Rob vs. 2ndACR .. Divine intervention needed NIK mod 5.2

[Rob Brennan UK]

Top of my head Aztez

Darwin ..

aussie division
darwin defence brigade
2/3rd of a Phillipine Div
TONs of small base forces ( with all thier nice AA guns)
not many fighters 80ish
pleanty of bombers , mostly beauforts.

some more bits and bobs . i'll make a list tomorrow

btw .. max forts too. also max AF 8 and port 6?

Wyndam is the weak link .. only an aussie cav brigade. but lots of bombers though.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Here you go .. piccie of Darwin defences .. not bad

The fighter sweep over Pagan was too darn expensive in pilots ..
so a smaller one over tyan-gui (sp) tomorrow. looks like only
Oscars on patrol here. the Zero's are too darn tough and his pilots completely overwhelm mine in experience.

Lae closed again .. looks terminal for him unless he commits
more here.

F5's now scouting northern NG bases. in a week i'll have a
1/2 decent picture of whats happening here. Thursday will concentrate on anti shipping for now ( very fatigued)

I did a complete health check on the pacific and all is well.
Even checked out the USSR.. training and reinforcements etc.

1st marine Paras will be shipped from canton to pago then escorted
to Australia and prepping for Gili Gili.. ( was aimed at Baker)

Yet another american division (37th)is a week from noumea .. might drop here or move round
to N australia for use in the DEI.. will see what happens in the next 7 days.

[Rob Brennan UK]

The sweep was ok ..

Day Air attack on Taung Gyi , at 33,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 15

Allied aircraft
Sea Hurricane Ib x 20
Hurricane IIb x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Hurricane Ib: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Hurricane IIb: 3 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 damaged

The sea hurricanes were from the furious before i sent her home
seemed worth keeping for now. withdrawing slowly from mandalay (a/c)
as some hurricane units are badly battered. the sea hurricanes will
convert to seafires next turn ( the only spits i'll see for quite
some time).. Brit CV's already upgraded.

The bombers hit pagan again but he's upped the CAP .. time to rest

Day Air attack on Pagan , at 31,31

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 15
Wellington III x 79
P-40B Tomahawk x 37
B-17E Fortress x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed, 12 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 3 destroyed
Wellington III: 15 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed, 10 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 35

The report is a bit misleading as 12 zeros killed on the ground.
I just cant seem to compete with his high exp .. need to make
a 'gamey' training base for allied fighter pilots. Well truth be told
i have one in the DEI ( just N of Koepang) and im guessing he realises it
as daily raids from a LOT of japanese army bombers keep it closed

Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 23
G4M1 Betty x 26
Ki-49 Helen x 104

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed, 36 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 55

I have 100's of engineers here and TONS of supply ( over 100k). so the damage
is easily repaired. Just not enough a/c to contest the sky .. well i have a LOT in
derby but i think they will get slaughtered . might send in a huge wave when the P40 pool
look better. The P39's would die for nothing.

Lae Port took its first hits today

Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 51


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported

Port hits 2
Port supply hits 5

Flying 64 mitchells from PM now .. with light cap/escort.
Will bounce up some more BF's when the 2 big regiments arrive
from india and Cont USA respectively ( for townsville/cairns)

China is still a complete stalemate. I've rotated out some experienced
Chinese corps for newbies , so they can rebuild and refit ( not damaged much
mostly disablements ) I just want to spread out the 'training' my men get from
being shelled by japanese artillery.

Also as a first .. the first 2 Air Aces of the Pacific were created on the same day !
one american and one british .. both burma based. congratulations chaps. one weeks leave
and a pass for the port side bars in Karachi .. sounds like fun [;)]

[aztez]

Darwín seems to have adequate amount of troops for valid defensive line!

Your bombers did suprisingly well at Burma! Do you have them bombing from 15 000 feet?

[Rob Brennan UK]

I had them at 11k i think. not much AA fire at pagan. They do need a rest now though. several wellingtons went on an excursion to Rangoon harbour .. only oscar cap thankfully. thats an idea for the b17's when they get fixed, 1/2 damaged right now.

anyhoo. we continue .. and got an AK heading to madang in NG

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/12/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 55,84

Japanese Ships
AK Ryotoku Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Perch

2 bomb hits from wellngtons on search too. she'll sink with luck.

Recon has shown madang and hollandia being built up by japan. the bombers will visit madang tomorrow as no fighters detected yet, and he really does seem to have given up on Lae.

Koepang harbour got visited today and the damaged ships in harbour are hurt badly

Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 41
G4M1 Betty x 70
Ki-49 Helen x 92

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 destroyed, 56 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 18 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Empire Kingsley, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA Columbo, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
AP Camphuys, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Dardanus, Bomb hits 1


Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Port hits 4
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 2

CLAA Colomobo was bad enough before today ,, now at 99 sys damage .. the rest will try a run to Derby. No japanese subs detected here too. Frankly i dont know where his Subs are operating at all ( bar 2 off N australia) none sighted anywhere. They are so rare I have stopped escorting convoys from america unless they carry troops.

2 more sub transport groups ( 8-10 in each)formed in darwin for more PI evacuation.

heres the unfortunate Wellington groups (2)

Day Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 14

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Nagatsuki
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1
CA Aoba

none downed but many damaged and awaiting repair. fortunately being 2E they fix up quick. the bomb hit as expected did nothing bar scratch some paint ..

Heres whats happening in china .. 2 main combat hexes. this happens every day ..

Ground combat at Changsha

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 362961 troops, 4254 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 7459

Defending force 212357 troops, 1315 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6223



Allied ground losses:
403 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 43,40

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 148815 troops, 1708 guns, 28 vehicles, Assault Value = 3079

Defending force 72200 troops, 472 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2168 (woods)



Allied ground losses:
149 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

meh ..

Japanese training (a/c) continues apace in china/DEI and PI .. nothing i can do to stp it. even if i contested in china ( which i could) he'd shift to elsewhere and cause me a lot of unnecessary losses, frnakly allied fighter production is a joke compared to japan. This means i need to kill pilots and airframes dont matter much, he however only has to kill frames to really hamper my plans. thus i need to hit him over my bases which is easier said than done ..

I'm evacuating Mandalay en masse now most a/c are fixed up. I really dont want to get hit by the 'helen hammer' .

OK .. time for a quick dwelling on what to do next. It really does seem to be the end of japanese expansion ( unbelievably) and this is where i've never ventured into PBEM play before so any comments or advice will be greatly appreciated.

I 'think' a DEI thrust would be most effective at crippling the japanese industry machine. Maybe combine this with a NG 'creep' .possibly even overland from PM as I do not have air cover anywhere i can project with confidence. the CV's would be needed in both places and as reported Timor is japanese skys even if the land is most definately mine.

The british dig and hold in Burma .. while preparing for an invasion sumatra( i need again more a/c and more troops to pre-prep as well). Without leaving the burma india border ill defended. He bombarded Akyab 3 days ago, maybe hes thinking of hitting me here ( i still own the andaman is. which is being well supplied by air from tricomalee. upto 4k supply now from a low of 500, subs minelaying here too)

thats proably it for today, scotty is being kept very busy with wedding plans and relatives converging on them both ( seems like they both have big families [;)]). although he's toying with the idea of postponing the honeymoon , which is good for me [:D])

bye folks .. thanks for reading

[castor troy]

Wow it looks like it was a worse day for the bombers visiting Koepang. Although I´ve got a PBEM with flak fanboy`s mod running I have to get used to those results. 90 % of the Betties were destroyed or damaged [X(][X(][X(][X(]

How much flak do you have there?

[Rob Brennan UK]

I'll get you a proper number next turn castor. IIRC only one dedicated AA unit but the many many dutch size 30 BF's had been refitted in australia and unlike dutch inf squads there is a nice pool for AA guns so they stack nicely, he's coming in quite low too (11-15k). once he thins down a bit and the zeros get fatigued its time to send in the P40's and hurricanes . backed up with the P39's ( hopefully to hit the bombers and NOT dogfight).

Actually you've prompted me into haveing a more detailed look at Koepang to see if i need to pull and damaged units out ( although its a combined size 10 port4 AF6, malaria still seems to make units incapeable of repairing much/if anything). C47's from derby can perform evac quite nicely so no need to risk the AP fleet unless a large unit needs repair.

Hehe , i hadnt noticed how many betties got damaged ! .. way too low for the unarmoured planes. its the helens and sallies that worry me. killing betty pilots with flak is a great way to reduce the naval threat posed by these annoying a/c.

thanks .. being sunday hopefully get a new turn soon ( wishful thinking )

[Nemo121]

It looks to me like you have fixed his attention quite succesfully at Koepang and around Burma. You have committed strong combat forces but you are holding a reserve. Your opponent will know this and expect this reserve to be committed when you are making your main effort... This can be used against him....

I amn't intimately aware of the exact forces available to you but I would suggest that a multi-divisional landing at Tjilitjap is not only eminently possible but highly unexpected at this time of the war. It is therefore unlikely that your opponent has AVs stationed off the west coast of Java or a strong patrol plane presence on its west coast. It is easily accessible by Indian forces and also by troops loading from Perth and Derby. This speaks to the survivability of your invasion TFs on their run in to the target.


Now let's address the benefits:

Garrison likely to be small... certainly nothing which could stand up to 4 or 5 divisions without significant reinforcement.

Safety from naval bombardments. While some of the bases you would capture would be vulnerable to bombardment by BBs etc it would be entirely possible to develop airfields inland and in western Java from which you could strike back.

If the initial landing goes well a very quick extension into Sumatra via Teloekboetang could be undertaken. In conjunction with aerial attacks a prolonged ground battle ( even if ultimately unsuccesful) for control of Palembang would result in great destruction to the oil and resources there. Furthermore it would serve the extremely important goal of presenting an immediate threat the Japanese player must counter --- namely a threat to palembang. As such you could expect much of the airpower in Singapore to be focussed on the ground forces making for Palembang. Supply them with appropriate AAA and not only will they take their tithe of enemy bombers but, more importantly, this very focus will allow you to build up your fortifications and airfields in order to both defend your holdings but also to strike against enemy resources elsewhere.

The airfields from which he can strike against your forces in Java are likely to be underdeveloped ( unless he has been excessively prescient), giving you an excellent opportunity to conduct an intensive bombing campaign against his resource and oil production in Sumatra, Borneo and Toboali before he can bring much of his army LBA within range to strike your forces. Every port and airfield attack his naval bombers make improves the survivability of your carriers and so should be welcomed.

After a very short time the landing will be self-supporting in terms of supply. Not really much of a consideration for Allied players but helpful nonetheless and since I have a rule that all contested invasions should be self-supporting within 2 weeks ( preferably 1) it is something I think about and decided to put in.

It provides a threat to areas of vital national importance and will provoke the most ferocious response imaginable in order to retake these areas as quickly as possible. When your opponent seeks to take something quickly he can generally only do so at great cost. This serves you, the attritional Allied commander. Furthermore since Java must be retaken immediately it will cause the scrubbing of many of the current Japanese plans. Even assuming that you lose Java within 2 months of attacking it and that it takes only 1 month for all Japanese forces committed to its recapture to be rebuilt and ready for their next phase of offensives ( a wildly generous estimate) you will have delayed these offensives by three months, a period of time sufficient to render most of them impractical.


End-game...
If you want to can pour sufficient men and material into Java to hold it against almost anything the Japanese can throw at you and let the Japanese player impale himself with amphibious landings against one of the three bases he can most easily land at. Alternately you can conduct a delaying action, attrit him terribly as he lands and then beat a hasty retreat to your western bases, load up onto transports and retreat back to non-malarial bases for rest and refit. The troops you will have been able to hold back from Java ( since you were garrisoning to delay and not garrisoning to hold) can be diverted to New Guinea and take Phase 1 targets there. By the time he has retaken Java and your forces are evaccing you can set the phase 2 targets and be at them before he can rebuild and transport his own forces to oppose you.

Either option is viable. I would, personally, prefer to hold Java, use it as a jumping off point for Borneo (north and south). From Borneo jump to Mindanao and then the Phillipines. This would keep every invasion TF under the umbrella of land-based LRCAP, tend to bring any attempt to oppose you by KB into range of your massed LBA, give you short supply lines and lots of land combat with very few chances for manoeuvre ( so it'll tend to turn into a slogging match... which favours the Allies immensely), maximise the input of the large number of British, Indian and Australian divisions which can be put to better use along these constrained lines than in either the jungles of Borneo or PNG and force your opponent to burn through his available shipping in order to bring as much of his resources and oil as remains back to the Home Islands whilst also sending in resupply convoys to Bornean and Phillipino bases within range of your LBA. In essence this plan strikes at his main criticalities and prevents him utilising his main strengths. I think it is, therefore, a good plan. It has a manoeuvrist origin but fits in well with the attritionist stance most Allied players tend to stick to.

Furthermore if aggressively followed through I think it will give you a good chance of cutting Japanese holdings into three distinct areas by mid-43:
1. japan and the pacific east of it.
2. Everything north of the Java/Borneo/Phillipines line.
3. Kendari/Papua New Guinea.

None of these areas is remotely capable of surviving by itself. Some have a surfeit of resources but too little combat power, others much combat power but very little oil and resources and the last has neither .

Just my 2 cent of course but if you're going to hit back why not try to hit weakness with strategically decisive implications and tactical/technical factors which do much to maximise the impact of those arms in which you have an advantage and minimise the impact of those arms in which your opponent has the advantage?


P.s. As a necessary precursor I would step up the tempo of operations over Koepang and New Guinea in order to draw more forces away from java. Only you can decide what level of loss is sustainable but I would be willing to suffer a lot of losses in order to make sure there is very little on the west coast of Java.

[aztez]

If you are looking for an huge fight than DEI is the way to go.

Also have you thought about Marianas? I mean that is a key island chain Pacific. I doubt he has troops to garrison those properly yet. Too shame that you don't have all the CV power yet at your disposal.

My suggestion would be either DEI or Marianas. Both have solid points with DEI you can dent his production badly and with Marianas you could isolate the whole Solomons and New Guinea region with your airforce.

Nemo made some very good points!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Many thanks Nemo, your attention to doctrinal detail once again impresses me greatly. I was originally planning the DEI adventure as an island hopping campign from timor to bali building up the local fields to size 4+ and its all under short range fighter cover. however your idea of tjiljap is very compelling but i can see some potentially disaterous cosequences if he reacts hugely and decidively.

1) I cant fight the japanese CV's CVL's and CVE's ( if combined) with existing naval carrier forces. this means that within say 1 week Java could be cut off from re-inforcements and supply.(its what i would do) along with packing soebaja with any and all a/c available. along with batavia he could have overwhelming LBA in the theatre. ( i know for a fact soerbaja is maxed out, need to check batavia and the rest)

2) Prepping .. as you know takes 3 months and i've not set any combat units offensively ( bar some troops for gili gili)

3) Recon of the area would give the game away and i'd hate to land blind ( sake of argument i recon 2-3 days before landing .. and he has much bigger forces it would have to be scrubbed and months of planning down the chute)

4) allied fighter numbers are really crappy and cannot sustain atrittional combat whatsoever, as a guess till mid 43 , as he can outproduce the allies in fighter frames very easily. Nik mod moves the spits back from june 42- june 43 .. ouch .. that gap is somewhat filled with 16 hurricane2c's /month but that isnt much really. total allied fighter production is around

P40B 10
P40E 40
Hurricane 40 ?
P39 is good but not many squadrons can change to it as its listed as a FB .. and it sucks in air to air combat anyway.
Hurricane IIc 16

so at best i have c. 100 fighters/month ( current pools 54 P40E and 20 odd hurricanes nil P40B)

I really need the P38 however that has been reduced to iirc 40/month ouch .. ( why did i agree to play this mod [;)]) . Scot hasn't to my knowledge abused japanese industry but he'll have min 100 zero/month and maybe 150 other types too ( Oscar and tojo). That leaves me in a bad situation for atritional combat as he'll start with much better experience too.

5) softening up the landing zones would alert him as i'd need CV cover to get the BB's in and out in moderate safety. and no LBA can reach.

While i agree wholeheartedly that Java would be a fantastic base of operations for neutering the japanese resources and oil I don't see that i can possibly take it vs a competant player ( and he is ).

As to self sufficient in supply i doubt it. as the res centers even if captured undamaged will be at 1/4 starting capacity from exchanging hands twice. Raiding the oil centres would be great as when recaptured they would be 1/8th and much less useful.

The location of the bulk of japanese Divs is completely unknown .. none in burma to my knowledge and none spotted so far in NG .. i suspect he's planning a HUGE invasion somewhere ( hopefully not southern australia as its very weak). even unprepped they would cause a halt in java anywhere from 1-3 weeks after invasion ( depending where they are)

Japan is quite capable of closing airbases at will ( only 1-2 at a time though) and i suspect would deny me bases in java by doing just that.

I feel that until i am able to protect my own bases , long ventures will ultimately be doomed to failure given relative production in 42. The only place that can boast being well defended air wise is india and he knows that, hence no bombing runs on the dacca/chandpur ( both max4) calcutta and diamond harbour area.

You are correct in your assesment of japanese recon to the west of java though, not a single emily or glen spotted for months. karachi bound convoys sail completely unopposed ( and unescorted now. unless its troops ) BB valiant is sailing down alone it feels that safe ( she has great AA guns for 1942 .. 1500 iirc .. great escort ship for the brit CV's).

Java i think would be a 43 operation ( early i hope) rather than a 42 option. Creating some extra allied airfields north of timor would allow great baseing later on and divide up the japanese effort to close down the LBA in theatre. engineers are however in short supply in this theatre and even with 2 british aviation regiments i still feel the squeeze for LBA AV support. that said i could divert the townsville bound AV regiment to darwin and free up a lot of dutch and aussie smaller BF's for use in the DEI ( might well do that). transporting eng vehicles also poses a technical problem as they dont seem to fit on dakotas ( oddly enough i was watching the World at War the other day and it was about the burma theatre and i definately saw a small bulldozer driving onto a dakota [;)])

I hope this does not come across as critical/negative in any way, it's not intended to. Its my best guess ( intel) for what might happen. I have a habit of putting myself into the enemy's shoes to ponder what/if's and japanese reactions. sometimes i get it right ( re the yamato fiasco) and soemtimes i get it wrong ( losing all the dutch ML's in one go trying to get over the 'mine your own base' restriction )

As for the marshalls . much the same argument applies ( need baker 1st imo). would also require the complete re-base of the CV fleet to south pacific to prevent tarawa LBA from tearing up the troop ships ( tarawa is size 4-5 now).

Maybe i am being too cautios but it is only mid 42 and japan still has air superiority, withour air cover/superiority any large commitment would imo lead to failure.

I'm still awaiting a new turn so no details on koepang AA Castor. havnt forgotten

Overall Japan still has the initiative and the capacity for one large ( maybe2) invasions and i need to be defensively prepared for the worst ( noumea/canton/Darwin/PM etc .. so many potential targets). Stripping out the divs on defensive duty would be risky till about nov/dec imo. and that does not leave much for a sizeable offesive force, not to mention that due to map distortion sailing under australia takes much longer than historcally allowed. Just this small detail makes a DEI operation a long term plan given the sailing time from Cont USA to derby/Perth ( potential jump off ports ). The counter argument is that british and amrican can freely co-operate in theater without too much historical imbalance ( e.g using the indians to invade the marshall is.).

Well this is perhaps the most verbose mail yet made by me , i cant compete with Nemo there [;)]. And i hope not too many typos made it through.

As ever your thoughts are much appreciated ( i'll be dreaming about invading tjiljap tonight i think).

Bye bye for now

[Nemo121]

Rob,

Fair enough... I think though that if you put some Catalinas at Koepang and began reconning everything in range aggressively, hitting one target you were interested in for every 5 or 6 other targets reconned you could get the intel you wanted while disguising it as part of a "what the hell's out there" campaign...


Optional variant...
You can have the "appearance" of this plan in a couple of weeks and at little cost... It may strike you as gamey or too costly but here's an idea.

Load fragments of various divisions onto various transports along with at least 1 full regiment or division. Support it as fully as you would any real invasion. Recon like hell. Land on some unoccupied bit of Java ( I seriously doubt he has every base garrisoned and even if he does the full regiment or division will be able to take the landing beach). Your opponent will see many fragments landing ( normal in amphibious invasions) and will have to honour it as a full invasion. Fly in fighters for defensive purposes and eat into his bomber units.

After you make contact with significant ground forces run like hell, load up and retreat whilst making noises about how you underestimated his forces in the region and "will be back" once he is committed elsewhere.

It is cheap and will tend to delay his offensive elsewhere and cause him to increase garrisons. Since you'll be using disposable fragments ( except for the base forces and whichever full regiment or division is committed) you can even completely abandon them if he really throws everything into the breach.



I tend to be aggressive on the defence and accept risky spoiling operations like this so it may not fit with your style of play at all AND you know the situation on the ground far better than I.

As to criticism etc.... Not at all. Its an AAR thread. It exists to engender discussion and commentary and its fair game to respond back to the commentary . Discussing strategy is fun and if we all agreed on what to do we'd all only have to read one AAR because no-one would ever do anything differently. Vive la difference.

[Rob Brennan UK]

LOL . thanks nemo .. vive la differance

Your idea certainly has merit .. but as a personal POV i dont like wasting troops , these are mens lives , albeit virtual ( like sub transport attacks , very gamey) , unless i go in with about 2/3rd of a unit i don't feel 'right' about doing it . I have the same attitude to recovering 'fragments' i.e large sub groups (or AP's ) picking up as much as possible ( repeatedly) for safer climes. just getting one squad and rebuilding is gamey imo .. same with using the fragment system for dis information like you suggested. Dont get me wrong its a grand idea .. and i might try it out so long as i land a decent sized fragment ( basically i'd be more comfortable with splitting a div and invading with 1-2 regiments )

Oddly enough it is the BF's that will fragment the most. Dutch naval BF's i discovered get fixed CD guns and i have 2 1/2 split between koepang and derby .. about 50/50 i.e 2 105 mm * guns each .. its a a shame we cant disassemble the fixed units ( maybe with a BIG delay to prevent abuse of the bataan CD guns ) to allow units to recombine later on .

well it is getting late here ( same with you ) .. good night and thank you for the input

[Nemo121]

More power to you for your care with their virtual lives. When you've switched off life support and called time on resus efforts in real life its pretty easy to do it in virtuality also.

I do tend to take the same approach as you though... I won't order it virtually if I wouldn't order it in reality. The only problem for my virtual men is that in reality I could order them to their deaths wholesale if it gave my command a decisive advantage.

Anyways, time for bed now. You dream about Tjilitjap. I'm going to dream about invasion transports trying to land on Johnston . BOOM!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Has the forum reply system changed .. this looks very odd compared to normal ???

anyway .. castor here is the breakdown for AA guns in Koepang

3.7 inch 37 (oddly enough)
40mm bofors 29
20mm oerlikon 19
12.7 mm aamg 34
.303 bren 5

This is all ACTIVE guns . not incuded disabled units ( about 15%)

Strangely i didnt dream Witp last night .. it was heroes of might and magic 5 .. ( good game).

latest turn was v quiet .. possible japanese CA (cv??) group spotted heading SW from kendari .
Koepang AF is fixed up now .. so i can fly in a LOT if needed. CV's remain in port this time
as I seriously doubt he'll send in the BB's again without Carrier support..

Nemo- my care about the virtual soldiers i think comes from a dislike of macarthurs policy toward the
commonwealth troops in the SW Pacific. I too have seen death close up ( cancer hospital) and am not cowed by
it one bit tbh. It's got to happen to all of us eventually .. anyway .. starting to get morbid. time to change track.

Scottys house sounds like bedlam right now, he's fighting for control of his PC and laptop.[:D][:D]

[Nemo121]

Rob,

Aye read you loud and clear... Same thing would apply for Irish men in service of the British in WW 1 (and to a lesser extent WW II) so I know where you're coming from... In the long-term it is always advisable to share any burdens and losses equally.

[Rob Brennan UK]

OK back to the war

Summary from the last turn i got late last night .

Baker is invaded by an SNFL, bad weather stopped b17 and b25's hitting the ships.

That SCTF was 3 CA's and misc. all speed 6/6 .. lesson learned. however i spotted that dili is 4 hexes from the retirement hex. seriously douby i can build it to a level 2 AF any time soon though.

maybe have my own POW led SCTF on retire to mix things up ( i will not stay without CAP)

Looks like some action coming too, scotty is trying to get info from me on my dispositions and im lying wildly [;)]. should be fun .

[aztez]

If I do understand correctly there is no real threat in South Pacific? Allthough Baker Island will be lost. Think that base as an Japanese POW camp [:D]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Exactly Aztez , I never got around to putting troops there as its a POW camp for either player imo. It will get pounded to dust in v short order.

S Pacific rough deployment

Canton 1 DIV +arm +3AA+2-3 CD and AA . 250 AV support B17/25c (for range)
Pago Pago 1 RCT , 2-3 BF's (av 90 iirc). AA +CD. 60+ bombers
Tonga RCT + stuff + LB dauntless
Suva NZ Brigade ( the startign bits) + US cav regiment coming into land soon. Hudson defence

ALL bases operate at least one CAT/Coronado patrol group ( was 6 in canton as i was just about to air lift in a small BF. )

unless he lands 1-2 divs he's going no-where fast. and i can airlift in using the float planes if in need.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Has the forum reply system changed .. this looks very odd compared to normal ???

anyway .. castor here is the breakdown for AA guns in Koepang

3.7 inch 37 (oddly enough)
40mm bofors 29
20mm oerlikon 19
12.7 mm aamg 34
.303 bren 5

This is all ACTIVE guns . not incuded disabled units ( about 15%)

Strangely i didnt dream Witp last night .. it was heroes of might and magic 5 .. ( good game).

latest turn was v quiet .. possible japanese CA (cv??) group spotted heading SW from kendari .
Koepang AF is fixed up now .. so i can fly in a LOT if needed. CV's remain in port this time
as I seriously doubt he'll send in the BB's again without Carrier support..

Nemo- my care about the virtual soldiers i think comes from a dislike of macarthurs policy toward the
commonwealth troops in the SW Pacific. I too have seen death close up ( cancer hospital) and am not cowed by
it one bit tbh. It's got to happen to all of us eventually .. anyway .. starting to get morbid. time to change track.

Scottys house sounds like bedlam right now, he's fighting for control of his PC and laptop.[:D][:D]

 
Thanks! Now I understand the result, as it´s quite a flak nest. 90% damaged is still a lot.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Yup Castor , the small 30 AV dutch base forces once filled out in australia do provide a lot of flak guns and the dutch naval BF's get 150mm fixed CD guns ( be careful where you upgrade these).

The lone Lt Dutch AA unit only has about 8 decent guns in it ( bar mg's). but it all helps.