Canoerebel -> RE: One Weird Battle (10/5/2010 2:59:52 PM)
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5/19/42 SigInt: I've received two significant reports that provide a missing piece of the puzzle. In previous posts, I've mentioned SigInt reports that 12th Division was prepping for Bombay and was aboard a Maru. Until today, I had thought this division was in theater and probably about to land at Goa. Today, however, SigInt reports that 4/12th and 6/12th are aboard different Marus making for Singapore. This tells me that Brad is still streaming reinforcements to India, meaning he's coming full bore. Reinforcements: The Allies have two Marine regiments and a tank unit at East Coast awaiting transports for the trip to Karachi via Capetown. I may also detail 27th Division, currently at San Diego, for this mission (but I need 1900 PP to "buy" 27th and currently have but 1100). In addition, a UK division arrives at Aden in about 50 days. The Allies will employ carriers to escort these troops to Karachi if, when that time comes, it still looks like Brad is coming full bore. (If he should back down, I won't reveal my carriers). Wasp will arrive at Balboa in less than a month - she'll likely move to Capetown to join the party in waiting. In the meantime, the East African unit (95 AV) will arrive at Abadan tomorrow. It will then make for Karachi, though I'll break up the TF into several smaller TFs to reduce the risk of total loss. India: The Allied retreat from South and Northeast India continues. One Indian brigade got caught fighting a rearguard action west of Calcutta, holding back a much larger force. I'll air evac a cadre of this unit. I don't want to lose this brigade, but it has slowed down the enemy advance thus allowing the bulk of the units to put more distance between them and the Japanse. Far to the south, nearly all units have evacuated. The one Indian division left is moving north by road. It may have some trouble making it all the way to the MLR before getting cut off. Thinking Ahead: The Allies are carefully monitoring Japanese base-building activity all over the map. This helps me detect where Brad is concentrating his efforts, where he believes an Allied push is most likely to come, and where there might be "holes" that the Allies can exploit. I don't think the Allies will go on the offensive until 1943, but I want to be as prepared as possible in case an opportunity arrives earlier than I had expected. KB: No reports or sightings of IJN carriers in weeks, so I no longer have any hard evidence as to it's location. I'm playing as though it could be anywhere. My hunch is that it may be resting and upgrading in preparation for some activity in the Pacific. Allied Carriers: Fully upgraded and in port at Capetown. The air squadrons continue to train at 100%. In AE, the Allies begin the game with pretty decent carrier pilots, so the first big battle is usually a good contest between competent pilots. After that, though, the Allies had better have a good pilot training program in place or they can't fight as equals for a long, long time. The soonest I can envision the Allied carriers moving into the Gulf of Arabia would be around August '42. By then most of the really obsolete aircraft should be gone and some torpedo squadrons should be equipped with Avengers. The USN will have six carriers. I think the RN will contribute three CV and a CVL. At What Cost? The Allies have gone to great lengths to preseve the "force in being" concept for carriers. This has paid marked dividends in the Pacific to date and I would love to continue the program. By the time I would commit the carriers, however, the period of greatest crisis in the Pacific will have passed. The Allies needed the breather to occupy and/or strengthen the key islands in the Aleutians, Midway, Canton Island, Pago Pago, and Fiji. All of those tasks have been accomplished, now, and those garrisons are ready to fight if it comes to that.
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