RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager)

RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (Full Version)

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wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/5/2010 12:43:03 AM)
Summary of Operations 2/27/42 Central Pacific: Sigint report entry for 2/27 indicates Jap radio transmissions intercepted from Roi-Namur. Jap aircraft were detected based at Roi-Namur (numbers and type undetermined), no other detected Jap forces or activity in Roi-Namur. Several US fleet subs are now operating in patrol zones to the north and south of Kwajalein. Patrols are mainly for scouting and intelligence purposes, though I would not turn down a good hit from a “dud” torpedo. DEI: Japanese ground forces entering eastern Java, capturing several bases. One detected Jap LCU is now in the adjacent hex W of Soerabaja, other Jap units approaching Soerabaja from the south. AAR’s and current situation map of Java follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Probolinggo (56,105) – (southeastern Java) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3700 troops, 33 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 153 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 43 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 43 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Probolinggo !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(-) Assaulting units: 65th Brigade -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Malang (55,105) – (southeastern Java) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3792 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 71 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 71 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Malang !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: 33rd Infantry Regiment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerakarta (53,103) – (dot base SE of Semarang) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 645 troops, 0 guns, 100 vehicles, Assault Value = 58 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 32 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 32 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Soerakarta !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: 6th Tank Regiment (transferred to Java from Singapore) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/204D79342C1C4C969788641FF242A0C1.jpg[/image] Japanese ground advance towards Soerabaja has trapped one Dutch Base Force LCU at Djokjakarta. This LCU had been attempting to retreat to Soerabaja from Tjilatjap. No reported Jap air activity this game turn over Soerabaja. Last Allied ships (3 small Dutch AMc) departing Soerabaja on a desperate run for Darwin. Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes the Japanese 4 Division advancing on Soerabaja. Minor disruption of Japanese LCU elements resulted from this attack. Light Jap ground attack air strikes continue on Dutch LCU’s in Palembang. Minor Dutch casualties reported Japanese ground assault on Medan continues. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Medan (46,76) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 8459 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 276 Defending force 3994 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 136 Japanese adjusted assault: 61 Allied adjusted defense: 34 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0 Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: leaders(-), supply(-) Japanese ground losses: 275 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 398 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 37 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 143rd Infantry Regiment 16th Infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Regiment Defending units: Medan Garrison Battalion Korps Marechausee Battalion Van Aaran Garrison Battalion Medan Coastal Gun Battalion 2nd Garrison Battalion Langsa Base Force Sabang Base Force Medan Base Force --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/5/2010 12:47:08 AM)
Summary of Operations 2/27/42 (continued) Malaya: One or more Jap TF(s) detected in Singapore base. Current status of Jap base in Singapore – 171 ships in port, 19 Jap LCU’s, 127 aircraft (52 fighters, 19 bombers). Burma: Japanese capture Toungoo (south central Burma). AAR and current situation map of Burma follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Toungoo (57,50) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 913 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 40 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 23 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 23 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Toungoo !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: 1st Raiding Regiment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/97FADA8428314260AD273F8984E7013F.jpg[/image]

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/5/2010 12:51:48 AM)
Summary of Operations 2/27/42 (continued) China: Japanese ground attacks W of Wuchow. Chinese ground forces withdrawing from Pakhoi and the China-Vietnam border area are moving into Nanking. AAR and current situation map of central and southern China follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 74,54 (W of Wuchow) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13528 troops, 124 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 451 Defending force 13513 troops, 137 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 345 Japanese adjusted assault: 330 Allied adjusted defense: 204 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 533 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 32 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled Allied ground losses: 469 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Assaulting units: 38th Division Defending units: 31st Chinese Corps 62nd Chinese Corps 2nd Prov Chinese Corps 4th War Area 35th Group Army 9th Group Army 9th Chinese Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/E541093404CF421EB05AB0DF793CE3FE.jpg[/image]

johnjohn -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/7/2010 4:32:51 AM)
Just a logistical update. (March 8, 1942) I have separated my four West Coast bases to support Pacific areas. Seattle=NORPAC; San Francisco=CENTPAC and PACFLT; Los Angeles=SWPAC; and San Diego=SOPAC. Have sorted out troops and air units, moving those to be transported somewhere to the base or departure airbase. Otherwise the air units are all training, all spread out all over the place wherever there is space. Intelligence reports that CVL Ryuho sunk by bombs (but it really was two torps that were not duds). CVE Hosho hit today by SBDs off Canton Island and set on fire. Things are looking up, although the ant farm took Milne Bay and several Islands nearby. Because Bettys are providing strike cover, I have not tried to intervene. 23rd on Noumea, French unit now at Koumac, and Marine battalions at Noumea are preparing for Efate and Tanna. Engr units are building Noumea up into a major base (7 AB, 7 Port). Then they will build bases at La Foa and Efate. 1 Engr enroute to Koumac. Fleet patrols still in place protecting approaches to all these bases. Hornet nearly to Pearl. Some refitting of the airgroups and they (Enterprise and Hornet) will replace Sara and York which both need some yard time and air group refits. The supply pipeline is starting to take effect. Better planes in sufficient quantities are finally hitting the replacement pipeline. Also got all the PI P40 units stateside. I can't use them except as training units (because they are Permanent Restricted). But the pilots are safe and ready to be transferred to front line units. The trained and experienced guys will help strengthen some units and put some experience into the training pipeline as well. My Burma looks nearly identical to yours. I hope I can hold at Mandalay, but experience tells me Imphal is really the place. I am building forts all over Burma and plan to use the jungle to slow them down. Meanwhile, reinforcements are arriving from Aden and RR from Karachi. Soon there will some air assets which will help make the Japanese advance more difficult. And everyone not actually fighting is training. Some of the Indian units are really undertrained. I have moved those units back. I hope I dont have to use them, they are essentially worthless right now. Colombo has turned into a significant base. With UK BBs and CVs, the AI has decided not to contest the waters. Yesterday one CV, perhaps two, were spotted (actually the airgroups were spotted) attacking my miserable jungle bunnies trying to get off the island south of Gasmata. So far three squads of the Lark have been airlifted off the coast. The enemy CV(s) are operating near the Admiralties. I have sent Hermes and Force Z back to Trincomolee via Perth. With another UK CV due to arrive, this will give the defenders enough force to control the waters off Trimcomolee and Calcutta. Now, if I only had enough shipping!! Actually I have enough, it is just that I have formed too many large supply convoys moving 50k to 100k of supplies or fuel from off map or west coast to Pearl, Sydney, Perth, Colombo, Karachi, and Calcutta. Colombo and Pearl are then further distibuting to forward bases. I will need to pare those down abit so I can move troops and planes. (ie...get the APs out of the convoys). As of now I am able to lift one division and some other light stuff. Then there are no ships. Since all my Pacific assets are in or around Noumea, a lot of stuff is just sitting on the wharf until these ships return except for 80k supplies and fuel on the way to Suva. I did a much better job in the east, and have three AP convoys moving troops and planes from Aden to Karachi or Colombo. Thus far, no bottlenecks out east. Also I have deliberately ignored the NORPAC area. Nothing has left Seattle to reinforce the area other than basic supplies to keep the garrisons from starving. Like we used to say in the Army, 'Nothing moves 'til the paperwork is done.' I feel like John Wayne in Harm's Way. "What do you do, Captain Torrey?" he is asked. "Routing and convoys," he replies. Yep, routing and convoys, that is what it is all about. Johnjohn

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/7/2010 11:01:48 PM)
quote: Just a logistical update. (March 8, 1942) I have separated my four West Coast bases to support Pacific areas. Seattle=NORPAC; San Francisco=CENTPAC and PACFLT; Los Angeles=SWPAC; and San Diego=SOPAC. My current allocation of US West Coast bases does differ somewhat from yours, though it may or may not make a whole lot of difference. At this point, nearly all significant departures of transport shipping from the US West Coast to locations in the Central and South Pacific are being routed from a single port (San Francisco) with Los Angeles used as a secondary departure site. For destinations in Alaska and the North Pacific, Seattle is being used. No transport activity is being run from San Diego. This distribution applies only to transport shipping, all US West Coast bases still being used to handle basing and movement of naval ships and TF's. Concentration of transport ships became possible (and in many instances desirable) once I had established and began running a transport convoy system from the US West Coast. At this time, virtually all significant departures of transport ships from the US West Coast are in a convoy, these convoys invariably large and heavily escorted. While it does give Pillager an opportunity (he has yet to take) for him to concentrate Jap submarines operating along the US West Coast, it also allows me to concentrate US ASW ships and resources. Some of the advantages I've seen of concentrating US West Coast transport shipping include - (1) Since I'm loading nearly all my ship cargoes at one port, I can also keep nearly all my available transport ships in the same port. No need to distribute or re-distribute transport ships between different ports on the US West Coast according to what cargo I'm trying to load and where I'm loading it. (2) Not having to move ships between different ports along the US West Coast reduces the volume of coastal transport ship movement to virtually zero. Fewer ASW escorts needed, fewer targets for Jap submarines. (3) Fewer and larger convoys are leaving the West Coast. Still fewer targets for Jap submarines, and I can more heavily concentrate ASW escorts in these convoys. The sea transport system I'm establishing is still a work in progress and will be for some time. As you found out, the number and types of transport ships you have available (and where they happen to be) has great bearing on how big and how good a transport system you can have. I'm running up against the same restraints. What I'm also finding is that may "legs" of the transport system you'd like to operate by 1944 do not need to be set up and running in 1942. The two main arteries I have running at present are (1) the US West Coast to Pearl Harbor run (with some smaller branches from Pearl to destinations in the Central & South Pacific) and (2) the off-map convoy route between the US East Coast and Australia. Development of a transport convoy system in the Indian Ocean with British shipping is well underway, these routes going mainly between off-map bases (Aden, Abadan, Capetown) and ports in India and Colombo. In several locations I've established small "local" transport shipping routes for specialized purposes as needed or useful, the "local" routes not connecting into any kind of network at least for the moment. For now, there are many locations where I do not have transport shipping at all or have a need to run any - these routes will come into play later but they're being disregarded for now. quote: Now, if I only had enough shipping!! I'll second you on that one. At this time I actually do have a minor (though not insurmountable) shortage of transport ships along the US West Coast, this largely due to ships being diverted for the US East Coast - Australia convoys. As I now have an adequate number of ships for movement from the Eastern US to Australia, transport ships arriving as reinforcements in Panama are being added to US West Coast shipping capacity. Another issue I'm beginning to sort out is distributing and using all the various sizes and types of transport ships. Right now I have most of the longer range, large capacity ships running on the US West Coast to Pearl Harbor and the Eastern US to Australia routes. I'm also employing both US and British transport ships along the route between the Eastern US and Australia, taking advantage of at least a short-term surplus of large, long-range British transport ships. Also consider smaller transport ships will be considerably more useful operating on-map rather than across an off-map route (even if a smaller ship has the range to move off-map). In the case of smaller transports, many of the islands you will be transporting cargoes to have a small port size and a docking capacity that can handle fewer or smaller ships. The xAKL along with the smallest AK's lends itself nicely to moving cargo into these locations as they can dock in bases with small port sizes to load and unload, probably doing this operation more quickly than larger transports. I actually have a surplus of small transports at the moment, and proceeded to "mothball" numbers of these (especially xAKL's) out of harms' way for later use. Some smaller AK's do have a long movement range and are now being used for a variety of other purposes, though I plan to eventually employ these along with xAKL's for "local" transport shipping into small ports. Some of the major transport shipping routes I'm employing now (especially the Eastern US to Australia off-map route) are probably temporary and will no doubt be scaled down later in the war. My primary purpose behind the Eastern US to Australia route is to push as much as possible to Australia and as quickly as possible without regard to (practically) anything Pillager is doing on-map. Once we get into 1943-44 and thereafter, long range Allied transport shipping can be conducted on-map with a much greater degree of impunity than in 1942 and early '43, this eventually making long off-map shipping routes unnecessary. quote: Colombo has turned into a significant base. Absolutely is... Colombo is vital to cover transport shipping routes to Perth from India and the Middle East. You'll also have to defend it. While the AI will probably disregard Colombo, a human Japanese opponent will not. Also keeping in mind any Japanese invasion of India by a human player will likely be at least partially amphibious in nature (rather than marching through the jungle from Burma, though he might do that too). I found myself creating a sort of "Atlantic Wall" along the coast of India from Calcutta to Colombo to cover this possibility. Pillager didn't bother much with India last time, though that's not much of a guarantee for the present.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/8/2010 12:41:08 AM)
Summary of Operations 2/28/42 Central Pacific: Sigint report entry for 2/28 indicates heavy volume of intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Truk. Multiple unidentified Jap TF(s) were detected in Truk base, also ships in port. DEI: Japanese capture Medan. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Medan (46,76) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 8207 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 259 Defending force 3605 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 110 Japanese adjusted assault: 180 Allied adjusted defense: 28 Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Medan !!! Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(-), morale(-), experience(-) Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-) Japanese ground losses: 621 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 52 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 47 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 1553 casualties reported Squads: 62 destroyed, 12 disabled Non Combat: 92 destroyed, 11 disabled Engineers: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units retreated 6 Units destroyed 2 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 143rd Infantry Regiment 16th Infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Regiment Defending units: Van Aaran Garrison Battalion Medan Coastal Gun Battalion (eliminated in action) Medan Garrison Battalion Korps Marechausee Battalion 2nd Garrison Battalion Langsa Base Force Sabang Base Force Medan Base Force (eliminated in action) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes the Japanese 4 Division now in hex 55,103 adjacent to Soerabaja. Light Japanese air activity over Soerabaja. Latest AAR’s follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 6 Allied aircraft B-339D x 11 CW-21B Demon x 7 75A-7 Hawk x 11 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-339D: 3 destroyed 75A-7 Hawk: 1 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Japanese aircraft Ki-21-IIa Sally x 9 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged Aircraft Attacking: 8 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 15000 feet * Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap ground attack air strikes continue on Dutch LCU’s in Palembang. Minor Dutch casualties reported Philippines: Japanese capture Laoag. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Laoag (81,72) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13137 troops, 124 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 452 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 255 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 255 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Laoag !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: 19th Division (marched overland from Aparri, no amphibious landing) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- China: Japanese ground attacks W of Wuchow, forces Chinese retreat now cutting main line of communication with Chinese ground forces withdrawing from Pakhoi and the China-Vietnam border area. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 74,54 (W of Wuchow) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 13159 troops, 124 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 427 Defending force 12206 troops, 137 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 305 Japanese adjusted assault: 454 Allied adjusted defense: 181 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: experience(-) Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-) Japanese ground losses: 519 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 34 disabled Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 32 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled) Allied ground losses: 3288 casualties reported Squads: 157 destroyed, 16 disabled Non Combat: 165 destroyed, 32 disabled Engineers: 6 destroyed, 3 disabled Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units retreated 6 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 38th Division Defending units: 62nd Chinese Corps 31st Chinese Corps 2nd Prov Chinese Corps 35th Group Army 4th War Area 9th Chinese Base Force --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/9/2010 2:39:10 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/01/42 Central Pacific: Contract reported between Jap surface ASW and US fleet sub Sealion. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Ponape at 120,114 Japanese Ships PB Mikitade Maru PB Takuna Maru #7 Allied Ships SS Sealion SS Sealion is sighted by escort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Approximately 80% of the US fleet submarines I have in the game are operating at sea in assigned patrol zones scattered across a wide area of the Pacific, extending from sea approaches off the Japanese Home Islands southward to cover likely sea communication routes extending from Japan to forward areas in the Central, South and Southwest Pacific theatres, as well as possible movement paths that could be used by the KB or Jap surface naval forces for sorties into active Allied operating areas farther in the South Pacific. The remaining 20% of available US fleet subs include subs undergoing port repairs or replenishment, subs departing or returning to/from patrol areas, several subs allocated to mine laying missions, and a small number of subs retained in reserve for special or emergency tasks. Primary objective of US fleet sub patrols is scouting and detection of Jap transport and naval movements, with on-going crew training (experience) a secondary though equally important function. At some point, the number of US sub patrols and the area over which they’re being conducted will eventually require Pillager to disperse Japanese surface and air ASW resources to cover more areas. Plus… anything my dud torpedoes manage to hit is all good. DEI: Detected status of Medan base so far indicates little or no demolitions of oil production and refinery facilities occurred in Medan during its capture by Jap forces on 2/28. Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes the Japanese 4 Division now in hex 55,103 adjacent to Soerabaja. No reported Japanese air activity over Soerabaja this game turn. Jap surface ASW or mine sweeper activity reported near the sea entrance to Palembang base. Dutch sub O-16 is one of the last two Allied subs operating in the DEI (both subs patrolling the approaches to Palembang). AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Muntok at 50,89 Japanese Ships DMS W-5 DMS W-1 DMS W-6 Allied Ships SS O16 SS O16 is located by DMS W-5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap ground attack air strikes continue on Dutch LCU’s in Palembang. Minor Dutch casualties reported Philippines: Two unidentified Jap LCU’s detected adjacent to Cabanatuan base hex, probably units advancing southward from Aparri via Tuguegarao. Current situation map of Luzon follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/2610DB692E734EA7878109A6ED0E3428.jpg[/image] Except for a landing and capture of Jolo on 12/20/41 and the recent activity on Luzon, all other bases in the Philippines remain in US hands. No detected Jap movements in the central and southern Philippines. Malaya: British submarine Trusty detects an unidentified Jap task force (10 ships, including one LB) moving NW through the Straits of Malacca. Burma/India: British RAF and RN base force LCU’s evacuating overland from Rangoon via Akyab have reached or will be shortly reaching the railhead at Chittagong. These base force LCU’s are arriving in Akyab mostly at 30-40% of TOE strength. Plans are to move these base force units to locations in the interior of India where they will draw replacement elements and rebuild to full TOE strength. Base force LCU’s evacuating through Akyab also includes the AVG Ground Echelon at full TOE strength. Colombo: Six Dutch submarines have arrived at Colombo from the DEI, three additional Dutch subs (one heavily damaged) are still enroute. China: Japanese capture Liuchow. AAR follows. Liuchow had been abandoned by the Chinese after an advance by Japanese forces coming from Kweilin cut the rail line between Liuchow and Tuyun. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Liuchow (74,55) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 15162 troops, 296 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 473 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 447 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 447 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Liuchow !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: 104th Division 2nd Mortar Battalion 21st Mortar Battalion 5th RF Gun Battalion 2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 2nd RF Gun Battalion 1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment 10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese ground attacks at Changteh, also near Shaoyang. AAR’s follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 35412 troops, 375 guns, 84 vehicles, Assault Value = 1217 Defending force 56075 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1807 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1 Japanese adjusted assault: 521 Allied adjusted defense: 1843 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 1) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 5402 casualties reported Squads: 20 destroyed, 265 disabled Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 316 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled Allied ground losses: 579 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 51 disabled Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 44 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Assaulting units: 6th Division 39th Division 17th Division 11th Army 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 8th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 79,52 (SW of Shaoyang) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 23232 troops, 214 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 814 Defending force 19755 troops, 176 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 716 Japanese adjusted assault: 682 Allied adjusted defense: 331 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: experience(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 957 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 83 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 57 disabled Engineers: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled Allied ground losses: 8626 casualties reported Squads: 297 destroyed, 145 disabled Non Combat: 300 destroyed, 73 disabled Engineers: 14 destroyed, 15 disabled Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled) Units retreated 4 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 15th Division 116th Division Defending units: 50th Chinese Corps 86th Chinese Corps 21st Chinese Corps 3rd New Chinese Corps --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/11/2010 4:14:54 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/02/42 Pacific Theatres: No detected or reported Japanese activity this game turn in any of the Pacific theatres. DEI: Japanese capture Madioen (eastern Java). AAR follows. The fall of Madioen gives the Japanese control of nearly all bases on Java outside Soerabaja except for Djokjakarta (occupied by a Dutch base force LCU that had been cut off from withdrawal into Soerabaja). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Madioen (54,104) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 660 troops, 0 guns, 101 vehicles, Assault Value = 57 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 9 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 9 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Madioen !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(-), fatigue(-) Assaulting units: 6th Tank Regiment (transferred to Java from Singapore) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes the Japanese 4 Division now in hex 55,103 adjacent to Soerabaja. No reported Japanese air activity over Soerabaja again this game turn. Several unidentified Jap task forces detected in Medan base hex. At least one unidentified Japanese LCU in pursuit of Dutch ground units withdrawing from Medan to the west towards Langsa and Sabang. China: Japanese ground attack continues at Changteh. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 515 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 929 Defending force 55579 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1770 Japanese ground losses: 4 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 6th Division 39th Division 17th Division 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 11th Army 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 87th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/13/2010 7:25:29 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/03/42 Central Pacific: Japanese minesweeping operations reported at Kwajalein. A small submarine-laid minefield had been placed in Kwajalein several weeks earlier. Sigint report entry for 3/03 indicates heavy volume of intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Tabiteuea. Detected status of Tabiteuea base indicates an undetermined number of Japanese ship(s) at anchor, also that airfield facilities at Tabiteuea base have been expanded to its maximum size of 3. South Pacific: Sigint report entry for 3/03 indicates BB Mutsu is heading for Ndeni. Possible that Ndeni could the site for the next Japanese amphibious assault in the South Pacific theatre. Force N has remained near Noumea, though I have no immediate plans to move it to Ndeni as (1) there's little question it’s substantially outgunned by BB Mutsu and friends, also (2) I would not discount the possiblilty of Pillager already having or about to have KB in the area to cover the “festivities”. US submarine S-35 is operating in a patrol zone to the east of Espiritu Santo, this sub is now being dispatched to Ndeni for a possible pot-shot at BB Mutsu or one of its companions. Estimated arrival of S-35 at Ndeni is in about two days. DEI: Light Jap air activity reported over Palembang. Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes against Japanese 4th Division now in hex 55,103 adjacent to Soerabaja. While these attacks are mere pinpricks, there is the rather faint hope these small gestures might somehow do something (however small) to "gum up the works". Dutch air units are concentrated in Soerabaja and Palembang, many units are now down to their last operational planes. While a number of spare planes for Dutch aircraft types are present in the replacement pools, I have not sent new planes into Dutch air units as these planes would either be quickly destroyed in combat or (somewhat more likely) lost on the ground when Soerabaja and Palembang fall to Japanese ground attacks. All Dutch air units have been combed out to remove pilots in excess of the number of planes remaining in each unit, excess pilots transferred to the general reserve pilot pool. Plans are to execute a withdrawal or disband of Dutch air units in Soerabaja and Palembang as soon as Japanese LCU’s enter the base hexes. Current combat values of Dutch air units are negligible and will do nothing to substantially affect the outcome of battles for Soerabaja and Palembang. The best apparent course with Dutch air units at this point is to voluntarily break them up immediately ahead of a Japanese assault on Soerabaja or Palembang to deprive Pillager of VP (however small that number of VP might be). Philippines: Japanese capture dot base at Bayombong (adjacent hex north of Cabanatuan). The two Jap units shown entering Bayombong are most likely advancing southward towards Manila. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Bayombong (80,75) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 16136 troops, 132 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 566 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 156 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 156 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Bayombong !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: (advancing south from Aparri) 24th Division 9th Garrison Unit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burma: Japanese capture Meiktila. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Meiktila (58,47) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 12785 troops, 120 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 441 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 400 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 400 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Meiktila !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: 33rd Division -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As British LCU’s are gradually pushed out of bases in central Burma by the Japanese advance, these units are being pulled back to Myitkyina as quickly as possible and then set to march overland to Ledo. This action is underway for all British LCU remaining in Burma that are in excess of the minimum needed to maintain the rear-guard action. The current Allied front-line position for the rear-guard action in Burma is now Mandalay, with the Japanese now in control of both Myitkyina and Magwe. China: Japanese ground attack continues at Changteh. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 515 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 929 Defending force 55579 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1770 Japanese ground losses: 4 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 6th Division 39th Division 17th Division 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 11th Army 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 87th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/15/2010 10:46:29 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/04/42 Central Pacific: Sigint report entries for 3/04 indicating heavy volume of intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Tabiteuea and Truk. Detected status of Truk base indicates an undetermined number of Japanese ship(s) at anchor, also one or more unidentified Jap TF(s) in Truk base hex. No detected Japanese forces or activity shown at Tabiteuea. Another Sigint report entry for 3/04 indicates the intercepted radio call sign of a Japanese ship identified as ACM Yoshino Maru at hex 212,125 (SE of Panama in a remote open sea area). The location of this radio contact is not at or anywhere near an Allied base or shipping route and the hex is also in an out-of-the-way area where Pillager is not likely to send the KB or a Jap surface TF for any reason. Possibly a sub? Or FOW? In any event, no Allied transport shipping or naval forces are moving or operating anywhere near the hex location of this report. South Pacific: Sigint report entry for 3/04 indicating heavy intercepted Jap radio transmissions intercepted from Babeldaob. Other than ship(s) at anchor and a number of Jap aircraft based on Babeldaob, there is no detected Japanese activity. Scout plane from Force N near Noumea reporting an unidentified Japanese ship contact WSW of Noumea moving on a NW heading. My current estimate of this contact is that it’s a Jap submarine patrol Pillager has sent to try picking up any Allied ship movements at or near Noumea, maybe in conjunction with last game turn’s reported possible Japanese move on Ndeni. If this contact had been the KB, most if not all the ships of Force N would by now be at the bottom. Australia: Convoy MX-1 (six TK, 63000 fuel cargo) from Abadan arrived at Perth this game turn. Jap naval air strike in Darwin against British ML’s evacuating from the DEI. AAR follows. Jap planes in this raid are believed to be based at Koepang. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Darwin at 76,124 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Japanese aircraft G4M1 Betty x 6 No Japanese losses Allied Ships (TF actually contains two ML) ML No. 423 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DEI: Japanese capture Djokjakarta. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Djokjakarta (52,103) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 690 troops, 0 guns, 103 vehicles, Assault Value = 58 Defending force 591 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1 Japanese adjusted assault: 92 Allied adjusted defense: 5 Japanese assault odds: 18 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Djokjakarta !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), leaders(+), leaders(-) preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-) Attacker: shock(+) Allied ground losses: 184 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Units retreated 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 1st Tank Regiment Defending units: Tjilitap Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity reported over Palembang. Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) continue uncontested ground attack strikes the Japanese 4 Division now in hex 55,103 adjacent to Soerabaja. China: Japanese ground attack continues at Changteh. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 520 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 980 Defending force 55709 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1783 Allied ground losses: 7 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 6th Division 39th Division 17th Division 11th Army 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 18th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/18/2010 4:41:28 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/05/42 Central Pacific: US sub Grenadier in running engagement with Jap xAKL east of Iwo Jima. Several AAR’s but no hits or damage on either ship. US sub Pompano east of the Marianas reports contact with unidentified Jap TF (3 ships) moving on a SW heading. No combat resulted from this contact. Sigint report entries for 3/05 indicate intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Canton Is and Jaluit. No detected Japanese forces or activity at either base. Tahiti: The two US LCU’s that entered the game as reinforcements in the dot hex base at Bora Bora (2/102 Infantry Bn and 2/198 Coast AA Bn) were picked up from Bora Bora by nearby transport ships re-organized as Amphibious TF’s and moved to Tahiti. Both units are now unloaded in Tahiti. A few elements from each LCU were lost at Bora Bora during the amphibious loading process, otherwise the units are fully operational. This move had been done to transfer the LCU’s to a base (in theatre) where they could be properly supplied and supported. South Pacific: US submarine S-35 arrived in Ndeni base hex, no Japanese ships or activity spotted. S-35 is remaining on patrol at Ndeni. Japanese troops (unidentified LCU) reported landing this game turn at Tulagi. Force N is moving northward from its current position near Noumea in an attempt to sneak into Tulagi and attack Jap transport ship(s) that are now unloading there. A Sigint report entry for 3/05 reported intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Shortlands. Except for an undetermined number of Jap planes that were shown based at Shortlands, no detected Japanese forces or activity was found there. DEI: Four unidentified Japanese LCU’s entered Soerabaja base hex with at least two additional unidentified Jap LCU’s in hexes adjacent to Soerabaja. Another unidentified Jap LCU is detected in Tjepoe (2 hexes west of Soerabaja). Orders were issued this game turn to execute withdrawal of all Dutch air units based in Soerabaja. A current base status display of Soerabaja follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/9B51B9D1DC454F1E8ABE7F9A0E36CC1F.jpg[/image] Dutch LBA bombers (6 CW-22 Falcons, 4 139-WH) make one last ground attack strikes on the Japanese 4 Division. Japanese amphibious landing is now underway at Oosthaven (eastern Sumatra). AAR follows. Pillager could likely be using this landing as the entry point for Jap ground forces into eastern Sumatra for an eventual assault on Palembang from the landward side rather than a direct amphibious operation against Palembang itself. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amphibious Assault at Oosthaven TF 131 troops unloading over beach at Oosthaven, 48,96 Japanese ground losses: 38 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled 17 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost in surf during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt /1 17 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt /1 10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 113th Infantry Rgt /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity reported over Palembang. Philippines: Light Japanese ground attack air strike reported against Bataan, otherwise quiet. China: Japanese ground attack continues at Changteh. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 535 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 999 Defending force 55741 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1785 Assaulting units: 39th Division 6th Division 17th Division 11th Army 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 8th Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pillager has a Japanese ground force of at least 8 LCU’s advancing towards Chihkiang from Shaoyang. This movement could threaten the primary line of communication along the Changteh to Chihkiang road which could result in forcing an eventual Chinese withdrawal from Changteh.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/20/2010 3:48:13 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/06/42 Mainland US: A general status report on the home front… (1) Shipyard activity is fairly quiet. All 2/42 ship upgrades are completed. 3/42 upgrades are underway to CV’s Lexington and Saratoga, these should be complete in approx 3 weeks. Some planning to allocate shipyard capacity is being looked at for the larger 4/42 ship upgrades. Most surviving BB’s from Battleship Row are now fully repaired and available for active operations, several of these BB’s also completing scheduled upgrades. BB Nevada remains under shipyard repair in San Francisco, completion of its repairs is expected in approx 60 days. BB’s West Virginia and California remain under shipyard repair at Pearl Harbor – both ships too heavily damaged to move to the West Coast. Plans are to transfer BB West Virginia and California to complete repairs in US West Coast shipyards as soon as repairs underway at Pearl Harbor reach a point where the ships are sufficiently mobile and can reach the West Coast without danger of sinking. (2) Virtually all US LBA air units starting the game or entering as reinforcements in Hawaii or the US West Coast have remained “at home”. These air units have all received a full complement of pilots and operating on almost continuous (100% level) training missions with pilot training concentrated on specific assigned mission skill(s). Standard procedure for training missions have been to run squadrons at 100% training level until average pilot fatigue level in a squadron reaches 30. Training squadrons reaching a fatigue level of 30 are stood down, then put back on training at 100% level once their fatigue level resets to zero. US pilots that began active training on 12/8/41 have upgraded experience levels somewhat (mostly 40’s and 50’s) with skill levels in their assigned training specialties in many cases now in the 60-70 range. It’s beginning to appear that skill levels for pilots in training missions will reach a maximum of about 65-70, with further upgrades in skill level requiring the pilots to actively fly in front-line operations. If this observation is true, then plans will need to be drawn up and implemented for rotating “fully” trained pilots into the general reserve pool from training squadrons and new replacement pilots brought in their place. For the most part, I have left planes in the replacement pools. Given the supply and production rates of replacement planes, best practice is to keep planes in the replacement pools until needed in a specific place (squadron) for a specific reason. (3) For US ground units, general practice has been established to retain LCU’s in the mainland US until a LCU is at full TOE strength and all elements in the LCU are completely functional. This practice takes advantage of the better availability of supply and command support in the mainland US where LCU’s can be more effectively rested and draw needed squads/elements from the replacement pools. Also, following this practice allows supply and command support located at forward bases to be devoted entirely to forward operations rather than used for getting newly-arrived LCU’s from the US “in shape”. I may decide to change this practice later on but it seems to work for now given the current overall situation. Eastern US: Off-map Convoy EX-6 is departing the mainland US for Australia via Capetown. This convoy includes one AS and 47 transports – loaded cargo includes one LCU (641 Towed TD Bn), three fighter squadrons (69 P-39’s total, all squadrons assigned to II Fighter Command), 183000 supply and 39500 fuel. HQ Asiatic Fleet has been rebuilt to full TOE strength after being destroyed while attempting to evacuate it by sea from the Philippines in 12/41 (transports carrying Asiatic Fleet HQ had been sunk by Japanese naval action). Oddly enough, Adm Hart survived the 12/41 “sinking” of the HQ and remains at the helm. Asiatic Fleet HQ is now in the Eastern US and is loading aboard AP Queen Elizabeth for transport to Australia. Plans are to employ HQ Asiatic Fleet in Australia as a “sub-headquarters” for the South Pacific theatre (probably operating in Sydney or Melbourne). Central Pacific: Sigint report entry for 3/06 indicates intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Maleolap. No detected Japanese forces or activity. South Pacific: Japanese capture Lunga. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Lunga (114,138) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 1538 troops, 19 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 63 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 53 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 53 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Lunga !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: Yokosuka 2nd SNLF (transferred from Indochina) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia: Air transport operations from Cooktown have started to pick up elements of Allied LCU’s remaining in eastern New Guinea from hexes along the southern coast and evacuate them to Australia. Initial transport ops are picking up elements of Port Moresby (INF) Brigade. Other LCU’s remaining in eastern New Guinea include parts of 15 RAAF Base Force (some of this LCU already reached Australia before the Japanese capture of Port Moresby) and C Coy/NG Rifles. Due to the limited number of available Catalina and PBY aircraft in NE Australia, this evacuation operation is expected to occur rather “gradually”. DEI: Initial Japanese ground assault on Soerabaja. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 20452 troops, 187 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 805 Defending force 22840 troops, 190 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 740 Japanese ground losses: 16 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 13 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 1st Ind. Engineer Regiment 4th Division 33rd Infantry Regiment 65th Brigade 6th Tank Regiment Defending units: Barisan KNIL Regiment 6th KNIL Regiment Roodenburg Battalion Van Altena Battalion Manado Garrison Battalion Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion 4th KNIL Regiment Mobiele Eenheid Battalion Prajoda Garrison Battalion 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Makassar Garrison Bn /1 Commandement Marine Malang Base Force Banjoewangi Base Force MLD Madion Base Force Loemafjang Base Force Bandoeng Base Force Soerabaja Base Force Djojakarta Base Force Kalidjati Base Force /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese capture Oosthaven (eastern Sumatra). AAR and current situation map follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Oosthaven (48,96) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3322 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 125 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 59 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 59 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Oosthaven !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: leaders(-) Assaulting units: 113th Infantry Regiment (brought in from Singapore) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/F1A3B9C40F144FA8848C605C53DFD50B.jpg[/image] Light Jap air activity continues over Palembang. Air transport to transfer Dutch LCU engineer elements from Soerabaja to Palembang is underway – 100 engineer squads are now in Soerabaja vs 86 squads at Palembang, air transfer is to increase the engineer squad contingent in Palembang. Three unidentified Jap LCU’s now in Langsa base hex (western Sumatra).

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/20/2010 3:52:38 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/06/42 (continued) Philippines: Japanese capture Vigan and Cabanatuan. US ground forces are evacuating Lingayan and Manila. A relatively small rear-guard action at Clark Field is planned but the majority of US ground forces on Luzon will be moving directly into Bataan. My original intent had been to stage a “two-hex” defense of Bataan (Clark Field and Bataan itself) similar to what had been done at Johore Bahru and Singapore. I did not particularly like the end result of the “two hex” solution at Singapore, therefore I altered my strategy to adopt a “one hex” defence of Bataan proper with a brief rear-guard action at Clark to delay a Japanese advance into Bataan. AAR’s and current situation map of Luzon follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Cabanatuan (80,76) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3071 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 565 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 67 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 67 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Cabanatuan !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-) Assaulting units: (I’m expecting this group of Jap LCU's to advance on Manila) 24th Division 9th Garrison Unit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Vigan (80,73) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13190 troops, 124 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 454 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 259 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 259 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Vigan !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(+) Assaulting units 19th Division (I’m expecting this division to advance on Clark Field via San Fernando and Lingayen) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/9E61F104149748B29DE2B3AF4B78F6DD.jpg[/image] Bay of Bengal: Crippled Dutch submarine K-XIV sank this game turn S of Akyab while attempting to reach Calcutta. K-XIV had been heavily damaged by Japanese ASW air attack near Singapore. China: Japanese ground attacks at Changteh and E of Chihkiang along rail line between Chihkiang and Hengyang. AAR’s follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 545 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1016 Defending force 55747 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1782 Japanese ground losses: 11 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 9 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 39th Division 6th Division 17th Division 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 11th Army 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 18th Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps 53rd Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 78,51 (E of Chihkiang) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 23585 troops, 326 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 1245 Defending force 13559 troops, 173 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 413 Japanese adjusted assault: 469 Allied adjusted defense: 535 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 525 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Allied ground losses: 813 casualties reported Squads: 4 destroyed, 64 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 50 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Assaulting units: 34th Division 15th Division 116th Division 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 1st Mortar Battalion 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion Defending units: 21st Chinese Corps 86th Chinese Corps 50th Chinese Corps 3rd New Chinese Corps --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

johnjohn -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/20/2010 8:52:48 PM)
It is April 5 and just an update. March proved difficult for the allies. Burma fell in less than three weeks and over 100,000 troops (three divisions identified) are now marching up the RR to Myitkyina. They are on the outskirts of Katha. I have decided to abandon Myitkyina and am rushing all but one infantry and engineer base force out of the area. Imphal is well defended, but everything else lacks troops. Intel indicates future assault against the coast, which now is beefing up to meet it. Three UK CVs in area as are Force Z, and 5 other Battleships to disuade IJN intentions. Akagi spotted off Canton Island five days ago. Fletcher with Sara and Yorktown attacked and sunk Nagato and Yamashiro and some escorts off Jarvis. They then headed for Pearl to refit. Halsey arrived, Akagi split, and Halsey now enroute to Pearl to refit. The south pacific remains in allied hands with 23rd Inf Div on Noumea and 40th Inf Div at Suva. (2nd USMC Div forming at Pago-pago.) 6 US battleships operating around Pearl and Canton. So far so good. Still need shipping, but it is getting better. Mandalay, Manila, and Bataan all fell on same day. DEI getting rolled up, but big bases still in allied hands (but not for much longer I suspect). I am worried about India. 100,000 troops running around is problematic and supply seems not to be an issue for the enemy. The seaborne assault has halted with the arrival of the British Fleet. My Indian forces are both badly trained, have poor morale, and seem insufficient in quanity, much less quality, to handle this many of the enemy. I have routed two British Divisions into the area, the 18th at Imphal and the 7th on the coast. I have more available, but am nervous of committing all my aussie reinforcements in India, especially if AI goes for Australia. Would be interested in what your thoughts on India may be. Australia is not under assault or planned assault at this time. Am rushing reinforcements (Engr and Squadrons) along with 100K in fuel and supply to Aussie defense, mainly to build up the East coast air bases. Both Sydney and Perth have significant supplies and fuel, but there is never enough. Port Morseby is hanging on and the Cats got the Lark Bn out of danger. Now trying to get the Rabaul base force out. Am willing to abandon Pt. Darwin and all of NE Aussie if need be. So far I am trying to hold on, knowing that I have a carrrier advantage at the moment. (4 to 3). I am tempted to go CV hunting, but so far have resisted the urge. So I am reinforcing and building up my bases. Then, when sufficiently ready to go on the offensive, will start assaulting the enemy positions.[:D] I am planning to go on the offensive in late 43 when I have more carriers to support the effort. Right now I am one ambush away from total disaster (or complete victory). Wisdom suggests holding what I have is the best available strategy for now. Johnjohn

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/23/2010 2:05:36 AM)
quote: I am planning to go on the offensive in late 43 when I have more carriers to support the effort. Right now I am one ambush away from total disaster (or complete victory). True. Quite true... quote: I am worried about India. 100,000 troops running around is problematic and supply seems not to be an issue for the enemy. The seaborne assault has halted with the arrival of the British Fleet. My Indian forces are both badly trained, have poor morale, and seem insufficient in quanity, much less quality, to handle this many of the enemy. I have routed two British Divisions into the area, the 18th at Imphal and the 7th on the coast. I have more available, but am nervous of committing all my aussie reinforcements in India, especially if AI goes for Australia. Would be interested in what your thoughts on India may be. Supply is never an issue until you run out of it. All you've said about the Indian Army is true, plus one more thing (which it sounds like you're either consciously or unconsciously doing)... having to maintain sufficient LCU assault strengths at half the bases/cities in India as these bases have required garrisons. In general, all one can do with the Indian Army is "cobble it together" and deploy as best you can. Having a large Japanese army running through Burma will eventually create a supply problem for any Japanese player, AI or human. This becomes even more true if the Japanese attempt a march through the jungle out of Burma towards Imphal and Dacca. Note there is no continuous (road or rail) line of communication going westward out of Burma and across the border into India - while the lack of a continuous road or rail line does not entirely prevent an overland line of supply from Burma into adjacent areas of India, it doesn't help matters either. Not to mention a march through jungle terrain eats up a lot of time as well. BTW, this fact also applies in 1944-45 (or so) when you're marching Allied ground forces from India back into Burma as much as it does for your Japanese opponent invading India overland from the opposite direction. Not sure how inclined the Japanese AI would be to do this (though a human Japanese player would at least consider the idea)... launch an amphibious invasion of India. Against a human Japanese player this possiblity would certainly have to be considered in an Allied strategy for India through at least 1942-43. In that case, defending coastal locations in eastern India would be as least as important as defending the land border between India and Burma, especially coastal bases having a port size or can be expanded to have port facilities. What I did vs Pillager in our last game (and to some extent doing this time) is an "Atlantic Wall" defence covering coastal bases from Chittagong to Colombo. Speaking of Colombo, this is a very important location to hang onto. Colombo is needed to control the western half of the Indian Ocean including sea areas essential for moving anything to India from off-map bases at Capetown, Aden and Abadan. Colombo also overlooks the line of communications for shipping to Australia (Perth) from India and off-map bases in the Middle East. Having said all that, the last thing an Allied player needs in this theatre is a fully operational Japanese-controlled port of call for the KB just off the southern tip of India regardless of whether or not the Japanese actually invade mainland India. Routing the British 18th Division to India was certainly a good move, also diverting to India any other British or Allied reinforcements that are destined to go to Burma (these too are more useful in India). As for the two Australian divisions (6th & 7th), I've placed one of those at Colombo, the other probably going to Australia unless events require otherwise. I did this in my last game vs Pillager in CHS, and will most likely do the same this time in AE. The Australian division I send to Colombo will likely stay there until it is certain the division is no longer needed to defend Colombo (in our last game this was sometime in mid to late-1943) - then I will move that division on to Australia. I've also sent at least part of the Dutch submarine fleet (especially the shorter range subs) to India after the DEI falls - it's a useful reinforcement for the British fleet which doesn't have that many subs of its own. Did that in both matches vs Pillager (CHS and this time). You can go either way (India or Australia) with the Dutch surface fleet, whatever is more useful or necessary for you.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/23/2010 2:14:16 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/07/42 US West Coast: Naval air search spotted possible Jap submarine WSW of Victoria, contact may be attempting to patrol sea approaches off Seattle and Vancouver. Surface ASW TF is being dispatched to find and engage the contact. Eastern US: HQ Asiatic Fleet plus 5300 supply aboard AP Queen Elizabeth departing Eastern US this game turn for Capetown. Australia: A group of six Allied subs (2 US fleet, 2 US S-Class, 2 Dutch O-class) arrived in Melbourne from operations in the DEI. Plans are for these subs to begin active operations from Australia/New Zealand after completion of shipyard repairs in Melbourne for minor (wear and tear) damage. Two other more heavily damaged Allied subs from the DEI (US fleet SS Seal, Dutch sub K-IX) are now in shipyard repair at Perth. These two subs will also operate from Australia/New Zealand after shipyard repairs are completed. DEI: Second day of Japanese assault on Soerabaja. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 22677 troops, 219 guns, 134 vehicles, Assault Value = 805 Defending force 22979 troops, 186 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 752 Japanese adjusted assault: 387 Allied adjusted defense: 368 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1429 casualties reported Squads: 4 destroyed, 62 disabled Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 82 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled Vehicles lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled) Allied ground losses: 2338 casualties reported Squads: 47 destroyed, 81 disabled Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 63 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Assaulting units: 33rd Infantry Regiment 1st Ind. Engineer Regiment 65th Brigade 4th Division 6th Tank Regiment 17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment (joined attack this game turn) Defending units: Prajoda Garrison Battalion Manado Garrison Battalion Mobiele Eenheid Battalion 6th KNIL Regiment 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion Roodenburg Battalion 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion 4th KNIL Regiment Barisan KNIL Regiment Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion Van Altena Battalion Afdeling Ritman Makassar Garrison Battalion Malang Base Force MLD Djojakarta Base Force Banjoewangi Base Force Madion Base Force Soerabaja Base Force Bandoeng Base Force Commandement Marine Loemafjang Base Force Kalidjati Base Force /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Given the outcome of this game turn’s ground combat in Soerabaja, my current estimate is that Dutch forces in Soerabaja can hold out for two, perhaps three, more Japanese ground attacks. It should also be noted that Pillager has as many as four additional Japanese divisions (Imperial Guards, 5, 18, 48) plus another tank regiment known to be on Java. What cannot accurately be determined is the Japanese supply situation on Java, though Pillager no doubt acquired some supply point stocks on Java with the capture of Batavia and Tjilatjap. There is some possibility that Pillager has a sufficient stock of captured Allied supply on hand to complete the job at Soerabaja in a reasonably short amount of time without having to transport additional supply to Java from the outside. Japanese forces advancing on Sabang capture Langsa (eastern Sumatra). AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Langsa (46,74) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 8551 troops, 66 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 286 Defending force 2196 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 68 Japanese adjusted assault: 116 Allied adjusted defense: 7 Japanese assault odds: 16 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Langsa !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), morale(-) experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: fatigue(-) Japanese ground losses: 28 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 1034 casualties reported Squads: 56 destroyed, 20 disabled Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Units retreated 5 Units destroyed 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 16th Infantry Regiment 143rd Infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Regiment Defending units: Korps Marechausee Battalion Van Aaran Garrison Battalion Medan Garrison Battalion 2nd Garrison Battalion Sabang Base Force Langsa Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity reported over Palembang and Soerabaja. Philippines: US forces evacuate Manila. Only a minimum amount of supply (100 points) remain in Manila, the base at Bataan had been set to draw maximum supply and has basically “sucked dry” supply points from all the other bases on Luzon. The practice of emptying supply points from all but one or two selected bases (that will be defended) by setting the selected bases to draw maximum supply has been employed elsewhere (with at least a small degree of success) as a form of “scorched earth” policy. The intent of this practice being to require the Japanese to transport their own supply point stocks into an area where they are advancing in order to maintain any substantial level of Japanese ground or air offensive operations within that area - as little or no stocks of captured Allied supply in the area would be available for the advancing Jap LCU’s and air units to draw from. China: Japanese continue bombardment attacks at Changteh. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 535 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1034 Defending force 55744 troops, 309 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1780 Japanese ground losses: 15 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 5 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 6th Division 39th Division 17th Division 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 11th Army 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 53rd Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 6th Construction Regiment 6th War Area 20th Group Army --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

johnjohn -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/28/2010 6:27:41 PM)
May 19, 1942 update. INDIA--A division hit the coast and halted at Cox's Bazaar. Supply has been non existent for enemy, all attemptes interdicted and sunk by UK surface and naval air task groups. All UK/India/Burma forces extracted to Chittalong. 7th Aus Div, 23rd Indian Div, and other forces dug in at Chittalong. Calcutta becoming another major base. UK and India air assets now arrived and in position. Supply line (air) established between Calcutta, Ledo, Kumming, and inland China. A second air route is being considered from Ledo straight accross the mountains, which is at max range for my transports. Bad news, HMS Indomitable (CV) torpedoed and sunk. BURMA--There is no Burma for me. All bases secured by IJA with 160,000 (16 units) sitting on boarder with China. Good news for India, troubling for China. Am considering advancing the Central Reserve to meet the threat, but for now am sitting tight. China is basically a stand off. The IJA is not advancing and mostly it is a series of bombardment attacks. Wenchow is killing zone for IJA, incurring 2500 casualties monthly to essentially none for China. DEI--Enemy mopping up the undefended outposts. Batavia and Soerabaja are still in Dutch hands. Over 40,000 enemy casualties thus far attempting to take Batavia. Over 56,000 enemy currently at Batavia. The issue is not in doubt, only when. Same for Soerabaja, which is only now under serious attack. AUSSIE--enemy advancing along NG and just completed a six week campaign to take Port Morseby. Now studying Caen and Rockport, and likely Horn Island. I am positioning Mac and Blamey (SWPAC and AUSTRALIA respectively) at Townsville. Ist Aussie Army is at Cairns. Am bringing lots of ENG and Infantry to area. Virtually all Aussie armor is around Townsville. Good ground for Armor. The 32nd will arrive in a few days from LA and the 41st is preparing to follow on ETA--a month or more. The good news, Capt Howard Good (New Orleans) put another 20 plus AKs and escorts to the bottom during the campaign. And Spruance (replacing Halsey), trapped Akagi off Rossel Island and sank her with Yorktown and Hornet. Intel has Kaga and Shokaku operating off DEI. It is now 4 to 2 advantage for USN CVs. SOPAC/CENPAC--Luganville is now the main objective. Efate is being developed, and as soon as the Air support group arrives (in two days) an F4F squadron and an SBD squadron will transfer in. Then the daily bombing of Luganville will begin. Marauders are transferring in from Brisbane to hit Luganville from Noumea. Fighters and SBDs are at Koumac as well. So is Fletcher with Saratoga and Enterprise. Actually all four CVs are here for now, but once some ship swapping is done, one group is heading back toward Pearl. Probably Spruance since Hornet is still flying biplane DBs, which helped sink Akagi and Hosho. The count is 4 CVs, (Hiyru, Soryu, Akagi and Zuikaku), one 30 capacity CVL, and one CVE sunk. Also Nagato was sunk and Yamashiro seriously damaged (I thought sunk but that is not confirmed) off Jarvis on a raid, all since late January. Prospects are looking up. Future planning for Allies is to hold India, hold China, keep bringing supplies and troops and planes into Australia, and to begin the assault against Japan with Luganville. Since I am learning how to conduct offensive operations, I like Luganville as a target. One, it is under allied land based air cover. Two, it is a long way from help. Three, the garrison, although regimental in size, is managable. I am assigning the invasion to 1 USMC Div which is forming and training in Maui. 23rd Inf is dug in at Noumea. 40th is dug in at Suva and the 2 USMC is forming at Pago-Pago, with the final pieces enroute from SD next month. Various defense battalions, Marine Raiders and Paras are holding Efate Tanna and Koumac. So far, the build up is going well. The only thing still missing is more shipping. Alas, there is never enough shipping! Johnjohn. PS--Am learning how to use the land based squadrons to haul supplies (transports/patrol), to bomb airfields, interdict troops, and so on. My only difficulty has been with upgrades, especially on the carriers. All the F4F-4s have been going to land based squadrons (replacing Buffalos). Same for SBDs. Sara did get the first batch of TBDs, but mostly not managing these upgrades well. Not having a problem with the AB7 and 20K supply rule. Is maddening when San Diego hogs the new planes for squadrons in US when I need them on the carriers. Next time I will turn off the upgrades until the carriers upgrade. I read about that somewhere in one of the other posts, but did not realize how important that was.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (12/29/2010 11:52:24 PM)
quote: Am learning how to use the land based squadrons to haul supplies (transports/patrol), to bomb airfields, interdict troops, and so on. My only difficulty has been with upgrades, especially on the carriers. All the F4F-4s have been going to land based squadrons (replacing Buffalos). Same for SBDs. Sara did get the first batch of TBDs, but mostly not managing these upgrades well. Not having a problem with the AB7 and 20K supply rule. Is maddening when San Diego hogs the new planes for squadrons in US when I need them on the carriers. Next time I will turn off the upgrades until the carriers upgrade. I read about that somewhere in one of the other posts, but did not realize how important that was. Turning off automatic replacements and upgrade on all squadrons (both LBA and carrier, regardless of plane type) is important. This had been true in WitP but it's especially true in AE where the numbers of planes in your replacement pools along with the production rates of these planes are considerably lower. With the number of replacement planes you do have available, it's even more important to have complete (manual) control over the replacement planes you have available in the pools and the distribution of planes from the pools to your air units. I've been holding all planes in the replacement pools until I can determine the specific squadron (or squadrons) that need the planes and a specific purpose for issuing planes to them. The only way to effectively hold replacement planes in the pools until you know where you need or want them is to turn off replacements and upgrades for all squadrons at the start of the game (can also be done at any time thereafter if you initially forget). Easiest method to do this is through the two displays for all land-based air units and all naval air units through the buttons along the top bar of the game screen - there are toggles at the bottom of each display to turn on and off the automatic plane replacements and upgrades simultaneously for all air units and all nationalities. Even if you do turn off automatic replacements or upgrades (as a default) for all squadrons, you can go to a particular squadron and turn it back on to override. Another area you did not mention was pilots. Pilot selection should also be set to manual (rather than automatic) for all air units. This can also be done in the displays for land-based and naval air units. Like replacement planes, you can have pilots going out of the replacement pools into squadrons where you don't need or want them. This also helps in other areas like holding and distributing trained pilots between training squadrons, the pilot reserve pools and front-line squadrons where you want these pilots assigned (rather than the AE game program sending them to where it would like them to go). I've had a situation during my last match in CHS vs Pillager where I had to completely pull all USAAF and RAF fighter squadrons out of combat for a period of several months due to a shortage of British replacement pilots and at the same time shortages of replacement Hurricane and P-40 fighter planes. Much of that problem was due to not turning off automatic upgrades in air units, along with generally not keeping sufficiently close track of the available replacement planes and pilots in my pools. In that situation I had a lot of P-40 planes (as many as several hundred) quietly going out of the replacement pools to automatically upgrade training squadrons on the US West Coast while leaving no P-40 planes available to replace combat losses in front-line squadrons. I spent several months worth of game turns watching the Jap air force freely roam the skies while my front-line squadrons were pulled to the rear and sat on the ground due to lack of replacements.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/5/2011 12:51:07 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/08/42 The Christmas truce is over... South Pacific: Jap amphibious landing underway at Ndeni. AAR of landing operations follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amphibious Assault at Ndeni TF 191 troops unloading over beach at Ndeni, 120,143 Japanese ground losses: 18 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled) 7.7mm T99 AAMG lost in surf during unload of 12th Naval Const Bn 17 troops of a SNLF Squad lost in surf during unload of 15th Nav Gd /2 8 Engineers lost from landing craft during unload of 12th Naval Const Bn /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several coastwatcher reports indicating between 20-35 unidentified Japanese ships are now located in Rabaul. One US sub is currently on patrol in the sea approaches off Rabaul. Australia: The first US LCU to reach Australia from the Eastern US (134 USAAF Base Force) arrived this game turn in Melbourne aboard transport Convoy CX-1 from Capetown. A second transport convoy from the Eastern US with additional US LCU’s, supply and fuel is due to arrive in Melbourne within 2-3 days. DEI: Japanese assault on Soerabaja continues. The outcome of this attack may indicate a prolonged Allied defense of Soerabaja could be possible. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 21562 troops, 219 guns, 133 vehicles, Assault Value = 1216 Defending force 21000 troops, 186 guns, 153 vehicles, Assault Value = 641 Japanese adjusted assault: 97 Allied adjusted defense: 233 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 2) Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: fatigue(-) Japanese ground losses: 1682 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 82 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 104 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled Allied ground losses: 1552 casualties reported Squads: 31 destroyed, 12 disabled Non Combat: 47 destroyed, 57 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled Vehicles lost 16 (10 destroyed, 6 disabled) Assaulting units: 4th Division 1st Ind. Engineer Regiment 5th Division (arrived this game turn to reinforce attack) 33rd Infantry Regiment 65th Brigade 6th Tank Regiment 17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: Van Altena Battalion Roodenburg Battalion Manado Garrison Battalion Barisan KNIL Regiment Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion Prajoda Garrison Battalion 4th KNIL Regiment 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Afdeling Ritman 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion Mobiele Eenheid Battalion 6th KNIL Regiment Makassar Garrison Battalion MLD Madion Base Force Commandement Marine Banjoewangi Base Force Loemafjang Base Force Malang Base Force Bandoeng Base Force Djojakarta Base Force Soerabaja Base Force Kalidjati Base Force /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity reported over Palembang and Soerabaja. A series of night and daylight naval surface combat actions between a Japanese surface combat TF and the last remaining Dutch PT boats occurred at Makassar. All but one of the Dutch PT’s were sunk in these actions, no hits scored against Jap ships. The Dutch PT flotilla had been stranded in Makassar due to lack of fuel at Makassar and other nearby bases within movement range that were still under Allied control. AAR of the first surface action follows, the end result of subsequent surface combats in this series of actions well within the imagination of the reader. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Makassar at 65,106, Range 11,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Chokai CA Ashigara CL Sendai CL Kuma DD Hayashio DD Nenohi DD Hatsushima DD Wakaba TB Kiji Allied Ships (all PT’s except TM-11 were eventually sunk) PT TM-10 PT TM-11 PT TM-12 PT TM-13 PT TM-14 PT TM-15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A task force of three small Dutch AMc’s departing Soerabaja for Darwin were attacked and sunk along the north coast of Timor in a series of naval air strikes. The AMc’s had exhausted their fuel and were attempting to reach Dili to refuel when they were attacked. AAR of the first air strike follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Alor at 69,115 Weather in hex: Heavy cloud Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft G4M1 Betty x 6 No Japanese losses Allied Ships AMc Endeh, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk AMc Djampea, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk AMc Digoel (sunk in a later air attack) Aircraft Attacking: 6 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb Endeh dead in the water ... Djampea dead in the water ... Digoel dead in the water ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Singapore: Detected status of Jap base in Singapore – 168 ships anchored in port, 11 Jap LCU’s, 204 aircraft (62 fighters, 53 bombers). It also appears Pillager has begun repairs on shipyard and industrial facilities in Singapore. Burma: Jap minesweeping operations reported at Rangoon. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 47 encounters mine field at Rangoon (54,53) Japanese Ships DMS W-6 DMS W-5 DMS W-3 DMS W-1 26 mines cleared -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Allied submarines are currently operating on patrol off Rangoon. One unidentified Japanese LCU detected entering Mandalay base hex this game turn. A Jap ground attack to capture Mandalay should come shortly. India: AVG Ground Echelon LCU arrived in Calcutta this game turn and reunited with AVG fighter squadrons now based there. China: Jap ground advance along Henyang to Chihkiang road continues. AAR follows. Jap forces are now outside Chihkiang. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 78,51 (E of Chihkiang) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 36084 troops, 430 guns, 111 vehicles, Assault Value = 1226 Defending force 13001 troops, 173 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 358 Japanese adjusted assault: 930 Allied adjusted defense: 457 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 508 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 36 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Allied ground losses: 4412 casualties reported Squads: 187 destroyed, 19 disabled Non Combat: 188 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 9 destroyed, 10 disabled Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled) Units retreated 4 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 34th Division 15th Division 116th Division 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 1st Mortar Battalion 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion Defending units: 21st Chinese Corps 86th Chinese Corps 50th Chinese Corps 3rd New Chinese Corps -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese continue attack against Chinese rear-guard forces still in Changteh. Most of the Chinese ground forces previously in Changteh are withdrawing to the SW towards Chihkiang to avoid outflanking by the Japanese ground advance on Chihkiang. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 545 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1052 Defending force 43689 troops, 271 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1422 Japanese ground losses: 16 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Assaulting units: 39th Division 6th Division 17th Division 11th Army 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion Defending units: 8th Chinese Corps 73rd Chinese Corps 44th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 87th Chinese Corps --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/8/2011 2:11:14 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/09/42 Japanese Home Islands: US sub reports contact with Japanese transport TF off Honshu. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Hamamatsu at 110,63 (S of Nagoya) Japanese Ships xAK Nikki Maru xAK Enzyu Maru xAK Nagato Maru SC Ch 10 Allied Ships SS Grayling SS Grayling launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Nikki Maru -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- South Pacific: Japanese capture Ndeni. Luganville bombarded by Jap surface task force. AAR’s of both actions follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Ndeni (120,143) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 1451 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 23 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 23 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Ndeni !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: 15th Naval Guard Unit (brought in from Samah) 12th Naval Construction Battalion (entered game as reinforcement, new LCU in known Japanese OOB) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Luganville at 120,150 Japanese Ships CA Atago CA Takao CL Jintsu DD Hibiki DD Akatsuki DD Arashio DD Michishio DD Asashio Port hits 31 Port supply hits 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Coastwatcher reports continue to indicate 30+ Japanese ships located in Rabaul. DEI: Japanese amphibious landing underway at Boela in the eastern DEI. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Amphibious Assault at Boela TF 113 troops unloading over beach at Boela, 80,110 Japanese ground losses: 26 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled 19 troops of a IJA Infantry Squad lost overboard during unload of 41st Infantry Rgt /2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity continues over Palembang and Soerabaja. Philippines: Unidentified Jap LCU’s entering base hexes at San Fernando and Manila this game turn. China: AAR of latest Jap ground attack against Changteh follows. Last LCU’s of Chinese rear-guard force vacated Changteh this game turn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 535 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1061 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Assaulting units: 39th Division 6th Division 17th Division 11th Army 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 4th Mortar Battalion --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/8/2011 10:06:01 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/10/42 South Pacific: Luganville bombarded for a second time by the same Japanese surface task force. Coastwatchers at Rabaul report harbor is now empty, indicating one or more Jap TF(s) totaling 30 or more ships have departed Rabaul for an unknown destination or destinations. US submarine S-40 patrolling the southern exit from Rabaul (towards the Solomons and Coral Sea) has not reported any contact with Japanese ship(s). DEI: Japanese ground assault on Soerabaja resumes. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 34316 troops, 343 guns, 203 vehicles, Assault Value = 1151 Defending force 19774 troops, 186 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 590 Japanese adjusted assault: 294 Allied adjusted defense: 222 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1243 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 67 disabled Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 68 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Allied ground losses: 1597 casualties reported Squads: 43 destroyed, 35 disabled Non Combat: 63 destroyed, 98 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Vehicles lost 30 (18 destroyed, 12 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 1st Ind. Engineer Regiment 5th Division 33rd Infantry Regiment 4th Division 65th Brigade 6th Tank Regiment 17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: Afdeling Ritman Roodenburg Battalion Prajoda Garrison Battalion Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion 6th KNIL Regiment Manado Garrison Battalion 4th KNIL Regiment Mobiele Eenheid Battalion 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion Barisan KNIL Regiment Makassar Garrison Battalion MLD Djojakarta Base Force Malang Base Force Commandement Marine Madion Base Force Soerabaja Base Force Banjoewangi Base Force Bandoeng Base Force Loemafjang Base Force Kalidjati Base Force /1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boela captured by Japanese landing force. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Boela (80,110) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3613 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 126 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 58 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 58 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Boela !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: leaders(-) Assaulting units: 41st Infantry Regiment (transferred from Singapore) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Light Jap air activity continues over Palembang and Soerabaja. Jap surface ASW attacks and damages Dutch submarine off the entrance to Palembang. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Muntok at 49,89 Japanese Ships PB Hakozake Maru PB Fuji Maru #3 PB Tatebu Maru Allied Ships SS KXVI, hits 3 (system damage 20, float 18) Captain of SS KXVI elects not to launch torpedoes at this target (!) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Philippines: Japanese capture San Fernando and Manila. Both bases had been previously evacuated by US forces. Withdrawal of US ground forces on Luzon into Bataan is almost fully completed except for a small rear-guard action at Clark Field. AAR’s follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at San Fernando (80,74) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13234 troops, 124 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 455 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 262 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 262 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE San Fernando !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(+) Assaulting units: 19th Division -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Manila (79,77) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 13143 troops, 122 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 453 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 126 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 126 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(-) Assaulting units: 24th Division -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burma: Japanese capture Mandalay. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 4214 troops, 40 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 145 Defending force 309 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 12 Japanese adjusted assault: 70 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 70 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Mandalay !!! Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(+), experience(-) Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-) Allied ground losses: 186 casualties reported Squads: 5 destroyed, 9 disabled Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Units retreated 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 33rd/C Division (Note: 33 Division divided into sub-units since its last action at Meiktila on 3/02/42) Defending units: Mandalay BMP Battalion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- All Allied LCU’s withdrawing overland from southern Burma through Prome and along the coastal road to Akyab have now reached Akyab. Combat LCU’s from this group are deploying to garrison Akyab and Chittagong. A number of base force LCU’s (RAF, RN and AVG) that withdrew along this route have already or are now transferring to Calcutta or farther on to rear-area bases inside India. Many of the British base force units leaving Burma are considerably understrength, plans are to rebuild them to full TOE strength with replacement elements before using them again to support active operations. China: Japanese capture Changteh. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Changteh (81,50) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 11251 troops, 169 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1277 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 404 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 404 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Changteh !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: 17th Division 39th Division 6th Division 59th Infantry Brigade (joined attack this game turn, new LCU in Japanese OOB) 2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment 11th Army 4th Mortar Battalion -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A large group of Chinese LCU’s transferring from Yenan to Sian engaged a small Japanese ground force NE of Sian that was attempting to cut off their movement along the Sian to Yenan road. Situation map of Sian-Yenan area and AAR follow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 85,40 (NE of Sian) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 6091 troops, 67 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 212 Defending force 55033 troops, 342 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1811 Japanese adjusted assault: 5 Allied adjusted defense: 1325 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 265 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), experience(-) Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-), supply(-) Japanese ground losses: 2571 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 126 disabled Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 95 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Allied ground losses: 100 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Assaulting units: 4th Ind.Mixed Brigade 6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 1st Construction Regiment 115th Red Chinese Division 129th Red Chinese Division 83rd Chinese Corps 22nd Chinese Corps 23rd Chinese Corps 16th Chinese Corps 19th Chinese Corps 3rd Prov Chinese Corps 35th Chinese Corps 42nd Chinese Corps 4th Chinese Cavalry Corps 2nd Construction Regiment 6th Group Army 18th Group Army 2nd War Area 13th Group Army 12th Chinese Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/18646/8C02CA92D1714C268D930B4A527C61E7.jpg[/image] Japanese capture Kwangchowan on the southern coast of China. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Kwangchowan (73,60) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 3456 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 136 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 138 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 138 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Kwangchowan !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: leaders(+) Assaulting units: 12th Ind.Mixed Brigade

johnjohn -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/10/2011 1:12:46 AM)
Just an update June 16, 1942. Basically, nothing much has changed since the last update. At India, the UK fleet continues to defend all onslaughts and has the enemy holed up on the coast with one division at Cox's Bazar. Over 20,000 casualties incurred by enemy attempting to reinforce this position. Intel now has the enemy withdrawing. DEI--Batavia fell, Titjalap is about to fall, and Soerabaja is holding out. They will be next to go. Meanwhile the ant farm is picking off all the "dots" and undefended bases. NG--Horn island is holding out against an invasion. Diego Garcia was also invaded, but the small detachment there held out until the Aussie pioneers arrived. They made quick work of the invaders and Garcia is building up defenses. Aussie--Engineers and some combat units are moving north, to build an airbase at Coen, build up the defenses and airbase/harbor at Cooktown and at Conclurry. The 32nd USA Inf Div is at Townsville, as is the Aussie 1st Div. Most of the Armor in country is centered around Townsville with one unit defending at Coen. Supplies and men are being moved in as preparations for the invasion of Port Morseby and Milne Bay. SOPAC--Intel showed the garrison at Luganville attempting to evacuate in light of the daily bombing campaign. The garrison was intercepted at sea and drowned (about 5.5K casualties with many engineers). Two days later the USMC invaded and retook Luganville. Engineers and Aircraft are being assembled to build up the base. Next step is preparations for the Solomons campaign. The 1st USMC Div, the 2nd USMC Div, the 23rd Americal Div, and the 40th Inf Div are available for the campaign as are the two raider battalions, three paramarine battalions, four defense battalions, several AAA units, two armor regiments, and several HQs. My plan here is to creep up the dots to Ndeni, building airbases along the way. Then the initial attack will be one of the dots within range of Ndeni. Finally, the Canal and Tulagi will be invaded. The NG campaign will not get underway until the southern Solomon campaign is completed. The Navy will support the campaign with five CVs, probably in TF of 2 and 3. CVE Long Island will be the truck hauling the air units into position after they arrive at Noumea. BB Hiei sunk in raid on Luganville. Six of the 15 CAs the enemy starts with are now confirmed sunk. So are many of the smaller CLs. Attu and Kiska fell last week, but as mentioned before, I am ignoring Alaska other than running in supplies to feed the garrisons. The units for Alaska are training at Tacoma (Ft. Lewis). Eventually they will be deployed, but this is strickly a side show for now. CENPAC--nothing new here. Engr units are being replaced as island detachments are withdrawn. The CVs are refitting and trying to get the better planes assigned. As you suggested, I have turned off the auto replacement for most squadrons. I am also spending more time assigning pilots where I want them. Unfortunately, I have not engaged in enough combat for all but five pilots to "qualify" for training command. India is being ignored. Most the troops in Burma have disappeared, I suspect moving to DEI and probably to a future Pt. Darwin campaign. I am now learning how to best utilize the HQ units to improve combat for LCUs. I don't have enough PPs yet to take advantage of the lower level commands yet, but soon will be able to reassign units to HQs in the area. Thus far I am satisfied with just learning the game and not having my rear end handed to me by the AI. Granted, I lucked out sinking three Jap CVs in January for the loss of one (Lexington). That has made this less demanding than what you are experiencing. But, as I feared from the beginning, there is so much more to learn. I was disappointed that the enemy bailed out from Luganville and allowed me to walk in. I am still attempting to determine just how to invade a defended position. I use the recon feature or recon a/c to get an accurate picture of what is in the hex, send bombers in to reduce the airfield and port (basically doing what they did to me at Port Moresby), and then attack with an invasion force (which I have yet to do beyond just sending in a battalion or two to defend a position.) I am struggling to determine how much lift is needed to send in a division or two, while holding a reserve. It seems it takes two to three days with an Amphib Unit to unload. With over 50 bettys at Rabaul I get the willies thinking how many of these ships will get sunk. Thus far all is well. But all is far from over. Johnjohn (first time player against AI)

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/16/2011 7:16:52 PM)
quote: Most the troops in Burma have disappeared... They're probably still there. Once things (the initial Japanese invasion) have quieted down, the Japanese LCU's in Burma will disappear from the map once they are no longer in any kind of detected status. Also pretty much true for Jap LCU's in any of their rear areas. That's where you'll need to watch your Sigint and AAR reports. This is also where keeping track of the Jap LCU(s) you "see" in your Sigint and other reports come in - who they are, when and in what location they are reported being. Not only do you get a "running" inventory of Japanese LCU's in the game, where they currently are or last reported to be, and when you last saw any information on them - you can take the reported location of a Jap LCU from a Sigint (or other) report and compare the unit's new location against its previous one to determine whether the unit is stationary or if it has been transferred from one area to another. An Allied player can derive a substantial quantity of strategic-level information from tracking the identities and location of Japanese LCU's over a long period of time, and is useful against either an AI or human Japanese opponent. Information obtained by this method could include - (1) a medium to large-scale movement of Jap combat forces into a given area either in preparation for an offensive or to create strongpoints in a defensive strategy, (2) locations and concentrations of engineer and base force LCU's indicating where Japanese construction to increase base (port and/or airfield) capacities and/or fortifications is occurring, (3) where base force LCU's are located can reveal the locations of key Jap airfields and naval bases along with the approximate size (and importance) of each base. While the data derived in this manner reveals little if any tactical level information, it does provide a reasonably accurate "big picture" of what a Japanese opponent is up to when viewed over a period of time. quote: I am now learning how to best utilize the HQ units to improve combat for LCUs. You're ahead of me on this one. For the moment, the emphasis is getting my troops "dumped out" into the field with the niceties of command structure to be dealt with later (when I have the PP's free to do so) or on an emergency (as required) basis.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/16/2011 7:23:10 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/11/42 South Pacific: Small Japanese transport intercepted and attacked in a night action by a US submarine off the Marianas, NE of Saipan. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submarine attack near Pagan at 113,91 Japanese Ships xAKL Hitora Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire Allied Ships SS Pompano xAKL Hitora Maru is sighted by SS Pompano SS Pompano attacking xAKL Hitora Maru on the surface -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Australia: The first Eastern US to Australia off-map convoy (Convoy EX-1) arrived in Melbourne this game turn. Convoy EX-1 departed the Eastern US on 1/09 with 13 transport ships and one AO. Cargo arriving in Australia aboard ships in Convoy EX-1 include two US LCU’s (1 Marine Raider Bn, 205 FA Bn), 60000 supply and 14900 fuel. Five additional convoys from the Eastern US are currently enroute to Australia. DEI: Light Jap air activity continues over Palembang and Soerabaja, otherwise quiet. Singapore: Sigint report entry for 3/11 indicates a heavy volume of intercepted Jap radio transmissions from Singapore. A Japanese task force consisting of 10 ships including three CVE’s and one CS (Baby KB?) is detected in Singapore base hex. Burma: Sigint report entry for 3/11 indicates Jap 2 Raiding Rgt is enroute to Rangoon via sea transport. 2 Raiding Rgt is a new LCU in the known Japanese OOB. Two Allied subs are now operating on patrol off Rangoon – perhaps we can “bag” part or all of this LCU at sea before its arrival in Rangoon. China: Quiet this game turn. A current situation map of central China follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/DC5C1390120848CBADC292412204015C.jpg[/image]

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/17/2011 2:19:13 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/12/42 Approximately 175 trained USAAF fighter and dive-bomber pilots in eight US squadrons due for withdrawal on 3/15/42 were transferred from active status to the general reserve pilot pool before executing the scheduled withdrawal of these squadrons. The eight disbanded squadrons were based mainly in Australia (A-24 Banshee DB squadrons plus USAAF fighter squadrons originally in the Philippines that had been disbanded there and later returned as reinforcements in Brisbane), along with several squadrons located in the mainland US. A significant number of PP was collected in the (3 days) early withdrawal of the squadrons. South Pacific: Japanese amphibious landing underway at Luganville. US sub S-23 unsuccessfully attempts to engage Jap landing TF. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Luganville at 120,150 Japanese Ships xAK Aratama Maru DD Wakatake Allied Ships SS S-23 SS S-23 is sighted by escort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Luganville at 120,150 Japanese Ships xAK Aratama Maru DD Wakatake Allied Ships SS S-23, hits 3 (system damage 13, float 2, 4” gun knocked out) SS S-23 is sighted by escort -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied transport ship reports sighting of Jap carrier planes S of Noumea (entry in 3/12 Operations report). Detected Japanese TF(s) shown SE of Noumea moving on a SE heading – probable KB contact. Orders to evacuate all Allied ships now in port at Auckland have been issued. Allied ships bound for Auckland, Suva or Noumea have been re-routed. Weather conditions forecast for this area on 3/13 is clear. Situation map follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/6056F1940A854E84B587E5D6769C92A1.jpg[/image] Australia: Convoy MX-2 arrives in Perth from Aden with leading elements of 7 Australian Division plus 7100 supply. DEI: Light Jap air activity continues over Palembang and Soerabaja, otherwise quiet. Philippines: Japanese auto-capture Lingayen. Burma: Sigint entry for 3/12 again reports Japanese 2 Raiding Rgt is enroute to Rangoon via sea transport. China: Quiet this game turn.

johnjohn -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/17/2011 8:38:42 PM)
Whoa!! If that a/c number is verifyable, you have more than 6 CVs there. Might also be one CVL. 6 x 70 = 420 +30, although the average could be 75 in which case it is just 6 CVs. 448 fighters/bombers is alot of capacity. Me thinks it is time to RUN!. I was not able to place F/DB on Noumea until late April. What I had available was already deployed at Canton Island, Johnston, Midway, and Pearl. In desperation I brought in some B-17s and an AV to support the Patrol Planes. That AV probably saved my carriers when the PM attack went to Noumea, sinking the AV and not following on with the York/Sara TF, which promptly escaped turning the battle over to Halsey on Enterprise and Lex, who sank two of the four CVs (Fletcher got Hiryu the day before) while losing Lex. The lack of land based a.c. proved annoying for months. Now Noumea is a major base soon to be a 7/7. Land based a/c no longer is a problem. Of course, if the AI went for the west coast, the cupboard is a bit bare there. Just the restricted groups. My defense strategy following the carrier raid was to form two cruiser SAGs, with one patrolling off Koumac and the other near Luganville. The Luganville force did not detect the enemy invasion force that promptly arrived and took Luganville. It did cut off all attempts to resupply the invaders. I immediately stationed two DDs each at Efate, Tanna, Noumea, and Koumac, which kept the invaders that arrived later from invading. The two cruiser SAGs then finished them off. Intel estimates are 30,000 troops and 50 engineers perished in these operations when their TFs were intercepted and sunk as were the follow on attempts and the attempts to reinforce and supply Luganville. By April the AI moved to Port M, conducting a six week campaign that took the base. At the end of that campaign the AI attempted to pull out the garrison at Luganville. Another 5,500 casualties along with 15 more engineers. All these loses have got to hurt, but there is no indication that the enemy is finished. I have kept one CV task force in the area after both replenished. Hornet replaced Lex and now Wasp is nearing PH. The CV force has sunk two battleships, badly mauled a third, sunk Akagi when she sortied on a raid of the Aussie East Coast, and intercepted and drowned another 4,000 troops and engineers near Ndeni a couple of days ago. The one strategy I employ with the carriers is to operate them near land based support. That way I can dash behind the base and offer it up as an alternative target. So far so good. But with the confirmed loss of 4 CVs, the AI is finding power projection difficult. I have been reading several other campaigns and it is clear that if the enemy concentrates the KB, everything falls in SoPac. In one campaign only Tahiti, Bora Bora, the line Islands (Palmyra--Christmas) Pearl, and New Zealand remain in Allied hands. It is clear that aggresive acts early can produce big returns for the enemy. I attribute my success thus far to beginners luck of being in the right place at the right time, not because I discerned (other than by logic) what the enemy would do next, but just because I happened to be in the way with the right stuff at the right time. Pure dumb luck, but sometimes it pays to be lucky!! I dont know if you can pull off a sub trap on the KB. In another campaign the allied player did so, the KB stumbled onto it and battle ensued. Captain of American Sub: Range 1200 yards, Speed 15. Fire one! Weapons: One away, true and straight. Captain: Fire two...Fire three...Fire four... Weapons: All fish running hot and true. Captain: How long? Weapons: Number one...three...two...one...now Captain: Nothing. Weapons: Number two...three...two...one...clang. Captain: We hit the carrier but the torpedo did not explode! Weapons: Number three...three...two...one...clang Captain: Another dud Weapons: Number four...three...two...one..now Captain: A miss. Reload all tubes. Take her down to 300 feet. Make course 270. And so it went. Two hits, no explosions, the KB sails away just like that. Of course many complaints about US Torps vs IJN Torps ensue with most noting the Japs never miss and ours never explode. I hope you are able to force Pillager to be deliberate. Eventually you will have the resources necessary to stop the advance so that in late 43 you can grind your way back. (Hey, what do I know?) Good Hunting,,,Johnjohn

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/17/2011 11:07:53 PM)
quote: Whoa!! If that a/c number is verifyable, you have more than 6 CVs there. Might also be one CVL. 6 x 70 = 420 +30, although the average could be 75 in which case it is just 6 CVs. 448 fighters/bombers is alot of capacity. Me thinks it is time to RUN!. At the very least, I'd say all six fleet CV's are in that KB stack, which is Pillager's normal modus operendi. And I'd expect nothing less as the Japanese dividing their carriers cost them at both Coral Sea (they could have attacked and sunk Yorktown there along with Lexington) and Midway (that being self-explanatory). Pillager does occasionally send CVL(s) out with the KB so your thought on that is not out of the question either. My thanks go out to the captain of the xAKL that spotted the Jap carrier planes in the course of his transport run to pick up resource points in Noumea for use in New Zealand. I'm surprised the AKL survived the encounter. My best guess is that Pillager has the KB out on a "commerce raiding" mission to hit Allied transports moving between the US West Coast and Australia. I evacuated ships from Auckland as a precaution though he may or may not launch a port attack there (that possibility could go either way). Sending the KB on "commerce raiding" missions was something Pillager done a number of times in our last CHS match - I had been expecting that again and in fact this sortie of the KB was well overdue. This was my #1 reason for the Eastern US to Capetown route for transporting "goods and services" to Australia. I have 150+ large transports plying the Capetown route, Pillager will find next to nothing where he's sending the KB if he finds anything at all. With luck this KB sortie may lead Pillager to the conclusion I am reinforcing Australia as slowly as I did last time (I really didn't get much to Australia before early 1943 in that game) when almost exactly the reverse is true. The minor inconvience not withstanding, I'd just as soon see Pillager sending the KB down there to tilt windmills, burn up fuel and generally waste time. Look at the bright side... I know where the KB is. Come to think of it... the KB could likely have been the 30+ Japanese ships hanging out in Rabaul. quote: The one strategy I employ with the carriers is to operate them near land based support. My carriers are at home, getting 3/42 and 4/42 ship upgrades and training pilots. While I'd enjoy raining bombs on Pillager's CV parade, there will be more lucrative times and opportunities to do that later. quote: I have been reading several other campaigns and it is clear that if the enemy concentrates the KB, everything falls in SoPac. In one campaign only Tahiti, Bora Bora, the line Islands (Palmyra--Christmas) Pearl, and New Zealand remain in Allied hands. It is clear that aggresive acts early can produce big returns for the enemy Exactly what Pillager did in our last CHS match... Check out the battle for Samoa in the WitP forum from our last match - I believe it's still there. The Japanese outer perimeter line Noumea - Suva - Pago Pago - Canton Is really does work, I found that out first hand. Stalingrad had nothing up on our little action at Pago Pago. quote: I dont know if you can pull off a sub trap on the KB. In another campaign the allied player did so, the KB stumbled onto it and battle ensued. Captain of American Sub: Range 1200 yards, Speed 15. Fire one! Weapons: One away, true and straight. Captain: Fire two...Fire three...Fire four... Weapons: All fish running hot and true. Captain: How long? Weapons: Number one...three...two...one...now Captain: Nothing. Weapons: Number two...three...two...one...clang. Captain: We hit the carrier but the torpedo did not explode! Weapons: Number three...three...two...one...clang Captain: Another dud Weapons: Number four...three...two...one..now Captain: A miss. Reload all tubes. Take her down to 300 feet. Make course 270. And so it went. Two hits, no explosions, the KB sails away just like that. Of course many complaints about US Torps vs IJN Torps ensue with most noting the Japs never miss and ours never explode. On the bright side, you know where the KB is... Once in awhile a torpedo does detonate. At this point in the war, I lean toward using the US S-class boats and the Dutch subs in places where I'd really like to hit something (as these do not have dud torpedoes). The only problem with these subs being that most of them don't have a lot of range. I do send out all the US fleet subs with the dud torpedoes, though for the most part they only serve as window dressing.

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/17/2011 11:20:21 PM)
Summary of Operations 3/13/42 Central Pacific: A small Jap transport was intercepted and sunk SE of Iwo Jima. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Submarine attack near Agrihan at 113,83 Japanese Ships xAKL Genmei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage (confirmed sunk) Allied Ships SS Pike xAKL Genmei Maru is sighted by SS Pike SS Pike launches 2 torpedoes at xAKL Genmei Maru (yes, dud torpedoes sometimes do work) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sigint report entry for 3/13 reporting intercepted Japanese radio transmissions from Tarawa. No detected Jap forces or activity is shown at Tarawa. South Pacific: No reported contacts, spotting or detection of the KB this game turn (KB is no longer visible on the game map). Japanese capture Luganville. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Luganville (120,150) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 648 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 32 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 31 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 31 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Luganville !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: Assaulting units: Yokosuka 3rd SNLF (previously participated in landing at Canton Is) 5th Naval Construction Battalion (transferred from Formosa) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Burma: Japanese occupy Taung Gui. AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Taung Gyi (59,48) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 913 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 40 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0 Japanese adjusted assault: 19 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Taung Gyi !!! Combat modifiers Attacker: fatigue(-) Assaulting units: 1st Raiding Regiment -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- China: Quiet this game turn. Current situation map of southern China follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/B0CC3ED686CC4108964E64CBA88DF7EB.jpg[/image]

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/19/2011 12:05:51 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/14/42 South Pacific: The Australian xAKL Lady Isobel reached Noumea safely and for a second time in 3 days reported (and survived) a contact with Japanese carrier planes. The current location of the KB appears to have moved slightly northward from its previous reported detection on 3/12. Pillager is appearing to be stationing the KB nearby and to the south of Noumea, possibly to support a move on Noumea by other Japanese forces that are currently enroute. A number of US S-class submarines are converging on both Noumea and the vicinity of the KB’s current location. Current situation map of the sea area S of Noumea follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/847159D8A38C4364903133509489562E.jpg[/image]

wneumann -> RE: Sleepless on Samoa, the Sequel (wneumann vs Jolly Pillager) (1/19/2011 12:08:27 AM)
Summary of Operations 3/14/42 (continued) DEI: Japanese ground assault to capture Soerabaja resumes. Latest AAR follows. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja (56,104) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 34202 troops, 343 guns, 202 vehicles, Assault Value = 1165 Defending force 18327 troops, 186 guns, 127 vehicles, Assault Value = 537 Japanese adjusted assault: 301 Allied adjusted defense: 169 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 1284 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 51 disabled Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 79 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled) Allied ground losses: 3457 casualties reported Squads: 53 destroyed, 107 disabled Non Combat: 64 destroyed, 206 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 4th Division 1st Ind. Engineer Regiment 65th Brigade 33rd Infantry Regiment 5th Division 6th Tank Regiment 17th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Defending units: 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion 4th KNIL Regiment Barisan KNIL Regiment Mobiele Eenheid Battalion Makassar Garrison Battalion 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Roodenburg Battalion Afdeling Ritman Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion Artilleriecommando Coastal Gun Battalion 6th KNIL Regiment Manado Garrison Battalion Prajoda Garrison Bn /1 Soerabaja Base Force Loemafjang Base Force Banjoewangi Base Force Madion Base Force Commandement Marine MLD Bandoeng Base Force Malang Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jap minesweeping operations reported at Bandjermasin. Light Japanese ground attack air strikes against Dutch LCU’s in both Soerabaja and Palembang. No significant casualties or losses shown in these attacks for either side. Singapore: Sigint report entry for 3/13 indicates HQ Japanese Southern Fleet has moved from Indochina to Singapore. Philippines: Current situation map of Luzon follows. [image]local://upfiles/18646/81E100D29C574E53AD9F65E32CC2095C.jpg[/image] China: Still quiet this game turn.

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