RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia

RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (Full Version)

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Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/8/2012 2:07:34 PM)
Jun 8 SW Australia: The Guards Tank Division entered Kalgoorlie. It first dropped the forts from 3 to 0 in a single attack and then captured Kalgoorlie, destroying a good part of the 4th Australian Division. I don't know if Michael intended to flee or delay me here. The allies retreated to the east instead of the south, which is a problem. They now sit on the railroad leading to Port Augusta. I think I will advance with my armor on this railroad. quote: Ground combat at Kalgoorlie (56,147) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 7287 troops, 110 guns, 406 vehicles, Assault Value = 393 Defending force 13722 troops, 148 guns, 64 vehicles, Assault Value = 406 Japanese adjusted assault: 512 Allied adjusted defense: 84 Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Kalgoorlie !!! Combat modifiers Defender: op mode(-), preparation(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 71 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Allied ground losses: 1983 casualties reported Squads: 120 destroyed, 50 disabled Non Combat: 86 destroyed, 30 disabled Engineers: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 33 (33 destroyed, 0 disabled) Vehicles lost 60 (59 destroyed, 1 disabled) Units retreated 8 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 16th Engineer Regiment Guards Tank Division Defending units: Timor Garrison Battalion 25th MG Battalion 10th Cav Recce Regiment Makassar Garrison Battalion 4th Australian Division 44th Australian Battalion 12th Avn Sup Afd 12th RAAF Base Force [image]http://i47.tinypic.com/6gkltx.jpg[/image] SE Australia: Another minor setback. Allied bombers attacked my armored spearhead. They did not destroy any tanks, but managed to slowed down my tanks. All my regiments switched to combat mode, except one. The 9th Tank Regiment entered Broken Hill alone and was destroyed. The interesting bit of information here is that the American Infantry Division is at Broken hill. quote: Ground combat at Broken Hill (80,160) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 22112 troops, 353 guns, 592 vehicles, Assault Value = 807 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 5 vehicles, Assault Value = 1 Allied adjusted assault: 690 Japanese adjusted defense: 1 Allied assault odds: 690 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: Attacker: Japanese ground losses: Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion 2/4th Armoured Regiment 3rd Motor Brigade 763rd Tank Battalion 762nd Tank Battalion Americal Infantry Division 6th Aus Cav Brigade 208th Coast AA Regiment Northern Territory Corps 134th Field Artillery Battalion 30th Base Group 109th Anti Tank Regiment 11th RAAF Base Force 2nd US Naval Construction Battalion Defending units: 9th Tank Regiment In the following screenshot you can see the general situation in SE Australia. My carriers are three days from hitting Melbourne, but I am still undecided. The allied carrier(s) and cruisers retreated to New Zealand and I suspect that Dunedin is the main allied port in the area. Wellington is being watched from Norfolk island, no ships have been spotted there for ages. I don't expect to encounter all 9 allied CVs here. Also note that there are no fighters protecting these bases, Michael has placed all of them at Sydney, Newcastle and Tamworth. So, as I see it, I have two options: a) hit Port Augusta and Melbourne ports with KB2 and KB respectively. b) attack the allied convoy with KB2 and hit Dunedin with KB. Decisions...decisions... [image]http://i46.tinypic.com/2wd4jg5.jpg[/image]

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/8/2012 11:16:07 PM)
Jun 9 KB is discovered 20 hexes off the shores of SE Australia! What a waste...[:(] quote: Morning Air attack on TF, near Albany at 56,177 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 48 B5N2 Kate x 54 D3A1 Val x 63 Japanese aircraft losses D3A1 Val: 5 damaged Allied Ships xAK Anna Odland, Bomb hits 3, on fire xAK Iron Baron, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Iron Knight, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk xAK Iron Chieftan, Bomb hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Cycle, Bomb hits 3, on fire xAK Iron King, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage xAK Corinda, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Borgfred, Bomb hits 2, on fire xAK Pardo, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAK La Cordillera, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage xAK Herstein, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAK Nurani, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk xAK Testbank, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk xAK Dagfred, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk How on earth did that convoy covered 18 hexes in one turn? No way. It must be a different one. I really hadn't planned for that to happen. What to do now? Well, I decided to go ahead with bullheaded steadfastness, despite the loss of surprise. Melbourne will be attacked. I expect massive CAP but also lots of ships to sink. KB2 is still undiscovered at least. It will hit Adelaide. BatDiv1 was supposed to bombard Newcastle today with four BBs and destroy or damaged the 110 allied fighters stationed there, but the idiot of a commander decided to park his ships one hex SE of his target. Java The two infantry division from Luzon unloaded at Sorebaja today and will proceed to attack Batavia in a few days. Most of the heavy artillery is at place. I expect this siege to be over well before the end of June. China All quiet. The planned offensive south of Yenan is postponed for the time being. I pulled back the 11th army from its forward position south of Ankang, to straighten my defensive line. Two infantry divisions are now in reserve at Nanyang. Plus the 3 divisions and 5 brigades preparing for the postponed offensive.

MrBlizzard -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/9/2012 6:46:57 PM)
I think you caught 4th Australian Division packing on the train just before retreating cause you can see in the report: Defender: op mode(-) [8D] Also they retreated SE because in the hexagon SW is present your tank unit, they couldn't; their retreating path is surely towards Esperance Now that KB has been discovered I would keep all your CV together; NZ is close, your opponent could send quickly his CV and together with LBA could beat separately your two fleet. It seems that he can have eyes on almost all this sector, instead your patrol doesn't arrive so south, I think he could manage to arrive unspotted... IMHO is very good for you that he has so many forces in Broken Hill together with his probably most valuable division in his sector "Americal Division"; you could separate them from the rest of SE defence blocking the rail SE of Broken Hill and in Port augusta (or in alternative in Adelaide) with a disembarkment. If I were you I would consider the conquer of whole Australia if you manage to destroy relevant air asset with your naval bombardement; starting from Melbourne (many VP!!) that looks not so well defended and with a siege of Sidney. I think that his troops are mainly made of early australian militia except Americal div that is isolated from the rest and the British Division that you have already destroyed. I would bet that your opponent will use his CV , he can't afford to loose Australia, so... keep some KB's torpedoes for them [;)]

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/9/2012 7:16:33 PM)
Interesting points, Mr Blizzard. 4th AusDiv: I actually deliberately attacked the day before the shock attack, but it was inconclusive with 0 losses for both sides. That attack must have put them on combat mode. I also had two Sally groups bomb them just before the shock attack. I am not sure they were on trains, probably on move mode. As for their retreating path, you're right, that tank regiment actually prevented them from fleeing towards Esperanza. Regarding the conquest of Australia...very interesting that you mention it. From the screenshot above, it looks like Melbourne, Adelaide and Port Augusta are lightly defended. Very tempting. However, I am still weary of triggering the allied reinforcements. I am not yet sure it's worth to conquer the entire country, but I will think on it. Any advice is welcome! As for the CV raid...that's for the next update! The turn is already played. Just FYI, I have subs equipped with float planes keeping an eye on New Zealand. There are warships there, possibly a CV or two, but nothing that could seriously threaten KB.

Olorin -> KB raid on Melbourne - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/9/2012 8:03:49 PM)
Jun 10 Carrier Raids on SE Australia: Despite the discovery of KB, I decided to press on with both KB and KB2. Since there was no immediate threat of allied carriers (NZ is watched), I split them, sending KB to attack Melbourne and KB2 to attack Adelaide. I expected Michael would transfer his fighters from the Sydney area to Melbourne. Since KB2 remained unspotted, I thought Adelaide might not have so many fighters. Firstly, the naval bombardment on Newcastle, that was supposed to occur yesterday, had Tanaka actually followed his orders: quote: Night Naval bombardment of Newcastle at 92,166 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses P-39D Airacobra: 17 damaged P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground 46 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2 BB Fuso BB Mutsu BB Nagato, Shell hits 1 CA Chikuma CA Tone DD Oboro DD Amagiri DD Murakumo DD Minegumo DD Natsugumo DD Isokaze Allied ground losses: 694 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 53 disabled Engineers: 5 destroyed, 12 disabled Guns lost 17 (4 destroyed, 13 disabled) Light Industry hits 1 Manpower hits 1 Fires 66 Airbase hits 13 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 19 Port hits 6 Port fuel hits 1 Port supply hits 1 This airfield had 100 fighters yesterday, today it had about 30. They were all damaged I think, but it's too late to actually assist KB. Not to be outdone by Tanaka, Nagumo also fails to execute his movement orders properly. I intended for KB to cover the last 15 hexes to its final position with a dash and then launch the strike 7 hexes west of Melbourne. Nagumo did not cover the entire distance and launches a strike from 8 hexes away. Only 16 Zeros escorting. 91 allied fighters are on CAP duty. Enough said: quote: Morning Air attack on Melbourne , at 82,170 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 118 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 50 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 16 [:@] B5N2 Kate x 144 Allied aircraft P-39D Airacobra x 18 P-40E Warhawk x 73 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed B5N2 Kate: 40 destroyed, 2 damaged [8\|] Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed Allied Ships xAP Stagen, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage TK Aldegonda, Bomb hits 1, on fire TK Josefina, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires PC Kybra, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires KV Cyclamen, Bomb hits 1 xAKL Matthew Flinders, Bomb hits 1, on fire AM Horsham, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk AM Eland Dubois, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage AG Wanaka, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage TK Juno, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage TK Angelina, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage AG Gemma, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk xAKL Silindoeng, Bomb hits 1, on fire AVP Fazant, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage xAKL Van Diemen, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAKL James Cook, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Morinda, Bomb hits 1, on fire CM Rigel, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAKL Kanlaon II, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage xAKL Mauban, Bomb hits 1, on fire AD Black Hawk, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAKL Chungking, Bomb hits 1, on fire AG Willebrord Snellius, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage Repair Shipyard hits 1 Port hits 8 Port fuel hits 1 About 30 Kate pilots are lost. The port had about 100 ships! I am left to lament what could have been... What went wrong? a) KB encountered an allied convoy two days ago, uncovering its position. b) As I said earlier, the naval bombardment should have bombarded Newcastle yesterday, pinning 100 allied fighters there. c) Nagumo launches a 8-hex strike, instead of 7. And most importantly... d) I botched the orders to the Zero groups. Two groups were ordered to sweep Melbourne, but I put them on 100% CAP by mistake. Another group simply fails to take off. Hence the low number of escort fighters. C'est la guerre [8D] Now for the KB2 raid on Adelaide. Here things were more straightforward: quote: Morning Air attack on Adelaide , at 75,163 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 107 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 45 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 33 B5N2 Kate x 36 D3A1 Val x 15 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk IA x 14 P-39D Airacobra x 25 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk IA: 1 destroyed Allied Ships BB Resolution, Bomb hits 1 BB Revenge, Bomb hits 1 Runway hits 2 I did not expect to see battleships! Recon planes showed nothing of the sort, they just reported 45 transports and other support ships. A second, weaker package scored another 800 kg bomb hit on Resolution. Then, the KB is subjected to attack by allied 4E bombers. There were about 60 bombers based at Melbourne in total. Had KB actually been only 6 hexes away, these attacks might be stronger. As it was, my CAP was more than enough to deal with the piece meal strikes. 2 Liberators and 5 B-17s are destroyed, several more are damaged. SE Australia: My tanks are attacked by 2e bombers. About 60 are disabled. For some reason, my LRCAP did not work properly today. The infantry divisions are just one day away from joining the armor. SW Australia: Michael emptied Esperanza when I entered Kalgoorlie. The 2nd Raiding Regiment is airdropped there, capturing the base. The 4th Australian Division is chased towards Port Augusta. I will not chase them with the Guards Tank Division. I will leave the 7th Independent Tank Brigade in pursuit and use the GDT to cut off the Americal Division, after a landing at Port Augusta. The offensive will be launched when KB has regrouped at Perth.

Olorin -> The battle for Broken Hill - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/11/2012 3:12:22 PM)
Jun 11 SE Australia Michael advanced east from Broken Hill with the Americal Division (plus a few small units, 500 AV in total). My own infantry divisions (5th &6th Guards) arrived at that hex a couple of day ago. Coupled with the tanks regiments there, I have 1300 AV in that hex. The problem is that Micahel has air superiority in that area at the moment, his airfields being closer to the battle than mine. Burke is growing fast through, it's already lvl 2.47 and Charleville is lvl 2.78. I have 130 fighters providing cover to the 21st Army, but only 1/3 of them usually fly, which means that the allied bombers can bomb my ground troops with relative immunity. I would have shock attacked the Americal Division tomorrow, but the 6th Guard Division was seriously disrupted by the bombing. The Australian retreating from the north have also reached the area but are pinned by a tank regiment that I dispatched from my main stack. They have around 120 AV, the biggest units being the Motor brigade, with the rest are engineers and base forces. I am sending another two tank regiments from Burke, which is left with only 300 AV (two infantry and one tank regiment). SW Australia All my carriers are replenishing at Perth. Java Most of the heavy artillery is at Batavia, bombarding the Dutch troops daily. Soon the remaining two infantry divisions will also enter Batavia, at which point I will test the enemy defenses. Conquering Australia I am pondering total conquest of Australia, but I am not yet convinced it's the right way to go. My initial goal was to destroy the Australian industry by strategic bombing. It looks like I can't do that, I can only disable it. Which means that, based at my experience at bombing Sydney, the remaining VPs that can potentially be gathered by strategic bombing are about 7000 and that is an optimistic goal. To summarize the pros and cons of NOT conquering the whole of Australia. Pros: - Only 6-7 divisions are required to defend my gains for the rest of 1942. - Ties up the Americal Division - Promotes an attritional air battle - At least 5000 VPs from strategic bombing - Possibility of intercepting allied convoys carrying supplies and fuel to Australia Cons: - Autovictory is not possible through this route - Australia cannot be defended in the longterm, unless I leave at least 8 divisions there. Michael can use New Zealand as a springboard to invade behind my lines. On the other hand, if I invade southern Australia, I will have to employ the four infantry divisions currently in Java, plus what I 'll use for the invasion of Port Augusta (which will be launched in any case). In total, I will have 15 divisions in Australia, leaving all other theaters very weak for a few months. To summarize the pros and cons of conquering the whole of Australia. Pros: - 10.000 VPs (8000 from bases, plus around 2000 from allied army losses) - Destruction of the Americal Division, plus any other American big units in Australia. - Getting closer to autovictory. Delaying the inevitable allied counterattack by several months. - Around 900 HI, which have to be fueled by the SRA. Cons: - 15 divisions are required to conquer it - Two divisions are required for garrison duties, after the conquest. - Australia cannot be defended, unless I leave at least 8 divisions there. Michael can use New Zealand as a springboard to invade anywhere he wants. - Activation of emergency, allied reinforcements: 44th British Division, 9th Australian Division, 2nd British Para Brigade, 7th SA Armoured Brigade, 27th Rhodesian Brigade, Natal Mtd Rifles Regiment. These units arrive at Cape Town together with many convoys containing supplies, fuel and devices. I am not sure they can be used immediately, I think they have to fill their TOEs from scratch, but I am not sure. I think I 'll be in a worse situation strategically in the long term, unless I follow up the conquest with further expansion during the remainder of 1942, aiming at autovictory. And finally, there is the possibility of allied carriers sprinting from New Zealand to interrupt the landings. My carriers will be busy providing fighter cover to the invasion forces. I don't expect to achieve surprise, so Michael will have one or two days warning to relocate his airforce to meet the threat. So, I expect to be fighting the entire allied LBA in this region, for the duration of the unloading phase, which could last for two days. In total, the Allied carriers will have a window of 3-4 days in which they can intervene from NZ. I want to avoid that. Assuming I will invade the area around Melbourne, the following airfields are potential threats to the invasion: Melbourne (lvl8), Canbera (lvl6), Hobart (lvl5), Geelong (lvl3), Sale (lvl2). I can tailor the operation to neutralize some of them. Hobart is especially important. If I capture it, before the main invasion force lands at Geelong (southwest of Melbourne) and the secondary invasion lands at Sale (southeast of Melbourne), I can strengthen my CAP over the main body, while providing Netty support against the American carriers coming from NZ. The key is to capture Hobart the day after I land, a task that requires two divisions. I don't expect to find anything stronger than an Australian infantry brigade. In any case, Hobart can be reconed with Emilies from Lord Howe, so I will have some idea of what to send there. All this is purely theoretical of course. Have I overlooked something? Opinions are welcome. [:)]

GreyJoy -> RE: The battle for Broken Hill - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/11/2012 5:11:18 PM)
The emergency reinforcements arrive at their 100% TOE. I'm sure of that. Those units would so easily usable in Burma area immediately. Secondly right the day you land your opponent will find some juicy 72 Spitfires Mk VIII. So in 3 days they will be online. I can tell you that, in an environement like the one you'll be facing in southern Oz (with several AFs in your enemy's hands), those 72 spits will torn apart everything you send against them. Tojos will die in droves.... I think you've already achieved more than enough by now... start thinking about finding a good defensive position

Olorin -> RE: The battle for Broken Hill - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/11/2012 6:00:25 PM)
72 Spitfires? This is news to me. Do you know where they arrive, Greyjoy? If they arrive in Oz, they could be a problem. Hmm... As for finding a good defensive position...I am already building up the Kurilles. Burma is a stalemate due to monsoons (house rules). In the central Pacific, I am prepared to give ground. The eastern DEI is almost empty, but protected by Australia. The Andaman Islands and Sumatra is where I feel vulnerable at the moment, I could use one or two divisions to bolster my defenses there.

Olorin -> RE: The battle for Broken Hill - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/13/2012 4:04:41 PM)
June 20 Nine days have past since my last update, but we had no major developments. SW Australia: My carriers sucked all the fuel at Perth and used another 50.000 tons from the KB oilers, but are still not 100% replenished. Tomorrow some tankers will unload another 25.000, they should be enough to top up their fuel tanks. After that, the Port Augusta invasions is a go. SE Australia: Burke airfield is closed. Michael committed his bombers there, my fighters were LRCAPing the 21st Army and the result is that Burke airfield is trashed, just before it reaches level 3. The bad news is that the allied sweeps usually get a favorable loss ratio. My airfields are too far away and using drop tanks all the time to LRCAP builds up fatigue. Morale is still ok. This is a period I have to accept the losses. All will be well when I capture Port Augusta and Broken Hill. I raided Newcastle to retaliate. No enemy fighters are based there anymore, I hope I draw some of them there to defend the Australian industry. Meanwhile, I transfered the 85th Sentai from the 2nd Air Div to the 4th Air Div (SE Oz), filled it with Tojos and 70+ pilots. I will use it to sweep Tamworth, which contains 33 fighters.Speaking of the Tojo, I am building 100 per month and this figure is rising each day. The goal is to reach a monthly output of 180 Tojos. China: I started artillery bombardments across the theater. I hate how things are quiet here. Java: The first deliberate attack against Batavia is launched. I dropped the forts but my losses are high; one infantry regiments is completely disabled: quote: Ground combat at Batavia (49,98) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 68462 troops, 624 guns, 546 vehicles, Assault Value = 2005 Defending force 30786 troops, 229 guns, 177 vehicles, Assault Value = 669 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Japanese adjusted assault: 2988 Allied adjusted defense: 999 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 5165 casualties reported Squads: 18 destroyed, 384 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 38 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 93 disabled Guns lost 27 (1 destroyed, 26 disabled) Allied ground losses: 2106 casualties reported Squads: 29 destroyed, 96 disabled Non Combat: 43 destroyed, 39 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Guns lost 37 (5 destroyed, 32 disabled) Vehicles lost 71 (28 destroyed, 43 disabled) Units destroyed 2 Assaulting units: 146th Infantry Regiment 2nd Engineer Regiment 14th Division 24th Infantry Regiment 21st Ind Engineer Regiment 38th Division 2nd Recon Regiment 1st Ind Engineer Regiment 23rd Division 16th Infantry Regiment 3rd Ind Engineer Regiment 11th Garrison Unit 7th Tank Regiment 5th Fleet 2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 41st Ind.AA Gun Co 16th Army 2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 16th AA Regiment Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment 8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment 2nd Field Artillery Regiment 15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion 8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 44th Field AA Battalion Defending units: Marinier Battalion 1st Regt Cavalerie Lijfwacht Cav Sqn Tjilatjap KNIL Battalion 3rd KNIL Landstorm Battalion 2nd KNIL Regiment 6th KNIL Regiment 4th KNIL Landstorm Battalion 2nd KNIL Landstorm Battalion Mobiele Eenheid Battalion 1st KNIL Regiment Roodenburg Battalion ML-KNIL Batavia Defenses 4th KNIL Regiment 3rd KNIL AA Battalion 1st KNIL AA Battalion KNI Zeemacht Andir ML Base Force ABDA Tjilitap KM Base Force Batavia KM Base Force KNI Leger 6th Avn Sup Afd

Olorin -> Australia invaded! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/14/2012 6:14:28 PM)
June 25 SW Australia: - The 4th Australian Division is cut off. I sent a tank regiment around it. The 7th Independent Tank Brigade caught the enemy and attacked, but they still have some fighting ability left. Another tank regiment is marching on the coastal road, pursuing three base forces. My aim is to drive the 4th AusDiv towards the coast and destroy it there. - A fast AO took a torpedo off Exmouth. Fortunately, it's not severely damaged (20 flt) and it will survive. CVE Unyo was hit by a dud torpedo though! - The invasion of Port Augusta will be launched after the reorganization of Kido Buttai's airgroups in July. The CV upgrades can wait until after the invasion. SE Australia: - The Americal Division withdrew to Burke, after a short artillery exchange. Enemy bombers continue to bomb Burke and keep it closed. I ordered all my fighters at Charleville and Toowoomba to stand down for a few days, but today I put them all on LRCAP duty over Burke. Of the 240 fighters, only 70 actually flew, but they did well. 18 P-40Es, 12 Bolos and 2 Wirraways were destroyed, for the loss of 2 Oscars and 1 Zero. Burma: After a long period of inactivity, we saw some action today. Michael sent 12 Wellingtons to bomb the port of Rangoon. I had two CMs there, one of which was sunk, but of the 12 Wellingtons, only 5 survived. Java: Another deliberate attack on Batavia drops the forts to level l. It won't be long now. One or two more attacks and the place is mine.

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/16/2012 2:36:16 PM)
June 29 SE Australia - On June 25, Michael committed all his heavy bombers in the area to hit the port of Brisbane. I foolishly had 2 CAs, 3 CLs and 8 DDs stationed there. My CAP was numerous, but against B-17s and Liberators there isn't much chance of stopping them from getting to their targets. I lost CL Sendai, another CL and a DD are heavily damaged, but will survive. - I swept Tamworth with 42 Tojos today and shot down 5 Kittyhawks. Burke remains closed. Java The 2nd and 16th Armies are resting after two bloody sieges. I decided not to launch a full scale invasion of Australia and stick with my original plan of a limited invasion, so these two formations will remain in the DEI. The 16th Army will garrison Port Blair and Sumatra with 3 divisions. The 2nd Army will remain in Java as a general reserve, preparing for Ceylon to give the allied intelligence officers something to worry about. Pearl Harbor I have 4 subs equipped with Jakes, around Pearl Harbor. Two days ago they spotted several large TFs coming from the southwest, possibly containing a CV. Yesterday all 4 subs took positions along the estimated path of the enemy TFs and two subs made contact with them. I-28 saw Enterprise through its periscope and launched a 6 torpedo salvo. They all missed! Then it was attacked by allied DDs and it has to return to Kwajalein due to damage (30sys, 18 flt). I-23 launched 6 torpedoes against CA San Fransisco, scoring two hits! I has also sustained light damage and has to return to port. In total, I saw a CV, 7 CAs, 2 CLs and 13 DDs heading to Pearl. I suspect another CV is around.

MrBlizzard -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 7:01:49 AM)
I think you'are doing the right thing with a limited scale attack of australia. The Japanese command thought that 10 divisions were enough to conquer Australia in may 1942; I think that your 15 would be more than necessary in normal conditions but here it seems that your opponent has commited more forces to the defence. More I've found that list of the reinforcements if you pass the line is impressive. It's more than three divisions that arrive in Aden and in Cape Town; it's far, he should spend a month to carry them to australia but he could also use them quicker in Burma or Sumatra! And than there is a huge and impressive list of devices delivered to the pool with the emergency convoy! they are available just the day after to be delivered to the enemy units in australia as replacements. There are 32 Spitfire Vc that are better than Zeros, 48 Vengeance I dive bombers, 48 Kittyhawk Ia, 48 B-25, another full '42 division in squads, 48 matilda II tanks (no match for your tanks and your AT guns) ecc ecc, here is the complete list: Reinforcements triggered: Unit Arrival Location 44th British Division Cape Town 9th Australian Division Aden 2nd British Para Brigade Cape Town 7th South African Armoured Brigade Cape Town 27th Rhodesian Brigade Cape Town 1st AA Brigade Aden Natal Mounted Rifles Regiment Cape Town Reinforcement Convoy: 214 AIF Inf Section 42 24 3" Mortar 24 Bren AAMG (x2) 72 25 Pounder Gun 48 M3A1 Armoured Car 48 Vickers Section 48 Bren Section 108 Brit Inf Section 48 2pdr AT Gun 48 40mm Bofors AA Gun 250 Motorized Support 48 AIF Cmbt Eng 48 Matilde II Tank 24 3.7" Mountain Gun 48 Stuart I Light Tank 48 Kittyhawk IA 48 Vengeance I 12 Catalina IIIA 32 Spitfire Vc Trop 48 Mitchell II

obvert -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 12:36:08 PM)
I just noticed you are using Jakes on subs. I may be missing much earlier comments, but did you check with Michael about this? It's a bit against the grain as these planes wouldn't fit (as far as I know, but perhaps I'm wrong?) on those subs in reality even though the game lets you add them, and this does change the search quite a bit adding 6 hexes to your possible range.

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 1:52:08 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: obvert I just noticed you are using Jakes on subs. I may be missing much earlier comments, but did you check with Michael about this? It's a bit against the grain as these planes wouldn't fit (as far as I know, but perhaps I'm wrong?) on those subs in reality even though the game lets you add them, and this does change the search quite a bit adding 6 hexes to your possible range. I was not aware that these planes wouldn't fit, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Is there a consensus in the forum that it's somewhat fishy to use Jakes on subs? In any case I will check with Michael.

obvert -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 2:01:49 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Olorin quote: ORIGINAL: obvert I just noticed you are using Jakes on subs. I may be missing much earlier comments, but did you check with Michael about this? It's a bit against the grain as these planes wouldn't fit (as far as I know, but perhaps I'm wrong?) on those subs in reality even though the game lets you add them, and this does change the search quite a bit adding 6 hexes to your possible range. I was not aware that these planes wouldn't fit, thanks for bringing this to my attention. Is there a consensus in the forum that it's somewhat fishy to use Jakes on subs? In any case I will check with Michael. I haven't heard of it being done before, so I'm not sure. As he plays the Japanese side and is much more knowledgeable and experienced than I am he should be able to let you know if it's considered kosher. I just remember something from when I was new to the game talking about how only the Glen would fit on an IJN sub. It seems everyone does use Glens, judging by discussions of sub-based plane missions. I certainly wouldn't use them if there is a choice so I'll be interested to see what Michael's thoughts are!

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 2:07:58 PM)
I'll let you know what he thinks, I already sent an email, waiting for his response now. [:)]

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 3:05:12 PM)
Alright, I spoke to Michael and he asked me to convert back to Glens, when my subs return to port. I will comply of course, but it will be a gradual process, as some of my subs are in remote areas. Always learning. Edit: I just realized that I have only 13 Glens in reserve. I will convert the Rufe factory (size 15) to produce a few more. I consider it a fair price for whatever advantage I gained so far.

obvert -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 3:49:40 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Olorin Alright, I spoke to Michael and he asked me to convert back to Glens, when my subs return to port. I will comply of course, but it will be a gradual process, as some of my subs are in remote areas. Always learning. Edit: I just realized that I have only 13 Glens in reserve. I will convert the Rufe factory (size 15) to produce a few more. I consider it a fair price for whatever advantage I gained so far. So I guess it is written into the bushido code? [:D] You must use the worst airframe on one of your best weapons! Sorry to initiate such a shift in your game. It does suck to use the Glen as it isn't nearly as good. I built a bunch early and then left the factory sitting in case, but in mid-43 I have quite a few left, so think I'll change the factory now to something else more useful again.

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 4:20:47 PM)
Glens suck! I will have to put my subs closer to enemy ports which will make them more vulnerable to enemy ASW. Thanks again for bringing this up, obvert!

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/18/2012 7:47:49 PM)
July 6 Everything is ready for the Invasion of Port Augusta. KB air wings are resized; I increased the Zeros at the expense of the Val. KB is now carrying 210 Zeros, 126 Vals, 171 Kates and 85 Jakes (reserve aircraft included). BatDiv3 (BBs Ise & Hyuga), BatDiv2 (BBs Haruna & Kongo), CruRon3 (CAs Myoko & Mikuma, CLs Yura & Oi) and 10 DDs will provide surface cover. I expect to encounter two British BBs (possibly Resolution and Ramilles, based at Adelaide). I also created two heavily escorted amphibious taskforces that can carry one reinforced brigade each and unload them in less than a day. The rest of the forces will have to be carried by xAPs. Ground forces to be committed (14th Army): 48th, Imperial Guards, 4th Guards Divisions Guards Tank Division Yokosuka Assault SNFL, 4 regular SNFL units, Kimura Detachment, 19th Ind.Eng.Rgt. The Yokosuka Assault SNFL and 1/3 of the 48th Division will land first. They will be carried by the two fast Invasion Squadrons, which can hold their own against anything but multiple BBs, without extra surface cover. Kimura Det. will land simultaneously at Wyalla, which is probably empty or very lightly defended. Ceduna is definitely empty and will be captured by paras. The other 2/3 of the 48th Div will be carried by xAPs and/or converted xAKs, but I will make sure there are enough of them to unload in one day or less. The second wave will be held in reserve initially, until the extent of the allied counter-measures are revealed. If things are too hot, they will land at Ceduna. The objective is of course Port Augusta and the hex directly south of it. Controlling them will a) bring Adelaide and Melbourne inside the range of my IJA level bombers b) cut off one of the two retreat paths of the Americal Division and co at Broken Hill. At the same time, the 21st Army will try to cut them off from the south. Btw, Michael, reinforced Broken Hill with another 5-6 unidentified units. The first troops begun to board transport ships today...

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/20/2012 3:16:30 PM)
July 11 The 3rd Fleet set sail from Albany two days ago and is now only one day away from reaching its finally position, 10 hexes west of Port Augusta, from where the invasion ships will make the final dash to their target. No allied search planes were spotted above the fleet, but the enemy may have picked up some radio signals, because I have some 150 ships of all sizes crammed in three hexes. The detection level of BatDiv3 was 4/4 today, which probably shows that I will not achieve surprise. Two small allied TFs were seen 10-15 hexes south of the 3rd Fleet, heading northwest. Only a couple of PTs apparently... Another two allied transport TFs were spotted leaving Adelaide for Melbourne. The 21st Army begun advancing to Broken Hill and the rail hex south of it was occupied. In two days the army will enter the town. Burke continues to attract the allied heavy bombers and remains closed, which means that I can't fly recon missions, to Port Augusta and Adelaide. I suspect Michael reinforced Port Augusta recently with at least a division. 7 units were seen passing through Broken Hill. Why didn't they take the Adelaide route and went the long way around? Argh! I don't know how to interpret all these subtle messages, but I think Michael knows by now what's going on there. Anyway, it's not worth it getting hanged up on these details and losing my nerve at the last minute. Too late to call the invasion off. It will wreck the navy's morale.

Olorin -> Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/20/2012 11:12:49 PM)
July 12 The IJN is 10 hexes west of Port Augusta. A few unfortunate allied heavy bombers tried to penetrated a 250 strong cap, but almost half of them were slain and the few that broke through didn't manage a single hit. Tomorrow is the big day. I 'm certain now that Michael is well aware of the purpose of this operation. I expect to lose some ships to allied air attacks. P.S. I forgot the most important thing: to name this operation! I hereby name it Operation Sunshine [8D]

Olorin -> RE: Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/23/2012 6:16:23 PM)
July 12 - No intervention whatsoever from allied air or naval forces. The Yokosuka Assault SNFL and part of the 48th Div land safely at Port Augusta. The 32nd Infantry Division is there, together with other smaller units, 650 AV in total. I am bringing 1800 AV, but it will take 2-3 days to complete the unloading process. Wyalla and Ceduna are captured without opposition. - The 21st enters broken Hill from the west and south and is immediately subjected to vigorous attacks by allied bombers. LRCAP is provided by 70 Zeros based at Charleville, but usually it's not effective. Disruption is rising, but I am not interested in attacking, just pinning the enemy. We are evenly matched in AV, 1200 each. July 13 Allied heavy bombers launch naval strikes against a small carrier escort taskforce, which is deployed forwardly next to Port Augusta to provide fighter cover and attract the allied bombers. It does that, but the 60 Zero CAP cannot stop B-17s. Devastators join the party as well, about 10 are shot down, but they manage to sink Unyo and lightly damagee Taiyo. Mizuho escapes without damage. The Imperial Division lands at Port Augusta. The rest of the forces will unload at Wyalla and march overland. July 14 KB does not provide as good a LRCAP as I would have liked. The naval strikes are again successful, Taiyo is hit by another bomb. All my troops are ashore at Port Augusta and Wyalla. It will takes a few more days gather everyone at Port Augusta and then launch the attack. No allied naval strikes today. July 16 I disbanded Taiyo at Wyalla, which was a mistake. Michael predicted it and set his heavy bombers to port strike. Taiyo's damage reaches critical levels. Michael also swept with lots of P-40Es. My Zeros have to defend against bombers coming in low and against fighters coming in high. The low flying Zero groups are severely disadvantaged. As a result, I lost 12 Zeros today. These were not carrier based Zeros, but land based ones. July 17 Taiyo finally sunk at port. At last, I brought a Tojo sentai at Wyalla, which will improve air cover in the area. At the same time, because the 21st Army and the invasion force attracted most of the allied bombers, Burke's airfield became operational again and reached level 3. I have 250 engineers and 8 engineer vehicles there. I immediately rebased 120 Tojos to keep the airfield operational. Everything will depend on the capture of Port Augusta. If it falls, Broken Hill will also fall and hopefully the 32nd and the Aamerical Divisions will be destroyed in the process.

Olorin -> RE: Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/23/2012 7:28:07 PM)
I realized I haven't said anything about the economy so far. I will remedy this now. For the first six months of the war, my economic planning was basically to subordinate the economy to my operational needs and at the same time expand as much as possible, without bringing my overall supply situation to a critical level. I think I succeeded in this task. Bear in mind that we are playing a DBB version that is essentially scenario 2, with stacking limits, extended map and all the juicy DBB changes, the most important of which is that refineries do not produce supplies (personally I do not agree with this change, but I have to live with it). Furthermore, this DBB version is faulty, as it denies Japan the extra supplies and fuel you normally get in scenario 2. As a result, I have the OOB of scenario 2, but the economy of scenario 1 (minus the supplies produced from refineries). This creates some difficulties. So far I struggled to supply my operations in the entire theater, but in the end I did it, only through sacrificing long term R&D, the China theater (main reason I am not attacking there). This also accounts for the inactivity in Burma. Regarding HI, I expanded my naval shipyards to 1600 and did not compromise the expansion of my airforce. As a result, I exhausted the initial HI pool in April. I then turned off part of my merchant shipping and armament programs and I now gain 3600 HI a day. Anyway, I am happy to report that my supply woes are over and the situation is slowly beginning to reverse. Without further ado, here is what my economy looks like at the moment. [image]http://i49.tinypic.com/2j0mfrp.jpg[/image] Home Islands stockpile levels: Supplies in the Home Islands were hovering around 250.000 tons for a long time, but now they are at 350.000 tons and rising daily. Oil was steadily decreasing, but soon most of the damaged oilfields n the DEI will be totally repaired and I will be able to keep the HI oil levels around 1.500.000 tons. I have no problem in keeping fuel stockpile is slowly increasing, currently slightly above 2.000.000 tons. It reached 2.3 million at some point, but I had to ship most of the DEI fuel to Australia for the past two weeks. [image]http://i49.tinypic.com/30seixx.jpg[/image] Naval production: I was able to accelerate 8 CVs until recently, at the expense of my submarine program, but the first batch of the Unyo-class CVs just passed the threshold of "normal build", so the naval points demand tripled. As a result, I had to stop accelerating the Unyo and halt Musashi altogether. However, in 11 days CV Hiyo will be completed, at which point I will be able to accelerate all 8 CVs again. [image]http://i47.tinypic.com/2s6a6g5.jpg[/image] Aircraft production: [image]http://i46.tinypic.com/2vja0w1.jpg[/image] R&D: I accelerated the Zero production line. The A6M3a will be available for production in September. The A6M5 in December. The Tojo IIc in January '44. I have 3 x30 factories researching each one of them and another 3 were recently assigned to the A6M5b. The George and Frank factories are not repaired yet and will not be any time soon.

Olorin -> RE: Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/25/2012 4:35:01 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: MrBlizzard I think you'are doing the right thing with a limited scale attack of australia. The Japanese command thought that 10 divisions were enough to conquer Australia in may 1942; I think that your 15 would be more than necessary in normal conditions but here it seems that your opponent has commited more forces to the defence. More I've found that list of the reinforcements if you pass the line is impressive. It's more than three divisions that arrive in Aden and in Cape Town; it's far, he should spend a month to carry them to australia but he could also use them quicker in Burma or Sumatra! And than there is a huge and impressive list of devices delivered to the pool with the emergency convoy! they are available just the day after to be delivered to the enemy units in australia as replacements. There are 32 Spitfire Vc that are better than Zeros, 48 Vengeance I dive bombers, 48 Kittyhawk Ia, 48 B-25, another full '42 division in squads, 48 matilda II tanks (no match for your tanks and your AT guns) ecc ecc, here is the complete list: Reinforcements triggered: Unit Arrival Location 44th British Division Cape Town 9th Australian Division Aden 2nd British Para Brigade Cape Town 7th South African Armoured Brigade Cape Town 27th Rhodesian Brigade Cape Town 1st AA Brigade Aden Natal Mounted Rifles Regiment Cape Town Reinforcement Convoy: 214 AIF Inf Section 42 24 3" Mortar 24 Bren AAMG (x2) 72 25 Pounder Gun 48 M3A1 Armoured Car 48 Vickers Section 48 Bren Section 108 Brit Inf Section 48 2pdr AT Gun 48 40mm Bofors AA Gun 250 Motorized Support 48 AIF Cmbt Eng 48 Matilde II Tank 24 3.7" Mountain Gun 48 Stuart I Light Tank 48 Kittyhawk IA 48 Vengeance I 12 Catalina IIIA 32 Spitfire Vc Trop 48 Mitchell II Thanks for the comprehensive list of the reinforcements, Mr Blizzard. Looking at it again, I think I made the right choice in not launching a full invasion of Southeast Australia.

Olorin -> RE: Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/25/2012 4:48:50 PM)
July 18 -20 Troops are still marching to Port Augusta. KB retires to Perth. Most of the transport ships are also retiring. There is one more amphibious TF left at Wyalla, unloading engineers. I want to develop Wyalla rapidly. There are 42 Tojos there and together with KB2 they will provide LRCAP to the 14th Army at Port Augusta. Meanwhile, the 21st Army at Broken Hill is bombed daily by what I looks like the entirety of the level bomber force of the Allies! LRCAP from Charlevil is very ineffective. Michael swept Broken Hill yesterday and shot down 12 Zeros! I will try to gradually transfer responsibility of the air war to the IJAAF and give the IJNAF a long rest. Anyway, I am glad that the 21st Army is attracting so much attention, it allows my troops at Port Augusta to attack tomorrow unhindered by air attacks and also allows me to develop Burke's airfield rapidly. When Port Augusta is taken, I wil have two good airfield fro which I can support Broken Hill and also launch attacks against allied airfields. July 20 Port Augusta falls! The 14th Army launched a deliberate attack and captured the base in the first try, despite level 4 forts. I suspect committing the Guards Tank Division to sieges helps a lot to reduce forts. The 32nd Infantry division retreated south, suffering severe casualties. I will pursue with the bulk of the 14th Army, leaving behind only a small garrison. I will push it further back, while partially cutting off the Americal Division at Broken Hill. quote: Ground combat at Port Augusta (75,159) Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 54767 troops, 587 guns, 548 vehicles, Assault Value = 1823 Defending force 27316 troops, 336 guns, 301 vehicles, Assault Value = 558 Japanese adjusted assault: 2250 Allied adjusted defense: 264 Japanese assault odds: 8 to 1 (fort level 4) Japanese forces CAPTURE Port Augusta !!! Combat modifiers Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 3359 casualties reported Squads: 45 destroyed, 362 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 74 disabled Engineers: 3 destroyed, 54 disabled Guns lost 39 (3 destroyed, 36 disabled) Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled) Allied ground losses: 8757 casualties reported Squads: 120 destroyed, 144 disabled Non Combat: 386 destroyed, 134 disabled Engineers: 185 destroyed, 5 disabled Guns lost 169 (111 destroyed, 58 disabled) Vehicles lost 279 (268 destroyed, 11 disabled) Units retreated 13 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 48th Division 19th Ind Engineer Regiment Yokosuka 4th SNLF Yokosuka Assault SNLF Kimura Det Imperial Guards Division 4th Guards Division Guards Tank Division 31st Fld AA Gun Co 302nd Ship Eng Coy 8th RF Gun Battalion 14th Army 30th Fld AA Gun Co 1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment 48th Field AA Battalion 14th JAAF AF Bn Defending units: 32nd Infantry Division 1st Motor Brigade 17th MG Battalion 19th MG Battalion 3rd US Naval Construction Battalion 168th Field Artillery Battalion 43rd Construction Regiment 11th RAAF Base Force RAAF OTU Augusta 108th Anti Tank Regiment 10th RAAF Base Force 17th RAAF Base Force 4th US Naval Construction Battalion Unfortunately, the airfield is damaged because of the naval bombardment that preceded ground combat. It will take a couple of days before it becomes operational. The 5th Air Division HQ is on its way here by the way.

Olorin -> RE: Operation Sunshine - Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (10/30/2012 10:50:25 PM)
Aug 1 Unfortunately, I have no time for a comprehensive update, so I am going to briefly summarize recent events. 10 days passed since the capture of Port Augusta and no major developments occurred. There is a gradual shift in the air war in Australia to my favor. A combination of mass producing the Tojo, capturing Port Augusta and developing Burke's airfield improved the number of fighters that I can put in the air over Broken Hill. I even started sweeping Adelaide and Roto and set up a LRCAP trap over Broken Hill, shooting down 5 P-40Es and 14 Kittihawks respectively. After this, Michael no longer sends his heavy bombers to bomb the 21st Army. He redeployed them to Suva and launched a surprise port strike on Numea, resulting in the sinking of 3 of the 4 mine-laying subs. While their loss is annoying, they are not absolutely essential. Regarding Broken Hill, Michael sent substantial ground units to the hex south of it and managed to open the railway path to the south. I withdrew 300 AV to protect my own retreat path, but now that I have air superiority in the area, I am not in danger of getting flanked. In the meantime, the Imperial Division and the Guards Tank Division, after inflicting further damage to the 32nd Infantry Division (which is now almost completely destroyed), begun their march from Port Augusta to Broken Hill. We will see if the threat of encirclement compels Michael to withdraw his troops.

Olorin -> RE: Perth falls! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (11/3/2012 9:46:26 AM)
I received some bad news from Michael today. He said that the emergency reinforcements for Australia were triggered a few weeks ago, when I moved into the hex SE of Broken Hill, wanting to cut off the railroad connection. Damn it!!! I thought I had to actually capture a base to trigger the reinforcements. If wanted to do so, I would have launched a full invasion of Australia. Now, I am screwed. My whole strategy unhinged, for a small tactical/technical mistake. [sm=00000007.gif]Extremely disappointing. [:(]

Olorin -> Allies attack Gilberts! Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (11/10/2012 10:56:07 AM)
Aug 12 The Allies invade the Gilbert Islands with two marine divisions, achieving tactical and operational surprise! The meager garrisons of Tabituea and Abemama fall easily, but Tarawa holds. I have 156 AV there, but supplies were totally expended during the allied shock attack. a lone xAKL was to deliver 1800 tons two days ago, but it was sunk by a sub. 4 DDs that were trying to resupply Tarawa engaged the allied invasion taskforce: quote: Night Time Surface Combat, near Tarawa at 136,128, Range 3,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Yayoi DD Uzuki DD Kikuzuki, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Yuzuki, Shell hits 1 Allied Ships BB North Carolina CL Boise CL Nashville DD Wilson DD Lang DD Porter DD Selfridge DD Phelps DD Balch Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 0% moonlight: 3,000 yards Range closes to 24,000 yards... Range closes to 22,000 yards... Range closes to 20,000 yards... Range closes to 18,000 yards... Range closes to 16,000 yards... Range closes to 14,000 yards... Range closes to 12,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... Range closes to 10,000 yards... Range closes to 9,000 yards... Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... Range closes to 6,000 yards... Range closes to 5,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 3,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 3,000 yards DD Porter engages DD Yuzuki at 3,000 yards DD Kikuzuki engages DD Porter at 3,000 yards CL Boise engages DD Yuzuki at 3,000 yards DD Kikuzuki engages DD Porter at 3,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Lang at 3,000 yards Range increases to 4,000 yards BB North Carolina engages DD Yayoi at 4,000 yards CL Nashville engages DD Yayoi at 4,000 yards CL Boise engages DD Yayoi at 4,000 yards DD Yayoi engages DD Lang at 4,000 yards DD Yayoi engages DD Lang at 4,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages BB North Carolina at 4,000 yards CL Nashville engages DD Yayoi at 4,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages CL Boise at 4,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Balch at 4,000 yards DD Porter engages DD Yayoi at 4,000 yards Range increases to 6,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages BB North Carolina at 6,000 yards CL Nashville engages DD Yayoi at 6,000 yards DD Uzuki engages DD Balch at 6,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Balch at 6,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Phelps at 6,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Wilson at 6,000 yards Range increases to 10,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Balch at 10,000 yards CL Boise engages DD Yayoi at 10,000 yards Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape Task forces break off... Two destroyers are seriously damaged, one of which is later attacked by dive bombers and is sunk by an allied submarine. In total, three allied taskforces of similar composition to the above one (1 BB, 2 CLs, plus destroyers and transports) support landings at Tarawa, Tabituea and Abemama. The 1st MarDiv is split into three brigades, two of which land at Tarawa and the third one at Abemama. The 2nd MarDiv lands at Tabituea. quote: Ground combat at Abemama (136,130) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 5080 troops, 65 guns, 50 vehicles, Assault Value = 191 Defending force 197 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1 Allied adjusted assault: 77 Japanese adjusted defense: 1 Allied assault odds: 77 to 1 (fort level 0) Allied forces CAPTURE Abemama !!! Combat modifiers Defender: Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 256 casualties reported Squads: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 25 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 3 (3 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 1st Marine/C Div /1 2nd Marine Raider Bn /1 13th MAG /1 11th US Naval Const Bn /1 23rd Port Maint Engr Bn /1 Defending units: II/84th Naval Guard Unit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Tabiteuea (137,134) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 12607 troops, 112 guns, 141 vehicles, Assault Value = 425 Defending force 1873 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 34 Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2 Allied adjusted assault: 339 Japanese adjusted defense: 6 Allied assault odds: 56 to 1 (fort level 2) Allied forces CAPTURE Tabiteuea !!! Combat modifiers Defender: preparation(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 821 casualties reported Squads: 27 destroyed, 11 disabled Non Combat: 24 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Allied ground losses: 135 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled Assaulting units: 2nd Marine Div /4 26th Port Maint Engineer Battalion 14th MAG 318th Base Group /1 I US Corps 3rd Marine Defense Battalion 6th US Naval Const Bn /1 7th US Naval Const Bn /1 Defending units: III/84th Naval Guard Unit I/84th Naval Guard Unit II/81st Naval Guard Unit 2nd JNAF Coy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Tarawa (136,128) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 7346 troops, 150 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 308 Defending force 6736 troops, 45 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 158 Allied adjusted assault: 54 Japanese adjusted defense: 272 Allied assault odds: 1 to 5 (fort level 3) Combat modifiers Defender: forts(+), experience(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 973 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 63 disabled Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 4 disabled Engineers: 15 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 13 (3 destroyed, 10 disabled) Vehicles lost 20 (20 destroyed, 0 disabled) Allied ground losses: 1691 casualties reported Squads: 7 destroyed, 227 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled Engineers: 6 destroyed, 18 disabled Guns lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 1st Marine/A Div /1 1st Marine/B Div /1 9th Port Maint Engr Bn /1 12th MAG 1st Marine Def Bn /1 13th US Naval Const Bn /1 14th US Naval Const Bn /1 15th Base Group /2 Defending units: 41st Naval Guard Unit 42nd Naval Guard Unit 43rd Naval Guard Unit 1st JNAF Coy 26th JNAF AF Unit The Tarawa shock attack mauls the two marine brigades and fails to drop the forts, but leaves my troops without any supplies. It will fall if I don't reinforce it. My reaction: Other than the brief night surface engagement, which happened quite by accident, this offensive came at a good time for the allies. I had a large Mavis unit returned to the home Islands to upgrade to Emilies, so my naval search was lacking. All of my naval search effort was concentrated to the west, leaving considerable gaps to the south. And that's where Michael came from (I suspect Pago-Pago). The IJN 1st Fleet is at Truk (Kido Buttai, plus BatDiv1 with Yamato, Nagato and Mutsu), but Shokaku and Zuikaku are refitting in the HIs, so I have only 4 CVs to contest the landings. I won't intervene. I will let the landings develop and see if it's part of a deeper strategy. I never intended to defend the Gilberts seriously anyway, but I will probably contest further allied expansion to the west (Solomons, Truk, Ponape), as that would jeopardize my SLOCs to Australia. For now, I will try to resupply Tarawa by air and see, using expendable assets. If I manage to hold it, great, if not...well, tough luck. I transfered 27 Betties from Numea to Tulagi, to search the sea between the Solomons and the Gilberts and improved my naval search in the area, but that's about it. Australia The air war escalates in the Australian sky. I sweep Adelaide, Roto, Waga-waga, Sydney in random order to avoid Michael's CAP traps. I get slightly better than 1:1, which is less than I hoped for, but I will continue to attrit the allied airforce. I also use my bombers to attack opportunity targets, such as shipping based at Melbourne. I launched a port strike that sunk 1 sub and several minesweepers and small transports and compelled Michael to leave enough fighters there to defend against my future attacks. Furthermore, after the fall of Broken Hill I begun evacuating the 21st Army from Australia. In a few weeks I will have 3 infantry and 3 armoured divisions as a strategic reserve. The Imperial Division is marching east to join the rest of the 25th Army at Brisbane. Triggered reinforcements: Regarding the issue of the triggered reinforcements for Australia, we contemplated going back to July 11, but since that would include replaying the invasion of Port Augusta, we decided against it. Instead, Michael agreed not to use the new units he got, unless I cross the Brisbane line again.

Olorin -> An unexpected update. Olorin (J) vs NY59Giants (A): A wizzard's guide to Australia (12/26/2012 7:01:23 AM)
September 22, 1942 Well, I must apologize to the readers of this AAR (all three of you!) for the scarcity of updates. We stopped playing for two weeks in late November, due to real life commitments and then the game entered a phase where nothing much was happening. It's still in that phase, which allows us to produce turns very fast indeed. There is not much news to report, after the Allied landed in the Gilbert islands. Everything can be covered in one post frankly. The big picture is that Japan has stopped almost all offensive activities, except the strategic bombing of Australia, which continues at a much reduced intensity and some scarce airfield raids in China. Other than that, I am just waiting for the Allies to make their next move. After Michael conquered the Gilberts, he was content to consolidate and build up Tarawa and co. It seems that his new target will be the Marshalls. He can apply pressure there without committing CVs. Logistics prevent Japan from launching further major offensives. Unfortunately, we are playing a somewhat faulty version of DaBigBabes scenario 30, which is supposed to be scenario 2 ported to DBB, but the problem is Japan starts the war with the fuel and supply levels of stock scenario 1. In addition, refineries do not produce supplies (which is wad). I was also eager to expand Japanese industry early and quickly, reducing supply in the home Islands below 300k. But it was just enough to not hinder my initial operational tempo. Now, it's time to build up my stockpiles. A brief overview of the Japanese economy: - Fuel: 3.75 million, rising slowly(1-2k daily), but that's because the IJN is almost completely inactive (~10k are consumed daily, mainly by convoys). - Supply: 1.9 million, rising slowly (3-5k daily) - HI: 335k, gaining 3.5k per day. At this rate, I will have over 600k by the end of the year. Through modest expansion and conquest, I gained roughly 400 HI factories (now 7400 in total). - Vehicles: 13k, gaining over 200 per day. All factories (255) are operational. - Armaments: 91k, gaining over 200 per day. 1/3 of the factories (200) are operational. - Naval: I initially expanded shipyards to 1650. Accelerating ALL CVs in the que, at the expense of Musashi and the submarines (only one is being built atm) - Merchant: I shut down 455 shipyards. 490 remain operational, building mainly the large, fast tankers and the CVEs. - Air: no expense was spared. Actually, I think I over-expanded here, because the stockpiles of the main types are very healthy and I can shut down some factories. No doubt I will need them in the future though. At full capacity we can produce (monthly): 210 Tojos 210 Zeros (currently upgrading to A6M3a and 120 Hellens (the IIa model) 60 Nells -R&D: Main effort is currently the Zero line. The A6M5 arrives in October. 6 x30 factories are researching the A6M5b and 500 Nakajima-Ha 35 engines contribute to the research. Current ETA for this model is 44/2. Lots of resources invested in George, Frank and Sam as well, but these factories are still a long way from completion. A summary of my current defensive disposition: China: The only thing going on here is a minor air offensive of mine, targeting various airfields, destroying supply dumbs. My MLR is firmly dug in and I have 7 divisions and 5 brigades in reserve. Almost no likelihood of a Chinese offensive in the next decade. Burma: No change whatsoever. The 15th Army (2 divisions, 1 brigade, 1 regiment) is digging in. The 3rd Tank Div is assembling in Rangoon to act as a mobile reserve. Opposing this force is only the 1st Burmese Div. There are large concentrations in Calcutta(80k), Chittagong(35k), Imphal(35k) and Dimapur(45k). Andaman Islands and Sumatra: This area is defended by the 16th Army with 3 divisions. 1 is at Port Blair (lvl5 forts), another in northern Sumatra and another one in southern Sumatra. Fort Building is going very good. Java: The 2nd Army defends Java with 2 full divisions. As the likelihood of a deep strike here is deemed very slim, this army can be counted as a reserve formation. Australia: I pulled the 21st Army out of Australia altogether. All that is left in eastern Oz is the 25th Army, which defends in and around Brisbane (lvl5 forts) with three divisions, and the 14th Army, which defends Port Augusta (lvl4 forts) with 1 division and 1 reinforced brigade. The rest of 14th Army defends WA, with 1 reinforced division. 1 division and 1 brigade are at Townsville, as reserves for the entire SE Fleet AO. Forts are being built along the entire eastern coast, all the way up to Horn Island. There is a large allied force defending SE Oz. Main concentrations are Melbourne (85k), Sydney (50k), Adelaide (40k), Newcastle (20k). In total, 250k. The Americal Div & the 32nd Inf Div were identified long ago and it's believed another division has recently arrived. SE Fleet: 1 division at Numea (lvl4 forts), 1 regiment at Luganville (lvl3 forts), 1 division at Tulagi, minor forces in between. 2 regiments in reserve, at Rabaul. 50k Allied troops are spotted in Fiji. 4th Fleet: The Marshalls are fully garrisoned by small units, as allowed by stacking limits. Fort levels are generally good (mostly lvl4). Ponape will be my main defensive point, currently defended by 2 regiments plus support, totaling 400 AV behind lvl3 forts. Another reinforced regiment is at Truk (lvl4 forts). The Marianas are very lightly defended, but forts are growing. 5th Fleet: Paramushiro-jima, Shimushiro-jima and Etorofu are the only developed bases. Each is defended by 140 AV behind lvl3 forts. 1 division is at Wakkanai as a reserve. The Aleutians are nothing more than a speedbumb, there are 70 AV at Adak and 85 at Amchitka. The Allies have 18k in Dora Harbor. Strategic reserve: The 21st Army has been pulled out of Australia in its entirety. Its 3 Tank divisions and 3 infantry divisions are currently resting in **. Kido Buttai: Location also secret. But 4 of its carriers are currently refitting in the HI. When the A6M5 arrives in 8 days, the KB will be prioritized for upgrades. Allied intentions:** Air raids against the Marshalls have just started today, by B-24s and P-38s. 2 Marine divs have invaded Gilbertsa month ago, but their current whereabouts are unknown. Excluding the forces already identified or suspected, it is believed that the Allies are capable of launching an offensive with 6-7 divisions (3 of them marines), supported by 6 CVs. Keeping KB ready is my best defense against them. Currently, there aren't many places where the Allies can advance without carrier support. Land offensives in Burma and/or Australia are possible. The Aleutians and the Marshalls can be captured without carriers fairly easily, but everything else will require strong carrier support. I don't believe Michael is mentally committed to such a big push yet. He will patiently wait until he has better aircraft and more ground units at his disposal. Until then, I think he will go after the low risk targets. ...Not so brief a summary afterall. I wonder who will read it.[:D] Comments and suggestions are welcome.

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