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Greetings Nemo121:

By all means continue the AAR. I know very little about the strategies or mechanics of WiTP, so I wouldn't be much help to you there, but this AAR is certainly one that I check for updates on a consistent basis.

Besides, I'm sure I'm not the only one that is interested in seeing how you fare against the coming Allied onslaught versus a competent Allied player.

Regards,

Odox

I wish your opponent was posting an AAR to see what type of defensive posture he has in mine.

Allied ground losses:
7913 casualties reported
Guns lost 51
Vehicles lost 22

Airbase hits 62
Airbase supply hits 20
Runway hits 401
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

[:D] Man! Too bad these results did not happen IRL. Alot of lives would have been saved during WWI.

I agree with Odox that it would be nice to hear from the other side. As to a "competent Allied player", however, Trey has been asleep at the switch on at least two occasions. All of the subs at Manila should have been out at sea of at other bases; Manila is just too obvious a target. And then there's the fiasco at Palembang. (What's the damage on the facilities there, BTW?)

Nemo,

Be advised that folks will also be critical of the "shock with pursue" strategy to traverse the trails from Myt to Ledo. Frankly, I don't care what you do, as you and your opponent have agreed to minimal house rules.

But the WitP demonstrates some "inconsistancies" in that -
a. Once a unit has retreated, if you shock-pursue, you can usually just keep beating them back a hex at time, since the defenders are so heavily damaged/disrupted they are all but guarenteed to lose with each attack.
b. Normally traversing the trails from Myt to Ledo would normally take about two months of marching (even if well supplied and well supported) using conventional movement rates of 2 miles per day.
c. The fact that shock-pursue attacks allow covering the distance in week or less is inconsistanct to say the least.

-F-

ny59giants,

I'll suggest it to him. What he seems to be up to is basically waiting for my forces to reach their logistical culmination points. Certainly he could hasten them reaching their culmination points by defending farther forward but he knows as well as I do that if he conducts a forward defence I will simply conduct either a vertical or amphibious envelopment into his rear, cutting off his forward defence and making my task all the easier.

So, he is opting to cede all of the non-essential ground to me whilst preparing his defences at critical junctures he KNOWS I will have to attack and/or at points beyond my logistically dictated culmination points. He is also refusing to reinforce failure as can be seen in his actions in the Central Pacific and Malaysia. It may not come across in the static screenshots but what he's doing is totally analogous to a festung defence with forces retreating into fortified areas, using airpower to lash out at Japanese forces moving past the fortified zones and sapping these Japanese forces of their strength, surprise and operational freedom.

This defensive doctrine pretty much identifies Soerabaja, Batavia, Palembang, Singapore, Manilla and Rangoon as areas which I must take and Noumea, Port Moresby, Midway and Johnson as possible logistical culmination points. I took the logistical culmination points early and by taking Soerabaja early on and then driving up towards Batavia I drew his eye southward to Teloekboetang. As far as I'm concerned that has been his only operational error so far. I think though that he felt Singaporean air attacks would be able to defeat any invasion fleets heading for Palembang whilst the fact that I had 5 Brigades close to Teloekboetang (sic) pretty much guaranteed it would be invaded as part of my 2nd wave of naval invasions.


He is a very operational/strategic player and plays a lot more Eastern Front operational and strategic level stuff than Pacific War stuff... I'm the same although I played tactical level quite heavily in recent years thanks to Combat Mission I and II... and the defence he is practicing is a very typical response of a German commander in that theatre. Personally I think that if his defence was conducted as more of a forward defence that I would be progressing more quickly and would have taken fewer losses and inflicted more casualties than is currently the case. This is because I would have used naval invasions and airborne landings into his 2nd or 3rd line defences to cut off more forces and defeat them before they got into his festungen.

I think that the way this is playing out has a lot to do with the fact that I'm applying Soviet doctrine and his choice of defensive strategy has been heavily influenced by his experience facing similar doctrines when playing WiR etc.


As to the submarines etc in Manilla...
I think most of the submarines which were hit in my recent wave of bombings were subs which had been badly damaged in the initial port attacks and, therefore, had bad flotation damage. I expect that he was waiting for their flotation to be repaired before sending them off to Australia/India. He knew that if Manilla was going to fall he'd have a good bit of warning and would be able to sail them out... I can see why people would suggest he sail them and take his chances but to be honest I can also see the argument for keeping them in port and sailing them when their flotation damage was low... I forget the exact figure but my impression was that I only hit 4 or 5 subs in this wave of attacks so it would seem that most of the other 16 or 17 which survived the initial port attack HAD sailed for other ports. I think these 4 or 5 probably had such heavy flotation damage that any attempt to sail them to other ports was doomed until they had repaired.



Feinder,
I think that one can make a good argument that Shock Attacks with armoured units on units which have been forced to rout from one hex to another the previous day probably should work the way they currently do... I think the issue may be with the free movement granted to units Shock Attacking on paths etc... They shouldn't gain as much free movement as they currently do. While there are many occasions where armoured units moved through what was classed as impenetrable terrain at a far greater rate than this AND I think armoured units on paths should move more quickly than they currently do I do agree that they shouldn't move 60 miles per day across tiny paths when pursuing the enemy.... So my vote would be to up their movement rate per day on paths and decrease their shock movement rate to match this increased general movement rate.


As to gameyness... I'm quite reconciled to being criticised by people for not following their game rules. Flying 300 bombers in a mission... Someone will argue it is gamey because of the effect of humidity on operational readiness of airplanes in the Pacific. Using armoured units en masse in Provisional Tank Divisions... Well, since the Japanese didn't do this till later I'm sure someone else thinks thats gamey. Downgrading the quality of airplane my training units fly so that I don't lose top-line equipment when the newbies crash them on take-off. I'm sure someone else will call that gamey. Invading India whilst leaving Singapore for later... Instead of viewing it as a strategic choice with both benefits and disadvantages I'm sure someone will complain and say that's gamey/ahistoric. Playing with PDUs on... I KNOW some people say that's gamey. Utilising my forces as efficiently as I can manage without limiting myself to only attacking when preparation values reach x % ( and accepting the already programmed decrease in operational effectiveness)... I'm sure someone will call that gamey even though real military units often had to rush into battle with limited preparation and planning all the time. I personally prefer to just live and let live but a lot of people here seem to think that their way is the only way and they should both rip into anyone who disagrees and prostelytise their beliefs. That's probably the main reason I've decided this'll be my only WiTP game. The community is just way too unaccepting of different viewpoints as far as I can see.

So, basically, I feel that no matter what I do I'm pretty sure to contravene someone's personal subjective idea of what should and shouldn't be done. So, since I can see that this Shock Attack Pursue thing in WOODS and PATHS may be unrealistic ( I think it is perfectly valid with armoured units in clear and rail/road hexes) I will suggest to Trye that I retreat back down the path and ban Shock Attack + Pursue in Wooded hexes ( armoured units in clear terrain with a path hex would just go offroad and move cross-country at a fast clip so I won't limit the Shock Attack + Pursue to all woods AND Paths as I don't see the rationale behind it) in future. I don't want to take advantage of clear game bugs and after thinking about it I think this may well be an example of a game bug. If Trey agrees I'll retreat down the path ( or maybe fly in a Base Force and airlift the tanks out if their load cost is low enough.... Anyone know if this is so?).

Thanks for making me think about it Feinder... I hadn't given it much thought but I think that in woods the Shock Attack/Pursue thing is probably not working as it should.




As to Palembang... Resources are in the 560s ( out of 700 IIRC) with oil being pretty much at 90% or so. Basically I have just over 2000 oil points at present.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/07/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat at 20,59

Japanese Ships
CL Natori
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Oshio

Allied Ships
AK Don Jose, and is sunk

This was weird. The surface combat screen showed up and immediately Don Jose sank without even a shot being fired. Obviously it must have succumbed to the torpedo hits suffered earlier in the day but I thought it was funny that according to the game it sank only after my surface units came into view.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Myoko
CA Maya
CA Furutaka
CA Aoba
CA Kako
CA Kinugasa
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Chokai
CA Mogami
BB Kongo
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna


Allied ground losses:
551 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 10
Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 56,43

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 32
PC Ch 18
PC Ch 17
PC Ch 16
PC Ch 15
PC Ch 14
PC Ch 13
PC Kyo Maru #13
PC Kyo Maru #12
PC Kyo Maru #11

Allied Ships
SS Permit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

When I saw some P40Es in China I couldn't resist the opportunity to cull them a little. I also did this because, at present, I only need 4 Fighter Daitais/Sentais on my front lines ( 1 at Koepang, 1 over Singapore, 1 over Manilla and one providing LRCAP for units passing by Singapore) and thus have many Zero and Oscar Daitais sitting around doing nothing.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Since I have a few months before I can even begin to think of invading Singapore I want to keep doing port and airfield damage so that the British can't build more forts.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Ki-21 Sally x 18
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 4
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
63 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 31
G4M1 Betty x 24
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 22

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 15

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 31st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
C5M Babs x 1
Ki-21 Sally x 35
Ki-48 Lily x 6
Ki-49 Helen x 3
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 2
Ki-36 Ida x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
C5M Babs x 2
Ki-21 Sally x 168
Ki-48 Lily x 16
Ki-49 Helen x 16
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2
Ki-15 Babs x 4
Ki-36 Ida x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
151 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Under 250 casualties for the committment of close to 50 bombers seems like quite a small return on my committment. Is ground attack really this ineffective? I know that these casualties are occuring in combat troops as opposed to support troops and thus is damaging the enemy's AV more than the greater casualty returns from Port and Airfield Attacks but I would have expect 125 tons of bombs to result in more than just 250 casualties. Is the fact that the enemy are in urban terrain lessening the damage done?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,48

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 19

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Empire Steelhead, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 32

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PT PT-40, Shell hits 16
PT PT-38, Shell hits 8

Damage to these PT boats is miniscule. It seems that I need cannon-armed fighters to truly do them any significant damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Muntok at 21,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
MSW W.9

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 5
Hudson I x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara, Bomb hits 1

This hit just bounced off the belt armour and did no further system damage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 61,44

Japanese Ships
PC Takunan Maru #5
PC Shonan Maru #1
PC Shonan Maru #2
PC Shonan Maru #17

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 109385 troops, 1217 guns, 20 vehicles

Defending force 72900 troops, 602 guns, 187 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
196 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

My forces are almost gathered. I need to bring another 3 divisions, an assault regiment and a couple more tank regiments ( released from the Home Islands) in over the next 3 or 4 days and then I should be ready to hit the Allied forces.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,36

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59096 troops, 876 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 31745 troops, 68 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
1110 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

The impressive results from the bombardment attacks against the Chinese continue.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,39

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 57646 troops, 774 guns, 12 vehicles

Defending force 17892 troops, 111 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Less impressive [:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Macassar

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1101 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1780 troops, 13 guns, 4 vehicles

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


Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Another landing force is on the way from Kendari to reinforce this NLF.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26121 troops, 284 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 19059 troops, 151 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rangoon

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 35583 troops, 240 guns, 8 vehicles

Defending force 19634 troops, 167 guns, 12 vehicles

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


Japanese ground losses:
1296 casualties reported
Guns lost 31
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
136 casualties reported
Guns lost 8


OUCH! I was certain Rangoon would fall this turn but I got a 0:1 attack. It seems my forces were just too fatigued and disrupted from the previous Shock Attacks. So, in future I will limit myself to two consecutive days of Shock Attacks and will then wait for a few days to recuperate before Shock Attacking again.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 37,26

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1566 troops, 0 guns, 103 vehicles

Defending force 100 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 100 to 1



Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

This was completed prior to the conversation with Feinder so I kept Shock Attacking on the road to Ledo.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17285 troops, 117 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 4431 troops, 10 guns, 264 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
198 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Guns lost 8


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

The Japanese units at the crossroads got pushed off. Damn, several Brigades were only two days away and the other two tank regiments were due the next day. Ah well, more supply to Sian means less supply for the rest of China when Sian gets cut off. Cloud, silver lining [:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9459 troops, 93 guns, 11 vehicles

Defending force 27746 troops, 246 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/08/42

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-32 Mary x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-32 Mary: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 1

I committed the Marys here in order to prevent the defenders of Rangoon from building up forts... They have done too little damage and will be replaced by level bombers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M Nell x 25
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 29
Ki-21 Sally x 13
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 2
Buffalo I x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M Nell: 3 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 8
Runway hits 13

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 56
G4M1 Betty x 33
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 25

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 6 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses


Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 27


Attacks to burn Singapore's supplies and prevent further aerial attacks on my shipping.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day Air attack on 1st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
C5M Babs x 1
Ki-21 Sally x 50
Ki-48 Lily x 4
Ki-49 Helen x 3
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Ki-15 Babs x 1
Ki-36 Ida x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-15 Babs: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
C5M Babs x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 180
Ki-48 Lily x 18
Ki-49 Helen x 18
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3
Ki-15 Babs x 4
Ki-36 Ida x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
107 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Muntok at 21,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 6
Blenheim IV x 3
Hudson I x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
MSW W.9
AP Ayo Maru
AP Arizana Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Hudson I bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 5000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 110342 troops, 1244 guns, 21 vehicles

Defending force 72784 troops, 605 guns, 187 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,36

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59513 troops, 878 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 30320 troops, 59 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
1092 casualties reported
Guns lost 6


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,39

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 57621 troops, 765 guns, 12 vehicles

Defending force 17911 troops, 110 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
107 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26214 troops, 285 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 19049 troops, 148 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Guns lost 3


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26361 troops, 358 guns, 17 vehicles

Defending force 4873 troops, 11 guns, 0 vehicles


Allied ground losses:
133 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

I'm replacing the Division tied up in reducing the isolated Allied Brigade on the Malaysian peninsula with an Engineer Regiment and 4 or 5 Artillery Regiments. This will enable me to use this 3rd division to reduce Rangoon and, from there, embark on transports for the invasion of India.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Ledo

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1566 troops, 0 guns, 103 vehicles

Defending force 982 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Ledo base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Again, this happened before Feinder's post so I hadn't, at that time, seen any problem with Shock Attack+Pursue in wooded terrain. After sending the turn for 9th January I offered to retreat back down the Ledo/Lashio road and let Trey retake Ledo.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8215 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 36098 troops, 340 guns, 0 vehicles

The third Brigade is now in place. All 3 Brigades and the SNLF force are set to deliberate attack tomorrow. I will use this as a test-bed to see how deliberate attack compares to Shock Attack. I am pretty unhappy with the sudden fall-off in performance of the Shock Attacks at Rangoon and want to test other possible attack options before I am committed to serious large-scale fighting in India.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Macassar

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 993 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1068 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles

Trey has said that he would agree to a house rule governing Shock Attacks in Woods and has accepted my offer to withdraw my tank regiment back to the hex before Ledo. From there I am free to advance back to Ledo. The way I figure it that should take about 2 months to get back into Ledo which jibes with the time people say this move should have taken.

One question: Can I accelerate this by flying supply to my tank regiment?

One question: Can I accelerate this by flying supply to my tank regiment?

Not really. It might help, as in save you a few days (maybe not even), but it's still going to take you 6 weeks to get there.

That being the case, in 6 weeks, there will be a lot of Brits in Ledo by the time you get there, and he's going to bomb the snot out of you making it take even longer.

You can send Divs overland to Ledo (you'll certainly need more than an ARM Rgt). But frankly, I'd pull that guy back. It's almost better that he be forced to expend troops to garrison Ledo, as it draws a Brigade or so away from the coast (which should be your real route India anyways).

Just bear in mind that India gets a lot of reinforcements fairly quickly. Going overland means by the time you get to Ledo/Imphal/Kohima, the Brits will have lots of stuff there. Amphib is your best chance to kill India (and you're certainly in a position to do so).

-F-

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/09/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Belitung Island at 23,58

Japanese Ships
AP Iburi Maru, Torpedo hits 1

Allied Ships
SS KXII

Only minor damage is caused. Iburi Maru contines with its mission. If it sinks it will only sink at its destination having fulfilled its mission.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59

Japanese Ships
DD Natsushio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Oyashio
DD Kuroshio
CL Nagara


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Runway hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59

Japanese Ships
DD Oshio
DD Hagikaze
DD Arashi
DD Nowaki
CL Natori


Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

These two bombardments were carried out by elements of the escort flotillas protecting the battleline as I wished to see what kind of return on committment I could expect from the CL-led destroyer flotillas at Noumea if I wanted to send them in to bombard the New Zealand ports. It looks like I shouldn't expect anything but a number of sunk DDs and CLs if I use them in this manner.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 118,68

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
MSW Grebe
MSW Vireo

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

More free training over China. I may try a fighter sweep of Oscars vs I-16s over the next few days to test whether or not it would be efficient to incorporate CAP/Escort and Sweep missions in my pilot training programme ( which is slowly but surely getting off the ground. For now removing the P40Es which my Oscars and Nates seem to have such a hard time dealing with is high on my list of priorities in China.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M Nell x 24
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Ki-21 Sally x 8
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed
Wirraway: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 10

Just keeping the pressure on... It would appear that the number of bombers committed to this tasking is insufficient to prevent total repair. As such it allows the British to continue increasing their fort level, something I wish to prevent. I figure they are probably at Level 6 or 7 by now based on how quickly my forts at Johore Bahru are going up ( currently half way to Level 4) and with all the supply runs from Palmbang my worst case scenario is that Singapore has between 100,000 to 120,000 tons of supply. With an average of 5% of supply being destroyed for every 250 bomber sorties and the capability to put at least that many bombers over Singapore daily I should be able to reduce Singaporean supply to subsistence levels with a 3 week bombing campaign once Manila falls. Fortunately that synchronises quite well with my estimate of the time delay between Manila falling and my initial landings in India and even when the campaign in India opens it will not require the entirety of my army bomber force so I should be able to maintain sufficient force to keep supply from returning to acceptable levels.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 47
G4M1 Betty x 35

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 7 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Wirraway: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 32

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 5 damaged

Airbase supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2


Wow, 8 B-17s damaged but even without escorts they managed to destroy 2 Zeroes. I had flown in a Mavis Chutai to Koepang in order to provoke B17 sorties as I wanted to see how a half-Daitai of Zeroes on CAP would do against a couple of B17 squadrons ( the force I'd previously seen flying from Australia against my shipping). The answer is that they poorly indeed. I am upping the CAP to 90% tomorrow and will see how they do then. With that information gathered and available for future planning my Zero Daitai will withdraw and be brought back up to strength.

I should point out that Soviet doctrine is by far the most mathematical doctrine out there. It holds that at the grand tactical, operational and strategic levels a given application of force upon a given target produces a given, quantifiable and reproducable result. IOW if you've ever seen Soviet planning material from the Second World War onward you can see tables which show exactly how many shells of a given type are required to inflict the required amount of damage on any enemy unit. Account is, obviously, taken of enemy fortification levels, unit density etc etc.

Since I'm very new to WiTP I'm using the situation in the DEI as a testing ground so as to improve my future planning. Already it would appear that 250 bomber sorties results in roughly 5 supply hits ( with each supply hit accounting for roughly 1% of total enemy supplies at a base), that for every 1 ton of bombs delivered in ground attack missions I can assume 1 casualty will be inflicted, that naval skill plays a decisive part in naval warfare, that recon definitely aids bombardment TFs if occuring the day before and of the bombardment, that results from bombardments fall off to less than 1/8 of the effect of the initial bombardment within 3 bombardment impulses etc. All of the above is going to be used in formulating the invasions of New Zealand, India and other areas.

Anyways, I just thought I'd explain why I'm bombarding with DD TFs, flying Zero daitais out into isolated airbases I know are going to be attacked etc etc.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 71st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
Ki-21 Sally x 67
Ki-48 Lily x 6
Ki-49 Helen x 3
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 8 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
82 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

77 bombers , 82 casualties.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-21 Sally x 189
Ki-48 Lily x 17
Ki-49 Helen x 18
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 14 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 2 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
193 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

224 bombers, 193 casualties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 8
Blenheim IV x 3
Hudson I x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 5 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
Hudson I: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
CA Furutaka
BB Hyuga
BB Yamashiro

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 27,32

On the 8th January I saw a few ships in Chandpur Harbour. I have been reconning from Victoria point with a Mavis Chutai keeping the 36 Bettys and Nells in the area on Naval Attack but 0% search. Hoping for just such a target. I couldn't be sure but I was willing to bet that this was either a convoy to bring more troops to Akyab ( which I doubted) or a resupply/troop evacuation convoy to Rangoon. It turns out the convoy was bound for Rangoon but VERY surprisingly it looks like it was carrying men TO Rangoon. I have responded to this move by rebasing multiple Daitais and Chutais to achieve the following posture:

1. 36 Oscars and 12 Dive-bombers operating from Rahaeng set to Naval Attack. They should all dive-bomb any shipping which tries to make for Rangoon.
2. 90 Bettys/Nells based at Tavoy and Victoria Point.

Whether he tries to make for Rangoon or head back for Chandpur I think I will have enough force available to destroy this force. 4 or 5 troopships, a CL and possibly a couple of destroyers would make a nice haul especially since the only troops it would make sense to be transporting to Rangoon would be one of the Indian Brigades.

Over the next 3 or 4 days I will use paraborne forces to take Andaman with a view to initially basing Mavis patrols at Andaman, flying in significant Base Forces and Construction Bns and building it up to a Size 4 Airfield in time for the invasion of India. If I am counting hexes right this will put all of Ceylon and Trivandrum into range of Betty torpedo range.

This operation is part of my attempt to "shape" the Indian invasion battlefield to my favour. It will accomplish a number of objectives:
1. It will, in conjunction with the replacement of my Mavis flying boats with Emilys, extend my naval search range past Bombay.
2. This, in conjunction with the basing of Bettys and Nells at Andaman should give me the ability to Port Attack any of his shipping, forcing it to rebase at either Bombay or Karachi, thus decreasing its ability to react speedily to any invasion fleets.
3. When the time comes for his forces to react to my invasion his surface fleets will require significant LRCAP to dissuade Nell/Betty attack during their passage of Ceylon and any fighters used in this mission will be diverted from the more important task of protecting the bombers attacking my fleet.
4. When the time comes for my carriers to meet his in battle both the Royal Navy and Imperial Japanese Navy will have significant LBA support.
5. When the time comes to, hopefully, mop up the enemy cripples I can leave that task to my Nells and Bettys, a more renewable asset than my scare carriers, battleships and heavy cruisers.

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Dauntless, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Empire Trooper, Torpedo hits 1


Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged


Allied ground losses:
201 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 2

Port hits 1

And then again there are always exceptions to any rule [;)]

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Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 2


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Nachi

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Blenheim I bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Batavia at 19,59

Japanese Ships
MSW W.5
MSW Toshi Maru #2
MSW Rokko Maru
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Choun Maru #21
MSW Choun Maru #7
MSW Choun Maru #6
MSW Banshu Maru #56
MSW Banshu Maru #52

Allied Ships
SS KXII

This wasn't intentional. These MSWs simply ran over this submarine as they were moving elsewhere.

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Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 111090 troops, 1247 guns, 24 vehicles

Defending force 72747 troops, 591 guns, 189 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
171 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

I estimate that two divisions are 2 days out while the Imperial Guard division is about 4 days out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 54,91

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2629 troops, 17 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1961 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 8 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36352 troops, 343 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 12344 troops, 92 guns, 11 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3


Japanese ground losses:
324 casualties reported
Guns lost 23

Allied ground losses:
414 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

Interesting. 1:1 odds and fort reduction. I'll continue with the deliberate attacks. Another 3 to 4 days of attacks should see Batavia fall. This result is making me wish I hadn't Shock Attacked so much at Rangoon. Deliberate attacks will mark the commencement of the Manilla assault.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,36

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59809 troops, 882 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 28875 troops, 48 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
745 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

I've had enough of bombardments. I think it is time to try another deliberate attack. With a large force pushing up from Canton and this force pushing down from Changsha I would like to put some pressure on the Chinese at Hengchow. I don't require it to fall but a threat to it would tend to draw Chinese force southward, weakening the northern front and aiding my destruction of the Sian pocket forces. If Hengchow does fall I wouldn't be above pushing towards other southern bases and, ultimately, Kweiyang. With 20+ Chinese units destroyed in the Sian pocket I would expect the Chinese forces around Changsha to fall back rather precipitantly if Kweiyang and Chungking were, simultaneously, threatened.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,39

This is the ground attack by the force moving up from Canton towards the Hengchow/Kweilin area.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 69326 troops, 776 guns, 12 vehicles

Defending force 17791 troops, 106 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
630 casualties reported
Guns lost 17

Allied ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Guns lost 8


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

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Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26246 troops, 289 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 18991 troops, 143 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
50 casualties reported
Guns lost 4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 36,24

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1546 troops, 0 guns, 101 vehicles

Defending force 582 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 25 to 1



Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
This was the last turn completed prior to Feinder's pointing out of the fact that the Shock Attack + Pursue combination in woods was an exploitation of a bug. This tank regiment, poised outside Jorhat will retreat back past Ledo and then resume operations.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Macassar

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 993 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 1035 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
2 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Merak

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 163 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Merak base !!!


Paratroops capture Merak in order to save my Brigades the extra couple of days of combat which would be involved in chasing down any units which retreat from Batavia.

Wow, 8 B-17s damaged but even without escorts they managed to destroy 2 Zeroes. I had flown in a Mavis Chutai to Koepang in order to provoke B17 sorties as I wanted to see how a half-Daitai of Zeroes on CAP would do against a couple of B17 squadrons ( the force I'd previously seen flying from Australia against my shipping). The answer is that they poorly indeed. I am upping the CAP to 90% tomorrow and will see how they do then. With that information gathered and available for future planning my Zero Daitai will withdraw and be brought back up to strength.

As I've mentioned in other AAR's, in the early part of the game, the Japanese do not have any fighters well suited to attacking the B-17's. Manueverability means little because there is no angle of attack not subject to defensive fire from the .50's of the B-17. What you need is a fighter with durability and firepower, and "there ain't no such animal" until considerably later. The best way to attack B-17's is the best way for the Allies in Europe to attack Me-262's -- on the ground.

We've upgraded to 1.8 and the extra information in the combat report is EXTREMELY helpful... It would still be nice to find some way to turn off the animations for one side but not the other as Trey doesn't like to sit through all the animations yet I love the suspense of aerial attack animations.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/10/42

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed

Attrition works both ways [8D]

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 36
G4M1 Betty x 6
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 1
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 6 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 damaged
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10

Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 3 damaged

90% CAP doesn't seem to help much, if at all. I've learnt what I wanted to and am pulling the Betty and Zero bait out now. I'll keep the Mavis Chutai there and ship in a AAA Regiment to make the Allies a bit more circumspect.

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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

This is pretty much a full committment of my army bomber force at the moment. Basically 404 level bombers and 36 dive bombers flew the mission and did damage commensurate to their losses. The airfield is closed and the port has taken damage too so tomorrow I will turn to ground attacks again for a few days. With the arrival of two of the three remaining divisions I think it is also time to probe the enemy defences so I'll launch a deliberate attack. I don't expect it to achieve even 1:1 odds given the urban defence bonus but it should enable me to get a good feel for what combat in urban terrain is like in WiTP. If I get 0:1 odds I'll rest a couple of days, give the Imperial Guards division a chance to catch up and then Shock Attack repeatedly.

Tomorrow I attack with 7 Infantry Divisions, 5 Tank Regiments and 3 Engineer Regiments in addition to a horde of artillery regiments. I expect to be repulsed quite handily but am interested to see my casualty level so I can get a guide as to how much time I'l have to leave between Shock Attacks later on.... I want to know this so that I don't sail my Indian invasion transports to Manila too soon and give Trey advance warning that I am aiming to move on quickly.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
Ki-30 Ann x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 324
Ki-48 Lily x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 53
Ki-46-II Dinah x 6

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 3 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 7 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
AK Bisayas, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
AK Princess of Negros, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AP President Madison, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
TK Mindanao, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AK Ethel Edwards, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
DD Pillsbury, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
MSW Finch, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Peary, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AO Trinity, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AK Anakan, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage
AK Palawan, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
460 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 29
Airbase supply hits 19
Runway hits 254
Port hits 4
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 27
LB-30 Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 destroyed


Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 3

Pearl is getting a little frisky. I am a tad annoyed they destroyed the Val on the ground as now the Allies may see through my maskirovka of placing Val and Kate Chutai on Midway and Johnson set on ASW Search in order to hint at the presence of KB in the area.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Dutch Regiment, at 19,59

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
G4M1 Betty x 15

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

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Day Air attack on TF at 27,32

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AP Empire Attendant
AP Empire Tamar
AP Empire Chivalry
AP West Point

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

A very disappointing result. 13 Bettys launch but secure no hits... The other 2 Betty bases in range were covered by thunderstorms and nothing flew. Just my luck. I think these transports may get away. [:(]

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Day Air attack on TF at 27,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 35

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AP Empire Tamar
AP Empress of Asia

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar bombing at 2000 feet
9 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar bombing at 2000 feet
9 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar bombing at 2000 feet
9 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar bombing at 2000 feet

And again. [:(]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 111380 troops, 1258 guns, 24 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3569

Defending force 72113 troops, 583 guns, 188 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1498


Allied ground losses:
130 casualties reported

I estimate that the enemy assault value when adjusted for terrain etc could be as high as 6,000. I expect it to be a bit lower due to morale, experience and disruption issues but anything under 4,000 would be surprising.

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Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35947 troops, 320 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 672

Defending force 11779 troops, 77 guns, 11 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 247

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese max assault: 598 - adjusted assault: 512

Allied max defense: 187 - adjusted defense: 224

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2


Japanese ground losses:
203 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Allied ground losses:
617 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Can someone explain to me how I can reduce the fortification level to 2 when it was 2 to begin with? Is this a bug?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,36

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 64519 troops, 887 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 915

Defending force 27841 troops, 39 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 638

Japanese max assault: 912 - adjusted assault: 361

Allied max defense: 440 - adjusted defense: 87

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
362 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
891 casualties reported
Guns lost 12


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

These units are beginning to clear the way to Hengchow. Something like 150,000 Chinese troops are waiting to be pocketed there. They'll break out of course but even the potential for pocketing will tend to draw Chinese forces into the South and away from the North, giving me the time I need to block counter-attacks from Chungking and annihilate the forces at Sian. When that's done I can stop fooling around with obviously indecisive operations in the south and engage in operationally decisive thrusts in both areas with a view to knocking China out of the war post-haste and being free to begin operations against Russia by mid-42. With India, China and Russia out of the war and Australia isolated I will be able to focus on the American threat. That's pretty much my overall strategic objective for the first year of the war, eliminate all threats except the CONUSA +/- Pearl Harbour by either conquering their armies and lands or starving them into impotence.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,37

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13316 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 283

Defending force 3020 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0



Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,39

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 68561 troops, 759 guns, 12 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1339

Defending force 2960 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 2600 - adjusted assault: 2406

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 9

Japanese assault odds: 267 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
275 casualties reported


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

LOL! Good day Mr Ping. Today you are outnumbered 267 to 1. Would you a: like to flee? b: cry like a little girl? c: flee crying like a little girl? Ah, you picked d: run away crying like a little girl but with extra-brown trousers. An excellent choice. This must have been a Base Force or something sent out to block my movement on the basis that I was only bombarding and didn't show any desire to attack in the south.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26384 troops, 288 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 653

Defending force 18987 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 541


Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,24

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 8662 troops, 158 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 172

Defending force 523 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1

Japanese max assault: 154 - adjusted assault: 20

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 20 to 1



Allied ground losses:
1 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!



Below you can see the situation in China. While the Chungking/Sian road was re-opened by the Chinese a few days ago I have about 8 division-equivalents within 60 miles of it and it WILL close again very soon. 3 or 4 divisions will make for Chungking to block any Chinese attempt to relieve the Sian pocket. The rest will either aid my airborne operations or, if recon proves these not to be feasible, help reduce Sian as quickly as possible. It will be at least the middle of February before the forces allocated to the destruction of this pocket are free for operations against Chungking but I plan to keep the Chinese commander occupied by:

1. Continuing to apply pressure in relatively futile but still potentially threatening operations on the Kweilin/Kweiyang axis designed to keep the maximum number of Chinese Corps committed to operations there. I expect this fighting to be quite fluid with many opportunities for Chinese counter-attacks due to the limited force I am employing and the fact that I am dispersing my main effort quite widely in an effort to draw as many Chinese units as possible onto this flank.

2. airborne raids against the cities west of Chungking. My 5 parachute regiments ( 3 moving to Hanoi and the 2 which previously dropped at Kungchang moving to Ichang) give me the ability to land 150 AV of elite troops. The problem is I can only land a small fraction of that force on any given day so am unable to go up against any city being defended by more than a Base Force and division. I've reconned Kweiyang about a week ago and it looks like it is only being garrisoned by a Base Force. Everything else has been drawn eastward, exactly as planned. I'm also moving many of my unutilised recon Chutai into bases in Malaysia and China and when my forces are in place I will recon every Chinese city simultaneously with multiple recon Chutai at very low level per city ( to get as much info as possible) and choose the 1 or two which look most promising. I will then commit my entire parachute force to take one of these cities. Several NLFs are being ferried to Haiphong ready for air transport to whichever city in China is taken.

3. If I can drop into Kweiyang I will also push the aforementioned main remnant of the Ichang force across the Yangtze south-eastward of Chungking. As I understand it that should cut the forces in south-eastern China off from their supply and force them to fall back on the small amount of supply generated in that region. Since much of his combat power is in this region I expect supply to run out quickly with obvious consequences for their ability to resist my southern forces. Even if it doesn't work quite as planned it should provide him with yet more worries, complicate his tactical situation and invite him to respond in an inappropriate manner, leaving me with more opportunities to exploit.

I'm also including a picture from the area of Canton Island today...

KB has been refuelling from the replenishment force accompanying it for the past few days. It now has sufficient fuel to manoeuvre again at high speed ( the BBs were in the red before replenishment began) should combat require. I've also reinforced their complement of torpedo and dive bombers with planes flown out ( at relatively high ops cost) from Japan.


I am becoming increasingly concerned about that convoy I spotted about 10 days ago coming from CONUSA. I think it comprised mostly APs based on my Glen sighting reports. I lost contact with it due east of Palmyra and at the time I thought it would either make for Australia with reinforcements or try to take Christmas Island away from me, hence my choice of the area just behind it for my underway replenishment. However the more I look at Canton the more I've realised that there IS actually a gap in my aerial reconnaisance. Not much of a gap but there is about a 120 mile gap between the 13 hex coverage of patrols from Christmas Island and the patrols from bases south-west of Canton. The manual has left me with the impression that patrols have very little chance of spotting something moving in their extended range radius and since Trey can read a map as well as I can I am wondering if he isn't trying to reinforce Canton Island. It makes no sense to reinforce its failure by keeping B-17s there BUT Canton is perfectly placed to interdict a lot of my supply shipping and so I'm wondering if rather than reinforcing failure the presence of B-17s was intended to keep Canton Island open while this reinforcement convoy could reach it. I'm probably already too late but I have ordered my carriers to sweep rapidly southward while I've moved a Betty Chutai to Baker Island and ordered it to 100% Naval Search. This should give me good coverage of the approaches to Canton. If I spot anything KB will move in to kill them. If there's nothing there then I should still end up outside of PBY detection range from Canton ( I won't move more than 5 hexes this turn as I refuelled a lot earlier in the day) and can continue with my original commerce raiding plan. Floatplanes are now active but Kates and Vals are on Naval Attack 0% while Zeroes are on CAP 80%.

The one good thing which will come of the convoy going to Canton if that's where it is actually going is that I'm sure it will be covered by his carriers and with 6 CVs, 2 CVLs and a CS in my fleet I am pretty confident of being able to overmatch any fight his carriers try to put up.

Other options for the convoy are Fiji or Australia as I initially thought... I must admit though that I've had an uncomfortable feeling about this convoy from the moment I spotted it and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the reason it was so difficult to intercept with my subs was because it was made up of nothing but really fast, big troopships. The more I think about that the more that makes sense and the more this looks like a convoy tasked with reinforcing a threatened island ( where speed is of the essence) and the less it looks like a slow, plodding convoy to Australia...

The thing that really decided me was seeing the convoy trying to bring reinforcements into Rangoon. That is infinitely more risky than trying to run reinforcements into Canton or Fiji ( I have moderate overlap of air patrols near Fiji and no overlap of air patrols near Canton while I have Rangoon covered by multiple Mavis, Betty and divebomber Chutai and Daitai) and is a position I am far more likely to storm in the next week or two than Canton and yet Trey was willing to risk his men and ships to reinforce it. I'm actually just convincing myself more as I sit here and type.

If I continue with the commerce raiding operation and he's going to Canton I will miss the convoy entirely whereas if I hang around here refuelling for a few more days I can still conduct the commerce raiding operation at my leisure as anything moving westward is going to run into my CVEs, soon to be backed up by a CS and AV TF. So, staying here covering Canton lets me refuel, protect against an option I otherwise have no defence against and will probably not let any more Allied ships escape as the Western jaw of my trap should be sufficient to sink them.

Ok, Canton it is. If nothing shows up there in the next 3 or 4 days I'll split up and sail westward ready to sprint to Fiji at a moment's notice if the convoy is spotted there.[/b]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/11/42

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Coastal Guns at Macassar, 30,69, firing at TF 193
TF 193 troops unloading over beach at Macassar, 30,69


4 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Kamitsu Maru

Japanese ground losses:
58 casualties reported

TF 193 troops unloading over beach at Macassar, 30,69


4 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
PG Kamitsu Maru

Japanese ground losses:
58 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 118,69

Japanese Ships
SS I-2

Allied Ships
MSW Vireo, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Grebe

And it sinks immediately. Excellent, this might make him curb his attempts to attack my sub cordon east of Pearl with small ASW TFs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 32
Ki-30 Ann x 37
Ki-51 Sonia x 58
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
72 casualties reported

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 84
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 24
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 35
Ki-21 Sally x 16
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 4
Buffalo I x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 26

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 2


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 2


No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet


While there do not appear to be any operational losses it does appear that the aviation support units in the Northern Australian bases are finding it difficult to repair the B-17s. So it would appear that maintenance will quickly attrit the size of his strikes. In future then one operational gambit would be to keep my fighters back and fully rested and only fly them in to a base I believe he will attack after he attacks it for a couple of days. That way I could limit the potential of massed bomber strikes to down my fighters and allow the many minnows to concentrate on a few whales.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 33
LB-30 Liberator x 16


No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 5

Fine, Johnson is just a distraction after all. If he sees it as threat enough to close its airfield then that's entirely welcome. It will burn my supply but Fast Transport TFs can bring more in as required.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 21st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
Ki-30 Ann x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 44
Ki-48 Lily x 7
Ki-49 Helen x 6
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 4 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
108 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 31st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-30 Ann x 6
Ki-21 Sally x 75
Ki-48 Lily x 3
Ki-49 Helen x 18
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 5 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 6 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
176 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-30 Ann x 27
Ki-21 Sally x 118
Ki-48 Lily x 8
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 13 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
261 casualties reported
Guns lost 8


From what I've read in the manual and other AARs ground attacks target the most powerful enemy combat unit in the target area. With these three raids each targetting different units I must conclude that the effect of the first raid as to reduce the strength of the 21st PA division such that it was no longer the strongest or 2nd-strongest unit. The new strongest unit was then attacked in the 2nd raid, reducing its combat strength such that the 1st PA division now became the strongest unit by the time the 3rd air strike went in. It is notable that in the first few days of attacks the 1st PA division was being continuously attacked and as such, if my reasoning above is accurate, was the strongest ground unit in Manilla. Today as a result of previous attacks it was only the third-strongest unit. So it would seem that ground attacks do actually manage to reliably draw enemy combat power down. Of course it is unrealistic that the fewer enemy units in a hex the less effective a given weight of bombs is... the natural result of extrapolating the combat routines is that a hex occupied by a single combat unit with 500 AV will be made MUCH more vulnerable to capture following a ground attack which inflicts 50 AV and commensurate disruption and fatigue than the same hex defended by 500 AV split between 5 units. Aerial ground attack missions flying against this second hex would cause half of one of the defending units to be rendered combat ineffective and cause massive fatigue and disruption to that unit but would leave the other 400 AV in the hex undisrupted and unfatigued by the airstrikes. This is a flaw in the game system and perhaps it argues for the system to be less based on applying attacking units to defending units and more on applying attacks to hexes and then translating the effect on the hex onto ALL units within that hex... most of the strike could go against the strongest unit but allowing spillover onto other units would be more realistic.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 22,54


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 6
Blenheim IV x 3
Martin 139 x 2
Hudson I x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Yayoi
DD Kisaragi

Malta... umm I mean Singapore... continues to be a pain in the neck. Much less damage is being caused ( probably due to a massive fall-off in pilot experience secondary to their heavy losses so far) but the risk of damage is still there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,34

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Dauntless, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet

I think this strike has finally doomed Dauntless.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 16

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP West Point
AP Empire Tamar
AP Empire Chivalry

My escorts, not being at the same base as the Betties fail to fly and the end result is that the enemy troop transports reach Rangoon. It just goes to show you what thunderstorms will do to even the best laid of plans.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 3
Blenheim IV x 3
Hudson I x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim I: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
Hudson I: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
BB Hyuga
BB Fuso


The battleline continues to act as a bomber magnet but this magnet bites back [:D]. I'm of a good mind to just keep the battleline near Singapore in order to suck air attacks onto it but I think that Manila calls. The CD guns at Batavia did nothing. So, I think the battleline will sail toward Manilla. It will refuel at Brunei and then move towards Manila. It will take 8 days to reach Manila which should give me enough time to mount at least 2 more major attacks. If neither of these looks like it is getting anywhere then the battleline will be committed so that I can preserve my planned operational tempo. I am also looking at bringing most of my Independent Brigades to the Phillipines. They will only arrive long after the battleline arrives but if Manilla has fallen by then the route to Manilla is almost the same as the route I wish them to take to Noumea so only a couple of days will have been lost and IF Manilla hasn't fallen by then the addition of another 1500 or 2000 AV would be immeasurably valuable... plus Manilla holding out for that long would pretty much guarantee severe damage having been done to the infantry divisions committed to Manilla and a serious reduction in their ability to invade India according to my timetable. So, if Manilla is still holding out by the 20th January, when the Brigades begin arriving, it is highly likely I'll have to scrub my plan for simultaneously invading New Zealand and India and commit everything to invading India.

In Soviet doctrinal terms Manilla's situation on the 20th January 1942 is a key decision point for me and will likely determine the outcome of this war.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 178411 troops, 1732 guns, 595 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3595

Defending force 71806 troops, 565 guns, 189 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1482

Japanese max assault: 3506 - adjusted assault: 1124

Allied max defense: 1217 - adjusted defense: 2857

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)


Japanese ground losses:
4629 casualties reported
Guns lost 86
Vehicles lost 40

Allied ground losses:
2162 casualties reported
Guns lost 63
Vehicles lost 5

Ok, an interesting test result. When the Imperial Guard division shows up I should be able to muster roughly 4,000 AV. My adjusted assault value is rather surprising. Less than a third of my potential AV value was actually realised. I wasn't sure if Air Force HQs would give support to ground units so I left them in Clark Field. I think I will bring them down as several of my units are suffering from insufficient support. Supply is also red for several of my units as I my initial wave of resupply was used up in the fighting for Clark. Another 50,000 tons of supply is unloading at the moment and another 50,000 tons will arrive over the next fortnight. That should be enough to supply my forces for the next fortnight and see Manilla fall. On about the 14th of January I will attack again. My disruption and fatigue should be much improved by then as should my supply and support situation and I'm interested to see what the effect of these changes is.

In the meantime various convoys are making for Lingayen, Batavia and various fuel-heavy ports to prepare to load troops and supplies and form an underway replenishment fleet for the battleline and carriers. By the end of January all the required fuel and supplies should be loaded and waiting at Batavia together with the CL-led DD flotillas of my escort forces. All that will remain then will be the refueling and replenishment of the battleline, the replacement of my pilot losses on KB and the loading of the last troops of the invasion army. So, if Manilla falls as scheduled I'm still looking good for February 15th ( although I imagine it will be a few days later than that in order to allow for some deceptive manoeuvring near the Indian coast).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35820 troops, 314 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 667

Defending force 11054 troops, 70 guns, 10 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 240

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese max assault: 595 - adjusted assault: 478

Allied max defense: 193 - adjusted defense: 192

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
410 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Allied ground losses:
791 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

It should fall next turn. Good, once it falls I can sweep the mines and move my undamaged transports from Kendari, Soerbaja and Thailand in order to pick up these Brigades and transport them towards the Phillipines in a precautionary movement.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 46,37

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13383 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 286

Defending force 2980 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 296 - adjusted assault: 148

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 6

Japanese assault odds: 24 to 1



Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26474 troops, 291 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 658

Defending force 18954 troops, 140 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 537



Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 32,32

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3076 troops, 0 guns, 215 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 141

Defending force 4698 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 111

Japanese max assault: 226 - adjusted assault: 75

Allied max defense: 94 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
317 casualties reported
Guns lost 8


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 35186 troops, 244 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1066

Defending force 57160 troops, 587 guns, 7 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1023


Japanese ground losses:
26 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sabang

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 182 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 7

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

Japanese max assault: 10 - adjusted assault: 7

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sabang base !!!


It is time to take Sabang and begin building it up. 1 month should be enough to get a useful base built up there and supplied sufficiently well to allow Betty raids into the depth of the Royal Navy's positions.


Elsewhere I am now within range of the "surveillance gap" to the east of Canton, about 300 miles directly south-east of Jarvis Island. I will now conserve my Ops points by not moving so that if my worst case scenario, a US CV TF within US torpedo bomber range, occurs I will be able to put the maximum CAP and bomber strikes in the air. In addition my Vals and Kates are set on Naval Attack with 0 % search, Zeroes are set on 80% CAP and my floatplanes on 100% search. I feel a bit like the Brits at Jutland. Knowing I could lose the entire war in an afternoon has a very sobering effect on one's innate aggresiveness.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 01/12/42

After this turn played out I have decided that IF I were a gambling person I would run out and buy a lotto ticket. Lady luck is obviously in close attendance today.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 6 encounters mine field at Hong Kong (43,42)

Japanese Ships
DD Kamo, Mine hits 1
DD Yugiri
DD Hibiki

A damaged DD making for the repair yard in Hong Kong suddenly becomes an even more heavily damaged DD making for the repair yard in Hong Kong [:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Batavia at 19,59

Japanese Ships
DD Hagikaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Oshio
DD Arashi
DD Nowaki
CL Natori

Allied Ships
SS KXIII, hits 1

I'll take that exchange rate. 1 DD damaged ( it will survive) for a damaged submarine which will soon run out of ports to run to.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
F.K.51: 1 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Natsushio
DD Hatsukaze
DD Oyashio
DD Kuroshio
CL Nagara


Allied ground losses:
296 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 29
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Batavia, at 19,59


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Lockheed 212: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Oshio
DD Hagikaze, on fire
DD Arashi
DD Nowaki
CL Natori


Allied ground losses:
66 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 25
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

I wanted to test CL-led DD TFs again just to see if my initial conclusions were right. It seems damage from bombardment attack is definitely highly subject to modification based on fortification level.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hengchow , at 45,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 29
Ki-30 Ann x 35
Ki-51 Sonia x 52
Ki-15 Babs x 4

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


Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 21

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuchow , at 42,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
G3M Nell x 21
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 59
Ki-21 Sally x 10
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 6
Buffalo I x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 7 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 5 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Swordfish: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 6

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 44
G4M1 Betty x 9

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses


Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

More attrition over Singapore... I am considering moving the bombers from Singapore and concentrating them over Manilla. That will mean letting Singapore build up to Level 9 forts but Manilla is my schwerpunkt right now and I have plenty of time to burn up Singaporean supply later, making those Level 9 forts meaningless. I think I will move the bombers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 2


No Allied losses

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 11000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77


Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 6


Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 1 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
3 x B-17C Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 38
LB-30 Liberator x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed


Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 12

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 41st PA Division, at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
Ki-30 Ann x 32
Ki-21 Sally x 244
Ki-48 Lily x 23
Ki-49 Helen x 49
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
318 casualties reported
Guns lost 9

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 28,34

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged


Allied Ships
CL Dauntless, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

This ship must be captained by a CAT it has so many damned lives. I think it has eaten 5 torpedoes and is still moving, albeit slowly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 113,99

KB's floatplanes range out and find a MASSIVE resupply convoy only 120 miles from my carriers. The afternoon reconnaissance phase shows what I think must be the enemy covering force, almost certainly containing aircraft carriers, 360 miles to the east of my position. It looks like I've run into a convoy of at least 15 transports and 3 destroyers. Pretty much every transort is hit so hard that it will almost surely sink and one of the destroyers looks doomed also.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
D3A Val x 109
B5N Kate x 136

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Blue
AK Coloradan, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Don Isidro, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eldorado, Bomb hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kentuckian, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tennessean, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Utahan, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Malama, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Helm, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Horace Luckenbach, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Panaman, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Bagley
TK Emidio, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
AK Chatanooga City, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Crown City, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Pacific, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
1255 casualties reported
Guns lost 14

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 113,99

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 24
B5N Kate x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Horace Luckenbach, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eldorado, on fire, heavy damage
AK Don Isidro, on fire, heavy damage
AK Clevedon, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Pacific, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Susan Luckenbach, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Bagley
AK Chatanooga City, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Pennsylvanian


Allied ground losses:
512 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Elements of 2 Artillery Regiments and 1 Regimental Combat Team are known to have drowned. The question now is how do I follow this up. Do I move on to Canton Island in order to strike the shipping I've just detected there or do I move eastward to take on the US carriers? I am worried about the possibility to my airstrikes being distracted by transports and giving the US carriers a free shot at me if I head East but if I can seriously damage a couple of US carriers ( and I have 6 CV and 2 CVL in these two TFs with over 400 planes to the American 3 or 4 carriers with 200 to 280 planes) I will force him to be much more circumspect in challenging my Central Pacific forces when KB is away aiding the Indian and New Zealand strikes. I also am aware that exploiting eastward will allow me to mop up the fleeing transports, eliminating yet more allied soldiers and making the Allies less gung-ho about pushing reinforcements into Uvolu, Canton and Fiji. It will also more than fulfill my goal of making the Allies fear KB and its ability to strike at their supply lines and tend to focus them on defence rather than attack.

Hmm, huge pay-off but also massive risk... A difficult decision. Without KB my invasion of India will suffer far more casualties.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Chandpur at 30,25

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Oregonian, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Trieste
AK Illinoian

Bugger, why couldn't these guys do this to the MUCH closer, loaded, transports instead of the worthless Oregonian?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 151229 troops, 1588 guns, 41 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 3321

Defending force 68809 troops, 478 guns, 186 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1397



Allied ground losses:
157 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Batavia

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35593 troops, 313 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 916

Defending force 9666 troops, 58 guns, 9 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 236

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese max assault: 573 - adjusted assault: 358

Allied max defense: 191 - adjusted defense: 174

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Batavia base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 1 destroyed
Martin 139: 3 destroyed
Do 24K-2: 1 destroyed
Lockheed 212: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
286 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Allied ground losses:
25143 casualties reported
Guns lost 41
Vehicles lost 5

The extra Brigade did the trick. Excellent, the minesweepers are on the way as are the transports. I need just a bit over 50,000 tons of AP space for these Brigades.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 52448 troops, 593 guns, 7 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1723

Defending force 35009 troops, 241 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1066



Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 26510 troops, 294 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 661

Defending force 18980 troops, 141 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 537



Allied ground losses:
33 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,35

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 93482 troops, 715 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2944

Defending force 35683 troops, 306 guns, 2 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 694


Japanese ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Guns lost 4


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 45,30

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 34941 troops, 239 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1063

Defending force 90339 troops, 983 guns, 11 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1723


Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

great game! carry on nemo! [&o]

Just catching up here ,, your doing amazingly well considering the date [&:][&:]..

I just wanted to point out that the bataan guns are murderous if you get caught. naval bombard of manilla while battan is in american hands is extremely dodgy at best. also manilla hosts decent CD guns of its own .. turn off escort bombard or you'll likely lose a LOT of DD's .. CL's will suffer badly too. probably not worth taking any imo ..

good luck and what a fast game !

Hi Marten, Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. If you have any questions/requests just let me know... I'm finding this AAR useful in as to put down my thoughts somewhat coherently for others I actually need to try and wrestle them into some sort of order in my own head and since logistics are crucial to this game ( and are a component which doesn't respond well to sudden changes in direction and emphasis) this is useful.


Rob,

I mightn't have highlighted it enough but Bataan fell to an attack by two of my divisions on the 4th or so of January. Here's the combat report ( under 1.795)

Ground combat at Bataan

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 44327 troops, 485 guns, 32 vehicles

Defending force 6302 troops, 94 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 56 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Bataan base !!!



Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 3 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
635 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
5096 casualties reported
Guns lost 58


I haven't ever bombarded Manila in any previous WiTP game ( although to be fair I only attempted 1 PBEM and that ended after a couple of weeks due to an utterly unbelievable carrier battle result under NikMod) so I am more afraid of the guns at Manilla than Bataan. The guns at Bataan sank every ML and small ship I sent past them ( i hadn't realised just passing through the hex would let them fire on my ships) and I just assumed the guns at Manilla were more powerful than at Bataan since Manilla would be the logical objective of an bombardment group while bataan would simply be an outlying guardian.


I suppose though that if it were to be what made the difference I could commit my "Battleline TF", 8 BBs and all my CAs ( roughly 10 or 11 left in combat-worthy condition) to bombard Manilla. I suppose that since they'd only have to face a single fort they would have good odds of overmatching its fire and knocking it out of commission. Lanchester's law would certainly argue that committing such a massive force, sans CLs and DDs etc, would suffer less loss and inflict more damage than committing half that force.


Does anyone have a link to a bombardment of Manilla so that I could get some idea of what the forts can mete out? My own little conceit is to assume AARs are the results of pre-war Japanese Army and Navy wargames but not to actually check it out by testing it in-game myself as I want to preserve the feeling of discovering things as I go along at the appropriate cost.

I'd recommend against attempting to bombard Manila, even after taking Bataan. Take Clark Field, move an aviation regiment there, fly in your air force and bomb the hell out of Manila. Bomb the airfield so the engineers there spend their time repairing the airfield instead of building forts. Then, move into the hex with your army and bombard them with your ground forces and do some ground bombing for a few days to fatigue them. Then start the deliberate attacks. Don't forget the engineer regiments to reduce their forts.