PzB vs Wobbly - Clash of Steel

[PzB74]

Good to hear from you again Al, much to gracious as usual! I even miss your defeatism <G>
Dang, were can I get such a fancy 'fanboy' picture to attach to my posts... Nice one! [:)]

I'm a little sorry that my Indian Gambit took place in our first WitP game - I've always been an opportunist on a large scale. It was
a really nasty thing to throw your way as you were feeling your way ahead. So I probably got a few freebies, and if there's anything we
do know now it's that the Allies can't afford to hesitate if Japan goes after India.

If it's a comfort to you..in my game against Mike Hall as the Allies, I've torpedoed one cvl and blown up a bb with Dutch subs
during the first month of the game. So no, you're not the only one with a nack for bad luck in WitP [:'(]

Looking forward to a 'reckoning' one day!

[PzB74]

Thx for posting Okon. (that's the short version, right:) Especially interesting to have an indian on the boards, as long as you don't work for Dell support that is [;)]
Must admit that I know woefully little about Indian history, it's mostly limited to what I read in Flashman books! So you're saying that this Bose guy was an indian 'Quisling'?

ORIGINAL: okonumiyaki

Oddly enough I know fair amount about SC Bose and the INA... even interviewed one of the people that was with him on the sub back from Japan as part of a school history project (I grew up in Hyderabad). From all I found out, it was probably the best thing that happened that he died - the guy hero worshipped Hitler and Stalin, and his plans for India were a "hindu synthesis" of the two...

The post independence Indian and Pakistani armies didn't incorporate troops & officers from the INA, interestingly enough. No, they weren't prosecuted as traitors, but they were seen as untrustworthy by others that hadn't switched sides.

[PzB74]

Hehe, thx Quark - don't worry about the momentum! I'll continue the drive straight into D.C. if there's an opening!
Just have to be much more careful now as the US are getting a lot of high quality equippment. In UV I learned that quantity can still
ofset quality. Guess the Germans also discovered that in Russia....

Castor - I'm building a pool of engines for my late war ac. If/when a heavy US bombing campaign from the Marianas start making life miserable
for me, I'd like to have at least 1-2 years supply of engines available to me. I know there was a reason for producing Hitachi engines also, but I have to check up
on that.

Karachi only holds a small shipyard, so I've already sailed my damaged ships towards Singapore. Will try to repair a few cruisers here though.

Again, appreciate all of your support! I hope someone takes up the challenge and try to capture India in another pbem game.
Would be very interesting to see what happened now as the 'cat is out of the sack'!

I really don't know if I will ever to it again, but it would be nice to see whether it's a 'gamey' tactic that will always succeed, or if it is a high stake gamble
that may bring doom and defeat as well as laurels to the Jap side....

Guess there will always be an argument on this between the 'puretists' and the 'opportunists'. Personally I don't like to be tied into an historical
approach to the game. Belated wisdom is of no use if you don't act on it! I'm sure both Adolf and Tojo would have run their wars differently if they
got a copy of 'How, were and why 1939-45!' before they got started [;)]

[WhoCares]

ORIGINAL: PzB

...
Karachi only holds a small shipyard, so I've already sailed my damaged ships towards Singapore. Will try to repair a few cruisers here though.
...

With the supply you 'found' you can expand it by 800 points [:D]

Admittedly a way to remote location for regular repair and upgrade tasks [8|]

[PzB74]

I probably can [:)] But it will still take some time...they repair/build 1 point pr day for 1k supplies, right!

Another quiet day - except from the bomber attacks on the perimeter bases though.
The divisions in Karachi are slowly regaining their strenght, the ones that are most fit will load for Colombo
in 10-14 days. Can't wait to get rid of the little thorn in my side...!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/25/42

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hanoi , at 36,37

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 11
Wellington III x 32
Hudson I x 5
IL-4c x 3

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 42

Aircraft Attacking:
All bombers bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 48

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 28

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 10
Hudson I x 44

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
All Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[erstad]

ORIGINAL: PzB

I know there was a reason for producing Hitachi engines also, but I have to check up
on that.

Hitachi goes into Ida and Hickory, and I think that's it (Other than some obsolete aircraft, might be Mary, that's no longer produced). 208 is kind of a lot, especially if you've been building Ida and Hickory's already.

[Guderon]

ORIGINAL: PzB

Hehe, thx Quark - don't worry about the momentum! I'll continue the drive straight into D.C. if there's an opening!
Just have to be much more careful now as the US are getting a lot of high quality equippment. In UV I learned that quantity can still
ofset quality. Guess the Germans also discovered that in Russia....

Castor - I'm building a pool of engines for my late war ac. If/when a heavy US bombing campaign from the Marianas start making life miserable
for me, I'd like to have at least 1-2 years supply of engines available to me. I know there was a reason for producing Hitachi engines also, but I have to check up
on that.

Karachi only holds a small shipyard, so I've already sailed my damaged ships towards Singapore. Will try to repair a few cruisers here though.

Again, appreciate all of your support! I hope someone takes up the challenge and try to capture India in another pbem game.
Would be very interesting to see what happened now as the 'cat is out of the sack'!

I really don't know if I will ever to it again, but it would be nice to see whether it's a 'gamey' tactic that will always succeed, or if it is a high stake gamble
that may bring doom and defeat as well as laurels to the Jap side....

Guess there will always be an argument on this between the 'puretists' and the 'opportunists'. Personally I don't like to be tied into an historical
approach to the game. Belated wisdom is of no use if you don't act on it! I'm sure both Adolf and Tojo would have run their wars differently if they
got a copy of 'How, were and why 1939-45!' before they got started [;)]

PzB - First of all, allow me to add my congrats. [&o] I'm curious as to whether or not you're seriously considering an invasion of the US. I remember a thread not too long after WitP came out where folks were debating the possibility of an all out attack on the Hawaiin islands and then the US mainland. Somebody (Nik maybe? I'm too lazy to search the archives for the thread[:D]) decided to try it against the AI to see what would happen. If memory serves, he managed to take the Hawaiin islands, but suffered enormous air and naval losses doing so. He then proceeded to invade the US mainland. It didn't look too hopeless at first, but then a whole sh**load of US ground forces (forces not on the reinforcement schedule) appeared at once and crushed him like a bug. He managed to withdraw only a fraction of what he invaded with, and suffered further heavy naval losses as well. This would have effectively doomed the Japanese player to an early defeat. This is the only instance of an attempted US invasion that I'm aware of, but maybe there's a good reason for that. [;)]

[Nikademus]

.

[Nikademus]

Guilty.

Look for the AAR titled "Banana AAR".

Documents a Japanese field trip to the West Coast. Some minor difficulties were experienced but nothing serious. After sampling the local cusine Imperial GHQ decided that the newly established Japanese base was not suitible for further development and an reallignment back to Japanese waters was approved by the Banana.

LONG LIVE THE BANANA!

[PzB74]

Guderon, thanx! [:)]
I did read about Nikademus' attempt to invade the US West Coast...A novel adventure but I'm no copy cat so Op. Folly has been placed in Army reserve for now ;->
The plan to invade PH was the alternative to invade India and I'm sure I could have pulled it of in early 42. It would have been expensive, but absolutely doable. I don't
think it is anymore and it will not be attempted.

Told David that I got the strategic initiative cause his best troops are marooned on Java while large parts of his fleet has been sunk.
He called it victory disease - probably to pull me [;)] - but I'm merely summing up the facts. I'm going to execute a few offensives, but not against either Oz, the US or
Lunga. Most of all I wish to secure Java and Timor and then form a powerful reaction fleet with 2-3 divisions and as many carriers as possible. When the enemy then decides
to do something I'm not to happy about...*SmAcK!*

Today I disbanded the KB into Singapore after merging 2 trained Zero Daitais into the different Zero air groups. So we still got a full complement of highly experienced naval
fighters and bombers aboard the carriers. The ships will repair and refit for a while now, reduce sys damage below their teens on all of the cv's.

The divisions in Karachi are really coming back to life. No hurry though but a Para regiment and the South Seas Detachment will be sent to Singapore asap.
If possible I'd like to recapture Timor as soon as possible before David can bring in too many LCU's. Shouldn't be a problem now as I got sufficient carrier support available.

In Rabaul I've split the 36 ac Tojo Daitai into 3 units. The large one suffers a lot of damaged ac when I put it on 90% CAP - want to experiment with smaller units. Logistics should
be simpler, that's the plan anyway.

A double update - 2 quiet days!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/27/42


Air Combat

I'm using barges to bring supplies to islands in the Solomon chain. May cost me a few
small ships, but it's a rather inexpenvise way of doing it.

Day Air attack on TF, near Torokina at 63,92

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 4
B-26B Marauder x 28

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PG Hakkai Maru, Bomb hits 1
AG AG-351
AG AG-117, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/28/42

Sub/ASW Attacks

The Seal bought it near Truk, I'm really getting the hang of this now [:)]

ASW attack at 62,79

Japanese Ships
APD APD-39

Allied Ships
SS Seal, hits 6, on fire, heavy damage

Air Combat

The orphaned Wellingtons hit a base in Burma! After Colombo the Army AF will go after the
Chinese bases.

Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 4

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 1 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
All Wellington III bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kendari , at 33,71

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 17

Japanese aircraft losses - I'm moving some supplies into Timor by transport ac
L2D2 Tabby: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Torokina at 63,92

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 6
B-26B Marauder x 15

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships - the ships have now unloaded at Shortland for the cost of 2 barges
AG AG-123
PG Hakkai Maru
AG AG-351, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG AG-353

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[PzB74]

Been thinking about whether I should send more ships to Truk right away.
I need to get some LCU units back asap, but before that happens I'll let my ships rest.

What does the rest of you think? Should I send the Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku and Zuikaku together
with a cvl to Truk and let the Junyo and Hiyo + 2 cvl's take care of things in the DEI - should it
be the other way around or should I keep my ships together?

Hm, difficult....

Another cruiser squadron made up of repaired ships will arrive at Truk tomorrow and
there will now be more than 20 ca, cl and dd's there.

Hong Kong is now a size 9 port and will provide mines for my ml's. 4 construction units
and 3 smaller NLF units will be moved out shortly and replaced by a Chinese Exp Force brigade.
A full engineer regiment has also been prepped to move from Kwantung to Truk. It will be part of the
strategic reserve that will be established here together with 2 crack divisions.

I'm also trying out new wolf pack tactics in the Central Pacific. 6 subs based around a search plane equipped
boat have been ordered to intercept US convoys. Don't think it'll work if there are many enemy escorts, but perhaps
the first convoy will be lightly escorted if the enemy isn't expecting much opposition.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/29/42

Further attacks in Burma meets little success. I've reorganized some fighter units
and instead of ground attack training they will now train on bomber formations.

The B-17 bombing raids around Rabaul and PNG were split up today and the smaller
formations failed to inflict much damage while 5 Forts were shot down over Rabaul.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 6

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 17

Aircraft Attacking:
All Wellington III bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 6

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 6
Hudson I x 5
IL-4c x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
IL-4c: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
All bombers bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kendari , at 33,71

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 47

Japanese aircraft losses
L2D2 Tabby: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 8 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 48

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rabaul , at 61,88

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 18

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 10 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kavieng , at 61,86

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 8 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Admiralty Islands , at 58,84

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 13

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
69 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[toraq]

What does the rest of you think? Should I send the Akagi, Kaga, Shokaku and Zuikaku together
with a cvl to Truk and let the Junyo and Hiyo + 2 cvl's take care of things in the DEI - should it
be the other way around or should I keep my ships together?

One of the reason of your last successes has been the force concentration. I prefer the concentration of the CVs to secure the Colombo, Java and above all, Timor. These operations may require your entire fleet, so you can cause maximun destruction.

BUT, it may be some alternatives

1- The destruction of allied CVs: now you have complete CVs superiority, the plan could be search & destroy his CV power entirely (if possible). If you´re as determined as with India you may sink another couple of allied CVs.

2- Naval offensive: you can use your main CVs to cut allied supply lines from USA to South Pacific. But I don´t know very exactly how is the strategy situation between Lunga and the USA.

3- Naval defensive: as you said, put the CVs in Truk and wait for an invasion in the South Pacific area to counterstrike. I know you like this tactic![:'(]

Anyway, the perfect one, (in my opinion) is to prepare the landings in Java and Timor with all forces available.

P.S: Congratulations for you last overwhelming victory!

[Tom Hunter]

As toraq said one of the keys to your victory in India was concentration of forces, forgetting that now could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Attritting the allied CVs is worth a lot to you now but I would be somewhat suprised if ADavidB allowed you to do that. Still he might get caught by suprise if you were careful.

I look at the score on Freeboy and Zetas game, and how things are playing in 1944. Freeboy is unstoppable but Zeta is crushing him on points. Zeta just raided and sunk a force of CVEs for example and pushed his point total up another few hundred. The more damage you do to the US Navy the more trouble ADavidB will have catching up with you.

ADavidB has done you a big favor by continueing to play, so far everything he has lost was as a result of Wobbly's moves not his own. I hope this does not sound harsh to Wobbly but I think you out generaled him (or admiraled him?). ADavidB has been making the best of a losing start. But soon the plans will be his own, not a result of Wobbly's play, it will be very interesting to see if he can defeat you with his own plans and preperations.

I also think that ADavidB might resign if he starts to lose in a major way. He started way behind but it was interesting because we all, including him, wanted to see if India really could be taken. Now we know. The current question is can ADavidB come from way behind to resuce and then win the game. That question is interesting, but less interesting than the India question because its not a strategy question, its a question about the quality of your respective command abilites within this particular situation.

Tangent aside I would try to mess with his navy to reduce his options and win the game. Then see what he chooses to do.

[PzB74]

Thx for the comments guys - good ones [8D]

I think we're mostly thinking in the same way Toraq. I really don't want to split up my fleet and I don't think that David will be able to conduct any
major amph landings in the south/central Pacific until mid 43.

My defense of Rabaul will most likely be bypassed or broken as he advances up the Solomon chain - I'm not sure I even want to challenge him here
but instead wait until he has to perform a bigger jump as this will make him more vulnerable to counterattack. My successes in UV were - as you perhaps know Toraq - a result of quick and decisive trusts by the fleet in combination with LBA.

So Java and Timor definetly got priority and I can't see how it will be possible to stop me if I gather enough troops and strike hard as you propose.
You're right Tom, David is a good player and he can't really be blamed for the loss of India. The only thing I've noticed is that he tends to split up his forces and prefers to play safe instead of taking risks. The loss of the Yorktown and the fact that he could have captured all of Java and made my job a lot more difficult are examples of this.

If I can preserve my fleet and continue to hurt the Allied fleet through 43 and 44, it will indeed be a slow and painful advance for David. It's so essential to have a powerful fleet, if not even in being.

Also considered sending out my carriers in order to close down enemy shipping lanes, but there are so many enemy bases with search planes and lots of LBA that I'm not really that keen anymore. It would burn a lot of fuel and the KB would be tracked and provided an opening for David to act while they're gone. A week ago I sent a cve with Vals aboard down to one of the small islands west of Tarawa - I only spotted PT boats and returned to Truk. Don't know if I was spotted, but I'd like David to think that I got carriers in both the DEI and Central Pacific.

The idea of hunting down the US fleet is dangerous, I'd have to seek out the enemy and fight on his ground. Much better to let them react to my moves for the time being. I'm actually thinking about conducting a diversionary landing in Attu and Kiska islands. Just send in a few small carriers, a regiment, base force and engineers. This will force David to divert resources from his planned campaigns. Does that sound like a good idea? Could happen within a month or two.

[Tom Hunter]

PzB

Crushing him where he is over extended is a no brainer, of course you should. For that matter he should do the same to you.

Beyond the obvious, ideally you want him to do something dumb. If he does not do that then your second most desireable outcome is suprising him. Third is he takes a carefully calculated risk and the dice don't go his way. Past that your options get undesirable, things like calculated risks that do go his way and clever plans on his part come up as we start moving down the continuem.


I won't comment on his play style since I am reading his part of the AAR as well and your assesment

The question is what can you do to get him to do something dumb or suprise him. For the sake of this arguement I am defining a mis-calculated risk as something dumb or suprising. If you think the North Pacific will help with this then go for it. If it won't cause either of those two things to happen then I would forget about it.

[PzB74]

It will not be easy to surprise David...will probably be easier to let him surprise himself [;)]
And yes, I think I will move some troops into Kiska - the Northern Fleet will be put in charge of Operation Shingle
I'm visualizing a force of 2 light carriers, some cruisers and destroyers and a transport tf.

Today saw the end of September, it was a good month and we almost got a clean 4-1 ratio already.
An intelligence summary will be added to the bottom of this post!

An overview of major warships losses:

Allies

4 cvs
1 cvl
11 bb
1 bc
15 ca
13 cl
5 claa
68 dd
4 apd
3 avd
2 dms
1 av
2 as
10 ss

Japan

2 cv
2 ca
6 cl
43 dd
5 apd
39 ss

The most serious losses are the destroyers, but we've inflicted so heavy losses on the enemy that I can't really regret it.
I still got a functional sub fleet and new boats are coming out of the yards. I've also accelerated the cl Agano, had 20 naval shipyard points
to spare, the ship will arrive in 19 days. That's a good destroyer leader, much better than the old cls.

I consider the enemy cruisers losses as significant and important. Carrier vice we have lost 2 major units and destroyed 3 US carriers.
This should leave David with the Hornet, Saratoga and Wasp - and of course the HMS Indestructible. Since we have received the Junyo, Hiyo and
some cvls, we now enjoy a clear 2-1 superiority in carrier ac.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/30/42

ASW Attacks

A lot of ASW attacks outside of Japan, we hit one boat. They're not doing much
for the moment, but I'm not taking any chances as V1.5 may change this.

ASW attack at 64,44

Japanese Ships
PC Shonan Maru #17
PC Shonan Maru #6
PC Shonan Maru #2
PC Shonan Maru #1
DD Nenohi
DD Naganami

Allied Ships
SS Albacore, hits 1, on fire

Air Combat

A lot of training going on in China now - and in India as well!

Day Air attack on 74th Chinese/C Corps, at 50,31

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
D3A Val x 15
B5N Kate x 24
Ki-48 Lily x 6

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
24 x B5N Kate bombing at 5000 feet
8 x A6M2 Zero bombing at 2000 feet
8 x A6M2 Zero attacking at 100 feet
7 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
8 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Marooned Allied units in Burma are helped on their way to Mandalay.
Their fighting value is almost zilch...

Ground combat at Jorhat

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20539 troops, 313 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1296 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 128 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
3 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Map: Sit rep October 1st 1942

[PzB74]

Heres the last turn before the weekend! Tomorrow I'm going on an 'expedition' to London in order to examine
enemy military equippment [;)] Imperial War Museum, HMS Belfast, Bovington Tank Museum and an ac museum is on the list...oh
yeah and of course we'll see the Dungeons and other secondary objectives...)

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/01/42

Not a lot of interesting stuff to report today....

ASW Attacks

Some activity around Tarawa!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 82,91

Japanese Ships
SS RO-61

Allied Ships
DMS Elliot
DMS Long
DMS Perry
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lots of traininig activity in China...

Day Air attack on 74th Chinese/C Corps, at 50,31

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 62

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo attacking at 100 feet
32 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 74th Chinese/C Corps, at 50,31

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
D3A Val x 15
B5N Kate x 46
Ki-48 Lily x 6

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
23 x B5N Kate bombing at 5000 feet
23 x B5N Kate bombing at 5000 feet
8 x A6M2 Zero bombing at 2000 feet
8 x A6M2 Zero bombing at 2000 feet
8 x A6M2 Zero attacking at 100 feet
7 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
8 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Map: 10/42

Here's an overall strategic map of the situation!

[Grotius]

I love the Imperial War Museum. Great fun even for people who aren't history buffs.

[okonumiyaki]

S C Bose is a touchy subject. The Bengali's hero worship him...

Just a quick background on nationalism movements in colonial India. They were mostly regional based, e.g. there was a maharastra nationalist movement, a bengali one, a tamil one, a sikh one etc. The bengali movement was the one that expoused terrorism - bomb attacks on British officials etc.

Anyway, along comes Congress, which is a pan India nationalist movement - except there is no such thing... Note that the leaders of Congress were not really local. Ghandhi came of political age in S Africa, and Nehru was more English than the English... So they had an outsiders' concept of "India" that most "Indians" of the time didn't have. The British in the early 1920's came to the conclusion that home rule/ independence for India would have to occur by the 1950's, and Congress were people they could do business with.

In the 30's, Bose (who, while educated in the UK, was from the Bengali nationalist movement) challenged this cosy relationship, trying to take control of Congress from the Nehru/ Gandhi coalition, seeing them as weak. He failed, and left in disgust.

He then joins up with Germany and Japan. Now, many Indians excuse this on the basis of "my enemies enemy is my friend". But having read his writings, and talked to someone who knew him, my understanding is that it wasn't a marriage of convenience, but that he truly bought into the totalitarian line. Deserters from the INA were shot...

No doubt about his patriotism, but his ideas were stupid/ scary. He was a totalitarian, and if (a big if) had ended up running India, would have been a Mao type figure - he was determined to use "the state" to modernise India at all costs

[PzB74]

Back from a nice vacation [8D] Still uncomfortably busy with my studies, so my posts over the next 6-7 weeks may
become a little erratic.

You're right Grotius, Imp War Museum is a great place for everyone! The Holocaust exhibition was a little sobering though..
Going to attach a few nice pics from the trip!

Bose must have been a character Oko, I've put him in charge of the Indian Army of Liberation and ordered him to quell
any anti Indian risings supported by the British.

I found the 'Can you ignore India' thread rather amusing. People really got a lot of opinions, really strong ones as well - both ways.
Personally I find it a valid strategy, but I'm not sure it will succeed if your opponent is prepared. Even though you do loose India, it does
introduce a lot of new possibilities. I've never seen the charm of repeating all of the failures that were committed by the Japs during WWII
anyway, prefer to 'invent' my own ones [;)]

You know what: the Oscar II will now arrive in 12/42 instead of in 1/43 WHOPPING! I had almost given up on it.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/02/42

Air Combat

A lot of heavies on Tarawa now! Also a lot of 'training missions' in India, Burma and China - I've erased those.

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Day Air attack on Maloelap , at 82,81

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 82

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 13 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 49

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 53

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported

Runway hits 60

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 46

No Allied losses

Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Gasmata , at 59,90

Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 50

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 3 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Special: IJA Tony 100 from the RAF Museum.

This is the only surviving example of the fighter and it's in a pretty nice shape. Saw that some of the instruments were missing.
A late war radial fighter that was usefull against Allied heavy bombers.