Japanese AAR, post game

[ernieschwitz]

In front of Chengchow, it now looks like I can try to take the city. I've plucked away slowly, but safely at it this time. No more daring dashes into the unknown.



You will notice I already did some air strikes, and bombardments on the city.

[ernieschwitz]

The battle for the city itself.



Notice how easy it went. That is what bombarding, bombing, and multiple side attacks will do for you.

[ernieschwitz]

Frontline after the battle. Notice how I only put 3 infantry divisions into the city. This is because of the stacking rules. They apply both on offense and on defense.



While you CAN stack 14+ units in a hex, and they can ALL be of any size, it is often not good to do so. Losses get higher at an alarming rate, when the stacking limits are broken. Each of my units is about 50 stack points, and the stacking limit is 150. So this works well.

[ernieschwitz]

Lastly, I made an attempt to get to the paratroopers that dropped in on the Wuhan Mines. I ALMOST made it.

[ernieschwitz]

Turn 10:

I wish I had made more screenshots for this turn, but I didn't, just this one:



As can be seen from it, my brave paratroopers have been eliminated in Sian. It was a big nice city. It even had 3 annexes. The unit in the mines, if I recall correctly, survived, but had to flee across the river.

[Ormand]

Yes, Sian was a bit of an overreach.

[ernieschwitz]

ORIGINAL: Ormand
Yes, Sian was a bit of an overreach.

Yes, but i never intended on holding it. I wanted to give my opponent a shock. He had for some reason pulled/disbanded all his air forces. By taking these two, I was simply disrupting him. I believe each unit consisted of just 5 paras.

[Ormand]

I'm sure it was a shock. But, then a realization that it was a suicide raid and easily dealt with. Glad I wasn't on that mission.

[ernieschwitz]

Turn 11:

I have at the point begun an offensive in the desert area near Hohhot/Yenan. The following is a before and after picture. Note how I hit the HQ located behind the lines. Again I am going for reducing the amount of staff the Chinese player has at his disposal.

[ernieschwitz]

The central front (Chengchow/Sian/North of Wuhan).

I decided to cross the River abd take the battle to the Chinese there. A risky prospect, since they get the river bonus. Luckily by now my opponent has more pressing things to worry about, so his forces are not as strong as you would think. Also I am pressing towards Sian, very hard. If I can take out the Sian Mines, I have effectively removed a quarter of the supply that the Chinese are generating. If I can get the the Wuhan Mines too, that will be another quarter.

[ernieschwitz]

Wuhan and the approach to Changsha.

The plan is to get the Wuhan Mines, and push towards Changsha from both Wuhan and the road through the mountains to Changsha. My opponent has decided to put several units with AT Guns II in that mountainous area. Unbeknowns that I have no tanks there.



Also note that he has a lot of HQs on the front. They should NEVER be in that position. HQs are best at being in the rear, where there staff directs the action. Troops in HQs don't get a HQ bonus either. So he is putting valuable staff at risk, and also if the HQ gets destroyed, then the troops under it will lose half their readiness, making them very easy to kill.

[ernieschwitz]

Wuhan mines fall, this turn. Note also the HQs have been hit by air. I couldn't get to all of them in combat, but at least I could reduce some of them.

[ernieschwitz]

I am keeping on the pressure near Changsha now. The two HQs near Wuhan have basically nowhere to get supplies from, and I am preparing on marching through the mountains too.



Notice how the HQ in the mountains (the 37 strength point one), is now next to my infantry unit, and it will possibly be at risk of being attacked next turn. My opponent should really move it asap.

[ernieschwitz]

Turn 12:

The Northern Front (Hohhot, desert, Yenan). My troops here are getting a bit thin. I've really been driving them hard. Forunately the Chinese have been taking equally devastating losses. I have been using everything I could to shore up the front in this view.



The "Blue Army" had a starting position near Peking, while the "Light Blue Army" was there to begin with, but consisted mostly of cavalry. This means that there essentially is only something like 1½ army there.

[ernieschwitz]

Sian Front (Middle of China).

I am closing in on Sian. Instead of attacking the position at the Sian Mines, I am trying to flank it, to get a better attack in next turn. A little bombardment never hurt though. Also, the losses from last turn forced me to withdraw my "light tank division" to the "Light Green" HQ, where I will reinforce it.



My "light tank divisions" for much of the game consisted of 2 Osaka Armored Cars, 6 Ha-Go light tanks, and 6 tankettes, while my "tank divisions" consisted of 2 Osaka Armored Cars, 4 Chi-Ha medium tanks, 4 Ha-Go light tanks, as well as 4 tankettes. They proved to be adequate.

[ernieschwitz]

Wuhan/Changsha:

Trying as hard as I can, I push towards Changsha from Wuhan. The HQ I meantioned from before, the "light blue" chinese army, hasn't moved. This pleases me, but I cannot attack it just yet. Better to surround it and then take it out. I am almost there, and next turn I hope to gobble it up.



Near the coast, I've had to abandon Foochow. It is a small port. It really is of no consequence at this point in the game, so I withdraw.

[ernieschwitz]

The losses for this turn:



Still a pretty good ratio of Infantry kills to Infantry losses. About 1:3. He is still resisting. I am losing light tanks, and tankettes, as you can probably see regulary. Nothing is without cost.

[ernieschwitz]

Turn 13:

When I loaded the turn, this time, I was met by this sight:



It seemed as if my opponent was desperate, tried some attacks, and got beaten badly.

[ernieschwitz]

Sure enough, when looking at the Wuhan/Changsha area, it looked like this.



The "Light Blue" Chinese HQ, is still in a precarious position, even has an empty counter there with it. That is 1 PP, being used for nothing. He also has several small units, which would be better off being combined into 1 unit, and thus saving him some more PPs. Finally he has staff in a unit, instead of in an HQ, where it would be doing best. Later he told me he was doing some experimenting, trying to find out if high XP staff could do something... Spoiler: They can't.

[ernieschwitz]

Well, with the front being as is, I pressed on the attack.



First I surrounded the "light blue" Chinese HQ, by taking the hexes around it, and then attacked it, itself, causing everyone in it to be killed, flee, or surrender... the fleeing ones surrendered once they couldn't flee anywhere. A HQ is 5 PPs... wasted in this case. Always try and destroy counters/HQs if you can. You are depriving your enemy of Political Points.

I pressed on the attack from the east too, through the mountains, and got Changsha too. You will notice that I am still taking some chances. Not every hex on the front is equally well protected. My brave paratroopers, for instance, have taken up defending one hex, all alone.