LoBaron + Robbrennan vs Offenceman, allied secret AAR

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks for the advice alfred , i'd forgotten the chinese can use the H41's .. and LoBaron i will definately take you up on P40 B's , thanks. Ive moved the AVG closer to the air war over kukong so unless japan swithces tactics and flattens the sirfield next turn I'll throw in 60 fighters on high % CAP (70ish) , just for 1 turn (2 days) on c 20k alt. then pull back to india for a/c upgrading.



Japan makes yet another duff attck on china.


Ground combat at 85,44

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45302 troops, 560 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 1470

Defending force 76222 troops, 426 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2470

Japanese adjusted assault: 525

Allied adjusted defense: 2839

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 5

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

Japanese ground losses:
6742 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 365 disabled (shame its all disables)
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 484 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 59 disabled


Allied ground losses:
411 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
37th Division
4th Ind.Mixed Brigade
34th Division
116th Division
32nd/A Division
22nd Ind. Engineer Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
7th Ind. Engineer Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
13th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
55th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
22nd Group Army
5th War Area
3rd Group Army
31st Group Army

Paulow (north china) was taken initially on a 1-1 attack from Japan , that was a suprise ! so ive ordered 2 very very weak regiments back into town just to tip it to 1-2 as the numbers are close . The supply situation there has plummeted badly now too. lets hope he waits a few turns while i mull over whether to pull back so im closer to supply lines.

Ground combat at Paotow (92,34)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12519 troops, 104 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 459

Defending force 13685 troops, 129 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 477

Japanese adjusted assault: 444

Allied adjusted defense: 403

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
245 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Allied ground losses:
203 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Assaulting units:
29th Division

Defending units:
81st Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
17th Group Army

Piccies is of the big failed japanese assault in china.

[LoBaron]

Just a short update on the US side of the war:

Bataan will fall soon, its March 7th so thats ok with me, they fought long and tough.
I am out of supplies now and Mike made a deliberate attack which already showed the dreaded supplies (-).
Thats not a problem in itself, more that the Japanese are aware of it now and this means attacks will increase.
After being pounded by 140-150 IJA bombers per day it was a matter of time anyway.


On the west coast the first big convoy of the war is assembling. I like to keep my ships together instead of spreading them out.
CV escort is mandatory as in case the 70+ ships arrive safely in Auckland the balance of power will at least shift a small bit into
the right direction. [;)]
Offenseman is trying to choke San Francisco with subs, currently he is welcome to try. Its an even battle but I got more assets,
naturally I will have to force it when the convoy sails but I am confident that I got enough ASW forces (air and naval) to do the job.

The bright side is this turn, after a longer break, both Rob and me managed to crack some sub hulls open.

My ASW caught one of the subs lurking at SF, Rob put a well designed British DC on a sub near Perth.
Only 1 direct hit each but I guess the Perth boat is in trouble, my prey will probably survive since the US DC´s don´t hurt.

[Rob Brennan UK]

It wasnt that bad LoBaron , Japan suffered badly and didnt reduce the forts. The Big AV units in bataan still have about 3/4 supply intrisically but spare supply was listed as 12! so its going to fall soon ish.

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 82102 troops, 813 guns, 432 vehicles, Assault Value = 2835

Defending force 55395 troops, 945 guns, 759 vehicles, Assault Value = 1878

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 2462

Allied adjusted defense: 2661

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
10621 casualties reported
Squads: 24 destroyed, 469 disabled
Non Combat: 28 destroyed, 590 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 62 disabled
Vehicles lost 52 (4 destroyed, 48 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3721 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 223 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 133 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Vehicles lost 33 (4 destroyed, 29 disabled)



Infatry disablements take a long time to heal , even when rested and in full supply they can take ages. I wonder when Japan will be brave enough to attack again ? Out of curiousity does the base need 20k supply to heal disablements ? or do hq;s help with high admin ? I think its no and yes respectively but would love confirmation.

As for China and the AVG , Mike said in his e-mail reply he expected the AVG to come calling soon. As it is the AVG lost 22 planes .. that is one big ouch ! but over the course of at least 10 combats in 2 days we did hit a lot of japanese aircraft in return, even one of the dreaded Tojos was downed by a P40E.Japanese losses were about 75 planes. Wish i'd set CAP over singapore today too as all the netty raids came in unescorted , i suspect its a dupe and wont fall for it yet , if in 3-4 turns no escort then i'll maybe jump in.

so all in all 75-22 aint bad and we only lost 7 pilots dead in total over the pacific in 2 days, thats good !

Thats about it really , all else is quiet (thankfully). the Royal Navy is assemblig a suprise for Japan should the evil empire decide to attack the DEI without KB support. If KB comes calling however all bets are off and running away is just advancing on a 180^ axis [;)]







EDIT , there was one very very strange oddity, I sent a lone AKL upto lautern in Timor on 'pick up troop' mode with amphibious set as TF type. There was only 11 tubes of dutch 88mm AAguns to pick up as all else has been flown out. the AP duly picked up 8 before the base was overrun. Then ! next day the AA guns re-landed and invaded ! what the hell happened there ? TF was set to return to Darwin.

Upon opening the turn the AKL was 3 hexes from Lautern and on its way to Darwin .. very very odd !

Invasion Support action off Lautem

22 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAKL Patris



xAKL Patris fired at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards



Elsewhere in burma the medium bombers of the Commonwealth AF struck at the advancing japanese troops and confirmed the presence of the Imperial guards Div along with a Tank Brigade. We should be able to stand at Manadalay as we have several units coming to reinforce Burma, No sign of japanese fighters but then again the hurricanes tasked with escort were rained in too thankfully. I'll not risk them tomorrow as these bomber pilots are darn good and i'm really looking forward to getting wellies !.

Morning Air attack on Imperial Guards Division, at 57,47 (Magwe)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 23


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

[LoBaron]

I think you are right. Its no and yes. [;)]
The yes only because of support troops and potential leadership rolls though.

Hell of a fight with AVG! I see one is making double ace soon. If he lives. Good man.

[LoBaron]

March 10, 1942

A good day for the defenders at Bataan who repelled yed another attack.
I had a gut feeling that the attack was imminent, so changed the two tank Bts - until now held in reserve -
to combat mode. And it paid off as it seems.

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 69811 troops, 802 guns, 440 vehicles, Assault Value = 2112

Defending force 49459 troops, 939 guns, 754 vehicles, Assault Value = 1440

Japanese adjusted assault: 501

Allied adjusted defense: 951

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
4666 casualties reported
Squads: 40 destroyed, 198 disabled
Non Combat: 66 destroyed, 237 disabled
Engineers: 37 destroyed, 36 disabled
Vehicles lost 113 (54 destroyed, 59 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1530 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 183 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 239 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 26 disabled
Vehicles lost 47 (2 destroyed, 45 disabled)


Don´t know but this must hurt. At least a bit. He already lost a lot of vehicles that are not so easy to replace
for Japan.
On the other hand forts dropped to 1 the day before, so I give it a higher than 50/50 chance that next time the attack
will succeed.


NZ Convoy is ready to roll in 1 or 2 turns, it will deviate far to the south before heading west. In case it arrives in
time capturing Noumea will be much harder for Mike, theres a lot of shiny stuff loaded which is designed to discourage
Japanese ambitions.

Up to the north I am slowly strenghening the Aleuthians. I like the position of these island. A Japanese offensive there is
only designed to deny, so I can live with that.
In case Mike decides not to attack there the slow crawl in the direction of the HI´s will continue over the next months to come.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Sadly the chinese had the opposite day !

I had the suspicion i had been suckered into advacing out of the treeline and into a trap ! ,, and lo and behold i was right but too late to do much about it. foryuately that oops feeling made me put the men back to combat mode as theywere in move mode to get away asap but when the unit count for japan hit 5 i swopped it over. Initially it was just 1 (hence the bait).


Round 1

Ground combat at 86,43

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31862 troops, 252 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 1086

Defending force 34480 troops, 190 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1114

Japanese adjusted assault: 706

Allied adjusted defense: 690

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1938 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 169 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 113 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1314 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 181 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 170 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled


at the end of day 1 i was hopeful i could hold and make it back to the safety of the trees.

OOPS

Day 2


Ground combat at 86,43

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30086 troops, 252 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 951

Defending force 32601 troops, 190 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 958

Japanese adjusted assault: 574

Allied adjusted defense: 255 HUGE DROP from 690

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-), supply(-) looks like supply collapsed , not an unusual situaution in china.
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1023 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 114 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 95 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled


Allied ground losses:
11899 casualties reported
Squads: 199 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 392 destroyed, 146 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 13

Diveretd 2 semi ok corps to the retreat hex and i'll pull back the worst damaged ones to Sian and try and fix the disabled squads, the destroyed ones are gone for good sadly.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Hello again

We spotted some japanese naval activity around Singkawang and raider force 1 (the biggie) went to investigate , only a lone AK found but it was duly sunk and the task force headed home to batavia with flags flying and dutch fighters overhead in case of netties in the area.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 16, 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Kinsyo Maru, Shell hits 18, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CA Exeter
CL Sumatra
CL De Ruyter
CL Tromp
CL Enterprise
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CL Mauritius
DD Pope
DD Whipple
DD Vendetta

Other than a lot more american ASW activity the turn was pretty quiet , japans gobbling up empty bases behind the lines and the allies had to disband all those juicy P40 and DB units (on the 15th) or get a huge PP penalty. I suspect thats one date japan always remembers and i expect some enemy action around darwin/java soon. Oddly Japan still hasnt advanced into singapore ?? most odd as dutch transport planes have pulled out the heavy AA guns along with the III indian corps HQ and (maybe gamey/pointless) cadres of the 2 remaining behind indian divisions. there isnt much more i can pull out of singapore tbh . if and when japan moves in and it looks like a foregone conclusion ill try and pull some more indian troops out but untill then nada.

China is the main event right now , AVG has pulled out for a refit to P40B's while the remaining H41's go to the nascent chinese Air force. Swopping over these units is proving more problematical than expected , Anyone help on why i cant swop a 27 plane unit to 26 P40B's ? ok 1 plane short but that hasnt prevented me pulling in chinese and australian planes with lower than max numbers. I'll post a screenie if the problem persists and read the manual if all else fails [;)].

anyway i got side tracked .. china .. Japan has pulled back in the North as i 'yhink' they are worried about a flanking move by the chinese , in truth this flanker is a tiny /c div pretending to be dangerous , looks like it worked and i hope that supply will now run back up here ,, not 100% sure it can tbh , even with the pull feature because of the long long road system. The other bad news is japans advance into the woods hot on the heels of the routed chinese , no chance of moving in reinforcemnets yet (but 3 corps ( good ones too) are moving in there. Lets just hope that the terrain can stop him as we do now have supply for the remaining men.

[LoBaron]

Sad news today, as expected Bataan has fallen after a final assault on the last defenses on Mar 21, 42.
This frees up a major Japanese army for new destianations, tying these troops to the Philipines was the
last honorable task of the defenders.
So where will they go? Will they be used in the invasion of Java, which is sure to follow soon, will they be used
to push the US back in the Pacific, dash south to capture the north of Australia? Move to India?

The fall of Bataan is a significant event in the early war, as in my opinion from then on the uncertainty
increases by a factor and it adds to the thrill and the always lingering question "Is my timing right?"


Meanwhile in the south Indianapolis, escorted by CL Leander again assaulted a small landing party at the
southern tip of New Guinea, teaching the troops how to swim:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Kiriwina Island at 102,131, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAKL Amakasu Maru, Shell hits 11, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis
CL Leander

Japanese ground losses:
581 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)


And then they ran headlong into a trap, Mike implemented some lessons learned from the DEI and a couple
of other engagements and this time suddently big guns opened up at the unsuspecting raiders:

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Nagato, Shell hits 2
CL Tenryu
DD Yukikaze
DD Shiranui

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Shell hits 5
CL Leander, Shell hits 4

Thankfully the capatain of Indianapolis, while surprized, got the situation right and disengaged into the nearly
moonless night with only a bit of paint scratched off both ships.
We have to be more careful from now on.

[LoBaron]

PS: Congrats to Rob as his Hurricanes fought a first engagement in Burma against the feared Zekes and came out on
top, shooting down at least 12 of the nimble fighters while only losing 4 of their own!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks for the compliment there LoBaron , The hurricanes did rather well on a sweep over Magwe from Mandalay , allied pilot losses were only 1 as 3 of the hurris crashed while landing. for a first engagement vs the zero the commonwealth pilots did rather well. however it should be noted that every pilot was between 60-70 air2air and had decent exp and defence skills too. I suspect it was defence skills that made 3 damaged and got home vs 3 destroyed over enemy base. a very valuable skill imo.

The hurris will be doing the same tomorrow and the mediums and heavies from calcutta will try and hit any a/c sat on the runways , lets hope and pray the sweeps arrive 1st , given the 2 hex range i would imagine so. (fingers crossed).

Over in China the japanese have resumed bomber training after a weeks holiday from the AVG competition. also the previous japanese victory that pushed me back into the treeline between lanchow and Sian attacked again but i had managed to get 1 of the 3 new corps into positon and they thankfully bounced ! phew .

Ground combat at 85,43

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 55408 troops, 466 guns, 180 vehicles, Assault Value = 1890

Defending force 27705 troops, 199 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 720

Japanese adjusted assault: 626

Allied adjusted defense: 1537

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
2679 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 192 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 159 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1983 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 133 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled


Assaulting units:
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
36th Division
17th Division
8th Ind.Mixed Brigade
6th Ind.Mixed Brigade
15th Division
138th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps
15th Chinese Corps
9th Chinese Corps
8th New Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
96th Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
3rd Construction Regiment
24th Group Army
36th Group Army
14th Group Army
39th Group Army
4th Chinese Base Force
15th Group Army
10th Chinese Base Force

I'll be rotating the badly damaged units for semi fresh ones who have spent the entire game resting in sian upto now.

Over in the DEI , the lesser (20xp) dutch units are rotating via train in and out of thier designated areas (ie prepped for) to get thier exp up , i though max was 45 for dutch but ones made 46 , ditto for china too , maye i got lucky on the last roll ?

Also in the DEI the dutch and brit planes have been upgrading to better units the slow short ranged dunth 1E bombers are now in shiny new B25's and the newly arroved P40E's have been parcelled out to the best fighter unit (s). One question just in case anyone knows

1) when i take new planes listed as dutch in the plane upgrade screen are these planes also avialable to the US ? as Lenny has stated he's only got 1 B25 in the pool. I looked at the B25 reinforcement schedule and it seems that they arrive 3/42 for the Dutch and 8/42 for the Yanks. I suppose i could ask Lenny or just check it on map myself but the turns away for now and i'll forget by tomorrow [;)]


One Top Tip for any DEI player , get at least one AF in java upto a level 5 or you don't get access to the better planes as the game needs L5 AF and 20k supply seems to be the min needed. Using a ton of AKL's to shuttle supply from sumatra to java is a must too as sumatra has way too much for its needs and java can always use more . Draw supply button is really useful in this case as you can draw it south and load it up with batavia only 2 hexes away (NB beware jap subs in the straight however) !

Thats all folks , we'll be posting more as and when it actally happens

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

... One question just in case anyone knows

1) when i take new planes listed as dutch in the plane upgrade screen are these planes also avialable to the US ? as Lenny has stated he's only got 1 B25 in the pool. I looked at the B25 reinforcement schedule and it seems that they arrive 3/42 for the Dutch and 8/42 for the Yanks...

There is a very limited cross usage. But I don't think that is really the correct question to ask. IMHO, the correct question is which foreign models can the Dutch airforce use. Dutch aircraft production is extremely limited. If you do well and still have any Dutch air units flying in June 1942, you will be desperate to find any aircraft to keep your Dutch units operational.

The foreign models which you can use for Dutch units are:

Fighters - only the Australian B-339-23. Total production of 14 plus 5 which can be canabilised from a future arriving Australian unit.

Bombers - two options here. The direct swap is the American B-25C which only becomes available in August 1942. It's total scheduled production run is only 100 aircraft (over 5 months). The indirect swap is via the RAAF Dutch unit (18 Sqn RAAF) which arrives with American B-25s before August. These can be swapped out for Australian Mitchell IIs (total production run of 88 over 22 months!)

Ship based float planes - the Australian OS2U-3 Kingfisher. Total production run of 24.

There are no foreign models available for the Dutch Recon, Patrol and Transport air units. These units will eventually cease to operate solely from operational attrition although there is limited 1942 production of the Dutch PBY-5 Catalina (total production of 26).

Alfred

[VSWG]

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Bombers - two options here. The direct swap is the American B-25C which only becomes available in August 1942. It's total scheduled production run is only 100 aircraft (over 5 months). The indirect swap is via the RAAF Dutch unit (18 Sqn RAAF) which arrives with American B-25s before August. These can be swapped out for Australian Mitchell IIs (total production run of 88 over 22 months!)

You also get 45 Dutch B-25C in March 1942 - which can be, curiously enough, also used for US Army squadrons.

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Bombers - two options here. The direct swap is the American B-25C which only becomes available in August 1942. It's total scheduled production run is only 100 aircraft (over 5 months). The indirect swap is via the RAAF Dutch unit (18 Sqn RAAF) which arrives with American B-25s before August. These can be swapped out for Australian Mitchell IIs (total production run of 88 over 22 months!)

You also get 45 Dutch B-25C in March 1942 - which can be, curiously enough, also used for US Army squadrons.

Correct, they fall into what I had described as limited cross usuage.

My point though is that in the great order of things, the Americans really can do quite well without using Dutch airframes whereas the Dutch, if they are to remain an active airforce after June 1942, are going to need every kind of airframe they can get their hands on.

Of course if every Dutch airunit is destroyed in the DEI, replacement aircraft is a very moot point.[:)] But it doesn't necessarily follow that every Dutch base will be lost and therefore it is possible that some Dutch airunits will still be alive after June. Then the question of replacements becomes acute.

Alfred

[LoBaron]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Bombers - two options here. The direct swap is the American B-25C which only becomes available in August 1942. It's total scheduled production run is only 100 aircraft (over 5 months). The indirect swap is via the RAAF Dutch unit (18 Sqn RAAF) which arrives with American B-25s before August. These can be swapped out for Australian Mitchell IIs (total production run of 88 over 22 months!)

You also get 45 Dutch B-25C in March 1942 - which can be, curiously enough, also used for US Army squadrons.

Muahaha!
And I bashed Rob for using "my" B25s I was planning to upgrade one of my squadrons to.

Sorry old friend! So truth it it was "your" B25s I was planning to steal for the underequipped US Army.

[Rob Brennan UK]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ORIGINAL: Alfred

Bombers - two options here. The direct swap is the American B-25C which only becomes available in August 1942. It's total scheduled production run is only 100 aircraft (over 5 months). The indirect swap is via the RAAF Dutch unit (18 Sqn RAAF) which arrives with American B-25s before August. These can be swapped out for Australian Mitchell IIs (total production run of 88 over 22 months!)

You also get 45 Dutch B-25C in March 1942 - which can be, curiously enough, also used for US Army squadrons.

Muahaha!
And I bashed Rob for using "my" B25s I was planning to upgrade one of my squadrons to.

Sorry old friend! So truth it it was "your" B25s I was planning to steal for the underequipped US Army.

HEHE , thanks for the info Alfred and VSWG.. all much appreciated and clarified our little disagreement over the B25s IE they are MINE ![;)], that said however if/when java does collapse (really really short on fighters here) then most of the dutch units cannot be rescued and i'll swop them back if poss to real dutch a/c so the remaining B25C's can be used up by the americans. wish i could move some of the dutch pilots to the commonwealth reserve pools too as the bomber pilots are looking good with 70ish bomb skills now .. all i need is for the few escorts to get them trough any CAP and they should do some damage (i hope) .

The AVG is returning to China now with 3 units all in brand new P40B's - Thank you very much LoBaron i'll have to return the huge favour sometime. Give the chinese units equipped qith H41's a month and they can also be returned to china with high air skills but still low exp , def skills to creep up but seem to improve faster on general training. Once i do get more chinese AC the remaining sqds in india will be full of elite pilots ! ofc i will rotate in newbies to fill up the chinese pools with highly trained guys.

Not nuch else hapening in game , no japanese incursion into singapore and i'm thinking of trying to fly out as much of the 2 remaining Divisons as poss , got 11 transports and 12 PBY's in palambang for this purpose , i think the infantry might be better used in sumatra/java than in singapore where japan will be 100% prepped and be coming in such numbers that i cant stop them anyway, annoyingly the forts are stuck on 3(99) .. a few days no bombing would be nice [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 25, 42

Japan once more tries to bully its way through in central china (toward Sian) but a full strength chinese corps just arrived (hence the - for mode) and this utterly ruined japan day.


Ground combat at 85,43

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53514 troops, 466 guns, 180 vehicles, Assault Value = 1771

Defending force 46780 troops, 326 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1444

Japanese adjusted assault: 358

Allied adjusted defense: 2788

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 7

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

Japanese ground losses:
1966 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 137 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 176 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled


Allied ground losses:
303 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 57 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled


Elsewehere in the DEI a Japanese CL was torpedoed for what we think is light damage given the lack of bodies and wreckage when the sub returned to the scene of the crime for a recce.

Singapore is once again bombed badly and the dilemma remains , I'll discuss this with my fellow ally over the course of this turn so no airlift was ordered today.

[LoBaron]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Mar 28, 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Balikpapan at 64,97

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
xAK Bunzan Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
CM Katsuriki, Shell hits 5, heavy fires
SC Ch 18, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Fukoku Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
xAK Hasuna Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
xAKL Yanagigawa, Shell hits 1
xAKL Sakae Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Taihei Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAK Shinfuku Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
SC Ch 17, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Oigawa Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAKL Hinode Maru, Shell hits 1
DD Ushio, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Hiyori Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Shinko Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
xAK Yamafuku Maru, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
CA Exeter
CA Cornwall
CL Mauritius
CL Dragon
CL Danae
CL Enterprise
CL Tromp
CL De Ruyter
CL Sumatra

Japanese ground losses:
403 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 39 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

The US Navy watches in envy. [:'(]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Beat me to it LoBaron ..

Oven in china a large stack of 10 japanese has appeared just east of changsha , i must have missed it completely for days (no idea how) but i would imagine jap recon has been showing dropping troop levels in changsha as i have been skimming off troops once they trained up and exchanged them with the battered units from Kukong. emergency plans in action as chaina scrambles for reserves. I'm swopping out the single guard units in rear bases for damaged divs/corps and running the 'new' troops forward to changsha. Japan will get there 1st but with forts 5 i hope i can stall/delay long enough for them to arrive. Dedicated (haha) AT and arty on the way too .. China has a huge 72 AT guns and fully 1/2 will be deployed to changsha ..lol. as for artillery <cough> 81mm mortars count as corps reserve art.. If it wasnt true it would be funny.

The AVG has returned to china and will hopefully disrupt the on going japanese bombing/training missions. 54 in changsha and 27 in sian on LRCAP duty at 70% (3hexes).

Burma

Recon has shown that japanese fighters have returned to magwe , 51 if recon is correct. about 60 huricanes have been flown into mandalay and are on sweep next turn. wonder if we can repeat the killing ground of a week ago? fingers crossed.

Borneo

Well the Allied CA force made its presence felt in Balikpapan (above) . while it was a spectacular fireworks show only one float plane KO and no hits on the refinery means the primary targets were missed. The damaged AK's and small escort boats are a bomus but 2 hits on a regular DD all help. Really its more a psycological effort and hopefully the more cautios i can make japan the longer the allies have and therefore the better prepared.

sumatra

WOW .. I think we sunk our 1st japanese submarine today !

ASW attack near Muntok at 49,89

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
HDML Panglima
HDML 1096



SS I-154 is sighted by escort
I-154 bottoming out ....
HDML 1096 attacking submerged sub ....
Large oil slick appears over area of attack! followed by glug,glug noise
Escort abandons search for sub


Im starting to get impressed with the british corvette and smaller harbour boats, they are far from useless it seems. have natavia amd now Palembang regualarly patrolled and thier xp is going up nicely but im not risking a decent commander in a plywood coffin.[;)]

Singapore

The 9th Indian Division has been given orders to start flying out on PBY's and transports heading to palambang. The reasoning is that japan will crush singapore when they move in (eventually) while the defenders will be more use elsewhere.

DEI fall back IE Cocos and christmas island

British and dutch troops and engineers continue to build up here and all we need i s a good AE in Cocos for a 1/2 decent fleet base. AD/AS already present. 2 Newly trained indian brigades have now switched prep to cocos and are on Ap's heading down as we speak. I hope to make these 2 islands (esp cocos) as hard as possible for japan to take.

TTFN

[Rob Brennan UK]

Righy ho .. end of march now and japan still hasn't advanced into singapore ? most peculiar.

Today is china day as its the most confusing part of the game for me and im just making things up as i go along. IE throw reserves into where i 'think' japans attacking. Easier said than done with a limited rail network. That said i do think japans way too scattered in its attacks and isn't using the rail system it has for the best advantage. I'll be posting pictures of the daily jap attacks and the common results.

first up though todays air action :- .. not bad , not bad at all. Only real disapointments were the hudsons getting creamed over magwe and 2/3rd of the AVG having LRCAP orders into cloudy hexes 2 days running and no combat just 3 ops losses ! grrr,

[Rob Brennan UK]

First area is just east of changsha , the 10 units is actually mostly artillery so not nearly as dangerous as predicted , however they were easily enough to rout 2 units out of woodes hexes into changsha, losses are careless of me tbh, should have spotted it sooner.

Ground combat at 83,52

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40627 troops, 385 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 1384

Defending force 9103 troops, 86 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 378

Japanese adjusted assault: 861

Allied adjusted defense: 201

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
389 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1865 casualties reported
Squads: 121 destroyed, 123 disabled OUCH
Non Combat: 101 destroyed, 98 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2