Castles in the Sand - Spidery(J) vs MrKane(A) no MrKane please

[Spidery]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

How is the morale of your troops at Darwin?

He attacked three days after your bombardment;7 days from his last attack. You might have 7 days...depends as you rightly point out the dispersal of damage done to Allied troops.

I would definitely try to get another bombardment in if you can.

Morale is 97+ except for one AA unit and a couple of shipping engineering companies.

Trying to think what he could do to counter bombardments. He could run lots of subs in, possibly with mines. However, the greater risk I could see would be night dropping mines from his 4E just before I came in for an attack and hoping some ships get hung up that he can then attack in the day.

Currently, I have a support force at Ambon that means I have a cycle time of 6 days.

[Spidery]

Just noticed that he dropped his bombing of Darwin down to 10000 feet.

[Spidery]

January in Review

Warazup was lost and the rest of North Australia except Darwin. Otherwise, pretty quiet.

Code: Select all

             Japan  Allies
 Overall VP:  +868   +530
 Base:        -139    +57
 Air:         +277   +319
 Land:        +529    +86
 Ship:        +201    +72
 

Land losses reflect the reduction of isolated Chinese forces and the VP advantage for destroying Indian, British and Australian troops.

The Japanese ship points come mostly from a sub sinking the BB Colorado(?) on New Year's day.

Base VP in part reflects that Kweiyang just went into the red for supply because a division is moving through it.

I have 22,859 VP not counting base VP, these are VP that can't be taken away.

[Spidery]

Economy

Lost 10 oil production at Lanchow over the month so production remains above expectations.

I have tankers sitting idle because they have no oil or fuel to move so everything is moving well.

Armaments took a drop from all the upgrades and vehicles took a big boost from recycling obsolete devices. Good boost to supply and fuel, following much reduced need for activity. That is about 10 days worth of available supply saved for the month.

Code: Select all

 Oil:      -112,131
 Fuel:     +184,983
 Supply:   +170,601
 HI:        +61,588
 Vehicles:   +4,865
 Armaments:  -2,283
 

[Spidery]

February 1st 1943

Air Losses: 1 Japanese, 2 Allied, 0 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Quiet

Pacific

Quiet

Burma area

Try to move the Chinese Corps on the road between Paoshan and Lashio. This is going to be difficult:

Ground combat at 63,45 (near Bhamo)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19899 troops, 340 guns, 114 vehicles, Assault Value = 578

Defending force 13326 troops, 50 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 446

Japanese adjusted assault: 277

Allied adjusted defense: 457

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
730 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 76 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled

Allied ground losses:
173 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
39th Division
38th/A Division
26th Field Artillery Regiment
12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
10th Mortar Battalion
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
60th Chinese Corps
5th Burma Battalion

China

Quiet

Australia

Darwin is bombed.

Engineering

Allies expand many airfields but nowhere important.

R&D

Quiet

[Spidery]

February 2nd 1943

Air Losses: 22 Japanese, 16 Allied, 5 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Quiet

Pacific

Quiet

Burma area

Lightnings sweep Magwe, 5 P-38G are downed. 9 Ki-44-IIc lost. 10 Ki-43-IIb lost but not sure how many here and how many over Darwin.

China

Bomb the troops on the Burma road, minor damage but may have added some disruption.

Australia

Bombardment task forces hit Darwin, Hiei hits a mine at Bathurst Island, damage is minor 6/13/2.

A few Oscar IIb are on LRCAP over Darwin and mess with his bombers and some fighters. Flak and ops get 3 B-24D and a B-17F.

Some of his bombers hit the ground troops, pushing disruption up to 41 for one of the infantry divisions.

Engineering

Allies expand Warazup to 2.

R&D

Quiet

Reinforcements

One of the bigger tankers

[Spidery]

February 3rd 1943

Air Losses: 14 Japanese, 9 Allied, 3 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Quiet

Pacific

Lightnings sweep Rabaul. 6 P-38G swapped for 5 A6M5, 3 Ki-44-IIc, 3 Ki-45 KAIa, 2 Ki-44-IIa, 1 Ki-45 KAIb. Not a good return in general but okay against Lightnings[;)]. 5 Type 2 and 4 Ta-Chi 7 radars are located at Rabaul but only get 4 minutes warning[:(].

Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 53
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 18
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 23
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 37
Ki-45 KAIb Nick x 2

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
204 Ku S-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 15 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 13000 and 38500.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
26th Sentai/C with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
5th Sentai/C with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 11000 , scrambling fighters to 35200.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 38500.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
Hosho-1 with A6M5 Zero (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 9000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 38500.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 18 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 35200.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
54th Sentai with Ki-44-IIc Tojo (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 14 minutes
246th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 36740.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
Spc.Attck.Unit with Ki-45 KAIb Nick (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes

Get a useful sigint and will try an intercept.

I have some subs chasing TK task forces heading back to the West Coast but they keep failing to attack despite being in the path of the task forces. Looks like he is running from San Diego to Pearl Harbour.

Burma area

Deploy the first N1K1-J into theatre. However, the time to fix after the upgrade is huge with an average repair time of 5 days and one plane needing 15 days.

China

Trying to shift some of the out-of-supply Chinese in the mountains, it is hard going:

Ground combat at 63,45 (near Bhamo)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17323 troops, 423 guns, 164 vehicles, Assault Value = 544

Defending force 13084 troops, 50 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 424

Japanese adjusted assault: 321

Allied adjusted defense: 742

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
688 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 48 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
136 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
39th Division
38th/A Division
12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
26th Field Artillery Regiment
5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Mortar Battalion
4th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
13th Mortar Battalion
10th Mortar Battalion
14th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
60th Chinese Corps
5th Burma Battalion

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

Ground combat at 70,45 (near Kunming)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 33350 troops, 439 guns, 192 vehicles, Assault Value = 929

Defending force 19263 troops, 121 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 629

Japanese adjusted assault: 754

Allied adjusted defense: 1561

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1896 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 168 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
392 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
24th Division
8th Division
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
28th Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
21st Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps

Australia

His 4E hit ground troops at Darwin again but damage is minor and disruption is mostly recovered. Flak continues to inflict losses downing 2 4E bombers.

Engineering

Quiet

R&D

Ki-43-IV to 1/44, Ki-43-IIa to 11/43.

[Spidery]

A graph of resource movements at Urumchi (about half-a-year).

Supply has been trying to get there to fix the oil wells but stopped flowing about when I finished securing the area around Lanchow and no longer had big supply stocks at Lanchow and Sian.

Oil was doing well until I cut back the oil draw at Fusan and has been restored since I set up a small draw there.

Fuel just drifts slowly down.

[Spidery]

February 4th 1943

Air Losses: 3 Japanese, 5 Allied, 2 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Quiet

Pacific

Quiet

Burma area

Quiet

China

Quiet

Australia

More bombing of troops. Flak gets another 3 4E bombers.

Engineering

Soreng to 2, Ruteng to 4, building defenses for the next line of defense.

R&D

D4Y4 to 9/43

[Spidery]

February 5th 1943

Air Losses: 1 Japanese, 3 Allied, 0 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

DD Ariake scores a proper hit on SS Pollack, not enough to sink her but should force her back for repairs[:)].

Pacific

I have my subs put perfectly on his two tanker forces near San Francisco (see below) but they fail to attack, curses[:@]!

Burma area

Quiet

China

Quiet

Australia

Quiet

Engineering

Benkoelen airfield to 6.

R&D

Quiet

[Spidery]

February 6th 1943

Air Losses: 48 Japanese, 17 Allied, 40 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Near Ambon, Albacore puts a torpedo into Mutsu (7/21/0 damage) she will need some yard time[:(].

Near San Francisco, I-33 puts 3 torpedoes into AO Patoka (6580 tons) and sinks it[8D].

Pacific

Quiet

Burma area

Try a strike at Ledo. Sweep comes in after the bombers and it is a mess [:(] with 26 Helens lost and only a single C-47 knocked out on the ground. The sweep itself comes in later and the Ki-43-IIb do quite well against a collection of Hurricance IIb and IIc, Martlet II, P-40E and B-339D.

China

Quiet

Australia

Two CA task force bombard the Australians. On the way out they encounter two subs near Saumlaki. Looks like he may have a lot of subs in that area. The Nagato and Mutsu were heading to Ambon to do some bombardments but Mutsu now needs to head for the yard.

Engineering

Allies expand Cairns to 8.

R&D

P1Y1 to 5/43.

Mitsubishi Ha-43 to 5/44.

[Lowpe]

Are those Chinese units in the mountains surrounded? Is there a chance they can flee?

Otherwise, I would use them to train a sentai of bombers and simply bide my time for a month or six. Pin them with something and forget about them for a while...the Chinese are so tough to kill off.

I know you aren't happy with some aspects of your game, but I think you are doing great versus an elite player. [&o]

With China gone, Burma will be a real slog fest and should be safe late into the game. The big challenge will come from the Americans up thru Marshalls or along New Guinea and even potentially in the north pacific although General Winter helps there greatly.

What are your defenses at Ponape and Kusaie and Kavieng like? Can you prep a counter invasion force for Kusaie?

[Spidery]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Are those Chinese units in the mountains surrounded? Is there a chance they can flee?

Otherwise, I would use them to train a sentai of bombers and simply bide my time for a month or six. Pin them with something and forget about them for a while...the Chinese are so tough to kill off.

They are not all isolated yet but I am working on that.

Difficult to keep up regular bombings as they are close enough to India that he can LRCAP using Lightnings, he has done that once, and it was expensive. I could keep fighters back to contest but that gets expensive. One worry I have is that he could start dropping supply to some of them and then they might become a serious threat. Also, I can't really protect the airfields against night raids by 4E.

I'm keeping up bombardments and expecting attrition to work on them as well. I'm getting about 10 LCU VP a turn just from this so that is 120 devices a day dying off. Every now and then the unit count drops as something dies.

I only launch attacks when the divisions are fully up to strength so the LCU VP loss is probably less than the ops losses bombers would take.

The Corps on the Paoshan/Lashio road I want to eliminate because it controls the hex and I think that interferes with the movement of supply, fuel and oil between Burma and China. It also force me to overstack as I move reinforcements to Burma. I've killed the two small Burmese units that were there so next attack should be more effective.

I know you aren't happy with some aspects of your game, but I think you are doing great versus an elite player. [&o]

Thank-you, it is all a learning experience.

With China gone, Burma will be a real slog fest and should be safe late into the game. The big challenge will come from the Americans up thru Marshalls or along New Guinea and even potentially in the north pacific although General Winter helps there greatly.

What are your defenses at Ponape and Kusaie and Kavieng like? Can you prep a counter invasion force for Kusaie?

Ponape is well defended, Kusaie poorly, Kavieng could do with some more and I am worried he can land at Namatanai and walk on Kavieng.

I have some engineers and aviation support heading for Aitape and Sorong to start building defenses along the New Guinea coast. I've got a lot of engineers coming free from China and just reaching the ports for shipping out.

Rabaul is a level 9 airfield with 400+ aviation support so I think he won't be able to risk a move within 6 hexes of it until he has Thunderbolts and by then I should have Franks. Once Darwin falls, it will be interesting to see if he sends the 4E to the Pacific or tries to advance in the DEI.

[Lowpe]

My bet is on the Pacific. Of course, I am wrong a lot.[:D]

[Spidery]

Summary of the remaining Chinese forces.

A: Surrounded, 12 units here and I have a division wasted keeping them here. Three artillery units approaching and will start bombarding.

B: Still need to cut the NE and E exits, only 267 enemy AV left with no guns. Have some artillery bombarding and when all the troops have arrived will start attacks.

C: Surrounded, 4 units, they have been without supply for ages and will probably not attack these ever.

D: Surrounded, only 228 enemy AV left in 6 Corps. Three artillery units are bombarding.

E: Surrounded, 3 units, not sure how strong. Have a division moving to reduce this pocket.

F: Surrounded, 5 Corps with only 291 AV left, last deliberate attack achieved a 9::1 result so will collapse soon.

G: Surrounded, 1 unit not sure what it is.

H: Free to move, 1 HQ unit, a recon unit is trying to chase it down and have bombed occasionally.

I: Free to move E or SW, 1 strong Corps and one shattered one, 598 AV. 6 artillery units are reducing this.

J: Free to move except NW and SE. A division is split across the river to prevent break-out in a dangerous direction. 1 Division keeps them occupied but the hex has a 15,000 SL so even that overstacks. 7 Corps and 7 HQ but only 580 AV.

K: Free to move and trying to move onto the road. Three Corps all have been retreated at least once so not sure how strong now.

L: Free to move except SW, 1 Corps. This will probably make it to India but I am just trying to damage it as much as possible before then.

M: Free to move except along the road. 1 Corps 400 AV and 50 guns, I have artillery and am trying to reduce it. Each division heading for Burma should stop here for one attack and then move on.

N: Free to move to the SE but I am closing that hexside with a Division. Once that is closed will try and reduce the forces before he can get any relief there. Contains some American and British base forces so worth extra VP.

[MrBlizzard]

I bet he will try to advance in both directions. Why pushin so much towards Darwin if he doesn't want to exploit the position once conquered?
And more if I were him I'd try to open a third front in kuriles or andamanes.
You're doing very well

[Spidery]

February 7th 1943

Air Losses: 1 Japanese, 4 Allied, 1 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

Quiet

Pacific

On Feb 3rd I had two heavy traffic intercepts at 136, 167. This turn I have one at 116, 167. If that is one of the same task forces it is moving to Sydney at 5 hexes per turn. Just in case, I'll drop two subs onto 111, 167 and see if they find anything.

Burma area

Allies have moved over 200 fighters into Ledo.

China

Ki-43-IIb using drop tanks at range 3 manage to shoot down 2 C-47 airlifting supply to the Chinese[:)]. That was for 11 aircraft assigned to LRCAP. Nice to confirm can shoot down transports at range 3 occasionally.

Australia

Quiet

Engineering

Quiet

R&D

Quiet

Reinforcements

An 8150 capacity tanker

[Spidery]

ORIGINAL: MrBlizzard

I bet he will try to advance in both directions. Why pushin so much towards Darwin if he doesn't want to exploit the position once conquered?
And more if I were him I'd try to open a third front in kuriles or andamanes.
You're doing very well

I will wait and see.

He may be attacking at Darwin because it is about the only place he can attack at the moment without risking carriers, since Burma is being flooded with troops from China. It will only take a couple of months to redeploy the forces used against Darwin to attack elsewhere.

I think it unlikely he will attack the Andamans and am well protected against that. An attack in the Kuriles as soon as winter passes could happen.

[FeurerKrieg]

Pacific

I have my subs put perfectly on his two tanker forces near San Francisco (see below) but they fail to attack, curses!

Where are those AMC's when you need them.

[Spidery]

February 8th 1943

Air Losses: 2 Japanese, 4 Allied, 1 Pilots
Japanese occupy:
Allies occupy:
Japanese land at:
Allies land at:

Subs

I-33 near San Francisco is attacked and takes 11/0/3 damage so will head back to the yard.

A PB near Iwo-Jima takes a torpedo and at 10/51/5 damage will limp to the nearest port.

Grunion and Trout are attacked near Palembang with Grunion taking a minor hit.

Pacific

A force reported as 2 ships including a CL is spotted 8 hexes East of Maleolap. Could be the precursor to an attack on the Marshalls, a bombardment force, or just poking around to see what search is up. I'll expect the worse.

A task force appears at 111, 167 as expected. Reports as 9 ships, all SC, the two subs there fail to attack.

Burma area

A night strike against Ledo from 15000 feet fails to score any hits.

China

A couple of good attacks on Chinese:

Ground combat at 80,42 (near Kienko)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25555 troops, 172 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 794

Defending force 22469 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 502

Japanese adjusted assault: 435

Allied adjusted defense: 91

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
349 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1923 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 267 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
40th Inf Group Brigade
6th Division
36th Infantry Regiment
Korea Army

Defending units:
76th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
87th Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at 79,45 (near Patung)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 31987 troops, 244 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 965

Defending force 26115 troops, 103 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Japanese adjusted assault: 712

Allied adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 54 to 1

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

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

Allied ground losses:
2548 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 139 disabled
Non Combat: 103 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
41st Division
110th Division
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade

Defending units:
33rd Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
45th Chinese Corps
85th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps

Australia

Quiet

Engineering

Quiet

R&D

Quiet