Back and Better Than Ever Vettim 89(A) vs Greasylake(J)

[RangerJoe]

So you don't forget to do so, build Karachi's fortifications. It is the easiest port on the west coast of India to resupply from Aden and Abadan. Consider hauling supplies to Abadan if he invades India.

[vettim89]

Game is now mostly aerial bombardment of Bataan and Singapore.

Midget sub tried to sneak into PH on the 11th and was snagged in the anti-submarine nets.

Big news. Rabaul seems to finally be getting some attention

[vettim89]

Almost 200 a/c it Singapore today. About out of anything that can oppose this onslaught.

As expected BBs hit Rabaul today

Night Naval bombardment of Rabaul at 106,125 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
CA Takao

Allied ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 42
Port hits 12
Port supply hits 1

bbs at rabaul.jpg (122.15 KiB) Viewed 116 times

PM got hit by the same all Kate air assault I saw at Wake. Is this just all the CVLs all bunched up in one TF. Mouse over intel says one CV present.

Afternoon Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
B5N1 Kate x 11
B5N2 Kate x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
11 x B5N1 Kate bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
8 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Lost an xAKL to sub attack just north of Soerobaja. This is the first sub loss in quite a while.

B-17s hit the oil at Miri again. Two IJN TFs are seen at that local. Perhaps some AS to allow fighters to be based there?

The first RGT of the Americal Div is unloading at Noumea

[vettim89]

IJN CVs remain north of PNG. I included the mouse over to give you an idea of what I am seeing. Troops finally land at Rabaul

cvs off PNG.jpg (160.79 KiB) Viewed 90 times

Air bombardment continues at Singapore and Bataan.

I did the math and I have 148 Hurricanes in or near the CBI. In addition there are three poorly trained USSAF FS arriving at Cape Town in 6 days. I could also bring the AVG back after upgrading to P-40s.

I Have the 18th British and both the 6th and 7th Aussie Divisions in the area. Seriously now toying with the idea of trying to hold Burma. My concern is there is over 2000 IJA AV at Johore right now. If my opponent brought all that to Burma I doubt if I could hold. Then again, he hasn't taken any of the DEI yet either. I have a week or so to decide. Perhaps I'll wait to see how quickly Singapore falls

[vettim89]

Rabaul falls. He brought some AS so that is going to be an issue now

Ground combat at Rabaul (106,125)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6892 troops, 64 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 211

Defending force 251 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5

Japanese adjusted assault: 68

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 68 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Rabaul !!!

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

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

Allied ground losses:
201 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
82nd Naval Guard Unit
Kure 3rd SNLF
83rd Naval Guard Unit
12th Naval Construction Battalion
10th Special Base Force

Defending units:
Rabaul Det. Base Force

I had a well escorted convoy about the land at Sydney and an I-boat took out two of the xAK. My ASW capabilities suck. This convoy i carrying various engineer units attached to the SWPAC.

The IJN CVTF is now deep in the Coral Sea. Expect a raid on Townsville next turn. All my fighters are protecting Brisbane and Sydney

CVs off Oz.jpg (196.82 KiB) Viewed 75 times

First IJA units have arrived at Bataan

[vettim89]

Now this was a bad turn.

IJN subs sink an xAK SW of LA, a TK just south of Tjilatjap, and then sneak in PH and sink AO Neosho (that one hurt). While the first two were relatively unprotected, at PH I have three dozen AC on ASW patrol plus three ASW TFs and they can't stop anything. Not to mention the mines. There is also a sub off Colombo and two ASW TFs take a crack at it for no hits. This is the worst game I have ever had regarding the effectiveness of the IJN subs. I have put TF commanders with good naval skills in my ASW TF and convoys. Nothing seems to make a difference

As expected, CV AC attack Townsville. The TF is now about 300 NM ESE of the base.

Afternoon Air attack on Townsville , at 92,144

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 62 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
B5N1 Kate x 11
B5N2 Kate x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged

B-17s hit Miri oil again and have reduced the function oil field to 90. I guess I have to take the wins when I can get them

IJA Shock Attacks across the Johore Strait. The enemy is on the island; the issue is in doubt

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 79401 troops, 887 guns, 517 vehicles, Assault Value = 2614

Defending force 29807 troops, 341 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 633

Japanese adjusted assault: 1165

Allied adjusted defense: 709

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
4062 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 589 disabled
Non Combat: 45 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 158 disabled
Guns lost 53 (11 destroyed, 42 disabled)
Vehicles lost 56 (28 destroyed, 28 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
4982 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 284 disabled
Non Combat: 106 destroyed, 83 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 33 disabled
Guns lost 52 (21 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 35 (11 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

SIngapore Shock.jpg (211.47 KiB) Viewed 68 times

Also, First bombardment attack at Bataan. I have the AV advantage but almost no supplies

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 35562 troops, 369 guns, 66 vehicles, Assault Value = 1476

Defending force 57113 troops, 898 guns, 803 vehicles, Assault Value = 1946

Japanese ground losses:
754 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (5 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
127 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (6 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
48th Recon Regiment
20th Division
7th Tank Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
65th Brigade
2nd Tank Regiment
9th Infantry Regiment
Kanno Det
Sasebo 1st SNLF
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
48th Engineer Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 3rd SNLF
48th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
192nd Tank Battalion
Subic Bay Defenses
41st PA Infantry Division
Provisional GMC Grp
11th PA Infantry Division
4th PA Constabulary Regiment
21st PA Infantry Division
57th PS Infantry Regimental Combat Team
2nd/45th PS Inf Battalion
1st PA Constabulary Regiment
31st PA Infantry Division
14th PS Engineer Regiment
Manila Bay Defenses
3rd/45th PS Inf Battalion
51st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Constabulary Regiment
1st/45th PS Inf Battalion
91st PA Infantry Division
194th Tank Battalion
1st PA Infantry Division
4th Marine Regiment
26th PS Cavalry Regiment
1st/43rd PS Inf Battalion
31st Infantry Regiment
71st PA Infantry Division
2nd PA Constblry HW Regiment
803rd Engineer Aviation Battalion
Asiatic Fleet
Bataan USN Base Force
Far East USAAF
301st Construction Battalion
201st PA Construction Battalion
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
88th PS Field Artillery Regiment
Manila USAAF Base Force
II Philippine Corps
PAF Aviation
Cavite USN Base Force
USAFFE
I Philippine Corps
202nd PA Construction Battalion
1st USMC AA Battalion
Clark Field USAAF Base Force
301st PA Field Artillery Regiment

[BBfanboy]

For ASW TF combat it seems less is more. With much experimentation I have found that 3 vessels is the best ASW TF size and no more than two ASW TFs per hex helps. More than that and they seem to get in each others' way. I am guessing that the algorithm has trouble processing too many die rolls in the same place for the same purpose.
For Air ASW, I have no idea on numbers, but it does seem to work best if you have enough patrollers on Nav Search to first spot the sub and some on ASW to localize/attack the subs. Air ASW might get lucky and in any case they will raise the D/L of the sub for the ASW TFs.
Once the Allies have radar (and working torps) on their subs, they have a reasonable chance of ambushing IJN subs.

[vettim89]

Well it doesn't help that even now my pilots have crap EXP levels. Will modify my ASW TF as suggested. At this point, anything helps.

Quiet turn. Just bombardment attacks at Singapore and Bataan.

The IJN CVs disappeared but a BB based SCTF is out in the middle of the Coral Sea. Suspect a Bombardment of Noumea is in the offing. TF still unloading the 164th Inf RGT there. They will stop offloading and head south

A few turns ago, mouse over intel said only one unit at Bangkok. In hind sight a counterattack that direction with 2000 AV in the south of Malaya may have been a good spoiling attack. Opportunities lost

[chaos45]

Play Scen 2 as Japan and im finding trying to enter any allied ports with mines to basically be a dead Japanese sub, so must be some miracle luck his sub made it into PH.

[RangerJoe]

ASW needs to fly very low . . .

Naval search should fly around 6k . . .

[vettim89]

IJN CVTF spotted in northern Coral Sea heading NE (back toward Rabaul). The SCTF is still loitering in the Middle of the Coral Sea heading SW. I think I am being baited

Only Bombardments at Singapore and Bataan.

[vettim89]

Deliberate Attack at Singapore

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 74497 troops, 883 guns, 475 vehicles, Assault Value = 2200

Defending force 26829 troops, 326 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 359

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 1107

Allied adjusted defense: 455

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3600 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 274 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2837 casualties reported
Squads: 63 destroyed, 224 disabled
Non Combat: 45 destroyed, 117 disabled
Engineers: 38 destroyed, 44 disabled
Guns lost 59 (10 destroyed, 49 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (11 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Well I am four day past the historical fall. Doubt I will make to a week late

Bombardment attack at Bataan

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 32043 troops, 430 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 1590

Defending force 56710 troops, 894 guns, 789 vehicles, Assault Value = 1892

Japanese ground losses:
373 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
125 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

If it weren't' for the supply issue I feel I could hold out for a while here. Larry is concerned about the AV disparity but he should be. WIll probably take 3-4 weeks at most to finish it off which still takes it into perhaps Mid-March

[BBfanboy]

Further on the Air ASW - don't forget that the range set for the aircraft on this mission is halved to simulate an intensive search. So if you set four hex range, you get two hex (beyond home base hex) search. And, as always, the wedge of the search arc gets wider as you go farther out, so your chances of detection get diluted.
I hear you on the crappy skill levels of your pilots, but the lower they start the faster they gain. I usually set something like 40% search or ASW, 40% training and 20% rest for each squadron then modify subsequent turns as required for found sub, aircraft fatigue or pilot fatigue.