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Well thats not ideal. I forgot to set my amphibious TF's to not load fuel. On a scale of ||| Not so bad --------------- 50 thousand men burn alive ||| where abouts does this fall and is it worth wasting four days heading back to reload the TF's.

Well as it turns out SS Seawolf ran across the ammunition support convoy for the Colombo op so it's now fairly obvious im heading somewhere in the IO. I do hope Kfsgo doesn't do anything nasty like fly CV planes off to Colombo. Oh well total zero force is around 180 planes so even if he does they should take some pretty horrific casualties.

Only up to April 4 due to Kfsgo being somewhat busy.

Ceylon invasion is ~4 days away from landfall. No sign of any significant RN assets other than a few CL/DD hanging around Ceylon. No change in aircraft dispositions either with ~100 fighters on the Burma front, 80 at Colombo and another 80 or so at Calcutta. No significant bomber force in sight but there ought to be 40-50 biplane torpedo bombers somewhere.

In Henayang the assault force storms across the river and misses 2:1 odds by a tiny amount. A division and two bde are rendered combat ineffective. Most of the vehicle losses were trucks as well so the tanks are all in good shape. Two days of rest and we should be able to deliberate assault is the Chinese don't abandon their positions before then as there is a move arrow heading NW. Even if they do we should be able to catch them on the plains thanks to our air support and cut them to pieces.

Ground combat at Hengyang (80,53)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 172850 troops, 1450 guns, 600 vehicles, Assault Value = 6387
 
Defending force 142930 troops, 985 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4914
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 4249
 
Allied adjusted defense: 2392
 
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)
 
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      35345 casualties reported
         Squads: 61 destroyed, 2408 disabled
         Non Combat: 78 destroyed, 1757 disabled
         Engineers: 10 destroyed, 67 disabled
      Vehicles lost 120 (49 destroyed, 71 disabled)
 
 
Allied ground losses:
      21664 casualties reported
         Squads: 169 destroyed, 1078 disabled
         Non Combat: 211 destroyed, 1341 disabled
         Engineers: 16 destroyed, 79 disabled
 
 
Assaulting units:
    116th Division
    58th Division
    41st Division
    63rd Division
    60th Division
    17th Division
    69th Division
    27th Division
    7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
    59th Division
    34th Division
    1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
    9th Armored Car Co
    2nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
    22nd Division
    3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
    12th Tank Regiment
    15th Division
    68th Division
    13th Tank Regiment
    15th Tank Regiment
    58th Infantry Regiment
    51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
    1st Mortar Battalion
    1st Army
    14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
    15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
    52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
    13th Army
    2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
    11th Army
    6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
 
Defending units:
    37th Chinese Corps
    4th Chinese Corps
    26th Chinese Corps
    63rd Chinese Corps
    70th Chinese Corps
    46th Chinese Corps
    98th Chinese Corps
    73rd Chinese Corps
    79th Chinese Corps
    5th Chinese Cavalry Corps
    6th Construction Regiment
    25th Chinese Corps
    28th Chinese Corps
    6th Chinese Corps
    60th Chinese Corps
    49th Chinese Corps
    10th Chinese Corps
    53rd Chinese Corps
    14th Chinese Corps
    16th Construction Regiment
    78th Chinese/C Corps
    18th Artillery Regiment
    41st AA Regiment
    12th Group Army
    7th War Area
    4th Heavy Mortar Regiment
    20th Group Army
    20th Artillery Regiment
    7th Artillery Regiment
    3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment
    49th AA Regiment

Well it was more expensive than I thought but the force is across the river and secure in the outskirts of Hengyang. Two days of rest should see disruption reduced to manageable levels and then we will be facing Chinese troops with roughly equal numbers on open terrain with only lvl 2 forts. The Chinese troops also seem to be having difficulties keeping themselves in supply so their lines may collapse even faster than I hoped.

Fifty seven thousand dead in a single day is a bloody bloody battle and no doubt the weeks to come will bring be equally so.

APRIL 9 1942

Well we're back. Colombo invasion two days from landfall and today the KB + CVE force sweeps colombo with ~200 zeroes. Reports of 80 or so fighters at Colombo and 50 or so bombers

Last two turns have seen some skirmishing in Burma with me sending limited numbers of Ocsars to probe his borders. Fighting against mainly the AVG equipped with p-39 and p-40 with a seasoning of hurricane iia and iib. Air battles went about 8-2 the first day in his favor but the second was around 10 fighters apiece. I am noticing that I manage to hit his fighters around 3-4x as much as he hits mine but usually the 2 MG's of the oscar merely damage rather than destroy his planes.

He seem to have maybe 100 fighters comitted to the border (AVG 1/2/3 + 2 hurricane squads) with more in reserve at Calcutta. Today 60 zeroes and 80 oscars all with elite pilots (70+ air and exp) will perform heavy sweeps over Imphal to keep his fighters busy and away from Colombo.

Pacific is quiet. Batavia is sieged by four div + change and likely has 2 weeks tops. AV there is 800 down from 1100 after two deliberate attacks. The rest of the DEI is in my hands.

In china the Chinese at henayang got away by exploiting game mechanics and sending suicide units to convert the hexsides I was trying to move through and resetting my movement. Airstrikes are disabling 30-40 squads a day while they are still in the open. looks like they're heading for the hills however. Still 30 units at changsha so perhaps he will make a stand there. Unlikely though as I can easily cut supplies to the city and park some AV there until he runs out of supply.

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

Morning Air attack on Imphal , at 60,40

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 17



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIa Trop x 7
Hurricane IIb Trop x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 19
P-40E Warhawk x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 2 destroyed

CAP engaged:
AVG/1st Sqn with P-39D Airacobra
AVG/2nd Sqn with P-40E Warhawk
AVG/3rd Sqn with P-39D Airacobra
No.232 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop
No.605 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIa Trop

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

Morning Air attack on Imphal , at 60,40

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 18

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIa Trop x 3
Hurricane IIb Trop x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIa Trop: 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 25000 feet

CAP engaged:
AVG/1st Sqn with P-39D Airacobra
AVG/2nd Sqn with P-40E Warhawk
AVG/3rd Sqn with P-39D Airacobra
No.232 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop
No.605 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIa Trop

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

Morning Air attack on Imphal , at 60,40

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 5

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIa Trop x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 15000 feet

CAP engaged:
No.605 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIa Trop
AVG/1st Sqn with P-39D Airacobra
AVG/3rd Sqn with P-39D Airacobra

Somewhat smug email from Kfsgo today informing me i'm not as sneaky as I think I am.
Unfortunately for him that was kinda the point. Be incompetently sneaky and get him to commit forces to the defense of Ceylon thinking its a good idea so the vast majority of the combined fleet gets a shot at some of his assets. Decisive battle woop woop.
Of course its also entirely possible that he has simply pulled everything out again which would annoy me no end. It would be nice to have to fight for something at some point!

Well looks like Kfsgo may have decided to not do battle over Ceylon. Zero sweeps met no resistance over the island and the transports will make landfall today or tomorrow depending on how fast they get there. Thunderstorms predicted so if he was waiting to strike tomorrow ought to be interesting
42 Zeroes and 84 Oscars are at port blair to fly over as soon as an airfield is operational.

The plan is to protect and build the airfields if possible and then destroy industry in south india for points. The only issue is if large numbers of 4EB show up to try suppress the airfields but south india has not been built up so there are limited numbers of places to base them.







China is a clusterfuck as usual. There is likely twice as much chinese AV as I have in the central area. There will have to be some careful manouvering to try draw them out from the treeline so I can pin them with bombers and smash them. There is always the risk of getting cut off however as I will likely not be able to take Changsha by force and will have to settle for manouver to cut it off.
The Ichang garrison is headed down this way as well so I will have to send a division or so up there to grab the base.

Everywhere else is quiet. Planes decided to not fly today in Burma and Batavia resisted another deliberate attack dealing 3-1 casualties to us but half their losses were destroyed and forts went down to 1.

Whoopsie! I somehow managed to drop 2 div on a non base hex on Ceylon while dodging the swarms of subs operating off Ceylons eastern coast. Oh well they are fine its just going to take them a few days to walk out of the jungle.

Koggala and Jaffna have fallen while Trincomalee somehow holds out against 10x its number of Japanese troops. I'm sending more supplies and reinforcements in today to brave the coastal guns. BB Kongo and 2 CA will cover the amphibious TF. Some recon and NavS assets fly over rom port blair. Looks like bombers (with no escorts) are gathering in central india. I have a bad feeling they are 4EB's so if there is still no fighter cover at the main base tomorrow KB will dash into striking range and hit the airfield with everything its got.

Otherwise things progress apace. I cant see a way to take changsha at this point with what is likely 6K Chinese AV split between the city and the road hex to its northwest. Some more wandering down from Ichang as well.
I have 4500AV in good condition behind Changsha and about 1200 to its east. Some more battered AV which will eventually rebuild to about another 1500 is covering the supply lines. The issue is I would need to shock attack across rivers into changsha and the likely multiple forts and 2x Bonus would just wreck my troops.

I think at this point I will settle for manouver and harassment. In a few days 750 armored AV (essentially the available components of the 3 armor divisions Japan gets) backed up by 2 divisions and most of the arty from 15th army will go storming across the sleepy Chinese southern border and make a dash for the Rail line. Recon has reported no significant forces other than 600 AV tied up skirmishing with 700 of mine between canton and the main rail line.
Looks like everybody is at the party in central China and nobody has been left behind to stopthe surprise southern thrust.

Batavia loses its last fort today and casualties slightly favor the Japanese. Not long now.

Just a sample of the sort of action happening at the moment. Very limited movement by the allies with air action limited to night raids and I havent seen his 4E's in a week or so.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR May 13, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Norfolk Island , at 113,170

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 25
PBY-5A Catalina x 9


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x PBY-5 Catalina bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x PBY-5A Catalina bombing from 7000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x PBY-5 Catalina bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x PBY-5 Catalina bombing from 7000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Mandalay , at 59,46

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 12


Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged



Manpower hits 3
Fires 879

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Blenheim IV bombing from 7000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 45
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 23
Ki-51 Sonia x 45



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 2 damaged
Ki-51 Sonia: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 11
Runway hits 48

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
25 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
23 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
18 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb
27 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lashio , at 62,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 102
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 14



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 23

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
25 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
23 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
4 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lashio , at 62,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 23
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 15



No Japanese losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
6 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd New Chinese Corps, at 75,53 , near Kweilin

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 11
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 12



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 62nd Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 3rd New Chinese Corps ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps, at 83,53 , near Wuchang

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 28



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
28 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 50 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lashio , at 62,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 14



No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on KNIL Army Command , at 49,98 (Batavia)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 19
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 27
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 58
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 23



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 5 damaged
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
148 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
26 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
31 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
7 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
11 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 10000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking ML-KNIL ...
Also attacking 1st KNIL Regiment ...
Also attacking Soerabaja Base Force ...
Also attacking KNIL Army Command /1 ...
Also attacking ML-KNIL ...
Also attacking 1st KNIL Regiment ...
Also attacking Soerabaja Base Force ...
Also attacking KNIL Army Command /1 ...
Also attacking ML-KNIL ...
Also attacking KNIL Army Command /1 ...
Also attacking ML-KNIL ...
Also attacking 1st KNIL Regiment ...
Also attacking Soerabaja Base Force ...
Also attacking KNIL Army Command /1 ...
Also attacking ML-KNIL ...
Also attacking 1st KNIL Regiment ...
Also attacking Soerabaja Base Force ...
Also attacking KNIL Army Command /1 ...
Also attacking ML-KNIL ...



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

Ground combat at 79,52 (near Shaoyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 225 troops, 0 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 18

Defending force 85 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 10

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)


Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
9th Armored Car Co

Defending units:
6th Chinese Corps


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

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1987 troops, 140 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 1448

Defending force 18427 troops, 277 guns, 166 vehicles, Assault Value = 249

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Assaulting units:
82nd Naval Guard Unit
44th Naval Guard Unit
33rd Division
Kure 3rd SNLF
38th Division
48th Division
65th Brigade
43rd Naval Guard Unit
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment
47th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
2nd KNIL Regiment
Barisan KNIL Regiment
Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
6th KNIL Regiment
1st Regt Cavalerie
1st KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Regiment
Afdeling Ritman
ML-KNIL
Roodenburg Battalion
Soerabaja Base Force
ABDA
Batavia Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Bandoeng Base Force
Tjilitap Base Force
Djambi Base Force
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
KNIL Army Command /1


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

Ground combat at 66,91 (near Tarakan)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 402 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 16

Defending force 254 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 15

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 15 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:


Allied ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Bandasan SNLF

Defending units:
VII KNIL Battalion
Tarakan Base Force


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

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2514 troops, 73 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2761

Defending force 50571 troops, 434 guns, 195 vehicles, Assault Value = 1846

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Assaulting units:
48th Chinese Corps
58th Chinese Corps
88th Chinese Corps
20th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
86th Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps
87th Chinese Corps
50th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
9th Prov Chinese Corps
5th Construction Regiment
9th War Area
3rd War Area
21st Group Army
18th Chinese Base Force
29th Group Army
11th Chinese Base Force
2nd Chinese Base Force
27th Group Army
30th Group Army
17th Chinese Base Force
10th Group Army
25th Group Army
Central Reserve
23rd Group Army
7th Chinese Corps
32nd Group Army
22nd Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
17th Division
15th Division
22nd Division
27th Division
19th JNAF AF Unit


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

Ground combat at Warazup (63,41)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 217 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Defending force 7 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 15

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 15 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Warazup !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), preparation(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Yokosuka 1st SNLF /2

Defending units:
44th Indian Bde /1

ORIGINAL: Saros
Very limited movement by the allies with air action limited to night raids and I havent seen his 4E's in a week or so.

That might mean he is moving them somewhere ....

Right so as of May 13 the situation is as so. The Empire has reached the fullest extent of its expansion and now is digging in like mad in preparation for the eventual counterstroke.

The map.



The southern PI and Coco's Is still needs to be dealt to and will be as soon as Batavia falls. A week maximum as its down to 250AV vs 1400 with 0 forts, the IJA is resting for another day or two to recover disruption then will start the final assault.


BURMA



In Burma the 14th and 25th armies with 7 Divisions and a lot of artillery are about to go dig the Chinere and British out of Lasio where they have holed up with 900AV and 3 forts. I have also comitted about 80% if the total IJA anti-tank gun units to the theater under 14th army as there appears to be a large number of armored units in the commonwealth forces.
There was an abortive assault a couple of weeks ago that had to pull back as what looked like 2 indian/commonwealth corps were moving into northern Burma. Those units have since pulled back into the Indian bases.
Supply draw is an issue as despite Rangoon having around 40K it will not flow into central Burma in large quantities. Enough appears to feed the units and aircraft but that is all. I have built all the bases to at least lvl 3 and am concentrating on improving them to hopefully increase supply draw.
Approx 70 zekes and 90 oscars are in theater with 130 Sally bombers. About 120 Kates and Nells are at Port Blair training in case they are needed to defend Ceylon.
Two 25kt Battleship divisions with each having 2BB, 2CA and 6-8 DD are assigned to the IO operating out of Port Blair.


CHINA



China has progressed well. 15th army with 2 divs and the components of ~3 tank divisions came storming out of Indochina after the main IJA forces breached the Changsha area. The Southern Chinese forces are all badly beaten up and the current plan is to advance to the marked lines and dig in in favorable terrain and behind rivers wherever possible.
I don't intend to knock China out of the war and I want to be able to withdraw the unrestricted troops as soon as possible and use 23rd and 1st armies to hold the south while 11th holds the central plains and 13th beseiges Changsha. Supply is currently somewhat troublesome but that is mostly because I have not shipped any in in a long time. Now I have sufficient stockpiles in Burma/Malaya I can resupply China.


INDIA



Ceylon is mine after Kfsgo essentially abandoned it instead of contesting as I hoped. There has been some skirmishing in the air but I am unable to strike onto the mainland using my fragile bombers and Kfsgo doesnt seem willing to lose pilots fighting over Ceylon.

60 Zekes 140 Oscars are in theater. Lots of AA as well to make 4E airfield supression expensive.

My IO BB groups caught 25-30 fighters with a bombardment at Madras and Kfsgo has since abandoned the base as a fighter station and moved inland.


AUSY/DEI

Batavia still bravely holds out but otherwise quiet. Not even any real sub activity. 1 Div and some Nav guard are in NA. 15th army will eventually be used to garrison Malaya/Java/Sumatra once it is finished in China.


PACIFIC

16th army (2 div) is split between Fiji and Noumea with other bases being held by SNLF and NavG units. I am strongly reinforcing the Marshals and every base with a CD unit will have at least 1 NAVG and AF bn unit. Three bases with strong CD forts are receiving 150 mines and the max 6k troops to make life unpleasant for the invader.

Bat Div 4 2BB 2CA 8DD is stationed in SOPAC
Pacific Cruiser force 6CA and 18CL with a large number of destroyers is operating out of Rabaul and Truk. It is essentially a fast reaction force to interfere with any attempts until the Hammer of the KB can show up and smash things. Also a number of th CL can carry 24-48 mines so high speed minelaying runs into contested bases are another possibility.

Otherwise a quiet front.

KB

KB's location, disposition and force structure is OPSEC.

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

That might mean he is moving them somewhere ....

I think he will leave them in India/Burma for now. He has around 100 in theater as far as I can tell. There is little he can do with them on the rest of the map and they are disgustingly effective against units in the jungle.

Kfsgo is seemingly a very conservative player and shys away from losses. Even though his P-38's can easily get 4 or 5 to one in the air he refuses to contest beyond occasional CAP traps to try catch bombers.

I have no bloody idea where any of his fleet elements are other than a US cruiser squadron operating out of Tahiti. He has lost CA Australia and the NZ CL's but otherwise no major warships. Even the dutch have run away without a fight.

A serious concern is the extremely poor PH performance. By now he must have all but 1 or two of his BB's online and since PoW and Repulse didn't make their fateful sortie his battleline outnumbers me at this point and its only going to get worse.

A bit OT but my secondary school had the ships bell of CL Achillies so I have always had a soft spot for that ship. I saddened me to watch it torn apart by the KB.

More quiet turns bringing us to the 17th. China sees my troops continuing to roll over all opposition in the south.

Several fleet subs have finally turned up around the home islands. ASW groups and specialised Sally ASW units are attempting to hunt them down.

I appear to only have one 12 plane unit outside the home islands that can convert to Nicks. This seems rather odd considering we are playing PDU on.

19th May

Three things of note happen today, one good , one amusing and one odd.

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53842 troops, 655 guns, 274 vehicles, Assault Value = 1565

Defending force 18103 troops, 269 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 241

Japanese adjusted assault: 691

Allied adjusted defense: 331

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Batavia !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Allied losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1290 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 120 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (6 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Allied ground losses:
24256 casualties reported
Squads: 384 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 789 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 104 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 298 (298 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 129 (129 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 20


Assaulting units:
65th Brigade
Kure 3rd SNLF
33rd Division
44th Naval Guard Unit
38th Division
43rd Naval Guard Unit
82nd Naval Guard Unit
48th Division
4th Ind.Mixed Regiment
47th Naval Guard Unit
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
2nd KNIL Regiment
1st KNIL Regiment
1st Regt Cavalerie
6th KNIL Regiment
Barisan KNIL Regiment
Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion
4th KNIL Regiment
Afdeling Ritman
Djambi Base Force
Soerabaja Base Force
ABDA
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Batavia Base Force
Bandoeng Base Force
ML-KNIL
Roodenburg Battalion
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
Tjilitap Base Force
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Mobiele Eenheid Bn /1


Batavia falls finally, even the dutch do remarkably well when stacked into a big mass.

Second the PT squadron out of Batavia catches a ASW force and sinks one, the others get hit with a bit of machinegun fire in exchange for an 8cm shell hit on a PT boat.
I then load up the turn and see a pair of totally smashed PB's, all from a few MG bullets!



Finally the odd even of the day is some runaway tank rgts. Across 2 days they have managed to travel 80 miles from the hex NW of Kweilin to Tuyun cutting off one of Kfsgo's forward positions in southern China. This seems to be an artifact of pursuit mode not taking into account terrain type when pursuing.



Kfsgo of course batters his already broken Corps against the tanks in an effort to destroy his formations and allow them to respawn while I try negotiate a withdrawl. I could easily take the base but me and Kfsgo have agreed that Tanks operating alone should be kept to a minimum and the whole teleportation gimmick doesn't quite seem fair when used to cross WR terrain.

Ground combat at Tuyun (74,51)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 6204 troops, 66 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

Defending force 7275 troops, 0 guns, 1088 vehicles, Assault Value = 611

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 1582

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)


Allied ground losses:
2295 casualties reported
Squads: 183 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 112 destroyed, 193 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 53 (53 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Assaulting units:
3rd New Chinese Corps
62nd Chinese Corps
6th Construction Regiment
7th Chinese Base Force
52nd Chinese Corps
31st Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Base Force

Defending units:
3rd Tank Regiment
1st Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
5th Tank Regiment
9th Tank Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
8th Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
11th Tank Regiment

ORIGINAL: Saros
I appear to only have one 12 plane unit outside the home islands that can convert to Nicks. This seems rather odd considering we are playing PDU on.

Use tracker to figure out how to "unlock" some more Nicks. It has to do with gettting an airgroup into "fighter-bomber" first and then it can upgrade to Nick. You won't be able to get very many for quite sometime as the "key" IIRC is being able to convert to the Sen Baku.

Anyway, play with tracker. It's your only hope to figure it out, unless you want to do a unit by unit inspection in the editor? [X(]

Hah after I realised there was something up I went through all the IJA fighter units ingame and checked their possible upgrades. There are a couple including one 42 plane unit that convert to the Nick-C but none for the A or B. The B model is somewhat weird as well as the factories upgrade to the C straight from the A. IIRC the B is built around a 37mm cannon or something like that.

What exactly can I check in tracker other than sorting groups by their default upgrades? It doesn't give me any new info.



Sen Baku doesn't show up till '44 [:(] and the first designated FB units don't appear until then either according to tracker.

I must also admit to being at something of a loss as to exactly what to do until Kfsgo comes up with some sort of offensive action. After I take cocos island I will have run out of viable things to invade. I guess Pago Pago is an option but i'm loathe to send the necessary ships so far south and burn so much fuel.

ORIGINAL: Saros

I then load up the turn and see a pair of totally smashed PB's, all from a few MG bullets!

Remember those Tosu's are really small ships. Think fishing trawler with a gun and a couple of DC racks. Even 50 cal will rip right through them. As far as the game engine is concerned, both the Tosu and the PT are the "same", they are both DUR=1 ships. I translate that into wood hulls ... means anything puts them into pieces.

While i'm on fighters the Japanese stars of the show appear to be the Frank, George and Tojo with the zero slowly dwindling into uselessness once the USN gets its next gen fighters.
I just dont see the reason to build Tony's when the Tojo does everything better except not having armor until later. The service rating 3 and tiny range of the Tony's is also a killer.
The oscar is barely tolerable already and doesn't appear likely to get any better. Its pathetic firepower really lets it down, again and again I see my crack pilots get behind hurricanes and p-40's and hit them for merely some damage yet if it's even touched it will die.

Looks like tojo's and  until '44 unless my R&D goes unexpectedly well.
George v Jack is harder and I will probably build both as the Jack appears to be a slightly superior dogfighter but the George has those four glorious 20mm cannons. M5 Zero comes in around then as well but will be restricted to carrier ops only as the land based navy fighters are superior.

ORIGINAL: Saros

While i'm on fighters the Japanese stars of the show appear to be the Frank, George and Tojo with the zero slowly dwindling into uselessness once the USN gets its next gen fighters.
I just dont see the reason to build Tony's when the Tojo does everything better except not having armor until later. The service rating 3 and tiny range of the Tony's is also a killer.
The oscar is barely tolerable already and doesn't appear likely to get any better. Its pathetic firepower really lets it down, again and again I see my crack pilots get behind hurricanes and p-40's and hit them for merely some damage yet if it's even touched it will die.

Looks like tojo's and  until '44 unless my R&D goes unexpectedly well.
George v Jack is harder and I will probably build both as the Jack appears to be a slightly superior dogfighter but the George has those four glorious 20mm cannons. M5 Zero comes in around then as well but will be restricted to carrier ops only as the land based navy fighters are superior.

Ki-44 has even worse firepower than Ki-43, as the heavy guns are in the wings and the engine cowling 7.62s are worth maybe quarter a HMG(think about a Ki-43-Ib...). Ki-61-Ia and Ib suck performance wise, only things they do better is the armor and better guns (especially Ib) but the Ki-61-Ic and Id are probably worth building - the Ic is Army's first cannon-armed single engine fighter and all fighter units can fly it(compare it to Ki-45s...) and while Id is somewhat slower and even less maneuverable it has 2 of the game's best 20mm cannons CL mounted and 2 HMGs in wings - and it has OK range and service rating of 2. If you want a fighter that can to some extent fight with both bombers and fighters the Ki-61-Ic is one option, and available half a year before the Ki-84. That the bomber gunners need more than 1 burst to kill each of your aces is just bonus. [:'(]

Good points about the Ki-61. I have three R&D factories working on the first model so I will probably build some to give it a try out.

Something weird I noticed today, Clark field, Trincomalee and Colombo are all attached to General defense HQ. This means that I now have replacement planes spawning at Colombo and the Two netty groups restricted to the Home islands are able to fly into colombo.
Huh