Hairy Asian Experiences - GreyJoy (J) vs. Q-Ball (A)

[Dan Nichols]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Feb 20, 42

Overall a good turn, despite some disappointing seatbacks.

[princep01]

Isn't it ironic that those "priceless per-war Betty pilots" aren't smart enough to resist attacking PT boats and other "small fry" like AMc and CMc with torpedos (or anything else)??  IRL I suspect they were generally much smarter than that, but that the computer programers were not smart enough to give those pilots a very high percentage chance to just ignore such "targets".  Not being a programmer, I am speaking out of school, but I suspect such a program fix was possible. 

[artuitus_slith]

yeah, but then when those PT boats that were ignored sink a valuable asset like a troop laden Ap or a cruiser you will have people complaining about that. In fact i was reading some old WitP threads and it seemed the only way to get rid of pt boats was to strafe them with fighters/FB.

Also from a realism point of view, AC generally expended their Ordinance on any target available, or jettisoned it into the sea. Wasnt deemed desirablle to save ordinance and risk it blowing up during a rough landing, safter to get rid of it instead. The game could use some tweaks on target priorities, maybe by changing the 'weighting' system, IE assign more points to larger, more valuable targets and thus changing the equation used in the launch algorithim to be more weighted towards target value vs DL.

[GreyJoy]

Sorry for the delay guys, but i have a terrible internet connection here....

Feb 23-24 1942

The enemy subs are infesting the waters around Singapore...the KB is moving there but, despite having more than 150 bombers on ASW duties in those areas, they keep sinking my ships, even in Singapore harbour!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
Lost 1 precious AP and two xAKs in these two days, along with 1 AK badly damaged...[:o] I think even Brad is suprised about how well his subs are performing!

At Singa we've loaded 3 infantry divisions and we're now ready to sail towards Burma. The KB is ready to anchor at Singa..I keep my finger crossed...if i got torpedoed now the whole 2nd phase can go on jeopardy!

At Akyab, after that our paras conquered the base, his bombers started to arrive in waves from Assam....The two Oscar sentais i sent there had to be retired after that more than 70 2 and 4Es pounded the base without suffering a single loss.

In China we exchanged several blows in the last two days. we lost a couple of battles (the one north of Nanyang pretty badly), but we are achieving our goals. Chansgah has been completely evacuated on the 24th and it seems that he's running away from the whole Changsha sector...so i'm conquering a very important supply production basin without firing a single shot
At Sian we managed to safely estabilish an attacking position in the plains east of the city. He's trying to evacuate from the woods south of Sian, clearly in the attempt of avoiding a huge pocket.
At Tsuyun we're attending to a flanking manouvre...i achieved a couple of 1-1 in the woods NW of Tsuyun, but i'm confident of being able to conquer that hex and so threatening Kweyang directly, avoiding the rivercrossing.
Our paras south of Chungking are estabilishing a strongpoint (probably the turning point of the whole changsha campaign) on the crossroads and an entire Army is following up.
We also conquered back Ichang and we're now pushing forward.
Overall, in the last two days, we destroyed more than 400 chinese squads, losing "only" 60 of ours...not that bad.

Now a couple of maps showing the situation on the 23rd and on the 24th of Feb....

[GreyJoy]

.

[JohnDillworth]

The enemy subs are infesting the waters around Singapore...the KB is moving there but, despite having more than 150 bombers on ASW duties in those areas, they keep sinking my ships, even in Singapore harbour!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

seems a silly question buy you folks are playing with reliable USN torps off, right?

[BBfanboy]

Have your troop convoys follow two ASW TFs with four escorts each. They may not sink any subs but they will make most of them duck while the convoy passes.
Re: the success rate, the Dutch and older US subs had reasonably reliable torps and if he replaced his starting sub commanders with very aggressive ones with high naval skills, they will brave a lot of opposition to get hits. Are a lot of the sub losses occuring at night when there is no air opposition? Are a lot of subs using their gun to attack (a sure sign of aggressive commanders) ? Your ASW will not score many hits on the subs because, as someone pointed out, the IJN did not have a depth charge that worked deeper than 100 feet. Best you can expect is to make them duck under and not get in position to attack.

[BBfanboy]

Further on airborne ASW, here is the FAQ advice from "The War Room" on the subject:

7.1 ASW:

Until your pilots get to the 70+ exp, you won't attack consistently.

tm.asp?m=2260787

To kill subs near your ports:

ASW Mission
100 feet (or 1000 if the plane will not go to 100)
Max Range
Use bombs not torps, if that is an option.

To see subs as far out as possible:

Naval Search Mission
6000 feet
Max Range
Use Bombs not torps, if that is an option.

Naval search...
High altitude will spot large TF's.
Lower altitudes spot smaller TF's.

Q:The Manual says the actual ASW range is half of the normal range. if the ASW range is 5, What's the actual range? 3 or 2?

A: A general rule of thumb is that if anything is divided, the fraction is usually thrown away, so if you have a range of 5, 1/2 would usually be 2.

[artuitus_slith]

hmmm..to help The japs or not to help... well since i offered advice to QBall on how i use my subs i guess i can offer you some advice as well-feel free to ignore it most people would :p

The best way I've found to deal with subs near ports are a combination of ASW and NAV search with a couple of H-K groups operating around the port. Basicly what you do is set half your planes to ASW @ 1000ft-100ft leads to higher op losses- and the other half to NAV search @ 2000 ft. Use patrol arcs, and use max non extended range for your patrol range. You will get lots of sighting this way, which leads to part two- the H-K groups. I use 2-4 groups of 2 ships each in my H-K groups. As the allies i get those wonderfull YP boats on the West Coast, so I use them. While generally not effective at actually killing the sub, they raise the DL of the enemy subs enough to render them inneffective. Once i have more effiecent sub hunters in decent numbers I'll add a DE/KV to the mix to have killing power. The Japanese player doesnt get YP boats, but you do get PBs which are just as good (though not very good).

Set up your patrols around the base in question and set thier react range to 3-4. I use 3x3x3 patrols in triangle shape with the first point near/at the port in question. In Singapore I'd use one patrol to the East, one to the South, and a third with a 1 hex patrol off of Singapore to the SE with my best ASW ships set to react 6.

In Theory the Air Patrols will spot the subs, raising thier DL high enough for the H-K groups to react and attack, further Raising the DL of the sub and rendering it ineffective. The Real H-K group gives you a chance to kill the enemy subs. As a point of fact subs operating around Singapore are susceptable to Japanase Depth charges, I've lost 3 subs due to operations off singapore. While none were sank as a direct result of an ASW attack, all 3 had to retire to Java for repairs and were sank in port by japanese A/C, had i tried to get them to Aussie/colombo they would likely have sank anyways.

In a side note the Japanese were unaware that US subs could dive more than 150 ft (45m) and thus often set thier D/C to detonate above the US subs. This changed when a piece of garbage named Sen Andrew J. May leaked this fact in a press conference, and the Japanese developed D/C which would detonate as deep as 250ft. Curiously Sen May never faced Disciplinary actions for this act of treason; though he was later convicted of accepting bribes and served 9 months in a Fedral prison..

[GreyJoy]

Hi guys,
 
   sorry but have very little time to post...thank you for your constant support.
BB Fanboy and Gmoney.... yes, i do everything you suggested! I have several ASW TFs, and my transports ALWAYS follow ASW TFs. I also have several sentais devoted to naval search and to ASW duties, with altitudes from 100 to 2000 ft.... i always spot them and attack them...but they seem to be always immune and they keep on attacking. and john...yes, we have US rel torp OFF
 
I'll post in details tonight....just to let u know that a RO sub put 3 torps into BB New Mexico today south of Noumea....[:D]
 
see u later...

[Canoerebel]

Is it work or a new girlfriend that is keeping you busy?

[Capt. Harlock]

This changed when a piece of garbage named Sen Andrew J. May leaked this fact in a press conference, and the Japanese developed D/C which would detonate as deep as 250ft. Curiously Sen May never faced Disciplinary actions for this act of treason; though he was later convicted of accepting bribes and served 9 months in a Fedral prison.

Strictly speaking May was a member of the House of Representatives rather than a Senator. What puts the frosting on the cake is that President Truman later granted him a pardon so he could go back into politics. Happily the voters of Kentucky didn't buy it, and he was never put back into office.

[artuitus_slith]

I see I gave him too much credit lol. Either way he was a piece of garbage and should have been tried for treason, his actions with both the sub thing and awarding contracts to his friends who made sub-par munitions cost men thier lives.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Canoerebel

Is it work or a new girlfriend that is keeping you busy?

Vacation and work (i know it sounds strange to have both of them at the same time)...but tomorrow GF is arriving...so my time will shrink even more than now[:o]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Feb 25,26 42

In Burma he's sending his heaviest and maradeurs against my paras at akyab...i have not enough aviation support in the area, nor supply, to stand and fight...he's advancing with tanks from Chittahong and i'm sure he's gonna get the base back...too bad
always in Burma he seems to have drawn a line in the sand at Mandalay...abbandoning everything that stands south of it...

An enemy sub hit a mine at singa and probably sunk...thank god!

Always at Singa my Burma reinforcement TFs have sailed...and are now moving northwards. KB and Kaga's group will follow up on the 27th, escorted by several ASW TFs (preceeding the CVs) and by 4 strong SCTFs.
The reinforcements are also ashore at Kalidati (Java)...1300 more AVs to finish the island.

We got a couple of bloody noses in China, but things keep on getting better.
We attacked on the road south of Sian (woods) with the Northern China army and we got repulsed...but the first army has now consolidated its positions east of Sian and, with the advance of the Mongol army 46 miles south of it, QBall has finally decided to abbandon the whole sector and a general retreat seems to have been ordered.
At least 100 fighters appeared in China...he clearly wants to cover his retreats...
At Changsha he managed to send 2 corps back into the city right before i could attack...and i obtained only a 1-1...but also in this sector a general retreat seems to have been ordered and all his units are falling north, trying to close the breakthrough north of Chansgha.
The front is now stabilizing and i think, by the end of march 1942, i will have the whole Changsha and Sian basins....then the goal will be to strangle the Chungking plains, isolating it from the northern Industries and from Burma.

In the south everything is quiet...no sign of his CVs anywhere...

The Australian Navy sunk one of my AMCs operating south of Cylon...so his navy fled towards India and not towards Perth.... good to know!



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Isle of Pines at 116,161

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 3 *no damage!?!?!?*
xAP Santa Barbara
xAP President Coolidge
PG Charleston


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

Ground combat at 74,50 (near Kweiyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2476 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 87

Defending force 2775 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 9

Japanese adjusted assault: 81

Allied adjusted defense: 16

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1

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

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


Allied ground losses:
1228 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 58 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Yokosuka Assault SNLF

Defending units:
60th Chinese/A Corps





AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Feb 26, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Koggala at 29,61, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
AMC Nosiro Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Australia
CA Canberra
CL Java
DD Nestor
DD Napier

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 464 encounters mine field at Singapore (50,84)

Allied Ships
SS KXVII, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage[:D]






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 104th Division, at 74,51 (Tuyun)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9



Allied aircraft
SB-III x 16


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SB-III: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged *some new aces against unescorted crappy chinese bombers*


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9
B-17E Fortress x 8
B-26 Marauder x 32


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ia Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 28
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28069 troops, 234 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 914

Defending force 14086 troops, 52 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 423

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 373

Allied adjusted defense: 227

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), op mode(-), preparation(-)
fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1105 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 69 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1115 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 121 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled


Assaulting units:
6th Division
23rd RGC Temp. Division
40th Division
2nd Ind Engineer Regiment
10th RGC Temp. Division
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
73rd Chinese Corps
79th Chinese/A Corps


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

Ground combat at 84,47 (near Ichang)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 13481 troops, 117 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 421

Defending force 5368 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 137

Japanese adjusted assault: 296

Allied adjusted defense: 21

Japanese assault odds: 14 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
413 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled


Allied ground losses:
2392 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 64 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 14 (5 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Units retreated 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
11th RGC Ind. Brigade
116th Division
14th RGC Temp. Division

Defending units:
77th Chinese Corps


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

Ground combat at 85,42 (near Sian)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25456 troops, 174 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 768

Defending force 5417 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 121

Japanese adjusted assault: 529

Allied adjusted defense: 187

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
441 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1582 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 50 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 9 (4 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 2


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
35th Division
6th Ind.Mixed Brigade
53rd Infantry Brigade

Defending units:
38th Chinese Corps
4th Group Army


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

Ground combat at Sambas (57,88)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1996 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 74

Defending force 1213 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20

Japanese adjusted assault: 48

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sambas !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed

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

Japanese ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
451 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3


Assaulting units:
II/124th Infantry Battalion
2nd Sasebo SNLF Coy

Defending units:
West Borneo KNIL Battalion
Singkawang Base Force
106th RN Base Force

[Lcp Purcell]

You are looking great in China!

the one thing I find concerning, is the tortured supply route of your breakout north of Inchang, I would guess the leading edge is only getting 30% of the supply sent from Hankow. ( of course you know the hot key "5" will find that out). But the value of cutting the retreat from Chengesha is huge... I hope you have cargo planes raining supply on them. And the long range Patrol craft of the home guard, can also do the same from Formosa.

[GreyJoy]

Feb 27-28 1942

Feb has now passed and we're always late with our plans.
Supply situation in Singapore is grimmer as ever. However the Burma reinforcement army has sailed and now is flanking Indochina coast, chased down by the whole allied sub army!!!
Full KB is following, while the Darwin Invasion Army is loading at Singa (with only the supplies packed with the divisions[:o]).

In the last two days we exchanged blows in the air over kalidati and over Kendari. The allies are attacking en masse, but my fighters held their own, achieving a great 3.5 to 1 kill ratio!

In China our paras have been pushed back north of Changsha sector...two full chinese corps have attacked the 1st raiding regiment and my brave guys have been pushed back in disorder...hopefully we'll be able to hold Puchen...
At Changsha we'll attack again tomorrow....hoping to conquer the base once for good.
At Sian, he's in full evacuating mode...think we'll be able to get Sian and Changsha by the end of March 42.

Enemy CVs spotted near Sydney, where one of my AMC was sunk by SDBs while patrolling south of Norfolk Island...

CL Sumatra torpedoed near Perth by I-155 sub...[;)]

Heavily reinforcing SOPAC with several AA units, Naval Guard units and base forces...

I hope to be able to write down a decent summary by tonight...

[princep01]

Ser Greyjoy, keep up the good work and fast tempo in China and your soldiers will earn a few weeks off before the leaves turn colors, much less fall.  Amazing work there, ser.
 
Is he retreating from the Chnagsha area?  If so, he has started his retreat too late.  You have the key road blocks in place and he has a very long way to go to effectuate an escape.  It will be interesting to see what the Chinese commander does, but unless he has a reserve in sufficient strength to reopen the road net, he is toast in the area.  Well done so far, but don't let up the pressure.  Tempo, tempo, uptempo!!

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: princep01

Ser Greyjoy, keep up the good work and fast tempo in China and your soldiers will earn a few weeks off before the leaves turn colors, much less fall.  Amazing work there, ser.

Is he retreating from the Chnagsha area?  If so, he has started his retreat too late.  You have the key road blocks in place and he has a very long way to go to effectuate an escape.  It will be interesting to see what the Chinese commander does, but unless he has a reserve in sufficient strength to reopen the road net, he is toast in the area.  Well done so far, but don't let up the pressure.  Tempo, tempo, uptempo!!

Thanks my Master! I'll do my best even if Brad is fighting back everywhere! He will be able to re-open the way on that crossroads but the loss of Changsha basin will surely hurt him in the long run!


So, by the end of feb 1942, the situation of the Japanese Empire is the following:
NOPAC: we have secured Addak and Amichitka in the Aleutinas during the first days of the war. The two bases have been supplied and are now garrisoned, with forts building up to level 3. Attu Island is being invaded in these days, with garrisons and base forces arriving.
The allies have bombed addak several times with CVs and surface ships, but no damage was caused and they didn't try to counterinvade.
At the same time, in the Kuriles, we're using the space gained with the conquests in the Aleutinas, to reinforce Shimushiri Jiima and Paramushiro jiima. Garrisons, AA guns and base forces are now building those bases.

CENTPAC: nothing much happened here. We have secured Wake and Marcus with 6,000 men each, providing the bases with AA guns, base forces and Naval garrison units.
In the Marshalls/Gilberts, we're building Tarawa and Makin and fortifying the rest of the japanese bases. My plan here is simply to fortify and wait for the inevitable counterattack.

SOPAC-SWPAC: we've secured everything down untill Lunga-Tulagi. We're sending strong forces to Lunga, Tulagi, Russell Island, Munda and Shortland.
Rabaul is being built fast and, along with Truk, is already full of fuel and supplies.
In NG, we're building PM, Buna, Milne Bay and Lae for the moment.
Horn Island is fortified with a whole, very experienced, SNLF unit and with and engineer unit. The same for Mereuake.

Overall i'm pretty happy on how these fronts are being secured

PI-DEI-SRA:
Here i'm not that happy. Brad has fought bravely during december and january and has forced me to slow down the pace of the operations. We've conquered easily northern Borneo, but we had to stop at Tarakan for what concerns southern Borneo. Balikapan and Samarinda are still in Allied hands!
In southern DEI we managed to advance to Ambon, Menado and Kendari, estabilishing strong air bases. From there we conquered Dili and Lautem at Timor, but our two SNLF units have been stopped by a fierce resistance at Koepang, where our units are now stucked.
Makassar is still in allied hands...
Sumatra has been invaded and we conquered easily Palembang and Oosthaven, but northern sumatra is still in Brad's hands.
Malaya and Singapore have been conquered, but at Singa we're experiencing a great supply shortage. all the industries and facilities there have been fully damaged by the allied engineers and it's taking forever to collect enough supplies to start the 2nd phase.
Java has been invaded. fierce air battles have been fought over Kalidati for several days now. The allies are bringing there P-40s and hurricanes from India, but i'm fighting a defensive battle in the air, so our losses are always lower than Brad's ones and i'm saving most of my elite pre-war fighter pilots.
Now Batavia is sieged and reinforcements are on their way. The south of Java is lightly defended and i'm confident to conquer Sosarbaja within the next 2 weeks.

CHINA: Well, you all know how things are going here. On the 28th of Feb 42 he managed to conquer back the crossroads north of Changsha sector, where my paras have been pushed back by two strong chinese corps. However Sian and Changsha are now doomed and i think, by the end of March 42, the allied chinese army will be fighting on a much shrinked perimeter, abbandoning many supply-producing cities. So, from march 42, the chinese war will change its face: from a war of movement, it will become a war of supplies. We'll start to bomb his cities, destroying his supplies. This campaign will last untill we reposition our striking columns and then we'll attack again.

BURMA: In Burma we conquered everything up untill Mandalay. Akyab will be taken back by the allies, but the arrival of the reinforcements (3 divisions one week away) should provide enough firepower in order to advance up untill the borders of Burma, in order to be able to move to Western China by the end of May 1942.
Several base forces and 10 AA units are being transfered in this sector, along with 2 Air HQs and several sentais/daitais. Wanna be ready when the allied air offensive will begin...

So the next operations will only be against Northern Oz (from Darwin to Tennant's creek and on the NW coast) and Java-Southern Borneo in order to clean my interior lines. Manila and Clark will be finished only when we'll have free forces to devote.
Ship losses: we've lost nearly 60 xAKs and several more xAKLs so far. More than 40 thanks to his subs! The losses that hurt more are two CAs and two modern CLs, along with 14 DDs...
We've learnt the sub lesson and now the sinking are diminishing...lots of Air units are providing decent ASW cover and most of my convoys are now heavily escorted, with dedicated ASW TFs leading their way.
The air war has been pretty light. We've lost so far "only" 25 pre-war fighter pilots, while more 70 pre-war pilots belonging to other skills have been lost. Not bad i'd say.
We try to always fight over our bases, forcing Brad to come and take the initiative. Only when i'm sure to win i send my guys over enemy bases. Wanna try to reach mid 1942 with the best possible air armies.

What else? Well, i'm playing a conservative game, i know. Being the first time with Japan (never even played against the AI) i'm trying first not to commit any major mistake. The dreams of India or Oz are gone since a long time and i'm already feeling the pain caused by the constant lack of supply and fuel (fuel and oil convoys haven't been formed yet. Wanna secure my sealanes before starting them).
The first strategic goal now is to estabilish a good perimeter in China. If i can push him back up untill Chungking plains, then i'll be able to free lots of units to be used elsewhere and will have a good industrial input to produce supplies for the Burma war.

[GreyJoy]

ORIGINAL: Lcp Purcell

You are looking great in China!

the one thing I find concerning, is the tortured supply route of your breakout north of Inchang, I would guess the leading edge is only getting 30% of the supply sent from Hankow. ( of course you know the hot key "5" will find that out). But the value of cutting the retreat from Chengesha is huge... I hope you have cargo planes raining supply on them. And the long range Patrol craft of the home guard, can also do the same from Formosa.

My transport planes are already operating from Kaifeng...doing fine till now...we'll see how it goes when the divisions will cross the river...the supply situation will surely get worse then...

[GreyJoy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Feb 28, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Geraldton at 47,137

Japanese Ships
SS I-165

Allied Ships
CL Sumatra, Torpedo hits 1[:D]
xAK Taiyuan
AM Ballarat



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 37 encounters mine field at Cocos Islands (33,101) * so at Cocos something is happening....*

Allied Ships
xAK Clan Macquarrie, Mine hits 1, heavy damage






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lomblen at 69,111

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12



Allied aircraft
139WH-3 x 6


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
139WH-3: 2 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lomblen at 69,111

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11



Allied aircraft
A-24 Banshee x 11


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
A-24 Banshee: 4 destroyed

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

Ground combat at Prome (55,50)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9411 troops, 110 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 279

Defending force 1272 troops, 14 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 27

Japanese adjusted assault: 243

Allied adjusted defense: 3

Japanese assault odds: 81 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Prome !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:


Allied ground losses:
835 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 24 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 13 (10 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
55th Cavalry Regiment
112th Infantry Regiment
15th Guards Regiment
15th Army
55th Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
Rangoon BAF Battalion
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
12th Burma Rifles Battalion
107th RAF Base Force


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

Ground combat at 78,47 (near Chungking)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24762 troops, 113 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 688

Defending force 897 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Allied adjusted assault: 483

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 48 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
262 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1


Allied ground losses:
133 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
8th Chinese Corps
75th Chinese Corps

Defending units:
2nd Raiding Regiment