Ground combat at Lanchow (81,34)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 58624 troops, 559 guns, 898 vehicles, Assault Value = 2118
Defending force 49263 troops, 319 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1382
Japanese adjusted assault: 1221
Allied adjusted defense: 4449
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 5)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)
Japanese ground losses:
13236 casualties reported
Squads: 104 destroyed, 428 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 157 disabled
Engineers: 26 destroyed, 46 disabled
Guns lost 91 (12 destroyed, 79 disabled)
Vehicles lost 143 (64 destroyed, 79 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
849 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
4th Guards Division
1st Tank Division
6th Guards Division
2nd Tank Division
5th Guards Division
15th AA Regiment
North China Area Army
1st Ind.AA Gun Co
21st Army
Defending units:
100th Chinese Corps
9th Separate Brigade
34th Separate Brigade
71st Chinese Corps
10th Construction Regiment
3rd Chinese Corps
12th Construction Regiment
57th AT Gun Regiment
1st War Area
56th AT Gun Regiment
19th Chinese Base Force
8th War Area
4th Heavy Mortar Regiment
3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment
21st Chinese Base Force
The following was the email exchanges.
Hey Michael,
Nothing is going on, other than me being appalled by the results of this turn. I took a few days off AE to recover and decide my next move. Expect my turn in a few hours.
Nick
Nick,
I've seen similar results in my other game when I tried once to attack Changsha after the base had been bombed for weeks and their supply situation was very bad.
I saw that you had disruption (-) which may mean you had serious overstacking issues. The limit there is 50k. You had 5 divisions plus other troops. You can go slightly over, but this may have been a contributing factor.
Speaking of disruption, you had bombed the AF for some time and then stopped. You did very little with your Sally/Helens vs my troops in the turns prior to the assault. Why?? Players tend to look for how many casualties they inflict without realizing the most important thing is to raise the disruption level of the troops. Mine had almost none.
HQs - I saw the Corp/Army HQ, but do you have a Command HQ within range and prepped for this base?? "IF" the Army/Corp HQ passes the die roll that adds 10%. Then, if the Command HQ passes the die roll, they add another 90%.
I did not see the massive artillery that you usually bring nor the combat engineers. Why not??
The base will fall, but it will take some more time and recovery by your troops.
Michael
Michael,
OK here is your fix
To answer your questions regarding my Lanchow assault:
I was counting on my bombers to raise your disruption, but once I overstacked the hex next to Lanchow, I begun having supply shortages. To counter that, I had to devote my bomber force to air supply, which solved the supply problem, but allowed your troops to recover.
Regarding HQs, I had 3 of them (command+army+corps) fully prepped for Lanchow. Why I didn't read "leaders +" in the combat report, i don't know. I suspect it has something to do with hex control. As my command HQ was in Yenan, it may have been unable to communicate with Lanchow. Is this how it works in the game?
As for my artillery, I feared it would strain the single road I had in my disposal to supply my spearhead. In hindsight, I should have sent more artillery.
Anyway, I am almost fully recovered now. I don't know if the base will fall, but I am not too confident.
Enjoy!!
Nick
Nick,
The ground combat part of AE is the most difficult to fully understand. Now with stacking limits, its worse. I lost over 50k in supplies the turn we switched PWHEX files in my other game just outside Changsha. Your don't get the "Leaders (+)" unless the leaders are above average. I think that means that many of their qualities are above 60. Which ones specifically, I don't remember.
ENJOY!!
Michael
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