The Italian Job 2- Gen.Hoepner(J)-vs.-Mc3744

[Gen.Hoepner]

Hi all,


fist of all, thanks so much for the points you made. It helps me clear things up in my mind and calm down a bit.

I've understood the problem related with MC's movement, but in the other hand i can clearly see that if he reatreats now with no losses, my whole strategy, my whole plan for Oz( 8 months of war!) will go bitches.

So, after 1 day of thoughts, i arrived to a conclusion and proposed the following house rule to MC:

Points to keep in mind:

1- He's exploited the night bombing feature and gained 1400 points with that in the last 4 months. But, above all, he has gained the controll of the skies over Burma and now he threatens the whole Indochina without any chance for me to oppose to this strategy.
So i'm losing any chance of autovictory for this "bad designed" game feature.

2- He's now in a similar condition, but related with ground troops.

3- I've been using 4 divisions,2 Mix Rgts, tons of fighters and bombers and 2 Army HQ with 4 tank regiments for the last 3 months here in Oz, not simply to stop his advance but to be able to counterattack and have my "decisive battle". Now this bug or whatever it is is throwing away this chance and i consider that i could have used those units somewhere else( Christmas Isl,Bora Bora, Perth...or whatever). So he's not the only one who devoted so much resources to this operation.

4- I do not want to be gamey or to exploit any bug. I consider myself a fair player and MC is a very nice person.

5- I do not want to force him to quit or to play without any will or fun.


...so....

The proposal is the following:

I let his retreat to Alice Spring. To, in a certain way, get that "lost victory" ( which would have been the annihilation of 2 Divs,2 Bdes,1 HQ and 1 Base force stuck at Daily and now almost sorrounded) i ask him to house rule the night bombing.
Only 1 target each night and only 1 4Es BG able to flight night bombing mission.Obviously when the time to bomb Japan will come this house rule will b changed.
Those 6 units will be forced to stay at alice for the next 6 month( simulating the destruction of the units) and he won't be able to advance any further than alice for the next 6 months ( to simulate the defeat the allies would have suffered).

In this way he won't risk any autovictory and he will save his match, but at the same time he will save those precious units which will be usable again in 6 months.
This will simulate a Japanese Victory and so Japan will have 6 more months or oxigen in Oz that will let the Empire redeploy his forces.
And, above all, exploitation vs exploitation, we will rule the gamey Night Bombing.

What d'u think?
Sounds fair?

I'm now waiting for his answer

Still thanks guys

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/24/42

Well, it seems that an agreement has been found among us.
we restric the 4e night bombings to city attacks and i'll attack his troops in Oz, but just to push them back and not to sorround them.

So....with the new rules the last turns has been VERY exiting!
Lots of 4Es vs Fighters competitions!

60 vs 20 for me in A2A combat. Not bad considering that I only engaged two half Tony chutais at Bankok. My zeros aren't in a good shape but they must be kept in frontline untill enough tonies reach the front.

At chungking 5 new units are born...from 31 to 36,....probably those that spring up after been destroyed....that's a pain![:@]
However, we keep suppressing the chinese AFs, while my 12th Army is almost ready to strike Kumming...few more days and i'll have 2500 APsthere!

I'm moving my CVs towards Takao. After the MSW operation of 2 days ago at port Blair i fear a landing there or in Southern Burma, even if i find somehow difficult the latter scenario.
However, 7 subs are been dispatched to Bengal Bay and my scout planes are reconning the whole area. He should not come unseen!
4 CVs + 4 BBs + 10 CAs+ 45 DDs+ 5 CLs+ 2 CVLs + 2 CVEs should be enough to deal with RN at the present stage.

At Daily i keep rotating my air units, and soon some 48 tonies will be ready to get into the meatgrinder.
Bankok and Hanoi are somehow still weakly defended, with only 120 fighters ( ofwhich 40% composed by nates and oscars), but he cannot substain losses like the ones of today for more than 2 days in a row...so i should have the time to recover.

He's retreating his units south of Akyab....that's good cause it lets me move back one more division to act as a strategic reserve at Bankok or Rangoon.

I'm also thinking of getting back in force at Rangoon as soon as the air balance will be rejoined.



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Day Air attack on Daly Waters , at 35,90

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 73

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 5
B-17E Fortress x 52
LB-30 Liberator x 73
B-24D Liberator x 82

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed, 37 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 10 destroyed, 26 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 5 destroyed, 20 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 11 destroyed, 32 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 31

Aircraft Attacking:
The base is far from being closed. It's operative again at 100%[:D]

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Day Air attack on Bangkok , at 29,39

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 38
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 27
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 4
B-17E Fortress x 54
LB-30 Liberator x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 20 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 13 destroyed, 28 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 7 destroyed, 18 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
53 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 27

Aircraft Attacking:

Many allied crews proved to be cowards and got back at the first sight of my brave fighters!

The tonies here scored 2 hits...


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Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 115102 troops, 1337 guns, 29 vehicles

Defending force 37638 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
92 casualties reported


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Ground combat at Chungking

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 187914 troops, 2169 guns, 29 vehicles

Defending force 150957 troops, 801 guns, 53 vehicles[:(][:(][:(]



Allied ground losses:
87 casualties reported

I need to get over Kumming as soon as possible to be able to concntrate on Chungking which keeps on raising

[Gen.Hoepner]

Ok, something more to say, waiting for the next turn to come in.

My main problem now is that i lost contact with his CVs.
They were sailing towards Noumea 2 weeks ago. Now they could be everywhere.
I have a pair of Emilies Chutais that patrol the waters of the Indian Ocean....cause my fear is that he comes down with American and british CVs from Colombo to invade Java or Sumatra....
However i'll play conservative this time. I'll keep 2 groups of CVs in the main areas and one group as an active reserve.
The main CV fleet( 4CVs +2 CVLs) is at Truk, while the little one ( 1 CV+2CVLs+2CVEs) is at Singapore. The reserve group composed of 4 CVs+1CVE will stay in the waters between Takao and PI, ready to move and join one of the other groups as soon as the problem arise.
For couterlanding operations i have at the moment two main Hubs from where to move troops: Sosarbaja ( 2nd Army with 1 Bde+1Div+2 Eng rgt+2Art units+2 Tank rgts) and Truk ( 17th Army with the Imperial Guard Div,2 Bde,1 Arty and one Rgt).
BBs and CAs are equally divided between Singapore and Truk.

As soon as in oz the situation will be clarified i'll move back to Darwin 2 Divisions,1 eng rgt 2 Arty units and 2 Tank Rgts. They'll form the 16th Army , that will act as another reserve for any problem that may arise.

The idea is to move to Truk and Sosarbaja one more Division each. But to do so i need to be sure that Burma is secured and Western china conquered...so at least 1 more month.

The wakest points in my perimeter at the moment are:
1- Port Blair and West Sumatra
2- Exmouth and N-West Australia
3- Fijii and pago Pago
4-Kuriles....how are they called!?!?!? Paramushiro Jiima to be understood[:)]

The target for the next 6 months is to keep these areas under my controll and attack in mass everywhere it's needed!

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/25/42

He's placing mines at Port Blair with his subs...strange! one minelayer has been sunk by a VH1 allied mine. So what that can mean? Invasion or not?![&:]

Anyway, bad weather in China prevented any mission...and, on time like a swiss train, his fighters are back at Tsuyung. Now, my recon planes tells me Tsuyung has 80 runaway damage....so i must stop believing to them!
But now i'm having enough of this "ballet". I cannot keep suppressed 5 different chiese airfields and at the same time defend my main bases with high-quality CAP and bother then every 15 days his fighters are back in China just to vanish the next turn after an ambush! I need to accelerate the operations in the West. A kind of retaliation has been ordered over Tsuyung with 40zeros escorting 80 bombers, while more 80 bombers will hit Chungking, more 150 bombers escorted by 50 zeros will hit Sining and some 40 bombers Lanchow.
At this point i do not care much losing some zero pilots.
Tomorrow we'll start the attack at Kunming. I know we're in advance on scheldue....i should wait for 1 more eng rgt, 2 more arties, and 2 more regiments to come....but i cimply cannot wait any longer. The soonest i conquer Kunming, the soonest i can defenetly close Tsuyung and siege it, and the soonest i can concentrate on Chungking, which grows sronger every day no matters how mny men i put there!

His forces Took Nanning...really do not understand how they could move from the Pocket they were closed in eastwards and escape me.[&:] This game is silly!
Anyway...they're not going far, believe me.



At Daily we pushed back his left flank again. Now he has 10 units south of Daily and 4 units on the road 120 miles S of Daily.
4 Units are already moving to Darwin.

I lost a sub ( I-5 i think) due to a B-25 attack near Palmyra today

No signs of enemy CVs


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TF 9 encounters mine field at Port Blair (23,34)

Japanese Ships
ML Shirakami, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Exmouth , at 11,86


Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 5
Brewster 339D x 76
Hudson I x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 36


No Allied losses

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 49


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Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 115167 troops, 1335 guns, 29 vehicles

Defending force 37460 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles



Allied ground losses:
278 casualties reported

Number should be on my side, even if the hex is a wood one...so x3 defensive multiplier...--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 34,91

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 39442 troops, 405 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 6813 troops, 49 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 30 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
382 casualties reported
Guns lost 14
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
179 casualties reported
Guns lost 14


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

these are his australian units on his left flank....6000 men is what remains of 1 division and one Cav Bde[:D]

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Ground combat at Nanning

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12906 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 59 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Nanning base !!!

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/26/42

A very important day. I'd say foundamental for the chinese war.
Kunming fell at the first assault![:D] Our troops did not suffer many losses nor much fatigue or distruption. Now The western china is almost done. Only Tsuyung is missing, but with a level 2 AF and with those exausted troops defending the place shouldn't be that hard to get through, even if the city is placed on moutains.
The fighters we spotted yesterday at Tsuyung were just an ambush...today no sign of allied a/cs in the area. We heavily bombed Tsuyung, amost closing it down ( 80% AF damaged spotted..but i do not believe those dinahs anymore). I have the feeling that he's trying to force me to commit my zeros for escorts, while his 4Es are free to bomb to stoneage my starting bases....his F5s keep on reconning Hanoi,Bankok and Port Blair and i'm quite sure these places will be his next targets.
So the plan now is the following:
-Keep Tsuyung suppressed, using 150 bombers from Hanoi,lightly escorted by few zeros.
-Mantain a costant CAP of 200 different fighters models ( mostly zeros and Nates) over Hanoi at different altitudes ( from 20k to 6k)
-Keep Chungking under costant fire of 100 bombers from Liuchow, with a CAP of 60 fighters
-Keep Sining and Lanchow under pressure with 200 bombers from Kungchan and Sian and protect the bases with 100 fighters( with 48 brand new Tonies)
-Keep a costant CAP of 50/90 fighters over Bankok, using Tonies and Zeros

This plan should, with a bit of luck, enable me to keep Chinese skies free of enemy fighters and close the western china campaign in a resonable time.

OZ:

We keep driving the yanks southwards under the costant umbrellas of my bombers from Darwin.
The Sallies started to be redeployed back towards China and Malaya, while Nells and Betties will remain at Darwin so that, if needed, they can be esily moved towards Rabaul ( 1 day trip) or Kwalajein ( 2 days trip) or Java( 1 day) and Malaya ( 2 days).
One zero daitai and one oscars sentai, moved from Darwin towards Timor, to train a bit their experience ( 55 and 60 by now after 3 months of desperate fights at Daily). Some 48 Tonies will soon be available at Daily to CAP my base.



And now a big decision....
I studied the numbers and realized how useless is the OscarII. I would like to switch the production to something better ( Tojos or Jacks), but i'm a bit afraid.... what will those reinforcement groups scheldued for 1943 use if the plane they are supposed to use is out of production???
Any help?




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Day Air attack on Tsuyung , at 37,31

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
Ki-21 Sally x 69
Ki-49 Helen x 51
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 86

No sign of enemy fighters......
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Day Air attack on Sining , at 45,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
Ki-21 Sally x 100
Ki-48 Lily x 34
Ki-49 Helen x 24
Ki-15 Babs x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 3 damaged


Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 137


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Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 125189 troops, 1338 guns, 30 vehicles

Defending force 37135 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kunming base !!![8D]


Japanese ground losses:
1470 casualties reported
Guns lost 91
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
2023 casualties reported
Guns lost 23


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/27/42

Today was a quite day. He's still keeping down his 4Es, probably because he wants to replace the losses and come up in the air again at full strenght. I'll try to be as ready as possible, but i know it's going to be damned bloody for me.

However, tomorrow we'll enter at Tsuyung and in one week we'll attack. Tsyung an Sining have been heavily bombed and LRCAPPED( no signs of enemy transport planes here...)

More tonies are flowing. Tomorrow 36 more nate crews ( 83 exp) will be equipped with the Ki-61 at Shangai.

Changed the production of OscarsII into Jacks. In six months i will be ready to produce 150 Jacks each month.

In 3 months my fighter production should be something like:

282 Tonies
228 Zeros
200 Tojos
73 A6M3s
16 Rufes

not that bad i'd say, especially if i manage to keep the experience levels at decent standards.

After the conquest of Nanning by 9 partisan corps he's now moving towards Wochow. I'm going to paradrop one SNLF unit because i only hae one base force there.... my 23rd Army is on its footsteps and i think i'll be able to stop this silly escape and destroy those 50,000 chinese.

The alied training session at Exmouth goes on, but i will keep an eye on it.

Mining ops at Java, Malaya, Solomons, NG, Tarawa, Baker and Marshalls, Mariannas, Kurulis and soon we'l start mining Palau and the nearby islands

He has defently retreated his 2 armies that tried to get into Burma. Now i'll redeploy the 25th and the 15th Armies at Mandalay, Rangoon, Bankok and Mouleim.

In Oz i'm letting him retreat under the umbrella of my Bombers.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Exmouth , at 11,86


Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 5
Brewster 339D x 74
Hudson I x 7
B-25C Mitchell x 35


No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 19

Aircraft Attacking:
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Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 72
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 5 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
101 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 73

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sining , at 45,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
Ki-21 Sally x 90
Ki-48 Lily x 30
Ki-49 Helen x 23
Ki-15 Babs x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 146

[Gen.Hoepner]

And this is the general map of the Empire.

As you can see i've enlighted what i feel could be the possible future allied attacks, my main bases, my 3 defensive rings and the concentration points of my combined fleet.

[Gen.Hoepner]

In the picture you can see the leading captain of the first IJA Chutai equipped with KI-61 Tony, at the moment based at Bankok.
These aircraft will form, along with the upcomming ki-44 Tojos, the bulk of our new IJA for the next year to come.

[Gen.Hoepner]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/28/42

While anothe MSW fast transport TF sweep mines at port Blair and while my CVs get closer to Singapore arking them at Manila, waiting for the already written invasion, for the third time my recon lies to me.
As you can see in the screen shot, yesterday's raid would have closed the airfield at Sining. I have 27 Dinahs with 85 exp that fly everyday recon missions over there. Today i switched to Lanchow, just to give a hit there and keep it closed...and what!? I open the turn and find 150 allied planes based at Sining...and still they tell me the AF is 70% damaged....stupid bastards![:@]
Assuming that those 70 aux are damaged planes...he has brought in probably the whole AVG plus some more P-40 groups....wow.....how can i handle this situation? If i let him there he's going to bomb the hell out of China in few days...no, i gotta try.
Everything that is at disposal will be trown in, while my Tonies will remain on CAP along with Nates.
The zeros are fatigued and low experienced, but i need to give a try. Tomorrow forecast says Thuderstorm....bad luck[:(]....let's hope.

However we reached Tsuyung. Few days of bombing and the base will be attacked and conquered.

Nothing more to report for the moment.



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TF 1042 encounters mine field at Port Blair (23,34)

Allied Ships
MSW Baroda

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Day Air attack on Tsuyung , at 37,31

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-21 Sally x 72
Ki-49 Helen x 54
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7
Ki-15 Babs x 3

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
130 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 68

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lanchow , at 46,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
Ki-21 Sally x 90
Ki-48 Lily x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Ki-15 Babs x 5

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
93 casualties reported

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 105

[Gen.Hoepner]

The turn hasn't come, not yet:-( I really hoped that when i woke up i could find it in my mail....well....will be a long working day without a turn early in the morning![;)]

However, i thought a lot about the new strategic situation.
After the new house rule introduced about night bombing, everything seems to have changed! He now cannot relies on that feature and must sneake me.
The cat and mouse we're playing in China is just the best explanation for this.
Those planes at Sining can be an ambush. If he wanted me to concentrate my main air assets in a single base so that he could launch a massive 4E raid...well....he got me in his trap![:@]...but had I any other choice? Can i efford to let him sit down with his mighty air force in Northern China?! NO!

So it's a risky game and it's a rush with time. As soon as the P-38 will arrive he will become more aggressive and i'll have to re-think my whole CAP strategy...

When do the p-38s come? in Semptember?...so i have another 30/45 days...something like that. For that date i badly need to have already conquered Tsuyung and laid a massive siege on Chungking. I need to advance my air bases in places like Kweiyang so that i can bomb the hell out oc Chungking without losing 10 sallies/day for op losses...but to do that i desperately need to keep Sining and Lanchow shut!....it's a damn tough situation

And then at Chungking there are too many enemies...150,000....it's a lot! it's a city hex...so x4 for the defenders...He probably has something like 2500 Assault points by now with some experienced english troops there....how many men do i need? probably, i the Tsuyung affair doesn't take too long, i'll be able to place there some more 2000 APs...so to say...a total of 6500/7000 APs hopefully.....but what i need now it's TIME!

Ok...going crazy with these considerations....[:o]

Next report ( i hope ) for lunch time ( European time )

Stay tuned

[String]

P-38's arrive in October or November. You also have to assume atleast a month to gather airframes for the first 72 squadron upgrade and enough time to repair it though he could go with the smaller 24 squadrons but it wouldn't be worht it.

Common sense also dictates a nice reserve and atleast 100 P-38's operational before any offensive missions to achieve an instant success.

This gives the operational date of december 1942 at best.

[Gen.Hoepner]

ORIGINAL: String

P-38's arrive in October or November. You also have to assume atleast a month to gather airframes for the first 72 squadron upgrade and enough time to repair it though he could go with the smaller 24 squadrons but it wouldn't be worht it.

Common sense also dictates a nice reserve and atleast 100 P-38's operational before any offensive missions to achieve an instant success.

This gives the operational date of december 1942 at best.

Thanks String: this info is very valuable and usefull.
For December 42 i should already have filled my front line fighters with Tonies and Tojos and some Zero Daitais should have been trained back to 70/75 exp levels.
For the moment i haven't seen any p-39 or p-400 in the Burma/India area, so i assume that he will have to bring those planes there by ships through the Indian Ocean if he wants to use p-38s in the Burma/China plane-grinder. My Glen-equipped subs and my Mavis/Emiles keep on patrolling the western ocean, so that to spot any TF that sails from Oz to India and vice versa.

Now that the allied Daily adventure has been neutralized i bet he will concentrate on PM and NG. He will probably start to build Cooktown to level 5> AF, so to use his 4Es to bomb PM and Mylne bay ( gili gili ) back to stoneage. Then I assume he will go for Thursday Island in order to provide a close base for any future jump in NG from Oz. He will surely use a big fast transport to move troops first to Mylne bay and conquer it ( it's lightly defended and not built up at all-still a beach) and he will probably limit himself( for the moment) to neutralize PM and concentrate on Gili gili.
If these assumptions are corretc my plan will be the following: Let him bomb PM and save fragments of each important unit( CD,AA,Base force and SNLFs) using Subs or Mavis-L transport float planes and keep an intact air fleet at Rabaul and Bouganville( i consider 4 experienced zero daitais, 2 highly experienced Tony Sentais and 5 Nells/Betties sentais along with 3 Emilies Chutais enough to mantain a costant threat on his transport fleet). When the PM bombing campaign will start i'll move towards Rabaul my combined fleet ( probably for that date 5 BBs 6 CVs and 3 CVL/CVEs) and i'll start to move the 17th Army ( 2 divs+2 Bdes) towards Rabaul, in order to be ready to counterland at Gili Gili in a very short time.

The other very probable scenario( and surely closer speaking of timing) will be his landing at Port Blair.
As i said before, he's committing some MSWs, in fast transport role, to sweep my mines there at night, moving from Diamond Harbour.
Considering that the 2nd UK division and most of the forces he used for the former Burma invasion of last month are now back at Akyab and Imphal i can assume he's gonna use some of these forces to land and estabilish at Port Blair, in order to theaten Malaya and Sumatra.
My plan to oppose to this scenario is the following:

The 15th and 25th Army ( 4 divisions,1 Mix Rgt, 1 Bde, 2 tank rgts,2 arty units) will be redeploying in the following order:
-1 Division+1 Rgt + 1 arty +1 tankat Rangoon
-1 Bde at Mouleim
-1 Division+1 arty+1 tank at Mandalay
- 1 division divided in 3 regiments will stay at Magwe and on the crossroads from Rangoon to Mandalay
-1 Division at Bankok

While the rest of the units will remain in Burma, the division garrisoning Bankok will be ready to be loaded on transports.
At the same time my 2nd army is ready at Sosarbaja( 2 divisions,2 Naval Guard units, 2 Tank rgts and one Bde).
120 transports are already present at Sosarbaja and if and when his minesweeping activities will grow and his bombings from Akyab will start( quite sure of that), the 2nd Army will be loaded on transports and will be moving towards the western coast of Sumatra.
At the same time 3 CVs+2 BBs+1 CVE+ several more CAs/DDs will move from Manila towards Singapore to join the Singapore fleet ( 2nd fleet HQ i guess) composed by 1 CV,2CVLs,2CVEs, 2 BBs,4 CAs, 5 CLs and something like 60 DDs.
2 CV TFs will be formed and will move south, passing between Java and Sumatra in order to get on the Indian Ocean. A strong Surface/Bombarment TF will be based at GeorgeTown.
The key is to be ready to counterland with 3 divisions exactly the first day after his first landing, before he can build up any forts or expand the AF
Bankok,Georgetown,Sebang and Tavoy and Victoria Point( all level 4 AF) will provide zero/betties land based support.
I do not know if he will dare to engengage the RN. Without the american carriers the birtish CV aren't probably enough to face 300 japanese carrier trained planes(....uhm....well...maybe yes...so i'll give order to the Shokaku which is still repairing at Tokyo after her upgrades to join the Singapore Fleet). His 4Es from Akyab will be a problem, but i hope and guess that 150 zeros on CAP will be enough to stop them.
However...base forces are comming from Tokyo in order to have enough support at each single base ( named before) to support at least 2 Zero daitais and 1 Betty daitai each.
The key is to act fast and hit strong, catching him by surprise.

BTW i've sent some MSWs to Port Blair, in order to clear his sub mines and start back the mining ops ( 1600 mines already present)


What d'u think?

[Gen.Hoepner]

Last report of my industry was on 5th June 42. Now it's 28th of July, so nearly 2 months later.

Let's see what is changed and how:

5/6/42 28/7/42

3113284 - 3302437 Supply
2997210 - 2612522 Fuel
820/151379 - 822/273827 Manpower
13604/137084 - 13602/140479 HI
18058/1568035- 17856/1501566 Resources
2460/1538499 - 2458/1513932 Oil
1174/2915 - 1174/7684 Nav.Sh
1000/402 - 1000/4195 Merc.Sh
793 - 846 Repair
560/16826 - 570/23513 Arm
119/6002 - 119/9958 Vehicles


So, let's analyze a bit the situation:

Supply:
We've been stocking something like 200,000 supplies in 2 months. Not bad at all, considering that my main forward bases are already well supplied ( 200k at Darwin, 25k at Daily,80k Rabaul, 160k Truk, 80k Kwalajein)
Fuel:
here we wasted many points during the FRaG operation at Christmas Island, but i consider that out of those 200k missing only 100k are really missing, 'cause i have a Replenishment TF with 120k with my CVs at Manila
Mnp:
Really do not understand these changes...but since they are in blue and not in red i take it[:)]
HI:
some industries have been destroyed in Burma and China, but so far the pool remained at good levels. I'm considering upgrading the HI...but i have no idea of how many points should consist these upgraments
Res:
The Burma res. centers have been completely destroyed and this explained the loss of production.However my main res centers in DEI and SRA are intact, so the flow of res to Japan will go on.
Oil:
we've lost the oil plants in Burma but we conquered some more in CHina. I won't bother much defending them, cause it will be too bloody, but since my main oil plants in SRA and DEI are intact i'm not that scared.
Nav and Merc Shipyards:
probably i would have to encrease them...but since i lost so few ships i do not know if it's worth or not. Already accelerated all TKs,AOs,CVLs and CVEs... what should i do?
Repair:
We've been upgrading Osaka and probably some more ports will be upgraded too in the next 3 months
Arms:
Do i need more armament production? Well...the pool keep on growing, but i know that in 43 i'll need a lot of arm points....what to do?
Vhcl:
everything is fine here.

The real important point now will be defending Bankok and Hanoi HI centers and be ready to support the boost of engine/plane production we're gonna face in 43....i'll defenetly need some more HI....


Any inputs?

[jwilkerson]

One tiny suggestion - you might accelerate some DDs - they are the most useful surface ships - they can bombard ( a little ) ... surface fight ... carrier fight (with AA ) ... and carry stuff ... and you have some points to burn ... if you need a trade off ... halt some SS ... they get even more useless as time moves forward ... and on a separate line, make sure you plan for the engines you'll need for the planes you're planning to build ... armanents has a decent reserve ... if you keep it increasing ... you should be in good shape by mid-1943 for the horde ...

[String]

About armament points: I'm nearing the big reinforcement day in 1943 in my japanese game. I'll try to remember to check the armament pool before and after, to see how many points it takes. I have 180k+ in reserve so it should suffice (I hope).

Edit: about HI. You are producing 14748 oil per day. All of it won't reach your HI centers and some will be sunk on the way and some oil centers will be bombed. So i wouldn't suggest upgrading HI over 14k.

edit2: An increase to 14k will give you an additional 400 HI per day. For this you can get 666 additional single engined plane production (per motnh) or 333 two engined.

Your post indicates that you spend 10656 HI per day on veichles, armament, and shipyards. I have no idea how much you spend on planes, but chances are that it's less than my 1385 HI in my game. (1640+ planes of various types) This shows that you do have excess HI which to spend. Even if you spent 1500 HI on your plane production (unlikely at this stage) You'd still be spending approx 12100 HI per day. This gives a reserve of 1500 HI which you can conserve for future use or you can utilize it to increase your two engined plane production by 1250 or single engined by double that amount.. 2500. Which is a lot. I'd suggest expanding HI on home islands by another 400, up the production of any aircraft you want and send most of the excess HI to pool.

[Gen.Hoepner]

Hi guys,


Your comments are very very usefull and precise. Thanks a lot!
I think i'll follow the suggestion of String and build some more 400 HI( in 3 steps i think, trying to expand the smaller factories first).
I produce 1055 A/Cs per month plus 255 rd planes.
1692 engines plus 37 more to be repaired. A total of 1729 engines each month.( see screen shot)

I really do not understand this statement:
Quote:
"Your post indicates that you spend 10656 HI per day on veichles, armament, and shipyards. I have no idea how much you spend on planes, but chances are that it's less than my 1385 HI in my game. (1640+ planes of various types) This shows that you do have excess HI which to spend. Even if you spent 1500 HI on your plane production (unlikely at this stage) You'd still be spending approx 12100 HI per day. This gives a reserve of 1500 HI which you can conserve for future use or you can utilize it to increase your two engined plane production by 1250 or single engined by double that amount.. 2500. Which is a lot. I'd suggest expanding HI on home islands by another 400, up the production of any aircraft you want and send most of the excess HI to pool. "

How do you know that i spend 10656 Hi each day? And why 1500 HI points let me build 1250 more 2e planes or 2500 more single engine planes???
These numbers make me mad!:-)

However,180k armament points in pool by mid 43?!?!? How can you do that?! Have you encreased the production somehow? Considering that the chinese campaign will drain a LOT of troops and armaments till Jan 43 at best....i think i'll need to concentrate a bit more on armaments....am i right?

Speaking of planes...

as you can see i'm building 282 Tonies each month, while i produce/will produce a total of 220 Kawa engines. 62 engines are so missing every month. With a pool of 900 engines i can go on like that for something like 15 months. By the end of 43 i'll probably have enough tonies in pool to be able to switch back some Tony factories to something different or to produce more Kawasaki engines...i still have to decide wether is it worth to produce Tony instead of Tojos.
Probably i'll be forced to expand also the mitsubishi engine factories as soon as the Jacks will be close .....even if the pool for Mitsubishi engines is quite important. BTW, 150 Jacks should be produced by 3/43....i do not know id they will be enough...probably i'll need some more...do not know.
Do you think i really need to have more Nakashima engine factories? I'll try to combo the A6M5s with Jacks, so to balance the two types of engines...but i can hardly figure out how many nakashima i will need....

For ships...i stopped already all the RO-class-subs and accelerated all the TK,AO,AR,AS,MLEs
I lost less than 10 DDs till now...but probably i'll follow your suggestion as soon as the pool will be stabilized ( some CVs are still accelerated).

No turns today....MC is slowing down a lot his pace. I just hope it's because of his job/life duties and not because of the "Daily problem" he had...but i can feel from his mails that his morale is not so high[:(]

[String]

Hmm.. I forgot about the engines. This strips you another 1037 HI per day approximately. Approx. because the plane and engine production isn't constant. The calculations are easy.

Armament factory - 6 HI
Veichle factory - 6 HI
Shipyard (both types) - 3 HI
Engines - 0.6 HI (18/30) takes 18 HI to produce an engine. production numbers are for months so I'll divide it by 30
Single engined planes - 0.6 HI (18/30) each airframe takes 18 HI per engine to produce, production numbers are per month hence the division by 30
Double engined planes - 1.2 HI (18x2/30) same as above, two engines means double HI spent
Four engined planes - 2.4 HI (18x4/30) same as above, four engines means quadruple amont of HI spent

Now redoing the calculations, with the engines added in and specific aircraft production data we get.

Armament factory 570x6 - 3420 HI
Veichle factory 119x6 - 714 HI
Merchant shipyards 1000x3 - 3000 HI
Naval shipyards 1174x3 - 3522 HI
Engines (18x1729)/30 - 1037 HI
Single engine aircraft (18x713)/30 - 427 HI
Two engine aircraft (18x2x342)/30 - 410 HI

Total - 12530. Now I forgot the HI for engines in my previous calculations, hence the increase of over 1000 points in total. This still gives you an excess of 1077 HI per day.

I was also mistaken at the amount of airframes you can build with such excess HI as I didn't factor in HI. If you upgrade another 400 HI you will have 1477 HI excess per day, lets assume 1400 though as some HI centers might not be functioning some day due to lack of oil getting there in time etc.

This allows you to build 1400 / [18(for airframe)+18(for engine) /30] = 1400 / 1.2 = 1166
single engined aircraft

For two engined aircraft the formula would be 1400 / [18x2(for engines)+18x2(for airframe)/ 30] = 1400 / 2.4 = 583 aircraft

Assuming an equal mix this should be about 800 aircraft. Over that and you'll run short of HI.

On shipyards. You will produce excess naval shipyard points after january 43 even if you don't accelerate any ships. You will run severely short of merchant shipyard points in 43 and onward. Daily needs exceeding the capacity by 100% and more.

[String]

Forgot about your question on Armament points.

Yes I upgraded my factories rather heavily at the start of the scenario (1st of may 1942) I have 836 armament factories and have had for a long time. I only found out recently though just how much HI they consume so today i turned 300 of them off. I figured that a 180k reserve ought to be enough. Previously I had kept almost 70% of my merchant shipyards turned off to keep my HI in balance. I should also note that as I had conquered china and expanded a bit I have now 14600+ HI, while with all industries turned on my factories would have consumed 15418 HI. Turning off the 300 armament factories reduced the HI requierments by 1800 [:)]

[TAIL GUNNER]

No turns today....MC is slowing down a lot his pace. I just hope it's because of his job/life duties and not because of the "Daily problem" he had...but i can feel from his mails that his morale is not so high

Well I read both AARs, and all I'll tell you is that mc is considering dropping his AAR....


Chad

[1275psi]

If your aim is to win "the game" strike now, ask your opponent if he would accept a surrender at this stage, and if he does claim a win

then, a bit like PZB see if some one else will take up the challenge, Im sure lots would be keen to do so.

personally i think you have played a great game, and asking for a concede now would be a great result, if his morale is shot, you really are winning in many ways.