SqzMyLemon
Posts: 4239
Joined: 10/30/2009
From: Alberta, Canada
Status: offline
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Sept. 18/42:
Australia:
Saumlaki has been resupplied to support both sweeps and bombing runs against Darwin. A6M2 Zero's (35) based at Dili swept prior to the air assaults. I was worried that the airfield might have been repaired to the point of allowing Allied fighters to provide CAP. I needn't have worried. I believe the airfield is still heavily damaged and the Zero's encountered neither CAP nor LRCAP.
Ki-21-IIa Sally's (45) escorted by Ki-43-Ic Oscar's (23) then hit the airbase at Darwin for 2 AB, 3 ABS and 55 Runway hits.
Burma:
The big news today is the beginning of an Allied air offensive against the airbase at Magwe with numerous sweeps and bombing attacks.
Hurricane IIc Trop's (16) are the first to arrive and encounter Ki-43-Ic Oscar's (42) on CAP. A rare mistake by Smeulders has the Hurricane's at 100' and they lose three fighters in A2A against no Japanese losses.
P-40E Warhawk's (22) sweeping at 24k are met by Oscar's (39) and the ensuing fight results in two Oscar's being downed to that of 4 Warhawk's.
This is where it gets ugly for Japanese forces. P-38E Lightning's (25) then sweep at 22k and severly maul the defending Oscar's. EIGHT Oscar's are shot down for no loss for the Allies.
A 4th sweep consisting of P-40E Warhawk's (21) encounter a lone Oscar on CAP, but no losses are recorded for either side. A 5th sweep of P-40E Warhawk's (20) encounters no CAP. That's it, my CAP over Magwe is now exhausted and the Allied bombers come in completely unopposed.
The first bomber attacks included Blenheim IV's (30) and B-25C Mitchell's (15) escorted by P-40E Warhawk's (24) and hit the airbase for 3 AB, 2 ABS and 23 Runway hits. A second bombing attack of Blenheim IV's (11), Wellington Ic's (16) and LB-30 Liberator's (7) damage the airfbase further with 4 AB and 23 Runway hits.
For good measure Hurricane IIc Trop's (15) then strafe the airbase for no damage. No Allied fighters are downed to FLAK.
The Allies will have complete control of the air over Burma as the Oscar's just can't contend against the numbers nor quality of the Allied fighters. Until I can get two Sentai's equipped with the new Tojo IIa I will try and limit my fighter losses as best I can.
Shwebo was abandoned by Japanese forces on Sept. 16 and fell today to Allied forces. Allied AV was 1345. Japanese troops dig in across the river at Mandalay.
China:
Chinese forces at Shaoyang are bombed by Sally's (39) and Helen's (24) and suffer 2(19) infantry, 0(23) non-combat and 0(1) engineer squad losses totalling 270 casualties.
Japanese ground forces rest for one day at Kweilin, I will resume deliberate assaults tomorrow.
Miscellaneous:
Uttaradit expands airfield to size 3
Toungoo expands airfield to size 2
Dili expands port to size 2
Saumlaki expands fortifications to size 5
Sept. 19/42:
Australia:
Daily bombing of Darwin results in 2 AB, 1 ABS and 10 Runway hits.
Burma:
Allied sweeps of Magwe today encountered no Japanese CAP as the Oscar's have been withdrawn to Taung Gyi. No Allied bombers hit Magwe today.
China:
Hengyang's airbase is hit by Ki-51 Sonia's (41) for 5 AB, 1 ABS and 19 Runway hits.
The second deliberate attack is launched at Kweilin. The combat report follows.
Ground combat at Kweilin (76,54)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 105239 troops, 1076 guns, 375 vehicles, Assault Value = 3959
Defending force 27213 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 992
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3
Japanese adjusted assault: 3511
Allied adjusted defense: 1003
Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
3471 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 360 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 255 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 70 disabled
Vehicles lost 31 (5 destroyed, 26 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1385 casualties reported
Squads: 37 destroyed, 71 disabled
Non Combat: 29 destroyed, 36 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Assaulting units:
17th Division
19th Ind. Engineer Regiment
116th Division
60th Division
8th Armored Car Co
12th Ind.Mixed Brigade
17th Ind.Mixed Brigade
1st Ind.Inf.Group
22nd Division
15th Division
51st Division
70th Division
104th Division
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
2nd RF Gun Battalion
4th Mortar Battalion
China Expeditionary Army
21st Mortar Battalion
5th RF Gun Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
13th Army
2nd Mortar Battalion
23rd Army
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
Defending units:
62nd Chinese Corps
59th Chinese Corps
68th Chinese Corps
2nd Chinese Base Force
13th Chinese Base Force
Another successful assault with mostly disablements on my end. I will continue to attack as long as I get results like these. Overall fatigue and disruption are low with only a few heavily disrupted units needing to be put into reserve to reduce losses.
Miscellaneous:
Yokohama/Yokosuka expands fortifications to size 3
Mandalay expands fortifications to size 3
Sept. 20/42:
Australia:
Darwin bombed for 3 AB and 44 Runway hits.
Burma:
Magwe is swept and bombed today with no opposition from Japanese air units. Magwe's airfield suffers 19 AB, 8 ABS and 55 Runway hits.
P-40E Warhawk's (24) sweep Bhamo and leaking CAP of Ki-43-Ic Oscar's (6) from Lashio intercept. One Warhawk and Oscar are reported lost.
China:
Hengyang's airbase bombed for 4 AB and 13 Runway hits.
The third deliberate assault is launched against Kweilin. Combat report:
Ground combat at Kweilin (76,54)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 85806 troops, 950 guns, 286 vehicles, Assault Value = 3656
Defending force 26049 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 925
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese adjusted assault: 3179
Allied adjusted defense: 1453
Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2568 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 157 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 117 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
833 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 79 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
I will continue to assault tomorrow.
Sept. 21/42:
Australia:
Darwin hit for 2 AB, 2 ABS and 43 Runway hits.
Burma:
Magwe was hit hard again by Allied air units and something happened which I was not too happy with. CAP based at Taung Gyi leaked into an unneccessary battle with hordes of Allied sweeps. A morning sweep of P-38E Lightning's (25) sucked an incredible 10 Oscar's based on CAP over Taung Gyi and shot down 5 outright for no loss. Then a follow up morning sweep of P-40E Warhawk's (25) encountered no Oscar's. An afternoon sweep of Hurricane IIb Trop's (16) then sucked out a further 8 Oscar's on CAP from Taung Gyi and shot down a further 4 Oscar's for no loss. A follow up sweep of Warhawk's once again encountered no CAP from Taung Gyi, being all dead the reason. In all I lost 18 Oscar's to A2A and Ops losses over a base I didn't want to defend with CAP from a base I did want defended. I can understand a few fighters perhaps, but sucking 18 Oscar's from a Sentai of 42 aircraft set to 30% CAP over a base two hexes away sucks. Absolute BS and at times I really hate the air model in this game. Of course they also interdict against the best Allied fighters in P-38E Lightning's and Hurricane IIb's and are nowhere to be seen against the weaker Warhawk sweeps...whatever. I've set my Oscar's range over Taung Gyi to zero in the hopes this won't happen again  . Besides the horrendous fighter losses the airbase itself took damage of 14 AB, 2 ABS and 174 runway hits and is now closed to operations. So the Allies hammer what was supposed to be an undefended airfield and the AI provides almost 1/2 a Sentai of Oscar's thrown in as a bonus.  I do envy the sheer hitting power of Allied bombers, they achieve damage results that Japanese bombers can never achieve without having to commit 4x the number of bombers.
Bhamo was swept again by P-40E Warhawk's (23) and leaking CAP from Lashio sent Oscar's (8) to intercept again. One Warhawk was downed for no loss to the Japanese. CAP at Lashio will now also be restricted to a range of 0.
Allied forces appear to be marching on Mandalay now. I sent a force of Ki-21-IIa Sally's (43) to bombard the troops to slow down the enemy force. 105 casualties were reported, all disablements. Of note is the fact they were from the 36th and 88th Chinese divisions. I hit the rabble while the more important Allied units are untouched.
China:
Hengyang's airbase hit for 2 AB, 1 ABS and 9 Runway hits. Again, the purpose here is supply hits and not neccessarily the destruction of the airbase.
However, it's not all doom and gloom for Imperial forces. Kweiling falls today after the 4th deliberate attack. Combat report:
Ground combat at Kweilin (76,54)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 83453 troops, 950 guns, 285 vehicles, Assault Value = 3500
Defending force 25330 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 858
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese adjusted assault: 2964
Allied adjusted defense: 565
Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kweilin !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2155 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 120 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Units pursuing 5
Allied ground losses:
5322 casualties reported
Squads: 283 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 312 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 67 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 31 (23 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units retreated 5
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
I'm very pleased with the result here of course as I initially feared I'd not sent enough AV. Total casulties for Japan in the capture of Kweilin was 13612 casualties of which 31 infantry, 18 non-combat and 3 engineer squads were destroyed. Chinese losses were 385 infantry, 386 non-combat and 69 engineer squads destroyed totalling 10628 casualties.
I will pursue north and also assault the three Chinese units to the east of Kweilin requiring a splitting of my forces. I will definitely resume the march across the river to the west of Hengyang now and eventually recombine my forces to launch attacks on the vulnerable bases in clear terrain. The object now is to try and engage Chinese forces in clear terrain to inflict heavy casualties. With the fall of Kweilin I'm curious to see the Allied next move. There is now movement of Chinese forces from Hengyang indicated. It appears the Chinese are going to cross the river both east and southeast of Hengyang. A possible offensive against Pingsiang? I have 1500 AV at Wuchang and a further 1500 AV at Pingsiang. All will be behind level 6 forts if the Chinese press. It also appears some are moving northwest to the interior.
It's going to get interesting. Neither Wuchang, Pingsiang or Hankow are crucial and if they draw the Chinese east I hope to backfill behind them and destroy them, it may take months but that's fine with me. I have ordered my victorious troops at Kweilin to march east in support of future operations around Hengyang. I do have to figure out why the Chinese would drive east now and not pull back though. Perhaps it's a feint to stop me moving north to the interior to buy time for additional troops to arrive. I will recon heavily to try and determine what the Chinese are up to. The priority as I see it right now is clear the road east of Kweilin so that my army crossing the river will be fully supplied, then I can mount a large drive north or east after I determine from recon and current Chinese moves just what they are actually up to.
There is also movement in Northern China as Lanchow seems to be in the Allied crosshairs. There are also 55 Chinese units 92 miles Northwest of Ankang which has been abandoned by Chinese forces. The Japanese 6th Division arrived there today and will assault the base tomorrow. This will be the second occupation of Ankang by Japanese forces, this one to be for much longer I'm hoping.
Miscellaneous:
Pagan expands fortifications to size 3
Guam expands airfield to size 4
SS Cachalot is reported to have been sunk near Kunashiri on May 11, 1942  
Sept. 22/42:
Australia:
Darwin hit for 5 AB and 33 Runway hits. I may stop bombing Darwin and concentrate on finally securing the Northern Australian bases of Broome and Port Hedland. I am going to see if these will become diversionary targets that will eventually draw some Allied naval assets within range of LBA and submarines.
Burma:
Magwe was swept again today by numerous Allied air units and encountered no CAP of any kind. I hope the range reduction will avoid this leaking CAP issue. Allied bombers continue to pound the airbase into rubble and the airfield remains closed after substantial damage. I will attempt to refuse air combat of any kind until my Tojo Sentai's are ready and I have some reserve aircraft in the pools.
China:
Hengyang's airbase damaged to the tune of 12 AB, 4 ABS and 35 Runway hits.
Chinese moves continue out of Hengyang and Japanese bombers are attacking to disrupt their movements as much as possible. I have sent the Kweilin force east for the moment to secure the road and supply flow. I continue to march northwest from Pingsiang to cross the river and be in a position for an offensive against Hengyang and area from the west.
Ankang falls to the Japanese 6th Division.
Miscellaneous:
Arshaan expands fortifications to size 3
Bhamo expands fortifications to size 3
Meiktila expands fortifications to size 3
CVL Ryujo beginning refit in shipyard at Singapore
DD Shiranui beginning refit in shipyard at Singapore
DD Hamakaze beginning refit in shipyard at Singapore
I'll post screenshots next posting to update the major theatres and it's time to figure out what to do in Burma to deny Allied airpower a free hand.
< Message edited by SqzMyLemon -- 2/19/2011 10:58:22 PM >
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Printable Version
RE: Aug. 24-28/42 - 
No armor and a gun value of 6 vs armor and gun value of 16 or 24 (depends on the model of Hurricane). I stopped operations until the Tojo arrived. 
Look to do the same thing for your Zero. You can advance a plane about one month for every 100 of FULLY repaired R&D factories. I took my 2 x 30 R&D factories of A6M3 and moved them up to 3a before production started. I should get the 3a at least two months early (currently 6/42 and the 3a is due in 12/42). Size 30 factories work the best, but don't go over a size 60 factory.
. I have already switched R&D to the Tojo IIb and yes the factories stay repaired along the same branch of the tech tree which is huge. I have been taking advantage of this feature as often as I can. 
Live and learn! In my limited experience I believe playing with PDU off is one of the best advantages a Japanese player can give the Allies. 
I'm in the process of reinforcing Burma with more air units, but as I've commented above I'm severly limited in the number of front line combat aircraft I can commit. I have no intention of fighting in clear terrain in Burma either, all my defensive efforts will be spent in rough terrain unless absolutely unavoidable. Allied airpower is simply devastating in clear terrain. Allied 4E's are what they are and luckily my opponent has not used them effectively to this point. However, I'm sure when they make a regular appearance they will be in such numbers I'll be defenceless against them. They will take their pound of flesh and then some. 
My escorts actually lost less aircraft than my sweeps. 
. A roundabout way to the south would take 3-4 weeks to arrive and that's just too long. I think I'll be able to get one deliberate attack against Kweilin before my feint actually does cross the river to decide on the proper course of action. I really should not have defended against a move out of Changsha or Hengyang and sent 6000 AV against Kweilin. Time will tell, but I will have 4 turns of nagging doubts until I know for sure. At worst I'll find out I'm too weak and downgrade the offensive to a probe in force. 
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