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Western Australia - Don't repeat my mistake and land only at Esperance. [:-] Land there and at Albany with strength and make sure you bring plenty of AA units to go with your spearheads. You should be able to march significant restricted Aussie units across the desert from Ceduna and Port Augusta to get close to the Esperance/Kalgoorlie area before your landings.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Western Australia - Don't repeat my mistake and land only at Esperance. [:-] Land there and at Albany with strength and make sure you bring plenty of AA units to go with your spearheads. You should be able to march significant restricted Aussie units across the desert from Ceduna and Port Augusta to get close to the Esperance/Kalgoorlie area before your landings.

I remember that!

The plan is for both but also then to bring stuff around to Geraldton and Carnarvon. I haven't yet decided on this though. I don't think I'll have to walk much across. I'd like to land what I need and build those bases, let him sweat a bit, before doing anything else. Depends though on if the KB gets involved.

I'd be interested in seeing screenshots/(known) force dispositions in SW Australia, and can compare to my action with Bullwinkle if you like.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

I'd be interested in seeing screenshots/(known) force dispositions in SW Australia, and can compare to my action with Bullwinkle if you like.

Here are my SIGINT notes, but things are changing fast down there as Nick is pulling some things back to Port Hedland for sure (including the Imperial Guards Division and the 56th division). He's probably using SIGINT deception sending the TF toward some other waypoint with a destination of Port Hedland. If it's India, wow, there is a lot of the free IJA there now. I'd sure like to land in Ceylon and see what happens!

But back to OZ, Esperance and Albany look ripe for the taking and even Perth may be poorly defended on the ground. I bet he's just looking to hit an invasion and not really stick around after that. I haven't seen the majority of the IJN in a while, and a lot of CAs could be lurking around Perth or Albany, waiting, with a horde of attack planes at Perth in it's level 9 field. Wish I could get some recon there, but not a chance for that right now.

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SW OZ

PERTH
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
4th RF Gun Battalion is located at Perth(49,147). 09_19_42
6th RF Gun Battalion is located at Perth(49,147). 09_28_42

20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion is located at Perth(49,147). 09_19_42

8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion is located at Perth(49,147). 06_23_42

16th Army is located at Perth(49,147). 10_03_42

Imperial Guards Division is located at Perth(49,147). 07_12_42

16/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on a Kyushu Cargo class xAK moving to Perth. 10_08_42
8/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on a Ansyu-C Cargo class xAK moving to Perth. 10_08_42

4th Air Division is located at Perth(49,147). 10_16_42

8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion is located at Perth(49,147).

4th Division is located at Perth(49,147). ??

2nd Tank Regiment is located at Perth(49,147). 09_30_42
1/2nd Tank Regiment is loaded on xAK Yuri Maru at Perth (49,147). 10_10_42

56th Division is located at Perth(49,147). 10_02_42
32/56th Division is located at Perth(49,147). 10_10_42
32/56th Division is located at Perth(49,147). 10_21_42

1st JAAF Base Force is located at Perth(49,147). 10_13_42[/font]

KALGOORLIE
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
56th Division is located at Kalgoorlie(56,147). 08_23_42 later to Perth, and loading to leave
2nd Tank Regiment is located at Kalgoorlie(56,147). 09_02_42 later to Perth, and loading to leave
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment is located at Kalgoorlie(56,147). 09_13_42
[/font]
ESPERANCE
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
5th Amphibious Brigade is located at Esperance(56,153). 06_19_42
13th JAAF Base Force is located at Esperance(56,153). 06_24_42
[/font]
GERALDTON
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
6th Ship Engineer Regiment is located at Geraldton(49,141). 09_01_42
Kure 3rd SNLF is located at Geraldton(49,141). 09_19_42
10th JAAF Base Force is located at Geraldton(49,141). 09_21_42
[/font]
EXMOUTH
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
20th JAAF AF Bn is located at Exmouth(50,129). 09_06_42
[/font]
PORT HEDLAND
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
1st Ind Engineer Regiment is located at Port Hedland(57,129). 09_10_42

15/4th Division is loaded on a Aden Cargo class xAK moving to Port Hedland. 9_26_42

13/56th Division is loaded on a Japanese xAP moving to Port Hedland. 10_5_42
3/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on xAK Italy Maru moving to Port Hedland. 10_13_42
[/font]
BROOME
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
LSD Shinshu Maru is moving to Broome (62,127). 10_21_42
[/font]
DALY WATERS
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
26th Division is located at Daly Waters(76,131). 07_11_42
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment is located at Daly Waters(76,131). 10_05_42
8th Tank Regiment is located at Daly Waters(76,131). 10_10_42
39th Field AA Battalion is located at Daly Waters(76,131). 10_13_42
[/font]
CARNARVON
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
(nothing)[/font]

SYDNEY
[font="Trebuchet MS"]
Southeast Area Fleet is planning for an attack on Sydney. (!!!) 09_19_42[/font] [:D]

Interesting he built Perth's shipyard that much. A good reason? Dunno. But he's going to leave you a nice asset by and by.

If you can sneak into Kalgoorlie, the mega-railroad should keep you in supply and you can establish a foothold there if Perth is the only AF of note that you need to worry about. If that's the case, then he'll need to commit his navy if you make any noise on the oceans here. How are his eyes in the area? Would you be able to scout and protect an invasion at Albany/Esperance? Such a move would give you even more freedom in CENTPAC.

Dunno where your subs are, but if you were going to do that, you'd probably want a few here...

I made a mistake against Bullwinkle in letting him have Kalgoorlie back too early. I didn't see his troops coming in or I wouldn't have left it behind, and it had the effect of putting a lot of pressure on my retreat from the area. My not holding Kalgoorlie freed him up from needing to rely on ships to liberate the area. If GJ has abandoned K or left it lightly defended, you should walk right in and take it. I'd suggest marching a unit up pretty close before hitting the base with recon, so as to "surprise" him. If you have Av Supp and aircraft on standby at Port Augusta, you should be able to establish a strongpoint.

I would also consider strat bombing "your own" territory here, if you can stomach it. Think of it as ex post facto sabotage. I think I'm using that phrase correctly... Also has the advantage of denying him points should he choose to strat bomb you after you retake it.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Interesting he built Perth's shipyard that much. A good reason? Dunno. But he's going to leave you a nice asset by and by.

My guess is it's a size 12 for CAs.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Interesting he built Perth's shipyard that much. A good reason? Dunno. But he's going to leave you a nice asset by and by.

True. Didn't notice that. Very nice!

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

If you can sneak into Kalgoorlie, the mega-railroad should keep you in supply and you can establish a foothold there if Perth is the only AF of note that you need to worry about. If that's the case, then he'll need to commit his navy if you make any noise on the oceans here. How are his eyes in the area? Would you be able to scout and protect an invasion at Albany/Esperance? Such a move would give you even more freedom in CENTPAC.

Dunno where your subs are, but if you were going to do that, you'd probably want a few here...

I made a mistake against Bullwinkle in letting him have Kalgoorlie back too early. I didn't see his troops coming in or I wouldn't have left it behind, and it had the effect of putting a lot of pressure on my retreat from the area. My not holding Kalgoorlie freed him up from needing to rely on ships to liberate the area. If GJ has abandoned K or left it lightly defended, you should walk right in and take it. I'd suggest marching a unit up pretty close before hitting the base with recon, so as to "surprise" him. If you have Av Supp and aircraft on standby at Port Augusta, you should be able to establish a strongpoint.

I would also consider strat bombing "your own" territory here, if you can stomach it. Think of it as ex post facto sabotage. I think I'm using that phrase correctly... Also has the advantage of denying him points should he choose to strat bomb you after you retake it.

Kalgoorlie is a size 4, and Geraldton is a size 5. Albany is a 1, and Esperance is a 2.

Just got another note to sat the 5th Amphibious Brigade is heading out from Perth to Broome. I'm thinking there's not much left over here.

I'm going to do some naval recon, using old DDs and DMS to bombard Esperance and Albany. If they'e empty, well, that will make this a lot easier. I'll start sending the USN that direction soon.

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

If you can sneak into Kalgoorlie, the mega-railroad should keep you in supply and you can establish a foothold there if Perth is the only AF of note that you need to worry about. If that's the case, then he'll need to commit his navy if you make any noise on the oceans here. How are his eyes in the area? Would you be able to scout and protect an invasion at Albany/Esperance? Such a move would give you even more freedom in CENTPAC.

Dunno where your subs are, but if you were going to do that, you'd probably want a few here...

I made a mistake against Bullwinkle in letting him have Kalgoorlie back too early. I didn't see his troops coming in or I wouldn't have left it behind, and it had the effect of putting a lot of pressure on my retreat from the area. My not holding Kalgoorlie freed him up from needing to rely on ships to liberate the area. If GJ has abandoned K or left it lightly defended, you should walk right in and take it. I'd suggest marching a unit up pretty close before hitting the base with recon, so as to "surprise" him. If you have Av Supp and aircraft on standby at Port Augusta, you should be able to establish a strongpoint.

I would also consider strat bombing "your own" territory here, if you can stomach it. Think of it as ex post facto sabotage. I think I'm using that phrase correctly... Also has the advantage of denying him points should he choose to strat bomb you after you retake it.

Kalgoorlie is a size 4, and Geraldton is a size 5. Albany is a 1, and Esperance is a 2.

Just got another note to sat the 5th Amphibious Brigade is heading out from Perth to Broome. I'm thinking there's not much left over here.

I'm going to do some naval recon, using old DDs and DMS to bombard Esperance and Albany. If they'e empty, well, that will make this a lot easier. I'll start sending the USN that direction soon.

No chance of waiting for the Navy PB4Y recon planes? Recon planes may not get noticed, but a bombardment definitely will alert him...

What about using an expendable CL with float plane capacity? You could try float plane recon, if you're brave. It won't be super accurate, but should be able to tell you if any LCUs are present.

FYI, in stock there are no garrison requirements at any of these potential target bases. Perth may have one.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Interesting he built Perth's shipyard that much. A good reason? Dunno. But he's going to leave you a nice asset by and by.

My guess is it's a size 12 for CAs.

True, but my point was more you don't do that unless you plan to be there long enough to fix CAs.

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

If you can sneak into Kalgoorlie, the mega-railroad should keep you in supply and you can establish a foothold there if Perth is the only AF of note that you need to worry about. If that's the case, then he'll need to commit his navy if you make any noise on the oceans here. How are his eyes in the area? Would you be able to scout and protect an invasion at Albany/Esperance? Such a move would give you even more freedom in CENTPAC.

Dunno where your subs are, but if you were going to do that, you'd probably want a few here...

I made a mistake against Bullwinkle in letting him have Kalgoorlie back too early. I didn't see his troops coming in or I wouldn't have left it behind, and it had the effect of putting a lot of pressure on my retreat from the area. My not holding Kalgoorlie freed him up from needing to rely on ships to liberate the area. If GJ has abandoned K or left it lightly defended, you should walk right in and take it. I'd suggest marching a unit up pretty close before hitting the base with recon, so as to "surprise" him. If you have Av Supp and aircraft on standby at Port Augusta, you should be able to establish a strongpoint.

I would also consider strat bombing "your own" territory here, if you can stomach it. Think of it as ex post facto sabotage. I think I'm using that phrase correctly... Also has the advantage of denying him points should he choose to strat bomb you after you retake it.

Kalgoorlie is a size 4, and Geraldton is a size 5. Albany is a 1, and Esperance is a 2.

Just got another note to sat the 5th Amphibious Brigade is heading out from Perth to Broome. I'm thinking there's not much left over here.

I'm going to do some naval recon, using old DDs and DMS to bombard Esperance and Albany. If they'e empty, well, that will make this a lot easier. I'll start sending the USN that direction soon.

No chance of waiting for the Navy PB4Y recon planes? Recon planes may not get noticed, but a bombardment definitely will alert him...

What about using an expendable CL with float plane capacity? You could try float plane recon, if you're brave. It won't be super accurate, but should be able to tell you if any LCUs are present.

FYI, in stock there are no garrison requirements at any of these potential target bases. Perth may have one.

I haven't trained my PBY pilots, and I haven't found non-recon planes to do such a good job, but I'l give it a shot. I have a lot of those in So Pac right now. I'll fly one over and put some of the Wildcat recon pilots into it to see if they can find something.

The other benefit of naval bombardment is to see what is flying, where I get picked up, etc. I don't mind if he thinks I'm heading that way now, because I'm not quite yet. I've been inconsistent in how I follow up things like bombardments so he can't get a read on what my patterns are. And, well, I just don't have many patterns, but those i see myself creating I try to then break up to decrease his 'read' on my actions.

Interestingly, I haven't gotten a lot of 'prepping for' messages this game, but a lot of troop and ship movement. He could even be letting me in to then land behind me, but it doesn't seem there are enough available troops to do that considering what I can bring.

How serious is GJ in defending the SW corner??

Can you get some forces out along both the rail and Nullabor track and threaten Kalgoorlie and Noreseman (where the E-W road intersects the N-S road/rail)He may rail in forces once your Invasion is spotted, these alternate attacks either pick up cheap territory or block his reaction.

I would however be wary about committing too much of a force into this "backwater" it isnt vital to your needs nor fatal to the empire's.

ORIGINAL: JeffK

How serious is GJ in defending the SW corner??

Can you get some forces out along both the rail and Nullabor track and threaten Kalgoorlie and Noreseman (where the E-W road intersects the N-S road/rail)He may rail in forces once your Invasion is spotted, these alternate attacks either pick up cheap territory or block his reaction.

I would however be wary about committing too much of a force into this "backwater" it isnt vital to your needs nor fatal to the empire's.

As shown above he appears to be moving troops out but I've not gotten messages to indicate anything is coming in to replace them. So the infantry units are leaving at least. Maybe he'll sacrifice base forces, engineers and an air HQ to see if he can hit an invasion force, and maybe the KB or a mini-kB is hanging out nearby.

Walking anywhere will take months, and I'd rather try to land with some force over here when the time is right. I can hopefully get a feeling for his naval and air strength through sub recon and small bombardments, maybe some recon. I just realized that from Ceduna it's 16 to Esperance and 19 to Kalgoorlie, so I don't need PBYs or to waste surface vessels yet. I have some F-4E still in So Pac and they can head over to have a look.

[font="Times New Roman"]Oct 22 - 24, 1942[/font]

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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] No more sightings out in the IO of the KB and company.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]INDIA: [/font] I bombarded near Patna with my 3376AV army to find that the Japanese have only 2,845AV here. The bombardment though injured a lot more of our stuff than theirs. (Only troop numbers included below due to a sync issue).

I contemplated trying a DA here but decided to try and move my reserve up the road to Ranchi to see how he reacts and try to get that in better defensive territory, but he's also now showing movement out of the main stack back that way, which is probably a bluff, but I can't yet be sure. He's got six divisions in the main hex at 53,30 (near Patna) and another 3-4 on the Ranchi road.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENT PAC: [/font] A bombardment of Makin goes well. Another will move in tomorrow night. Troops are still a few weeks away. I'll pick up intensity here and let it fall several times before actually landing.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SO PAC: [/font] Tulagi has made an airfield! I'm now sending in fuel and supply, the PTs in the area are based here, and 300 mines are moving in. I'm slowly working on troops at Lunga with B-25s, and keeping the fields shut with a few B-17Es. I'm starting to see indications of more naval units again near Rabaul. We'll see if he reacts here. In the next few weeks I'll start getting a hold of nearby bases like 1,000 ships Bay, auki and getting engineers to Tassafronga.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CHINA: [/font] He's working hard on Changhsa with 300+ bombers to kill supply. It's working. We're shooting but not hitting much with the Chinese base force AA. I'll turn them to reserve now to hopefully save supply. The IJA is marching as expected both SW and NW. It also looks like he may be moving to cross the river from Chinkhiang into the x3 terrain where I have 4 Corps of 1050AV digging in with 1 fort currently. I can't imagine this will go well for the IJA, but of course I could be wrong. Either way we now have several potential new front one hexes that he can use to bombard, thus expending our supply (but also using his).

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]OZ:[/font] Starting to get things in motion to make a move toward the SW. I've got invasion shipping, lots of prepped troops, a few CV/CVE and lots of CA/CL/DD. I might not need it though, as it appears through SIGINT that Esperance, and now Kalgoorlie have been nearly abandoned. I'll have to get confirmation, but it could be possible to get one base and paradrop Kalgoorlie, then rail everything else forward.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SIGINT:[/font] More movements in OZ. Note that the 26th division is hanging on in Daly Waters. This seems to be the first sighting of the 10th Special Base Force on Horn Island, another indicate that he's preparing a fortress there and even more reason to give it a pass.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]32/56th Division is located at Perth(49,147).
LSD Shinshu Maru is moving to Broome (62,127).
26th Division is located at Daly Waters(76,131).
10th Special Base Force is located at Horn Island(91,128).
4th RF Gun Battalion is located at Port Hedland(57,129).
4th Air Division is located at Perth(49,147).
32/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on a Japanese CM moving to Broome.
38/Imperial Guards Division is loaded on xAK Midori Maru moving to Broome.
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment is located at Port Hedland(57,129).[/font]

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 23, 42
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Ground combat at 53,30 (near Patna)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 77284 troops, 1106 guns, 1534 vehicles, Assault Value = 3376

Defending force 101289 troops, 1056 guns, 709 vehicles, Assault Value = 2845


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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 24, 42
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Night Naval bombardment of Makin at 136,125

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Northampton
DD Worden
DD Downes
DD Lang
DD Wilson
DD Henley

Japanese ground losses:
246 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Port hits 5
Port supply hits 5

SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Louisville
CA Louisville firing at 52nd Naval Guard Unit

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Ground combat at Salem (32,39)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 78 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 3

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Salem !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
2/7 Commando Bn /1

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[font="Trebuchet MS"]Nice to start getting some Spits! These will help if I do get to SW OZ.[/font]

[font="Times New Roman"]Oct 25 - 28, 1942[/font]

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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Lots of activity with ASW in the straits of Malaya now. Still need to have a presence here though in case Kaga has not made it through yet, or even if the KB wants to come this way.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]INDIA: [/font] We've been doing the tango around 53,30 for a few weeks now, trading bombing runs and fighter sweeps, digging in and showing maneuver, feints and actual reinforcements. I've just received info from recon that Warangal, Hyderabad and Bezwada have been vacated. I am not trusting of this at all, even with 9/10 on Bezwada and Warangal. So...

I checked my pool of Aussie paratroops, which is quite good, and I'm going to get planes in place to fly one unit in three parts to each of these bases as fighting recon. It could go terribly wrong, but if so, I'll at least get good info on force placements currently. I also need to know if this stuff has been moved and will reinforce the Patna/Ranchi area. I'm thinking the big units have been moved since he's got at least 10 divisions in that area and at least a few more at Madras, (plus the ones in OZ, which is at least 3 more. How many are there is Scen 30?)[&:]

I'm going to have to start doing some real accounting. Get serious about this.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENT PAC: [/font] Another bombardment goes in. The troops at Makin have to be hurting now and I know out here even disablements don't heal quickly. Troops for Mili and Makin are landing at Christmas Island and will be transferred to invasion quality amphibs. Two BBs will participate for the first time in the war here if it continues to look like the coast is clear. I'll only use LBA cover from Tarawa, so I may not be able to do Mili if there are bombers in the Marshalls I can spot. He did just move some into Nauru, so he's obviously not excited about things like my raid on the 28th with DMS Zane and Dempsey. They sank 2-3 MTBs and made it out just fine. In good moonlight I've found PT/MTB don't stand a chance against DD/DMS/E. I'll keep doing this but have to wait until a plucky IJN SCTF moves out of the way. It was spotted near Ontong Java but might be going for Tulagi, Ndeni or something in Cent Pac. We'll see.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SO PAC: [/font] Supply slips into Tulagi and Kirakira easily, as do the mines. Each base is a bit more p r i c k l y now with PTs and mines, plus the surrounding subs. I'll still refrain from setting up shop with lots of air groups at Tulagi until some other bases around it are also in Allied hands. Should be in a few weeks. In the meantime the ASW crews go on extra between Suva and Ndeni where at least 4-5 IJN subs are operating. The xAKLs do the bulk of the hauling, PBYs both search and throw troops around the area. The USN and RAN hang out and wait for opportunities.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CHINA: [/font] Now bombardments are happening all over the place. One on the South side of Kweiyang has the tank army that broke through over the river that's been doing nothing since we brought the air force into China. Another on the North side is the new block from the Chikhiang troops. Now the IJA is moving up the road behind Chikhiang and seems still to want to cross the river next to it. Is this a feint? No matter. Troops are there waiting.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]OZ:[/font] Some recon starts flying over. Got another few interesting messages.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SIGINT:[/font] This is just another indication the SW OZ adventure is being transferred back to W OZ.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]16th Army is located at Port Hedland(57,129).[/font]

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 25, 42
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Night Naval bombardment of Makin at 136,125

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis
CL Detroit
DD King
DD Gilmer
DD Clark
DD Balch
DD Bailey

Japanese ground losses:
322 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Port hits 2

SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CL St. Louis
CL St. Louis firing at 71st JAAF AF Bn

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Morning Air attack on 23rd Indian Division, at 53,30 , near Patna

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 115 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 43 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 36
G4M1 Betty x 51
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 84
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 42

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
72 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
36 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 15000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 3rd Carabiniers Regiment, at 53,30 , near Patna

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 102 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 72
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 61
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 2
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 54
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 42
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 damaged

Allied ground losses:
55 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
27 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 15000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 53rd Naval Guard Unit, at 114,138 (Lunga)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 19
Beaufighter Ic x 12

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb


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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 28, 42
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Nauru Island at 127,128, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
MGB G-4, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
MGB G-5, Shell hits 3, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
DMS Dorsey

Improved night sighting under 85% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 85% moonlight: 12,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
Wirtz, P. crosses the 'T'

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Nauru Island at 127,128, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
MTB G-7, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
MTB G-3

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
DMS Dorsey

Improved night sighting under 75% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 75% moonlight: 12,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 11,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 11,000 yards
DMS Dorsey engages MTB G-3 at 11,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards

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Morning Air attack on 63rd Chinese Corps, at 78,48 , near Chihkiang

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 40

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 7
P-40K Warhawk x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38F Lightning: 2 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x A6M3 Zero sweeping at 20000 feet

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Ground combat at 73,49 (near Kweiyang)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 780 troops, 78 guns, 65 vehicles, Assault Value = 831

Defending force 37901 troops, 190 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1176

Assaulting units:
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
2nd Tank Division
4th Tank Regiment
Guards Tank Division
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
23rd Army
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
67th Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
24th Chinese Corps
71st Chinese Corps
21st Group Army
11th Chinese Base Force

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[font="Trebuchet MS"]My feint invasino seems to have been noticed, but now there is also a pesky sub around here. I'll send all back along the coast and hopefully avoid detection or worse. [/font]

[font="Times New Roman"]Oct 29 - 31, 1942[/font]

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[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SUBS: [/font] Laying some good hits on IJN subs in So Pac. There is a lot of activity between Fiji and Tulagi, but no hits on transports yet. Operating mainly xAKLs here anyway.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]INDIA: [/font] On the 30th we bomb and bombard the troops in 53,30 near Patna, and this goes fairly well. Only half of the 2E flew. I still think bombardments have something weird going on, and Nick's thread in the tech section outlines some of it, as one of my units that wasn't even bombarding was hit by counter fire and got a 'isolated with no supply' message and lost a ton of guns.

In spite of all of this I decided to try a DA since we have superior numbers, in a clear hex, with several tough armor units sporting brand new Lee tanks, and plenty of Valentine and Stuart tanks as well. The large majority of the units have acceptable exp now (50-55) with the Brits and Aussies in the 70-80 exp range. Every unit was rested, great morale and no fatigue or disruption. He can't have dug in more than 2 forts here, so we pulled the trigger.

Bad idea, apparently. After somewhat even air battles and good strikes on the armies, the Allies get stomped with 3x the losses including 250 destroyed squads and 50+vehicles lost. [&:]

Allied armor does not rule.

I'm not sure where the Japanese got all of the Panzerfausts, but they manage to wipe out half of a partially filled brigade of Lee tanks and put another one into jeopardy with 2/3 disablements. Is this happening with 47mm AT guns, or are the massive 24-30cm guns in the heavy arty units somehow training in on the tanks? I don't get it.

My theory is that the Brit/Indian leaders are simply SOO BAD that it doesn't matter at this point what's being used by the Allied side, it can't compete with 70-80 exp units sporting leaders that are 60-70 exp across the board. Still, you'd think a 1:1 would be possible here in clear territory, and especially since the bombers all got through and put some good damage for the second day in a row on the Japanese.

So now the only question is whether Nick will take the risk and push us back. He can, but will he do it?

The only positive on the day is that to assemble this army, the IJA pulled out of Hyderabad, Warangal and Bezwada. Our paras took all three with no battles, thus cutting the coastal rail between Calcutta and Madras and taking back some decent industry at Hyderabad.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CENT PAC: [/font] Our B-25 groups make a decent strike on Mili. The Fortress there loses some guns too which should be good for later.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]CHINA: [/font] Nick is operating about 300 2E bombers and about 200 fighters in China now. It's a lot to take for troops, even dug in good terrain. Hopefully the supply drain will eventually get to him. In this mod I believe that refineries don't make supply, so it seems he should feel this in addition to supporting another big army and air force in India and beginning to use more in So Pac/Cent Pac.

The IJA walks around to the North of Chikhiang and attacks one of the hexes along the river. They get a 1:2 but the disablements are higher for the Chinese. This is a tank army, and they do lose 50 disabled vehicles, but who knows if they're all tanks. The movement across the river to the next hex seems to have stopped now.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]OZ:[/font] The first recon goes in at Kalgoorlie. Looks like a base force and a partial recon unit, showing 3 aux planes. Now i'll look at Esperance.

[font="Microsoft Sans Serif"]SIGINT:[/font] This looks like the units moving out of Esperance and a smaller base force moving in. More good news.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]6/5th Amphibious Brigade is loaded on a Japanese CM moving to Broome.
15/13th JAAF Base Force is loaded on a Japanese CM moving to Broome.
5/13th JAAF Base Force is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Broome.
16th JNAF AF Unit is located at Esperance(56,153).[/font]

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 30, 42
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Morning Air attack on Mili Naval Fortress, at 136,121 (Mili)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 30

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb


Morning Air attack on 55th Division, at 53,30 , near Patna

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
I-15-III x 4
Blenheim IV x 20
Hurricane IIa Trop x 5
Hurricane IIb Trop x 18
Mohawk IV x 9
Wellington Ic x 17
Kittyhawk IA x 7
B-25C Mitchell x 18
B-26 Marauder x 16

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed by flak
Wellington Ic: 2 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak
B-26 Marauder: 5 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
490 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 29 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Blenheim IV bombing from 9000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 55th Division, at 53,30 , near Patna

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hudson IIIa x 3
B-26 Marauder x 6

Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
154 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 9000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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Ground combat at 78,49 (near Chihkiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9210 troops, 117 guns, 693 vehicles, Assault Value = 492

Defending force 32402 troops, 138 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 821

Japanese adjusted assault: 396

Allied adjusted defense: 625

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
199 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 50 (1 destroyed, 49 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1074 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 101 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
9th Tank Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
1st Tank Division
11th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
45th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
26th Group Army

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Ground combat at 53,30 (near Patna)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1689 troops, 148 guns, 120 vehicles, Assault Value = 3690

Defending force 116518 troops, 1184 guns, 819 vehicles, Assault Value = 3200

Japanese ground losses:
117 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 29 (15 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Assaulting units:
73rd Motorised Brigade
75th IAC Regiment
762nd Tank Battalion
14th Indian Division
19th Indian Division
63rd Indian Brigade
50th Tank Brigade
23rd Indian Division
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
70th British Division
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
267th Armoured Brigade
7th Australian Division
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
255th Armoured Brigade
22nd (East African) Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
150th RAC Regiment
20th Indian Division
75th Indian Brigade
26th Indian Division
251st Coast AA Regiment
2/11th Field Regiment
6th Medium Regiment
260th Coast AA Regiment
93rd Coast AA Regiment
2/9th Field Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
1st Indian Light AA Regiment
1st USMC AA Battalion
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
22nd Tank Regiment
33rd Division
48th Division
5th Division
21st Division
14th Tank Regiment
22nd Ind Engineer Regiment
55th Division
4th Ind Engineer Regiment
2nd Division
24th Ind Engineer Regiment
1st Division
29th Ind Engineer Regiment
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
15th Air Defense AA Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.AA Gun Co
2nd Area Army
9th RF Gun Battalion
51st Air Defense AA Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
2nd RF Gun Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
54th Field AA Battalion
14th Army
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
6th Air Defense AA Regiment
1st Art.Mortar Regiment
12th Air Defense AA Regiment
41st Air Defense AA Battalion
1st RF Gun Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.AA Gun Co
21st Army

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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 31, 42
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Ground combat at 53,30 (near Patna)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 110186 troops, 1410 guns, 2286 vehicles, Assault Value = 3684

Defending force 115744 troops, 1182 guns, 819 vehicles, Assault Value = 3162

Allied adjusted assault: 1456

Japanese adjusted defense: 3074

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
4526 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 272 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 191 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 47 disabled
Guns lost 155 (24 destroyed, 131 disabled)
Vehicles lost 133 (11 destroyed, 122 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
11883 casualties reported
Squads: 250 destroyed, 798 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 304 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 106 disabled
Guns lost 158 (20 destroyed, 138 disabled)
Vehicles lost 303 (52 destroyed, 251 disabled)

Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division
19th Indian Division
20th Indian Division
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
50th Tank Brigade
23rd Indian Division
762nd Tank Battalion
75th Indian Brigade
7th Australian Division
22nd (East African) Brigade
255th Armoured Brigade
267th Armoured Brigade
63rd Indian Brigade
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
150th RAC Regiment
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
73rd Motorised Brigade
75th IAC Regiment
70th British Division
26th Indian Division
6th Medium Regiment
251st Coast AA Regiment
1st USMC AA Battalion
2/11th Field Regiment
1st Indian Light AA Regiment
260th Coast AA Regiment
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
2/9th Field Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
93rd Coast AA Regiment
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
55th Division
24th Ind Engineer Regiment
21st Division
48th Division
14th Tank Regiment
5th Division
22nd Ind Engineer Regiment
33rd Division
22nd Tank Regiment
1st Division
2nd Division
4th Ind Engineer Regiment
29th Ind Engineer Regiment
12th Air Defense AA Regiment
2nd Area Army
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
1st Art.Mortar Regiment
3rd Ind.AA Gun Co
2nd RF Gun Battalion
15th Air Defense AA Regiment
14th Army
2nd Ind.AA Gun Co
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Air Defense AA Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Air Defense AA Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
41st Air Defense AA Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
54th Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion
1st RF Gun Battalion
21st Army

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[font="Trebuchet MS"]Here are the number for the air losses and the situation map. This time I tried a traditional sweep/escort tactic which worked much better than LR CAP for protecting bombers and getting them in to strike. Lost only a few to flak and virtually none to A to A. Got to a lot of Tojos, which is nice. I know that won't change the numbers, but he only has three groups, so harder to keep them going and active while replacing airframes. Fingers crossed we can either reinforce or fall back as both sides recover. [/font]

[font="Times New Roman"]WINTER IS COMING[/font]

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At last the North is free of worry for a few months. After rushing to thwart early Japanese expansion in the area and to solidify strong positions at Adak and Dutch Harbor, now the Aleutians are fairly well built up, protected with some small infantry forces and they are expanding to provide a potential launching point for both air strikes and possible invasions later in the game.

The plan over the winter is to continue developing the most forward bases while slowly getting more aviation support and a small naval force into the area. I don't see this being a major area of action for some time, but I'd like to be able to challenge any IJN penetrations up here.

[font="Times New Roman"]SW AUSTRALIA[/font]

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This shows recent recon of the area in SW OZ. It looks like very limited forces, but as I imagined, with the ability to strike at coming invasions. I bet some CVs are stationed at Perth and ready to move should anything be picked up by these plethora of search planes at Esperance.

The single DD at Ceduna was immediately picked up with a 10/10 DL!!

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Interesting he built Perth's shipyard that much. A good reason? Dunno. But he's going to leave you a nice asset by and by.

I'm a little late, but that doesn't make sense at all. Allies are really hurting in that part of the world for a decent shipyard, why build them one? IJN can always expand/use Singapore or Soerbaya. With the map edge pretty close to Perth, it's never completely safe for Japan....