RE: Mar 27-28, 1942 - Indian Invasion

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RE: Mar 27-28, 1942 - Indian Invasion - 9/4/2018 12:38:06 AM

Lowpe

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ny59giants_MatrixForum

John had initially increased garrison requirements in both China and India too high many versions ago. I think it reflected his strong dislike of land combat. I talked him into and then lower them back down to a more reasonable level. They are still higher than stock, but not as bad.

Assault Divisions are three Naval Guards plus devices. They also get an upgrade in '43 that makes them better in defense.

What I'm finding out in early '43 is there are more CD guns available and some invasions are going to be tougher. Thankfully, I haven't lost too many of those old, slow BB as they come in handy.

I don't want this to sound bad or negative, but I feel that the mod for the most part is designed to support John's particular playstyle.

It would be interesting to see how a low risk broad front advance against Japan would work as the game advances to 1944...tied in with a ruthless war on Japan's industrial might.

(in reply to ny59giants)

Post #: 451

RE: Mar 27-28, 1942 - Indian Invasion - 9/4/2018 12:51:52 AM

ny59giants

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I agree with you to a point, Professor Lowpe. The mods were to take some 'what if' on the IJN. The next version that I'm working on (slowly) will have Big B's China stuff incorporated. That should make that theater more a stalemate that it was historically. I continue to try to influence the changes and keep it balances for both sides, but this is his mod.

(in reply to Lowpe)

Post #: 452

Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls - 9/7/2018 2:51:23 PM

Anachro

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From: The Coastal Elite
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Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls

Sorry I've been busy with real life stuff and hence no updates. In the game, the last few days have been relatively uneventful in both India and up in the Aleutians. However, tomorrow brings promise of some action, at least in the South Pacific where John seems to have exposed some surface vessels. For now, the situation:

Aleutians
Things have stabilized and John's movements have slowed down. While his carriers have not made a reappearance, he has constantly kept ships hovering around Amchitka Island and today a large number of vessels including heavy surface units appears there. He might be planning another invasion of extraction of his units at Umnak. My units are replenishing on the west coast near Seattle, but should begin returning soon. There might be a window of opportunity for him, but Umnak is heavily mined so there's that at least. I have ammunition ships moving up and plan further bombardments of Umnak.

quote:

Ground combat at Umnak Island (169,51)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9448 troops, 123 guns, 22 vehicles, Assault Value = 444

Defending force 15631 troops, 128 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 374

Japanese ground losses:
147 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

India
A few interesting things happen here, on the 2nd mostly. First, John launches his expected invasion of Diego Garcia with heavy bombardments by multiple fleets, taking it in the same turn. Second, I begin attacks on John's airfield at Vizagapatnam. While my bombers aren't as effective as I'd like, my fighters doing an admirable job sweeping the skies of A6M2 Zeros. I imagine we'll see him put A6M5's soon enough.

quote:

Morning Air attack on Vizagapatnam , at 42,37

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 14
P-40E Warhawk x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x P-40E Warhawk sweeping at 20000 feet
1 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 20000 feet *

quote:

Ground combat at Diego Garcia (11,62)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 11026 troops, 33 guns, 29 vehicles, Assault Value = 401

Defending force 2603 troops, 53 guns, 77 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Japanese adjusted assault: 344

Allied adjusted defense: 2

Japanese assault odds: 172 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Diego Garcia !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2507 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 349 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 73 (73 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 59 (59 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

South Pacific
In the South Pacific, John has brought a small cruiser force to escort APD's and DD's hovering around Ndeni. Either John is reinforcing the area or trying to extract with the troops there to pull back to more defensible positions. He has no hope of taking a reinforced Luganville, Noumea, or Suva given the losses he has already suffered in the area. His best chance going forward is to try and push for Port Moresby and the surrounding areas. What he doesn't know is I have 2 surface units nearby, a light cruiser-backed force and a BC-backed force. Both of these will try an intercept.

Air Losses for the Day

< Message edited by Anachro -- 9/7/2018 5:51:16 PM >

(in reply to JohnDillworth)

Post #: 453

RE: Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls - 9/7/2018 5:07:04 PM

BillBrown

Posts: 2335
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Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL?

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 454

RE: Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls - 9/8/2018 10:35:51 AM

DesertedFox

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL?

Years ago when talking to mate's wife re wargaming, she said "It's not likes it a life or death situation."

I replied "Damn right it isn't. It's much more important than that."

(in reply to BillBrown)

Post #: 455

RE: Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls - 9/8/2018 12:09:57 PM

Zorch

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BillBrown

Wait, isn't playing WitP:AE a part of RL?

That depends whether you took the blue pill or red pill.

(in reply to BillBrown)

Post #: 456

RE: Mar 31 - April 2, 1942 - Diego Garcia Falls - 9/9/2018 1:31:46 AM

Bif1961

Posts: 2014
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From: Phenix City, Alabama
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What about if you take the purple pill?

(in reply to Zorch)

Post #: 457

April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/9/2018 3:47:47 PM

Anachro

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April 3-April 6, 1942

The battle I alluded to on the morrow the 2nd of April turned into one between my BC Renown TF and 6 Japanese destroyers. The 6 Japanese destroyers acquitted themselves well and were able to inflict significant damage on 3 American destroyers for the cost of one Japanese destroyer. Luckily, the BC Renown took no torpedo hits and in the end, the tally was one Japanese DD worth 6 points for one US DD worth 5 points. If my crew experience improved, I'll take that exchange.

quote:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Torres Islands at 120,146, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 4
DD Sawakaze
DD Yukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Hokaze, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Shell hits 3
CL Leander
CL Perth, Shell hits 2
DD Farragut, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
DD Aylwin, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dewey, Shell hits 1

India
Beyond the fact that John has significantly upped the number of fighters at Vizagapatnam in India, there is not much happening there yet. I continue to have the ability to flow troops unhindered to Karachi. Around ~550 AV in US troops is on the Indian subcontinent, as well as ~3-4 US Army fighter wings, 3-4 bomber or divebomber wings, and I finally got a new Catalina unit there to help with reconnaissance and nav search. Based on John's recon and seen movement so far, it would appear he might be heading towards Calcutta, but the jury is still out on that.

Aleutians

The interesting thing over the last few days is that John has finally made a reappearance with his big ships in the Aleutians now that he has better air cover from Adak Island, etc. A huge convoy mixed in with the BB Yamato and a number of other surface vessels seemed to be slowly converging on Umnak Island the last 2 days and in the last turn he makes an attempt to arrive at Umnak. I'm not sure why he has his surface vessels mixed in in such a way, but based on the damage to the convoy ships over the last turn, this appears to either be bringing supply to Umnak or he is trying to extricate his troops.

However, over the last turn, he is harried by PT boats and hits a number of mines with his convoy. This results in some damage and it is unclear if the convoy remains there (my navsearch failed last turn and spotted little). Nonetheless, I will send more PT boats to Umnak tomorrow to see. The real important thing here is, if he attempts to load his troops at Umnak or unload supply, my carriers are only a few days out from arriving and hitting such a slow moving convoy. We'll see what happens.

quote:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Umnak Island at 169,52, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
CB Aino
CL Kinu
CL Kitakami
DD Kuroshio
DD Hatsuharu
DD Hatsushima
DD Wakaba
DD Usugumo
DD Ushio
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yakaze
DMS Hachijo
PB Choko Maru #2
PB Keijo Maru
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Teibo Maru #2
CL Ayase
CL Minase
xAK Cuba Maru
xAK Florida Maru
xAK Manzyu Maru
xAK Ryunan Maru
xAK Kazan Maru
xAK Hoeisan Maru
xAK Nitian Maru
xAK Akasi Maru
xAK Cheribon Maru
xAK Daijukyo Maru
xAK Yosida Maru #3
xAK Zinzan Maru
xAK Rozan Maru
xAK Kyokuzan Maru
xAK Fukoku Maru
xAK Yamamiya Maru
xAK Shinmei Maru
xAK Dori Maru
xAK Sansho Maru
xAK Kinmo Maru
xAK Shinfuku Maru
xAK Rozan Maru
xAK Uzan Maru
xAK Fukuzan Maru
xAK Biwa Maru
SC Ch 33
PG Yakumo
PG Iwate

Allied Ships
PT-20
PT-43
PT-48
PT-60
PT Q-111

quote:

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

12 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
DMS Hachijo, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Yamato, Mine hits 1
DD Uzuki, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
PG Iwate, Mine hits 1

DMS Hachijo firing at 3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion
3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DMS Hachijo
3/250th Coastal Artillery Battalion firing at DMS Hachijo
4 mines cleared

quote:

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Yakaze
DD Kikuzuki
PB Teibo Maru #2
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Keijo Maru
PB Choko Maru #2
SC Ch 33
xAK Yamamiya Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Wakaba
DD Hatsuharu
PG Yakumo
xAK Biwa Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

22 mines cleared

quote:

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Wakaba
DD Hatsuharu
DD Kuroshio
PB Keijo Maru
PB Choko Maru #2
SC Ch 33
xAK Sansho Maru, Mine hits 1, on fire

12 mines cleared

quote:

TF 29 encounters mine field at Umnak Island (169,51)

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Hatsushima
PG Yakumo
PB Yamahagi Maru #3
PB Keijo Maru
SC Ch 33
CL Ayase, Mine hits 1

9 mines cleared

According to reports, I sunk the CL and a DD last night. Unsure of either, though an E13A1 Jake was destroyed in ops last night. I doubt it, but I definitely heard sinking noises last night which could be the transports that struck mines.

In other news, John isn't taking Batavia soon. He actually attacked a few turns ago, had a bad roll, suffered huge losses for 0 defender losses and failed to bring forts down.

quote:

Ground combat at Batavia (49,98)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 671 troops, 21 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 928

Defending force 21425 troops, 258 guns, 110 vehicles, Assault Value = 478

Assaulting units:
I Marechausse Cdo
6th KNIL Regiment
3rd Cav Sqdn
Groep Zud
II Marechausse Cdo
4th KNIL Regiment
4th Cav Sqdn
I Landstorm Cdo
III/IV Barisan Cdo
1st KNIL Regiment
Tjepoe Cdo
I/II Barisan Cdo
Mobiele Battalion
6th Cav Sqdn
Lijfwacht Cav Sqdn
1st Cav Regiment
VI Landstorm Cdo
III Landstorm Cdo
Tjilitjap Cdo
IV Landstorm Cdo
Roodenburg Cdo
II Landstorm Cdo
2nd KNIL Regiment
Marinier Battalion
VLG-III Sup Groep
A-II-Ld AA Battalion
3e-VLG-V Sup Afd
ABDA
HQ III KNIL Division
A-III-Ld AA Battalion
A-I-Ld AA Battalion
HQ I KNIL Division
Soerabaja KM Base Force
224 Group RAF
Batavia Defenses
KNI Zeemacht
VLG-IV Sup Groep
VLG-II Sup Groep
ML-KNIL
2e-VLG-V Sup Afd
Batavia KM Base Force
NI-MLD
KNI Leger
HQ II KNIL Division
VkA-1 Sup Afd

Defending units:
56th/B Division
90th Division
56th/A Division
56th/C Division

(in reply to Bif1961)

Post #: 458

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/10/2018 4:20:49 PM

Lecivius

Posts: 4845
Joined: 8/5/2007
From: Denver
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I am not sure what his thinking was to imbed Yamato in that. It won't sink her, but getting the dent all buffed out & repainted takes time.

Side note. I am sure you are aware, but those old BB's will take a pounding if Yamato finds them. It never hurts to say the obvious beforehand, rather than lament later

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If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 459

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/11/2018 4:00:19 AM

Capt. Harlock

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From: Los Angeles
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quote:

I am not sure what his thinking was to imbed Yamato in that.

It seems even stranger to embed a battlecruiser -- what's the point of having a high-speed ship tied to transports? and for that matter, is Kitakami still a torpedo cruiser in this mod?

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Post #: 460

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/11/2018 11:46:24 AM

Bearcat2

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

................................., is Kitakami still a torpedo cruiser in this mod?

Yes

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(in reply to Capt. Harlock)

Post #: 461

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/18/2018 6:46:45 AM

CaptBeefheart

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From: Seoul, Korea
Status: offline

If you manage to tangle with the Yamato with your old BBs and it's still in that amphib TF, I think you'll do pretty well. Now, if he creates a separate surface TF, all bets are off.

Cheers,
CB

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Post #: 462

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/21/2018 1:46:20 AM

DOCUP

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Bump. Need updates.

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Post #: 463

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 9/30/2018 5:51:02 PM

modrow

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DOCUP

Bump. Need updates.

(in reply to DOCUP)

Post #: 464

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 10/10/2018 4:22:59 PM

ny59giants

Posts: 9869
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Yes, both of your AARs need work.

P-38s are killers!!

John hates them and they do very good work at 33k.

(in reply to modrow)

Post #: 465

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 10/14/2018 7:33:15 PM

Anachro

Posts: 2506
Joined: 11/23/2015
From: The Coastal Elite
Status: offline

I'll be posting an update and more in a few days. Sorry for the delay; real life has been a bit busy but the game is still going on. It's early-to-mid May, 1942. My two US Cruiser-CVL conversions are 50 days from being done. He is threatening Calcutta and I am pulling forces back to interior defensive lines. Very little action in the SoPac or Aleutians and he seems to be concentrating entirely on India. I have 5 carriers in India awaiting an opportunity for an ambush.

Maps and more to come later.

(in reply to ny59giants)

Post #: 466

RE: April 3-April 6, 1942 - 10/15/2018 5:22:26 PM

DOCUP

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It's about dang time. Now you have a deadline by end of day today to have some updates.

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 467

May 12, 1942 - 10/16/2018 9:18:46 PM

Anachro

Posts: 2506
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From: The Coastal Elite
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May 12, 1942

Aleutians

The Aleutians have stabilized with the Allies holding everything from Umnak Island eastward and the Japanese controlling everything for the most part west of Umnak. While John still has a division and brigade on Umnak, they are slowly being whittled down by cruiser and battleship bombardments that happen pretty frequently from Kodiak, which I am building up as both a safer sub base and a resupply area. It has an AS and an AKE. Every couple of days, various cruiser and slow battleship task forces move out to bombard Umnak. The current AV situation there is roughly ~430 Allied AV to ~130 Japanese AV.

As for future endeavors, I really like Adak as a future staging base for potential operations against Hokkaido and the Kuriles. Given the damage John has suffered up here, I expect these island are not as well defended as they could be and I am already planning future amphibious operations. As for my supply situation, Umnak is well-covered by fighters now, but I made extensive use of APDs to keep her supplied in the more dangerous early months when my air power was minimal.

China

In China, I admit I haven't been very careful and I am paying the price for it. I am not as enamored with land combat and have spent more time with India than I have here and as a result am slowly being constricted and pushed back. I'll be happy if I make it to 1943 with something here at this rate. Little air power and I am not looking forward to defending the clear terrain around Chungking once he pushes me out of the Sian areas. John is also making a strong push from the south and there is danger of breakthrough there and quick roll-up to cutoff my forces in the Sian mountains.

India

John didn't push north from his landings, but west instead and while I relocated my troops, supply issues prevented quick fort buildup and he was able to make a breakthrough against my forces at Howrah north of Calcutta. Given the threat there and cognizant of the suggestions and advice from those on this forum, I did not want to be cutoff and have left a token force in Calcutta while most of my troops escape north. Currently, my bases surrounding his forces north of Calcutta have anywhere between ~800-1200 AV and 3-4 forts. A US Army division has just arrived at Karachi and is moving south.

Elsewhere in India, John has ~95 tanks south of Raipur and I will move to it with ~295 AV including an AT unit to try and destroy these. John also has a brigade north of my forces between Raipur and Howrah, but this will be contested with some strong AV moving in. While I await reinforcements, I have ~250 AV moving south from John's brigade to hit what appears to be some artillery or low vehicle units. Air battles are going on here and some bad moves on my part have led to strong attrition of my bombers. However, in fighter-on-fighter action my British and American fighters are actually getting the best of his zeroes, usually at a 2-1 advantage or better.

SoPac
Pretty static. There has been no movement from John south of Guadalcanal/Ndeni and he continued to only bomb Port Moresby. There have been no movements towards Northern Australia.

General Developments and Carrier Movements

Socotra
John has done two carrier raids up towards Karachi to try and hit my convoys up there, but while he has sunk some ships, he has not gotten any of my troop convoys or the troops carrying them. My reinforcements will continue to go through Karachi. To help support this, I am now building up Socotra as an additional staging and support base with from which to watch for his carriers and provide logistical support. Furthermore, with Socotra I have a base from I can pressure any Japanese movements along the eastern Indian coast.

I am moving most of the British naval fleet in the Indian theater to Socotra and I already have 2 British carriers, 2 US carriers and cruiser-carriers at Karachi with ~260 AC. Ranger is 8 days from Cape Town and will soon reinforce my carriers here. I will then exposre large decoy convoys to Japanese nav search and recon at Bombay and hope this eventually lures some of his carriers north again for an ambush.

Port Hedland
In Northern Australia, Port Hedland is being reinforced and built-up to become a submarine base from which to hit the DEI. I will also put some cruisers and destroyers there in a bit to do some cavalry-style recon & raiding into the DEI and to test his air recon and defenses.

Elsewhere
My other carriers are in Pearl Harbor and will soon be finishing up their refits. I mean to expose them somewhere in the Pacific to let John know they are there and make him feel safer about raiding with lesser forces in India. Perhaps I'll do a fun little raid on Tokyo with my Pacific carriers or something, my own little Doolittle Raid.

As for future targets, immediately I am concerned with taking Midway, Canton Island, etc not so much for their strategic value so much as for wanting to take away John's ability to have recon eyes on Pearl Harbor and my supply routes heading to the South Pacific. I already have troops preparing for these. Lastly, a second American division is on its way to India.

_____________________________

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" - BBfanboy

(in reply to DOCUP)

Post #: 468

RE: May 12, 1942 - 10/16/2018 9:21:06 PM

Anachro

Posts: 2506
Joined: 11/23/2015
From: The Coastal Elite
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One potential opportunity is to hit John's "backside" in India. He is concentrating toward Calcutta. I could easily swing around using strat movement with heavy AV and take back Vizagapatnum where he has significant air forces, probably a decent amount of supply, and base units.

As for a potential ambush, previously John had ~400 a/v in 2 carrier TFs attacking Karachi. Both were last seen retiring to Ceylon from their last carrier raid. 1 or 2 days ago, Japanese carriers were were again spotted heading south from Ceylon, perhaps back to Singers for refit. However, it appeared to only be one of the TFs from the raid, with another spotted heading into the Bay of Bengal headings towards Calcutta.

John might be splitting his carriers in the Indian theater to strengthen himself elsewhere. Perhaps he expects my carrier threat to crop up again in the Pacific and so wants to be ready to react. He did say a couple emails ago how it "was bout time my carriers make a reappearance as they should be finishing up their refits."

I certainly hope he splits his carriers and exposes some to ambush. We'll see.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 10/16/2018 9:28:17 PM >

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 469

RE: May 12, 1942 - 10/23/2018 7:33:14 PM

Anachro

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From: The Coastal Elite
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I will be doing another update soon enough. Not much to report the last few days of turns, but we've had a bit of a break recently as I was gone for the weekend and then John has some family issues to deal with that is keeping him busy. The only thing I will report of note is this:

The last few days I finally noticed my northern Australian bases having Japanese recon levels of ~9/10 at places like Darwin, Port Hedland, Derby, etc. It could be that once John finally finishes taking Batavia he will opt to take these bases and secure his southern flank before consolidating the rest of the DEI. I already stated that I am building up Port Hedland. I will now reinforce these other areas with domestic Aussie troops and build up forts.

Additional American troops are on their way. I've been a bit lackadaisical about my troop/supply build-up so far, so it's a rush to secure this area. I'd really like to have Australia strong as a potential launching point for other operations.

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 470

RE: May 12, 1942 - 10/23/2018 10:39:20 PM

GetAssista

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro
The last few days I finally noticed my northern Australian bases having Japanese recon levels of ~9/10 at places like Darwin, Port Hedland, Derby, etc. It could be that once John finally finishes taking Batavia he will opt to take these bases and secure his southern flank before consolidating the rest of the DEI. I already stated that I am building up Port Hedland. I will now reinforce these other areas with domestic Aussie troops and build up forts.

Additional American troops are on their way. I've been a bit lackadaisical about my troop/supply build-up so far, so it's a rush to secure this area. I'd really like to have Australia strong as a potential launching point for other operations.

Do you plan to lure John into some CV trap and then bugger out? Otherwise letting your troops be stranded on the Nothern coast welcomes their eventual siege and annihilation in 42 in my book. Contrary to the Aleuteans the distances are far larger here, and the coast is closer to Timor than Perth. The theatre itself is in a central location, so John will be much more willing to camp with KB to prevent your rescue efforts.

(in reply to Anachro)

Post #: 471

May 16, 1942 - 10/24/2018 3:57:34 PM

Anachro

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From: The Coastal Elite
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@GetAssista - It's good to be aware of that danger, but I'm not yet convinced John will commit fully to Northern Australia. If he tries to do so, I will make the decision there and then. For now, I am thinking about reinforcing Port Moresby to help support the North from that angle. However, I do not think Perth is in danger and is well-defended, so resupply and support from there is also possible. The distances involved are long. John has ~1k in AV at Batavia and I think this would be the force he would use to hit Northern Australia if he does so. I think it's possible to defend against this and I would have time as that force is taking some attrition in its siege of Batavia. The rest of his troops are tied up in India.

May 16, 1942

A mini-KB appears once again in the Aleutians and I can only think this is either a relief force to extract his troops on Umnak Island or he might try to reinforce it. My carriers are still at Pearl Harbor where 2/4 carriers are still 4 and 6 days away from finishing refit, so it will be awhile before I can react. However, I do have a bunch of submarines in the area, so maybe I can get a lucky submarine torpedo hit.

For now, most of my ships are pulling back to safer ports and I will attempt a CAP trap with what I have. I have around 90 fighters in the area. Umnak is a 4(5) air base.

(in reply to GetAssista)

Post #: 472

RE: May 16, 1942 - 10/30/2018 8:19:59 PM

DOCUP

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I'm waiting. Ahhmmm

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Post #: 473

RE: May 16, 1942 - 11/1/2018 9:52:57 PM

Anachro

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Ill give a more full update with pictures when I get back the next turn. So use this for now as an accompanying update to John's, as I notice he is updating more.

Carrier Update:
Currently, India has 3 US carriers and 2 British carriers in the vicinity looking for another raid from John to surprise. 3 US carriers and 1 British carrier just finished upgrades at PH and I am contemplating raids to hit some juicy targets either in SoPac, NoPac, or Japan proper. Need to know where his carriers are given the recent appearance of a CV fleet in the NoPac that appeared to have ~300 A/C. The two Commonwealth CVL-Convertible CA's are heading back to Cape Town to upgrade and convert. Th 2 American counterparts are due to finish their conversion to CVLs on the east coast in a month. CV Wasp arrives at the Panama Canal in ~20 days.

Australia
I am withdrawing from Port Moresby to preserve the Aussie brigades I have there. I have re-evaluated Northern Australia in light of recent comments and will not try to hold and potentially trap troops there. A troop convoy reinforcing Port Hedland was hit by a roving Japanese BB/CL fleet that didn't have detection on my ships, but randomly found them. Luckily, most of the troops were offloaded to Port Hedland before that happened. My new strategy now will be to heavily reinforce Port Hedland and hold it, rather than try to hold the rest. I can put a number of troops there and it isn't too far from Perth. It lets me keep a toe-hold in the North from which to observe the lower DEI and can be used for sub ops. I strongly suspect John moves south once he takes Batavia, especially since he has ships roaming off Northern Australia and is recon'ing the place.

India
Lots of troops maneuvering north of Calcutta and Japan troops are quickly moving up from the Burmese border to try and probably trap my troops from the southeast and southwest. John's Imperial Division was recently forced back, but other than that he is proving resilient against my lower quality troops even when I have a massive AV advantage. The question is should I fight here (a number of bases are at 3/4 forts) or retreat farther back towards Bombay/Karachi. Losing troops early here and I lose a lot. Would really like to get '42 upgrades for a lot of them. 1 US division is already in India, another (Sep) Infantry Regiment is on its way from Capetown, and another US division is a week away from Capetown.

Future Plans
Current ops planned for the Pacific are easy, achievable targets. I plan to take key ports in the NoPac to threaten Hokkaido and force him to reinforce/defend it. This includes Adak Island, Amchitka. The key here being they are far enough away that quick reinforcement by his carriers is improbable, if not impossible. Additionally, I plan to take islands along the periphery of his SoPac holdings to deny him recon eyes into my trade/supply lanes. Finally, I will take Midway to deny him a close-by sub base with recon potential. I view these as all readily achievable, especially if a large number of his troops are bogged down in Australia/India. Main benefits: denying him eyes of my ship movements and building up experience for some of my divisions.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 11/1/2018 10:01:30 PM >

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Post #: 474

Late May - 11/2/2018 12:50:47 AM

Anachro

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Late May

China

I do not wish to fight in bad territory nor do I want to be exploited through weak gaps from which he can cutoff and destroy divisions. Thus, I am retreating in the east and resettling in a new defensive line that starts with Chungking and then goes through very defensible, mountainous territory to Chungking's south and west. The hope here is to last as long as possible and hopefully get John to attack for some bad rolls that cause massive casualties...eventually. I've seen it before. Added advantage is it offers opportunity to preserve Chinese forces for awhile and narrows the front to hold even better.

India

John is pushing aggressively around Calcutta and also with the troops that overran the Burmese border. I suspect he will try and encircle my bases and I know more divisions are landing either at Calcutta, or Viza, or Chittagong. While I have good forts in the bases I hold, I think overall the AV favors him and get might try to encircle and bypass while pushing further north into the undefended, bad terrain areas above Calcutta. Contemplating retreating further north and preserving my AV until more US/British troops can arrive from overseas.

NoPac

I had retreated all my boats away from the Aleutians when John's carriers arrived. They moved around a bit north of Adak, towards Umnak, before retiring southwest of Adak. They haven't been spotted in about five to six days. However, as shown in the image above my transports coming back to the scene have gotten detection levels where they shouldn't have, southeast of Kodiak and far from John's bases. Either his long-range recon is doing well of his undetected carriers are in a hole where I don't have good recon and have spotted my transports. I have the transports moving speedily north while my surface vessels currently at Prince Rupert fleet to Seattle.

This could be a false alarm, but I do not want to take chances. John has a penchant for raiding with his forces, seemingly retiring with them, only for them to reappear again after a few days even deeper. This could be what's happening here. I have no doubt that the possibility exists John refueled his carriers in a gap in recon southwest of Umnak before moving aggressively east to see if he can catch anything. As such, my carriers are sallying forth from PH to keep abreast of the situation. They will not move in for a fight unless the enemy is absolutely spotted and his numbers are known.

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Post #: 475

May 27, 1942 - 11/2/2018 7:21:41 PM

Anachro

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May 27, 1942

No carrier action up in the NoPac and no sight of them. Suppose it might have been a false alarm. However, given what I wrote on Australia above, I decided not to reinforce the north just as John begins doing a quick grab of undefended northern coastal bases. What looks to be a brigade or regiment has landed at Broome. Luckily, Port Hedland is decently defended and he won't take it without a stronger effort than what he has shown here. Batavia still hasn't fallen but has 3-4 divisions and artillery sitting on it that can be used elsewhere once it falls.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 11/3/2018 2:42:32 PM >

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Post #: 476

May 28, 1942 - 11/3/2018 2:49:40 PM

Anachro

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May 28, 1942

John continues to push up east of Calcutta, threatening encirclement, but I manage to evict (actually destroy because he tried attacking yesterday and significantly weakened his unit) the 8th Tank Regiment across the river between Ranchi and Asanol. So that's nice, a bunch of AFV's sent back to Japan that he'll have to rebuild. Nonetheless, he has a strong concentration of troops in the middle between Asanol, Ranchi, and Jamshedpur that can push in any direction. I'd imagine he is making a strong push for Jamshedpur, as he has perhaps an additional division moving south, as well as tanks moving south from Raipur. I have a British division and some brigade ~800AV chasing his tanks near Raipur but they are too fast. I am moving the British division up there down and a US ID over from Asanol to support my troops west of Jamshedpur.

quote:

Ground combat at 52,33 (near Asansol)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4714 troops, 66 guns, 157 vehicles, Assault Value = 196

Defending force 348 troops, 0 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 4

Allied adjusted assault: 57

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 19 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 77 (77 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

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

Assaulting units:
138th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
7th Armoured Brigade

Defending units:
8th Tank Regiment

What would you guys recommend here? Any suggestions? Any advice? Land combat is not my forte. Does the position look threatening and should I move north. Jamshedpur, Asanol, and Ranchi all have 3-4 forts.

< Message edited by Anachro -- 11/3/2018 3:35:12 PM >

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Post #: 477

RE: May 28, 1942 - 11/3/2018 4:43:00 PM

GetAssista

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro
What would you guys recommend here? Any suggestions? Any advice? Land combat is not my forte. Does the position look threatening and should I move north. Jamshedpur, Asanol, and Ranchi all have 3-4 forts.

I do not have strategic advice, but you can try play John's known weakness - aggressiveness - the same way Canoerebel did on numerous occasions in their land war. With just-in-time reinforcements against shock attacks. John seems to not be able to resist launching an attack if he sees weak forces in the hex

Local road network is pretty developed to allow some unexpected moving in here and there.

Goes without saying that
1) Every base with heavy industry should go with at least a token fight, to trigger HI halving.
2) Every fighter and bomber in the western hemisphere should be active here, airfields permitting

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Post #: 478

RE: May 28, 1942 - 11/3/2018 4:46:00 PM

BBfanboy

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Allied tanks are generally superior and in 1942 the IJA has few anti-tank (rapid-fire) guns and very poor anti-hard numbers in their infantry formations. But any tank unit can be overwhelmed by large numbers of troops, so consolidate your good infantry with the tanks support and then smash his formations. Alternately, if you think you cannot take his infantry masses, use your tanks to cut off units like those retreating on the west side of that map. Mobility is your friend as long as you don't let him surround you.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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Post #: 479

RE: May 28, 1942 - 11/3/2018 5:04:39 PM

Anachro

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quote:

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

quote:

ORIGINAL: Anachro
What would you guys recommend here? Any suggestions? Any advice? Land combat is not my forte. Does the position look threatening and should I move north. Jamshedpur, Asanol, and Ranchi all have 3-4 forts.

I do not have strategic advice, but you can try play John's known weakness - aggressiveness - the same way Canoerebel did on numerous occasions in their land war. With just-in-time reinforcements against shock attacks. John seems to not be able to resist launching an attack if he sees weak forces in the hex Local road network is pretty developed to allow some unexpected moving in here and there.

Goes without saying that
1) Every base with heavy industry should go with at least a token fight, to trigger HI halving.
2) Every fighter and bomber in the western hemisphere should be active here, airfields permitting

1. I did somewhat in Calcutta but not to much effect it seems. Bombay and karachi are my two areas of absolute defense. I'll re-evaluate elsewhere. Based on John's movements so far I'd imagine he'll move north through the clear hexes rather than going through the mountainous regions in Indian's center. Sigint shows John landing more troops at Viza and he is starting to recon the paths to Madras. Madras has ~6 in forts and I would like to hold on to it until additional forces arrive there in October 42.

2. There has been a lot of attrition in the air war and currently John is sitting at ~3k airframes lost vs ~2k for me. Not sure if that's decent or subpar, but my airframe numbers can't keep up with the losses, especially for fighters. John seems to have the large majority of his fighters in India with paltry amounts elsewhere.

(in reply to GetAssista)

Post #: 480

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