Matrix Games Forums

Rumble in the jungle....


I have an army bearing down upon Comilla and another about to cross the river into Tezpur. He has at least 20,000 troops at Chittagong so a division plus more. My recon says 2 units but he must have more. There is a tiny recon unit at Comilla and 6500 troops at Dacca.

This turn I flattened the 91st JNFA BN at Dacca but did not discover what the other 3 units are.

My plan is simply to take Comilla, cut off Dacca and invade with two indian units moving east from Calcutta.

I switched the army attacking Comilla down to combat speed. they already have 8 units moved from the previous turn so they will hit in 2-3 turns. He cannot get troops to Comilla by strat move and get them back out without them being attacked so unless he is going to fly in a ton of them, Comilla will go to the allies at least for a while.

If I can flip Dacca then I have a very strong airfield right next to his only supply line into India.

I am not sure he wants a repeat of what happened last time... I think I was already finished conquering most of china before some of his troops from that area died of starvation trying to reach a back line that was moving much faster than they were.

He still has control of the seas and plenty of troops at his disposal. We shall see how fast he can counter and what he counters with. Nevertheless, India is now in full on contact.

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this move. How much of the army used to take Singapore is accounted for right now? Have you had any intel reports of IJ units planning to land anywhere in India? If Japan were to invade Diamond Harbor you could be in some serious trouble; you don't control the RR back to India so you'd have to march back overland. The Japanese could take Calcutta while your army is stuck to the east. I'd be more cautious about "lunging" in eastern India this early. Your center of mass shouldn't be east of Calcutta yet.

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this move. How much of the army used to take Singapore is accounted for right now? Have you had any intel reports of IJ units planning to land anywhere in India? If Japan were to invade Diamond Harbor you could be in some serious trouble; you don't control the RR back to India so you'd have to march back overland. The Japanese could take Calcutta while your army is stuck to the east. I'd be more cautious about "lunging" in eastern India this early. Your center of mass shouldn't be east of Calcutta yet.

I have over 1200AV still in Calcutta. There is another 600AV at Medan if I get really concerned. The allies start with a large force in India and it only grows.

If he takes Diamond Harbor he has to hold diamond harbor or risk getting cut off.

Yes, it is higher stakes and I could get slaughtered but what fun is hiding behind forts until I am unbeatable?

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this move. How much of the army used to take Singapore is accounted for right now? Have you had any intel reports of IJ units planning to land anywhere in India? If Japan were to invade Diamond Harbor you could be in some serious trouble; you don't control the RR back to India so you'd have to march back overland. The Japanese could take Calcutta while your army is stuck to the east. I'd be more cautious about "lunging" in eastern India this early. Your center of mass shouldn't be east of Calcutta yet.

I have over 1200AV still in Calcutta. There is another 600AV at Medan if I get really concerned. The allies start with a large force in India and it only grows.

If he takes Diamond Harbor he has to hold diamond harbor or risk getting cut off.

Yes, it is higher stakes and I could get slaughtered but what fun is hiding behind forts until I am unbeatable?

Medan? Medan is in Sumatra. Surely you mean another base.

Ya, 1200 AV is pretty good. It should be enough to hold Calcutta for some time if the Japanese land at Diamond harbor given the heavy urban terrain. As long as you also have Bombay adequately covered, I think you're good to go attack. I agree you can take some risks but don't be reckless

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this move. How much of the army used to take Singapore is accounted for right now? Have you had any intel reports of IJ units planning to land anywhere in India? If Japan were to invade Diamond Harbor you could be in some serious trouble; you don't control the RR back to India so you'd have to march back overland. The Japanese could take Calcutta while your army is stuck to the east. I'd be more cautious about "lunging" in eastern India this early. Your center of mass shouldn't be east of Calcutta yet.

I have over 1200AV still in Calcutta. There is another 600AV at Medan if I get really concerned. The allies start with a large force in India and it only grows.

If he takes Diamond Harbor he has to hold diamond harbor or risk getting cut off.

Yes, it is higher stakes and I could get slaughtered but what fun is hiding behind forts until I am unbeatable?

Medan? Medan is in Sumatra. Surely you mean another base.

Ya, 1200 AV is pretty good. It should be enough to hold Calcutta for some time if the Japanese land at Diamond harbor given the heavy urban terrain. As long as you also have Bombay adequately covered, I think you're good to go attack. I agree you can take some risks but don't be reckless

What could possibly go wrong? ;]

The CS Chiyoda...

I dislike this ship more than most for some odd reason and I take great pleasures when I get the chance to hit it.

The SS trusty puts two torpedoes into her side for extra points!!

Then NJP decides to do a ground attack against my forces moving in on Comilla...

And I feel like Scarface saying 'Say Hello to my little friend!!!' when the AA brigade opens up...

Noting my enthusiastic reaction,

Trusty puts two more torps into the Chiyoda!!! YAY!!!

Lesson I learned the hard way was not having enough AA units in my lead columns. One reason to bring that big AA brigade out of Ceylon into India.

Chittagong - maybe a night port attack is in order now that Chiyoda is damaged.

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

I'm not sure I'm a fan of this move. How much of the army used to take Singapore is accounted for right now? Have you had any intel reports of IJ units planning to land anywhere in India? If Japan were to invade Diamond Harbor you could be in some serious trouble; you don't control the RR back to India so you'd have to march back overland. The Japanese could take Calcutta while your army is stuck to the east. I'd be more cautious about "lunging" in eastern India this early. Your center of mass shouldn't be east of Calcutta yet.

I have over 1200AV still in Calcutta. There is another 600AV at Medan if I get really concerned. The allies start with a large force in India and it only grows.

If he takes Diamond Harbor he has to hold diamond harbor or risk getting cut off.

Yes, it is higher stakes and I could get slaughtered but what fun is hiding behind forts until I am unbeatable?

Medan? Medan is in Sumatra. Surely you mean another base.

Ya, 1200 AV is pretty good. It should be enough to hold Calcutta for some time if the Japanese land at Diamond harbor given the heavy urban terrain. As long as you also have Bombay adequately covered, I think you're good to go attack. I agree you can take some risks but don't be reckless

Medan, Madras... What's the difference?

Up until now NJP has been leading this circus. I intend for that to change for good.

He may have had a plan to invade india but now he has to modify that and I screwed up plenty of his timetable. He has 2-3 divisions at the dot base Tezpur and I am going to hit that next turn with over 1700AV including plenty of tanks for the open terrain and river crossing. The river crossing is a negative but I am hitting a good portion of his troops out in the open with tanks.

If the assault is a great success then he is down 2 divisions temporarily. If it is a failure he still has to keep forces in the area to combat this force. He cannot leave it alone tearing a path through eastern India. He can try an envelopment by invading diamond harbor (for the 2nd time in this game) but then he has a large force at his back at Calcutta and another heading back towards him. The envelopment could quickly switch sides in that case.

He will lose Comilla as he simply cannot get sufficient forces to the base in time. My movement into the hex to the east of the base cut his rail access to that city and Dacca. So, his only source of supply is Chittagong and I am making the supply route to Tezpur very tenuous.

2 indian divisions are moving on Dacca and will be there within a week or so. My calculations are that he cannot get counter forces there in time due to the blocked rail lines. In addition, he has several other problems to worry about.

The forces that take Comilla will need to be dealt with as well. There are 1100AV in that stack with artillery, tanks, AA and command. It wasnt a lark. He will have to field at least 3 divisions to face off against it. My guess is everything he has in reserve off the continent is being targeted for Chittagong just to save that city from falling. In fact, I am counting on it. Hence the sub's and the mines. He hasnt found the mines yet ;]

In a new discovery, it appears that Imphal may yet again have been left unoccupied. If that is the case then his problems just magnified because I dropped portions of the 2nd parachute brigade into that hex. I may be able to gain air superiority in the back country of India.

You asked about forces at Singapore. The silly Japs put their significant tank forces at Bandoeng along with every artillery piece he can muster to try to dig those troops out. Tanks dont do well in mountainous country.

Maybe he can turn this into a victory for himself. However, the portion of india he thought was a lock is now an area where we are going to go round and round and this will take months of his precious time.


I may be a fool but I am not a reckless one ;]

June 28, 1942

The sub trusty tries to put a few torpedoes into a light cruiser but misses and gets banged up for her trouble. There is still a medium size transport fleet in Chittagong harbor. Whether it is there to pick up or drop off troops is unclear but he does have AP's which indicates troops.

Nicks and Hurricanes tangle over Dacca. His cap is light. I think most of his fighters were covering the troop ships at Chittagong.

Unescorted bomber attacks go in at Tezpur. I was worried I might lose a lot of bombers to this but I do not have a fighter base in range and I NEEDED to give as much disruption as possible to cover the river crossing for my troops. This was a place that NJP could have capitalized if he had the ability and/or knowledge.

Fortunately for me 3 bombing runs flew.

His coordinated betty attack decides to go in against a heavy anti-aircraft unit with predictable results.

I have a blocking force at Sinyang and they are giving better than they are getting. They have been beaten by impossible odds 3 times now and just fought back harder.

Here is the Bandoeng Siege

He is pushing really hard and it is costing him.

The shock attack goes in against Tezpur.

The recon unit he had there is shattered, the 53rd division is almost eliminated and it appears that most of his command unit was lost as well.

But wait, there is more...

The 2nd British Paratroops drop in on the unguarded Imphal. It appears he did not learn as much from last game as he would have liked. Yes, he did guard the rail line which was smart but now he has an airfield in his back yard that is a potential nightmare.

Shipping Secrets for the Extended Map

I will throw in a piece of advice for the AFB's here. JBF's dont read this

When sending shipping from Aden to Karachi/Bombay there is one hex that the shipping always leaves the off map areas for. And that spot is a favorite for the Japanese subs and interdiction forces to habit.

Hex 21, 3 on the map.

However, there are some secrets to avoiding this spot.

I am surprised how many JFB's take Ceylon and Diego Garcia and all those bases yet ignore Socotra and the other 2 bases up north. If those were captured and manned by search aircraft it would make it much more difficult for reinforcements to arrive in India.

But I digress...

If you own Socotra, simply send your ships with orders 'Do Not Unload' to Socotra with the home base set to Karachi or Bombay. That way they will not simply sit at Socotra as waiting targets, they will move to their respective ports without further aid and wait patiently for you to unload them. They enter the map closer to the west side and nowhere near hex 21,3.

The same thing works for that base Dante in the upper west corner of the map. If you set your ships to go there first you will exit the map in yet a 3rd spot.

Now, maybe I am full of myself, well, of course I am. However, I emptied Aden onto the shores of India without even a sub sighting much less attack on any of the transports.

This would not have been possible without me holding these key bases... What are the JFB's thinking??