Gen.Hoepner vs. Hawker, Mare Nostrum

[pauk]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner


Allied Strategic Bombing Campaign

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Day Air attack on Toyohara , at 73,33


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 42


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Heavy Industry hits 1[:D]

Aircraft Attacking:
27 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
15 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Tsitsihar , at 64,26


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 33


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Oil hits 4[:D]

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
18 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet


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Day Air attack on Amboina , at 40,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 2
LB-30 Liberator x 12


No Allied losses

Oil hits 5

ccccc... fortunatly in our team game I'm in charge for war industry and certainly wont let allow such altrocities....[:D]

Good job GH!

[EUBanana]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

ORIGINAL: EUBanana

Bwahahaha.

Well, its going well so far.

This looks to be shaping up like a 1938 style Japspanking so far.

Well i'd wait some time before saying that. 350,000 men are a lot and if he finally manages to put up in the air his bombers and zeros it's gonna be damned hard to hold Vladivostok and so the southern Siberia.
However the actual picture doesn't look so grim. He has lost a LOT of time in Java because of my suicide strategy and his KB has been damaged ( even if lightly).
He hasn't conquered Burma and in China he's already on the defensive.
I have not lost what i wanted to hold in the pacific and my CV fleet is intact.

Not bad so far

Well... if nothing else he now has a new front to defend against, which will chew up his airforce pretty quick. In my experience as soon as P-38s turn up he'll need every fighter he can get and more besides to stem the Allied tide.

And if you can cling on to bases in range of the homeland he'll need to garrison that as well or your Fortresses will batter him.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/14/42

Another good day!

A BB TF managed to ruin his day at Attu Island ( Aleutinas). I'm massing men for this front. Soon we'll see some real action here!

In China Japanese armies are retreating both from Changsha and from Sian....my chinese armies will now try to conquer new and better starting positions for the upcomming offensive campaign!

Allied bombers striked again the oilplants in Manchukoku and scored some 50 hits[8D], while Japan is hit again and Ambonia is under a costant fire.

In Burma we're killing 500men each day with ground attacks ( targets are 33rd and 55th Jap divisions)

Vladivostok hasn't been sieged yet....I have two armies defending Vlad. The 2nd Red Banner Army ( placed on the wood hills N-E of Vladivostok), with a strenght of 1500 APs, and the 1st Red Banner Army ( placed at Vladivostok) with a strenght of 3600 APs. This disposition, that threatens his left flank, should force him to divide his forces and so lose some strenght for the main target ( so to say Vladivostok)....let's see.



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Naval bombardment of Attu Island, at 91,35[8D][:D]

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico

Japanese ground losses:
762 casualties reported
Guns lost 10

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 15
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

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Day Air attack on Toyohara , at 73,33


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 25


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 5 damaged

Heavy Industry hits 1[:D]

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Tsitsihar , at 64,26


Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 15
B-25C Mitchell x 63
B-17E Fortress x 46
SB-2 x 5
Pe-2 x 46


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Oil hits 52[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Przemcio231]

Heh nice babes G. Hopner[:D][:D]b you could send the one on the right to me[:D] any way you are doeing a good job in China[:)]

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/15/42

Now it's the bad weather that is keeping Hawker's planes from taking off at Mutakiang....He's assembling his Armies 60 miles north of Vladivostok. Soon we'll see what these Ivans can do....

This has been a quiet day.




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Ground combat at Moulmein

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 40998 troops, 393 guns, 4 vehicles

Defending force 47763 troops, 461 guns, 27 vehicles


Japanese ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1


Mouleim is becoming a hell for the japanese divisions stuck there...

[kkoovvoo]

Hey,
you promised me to send our firat turn 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1.


YESTERDAY[8D]

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/16/42

While the japanese armies keep on running back in China, at Sosarbaja the drama goes on. Another day of Air - Land bombardment followed by a deliberate attack...another fort is downed[:(]

We hit again Ambonia ( which is undefended[&:]) with 20 liberators from Darwin.

In Russia very few air activities ( raining everywhere today)

In Burma nothing changed.

The pacific is quiet...



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Day Air attack on Soerabaja , at 23,66

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 62
Ki-48 Lily x 118
Ki-46-II Dinah x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 10 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 91

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Naval bombardment of Soerabaja, at 23,66

Japanese Ships
DD Hayate
DD Harukaze
DD Yugiri
DD Asagiri
DD Isonami
DD Natsugumo
DD Tanikaze
DD Hagikaze
DD Urakaze
DD Akigumo
CL Kuma
CL Natori
CA Mogami
CA Atago
CA Chikuma
CA Tone
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
7941 casualties reported
Guns lost 83
Vehicles lost 3

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 64
Port hits 24
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 3


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Ground combat at Soerabaja

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 275701 troops, 2171 guns, 629 vehicles

Defending force 77130 troops, 493 guns, 435 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 7

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


Japanese ground losses:
6418 casualties reported
Guns lost 80
Vehicles lost 9

Allied ground losses:
4147 casualties reported
Guns lost 101
Vehicles lost 3

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Gen,

Do you receive additional Russian reinforcements at all?

Not a single man, plane or gun. Nothing.

This is not true. Unless you are playing a mod the stock game provides many Soviet Base force, Air and Ground HQs, and Air unit reinforcements. Most of them are delayed til 44'-45' time frame. It is true that there are no Assault points coming your way for the rest of the war so take care of the ones you have.

[Gen.Hoepner]

This is not true. Unless you are playing a mod the stock game provides many Soviet Base force, Air and Ground HQs, and Air unit reinforcements. Most of them are delayed til 44'-45' time frame. It is true that there are no Assault points coming your way for the rest of the war so take care of the ones you have.

1945, yes. There are some 10 units coming in more than 1000 days ( if i remember well), but since Russian activation ( 43 days ago) not a single unit has been accelerated in its scheldue. The rule that applies to the US invasion doesn't work here in Russia ( same for India i guess).
I'll check it out more carefully as soon as Hawker sends me back the turn, but i'm pretty sure i haven't recived anything since its activation

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/13/42


Wow! This Russian campaign started really in a good way![8D]
After the great battle of yesterday, where my fighters with the red star made a turkey shot of the japanese planes, today the allies managed to inflict the first punch ( even if only a morale one) to the Evil Empire of Japan.

Some notes on the Russian Air Force:

1. Your best all around fighter is the Mig-3. Hands down.

2. Your Best Bomber killer is the I-16 believe it or not. Unfortunately they are all starting at a 50ish EXP level so se them to 50% CAP / 50% Ground attack. This is ideal at Vladivostok cuz his LCU stack is within range probably for a normal range attack. Half your I-16 pilots will get great training every day and EXP will rise sharply. Soon you will have an elite bomber killing force available in large numbers. Keep rotating them out and get all your I-16 IAPs some EXP. Keep in mind the I-16 pool can run out quickly so keep an eye on that too.

3. Your Pe-2s are your best Air to Ground units mainly due to the casualties they inflict, and their survivability. The good news is soviet morale and fatigue is good, especially if your escort them and set them to Ground attack. When set to Airfield attack morale will drop rapidly. Also watch out for winter weather though it is a killer.

4. Your IL-2s are range-limited, but are effective if set to Ground attack at 10K'. Since they are divebombers they'll always attack at 2k'. Rest them when your target is out of normal range. They are also VERY effective vs. AKs/APs in invasion forces. As are Pe-2s set to 2-4k' naval attack.

5. It might be tempting to upgrade all your SB-2s to Pe-2s ASAP(as I did), but I think that might be a mistake as their loadout is heavier than the Pe-2 and if escorted and used in large numbers can be helpful in keeping his LCUs disruption up.

6. The same can be said for the IL-4s. They are fine as bombers, but their real utility is as a Long Range recon platform. This is very important if you are to watch all that territory for a flanking or cutoff maneuver.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Some notes on the Russian Air Force:

1. Your best all around fighter is the Mig-3. Hands down.

2. Your Best Bomber killer is the I-16 believe it or not. Unfortunately they are all starting at a 50ish EXP level so se them to 50% CAP / 50% Ground attack. This is ideal at Vladivostok cuz his LCU stack is within range probably for a normal range attack. Half your I-16 pilots will get great training every day and EXP will rise sharply. Soon you will have an elite bomber killing force available in large numbers. Keep rotating them out and get all your I-16 IAPs some EXP. Keep in mind the I-16 pool can run out quickly so keep an eye on that too.

3. Your Pe-2s are your best Air to Ground units mainly due to the casualties they inflict, and their survivability. The good news is soviet morale and fatigue is good, especially if your escort them and set them to Ground attack. When set to Airfield attack morale will drop rapidly. Also watch out for winter weather though it is a killer.

4. Your IL-2s are range-limited, but are effective if set to Ground attack at 10K'. Since they are divebombers they'll always attack at 2k'. Rest them when your target is out of normal range. They are also VERY effective vs. AKs/APs in invasion forces. As are Pe-2s set to 2-4k' naval attack.

5. It might be tempting to upgrade all your SB-2s to Pe-2s ASAP(as I did), but I think that might be a mistake as their loadout is heavier than the Pe-2 and if escorted and used in large numbers can be helpful in keeping his LCUs disruption up.

6. The same can be said for the IL-4s. They are fine as bombers, but their real utility is as a Long Range recon platform. This is very important if you are to watch all that territory for a flanking or cutoff maneuver.

Hi Elf,

Thanks a lot for the comments: really helpfull and appreciated!!

I've noticed how good those mig-3 perform. They are worderfull, even if my average exp in between 50 and 60. I have not converted my SB-2s to PE-2s. Just one group. I'd like to have a well balanced air force where every plane is rapresented.
The problem with russian fighters is the pool! Only 30 mig-3/month and 40 Yak-1s make these jewels too precious!
At the moment the goal is to defend Vladivostok's skies, so every effort is made in this sense.
Till now i've used the IL-2s for ground attack, but they seem to suffer too much flak fire ( lost already 15 of them due to flak from japanese divisions.... However, to break the "momentum" of the japanese ground units i will use everything i have: Wellingtons,Fortress,Blenheims,SB-2,Pe-2,Il-2 and so on....

80 Beauforts are guarding the seas of Russia, just in case he decides to try something new[;)]

[TheElf]

Notes on soviet LCUs:

Three things to remember: Artillery, Artillery, Artillery

When you have the opportunity to use it in large numbers it can be a huge disrupter for his LCUs. Russian Arty even in the anemic stock OOB is still potent. If he understands Ground combat he will not attack often while his LCUs are above 20 disruption. Arty attacks all his units equally so disruption is shared. Air attacks hit single units. You can spread the love by splitting your bombers, but watch out for large CAP, cuz the smaller attacks with equally smaller Escort will be lunch meat

Two full strength Russian divisions = a IJA Division. So plan accordingly based on your fort level. Keep the minimum # of Divs fully prepped for Vladivostok actually in the base hex. Have a reserve or any recuperating units somewhere else with plenty of aupply and support. Watch the ground attack phases carefully and rotate fresh divs into the hex to maintain your odds. Keep penty of engineers on hand to rebuild forts as you buy time for them with constant Arty and LBA attacks. NEVER deliberately or shock attack. His units far outumber yours and you will only weaken your defense.

Use your IL-4s to recce the North. Your weakest point and your most important goal is to protect your supply from Irkutsk. You have about 110K-130K supply coming from mother Russia offboard. If his attack at Vlad is a diversion and he takes Chita or anything north of it, EVERYTHING to south will be cut off and the resources on map in russia ARE NOT ENOUGH to survive. Have prepped and fortified positions at Borzya and it western flanks.

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

Hi Elf,

Thanks a lot for the comments: really helpfull and appreciated!!

I've noticed how good those mig-3 perform. They are worderfull, even if my average exp in between 50 and 60. I have not converted my SB-2s to PE-2s. Just one group. I'd like to have a well balanced air force where every plane is rapresented.
The problem with russian fighters is the pool! Only 30 mig-3/month and 40 Yak-1s make these jewels too precious!
At the moment the goal is to defend Vladivostok's skies, so every effort is made in this sense.
Till now i've used the IL-2s for ground attack, but they seem to suffer too much flak fire ( lost already 15 of them due to flak from japanese divisions.... However, to break the "momentum" of the japanese ground units i will use everything i have: Wellingtons,Fortress,Blenheims,SB-2,Pe-2,Il-2 and so on....

80 Beauforts are guarding the seas of Russia, just in case he decides to try something new[;)]

One other thing. Other than Zeroes you SHOULD be able to wear down the IJAAF. Your fighters will be lower in EXP, but are better than his. Mig-3 Trumps Oscar and everyhting else, I-16 trumps Nate. Yaks, LaGGs are better than nates, not sure about Oscar.

Bottom line your numbers SHOULD outlast his. BUT your replacement pilots will REALLY suck so train them hard and fast so they can get back into action. 50% ground attack/50% CAP should serve you well in that regard. Endeavor to do damage to his Air units EVERYDAY.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Thanks Elf,

His attack at Vlad isn't a diversion. He has something like 45 units involved in the southern border( and they are not divided!). Bozrya and Byalahowever are rather safe. I've left a good strategic defense in those two places.

My plan is to be as reactive as possible, and flexible too.
I hope the presence of the 1st Red Banner Army on his left flank will force him to divert some of his forces towards those hills, where my guys should have some good chances of repulsing his attacks ( his supply route should be quite difficult, while mine should be very short there).
If he decides to go directly for Vladivostok with his huge 350,000 men Army, my 1st red Banner Army should be able to threaten his supply route,cutting his units from Mutakiang ( but i don't think he'll be so crazy!)
Once he'll be in Vladivostok, my Air Armies from Imam will hit his divisions every day, and hopefully the artillery units, combined with 9 forts, wood terrain and plenty of supplies, will make his goal very very hard to accomplish.

Russian land war should be very similar to the chinese one

[TheElf]

One other thing. It may be too late, but use your regional forts to your advantage. They are tough for him to destroy, but only when surrounded by equally fortified Rifle Divisions and Arty. This takes forward thinking though and it might be too late.

The reason this helps is that if you can stall him at the fort hexes Vladivostok will continue to generate supply and the Far East Command can rebuild any LCUs that have taken heavy losses or are badly disrupted. And once they are gone your forts will never be able to help you again.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Elf, OscarsI have already prooven to be less effective than Laags and Yaks. In the only engagement we've had ( see previous page) his losses have been terribly high ( 230 against 40 of mine)....almost 6-1 in my favour.
I have also 2 Marines squadrons operating in Russia. They are flying Wildcats3. I plan to use these two groups because of their high pilot replacement rates in coordination with some british fighters ( that are already at 70 exp).
IJAAF will have a very tough time in Russia, regardless how this campaign will end.[;)]

[Gen.Hoepner]

Too late for the regional fortress north of Vladivostok: it has been already overran. However the 1st Red Banner Army is placed around another regional fort, so that can be still of some use!
Probably i'll give some more artiller y to the first red banner army....but i have not understoon yet what he wants to do with the bulk of his army...

[TheElf]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

Thanks Elf,

His attack at Vlad isn't a diversion. He has something like 45 units involved in the southern border( and they are not divided!). Bozrya and Byalahowever are rather safe. I've left a good strategic defense in those two places.

My plan is to be as reactive as possible, and flexible too.
I hope the presence of the 1st Red Banner Army on his left flank will force him to divert some of his forces towards those hills, where my guys should have some good chances of repulsing his attacks ( his supply route should be quite difficult, while mine should be very short there).
If he decides to go directly for Vladivostok with his huge 350,000 men Army, my 1st red Banner Army should be able to threaten his supply route,cutting his units from Mutakiang ( but i don't think he'll be so crazy!)
Once he'll be in Vladivostok, my Air Armies from Imam will hit his divisions every day, and hopefully the artillery units, combined with 9 forts, wood terrain and plenty of supplies, will make his goal very very hard to accomplish.

Russian land war should be very similar to the chinese one

That is good. Just be ready to react to a change of mind. If you frustrate him at Vlad he may try the north. You'll have to race up there and be ready to defend.

Also now is a good time to be VERY aggressive in China. I'm not familiar with your current position there, He has probably had to borrow units from the sino front to enable the Russo front. Find his weakest points and gather as many units as you can. Enter the main hex to disrupt its supply generation, and then surround and cutoff as many garrisons as you can. Your goal is not to actually take it, but to bluff him into thinking you might. The more places you can show aggression and strength in China, the more he might reconsider his two front land war.

He isn't likely able to go on the offensive there, so ue that to your advantage. Just make a mess of it so he realizes how undermanned he is in China.

[TheElf]

Good luck[;)] Russia will be fun for you.

[Gen.Hoepner]

In China he's retreating everywhere ( you can see the map attached above). At the moment i'm planning to gain new brigdeheads, following his retreating units, from where to launch the planned counteroffensive of this summer. My Chinese Army is in a very good shape. Most of my LCU units have gained experience and now they are all above 55. Morale ishigh and supply is very good everywhere ( Burma road still open, air-bridge from India working properly and chinese industry intact). An American HQ ( 3rd Corp i think) is arriving at Chungking within 15 days. This unit will lead the next offensive.
In China i've already destroyed to entire japanese Indipendent Brigades ( the 12th and the 13th). His positions are far from being safe and with this new russian front he won't be able to counterattack me ( unless he brings in units from the souther area army ).