PzB vs Wobbly - Clash of Steel

[PzB74]

Yeah, you're right...

From the Combined Fleet site:

Katori Class: "These ships were originally laid down as training cruisers. As such they carried an interesting hodge-podge of 6" and 5" guns, and a mixed powerplant of steam boilers and diesels. They were real barn-burners, capable of making a heady 18 knots flat out. Not too surprisingly, we sank all three."

Who the he11 makes brand new ships only capable of 18kts!?
Mostly used em as escorts, but without asw capabilites - they were rather useless.
Performed surprisingly well today though [;)]

[PzB74]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/05/42

Surface Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 43 encounters mine field at Kendari (33,71) - Al has mined Kendari with subs..good thing I got 2 sweepers in the port

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 29
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASW/Sub Attacks

Sub attack at 13,23

Japanese Ships
SS I-169, hits 2, on fire - 67 flood, heading back to Trimcomalle - hope she makes it. Lost too many subs already

Allied Ships - what are this huge tf doing 1 hex north of Colombo? Fast transport?
CL Newcastle
DD Panther
DD Paladin
DD Isis
DD Stewart
DD Whipple
DD Bulmer
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 66th Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 12
Ki-48 Lily x 15
Ki-49 Helen x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
10 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
12 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 13,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4 - ah, puny escort
G3M Nell x 19

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 9 - these guys carriers very light guns
Buffalo I x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 10 damaged - and I don't loose many bombers

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire - my torpedo bombers doesn't hit anything
CL Birmingham
DD Isis

Aircraft Attacking:
All G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 13,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17 - unfortunately I moved in 80 naval bombers to Madras yesterday. Ac usually requires 1 day to settle in before launching strikes
Ki-21 Sally x 15

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 9
Buffalo I x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 6 destroyed
Buffalo I: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships - lots of near misses, but no sigar
DD Stewart
CA Devonshire
DD Whipple

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 56,88

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 28

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AG AG-110, Shell hits 4
AG AG-103, Shell hits 8
AG AG-367, Shell hits 12
AG AG-104, Shell hits 8
AG AG-107, Shell hits 16, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
All Aircobra and Wirraway attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 13,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M Nell x 12

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 6
Buffalo I x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M Nell: 5 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships - again, no hits..
DD Whipple
CA Devonshire
CL Birmingham

Aircraft Attacking:
All G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 31868 troops, 283 guns, 410 vehicles

Defending force 142623 troops, 1103 guns, 792 vehicles

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

The KB is heading back to Trimcomalee, but has now been diverted and will race north of Ceylon - perhaps I can intercept
the Allied task force that is probably bringing in troops or supplies to Colombo! Max react has been ordered.

My battleships have finally been refuelled, and are heading back to Trimcomalee to take part in Operation Sledgehammer - which
will attempt to destroy the remaining British ships in the East!

I rest my men at Calcutta one more day, then I will try a series of bloody deliberate attacks - fatigue and disruption makes me a little hesistant,
and many of my units have lost a lot of combat potential. The Sallys at Chandur are a lazy bunch, another day without a single plane taking off.

Base forces and construction units are unloading at Trimcomalee, and when weather improves I will move in more naval bombers.
A brigade from Borneo is going to relieve the division, so I'll soon embark it for Madras. The division that moved out of Madras towards
Bangalore moved due west!? [&:] Argh, ground movement is certainly frustrating. In my next game, I'll stick to capturing islands, I promise!!!!

Grand master maniac schemes for capturing whole continents is nothing but a major pain in the butt [;)]

South Pacific

One of the light cruisers that fought at Lunga yesterday has been docked at Tulagi. Doubt she'll make it, 74 flood and fires are still raging.
The other is going to be fine though, will head back to Truk for repairs. Wobbly said that another of the destroyers that were hit yesterday is
most likely going to sink.

I've now upgraded the defenses of many islands in both the Marianas and Marshalls. Mining operations will continue and more base forces and
garrison units are being moved to Truk. It will be at least another month before the KB is back, and my light carriers needs just as long before
the Mini KB is ready.

[PzB74]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/06/42

Surface Combat

Invasions

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1075 troops unloading over beach at Tulagi, 68,96

Allied ground losses: - Wobbly must have seen that I disbanded a ship at Tulagi - and now he wants it [:'(]
44 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Minor raids only

Ground Combat

A few bombardment attacks

Situation Report

The British tf north of Colombo was attacked by a sub again, but got away...my search planes couldn't spot them either.

Deliberate attacks ordered against Calcutta tomorrow, large supply convoys have unloaded at Chandpur. Those lazy bomber ba$tards better get to work soon!

Otherwise a very quiet day. The Marshal Islands have now been satisfactorily reinforced, only mininig operations will continue in the area. Large amounts of base forces from Japan will be moved to Wewak, Lae, Buna, Gili Gili and Kavieng.
Already got a size 3 af at Wewak, but otherwise New Guinea hasn't received much attention, only Lae has been built.
So this is the next area that will receive reinforcements. Have to use fast transports from Rabaul to reinforce the southernmost bases.

Uncertain about what I should do about Shortland - only got a size 1 airfield. As long as Wobbly holds Lunga, it will be within easy striking range. The only reason for reinforcing it would be to prevent him from capturing it as well, but I can't well afford to put a lot of good troops into this malaria ridden place.

Advice anyone!?

[madflava13]

I say Naval Garrison, CD unit and a ton of mines... If he has air superiority and you don't plan on taking Lunga back, then don't risk a lot of troops on Shortland for him to train his aircrews on...

[PzB74]

Exactly my thoughts, got 7000 men there but no mines or CD. The latter isn't available, got units at Truk, Kwajalein, Rabaul and Saipan. Could perhaps take one from Saipan as there are 2 there.

Moving minelayers down now, will be very busy creating minefields now! The longer Al waits to attack, the better prepared I'll be!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/07/42

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Madras , at 18,21

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft - a large attack from Colombo! Have to close this base asap...
Kittyhawk I x 12
Wellington III x 30
B-17E Fortress x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed, 4 damaged
H8K Emily: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed - my few Zeros did well! Moving in another Daitai - my airforce is now stretched over a vast area
Wellington III: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17 and Wellington III bombing at 9000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 39th Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 13
Ki-48 Lily x 36
Ki-49 Helen x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
66 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All Helen and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 67,94

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13
SBD Dauntless x 15

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Kashima, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage - survived to be scuttled. She wouldn't have survived anyway, and now 2 SBD's joined her if nothing else...

Aircraft Attacking:
All SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 143398 troops, 1182 guns, 801 vehicles

Defending force 56979 troops, 352 guns, 497 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 7 - forts have been rebuilt cause my bombers refuse to fly

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

Japanese ground losses:
3381 casualties reported
Guns lost 106
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
1157 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tulagi

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 320 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Tulagi base !!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

More bloody fighting at Calcutta, and I'll keep the attacks up this time, even though I'm now very annoyed at me well fed and supplied bombers at Chandpur. 90 Zeros and 110 bombers are just sitting at the tarmac doing nothing....[:(]

Tomorrow a division reaches Banaglore, took a really strange route - followed the landroad instead of the railroad, a long detour - but moved with lightning speed anyway. I wonder whether there's been a mixup here? Someone should check it out.

The little drama around Lunga ended today, US newspaper have claimed that 2 Jap battleships were sunk after
a bloody battle [;)] Wobbly refused to believe they were trainining cruisers without torpedoes and a mere 18kt top speed...

[Hornblower]

I would build and hold. It is only a matter of time before the Allies stage the attack. This will be a stop they will have to attack/capture on the way to rubaul. Excellent AAR.....

[PzB74]

Thx Hornblower!! I will continue my defensive efforts in the South Pacific. A steady trickle of surface ships are now moving towards Truk. Don't need em to support massive invasions in India anymore.

Rabaul is well supported by Lae and I'm about to build Kavieng - and Shortland is also in my hands. Will move in some more engineers and lay a lot of mines there as well though. Running out of garrison units. Going to keep a sizeable reserve at Truk so I can move them quickly to were they're needed. Just docked a squadron of destroyer transports that brought in a large SNLF unit from the East.

Almost impossible to predict were an Allied offensive will hit: Wake and Marcus Islands would mostly be dead ends - but Tarawa would give Wobbly control of the Gilberts and provide a good staging point for invasions into the Marshalls. Got 9000 men there and 2 forts. Will take a full division to capture it - and it will be ripped into shreds istelf!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/08/42

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft - a good strike hits Colombo!
A6M2 Zero x 19
G3M Nell x 17
G4M1 Betty x 42
Ki-21 Sally x 21

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 7 damaged - only 1 Nell is lost today
G4M1 Betty: 17 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged - but Al must have moved his ac [:(]

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 52

Aircraft Attacking:
All Betty and Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 138087 troops, 1041 guns, 794 vehicles

Defending force 60695 troops, 385 guns, 488 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7) - darned difficult to get rid of these forts!!

Japanese ground losses:
1333 casualties reported
Guns lost 81
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
1112 casualties reported - ah, the defenders are now taking just as many casualties as I am! A good sign, I hope...
Guns lost 32
Vehicles lost 7
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

Still slow going at Calcutta and some of my divisions are exhausted - but I'll keep up the attacks. I'm still trying to convince my bombers at Chandpur to attack the airfields of Calcutta. Got 100 bombers and 80 fighters + 20 search planes. Air support for 220 ac, plenty supplies, an Air HQ and full sized squadrons - still not a single attack in a full week even though the weather has allowed it.

Tomorrow 4 ca's will bombard Trimcomalee, want to force Al to repair the damage and spend supplies. Will become
very difficult for him to move in supplies now as my bombers are in place.

Moved 25 Zeros to Madras and Trimcomalee, got 33 and 30 there respectively now.
At Rangoon I'm moving out the last division as well - a large brigade, naval garrison, tank regiment, eng regiment and support units will remain behind the forts. Going to try to overwhelm Karachi and Bombay with 6-7 divisions!

The Zuiho seems to be impossible to repair [:(] After 10 days in Shanghai it has repaired 1 sys damage - is now at 27.
Moved it from Singapore because it refused to heal. All other ships I dock at Shanghai repairs really quickly, got repair ships there as well.

More reinforcements arrived at Truk, got a fleet there now and a fair sized infantry reserve. 1300 mines at Kwajalein and more on the way. [:(] Going to LRCAP my barges at Lae tomorrow, Zeros ordered in at 3000 feet. Want to hit the fighter bombers hard!

[Mynok]

Not sure how your line is setup for Lae, but if you are going all the way to Lae, why not dump at Finschafen? I always did that in UV and it worked well. I'm assuming your barges are coming either down the coast of NG from Wewak area, or down the front/back side of New Britain from Rabaul.

Does this area work differently in WITP?

[WhoCares]

Do you already have some MLEs? In my game I accellerated their production at day one after 1.3 patch to get some to Kwaj, Rabaul/Shortland and Kendari asap - it was ~ 1st April and I am desperately waiting now as it is early July and his CVs are patrolling the Solomons and mine are in repair yards...

[PzB74]

Mynok - I'm escorting the barges with PC/PG's - they refuel them and they also carries some fuel themselves.
This way I can run directly from Rabaul and to Lae - on the north side of course!

WhoCares - I don't have any MLE's [:(] We started a V1.2 game without them altogether.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/09/42

Surface Combat

Bombardments

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Colombo, at 14,24 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Going to make this bombardment run into a regular one: The daily express from Trimcomalee to Colombo [8D]

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 3 destroyed, 4 damaged

6 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Kako
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 2
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba

Allied ground losses:
214 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 21
Port hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23
Aaah, finally - after complaining for a week - my Sallys took off in strength! Al said they probably would [;)]

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 40
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 21
Ki-21 Sally x 110

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 29 destroyed, 4 damaged - 10 shot down
Beaufort V-IX: 19 destroyed, 29 damaged
Blenheim IV: 5 destroyed, 8 damaged
Blenheim IF: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied ground losses:
168 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 79

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 38th Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 2
Ki-48 Lily x 9
Ki-49 Helen x 12

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 5000 feet
3 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
6 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 93rd Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 11
Ki-48 Lily x 19
Ki-49 Helen x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
14 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
6 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

A little insulted that Wobbly continues this daily run - that kind of predictability begged to be punished, and
today I got it right. The Zeros swooped in from 3000 feet and hit the low flying fighter bombers.
The Lae Daitai got my 2 high scoring aces with 10 and 12 kills!

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 33

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses - 9 planes were shot down today
Wirraway: 8 destroyed, 5 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AG AG-361, Shell hits 4
PG Shinko Maru #1, Shell hits 28
AG AG-115, Shell hits 4
AG AG-114
AG AG-365, Shell hits 8, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
All P39 and Wirraway attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 134526 troops, 926 guns, 790 vehicles

Defending force 59561 troops, 353 guns, 488 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7) - I'm not reducing the forts!!!!

Japanese ground losses:
1187 casualties reported - relatively low lossses, but fatigue and disruption runs high!
Guns lost 52

Allied ground losses:
559 casualties reported
Guns lost 38
Vehicles lost 9
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Lanchow

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 111998 troops, 1098 guns, 290 vehicles

Defending force 2578 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese assault odds: 873 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Lanchow base !!! this base was worth 600 points [:)]

Japanese ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
199 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

A good day [8D]
52 Allied aircraft destroyed in the air and on the ground - and only 2 Sallys were lost in return.
I've spotted a large number of enemy ac based at Diamond Harbour, I'm ordering 60 Betties and Nells from Madras
to hit it. The Sallys at Chandpur will continue hitting Calcuttas airfield - this is the only way to prevent the forts from being rebuilt!

I'm having problems reducing the forts - so I'm trying something new. I'm resting 2 divisions and ordering 2 engineer regiments to shock attack while the rest bombards and executes regular attacks. The forts gotta go!!! [:-]

Only 4 days until the battle fleet arrives at Trimcomalee, then we head for Karachi!!

China

Lanchow fell without much effort as Wobbly has abandoned it! Lots of resources and industry, although damage was widespread. Only one base left in northern China - it will fall easily.

I've noticed that Chungking is worth 3500 points!!! That's all I need to get 4 times more points than Al - hm, can I attempt a march into the interior of China?

What do the rest of you think?

South Pacific

Said that I expected to hit Al's fighter bombers yesterday - and I did!
Put my Zero's at LRCAP over the barge tf at 3000 feet - perfect. Not expecting anymore attacks for a while - and
there should be an escort next time [;)]

Waiting for several convoys carrying base forces to Truk, Kavieng and Rabaul. Buna is a size 2 af now and could be useful.
Could put a few fighters there and Al would have another base to bomb...

[Hornblower]

PZB,

i must say i am very interested in the avenue you took. Namely trying to knock out the western front before the american's are strong enough to force issues in the east. I know i am looking months down the line, BUT, assuming that you are succesful out east and knock the Brits back, have you worked out a plan and allocation of forces to hold your gains? KB obviously (side note, need spell check for this !!! not to matrix) can't stay there. are you going to base a baby kb? a surface force ? Not talking details, more broad strokes then anything else.
- Hornblower

[bbbf]

error

[Raverdave]

So the evil one from the north has eyes for Chungking eh ? Well good luck Northman because you will need it. Chungking is THE major Chinese base and it is here that all of the rag-tag chinese units will have been retreating to.....PLUS it is the main center for Chinese manpower. Oh and the reason it is worth 3500 points is because you will need at least 10,000 assault points to take it.
Good luck.

[pauk]

PzB must be direct descendant of Bjarni Herljufson or Leif Eriksson [;)]

seriously, Chungking is hard target. Do you considering a strategic bombing (resources) before attacking C.? Al will have problems with supplies. Does anybody tried this strategy against chinese? I'm just started and my first attack of 90 sallys scored 13 resource hits....

also, i'm wonder where is Al's B-17? in my PBEM game, my blackhearted opponent sends a 100 ac strike....

[PzB74]

Hornblower: I will leave 6-7 divisions in India and Burma if I manage to drive the pommies out! A sizeable cruiser and destroyer force backed up by a couple of old battleships
will also remain behind. The KB (and Mini KB) should be able to stall any US offensive in the South Pacific until late 42. I'm confident that KO blow will have been delivered by 1943 - if we then decide to continue the game, I will have to come up with a new plan.

10000 assault points? That's all my divisions in China Raverdale [:'(] Could probably muster 7000, perhaps even 8.
Perhaps Al has sent units to Burma, and I know he got a lot of 'lost ones' in Northern China.

Pauk, I'll do my best and perhaps I won't end on history's junkyard if nothing else...
Blackadder stated that a war (WWI) hasn't been fought this badly since Olaf the incredibly hairy ordered 10,000 viking war helmets with the horns on the inside" [:D]
That's exactly the kind of of posthumous reputation I'll don't want [:'(]

All my Sallys, and then I mean ALL - are busy bombing Calcutta (well, most of the time they're drinking sake and eating rice cakes me thinks:p)
so it won't be possible to bomb much in China for a while. Perhaps I can gather all my useless Lilys?


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/10/42

No air or sea activity to talk about today. A barge hit a mine at Rabaul and Al continued his practice runs of northern Oz.

Ground Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Shock attack (as you remember, only a few engineer regiments were ordered to shock attack today)

Attacking force 132845 troops, 874 guns, 792 vehicles

Defending force 58575 troops, 317 guns, 486 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7) - and again they fail to bring down the forts [:(]

Japanese ground losses:
2407 casualties reported
Guns lost 23
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
818 casualties reported
Guns lost 21
Vehicles lost 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Calcutta

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11599 troops, 98 guns, 254 vehicles

Defending force 138408 troops, 823 guns, 786 vehicles


Japanese ground losses:
54 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

Bad weather grounds all ac today - but I spot 142 fighters at Calcutta!!!! Me thinks Wobbly wants to kill my bombers, so I order all my
Zeros to sweep Calcutta tomorrow.

Getting a little frustrated since I doesn't manage to reduce the forts at Calcutta. My men are exhausted, but there's no use resting them - casue a single
attack brings fatigue and disruption back up to their 70-80's - and in the meanwhile, the forts will be rebuilt. If I can't get anywhere, I will send the Imp Div to Asansol together with some engineer and tanks. It has prepared 100% for this objective. Asansol is reported defended by only 2400 men? I got 4000 paras at Chandpur, and they will try a surprise attack soon.

Large troop convoys are heading for and already unloading at Madras. Imagine the shock Al will get when 7 divisions march towards Bombay, Delhi and Karachi [:D]

V1.4 really speeded up things! Everything's moving much smoother now, why didn't they do this a long time ago [;)]
Well done Matrix!

[pauk]

ORIGINAL: PzB
Pauk, I'll do my best and perhaps I won't end on history's junkyard if nothing else...
Blackadder stated that a war (WWI) hasn't been fought this badly since Olaf the incredibly hairy ordered 10,000 viking war helmets with the horns on the inside" [:D]
That's exactly the kind of of posthumous reputation I'll don't want [:'(]

All my Sallys, and then I mean ALL - are busy bombing Calcutta (well, most of the time they're drinking sake and eating rice cakes me thinks:p)
so it won't be possible to bomb much in China for a while. Perhaps I can gather all my useless Lilys?

[:D][:D][:D]
I love Black adder, especially WWI edition....nah, you will never have bad reputation, look what you done already... you forced Raverdave to follow this Japanese fanboy thread[:D]

Well, about bombing, it was just idea, honestly i have no idea if it's gonna work. I will check with my opponent and let you know... if you plan to re-deploy Lilly's, check their range....

keep the good work!

[denisonh]

Bad reputation? I would like to see the list of those who have smoked you versus those of us who you have beaten. Would make an interesting comparison.

[PzB74]

Thx for the encouraging words guys [8D] I usually have a fair grip on things as long as I got the tools of the trade to wage war with. Just started my first WitP scen 15 (Lemurs mod) against 2ndACR - and I'm not feeling that confident yet. First now I understand how many understrength and semi trained ground and air units Wobbly had available to him.

I'm going to try to use my US cv's in the same spirited way as Al has done thus far though! The loss of 2 IJN carriers really hurt - but again, it forced me to concentrate my remaining carrier strength and that may be a good thing after all.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/11/42

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft - I was right, another big British CAP effort today!
A6M2 Zero x 50

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 32
P-40E Warhawk x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 22 destroyed - 16 Zeros lost in air to air combat

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 85 destroyed, 6 damaged - 30 Hurries and 2 Warhawks were shot down.
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 6th NLF , at 67,97

Allied aircraft - there are now SBD's at Lunga!
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13
SBD Dauntless x 13

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 9th Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 13
Ki-48 Lily x 21
Ki-49 Helen x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
All Helen and Lily bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 18,37

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 15 - again my Ann's catch a fly in their web

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Virginian, Bomb hits 9, on fire, heavy damage - not healthy to sail too close to Sumatra!

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-30 Ann bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 130672 troops, 810 guns, 792 vehicles

Defending force 58392 troops, 305 guns, 484 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 7 - hm, had Al built the forts to 8?

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

Japanese ground losses:
1421 casualties reported
Guns lost 57
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
1596 casualties reported - heavier casualties than me, that's got to be good as I got twice as many men!?
Guns lost 33
Vehicles lost 14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Calcutta

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11412 troops, 93 guns, 252 vehicles

Defending force 135496 troops, 767 guns, 788 vehicles

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
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Situation Report

The melee over Calcutta cose me some Zeros, but I got to reduce the RAF before I can pound Calcutta into the rubble.
Moved in 18 reinforcement Zeros to compensate for those who were lost, so we're just as strong as before! My bombers are
ordered to hit Calcutta's air fields tomorrow.

Al is afraid I'm going to cut him off by moving from Madras. Guess he doesn't know that I'm landing another large army
that is going straight for the throat!

Tomorrow the battlefleet and KB docks at Trimcomalee and sucks up all the fuel there - then we head towards Karachi to gut
the remainder of the RN! We'll hit Diamond Harbour on the way back.

Currently holding 54 trained Zeros as a tactical reserve in Tokyo, will only deploy them if I have to. Another 27 will arrive shortly.
Feeling more confident in the South Pacific now, got sizeable garrisons in place and tons of mines are now being sown.
A Kongo battleship and escorts will soon arrive at Truk - when the Yamato also arrives, I will move the Junyo, Zuiho and 2 cve's
there as well. Together with 30 destroyers and cruisers, they will make up a powerful striking force.

[WiTP_Dude]

I'm not sure if shock attacks with engineering units is the way to go. How many engineering regiments do you have? You could probably use a few more if you only have two. Use deliberate attacks but be sure to give your units a chance to rest. Set them on bombardment or defensive half the time.

Also, you don't have to attack with all your infantry or tanks in these fortification removal exercises. Just a couple of divisions seems to be enough to support the engineers. This will keep the infantry rested instead of worn out. The goal should be to remove the fortifications, not to inflict casualties. Once the forts are eliminated, then it will be very easy to take Calcutta.

[PzB74]

Thx Dude - I've tried different things without success. I'll rest half of my divisions each turn from now on. Got 2 engineer regiments and 2 construction battalions.
Anoter eng and const units are on their way - went the wrong way and got stuck in the jungle. Still only moved 26 miles towards Calcutta [:(]
Got the forts down to lvl 6 today, so things are finally starting to happen.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/12/42

Surface Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Colombo, at 14,24 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

27 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Kako, Shell hits 1
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 6
CA Aoba

Allied ground losses:
77 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 6th NLF , at 67,97

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13
SBD Dauntless x 13

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 64th Chinese Corps, at 46,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 13
Ki-48 Lily x 19
Ki-49 Helen x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
59 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
14 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
12 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 128091 troops, 754 guns, 792 vehicles

Defending force 57242 troops, 282 guns, 480 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

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

Japanese ground losses:
2271 casualties reported
Guns lost 33
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
1314 casualties reported
Guns lost 38
Vehicles lost 6
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Calcutta

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11193 troops, 86 guns, 252 vehicles

Defending force 133357 troops, 724 guns, 788 vehicles

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

Bad weather over most of India and not much flying going on. Allies lost 8 ac to op losses though.
Finally reduced the forts to lvl 6 at Calcutta - resting 2 divisions tomorrow and ordered another engineer
unit to head for Calcutta.

KB refueled at Trimcomalee, will sortie tomorrow - trying to pick up some replacement ac first. Will be
a costly raid I'm afraid. Don't like attacking ports with my elite naval pilots.

I hope Wobbly is using most of his troops to defend Calcutta, I will easily brush aside 1-2 enemy divisions when
my army finally moves out from Madras. One regiment will be left in each of the bases and on strategic road
junctions to prevent my advanced body from being cut off. Only Bombay and Karachi are important for me now,
if these bases falls, there will be no more supplies for the Allied troops in India -> game over! [8D] This is what
we're aiming for. I'm even considering to leave the battleships and the KB to support the attacks. (That is if
the enemy got large troop concentration in these places)

South Pacific

Placed 680 mines at Shortland and will add another thousand at least. The situation in India looks so promising
that I will do my outmost to defend these bases just for another few months. This is getting really exciting!! [:)]