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There are some substantial land changes in this mod, to the best of my memory perhaps the biggest is the Assault Division?.

Naval Guard units can combine into larger Assault Divisions? Their TOE might not be great, but they do have the excellent SNLF 41 and 43 troops in them.

I argued a bit in the mod section for a reduction in the size and strength of Japanese ground units to properly reflect such a strong air and naval buildup -- to no avail.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

There are some substantial land changes in this mod, to the best of my memory perhaps the biggest is the Assault Division?.

Naval Guard units can combine into larger Assault Divisions? Their TOE might not be great, but they do have the excellent SNLF 41 and 43 troops in them.

I argued a bit in the mod section for a reduction in the size and strength of Japanese ground units to properly reflect such a strong air and naval buildup -- to no avail.

The [9?]Assault divisions are in addition to the Naval Guard units, he also get additional Garrison troops as reinforcements.

The mod also ups the garrison requirements in China/India, I believe. I haven't noticed it too much in China, but it is certainly noticeable in India. Double-edged sword maybe. While it makes it hard to concentrate early on, it also forces Japan to leave substantial garrisons behind as they move further North.

ORIGINAL: GetAssista
Don't think even John is ambitious enough to try landing in western India, communications ore too long.

I have been thinking myself that LOCs limit the possibility for deep thrusts for a long time. But lately, viewing the Allied late war deep thrust invasions, relying on a LOC which leads right through a bunch of enemy bases as reported in several AARs (Canoerebel, but also rio bravo e.g.), I find myself pondering what is possible after all *if* you have a deathstar. And I still believe JohnIII actually has several of those right now.

Actually, the increased garrison requirements make this approach even more tempting IMO.

As always, just my take. I may well be wrong.

Hartwig

There could very well be landings along the western coasts of India in the future. He makes frequent forays up with his carriers and extensively recon's Bombay, which will be reinforced. I am not too worried about it as I'd get ample warning if he does such a thing and can shift my troops accordingly. We'll see.

The US Army 40th Infantry Division arrives at Cape Town next turn. [:)] To borrow from wikipedia and change things up a bit:

The 40th Infantry Division was ordered into federal service on 3 March 1941. It was at the time a National Guard division from the California, Nevada Army National Guard, and Utah Army National Guards. In February 1942, the 40th Infantry Division was reorganized from a 'square', two-brigade, four-regiment division to a three-regiment division without any intermediate brigade headquarters. Thus the 79th and 80th Infantry Brigade were inactivated.

The division departed for overseas service on 8 March 1942. The division's first overseas assignment was the reinforcement and defense of Bombay on the Indian subcontinent, where it arrived in April 1942. With the Japanese invasion of India, the division quickly experienced the fire of combat with little training beyond it's pre-war preparations.

The division is nicknamed the "Sunshine" division. Aptly named, and the mix of men from California, Nevada, and Utah I find appropriate for the new climate the boys will enjoy.

My game with John III was a blast. As I've said elsewhere, my appreciation for his abilities as a player has continued to increase since our game ended. He's experienced and he's good.

But there are holes to his game, as most of us know. When our game ended, I figured there were several important lessons he should learn, that he'd give lip service to all three, and that sooner rather than later he'd fall into old habits with respect to two of the three:

1) Pay attention to China: I believe his learned this lesson, although it may take him awhile to really catch on to the intricacies of handling Japan in China.
2) Don't leave holes deep behind his lines: He's probably already forgotten this lesson. When the time comes for the Allies to move forward, I bet Anachro will find holes here, there, everywhere.
3) Don't steam KB about without adequate information (detection, mainly) on the Allied carriers. I bet he forgot this the moment the game started. He can't help himself.

John had initially increased garrison requirements in both China and India too high many versions ago. I think it reflected his strong dislike of land combat. [:D] I talked him into and then lower them back down to a more reasonable level. They are still higher than stock, but not as bad.

Assault Divisions are three Naval Guards plus devices. They also get an upgrade in '43 that makes them better in defense.

What I'm finding out in early '43 is there are more CD guns available and some invasions are going to be tougher. Thankfully, I haven't lost too many of those old, slow BB as they come in handy.

Mar 29-30, 1942

The two days have relatively little activity, other than John taking Vizagapatnam and seeming to be moving east with some troops towards Calcutta. John does some light bombing runs on Madras; I expect more sweeps and bombing later. The first 2 American fighter wings arrive in Bombay with 25 P-39's apiece and they will move down towards Hyderabad. A few American bomber units, as well as US Army dive bombers, will remain in Bombay for training before seeing front line use. Once I have ready fighters in sufficient numbers, I will begin sweeping Vizagapatnam and then bombing it. I hope to start this tomorrow and try and bring its airfields up to 100 if I can. This might be possible if his carriers keep moving away.

All dot bases are being reinforced with minor units to prevent paratrops. If he does do this, the hope is to quickly contain and destroy them.



In the Aleutians, it seems his bottled up division is finally starting to crack, with bombardments destroying squads over the last few turns. One division sunk and perhaps another soon destroyed or severely degraded? Only time will tell. I do believe there will be gaps in his future defenses in both the South and North Pacific. Airfields in the Aleutians are being built up and being reinforced with fighters and dive bombers. Once this is done, I can more safely bring in reinforcements and supplies.

Ground combat at Umnak Island (169,51)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9434 troops, 123 guns, 22 vehicles, Assault Value = 438

Defending force 15825 troops, 128 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 376

Japanese ground losses:
193 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2/153rd Infantry Battalion
1/153rd Infantry Battalion
201st(Sep) Infantry Regiment
3rd Marine Raider Battalion
37th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
2nd Marine Raider Battalion
2nd/298th Infantry Battalion
1st/298th Infantry Bn /1
141st USN Stn Base Force
3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion
1st Marine Air Wing
47th Construction Regiment
Wake (Det.) Defense Battalion
116th Base Group

Defending units:
Guards Mixed Brigade
7th Division

ORIGINAL: Anachro
In the Aleutians, it seems his bottled up division is finally starting to crack, with bombardments destroying squads over the last few turns. One division sunk and perhaps another soon destroyed or severely degraded? Only time will tell.

If you have AKEs and warships to spare this is the place. Short distances mean daily bombardment runs. Those can degrade isolated LCUs pretty fast if you keep DL high. And further provoke John )

1) Pay attention to China: I believe his learned this lesson, although it may take him awhile to really catch on to the intricacies of handling Japan in China.

I wonder if his response to the China issue in the last game is to make sure China never gets enough supply for the Chinese troops to become an issue. Once there is enough supply to fill out lots of 1943 Chinese infantry squads the Japanese player is going to have a bad time.

Yes, John has tendencies. He likes to raid. I would watch the wormhole to Karachi very carefully. I expect he will try to raid convoys as soon as they exit. Sending convoys of supplies a few days before valuable troops exit and lots of searches may help

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

John had initially increased garrison requirements in both China and India too high many versions ago. I think it reflected his strong dislike of land combat. [:D] I talked him into and then lower them back down to a more reasonable level. They are still higher than stock, but not as bad.

Assault Divisions are three Naval Guards plus devices. They also get an upgrade in '43 that makes them better in defense.

What I'm finding out in early '43 is there are more CD guns available and some invasions are going to be tougher. Thankfully, I haven't lost too many of those old, slow BB as they come in handy.

I don't want this to sound bad or negative, but I feel that the mod for the most part is designed to support John's particular playstyle.

It would be interesting to see how a low risk broad front advance against Japan would work as the game advances to 1944...tied in with a ruthless war on Japan's industrial might.

I agree with you to a point, Professor Lowpe. The mods were to take some 'what if' on the IJN. The next version that I'm working on (slowly) will have Big B's China stuff incorporated. That should make that theater more a stalemate that it was historically. I continue to try to influence the changes and keep it balances for both sides, but this is his mod.

Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls

Sorry I've been busy with real life stuff and hence no updates. In the game, the last few days have been relatively uneventful in both India and up in the Aleutians. However, tomorrow brings promise of some action, at least in the South Pacific where John seems to have exposed some surface vessels. For now, the situation:

Aleutians
Things have stabilized and John's movements have slowed down. While his carriers have not made a reappearance, he has constantly kept ships hovering around Amchitka Island and today a large number of vessels including heavy surface units appears there. He might be planning another invasion of extraction of his units at Umnak. My units are replenishing on the west coast near Seattle, but should begin returning soon. There might be a window of opportunity for him, but Umnak is heavily mined so there's that at least. I have ammunition ships moving up and plan further bombardments of Umnak.

Ground combat at Umnak Island (169,51)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9448 troops, 123 guns, 22 vehicles, Assault Value = 444

Defending force 15631 troops, 128 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 374

Japanese ground losses:
147 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

India
A few interesting things happen here, on the 2nd mostly. First, John launches his expected invasion of Diego Garcia with heavy bombardments by multiple fleets, taking it in the same turn. Second, I begin attacks on John's airfield at Vizagapatnam. While my bombers aren't as effective as I'd like, my fighters doing an admirable job sweeping the skies of A6M2 Zeros. I imagine we'll see him put A6M5's soon enough.

Morning Air attack on Vizagapatnam , at 42,37

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 14
P-40E Warhawk x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x P-40E Warhawk sweeping at 20000 feet
1 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 20000 feet *

Ground combat at Diego Garcia (11,62)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 11026 troops, 33 guns, 29 vehicles, Assault Value = 401

Defending force 2603 troops, 53 guns, 77 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Japanese adjusted assault: 344

Allied adjusted defense: 2

Japanese assault odds: 172 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Diego Garcia !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2507 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 349 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 73 (73 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 59 (59 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

South Pacific
In the South Pacific, John has brought a small cruiser force to escort APD's and DD's hovering around Ndeni. Either John is reinforcing the area or trying to extract with the troops there to pull back to more defensible positions. He has no hope of taking a reinforced Luganville, Noumea, or Suva given the losses he has already suffered in the area. His best chance going forward is to try and push for Port Moresby and the surrounding areas. What he doesn't know is I have 2 surface units nearby, a light cruiser-backed force and a BC-backed force. Both of these will try an intercept.



Air Losses for the Day

Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL? [:)]

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL? [:)]

Years ago when talking to mate's wife re wargaming, she said "It's not likes it a life or death situation."

I replied "Damn right it isn't. It's much more important than that."

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL? [:)]

That depends whether you took the blue pill or red pill.

What about if you take the purple pill?

April 3-April 6, 1942

The battle I alluded to on the morrow the 2nd of April turned into one between my BC Renown TF and 6 Japanese destroyers. The 6 Japanese destroyers acquitted themselves well and were able to inflict significant damage on 3 American destroyers for the cost of one Japanese destroyer. Luckily, the BC Renown took no torpedo hits and in the end, the tally was one Japanese DD worth 6 points for one US DD worth 5 points. If my crew experience improved, I'll take that exchange.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Torres Islands at 120,146, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 4
DD Sawakaze
DD Yukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Hokaze, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Shell hits 3
CL Leander
CL Perth, Shell hits 2
DD Farragut, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
DD Aylwin, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Shell hits 1

India
Beyond the fact that John has significantly upped the number of fighters at Vizagapatnam in India, there is not much happening there yet. I continue to have the ability to flow troops unhindered to Karachi. Around ~550 AV in US troops is on the Indian subcontinent, as well as ~3-4 US Army fighter wings, 3-4 bomber or divebomber wings, and I finally got a new Catalina unit there to help with reconnaissance and nav search. Based on John's recon and seen movement so far, it would appear he might be heading towards Calcutta, but the jury is still out on that.

Aleutians

The interesting thing over the last few days is that John has finally made a reappearance with his big ships in the Aleutians now that he has better air cover from Adak Island, etc. A huge convoy mixed in with the BB Yamato and a number of other surface vessels seemed to be slowly converging on Umnak Island the last 2 days and in the last turn he makes an attempt to arrive at Umnak. I'm not sure why he has his surface vessels mixed in in such a way, but based on the damage to the convoy ships over the last turn, this appears to either be bringing supply to Umnak or he is trying to extricate his troops.

However, over the last turn, he is harried by PT boats and hits a number of mines with his convoy. This results in some damage and it is unclear if the convoy remains there (my navsearch failed last turn and spotted little). Nonetheless, I will send more PT boats to Umnak tomorrow to see. The real important thing here is, if he attempts to load his troops at Umnak or unload supply, my carriers are only a few days out from arriving and hitting such a slow moving convoy. We'll see what happens.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Umnak Island at 169,52, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
CB Aino
CL Kinu
CL Kitakami
DD Kuroshio
DD Hatsuharu
DD Hatsushima
DD Wakaba
DD Usugumo
DD Ushio
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yakaze
DMS Hachijo
PB Choko Maru #2
PB Keijo Maru
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Teibo Maru #2
CL Ayase
CL Minase
xAK Cuba Maru
xAK Florida Maru
xAK Manzyu Maru
xAK Ryunan Maru
xAK Kazan Maru
xAK Hoeisan Maru
xAK Nitian Maru
xAK Akasi Maru
xAK Cheribon Maru
xAK Daijukyo Maru
xAK Yosida Maru #3
xAK Zinzan Maru
xAK Rozan Maru
xAK Kyokuzan Maru
xAK Fukoku Maru
xAK Yamamiya Maru
xAK Shinmei Maru
xAK Dori Maru
xAK Sansho Maru
xAK Kinmo Maru
xAK Shinfuku Maru
xAK Rozan Maru
xAK Uzan Maru
xAK Fukuzan Maru
xAK Biwa Maru
SC Ch 33
PG Yakumo
PG Iwate

Allied Ships
PT-20
PT-43
PT-48
PT-60
PT Q-111

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

12 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DMS Hachijo, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Yamato, Mine hits 1
DD Uzuki, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
PG Iwate, Mine hits 1

DMS Hachijo firing at 3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion
3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DMS Hachijo
3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DMS Hachijo
4 mines cleared

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Yakaze
DD Kikuzuki
PB Teibo Maru #2
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Keijo Maru
PB Choko Maru #2
SC Ch 33
xAK Yamamiya Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Wakaba
DD Hatsuharu
PG Yakumo
xAK Biwa Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

22 mines cleared

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Wakaba
DD Hatsuharu
DD Kuroshio
PB Keijo Maru
PB Choko Maru #2
SC Ch 33
xAK Sansho Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire

12 mines cleared

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Hatsushima
PG Yakumo
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Keijo Maru
SC Ch 33
CL Ayase, Mine hits 1

9 mines cleared

According to reports, I sunk the CL and a DD last night. Unsure of either, though an E13A1 Jake was destroyed in ops last night. I doubt it, but I definitely heard sinking noises last night which could be the transports that struck mines.

In other news, John isn't taking Batavia soon. He actually attacked a few turns ago, had a bad roll, suffered huge losses for 0 defender losses and failed to bring forts down.

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 671 troops, 21 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 928

Defending force 21425 troops, 258 guns, 110 vehicles, Assault Value = 478

Assaulting units:
I Marechausse Cdo
6th KNIL Regiment
3rd Cav Sqdn
Groep Zud
II Marechausse Cdo
4th KNIL Regiment
4th Cav Sqdn
I Landstorm Cdo
III/IV Barisan Cdo
1st KNIL Regiment
Tjepoe Cdo
I/II Barisan Cdo
Mobiele Battalion
6th Cav Sqdn
Lijfwacht Cav Sqdn
1st Cav Regiment
VI Landstorm Cdo
III Landstorm Cdo
Tjilitjap Cdo
IV Landstorm Cdo
Roodenburg Cdo
II Landstorm Cdo
2nd KNIL Regiment
Marinier Battalion
VLG-III Sup Groep
A-II-Ld AA Battalion
3e-VLG-V Sup Afd
ABDA
HQ III KNIL Division
A-III-Ld AA Battalion
A-I-Ld AA Battalion
HQ I KNIL Division
Soerabaja KM Base Force
224 Group RAF
Batavia Defenses
KNI Zeemacht
VLG-IV Sup Groep
VLG-II Sup Groep
ML-KNIL
2e-VLG-V Sup Afd
Batavia KM Base Force
NI-MLD
KNI Leger
HQ II KNIL Division
VkA-1 Sup Afd

Defending units:
56th/B Division
90th Division
56th/A Division
56th/C Division

I am not sure what his thinking was to imbed Yamato in that. It won't sink her, but getting the dent all buffed out & repainted takes time.

Side note. I am sure you are aware, but those old BB's will take a pounding if Yamato finds them. It never hurts to say the obvious beforehand, rather than lament later [;)]

I am not sure what his thinking was to imbed Yamato in that.

It seems even stranger to embed a battlecruiser -- what's the point of having a high-speed ship tied to transports? and for that matter, is Kitakami still a torpedo cruiser in this mod?