Rob V miller . Allied game vs. Miller41

[Rob Brennan UK]

Next up the vistory screen .

[Rob Brennan UK]

No major fleet unis added to either sides score recently but i can confirm 25 jap troop transports sunk vs 1 merchantmen. I would imagine about double that are damaged to some degree or another. mostly victims of dutch sniping and submarines. Although several were lost at wake.

In north australia the 2nd DAF avaition unit will unload at darwin tomorrow, adding much needed aviation support that imo is wasted in java. As my main concern here is keeping timor out of japanese hands im happy to sarifice a bit in java.

one last screenie of burma for your information.

please feel free to discuss/comment about anything you have seen or read.

thank you

[Rob Brennan UK]

£rd and 4th Feb saw some exciting action after the last 2 dull days. The japs TF was heading toward Boreo as expected .. also ran into a welcoming comitee !

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Pontianak at 25,58

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 28, and is sunk
PC Shimushu, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kiji, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Kamo, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
MSW W.1, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
MSW W.2, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AP Daifuku Maru, Shell hits 1
AP Fusemi Maru, on fire
AP Gosei Maru
AP Hakozaki Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
AP Hakutetsu Maru #13
AP Hokusho Maru
AP Izan Maru
AP Jusan Maru
AP Kaiko Maru
AP Kaishi Maru
AP Kasui Maru
AP Koshu Maru #3
AP Kurohime Maru
AP Kyokusei Maru
AP Manzyu Maru
AP Tatsuwa Maru

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 2
CA Exeter
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 3
CLAA Columbo, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Whipple
DD Vendetta
DD Van Ghent
DD Tenedos
DD Electra
DD Isis

see screen at the end ! .. wow this worked out well , the CL Glasgow was the hero of the hour and the CA Cornwall did take on some water running back to batavia.

the only renaining escort was clobbered during the day

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,56


Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 10
CW-21B Demon x 8


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PC Shimushu, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Fusemi Maru, on fire

Just recently moved the stringbags to Borneo .. and its paying off in spades ! ..

Suddenly a small air raid vs a suspected transport group hit a wall of zeros ! KB is back

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,53

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 71

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 8
Blenheim I x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 7 destroyed
Blenheim I: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu

More dead buffalos .. god knows you have be brave to pilot this hunk of junk..

then the pulse raced as the v high morale stringbags took off toward the CV's ! ..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,53

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 69

Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 7
CW-21B Demon x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
CW-21B Demon: 6 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Swordfish launching torpedoes at 200 feet

AWWWWWW .. what a shame .. maybe neptune is withholding my luck after the good surface battle. will he venture forther into the DEI after that ? humm ,, i'm legging it with all that floats just in case .. however i'm having to leave the Cornwall in batavia as she is leaking badly (30 flt damage)

The P40's in teh PI are back in mandalay after completely failing to bounce anything and losing 6 to zeros.. oh well , worth a try i suppose. Also in the PI hes moved up from manilla to clarke before i moved all the troops from san Marc to clarke ! .. ah i was afraid of this .. maybe the PI will go to hell in a handcart pretty soon .. oops ..

[Rob Brennan UK]

KB .. will he advance ?

[Rob Brennan UK]

OOPS !!!!

just a quick update ..

CA Cornwall should have been disbanded in batavia port. she spontaneously decided to undock with a warrant officer in charge and was promptly sunk by KB ! bu*****..

Also didnt stand down the airforce in soerbaja .. 30 warhawks lost attacking KB .. i cant afford this !

but i was briefly excited

Also a previously hidden AK group sailed blythley to within 120 miles of KB , i can only assume i missed it last turn , maybe hidden behind a label ????

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Kragen at 22,63

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 84
B5N Kate x 141

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Beatrice, Bomb hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
AK Silindoeng, Bomb hits 15, on fire, heavy damage
AK Lematang, Bomb hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
AK Elout, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
AK Benkoelen, Bomb hits 13, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tjikarang, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage

All sank


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Batavia at 19,59

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 72
D3A Val x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage

Later hit by 2 torps from kates ! .. DOOMED

The attack on KB

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,61

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66

Allied aircraft
CW-21B Demon x 6
Brewster 339D x 4
T.IVa x 7
Martin 139 x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 8 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
CW-21B Demon: 4 destroyed
Brewster 339D: 4 destroyed
T.IVa: 4 destroyed
Martin 139: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 23 destroyed OUCH !

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku
CV Akagi

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x T.IVa launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet


some good news on the ground front .. jogore baru again threw back a japanese assault

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Johore Bahru

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 116179 troops, 1083 guns, 110 vehicles

Defending force 37066 troops, 255 guns, 3 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 6)


Japanese ground losses:
3492 casualties reported
Guns lost 67
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
580 casualties reported
Guns lost 22

and in china .. badly timed japanese 3 division attack vs 9 supplied corps in woods SW of Wuchow

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,40

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 63722 troops, 796 guns, 23 vehicles

Defending force 89494 troops, 595 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
8740 casualties reported
Guns lost 152
Vehicles lost 11

Allied ground losses:
155 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

I am going for a counter attack next turn , dont hold out a lot of hope but supply levels are generally improving over china..

Burma is proving problematic with jap units trying to sneak round mandalay.. RAF bombers hit repeatedly and often

e.g

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 32,30


Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 16
Blenheim I x 9
Blenheim IV x 9
Wellington III x 11
P-26A x 19
P-40B Tomahawk x 24
P-40E Warhawk x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Blenheim I bombing at 11000 feet
6 x Wellington III bombing at 11000 feet
6 x Blenheim IV bombing at 11000 feet
21 x P-40B Tomahawk bombing at 2000 feet
16 x P-40E Warhawk bombing at 2000 feet
17 x P-26A bombing at 2000 feet
5 x Wellington III bombing at 11000 feet
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 11000 feet
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 11000 feet
3 x P-40B Tomahawk bombing at 2000 feet
2 x P-40E Warhawk bombing at 2000 feet
2 x P-26A bombing at 2000 feet

Some more japs spotted sneaking round to the east as well .. majority of the chinese units sent to lashio instead of mythilinka to try and create an eastern wall to cover this flank

thats all for today .. enjoy the picture it was a high point. briefly

[Nikademus]

ouch,

your opponent appears to have Banzai on the brain. Shock attacks shock attacks shock attacks!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Yes he does for some odd reason. maybe hes thinking that forts will collapse faster is he is succesful(which is true) but the cost is enormous !

He's also rather brave with KB givn that 2 turns running torpedo bombers have engaged one CV or another. But is if clobbering the dutch a/f. at least if he strikes the a/fields most pilots will live. which for the dutch is a real bonus as thier pool is even worse than japan.. the returning bombers can rebuild using supply runs but fighters at 25 experience are useless without training hexes.

[aztez]

Your opponent is suicidal [:D]

What is he up to in PHI? I mean looking at the screens and combat reports he seems to have blundered his invasion!!! [:D] ...What kind of force you have at the moment in Clarke Field and Manila?

KB at DEI [:)] ... You might get with TB and Dutch submarines! [:)]

An even China seems to be going your way at the moment... Which is excellent news indeed too! [:)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

thank you for your kind works Aztez .. and he did make a mess of invading Western borneo. the RN trap from Batavia worked very well. apart from the Cornwall who should never have been sunk. Lord knows what happened there.

As for china he's been waiting and building .. see the screenie. BIG plans on chopping china in 2 it seems. so not going my way after all. additionally the plan to have a got at his units that bounced on a shock attack failed, although got a 1-1 initially but nasty losses.

Very quiet couple of days overall.

Decimated P40 unit from soerbaja now in Darwin but not rebuilding quite yet. I may need the 30 odd planes in the pool for burma. Next turn i can change an aussie bde to SW pac and ship it to koepang ( already prepped 40+) . and 4 squadrons of hurricanes ready at derby , although the experience is relatively poor.

KB is retiring to saigon thankfully and the dutch airforce has been reactivated. lots of subs are partolling around saigon and one caught a damaged AP with a 455mm torp today.

I have Tiv's , swordfish and wildebeest ready in various places. even some in lautern Timor as a suprise. (8xTIV).

We had some mutual e-mail problems for the past few days so first update since saturday.

The US CV's (all4) will head to Aukland now that canton is looking secure for now. Even baker has a CD and 3/4 of an RCT in it. Another RCT heading to Pago.

One thing of note in the mod is that F4F will not arrive till march so i'm still operating F2's on some CV's, only to be used in extremis.

I am also planning on an early build up in NE australia. with aviation support and a/c being shipped earlier that i have done before. N aurtralia can survive with the dutch and evacuated bits and pieces, along with some Australian 'home defence'. units. A 3rd aussie brigade is embarking at sydney for a perth-derby run, again prepping for Timor.

I am planning on a Timor first defence approach if possible, PM is a secondary objective in this game. However Noumea will be enhanced ASAP. a NZ brigade arrived here 2 days ago for a bit of defence at least. and supply is coming from the US.

well heres the situation in china .

[Rob Brennan UK]

Again more quiet turns. 2 allied subs were engaged south of saigon but are unharmed. The dutch KVII used up a lot of fuel evading and will have to retire to singapore for a top up.

Japanese shipping is very quiet.

Yenen now cut off was attacked but held out well

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Yenen

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 117191 troops, 1439 guns, 23 vehicles

Defending force 58964 troops, 403 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)


Japanese ground losses:
2951 casualties reported
Guns lost 83
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
582 casualties reported
Guns lost 11

no shock attack either, [:D]

Still i have to try and reopen the road .. another corps is coming in from kewilein <sp> .. i'll give it a go but the numbers do not look good after bombarding him.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 49,26

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 44323 troops, 339 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 35018 troops, 425 guns, 0 vehicles

his supply must be pretty bad mind you. so might be able to tip it sooner rather than later.

Small RAF air attacks from mandaly for recon as much as anything else.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 55th/A Division, at 32,31


Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 20


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Hurricane II bombing at 2000 feet

ah so he's split up eh ? that must be whats heading east to cut mandalay-lashio road. should be relatively easy to evict as long as the chinese move a bit faster !

and if thats all thats defending i may well attack out of mandalay and try and encircle him. No sign of japanese a/c in burma at all. so allies ate training on japanese troop columns. However weather prevented most strikes today

He is atill shelling away at johore baru ..

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Johore Bahru

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 102327 troops, 980 guns, 19 vehicles

Defending force 36230 troops, 236 guns, 3 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
152 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

japanese numbers increase .. and the fort is now at lvl 7 , singapore almost at 8 . supply is still very good 15K and 39K respectively.

Clarke is also being heavily invested. wish i had the time to pull more out of san marcelano.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Clark Field

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 46093 troops, 482 guns, 3 vehicles

Defending force 49651 troops, 367 guns, 92 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
139 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

not enough to get me yet but more troops landing at naga. Lets hope the PI takes a LONG time to crumble. supply is bad though. and with 1/10 supply ships making it i'll not waste any more. well i may try 1-2 [:D]

The RN is heading back to colombo and a brit CV has arrived. hurrah!

winston has been badgering me about sending some ships back to the atlantic and he wants 2 DD's and one BB .. damn .. the PP cost of the BB is 2000 iirc. so i really need to send that back, but he can whistle for the DD's , the RN needs these in the future for the CV escorts.

Did a screen shot of battleship row ( still awful) but cant get paint.net to recognise a bmp image so it wont load from the screen saver. annoying .

Well thats all for right now. we are having a quiet february for which i ought to be grateful.

[Rob Brennan UK]

15th and 16th feb 1942

It has been quiet compared to earlier actions but some do merit a mention.

Yuman has been cut off as you all know but i have moved 2 more chinese corps in .. turn after next they attack, supply is fine btw.

another discovery from another PBEM game is that 100 hurricanes on ground attack hurts a lot ! got 200+squads killed etc. may well try and implement that soon. I have been aiming for the airfield at the airfield at pagan in an attempt to deny its use , with pretty bad results

Day Air attack on Pagan , at 31,31


Allied aircraft
Vildebeest IV x 11


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Vildebeest IV bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Pagan , at 31,31


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 12
Blenheim IV x 26
Wellington III x 16
P-40B Tomahawk x 20
B-17C Fortress x 7


No Allied losses

Runway hits 2

the RAF needs training and operating from chandpur is not ideal. need more av support.

Japanese DB's appeared over yunan today for the first time .. utterly innefective i might add

Day Air attack on Yenen , at 50,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-51 Sonia x 16
Ki-49 Helen x 16
Ki-15 Babs x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 4 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 6 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 2 damaged


i have lots of units in the countryside that would be better targets but im not complaining:)

japan again bombed the heck out of johore barun and attacked !

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Johore Bahru

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 114253 troops, 1005 guns, 108 vehicles

Defending force 34587 troops, 209 guns, 2 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7)


Japanese ground losses:
3133 casualties reported
Guns lost 70
Vehicles lost 7

Allied ground losses:
1538 casualties reported
Guns lost 13

humm .. i still lost a lot of troops .. i am very very tempted to allow reinforcements . but do disabled squads come back without reinforcements on ? .. BIG QUESTION

Also NIK. i was thinking about your idea to reduce the AA in the PI ,, but a knowedgeable player will allow reinforcements for BF's .. how about severely cutting unit xp ? maybe 10 or so. so that even if new guns are constructed the crews are awful



soory again for no screenies .. cant do any right now ..

[Rob Brennan UK]

19th and 20th Feb 1942

Relatively quiet at sea for the past 4 days. Significantly this was reported .. about 4 hexes east of tarakan in borneo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 40,68

Japanese Ships
DD Kasumi
DD Arare
DD Tanikaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Shiranuhi
CV Shokaku

Allied Ships
SS KXVIII


Looks like KB is planning a run between borneo and sulawesi. OR he hanging back as i suspect several taskforces spotted east of sulawesi are heading to kandari for an invasion. and he probably thinks i will interfere with surface units. which of course i would if i hadnt spotted carriers. also he may well assume forze Z is in soerbaja as thats a logical place for it to be. soerbaja has about 10 transports in port so it looks occupied.

the real Force Z is of course in Timor .. i 'may' consider doing a fast run from the south and scampering back to darwin.

The chinese a/f is now operational in kuantang <sp> base directly west of homan. they hit the 2 jap units that have cut off homan today

Day Air attack on 110th Division, at 49,26


Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 20
SB-2c x 45


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported

IL4's from chungking cam along too but were pretty ineffective.

However the chinese attacked as planned and eventually kicked out the japs ! huzzah ! .. homan is back in supply.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 49,26

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 54383 troops, 421 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 34741 troops, 411 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
341 casualties reported
Guns lost 13

Allied ground losses:
690 casualties reported
Guns lost 26

day 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 49,26

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53382 troops, 382 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 34134 troops, 392 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
401 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
934 casualties reported
Guns lost 44


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Excellent news indeed.

However events in burma are more disturbing as Lashio fell to a suprise japanese shock attack

Ground combat at Lashio

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 7545 troops, 83 guns, 5 vehicles

Defending force 3117 troops, 29 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Lashio base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
332 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

the good news is that 6 chinese divs and 2 hqs are heading here down the trail and i am hopeing to recapture it. might take sometime though as they are v v slow.

In the pacific its quiet as the grave once again. the carriers are at aukland. and an RCT arrived at pago. Also a LOT of american a/c and a big base force passed south of noumea heading to brisbane. no sign of japanese sub activity too. the first catalinas arrived at noumea to act as limited 'eyes' in the south west pacific.

Also an aussie brigade is unloading at koepang which effectively doubles the defences. another is almost at derby and a third heading under australia to perth to refuel then onto Timor too. I will almost certainly send the american CV's round here too. AFTER they have upgraded the F2's at least.
The US torp bombers have a range of 3/4 in the mod so a LOT more useful.

HMS Ramilles sent back to the atlantic in response to churchills whining. however all the brit DD's have vanished ! must be in various convoys and he's not getting them back anyway, i NEED those ships.

RN consolidating in Ceylon and a brit inf division unloads at colombo as some much needed defences. I will send a brigade to Trincomalee as soon as one is available. Also when i have enough PP's i think its fair enough to send some canadian units to Karachi ( not using the HQ exploit).

Thats all for now .. still no screen shots [:@]

[Nikademus]

Also NIK. i was thinking about your idea to reduce the AA in the PI ,, but a knowedgeable player will allow reinforcements for BF's .. how about severely cutting unit xp ? maybe 10 or so. so that even if new guns are constructed the crews are awful

Odd...the title of this AAR changed. Almost missed it.


I've been running some more tests. The experience reduction idea wont work. Doesn't produce an appreciable enough impact on the losses. At this stage I'm leaning more and more towards an OOB reduction for the starting PI and Malayan units. While the losses for Japan remain a bit on the high side due to lower DUR and no armor for the 1st gen bombers, I am liking where the 4.5 levels are at for the Allied bombers when attacking a well defended base.

Morale remains a bit of an issue but on further thought, this may not be a bad thing. Part of the issue with uber-air and accelerated pace in the game is that players can routinely use 100% of their assets every turn to blitz bases, even well defended ones. In real life, smaller attacks tended to be the norm particularily in places like Burma where you might see one squadron attacking one airfield, two attacking another etc etc. As the Allies have tougher bombers, particularily the 4E's they can expect minimal losses against all but the heaviest defended bases but even with bombers not going down in droves, morale will plummet if too many attacks in succession are made. This can allow fighters to drive off (cause morale failures) bombers better and keep the base from being shut down so quickly and so absolutely. The morale hit would theoretically force the player to rotate his bomber groups and/or use them in sections, a few BG's or BS's attacking one day, then resting while other BG's/BS's have a go.

True, an aggressive player could try to import more BS's to the front areas though that doesn't seem to me to be a sound strategy. The Japan player should be able to enforce a blockade as long as it has enough bombers on enough airfields set to naval attack. Thx the recent supply damage rule (a long sought goal of mine), the tactic of kamakazing AK's and AP's into a contested area to dump supply is much less viable a tactic.

[Nikademus]

What i will probably do too, is also delay the building of the modern HAA guns that will fill out BS's (and AA regiments) in supply by at least 30 days. This is necessary anyways as simply reducing the number of barrels can be aveliated by the unit having allow replacements on and good supply (which is what is happening in our games as long as you avoid costly forced retreats...the ENG units only get stronger over time as they repair disablements and fill out their TO&E)

This should give the Japan player a window of opportunity to conduct ops without facing midwar level flak intensities. The delayed production would also discourage BS reinforcement into the SRA.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Great ideas Nik, and i appreciate the thought process behind them too. Actually we are having far fewer problems with AA now. The japs are happily blowing apart johore baru and san marcelano for very few losses.

e.g

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 8th Indian Brigade, at 22,49

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 45
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 24
Ki-21 Sally x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged


Allied ground losses:
110 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
12 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
18 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
14 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
7 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
8 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet

and he's flying lower now the guns are gone. hence my idea about turning replacement back on again for the brits in malaysia.

The 9 level forts in China are a god-send ! .. he approached Ichang with a walloping great army and is trying to flank as i write. but look at this result !

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Ichang

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 116835 troops, 1164 guns, 157 vehicles

Defending force 44420 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)


Japanese ground losses:
7225 casualties reported
Guns lost 143
Vehicles lost 9

Allied ground losses:
312 casualties reported
Guns lost 12

I have a lot more units moving up in support to keep the door open , like i did at Yenen. this seems to be made feasible by the big 9 forts. IF the chinese just hide in cities they get trappe and will die. Being able to spare units to actually form a front line makes the game so much better. China is almost looking like a hex based board game now ! very cool

And as i suspected japs landing at kendari .. not much here but a small base force and the planes have long gone to safer places.

He is also using AFAIK both KB and baby KB as i've spotted shokaku and a CVL. I am not going anywhere near here! If i have forced him into protecting all his landings with CV's then my job is done. The DEI will go very slowly indeed.

Dive bomber attacks at Yenen are futile mind you.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Yenen , at 50,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-51 Sonia x 15
Ki-49 Helen x 21
Ki-15 Babs x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 3 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 3 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged ODD

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 10000 feet
21 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
9 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
6 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
2 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet

maybe the lvl 9 fort is preventing losses. Personally i would hit troops in the open with these puppies.

The RAF continue to harass from mandalay a/f

Day Air attack on 33rd/A Division, at 32,29


Allied aircraft
Lysander I x 12
Buffalo I x 23
Hurricane II x 32
P-40B Tomahawk x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

The main UK bomber force at Chandpur is resting for 2 days. Still relatively small but getting more potent. and Wildebeest are harassing pagan airfield ( now at 73 exp. )

4 more days should allow me to change another aussie bde over for use in Timor and ships are ready and waiting to transport. I have to do it before the end of the month or i'll lose 600 PP for not sending back the DD's. This will delay the operation by 10 days. Hopefully i have enough time. Although i did spend quite some time tinkering with chinese commanders today and used up a bit of my PP pool.

Thans all for now .. anyone with knowledge of paint.net please drop me a PM or write here as i cant do screenies ! thanks

[Rob Brennan UK]

OK folks next turn and my enemy has shown another attraction to shock attacks ..

But first off .. more raids on yenen

Day Air attack on Yenen , at 50,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 21
Ki-51 Sonia x 12
Ki-49 Helen x 10
Ki-15 Babs x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 3 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 10000 feet
18 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
9 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
3 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
6 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet

and a poor dutch sub gets clobberd North of borneo

Sub attack at 29,54

Japanese Ships
APD APD-32
APD APD-35
APD APD-34
APD APD-33

Allied Ships
SS KXI, hits 4, on fire, heavy damage


she will hopefully make singapore for emergency repairs

the japs hammer me in san marc

Day Air attack on 2nd PA Division, at 43,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
G4M1 Betty x 26
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18
Ki-49 Helen x 20

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
60 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 12000 feet
11 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet
15 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 12000 feet

and i do the same in burma

Day Air attack on 33rd/B Division, at 32,30


Allied aircraft
Lysander I x 10
Buffalo I x 21
Hurricane II x 34
P-40B Tomahawk x 18


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
113 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

also an attack vs a jap carrier ! .. almost interesting [;)]

Day Air attack on TF at 31,71

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 67

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 4
Martin 139 x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 3 destroyed
Martin 139: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x Martin 139 bombing at 6000 feet

also a PT boat attack which sparked a bit of a tiff ..

Day Time Surface Combat at 41,47

Japanese Ships
APD APD-31
PG Zuiko Maru
AP Kiko Maru
AP Kogyo Maru
AP Meiten Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Mexico Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Mizuho Maru
AP Montevideo Maru
AP Nichiran Maru
AP Nissen Maru #2
AP Ryuyo Maru
AP Seattle Maru
AP Shinyu Maru
AP Siraha Maru
AP Somedono Maru
AP Sunten Maru
AP Taian Maru
AP Taihei Maru
AP Tamaki Maru
AP Tatsuta Maru
AP Teiryu Maru
AP Teiun Maru
AP Tonan Maru
AP Ural Maru
AP Zyuyo Maru
AP Konron Maru
AP Chinko Maru
AP Peking Maru

Allied Ships
PT PT-32
PT PT-33
PT PT-34
PT PT-35
PT PT-41

Japanese ground losses:
108 casualties reported


him :_

Normally I don’t rant, but I do have one on this turn. I am hoping that PT boat attack that just happened 180 miles into the south China sea against one of my AP transport Task forces was just an accident and not a planned attack because with the almost invincibility of PT boats and there ability to basically travel anywhere and still attack (and the results of your attack speak for themselves, I lost 2 APD’s and numerous damage on transports) make them excellent for sniping convoys, which IMHO is a very gamey tactic. Having played Japan not in 8 games I can tell you that Japan has almost no chance in the first place and having that happen really makes it harder still. Do you think you could reframe from using your PT boats as 357 magnum rounds please. I have no problem with them in costal areas, then I deserve what O get, but that far out to sea is a little much for me, considering I have been trying to get my air force to attack them for 2 weeks now. Your doing well as it is right now from what I can see.



Regards

Ken

me :-


Hi Ken

OK .. my side of the story . the attacked hex was within 1/2 range and i saw the t/f the turn earlier so it was a planned attack. however getting a mid ocean intercept is rather hard. yes i got lucky there. also i cannot reload the torps as manilla has gone .. i have one PT with torps in that group now. you lost 2 APD's ? never saw that in my replay . i hit 2 AP's and a dutch sub was clobbered by apds off the coast of N.Borneo. In my replay i saw one torp hit on 2 ap's and thats it and i asumed that one was a miss given FOW. apologies if i did kill 2 APD's as that was not my intention at all . i know they are your main ASW platform.

the PT boats in the PI have almost no ammo and as they are more than 8 hexes away from a friendly base they die in the PI .. i don't abuse the 1 hex min move rule. IF i can get an AD to bataan then fair enough , but i doubt it as your blockade has been very effective so far. 1 ship in 10 made it thought.

Overall i agree that PT's are very overpowered in the game and easily abused, if you want i can happily agree to only using them for defence and/or raiding within 1/2 range i.e 4 hexes .. also escort duty. or if you prefer i will never create another PT again .. its a shame that they arent targetable by regular anti ship missions.

I do think your getting a bit frustrated in malaya and china, and just a friendy piece of advice , use normal attacks vs shock attack . shock attack should only be used when you know for certain that you have a 2-1 advantage ( including forts). I am not an agressive player in china and if i can keep the status quo i'm happy .. hence all the defensive groups rather than the so-called chinese death star. the fort levels have a massive impact in the game. maybe we should have a truce in china till 43/44 ?? upto you . also i won't have any allied 4E bombers ( apart from the IL4 ) in china for city attacks.

One thing you might be happy to know is that the lack of B17's is making me refill some groups with 2E mitchells .. i have a list so i can change back if necessary.

and as for magnum rounds .. tom sellic has no reloads

please let me know if you wish to clarify house rules as i am ameanable. but i would point out that a BB run on johore baru means sailing under the singapore guns ( and they are manned . i do have combat troops in singers ) .

again i do not wish to cause antagonism between us in any shape or form ( apart from a friendly rivallry) . I believe that niks mod while hurting japan for 2-3 months will give me a real headache later on. and your ground attack planes are working fine ! a bit too fine for my liking

My game is to be unpredictable, and in that i think i am doing ok. but i do have a habit of doing some great/dumb moves from time to time, don;t expect a usual allied response is all i can say.

thanks

Rob

More japanese shock attacks in malaysia

Ground combat at Johore Bahru

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 114092 troops, 985 guns, 109 vehicles

Defending force 30433 troops, 148 guns, 3 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7)


Japanese ground losses:
2763 casualties reported
Guns lost 64
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
766 casualties reported
Guns lost 18

good news !

and the PI

Ground combat at San Marcelino

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 32807 troops, 246 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 28050 troops, 207 guns, 80 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)


Japanese ground losses:
319 casualties reported
Guns lost 11

Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

although this is just new units arriving over the river .. ( too good a defensive position to give up imo )

Kendari falls ! .. no suprise there

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kendari

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 6622 troops, 78 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1118 troops, 10 guns, 3 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 36 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kendari base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
24 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

and the japanese bombardment of johore baru that was referred to in the e-mail

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Johore Bahru, at 22,49

Japanese Ships
DD Harusame
DD Murasame
DD Asagumo
DD Minegumo
DD Natsugumo
DD Arashio
DD Asashio
CL Jintsu
CL Naka
CA Ashigara
CA Maya
CA Atago
CA Takao
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
1218 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 4

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 52
Port hits 6
Port fuel hits 11
Port supply hits 16


Well thats sbout it for now .. more later happy campers

[Nikademus]

You might want to suggest to him in regards PT's that setting a few airgroups to naval attack at 100 feet will allow them to attack PT's. I usually use a couple of fighter groups on this duty. Cannon armed fighters can be devestating, while mg armed planes wont do much even with a good number of hits but they will often turn PT TF's back with some damage. Speedy has been harrasing my PT's using Ki-43's. I'll admit i did try to do a 2 hex PT interception of his KB which he was using as a bomber magnet two hexes from his landing zone. While i suppose this could be considered "gamey" the recent PT code change that reduced the tendancy for PT's to always attack the highest value target (even if surrounded by a dozen+ escorts) makes such attacks much more of a desperation lunge.

In my oldest game with Kaiser (now in feb of 43)....i devastated his PT's using Zeros on this task and quickly mopped up his lurking PT's. Was never threatened by them after that.

[Nikademus]

Just completed a small AI/AI test to make sure nothing unexpected happened. Worked perfectly. The reduced ENG/AA units did not replace the missing items per their TO&E and the AA guns moved to 2/42 appeared on schedule and started producing replacements. I've opted for a 2 - month (60 day) delay for these units. That gives the Japan player a decent sized window to implement their SRA plans without worrying about heavy flak interference. (short of extreme measures I should say.)

the change certainly helped the AI (Japan) who's losses were more managable.

[aztez]

You going to make stand at Timor? Sounds reasonable because so far the war has gone pretty much your way [:)]

I wouldn't worry too much about PT boat incident... as Nik said he can use his ac's to blaster them if he chooses to do so [:)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

It's a bit of a storm in a tea cup. all resolved now and we cary on as usual.

thanks for the info Nik, maybe he's not aware of it ? i'll let him know.

And Aztez . yup Timor defence will be 3 aussie brigades and several duth cast offs' also have av support there for 90 odd a/c , mostly fighters but i have some Beauforts ready to fly in. I will also try and evac some dutch brigades from java once that becomes untenable ( assuming he hits java/sumatra first). Losing kavieng was expected but i have pulled a LOT of supply and fuel out.

all in all things are going to the plan ..