Matrix Games Forums

4th November 1942

1. My subs score:
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Sub attack near Dobo at 83,116

Japanese Ships
PB Akagane Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Yahonui Maru

Allied Ships
SS Skipjack

SS Skipjack launches 2 torpedoes at PB Akagane Maru
PB Yahonui Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yahonui Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yahonui Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yahonui Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yahonui Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


2. Inconclusive ground combat in China and Burma continues:

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Ground combat at 57,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9220 troops, 189 guns, 205 vehicles, Assault Value = 372

Defending force 3732 troops, 48 guns, 137 vehicles, Assault Value = 71

Allied adjusted assault: 84

Japanese adjusted defense: 67

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
297 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (4 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
290 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (5 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Assaulting units:
111th Chindit Brigade
17th Australian Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
5th British Brigade
77th Chindit Brigade
III Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment
77th Heavy AA Regiment
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
56th Recon Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
1st Raiding Regiment
2nd Recon Regiment
17th JAAF AF Bn
35th Field AA Battalion
84th JAAF AF Bn


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Ground combat at 58,50 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5905 troops, 64 guns, 45 vehicles, Assault Value = 171

Defending force 2316 troops, 82 guns, 51 vehicles, Assault Value = 48

Allied adjusted assault: 34

Japanese adjusted defense: 40

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
128 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
26th Indian Brigade
88th Indian Brigade

Defending units:
1st Tank Regiment
143rd Infantry Regiment


3. My paras begin exploiting unoccupied islands northwards of their Tarawan base as per plan...

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Ground combat at Ebon (132,122)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 74 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 7

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ebon !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Parachute Bn /5

5th to 7th November 1942.

1. I break one of the blocking positions north of Rangoon and this makes the Japanese position untenable. The evacuation of Rangoon via Pegu begins...

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Ground combat at 57,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13862 troops, 261 guns, 304 vehicles, Assault Value = 365

Defending force 3459 troops, 44 guns, 137 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Allied adjusted assault: 193

Japanese adjusted defense: 35

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1041 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (28 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 4

Allied ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
17th Australian Brigade
5th British Brigade
111th Chindit Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
77th Chindit Brigade
III Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment
77th Heavy AA Regiment
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
1st Raiding Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
2nd Recon Regiment
56th Recon Regiment
35th Field AA Battalion
17th JAAF AF Bn
84th JAAF AF Bn



2. Paras continue to take islands:

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Ground combat at Ailinglaplap (133,117)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 84 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 8

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 8 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ailinglaplap !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Parachute Bn /1

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Ground combat at Likiep (135,114)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 114 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 6

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Likiep !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Parachute Bn /1


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Ground combat at Ebadon (131,114)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 74 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 4

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ebadon !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Parachute Bn /3
3. Subs are sniffing around the Marshalls etc to find my forces. This proves costly for them though...

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Sub attack near Tabiteuea at 137,133

Japanese Ships
SS I-122, hits 5, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Lansdowne
DD Brooks
DD Express

SS I-122 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Lansdowne
I-122 diving deep ....
DD Brooks fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Express attacking submerged sub ....
Sounds of submarine breaking up detected!
Escort abandons search for sub


4. CV Hornet dodges TWELVE torpedoes in a single morning....

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Sub attack near Annette Island at 197,44

Japanese Ships
SS I-25

Allied Ships
CV Hornet
DD Gillespie

SS I-25 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Hornet
I-25 diving deep ....
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub


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Sub attack near Annette Island at 197,44

Japanese Ships
SS I-25, hits 1

Allied Ships
CV Hornet
DD Gillespie

SS I-25 launches 6 torpedoes at CV Hornet
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie attacking submerged sub ....
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Gillespie fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub



5. A word about Operation DivePac - the airmobile attack through the Gilberts etc.

Basically I needed to build up Canton and Baker, rescue troops in Pago-Pago from their encirclement and then get enough engineers and infantry forward to allow me to build bases quickly and then hold them.

I currently have a little over 1,000 Engineer equivalents deployed on 3 islands ( Tarawa, Tabiteau and Nauru ), 5 Infantry Regiments forward and the 503rd Parachute Regiment due to arrive in Tarawa in 2 days. I have 60 C47s and about 50 Catalinas available to carry the parachutists and I've gotten a core of about 100 bombers ready to deploy in once the airfields are build to the necessary standard. My plan is to build up Tarawa and Makin and use them to CAP transports moving to Ebon. From there I can CAP my convoys as they move up to and around Jaluit and bases to the north on the way to Eniwetok.

This is coming together nicely and looks like it should enable me to expand northwards and eastward until I'm bounded by Saipan, Truk and Rabaul. So far the cost of this operation has been 6 squads of paratroopers. Not a bad trade-off at all.... Of course much of this was only possible since Damian was pulling back in any case to shorten his front but I do think I'm crushing and manoeuvring around his forward defences rather more quickly than he would like.... and it draws down his reserves.


6. An abandoned Rome-goon falls today. The Allies now have a large seaport close to Moulmein allowing them to bring forces directly into Burma by sea AND to prep my littoral campaign going forward. Pretty cheap victory actually.

The pace of operations and multiple targets on multiple fronts seems to have completely bewildered him. Instead of hitting back at your weak penetrations he is sucking back everywhere.
Well done! [&o]

Reading this AAR it really strikes me of how guilty I have been of over-estimating my enemies strength and therefore under-estimating my own options. It looks like you have done a great job making the Japanese largely dance to your tune when in reality he still has quite a superiority in combat assets. Picking the spot of weakness and moving quickly to exploit it is the challenge I have struggled with......interesting indeed.......

BBfanboy,

Well I wouldn't say totally bewildered. You have to bear in mind just how successful Damian was against Floyd. That very success led to him being off-balance ( through excessive success ) when I took over. I think the difference between myself and most people is that most people would have looked at THEIR OWN situation when taking over and seen the multitude of disasters there ( USN almost totally destroyed, massive CV losses, multiple US divisions cut off behind enemy territory ( I think a total of 9 US Divisions were cut off of which I've managed to rescue just 3 but with elements of another 2 rescued for rebuilding ), Australia invaded, Burma in Japanese hands etc etc ) without truly examining the enemy dispositions and realising that that excess of success was, in and of itself, unbalancing and that that lack of balance could be taken advantage of. It is all very aikido-y.

You also have to bear in mind that in China Damian is tactically handing me my head on a plate. Wherever he concentrates his tank armies he CRUSHES my Chinese forces. The problem for him is I'm quite happy to accept that since where his tank armies aren't I'm making serious strategic inroads - the Chinese coastal bases, for example, are crucial and worth several thousand AV destroyed elsewhere in China ( I estimate it has cost me about 3,000 AV destroyed or disabled elsewhere... and it was a stunningly cheap price to pay for these bases... In a few months time Damian is going to realise that he NEEDS to take them back and he will be left with a choice of not being able to do so or robbing a front of so many troops ( in order to get the troops necessary since I hold each base with 1,000+ AV and am building forts constantly ) that that front risks collapse.

In Burma he has played very, very well also. The vast majority of players would have suffered far worse losses than he has. They would have tried to hold lines against me, they would have tried to rescue cut off units, they would have tried to hold Rangoon, if even for a day. Damian has, instead, immediately recognised when he must fall back, he has ruthlessly abandoned isolated units, not even trying to rescue them or support them with air assets ( these were both entirely correct decisions - you don't save 100,000 men by getting excessively focused on saving 3,000 ) and he has abandoned multiple bases just the day before I marched in. In essence he has managed to avoid me pinning his main force while my manoeuvre elements flowed around them and thus will have far more force than I initially hoped to face me at Moulmein.

The Aleutians... Once he failed in taking the Aleutians he accepted the failure, accepted the loss of roughly 2 divisions, found the necessary units and flung whatever was necessary at the Aleutians. He also logistically prepped for this action perfectly with AKEs and AEs in the various Aleutian bases ( I could tell he had at least two of these bases because of shipping movements spotted by my subs and the very rapid turn-around time of his BBs which were on a 3 day cycle of bombardment co-ordinated with his ground attacks.).


With that said if he were to hit back anywhere he knows I'd simply flow around him in whatever theatre he weakened in order to find the forces necessary to counter-attack and take more ground there. So, I don't think he is bewildered. I think that, actually, he sees the situation very, very clearly and knows precisely what he is doing. He is pulling back, shortening his line and ensuring that when he end up with the line he wants that he can either garrison every base on his front or rapidly react to any paradrops etc that I mount. He's also trying to ensure that in the Pacific, at least, I'll have to bridge a gap too long to LRCAP or effectively bomb across. This will force me to commit my navy and he KNOWS he is superior to it... setting the stage for a massacre.


My sense is that he is building an MLR along the Aleutians, Bonins, Saipan/Guam, Truk, Rabaul, Darwin, Java, Sumatra, Victoria Point/Tavoy, Rahaeng sort of line. He will trade space for time along a lot of this line and his true line of resistance will run Aleutians, Bonins, Saipan/Guam, Truk, Northern PNG, Timor, Java, Sumatra, Malaysia, Rahaeng ( he knows Darwin, everything south of Truk and Tavoy etc are just speedblocks ).

So, right now he isn't fighting for stuff because he doesn't need to hold it. In fact he doesn't even WANT what we're fighting over now. He is just using it as a delay. The same foes for the Gilberts and Marshall Islands. He'll react a little but unless he sees an opportunity to hit my CVs or major convoys with KB on the cheap this will just be a delaying action until I extend my holdigns out to the Truk/Saipan/Guam line. Then I'll run into a wall of blood and steel.


So, he saw the writing on the wall over a month ago and has, I'm certain, while the fighting has raged elsewhere made his strategic decisions and begun fitting his logistical preparations to those decisions. This is just an outpost fight --- but one I wish to win rapidly so as to get to grips with his true defences.


One reason that mightn't come across is that I really don't bother with strategically irrelevant tactical setbacks. Eg. 2 days ago he set up a nice ambush with fighters in Burma which cost me 40 bombers in a day and today he somehow got Ki-43s to shoot down 14 P-40s in return for just 4 of their number in China. Neither of these victories had any strategic importance though since I'm only risking what Im happy to lose in both of those theatres so I didn't bother reporting them. So you don't want to lose sight of the fact that it isn't all one-way.


I should probably also point out that I have a very integrated strategy in which the air moves help the ground moves whch help the naval moves and so on and so forth in ever-repeating circles. This applies tactically, operationally and strategically and within and across theatres. E.g. I view the fighting in China and Darwin to be instrumental in the success of Operation Divepac since it prevented him building up his garrisons in this region.

Other examples of integration... I recently took some Chinese coastal bases and in about a week's time my first submarine force of 20+ US subs is due to refuel from newly captured Chinese bases in about a week's time. This cuts their transit time hugely and immediately roughly doubles their offensive power ---- just in time for them to benefit from improved torpedoes. With Rangoon available to repair damage ( and soon Singapore available ) and Chinese bases for refuelling the USN submarine fleet is going to find itself a fearsome commerce-destroying force from the very beginning of 1943. I'll still keep a small cadre for extraordinary operations ( in the Soviet sense ) but the vast majority will now switch to cutting off his access to fuel - his true achilles heel.


Aoffen,
Well, this has certainly transitioned. Damian is now definitely on the defensive and withdrawing back to a strong defensive line. This has been forced on him by forces which are, by any measure, inferior. He can still impose his tune anytime he wishes though as I simply don't have the combat power to resist.

Interesting and very, very Soviet. I think this is where a lot of people underestimate that doctrine... Yes, it had a lot of weaknesses but the advantage of ruthless focus on strategic imperatives and the ability to concentrate overwhelming power at critical points gave it a rather inhumanly ruthless effectiveness.


Today was a day of very little action ( except for the 14 or so P40Es shot down in China ). I spotted a convoy making for Tavoy with reinforcements yesterday so overnight my CA TF and DD TF based out of Rome-goon are going to race down and see what they can smash.

A CL TF is also making for the IJA ports north of Jaluit and will seek to smash an IJA convoy bringing reinforcements there ( spotted by subs and PBYs over the past couple of days ).

In the meantime Tarawa will reach a Level 2 airfield tomorrow and Level 4 in perhaps 4 days ( I have over 600 engineer-equivalents there today and will have unloaded an additional 2 regiments of troops, including the parachutists by then ). My goal is to be able to take Mili by paradrop in 5 days. I will then begin to extend my reach northward using the 503rd Regiment to paradrop on top of defenders while my heavy bombers ( of which I've deployed 100 for the first time since taking over the game ) pound the defenders to dust.

If the paradrops don't work then I'll just drop a division of troops off at Mili in 2 weeks time - when my BBs and CVs reach the area, I had to keep them up north for the maskirovka to work.

Thanks for the detailed overview. I had lost sight of some of the big picture.

Aye, I think it can be hard when following an AAR to keep the entire picture straight.

I don't help this either since I rarely post full CRs and ignore the strategically irrelevant stuff which takes up 80% or more of most AARs here -- but which can provide some context for readers.

8th November 1942.

A quiet day as I digest Rome-goon and Tarawa reaches a Level 2 airfield and the logistical preparations for the expansion in the Pacific continue.

1. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Ebadon at 130,115

Japanese Ships
xAK Tatuharu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Kazan Maru
xAK Kyokusei Maru
xAK Panama Maru
DD Sagiri

Allied Ships
SS S-28

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

SS S-28 launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Tatuharu Maru
DD Sagiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Sagiri attacking submerged sub ....
DD Sagiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Sagiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Sagiri attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

2. The F'ing Flying Circus comes to town over Sian as his Ki-43s destroy my P-40Es with an exchange rate of about 5 to 1 at the end of the day.
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Morning Air attack on Sian , at 83,41

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 26

Allied aircraft
P-66 Vanguard x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 8 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 25000 feet

These must be top-flight Ki-43s to achieve these results. Normally they just about manage a 1:1, at best.


3. Heavy bomber raids begin to ramp up from the Gilberts....

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Afternoon Air attack on Mili Naval Fortress, at 136,121 (Mili)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 4

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
1 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

He is rushing reinforcements there so tomorrow I'm sending a CL-TF in to his holdings to sink his local reaction transport forces so as to limit his ability to shuttle forces around to these bases.

9th November 1942.

A very interesting day. Damian is pulling out of Pegu now also just before my forces can attack it. He has conducted a really wonderful delaying action in Burma.... managing to prevent any of his units from getting pinned down - except for those units which were surprised when I sundered his northern lines with the combined paradrops and unexpected axis of advance for my river crossing.

He tried to bombard Rangoon today with 2 very strong TF but my forces managed to fight him off. Losses were minor on both sides although I suffered a bit more damage than him, as is normal. Most importantly the bombardment was prevented.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Tavoy at 53,57, Range 3,000 Yards

Tanaka, Raizo crosses the 'T'

Ching was in command of my forces but is outdone by Tanaka.

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Haguro, Shell hits 1
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 6, on fire
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano, Shell hits 1
CL Nagara, Shell hits 1, on fire
CL Isuzu
DD Asagumo
DD Arare
DD Yamakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Hatsushima
DD Murakumo
DD Sazanami

Allied Ships
CA Houston
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 2, on fire
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 4, on fire
CL Leander, Shell hits 1
CL Sumatra, Shell hits 1
CL Perth
CL Caradoc, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Van Galen
DD Tenedos
DD Thracian
DD Crosby, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD King, Shell hits 2

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Tavoy at 53,57, Range 3,000 Yards

Nagashima I. crosses the 'T'

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Natori, Shell hits 1
CL Yura
CL Kinu, Shell hits 2
CL Kuma
CL Kitakami
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Uranami, Shell hits 2
DD Wakatake, Shell hits 1
DD Yugao

Allied Ships
DD Tjerk Hiddes
DD Arrow
DD Decoy, Shell hits 1
DD Fortune
DD Foxhound, Shell hits 1
DD Hotspur
DD Napier
DD Nepal, Shell hits 7, on fire
DD Nestor
DD Nizam

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Moulmein at 54,56, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Natori, Shell hits 1
CL Yura
CL Kinu
CL Kuma
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 3
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo, on fire
DD Uranami, on fire
DD Wakatake, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Yugao

Allied Ships
CA Houston, Shell hits 1
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 4, on fire
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 1, on fire
CL Leander
CL Sumatra
CL Perth, Shell hits 1
CL Caradoc, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
DD Van Galen
DD Tenedos
DD Thracian, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD King

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Rangoon at 54,54, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Natori
CL Yura
CL Kinu
CL Kuma
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo, on fire
DD Uranami, Shell hits 4, heavy fires
DD Yugao

Allied Ships
DD Tjerk Hiddes
DD Arrow
DD Decoy
DD Fortune, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Foxhound
DD Hotspur
DD Napier
DD Nestor, Shell hits 1, on fire

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Moulmein at 54,56, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
CL Naka
CL Natori
CL Yura
CL Kinu
CL Kuma, Shell hits 2
DD Kazegumo
DD Makigumo
DD Yugao

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 4
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 4
CL Caradoc, Shell hits 2
DD Tenedos
DD King

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Kwajalein Island at 132,115, Range 20,000 Yards

The raid at Kwajalein goes well. 4 minor enemy ships sunk at no cost.

Japanese Ships
xAKL Hagoromo Maru, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
xAKL Noshiro Maru #2, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Shonan Maru #8, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PB Shuko Maru #5, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Honolulu
DD Lansdowne
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Brooks

Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 24,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
Range closes to 22,000 yards...
Range closes to 20,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards
DD Lansdowne engages PB Shuko Maru #5 at 17,000 yards
Range closes to 13,000 yards
PB Shuko Maru #5 sunk by CL Honolulu at 13,000 yards
xAKL Noshiro Maru #2 sunk by DD Brooks at 13,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards
Range closes to 6,000 yards
xAKL Hagoromo Maru sunk by CL Honolulu at 6,000 yards
Range closes to 5,000 yards
DD Express engages xAKL Shonan Maru #8 at 5,000 yards
xAKL Shonan Maru #8 sunk by DD Encounter at 5,000 yards
Combat ends with last Japanese ship sunk...

This should pin his IJN assets a bit more defensively for a while in this area.

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Morning Air attack on Sian , at 83,41

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 23

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed

I wanted to see if yesterday was a fluke. It wasn't. Tomorrow I won't be flying the P-40Es here. I'll shift them around a bit to catch bombers again.

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 25000 feet


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Ground combat at 83,52 (near Changsha)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34609 troops, 262 guns, 579 vehicles, Assault Value = 1703

Defending force 36934 troops, 174 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 877

Japanese adjusted assault: 938

Allied adjusted defense: 951

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
611 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (1 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2919 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 330 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Guns lost 57 (3 destroyed, 54 disabled)

My losses aren't that bad but the number of disablements is unsustainable. I've got 900 additional AV in reserve but at this rate I may have to withdraw into Changsha not because I am about to be overrun but simply because I cannot answer to his tanks effectively.

It makes me look forward to hitting his front line with 1,000 AV of tanks in a concentrated fist. I think it'll evaporate his blocking force at Moulmein.

Assaulting units:
13th Tank Regiment
110th Division
40th Division
17th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
3rd Division
57th Infantry Brigade
11th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
58th Chinese Corps
10th Chinese Corps
73rd Chinese/B Corps
60th Chinese Corps
71st Chinese Corps
73rd Chinese/C Corps
9th War Area
19th Group Army
27th Group Army

The situation in Burma... 3 divisions trapped behind my lines with nowhere to go and some 3,000 AV available to crush him at Moulmein, including 1,000 AV of tanks.

Nemo your tactical skill looks like it is very high. Have you ever played as Japan and won?

Well, to be honest, I don't play to win and as Japan winning in the vernacular sense of the word isn't on the cards.

The only way Japan can win is to demoralise its opposition so much that the opposition quits ( negotiates a settlement IRL ). By those terms, yes, I've won but what I focus on is playing well - ideally better than I did last game and identifying and fixing whatever I did wrong ( of which, of course, there are always examples since I make mistakes and misjudgements just like anyone else).


Also I'd say that tactically I'm not great, operationally I'm reasonably good but strategically I'm quite good. I just make the strategic level work for me since it is the most important level and can easily overwhelm tactically brilliant but strategically poor opponents - just as happened vs the Germans in the Great Patriotic War.

10th and 11th November 1942

Well, another day, another minor disaster for the Allied fleets. Fortunately their overall CO is Soviet and thus is used to surviving in a state of perpetual disaster. Also nothing happened which changes anything strategically.

Basically on the night of the 10th Damian's forces and mine clashed mid-ocean as he attempted to bombard Rangoon and I attempted to hit Tavoy. CL-TFs ran into eachother, fired a lot of ammo and didn't really do that much damage to one another. I figured he wouldn't be back the next evening so chanced a single TF of troops into Rome-goon while the CLs etc would bombard Moulmein's airfield.

Unfortunately he came back with everything he had including at least 3 BBs, 6 CLs about two-dozen destroyers and about 4 CAs. Our forces fought eachother to a standstill. I prevented him bombarding Rome-goon BUT he sank about 8 DDs and damaged pretty much every CL and CA I had in-theatre. In return I sank 3 DDs and look to have crippled a CL.

What hurt worst though was that a TF of 4 LARGE APs was ordered to move elements back to Calcutta from Ramree. Somehow they reacted AWAY from enemy surface raiders TOWARDS Rangoon. They ran into his BB TF with rather predictable and sad results. 4,000+ men drowned due to an insane reaction by the AI. I think what must have happened is that his BBs came in from the west of Rangoon and triggered the AI's "avoid" routine --- a routine which clearly didn't take into account that Rangoon was on the front lines and thus reacting towards a smaller port farther away would have been better.

Still, these things happen in war and I took care not to load the entirety of a single unit onto any ship so I didn't lose any units entirely. Additionally these were all support units and I have replacements for them.

I'm about 1 week away from being able to move on Moulmein and 1 week away from paradropping the 2 Chindit Brigades into his operational or strategic depth. See the picture below, which shows the on-map situation and feel free to try to predict where I'll be dropping them and why.



NORPAC:
Pulling engineers, AAA etc out of here now that this has stabilised for the winter. I'll use them to bolster CENPAC operations.



CONUSA:
Continuing to try to ship tank Bns to India to bolster the OMG there in 3 months time.


Burma:
Well I took the most important base in southern Burma --- Pegu. Why Pegu? Simple, it allows me to base an AKE there and resupply BBs. I can now bring my 4 BBs into play and begin fighting his BBs with more than DDs and courage.


Oz:
He is pulling out of Darwin. I saw the number of units fall yesterday and again today. Tomorrow I'll attack. I didn't attack today because even though only 7 units remained I wasn't sure my forces could take them. Tomorrow though Darwin will be either empty or close to empty and so I should take it. I have 100+ transports waiting for this in order to support a thrust into the DEI> I'm quite hapyp with this as I enjoy taking places without having to fight for them. That's the acme of planning, to win without fighting due to manoeuvre. It reminds me of being a condotierri, albeit without the ridiculous geometricism and meetings to discuss who had won what.


Gilberts etc:
A CVE/CVL has shown up, as have some CLs and DDs. Clearly this is just a delaying action but it IS burning fuel and supplies. I'm continuing to exploit through the island chain cheaply. I won't invade most of the ones he holds as I want to save them up for use as training targets for bomber crews in 43 and 44.

Not actually owning the game, and therefore only having such info as I've been able to pick up from reading these forums and some Let's Plays elsewhere, I'm almost certainly missing some vital information that makes what I'm saying a bad idea.

Having acknowledged that, I would guess that Vinh is the best target. If I'm reading the map correctly, the only route between Southeast Asia and China that doesn't run through the city is a minor road that links with the Vinh-Luangprabang road to Vinh's north. Take Vinh, and you throw his land-based supply net in the area into chaos. If he's got the Singapore-Pusan route going for resources, you've just interdicted that also. The terrain looks horrible (either jungle or rough jungle, I think), so prying you out would be a nightmare. Given how far back it is from the front lines, it probably has minor defenses at best. And there's at least some chance that it already has a decent airfield, or can be built up into one if you can fly engineers in.

If you have enough troops to do it without spreading them too thin, and if those bases can also be built up into respectable airfields, I'd say that you'd also drop on Luangprabang and Vientiane. That would finish cutting the land route you started strangling at Vinh, and from the looks of it those three bases would be mutually supporting in terms of aircraft. And, of course, both Vientiane and Luangprabang are also in excellent defensive terrain.

Even if he does ultimately destroy those units, it's either going to take him quite some time or require that he strip overwhelming force from elsewhere, and it doesn't seem that he has any front he can really afford to strip that heavily.

Of course, from his perspective I think the move he should have made as soon as you took over was to ignore the Aleutians and run those troops up to the West Coast instead as a kamikaze assault on the factories. Since your navy was in a shambles, he would never have a better chance, and given the obscene losses in transports, freighters, tankers, oilers and other support craft, the freshly-activated guys in the continental US would have taken a long time to bring into play anywhere they might be useful.

Plus it's the sort of thing that simply wouldn't be an option in any game that hadn't been this catastrophic for the Allies. It would have been worth it just to see how it played out, even if it turned into a huge mistake in the end.

Well I took the most important base in southern Burma --- Pegu. Why Pegu? Simple, it allows me to base an AKE there and resupply BBs. I can now bring my 4 BBs into play and begin fighting his BBs with more than DDs and courage.

That may be a little risky without cruisers. My advice would be to make sure your escorting DD's are up to fighting the IJN DD's -- they've still got those nasty Long Lances.

I think Vinh is too far from Pegu to allow paradrops. Max range of C-47's is 12 but I think they can only drop para's upto normal range which is 10. Is that right? If they can drop 12 then the hex next to Siam Reap looks pretty inviting.
If its only 10 hexes the options look more limited. Maybe one the towns E and SE of Rahaeng? Cuts off the troops fleeing from the north and opens a new front on the other side of the river if you have the airlift capability to sustain it. Would certainly force him to react

ORIGINAL: aoffen

I think Vinh is too far from Pegu to allow paradrops. Max range of C-47's is 12 but I think they can only drop para's upto normal range which is 10. Is that right? If they can drop 12 then the hex next to Siam Reap looks pretty inviting.
If its only 10 hexes the options look more limited. Maybe one the towns E and SE of Rahaeng? Cuts off the troops fleeing from the north and opens a new front on the other side of the river if you have the airlift capability to sustain it. Would certainly force him to react

I'm thinking along the same lines - Pisanluoke [next to Raheng] cuts the rail supply to Chiang Mai and some of the road supply route as well. Also, Nakhon Ratchisima [sp?] east of Bangkok controls a rail junction and the clear terrain in central Siam. Once the tanks follow up on these gateways they can rush the E coast of Siam and take Vinh, Haiphong and Hanoi. Everything in the south is bagged until he can sealift it out. Alternately, a push through the middle down to Cam Rahn Bay puts you on the South China Sea with a major airbase. Panic time for the Japanese.

The problem I'd have with both of those (Pisanluoke and Nakhon Ratchasima) is that they're in clear terrain. Even if they're devoid of any significant Japanese garrison and thus fall on the turn the Chindits drop on them, I assume that Damian would only need what, one division to clear them? Two at the outside? Assuming he doesn't bring tanks, which in 1942 I assume that an airborne unit has no good counter to. And that's without factoring in air attack, which seems to be much more effective against units in clear terrain.

Just as a question, is it possible to take a base with paratroopers on one turn and then fly them out to drop on another base the very next turn? If so, then Vinh would become the second target of a sort of airborne leapfrog effort.

Alternatively, airlift the Chindits around to Nanning or Pakhoi, then fly them to Vinh from there.

If I seem really focused on Vinh, it's because it looks like such a perfect target. I feel that if there's some way to get at it then it's worth trying.

Sandman,

Yes that's possible but if you do try that those paras will be utterly isolated and unable to be extracted. I think that airlift range for paras in C-47s is either 10 or 12 hexes. I have Catalinas also but they aren't good for much longer. On the plus side I've tested my vertical envelopment plan of paradropping to take a base and then flying combat engineers in in order to build it up/fortify it.


As to the turn:
Well there wasn't a huge amount of action. His CVEs/CVLs continue to prowl north-west of Tarawa. He has an SC TF shaping up to hit Tarawa. I'm inviting the hit and have readied my bombers to retaliate.

In Australia he has abandoned Darwin and when I attack it only 82 men are left to defend it. Needless to say they are wiped out quickly. I have an amphibious TF making for Port Hedland and from there I'll move to resupply Darwin. I've been prepping for this and many of my AKs which are capable of converting to xAPs are mid-way through their conversions. I still have about 150 xAKs sitting around with nothing to do so when I have the necessary covering forces in theatre I'll be able to launch massive amphibious invasions in this region. Allied largesse in terms of the transport fleet has to be seen to be believed. I have xAKs sitting around doing nothing all over the map. How Allied players feel they cant successfuly counter-attack in late-42 is a bit beyond me to be honest.

In Burma his BBs came in again and I countered with a TF centred around the CA Houston. I lost a CA and CL but managed to put a torpedo into Mutsu below the waterline. I also sank 4 DDs last night in return for 2 of my own. Overall that's 6 IJN DDs sunk in 2 days. I am sending my 4 BBs to Pegu where they can be resupplied by an AKE and face off against his remaining 4 BBs. In the meantime I'll pound Pegu just a little.

Tomorrow I'll test my co-ordination routines out by launching a 500+ plane strike on Pegu using the most disparate mix of planes etc possible. It should go in well co-ordinated though if I've figured the BETA out properly. We'll see.


That's about it. Basically I am looking to draw the IJN in to attritional fighting in Burma and around Tarawa while I prepare for the opening of the Australian front. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Learning how to get co-ordinated strikes in the beta environment is a crucial advance. Looking forward to the results.