"Think" I've found a workaround for the inability to sweep friendly bases.
- If enemy is using LRCAP the fighers will be set with range of 1-x hexes.
I've seen that when LRCAP'ing Bassein my fighters "reacted" to enemy attacks on nearby bases.
So this turn I swept Prome heavily; when bombers went in there were no CAP fighters there [8D]
We wiped out the entire air landing force today, good riddance. Hopefully it will take 3-4 months to rebuild it.
Have discussed the sweep functionality and it's just not possible to get the air guys to see the light [:(]
I can indeed rotate routed divisions, problem is that it takes a loong time to do so.
I can't move troop transports into Rangoon without air superiority and it takes more than a month to get a division out
via Moulmein. Wish the Burma railroad could be completed...
Road and rail network in Burma goes north south, very little east west.
Switching forces quickly is very difficult (especially because of my second favorite functionality that makes rail movement
impossible even if a single enemy squad is present in your base).
With Andy attacking in prongs; one westwards, 2 south and one SW towards Prome I was not able to swich troops quickly enough.
My blocking forces in the jungle (1.5 div worth of troops) were routed much easier than I believed possible. Gathering all the eggs
in one basket is a smart idea as long as you don't place them in the wrong basket.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Feb 19, 44
Air Combat
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 37
Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
Spitfire VIII x 38
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 9 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 3 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes
Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 22
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 17
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
J2M2 Jack: 3 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50
Weather in hex: Partial cloud
Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 21
Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 3
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire VIII: 2 destroyed
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x N1K1-J George sweeping at 30000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 77th Chindit Brigade, at 54,52 (Bassein)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 4 damaged
Allied ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 2000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 77th Chindit Brigade, at 54,52 (Bassein)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid detected at 16 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes
Japanese aircraft
J2M2 Jack x 5
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 77th Chindit Brigade, at 54,52 (Bassein)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 38
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 damaged
Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 3000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 77th Chindit Brigade, at 54,52 (Bassein)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 4 damaged
Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 77th Chindit Brigade, at 54,52 (Bassein)
Weather in hex: Overcast
Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes
Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 7000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground Combat
Ground combat at Bassein (54,52)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 2913 troops, 48 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 133
Defending force 1595 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 71
Japanese adjusted assault: 99
Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 99 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)
Japanese ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Allied ground losses:
2376 casualties reported
Squads: 111 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 63 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 38 (38 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3
Assaulting units:
90th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka Assault SNLF /1
25th Field AA Machinecannon Company
18th JAAF Base Force
Defending units:
50th Indian Para Bde /2
77th Chindit Bde /2
1st Specl Svc Force /1
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Burma
I'm contemplating a relatively bold option; because of the north south road / rail network in Burma it's very difficult and time consuming
to move east - west.
My plan is therefore to concentrate the bulk of the Burma Army near Rangoon in 2 major formations.
1. Either in the hex north of Burma or - ideally - in Rangoon itself.
- If we do so Andy will most likely be forced to attack westwards and it takes forever to move a single hex without roads.
An east - west movement will make it possible to use our 2500-3000 AV Rangoon stack in a counterattack northwards.
2. Either in Toungoo or in the jungle hex to the south. With 1200-1500 AV we should easily be able to stall the enemy army in this area.
If any of our armies are routed we have to fall back to the Geisha line.
In any case this will take time and enable us to bring in fresh troops. Good progress is already being made to the north and I expect the major
LCU formations to be able to move south. Since Taung Gyi is a rough jungle hex with 4 forts a couple of regiments will be able to defend the base
against the relatively weak formations Andy has here.
The advantages of this plan is that it; a) buys us time b) gives us a chance to hang on to Rangoon.
The risk is that we may be defeated and become to weak to efficiently hold the Geisha Line.
- I can counter this risk by bringing in reserves to the Bangkok area.
The only alternative to this plan is to withdraw to the Geisha Line immediately and hand Rangoon over to Andy...
What does the War Council think about all this?
