Ne4w game v Desertwolf

[Andy Mac]

Basically I am giving up the middle I could delay him here but I cannot stop him too many places to cut the rail line and isolate my army so I am going to concede the centre and get ready for my counter offensive out of the North in about 3 months.

The key to this is holding Ulan Bator if I can hold this base in strenght with strong armour on the flanks I think he has bitten off more than he can chew.

[Andy Mac]

This may help everything between the black lines will end up abandoned I will delay but not fight long I have picked up Divisional sized crossing any one of which will cut the rail line in 6 separate places so preservation of an army in being is my objective

The rail line will be open for one or two days max I will work out my ORBAT for Northern and Southern Fronts after I have a full headcount

The red line is the key to my 1943 offensive holding in bad terrain where my air bases for my shortlegged fighters and bombers are at my back

[Q-Ball]

IMO, that's probably the best you can do. It's impossible to keep the rail line open, so you are correct that is futile. If it's open long enough to swap all those units around, that's very helpful.

IIRC, you have approx. 500K supplies around Vlad; that plus dug-in defensive units means that area will take a long time to reduce. Are you leaving much airpower around Vlad, or shipping most of it up north?

With the Northern Front the "Offensive" front, that also makes sense because it will have basically unlimited supply unless you lose the railline in your rear

[Andy Mac]

OK a few days have passed I think we are on day 5 now a recon unit cut the rail line and stopped my Shock Army moving north so 5the southern army group will be a lot stronger than I expected - nothing I could do about it

A training/cap trick Evoken and PB taught me (the hard way) paid off and I153's played merry hell with Vals and Sallies over Vladivostok !!!

[Andy Mac]

Ok been a few weeks of war now a lot has happened

My mechanised Army group lost the race out of the southern area when a small recon unit cut the rail line

So about 5 Armoured/Mechanised Div equivalent (1700 AV) had to turn round and head south back into the Vladivostock pocket - not great but nothing I can do about it

My air force simply cannot compete I am losing aircraft for no good reason in the south so I have withdrawn all but recon assets to the North.

In the North my armour rushed to Ulan Bator I seriously underestimated his intentions in this area but my Armour and Mechanised units won the race and then held until relieved I now have strong motor rifle infantry divisions and arty coming on line as 17th and 2nd Red banner Army concentrates on Ulan Bator - this is turning into a major front.

Without the 1,700 AV that failed to get out of the pocket I am not sure my armoured and mechanised units will be able to go on the offensive in this theatre.

We shall see the plan is infantry and arty dig in and hold while my mech forces refit after the hard battles they fought

Wait until 1st Jan and the across the board improvement in Soviet Infantry and then try to attack

In the other side of the Northern Front I got 40,000 men pocketed by a couple of Japanese Tank Divs so having to withdraw via the forest to rejoin the rest of Northern Front

Defences remain strong and there will be no fast breakthroughs
Andy

[Andy Mac]

17th Army will hold Ulan Bator and surrounding Areas with 6 Motor Rifle Divs and 2 Independent Bdes
2nd Red Banner Army with 2 Tank Divs (one seconded to 36th Army until pocket forces extricate themselves), 1 Motor Rifle Div and 8 Tank Bdes is refitting
36th Army is holding Chita Shilka Front with 4 Motor Rifle and Divs, 2 Bdes, 1 Tank Div and 1 Tank Bde borrowed from 2nd RB Army - the pocket forces 2 Cav Divs and 3 Infantry Bdes will join up once the long march is done

So backed by artillery and air power the Trans Baikal Front is ok defensively but my armoured punch (2nd Red Banner Army is significantly weaker than I would like as 14 Mechanised/Tank Bdes didnt get out of the pocket in time)

[RangerJoe]

Just think if he would have had better initial coordination and did not launch the attack early!

[Andy Mac]

17th Army - 4 Rifle Divs an 2 Motor Rifle Divs dug in outside Ulan Bator backed by large Arty reserve

2nd RB Army concentrated tomorrow
(i) 3 Rifle Bdes, 3 Tank Bdes and 1 Tank Div at Ulan Ude in reserve
(ii) 1 Rifle Bdes, 5 Tank Bdes at Ulan Bator in reserve

36th Army
1 Tank Div, 3 Rifle Divs, 1 Mountain Div, 2 Tabnk Bdes and 1 Rifle Bde holding at Chita

Off in the woods going the long way round 3 Inf Bdes and 2 Cav Divs plus some Arty

The only problem with the Chita position is my left flanks and I see a lot of japanese units heading towards the river line west of Chita he can cross any of the three hexes and I cannot stop him on the rail line and to the west so we will need to monitor intentions fortunately I have a LOT of recon assets !!!

[Andy Mac]

If the green arrows turn into a major offensive I will commit the element of 2nd RB Army refitting at Ulan Ude and pull back the element at Ulan Bator into reserve - this leave me a little immobile on the Ulan Bator front and tanks are not great on defence on the river line and I would really like to finish the refit of the Armour and pull the Tank Div out of 36th Army into refit as well

Could really use the Cav and infantry currently strolling through the woods on the line to release my mobile forces

I hate having my armour tied down on defence duties

[Andy Mac]

I really dont want to give up the Chita position but I am very worried about my left flank so I am going to put elements of 2nd RB army into the Ulan Bator defence line and pull 2 Rifle Divs out of Ulan Bator and take one Div out of Chita and re concentrate the NKVD Div (currently on rear area duty)

I will replace the NKVD forces guarding the rail line with Paratroopers and a couple of tank Bns

That gives me enough force to anchor the line and protect the cross roads

It slightly weakens Chita but lvl 6 forts in the woods 4 Divs should be ok until those missing Rifle bdes arrive the long way round

That will allow me to strengthen the flanks and extend my line to the crossroads if I detect concentration I can then concentrate as well.

Andy

[Andy Mac]

Chita/Ulan Ude/Ulan Bator is the line I want to hold but I have no intention of going on the attack for 6 months at least I dont like committing mobile reserves this early but I cannot afford to get Chita cut off if thats what he intends

My Air force is staying out of it for now the early skirmishes were very clear apart from the limited number of Mig 3's my fighters are not up to it so I need to hoard them for when it truly matters

[Andy Mac]

Couple of interestng points today slightly annoyed the cat is out of thebag have to hope he didnt notice

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 03, 42

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Afternoon Air attack on Lahore , at 55,10

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 26

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-2: 44 damaged
IL-2: 9 destroyed on ground
C-47 Skytrain: 20 damaged
C-47 Skytrain: 1 destroyed on ground
Wapiti IIa: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 14

Aircraft Attacking:
26 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb


Was really hoping to keep this a secret for another few months basically in Russia I have loads of decent bombers short ranged but decent but my fighters are weak and have poor pool depth

I cannot send allied fighters into russia as they are immeduiatly made unusable (hard coded)

So I send bombers to India because I have plenty of fighters in India just no bombers.....

But now he knows if he was paying attention !!!

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

Ground combat at Chita (106,22)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2910 troops, 169 guns, 238 vehicles, Assault Value = 952

Defending force 46594 troops, 811 guns, 1127 vehicles, Assault Value = 1603

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 18 (11 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 70 (41 destroyed, 29 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
34th Division
27th Division
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
12th Army
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
5th Fleet
23rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
17th Army
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
35th Rifle Division
111th Tank Division
3rd Rifle Division
203rd Tank Brigade
94th Rifle Division
12th Air Army
390th Cannon Regiment
39th Engineer Battalion
120th/401st AA Battalion
88th VVS Base Force
267th Cannon Regiment
1233rd Cannon Regiment
177th Mortar Regiment
405th/414th AA Battalion
36th Army
30th VVS Base Force
107th/166th PVO AA Battalion
89th VVS Base Force


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

Ground combat at 97,24 (near Ulan Bator)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 61265 troops, 1413 guns, 1802 vehicles, Assault Value = 2337

Defending force 74972 troops, 780 guns, 538 vehicles, Assault Value = 2127

Japanese ground losses:
246 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 18 (4 destroyed, 14 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
209th Rifle Division
277th Engineer Battalion
210th Rifle Division
36th Motor Rifle Division
12th Rifle Division
57th Motor Rifle Division
35th Tank Battalion
1141st Cannon Regiment
42nd Cannon Regiment
102nd Engineer Battalion
17th Army
192nd OM Gun Battalion
310th Guards Mortar Regiment
1140th Cannon Regiment
67th Mortar Brigade
178th Mortar Regiment
32nd Guards Mortar Regiment
629th Cannon Regiment
282nd Engineer Battalion
1120th Cannon Regiment
550th BM Howitzer Regiment
185th Cannon Regiment
413th Howitzer Regiment
106th/1146th How. Regiment
624th Cannon Regiment
39th Guards Mortar Regiment
281st Engineer Battalion
282nd/382nd AA Battalion
216th Howitzer Regiment
60th Guards Mortar Regiment

Defending units:
104th Division
6th Division
13th Division
36th Division
26th Division
22nd AA Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
11th Army
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd RF Gun Battalion
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
China Expeditionary Army
21st AA Regiment
2nd Area Army
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th AA Regiment
1st Army
5th RF Gun Battalion

[Andy Mac]

Only 2 Divs at Chita but two Army HQ's he is flanking me I am now certain of it

Massed Arty on open terrain is causing him a lot of casualties outside Ulan Bator

[Andy Mac]

I have sent 2 crack Torpedo Bomber Sqns and 6 Sqns of IL2's to India that give me 250 bombers of which 200 have great pool density and can take attritional combat and in India's open terrain I suspect the Il-2 will be a lot more effective !!!

And with P38's P40's and Hurricanes to protect them I have fighters that can at least trade with japanese Fighters

[Andy Mac]

Bad bad hit annoyed at myself

I sent massive convoys from Capetown to India bringing supplies and material

I dont like the off map mechanism so I didnt use the send my TF safely to Aden then bring then in via the wormhole

All of his subs had been withdrawn and my subs have literally just arrived from US west Coast this turn so I decided to make a run with 3 convoys totalling 100ships escorted by Illustrious and a pure fighter air group 2 BB's and 2 CA's plus various DDs and other escorts

Illustrious suffered a fuel delay on the journey from Capetown so my co ordination was a bit off but all his subs had withdrawn and the 40 or so Catalinas I have karachi said nothing was inbound (more on this later)

So I decided to make a speed run witha surface group led by the 2 old RN BB''s and 2 US CA's plus escort, a fast convoy and a slow convoy along the top edge of the map without waiting for Illustrious for air cover - she has just came on map 2 days behind the convoy with her escorting group.

Anyway well what happened a sub attacked spotted the BB TF do hradnt withdrawn all of his subs no hit forunately

Then KB turned up and sank 10 ships in the slow convoy and Nells sank 3 more from the fast convoy

My SCTF and CV TF were both unspotted not good but in the circumstances could have been a lot worse

Scruples now firmly set aside !! All TF's retreating off map to safety immediately and will come back via wormhole - cannot afford moral scruples in this game !!

I will lose a few more AK's to damage but nothing I can do about it now.

(oh 40 Catalinas....all 50% ASW. 30% train, 20% rest - pure human error no search missions ordered !!!)

[Andy Mac]

This was the main strike !!!




Morning Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 32,6

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41
B5N2 Kate x 28
D3A1 Val x 32

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAK Elmdale, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Erinpura, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Cairo City, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK City of Canterbury
xAK Trieste, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK City of Exeter, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK City of Hankow, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Admiral Chase, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Clan Macinness, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAP Chilka, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Empire Baxter, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Ho Kiang, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Clan Macquarrie, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Admiral Williams, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Alcoa Pioneer, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Forthbank, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
2648 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 221 destroyed, 333 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 24 disabled
Guns lost 54 (36 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 49 (16 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
15 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Elmdale
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Cairo City
Massive explosion on xAK Cairo City
Massive explosion on xAK Admiral Chase
Massive explosion on xAK Clan Macinness
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Clan Macinness
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAP Chilka

[RangerJoe]

I saw and commented on his AAR. But now you know, play it safe. At least those were just pixelated men.

As long as you don't lose any units, it will just take longer for those units to be effective. Your ships may not sink along the way off map but they may still sink when they get to the base area. I would send the ships in danger of sinking with escorts in escort TFs, especially if they are the only part of a unit left since the escorts may pick up men in the water if the ship sinks. I would also check each TF that is going off map so you can try to arrange a group of ships to join the escort TF to help keep the ship from sinking and/or to help pick up survivors.

A nice move with the Soviet air units, I probably would not have thought of doing it that way - if at all!

[Nomad]

If it is only November 1942 you can not move the TFs to Aden yet. Not until May 15, 1943 does the passage open from Aden to the rest of the world.

[RangerJoe]

But the TFs could have moved from Cape Town and/or Mombasa to a hex on the map on their way to the new home port of Aden.

[Andy Mac]

Yes and thats what I dont like doing Ranger I think its stupid that I can move from Mombasa to Aden with only a small stretch behind Socotra on map then wormhole to only the 5 hexes on map between Aden and Karachi

I genuinely think thats not right hence why I skirted the north of the map on map

HOWEVER - I am now a convert having seen full KB in North scruples be damned time to go off and on map !!!

Without carriers there are only 5 real theatres of war

1. Ulan Bator - solid he wont break through unless he brings massive force.
2. Chita and more importantly West of Chita - this theatre worries me my defences tot he West are trip wires at best a 5 - 6 Div crossing the river could work so lots of recon up watching
3. Pocketed forces south of Chita - they are dead he won the race I just wish he would kill them quick so I could respawn them as I have plenty of Inf replacements
4. Vladivostock - dead a a dodo I am sitting behind my forts waiting for him to weaken the perimeter he is waiting until his campaign in the North is finished eerily quiet
5. India - I have a plan in India I was seriously considering a deep strike into Sumatra/Java or even Malaya from Capetown whilst his attention and LCU's are busy in Russia - I have abandoned that plan KB's presence means he is not gettign distracted and Desertwolf is too good to get caught by that kind of manouver - I am therefore going to go the boring route build up a massive hammer (blockade allowing) and grind my way forward with air superiority and a massive multi Corp Army Group - just need to assemble the hammer - I have a year before my carrier force recovers enough to consider a true amphib attack - the trick is not to go early assemble the force that can carry on no matter what ie my Army Group in India has to be able to break through his 1st line, have the mobile strength for an exploitation phase and the streng5th to keep grinding through his second 3rd or even 4th line of defences

Basically overwhelming strength with properly balanced all arms Corps from a secure and well supplied bases with good air support - more on my organisation for this offensive in a few weeks - it wont be quick but it should be successfull

Andy