Spanking Lowpe (NJP72 vs Lowpe (A))

[Lowpe]

Lanchow will fall in a day or two at most. I don't think there is a valid retreat path for the troops and I need those guys back at Chungking...

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[Lowpe]

Will need a few good combat rolls to save the position east of Kienko...have been cursed there lately. I suspect there are a lot of type 1 medium tanks present and they are simply just grinding me up in the previous low odd attacks. Pulling back a US TOE Corp that is holding the dead end road to the south...hopefully they can get back to the Chungking line...also retreating the battered 56th AT regiment from Kienko back to Chungking Line as they have all their guns (just disabled). Most of the wood rough lines to the south of Kienko will hold in place until destroyed or bypassed.

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[Lowpe]

I will put on hold our invasion of Tarawa and batten down the hatches here. I plan to fight with PT boats and Destroyers and land based air and CD guns and mines and submarines when Japan comes a knocking. Our larger warships will pull back...and in the meantime get some more CD guns and supplies to Marcus Island.

Enterprise damaged by Iboats is one day away from leaving Canton Island for Pearl.

No mines yet at Nauru...

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[Lowpe]

Lowpe: I could use more fast transports

If they haven't been sunk yet, there are some small xAPs that are fast enough to be in a FT TF:

Kedah & Kelantan - 17Kts, 300/600 capacity
Wahine, Maori, Neptuna & Mercur - 20 Kts, 900/800 capacity.
Their small size is ideal for small ports and their short range should not matter where you have many islands already conquered, and more nearby to work on.

There are four more of those 1700 capacity xAPs that can only make 15 kts - I am not sure if that is fast enough for a FT TF.

I have all of them and they are working!

There are also the Princess Alice and friends from Canada. Fast but very short range....I like them a lot. Ideally looking for 5vp or less ships to use...preferably 1 vp! Neptuna and company are 8 vp, Princess Alice 2.

2 months plus for my first LCI and I get a LST in 21 days.

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[Lowpe]

Burma

I would take Prome with a paratroop drop and fall back one hex NW into the nasty terrain if Japan moves to take it back. This would probably give me ownership of the road all the way up to Akyab which is all x3 terrain except for one jungle hex.

I am not really planning on attacking Akyab...will bypass it pretty much I think. If I had control of the Bay of Bengal, would be a different story. Japan has 127 fighters here...

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[Macquarrie1999]

Finally got caught up with this thread, I have been reading it for months. Very informative for somebody who is just starting out their first PBEM game.

[Lowpe]

Oct 30, 1942

Testing the waters here at Nauru...the third surface fight here.

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[Lowpe]

They paid with their lives....I doubt the S boats torpedoes would have done much more than psychological damage though.

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[Lowpe]

I have reinforcements coming in two turns...but I fear it will be too late. This tank group has been put on steroids and is far more effective than any other tank group fight I have been involved in. My guess is once again they have been upgraded to Type 1 medium tanks, or feature a preponderance of the type 1s over the other lighter armed tanks.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28504 troops, 258 guns, 533 vehicles, Assault Value = 935

Defending force 29599 troops, 242 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 470

Japanese adjusted assault: 690

Allied adjusted defense: 541

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
619 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 49 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 41 (2 destroyed, 39 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1372 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 178 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Division
15th Tank Regiment
18th Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
23rd Tank Regiment
110th Division
12th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment
19th Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
13th Army
1st Mortar Battalion
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
24th Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
3rd New Chinese Corps
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
7th Artillery Regiment
12th Chinese Base Force

[Lowpe]

Finally got caught up with this thread, I have been reading it for months. Very informative for somebody who is just starting out their first PBEM game.

Great....I have been playing for longer though!

[Lowpe]

As it looks very likely the Japanese will break into the Chungking plains, plan on defending Chengtu, Chungking and the two numbered hexes that are great x3 terrain. Will have some troops west of Chengtu defending the mountain road.

The normal SOP for taking Chungking is to surround and isolate the city, bomb and bombard for quite a while, and then attack heavily with the IJA Armored units and supporting Divisions. I hope to put up a tough fight at preventing the city from being isolated.

I am hoping I can retreat the better Corps that are fighting north of Chungking around Kienko and south....I define the good Corps as having more than 250 AV, guns, and or all US TOE units. I absolutely don't mind losing all those mouths to feed for the final fight....

I have planned on this fight going here, around Chungking,..and in fact my final stand west of Tsuyun in the mountains where I have good Corps dug in to a fort level of 6

I need to hurry up and grab Magwe and build forts/runways in Burma to start a trickle of supply overland there.

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[Lowpe]

Oct 31, 1942

Going after those Iboats...

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[Lowpe]

Bingo...now this turn instead of having the ASW TFs try to guess the Iboats direction and speed, we will leave them concentrated and hope for a reaction chase.

ASW attack near Lihue at 179,100

Japanese Ships
SS I-18, hits 4

Allied Ships
DD Cassin
DD Flusser

SS I-18 is located by DD Cassi

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[Lowpe]

Bombard Pago Pago for the first time. Idaho bombardment group enroute, Suvai will be base of operations and they already have fighter coverage.

Night Naval bombardment of Pago Pago at 148,161

Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter
DD Brooks
DD Balch

Japanese ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 15
Port hits 4

C.XI-W acting as spotter for CL De Ruyter

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[Lowpe]

We hold in China at Kienko....but another grim day in disablements.

Ground combat at 79,41 (near Kienko)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28019 troops, 258 guns, 531 vehicles, Assault Value = 873

Defending force 28534 troops, 241 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 353

Japanese adjusted assault: 610

Allied adjusted defense: 511

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
104 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 59 (3 destroyed, 56 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1412 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 139 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

[Lowpe]

At look at Akyab...some, all Japanese are breaking out across the river. into the teeth of a British Division and most likely an Indian Regiment & Motorized Regiment will get there in time for the fight. It could be very ugly.

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[Lowpe]

In other news around the world....swept some mines at Marcus and the IJN shipping concentration at Nauru retreats.

Miss a tasty convoy in the Malacca Straits:

Sub attack near Malacca at 48,81

Japanese Ships
TK Meizan Maru
TK Okuni Maru
TK Kinrei Maru
TK Manju Maru
PB Ikuta Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon

SS Sturgeon launches 2 torpedoes at TK Meizan Maru

[BBfanboy]

Pretty good results for a small CL and 2 DDs in that bombardment of Pago-Pago. Forts must not be very high or the base is over-stacked (if your mod has limits there).

[Lowpe]

Nov 1, 1942


Holding, but most likely not for very long....at Kienko

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[Lowpe]

Looks better with hex control on:

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