Andy Mac v PZB This time India will Stand !!!!

[Andy Mac]

Ah I think I have the problem its the damned Fighter Bombers
 
Beaufort/Blenheims transition to Beaufighters and Mosquitos but for the RAF at least all the Beaufighters and all but one Mosquito are FB's so my Sqns are stuffed....

[crsutton]

Andy, RAF suffered from a sparse supply of planes but you have to remember that the Allies were facing virtually no Japanese air force in Burma by the end of 43, so losses were not that bad. The game on the other hand allows a very large Japanese air force and does not give the Allies any compensation as they are stuck with historical numbers. The only solution if to transfer a lot of American units to SE ASIA. Aside for the normal American units that come to Aden, I think I transferred at least a dozen heavy and medium (probably more) units and perhaps another 15 to 20 American fighter units from the states. I begin this process the first day of the war and never let up. Basically in AE, the American have to carry to load in SE Asia as the Brits just don't have enough.

I have sent Army fighters and also Navy and Marine corps fighters as up to mid 44 they have a better replacement rate.

[Andy Mac]

Good day today shot down lots of Japs and managed to knock down the ofrts at Merauke with a 121 result
 
Overall so far so good.
 
3 Sqns of Superforts at pearl are resting I estimate no more than 10 days until CENTPACs offensive begins

[JeffroK]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Andy, RAF suffered from a sparse supply of planes but you have to remember that the Allies were facing virtually no Japanese air force in Burma by the end of 43, so losses were not that bad. The game on the other hand allows a very large Japanese air force and does not give the Allies any compensation as they are stuck with historical numbers. The only solution if to transfer a lot of American units to SE ASIA. Aside for the normal American units that come to Aden, I think I transferred at least a dozen heavy and medium (probably more) units and perhaps another 15 to 20 American fighter units from the states. I begin this process the first day of the war and never let up. Basically in AE, the American have to carry to load in SE Asia as the Brits just don't have enough.

I have sent Army fighters and also Navy and Marine corps fighters as up to mid 44 they have a better replacement rate.

I also send a lot of USAAF into India, especially in the mid years they can be used to their full effectiveness with more airfields available than in a cross pacific campaign.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

I am worried about the RAF and its ability to fight long term.

At present I have 18 RAF Bomber Sqns operational

Of those a full 10 are either on search duty or training not by choice but because I have no replacements for them

In total

8 Sqns are in my book operational

2 Sqns of Wellingtons BX's with 14 in the pool and 6 per month replacements for another 6 months I am pretty much struggling to keep even 2 Sqns operational in this type and after 10/44 they are a wasting asset

3 Sqns of Liberators with 18 in reserve and 15 per month replacement - assuming no heavy losses I might be able to activate another Sqn maybe 2 max but thats it

3 Sqns of Blenheims with 10 !!!!! replacements cannibalisation on the cards I think

Basically I am already down to the wire throughout 44/45 I will be lucky to be able to operate 6 Sqns of RAF bombers out of 18 thats a pretty low rate......

AND all the rear area Sqns are wasting assets every operational write off hurts....

I would kill to be able to transfer some of the old pre war Dutch bombers, or Australian Beaufort VIII's or even borrow a few Canadian or Kiwi Venturas.

RAF is really really really low on bombers - no mediums and few heavies and no medium replacements at all from now on until end of game other than a few Mosquito B35's with a miserable production rate - was the RAF really this badly off that there was no medium bomber late war ??

You seem to be overlooking the Vengeance. A lot of those Blenheim squadrons are scheduled to be upgraded to the Vengeance.

Alfred

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

I am worried about the RAF and its ability to fight long term.

At present I have 18 RAF Bomber Sqns operational

Of those a full 10 are either on search duty or training not by choice but because I have no replacements for them

In total

8 Sqns are in my book operational

2 Sqns of Wellingtons BX's with 14 in the pool and 6 per month replacements for another 6 months I am pretty much struggling to keep even 2 Sqns operational in this type and after 10/44 they are a wasting asset

3 Sqns of Liberators with 18 in reserve and 15 per month replacement - assuming no heavy losses I might be able to activate another Sqn maybe 2 max but thats it

3 Sqns of Blenheims with 10 !!!!! replacements cannibalisation on the cards I think

Basically I am already down to the wire throughout 44/45 I will be lucky to be able to operate 6 Sqns of RAF bombers out of 18 thats a pretty low rate......

AND all the rear area Sqns are wasting assets every operational write off hurts....

I would kill to be able to transfer some of the old pre war Dutch bombers, or Australian Beaufort VIII's or even borrow a few Canadian or Kiwi Venturas.

RAF is really really really low on bombers - no mediums and few heavies and no medium replacements at all from now on until end of game other than a few Mosquito B35's with a miserable production rate - was the RAF really this badly off that there was no medium bomber late war ??

You seem to be overlooking the Vengeance. A lot of those Blenheim squadrons are scheduled to be upgraded to the Vengeance.

Alfred

An almost useless plane vs any hex with decent AA fire. Divebombers vs any defended area just seem to kill pilots.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: Alfred

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

I am worried about the RAF and its ability to fight long term.

At present I have 18 RAF Bomber Sqns operational

Of those a full 10 are either on search duty or training not by choice but because I have no replacements for them

In total

8 Sqns are in my book operational

2 Sqns of Wellingtons BX's with 14 in the pool and 6 per month replacements for another 6 months I am pretty much struggling to keep even 2 Sqns operational in this type and after 10/44 they are a wasting asset

3 Sqns of Liberators with 18 in reserve and 15 per month replacement - assuming no heavy losses I might be able to activate another Sqn maybe 2 max but thats it

3 Sqns of Blenheims with 10 !!!!! replacements cannibalisation on the cards I think

Basically I am already down to the wire throughout 44/45 I will be lucky to be able to operate 6 Sqns of RAF bombers out of 18 thats a pretty low rate......

AND all the rear area Sqns are wasting assets every operational write off hurts....

I would kill to be able to transfer some of the old pre war Dutch bombers, or Australian Beaufort VIII's or even borrow a few Canadian or Kiwi Venturas.

RAF is really really really low on bombers - no mediums and few heavies and no medium replacements at all from now on until end of game other than a few Mosquito B35's with a miserable production rate - was the RAF really this badly off that there was no medium bomber late war ??

You seem to be overlooking the Vengeance. A lot of those Blenheim squadrons are scheduled to be upgraded to the Vengeance.

Alfred

An almost useless plane vs any hex with decent AA fire. Divebombers vs any defended area just seem to kill pilots.

And Blenheims plus the fighter bombers are that much better?

Any plane up against good flak is going to suffer. Any dive bomber is going to suffer If that is a problem one can always change the bombing altitude to minimise exposure to flak.

The fact is that British bomber units very much migrate to other types of planes. If the migration is not allowed, then yes the Allied player is going to suffer greatly from the very low British low level bomber production rates.

Andy Mac is experienced enough to know the consequences of his actions. Others, less experienced, reading this AAR need to understand that British aerial offensive capability is not doomed. One just needs to understand what the options are.

Alfred

[bbbf]

The Vengeance is just about my favourite RAF plane. It positively eats up IJA Tank regiments in open terrain, only takes up a single engine slot at an airfield and drops near on the same ordnance as the other RAF mediums. Just don't use it as a base suppressor.

[Andy Mac]

Only 3 RAF Sqns can convert to Vengeance DB's even with PDU on so there is a limit to what I can do

[Andy Mac]

OK back to the war

Yesterday was a bad day for the allies - 150 top Japanese fighters pounced on my USAAF mediums and RAF DB's shredding them - I lost over 50 A20's and 20 Vengeance DB's

Sweeps didnt co ordinate....

I have decided to keep the pressure on in Burma IV Corps crossed the river north of the main Japanese concentration a few days ago.

XXXIII and XV Corps will force the river to support them in a few days despite my air losses today

A full court attack
In the meantime 2 LRP Bdes of Chindits have set out on a wide envelopment to cut the road line behind Moulmien....

With air support I suspect they will be hard to shift given even a couple of days to dig in. Supply levels are building in Burma with every day that passes and I will soon be able to bring in heavies to support my attack.

4 Sqns of B29's are repairing fast at PH and when pacific Fleet sorties for its comeback engagement I will have AF closing support from a force of 30 - 50 B29's which should make a huge difference in keeping AF's supressed.

Andy

[Andy Mac]

8 Fleet Carriers (770), 9 Light Fleet Carriers (270) and 30 Escort Carriers (900) will be sailing inside on 7 days. Total c 2,000 Carrier Aircraft supported by Ultra heavy LR Bombers

I will also base 100+ LR P38's on Johnston Island and a couple of replenshment groups just in case....

Target: Victory !!!

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

OK back to the war

Yesterday was a bad day for the allies - 150 top Japanese fighters pounced on my USAAF mediums and RAF DB's shredding them - I lost over 50 A20's and 20 Vengeance DB's

Sweeps didnt co ordinate....

I have decided to keep the pressure on in Burma IV Corps crossed the river north of the main Japanese concentration a few days ago.

XXXIII and XV Corps will force the river to support them in a few days despite my air losses today

A full court attack
In the meantime 2 LRP Bdes of Chindits have set out on a wide envelopment to cut the road line behind Moulmien....

With air support I suspect they will be hard to shift given even a couple of days to dig in. Supply levels are building in Burma with every day that passes and I will soon be able to bring in heavies to support my attack.

4 Sqns of B29's are repairing fast at PH and when pacific Fleet sorties for its comeback engagement I will have AF closing support from a force of 30 - 50 B29's which should make a huge difference in keeping AF's supressed.

Andy

Andy, have you tried using your fighters as long range cap over the intended bomb target? I find this works much better than escorted bombers or the unpredictable sweep. Only downside is you have to rotate them due to fatigue, but it has cut my bomber losses down significantly.

[Andy Mac]

No I havent ta I will try that.

Lots going on so I have time to re organise

[Andy Mac]

Supplies are entering Burma sufficiently that I can start to bring in the first heavy Groups

The plan is to have Toungoo, Prome, Bassein, Rangoon and Pegu all operational with strong mixed air forces to avoid any one target being too juicy.

Probbaly 4 - 5 Sqns of Heavies
2 - 3 Sqns of Fighters each

With DB', FB's and Light Bombers operating at Pegu on CAS

I am going to blow a hole in the jungle !!!

[Andy Mac]

Another major convoy has finished unloading at Rangoon
 
So far so good supply levels are rising every day now moving in Heavies and starting to get set
 
The plan is commence a full court assault on PZB I want Moulmien as without it I am constantly under threat and Rangoon will take attritional losses
 
So Moulmien 1st then Andaman Islands
 
Lots of ground attacks and alternating attacks
 
In other news I am attacking alternately at Buna

[Andy Mac]

OK in Burma stuff is a moving...

IV Corps is driving along the shore for the hex north of Moulmien

The rest of 14th Army is ready for an assault crossing into the hex PZB has about 80,000 men there and I have identified 4+ Divs plus support.

Thats not enough to stop my whole Army Group. The Chindits of the Special Force are en route to try and get behind Moulmien and cause some mayhem

Lots happening and my forces are moving.

If I can rout this army and then bounce him out of Moulmien I dont see PZB being able to stand anywhere in Burma Mergui and Tavoy are undefendable on their own.

Anyway thats the plan keep driving south with all despatch

[Andy Mac]

Most of my attack bombers are now operating in A20G's in Burma and the 25D1's are in New Guinea

[traskott]

All those Havocs can do a lot of dmg...

[traskott]

All those Havocs can do a lot of dmg...

[Andy Mac]

Yup I have over 100 of them operational but I am starting to bring in regular B25C's, and 24's of various marks.

Now have c 60 Superforts repairing so the fleet will soon be ready to sortie