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bklooste,

Aye well in that game the Japanese expansion was extremely slow and the Allies instituted a proper training programme which concentrated well-trained pilots into squadrons with good airframes and when they met the Japanese schwerpunkt things were stacked in favour of the Allies. It is, essentially, the converse of what most of the Allied players are doing. Don't forget though that the Allies in that game are playing a particularly good game and at least one of them appears to be professional military - which shows.

Back to this game....


January 12th 1942

Well it was a day of interesting developments. My forces which had landed at Marcus Island yesterday but, for some reason, failed to Shock Attack made good on their tardiness today. It appears that Mike had air transported troops in and while he flew a lot of troops in the experience and leadership of my troops made the difference.

Ground combat at Marcus Island (123,85)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 125 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Defending force 198 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 7

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Marcus Island !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker: leaders(+)

Japanese ground losses:
462 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

That's a nice haul of troops killed. Chalk one up for the good guys...


Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Def Bn /3

Defending units:
III/84th Nav Gd /1

Since this fell so easily it would be rude not to exploit this situation. At present a USMC Parachute Bn is making for Midway where it can launch paraborne landings into the Marshalls, capturing islands cheaply and threatening unoccupied Japanese possessions in the region. Since the arrival of the USMC Parachute Bn will push Midway over 6,000 troops I will use the transports bringing the USMC Parachute Bn there to shuttle a USMC Defence Bn to Marcus. There's no reason not to fortify it enough that it really WILL take a significant effort to recapture. Marcus, after all, does make a great staging post for raids into the Marianas.


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Yesterday I put my Buffaloes at Palembang on Night Duty hoping to interfere with Japanese night air raids. Tonight I got my first return on investment....

Night Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Light rain

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 13


Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged

All 3 of these Nells were downed by intercepting Buffaloes. Given that the Buffalo can't achieve anything much vs Japanese daytime fighters this looks like a good role for them.

Allied aircraft losses

Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
No.21 Sqn RAAF with Buffalo I (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
No.67 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters to 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
No.243 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
No.453 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
No.488 Sqn RAF with Buffalo I (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes


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Amphibious Assault at Mersing

I got a good laugh from this... 15 combat squads destroyed landing in an empty base. With that said though this landing at Mersing means:

a) that Mike still can't know the extent of my evacuation from Singers. He wouldn't have incurred these unnecessary losses if he had.
b) that Singapore probably has less than a week left.

Fortunately I've managed to sneak a half-dozen xAPs and xAKs in over the past 3 or 4 days and brought out well over half of the 2 Ozzie Brigades so far. With another 5 or 6 days I'll get the rest of them as well as Percival out of there.

TF 85 troops unloading over beach at Mersing, 51,82

Japanese ground losses:
314 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Engineer Vehicle lost overboard during unload of 20th Ind. Engr Rgt
7.7mm T99 AAMG lost from landing craft during unload of 20th Ind. Engr Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost in surf during unload of 20th Ind. Engr Rgt
18 troops of a IJA Engineer Squad lost overboard during unload of 20th Ind. Engr Rgt
10 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 20th Ind. Engr Rgt
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 19th Ind. Engr Rgt
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 19th Ind. Engr Rgt
8 Engineers lost in surf during unload of 19th Ind. Engr Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div /1
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div /1
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div /2
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 38th Div /3
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div /3
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad accidentally lost during unload of 38th Div /3
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad accidentally lost during unload of 38th Div
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 38th Div
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost from landing craft during unload of 38th Div
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 38th Div
Motorized Support lost in surf during unload of 1st Hvy.Artillery Rgt
19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 38th Div /5


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TF 353 encounters mine field at Singkawang (56,88)

Japanese Ships
DMS W-4

24 mines cleared

He wouldn't be so assiduously clearing Singkawang unless he was using it as a jumping off point for elsewhere. Tomorrow night a few of my CLs are going to visit Singkawang and try to catch any transports unloading or reprovisioning there. Even if I miss transports I might kill the DMS and those guys are worth killing.


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ASW attack near Nanumea at 132,137

Japanese Ships
SS I-20, hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Chicago, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
DD Drayton



SS I-20 launches 2 torpedoes at CA Chicago
DD Drayton fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Drayton attacking submerged sub ....
DD Drayton cannot establish contact with SS I-20
DD Drayton cannot establish contact with SS I-20
DD Drayton fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Drayton fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Drayton fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Bye bye Chicago. Another CA bites the dust.


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Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2501 troops, 55 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 207

Defending force 549 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

Japanese adjusted assault: 37

Allied adjusted defense: 49

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

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

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


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


Assaulting units:
48th Recon Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
Kanno Detachment
3rd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
Subic Bay Defenses

*Chuckle* Results like this almost make me want to have defended farther north. Still, no need right now. Far better to consolidate and leave open opportunities for breakouts at a later date. I am planning some rather sneaky stuff in the Phillipines once Manilla gets besieged.


In other news, there's no news at all of his CVLs around Canton. That's weird, I would have expected something as I have quite a lot of aerial recon in the area. Ah well, I'll keep moving slowly into the area and hope to catch them. If not I'll just have to hit them if they come out to play when I hit the Marshalls.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 13, 42

A reasonably good day for the Allies. It could have been better but every bit helps.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-4, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Enterprise
CL Ceres

Reduced sighting due to 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 14% moonlight: 1,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
Range closes to 1,000 yards...
Collinson, A.C. crosses the 'T'
Range increases to 2,000 yards
CL Ceres engages DMS W-4 at 2,000 yards
Task forces break off...

This was a disappointing combat. I was expecting the CLs to close, maintain contact and pump in a few 6 inch shells. Instead the CLs closed to 1,000 yards fired a single salvo, hit with a single 6 inch shell and then chose to dissengage. Weird !!!


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ASW attack near Naga at 81,81

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai

Allied Ships
SS Argonaut

SS Argonaut launches 4 torpedoes at CL Sendai
Argonaut bottoming out ....
Escort abandons search for sub

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Night Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6


Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 11


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

The buffaloes don't seem to be getting too many kills ( although they damage a few enemy bombers ) but they definitely disrupt the raids. Since I've put Buffaloes on Night CAP the IJN/IJA bombers haven't hit a thing at night.


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Night Air attack on Palembang , at 48,91

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 11


Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 11 damaged

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
TB Otori
TB Hiyodori
PB Chosa Maru
PB Tatsumiya Maru
xAK Naruto Maru, heavy fires
xAK Noto Maru
xAK Nissyu Maru
xAK Mogamigawa Maru

Allied Ships
PT TM-4
PT TM-5
PT TM-6
PT TM-7
PT TM-8



Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway
Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 14,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 14,000 yards
Both TF attempt to withdraw!
Range increases to 18,000 yards...
Both Task Forces evade combat

Well, I guessed right about Singkawang but the PTs I committed decided to withdraw from combat. They had an aggressive commander so this puzzles me a little. Naruto Maru had previously been damaged by submarine attack.

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ASW attack near Wallis Island at 142,154

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
DD Downes
DD Cassin

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Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 10

No Japanese losses


Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 37000 feet

Another sweep over an empty base. Either he's worried about me sneaking fighters in or he's just doing some live combat training.

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Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 10

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 37000 feet

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Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 2

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 37000 feet

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Morning Air attack on Moulmein , at 55,55

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 55 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 2

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 37000 feet

The interesting thing to note here is just how far away the raid was detected due to its height. Height gives an advantage in combat but also means that all of the defenders will be in the air and at a reasonable height so you'll lose the ability to get kills while they're climbing to altitude.

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Morning Air attack on 31st Infantry Regiment, at 79,79 (Lucena)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 50



Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
245 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Lots of disablements but very few kills... the most important thing here is that in combat mode my troops are still managing to crawl north faster than the Japanese can follow. I've already gotten a few units back to Manilla and in only two days the two tank units which made it back have recovered from only 15% combat readiness to 35 to 40% combat readiness. Since both of those units only have 75% of their full TOE that means that they'll regain full combat effectiveness long before the Japanese can besiege Manilla.... as a side note, the two tank units began the combat at Naga with 81% of their TOE. One now has 76% and the other 75%. In essence even with all of these air strikes etc they've only lost 5 or 6 tanks. The ground troops have fared a bit worse but with a few days to recuperate I'm sure they'll do well.


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Morning Air attack on 51st PA Infantry Division, at 79,79 (Lucena)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 24



Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
81 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


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Morning Air attack on 3rd/45th PS Inf Battalion, at 79,78 (Batangas)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
G4M1 Betty x 25



Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)

I'm including all of these raids to show two things:
1. How many ground attacks the Japanese are still making and
2. the absence of KB. KB disappeared two days ago once the enemy CVLs found some shipping around Canton and my forces were confirmed to be taking Marcus.

So, will KB show up in the Marshalls or Marcus? That's the question.

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Morning Air attack on Lusu War Area , at 91,50

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 2

No Japanese losses


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Morning Air attack on 1st PA Infantry Division, at 79,78 (Batangas)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 20
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 21


No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 45
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 29
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 31


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 19 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 7 damaged


Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Repair Shipyard hits 1
Port hits 16

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Morning Air attack on 41st PA Infantry Division, at 79,79 (Lucena)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 12
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


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Morning Air attack on 62nd Chinese Corps, at 76,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-36 Ida x 15
Ki-51 Sonia x 18



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-36 Ida: 1 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 3 damaged


Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


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Morning Air attack on 86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion, at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 6 damaged


Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


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Morning Air attack on Asiatic Fleet , at 79,77 (Manila)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 10


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 2 damaged

Again I'm really looking forward to the results of his airstrikes over Palembang. Manilla has less than 100 FlAK guns, Palembang is heading for close to 400, including a large number of large calibre guns which will inflict serious casualties even to high-flying bombers. When he does come for Palembang I intend to abandon the airfield there and move inland to bases within torpedo bomber range of Palembang, Oosthaven and Benkoenen. With that central position I can cover all possible landing sites and let the FlAK at Oosthaven and Palembang take care of the bombers.

Obviously if he ever stops sweeping or shows any carelessness with his bombers then he can expect LRCAP to attempt to take a tithe the next day.


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Morning Air attack on 1st Chinese Corps, at 86,41

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 35
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 17



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
159 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)


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Morning Air attack on Singapore , at 50,84

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged

Repair Shipyard hits 1

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Mersing at 51,82

And here are the first of my strikes. I saw an opportunity with the Mersing landings and while my previous evacuation of the Air HQ from Singapore means my torpedo bombers won't be carrying torpedoes I decided that a little live-fire exercise would be good.

1st and 2nd AVG squadrons were assigned to escort the raids and RAF and RAAF units were assigned the mission. Dutch units remain training in Sumatra and Java.

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7


Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 6
Swordfish I x 9
Vildebeest III x 9
Hudson I x 2
Wirraway x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 26


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

My escorts did a good job, destroying a Zero and gaining good, damaging hits on another 4. Not all of those damaged Zeroes should make it home.

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish I: 1 damaged
Vildebeest III: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAP Husimi Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Terukuni Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
APD Shimakaze
xAK Arizona Maru
xAP Takatiho Maru
xAP Kamo Maru, Bomb hits 1
xAP Rakuyo Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire

The Swordfish and Vildebeest got all of my hits. It appears the Hudsons and Wirraways need more training, that's fine though, they should have another month at least before they have to attack any Sumatran invasion fleet.

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Morning Air attack on 1st Army, at 87,41

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 9

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x A-29A Hudson bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb

The Chinese air force is trying to get in on the ground attack game.

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Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 34,810 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

No Japanese losses

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Morning Air attack on 108th RAF Base Force, at 55,55 (Moulmein)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 33
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 15 damaged


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


There are level 3 forts at Moulmein and that seems to help against the bombing.


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Funafuti at 133,151

Ah, the CVLs show up again.

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
B5N1 Kate x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1

Hmm, at this rate the IJN Kates are going to be out of torpedoes by the time our CV forces really tangle. This TF was one of the TFs withdrawing from from Kwajalein and was acting as bait in the middle of the "angle of the L"... The enemy CVL TF is now within 12 hexes of 3 of my ambushing CV TFs and 6 hexes of two of my CV TFs. Next turn I'll draw the noose more tightly and try to overwhelm the Japanese force through weight of numbers.

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Morning Air attack on 62nd Chinese Corps, at 76,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 6

No Japanese losses

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Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 37,810 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18



No Japanese losses

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Singapore at 50,84

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PG Indus, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Hong Peng, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk

On its third run of the last week this TF runs out of luck. It has already evacuated most of one of the Australian Brigades though so, mission accomplished.


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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nukufetau at 136,146

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 43 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 14
A6M2 Zero x 16

Hmm, it looks like he has loaded Ryujo up with extra fighters. I had been expecting only half this number of fighters which means that my assigned CAP was insufficient to the task.


Allied aircraft
F2A-3 Buffalo x 10
SBD-2 Dauntless x 8
SBD-3 Dauntless x 9


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F2A-3 Buffalo: 2 destroyed
SBD-2 Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 1
CVL Ryujo

I got a 1000lb SAP onto the Hyuga and while I initially assumed a misidentification the fact that the bomb was reported as destroying a 14cm secondary battery makes me believe this really might be a BB escort.

In other news the other CVL/CVE identified in the TF is the CVE Taiyo. That ship has a maximum speed of 21 knots. That significantly lowers the Japanese ability to run and makes my intercept calculations much, much easier. With just a little luck I can bag a CVL and CVE tomorrow.

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Mersing at 51,82

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5



Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 3
Hurricane IIb Trop x 14
Vildebeest III x 8
Wirraway x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 20


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
Vildebeest III: 1 damaged
Wirraway: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Hawaii Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Fumizuki
xAK Brisbane Maru
CL Kuma

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nukufetau at 136,146

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 10
A6M2 Zero x 7

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18

Unescorted, oops.


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 8 destroyed, 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo
BB Yamashiro, Bomb hits 1
CVL Ryujo

For some reason the 2nd CV TF within easy divebomber range didn't launch. There's always tomorrow.


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Invasion Support action off Jesselton

Japanese Ships
E Shimushu
APD Aoi


E Shimushu firing at enemy troops
APD Aoi firing at enemy troops


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Ground combat at Mersing (51,82)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17043 troops, 188 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 503

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

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 477

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 477 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Mersing !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker:



Assaulting units:
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
38th Div /4
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Rgt /1

I'll airlift out my two blocking Bns north-west of Mersing and the remaining HQ and Bde at Singapore. All of these units should get out before he can shock attack across the river into Singapore. Not bad, not bad at all.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Iba (78,75)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3632 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

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

Japanese adjusted assault: 30

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 30 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Iba !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)



Assaulting units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6123 troops, 81 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 256

Defending force 544 troops, 28 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

Japanese adjusted assault: 183

Allied adjusted defense: 34

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Clark Field !!!

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

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


Allied ground losses:
717 casualties reported
Squads: 41 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 79 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 62 (62 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Assaulting units:
47th Infantry Regiment
48th Recon Regiment
48th Engineer Regiment
Kanno Detachment
3rd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
Subic Bay Defenses


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Jesselton (68,86)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1513 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 29

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 29 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Jesselton !!!

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


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
II./124th Infantry Battalion

Defending units:
108th RN Base Force /1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Pontianak (56,90)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1513 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 63

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

Japanese adjusted assault: 29

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 29 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Pontianak !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)


Assaulting units:
Sasebo 3rd SNLF

Another abandoned base falls.

The picture below shows the current state of play with respect to the hunting of mini-KB... which is so far confirmed to comprise 1 CVL, 1 CVE, 2 BB and probably 4 or more DDs.

The 4 USN TFs which you can see are the USN CV TFs, 1 CV, a couple of CAs, a couple of CLs and a few DDs per TF. As you can see the IJN were about 250 miles west of where I thought they'd be. Tonight the USN TFs will slide north-westward. I think that Mike is trying to sell me a dummy by hinting at running towards the Marshalls while, really, he will make for Truk with a view to bringing KB into action from the north and hitting a couple of exposed USN CV TFs if I become target-fixated.

In response to this, expected, course of affairs I will begin hitting targets in the Kuriles in 3 days time - at present the covering bombardment TF and invasion TFs remain undetected - in order to try to draw KB off and burn its fuel while my USN TFs fade into the mists, refuel, reprovision and come back at a time and place of my choosing.

If Mike decides that KB stays in the Truk/Marshalls area then that takes a huge amount of pressure off the DEI - goal achieved. If he decides to run north to Truk then - goal achieved. If he decides on a middle course then - goal achieved.

Nemo,

not sure whether you are still pondering how to do this

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
Rangoon now has over 100,000 tons of supplies. I can't figure out how to get this to flow into China though. Anyone got any ideas on that? I don't see a huge problem with getting the supplies in Rangoon to well over 300,000 by the end of January if I really want to but there's not much point doing that if I can't push the supplies into China. An additional 150,000 tons of supplies in China would be quite a gamechanger though so I'd like to do that if at all possible.

note that my observations are pre-patch 2, because shortly after patch 2 came out, supply lines from Rangoon to China were interrupted by my opponent (game date about January 12 or so, he started into Burma early on and used a regiment starting from Northern Thailand to cut the connection between Pegu and Mandalay). This is relevant, because supposedly supply-pulling has been modified in that patch in order to prevent pulling huge amounts of supplies from India into Northern Burma by pure weight. Not sure how much that really influences things now.

At least previously, the thing to do was to use the supply-pulling function of the bases carefully and sequentially to create propagating waves of supply. You do not need to work with every base, e.g. I first used the route

Rangoon - Toungoo - Mandalay - Paoshan - Kunming and then on to the destination in CN.

In other words, I did e.g.

a) încrease supply needs of Toungoo by 1000-2000 in turn 1

b) then reduce needs of Toungoo and increase Mandalay

c) then reduce needs of Mandalay and increase Paoshan.

d) reduce needs of Paoshan and increase Kunming.

Note that you pull supplies from all directions, even though I think the quality of the road connection influences the rate with which supplies are forwarded. Essentially, that means that if you switch Toungoo back on after c), it will pull some of the requested supplies from Mandalay, thus making your pump less efficient.

I tried for a while whether I could compensate by using e.g. +1000 (Toungoo), +1000 (Mandalay), +2000 (Paoshan) and thus generate a more steady flux or at least more wave packages per time. Problem is that you can generate quite an accumulated pull of supplies into the area, which can strip areas of supplies that you do not wish to strip.
For this reason, be wary of high using high demands, at least until you got a feeling for what the range really is - you might, e.g., pull supplies out of China rather than piping them there.

So at least it was possible to pipe some supplies into China in this way. Not sure how well this still works after patch 2.

Hope this helps - if someone knows a better way (other than the direct pull from India, which I do not want to use), please share.

Hartwig

Nemo,

I agree to most of what you say relating to the A2A combat. Note, however, that especially the faster-paced AARs which are now 6-9 months into the war, have been played for a fair amount of time pre-patch 2, in which adjustments made to air skill in training and combat.

Speaking just for myself, my impression is that now my units gain experience in combat quicker than before and that training of special skills works better as well. Note that even under these improved conditions I do not seem to achieve the increase in exp of 15 in 45 days or 1 per 3 days (perhaps that's because I only train at 70-80% and don't have the PPs to optimize leaders for training units in a rigorous way right now and really need to look into the use of veterans) which you postulate. It seems to be more like +10 in 60-70 days at best for me right now.

As a consequence, this is an element which should be factored in when judging the achievements or lack thereof of players in other AARs.

Interestingly, I am not sure whether you are about to do the thing you identify (correctly) as a mistake for the use of the air units with your own land units. You throw them into the fight with depleted TOEs, inadequate equipment, low experience. That is possible if you keep the ability to rebuild your forces (the Russians alway managed to do this successfully in WWII and were able to outlast and finally outclass the Germans, which did not have that ability). Looking at the replacements rates especially of Australian, British and Indian troops and equipment, I am not sure whether it will be possible to rebuild key units you may lose in the way you commit them now. When you mentioned leaving behind the heavy weapons of the Aussie divisions in Malaya, I thought instantaneously that this is probably about 2 months of production of heavy guns (factoring the convoys in maybe one). Probably you will turn out to be right, we will see.

Also, looking at the xAK/xAP/AK/APs I have (or rather do not have but would need) at my disposal in January 1942, in my game even the "lossless" use of such a high number of ships as you mention in connection with your activities would hurt my preparations for future operations in a notable way. But of course, all of this is dependent on the larger picture and the plans you follow.

As always, just my 2cts

Hartwig

ORIGINAL: hartwig.modrow

Nemo,

I agree to most of what you say relating to the A2A combat. Note, however, that especially the faster-paced AARs which are now 6-9 months into the war, have been played for a fair amount of time pre-patch 2, in which adjustments made to air skill in training and combat.

Speaking just for myself, my impression is that now my units gain experience in combat quicker than before and that training of special skills works better as well. Note that even under these improved conditions I do not seem to achieve the increase in exp of 15 in 45 days or 1 per 3 days (perhaps that's because I only train at 70-80% and don't have the PPs to optimize leaders for training units in a rigorous way right now and really need to look into the use of veterans) which you postulate. It seems to be more like +10 in 60-70 days at best for me right now.

As a consequence, this is an element which should be factored in when judging the achievements or lack thereof of players in other AARs.

Interestingly, I am not sure whether you are about to do the thing you identify (correctly) as a mistake for the use of the air units with your own land units. You throw them into the fight with depleted TOEs, inadequate equipment, low experience. That is possible if you keep the ability to rebuild your forces (the Russians alway managed to do this successfully in WWII and were able to outlast and finally outclass the Germans, which did not have that ability). Looking at the replacements rates especially of Australian, British and Indian troops and equipment, I am not sure whether it will be possible to rebuild key units you may lose in the way you commit them now. When you mentioned leaving behind the heavy weapons of the Aussie divisions in Malaya, I thought instantaneously that this is probably about 2 months of production of heavy guns (factoring the convoys in maybe one). Probably you will turn out to be right, we will see.

Also, looking at the xAK/xAP/AK/APs I have (or rather do not have but would need) at my disposal in January 1942, in my game even the "lossless" use of such a high number of ships as you mention in connection with your activities would hurt my preparations for future operations in a notable way. But of course, all of this is dependent on the larger picture and the plans you follow.

As always, just my 2cts

Hartwig

Hartwig re replacements note he hasnt lost any forces at many of the death traps like Tarakan etc , and prob wont loose 20K at SIngapore which is a lot..He cant really pull those guns out easily as his opponent has been hitting his shipping badly so a lot has been flown out.

If his opponent focuses everything on SUmatra it could hurt Nemo mad ( ie 6+ divs ,KB , air) . If he is active in the Burma, PI , SW pacific , Cen Pacific and/ or Java the reverse is probably true and his opponent will suffer.

I dont think losses of xAKs hurt the rest do , and with the Liberty ships comming in 43 you have no long term issues.

Hartwig,

It is my understanding that the changes to training make training more difficult and take longer than was previously the case. As such it is likely that games which have proceeded farther would tend to UNDERSTATE the impact of such wasteful pilot usage since they were probably able to replace pilots more readily when they threw the lightly trained ones away.


January 14th:

Singapore: 124 Lillys and Sallys ranged over Singapore. Unfortunately they left their escorts at home and ten were seen to be downed in flames with scores more damaged by the defending H81s and Hurricane IIs. Not a bad day to be an RAF fighter pilot at all.


Palembang: 3 of the 30 or so Nettys which arrived overhead were downed by a combination of fighters and FlAK. They achieved, in total, a single runway hit. That's really not worth the losses. In other news two of my RAF squadrons have just upgraded to Hurricanes. This gives me a solid care of 27 P-40Es, 27 H81s and 48 or so Hurricane IIs. In the fullness of time I'll let him "win" aerial superiority over Palembang and then, one day, give him an ambush he won't soon forget.


Mini-Kb: Again a single one of my TFs managed to tag mini-KB. 18 divebombers and 14 torpedo bombers attacked mini-KB. The divebombers went in first in two small packets and appear to have been disrupted by the enemy aerial defenders while the torpedo bombers made much better going. In the end though despite multiple near misses on the CVL and CVE both escaped unscathed with the BB Hyuga taking a single 22 inch torpedo into the vitals.

She'll be slowed but won't be in danger.


In other news: There is a huge amount of radio traffic at Truk and my recon PBYs spot what appear to be several large TFs there. I am interpreting this to be KB showing up, as expected. In about two days time the landings in the north will begin and I'll tell Mike I've sold him a dummy --- showing him my CVs etc in the south while my real invasion is going in up north.

Nemo,

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
Hartwig,
It is my understanding that the changes to training make training more difficult and take longer than was previously the case. As such it is likely that games which have proceeded farther would tend to UNDERSTATE the impact of such wasteful pilot usage since they were probably able to replace pilots more readily when they threw the lightly trained ones away.

Look here... a post-patch1 discussion thread...

tm.asp?m=2245378&mpage=1&key=pilot%2Ctraining

specifically, post #27 by the Elf (who should know) seems to indicate that training under patch one was a bit... problematic... individual skills would not improve correctly.

Not to stifle this discussion, as it seems constructive, but we are looking at all aspects of aerial training for patch 2. Something went awry after the last patch and it has obviously affected EXP gain in individual skills. This WILL be fixed.

Zuikaku, you list is good. Many of those items are on our list. Now is the time to catch my eye with new suggestions.

I guess this is what is behind change no. 10 in the what's new file of patch 2. You relate probably to change no. 55. Problem is probably that if e.g. defensive skill does not go up when training for escort or sweep duty but only general exp, the specific skill is what effects your combat performance and what eliminates your pilots if it does not increase. Not that I would know for sure [;)].

Hartwig

Ah, I wasn't aware of that particular bug. Thanks for pointing out. Not to be contrary though but that makes it even more important not to send up these half-trained guys. One can handily defend an area with FlAK if one plans properly and even if one can't one should only fight for what is necessary or advantageous. I think a lot of people are fighting for things which aren't necessary or advantageous.

|Still waiting on the turn... 24 hours now... I think Mike is going to run north towards the Marshalls and try and sucker my CVs into range for KB to come racing down and crush them... My plan is to calculate out his movement path and decide whether to run away now or 1 turn from now. I only have the fuel to move at cruise speed so I'm favouring moving away at a slow fuel-conserving speed today instead of waiting around and having to run tomorrow.

Nemo,

ORIGINAL: Nemo121
Not to be contrary though but that makes it even more important not to send up these half-trained guys. One can handily defend an area with FlAK if one plans properly and even if one can't one should only fight for what is necessary or advantageous. I think a lot of people are fighting for things which aren't necessary or advantageous.

Oh, I agree completely with a lot of the analysis relating to A2A combat that you posted, specifically those parts relating to availability of choices, not necessarily trying to meet a Schwerpunkt head on etc. On the other hand, let's admit it: It is always tempting to pick up a gauntlet when it is thrown, is it not [;)]?

Still waiting on the turn... 24 hours now...

Come on, that's not half as bad as waiting for a turn from me [:D]

Hartwig

Hartwig,
Or me sometimes when work gets buzzing... [8D]

January 15th...

Update from 14th. A LOT more bombers went down than I had thought. It appears that roughly 35 Sallys and Lillys went down yesterday. Not bad at all. My first Hurricane II squadron now has 33 kills in return for 4 losses. I'm anticipating the arrival of the other 3 Hurricane squadrons will help the rate of attrition over Southern Sumatra.

Two of my CLs got in amongst the enemy shipping at Mersing and after a brief exchange of fire got a single 6 inch hit on DD Nowaki. Then, despite crossing the T they decided that valour wasn't really for them and buggered off back to Palembang. Ah well, reload, refuel and then to get back out there.

Mike continues his night bombing attacks on Palembang. It looks like he lost 3 bombers to fighters and another couple ot FlAK. In return he got 4 hits on the runway and airfield area.


Manilla: Something very weird has happened here... I had about 25,000 tons of supplies in Manilla a week ago and now I suddenly only have 6,500 tons of supplies. Some of the supply propagation in this game is VERY strange.

KB remains in hiding although the presence of multiple TFs and radio traffic at Truk strongly hint that it is refuelling at Truk. Fortunately my CVs have already turned around and are heading for bases to refuel and reprovision.


In other news my forces should be 1 day from their invasion beaches in the Kurles. They remain utterly unspotted and I think should give Mike something to think about and react to when they land.

A question: at 14,000 feet do the divebombers actually divebomb? I ask because while a, roughly, 10% hit rate vs BBs etc isn't abysmal it isn't great either and I want to be sure that I'm not inadvertently giving them the wrong height to fly at.

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

A question: at 14,000 feet do the divebombers actually divebomb? I ask because while a, roughly, 10% hit rate vs BBs etc isn't abysmal it isn't great either and I want to be sure that I'm not inadvertently giving them the wrong height to fly at.

Yes according to a post from michaelm, a developer, they dive bomb in the range 10-15k.

Alfred

January 16th.

Landings were accomplished on all 4 Kuriles islands with no advance warning whatsoever. Unfortunately my troops didn't shock attack so Mike may be able to fly additional troops in to hold most of the bases. I've taken the precaution of loading a couple of extra AKs for the most important island.

In other areas:

Manilla - the damned supply SNAFU at the phillipines continues to baffle me. 25,000+ supplies to 6,500 in about 4 days is incredibly strange. This bug or whatever it is threatens the whole plan as it will allow Mike to free his troops from the Phillipines a good month or 6 weeks earlier than I had planned for. That's precious time lost fortifying southern Sumatra.

Singapore - I've evacuated all of the troops which are non-restricted from Malaysia. At present only 11 x 25 pounder guns and an engineer vehicle remain in Singapore. I'm sending an xAP into try to rescue them. If I can get them out then only 70 AV will be left in Singapore when the Japanese march in. This 70 AV will comprise only permanently restricted units and will mean that literally every soldier who could escape has escaped.

Southern Sumatra will, with the arrival of an Australian Division which is currently arriving at Aden end, end up with some 1500 AV guarding Palembang ( currently almost at Level 4 fortifications ) and 2,000 AV guarding Oosthaven ( again behind level 4 fortifications with another 100 AV at each of the dot bases within Southern Sumatra and an armoured reserve of some 300 to 400 AV in the interior ready to react to whichever of the coastal bases Mike decides to most heavily attack.


Fiji - My CVs have gotten clean away and are making for their refuelling bases. My shipping is almost entirely gathered now and the troops are ashore and recovering from their naval excursions. Roughly 900 AV are now gathered in Fiji ready for offensive action in the Marshalls --- or elsewhere if he insists on maintaining KB in the Marshalls.

January 17th

The big news today was that:
a) none of my units attacked in the Aleutians. What the hell? At least one of the units has over a dozen AV ashore and should attack, the others were badly beaten up and so might not attack., Enemy response is limited to about 30 Netties dropping bombs from 8,000 feet.

b) The big IJA artillery stack hits. My troops were almost all behind Level 1 and 2 fortifications but still over 70 squads were DESTROYED - not disabled, but outright destroyed - in a single day. My AV dropped from 2605 to 2510 or so.

My return bombardment was much more in keeping with the results expected so I'm putting these terrible results down to the inevitable outcome of troops facing outsized artillery units - I'm facing 24cm mortars etc.

So, I think I'll hold until I can prepare a trap and then begin to withdraw.


Ground combat at 86,41

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 21676 troops, 350 guns, 320 vehicles, Assault Value = 986

Defending force 85129 troops, 562 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2605

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


Allied ground losses:
1543 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 59 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (4 destroyed, 10 disabled)


Assaulting units:
20th Recon Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
20th Engineer Regiment
37th Division
3rd Tank Regiment
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
5th Armored Car Co
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
26th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion

Defending units:
43rd Chinese Corps
57th Chinese Corps
1st Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
17th Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps
47th Chinese Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
34th Group Army
4th Group Army
36th Group Army
39th Group Army
24th Group Army
8th Group Army
7th Group Army
57th AT Gun Regiment


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 86,41

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 76136 troops, 559 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2511

Defending force 28765 troops, 357 guns, 813 vehicles, Assault Value = 985

Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 24 (4 destroyed, 20 disabled)

This is more in keeping with what I'd expected. So, I think the results above were just the outcome of outsize artillery. The good news is that there isn't much outsize artillery around so if I can destroy a few units of outsize artillery it should take him quite a bit of time to get more.


Assaulting units:
47th Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps
57th Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
17th Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
1st Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
39th Group Army
34th Group Army
4th Group Army
7th Group Army
36th Group Army
24th Group Army
8th Group Army
57th AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
9th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
20th Engineer Regiment
37th Division
20th Recon Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
5th Armored Car Co
26th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion

As an aside.... I've been reading a lot of the AARs here and some are quite literary, some frequently hilarious (Cap Mandrake, I'm looking at you here ) and others show lots of bloody combat - not all of it particularly strategically relevant or well-thought out...

I would urge everyone to read the Aussies vs Amis AAR tm.asp?m=2200574

It is very obvious when professionals go to work and it shows a very balanced, strategic view of things with the tactical and operational suborned to the strategic as they should be. In addition they've obviously done a lot of good pilot management in addition to declining unnecessary exchanges. There's lots to learn there.

Thanks for the link Nemo .. I have read some AAR's but can't take time to read them all. and i like learning.

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

As an aside.... I've been reading a lot of the AARs here and some are quite literary, some frequently hilarious (Cap Mandrake, I'm looking at you here ) and others show lots of bloody combat - not all of it particularly strategically relevant or well-thought out...

I would urge everyone to read the Aussies vs Amis AAR tm.asp?m=2200574

It is very obvious when professionals go to work and it shows a very balanced, strategic view of things with the tactical and operational suborned to the strategic as they should be. In addition they've obviously done a lot of good pilot management in addition to declining unnecessary exchanges. There's lots to learn there.

Agree , its prob the best but they dont give the tactical detail only strategic a and tactical results. Most AAR IMHO use very sub standard strategy esp China.

ORIGINAL: bklooste

Agree , its prob the best but they dont give the tactical detail only strategic a and tactical results. Most AAR IMHO use very sub standard strategy esp China.

Nothing wrong with an example of a conventional plan done well. I like reading AARs about high risk/high reward operations, because they're fun to watch/read about, but I think a more conventional plan is more likely to win the war sooner as the allies over enough repetitions.