Too much Iron in my Diet - Mundy(A) vs KenchiSulla (J)

[BBfanboy]

What kind of aircraft in that VMF at San Diego? In the early part of the game the VMFs try to steal the Wildcat-3's before the carriers have had a chance to upgrade (because they are at sea). Do you have enough to go around now?

[Mundy]

They're dash-4s. There were only a few, and I have 20 in the pool. I don't plan on getting them up to strength until they're in-theatre.

I don't foresee expending lots of Wildcats by then. I plan to flip them to Corsairs ASAP come January.

[Mundy]

06 September 1942

That didn't last long.

Ground combat at 45,37 (near Cuttack)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14561 troops, 127 guns, 200 vehicles, Assault Value = 869

Defending force 1029 troops, 22 guns, 93 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Japanese adjusted assault: 856

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 856 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
161 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units pursuing 1

Allied ground losses:
873 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 52 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (9 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 44 (44 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2nd Tank Regiment
18th Division
1st Tank Division
14th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
7/12 Frontier Force Battalion
75th IAC Regiment
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Everyone's falling back to Cocanada. Vizagapatam looks too exposed in the open as it is. Also on the way are two UK infantry divisions, 1 Indian division and an Indian brigade, plus a 25 pounder arty and a 4.5" arty. The artillery are from Madras, while the infantry are from scattered locations in the north. I feel safe doing this right now, as there's been zero movement up there. I have Lysanders and Fulmars auto-reconning, watching for anything. If he pushes along the coast, he will not get past. A base at Cocanada will ease the range issue, too. Some engineers and base forces are also enroute to there.

Three USAAF bomber units at Karachi are railing to Bombay. Four more are currently unloading. Five more are on map enroute and three more off map waiting to arrive. These are all a mix of B-17s, B-18s and B-24s. I'm hoping to set Calcutta ablaze. Maybe a low-level night raid will work. We'll see.

Quiet everywhere else, apart form the daily bombardment of Chungking. My B-26s are Cairns made a run at a fast transport TF at Port Moresby. Weather prevented a proper forming up, so they came in 6 at a time. The Nicks failed to intercept them all except the last group claiming three (actual 6). No hits on ships.

[Mundy]

Addendum:

I've misrepresented my bombers a bit. Part of the mix are about 3 squadrons of medium bombers. B-25/26s.

Mitchells are still handy, with their range.

[Mundy]

09 September 1942

Fights aplenty.

Sheer numbers got this through. From the intel screen 13 bombers went down.

Morning Air attack on XV Indian Corps, at 43,37 , near Vizagapatnam

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 90

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 7 destroyed, 2 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
338 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 60 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
31 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
51st FG/25th FS with P-38F Lightning (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead

My return raid didn't go well. The other P-38 squadron refused to escort the bombers.

Morning Air attack on 14th Tank Regiment, at 44,37 , near Vizagapatnam

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 6000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 212 minutes

Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 44,37 , near Vizagapatnam

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 14

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort I: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (14 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead



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

Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 44,37 , near Vizagapatnam

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 14

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes



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

Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 44,37 , near Vizagapatnam

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 3

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

My incoming troops near Chungking attack the armor intercepting them. Next turn they shock attack.

Ground combat at 78,44 (near Chungking)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31517 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 834

Defending force 768 troops, 0 guns, 142 vehicles, Assault Value = 80

Allied adjusted assault: 152

Japanese adjusted defense: 88

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 35 (2 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
377 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
36th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
43rd Chinese Corps
35th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
22nd Group Army
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
2nd Group Army
55th Chinese Corps
8th Group Army
5th War Area
31st Group Army

Defending units:
3rd Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment

Stuffing their tank sprockets with bodies.

[Mundy]

After some mulling, along with a nice PM i received, I'm going to re-tool the Marshalls invaders towards the Gilberts, looking to pull the trigger in a month or two.
 
I need to re-acquaint myself with the islands there and determine which are/aren't useful, but at the top of my head, I'll start looking at five islands to grab, taking all of them simultaneously.  Supply convoys with land based fighters and base forces will follow very closely behind to get defenses up to par.  I'll be sure to name all my fleets appropriately to keep them straight.
 
Long Island and Copahee are at Pearl with a VMF on board each, which will help with air cover for this.  South Dakota and Washington are enroute from Panama, which should bring my BB count to 15 or so -- enough to cover the invasions directly as well as provide bombardment support.  Also coming along will be tons of minesweepers, ASW and ASuW TFs.  If KB comes out to play, hopefully he'll suffer from target overload -- especially with lots of BBs present.  Depending on how I distribute the battleships amongst the invaders, I hope to keep two fast battleships as carrier escort for the fleet ships and the CVEs.
 
Initial intel shows only Tarawa occupied, but to be safe, all targets will get the hammer.  I'm fine using a pile driver on a walnut at this point.
 
My end game to all this is to hopefully cut of Truk, thereby making things miserable for everyone to the south of there.  Unfortunately, I don't seeing that happening until the dud torpedo issue gets fixed in a year's time.

[Mundy]

10 September 1942

Finally ending a dry spell.

Sub attack near Donggala at 67,97

Japanese Ships
TK Tatibana Maru, Torpedo hits 1
PB Tatsumiya Maru

Allied Ships
SS Cachalot

SS Cachalot launches 4 torpedoes at TK Tatibana Maru
PB Tatsumiya Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tatsumiya Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tatsumiya Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tatsumiya Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Tatsumiya Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

At Hyderabad, Wellingtons and B-25s are paying a night-time visit to Calcutta, hitting heavy (mostly) and light industry there.

We'll see what happens.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
After some mulling, along with a nice PM i received, I'm going to re-tool the Marshalls invaders towards the Gilberts, looking to pull the trigger in a month or two.

That's what I like to hear! I had asked for a map on the Gilberts because I thought you needed to make a presence there. The map I saw confirmed it.

ORIGINAL: Mundy
Long Island and Copahee are at Pearl with a VMF on board each, which will help with air cover for this.  South Dakota and Washington are enroute from Panama, which should bring my BB count to 15 or so -- enough to cover the invasions directly as well as provide bombardment support.  Also coming along will be tons of minesweepers, ASW and ASuW TFs.  If KB comes out to play, hopefully he'll suffer from target overload -- especially with lots of BBs present.  Depending on how I distribute the battleships amongst the invaders, I hope to keep two fast battleships as carrier escort for the fleet ships and the CVEs.

Initial intel shows only Tarawa occupied, but to be safe, all targets will get the hammer.  I'm fine using a pile driver on a walnut at this point.

I would not be so gung-ho on overkill here. I think your best option in the Gilberts is to start a relatively quiet buildup such that the Japanese are not even aware what you are doing until it is well underway. On the other hand, if the Japanese notice BBs and a bunch of other indicators of major activity they will respond in kind. Unless Tarawa is heavily built up which seems doubtful, I don't think you even have an LBA threat in the Gilberts. Target overload doesn't really work when you don't have CVs to capitalize on the diversion...you just give a lot of easy targets for the KB and don't damage it. I honestly think the initial occupation phases can be done without any air cover and only minimal naval cover.

Also I would highly recommend you develop Canton Island and turn it into a naval base. It is ideally located as it has Baker Island to guard the northern flank and Funafuti to guard the western flank; it is impossible for the KB to attack it without at least some warning if you have Catalinas set up. Its great for basing xAKL fleets and fast TP fleets for action in the Gilberts.

[Mundy]

All my forces for this are at Pearl, so I have nothing he can really watch right now. I've picked out five islands to hit. Everything's moving at once, so it will be a very sudden thunderclap when it hits.

I still don't think he has any real air there. My convoys have been cutting the corner a bit, without any strikes from there.

I'm still getting intel on plans for New Zealand and various other bases. I'm treating them as bogus right now. He'll have other things to worry about.

[Bif1961]

Have you convoys cutting the corner been under survielance? If so for how long? If so by what type of search aircraft? Have you done at least submarie recon of all your target islands? Good luck and i hope you are right that the enemy is aspeel and accepting risk by not stationing many troops on the far fringe of his empire.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
All my forces for this are at Pearl, so I have nothing he can really watch right now. I've picked out five islands to hit. Everything's moving at once, so it will be a very sudden thunderclap when it hits.

Ya, I get that. I'm just of the belief that a sudden thunderclap will draw a sudden response and that could really backfire. I see strategic benefits to a sudden move (i.e. getting a head start nf the Japanese in occupying the area) but at the same time there are some tactical concerns I have. Mainly I fear that once the Japanese detect this rather significant operation that the KB will come flying into the picture at full speed. You won't be able to see it coming and you won't be able to stop it; the only defense you have is to get out of the way before the KB gets the battlefield. Which means the only safe way you can pull this OP off is to A. Draw out the KB somewhere else or B. get out before the KB can hit you which is a very small window (1-2 days). Otherwise you're putting the success of the whole operation in a dice roll on whether the KB is close and willing to sortie.

[Mundy]

The thing is that I don't know what I could do to entice a KB response elsewhere.  Would they really respond to something like a bombardment mission somewhere?  (Darwin/Port Moresby).  I'm not sure an actual invasion of Port Moresby would do it at this point.
 
I could form up a massive cargo TF and wave it around south of PM to see if anything happens.
 
The last RN carrier withdrew about a week ago, so no help on that front.
 
I suppose I could grab just one of the outlying islands, and slowly work inward, but I don't want to have to deal with a sudden influx of Betties if he sees the trend.  I'm not sure he'd drain Rabaul or Noumea to do this, though.  I would consider a cheap and dirty landing at PM if he did so, but I have no long range recon assets to determine this.
 
Bif1961, I haven't really checked the convoys to see what their spotted status was.  I don't recall seeing any recon plane incidents when they passed through.
 
Not much to report from last turn.  My night bombers managed one hit on light industry.  The first of my B-17 squadrons in-theatre is up to strength and deployed to Hyderabad.  They're hitting Calcutta overnight also with the Wellingtons.  The mediums there are retasked to hit the Japanese that entered Vizagapatnam, with escorts.  They're pretty tank heavy.  I'm waiting for my new Vengeance squadron to get repaired up, as they'll make a difference.  Cocanada is seriously beefed up with troops right now, with three divisions plus artillery present.  More bombers are landing and another 2-3 are enroute and only a few days away.  Most of these incoming bomber squadrons are at their previous 8 strength and not up to the newly reformed 12.  Pools are a bit short for that right now.  Sufficient air support is starting to become an issue.  Hyderabad will be my main hub for the strategic bombing effort.  I need to keep enough fighters there to guard against any retaliation, but I don't think Helens can make that right now.  My northern bases are pretty much all fighters and Lysanders.  A bunch of Marines are inbound, but still off-map.

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
The thing is that I don't know what I could do to entice a KB response elsewhere.  Would they really respond to something like a bombardment mission somewhere?  (Darwin/Port Moresby).  I'm not sure an actual invasion of Port Moresby would do it at this point.

Bombardment mission isn't going to draw the KB out. Darwin is not usually critical to Japan except to delay but a Port Moresby invasion might do the trick. And if it doesn't draw the KB well at least you have Port Moresby! Assuming it goes all well...

ORIGINAL: Mundy
I suppose I could grab just one of the outlying islands, and slowly work inward, but I don't want to have to deal with a sudden influx of Betties if he sees the trend.  I'm not sure he'd drain Rabaul or Noumea to do this, though.  I would consider a cheap and dirty landing at PM if he did so, but I have no long range recon assets to determine this.

If it were me I would probably go with a middling alternative unlikely to draw significant attention like the simultaneous occupation of 1-2 islands with the follow up forces safely to the rear if the Japanese do respond. The Betty threat isn't such an issue though...check out Japanese air bases and your SigInt. Does he have an air HQ in Nauru or Tarawa? What level are his air bases? I suspect that the entire region is underdeveloped and the Japanese lack the ability to project power in the Gilberts with LBA. I don't think you have the prep to take Tabiteuea by surprise so I think you may have to settle for the simultaneous occupations of Beru/Onatoa with follow up operations in Nikunau and Arorae. Once you can get 4E and P-38's flying here you'll dominate the region. Just don't bring a bunch of BBs and CVEs which make CF think about a sortie; I don't think you need CVE cover for the OP and cruisers are a better option in underdeveloped and under-reconnaissanced area where you may need to make a quick getaway. Worst case you lose a handful of transports, cruisers, and a few land units. I suspect the real battles will be Japanese countermoves when they start seeing dot hexes turn into bases.

[Mundy]

I'll have to check my options.
 
Timing will be big with something like this.  I'm guessing a minimum of 2 divisions for PM -- probably all US, due to OOB/PP issues.  Americal's in Perth right now.  I'd also have to round up the base units to get PM's airfield up and running immediately.  I could probably LRCAP everything with Beaufighters until they get within Zeke range.  I have lots of Flak in Oz, which would have to go over also to deal with the inevitable raids from Rabaul. I don't know if he's developed Lae or not -- probably not.
 
I probably won't get the next turn out in a half hour like I usually do.  [:D]

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: Mundy
Timing will be big with something like this.  I'm guessing a minimum of 2 divisions for PM -- probably all US, due to OOB/PP issues.  Americal's in Perth right now.

I'm not sure 2 is sufficient for PM. 3x terrain with forts. Typically you can expect at least a full Japanese division plus support units there. If that were the case you'd need 3 full divisions plus a fair amount of tanks/arty/etc to take the base. Perhaps there are lower hanging fruit in the region?

[Mundy]

There's always Milne Bay, but lots of airplanes can cover that. Maybe Horn Island...

12 September 1942

This brought a tear to my eye when I saw it start...

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 6414 troops, 214 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 1461

Defending force 145171 troops, 235 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3548

Japanese adjusted assault: 0

Allied adjusted defense: 11831

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 6)

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

Japanese ground losses:
5716 casualties reported
Squads: 86 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 171 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 17 (17 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
63rd Division
13th Tank Regiment
15th Division
14th Division
41st/C Division
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Mortar Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
5th New Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
23rd Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
71st Chinese Corps
7th Construction Regiment
9th Separate Brigade
10th Construction Regiment
8th Construction Regiment
8th Chinese Corps
3rd Construction Regiment
60th Chinese Corps
19th Chinese Corps
303rd Brigade
100th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
5th Chinese Corps
58th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
12th Construction Regiment
10th Chinese Base Force
13th Group Army
25th Group Army
3rd Group Army
38th Group Army
14th Group Army
18th Artillery Regiment
36th Group Army
16th Construction Regiment
37th Group Army
1st Chinese Base Force
49th AA Regiment
19th Chinese Base Force
10th Group Army
7th Group Army
56th AT Gun Regiment
23rd Group Army
CAF HQ
1st Artillery Regiment
17th Group Army
3rd Chinese Base Force
China Command
Central Reserve
Lusu War Area
14th Chinese Base Force
1st War Area
15th Group Army
4th Chinese Base Force
24th Chinese Corps
7th Artillery Regiment
Red Chinese Army
21st Chinese Base Force

I'm not sure what prompted that -- impatience maybe. One arty unit is bombarding to gauge his strength.

Things aren't quite as strong at Kumming.

Ground combat at Kunming (69,48)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10998 troops, 137 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 381

Defending force 5723 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 89

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 420

Allied adjusted defense: 244

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
429 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled

Allied ground losses:
295 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
5th Guards/A Division
2nd Militia Regiment
5th Guards/C Division
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
21st Army

Defending units:
259th Brigade
54th Chinese Corps
34th Separate Brigade
NCAC
11th Group Army

I also got driven out of Vizagapatnam with his tank horde.

Ground combat at Vizagapatnam (42,37)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 7692 troops, 113 guns, 566 vehicles, Assault Value = 424

Defending force 4381 troops, 40 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 141

Japanese adjusted assault: 718

Allied adjusted defense: 11

Japanese assault odds: 65 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Vizagapatnam !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(-), preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2492 casualties reported
Squads: 57 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 40 (19 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 29 (27 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2nd Tank Regiment
1st Tank Division
14th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
26th Indian Brigade

I'm not drawing any supply to Cocanada for some reason, despite having 80,000 at Madras. I noticed Bezwada was set at zero draw, so I upped it there, hoping it will help. I need supplies there pronto. I can't even build right now. Cargo supplies are currently unloading at Karachi from Abadan.

Bombers, day and night didn't fly from Hyderabad for some reason.

A full squadron of B-18s have arrived at Karachi, now railing for Bombay.

[BBfanboy]

In addition to Base supply draw, it tends to go to the biggest concentration of troops. If you have put a lot of troops up in Bombay and Karachi, most of the supply will want to go there, and base supply draw is needed to get it moving elsewhere.
Supply is also throttled from movement beyond undeveloped bases. If Bezwada is a dot base, supply will move at a trickle beyond that point. Muddy roads, I guess! [:D]

[Mundy]

I would say Cocanada is fairly dense with troops right now.  I can't trust memory, but I'm pretty sure Bezwada wasn't a dot base, though I'm not sure if troops present there would help things.  It's supply draw was set to zero before, which may have choked it off.
 
Everyone in India's set to receive replacements and upgrades, which I know is a good part of my supply draw, in addition to all the building going on.
 
I had cleaned Abadan out of supplies, thought they're recently built up again.  Industry in India itself isn't keeping up very well.  I have huge amounts of fuel in Bombay and Karachi.
 
I'm moving more base units into Hyderabad.  It will be a serious bomber hub before I'm through.  I'll need plenty of guard fighters if/when CF figures the source out.
 
My Lexingtons are due for yard work again in a few weeks.  I may wait with the invasions until then.  the 1.1" guns are getting swapped out for 40mm guns, which will help defenses greatly.  Looks like a three week job.  I've found in Babes scenarios that dive bombers don't like massed 40mm guns.

[Mundy]

13 September 1942

The IJA has arrived at Cocanada. Three units, armor heavy. I have 3-1/3 good divisions there -- Two UK, one Indian, one Indian brigade. Two units of artillery too. One of 25 lbr and one 4.2"

The base is low on supply, but the units look to be mostly supplied themselves.

This flew in daytime. I thought I had them set to night, but overlooked it.

Morning Air attack on Jamshedpur , at 51,34

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 9

No Allied losses

Heavy Industry hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Wellington Ic bombing from 6000 feet *
City Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

One bomber unloading at Karachi, and one more inbound.

Lots of bombers set to hit Cocanada. P-38s and P-40s escorting. More bombers reaching from Bombay.

[Mundy]

15 September 1942

I took a shot at Chungking, after his disastrous attack there. Despite the losses, the odds were okay.

Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2313 troops, 178 guns, 68 vehicles, Assault Value = 907

Defending force 152462 troops, 235 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3844

Japanese ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
13th Tank Regiment
15th Division
63rd Division
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
91st Chinese Corps
3rd Construction Regiment
8th Construction Regiment
2nd Chinese Corps
5th Chinese Corps
7th Construction Regiment
23rd Chinese Corps
9th Separate Brigade
29th Chinese Corps
7th New Chinese Corps
62nd Chinese Corps
19th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
303rd Brigade
71st Chinese Corps
58th Chinese Corps
10th Construction Regiment
5th New Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
8th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
60th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
12th Construction Regiment
10th Chinese Base Force
CAF HQ
19th Chinese Base Force
25th Group Army
1st Artillery Regiment
7th Artillery Regiment
13th Group Army
56th AT Gun Regiment
14th Group Army
7th Group Army
1st Chinese Base Force
22nd Artillery Regiment
4th Chinese Base Force
14th Chinese Base Force
Central Reserve
24th Chinese Corps
3rd Group Army
23rd Group Army
3rd Chinese Base Force
18th Artillery Regiment
Lusu War Area
37th Group Army
10th Group Army
38th Group Army
China Command
17th Group Army
15th Group Army
1st War Area
16th Construction Regiment
49th AA Regiment
36th Group Army
Red Chinese Army
21st Chinese Base Force


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


Ground combat at Chungking (76,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 124506 troops, 214 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3840

Defending force 33682 troops, 400 guns, 239 vehicles, Assault Value = 907

Allied adjusted assault: 3091

Japanese adjusted defense: 2285

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
2349 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 108 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 75 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 98 (17 destroyed, 81 disabled)
Vehicles lost 152 (16 destroyed, 136 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
6574 casualties reported
Squads: 80 destroyed, 644 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 117 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 19 (14 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Assaulting units:
62nd Chinese Corps
11th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
8th Construction Regiment
91st Chinese Corps
23rd Chinese Corps
5th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Corps
10th Construction Regiment
56th Chinese Corps
303rd Brigade
7th New Chinese Corps
58th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
5th New Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps
71st Chinese Corps
19th Chinese Corps
60th Chinese Corps
7th Construction Regiment
29th Chinese Corps
3rd Construction Regiment
8th Chinese Corps
9th Separate Brigade
12th Construction Regiment
10th Chinese Base Force
3rd Chinese Base Force
49th AA Regiment
10th Group Army
18th Artillery Regiment
7th Artillery Regiment
China Command
1st War Area
17th Group Army
Red Chinese Army
38th Group Army
22nd Artillery Regiment
4th Chinese Base Force
36th Group Army
24th Chinese Corps
16th Construction Regiment
7th Group Army
56th AT Gun Regiment
14th Chinese Base Force
1st Chinese Base Force
1st Artillery Regiment
CAF HQ
3rd Group Army
37th Group Army
Lusu War Area
25th Group Army
19th Chinese Base Force
Central Reserve
23rd Group Army
13th Group Army
14th Group Army
15th Group Army
21st Chinese Base Force

Defending units:
13th Tank Regiment
15th Division
63rd Division
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Army
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

I'm bumping this up to a shock attack tomorrow. Fatigue and disruption looked like it didn't rise much.

CF got "good" odds on Wuchang a couple days back...

Ground combat at Wuchang (84,51)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 91007 troops, 740 guns, 125 vehicles, Assault Value = 2901

Defending force 125739 troops, 356 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2326

Japanese adjusted assault: 2222

Allied adjusted defense: 1053

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
9648 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 1106 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 53 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2312 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 265 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled

Assaulting units:
39th Division
25th Division
58th Division
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment
20th Division
12th RGC Temp. Division
3rd Division
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
22nd Division
18th RGC Temp. Division
13th Army

Defending units:
26th Chinese Corps
73rd Chinese Corps
18th Chinese Corps
99th Chinese Corps
53rd Chinese Corps
37th Chinese Corps
87th Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
20th Chinese Corps
10th Chinese Corps
44th Chinese Corps
79th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps
72nd Chinese Corps
4th Heavy Mortar Regiment

My planes at Hyderabad aren't hitting Cocanada for some reason. They have escorts. Vengeances have moved in and will fly also, hopefully.