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1-3 April 42' - 4/21/2010 3:43:53 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Java
Ground battles at Bandoeng are taking longer than expected. The mountainous terrain is doing a lot for the forces here. Forts were reduced to zero on the 2nd, but engineers managed to rebuild them on the 3rd.

Other DEI
Koepang is taken by the Japanese, the airfield is immediately put to use to base enemy recon which is now flying over Darwin.

China
A small air battle over Changsha sees the AVG winning 1-3 against Oscars and Nates. The Nates never stood a chance, but the Oscars damage a lot of AVG planes for little loss, they don't quite manage to shoot them down though.

Subs
Only 1 casualty in the sub war, KXIII is hit for moderate damage when attacking a DD. She's moving off station for repairs in Australia, but should be in no danger of sinking.



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Post #: 151
RE: 1-3 April 42' - 4/21/2010 5:35:24 PM   
khyberbill


Posts: 1941
Joined: 9/11/2007
From: new milford, ct
Status: offline
quote:

Ground battles at Bandoeng are taking longer than expected. The mountainous terrain is doing a lot for the forces here. Forts were reduced to zero on the 2nd, but engineers managed to rebuild them on the 3rd.

Yes, it is a good place to make your stand in Java.

_____________________________

"Its a dog eat dog world Sammy and I am wearing Milkbone underwear" -Norm.

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Post #: 152
4-7 April 42' - 4/26/2010 11:16:49 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Khyberbill: Unfortunately I didn't make a real stand there, my forces are somewhat dispersed over Batavia, Bandoeng and Soerabaja. On the other hand, this may have paid off against Lemon as he is very careful and wanted to remove this base on his flank before attacking Batavia. If all forces had been either at Bandoeng or Batavia, he might have thrown the kitchen sink at it and taken either base by now.

4-7 April 42'

Hiryu
The Hiryu has finally succumbed to the damage done by HMS Truant. According to Lemon the Hiryu retreated towards Billiton after the hit, instead of nearby (and larger) Oosthaven. This sealed her fate as Billiton was too small a port to extinguish the fires on her. Apparently the ship sunk when Lemon tried to move her to a bigger port in a last effort to save her before the fires consumed her. Her whole air complement was still aboard as it couldn't be unloaded due to the flames, according to the loss report about 75 planes sank with the carrier.

Java
On Java Bandoeng falls on the 5th, 200 AV have held a crack IJA division plus supporting troops for more than a week, not too shabby. Now let's see what the forts at Batavia will do.

DEI
Some more cleaning work being done, Bandjermasin is attacked and taken, meaning all of Borneo is now in Japanese hands. The small islands East of Sumatra are also being picked off.

New Guinea
Will the attack at Port Moresby finally come ? At least the air raids have started again with daily zero sweeps and bombing attacks by Betties. No ground forces have reached the base yet though, they are still in the jungle in the middle of the Island.

China
AVG again, 4 planes encounter a 50 Sonia raid and attack, claiming 3 kills against the light bombers.

Subs
Seal puts a torpedo in xAKL Ina Maru in the East China sea.

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Post #: 153
8-10 April 42' - 5/1/2010 4:21:29 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Status: offline 		8-10 April 42'

Although the three last days didn't see much actual combat, a couple of interesting sightings were made.

DEI
A CV force was spotted in Balikpapan harbour, it didn't look small enough for mini-KB, nor large enough for the full KB. During the battle for Java KB was already seen operating split, so this may still be the case.

Aleutian Islands
The first Japanese moves into the Northern waters. A TF snuck up to Attu Island on the Western end of the chain and dropped off a Naval Guard Unit. Defences here are still as they were on December 7, though a couple of independent regiments were earmarked to get shipped up North. I wonder if I'll have the time to get them to Dutch Harbour/Umnak Island before the Japanese come knocking.

Subs
S-38 torpedoes the old DD Tsuga in the Banda sea
Plunger achieves a similar feat close to Kwajalein Island, by hitting a modern DD, but her torpedoes malfunction.

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Post #: 154
11-13 April 42' - 5/4/2010 12:26:07 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Java
The first troops have started besieging Batavia, but not attacks as of yet. The remnants of the KNIL airforce tried to counter a raid on their airfields, but a 40 plane Oscar escort easily swept aside the defenders. Only the P-40E squadron has a decent number of planes left, otherwise the fighter airforce is shattered. The bombers have been stood down or disbanded as attacks versus the heavily CAPed Japanese bases around Java would be suicide. Better to save the pilots for the Dutch RAAF squadrons then to give points to the Japanese for shooting them down in the old bombers.

Aleutians
Attu island fell, but no engineers have been observed on the island. In other parts of the map my opponent has been expanding bases as soon as he captures them, so I'm a bit surprised that there are only combat forces here. Makes me wonder how serious his commitment to NorPac is, of course, reinforcements will be sent in case he does have more ambitious plans.

SWPac
Ndeni (Between Guadalcanal and Luganville) was invaded, his first expansion in this area since the capture of Guadalcanal/Tulagi. No intel as to the composition of landing forces though. I'll be sending out small units like the raiders to islands North of Noumea so he at least can't do easy unopposed landings there.

Subs
The first upgraded subs have left the ports and will soon be making their way to their hunting grounds. I'm interested as to the effect the radar will have.



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Post #: 155
14-16 April 42' - 5/11/2010 6:23:11 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
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Status: offline 		14-16 April 42'

The going has been slow the last couple of days, mainly because I have been fairly busy, but here is another update anyway.

North Australia
Yes, you read that correctly, the most interesting developments in our war have been near the Australian coast the last couple of days.

Just East of Timor, the island of Samlauki has been attacked and taken by the Japanese forces. Around the same time, an air raid on Darwin was launched by betties. The Allied forces tried to respond, but bad weather prevented DB attacks from Darwin against the Japanese invasion fleets and the fighters flown in to protect Darwin are now patrolling empty skies. I believe an invasion of Northern Australia is very likely in the near future, due to several clues.
1) High level of recon flights against Derby and Darwin
2) Intel reports heavy artillery units are being shipped to Makassar, since long taken. I believe these are units assembling there before being brought forward to invade Oz. These might also be meant for Java, but in that case being shipped directly to a port there would make more sense.

I haven't many LCUs to stop a move on Darwin, so it's unlikely that I'll hold the base for long. In a couple of weeks the Australian Armoured regiments will begin fitting out with Grant tanks and 2 Tank Bat are in Australia as well, so any move to Alice Springs or the Townsville area will result in a war of manoeuvre that I would welcome. Lots of fighters are being assembled to inflict maximum losses on air units supporting the invasion.

Java
Batavia is being attacked and will fall soon, I wish I had put these forces into Bandoeng as well.

Sumatra
Padang falls and with that the final non-dot base on Sumatra.

Subs
In the South China sea, Sargo torpedoes a medium PB escort. This allows O20 a surface attack on an xAK in the next hex, but strangely enough she declines to fire either torpedoes or her deck gun and is forced to submerge after some hits by the merchant, strange.

Sailfish puts a dud on a Sc near Georgetown. The subs here aren't exactly great scouts, they are supposed to report on traffic towards Rangoon (air recon reported ships here) and the Bay of Bengal, but the only ship she has run into until now are sub hunters.

Finally, the RN organized a sub hunt near Colombo. The forces consisted of Hermes with escorts for search, 2 4DD, 1 KV, 1 AM and 1 ML ASW groups, 2 Hudsons squadrons ran search from Colombo. One Japanese sub was encountered, but it escaped with minimum damage.

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Post #: 156
17-19 April 42' - 5/13/2010 7:01:03 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Status: offline 		17-19 April 42'

Java
A strange sight, the Japanese do an opposed landing at Semarang (middle of Java). The opposition is only a BF though, and the landed regiment easily blows it away. Nice to see that unloading has slowed down though, it took him several days to get it ashore completely. I can't quite figure out why he didn't simply use an already captured base though.

Batavia fell on the 19th, with heavy damage to the base according to Lemon. I'm not sure if he means the runway/port or the industry as I haven't got the turn back.

North Australia
Even though the ships took 2 more days on the beaches of Saumlaki, my Vindicators didn't launch. I saw clouds over the base every day so was I just blocked by the weather or was there another reason ? Lots of engineering units in the first wave so it is clear that the island is supposed to become a major base.

Northeast Australia
An air raid by unescorted Betties on Townville comes in unopposed. They bomb the port, sinking an xAKL and damaging PG Swan, I'm lucky he didn't sight the AS stationed here. I hadn't put up any CAP here, a foolish mistake. If he thinks about finishing off the PG and maybe get to other ships, there will be a surprise waiting for him.

China
The same again, a lack of CAP lets Sonias bomb Changsha airfield were the AVG is still stationed. I had stood them down for some reason, and paid the price with some planes destroyed and damaged on the ground. I'm really annoyed at myself for being caught off guard like this.

Subs
Near New Britain Trout gets some mild damage from a SC.

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Post #: 157
20 April 42' - 5/16/2010 11:43:38 PM   
Smeulders

 

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China
Some serious revenge is taken on the Japanese airforce over Changsha. Two small uncoordinated Nate sweeps come in first, with only 9 and 2 planes they stand no chance against a 25-30 plane CAP. Just 2 damaged planes make it out in these two raids. Later on a Sonia raid arrives, 11 bombers escorted by 27 Nates. The numbers are more even now, but the Nates are chained to the bombers and at a height disadvantage (CAP at 15 and 20k), the slaughter continues with another 15 or so Nates and 3 Sonias shot down.

This battle gives me the first double ace of the Allied airforces, MAJ Jones O. Another two pilots achieve ace status, medals all around and 2 pilots are sent stateside for TRACOM or training squadron duties.

PI
Cebu is invaded, one of the few remaining bases in the PI. 2 regiments with artillery and engineer units attached are thrown against the starving 81st PA Division and the base will not last long.

Timor area
Lomblen above Timor is invaded, no combat troops but 3 Naval Construction Bat and a JAAF Base Force, clearly this is another base that will be built up.


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Post #: 158
21-22 April 42' - 5/18/2010 11:03:43 PM   
Smeulders

 

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DEI
Den passer is invaded and captured

Timor Area
Lomblen North of Timor falls

Vindicators from Darwin finally fly against Samlauki. The small group (8 planes) strike twice and hit two xAK twice, none are seen sinking, but the kills are as good as sure. A curious observation is that the even after such a successful day, only 1 pilot gained exp, 1 gained a skill point and two pilots even lost an exp point. I didn't even know this was possible. I'm going to take a closer look at bomber units in action, but if this is the norm, it's going to be pretty hard to train up bomber crews. (This unit is not very experienced yet, many pilots are around 50 exp.)

PI
The 81st Division does a  very good job holding off a first assault and doesn't even get a modifier for supply.

Subs
Pike hits a DD on ASW duty with a dud, this is around Sakhalin, I'm surprised there even are DD up there.

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Post #: 159
RE: 21-22 April 42' - 5/19/2010 9:53:08 PM   
khyberbill


Posts: 1941
Joined: 9/11/2007
From: new milford, ct
Status: offline
quote:

Lomblen North of Timor falls

Vindicators from Darwin finally fly against Samlauki. The small group (8 planes) strike twice and hit two xAK twice, none are seen sinking, but the kills are as good as sure. A curious observation is that the even after such a successful day, only 1 pilot gained exp, 1 gained a skill point and two pilots even lost an exp point. I didn't even know this was possible. I'm going to take a closer look at bomber units in action, but if this is the norm, it's going to be pretty hard to train up bomber crews. (This unit is not very experienced yet, many pilots are around 50 exp.)


I am up to 6/44 in one PBEM and bomber crews just dont seem to gain EXP! I think most are still in the 50s. I have stopped worrying about it and just try to keep a rotation of strikes and stand downs that is effective.

_____________________________

"Its a dog eat dog world Sammy and I am wearing Milkbone underwear" -Norm.

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Post #: 160
23-24 April 42' - 5/20/2010 9:47:09 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Bill: Interesting information, I won't hope too much on training bomber pilots in combat. I do think does makes training bomber pilots more important, most of the time 4E bombers don't have much to fear except for OpsLosses so exp is important, but if they don't gain it with bombing....

23-24 April 42'

Sumatra
Sumatra is now completely cleared after a brief skirmish in the middle of the island.

PI
The forts fall to 1 on Cebu, but losses remain quite light for both sides

Burma
The Japanese have finally decided to advance into the Northern jungle in Burma, the dot hex North of Lashio falls.

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Post #: 161
25 April 42' - 5/23/2010 9:41:03 AM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		25 April 42'

Readers of Joseph's AAR will probably know he is out of town for a couple of days, so only an update for one turn. I'm using the time to look all over the map though and I'm preparing some updates per theatre that will come in the following days. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them.

China
A 4 unit army is seen to be moving towards Sian from the direction of Yenan. Shouldn't be any problem for the heavy forces in Sian, but the scouting corps on the road isn't too pleased. In the meantime a corps cut off in the mountains East of Yenan is being bombed daily and pursued by pretty large force of 1 division and two Independent brigades.

PI
Cebu is still being held, but the Japanese are very close to getting a 2-1 attack in adjusted AV.

SigInt
4th Division is located at Makassar. - This unit was not involved in the capture of Makassar, together with the earlier reports of Heavy Art I'm giving it a 80% chance that this is indeed the staging area for a Northern Oz invasion. If that doesn't materialize, I know which base to avoid once my counter-attacks start.

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Post #: 162
India - 5/23/2010 10:31:17 AM   
Smeulders

 

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Status: offline 		India

First an update on the India front. I'm not expecting any large scale attacks on India by my opponent, but nevertheless I've prepared my defences. The main focus points are Ceylon and the India/Burma border area as these are most likely to see raids or attacks.

Ceylon


Trimacolee seems to be the most likely landing ground, it's the second base on the island, but an attack straight at Colombo runs a lot of risk of being prematurely spotted. For this reason a lot of the best forces are put here. Jaffna is a possibility as well, but closer to the mainland and at more risk from LBA. Koggala may fall, it's a small base and the roads out of it are so slow I'll be able to counter anything coming from there. I may even pull out an extra Bde to protect Colombo or Jaffna better. Notice that some of these troops movements still need to be done (ATM there are 2 divisions at Trimacolee and Jaffna is nearly empty)

I'm mainly worried about my opponent boldly moving on Colombo and taking it before reinforcements arrive, I've got few search assets in the area and Joseph may capitalize on this, still it seems unlikely.

The fighter airforce consists mainly of training units, so the pilots aren't very experienced, still they have the advantage of fixed bases and will be able to hold off carrier air until more planes can be brought down from the North. Bombers with somewhat longer range can be diverted to bases on the mainland, though I'm still building those ATM (One base has reached lvl 3, but I still have to start on others).

A final trump that may be used is that an xAP reserve is constantly at the ready in Cochin. In case of an invasion these can quickly evacuate or reinforce Ceylon if I can maintain my SLOC. I estimate that I'm capable of landing 2 Bdes at Colombo within 10 days of an invasion, with an additional 2 Bde's every 4 days after that, provided I have enough unrestricted troops. This could be speeded up by pre-placing ground forces in Cochin, but I don't think I'll have control of the seas the first days after an invasion anyway, so they're better off in reserve somewhere else.

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Post #: 163
India - Part 2 - 5/23/2010 10:57:33 AM   
Smeulders

 

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Status: offline 		Burma Border Area


The main plan here is not to allow a invasion at Diamond Harbour or at least to minimize it's impact. To this end, I have put the British Division, CD guns and a bunch of engineers there to dig in. If there should be a breakthrough, I'll at least have bought enough time to prevent an encirclement of the border troops. On the border forces are light, one reason is a shortage of trained and well equipped Indian forces, another is that I can bring up forces faster than the Japanese can bring them trough the jungle. If he wants to fight in India, he'll have to suffer the consequences. I believe Chittagong to be most at risk from an attack, I've allowed him a decent land route to the target, so he might go probing there, reinforcements will be sent soon.

The airforce is mainly defensive in nature due to the short range of my fighters.

Rest of India
Madras - A division and some auxiliary troops, should be enough to hold of the first few days of an invasion until I can bring in reinforcements.
Bombay - Main fleet base
Coconada and Vizag.... - 2 Shore bases between Calcutta and Madras, defended by the 3 British Bde and an understrength Indian Div. An attack here is unlikely, he'd land far from any worthwhile targets and he'd have to protect his flanks from counter-attacks from all directions.
Delhi - Main training base for my air force, chock full of Buffaloes, Mohawks, Fullmars and even Blenheim I squadrons.

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Post #: 164
Australia - 5/23/2010 7:19:51 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Australia

Next part of the tour: The land of Oz.



What struck me most is that, despite the large number of brigades and divisions here, the Australian army is still fairly weak. Part of the reason is of course that I Australian Corps has been left on Ceylon, but the next reason is that nearly all units are understrength. So far I've only been able to fill out one brigade with infantry squads and it'll still take some time before I can upgrade that into AIF squads. The Australian Armour is pretty nice though, once 5/42 comes around and the Grant tanks can be used, you can easily fill out 200 AV with strong tanks and then even more with every arriving convoy. I've also brought in an additional 2 American Tank Bat. so I'll probably have a serious edge in manoeuvre warfare.

There are 3 probable landing locations, Perth Area, Northern Oz and NE Oz. It's impossible to defend all of these areas with enough forces, so the main strategy is to buy enough time for reinforcements to arrive and then push the Japanese back to the sea.
1) In the Perth Area, many possible landing sites make it hard to defend. I've posted a division in Perth itself, with an additional Bde in Kalgoorlie to hold the railhead. Reinforcements can arrive here fairly quickly. Losing this area would pose a serious problem for my fuel pipeline coming from Cape Town.

2) Northern Oz, fewer landing sites, but still very hard to hold as it's a long way for any reinforcements to reach the area. At the moment the force arrayed there is the largest when counting pure AV, but there are many small and ill-equipped units among them, not really fit for a long battle. I'll retreat all the way to Alice Springs where I will make a stand. In the meantime my armour will be used to attack his supply lines. I don't think it would take too long to organize a counter-attack to regain control, unless he overcommits which makes my job that much easier elsewhere. I am expecting a landing here in the near future

3) NE Oz : hard to defend and pretty annoying to lose. There is a multitude of possible landing sites, ranging from Cooktown in the North to Brisbane in the South. All have the capability of either capturing or cutting of my airbases in the North. This seems like the most interesting area for a land war, with all the important bases on the coast, but also a large road network and plains inland that make fast movement possible.

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Post #: 165
SW Pacific - 5/24/2010 5:09:50 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		New Caledonia to Christmas



On New Caledonia, the Americans have dug pretty well already, if other AAR's are anything to go by (I think it was in Q-Ball vs. Cuttlefish) a single division at Noumea can hold pretty long even against a large invasion. A second division is being brought in as well, to protect the traditional landing site at Koumac. This will be augmented with some USMC Defence Batallions to provide CD guns. This might be a bit overkill, but New Caledonia isn't too bad a place to have some reserves, they can quickly be moved to Australia or into an attack towards NG or the Solomons.

At the moment I'm starting to move into the New Hebrides, there has been little interest in the area so far and I guess I'll have a little time still to move the forces into place. The marines moving towards Luganville should be able to adequately defend the place so I have time to build it into a rather large forward base.



Further to the East, Fiji and Pago are ready for any attack. Strong forces in Suva and on Pago will make sure the bases won't fall quickly and the CD guns and regiment at Nadi will make sure unloading there isn't painless either. The only thing still happening here is getting some more AA guns forward sending the last troops to Savaii.

Canton - Pretty barren at the moment, as a good commander should I've evacuated the civilians, only a few of their bulldozers have remained. A USMC battalion has recently started preping for the Island and may move to the Island. It would make a nice forward observation base, but it does remain very exposed.
Tahiti - Built up into a rather major base, it's a refuelling stop, but is also used to drop of LCUs for re-embarkation into amphibious ships. It's unlikely to be attacked soon, but there is still an sep. infantry regiment as garrison.
Christmas - 2 regiments (1 regular, 1 sep.) defend the atoll, with 4 fortification levels, this is a rather tough nut to crack. Not many ships and planes pass by here though, as I'm a bit wary of raids.

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Post #: 166
RE: Australia - 5/24/2010 11:18:51 PM   
crsutton


Posts: 9590
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From: Maryland
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

Australia

Next part of the tour: The land of Oz.



What struck me most is that, despite the large number of brigades and divisions here, the Australian army is still fairly weak. Part of the reason is of course that I Australian Corps has been left on Ceylon, but the next reason is that nearly all units are understrength. So far I've only been able to fill out one brigade with infantry squads and it'll still take some time before I can upgrade that into AIF squads. The Australian Armour is pretty nice though, once 5/42 comes around and the Grant tanks can be used, you can easily fill out 200 AV with strong tanks and then even more with every arriving convoy. I've also brought in an additional 2 American Tank Bat. so I'll probably have a serious edge in manoeuvre warfare.

There are 3 probable landing locations, Perth Area, Northern Oz and NE Oz. It's impossible to defend all of these areas with enough forces, so the main strategy is to buy enough time for reinforcements to arrive and then push the Japanese back to the sea.
1) In the Perth Area, many possible landing sites make it hard to defend. I've posted a division in Perth itself, with an additional Bde in Kalgoorlie to hold the railhead. Reinforcements can arrive here fairly quickly. Losing this area would pose a serious problem for my fuel pipeline coming from Cape Town.

2) Northern Oz, fewer landing sites, but still very hard to hold as it's a long way for any reinforcements to reach the area. At the moment the force arrayed there is the largest when counting pure AV, but there are many small and ill-equipped units among them, not really fit for a long battle. I'll retreat all the way to Alice Springs where I will make a stand. In the meantime my armour will be used to attack his supply lines. I don't think it would take too long to organize a counter-attack to regain control, unless he overcommits which makes my job that much easier elsewhere. I am expecting a landing here in the near future

3) NE Oz : hard to defend and pretty annoying to lose. There is a multitude of possible landing sites, ranging from Cooktown in the North to Brisbane in the South. All have the capability of either capturing or cutting of my airbases in the North. This seems like the most interesting area for a land war, with all the important bases on the coast, but also a large road network and plains inland that make fast movement possible.




Well, at this stage if he goes for Australia, then India is probably safe. It is hard for the Japanese player to go after both-especially with the invasion bonus gone.

If he is going to OZ, then he should go for Darwin. To leave this place alone is courting an early offensive in the DEI so I doubt that Perth would be the target before he takes Darwin.

It is doubtful if any Allied player can hold Darwin vs a good Japanese player but there is tremendous opportunity for mischef there if he does not mind his Ps and Qs. I would recommend getting all of the mobile units there that you can as fast as you can. The four tank regiments that sport 50 tanks are very strong, and Oz has the two motorized brigades that get about 25-30 medium tanks as well. These are the two best Allied units in the game in 1942 as they are fast and can punch out any mobile Japanese unit. Combine all of these units along with two or three American tank units and you have a powerful, fast, mailed fist that can defeat a Japanese divsion in the open and run away from any larger threat. Just pray that he is foolish enough to send Japanese tanks after you as these units will just crush them.

If you are satified that he is not going into India you might want to transfer a few units to OZ. India has some powerful armor brigades and I sent two of them to OZ with excellent results.

If you are strong enough in Darwin then you can force him to invade at one or more of the neighboring ports. These are all level one and by using you armor creatively, you can cause some severe supply problems as he moves towards Katherine and then on to Darwin. In my game, I was slow to react but still came very close to trapping his army. It was a near thing. He took Darwin but I destroyed too tank regiments and most of a third. And it took him the better part of two months to do so.

Once the Japanese hold Darwin then it is too tough to keep them there as they can then use their superior air force. Once again as long as you keep you mobile units intact, there are many ways to hurt the Japanese if they advance into the interior.

_____________________________

I am the Holy Roman Emperor and am above grammar.

Sigismund of Luxemburg

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Post #: 167
RE: Australia - 5/26/2010 7:38:45 AM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Crsutton: A couple of interesting ideas and you're correct, getting the armour up North is better than sticking them in a defensive line along Alice Springs.

quote:

It is doubtful if any Allied player can hold Darwin vs a good Japanese player but there is tremendous opportunity for mischef there if he does not mind his Ps and Qs. I would recommend getting all of the mobile units there that you can as fast as you can. The four tank regiments that sport 50 tanks are very strong, and Oz has the two motorized brigades that get about 25-30 medium tanks as well. These are the two best Allied units in the game in 1942 as they are fast and can punch out any mobile Japanese unit. Combine all of these units along with two or three American tank units and you have a powerful, fast, mailed fist that can defeat a Japanese divsion in the open and run away from any larger threat. Just pray that he is foolish enough to send Japanese tanks after you as these units will just crush them.


The problem is that I've yet to fill out most of them, only 1 regiment is completely outfitted with Mathildas ATM, 3 others are waiting in Sydney for the Grants to become available and a new convoy to arrive with another 100 tanks. With the waiting period, outfitting and then transport to the North it may still take a month or so for them to arrive in the area. So far I've only got 1 American Stuart Battalion there, the Mathildas are at Alice Springs and the other American Bat. will be there in about a week.

quote:

If you are satified that he is not going into India you might want to transfer a few units to OZ. India has some powerful armor brigades and I sent two of them to OZ with excellent results.


If I'm not mistaken these use Valentine III tanks, of which I'm very short, I should check when convoys of these arrive, but at the moment they're paper tigers. I have however flagged 7th Arm. Bde. in Colombo as reinforcement for Australia should it be attacked, this is probably the strongest unrestricted armoured formation the Allies have.

quote:

If you are strong enough in Darwin then you can force him to invade at one or more of the neighboring ports. These are all level one and by using you armor creatively, you can cause some severe supply problems as he moves towards Katherine and then on to Darwin. In my game, I was slow to react but still came very close to trapping his army. It was a near thing. He took Darwin but I destroyed too tank regiments and most of a third. And it took him the better part of two months to do so.


Bravo is the only answer to that, what time was the invasion and where did he invade ? I'm hoping for a Derby/Broome invasion (Derby is getting reconned, Whyndham isn't, so I may get lucky). The large majority of the 600 AV is in Darwin, with a good bunch of CD guns, so that's not a likely landing ground.

(in reply to crsutton)
Post #: 168
RE: Australia - 5/26/2010 4:35:47 PM   
crsutton


Posts: 9590
Joined: 12/6/2002
From: Maryland
Status: offline 		Even if they have not flushed out, it is best to move the tank units now to be in position. As long as you have decent supply at a foward base, they will take replacements. If you are confident that India is fairly safe, move the units to OZ now. They are easier to move and may be cheaper in PP to buy out. You can let them take tank just as easily in OZ.

My game started early so your supply -post patch issues may be different. Also, I was beset by the armor replacement bug and although fixed there was a lot of damage and problems created that could not be undone. Don't let the units with matilda tanks upgrade to Grant/lees until you have plenty of them. For some reason, you will continue to get hundreds of matildas long after you have any need for them. And the motorized brigades neede Grant\lees and these units are stronger. Vs Japanese armor, a matilda is as good as any tank. My other game is in May of 42 and I have one full unit with matildas and one with grants, You should have them all filled out by July so move them into positon. Last to fill out are your three cavalry brigades. It drives me crazy that these units are no more mobile than infanty but they get a healty dose of tanks and are strong units to combine with infantry.

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Post #: 169
RE: Australia - 5/26/2010 8:07:00 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: crsutton

Even if they have not flushed out, it is best to move the tank units now to be in position. As long as you have decent supply at a foward base, they will take replacements. If you are confident that India is fairly safe, move the units to OZ now. They are easier to move and may be cheaper in PP to buy out. You can let them take tank just as easily in OZ.

My game started early so your supply -post patch issues may be different. Also, I was beset by the armor replacement bug and although fixed there was a lot of damage and problems created that could not be undone. Don't let the units with matilda tanks upgrade to Grant/lees until you have plenty of them. For some reason, you will continue to get hundreds of matildas long after you have any need for them. And the motorized brigades neede Grant\lees and these units are stronger. Vs Japanese armor, a matilda is as good as any tank. My other game is in May of 42 and I have one full unit with matildas and one with grants, You should have them all filled out by July so move them into positon. Last to fill out are your three cavalry brigades. It drives me crazy that these units are no more mobile than infanty but they get a healty dose of tanks and are strong units to combine with infantry.


Good point on the Mathildas/Grants, I'm keeping an eye out that they don't all start upgrading leaving me short on Grants. I'll keep them at Sydney still though, I've noticed that at some bases replacements can be slower for reasons unknown (supply and HQ was accounted for, maybe base size ?) and I'd rather keep they are a bit further from the front, but with replacements every day, then closer to the front and replacements every 3 days.

The Indian Armour is staying in India a while longer, I haven't got the PP yet to buy them out, 2 Indian divisions are still before them on the list. I try to buy out units that are still understrength or with disabled squads first as it is cheaper that way. Only then do I start filling them out and the Indian Infantry still has a fair bit of disabled squads. Besides I don't have the tanks to fill out the Indians anyway and I'm not 100% sure where he will strike.

I do see what you're saying with the Cavalry Bde, after the TOE change they are at 120 Tanks and somehow they're not Armoured ?

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Post #: 170
RE: Australia - 5/26/2010 8:34:40 PM   
Jzanes

 

Posts: 471
Joined: 11/18/2004
Status: offline 		"I've noticed that at some bases replacements can be slower for reasons unknown (supply and HQ was accounted for, maybe base size ?) "

IIRC the rate of replacements is also influenced by the number of in supply bases in the vicinity of the base a unit is at.  For example, a unit at Sydney will build up quicker if Newcastle, Canberra, etc. are also in supply.  I forget the exact criteria of what constitutes "in the vicinity".  Maybe, it's supply range.  It's in the manual (somewhere).

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Post #: 171
RE: Australia - 5/26/2010 8:43:28 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		I'd have to look it up myself, but the British Division at Diamond Harbour is still drawing replacements (some AA guns and Motorized Support) and for some reason this only happens once every 3 days according to tracker.Right now there are about 10000 supplies and a corps HQ,but it was the same with 30000 supplies and India Command.

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Post #: 172
26-27 April 42' - 5/29/2010 2:33:13 PM   
Smeulders

 

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Status: offline 		26-27 April 42'

And after that short interlude, it's time to return to the actual fighting.

PI
After a 6 day battle, the Philippine troops at Cebu surrender to the Japanese. Only one PI regiment remains, on Bacolod.

DEI
The advance on Java continues, the force that was chased from Bandoeng is now at Tjilatjap, some smaller attacks by the Japanese have been repulsed here. The spearhead is now within 3 hexes of Soerabaja

NG
The first Japanese regiment has arrived in Port Moresby, a 4 unit force is still making it's way over the Owen Stanley Ranges. There is at least some artillery in that stack, but also probably 2 more infantry regiments. Defences consist of parts of 1st Motor Bde and the Port Moresby Bde, totalling some 160 AV.

Burma
A small 2 squadron air was staged by the British, with the primary objectives being lifting morale and training. Departing from Imphal, the resource centres at Lashio were hit in a coordinated strike, damage was reported a 6 hits, but intel suggests only 25% of the resource centres are still intact (= 15 hits?).
When the field at Chittagong is built up a little further, raids on the Rangoon refinery will be launched and if fighter cover can be arranged Magwe will be hit as well.



(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 173
28-30 April 42' - 6/1/2010 10:37:41 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
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Status: offline 		28-30 April 42'

That's the last of April, I'll try to get another month summary out, but I'm a bit short on time at the moment and I'd rather spend it on doing turns then on reporting on them, so there may be some delay.

Java
The Dutch air force tries a novel trick, they strafe shipping at Semarang, an MGB is hit over 10 times by machine guns, but no significant damage is reported. It appears no bombs were used in the attack.

On the ground the combat is heavy near Tjitjap, were a division of Japanese has been attacking for a few days, forts are now at zero. Djokarta also falls.

North Australia
Lautem falls, bringing all of Timor under Japanese control.

Some interesting SIGINT for the area, there are reports of both 144th Infantry Regiment and 38th Infantry Division being loaded on ships and being shipped to Singapore. However, it is nearly certain that 144th is at Makassar now and 38th Infantry Division is believed to be in the same general area. If my assumption that Makassar is a staging area is correct, this might mean the troops for the invasion are being loaded up. Again, assuming all this is correct, I'm looking at at least a 2 Division + (38th, 4th and 144th Reg) landing. I sent some Dutch patrol planes on a patrol over Makassar to see if they can pick up any shipping. Sub are also forming a screen South of the base, but are being spotted all the time.

I also sent over a little message to Joseph that I can't wait for the next invasion to see if all the predictions I made about it are correct and mentioned Makassar as the jump off point. He responded that it was just a fleet exercise and that it had nothing to do with any invasions. If my prediction turns out to be correct, you can bet he's looking for a bit more combat power to protect his troops.

China
Lots of movement, I'm really under-reporting here. A small force is approaching Sian from the direction of Yenan, more troops seem to be coming up the road from plains. An attack towards the base West of Sian (Anking ?) was picked up by SigInt. The same Army HQ was spotted 3 times in not much more than a week, each time a bit further up the trail to the base. Recon has flown over now, and it reports 40000 man in 14 units.

Port Blair
Attacked by a regiment and fell the day after that, the RN is too far away to respond.

Mini-KB
Spotted North of Borneo and a couple of days later in the Philippines, not quite sure where it is headed.

Subs
A great big wolfpack is around Townsville, Hudsons on ASW pick up around 3 each turn. There are only 2 AM there to combat the subs, but they did manage to get one hit on a sub.
I-18 torpedoes AG Canopus near Darwin. Unfortunately, that was the last ship with any endurance there and it was shepherding out some ML that had come down from the DEI. They will now lay low in the Wessel Island East of Darwin.
KVIII, operating in the wolfpack near Makassar, misses a SC.
KXIV is attacked by a PB near Singapore, she is returning to base with moderate damage.
Trout twice hits a SC near Buna, but twice the torpedoes fail.



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Post #: 174
April Overview - 6/2/2010 9:55:26 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		April Overview

A relatively calm month for most of the pacific, the main battles were on Java,were large forces are slowly but surely taking the island. The largest gains in bases is being made North of Australia, with Timor and the islands around it falling to the Japanese advance.



Theatre by Theatre

DEI
On Sumatra the last bases were cleared up, and one of the smaller islands to the West is taken.

Java was the setting for some long battles, first the stronghold at Bandoeng was taken after a rather lengthy battle at the beginning of the month. This cut the island in half,though it still took some two weeks for Batavia to be invested and finally taken. At the moment the Japanese are advancing towards Soerabaja and are mopping up a pocket at Tjiltjap.

Further to the East the Japanese have easily taken control of the Timor area, only some nuisance raids were launched from Darwin to hinder this.

Burma
Slow advances in Burma, though next month should see the fall of the last bases. Port Blair was also taken at the end of the month.

China
Little action, but a lot manoeuvring. Battles will probably erupt around Sian and Anking in the coming month.

NG
After a long march Japanese forces have reached Port Moresby, the garrison isn't large and is ill supplied, but the forts and jungle may just make for a reasonably long battle.

SW Pacific
Nadi is taken, but probably only as a float plane base, it's been pretty calm here

Aleutians
A single island was captured, but there doesn't seem to be any base building going on.

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 175
RE: April Overview - 6/2/2010 10:06:56 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Naval Losses

                        Japan             Allies
DD                       -1                   0                      FOW Correction
SS                       -2                   0                      FOW Correction
xAK                       2                   1
AG                        0                   1

That's one very, very calm month. And a bad one as well, I really have to start working on my subs.

Edit : Of course there is still another FOW effect, the Hiryu that has sunk this month. Karma might be giving his xAK's free passage in return for the CV.

< Message edited by Smeulders -- 6/2/2010 10:13:28 PM >

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Post #: 176
RE: April Overview - 6/2/2010 10:12:42 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		Air Losses


                        Japan                    Allies
Total                   309                       92
Air                        44                       15
Flak                      31                         0
Ground                   65                        8
Ops                     169                       69

A good month in the air war, winning on all fronts. There is obviously little A2A, but the one high kill encounter over Changsha was a grandiose victory for the AVG. The disparity in ground losses is due to the sinking of Hiryu, she went down with all her air groups. Ops remain the killer, claiming the majority of planes.

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Post #: 177
1-3 May 42' - 6/6/2010 6:52:09 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
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Status: offline 		1-3 May 42'

Darwin
A series of air battles have started here on the first. A sweep of some 25 zeroes runs into CAP from a Kittyhawk and P-40E squadron. Losses are heavy for the Allies with 12 planes shot down, but 6 zeroes are claimed. On the 2nd 100 additional fighters are flown in (25 P-40E, 75 P-39D), but weather prevents an air battle. On the 3th the new squadrons are put to the test with another sweep, CAP is dispersed between 8,000 and 12,000 feet to remain in the best ranges for the P-39. This didn't seem to help much though and the green pilots get slaughtered, the result of the day is 17-3. For the fourth I've increased the CAP percentage to 70 to fill the sky right from the start, here's hoping this will help.

Burma
A small air campaign is going on here as well, but this time with the Allies on the offensive. Blenheims hit a regiment that is advancing on Akyab, damage was light and a small Oscar CAP took down 2 bombers. Today 3 Hurri squadrons will sweep the hex, unfortunately at extended range from Chittagong.

A second small strike was launched by Wellingtons against Rangoon, 9 damage was reported to the refinery. Not really a game changer, but it might force him to put a squadron there as well.

China
AVG was force into two leaking CAP battles here, losing me 3 planes. I'm pulling out of Changsha for the time being, I can't keep the AVG grounded there, but I'm not willing to let it get attritioned fighting insignificant attacks.

Finally, a large scale attack is forming towards Anking, at least 2 Divisions are identified in the stack, which consists of about 25 units. Defences in Anking are a meager 860 AV, with little supply. There is another 700 AV moving in from the North, but I'm not sure they will arrive in time. A relief force is leaving Sian, but will have to contest 2 jungle hexes, another largish decoy force marching forward, hopefully he'll have to send some forces back to counter that. This is a really stupid move on my part, Sian has over 6000 AV, but the base that can be used to cut off Sian might as well have been empty.




Attachment (1)

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Post #: 178
3-9 May 42' - 6/15/2010 7:59:04 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		3-9 May 42'

Some time since the last update, but not a lot happened during the last turns.

China
My position at Anking has been reached by the Japanese assault, so tomorrow I will know how big the forces arrayed against me are. Some Chinese forces have advanced and are probing for weaknesses.

Java
Japanese forces are encircling Soerabaja. Interesting is that the 4th Division turned up on the Eastern end of Java. The Dutch air force managed a small victory over the city when a P-40E squadron engaged the daily small Oscar Ic sweep. 4 of the Oscars were shot down for 2 Dutch planes. Altitude of both groups was nearly equal. (23k for the Dutch against 21k for the Oscars reported, but the day before Oscars were reported at 23k as well.)

Subs
At least 3 duds are put into SC during this period, and Dutch subs miss in 2 separate attacks against PBs. I'm not getting any attacks against AK or TK and I'm wondering where they are.
Cachalot is heavily damaged near Sakhalin by a SC, 3 direct hits do 47/98(53) damage, so little chance of saving her.

(in reply to Smeulders)
Post #: 179
10-13 May 42' - 6/19/2010 4:37:07 PM   
Smeulders

 

Posts: 1879
Joined: 8/9/2009
Status: offline 		10-13 May 42'

China
I finally did another small map, so let's start with that.



The Japanese attack on Ankang was huge, 7 divisions, 5 brigades, 2 infantry regiments and a topping of tank and engineer regiments, totalling over 4600 AV. The defenders were a mere 850 AV, behind some forts, but they were under supplied as the supply routine didn't get anything to the city. Unsurprisingly the defenders were routed in a single attack. Losses were the typical slaughter of Chinese against Japanese, 1300 vs 8300, but the number of destroyed Chinese squads is staggering. 270 combat and 470 non-combat squads.

The relief forces were turned around before the city fell, it was obvious a force straight from Sian was going to be too slow and the Northern relief force was worth more outside of the city, were they at least would have some supply. A new defensive line will be made in the mountains North of Ankang, I'm still debating whether or not to evacuate Sian wholesale or not.

Around Changsha some sorties were made by the Japanese air force. He had correctly guessed I'm Strat Moving out some forces towards the Chungking area, but the bomber luckily targeted other formations.

Java
The P-40E fight the Oscars again on the 10th, with low losses for both sides. The P-40 were grounded for a couple of days to take replacements, but will take to the air again soon. No sense in keeping them grounded until Soerabaja falls.

Tjiltjap finally gave up to an attack on the 13th, I'm surprised this base held for nearly two weeks. It won't be long now before the final battle for Java begins at Soerabaja, the first enemies are already marching in that direction. Defenses are 500 AV and level 4 (maybe 5) forts.

Darwin Area
Several combat TFs have been spotted South of Timor, not quite sure what their goal is. Last turn a 11 ship TF, with BC and CA reported was just 4 hexes away from Darwin.

Sweeps over Darwin have restarted, but are not yet contested. I plan to put the CAP back up when bombers start appearing.

Subs
Cachalot succumbs to the damage, the first Allied sub lost in the war
KXII finally ends the long dry spell for subs, hitting an xAK at the Kai-Eilanden, a dot base near Dutch NG being invaded by the Japanese. I'm still struggling to find the convoy routes of my opponent, nearly all of my sub kills have come from swamping the waters near invasion beaches.

*censored* TF's
I'm having some problems with a number of TF's, some due to my own fault, others to some weird mechanics. They're nice cautionary tales.
- A TF carrying part of the 41st Infantry Division was accidentally put on full speed in her run from Cape Town to Australia. This led to her nearly running out of fuel, she was diverted to near Diego Garcia, where a number of ships have merged with the TF to refuel it.
- Another TF from Cape Town to Oz is acting very strange indeed. It had left without loading fuel, so I tried to turn it around, that did something weird so I turned it back to an on-map hex. That seemed to work (although it meant I'd lose the ships for a month and a half on an empty round trip), but today it should have arrived on-map and instead it just when back to being 27days away from the map.
- A TF was returning from OZ and should have had just enough fuel to make Los Angeles. However, it turns out that ships with little fuel left will not share it with other ships in the TF, this meant some of the shorter ranged ships ran out of fuel some 20 hexes out. I noticed this a bit late, meaning I've got a number of ships with 30-40 systems damage (including 6 TK!). To resolve this, I split the TF, ships with fuel were going to LA and an AO TF would leave LA to refuel the other ships. The AO TF should have reached the ships out of fuel today, but instead it halted to refuel the detached ships, meaning another day of extra systems damage.


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Post #: 180
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