clark. They switch targets every few days. Bombers from Formosa, with fighter escort, are softening up the defenses of Clark/Manila/Bataan. Manila took a pounding from Betties and Nells on the 24th.

[durnedwolf]

Mod Notes

Air operations for Japan start out heavily retarded. Most of my fighter groups are Nates and Claudes. Bomber airframes/engines for bombers with a decent payload and range are also stinted. There are several new options for air frames for both the army and navy but the in-game production starts out at a greatly reduced rate. There are several new toys that require the Ha-43 engine - which, if I remember right, started the game with a production rate of something like 5 - lol. So I've invested heavily in air production, and the airframes and required engines are ramping up nicely but right now the pipelines are flowing at a trickle. Sometime in February I should be able to start replacing a lot of those Claud/Nates with Zeroes and Oscars but for the time being, it's all I can do to keep my current air groups of zeroes and Oscars at full strength.



AAR 25DEC41

The RO-64, near Tawi Tawi, had a nice surface engagement with the xAKL Sinabang, pumping 11 shell hits into her before leaving her a burning wreck. Apparently Commander Nikaido decided the Sinabang did not warrant one of his precious fish.

Joe tried a night engagement with his 4E at Saigon. Three of the 9 bombers were damaged by AA. The AAR shows my CA Miyako and an xAK too bomb hits but they must have been near misses or just poor reporting. I could not see any additional damage to either ship.

Air attacks against Manila went well. There was nothing to sweep and the bombers went in on milk-runs at 14 angels, cratering the airfield runways and doing good damage to the airbase and base supplies.

The 48th Division arrives in Lingayen and it is undefended. A deliberate attack on 26DEC will flip the base.

Meanwhile the 10th and 24th divisions are still unloading @ Aparri… Slackers. I was expecting them to finish as a new TF with three engineer units has arrived and is now trying to unload.

I see a small enemy TF of 2 ships SE of Manokwari. I'm trying to angle in a TF to engage it.

I'm sending additional troops to Rabaul for operations against Port Moresby.

Moulmein and Wenchow fell during combat today. Both bases were undefended. That doesn't exactly let my troops build up experience. I can only wish Joes troops got negative experience from running - lol.

I-16, 18, 20, 22,& 24 @ Kwajalein are carrying midgets for a party at Port Moresby. I might not have well-armored, well-armed B-17s but I've got me some midgets. Maybe I can knee-cap the allies @ Moresby.



Operational Spotlight: China, 26DEC41

In this mod, Kwangchowan, Yang Chiang, Hong Kong, and Canton, are all in allied control at the start of the game. As of the 26th I've liberated Kwangchowan, Hong Kong, and Canton. Troops are resting up and will march upon Yang Chiang shortly.

At Wenchow I have two divisions plus the 1st San Marco Rgt and the 21st Independent Italian Tank Bn. that have been knocking down the fort levels in a series of deliberate attacks. Wenchow flipped on the 25th when Joe's troops ran, abandoning the base. Well - Joe could see a world of hurt was coming. It was probably a good idea on his part but I was really hoping to put a hurt on thise troops - lol.

In the region of Hangchow are three other divisions of infantry plus support units that are moving along the southern end of China to drive up into the heart of China via route of Liuchow and Kweilin.

In the northern area of China I have five armored units at the forefront of a metal storm that is driving towards Kiuchuan and all of the China-held bases between it and Kasgar/Wasu. Marching behind all of that armor are a pair of infantry units and a pair of engineer units.

[durnedwolf]

AAR 26DEC41

The DD Tanikaze, escorting the BC Kirishima, eats a mine near Guam. Guam is gunna be a tough nut to crack. It's well fortified - similar to PH in this mod. You will notice over the next few months that I'm bombarding the crap out of it and also striking from level bombers. The fortress and shore guns are no fun at Guam.

Joe throws in more night attacks at Saigon. A CA and and xAK take additional damage. The CA is lightly damaged… the xAK - heavy fires - heavy damage…

6 BC and a CA with escorts bombard Guam. The allies take 421 casualties. 7 non-combat squads and 1 ENG are destroyed. 29 non-combat squads are disabled. And I get in some Airbase and runway hits.

My 2nd bombardment attack is a pair of BB; their shelling does additional damage to ground troops.

Near Hong Kong a CA SCTF comes across a pair of PG and sinks them both.

In the Philippines, around Manila, I'm sweeping and using Bettys and Nells to attack the airfield.

In China I paste Yang Chiang again from the air with Bettys.

My 1st Para Assault Division capture Singkawang.

[durnedwolf]

27DEC41

Iba is occupied by Japan.

TB Otori ate a mine at Yang Chiang when I made a push to bombard the base. Joe gave tit-for-tat by bombarding Singkawang. The coastal unit @ Yang Chiang is a PITA…

Night Naval bombardment of Yang Chiang at 75,60 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

330 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BC Kurama, Shell hits 21
CL Ishikari, Shell hits 2
CL Tenryu
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 4
CL Kinu, Shell hits 3
CL Sendai

Allied ground losses:
226 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Joe attacked Saigon again with bombers. I've managed to route fighters to the base but you could not tell by the CAP. I took 1 port hit and the CA Miyako took what looked to be a glancing bomb hit (an extra 2pts SYS damage). I would also note that Saigon expanded its port size to 6.

Manila was the target for bombers out of Takao. I'm just rotating targets to try and keep the forts from being built up too bad.

In China my air ops hit Chuhsien AF and got in a few ground attacks. I put in an order for a deliberate attack to take place on the 28th as I see at least some of the Chinese troops are in movement.

I picked up a pair of new xAK - the Nishi Maru arriving @ Bangkok and the Ekkia Maru arriving @ Shanghai.

[durnedwolf]

28DEC41

Subic Bay falls to Japan

I'm planning to increase my combat forces in the PI with another 3 divisions. I want to hurry up and put PAID on this real-estate deal.

Joe bombs Singkawang again.

I bombard Guam

Night Naval bombardment of Guam at 106,95 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 damaged
TBD-1 Devastator: 2 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 2 damaged
PBY-4 Catalina: 6 damaged
PBY-4 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 2 damaged

58 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 3
BB Fuso
BC Kongo

Allied ground losses:
180 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (6 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

E8N2 Dave acting as spotter for BB Yamashiro
BB Yamashiro firing at Guam Defenses Fortress
Guam Defenses Fortress firing at BB Yamashiro
F1M2 Pete acting as spotter for BB Fuso
BB Fuso firing at Guam
BC Kongo firing at Guam Defenses Fortress
Guam Defenses Fortress firing at BC Kongo


At Saigon the 47th I.F. Chutai combines (fighter support) Yes!!! I've set up Det A and Det B of the 77th Sentai for Night CAP. Both Dets are Fw 187A fighters with 16 Gun Value (2xCL 20mm and 4xCL 7.9mm). This is really the best I'm gunna do as a base CAP at this stage of the war.

I've got Nates and Ki-44 Tojo as my day-time fighter CAP.

In China I capture Chuhsien

Ground combat at Chuhsien (88,56)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12143 troops, 102 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 363

Defending force 1736 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 342

Allied adjusted defense: 31

Japanese assault odds: 11 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Chuhsien !!!

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

Allied ground losses:
503 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 28 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
116th Division

Defending units:
3rd War Area


In the PI I capture undefended Cabanatuan.

Ground combat at Cabanatuan (80,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14847 troops, 122 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 465

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 213

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 213 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cabanatuan !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
16th Division


I get the xAK Taizan Maru that arrives at Amoy.

[soulsilver]

Which mod is this btw? Also generally from my experience unless something is seriously different in this mod the Philippines are not a priority to take early. I think you would be much better served sending those two divisions in Japan to either palembang/malayala or the rabual port moresby region. Just my 2 cents.

[RangerJoe]

Take Manila and any other supply production then let the Philippines starve.

[durnedwolf]

29DEC41

Nias is occupied by Japan.

The mighty RO-34 engages the xAPc Hue in the waters off the coast of the Philippines.

Submarine attack near Busuanga at 77,80

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34

Allied Ships
xAPc Hue, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

xAPc Hue is sighted by SS RO-34
SS RO-34 attacking on the surface

xAPc Hue is reported to have been sunk near Busuanga on Dec 29, 1941

Over Saigon the air combat struggle continues as Joe sends B-17s on night attacks. Three separate night-time bombing attacks (each consisting of 3 B-17D bombers) by Joe. 22 of my Fw 187A fighters are flying at altitudes between 6k and 7k. Nothing shot down but 4 of the nine 4E bombers are damaged.

At Clark Field, in the Philippines, bombers from Formosa attack after preceding fighter sweeps confirm the base is free of CAP. Below is the best of three strikes against Clark Field.

Morning Air attack on Clark Field , at 79,76

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 25
G4M1 Betty x 30

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 11
Runway hits 28

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 14000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
25 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 14000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
5 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 14000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Guam takes its daily attack from Saipan. Allied troops can probably set their watches to the Japanese air missions.

In Burma, at Rangoon, I saw enemy ships last turn and went after them this turn. I didn't hit a gosh-darned thing but at least my intel was legit.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 17

Allied aircraft
Hurricane I Trop x 5
Mohawk IV x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Tilawa
xAP Lancashire
xAP Devonshire
xAP Talma
xAK Jaladuta

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
7 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 4 x 100 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
No.67 Sqn RAF with Hurricane I Trop (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
No.210 Sqn RAF with Mohawk IV (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes

PO1 Minowa L. of Yamada Det S-1/A is credited with kill number 4

Foong Bin 71 sub-groups COMBINING at Kota Bharu

Samah expands port to size 4

AMC Akagi Maru arrives at Osaka/Kyoto
AS Heian Maru arrives at Kobe
xAP Kachidoki Maru arrives at Shanghai

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: soulsilver

Which mod is this btw? Also generally from my experience unless something is seriously different in this mod the Philippines are not a priority to take early. I think you would be much better served sending those two divisions in Japan to either palembang/malayala or the rabual port moresby region. Just my 2 cents.

This is a mod by DOCUP. In this mod, the Philippines is actually defended by the Philippines military - there is no agreement to allow US forces or bases. Guam serves as America's forward base of operations...

I've got several divisions in Malaya with three more en route to that theatre. In the Solomon Islands and Port Moresby area, additional forces are also en route. [:)]

[durnedwolf]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Take Manila and any other supply production then let the Philippines starve.

I'm okay to make a solid push towards fully completing the PI campaign. The only real concern I have is my airframes and getting that part of the production process built up to meet my needs. One nice thing about attacking weaker enemy forces like the Filipino and China forces is the increase in experience and combat effectiveness of troops that successfully engage in the campaigns.