Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[ny59giants]

Dutch Harbour - You had your Nav Gds fully prepped? You have to deal with winter weather effects up there in December. I've seen troops get reloaded by AI in winter climate zones before and run away.

[RangerJoe]

by ny59giants_MatrixForum

Allied troop replacements (non-Chinese): infantry only
American - Both Army and Marines steadily go up during war, but not as much as some other. They get enough to rebuild a few divisions that are totally destroyed.

Indian - Probably the second most numerous as they go up to 90 rifle per month by '44.

Aussie - They are just the opposite of Indian troops. Start off very good through '42, but steadily go down.

British - very low throughout the war. They really cannot absorb a whole division being destroyed.

I agree. Also, the Kiwis and the Canadians get low levels of reinforcements. So if you destroyed 9 Aussie divisions, that is a big chuck of Allied ground forces. However, the divisions could be rebuilt for their support help even though you would not see many of them in actual combat.

The 18UK division was a Territorial division and once it was destroyed, it never was rebuilt. In fact, in Europe, some British formations were disbanded to keep other units strength up.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

Dutch Harbour - You had your Nav Gds fully prepped? You have to deal with winter weather effects up there in December. I've seen troops get reloaded by AI in winter climate zones before and run away.

No, they were prepped around 70 or so. I figured they'd take a beating landing but there were no Allied combat troops, just a little base force. What you described is exactly what happened.

Joe, I destroyed the 9th Aussie Division, not 9 divisions. I wish! [:D]

[ny59giants]

When it comes to defensive Assault Value (AV), don't forget that 10 Support troops equal 1 AV. The cooks, mechanics, and supply guys scared them away. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

When it comes to defensive Assault Value (AV), don't forget that 10 Support troops equal 1 AV. The cooks, mechanics, and supply guys scared them away. [:D]

lol, yeah, they're pretty scary. Ever seen a military cook?! I usually ran too. [:D]

[RangerJoe]

My mistake, I misread it. So only the 9th Australian division is gone.

In the Pacific, many times the support troops saved the day. On Saipan, a dentist was finally awarded the Medal of Honor. A General thought that he was not allowed to fire a machine gun, among other things he did, so it was not awarded until much later.

Salomon saw his first attacker while working on a patient. The Japanese man emerged from the brush and began bayoneting wounded troops lined up for treatment. Salomon grabbed a rifle and shot the man down and tried to return to his patient.

But two more attackers rushed through the front. Salomon clubbed both, then bayoneted one and shot the other before soldiers started to climb in under the tent walls. The dentist shot one, knifed one, bayoneted a third, and head-butted the fourth.

Seeing that the situation was desperate and the hospital would be lost, he ordered the medics to assist the wounded in a withdrawal while he provided cover.

Contact with Salomon was lost for 15 hours as the American force conducted a withdrawal and then slowly took the territory back. When they found Salomon, he was laying on a machine gun, dead, with 76 bayonet and bullet wounds. Dozens of enemy dead were arrayed before him, a blood trail showed where he had repositioned the gun multiple times, almost certainly while fatally wounded, to continue covering the retreat.

https://www.wearethemighty.com/history/ ... l-of-honor

They figured that he only killed 98 of the enemy . . .

[rustysi]

the big attack to take Chungking happened today, and fizzled. 1.95:1 odds this time. This is getting pretty frustrating.

That's just not right.

Reinforcement: ML G-201, a motor launch with torpedoes!

Go get 'em tiger.[:D]

[Lowpe]

Bad roll with the Naval Guards, but it does happen. It is definitely more fun to do it to the Allies though.[;)]

[PaxMondo]

Rotten luck on rolls.

[:(][:(][:(]
[X(][X(][X(]

But that means you are saving your GOOD rolls for later.

[&o][&o][&o]

[Mike Solli]

28 Dec 43

Sub War

The RO-36 caught up with the Liberty ship she damaged yesterday and put her down today. I'm pretty sure those two cargo ships were on a supply run to the isolated coastal bases in NW Australia.

5 Fleet

The Nagato and Mutsu bombarded Dutch Harbor overnight. I got some good intel - the 1/297 Infantry battalion is also there. I doubt that Naval Guard would have done the job had they landed in good order. Not sure whether or not I should invade. Probably not, but the decision has yet to be made.

Later in the day, 9x B-17 (relics!) bombed Umnak. They didn't really cause much damage given the place is already trashed.

4 Fleet

Invasion Tarawa! It started with an air attack with 35 Avengers escorted by 30 Hellcats, doing no real damage to the garrison. The planes came from a little TF 3 hexes south of Tarawa. A couple of CVEs maybe? Not sure.

Then the troops came in, the 2 Marine Raider Battalion, the victors of Tabiteuea. This time they had someone shooting back:

Ground combat at Tarawa (136,128)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 615 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 27

Defending force 2285 troops, 18 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Allied adjusted assault: 0

Japanese adjusted defense: 28

Allied assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 5)

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

Allied ground losses:
175 casualties reported
Squads: 29 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd Marine Raider Battalion

Defending units:
52nd Naval Guard Unit
111th Naval Construction Battalion

That didn't go so well for them. [:D] I have KB headed in that general direction. They will be in launch range the day after tomorrow. From the look of that attack, they'll still be around. [;)]

I also have two subs within a couple hexes of the US carriers. Hopefully, one will intersect tomorrow. I am determined to give away nothing cheaply. [:-]

SE Fleet

There were 75 sorties against Hollandia's airfield and 176 sorties against Truk's port. Flak got a few bombers.

My ships and air transports continue to evacuate important ground units.

SRA

24x 4E bombers visited Saumlaki's airfield causing light damage. My fighters shot down two of the beasts and another couple crashed on the way home.

Then, 9 Hellcats swept the tired and damaged fighters shooting down 5 for the loss of a Hellcat. I lost 2 pilots KIA and 2 more WIA.

No sign of an invasion.

Burma

My fighters met small groups of enemy fighters over several enemy bases shooting down 3 enemy fighters for the loss of a Frank (+1 op loss). No sign of enemy movement here either.

China

Artillery and air bombardment killed 83 squads (61 infantry) and disabled another 221. The raw AV of the Chinese is at an all time low at 1780 to the Japanese raw AV of 6540. I'm waiting at least 3 more days before considering another attack.

The Chinese Army is down to 89 units in Chungking.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: CL Yahagi, this frees up 30 naval construction points. That'll allow me to accelerate the one DD that isn't accelerated along with 1 or 2 of the small ASW vessels.

Note that my last 3 Katsuragis are accelerated and will arrive in a few months. When they're done, I'll accelerate Taiho, which will arrive in August.

[ny59giants]

Later in the day, 9x B-17 (relics!) bombed Umnak.

I still have 4 x 12 bomber groups using the "E" models with 51 planes in the pool in May '44. [:-]

[Mike Solli]

Why doesn't that surprise me with you, Michael? [:D]

[rustysi]

When they're done, I'll accelerate Taiho, which will arrive in August.

[&:] Isn't that due in March '44? You didn't delay its production at anytime, did you?[&:]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: rustysi

When they're done, I'll accelerate Taiho, which will arrive in August.

[&:] Isn't that due in March '44? You didn't delay its production at anytime, did you?[&:]

Apparently I did, because it's not coming until Dec 44. [:(]

[rustysi]

Ouch.[X(]

[Mike Solli]

29 Dec 43

Sub War

The I-171 caught up with the carrier TF supporting the Tarawa invasion and put a torpedo into the Fletcher class DD Spence. No report of her sinking but I didn’t see any sign of her later in the turn or after the turn.

Later in the day, the I-171 caught up with the carrier TF again and launched a spread against the CVL Princeton, but missed sadly. She can hit a DD but not a carrier? Really? *Sigh* [8|]

5 Fleet

Nothing exciting to report. The beat up Naval Guard is recovering at Adak now. It’s currently at 10/83.

4 Fleet

The Allied Tarawa “invasion” continued today. Reminded me of the Keystone Cops:

Ground combat at Tarawa (136,128)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1381 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 56

Defending force 389 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Assaulting units:
52nd Naval Guard Unit
111th Naval Construction Battalion

Defending units:
2nd Marine Raider Battalion


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

2nd Marine Raider Battalion Wiped Out at Tarawa by attrition!!!

Not sure how much of the Marine Raiders were lost, but those squads are pretty hard to come by.

The US CVL TF is still hanging around 3 hexes south of Tarawa. I’m not sure what Ted is going to do there. I suspect he’ll write the operation off. (I would.) KB is hanging out just north of Eniwetok. I’m sending KB2 (Katsuragi, Amagi, Unryu, Shokaku – 144 Zeros, 63 Judies, 54 Jills) to try and intercept them. (KB1 is going home, mainly to save fuel.) If the US carriers don’t move, they’ll be 12 hexes away from KB2 tomorrow, and Tarawa will be 10 hexes away. So, if another invasion fleet shows up, Jills will be in range. If they aren’t spotted, they may be able to intercept the CVLs the next day. We’ll see. I have good naval search out of Ponape and Wake.

SE Fleet

Hollandia absorbed 80 sorties, all against the airfield.

Truk took 169 sorties, all against the port. It’s working now. Port damage is at 92% and the ships are very slow in taking off troops. Fortunately, the majority of the Guards Division has been removed with 2 infantry and 271 support squads remaining. I’ll fly work on pulling them by flying boat. I won’t get it all, but it’ll help.

SRA

A Hellcat sweep followed by 9x 4E bombers cost us a Tony (pilot KIA) for 3 Hellcats and a PB4Y-1, along with minor damage to the airfield that was easily repaired.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

The bombers didn’t fly (weather) but the artillery killed 91 squads (88 infantry) and disabled another 12. Some stats:

Japanese AV: 6891, up 351
Chinese AV: 1875, up 95

Fatigue: 66.6, down 8.1
Disruption: 23.3, down 4.5
Disable: 21.3 down 1.9

At least a few more days before I attack again…

Other Stuff

The Ha-43 R&D advanced to 10/44 (will become operational 5/44).

[RangerJoe]

Fatigue: 66.6, down 8.1
Disruption: 23.3, down 4.5
Disable: 21.3 down 1.9

"I'm tired and I wanna go home.
I had a little drink 'bout an hour ago
and it went right to my head
.
.
."

[mind_messing]

Truk took 169 sorties, all against the port. It’s working now. Port damage is at 92% and the ships are very slow in taking off troops. Fortunately, the majority of the Guards Division has been removed with 2 infantry and 271 support squads remaining. I’ll fly work on pulling them by flying boat. I won’t get it all, but it’ll help.

Well worth it, and you can remove the heavy equipment by solo fast transport PB over the next couple of weeks.

For future, I try to prioritize the C-type divisions from China for these island bases. The vast majority of their TOE is air-transportable, which is a massive boost in these situations. Mainly as you're not leaving fragments lying around and for the flexibility when you can't spend days at anchor unloading the arty tubes.

Granted, they are never going to effectively resist a USMC division(s), but between terrain, forts and CD guns they'll draw it out.

[Mike Solli]

Hi guys. Back from being MIA. All's well, just RL rearing its ugly head once again, for both of us. We've only gotten 2 turns done in the past 2 months, but hopefully things will speed up. Things have (sort of) eased up for me. I may (or may not) have mentioned this before, but I play test board war-games for a company called The Gamers. I've know the owner for 20+ years now and joined his play test team over 4 years ago. Until recently, it was just 4 hours on Saturdays, but it's expanded to a 1-2 evenings a week in addition to Saturday, along with a game or two going on the side. So, free time has dried up. I've been helping out with 3 different games, all different systems, and finally one of them is finished. In addition to that, my wife and I are going to retire at the end of next year and sell the house after that, so we've begun fixing all the things we need to fix before we sell. I'm working on painting the exterior trim right now, so whenever it's not raining, I'm outside working on that. Next comes flooring for 3 rooms and a hallway. *Sigh*

Anyway, things seem to be easing up for both Ted and I, and we've resumed the game...

[Mike Solli]

30 Dec 43

Sub War

Not much of note today. The Bowfin sank CHa-49 south of Takao.

The I-2 succumbed to her wounds from a few days ago.

5 Fleet

Nothing of note.

4 Fleet

There’s a potential ambush here tomorrow. There are a couple of CVLs hanging out 2 hexes SW of Tarawa supporting the repeated abortive invasions there. The latest was a landing by most of the 1 Fiji Commando Battalion. Here was the landing:

Amphibious Assault at Tarawa (136,128)

TF 57 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 136,128

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

followed later by the shock attack:

Ground combat at Tarawa (136,128)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 160 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Defending force 2255 troops, 18 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 56

Assault collapses, attacking force wiped out

Japanese ground losses:
160 casualties reported
Squads: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
1st Fiji Commando Bn /3

Defending units:
52nd Naval Guard Unit
111th Naval Construction Battalion

Oops.

Anyway, tomorrow may be interesting. See the screenshot below.

SE Fleet

The main event here was more bombing of Truk’s port by about 140 2/4E bombers. The port began at 92% damage and ended at 97% damage. Ted is trying (pretty successfully I might add) to prevent me from pulling troops out of there. Most of the good stuff is gone already, so I’m ok with wasting sorties on Truk. A handful of bombers were shot down from flak.

SRA

Eight PB4Y-1s visited Saumlaki, and 3 were shot down by the defending bombers. Not sure what he’s after here.

Burma

A Hurricane was shot down over Akyab. Very little is happening here right now.

China

A nice day over Chungking. Air and artillery killed 81 squads (including 65 infantry).

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
31 Army HQ – Truk. I’ll bet those guys were thrilled at mustering there. They’ll be pulled out by air.
19 JAAF AF Bn – Nagoya
31 JAAF AF Bn – Tokyo
MTB G-538

The Ki-84r Frank R&D advanced to 4/44 (will become operational 2/44).