Greyjoy(J) vs. Obvert(A) - The air war in China- DBB, SLs, PDU OFF

[GreyJoy]

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[GreyJoy]

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[Bullwinkle58]

Using Bolos in front-line 1943? Wow. Gutsy.

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Using Bolos in front-line 1943? Wow. Gutsy.

PDU-OFF

Nice action Nicola.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: MrKane

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Using Bolos in front-line 1943? Wow. Gutsy.

PDU-OFF

Nice action Nicola.

But the B-18 never saw combat in the Pacific after the Philippines. I don't even think it was used for ASW in the Pacific. So I'm surprised that with PDU-OFF that any B-18 squadrons exist so late.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: MrKane

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Using Bolos in front-line 1943? Wow. Gutsy.

PDU-OFF

Nice action Nicola.

But the B-18 never saw combat in the Pacific after the Philippines. I don't even think it was used for ASW in the Pacific. So I'm surprised that with PDU-OFF that any B-18 squadrons exist so late.

I have the last few training ASW and flying some light ASW in 3/43. But bombers in a CAP environment? PDU either way that's just lost pilots and VPs.

[MrKane]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: MrKane


PDU-OFF

Nice action Nicola.

But the B-18 never saw combat in the Pacific after the Philippines. I don't even think it was used for ASW in the Pacific. So I'm surprised that with PDU-OFF that any B-18 squadrons exist so late.

I have the last few training ASW and flying some light ASW in 3/43. But bombers in a CAP environment? PDU either way that's just lost pilots and VPs.

Bomber is just platform to delivery payload in my opinion and allied player suffer shortage of bombers in '43.
Personally I am still using Hudson I, 139WH-3, CW-22 in my game, Dec '43. As long fighters are can offer protection all are good for bombing. It seems to me that Nicola's CAP trap was not present in Obvert's plans.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: MrKane


Bomber is just platform to delivery payload in my opinion and allied player suffer shortage of bombers in '43.
Personally I am still using Hudson I, 139WH-3, CW-22 in my game, Dec '43. As long fighters are can offer protection all are good for bombing. It seems to me that Nicola's CAP trap was not present in Obvert's plans.

Yeah, it is a bomb delivery platform. That's fine, but the Bolo has no armor, a gun rating of 6, and a cruise speed of 167 kts. When it dies it takes down the same pilot a B-24 does, and costs the same VPs as a B-26. In later 1943 you have fighters that can help in the Pacific. In early 1943 not very much. 2Es have to be able to defend themselves and take some damage in 1943 IMO. Bolos fail on all accounts.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: MrKane


Bomber is just platform to delivery payload in my opinion and allied player suffer shortage of bombers in '43.
Personally I am still using Hudson I, 139WH-3, CW-22 in my game, Dec '43. As long fighters are can offer protection all are good for bombing. It seems to me that Nicola's CAP trap was not present in Obvert's plans.

Yeah, it is a bomb delivery platform. That's fine, but the Bolo has no armor, a gun rating of 6, and a cruise speed of 167 kts. When it dies it takes down the same pilot a B-24 does, and costs the same VPs as a B-26. In later 1943 you have fighters that can help in the Pacific. In early 1943 not very much. 2Es have to be able to defend themselves and take some damage in 1943 IMO. Bolos fail on all accounts.

And you just don't get very many... I only have enough to fill out ASW squadrons at Pearl. And I haven't used them in combat at all.

I use B-25s exclusively once I can. The B-26 is OK - same bomb load, faster, but lower range than the B-25C. It would be nice if I could get in range to use the other attack bombers, like the Havoc, but 5-6 hex range just isn't happening. Once the A-20G comes in September '43, maybe.

[GreyJoy]

April 19-20, 1942

Quiet days.
The allies finally conquer Colombo, after weeks of constant air and naval bombings.
The I-24 torpedoes a british AMC near Ceylon.
The 31st ID is succesfully re-combined at Horn Island. That's a good division, behind 6 forts in a key-position. Happy about that.
Quiet over Torokina.
In China we conquered another hex on the road to Paoshan, while we pushed back another enemy stack towards Chungking.
CV Amagi arrived. Unfortunately it arrived witb D4Y3s and Jills version 2.0...which means, inPDU OFF, that i cannot use those groups [:-][:-][:o][:o][:o][:o][:o] Need to unload them and re-embark some LBA sentais after resizing them...[8|]
A strong SAG is moving to Port Hedland, along with 200 fighters that arrived yesterday. The well needed and waited 100k supplies convoy is arriving too.
The KB is positioning near Java...waiting

Ground combat at 67,45 (near Tsuyung)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8273 troops, 207 guns, 556 vehicles, Assault Value = 365

Defending force 14649 troops, 56 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 112

Japanese adjusted assault: 153

Allied adjusted defense: 55

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
5300 casualties reported
Squads: 100 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 211 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 20 (20 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 17

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
18th Tank Regiment
Guards Tank Division
13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
56th Chinese Corps
32nd Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
34th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
10th Chinese Corps
5th New Chinese Corps
33rd Base Group
49th Chinese Corps
62nd Chinese Corps
10th Construction Regiment
80th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Base Force
9th Group Army
Lusu War Area
11th Group Army
5th Group Army
16th Chinese Base Force

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Ground combat at 75,48 (near Kweiyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39474 troops, 495 guns, 452 vehicles, Assault Value = 1260

Defending force 42790 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1163

Japanese adjusted assault: 712

Allied adjusted defense: 307

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
2003 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 163 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled

Allied ground losses:
9183 casualties reported
Squads: 340 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 259 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 11 (8 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
1st Tank Division
3rd Division
51st Division
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
1st Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
10th Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
7th Chinese Corps
25th Chinese Corps
35th Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps

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

Ground combat at Colombo (29,48)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8683 troops, 91 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 292

Defending force 6964 troops, 63 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 54

Allied adjusted assault: 110

Japanese adjusted defense: 9

Allied assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 6)

Allied forces CAPTURE Colombo !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
3084 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 110 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 20 (16 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (15 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 5

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units pursuing 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
77th LRP Bde /1
46th Indian Brigade
158th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
111th LRP Bde /1
188th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
11th Garrison Unit
21st JAAF AF Bn
36th JAAF AF Bn
22nd Special Base Force
3rd Provisional Base Force

[GreyJoy]

Days of hard work have slowed down both the turns flow and the AAR. Sorry guys.

We reached 24th April 1943

The allies are flowing into Assam, conquering everything we abandoned (Calcutta included).
Our main units have almost reached Akyab, which is fine.
In china we had bad days over Chungking. He flew in 100+ P-40Ks who have esterminated my unescorted Sallies (66 lost!). Now I need to face another problem in China... my bad, should have been more carefull.
Towards Paoshan we just reached the river crossing with our tanks, but the sudden appearance of allied fighters are really ruining my plans... will try to work it out with what I have. Hopefully the supplies left there will be low enough for them to allow me to advance only with our land forces.
Soon the allies will start building the bases in Assam...and I have to be ready to evacuate the Ledo-Dimampur area...but I need to get to Paoshan first! Thrilling moments


In Sopac/Centpac things are deteriorating fast.
Nauru finally falls, after 6 months of siege and constant naval and aerial bombings. Can't really complain: my guys have shown their best attributes in holding that ground without supplies for nearly 6 months against the Marines.
Mili is bombed again by several BBs and we managed to catch some 20 allied planes on escorting the 4Es that daily attack the base. Will try now to reinforce it a bit...let's see

[GreyJoy]

April 25, 1943

In China i now count 66 fighters at Paoshan and 95 at Chungking... that's a lot!
I am a bit short of planes at the moment. Not much i can do...
The troops at Nauru made a Banzai attack after having lost the control of the base and got wiped out. Again, not much i could do at this point.
A small baby KB is making a trip in the IO...let's see if he is already moving something...i have a strong feeling the route from CT to Perth is now operative again...may be the right time for a raid

Tanks east of Paoshan are now ordered to move towards the river crossing, while the 5th Guards Division, supported by tanks and heavy artillery is pushing towards Paoshan from the east. I know there's a british division still stuck there so the resistance here might be strong...but first i need to get rid of the fighters there

KI-84a arriving in september 43.
KI-61c in June 43, then the "d" version (which is the good one) should be available by october 43 if my calculations are correct.

[GreyJoy]

April 26-30, 1943

Things are deteriorating fast in China. Too many P-40Ks and I have too few decent groups to be used for sweep. Losses are unacceptable

Same for the Marshalls. Mili is bombed everyday and I simply don't have enough to cover the Marshalls properly.

Buna is conquered... now PM is completely lost and isolated.

Dambulla falls. Ceylon is now a british dominion.

From Calcutta, P-38s started to sweep Akyab, causing losses.

Didn't expect to feel so weak in may 1943...

Must start to get ready for the inner perimeter...

[veji1]

PDU on has a massive effect in 43, it is then that you feel it the most because the allies don't have their massive CV fleet yet, good models are only starting to come online, whereas you are using Georges and Franks and the best Tojos everywhere... in a pdu off, you feel the "gap" in the japanese war effort a lot more : that period of time after Japan had bled itself dry in 42 and was just starting ramping up its war effort to try to survive...

now the question for you is whether SLs and Pdu OFF will limit the allies efficiently when on the offensive, or not. Because SL and pdu Off might prove great for a balanced 42 game, but maybe mid 43 onwards you'll get rolled over too easily, I don't know. Let's see though and good luck.

[Encircled]

Based on my PDU off game, the switching around of air units to make sure that you have the best fighters available means that you really can't be that strong. The PDU off upgrade for the IJAAF in particular is "interesting".

Makes you love the Oscar a lot more than you ever thought you could!

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

April 26-30, 1943

Same for the Marshalls. Mili is bombed everyday and I simply don't have enough to cover the Marshalls properly.

Didn't expect to feel so weak in may 1943...

Must start to get ready for the inner perimeter...

In my game, I felt weak in 1942![:D]

[Barb]

August 1942 - And how week do I already feel!

[LargeSlowTarget]

LOL, March 42, just captured Palembang and am still fighting for Bataan and Java - and I feel like it is time to go on the defensive...

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

LOL, March 42, just captured Palembang and am still fighting for Bataan and Java - and I feel like it is time to go on the defensive...

Ha,ha[:D]

There is hope, if only fleeting, because I was fighting for Java in October 42. I think Manila fell in Aug/Sept 42. Never even got Rangoon.[:)]

[GreyJoy]

Days where i am just working. 15, 16 hours per day.... Barely have the strenght to play a couple of turns during pauses.... God

Keep on losing the air battle for chungking. Every day i lose twice the planes of his i destroy....not good. Especially if u think i am throwing away the best of my pilots.

Mili is heavy bombed even with Cruisers... I bet this is his next step on his list. Tried to LRCAP but didnt worked... Too many allied fighters on escort and LRCAP.... Lost 12 planes for no gain.... Ouch.

Closing on paoshan... Managed to rivercross from the east but got halted...reinforcements are on the way. Hope to be able to do a proper update tomorrow.... Now off to bed

Night guys