Kane and Unable ;] - Game over 1945.

[Mike McCreery]

I had a good ground game today... Having a good air game would be near impossible but occasionally I can do the 2nd best thing.

I knew that MrKane was very likely to hit Pengpu with his bombers as it was fantastically sucessfull the last time. I also knew that I had not attacked any airfields lately so I took a chance and smashed Hankow which is a lvl 6 airfield and got lucky.

[Mike McCreery]

Played the turn for 7 hours this morning... I love this game. The more I study the more I realize the potential the more I realize how small a portion of my resources I properly utilize each turn. Airlifting is one of those areas. I have so much potential...

Anyway, here is the current picture in Asia. I am going to focus on various areas in following posts.

[Mike McCreery]

In Western China we are wrestling and I appear to have the upper hand although things are fluid. #1. In Kunming MrKane has the 15th Division and the 36th Division along with the 13th army. I bypassed this position and moved eastward. I have 3 crappy brigades covering the base total AV 503.

The Ntl Mtd Rifle Regiment moved to a mountain hex northwest of Kweiyang. There is an unknown unit that just moved 1 hex southeast from that city. I am going to bomb it tomorrow to determine what it is.

The 53rd Chinese corps is half way to the road west of Kweiyang. I will use it to further isolate the units in and around that area.

#2 A few Brigades are pounding on a Japanese Airforce Battalion and will likely further isolate the road to Kweiyang.

At this point in the war and with my strategic position I wonder if it would be more of a burden on supply for the Chinese army to be liberated. If I do not plan on a ground war on the home island then it should not be an issue. I think I do need to plan a ground war as my air game may not yield enough results and besides, ground wars are fun!!

A lot depends on the next 6 weeks of game time to determine the ultimate distribution of forces and supply factors.

[Mike McCreery]

So I have changed my focus and decided that Shanghai really is a priority. So I will try something probably stupid. Didnt want to change my usual pattern. The goal is to move the bulk of the army in central China to Nanking or parts nearby.

I am going to do this by attacking Changsha across the river from 2 locations. This will do a number of things. Hopefully it wont totally trash my units. I am afraid that MrKane has at least one armor division still lurking. It will seal the western exit from the hex. It will temporarily seal the northwestern exit from the hex.

It will also bring about 3300AV of mine into the same hex. I plan on then strat or moving the bulk of that east toward Nanking. Calculations tell me that the army can be in the city within 21 days if there are no delays.

I have no reason to doubt that I can take nanking with the 5000+AV arriving there within 3 weeks. But the interesting question is once his LOC is threatened will he commit the central China troops he has there or try to save them in favor of letting me liberate the Chinese army.

On the flip side this could allow MrKane an avenue out of central china if he chose to re-open the northern corridor to Changsha and he will easily be able to take the open terrain bases back if he chooses to. I am taking the risk that he wont want to risk the damage to his troops from the air.

[Mike McCreery]

Most of the units on the west side of the map are in strat mode. They are moving to Wuhu with final destination Nanchang.

I count about 2900AV arriving within 11 days in combat form in Nanchang.

I think Nanchang has only 1 division defending along with almost no armor. The Japanese 2nd tank division at Pengpu has chilled my northern excursion for now. I dont have enough AA or support troops so building up at Nanchang is the plan. By mid May I will be ready for a push into the Northern plains if I should choose.

[Mike McCreery]

I am beginning to soften up Formosa.

[Mike McCreery]

Good News/Bad News

The number of units at Pengpu just increased by one and the number of tanks doubled to nearly 1500. This tells me that there are 2 tank divisions at the location.

[Mike McCreery]

At Nanking we find a bunch of crappy divisions that are not even 200AV each plus some smaller units.

Wuish was conquered as expected and the refugees fleed to Soochow. There is movement of units in Shanghai indicating something is planning on crossing the bridge. I am not sure what he would want to put into harms way unless he is planning a full evacuation. It will be interesting to watch.

Most of my first wave of troops will be in Nanking within 10 days. He can beat me there if he pushes. I just dont know his intentions. If for some crazy reason he does put his tanks in Nanking I will circle around and trap them there.

[Mike McCreery]

The strategic plan now is to shift much of the Allied AV in China to Nanking. It will take almost 3 weeks to get them there. Hopefully the 3200AV arriving on May 8 can dislodge the current tenants and allow me to strat move all the way to the town but it probably cant happen. I did not provide a back door for the troops to flee. His troops there are low quality and about 700AV but he still has the heavy urban terrain and forts to slow me down.

Most of the ID's are prepping for Shanghai. I need that base and there are over 120,000 Japanese defenders. I will have to put up a hard fight. My air bases are not large enough around the area to trust getting my carriers trapped between the China coast and Japan. MrKane's carrier forces are still formidable.

When Nanking falls I am going to move across the plains in an effort to cut off the bulk of the Japanese army in China. This will force MrKane to make a decision about how much to leave behind.

There is no doubt he will need to make preparations to defend against the soviets but he still has almost 90 days until they begin to move.

[Mike McCreery]

Went from famine to feast One game ended and the other was slow and now I have 2 games with players slinging multiple turns back to me on a daily basis. I am in heaven but dont really have time to do anything but play the game. So, I want to take a brief pause and do some updating. The date is the middle of May in 1945. The score is the Japanese still lead by 7000 points.

In Malaya there are 2 units in the most north position. Those units have been knocked into and then out of Victoria point and are in no condition to fight. Somewhere between Prachup Kiri Khan and my units is a division of unknown strength. The base mentioned above is lvl 9, has 3 units at it with 9,000 troops and a nasty little airforce that I would like to nullify to open a sea route from Rangoon to China.

The 11th East African division was airlifted into Patani and is moving west toward Georgetown. I am not really sure the strength or condition of the units in central Malaya. At the bottom in and around Singapore are 75,000 troops.

Here is the strategic map for the next number of weeks.

[Mike McCreery]

The first attack on Hangchow goes in today with surprisingly strong results. I knew he was low on supply because the AV at the base would waver during bombardments.

I am guessing this base will not survive another 2 or 3 attacks. 3 more divisions on the way within a week to support regardless.

[Mike McCreery]

Nanking fell on May 10, 1945 on the 2nd attack of the city. Right now the infantry is resting while the tanks grind down the trapped defenders with little casualites.

[Mike McCreery]

May 22, 1945

The liberation of Malaya is going well and on schedule for the most part. There are 3 regiments/brigades in the center of Malay to be dealt with. The only unknown is the strength of the division at Surat Thani and the disposition of the troops at Singapore.

By mid June all units should be able to form up and begin planning for a final assault on Singapore.

[Mike McCreery]

In Central China the Allies have made good progress toward liberating the capital city. I have a significant push planned and expect to take back China by mid July at the latest. Not sure if that will be a good or bad thing considering the enormous supply they could eat up.

MrKane had a bad bit of luck, he has gotten 3 divisions trapped in the mountains west of Kweiyang. A divison sent to liberate them collapsed completely against a full strength Japanes Corps. It was subsequently attacked out of the hex losing 1/2 of its' AV and having the rest disabled. It is still possible to get those units out but it is going to take time and AV, either of which he may not have.

Have almost 5 million supply built up at Rangoon and it does transfer over to Hong Kong so I think that it should be covered but also getting a massive convoy planned if I cannot meet demand. There is probably over 1,000,000 in a supply train going all the way back to San Francisco.

The only benefit to liberating China is within 2 months there will be no garrison requirements needed for the other allied units.

The chance of this going to a land invasion of China is strong so that will be a benefit.

[Mike McCreery]

Shanghai is still a bit of a mystery. I know there are about 30K troops from Hangchow in the city but am not sure what the composition of the other 130K are. There are likely at least 3 other divisions.

I will be assaulting with about 6,000 AV which is mostly prepped for the target. I have HQ units not listed that are in the same stacks with the same level of prepping.

Shaohing should go to lvl 9 airfield tomorrow and the bulk of the airforce will be re-locating there. Hangchow is working on a lvl 5 airfield and all of the engineers at Shaohing will move next door to assist in making it a lvl 8. Once it gets to lvl 7 I can use it to start daily bombardments of Shanghai if necessary.

There is also a few blanket bombing and airdrop locations planned in the north to speed things up and threaten the Japanese rail lines and strategic movement.

[Mike McCreery]

ORIGINAL: Wargmr

Shanghai is still a bit of a mystery. I know there are about 30K troops from Hangchow in the city but am not sure what the composition of the other 130K are. There are likely at least 3 other divisions.

I will be assaulting with about 6,000 AV which is mostly prepped for the target. I have HQ units not listed that are in the same stacks with the same level of prepping.

Shaohing should go to lvl 9 airfield tomorrow and the bulk of the airforce will be re-locating there. Hangchow is working on a lvl 5 port and all of the engineers at Shaohing will move next door to assist in making it a lvl 8. Once it gets to lvl 7 I can use it to start daily bombardments of Shanghai if necessary.

There is also a few blanket bombing and airdrop locations planned in the north to speed things up and threaten the Japanese rail lines and strategic movement.

[Zecke]

problems; you should give up; tonterías ninguna; allies will push on china

[Mike McCreery]

Late May 1945

Allies Capture Surat Thani, one more step toward liberating Malaya.

[Mike McCreery]

Malay at end of May 1945

The center of the country should be under control within a week.

[Mike McCreery]

In Shanghai there are over 3000 AV in supply so I will need to try to reduce the force before I attack. I am heading east into the plains to further expand control. Also have a push toward Chengtu or Chungking that hopefully will make significant progress in the next few weeks.