BACK IN BUSINESS - PzB goes East again(st) Andy Mac

[FatR]

Ki-43-Ia is useless, yes, and it's strange to see them on the frontlines this late in the war. Ic is passable. Still not nearly as good as Zero, because it lacks killing power to take down Allied bombers, but does well against most of their fighters.

[castor troy]

change all/most of your Oscars to Tojos and you will just be fine.

[Grfin Zeppelin]

Mybe I missed something but where is he using Ia Oscars ? *ponders*

[PaxMondo]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

change all/most of your Oscars to Tojos and you will just be fine.

How do you handle seeps with the Tojo? The only reason I keep the Oscar in production is so that I have an IJA capable of sweeps in the early war timeframe ....

[PzB74]

Ok, ok ok, I got 16 Oscar Ia's north of Perth; must have forgotten to upgrade them [8|]
- I'm not overly more impressed about the Ic - in Burma they are equally much cannon fodder as the Ia.

Tojo is ok but lacks the range of the Oscar.

Xmas islands is definetly a good outpost then; I have to consider my chain of defenses.
Will get back with some screens. Most other bases can only hold 6000 troops to avoid overstacking.
This make them vulnerable, but they should be able to hold until the KB can arrive on scene and smack things around [:)]

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: castor troy

change all/most of your Oscars to Tojos and you will just be fine.

How do you handle seeps with the Tojo? The only reason I keep the Oscar in production is so that I have an IJA capable of sweeps in the early war timeframe ....

I don´t, my opponent does. [:D] The first three encounters were: Tojos on a sweep, my leaking Cap (Warhawks and Hurricanes) being shot down 5:1. Tojos on Cap, my sweep with Ligthnings: 8:1 for the Tojos. Leaking Tojo Cap, my sweep with Lightnings: 1:1. All my squadrons were "elite" for mid 42, means usually 70 air skill. The enemy surely was elite too. In all three examples numbers in total never exceeded 50 fighters (usually 20-30 vs 20-30 in one engagement). The Oscar as it stands now in my PBEM is just dead meat, the Zero isn´t really the same threat as in very early 42 and we usually can take them down in a ratio that highly favours us. The Tojo rules the sky at the moment though. P-40K soon, perhaps this fighter can help to turn the tide.

[PzB74]

Marshalls

[wpurdom]

There's a quote from an American ace that the Oscar was no threat to an experienced pilot, but tangling with one could leave you talking to yourself.
I believe the first part was because you could always dive away before it could do serious damage, the second because it was so manueverable that even when you thought you had it dead to rights, it could out-manuever you and wind up on your tail.

[Mynok]

I consider the Marshalls as simply a screen for the Marianas.

[PzB74]

Yes, in many ways the Marshalls are - the question is whether an extension to them would be an asset or not.

Wish they would give the Oscar some kind of super duper ability in AE [8|]



Dang, that was a good map job [:'(]

[CapAndGown]

Have you considered the southern Gilberts? The bases around Taubitea could all be built up to size four and form a nice little cluster of 5 bases. Also, you could form a cluster of four bases stretching south from Tarawa. And up in the Marshals, you could also build Ainginlaplap (just south of Kwajalein) up to size four.

The problem with the Line islands and the Phoenix group is that you cannot form a cluster of mutually supporting airfields. OTOH, the only way to shut down the Line Island bases, like Christmas, would be by Carriers and BBs since I don't think there are any B-17 capable bases in range.

[PzB74]

One of my challenges is that I'm clean out of naval construction units; need at least 2 in order to build a dot base from scratch. Gathering a cluster of bases is indeed ideal, just so very hard to arrange.

This turn I spent hours going over all air units; a few observations!

a) I'm using a lot of ac in ASW and search roles.
- Identified a few areas with low cover that I will strive to close.

b) I don't mass my Jap army bombers for us as ground attack ac. They are somewhat dispersed with
70% performing training and ASW / search duties and only ca 30% being active on the front lines.
- Burma is one of the few areas I have the potential to deploy army bombers en masse efficiently.

c) I've reduced stockpiles of the A6M2 Zero after maximizing CAG size.
- This has released an array of SBDs and TBDs from the carriers that will serve on the front line in the Solomons.

d) I've also expanded Jake units on sea plane tenders and mixed them with new Rufe float fighters.

e) There is a large number of naval bombers behind the line covering strategic areas, performing ASW duties etc.
I'm very carful with how I use them and is trying to create 4 or 5 hubs that allow me to mass them; one in each theatre
if possible.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 19, 42

Air Combat

Andy is continuing with his night air attacks; without much luck thus far!

Night Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 6

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington Ic: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Wellington Ic bombing from 18000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A series of sweeps against Chittagong; weather turned foul as usual.
The Oscar Ib (avg 70 exp) didn't fare well at all...they always go in first and get mauled.

Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 31

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 50
Kittyhawk IA x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 10 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 31
Kittyhawk IA x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 4 destroyed
Kittyhawk IA: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 25000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kalgoorlie , at 56,147
Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 43 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 5
F4F-3A Wildcat x 2
F4F-3 Wildcat x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
28 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 25000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7
Kittyhawk IA x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 25000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 69 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 3
Kittyhawk IA x 1

No Japanese losses
No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Ki-43-Ic Oscar sweeping at 25000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Andy now has very strong LCU's in the Perth area; some 60k plus as I see it including at least
3 full divisions and a host of armour. Tomorrow we will be kicked out of Kalgoorlie and today our 2 armored spearheads
were trashed.

- I wonder if Andy has enough troops to start an offensive in the east as long as he got this many troops here.

I will not deploy more troops to the region unless I see an opening for grabbing Perth by a coupe the main; still got 3 crack divisions prepped for Perth in reserve. In the meanwhile the "who ties down the most troops" game can continue I guess.

Ground combat at Kalgoorlie (56,147)
Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 19453 troops, 521 guns, 469 vehicles, Assault Value = 1077
Defending force 3632 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Japanese ground losses:
106 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
8th Australian Division
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/10th Armoured Regiment
2/4th Armoured Regiment
Americal Infantry Division
2/5th Armoured Regiment
44th Australian Battalion
2/9th Field Regiment
12th RAAF Base Force
2/13th Field Regiment
46th Construction Regiment
13th Australian Hvy AA Regiment
21/22 Field Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
21st Infantry Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 51,146
Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 14162 troops, 257 guns, 460 vehicles, Assault Value = 518

Defending force 1330 troops, 4 guns, 125 vehicles, Assault Value = 84
Allied adjusted assault: 462

Japanese adjusted defense: 47
Allied assault odds: 9 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
600 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 41 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 44 (34 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
267 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 66 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 39 (0 destroyed, 39 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
10th Light Horse Battalion
41st Infantry Division
27th Infantry/B Division

Defending units:
16th Recon Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat over Burma

[PzB74]

I have turned of light industry in China; despite very limited activity there I'm constantly low on supplies and have to shuttle in regularly.

How do all of you handle industry and supply in China and how much (if any) supplies to do you bring in?

Perth Area

[castor troy]

why have you turned off Light Industry? Thought it only uses resources to create supplies? [&:] Would it make sense to turn them off and ship resources out and supply in. The result would only be to use fuel for the transport. Confused [&:]

[Milman]

light industry consume 15 resources, producing 1 supply

Heavy industry consume 20 resources and 2 fuel, producing 2 HI and 2 supply

As you can see PzB industry can only improve your supply situation.

[Yakface]

I assume he means thathe has turned off the repair of damaged light industry. Should also turn off the repair of resources, and manpower. THe pay back on resources is non existent, on light industry it is 3 years. Only HI, oil and refineries are worth repairing.

I ships in about 150K supply per month to China

EDIT: I should add that I have captured Sian and Lanchow which needed a lot of supply to repair.

[Rainer79]

I totally agree with the previous post except for the fact that refineries are worth repairing. IMO they aren't. You already possess a huge excess refinery capacity in the HI and because of that the oil stockpile will run out sooner or later anyway.

[Milman]

Not only in HI. In this example Manjuria+china+Korea have shortage of 600 oil/day at start. If Siam is conected with manjuria those oil will be used in Manchuria refineries. No need for new rafineries.

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

ORIGINAL: castor troy

change all/most of your Oscars to Tojos and you will just be fine.

How do you handle seeps with the Tojo? The only reason I keep the Oscar in production is so that I have an IJA capable of sweeps in the early war timeframe ....

I don´t, my opponent does. [:D] The first three encounters were: Tojos on a sweep, my leaking Cap (Warhawks and Hurricanes) being shot down 5:1. Tojos on Cap, my sweep with Ligthnings: 8:1 for the Tojos. Leaking Tojo Cap, my sweep with Lightnings: 1:1. All my squadrons were "elite" for mid 42, means usually 70 air skill. The enemy surely was elite too. In all three examples numbers in total never exceeded 50 fighters (usually 20-30 vs 20-30 in one engagement). The Oscar as it stands now in my PBEM is just dead meat, the Zero isn´t really the same threat as in very early 42 and we usually can take them down in a ratio that highly favours us. The Tojo rules the sky at the moment though. P-40K soon, perhaps this fighter can help to turn the tide.

Tojo is the corsair of 1942.[;)] Waste of effort for the Japanese player to build a single tony. Only defect of tojo is short range.

[PzB74]

Thx, that's what I meant Yakfac! 150k supplies per month *ouch* - no wonder I'm short.
Guess I need to step up my supply convoys.

Hm, must admit that I'm repairing refineries. On my repair list oil comes first, then refineries, heavy industry, light industry and manpower. Need to review which resource facilities I'm repairing.
- Is it meaningful to repair manpower at all?

Made some important decisions; There will be no invasion of New Caledonia. I'm spread thin as it is and need to consolidate.
The issue whether to invest further in Perth is also dubious but the decision is put on hold while our divisions repair battle damage.

Found that I can't unload 30cm arty pieces from transports docked in a size 4 harbour, argh..can hardly move those things.

Equipping the first Sentai with the new Tojo's but it will be some time before they're out in numbers.
Can't wait to get rid of the ole Oscars. Does the Oscar II perform almost as bad as the Ic?


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jun 20, 42

ASW Attacks

There have been subs in Soerabaja base hex for weeks and months...never managed to sink them.
Today the old pig boat S-40 took direct hits, were forced to surface and blown out of the water [8D]

Submarine attack near Soerabaja at 56,104

Japanese Ships
PB Shonan Maru #2
DD Hasu
DD Yukaze

Allied Ships
SS S-40, hits 14, and is sunk

SS S-40 is sighted by escort
S-40 bottoming out ....
DD Hasu attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yukaze attacking submerged sub ....
SS S-40 forced to surface!
DD Yukaze firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

1100 assault value, that's something! 6 armored units followed our retreating regiment.
Without capturing Port Augusta Andy can reinforce at will, making any attack against Kalgoorlie meaningless.

Ground combat at Kalgoorlie (56,147)

Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 21602 troops, 554 guns, 526 vehicles, Assault Value = 1109

Defending force 3583 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 126
Allied adjusted assault: 456

Japanese adjusted defense: 28
Allied assault odds: 16 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1950 casualties reported
Squads: 30 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
317 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Units pursuing 6

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2/5th Armoured Regiment
8th Australian Division
2/9th Armoured Regiment
2/6th Armoured Regiment
2/10th Armoured Regiment
2/4th Armoured Regiment
Americal Infantry Division
44th Australian Battalion
21/22 Field Regiment
2/9th Field Regiment
2/13th Field Regiment
13th Australian Hvy AA Regiment
12th RAAF Base Force
1st Medium Regiment
46th Construction Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
21st Infantry Regiment
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