1/4/42 ~ Kushyshevka falls in an April Fools prank.. painted broomsticks and spare helmets were left as defence...
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 228958 troops, 2633 guns, 1462 vehicles, Assault Value = 5019
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 --> roll sound of wind whistling across the prairies and tumble weeds rolling by
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese max assault: 3218 - adjusted assault: 3378
Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1 ---> This is the broomstick factor!
Japanese assault odds: 3378 to 1 (fort level 0) --> have you ever seen these odds before? [:D]
Not so far away at Hailar, my fly-boys were told at muster by a Jnr Lt. Bilco-san that they could have the day off. By the time their Commanders got wind of the rumour, there were only a few discarded hats on the parade ground and a stream of dust which vanished into the direction of town.
Hours later the sound of Russian fighters roused them from the many bars/places of ill-repute that had popped up in recent months, with just enough time to give them a hearty wave and raise their glasses in cheers as they passed overhead. The 200+ Russian pilots are deflated as they return empty handed into the dark storm clouds hanging low in the sky.
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Memo to other players wishing to undertake a Russian adventure ... don't! Or if you do, do it better than I did it.
[*]I attacked Day 1, big mistake. Without enough time to position my forces correctly:-
[*]I failed to sink enough fleeing Soviet subs and DD's.
[*]I could not go up the middle at Blagovyshensk, thereby cutting off the Soviet troops. Or smart enough like Nemo to go from Mutankiang across toward Iman, cutting the troops at Vladivostok. And my Allied opponent is too smart for this anyway.
[*]I did not go for Borzya early enough, and could not without enough positioned there.
[*]It has meant that all my other incursions into the SRA / China / Burma / Java are understrength and behind an acceptable timetable. Singapore / Manila and Soerabaja are still to fall.
[*]The bug which affects this and other mods, which have Soviet Active from Day 1, reduces my ability to recon, disrupt the Soviet air force.
[*]It has released some of the best fighters onto the playing field. And these fighters (Mig 3)could take on the Japanese fighters in '43 or later and still be ok. The Soviet troops have good equipment too, some of the best.
[*] ... more I'll think of later ...
So here we are April Fools '42:
The positioning of my forces, and my attempt to continue to place pressure on this theatre. Dividing is never a good policy, and neither is attacking Russia, there are some pretty famous guys who failed to do this, but here we are. Playing catch up, I intend to switch the focus of my attacks now. Some Divs and Arm are going to be moved toward Hailar from my stack at Kuysysheka, the rest will threaten Skovorodino. It is almost the same number of hexes from Kuysyshevka to Borzya, either route, so the race is on.
{edit} And I would use ships but the treat of Soviet intervention leaves me cold ... damn the BUG! Apart from the fact that troops in this region cannot be loaded without setting them to another HQ, which I cannot afford anyway! And that includes air transport. I hope AE does something about this!
