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Oh, boohoo... You'd get all lonely and depressed if I didn't...[:'(]

Hi all,

As per norm a massive couple of days in India.

All is relatively stable and mundane in the rest of the theatres so i'll just focus on India.

The 26th saw a further advance towards Bangalore by Allied Armour smashing my forces to within 60 miles of Bangalore. 100's of Japanese planes attacked the enemy columns in the day but it didn't stop their relentless attacks.

I decided to give orders to my men to attack again at Bombay now the situtation is worse in the south of the country.............

2 x Allied TF have appeared within 300 miles of my CV's north of Bombay......

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The 27th was a big day..........

Overnight 2 Japanese BB TF's pummeled Bombay even hitting the heavily damaged BB South Dakota with 4 shells. Over 2000 men were casualties as well. The Japanese land attack was scheduled for 6PM.........

Before that took place the Allied TF's moved to within 240 miles of the Japanese CV's and had clearly launched planes just as the Japanese had. A series of fragmented and costly air battles ensued with the Japanese achieving more hits on the enemy but lost over 2 tims the number of planes[:(]:

Day Air attack on TF at 19,10

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 4
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
SBD Dauntless x 11
TBF Avenger x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
TBF Avenger: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Kaga
CV Junyo
CVL Zuiho, Bomb hits 1, on fire - fuel explosion - 34/9/41

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
2 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
1 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
2 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
2 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 19,6

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
D3A Val x 47
B5N Kate x 72

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 11
F4F-3 Wildcat x 27
F4F-4 Wildcat x 63
P-40B Tomahawk x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 22 destroyed
D3A Val: 30 destroyed
B5N Kate: 48 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 18 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CV Formidable, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CV Illustrious
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
6 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
6 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
5 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 19,6

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
D3A Val x 24
B5N Kate x 18

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 5
F4F-3 Wildcat x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A Val: 11 destroyed, 1 damaged
B5N Kate: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 19,6

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
D3A Val x 17
B5N Kate x 22

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 6
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
F4F-4 Wildcat x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
D3A Val: 10 destroyed
B5N Kate: 16 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Formidable, on fire
CV Illustrious
CV Lexington, on fire
CV Saratoga, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
6 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 19,6

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
D3A Val x 15
B5N Kate x 11

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 6
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
F4F-4 Wildcat x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
D3A Val: 8 destroyed
B5N Kate: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged


Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
CA New Orleans
CV Illustrious

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
7 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

Enemy AA was horrendous accounting for 35 of 100 bombers shot down today......my air losses are grievous for sure. I just need to hope their sacrifice will allow me to hold on in India and eventually take the place. As far as I know of any PBEM AAR it would be the first one to involve a Japanese opponent taking India in a 42A Campaign[8D]

For tomorrow about 90 Zeroes have flown onto my CV's to provide additional CAP. If Dadman stays I want his airforce to be attrited too.

Now onto the landlubbers:

Ground combat at Bombay

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 211119 troops, 1697 guns, 312 vehicles, Assault Value = 3617

Defending force 45608 troops, 317 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 912

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

Japanese max assault: 3608 - adjusted assault: 1218

Allied max defense: 938 - adjusted defense: 4257

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


Japanese ground losses:
8136 casualties reported
Guns lost 158
Vehicles lost 12

Allied ground losses:
915 casualties reported
Guns lost 43

At least some fortifications went down. My men have to rest again though[:(]

The other positive news for the day was the taking of Chnegtu by the IJA in China[:)]

Zoing!(tm)[:'(]

Hi all,

A quieter day all round today.

The Allied CV's retreated back into Karachi no doubt to take stock, re-arm and tend to damaged ships. Suprisingly Dadman sent a CA/DD force into Bombay. The only night I didn't have BB forces present for the past week[8|] As such my supply convoy was shattered:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Bombay at 20,10

Japanese Ships
DD Isonami, Shell hits 28, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 116, and is sunk
AK Koyu Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
AK Malta Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
AK Muko Maru, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AK Muroran Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Mauritius, Shell hits 2
CL Newcastle
CLAA Caradoc
DD Patterson
DD Van Galen, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Thracian
DD Griffin
DD Nestor
DD Nizam
DD Norman

The allied force has only just reached NW of Bombay though so tomorrow i'm moving my CV's a little further out in an attempt to attack these ships if they remain within range.

Stalemate in India today. Suprisingly the Allied armour has remained 60 miles NW of Bangalore. Fine by me. Every day they delay is a day nearer to over 1000AP reaching Madras by sea and saving India.

Little happened in SoPac other than an Emily hitting a PT boat near Lunga and it sank. LOL, no suprise there then[;)]

B17's from Australia hit my troops NE of PM.

Lae continues to supress PM.

Rabaul air remains stagnant until I muster enough planes and men here to try and strike back at Lunga.

Ouch! Hate it when that sort of thing happens...[X(]

Hi all,

Another day another dollar.............

Look what SS I-25 found 120 miles east of Lunga:

Sub attack at 69,97

Japanese Ships
SS I-25, hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis, Torpedo hits 1
DD Phelps
DD Selfridge
DD Hughes
DD McCalla
DD Lansdowne
DD Grayson
DD Gwin
DD O'Bannon
BB Washington

If only more fish had hit from the 6 that were fired.

Lae pounded PM as per usual and B24's from Australia found a little surprise with their bombing run over Japanese troops on the Kokoda Trail. Zeroes were on CAP and shot down 4 of the buggers for the loss of 2 freindlies. Tojo's will replace the Zeroes on CAP from now on.

-------------------

A Stalemate was in place over the other theatres as Chinese forces move towards Chungking in China as do Japanese. China is still screwed for Dadman IMO. I'm awaiting for more supply to continue my offensive from Sian/Yenen. The south is a stalemate and my forces will push Dadman back from the gates of Chungking to eventually take Kunming/Yenan and that will seal the southern wing off. At least that's the plan[;)]

In India Dadman moved forces into Panaji which has been largely evacuated. No land attacks by either side today. Heavy air riads on Allied armour sitting outside Bangalore cost the Allies 345 men, 5 guns and 17 tanks.

Dadman was fortunate today in that weather came to his rescue over a potential CV battle![:@] Thescreenshot below shows the end position of my CV's and 1 of his TF's that reacted. Weather covered my CV's all day otherwise this force would've been annihilated by my replenished CV's[:@]

Several small raids were launched against my AK's at Bombay. They cost Dadman 25 plane to my 8.

Japanese BB's hit Bombay causing 1100 casualties.

Hi all,

A comparatively quiet day compared to recent........

AK Albireo was heavily damaged by one of my sub laid mines at Noumea[:)]

Recon spotted a US TF 120 miles SE of Lunga. 2 x SS are moving to intercept.

B17's bombed my men on the Kokoda. Tojo's went into action today shooting down 3 of the gits.

Another Tony Sentai has flown into Shortlands. I will shortly launch a FS over Lunga. I have to try and regain the initiative here somehow.

---------------------

In India Dadman took Panaji as expected:

Ground combat at Panaji

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 25117 troops, 185 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 573

Defending force 1801 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Allied max assault: 1054 - adjusted assault: 1282

Japanese max defense: 18 - adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 320 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Panaji base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
457 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ARM has reached Bangalore and i'm bugging out to Madras. I need to hold on here until reinforcements arrive. ETA 1 week. I'm intrigued to see what (if any) effects my bombing runs have had on the ARM units. Today for example another 20 x AFV were hit.

Stalemate at Bombay still as supply slowly trickles over the beaches. KB is still on station.

SS O-23 sank the damaged AK Malta Maru with 2 torpedoes outside of Bombay.

Hi all,

Another 'peaceful' day[;)]

PT-75 hit a Japanese mine near Tulagi and blew up into 256 pieces..

4 x Kongo class BB shelled Bombay causing 2000 Allied casualties as a leaving gift whilst my naval forces move away to refuel and re-arm at Madras.

Dadman attacked at Bangalore:

Ground combat at Bangalore

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 16824 troops, 22 guns, 943 vehicles, Assault Value = 752

Defending force 3004 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 14

Allied max assault: 296 - adjusted assault: 296

Japanese max defense: 12 - adjusted defense: 11

Allied assault odds: 26 to 1 (fort level 1)

Allied forces CAPTURE Bangalore base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
67 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Now this is interesting. The initial Dadman attack on this area on 25th October was with 1530AV. 572 of this is now at Panaji (infantry). This means by my reckoning that 206AV has been lost by the Allies due to a weeks combat and massive air attacks. Cool. I have almost 600AV at Madras. The allied armour is now but 30 miles away from my last redoubt in India. But I have reinforcements 5 days away from sea. I feel I can hold here but these next 5 days will be crucial.

-------------------

With 71 x Tony at Shortlands now I have ordered a sweep of 70 x Zero from Rabaul and 71 x Tony from Shortlands to regain airspace over Lunga tomorrow........

ORIGINAL: Speedy

PT-75 hit a Japanese mine near Tulagi and blew up into 256 pieces..

Byte size! [:D]

Hi all,

Hi witpqs - LOL. I planned that pun of course[;)]

-------------------

Another gruelling day of combat between Dadman and I began with the Japanese opening attempts to regain air control over Lunga:

Day Air attack on Lunga , at 67,97

Japanese aircraft
C5M Babs x 1
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 71

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 9
F4F-3 Wildcat x 16
F4F-4 Wildcat x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
C5M Babs: 1 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 20 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 7 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lunga , at 67,97

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 72

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 2
F4F-3 Wildcat x 9
F4F-4 Wildcat x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 5 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 5 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Not great I know but a start. My boys will rest tomorrow. BB Washington & Co were spotted 120 miles SE of Lunga. I have ordered my Rabaul Betties to attack shipping tomorrow...you never know......

One thing I must point out is what a strain this kind of strung out campaign is havong on my logistics and economy as a whole.

I have taken amassive risk in this campaign. I wanted to try somethign different than the 'plodding norm'. As such I thought why not try an Indian Gambit with a 42A Campaign......here we are[;)]

Without having the additional 6 months ot smash the Alliesand build up sotcks of material it is pushing everything to the limit. I have barely 15-20K of supplies on my key SoPac bases for example - Lae, Shortlands, Rabaul and Truk. This is just an example but others include 10-15 other bases/islands that desparately need supplies to be sufficient for living let alone combat.

I don't mention them that often but I counted 35 TF's heading throughout the Empire delivering supplies, fuel or troops to destinations. Another 8 TF's were heading to collect resource/oil and 7 more are on their way to collect resource/oil.

In sure this is a all or nothing gambit which I thought it would be from the start. It makesfor a fun game and Dadman has certainly been caught off guard. Without him being caught off guard/me having the element of surprise I doubt this gambit could work in a 42 campaign.

------------------------

So India.....The Allies used their warping technology on tanks to shock attack right into Madras[8|]

I wouldn't say I feel comfortable here but I am thinking I could hold here. It's an urban hex = x 4 defence bonus. I have 665 AV here now (only 1/2 of this is decent and combat ready) against this strength:

Ground combat at 18,20

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 16836 troops, 22 guns, 945 vehicles, Assault Value = 514

Defending force 5133 troops, 29 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Allied max assault: 432 - adjusted assault: 177

Within 7-10 days i'll have:

20th Division
3 x Bde

landed by transports as well...........

All I can for see for now is that I hold on at Madras, land reinforcements and push the Allies back. If that happens I can try to regain the initiative and move on Bombay from the land again whilst my forces hold there.

In the meantime my naval forces are swarming back to Madras to refuel and re-arm.

My BB's will also shell enemy forces outside of Madras to help. Another 'positive' side effect to this Allied attack on Madras is that since I control all of the air down here I have 400 planes bombing the crap out of his forces every day which hinders him and helps train my pilots in combat.......

Dadman snuck in a force to shell my men outside of Bombay:

Naval bombardment of Bombay, at 20,10

Allied Ships
DD Pakenham
DD Express
DD Dunlap
DD Maury
DD Gridley
DD Craven
DD Patterson
DD Henley
CL Nashville
CL Helena
CL Leander
CA Vincennes
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CA Astoria
CA Salt Lake City
CA Chicago
CA Portland

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

God be with us[;)]

Speedy,
 
Has your opponent denuded the Burma/Bengal fronts to support his move on Madras?  How strongly does he hold Bangalore?  Is Ceylon weakly held?
 
Alfred

Hi all,

Hi Alfred [:)] The attached screenshot and previous should help to show the situation. I control all of Burma and most of SW India. Dadman has little on Ceylon but I have nothing spare to do anything about that. Bangalore has 7th Armoured which is moving towards Madras.

To give you an idea of strength:

Dimapur - 5 x IJA Divison vs 3 x equivalent Allied Divisions.

Bombay - 2 x IJA Division equivalent vs 3 x Allied ARM Brigades.

Panaji - 2 x Allied Division, 1 x Bde.

Madras - 6-7 IJA Division vs 3 x Allied Division equivalent.

-------------------

SoPac saw an 'interesting' day. Recon over Lunga noted over 50 x P40E on CAP now[8|]

Betties at Rabaul decided to fly against shipping near Cairns but failed to locate the enemy ships.[:-][;)]

4E from Cairns bombed IJA troops on the Kokoda trail. My 20 x Zero/Tojo CAP lost 2 planes for no enemies.

--------------------

200K fuel leaving Japan for Madras.

BF heading to Onnetokan Jima.

BF heading to Etorofo Jima.

BF heading to Iwo Jima.

180K convoy leaving Japan for Balikpapan to collect resource/oil.

---------------------

A good day for the Japanese in India.

Firstly, Allied subs missed CV Hiyo with 4 torpedoes west of Panaji (phew). My fleets continues to head around SW India for Madras.

Allied CA/DD shelled my troops at Bombay causing 141 casualties.

In return 4 x IJN BB, 4 x CA, 3 x CL and 14 x DD shelled enemy ARM outside of Madras causing 640 casualties, 5 guns and 34 AFV[:)]

Bad weather meant no air ops over India but the Allied ARM was stopped in it's tracks outside of Madras[:)]:

Ground combat at Madras

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 15508 troops, 4 guns, 883 vehicles, Assault Value = 461

Defending force 59282 troops, 297 guns, 79 vehicles, Assault Value = 768

Allied max assault: 202 - adjusted assault: 224

Japanese max defense: 793 - adjusted defense: 2541

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


Japanese ground losses:
309 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
1427 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 113

Elite troops from 1st Guards Bde celebrate in their Urban redoubt. In 3 days time 4th Mixed Bde arrives and the rest of the forces are but 4-5 days behind. I think Madras is safe personally. With the IJN shelling and IJA bombing the enemy ARM on a daily basis I can't see how 3 x ARM Bde can breakthrough here. Hopefully I can push him back with my reinforcements and regain the initiative in India[:)]

Hi all,

Overall a much quieter day with little happening of interest in the South Pacific (other than Aussie 4E bombing South Seas Detachment positions NE of PM).

Bad weather reigns again over India preenting he hordes of Japanese planes from bombing Allied Armour near Madras. Luckily the ships are free from the weather and rain hell upon the Allies. 671 men, 1 gun and 43 AFV are hit.

In return 2 x Allied CA TF's shell my positions at Bombay causing 343 casualties along with 17 guns and 5 AFV's.

In a week or 2 I hope Dadman keeps these ships here since they'll find KB will have slipped in behind them to wreak havoc......for now though KB is slowly heading back to Madras (damaged CVL Zuiho - 55/26/0).

Several Allied Subs have been spotted along the SW tip of India/Ceylon area. SS Sculpin managed to severely damage CL Oi (55/64/33) with a torpedo. She probably won't make Madras 420 miles away.