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The question in India will how you deal with Lahore.

1) Can you isolate the base as he will get the extra bonus of a light urban hex and may have most of the those troops already prepping for that base while you may have none??

2) Can you take the rest of the bases north of Lahore and start the siege of the base??

3) You cannot by-pass a force of that size, but if you can take some of those northern bases, you can use some of you 2e bombers to hit the base hard. Use control of hexside wisely and limit his ability to get troops out from there if he wishes to stay there.

Good luck and happy hunting [8D]

ORIGINAL: Xargun

He retreated from Multan before you could cut off the rail and trap his men there. It would be easy to hold his men there with the river as a shield and simply bypass and bomb Multan into nothingness. if you had taken Multan then his men would face the long slow march to a friendly base while you bombed him into rubble with your LBA. Now he is behind more forts and can bomb your units as you march forward again.

When you march on Lahore I would march South of the river and simply cut off Lahore and Amritsar - it may cause another rail retreat to avoid getting cut off.

Xargun

Hi xargun!

If that is the case, Rader is mistaken. I could not have trapped him there.
He had the total controll of the skies near Multan cause my nearest airbase (Hyderabad) was 11 hexes away...no LRCAP could protect my troops... secondly the rail-road system and the rivers prevent any easy flanking manouvre...not with tanks at least (without a strong AA cover the tanks will get clobbered by waves of Helens)...he simply had to put a strong army corp 1 hex east of Multan and i would be forced to shock attack crossing the river to cut his way out...and with 450k men at Multan he could have defeated me easily...
If i moved my 2 Army Corps on his flanks he could have easily cut my retreat route by moving his tanks west... remember that i could not divide anymore my army cause this formation (with 2 army corps) has the minimum necessary AA to keep his Helens at 30k feet...

So, in the end...imho Rader has made a mistake here

I concur that Rader appears to have decided to abandon India. Like CR says, once you get to the central regions there is no way to defend without getting flanked again and again.

One Devil's Advocate thought though - have you stripped Karachi to move forward? I doubt it at this stage of the game but there's a tiny chance he has some designs on Karachi and a 1/1/44 auto victory.

Keep your recce up over Jodpur, maybe run a Recce Bn a bit up the road.
 
He might be planning to suck you into Multan & Lahore and cut you off at Hyderabad.  (Just some wild thinking going on)

I have 500 AVs at karachi behind 9 forts...i doubt he can suprise me here. Anyway i'm keeping a fast reserve force at Hyderabad...just in case...900 AV of experienced troops.

Dec 25, 26 1943

Rader swept to oblivion my fighters at Multan. I had 32 Corsairs, 16 Spits and 12 NZ KittiIIIs.... lost 47 of them[:o]...luckly only 7 pilots KIA...and among them a NZ ace with 8 kills...[:(]...we killed 20 enemy fighters...but ratio was too bad...he sent nearly 160 fighters on sweep...georges and Tojos mk.c ...too much

I'm now retiring my fighters back to Karachi...in few days Multan will be a nest of AA with 500 Aviation support...then we'll be ready[8D]

He remains at Lahore...well..i'm not going to eat this bait so easily...will move with great care...and we'll see...my recon is checking everything down to Bombay...we'll understand what's is he up to!

In Sopac his BBs (with Yamato that appears!) bombed Munda, sinking an xAKL full of engineers...our PTs didn't move this time...strange... while our 4 old US BBs bombed thousands back again...

Our 4Es plastered Nazareb, while our I and II AUS corps keep on advancing towards his trenches south of Salamua and on the Owen Stanleys...

Base forces and infantry units are moving from Alice Springs to Katherine...soon we'll get back to Darwin...

Heavy recon ordered over Timor and east of it...i'm finding some "soft" spots in his perimeter over there...maybe maybe...[:)]

Our raiders today conquered with a fast transport operation Funafuti...on the Elice Islands...want to expand my perimeter north of Suva...

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Morning Air attack on Multan , at 50,9

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 43



Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 6
Kittyhawk III x 4
F4U-1 Corsair x 34


Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk III: 3 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 3 destroyed


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Multan , at 50,9

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 42



Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 1
F4U-1 Corsair x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 3 destroyed

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Ground combat at Funafuti (138,147)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 419 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

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

Allied adjusted assault: 8

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 8 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Funafuti !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), disruption(-)



Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Raider Bn /4
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Night Naval bombardment of Thousand Ships Bay at 114,136 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

42 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, Shell hits 3
BB New Mexico
BB Idaho, Shell hits 2
BB Colorado

Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


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Night Naval bombardment of Munda at 111,134 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

23 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba, Shell hits 1
DD Aogumo
DD Arikaze
DD Suresushio
DD Sagiri
DD Usugumo
DD Ikazuchi
DD Yugure
DD Suzukaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Fujinami
DD Suzunami
DD Naganami


Allied ground losses:
149 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)


Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 33
Port hits 4
Port supply hits 2

.

439,820 LYB's in Lahore? [X(] Santa Maria! I am pretty sure they are up to no good. Even 100K LYB's in the same place make me nervous.

Do you have nukes yet?

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

439,820 LYB's in Lahore? [X(] Santa Maria! I am pretty sure they are up to no good. Even 100K LYB's in the same place make me nervous.

Do you have nukes yet?

Santa Maria!!![:D][:D][:D][:D] Glad to have you here captain!

Don't have nuke yet unfortuntely...i'd really like to smoke those half million bastards...

However...

Our units are slowly flowing in Multan...it takes forever to move on trails (the Multan road system is really borked[:D]).

In NG our two AUS corps bombed his 16th Army between Buna and Salamua...he has 600 AVs there... the 5th division among them...the big unit, despite having left all his heavy equipment at Tulagi, still has 225 AVs[X(]...we will try to flank him on the Owen Mountains...trying to use 3 NZ Bdes that are now moving from PM...it will take time, but i think it can be done...

My 120 4Es bombed his 4th Div on the Owen Stanley...achieving nothing....something like 10 squads disabled and nothing more[:o]... it will be hard to dislodge them from that mountain!!!

For the sub war we're exchanging blows in CENTPAC... we sunk 4 PBs and 2 Es in the last 3 weeks, losing a sub and getting 3 more damaged...his ASW naval assets are getting better....

why are you sending 500 Aviation support to Multan? - you only need 250 to max out? - or are you keeping some in strat mode for the next base?

ORIGINAL: SoliInvictus202

why are you sending 500 Aviation support to Multan? - you only need 250 to max out? - or are you keeping some in strat mode for the next base?

500 AVs boost the repair rate of the a/c by 50%...i'm planning to move there quite a decent air army to support my future operations in India

Michael has said the cap on extra air support is something like 50% (i.e. 100 airplanes would use at most 150 air support).

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Michael has said the cap on extra air support is something like 50% (i.e. 100 airplanes would use at most 150 air support).

thanks a lot - also to GreyJoy! - I must have overlooked that - this is invaluable for my late-war PBEM... - I was beginning to wonder why my 4Es didn't repair well

ORIGINAL: SoliInvictus202

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Michael has said the cap on extra air support is something like 50% (i.e. 100 airplanes would use at most 150 air support).

thanks a lot - also to GreyJoy! - I must have overlooked that - this is invaluable for my late-war PBEM... - I was beginning to wonder why my 4Es didn't repair well

Very useful piece of information! This is either news to me, or was previously bumped out of my limited capacity brain by something newer. [:D]

Hmmm.... I wonder what piece of information I just lost when I crammed this one back into my brain? [:D]

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: obvert

He's just getting ready to meet you in the DEI. [:)]

I don't quite understand it either. It has to be obvious that your full transport force is occupied in the Pacific. So there will be no flanking in India for a good while. India is the one place where Rader has you totally locked down with little threat to him. Why would he give up an important air base when air bases are what you critically need? I think he could have held that line for another six months. Without air bases, you just would not be able to support an advance-with air bases the Allied threat becomes exponential.

However, Rader seems to have certain plans and so far he is doing fine.

ORIGINAL: crsutton

ORIGINAL: GreyJoy

ORIGINAL: obvert

He's just getting ready to meet you in the DEI. [:)]

I don't quite understand it either. It has to be obvious that your full transport force is occupied in the Pacific. So there will be no flanking in India for a good while. India is the one place where Rader has you totally locked down with little threat to him. Why would he give up an important air base when air bases are what you critically need? I think he could have held that line for another six months. Without air bases, you just would not be able to support an advance-with air bases the Allied threat becomes exponential.

However, Rader seems to have certain plans and so far he is doing fine.

Yes, i agree 100%. But i also agree that Rader doesn't seem to be that type of guy who suddenly goes crazy and screws his things up...so he must be up to something...

However my plans don't change.

The southern DEI-Northern Oz plan is the one i'm committing on, along with our advances in the SOlomons and in NG.
Now with india open again, we'll move to Multan, estabilish a strong air defence, and we'll start to move east and south. Rader seems to be already abbandoning Lahore...let's see... i won't do stupid stuffs right now... i'll keep my back well guarded...we'll advance steady but without rushing...He won't be able to embark 500k men in a single trip...so if we are able to remain on his heels, maybe we can put some pressure on him...[:)]

Reek...who married Christmas?

princep Bolton

ORIGINAL: princep01

Reek...who married Christmas?

princep Bolton

ahahaha....[:D] Christmas is a friend of mine who got married (or merried[:D]) on Dec 25



Ok guys...pretty important moment...

a good turn...

Dec 29, 30 1943

A sentai of Tojos c swept Multan right when we moved in a decent number of fighters... P-40s, P-38s, the new P-51A (the sucker version) and some spits VIII.... the Tojos got their back completely broken in the engagements...we didn't lose a single a/c and the bastards are now crying for the loss of 17 fighters [8D]


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Morning Air attack on Multan , at 50,9

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 42



Allied aircraft
Spitfire VIII x 6
P-38G Lightning x 11
P-40K Warhawk x 9
P-51A Mustang x 12
F4U-1 Corsair x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 7 destroyed

No Allied losses


Then, while we keep on bombing Thousands and Russell (wanna dry the supply reserves there), and while our armies are still flowing to Multan (he's still at Lahore with 420k men...) and towards Salamua in NG, our SDBs took off from Milne Bay and sunk a barge convoy....1900 japanese men drowned[8D]...not a single japanese a/c was on CAP...pretty strange...all his fighters are based at Rabaul, Shortland and Torokina...






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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Gasmata at 103,128

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 7
F4U-1 Corsair x 9
SBD-5 Dauntless x 15


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
LB-1233, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-552, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
LB-235, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-559, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-231, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-1222, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-1227, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-229, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
LB-5051, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
LB-1228, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
1940 casualties reported
Squads: 41 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 72 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Then our raiders conquered Vaitupu (Elice Islands ) extending our perimeter...




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Ground combat at Vaitupu (138,145)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 563 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 23

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

Allied adjusted assault: 7

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Vaitupu !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-), disruption(-)



Assaulting units:
1st Marine Raider Bn /2






Ok, now the important stuff...

i'm sniffing something by Rader in NG...i'm pretty sure he has kept his fighters out of action for these last weeks in order to refill the lines with good pilots and to raise their morale... My guess? an effort against PM....

So i have concentrated at PM 300 fighters and told my bombers to stay down for the next 2 days. let's see if my 6th sense is active...

And then...my gamble...

I'm pretty sure the KB is out of the theatre...maybe upgrading in Japan.... Since last week we spotted only his BBs and a CVE/CVL TF sitting 2 hexes east of Rabaul...for several turns...always there, with a replenishment TF close by... there seems to be no surface cover... so we're gonna try.

We're sending 5 old DDs, led by an Omaha Class CL at flank speed from Rekata to intercept the enemy light carriers near Rabaul. 11 Hexes...we can move at 10/10...so we should arrive and engage by day....retire towards Canton Island (in the hope of getting far away enough from Rabaul bombers nest)... 100 P-38/P-47s will LRCAP from Rekata....

I know it's a suicide...but i'm risking an old CL and 5 old DDs...and if i manage to put a torp or two in a CVL or a CVE...well...it would be well worth the risk...

Let's see if i can surprise him!

Wish me luck...

.

...an aggressive commander (Naval 61, Agg 81) is provided and all the ship commanders are very aggressive...hopefully they will chase them till the very gates of Hell!

Dec 31 1943 - Jan 1 1944

A mixed turn...

Our surface TF moved as it was intended and arrived early in the morning...an enemy SCTF reacted while the CVEs moved away[:@]...we engaged two times an enemy DD TF led by a CA... during the first engagement we lost a DD due to a long lance torpedo and we exchanged few blows....but our position was the worst one and the japs did have the upper hand...then we got back and we fought with bravery...damaging (i heard the noises of 2 different sinkings) 3 enemy DDs in a bad way...

Then, in the afternoon, 40 Judys took off from Rabaul and hit me hard...my P-38s did their best but DD Cummings got hit twice and sunk few hours later during the night... however we managed to slip away with 3 DDs and the CL...i'd say a 1-1 in terms of points but the bravery of this action surely took Rader by surprise...now even the waters around Rabaul aren't safe enough for his ships...a good warning[8D]


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Day Time Surface Combat, near Namatanai at 108,125, Range 24,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 1
DD Kishinami
E Sanae
E Manazuru
DD Nagatakaze
DD Yamanakaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 4
DD Grayson, Shell hits 1
DD Harding, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hammann
DD Cummings
DD Balch, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Namatanai at 108,125, Range 30,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 1
DD Kishinami, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
E Sanae, Shell hits 3
E Manazuru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Nagatakaze, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yamanakaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Grayson, Shell hits 1
DD Harding, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hammann
DD Cummings, Shell hits 1



-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Namatanai at 109,125

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 62 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D4Y3 Judy x 34
N1K1-J George x 11



Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 3 destroyed, 10 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed by flak
N1K1-J George: 4 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CL Raleigh, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Cummings, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Grayson
DD Hammann



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
11 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-38H Lightning (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000
Raid is overhead
15th FG/72nd FS with P-38H Lightning (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000
Raid is overhead

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Raleigh


Then our sixth sense revealed to be very very good[8D]...unfortunately he didn't target PM...he wanted to create a CAP-Trap for my 4Es over the contested hex where our armies are fighting (between Buna and Salamua)... he sent nearly 200 top line fighters on LRCAP from Lae (an AF that was supposed to be closed!) and some Nicks on sweep....our fighters took off from PM but we were badly outnumbered (4 to 1) and we lost the day....don't have the numbers yet but my guess is 2-1 in his favour.... that shows how strong his AF is still


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Morning Air attack on I Australian Corps, at 99,128 , near Buna

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 25
A6M5 Zero x 14
N1K1-J George x 33
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 44
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 19
Ki-84a Frank x 6
Ki-100-I Tony x 14



Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IV x 8
Kittyhawk IV x 3
P-38H Lightning x 18
P-40N5 Warhawk x 9
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 27
F4U-1 Corsair x 10


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 4 destroyed
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 3 destroyed
Ki-100-I Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk IV: 1 destroyed
P-38H Lightning: 6 destroyed
P-40N5 Warhawk: 2 destroyed
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 5 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Ki-45 KAIa Nick sweeping at 9000 feet


He moved another Regiment near Buna...now 770 enemy AVs are present...


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Ground combat at 99,128 (near Buna)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1254 troops, 70 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 1351

Defending force 27006 troops, 228 guns, 179 vehicles, Assault Value = 768



Assaulting units:
2nd Regiment
3rd Australian Division
1st Regiment
2/9th Armoured Regiment
2nd Australian Division
1st Army Tank Regiment
2/8th Armoured Regiment
27th Infantry Division
3rd Regiment
II Australian
I Australian Corps
1st Medium Regiment
2nd Medium Regiment
2nd RAA Jungle Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
140th Infantry Regiment
78th Infantry Regiment
Maizuru 2nd SNLF
5th Garrison Unit
23rd Nav Gd Unit
3rd Mobile AA Battalion
67th JAAF AF Coy
25th Field AA Machinecannon Company
17th Army
16th Army
29th Field AA Machinecannon Company
18th Fld AA Machinecannon Company
11th JAAF AF Bn