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Agreed - you have him pinned down & obviously reinforcing - go around him....

Working on it! [:)]

Btw, I´m going to do something stupid next turn. [:D]

[font="Verdana"]18th January -45[/font]
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I decided to skip my stupid idea. For once reason prevailed! [:D]

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CVs
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I decided to take a stab at some TFs to the NE. Sadly a TF decided to refuel despite being in the green and halted the whole shebang and we missed the TFs with 4 hexes. With my usual luck this was the turn Erik decided to flee with about 30 ships from Saigon. They now got away. [:@]

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Luzon
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I´m going to send in some "Kami YMS" per Roger advice and see what happens. If they can clear enough mines it will be worth it.

I also launched a bombardment at Manila. This seems to have a negative impact of troop recovery though. Probably by the counter battery fire? A shame as we for the first time got a really good result.

Ground combat at Manila (79,77)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6419 troops, 609 guns, 421 vehicles, Assault Value = 4393

Defending force 123806 troops, 1455 guns, 1550 vehicles, Assault Value = 3147

Japanese ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 21 (6 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

I´ve decided to go ahead with the Lingyan landing. Erik has 85.000 troops here. But its a clear hex. Even if we do get stuck on the beach Erik can´t use those troops to reinforce.

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Indochina
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The rail is now CUT! [&o] 4 Tank units reached the rail this turn. At least one unit was bumped out of strat mode just 1 hex south of my armor. Tihi. [:D] The rest of the army will reach the rail tomorrow and head North into Vinh. The CVs will hang around here until I can get supply into a base on the rail.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

How is he getting a (+) on Leaders at this point? Do you have PPs for an overhaul? They are not trivial on fortified assaults.

All the significant units have excellent leaders (Inf, Arm, CombatENG. Some of the arty units doesn´t though. I´m not sure but I think something is not working correctly with the leader modifiers. There is no reason in how they appear. I once had (-) on Noble against a IJ BF fragment.

Michael explained sometime back that the combat modifiers are NOT aggregate. A minus could mean that only one unit failed a leadership check and that could have been an arty unit.

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Michael explained sometime back that the combat modifiers are NOT aggregate. A minus could mean that only one unit failed a leadership check and that could have been an arty unit.

Ah, that explains it! Thanks pax! [:)]

So, the armor at Manila has recovered after only 2 turns. Is it completely idiotic to try an attack here with only the armor backed up by the arty? This has worked well on other locations like the Marianas and Yap. But never ever on this scale. So far it seems Jap AT weapons have a hard time dealing with the Shermans. I had only perhaps 20 shermans disabled so far at Manila while my infantry has been beaten up badly.

My hope here was not to drop any forts or win the day but just to inflict casualties and maintain pressure without taking crippling losses myself.

What do you guys think?

EDIT: Its about 1200 "armor AV" in total. Against Eriks 3200 behind level 5 forts.

I missed the Allied AC shortage conversation[:(]. Keep up the good work Joc.

So, I set the tanks to attack. Next turn I´ll know if I have to play the rest of the war without armor too!

[font="Verdana"]19th January -45[/font]
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Not much happening this turn.

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CVs
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Fleet moves back towards the Indochina coast an nails a TF trying to escape from Saigon.

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 14
Ki-102a Randy x 8

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 214
F6F-5 Hellcat x 165
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AK Yamabiko Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AK Asakasan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Yamagiri Maru
AK Yamakaze Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Cam Ranh Bay at 64,72

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 63 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 3
Ki-102a Randy x 2

Allied aircraft
SB2C-3 Helldiver x 14
TBM-3 Avenger x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-3 Helldiver: 1 damaged
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
xAP Brazil Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Yamabiko Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
AK Yamakaze Maru, on fire

After this the fleet moved back towards Luzon to meet up with the Supply TF destined for Thailand.


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Luzon
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I sent in some suicide YMS. They do clear a few mines but I´m not sure I can afford this in the long run. I have no clue how many mines there are. Probably a lot considering the losses I have suffered.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 18, 45
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TF 149 encounters mine field at Bataan (78,77) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

29 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
YMS-288, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
YMS-395, Shell hits 6, heavy damage
YMS-394, Shell hits 3, on fire
YMS-393, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
YMS-387, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
YMS-84, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
YMS-220, Shell hits 2
YMS-216
YMS-128
YMS-127

57 mines cleared

Still no long term solution to this problem. [:(]

Tomorrow the armored attack go in. Quite worried about it. I have only 86 Shermans in the pool and if this turns disastrous I will most likely not be able to replace the losses until the game is over. Replacement rate is only 28 per months. Starting to sound like a broken record here...[8|]

I´m not asking for miracle. I´m just asking for my tanks to not be completely gutted. Fingers crossed...

Thats it for the turn.

Pretty soon you should start looking at your arrival queues for ETO planes and troops after VE Day. You will need vast amounts of troop transport shipping in CONUS to bring them forward. Same with the planes which can't fly across. Ops losses on single-engine at the ranges you're at might not be worth it so you would need transport for them too. But the troops can't walk and it's too late if you think of them on May 1 and you have 1000 needed ships sitting in the PI.

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Pretty soon you should start looking at your arrival queues for ETO planes and troops after VE Day. You will need vast amounts of troop transport shipping in CONUS to bring them forward. Same with the planes which can't fly across. Ops losses on single-engine at the ranges you're at might not be worth it so you would need transport for them too. But the troops can't walk and it's too late if you think of them on May 1 and you have 1000 needed ships sitting in the PI.

Good point. Most of the shipping has just dumped stuff of on Luzon. They are heading back within a week or two. Might as well keep them on the WC when they get back. I´m starting to get a good amount of local fuel now and I just dumped 3,5 million supply. With the 2 million supply already in place I should be good to go.

Havn´t looked really at what comes from Europe. I assume its goodie goodie? [:D]

[font="Verdana"]20th January -45[/font]
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Looks like I will continue to have an armored force! [:)]

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Manilagrad
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I´m pleased with the results. Actually very pleased. [:)]

Ground combat at Manila (79,77)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24168 troops, 680 guns, 3147 vehicles, Assault Value = 4529

Defending force 122700 troops, 1423 guns, 1550 vehicles, Assault Value = 3204

Allied adjusted assault: 626

Japanese adjusted defense: 16849

Allied assault odds: 1 to 26 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2573 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 175 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 36 destroyed, 32 disabled
Guns lost 53 (14 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Vehicles lost 82 (29 destroyed, 53 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 181 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 81 (27 destroyed, 54 disabled)
Vehicles lost 469 (70 destroyed, 399 disabled)

No Sherman that I can see was destroyed. Some got disabled though. I did loose a good chunk of light tanks among the USMC BTLs. Can´t wait for their TOE upgrade switching out the light tanks for Flame tanks and heavies instead. Lots of Motorized support got toasted though. And I had to pull a BTL from combat as its down to 0 AV with just 36 disabled Shermans left. [X(]

The YMS managed to sweep another 31 mines before getting sunk. So thats about 10 mines per lost YMS. No really sure I can use this method. I don´t have THAT many YMS. This is a head scratcher. I think I have come up with a solution though...

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Superstack
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Erik continues to try and kill off the stack. To my knowledge no unit has been destroyed yet.

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Ground combat at 55,59 (near Tavoy)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 48526 troops, 681 guns, 1551 vehicles, Assault Value = 140

Defending force 38194 troops, 329 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1243

Japanese adjusted assault: 1

Allied adjusted defense: 4186

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4186

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

Japanese ground losses:
1537 casualties reported
Squads: 164 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 429 disabled
Engineers: 15 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 51 (49 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

No map today. Nothing has changed.

[font="Verdana"]Operation "Arise"[/font]
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I don´t have access to my game computer tonight so no turn to Erik. Writing on the pad sucks btw so sorry for any spelling issues...

I gave this OP the go ahead 4 days ago. Taken some time to get everything into place. I know you guys are going to chide me for this...but I´m going to try a last hurrah in the skies over Luzon. I need to be able to place Manila under some naval and aerial gunfire. The only way I can do that is by wrestling air superiority from Erik.

If I can do that it opens up so many possibilities on Luzon for me. And as usual I have come up with a plan... [:D]

Erik achilles heel on Luzon is lack of airfields. He only have Manila (Lvl 9) and Clark (lvl 8). He also have a level 7 airfield at Appari but thats too far away for him to properly protect Manila. I on the other hand have two level 9 AFs and one 8.57 within 2 hexes of Manila. So basically I need to close Manila and Clark AF and I have complete control of the skies.

The latest Allied aerial debacles have made Erik a bit complacent I think. Clark is maxed out with 400 Fighters but Manila only have 180 fighters...And I have a way to close Clark during the night...I´m going to send in the Iowas and the other Fast BB group to plaster Clark! I´ve tried this probably 50 times in Sandbox today...Worst result I got was 13 FLT on Missouri by mines and 7 DDs lost. Only two times the airfield was open in the morning but only 50 or so fighters were operational. I have 9 Fast BBs 7 hexes from Clark. Between them are the mines and CD guns... My sandbox was a "worst case scenario" with 450 mines and some really big CD guns. The BBs seem almost invulnerable to both but the DDs really took a pounding...a price I´m willing to pay. I do hope my testbed really was a worst case scenario...

Allied forces
The entire fleet (including 11 BBs and 8 CAs to bombard). CVs will take position to give fighter support.
1800 Fighters (USAAF, USN, USMC, RAAF)
700 4Es
400 2Es

Bombardment
8 Fast BBs will bombard Clark
8 CAs and 3 BBs bombard Bataan in an effort to disrupt the CD guns.

Mines
I have a bunch of "volunteer" minesweepers standing by to go in again...

This is what I´m going to listen to when I do the turn tomorrow. Goto love Viking metal! [:D]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3WJX1cIuY4

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

Pretty soon you should start looking at your arrival queues for ETO planes and troops after VE Day. You will need vast amounts of troop transport shipping in CONUS to bring them forward. Same with the planes which can't fly across. Ops losses on single-engine at the ranges you're at might not be worth it so you would need transport for them too. But the troops can't walk and it's too late if you think of them on May 1 and you have 1000 needed ships sitting in the PI.

Good point. Most of the shipping has just dumped stuff of on Luzon. They are heading back within a week or two. Might as well keep them on the WC when they get back. I´m starting to get a good amount of local fuel now and I just dumped 3,5 million supply. With the 2 million supply already in place I should be good to go.

Havn´t looked really at what comes from Europe. I assume its goodie goodie? [:D]

Yeah. I took a look after I posted and it comes later than I remembered. You'll need some ships in June, but massive numbers in Sept/Oct. Hundreds if not a thousand. The bombers and fighters alone are four-figures I think, mostly B-17Gs. The silver ones, primo 4Es. Hundreds and hundreds of P-47s and P-51Hs. Some jets. Some Bearcats. You get lots of IDs, and whole, pure tank divisions, high experience.

The Soviets get scores of big LCUs over the summer too. If you plan to move them by sea plan for that too.

FWIW, I think you're crazy to run anything past Bataan's CD. This move proves you are utterly, irretrievably, air-centric. [:)]

Also, the idea of bombarding Clark from the sea is nuts. I've been to Clark, before it was buried under a volcano. It's a LONG way from BB land. I know it's the game, but still . . .

Manilagrad
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I´m pleased with the results. Actually very pleased.


quote:


Ground combat at Manila (79,77)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24168 troops, 680 guns, 3147 vehicles, Assault Value = 4529

Defending force 122700 troops, 1423 guns, 1550 vehicles, Assault Value = 3204

Allied adjusted assault: 626

Japanese adjusted defense: 16849

Allied assault odds: 1 to 26 (fort level 5)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2573 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 175 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 36 destroyed, 32 disabled
Guns lost 53 (14 destroyed, 39 disabled)
Vehicles lost 82 (29 destroyed, 53 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 181 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 81 (27 destroyed, 54 disabled)
Vehicles lost 469 (70 destroyed, 399 disabled)

He lost about 4% of his forces here 5% of vehicles .. You lost less than .04% of troops but 15% of your vehicles ..I am not sure how quickly these come back?

Somehow you have to cut these forces off and get them disrupted ...

The real key to this game IMHO) I can see is Southeast Asia and the huge supply problem here and I suspect in China .. PI seems to have plenty of supply ...at least for now ..

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

FWIW, I think you're crazy to run anything past Bataan's CD. This move proves you are utterly, irretrievably, air-centric. [:)]

Also, the idea of bombarding Clark from the sea is nuts. I've been to Clark, before it was buried under a volcano. It's a LONG way from BB land. I know it's the game, but still . . .

Its not proper CD guns. Its a BF with some CD guns. And if they can´t sink a YMS outright they shouldn´t be able to do more than scratch the paint on the Iowas! [:)]

15th Base Force firing at YMS-127

I have to be air centric right now. If I´m successful I can all of the sudden get the 4Es to work over most of Luzon AND suppress the CD guns at Bataan. The will allow me to clear the mines, subs and MTBs at Manila. I can the turn on the wrath of 15 BBs to hit Manila almost daily!

Erik is currently reinforcing Luzon via Aparri. So it looks like he will make this the decisive battle. If I´m to rise to that challenge I need to use the entire Allied arsenal. Most importantly the 4Es. They will disrupt troops and burn supply at a furious rate. Having the BBs able to pound Manila is a huge bonus too.

I´m absolutely certain I have to do this. If it doesn´t work I´ll have to come up with something else. But I have to get air superiority over central Luzon.

ORIGINAL: Crackaces

He lost about 4% of his forces here 5% of vehicles .. You lost less than .04% of troops but 15% of your vehicles ..I am not sure how quickly these come back?

Somehow you have to cut these forces off and get them disrupted ...

The real key to this game IMHO) I can see is Southeast Asia and the huge supply problem here and I suspect in China .. PI seems to have plenty of supply ...at least for now ..

Of those 15% I would say 10% is motorized support and 3% Light tanks. The remaining 2% is Shermans. So we are talking real small numbers that will recover quickly. [:)]

I agree on having to disrupt and burn supply at Manila. Thats the point of Arise. [:)]

Can you spare a TF to bombard Bataan on the day before??

Also, shooting at your kami MSW would use supply, get ready for a "gamey" email [:'(]

To Bullwinkle, Jan 45 was the end of the Bulge, I dont think Ike was sending reinforcement to the Pacific just yet.