Wild Sheep Chase - obvert (J) vs JocMeister (A)

[Blackhorse]

Before this game I didn't realize how vital good recon is to the success of operations. Now I am training several recon groups and getting everything I can out of the ones scanning the battle areas. I still feel I need more for India, and I might begin bringing in crap 1e bombers like the Ida (which has a camera) for close range recon in China and on the edge of Burma once I have enough trained pilots. Does anyone know how much extra a camera ads to recon effectiveness?

Per 10.2 the manual (cited below), dedicated recon aircraft double the chance of detecting a unit (pilot EXP % vs one-half Pilot EXP for non-recon types). And, once detected, dedicated recon adds 4 to the detection level, vice 2 (other recon) or 1 (bombing).

From 7.0.1 I infer that any aircraft with a camera is treated as a recon aircraft even if it is classified as something else. That's the only reference to cameras in the manual, and it is a bit unclear. Fx, it refers to non-recon allied fighters and japanese light bombers with cameras, but other non-recon aircraft (e.g. Lysander II) have cameras as well.

Enjoyable AAR, btw. I like the format and, of course, your selection of photos. Keep up the good work!





10.2 RECON FLIGHTS
Whenever a plane flying a recon Mission reaches its target hex or an air unit bombs a target,
every enemy ground unit, TF or base (not minefield) in the hex has a possibility of having its
DL increased by 1, 2 or 4.
Each enemy unit is checked separately to see if the pilot has successfully spotted the unit:
»» If a recon aircraft type is flying a Recon Mission, the percentage
chance that any given unit will have its DL increased is equal to the
Experience of the pilot. If the DL is increased, it will increase by 4.
»» If a non-recon type plane is flying a Recon Mission, the percentage chance
that any given unit will have its DL increased is equal to the Experience
of the pilot divided by 2. If the DL is increased it will increase by 2.
»» If an air unit bombs any enemy target, the percentage chance that any
given unit in the target hex will have its DL increased is equal to the
Experience of the one pilot chosen at random to take reconnaissance
photos divided by 2. If the DL is increased it will increase by 1.

7.0.1 AIRCRAFT TYPES
Reconnaissance planes have extraordinarily long range and are used
exclusively to spot enemies. Though Recon aircraft are your primary
assets and are typically unarmed, it is possible to order specialized Allied
Fighter units to perform “Tac Recon”. These Aircraft were armed and
regularly fought their way into targets, some pilots even scored as aces.
The presence of a camera device on a fighter will identify these units.
Their missions can add to the Detection level of their targets. A similar
role is performed by certain Japanese Army Air Force Light Bombers.

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ORIGINAL: Blackhorse

Before this game I didn't realize how vital good recon is to the success of operations. Now I am training several recon groups and getting everything I can out of the ones scanning the battle areas. I still feel I need more for India, and I might begin bringing in crap 1e bombers like the Ida (which has a camera) for close range recon in China and on the edge of Burma once I have enough trained pilots. Does anyone know how much extra a camera ads to recon effectiveness?

Per 10.2 the manual (cited below), dedicated recon aircraft double the chance of detecting a unit (pilot EXP % vs one-half Pilot EXP for non-recon types). And, once detected, dedicated recon adds 4 to the detection level, vice 2 (other recon) or 1 (bombing).

From 7.0.1 I infer that any aircraft with a camera is treated as a recon aircraft even if it is classified as something else. That's the only reference to cameras in the manual, and it is a bit unclear. Fx, it refers to non-recon allied fighters and japanese light bombers with cameras, but other non-recon aircraft (e.g. Lysander II) have cameras as well.

Enjoyable AAR, btw. I like the format and, of course, your selection of photos. Keep up the good work!





10.2 RECON FLIGHTS
Whenever a plane flying a recon Mission reaches its target hex or an air unit bombs a target,
every enemy ground unit, TF or base (not minefield) in the hex has a possibility of having its
DL increased by 1, 2 or 4.
Each enemy unit is checked separately to see if the pilot has successfully spotted the unit:
»» If a recon aircraft type is flying a Recon Mission, the percentage
chance that any given unit will have its DL increased is equal to the
Experience of the pilot. If the DL is increased, it will increase by 4.
»» If a non-recon type plane is flying a Recon Mission, the percentage chance
that any given unit will have its DL increased is equal to the Experience
of the pilot divided by 2. If the DL is increased it will increase by 2.
»» If an air unit bombs any enemy target, the percentage chance that any
given unit in the target hex will have its DL increased is equal to the
Experience of the one pilot chosen at random to take reconnaissance
photos divided by 2. If the DL is increased it will increase by 1.

7.0.1 AIRCRAFT TYPES
Reconnaissance planes have extraordinarily long range and are used
exclusively to spot enemies. Though Recon aircraft are your primary
assets and are typically unarmed, it is possible to order specialized Allied
Fighter units to perform “Tac Recon”. These Aircraft were armed and
regularly fought their way into targets, some pilots even scored as aces.
The presence of a camera device on a fighter will identify these units.
Their missions can add to the Detection level of their targets. A similar
role is performed by certain Japanese Army Air Force Light Bombers.

Thanks Blackhorse, and welcome.

I only wish I had some of the truly long-range recon models now. I know the Allies have been looking deep into my depth with those B-25 recon variants. They just had a look at Car Nicobar for some reason.

Not sure why they're checking there. I was just loading two base forces from Luzon to begin occupying and building those islands up. Later an Air Army HQ will go there to stretch torpedo capability across the whole range of the islands.

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[font="Times New Roman"]4 April 1942[/font]
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China: Not much other than bombing and movement of troops today. It is great to see everything moving around behind the lines. Troops seem to be moving from Chunking to the north. Interesting. I wonder if a break is planned once our troops move to the north?

Fighters are listed in Chunking, but only 14 of them. There are a few in Chengtu as well, but nowhere near the size of the AVG. Hmmm. Are they back in India getting trained up?

DEI: At Pamekasan there are still 52 AV worth of Dutch troops. They aren't bombarding back though, so they're most likely out of supply. Bombing has commenced. Attacks will happen soon with our SNLF.

KB: The Akagi has healed from its torpedoing and will join forces with the rest of the fleet CVs in Rabaul. After this they will all head down to Tulagi. They will be closer to any action and the base there is being built up to deal with the supply and usage by the main fleet. Support ships are in place and fuel is en route from Balikapan.

Akagi will be escorted by 5 DDs, including two arrived in recent weeks. Happily they all have DC rating of 4 and high crew experience. The Akagi air groups have been training and adding pilots, and working on ASW in Truk. They will fly up to meet the CV as it moves down from the HI.

PI: Two base forces are nearly loaded at Antimonan heading to the Andamans. Only Clark, Appari and Manila will have base forces for a while as we build the perimeter defenses. A construction unit will travel around building bases up for later use however.

Slow loading post invasion bonus means it's taking forever to extract out brigade to head to our next PI destination. Grrrr.

subs: An increase in sub sightings and attacks lately. I think the hordes have been released again after some reorganization. There are a lot of sightings in the approaches to Soerabaja, which is fine by me, as this is a shallow water area and we have air and sea ASW working together extensively here. Most of our successful DCs throughout the game have occurred in this area.

The more distressing part is that the US fleet subs are appearing all across the lower approaches to the HI, in areas where we have not yet set up ASW air bases. So far the sightings have results in only a few unsuccessful attacks due to the faulty torpedoes. A few subs are working the approaches to NW Honshu trying to get at convoys to the Aleutians no doubt. We have ASW Kates here and they get sightings every day, so this threat would be diminished if we were in fact using this route. Actually these ships are coming north of Honshu and to Paramushiro Jima on their way East, or south and across from Tokyo.

The small islands south of Tokyo are mined, and one sub is moving across this area. Rubbing hands in anticipation.

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[font="Times New Roman"]5 April 1942[/font]
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China: I didn't feel like counting them up today, but well over 100 squads are destroyed or disabled by air attacks near Ichang. How many times will the Chinese forces just move into the clear and let us crush them this way? It has to start making a dent not only in their ability to fight but in their supply levels.

Does anyone know the calculation for healing troops in regard to supply? How much supply is used to heal 1 squad?

DEI: We send the navy in to help at Pamekasan. Testing out our spotting and bombardments in a safe area. Spotting works, and good (while not spectacular) damage is achieved, but the troops are untouched. Strange. Maybe the forts are higher than expected? The Nells do better later.

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Night Naval bombardment of Pamekasan at 57,105

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Mogami
CA Maya
CL Nagara


Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 13
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 4

CA Kumano firing at Pamekasan
CA Mogami firing at Pamekasan
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for CA Maya
CA Maya firing at Pamekasan
CL Nagara firing at Barisan KNIL Regiment

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Morning Air attack on Barisan KNIL Regiment, at 57,105 (Pamekasan)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 35

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
35 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

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Reports from recon show that Darwin has a few ships in the harbor. It lists 'DD AM PT 4 ships in port.' Also listed, '47 bombers' on the fields, no fighters. Once the base has arrived on Koepang we'll have a look with some Nells.

So Pac: C5Ms show that Cairns has 4 units with 5542 troops. No planes. 1 ship 'AM.' No other northern base has any troops yet. This is good. My idea that little seems to be making it to OZ may in fact be true. By this point I'd like to have at least a base force building Cooktown and some fighters up here. No ships are seen by 4 subs near Sydney for the last month. One sub is south of Melbourne and hasn't seen anything there for two months. The 3 subs near Perth are on widening patrols and only occasionally are found by DDs on ASW. That's all.

subs: More of the long range subs will be sent to the southern reaches of the map searching for supply routes. An AS is making it's way to Cocos Is, where the Mini-KB and other surface elements are laying in wait. 5 full AOs have been placed there and an AKE is en route as well.

The 2 subs patrolling near Diego Garcia have not seen a ship yet. The one near Karachi did get a TK recently but that is all. One more will patrol from Diego to Socotra and two will maintain patrols near Colombo.

5 subs are still stationed near Hawaii. 1 is in the middle of the Pacific in between West Coast and Hawaii, with it's Glen.

5 subs are being sent to No Pac to patrol South of Alaska as an early warning system.

My guess is that Jocke is making heavy use of off-map transport. Smart. But he has to come back on-map somewhere. Now I need to find where. My guess is that it's all going to Aden and then eventually Karachi and into India. I see a lot of building going on there, and more sigint than elsewhere. Which is great. I plan not to touch India, and Burma will be strong enough until some forces now in China can be
sent to fill it in.

I'll start getting some good recon pilots into a few Glens on the next refueling and get better info on some ports in OZ soon. Might use some small Emily detachments as well from Noumea (if they reach, I think they will).

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[font="Times New Roman"]6 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Well, subs find something, but not what we're looking for really. We continue to make a ruin the US Coast Guard by taking out another cutter, USS Kimball. I-171 most likely cut the little ship in half, poor guys. PC Vigilant and AM Tern were also here to pick up the pieces.

Strange to hit a dedicated ASW team like this in open ocean near so much naval search in Hawaii. A salute to the Kimble.

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O16 launches two torps at our ASW near Balikpapan in shallow waters but we can't put the hurt on it after extensive searches by the 3 DDs involved.

China: Looks like our tanks might get a shot at some Chinese units before they get into Lanchow. Our main force will move in next turn but in move mode will most likely not take part in the attack. If I were to change them to reserve mode, would they be more likely to add in if they made it in time?

Bombing at Lanchow yields some interesting results. This will continue. Although we're sweeping here, an escort will be added just in case some of these fellows decide to try us out.

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Morning Air attack on Lanchow , at 81,34

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 27


Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15-III: 3 damaged
I-16-III: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 18

Aircraft Attacking:
23 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

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Scary good attack results near Ichang, this from just one (although it's several groups together obviously) of our several groups attacking these unfortunates today. This will take a while to repair!

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Morning Air attack on 5th Chinese Cavalry Corps, at 82,49 , near Ichang

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 85
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 20
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 31
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 4 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
431 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 50 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 96 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
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DEI: We decided to try a bombardment to asses the strength here and see if we should attack again soon. It looks good for AV, but the guns there are tough. We'll try another time tomorrow. More help is on the way soon though in case another mystery result occurs.

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Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 30341 troops, 293 guns, 140 vehicles, Assault Value = 920

Defending force 15155 troops, 190 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 284

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


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
38th Division
5th Division
124th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 4th SNLF

Defending units:
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Roodenburg Battalion
ABDA
Batavia Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
ML-KNIL
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Merak Base Force
KNIL Army Command
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
Kalidjati Base Force

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Pamekasan fell easily. Now on to Banjermasin for one of the last of the main garrisoned Dutch bases. (Benkolen and Tilityap are still occupied but we'll leave those until last.

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Ground combat at Pamekasan (57,105)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1468 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Defending force 1510 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 40

Japanese adjusted assault: 26

Allied adjusted defense: 4

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Pamekasan !!!

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

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


Allied ground losses:
1676 casualties reported
Squads: 129 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 114 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1


Assaulting units:
15th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
Barisan KNIL Regiment

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[font="Times New Roman"]7 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Our ASW pays off in the shallows again between Java and Borneo. Our 3 DDs there hit SS Shark with two penetrating hits (severe damage to engines, 5 total hits). Interestingly, all three play a part, but Shikinami does the honors with her 4 DC rating. This sub has a long way back home, so hopefully it won't make it. The nearest shipyard is in Perth, so even if it makes North OZ it will be in trouble when we get there in a few months.

This makes me think size does matter in two respects with ASW. The number of ships increases the search and might make them stay longer in the area, and of course the DC rating gives them more shots once the sub is found.

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ASW attack near Kangean at 60,104

Japanese Ships
DD Umikaze
DD Ayanami
DD Shikinami

Allied Ships
SS Shark, hits 5, heavy damage

SS Shark is located by DD Umikaze
Shark bottoming out ....
DD Ayanami fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Shikinami fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Shikinami attacking submerged sub ....
DD Shikinami attacking submerged sub ....
DD Shikinami fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Shikinami fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

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O-16 reappears and takes a shot at our supply convoy going to Tarakan, a bunch of AKLs with two 12 PBs escorting. We also miss it DCing. Pesky little guy. We have jakes on night naval search and 24 Lilys going 40% ASW by day, which has so far limited effectiveness in the area for the Alies in the past months.

SS Trigger is also attacked by DD Ushio near Truk with no effect.

DEI: We hoped to get a little bit f revenge at Christmas Is (IO) today. 3 TBs from Cocos visited after naval search had spotted a number of PTs here in the past few days. We did get one of the buggers, but hopefully we wiped out the fuel of the others enough so that they won't make OZ.

Our paratroops in Java will take this base once we get a transport group over just to make sure they're not using fuel here. Small victories can be just as fun as the big ones. Have I mentioned that I hate PT boats?
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Christmas Island IO at 45,104, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
TB Hayabusa
TB Sagi
TB Kari

Allied Ships
PT TM-10
PT TM-11
PT TM-12
PT TM-13
PT TM-14
PT TM-15, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 60% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 10,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 10,000 yards
PT TM-15 engages TB Kari at 10,000 yards
PT TM-12 engages TB Hayabusa at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards
TB Kari engages PT TM-15 at 8,000 yards
TB Sagi engages PT TM-15 at 8,000 yards
TB Kari engages PT TM-12 at 8,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
PT TM-15 engages TB Kari at 9,000 yards
TB Hayabusa engages PT TM-15 at 9,000 yards
TB Hayabusa engages PT TM-12 at 9,000 yards
TB Kari engages PT TM-15 at 9,000 yards
TB Sagi engages PT TM-14 at 9,000 yards
PT TM-11 engages TB Hayabusa at 9,000 yards
TB Hayabusa engages PT TM-10 at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 11,000 yards
PT TM-15 sunk by TB Sagi at 11,000 yards
TB Sagi engages PT TM-13 at 11,000 yards
PT TM-12 engages TB Hayabusa at 11,000 yards
PT TM-11 engages TB Kari at 11,000 yards
TB Hayabusa engages PT TM-10 at 11,000 yards
Task forces break off...

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Speaking of big victories, it will feel petty major when we take Batavia. Again, strangely poor results.

Everything was healed up and the two divisions had disruption at about 3 and fatigue of 9 and 12, so I thought it would be prudent to try this again after several days of continued bombing with good results. Didn't work out well. With forts at zero we got a (-) for fatigue and a 1 to 2 attack. More help is close now, and at least we got some good amount of Dutch troops destroyed or disabled.

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Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30687 troops, 293 guns, 140 vehicles, Assault Value = 950

Defending force 15163 troops, 190 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 289

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 289

Allied adjusted defense: 519

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1230 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 99 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1207 casualties reported
Squads: 36 destroyed, 38 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Assaulting units:
124th Infantry Regiment
38th Division
5th Division
Yokosuka 4th SNLF

Defending units:
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st KNIL Regiment
Roodenburg Battalion
ML-KNIL
Batavia Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Merak Base Force
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
KNIL Army Command
ABDA
Kalidjati Base Force

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China: At Lanchow Bettys find an empty field. The CAF fighters pulled out.

Our armor does attack the two Chinese Corps on the road to Lanchow, putting a good hit on them in a 1 to 2 attack. In spite of this report only the armor actually took part in the attack.

This shows what will be in Lanchow soon though. Our main worry is keeping up supply. A constant flow is beginning to stream in to Chinese ports to support this and other operation I'll detail soon. Big things happening. The HI will be suffering for a few weeks as places like Gifu drop to below 10,000 supply and won't be able to help repair R n D factories for a while. But this is more important right now, so sacrifices must be made.

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Ground combat at 81,35 (near Lanchow)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12635 troops, 221 guns, 1195 vehicles, Assault Value = 4812

Defending force 15946 troops, 109 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 548

Japanese adjusted assault: 575

Allied adjusted defense: 646

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 37 (1 destroyed, 36 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1667 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 104 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)


Assaulting units:
11th Tank Regiment
36th Division
15th Tank Regiment
13th Division
12th Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
8th Recon Regiment
7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
37th Division
35th Division
23rd Tank Regiment
20th Recon Regiment
27th Electric Engineer Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
34th Division
61st Infantry Brigade
3rd Tank Regiment
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
1st Recon Regiment
3rd Division
32nd Division
26th Recon Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
11th Army
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
12th Army
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
80th Chinese Corps
82nd Chinese Corps

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Burma: At Schwebo armor crossed the river and took on larger forces, routing them. Now it's a race up the road into the jungle. We should have enough base forces on the way to get one on each base in a few weeks.

Recon shows Mietkyina to have 6 units and 6,500 troops. Interesting. It'll have to wait. Once Luzon is finished some of those troops will head this way.

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Ground combat at Shwebo (59,45)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1183 troops, 0 guns, 183 vehicles, Assault Value = 100

Defending force 3301 troops, 28 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 128

Japanese adjusted assault: 112

Allied adjusted defense: 11

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Shwebo !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)


Allied ground losses:
1295 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 16 (16 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (10 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
1st Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
BFF Brigade
3rd Burma Rifles Battalion
103rd RAF Base Force

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[font="Times New Roman"]8 April 1942[/font]
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subs: One of our crap sub chasers surprisingly sighted SS Triton near Kushiro but couldn't catch up to it to get a DC attack. Couldn't they put a supercharger on these engines or something to get them above 10 knots?

Triton comes back later to fire two torps at the little 'ship,' but missed.

China: Near Ichang we lay down another devastating attack on Chinese troops fleeing into the woods.

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Morning Air attack on 30th Chinese Corps, at 82,49 , near Ichang

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 64
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 19
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 31
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
743 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 80 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Up north tanks move in to Lanchow. The rest of the army should follow tomorrow.

Burma: Hurricanes and Bleinheims make their first coordinated appearance over Schwebo today. We haven't seen British bombers since they were based in Singapore. They do a pretty good job on our tanks in this clear hex. Luckily only one is outright destroyed.

We should have CAPed them, apparently. We'd like to test the defensive abilities of our crack Oscars in the area. They'll be ready tomorrow but I'm sure the British will not come out two days in a row.

I wonder why he had them coming in at 12,000, especially knowing exactly what was in the hex?

B-17s show up later but do no damage to the tanks, interestingly.

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Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Regiment, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 46


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)


Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Blenheim IV bombing from 12000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
16 x Blenheim IV bombing from 12000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
14 x Blenheim IV bombing from 12000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
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[font="Times New Roman"]9 April 1942[/font]
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subs: S-43 is sighted by one of our escorts near Attu, but there is no combat. O-24 is sighted by DD Hishu, but in spite of the shallow water and the sub bottoming out near Borneo, the destroyer can't find it to send down some presents.

DEI: Christmas Island IO is landed by our paratroops and taken with no opposition. The PTs have scarpered as well.

PI: Bataan troops are down to 1206 now. We've been watching the US units to see when they are lowering AV during combat, and the Marines showed this turn they are lessening in strength.

China: Our forces have moved into Lanchow, but are now struggling for supply. The whole army is in the red by a ways. We'll have to wait to attack.

Elsewhere the troops moving from Ichang have made it into the woods. Now we have to catch up on airfield bombing and killing supply that way. We actually lose a Sally to flak at Changsha, a rare occurrence here.

Burma: Hurricanes do not show up today. More recon is moving in to seek out their main airfields for future operations.
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[font="Times New Roman"]10 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Our crushed sub (forgetting the number now) limping back from near Colombo has made Port Blair and will rest to fix system damage before heading to Singapore. A minor but heartwarming story of perseverance in the face of the usual IJN damage control.

DEI: Troops land at Banjermasin.

So another attack on Batavia results in another 1 to 1 with a lot of japanese losses. This time it's my own fault, as somehow I let the fields recover and the forts go back to 1. Crap. So a few more days here on lovely Java for these troops.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30422 troops, 293 guns, 140 vehicles, Assault Value = 929

Defending force 14471 troops, 188 guns, 120 vehicles, Assault Value = 272

Japanese adjusted assault: 371

Allied adjusted defense: 345

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1581 casualties reported
Squads: 44 destroyed, 61 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled


Allied ground losses:
359 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 40 (3 destroyed, 37 disabled)


Assaulting units:
124th Infantry Regiment
5th Division
38th Division
Yokosuka 4th SNLF

Defending units:
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st KNIL Regiment
Roodenburg Battalion
KNIL Army Command
ML-KNIL
Batavia Base Force
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
1st KNIL AA Battalion
ABDA
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Merak Base Force
Kalidjati Base Force

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China: Still not enough supply in Lanchow to do anything.

The southern part of the IJA China strategic plan is now coming together. Troops from Singapore are nearly all at Lang Soc, including 5 Divisions and a bunch of arty with the Southern Army HQ (and one smaller HQ) coming along for support. Forces are ready in Wuchow, in Pingsiang and in Wuchang.

We will feint toward the center with two separate armies while in fact aiming to cut the rail line back to Kweilin and Liuchow from Changsha (which has 27 units). From Wenchow another army arrives just a few days later between Liuchow and Kweilin aiming to occupy Kweilin. Finally, the stack from Lang Soc rolls into Nanning and on to Liuchow.

More details and a map will follow in a few days. This has been a long time in the planning and relies on our recon and ability to slow and disable troops with air support vs the anaemic recon and air support for the Allies in China. They will see many unit stacks but may not know their respective sizes until too late. Hopefully the northern advance has captured the interest of my opponent enough that he will be less than prepared for this next phase to the heart of China.

Now it's time to let the rest of the pieces come together and wait.

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[SqzMyLemon]

ORIGINAL: obvert

China: Still not enough supply in Lanchow to do anything.

Are you sending any supply to China from the Home Islands? I found sending 50k-100k supply periodically to China during an offensive allowed for sustained operations without losing any momentum to shortages. If you are not, I'd highly recommend you do so. It should help get supply to the front and allow you to recover lost squads and equipment faster. Speed is essential to knocking China out, don't give them a chance to recover or consolidate any kind of MLR.

Check Port Arthur as well. For some reason it seems to hold on to massive quantities of supply early in the game. You may want to set some of your forward bases to draw 25k and see if that will suck the supply out of Port Arthur to where it is most needed.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: SqzMyLemon

ORIGINAL: obvert

China: Still not enough supply in Lanchow to do anything.

Are you sending any supply to China from the Home Islands? I found sending 50k-100k supply periodically to China during an offensive allowed for sustained operations without losing any momentum to shortages. If you are not, I'd highly recommend you do so. It should help get supply to the front and allow you to recover lost squads and equipment faster. Speed is essential to knocking China out, don't give them a chance to recover or consolidate any kind of MLR.

Check Port Arthur as well. For some reason it seems to hold on to massive quantities of supply early in the game. You may want to set some of your forward bases to draw 25k and see if that will suck the supply out of Port Arthur to where it is most needed.

Thanks. I think you're right on the money.

I've been trying to send some, but not quite enough it seems. Just these last few turns I've been delaying other convoys and building some up for a massive push. 20,000 just went in to Shanghai, but in a few days I'll send in the same amount or more to virtually every port above size 3 and see if that does it.

Port Arthur has normal supply of about 15,000 but massive oil and fuel reserves. I've got Fusan working for resources though and so don't use Port Arthur much at all now.

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[font="Times New Roman"]11 April 1942[/font]
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subs: SS Seal sends 4 torps at our ASW near Pontiniak. DMS W-11 and SC CH 27 avoid the fish but then lose the sub. Several subs seem to operating in this area between Palembang, Sinkawang and Singapore.

We've got 4 separate ASW surface groups here and good air ASW at several bases in range. This should mean we bag a sub or two in the shallow water soon.

O-16 appears again near Balikpapan and bottoms out but DD Hishu can't locate it.

China: We get enough supply for a bombardment today. The results are not bad at all. Our AV is about 2.5 - 1 over the Chinese. We give them double the losses in the attack, including destroying a few guns. This is usually a good sign in my experience, and we'll go for a DA when supply comes back up. Right now it's looking about a 1/3 down for every unit.

In the air we take a stab at the 22 fighters listed at Chunking, seeing if we can hit a CAF group training. 34 Oscar fly over, but all they can do is wave.

I wish there was a setting where a sweep would work as it's supposed to work. Fly in, if nothing is up, then put a bunch of holes in the planes while they sit on the field, just like in the movies.

Elsewhere catching up on the bombing campaign.

DEI: At Bandjermasin the Allied bombardment results in 1 squad destroyed for them and shows we have over a 2 to 1 advantage. We need more supply so must wait for a shipment before taking this base.

Nells based in Balikpapan begin to finish off Dutch and British troops around Borneo. The 3 units near Pontiniak get nuked after just three days of bombing. I guess they shouldn't have come out into the clear and pitched a tent.

Burma: The 1st and the 14th Tank Rgts shock 1 hex west of Schwebo and maul the BFF Brigade and a base force again.

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Ground combat at 60,44 (near Shwebo)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1079 troops, 0 guns, 183 vehicles, Assault Value = 87

Defending force 2230 troops, 15 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Japanese adjusted assault: 72

Allied adjusted defense: 8

Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: fatigue(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: op mode(-), shock(+)


Allied ground losses:
1120 casualties reported
Squads: 34 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
1st Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
BFF Brigade
103rd RAF Base Force

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[font="Times New Roman"]12 April 1942[/font]
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subs: SS Seal is found this time by the sharp eyed DMS W-11 and SC Ch 27 near Munuk. No attack again however. SS Silversides found TB Otori but missed with 2 torps.

Near Perth DDs Electra, Norman and Jupiter hit I-155 twice with non-penetrating DCs and it's left with 11 sys and 2 float damage.

China: Bombing shifts to taking out troops at Liuchow. As this is a clear hex they crumble easily disabling nearly 100 squads again. Not enough supply for anything at Lanchow.

Burma: Base forces are arriving everywhere and Oscars are getting ready to fill in. Troops are arriving in Lashio on the rail lines now. No bombing yet attempted at Magwe.

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[font="Times New Roman"]13 April 1942[/font]
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subs: My heart was in my throat for this one. Akagi appeared again way too early in the replay getting sighted up by SS Tuna this time. The sub launched 6 fish and scored at least one hit that failed to explode. Whew! After taking two torps already and sitting in Yokohama for two months we need to get these sailors into the war before they get too comfy eating home cooking and sleeping with their geishas.

Just after the first salvo Tuna tried again, this time the DDs screened the 4 shots which all missed.

An escort of one of our TK convoys sights SS Spearfish, but does not drop any hits on her. Our TK was spotted, so this route might need to shift.

DD Hishu finally gets a hit on KVIII but it's not penetrating and she'll probably just hang around.

DEI: Supply has landed at Bandjermasin. We'll attack tomorrow.

Still waiting on the arrival of the big base force at Batavia.

China: Still not enough to go at Lanchow. Our transports are unloading all over China, hoping to flood the system with supply and make sure it gets everywhere we need it.

Burma: Magwe comes over to our side without an attack and the troops getting out of strat are heading over as quickly as possible. In the meantime, over 100 Oscars plus 70 A6Ms are in the area. Lots of AA is one the way.

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[font="Times New Roman"]14 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Another sub, Seal, spotted and attacked near Singkawang. No hits.

I-164 attacked AK Aroona near Colombo, but misses with two torps. Strange we've had so many misses with our subs this game. Usually I expect when an IJN sub lines up an unescorted transport she's going down 80-90% of the time. It's been more like 50-60% this game, and we've even had a significant number of duds.

So Pac: B-17s hit Noumea today. This is a long flight for them, 16 hexes at least, so since nothing critical is here now we'll trade a bit of field damage for those ops losses that will come. 1 today.

So Pac is quiet, but Lord Howe Island is being reconned. I bet this will lead to an invasion as we have nothing there now. We're waiting for some of the small AF Coy to become free from the DEI before stage two of the So Pac plan takes shape. This is to have these units at a central location, like noumea, and fly them in to distant island bases to then support search and recon for a few days before being flown back out. Our subs just can't locate any supply lines and we need to make use of them better. It will also give opportunities for advanced warning of Allied buildups and advances.

Wallace Island, Lord Howe, and Raoul are prime targets for this activity. I'd like to acquire a few more to keep things a bit mysterious and unsettled down here. Niue looks promising, as do Pukapuka and Flint Is.

The KB has regrouped and will now carefully move to Tulagi. Lots of subs appearing, but we do have good search and ASW in place.

DEI: Our base force has significantly imroved the situation at Batavia. All units went green for support, and disabled squads are healing up quickly now. Tomorrow we'll try again here. Fingers crossed.

Interesting, our attack at Bandjermasin came out terribly. A 1 to 7! but only one squad disabled and disruption in the teens. Nells will try to loosen up the resistance.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Bandjermasin (60,99)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1468 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Defending force 871 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 29

Japanese adjusted assault: 12

Allied adjusted defense: 85

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 7 (fort level 1)

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

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


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


Assaulting units:
15th Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
SE Borneo KNIL Battalion
Bandjermasin Base Force
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China: Troops at Liuchow are getting nailed by our Sallys now. Clear hex equals Chinese pain.

Supply looks like it's moving around now. Units are on the move in the center and the south. In a few days I'll post a map just before the critical moment in the operation begins. It's getting exciting around here now. As long as the bait is taken in the center and troops don't shift to the south, this should work.

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[font="Times New Roman"]15 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Skipjack attacks a convoy twice near Truk, getting hits neither time. KVIII appears again near a TK convoy close to Balikpapan. Two misses and no DC attack.

DEI: At Batavia I think things are beginnning to turn. Our attack was again a 1 to 1 but very close to 3 to 1, and by tomorrow our AV advantage should be 3 to 1. We'll leave the attack on and hope this is it.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36570 troops, 364 guns, 144 vehicles, Assault Value = 1148

Defending force 14004 troops, 179 guns, 117 vehicles, Assault Value = 266

Japanese adjusted assault: 598

Allied adjusted defense: 349

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1194 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 98 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1108 casualties reported
Squads: 47 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (2 destroyed, 35 disabled)


Assaulting units:
Sasebo 3rd SNLF
Sasebo 8th SNLF
38th Division
124th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 4th SNLF
5th Division
16th Naval Guard Unit
21st Special Base Force

Defending units:
1st Regt Cavalerie
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
Roodenburg Battalion
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
KNIL Army Command
ML-KNIL
ABDA
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Merak Base Force
Batavia Base Force
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Kalidjati Base Force

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Burma: We had a small surprise for the 48 fighters that had been based in Akyab, but it's possible they sighted our bombardment TF on it's way there. We put a good hit on the port and fields with several CAs nontheless, and fires are still burning.

Tanks continue to shock up the road and wipe out small British forces. nearly to Katha now.

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[font="Times New Roman"]16 April 1942[/font]
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subs: O-16 hits Daigen Maru in the night, and puts one torpedo in her. If that wasn't enough, which it most likely was, she popped up again in the day and hit her with another. Under the waves there is now a brand new reef that would one day become a great diving spot.

S-39 attacks another convoy near Shortlands twice and gets one hit on Genoa Maru, which is carrying part of a base force.

DEI: JAPANESE FORCES CAPTURE BATAVIA! I know. It isn't that big of a deal, but feels pretty good to get it done. Also, I learned some key information about how this ground combat game works. While airpower helps, support, HQs and supply are key.

These forces will now move to surround and kill off the remnants of the Dutch. Then move to do the same in Tilityap. Then North OZ. Originally I was going to send them back to the PI to help finish that off, but as the AV there continues to drop for the Allies, I think it's now not necessary.

[font="Trebuchet MS"]--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35091 troops, 345 guns, 142 vehicles, Assault Value = 1069

Defending force 12984 troops, 179 guns, 115 vehicles, Assault Value = 192

Japanese adjusted assault: 432

Allied adjusted defense: 205

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Batavia !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
973 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 94 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Units pursuing 1


Allied ground losses:
2850 casualties reported
Squads: 189 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 357 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 59 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 107 (104 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 95 (95 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 14
Units destroyed 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
124th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
Yokosuka 4th SNLF
Sasebo 3rd SNLF
5th Division
38th Division
16th Naval Guard Unit
21st Special Base Force

Defending units:
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st Regt Cavalerie
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
1st KNIL Regiment
Roodenburg Battalion
ABDA
Batavia Base Force
KNIL Army Command
Merak Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
ML-KNIL
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion
Kalidjati Base Force

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So Pac: The KB makes it safely to Tulagi. More fuel is on its way here and the port is about to make level 2. This is the only port in the area I'm building up past 1. Thinking to limit the Allies when they arrive, at least for a few days.

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[font="Times New Roman"]17 April 1942[/font]
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subs: Between 1-3 reports a day now of subs being attacked and hit. This is significantly higher than a few months ago when even more subs were densely congregated around our ASW air search areas. I know the crews are getting better, so I assume some of these are actual hits. Most IJA ASW is still using Lilys, so these won't kill a sub most likely, but could possibly send it home for a while.

China: Finally there is enough supply to DA at Lanchow. Here we go. Bettys have been hitting it hard for days. Hopefully things are softened up by now and supplies are getting low.

DEI: Nells bombing Badjermasin certainly seem to be softening resistance there. 15 combat squads were disabled today, plus 17 support destroyed and 34 disabled. We'll DA tomorrow.

No Pac: The Air HQ (range 1) arrived at Yunaska today. All surrounding bases are building. In less than a month this should be thoroughly ready for active defense. 1 recon unit is preparing to move into the are to scout and keep an eye on Kodiak.

Burma: Troops have made it to Lashio and a base force is installed supporting a group of Oscars and recon. A tank brigade is moving up the road to close off the Burma road now. This should hurt China as much as any bombing we're doing there.

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[font="Times New Roman"]18 April 1942[/font]
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Today many of our long term plans begin coming to fruition.

subs: 2 more reported hits on subs by Lilys. Also, our wounded nearly sunk sub (forgetting the number) returns from it's long journey from the Indian coast and limps into Singapore to be patched up. I'm happy my opponent will get one of those reports stating the sub was falsely reported sunk. I've already had about 4 of those.

Today O-16 is sighted again but 3 DDs can't track it down to attack.

DEI: We're walking over to eliminate the last of the Batavia Dutch troops.

A base force has been brought to Koepang and Nells and zeros are transferring there to hit Darwin. C5M2s are in Dili now doing some recon there. A small group of 12 Oscars is heading to Saumlaki (which just made a level 2 field) to sweep ahead of the bombing raids.

No Pac: A few more Naval Guard units are heading out to the Aleutians. To start we're putting one guard unit and a base force onto about 8 of the islands. 2 more Guard units will be placed on strategic islands we don't plan to build up. A mobile reserve in Adak will begin with a Rgt from Manchuria due to be bought by June and might grow depending on Allied interest in this or other areas.

Several training squadrons can be brought out here as many of the islands are within the General Defense command structure. We'll have 45 Nells moving out soon as well as a full 45 plane zero group and several smaller fighter groups as well as Kates and Vals. If the Allies do come this way, they may find more than they are expecting, and hopefully will bring a lot of ships. Shoho plus a strong surface combat TF will remain in the area. In the event of a large concentration of Allied forces attacking in So Pac, these forces would be used to raid supply lines and support further small harassment invasions of bases in Alaska.

The entire philosophy of this invasion and occupation is not to keep these islands for a long period, but to use them to slow Allied advances and to bleed their forces when they come. If our units are destroyed they will be bought back and placed on the Kuriles for the next year's defense plan. Those bases are being extensively built, but only Paramushiro, Onneketan, and Uruppa-Jimas are being garrisoned with combat troops and air forces at this stage.

Burma: The road to China is closed! This should mean 15,000 or so less supplies per month trickling into China.

China: A long term plan to invade the 3 southern bases in China is now coming to its climax.

Over the last months since the invasion of Singapore our forces used there have been resting and preparing for southern China. This while my opponent has sent several emails mentioning his wonder at where these forces will strike next. In these he seemed to imply he was thinking they would move to a far-flung location like India, New Zealand, or E Australia. Instead, after spending most of the first months of the war solidifying middle and SE China as well as pushing far north to Sian and then Lanchow, we will now attack in force across a broad area of Central to Southern China.

2,700 AV plus the Southern Army HQ will move into Nanning tomorrow, shocking across the river. A smaller force of 1,000 AV moving north from Wuchow will simultaneously move into Kweilin, cutting the rail from the center where most of the Chinese force is concentrated. For several days previously we have been employing two feints in Central China. 1,600 AV have been showing movement into Changsha for 4 days already, but have not actually been moving into the city. Just to the south, one hex below Changsha another 1,700 AV have been sitting on the rail line showing movement into Henyang, trying to freeze the 12 units in that city as well. As Chinese recon is not stellar, I'm sure my opponent does not know the exact strength of these forces.

So far nothing has moved to support the southern cities, and in fact units have begun to move out of both Nanning and Kweilin toward Liuchow. The Allies have had a tendency to evacuate when under pressure rather than fighting, so this could be the case again.

If we achieve the primary goal of winning these three southern cities, we will then begin to actually move both central forces into Changsha and turn all bombing onto that city. In the south we will solidify our rear with about 1,000 AV and move on Henyang with 2,600 to attempt to open the entire rail line. As this coincides with our closing of the Burma Road, it should be hard for the Chinese to mount a counter offensive. They have A LOT of units in the central cities, about 50 altogether, which should be quite a supply drain already. If they do move out of Changsha and come for us toward Wuchang or Nanchang, which is the fear, we will move back into our forts and fill from the rear with our reserve.

Here is a map. It's all definitely making the adrenaline flow right now.

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[font="Times New Roman"]Map of China[/font]
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