The Hive - Cruft PBEM (Japan, Scen 2 Beta + Stacking Limits)

[Captain Cruft]

Bangkok LCUs.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Captain Cruft

I am going to send 8 x 30cm howitzers to Bangkok. This gun has a very high anti armour rating and a long range. It might help when the British tanks arrive on the scene.

If they're behind forts, or dug in with at least one fort in good territory, these guns make a big difference.

[Captain Cruft]

Sandbox

I have done some quick tests of the Yokohama house flak array against B-29s using the beta EXE. This is just the 136 DP guns in the two fortresses and the Yokosuka Naval Base Force, as below. No actual AA guns whatsoever.

99 x 12.7cm 3YT DP Gun
12 x 12cm 10YT DP Gun
8 x 10cm T99 DP Gun
27 x 8cm T88 DP Gun

The results - very effective. At 15,000ft around 10 B-29s were damaged per turn, but at 7,000ft this rose to around 50. At the lower altitude the stack of 300 B-29s was essentially rendered combat effective after a week.

Coolio

[Captain Cruft]

25 Sep 1943

Oops.

Once again complacency bites me in the bum in the Rangoon vicinity. I had two bombardment TFs lined up to have a go at Pegu, however the slower one could only make 18 knots, and of course this meant it was sitting a mere 5 hexes from Pegu during the day phase. Which meant that the British Vengeances and Beauforts got to operate for the first time in an anti-shipping role.

That's 3 old CLs and 4 non-DD escorts lost for no result ...


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tavoy at 52,59

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vengeance I x 15
P-38H Lightning x 7
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 10

Allied aircraft losses
Vengeance I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Katori, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Asagao, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
E W-14, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Vengeance I releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x Vengeance I releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Katori
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring APD Asagao

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tavoy at 52,59

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 4

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort I: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
APD Kiku, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Tavoy at 52,59

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Fuji, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tavoy at 52,59

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 9

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CL Kashima, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CL Kashii, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo

[obvert]

Well, those CLs were not going to be much good for you anyway until their conversion in 44 to uber-escorts.

Could be an occasion for a bit of CAP trap though.

[Captain Cruft]

26 Sep 1943

The faster bombardment groups goes in and escapes successfully. Rather mediocre results though. The DDs didn't fire at all even though I explicitly had set Escorts Bombard to On. Besides which the Es (with exactly the same gun) did fire. Go figure ...

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Night Naval bombardment of Pegu at 55,53

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
CL Oi
CL Kitakami
CL Sendai
DD Tatsukaze
DD Yukaze
DD Shiokaze
DD Hakaze
E Kamo
E Kiji
E Hiyodori

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

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3
Port hits 1

CL Oi firing at 5th Indian Division
CL Kitakami firing at 7th Australian Division
E7K2 Alf acting as spotter for CL Sendai
CL Sendai firing at 18th British Division
DD Tatsukaze firing at 5th Indian Division
DD Yukaze firing at 18th British Division
DD Shiokaze firing at 11th Indian Division
DD Hakaze firing at 18th British Division
E Kamo firing at 18th British Division
E Kiji firing at 39th Indian Division
E Hiyodori firing at Pegu

[Captain Cruft]

29 Sep 1943

Not a lot going on, except that troop movements have been spotted out of Pegu towards Rangoon.

I have about 150 army transport planes supplying the base now, and although he is LRCAPing it they all get through.

[Captain Cruft]

29 Sep 1943

The huge British stack is still on its way to Rangoon.

Over in the Marshalls the Rexes are still holding out at Ebadon, where today they shot down a Corsair. That makes 23 kills in total.

Meanwhile, good news from the Ops Report ...

Aircraft Ki-43-IIIa Oscar advances R&D (to 02/44)
Aircraft Ki-84a Frank advances R&D (to 11/43)

[Captain Cruft]

1 Oct 1943

The first Allied bombardment at Rangoons shows that I am operating at a 5 - 1 disadvantage in raw AV. That looks OKish given that I have level 6 forts, however this attack alone ate up 2,000 supplies, which means that it won't be long before my guys are struggling.

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Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 134703 troops, 2235 guns, 3004 vehicles, Assault Value = 5536

Defending force 30522 troops, 316 guns, 237 vehicles, Assault Value = 1012

Japanese ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
19th Indian Division
150th RAC Regiment
7th Australian Division
14th Chindit Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
11th Indian Division
3rd Cavalry Regiment
20th Indian Division
46th Indian Brigade
254th Armoured Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
25th Indian Division
39th Indian Division
2nd British Division
111th Chindit Brigade
44th Cavalry Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
44th Indian Brigade
48th Gurkha Brigade
18th British Division
268th Motorised Brigade
16th British Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
5th Indian Division
8th Medium Regiment
14th Army
IV Indian Corps
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
XV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
III Indian Corps
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
33rd Division
7th Burma Militia Regiment
27th Fld AA Gun Co
9th RF Gun Battalion
4th RF Gun Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
15th Army
31st Field AA Battalion

[Captain Cruft]

3 Oct 1943

Today saw the first Deliberate Attack at Rangoon. Casualties were about even, but forts were reduced.

The destroyed unit was the fragment of the 21st Division, a single Motorized Support element.

There were no apparent bonuses from the Corps, Army or Command HQs which should in theory be providing them. As enumerated earlier.

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Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 138898 troops, 2235 guns, 3384 vehicles, Assault Value = 5547

Defending force 30451 troops, 316 guns, 237 vehicles, Assault Value = 1006

Allied adjusted assault: 4361

Japanese adjusted defense: 2991

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 6)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 5

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

Japanese ground losses:
3557 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 256 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 70 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled
Guns lost 69 (13 destroyed, 56 disabled)
Vehicles lost 38 (5 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
3697 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 412 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 108 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 101 disabled
Guns lost 112 (3 destroyed, 109 disabled)
Vehicles lost 74 (1 destroyed, 73 disabled)

Assaulting units:
150th RAC Regiment
14th Chindit Brigade
7th Australian Division
20th Indian Division
18th British Division
3rd Cavalry Regiment
11th Indian Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
111th Chindit Brigade
2nd British Division
44th Indian Brigade
19th Indian Division
48th Gurkha Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
46th Indian Brigade
254th Armoured Brigade
25th Indian Division
39th Indian Division
268th Motorised Brigade
50th Tank Brigade
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
16th Chindit Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
44th Cavalry Regiment
5th Indian Division
III Indian Corps
8th Medium Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Army
IV Indian Corps
XV Indian Corps
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
33rd Division
5th Division
7th Burma Militia Regiment
27th Fld AA Gun Co
4th RF Gun Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion
15th Army
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
31st Field AA Battalion
21st Div /1

[Captain Cruft]

4 Oct 1943

I tried another bombardment of Pegu, with the minimum range set to 2,000 yds. The results were quite good but the DDs still didn't expend any ammo.

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Night Naval bombardment of Pegu at 55,53

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-51A Mustang: 3 damaged
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 25 damaged
P-38H Lightning: 18 damaged
Beaufort I: 4 damaged
Vengeance I: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
DD Tawakaze
DD Urukaze
DD Tatsukaze
DD Yukaze
DD Shiokaze
DD Hakaze
E Kamo
E Kiji
E Hiyodori
E Otori

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 64
Port hits 12
Port supply hits 6

E7K2 Alf acting as spotter for CL Sendai
CL Sendai firing at Pegu
DD Tawakaze firing at Pegu
DD Urukaze firing at Pegu
DD Tatsukaze firing at Pegu
DD Yukaze firing at Pegu
DD Shiokaze firing at Pegu
DD Hakaze firing at Pegu
E Kamo firing at Pegu
E Kiji firing at Pegu
E Hiyodori firing at Pegu
E Otori firing at Pegu

[Captain Cruft]

6 Oct 1943

The second Deliberate Attack at Rangoon reduces the forts to 4. It's not a painless experience for him though.

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Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 135178 troops, 2235 guns, 3387 vehicles, Assault Value = 4930

Defending force 28139 troops, 297 guns, 231 vehicles, Assault Value = 771

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 4599

Japanese adjusted defense: 3197

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 4

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

Japanese ground losses:
3145 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 154 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 24 disabled
Guns lost 59 (15 destroyed, 44 disabled)
Vehicles lost 37 (16 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
5241 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 716 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 113 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 47 disabled
Guns lost 93 (5 destroyed, 88 disabled)
Vehicles lost 65 (3 destroyed, 62 disabled)

Assaulting units:
45th Indian Brigade
18th British Division
46th Indian Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
44th Cavalry Regiment
150th RAC Regiment
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
268th Motorised Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
14th Chindit Brigade
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
2nd British Division
19th Indian Division
16th Chindit Brigade
7th Australian Division
39th Indian Division
20th Indian Division
11th Indian Division
25th Indian Division
254th Armoured Brigade
48th Gurkha Brigade
111th Chindit Brigade
44th Indian Brigade
5th Indian Division
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
XV Indian Corps
III Indian Corps
IV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment
14th Army
8th Medium Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
33rd Division
7th Burma Militia Regiment
4th RF Gun Battalion
31st Field AA Battalion
15th Army
27th Fld AA Gun Co
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

[Captain Cruft]

Aircraft Production

The Ki-84a Frank should be available for production in November. I have 63 factories for it. Once the R&D is completed I will crank these up to more like 100. There are over 400 Nakajima Ha-45 engines in the pool, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Speaking of engines, the Mitsubishi Ha-43 started production today. This is the engine which powers vital aircraft like the Ki-83 and Ki-74 so it's very welcome.

A small 9 plane fighter Chutai at Eniwetok has been equipped with the N1K1 George. He is currently Sweeping this base with F6F3 Hellcats, let's see how the ugly beasties do against this plane.

[Captain Cruft]

Something strange ...

His score is going down a bit every turn. I haven't analysed why, but it's nice. AFAIK the only way for this to happen is for bases to lack sufficient supply. Everything else would add to my score rather than take away from his.

[Captain Cruft]

Ebadon

I have had to abandon Ebadon. Not because the Rexes are doing badly but because he has done enough Ground Attacks to remove all the av support from the two JNAF Coys there.

It was a good run (24 kills) but only ever meant to be a nuisance. The planes will now re-group at Ponape before I decide what to do with them. I am going to have increasingly few places where float fighters will be useful as my perimeter contracts. Perhaps the Kuriles or something.

[Captain Cruft]

9 Sep 1943

No further assaults at Rangoon, just bombardments. My stack is getting weaker by the day though mostly due to intensive 2E bombing by the entire Allied airforce in theatre. I have managed to FT in about 2,000 supplies from Mergui but will now withdraw these ships back to Georgetown since they were spotted at that base today for the first time.

As he is not really sending fighters along with the bombers or on Sweeps I am going to try a LRCAP exercise with 170 Nicks flying out of Pisanuloke and Uttaradit. It's range 6 so it might not work very well. We shall see ...

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Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 128359 troops, 2232 guns, 3004 vehicles, Assault Value = 4526

Defending force 25624 troops, 282 guns, 218 vehicles, Assault Value = 547

Japanese ground losses:
122 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
150th RAC Regiment
14th Chindit Brigade
39th Indian Division
45th Indian Brigade
254th Armoured Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
111th Chindit Brigade
7th Australian Division
18th British Division
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
19th Indian Division
16th Chindit Brigade
44th Cavalry Regiment
16th Indian Brigade
2nd British Division
20th Indian Division
268th Motorised Brigade
50th Tank Brigade
25th Indian Division
46th Indian Brigade
44th Indian Brigade
48th Gurkha Brigade
11th Indian Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
5th Indian Division
III Indian Corps
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
IV Indian Corps
8th Medium Regiment
14th Army
XV Indian Corps
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
33rd Division
7th Burma Militia Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
31st Field AA Battalion
15th Army
27th Fld AA Gun Co
9th RF Gun Battalion

[Captain Cruft]

10 Sep 1943

Rangoon falls!

I wasn't expecting this to happen quite yet, but perhaps I didn't get some of the silent combat bonuses this turn? I can't really see any other reason for the huge difference in the adjusted AV compared to the previous assaults.

Anyway, my guys have retreated into the swamp where I cannot even try to evacuate them. So they are swimming towards the hex to the SW which is coastal. Doubtless he will bomb them into oblivion before they can get there anyway.

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Ground combat at Rangoon (54,53)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 132969 troops, 2233 guns, 3389 vehicles, Assault Value = 4602

Defending force 25642 troops, 282 guns, 217 vehicles, Assault Value = 554

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Allied adjusted assault: 4775

Japanese adjusted defense: 297

Allied assault odds: 16 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Rangoon !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
7911 casualties reported
Squads: 246 destroyed, 198 disabled
Non Combat: 362 destroyed, 76 disabled
Engineers: 95 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 161 (153 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 174 (168 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Units retreated 7
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
2448 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 190 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 51 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 55 disabled
Guns lost 59 (7 destroyed, 52 disabled)
Vehicles lost 23 (2 destroyed, 21 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
16th Chindit Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
44th Indian Brigade
48th Gurkha Brigade
268th Motorised Brigade
150th RAC Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
111th Chindit Brigade
39th Indian Division
11th Indian Division
254th Armoured Brigade
19th Indian Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
44th Cavalry Regiment
7th Australian Division
14th Chindit Brigade
46th Indian Brigade
16th Indian Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
XXXIII Corps Engineer Battalion
18th British Division
2nd British Division
25th Indian Division
20th Indian Division
5th Indian Division
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
XV Indian Corps
III Indian Corps
28th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment
14th Army
IV Indian Corps
5th Field Regiment

Defending units:
5th Division
33rd Division
7th Burma Militia Regiment
31st Field AA Battalion
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
15th Army
27th Fld AA Gun Co
9th RF Gun Battalion

[Captain Cruft]

On the plus side, the LRCAP worked quite well. I lost 15 Nicks in exchange for 20 P-40s and 17 2E bombers.

I also had confirmation this turn that CV Wasp has been sunk (as reflected in both the Ops Report and VP tally). So that makes it 2-0 on the CV front.

[Captain Cruft]

This might seem quite bad, but I am actually pleased apart from losing two divisions due to the retreat mechanics.

Why?

Well, he will certainly now try and deliver huge supply tonnage to Rangoon so as to awaken the Chinese beast. This means that I can get at his ships with my air from a position of strength. Which is what my game plan is basically all about.

[Captain Cruft]

15 Sep 1943

Nothing much has happened since the last report. I have tried to degrade the port at Rangoon from the air and sea to little effect.

However, today we see the first attempted "blockade runners" approaching the port. We will see what 100+ Nicks at low level can do to disrupt their progress.

Note: All my upper Thai airbases are in pristine condition. He has not attempted to degrade them at all.