Canoerebel
Posts: 21100
Joined: 12/14/2002 From: Northwestern Georgia, USA Status: offline
|
3/29/42 Battle of the SW Cape: The first big Japanese air raid against Perth is a disaster, for John. His lightly escorted Netties came first, with Zero sweeps (including carrier fighters) coming later. The Allies win the battle 3:1. I think John will stand down strike aircraft tomorrow and ramp up his sweeps. I'll keep my Kitty/Warhawks on station and let them take a beating for a day or two while I continue to gather Wildcats at Kalgoorlie. As soon as the 'Cats are ready to fly, I'll insert them. Battle of SW Oz: It's sure shaping up like John has big plans for this region. That suits me. I am gathering a big enough land and air force to contest the region, but I'm fighting with house money, because I don't care if I lose. Perth is no big deal. 27th Div. is now all ashore. One brigade is at Perth. The two at Sydney will divide - one going to Perth, one to the small base hex just south. An American tank unit will serve as a reserve at the base just east of Perth. Two brigades of Americal are inbound to Melbourne, perhaps five days out. Many more aircraft are inbound. So the Allies will try to make Perth an effective bleeding ground. India: Showing my carrier air in Oz could have benefits here. It might persuade John that he can invade Port Blair with just a few carriers in support. In a few weeks, I'll be able to cobble together Hornet, Indomitable, Formidable and Hermes. If, on the other hand, John continues to stand down in the Bay of Bengal, I may elect to reinforce strongly (in that case, I'll probably have to eventually - medium term - shift all of my carriers this way to sustain the campaign). Other than that, India looks good. China: John has units scattered about and hung up along my MLR. His units have only one hexside of egress, so I can give him fits in various ways. I've stood down the American P-40Es at Changsha, which is my normal practice (moving them back to Chungking), but I moved in two RAF Hurricane units. John won't expect that (though I may not have enough to bludgeon his sweeping fighters). Thre IJA divisions at Changsha tried an ill-advised deliberate attack and were readily repulsed with light casualties. John will be excited because he dropped forts from 3 to 2. I hope he'll try another attack - preferably a shock attack - because he'll get clobbered. His attack was very close to a 1:3 and he suffered many more disabled squads. Pacific: Quiet.
< Message edited by Canoerebel -- 2/13/2013 3:10:38 PM >
|