Matrix Games Forums

It's one of the planning maps, there is a thread (I think it's stickied) for them in the main forum.

Aztez: Good that you're thinking offensively again, but how do you plan to pull off 6 simultaneous landings. Won't you be short on AP's ? Of course the troop limits mean you won't have to drop huge forces for every island, but it still seems a bit much.

ORIGINAL: skrewball

Aztez,

Did you edit the screenie to show the "0/0 0/0" over the bases or is there a key that displays that?

That is from edited strategic planning map, it's available for download. Unfortunately we don't have key like that in game.

I'd hit Mili and Ailinglaplap simultaneously, Allied carriers can probably cover max 2 landings...and those bases are near each other for mutual support of CVs too. .

Yamato_Blitzer: Even minor victories have some sweet taste to it when things are going downhill. Chinese don't carry much of an offensive punch so the counter attacking option is out of the picture at the moment maybe if the supply situation would be better but not with these numbers we have at the moment.

I wonder about the resource thing too but I read in one of the open threads (don't remember which one though) that his plane pools and industry are fairing ok so that wasn't nice piece of intel. Well, good intel but not what I wanted to hear.

I haven't been able to activate 2nd wave of guerilla warfare yet since he really is rampaging through the country and those troops that were initially send out to do this are destroyed.

We shall keep on fighting though and maybe we can deplete the juice out of his assaults.

I have read that pretty much every allied player is having troubles in China. Things actually are a bit better now due to the fact that shock assaults were forbidden.

Sardaukar: Oh, thanks. That is useful information. I don't know how I missed that island. That is basically major target here for sure.

I think that is about correct maybe 3 major landings simultaneously unless we can deal with KB before these offensives.

The timetable for Marshalls offensive is as said late summer at the earliest but propably later though since we cannot afford to get stalled once we get going.

That is if we hit Marshalls... this was the 1st option and I will post more possible target areas in future updates. We cannot conduct more than one area at a time due to lack of airpower.

SuluSea: Thanks. That is the scale we got if we choose to assault here. Too early to make final judgements just yet.

I have been thinking about "feint" operations kind of what allied did before normandy invasion. That kind of bate should ease up the pressure elsewhere.

How is your PBEM going btw? I read that you had a game on active mode againts loricas?

skrewball: What others said. You can find these maps on the sticky thread on the main forum.

Absolutely fantastic job and very useful. I will be using these when showing possible offensive plans in future updates.

Smeulders: It might be too much but that is scale we are looking for when/if we hit Marshalls. It needs to swift ordeal so he cannot get organized. Maybe a simultaneous operation is a bit too much but the main bases needs to seized on D-day + 10 scale.

We shall see. There are other viable offensive areas that will be discussed a bit later on when I get time post them. The schedule though is more likely late 1942 or early 1943. We shall see when things settle down a bit. At the moment though I do not have the troops nor ships to conduct the operations in such scale.

jrcar: Thanks for the cheer. We might do just that or airlift these troops out which is propably even better idea considering the terrain types at Burma.

I have also played propably thousands of PBEM turns so you have a lot of things done to yoy but you never get used to getting your butt kicked all over the map.

Dave actually asked whether I was having fun. To be honest yes I'am allthough we could use a bit of good fortune rather soon.

China (april 26th - 27th 1942)

Those chinese trapped were finally pushed out of hex. I think these guys deserve medals since they held out for weeks without any chance of proper help.

These were the "final" battles fought there...

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

Ground combat at 85,42

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 53977 troops, 365 guns, 273 vehicles, Assault Value = 1574

Defending force 30784 troops, 231 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 364

Japanese adjusted assault: 317

Allied adjusted defense: 706

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
351 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 54 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3081 casualties reported
Squads: 104 destroyed, 20 disabled
Non Combat: 163 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Assaulting units:
12th Tank Regiment
59th Infantry Division
8th RGC Route Brigade
13th Indpt Infantry Regiment
110th Division
28th Engineer Regiment
138th Infantry Regiment
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
15th Division
3rd NCPC Infantry Brigade
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion

Defending units:
61st Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
96th Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
16th Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
47th Chinese Corps
9th Chinese Corps
38th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese/C Corps
4th Chinese Base Force
8th Group Army
1st War Area
36th Group Army
14th Group Army
Jingcha War Area
10th Chinese Base Force

...the odds are propably a FOW since these troops are now out of the hex. We still have +300av worth of troops in that battered stack.

The enemy bombers are still conducting raids againts Kweilin and Changhsa. Only nightime raids are launched againts Sian.

There are 3 enemy units that have entered the city now and I have given orders to all out ground assault in order to push them out. We might reveal out troop strenghts but at least we shall knock out few units out of the battle.

Java (april 26th - 27th 1942)


As expected ABDA troops are beginning to find it tough ongoing at Batavia.

The last two strikes almost captured the base and we are lucky if the base will hold out for two more strikes.

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

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 46782 troops, 487 guns, 291 vehicles, Assault Value = 1325

Defending force 22593 troops, 301 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 440

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 559

Allied adjusted defense: 529

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
576 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (0 destroyed, 7 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2372 casualties reported
Squads: 40 destroyed, 55 disabled
Non Combat: 41 destroyed, 119 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (7 destroyed, 29 disabled)


Assaulting units:
21st Infantry Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
21st Division
113th Infantry Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
56th Engineer Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
1st RF Gun Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
56th Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
Roodenburg Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
1st KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
4th KNIL Regiment
Lijfwacht Cav Sqn
Padang Garrison Battalion
KNIL Army Command
ABDA
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
Batavia Base Force
Merak Base Force
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
ML-KNIL
1st KNIL AA Battalion
Bandoeng Base Force

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

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45941 troops, 487 guns, 292 vehicles, Assault Value = 1269

Defending force 20571 troops, 301 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 363

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 417

Allied adjusted defense: 347

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
968 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 49 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3035 casualties reported
Squads: 35 destroyed, 87 disabled
Non Combat: 58 destroyed, 69 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 8 (0 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 53 (48 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Assaulting units:
113th Infantry Regiment
21st Division
21st Infantry Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
56th Engineer Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
Sasebo 8th SNLF
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
5th Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
56th Field Artillery Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
1st KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
2nd KNIL Regiment
4th KNIL Regiment
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
Padang Garrison Battalion
ML-KNIL
ABDA
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
Merak Base Force
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Batavia Base Force
1st KNIL AA Battalion
KNIL Army Command
Bandoeng Base Force

The forts are back up into level 1 but I think that is small consolation.

All in all I think we put an the best fight we could with troops available here. The dutch are not better than the chinese ones in AE.

Samoa Islands (april 26th - 27th 1942)


The final assault againts Pago Pago was made on 27th of april 1942.

These were the last two strikes that simply were too much for US troops to handle.

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

Ground combat at Pago Pago (148,161)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 39688 troops, 292 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1197

Defending force 13140 troops, 271 guns, 272 vehicles, Assault Value = 180

Japanese adjusted assault: 342

Allied adjusted defense: 199

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1281 casualties reported
Squads: 35 destroyed, 155 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 101 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1529 casualties reported
Squads: 35 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 86 destroyed, 97 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 25 disabled
Guns lost 4 (0 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 86 (44 destroyed, 42 disabled)


Assaulting units:
43rd Naval Guard Unit
48th Naval Guard Unit
47th Naval Guard Unit
46th Naval Guard Unit
44th Naval Guard Unit
52nd Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 1st SNLF /1
144th Infantry Regiment
4th Division
42nd Naval Guard Unit
67th Naval Guard Unit
41st Naval Guard Unit
65th Brigade
62nd Naval Guard Unit
83rd Nav Gd /2

Defending units:
182nd Infantry Regiment
1st/102nd Infantry Battalion
132nd Infantry Rgt /4
110th USA Base Force
428th Coast AA Battalion
8th Marine Defense Battalion
30th Aviation Base Force
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
46th Construction Regiment
811th Engineer Aviation Battalion
2nd Marine Defense Battalion
104th USN Base Force
43rd Const Rgt /3

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

Ground combat at Pago Pago (148,161)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 37191 troops, 290 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1054

Defending force 11238 troops, 271 guns, 231 vehicles, Assault Value = 149

Japanese adjusted assault: 784

Allied adjusted defense: 385

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Pago Pago !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

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

Japanese ground losses:
1466 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 61 disabled
Non Combat: 21 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Allied ground losses:
9778 casualties reported
Squads: 439 destroyed, 94 disabled
Non Combat: 1625 destroyed, 292 disabled
Engineers: 142 destroyed, 26 disabled
Guns lost 326 (309 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 195 (139 destroyed, 56 disabled)
Units destroyed 13


Assaulting units:
52nd Naval Guard Unit
65th Brigade
4th Division
44th Naval Guard Unit
48th Naval Guard Unit
62nd Naval Guard Unit
43rd Naval Guard Unit
144th Infantry Regiment
46th Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 1st SNLF /1
67th Naval Guard Unit
41st Naval Guard Unit
42nd Naval Guard Unit
47th Naval Guard Unit
83rd Nav Gd /2

Defending units:
182nd Infantry Regiment
1st/102nd Infantry Battalion
132nd Infantry Rgt /4
2nd Marine Defense Battalion
8th Marine Defense Battalion
104th USN Base Force
46th Construction Regiment
811th Engineer Aviation Battalion
30th Aviation Base Force
428th Coast AA Battalion
110th USA Base Force
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
43rd Const Rgt /3

At least we went out with an bang there I must admit though that we lost large stack here. Many of these units were solid quality troops.

The KB is now freed up for refit and new operations. I think the next stop will be Fijis.

I did lose some 50 000 units of supplies here too so I wonder how is actually available for him now that the base is fallen.

China (april 28th - 29th 1942)


All in all very quiet turn around the map.

There were some action in china however. The counterstrike I talked about last turn was succesfull one and we managed to hammer 3 japanese brigades that entered the hex at Sian.

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

Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 122589 troops, 880 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3635

Defending force 9522 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 316

Allied adjusted assault: 1118

Japanese adjusted defense: 24

Allied assault odds: 46 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
7651 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 136 disabled
Non Combat: 141 destroyed, 117 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 3


Allied ground losses:
2044 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 144 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 81 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
40th Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps
53rd Chinese Corps
95th Chinese/B Corps
30th Chinese/B Corps
30th Chinese/A Corps
14th Chinese Corps
33rd Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
3rd Prov Chinese Corps
15th Chinese Corps
95th Chinese/C Corps
57th Chinese Corps
94th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
42nd Chinese Corps
2nd Construction Regiment
1st Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps
13th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese/C Corps
4th Construction Regiment
48th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
1st Construction Regiment
60th Chinese/A Corps
3rd Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment
15th Chinese Base Force
1st Artillery Regiment
34th Group Army
39th Group Army
Red Chinese Army
2nd War Area
2nd Group Army
24th Group Army
18th Group Army
31st Group Army
4th Group Army
7th Group Army
15th Group Army
56th AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
6th RGC Division
7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
8th NCPC Infantry Brigade


These enemy troops are out of picture for significant amount of time. Those losses are around 90% of their combat strenght.

As you can see I have some 3600av worth infantry and ground units around the base. It actually is around 5000-6000av if you count all the units in 120 miles radius of Sian.

I did actually count all of his units advancing towards Sian. The total after this mathematic exercise is 40. That is one hell of an army coming forward.

Otherwise no major developments in this part of the map.

Java (april 28th - 29th 1942)


It was an suprise that our dutch friends did not surrender at Batavia. Dave managed to launch two assaults here and both recieved 1:1 odds.

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

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45311 troops, 487 guns, 292 vehicles, Assault Value = 1234

Defending force 18092 troops, 301 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 256

Japanese adjusted assault: 496

Allied adjusted defense: 337

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
776 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2269 casualties reported
Squads: 86 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 93 destroyed, 116 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 51 (51 destroyed, 0 disabled)

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

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44849 troops, 487 guns, 291 vehicles, Assault Value = 1213

Defending force 15971 troops, 300 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 205

Japanese adjusted assault: 452

Allied adjusted defense: 245

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
703 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2502 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 79 destroyed, 95 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5)
Vehicles lost 21 (19 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Not bad but now I do expect him to launch an shock assault here which will seal the deal.

Oh, well than there will just be unlucky forces trapped at Soerabaja.

Even if it doesn't seem much we just bought extra 4 days before he can move in his transports and start hauling supplies into Home Islands. That is something if you look things at positive light.

[/quote]

Defending units:
6th RGC Division
7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
8th NCPC Infantry Brigade


These enemy troops are out of picture for significant amount of time. Those losses are around 90% of their combat strenght.

As you can see I have some 3600av worth infantry and ground units around the base. It actually is around 5000-6000av if you count all the units in 120 miles radius of Sian.

I did actually count all of his units advancing towards Sian. The total after this mathematic exercise is 40. That is one hell of an army coming forward.

Otherwise no major developments in this part of the map.

Um... no. The 6th RGC Division and 8th NCPC Brigade are pretty well permanently destroyed. He has effectively given your troops at Sian some free experience for absolutely no return. As I pointed out previously, these units get 1 squad of reinforcements per month. He could be using these troops to garrison his rear areas and set them to Train/Rest, while freeing up better troops to fight on the front line. Over time they would get their training up into the 40's or so and actually be useful later down the road. Now they are worthless. With all the reinforcements he gets in China, I suppose he feels these guys are throwaway. I still say he is making a mistake using these troops this way.

Your troops in Batavia are completely surrounded and a lot of your losses to date have been the poorly trained and under prepared troops. The guys that remain are the well prepared and better trained forces. While I don't think they will last much longer, I'm also not surprised that they have survived this long. If you get a chance anywhere, rest/train your troops, they will recover faster and even a few points of additional experience from this can make a major difference in how well they fight. Also, keep replacing crappy leaders everywhere you can, even in China, it may not feel like its doing much, but every little bit helps. You can see the difference decent leaders make in your combat reports.

You are very close to May at this point. You have some major reinforcements in the pipeline and a lot of your troops in India are starting to undergo Indianization of their combat formations. The combat power you will have in India is only going to increase rapidly. You've delayed him in Burma, at this point try to evacuate what you can and start planning where you will fight/counterattack. If he tries to invade India overland, smash him. If you look around there is a tremendous amount of combat power already on the map. From my own experience, albeit against the Computer and my son, Kalemyo and Akyab can make good places to try and grind him down or to start fighting him. India is a completely different beast than China. You can stand toe to toe with him in India. You have more/better armor, more artillery and the Indian/British divisions here are more than a match for the Japanese troops. Attacking into India at this late date is a disaster waiting to happen for him. You will actually have better supply along the border than he will. India produces a tremendous surplus of supply and you can augment this from all the off map bases. You WANT him to attack overland from Burma. Even if he invades along the coast, he is going to have to move 15-20 divisions plus supporting troops into India, minimum, to have any hope of success. It's way too late for this.

Jason

To note, he is over month behind "schedule" in Java...which is very good for you.

And you should have listened me about Burma. [:D] I'd have immediately withdraw to Akyab - Cox Bazaar - Chittagong -Imphal - Ledo -line. Let him come through the jungle first.

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar
And you should have listened me about Burma. [:D] I'd have immediately withdraw to Akyab - Cox Bazaar - Chittagong -Imphal - Ledo -line. Let him come through the jungle first.

Sardaukar not really sure aubout this. [;)]
If id notice a full retreat in Burma as Japanese player id rush forward ASAP. Im not sure when Rangoon fell...somwhere araund P11 of this thread i think.
The closing of the Burma Road 2-3 weeks earlier would have made the supply situation in China even worse than it already is.

I think since aztez wants to stand and fight in China giving the Burma Road away for free wasnt really an option.

What an day just got home and I did send the turn back. God I hate banks and their papers and more papers.

Thankfully last day of work tomorrow since I'am spending some overtime hours so I can get the daughters with from Wednesday night through Sunday.

Astarix: Yeah, I think those two brigades are toasted for good. After this battle he only has some 37 operational units in the area!

It is an waste for sure but that suits me just fine. As you said I guess he feels that those upcoming reinforcements are plentiful.

We see an eye to eye on the leaders. Those changes might not always be visible but I think they do matter since surrender routines calculate them in the mix, etc. I don't know how many hundreds of PP I have already used but most certainly I will keep doing this in the future too.

I looked and those destroyed ones were "poor quality" troops and elite of the ABDA units are left to duke it out. I still think that the next turn shall see an shock assault at Batavia and that will finish the resistance there. Hopefully we can damage those industrial resources if and when this happens.

I have already actuallu recieved some good units already and more are coming in regular cycles. Whether or not it is too late for India remains to be seen but I will go toe to toe with him if he chooses to invade here.

Those defeated burmese army units are heading towards Lashio and I will airlift them out once they are in an safe hex. We just recieved some 30 transport aircraft which are immediately deployed into southern India.

Kalemyo is too far south so I have opted instead to fortify and strenghten Imphal area and Chittandong. I'am still not convinced I should send in troops to Akyab. It is a bit far and reinforcements will take longer to arrive if needed.

The supply situation at India is absolutely fantastic. I'am also shipping daily runs from Aden and Cape Town.

There are some units heading into Colombo/Tricomalee so ceylon is no push over. It is actually already an fortress to be reckon with.

As always appreciated comments, ideas and tips.

Sardaukar: Hmmm, 20/20 on hindsight? [:D]

Yes, I might as well withdrawn them but you know me I hate to give anything for free so maybe even these disastrous battles slowed him down a notch.

Now he has troops further up in the north so his supply lines will become strecthed.

The java "schedule" is an good thing but it does not seem he is too corcerned on this economical state at least he is hiding it very well.

LoBaron: I think the Rangoon was indeed lost around "page 11". [:D]

As for your analysis. I concur that is the reason why I stayed in Burma. If we had left completely he would have had the chance to deploy even greater armies elsewhere. Now Dave has committed an sizeable force here and he really even haven't met our quality troops sitting well rested and supplied here.

Burma road was an factor since every bit of supplies do help in china. Now I have to live without it though but this was to be expected. He could have cut earlier but to hold it out almost into summer 1942 an absolute plus.

I would love to fight even more... maybe we get lucky and he storms into soviet union. You can always wish for this but that is highly unlikely to happen.

ORIGINAL: aztez
I would love to fight even more... maybe we get lucky and he storms into soviet union. You can always wish for this but that is highly unlikely to happen.

I guess you are right that this wont happen.
even if he does not read seydlitz´ AAR its obvious that he really has to commit large forces there if he wants to accomplish anything against the SU.
he is too involved on other fronts that this is an option.

doing it like seydlitz is trying, early on and with full focus on this area, it really looks like a viable strategy.
but now when his forces already have to cover the whole pacific theater invading SU would put him at a great disadvantage.

Well, to defend Burma, one would need in my estimation a minimum of 5 div worth of good troops. Numbers just are not there and troops available are not good.

When are your next 2 carriers due aztez?

ORIGINAL: Sardaukar

Well, to defend Burma, one would need in my estimation a minimum of 5 div worth of good troops. Numbers just are not there and troops available are not good.

And air superiority/parity and/or a lot of air transports. I don't see how to keep 5 divisions supplied in Burma early on. If you can tie down everything in Malaya and hold Rangoon with your best air forces you have a chance. But the Japs have enough land air and naval air to take it no matter what you do, including going around your back and landing in the Chittagong area. This is especially risky if you are sticking 5 div into Burma, what do you have left to protect your base of operations in india?

ORIGINAL: aztez


SuluSea: .


How is your PBEM going btw? I read that you had a game on active mode againts loricas?

Actually I'm playing Swenslim but I believe he is playing loricas as well. It's early 1-19-42 I only lost one capital ship so far Maryland [my home state so it was a double dagger] , so I'm happy about that. I feel he gave me a huge break by not attacking Pearl on the first turn. I knew he was hunting carriers but Lady Lexington flew her Marine DBs to Midway just got close enough to Wake to haul aboard some needed Wildcats and still got away. It was risky, I felt like I was stealing but it felt good none the less. China is well..... China. I'm trying to get a handle on my supply shipping. still working that out but moving many tons of it. We had a huge battle awhile back, Battle of Miri, It's been the only battle so far that I can hang my hat on. A couple weeks later this was almost repeated with Repulse and POW on his Singkawang invasion force which I saw coming but had a bonehead moment and was one hex out of positon. I took a chance and chased during the night time phase during the next turn but they got away.

In Malaya I was going to defend in depth but once the Oscars showed up and started wrecking Buffaloes I decided to concede the air war over Singapore, On Maylaya all forces retreated down into Singapore over time. I figured let my best in the area which isn't a whole lot get the benefit of all the triple A on the peninsula in one location rather than get wrecked/destroyed piecemeal.

Swen is very aggressive IMO, he just landed on Port Moresby and it will fall soon although I'm getting my behind kicked almost all over the map I hope the tide will turn at some point.[;)]

LoBaron: I know he read seydlitz AAR and likes it too. The way I see it that thread is fantastic in many ways and people really should take a look on the "dark side" of things.

As said it is highly unlikely that he will do it due fortification issues and also that I have managed build up strenght with airforce too.

Sardaukar: That is an fair estimate. I think 5 divisions of quality troops is at least what is needed at Burma. Even that might be too little if japanese come in with force.

Yamato_Blitzer: I will post two pics with the monthly update to show these arrivals.

Graymane: I think you could keep those 5 divisions supplied but the problem most definately is the fact that you do not have that kind of force to start with. It will strip India "naked" and there would most likely be invasions made by human opponent.

I have kept my RAF forces out of action so far. The main and only reason being that I do not want to exhaust those pools and leave India wide open. There quite a lot of Hurricanes and other fighters now in place to counter any moves he will make here.

SuluSea: Oh, my mistake there. You sometimes get side tracked on who was playing who.

That summary sounds like enjoyable game and I do not have any doubts that both of you have some nasty suprises ahead!

I think I have learned a lot regarding china with this episode so far but I'am still not convinced I could hold even if we started all over again. (This is not going to happen though so don't worry about this)

I wish both of you good luck with the PBEM game. It is always good to hear when people find respectable opponents and after all that is what this all about.

Time for the quick turn update and it was far from action packed. The whole combat txt file was A4 at max so there seems to be an breather for few days after all these horrific battles.

I will also post few screenshots from the start of May 1942. These will regular sets of screenies and do not need much explaining at all.

Java (april 30th - may 1st 1942)


The turn contained only one battle of worth reporting. The japanese forces launched two day assaults againts dutch troops holding out at Batavia.

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Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44527 troops, 487 guns, 292 vehicles, Assault Value = 1191

Defending force 14327 troops, 300 guns, 57 vehicles, Assault Value = 171

Japanese adjusted assault: 373

Allied adjusted defense: 211

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
569 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (0 destroyed, 8 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1797 casualties reported
Squads: 35 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 79 destroyed, 82 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (14 destroyed, 3 disabled)

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Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44242 troops, 487 guns, 292 vehicles, Assault Value = 1177

Defending force 13085 troops, 300 guns, 47 vehicles, Assault Value = 120

Japanese adjusted assault: 432

Allied adjusted defense: 171

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
451 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 6 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (0 destroyed, 7 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2269 casualties reported
Squads: 99 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 71 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 8 (3 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (13 destroyed, 3 disabled)


Assaulting units:
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
21st Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
2nd Tank Regiment
56th Engineer Regiment
5th Engineer Regiment
21st Division
113th Infantry Regiment
Sasebo 8th SNLF
5th Mortar Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
56th Field Artillery Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st RF Gun Battalion
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
1st KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Eenheid Battalion
2nd KNIL Regiment
Batavia Coastal Gun Battalion
1st Regt Cavalerie
4th KNIL Regiment
Padang Garrison Battalion
1st KNIL AA Battalion
KNIL Army Command
Merak Base Force
ML-KNIL
Batavia Base Force
3rd KNIL AA Battalion
1 ML-KNIL Aviation
Bandoeng Base Force

I guess this as close it comes when talking about ground combat miracles with AE. I take with an smile though but the luck will run out. This was most definately an extra "bonus" here.

The forts are back to level 1 now but I think he might get 3:1 odds and that will do it for him.

There still are not any enemy troops at Soerabaja. I find this somewhat odd at the moment.

The intel screen...