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jrlans: I would estimate the chance for India offensive to be at 65% NO and 35% YES so that is an real possibility here.

I do not have totals for british and indian armies but I would estimate that it is higher than 3000av. The experience levels and quality of these troops is much higher than 40's level. I think a lot of them are +50 experienced and have solid equipment with them.

I have reinforced Ceylon and currently there is an brigade moving from mombasa to colombo. I think eastern india is more likely target for two reasons. 1) He needs KB elsewhere and 2) He would need to commit a lot of ships into this operation and if the japanese ships are precious as everyone says than it might be too costly and hard to keep supplied.

Another thing is that even without Royal Navy carriers I still do have a lot of fighters and bombers placed on ceylon.

Midway is very likely due to the distance from Home Islands and thus it value for submarine operations. I think it is much more likely than Johnston Island for this fact and It is easier to defend than Johnston Island.

Two places where will show up soon is Fiji's and northern Oz. One reason being that without completing his operations at Fiji the whole Pago Pago offensive was pointless and the allied signit indicates a lot of troop movement towards Kendari and Timor.

Swenslim: The railway system is vital in AE. I know Dave has pointed this out many times in china and this time around I can use this to my advantage.

Thankfully I have moved a lot of fuel/supplies into Oz and more are arriving daily. So the country can last very long siege if that is to happen. I wonder about Diego Garcia. It is definately an possible target but than again off map bases cannot be bombed from there and it is somewhat hard to keep supplied if he chooses to assault.

Yamato_Blitzer: Even if you want to take out his carriers you must keep an coold head here. With lba support this is definately possible and the addition of Royal Navy carriers can be vital here. As you said patience is the key word and not to do anything crazy with minimal gains in the horizon. I will aggressive if the situation present itself and that is 100% guaranteed.

I think the eastern India is likely target if he advances here. The burma industry is gone and he has brought around 40 units in there so even to keep them supplied is massive task but lets say he can conquer those resource rich areas of eastern india than that's whole new game.

Another thing being that I really do not want to give him extra resources for his industry.

crsutton: Oh, you have already experienced the indian adventure. Last time we played the offensive was stopped on the gates at Mandalay and it was an bloody affair for years.

I have actually never lost the Mandalay in any of my previous Witp PBEM's. That was an diffrent game though.

IF I would assault India it would need to be 3 axis assault.

a) There would be a landings at Diamond Harbour. The force would need to be sizeable enough to keep allied reinforcements tied up there. This would "beach head" would require no immediate push just to keep allied side busy.

b) The main thrust would come either via Chittadong or towards Ledo. (Both of these axis of advance would be required) Another one being the key one.

That way japanese could spread the allied defenders around and it might work or not. Thankfully I do not need to worry about committing these just enough to keep these from happening.

By comparing your game vs here I think I'am still pretty thin in pacific to commit any major offensives. Maybe if the KB is out of the picture though but I still think any indian adventure he chooses to do (if he chooses) will have to do without carrier support.

By keeping KB in the pacific he is keeping my advance enthuasism in control. However he doesn't propably know that Royal Navy is about to enter pacific area.

I thought about sending some P39's into india. However most of them were restricted and the HQ could not be changed thus leading into the fact that Cape Town would be the closest they could get.

I think that is an good strategy though and I have moved some US fighters/bombers into ceylon too.

Akyab might be threatened since I had an signit intel about it a month or so ago.

LoBaron: Absolutely. I think Dave is calculating what the gains are from anykind of an offensive from now on.

I know the coming towards Sian, northern Oz and propably at Midway too. Fiji is another area he must target. These plans propably can keep him busy from time being unless he is thinking about something completely out of the box.

Eastern India is definately an possible target since by moving so much troops into Burma he gains only the airfields which can be overrun once I get more bombers.

The "gut feeling" is always dangerous since it makes you do some extreme offensives. The gains are high too if succeeded with these kind of operations.

Pacific (may 4th - 5th 1942)


Another very quiet turn. Only few skirsmishes around the map reported.

The most telling tales came from allied signit yet again.

Also few key supply TF's reached their designated targets which was vital for these bases.

I will post the pacific map again containing the latest developments. I think this is the best way to describe these "peaceful" turn.

If anyone has better idea or disagrees with me than feel to say so. After all this AAR is for everyone around.

[/quote]

My experience with WITP is limited but one of my good Japanese opponent tried to Invade India in May of 1942. My experience was that what was a good idea in March of 1942 was not such a good idea in May.

For these reasosn. Upon taking Burma and stopping, Japan assures that aside from air combat, India and the British are really out of the war for at least a year. They just don't have the carriers and transport for any sort of attack but a land attack and this really can not be done. Invading India in May of 1942 ensures that the Allied player gets to use his British forces and airforce to attrit Japan. If Japan invades India in May, then the Allies, (assuming they have their carriers) are strong enough to make major attacks in the Central and South Pacific.

To invade India calls for Japan to commit KB and major surface forces in support. By May or June of 1942, the American and Australians have plenty of troops and ships to make mischef in the Pacific. My opponent hit India in May and had plenty of initial sucess. However, with five American carriers and two British in the Pacific, I invaded and retook Guadacanal, Port Morsby and Tarawa. If the Americans hold those places in July 1942, they are not going to lose them again.

[/quote]

It is a little late for Dave to capture East India. By the time he does (if he does) it'll be to late to gain a decisive advantage for the time that's left because of the amount he needs to capture by a certain point in time.

That other pbem I referred to was a player who by this point in the game had captured all of Burma and was already almost in control of Colombo. Shortly afterwards he invaded and captured the SW of India through a very skillful coordination of paratroopers and amphibious forces, forming a huge pincer assault on the country. He commited to India what Dave is now commiting to the South. Doing what that player did is pretty much the only way. It can be done it just needs total commitment.

a) There would be a landings at Diamond Harbour

Personally i'd land at chittagong, its a far better port (the only potential good one in the whole area apart from madras (Calcutta is up a river and nothing bigger than a CA can even get there, even enlarged it cant re-supply 8inch guns). Also chittagong can be LR capped from Akyab and any allied forward troops at cox's bazarre (another great AF for japan) would be cut off. This might even be doable without using sizeable carrier forces so long as he has some good surface ships to scare off the British battlewagons and 90 odd nell's + betties to make it ever worse for the RN surface shipping. While this could be blocked further up the rail line by allied forces, Japan would get a size 7 AF (cox's) and a size 8 port (chittagong) that could be supplied through Akyab quite easily.

That said this wouldnt give him east india by any means, but there seems to be another 'gap' in commonwealth aircraft in july/aug 42 ,, no more AVG and you'll lose 3-4 hurricane groups from may till aug too. Get some USA fighters to cape town asap imo. You can always send tham back if not needed but i'm guessing your ok with defensive fighters now in Aus etc. (juat about anyway)


Personally I dont see how taking ceylon and diego garcia helps japan any. cant stop the capetown-perth convoys (and no-one sends convoys from karachi anymore) can even send huge fuel loads from middle east to Aden-Capetown-Perth/sydney and nothing japan can do about it). Also unless he has perfect timing both places could easily end up being huge japanese POW camps depending no how you use your combined CV force. Colombo should be at fort 6 already if not then v v soon. He'd have to bring in a lot of forces and take massive casualties to take it. Nothing industrial there for him to use = pointless exercise imo.

Well thats my take on the CBI siruation for now.

Good Luck

Well India as a whole and particularly Eastern India has quite substantial resources. But you've gotta go for them early. It is possible for Japan to secure it but it takes total commitment and good coordination of all forces. Instead of heading anywhere else after Phase I (PI, borneo, suma, malaya etc) you've gotta put everything into India. Even early on it's a gamble, but if it pays off it pays off plentiful.

It is unlikely that Dave would capture India or even Eastern India at this point, very unlikely. But aztez should still be careful in defending it, because if he isn't he leaves that prize all the more open to Dave. Because Dave can still possibly capture OZ, and if he does that then adds India AND his earlier succsses to the resource pool, he's gonna have a huge advantage. Capturing the majority of India and Esstern India isnt wasteful at all. Colombo is negociable. I wouldn't even bother with it myself

Yamato_Blitzer: The timetable for this kind of operation might be an issue than again I have no way of confirming whether he has prepared for this for months.

His naval losses have been minimal and he has now supporting airfields so he might not even need KB to pull these kind of landings off,

I have seen the India adventures in the classic witp. The most notorious ones were propably made by Nemo121. I think PzB, Honda and few others managed to pull this off but this is most likely much harder to do with AE.

I definately agree that India is doable from the start. There is not that much defending it since the best troops haven't arrived yet. I bet that we shall see someone doing this in one of these AAR's.

Currently moving troops into area so I'am preparing for this. There are some +1300av at Chittadong and soon +1000av worth of troops at Imphal. Those should be sufficient to stall the enemy advance. There are reserves placed near Dacca.

Eventhough it might be "silent" in terms of combat reports it most certainly isn't peaceful and preparations are constantly ongoing.

Appreciate the well thought out views!

Rob: The Chittadong is more vital but by doing simultaneous landings at Diamond Harbour japanese would tie up a lot of allied troops that would otherwise be sent into Chittadong area. This landing would not require to be the decisive one just large enough to tie up troops that would otherwise move into Chittadong / Ledo sector.

The main thrust would need to be done either via Chittadong or Ledo/Imphal area. The above operation would kind of secondary offensive.

True, I checked those withdrawals and there is most definately an gap which enters soon and is open for few months. I wonder whether this aircraft withdrawal was intended in game wise since most likely the 1st phase operations would be concluded by this date.

I'am very short in terms of fighters. Especially true at Oz. I have looked and there really isn't much that can be moved there. The replacement pools aren't looking great either so there is lack of fighters in most fronts. Only Hawaji, Fiji and Christmas Island area have satisfactory levels at the moment.

I think you are correct the Ceylon adventure would be too costly and only serve as an big POW camp later on. I have it up to level 6 soon so your calculations were spot on. There are significant number of fighters and bombers defending the island too.

As always greateful for the thoughts Rob.

Pacific (may 6th and 7th 1942)


Another one of those slow and peaceful turns. Thus meaning that we shall post the grand view map of Pacific desribing the main events of past two days.

There is every indication though that things shall change soon enough.

Today is my birthday so things have somewhat busy here. As promised we shall post those initial offensive plans during next week.

Stay tuned for more.

Yes you are facing a lot more pressure than i am vs the AI in a similar tirmframe. But to get away from AAR comments I'd like to thank you for 'introducing' me to LoBaron (Aztez dating agency/AAR)who I am happy to say will be engaging me in a PBEM as and when he has a handle on the game and understands japanese industry (i can't figue that out for the life of me).

So not only is this the most popular AAR in AE its also a v good "opponents wanted" opportunity. Thank you.

For me, the AI has been like a terrier-- it just keeps landing troops all over, and even if I have air superiority and combat ships, it just keeps trying. I suppose that later in the war their transport fleet will be completely depleted, but for the moment it is a real struggle to keep up.

ORIGINAL: Xxzard

For me, the AI has been like a terrier-- it just keeps landing troops all over, and even if I have air superiority and combat ships, it just keeps trying. I suppose that later in the war their transport fleet will be completely depleted, but for the moment it is a real struggle to keep up.

in a game this big the AI lacks a couple of things that would make it a "worthy" opponent except for training purposes.
the human mind calculates a LOT of factors into the decision making process that a game AI isnt capable of.

you can learn a bit by watching AI´s fleet composition (and that only at the beginning as long as the reserves are not drained),
but everything belonging to a category like long-term planning, ability to adapt to changing situations/threat levels, intention guessing,
fake moves,... - so anything that even remotely resembles the most important aspects of this game when playing against a human
i wouldnt waste a second to copy or interprete AI moves - thats for us biological lifeforms only. [:D]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Yes you are facing a lot more pressure than i am vs the AI in a similar tirmframe. But to get away from AAR comments I'd like to thank you for 'introducing' me to LoBaron (Aztez dating agency/AAR)who I am happy to say will be engaging me in a PBEM as and when he has a handle on the game and understands japanese industry (i can't figue that out for the life of me).

So not only is this the most popular AAR in AE its also a v good "opponents wanted" opportunity. Thank you.

can only second that. [;)]

although id replace the term "understands the japanese industry" with "has gained enough experience with japanese industry to not leave it in ruins
after the first 1 1/2 years"




aztez: is it that you are short on fighters or do you mean first rate fighters not counting Wirraways and the likes?
that are assets i wouldn´t underestimate. even low performance fighters can harm him when he decides to go to the offensive in OZ.

also since im now in mid-september playing the Guadalcanal Campaign as Allieds ive gained a high respect for all those Australian
fighter-bomber squads.
As ive noticed up to now all those P39 and Wirraways can really rip the heart out of every ground assault.
the accuracy is much better than medium bombers and they hit even when attacking in low numbers.
when playing as Japan i gonna be really alert if i see these planes amassing near an objective of my choice...

Rob: The dating service! Oh my god where is this world heading to! [:D]

I wish both of you good luck with that PBEM. All of us know how important it is to find suitable and reliable opponents. A lot of bad "publicity" towards PBEM is coming from the fact that the basic requirement was not fullfilled.

I actually loaded up the AI game vs allied AI. I haven't had time to do anything else but it is there.

Xxzard: What I have read about the AI I have no doubt it is aggressive. It seems a lot better than the classic witp one.

I will bang my head againts as soon as find time to do it. This PBEM is keeping me busy.

LoBaron: You never can expect AI to behave like a human due to the scale of this game. I know may players demand that but when you stop and think about it. Well, it becomes quite obvious that this is impossible to deliver.

Good luck with the upcoming PBEM game. I will dive into japanese economy when I start my practise run againts the allied AI. The task is somewhat diffrent on the other side of coin. I have only once jumped into dark side with classic witp and was lucky enough to get insights from the good old Nemo.

Yeah. I'am seriously lacking frontline aircraft in Oz for sure. Especially fighters but more quality bombers are needed also.

I do not count those Wirraways since they are flying coffins and I doubt they will shoot down any enemy aircraft. I have them on ASW duties. Allthough, I will try the ground combat missions since if they succeed in that departmentt they become somewhat useful.

At the moment I do not have any frontline P39's but what I have read indicates that they cannot go toe to toe againts enemy fighters.

Burma (may 8th - 11th 1942)


The enemy is advancing with three separate spearheads. One is heading towards Imphal, one towards Lashio and one towards Myithkina.

I'am still evacuating troops from Lashio wia air transports. The ac need to based at Lashio since it seems I'am unable to pick up them from Ledo.

RAF Hurricanes made their debut of the war. It was mixed bag to say at best. The kill ratio was around 1:1 but we had serious troubles againts Oscars sweeping at 25 000 feet. This aircraft model is starting become very annoying,

I have now ordered retreat from Myithkina towards Ledo. Absolutely no sense in staying there so these troops will be more useful around Ledo where they can link up with british/indian troops.

The ground reinforcements are arriving with steady pace and I will have defensive perimeter setup within a week or two.

China (may 8th - 11th 1942)


The japanese bomber campaign has been slow going for past few days. Things are going to change though now that the battle of Sian is about begin.

As said there are now 36 enemy units at Sian. That is one hell of an force to reckon with. Chinese have 3700av behind level 4 forts.

There are 500-600av occupying the hexes east and west of Sian just in case he tries to swing around the city.

Additional 500av are just few days out of Sian so these troops will become very handy.

I don't know what to expect. The leaders are as good as they get with chinese. I have those level 4 forts but the supply situation is bad. Also, those 36 units contain a lot of artillery and armour for sure.

AVG is setup around Sian since there are propably massive raids next turn,

All in all the gigantic battle will commence soon and the odds are stacked againts us.

I had some odd movement at Liuchow. A two turns back I noticed that the "renegade commander" has abandoned the city comletely. I have now managed to move 2/3 of troops back but this almost cost me a lot. I can guarantee that I did not enter any movement orders there so this was done by the AI.

Allied Signit (may 1942)

There have been few messages on the allied signit to indicate the future offensive actions by the japanese.

1) A lot of troops moving into Kendari region. There has been additional info that Koepang and Darwin are targeted by the japanese infantry units.

2) May 8th indicated the following: "53rd Division is planning for an attack on Auckland."

3) "113th RGC Temp. Division is planning for an attack on Ankang." This radio message was captured may 9th 1942.

4) "5/Guards Mixed Brigade is planning for an attack on Midway Island." ..this message was intercepted on may 9th 1942.

There was an enemy fighter sweep launched againts Fijis last turn so this area is likely target also

aztez: is it that you are short on fighters or do you mean first rate fighters not counting Wirraways and the likes?
that are assets i wouldn´t underestimate. even low performance fighters can harm him when he decides to go to the offensive in OZ.

also since im now in mid-september playing the Guadalcanal Campaign as Allieds ive gained a high respect for all those Australian
fighter-bomber squads.
As ive noticed up to now all those P39 and Wirraways can really rip the heart out of every ground assault.
the accuracy is much better than medium bombers and they hit even when attacking in low numbers.
when playing as Japan i gonna be really alert if i see these planes amassing near an objective of my choice...

LoBaron - how do you use a Wirraway as a fighter? Unless my memory is mistaken, you can't set it to Escort mission, so I haven't been able to use it to defend Port Moresby the way I could in stock WITP.

Also, for Ground Attack, what altitude do you set for the Wirraways and P39's for best results?

RAF Hurricanes made their debut of the war. It was mixed bag to say at best. The kill ratio was around 1:1 but we had serious troubles againts Oscars sweeping at 25 000 feet. This aircraft model is starting become very annoying,

Aztez - have you tried the Hurricanes at 31,000 feet? Their MVR holds up pretty well to that altitude.

cfulbright: No, I didn't have them that high yet but will adjust things accordingly when the next turn arrives. The Hurricanes seem to me most capable fighter allied have in early 1942.

We shall see whether things turn around here in Burma.

Aztez - May I be the first on this AAR to wish you a happy birthday.

China (may 12th and 13th 1942)


The battle of Sian has begin with massive artillery bombardments made by the advancing japanse forces.

Here is the casualty summary from the combat report file.

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

Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 180114 troops, 1299 guns, 312 vehicles, Assault Value = 5697

Defending force 155278 troops, 1035 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3922


Allied ground losses:
     8037 casualties reported
        Squads: 68 destroyed, 231 disabled
        Non Combat: 180 destroyed, 441 disabled
        Engineers: 10 destroyed, 27 disabled
     Guns lost 77 (31 destroyed, 46 disabled)

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

Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 180290 troops, 1299 guns, 312 vehicles, Assault Value = 5714

Defending force 148772 troops, 1004 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3693


Allied ground losses:
     2632 casualties reported
        Squads: 28 destroyed, 98 disabled
        Non Combat: 85 destroyed, 198 disabled
        Engineers: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
     Guns lost 38 (17 destroyed, 21 disabled)


Assaulting units:
   4th Ind.Mixed Brigade
   1st Ching An Tui Brigade
   4th Cavalry Brigade
   13th Indpt Infantry Regiment
   60th Infantry Brigade
   35th Division
   12th Tank Regiment
   13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
   8th RGC Route Brigade
   2nd Ching An Tui Brigade
   8th Ind.Mixed Brigade
   59th Infantry Division
   17th RGC Temp. Division
   37th Division
   15th Division
   12th RGC Ind. Brigade
   28th Engineer Regiment
   41st Division
   11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
   110th Division
   53rd Infantry Brigade
   26th Recon Regiment
   3rd Division
   54th Infantry Brigade
   7th Mongol Cavalry Division
   9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
   12th Indpt Infantry Regiment
   7th Ind.Mixed Brigade
   6th Division
   26th Engineer Regiment
   15th RGC Temp. Division
   8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
   1st Mortar Battalion
   52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
   51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
   North China Area Army
   2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
   5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion

Defending units:
   95th Chinese/B Corps
   94th Chinese Corps
   90th Chinese/C Corps
   27th Chinese Corps
   1st Construction Regiment
   14th Chinese Corps
   48th Chinese Corps
   76th Chinese Corps
   1st Chinese Corps
   38th Chinese Corps
   47th Chinese Corps
   40th Chinese Corps
   2nd Construction Regiment
   36th Chinese Corps
   4th Construction Regiment
   3rd Prov Chinese Corps
   33rd Chinese Corps
   42nd Chinese Corps
   2nd Chinese Cavalry Corps
   57th Chinese Corps
   53rd Chinese Corps
   77th Chinese/C Corps
   95th Chinese/C Corps
   85th Chinese Corps
   80th Chinese Corps
   29th Chinese Corps
   63rd Chinese/A Corps
   30th Chinese/B Corps
   13th Chinese Corps
   96th Chinese Corps
   9th Chinese Corps
   92nd Chinese Corps
   15th Chinese Corps
   30th Chinese/A Corps
   61st Chinese Corps
   60th Chinese/A Corps
   34th Group Army
   39th Group Army
   7th Group Army
   10th Chinese Base Force
   3rd Group Army
   14th Group Army
   2nd Group Army
   15th Group Army
   31st Group Army
   18th Group Army
   15th Chinese Base Force
   Jingcha War Area
   8th Group Army
   4th Group Army
   1st War Area
   24th Group Army
   4th Chinese Base Force
   36th Group Army
   2nd War Area
   Red Chinese Army
   56th AT Gun Regiment


OUCH! We lost +10 000 infantry men with these two bombardment runs. Talk about effective bombardment and remember these units were behind level 4 fortifications! This kind of reveal that there is not much I can do here. I'am starting to wonder whether to abandon this forsaken place and try to find better defensive options.

I doubt any allied player can withstand such an effective bombardments.If you look at the av values that totals some 200av lost in just 2 days of bombardment.

I know some of these losses are due to disablements but +10 000 men with solid fortifications in front of them. That doesn't sound right at all.

Not to mention that this battle is uphill from the get go since he has brought in nearly 6000av worth of infantry units.

The intel regarding Ankang was also propably golden since we saw 1st enemy unit cross the river here.


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

Ground combat at 82,43

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 1568 troops, 2 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 55

Defending force 30813 troops, 190 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1012

Japanese adjusted assault: 5

Allied adjusted defense: 1048

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 209

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

Japanese ground losses:
     210 casualties reported
        Squads: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
        Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
     Vehicles lost 29 (0 destroyed, 29 disabled)


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


Assaulting units:
   8th Recon Regiment

Defending units:
   59th Chinese Corps
   77th Chinese/A Corps
   39th Chinese Corps
   28th New Chinese Division
   1st Chinese Cavalry/ Corps
   93rd Chinese Division
   1st Chinese Cavalry/ Corps
   39th New Chinese Division
   77th Chinese/B Corps
   33rd Group Army


This was repulsed but enemy losses were not significant in terms of units destroyed. There are stll those 5 units waiting for this river crossing.

The japanese have also entered the 73,55 near Liuchow. There were two ground assaults but our forces did not retreat here. Now there are additional chinese units entering the hex and hopefully we can put those two brigades out for good.

AVG was overwhelmed from the start and that is not good news at all. This is the only fighter unit capable of even denting enemy airforce.

Hami was lost in northern china. Nothing we could there to stop this from happening.

ORIGINAL: cfulbright

Aztez - May I be the first on this AAR to wish you a happy birthday.

Thank you! The first day with new age number which is btw 36 so I'am feeling somewhat old.

It was a nice day though with having daughters with me. The weekend went fast. Actually had overtime holidays from wednesday to sunday.

Propably closer to the end than to the birth now though! [:D]

I just wish I could get a break in this PBEM too since the birthday present haven't been very plesant lately.