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Nells over Soerabaja...

 
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Nells over Soerabaja... - 10/20/2005 3:12:37 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 21 -

Tophat finally started to land some troops at Toboali this turn. He ought to be pleasantly surprised once he captures it - there are nearly 45,000 units of supply there. Tophat's forces also finally captured Munda. As I had suspected, Tophat landed five units including two base forces.

Tophat still hasn't brought any land units into contact at Soerabaja. That's fine from my p.o.v. - the longer he "rests" his units away from Soerabaja, the more malaria will affect them. Tophat also didn't bother to send any Zeros over Soerabaja - instead he sent 53 Nells. But the Nells were at 24 to 26 thousand feet and they didn't get any hits although one was damaged by flak.

At the same time my B-17E squadron from Darwin took off again and 13 bombers hit Koepang. They only got 2 runway hits, but Tophat has no engineers on Koepang so there is no one to fix the cumulative damage. I've stood down the B-17s again - maybe Tophat will move those Zeros that didn't fly over Soerabaja this turn and have them fly LR CAP instead.

In other airplane news, I upgraded the last unfilled Soviet fighter group, so now all Soviet air units are full-up and most are rid of the open cockpit fighters. That leaves only one P-40B group on the West Coast that is 9 planes short of a complete group. So within a couple of weeks I ought to be there. Looking down the reinforcement pipeline, I get another P-40B group in India in a little less than 2 months. It will come in less than half full unless I can build up a stock pile of P-40Bs. So I have another target to meet.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 271
Air bases... - 10/20/2005 10:37:04 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 22 -

Another unfamiliar base was occupied automatically by the Japanese this turn - Panggoe. Tophat also continued to land troops at Toboali which again suggests to me that he is landing support troops along with combat troops. He probably wants to build up the Port as quickly as possible so he can remove supplies faster.

It looks as if my biplane recon flights did get a reaction out of Tophat. He sent a Daitai of Zeros and a squadron of Sallys to hit Benkolen on the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra. If Tophat doesn't send an invasion TF there too soon I'll send a sub supply TF to give a bit more time to the defenders.

The Nells came back to Soerabaja, but they stayed up at between 24 and 26 thousand feet so they didn't hit anything. I guess that Tophat is doing this as a training exercise of sorts, but if he wants to have any serious effect he will need to come down into the range of my AA and take his chances. He will take operational losses anyway, so he may as well try to get something for his effort.

SIGINT informed me that Tophat has an engineering battalion at Batavia and there is another one on a ship on the way. So it looks as if he intends to try to rebuild the facilities there. Soerabaja is still not being threatened in a serious manner - there are two units sitting one hex north of the base but they haven't moved in.

China was relatively quiet except for artillery exchanges. Tophat is back to only using his field artillery units for bombardments at Hengchow. There haven't been any Japanese air attacks in China in quite some time so my Chinese air units are almost back to full strength. It's too bad that I have to wait so long to be able to get them some modern aircraft - I'd love to give them some of my surplus P-39s.

Speaking of planes, I've been getting disbanded Dutch air units back recently. The experience levels are abysmal. I've got one bomber unit with an average experience of 35 and another with any average experience of 26! The fighter units have been coming back with experience in the mid-thirties, but it is possible to train them up into the high 40s fairly quickly. For some reason setting bomber units to "Train" doesn't seem to do anything - having them on "search" appears to be better, but the results still come very slow. So I'm obviously not sending these units to the front any time soon.

BTW - I opened up for business my sixth airbase in the Hawaiian Islands today. Now, where is the IJN when you want them…

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 272
Benkolen gets bombed again... - 10/21/2005 1:43:58 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 23 -

Tophat sent his bombers against Benkolen again; they didn't accomplish much and it didn't matter anyway since I only have remnants of Dutch units there. Nells flew against Soerabaja again too, but they stayed at 24 to 26 thousand feet and didn't do much - one Nell got damaged by flak and there was one runway hit.

Tophat didn't have any CAP over Koepang so my Mitchells got in and out safely. But since they were at 20,000 feet they didn't hit anything either - the last group of replacement pilots reduced the experience a lot. My B-17Es fared much better, and they were also at a lower altitude, so they got 11 runway hits and 1 airbase supply hit.

Tophat continues to bomb my remaining two bases in the Philippines. By now they have no supply so they won't put up much of a fight when and if Tophat invades. In Tophat's shoes I would invade just to give my ground troops more experience.

Tophat captured Toboali today. To my surprise there was only an NLF unit there and no support troops. So I don't know why it took so long for Tophat's troops to land. But he now has a nice "supply cow" to keep him going in the DEI.

In China the artillery duels continued, but afterwards I turned off my artillery attacks at Hengchow and Homan. I'll use planes to bomb the Japanese troops at both bases and save the supply points that I would otherwise use on bombardments. Tophat is continuing to only use his field artillery at Hengchow, so another assault is in the cards sometime in the future.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 273
Air Wars in China... - 10/21/2005 3:36:17 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 24 -

There was yet another big air attack on Benkolen this turn. The Japanese planes aren't causing a lot of damage, but those sorts of attacks will use up any sub-borne supply in no time, so I'm wondering if there isn't somewhere more useful to unload those subs. Almost all of my remaining troops in the DEI and Philippines are under constant air attack at this point so small supply loads won't do the trick.

One place that doesn't need supply is Soerabaja where the supply is inching towards 60K. There was another attack by Nells this turn, but there was negligible damage and some Nells got hit or received operational damage. But it doesn't look as if Tophat will wait too long to attack Soerabaja; he now has five units totally over 40K troops sitting one hex from the base, with another 15K troops in Kragen. I'm guessing now that Tophat wants to try to bring in overwhelming force to capture Soerabaja in "one fell swoop" instead of a long, drawn out battle.

A battle that has suddenly changed scope is the air war in China. Now that I've started to send bombers against Tophat's troops in Hengchow and Homan Tophat is starting to send bombers back against Homan put LR CAP over Hengchow to protect his troops. Fortunately I have been resting up my Chinese air units and they have accumulated experience, so the results have been acceptable so far. First are the battles over Hengchow:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 6th Division, at 45, 37

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 60th Division, at 45, 37

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What doesn't show up above is that I had Chinese fighters on CAP in Hengchow that stood up to the Zeros and Oscars quite well.

Next are the air attacks on Homan:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Day Air attack on 32nd Division, at 49, 30

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 6
SB-2c x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
6 x I-16c bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 15th Division, at 49, 30

Allied aircraft
SB-2c x 4

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB-2c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 30th Chinese Corps, at 49, 30

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 3rd New Chinese Corps, at 49, 30

Japanese aircraft
Ki-51 Sonia x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-51 Sonia: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So I've moved fighters into Homan and put them on CAP to take care of those Sonias, and I'm resting the IL-4cs for a couple of turns and just letting my CAP take care of Hengchow. The way that my Chinese pilots fight makes me really wish that I could give them better planes.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 274
Feeling like a hero... - 10/21/2005 5:34:43 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 25 -

Tophat sent his bombers and fighters to Benkolen again, causing only one airbase hit. I wonder if he is just using these flights for training? The Nells attacked Soerabaja again at the same altitudes with pretty much the same weak results. But it was in China where Tophat surprised me by not sending his planes out. I had expected Hengchow to be attacked at least by fighters and probably by bombers too. But there were no air attacks. And while my bombers hit Tophat's troops at Homan, Tophat's Sonias didn't come back, much to the disappointment of my Chinese fighter pilots.

It appears that I still have the "Air Balance" in my favor over Koepang, so I am sending all of my long range bombers in Northern Australia out this coming turn - the B-17s, the Mitchells and even the Hudsons. If I'm wrong this could be a costly turn for me because I have no long range fighters in the region to provide escort.

Things are quiet for me elsewhere. Other than for some transports returning to the West Coast all of my ships are where I want them to be. Likewise except for a couple of units that are still "on the road" in India pretty much all of my ground units are where I want them to be. And the same thing holds for the great majority of my air units. Also, all of my bases are well supplied and I have plenty of fuel where I may need it in the future. So right now I am just waiting for the upgrades and reinforcements that will show up in June.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 275
Soerabaja under attack... - 10/21/2005 7:16:08 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 26 -

A lot of things stayed the same this turn. Tophat sent bombers after Benkolen and Soerabaja and neither attack did much more than put some wear and tear on his planes. Tophat did get to occupy Belitung automatically but otherwise the Japanese forces were fairly quiet.

However, Tophat has moved the first group of troops into contact at Soerabaja. So I set my troops to do a bombardment to see how well they can do. Tophat also sent more troops to Homan so I did the same. My bombers in China were rained out and Tophat's bombers in China also stayed home.

My air attacks on Koepang worked well in comparison. Tophat didn't have any fighters on LR CAP so all three bomber groups got in Scot free and added more damage to the total. Now I've sat down all my bomber squadrons again to let them rest up and to let Tophat fly some LR CAP if he wants to do so "after the horse is out of the barn".

BTW - The Argonaut made it to port finally despite suffering from slowly increasing flooding damage.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 276
RE: Soerabaja under attack... - 10/22/2005 12:31:27 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 27 -

This was an active day in the air over China. First off, Tophat sent Zeros over Homan in an attempt to clear my CAP from the sky, but my Chinese open cockpit fighters held their own:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Homan, at 49, 30

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 23

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 3 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But a larger swarm of Oscars caught my less well-trained biplane pilots at Ichang and hammered them pretty hard:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Ichang, at 47, 33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 34
Ki-15 Babs x 1

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 4 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But the Japanese fighter sweeps didn't stop my bomber attacks on Tophat's troops in Homan or Kungchang so it was worth the effort. Next turn, in addition to the attacks on Japanese troops at both of those bases, I will also send my longer-range Chinese bombers back to attack the besiegers at Hengchow.

In other air war news, another big group of Nells flew over Soerabaja again and once again caused little damage while losing one plane and getting another damaged. My bombardment attack on the Japanese troops at Soerabaja was also relatively ineffective so I've stopped doing that. I'll just leave my troops on "defend" from now on.

A Japanese mine sweeping TF cleaned more mines out of Toboali this turn, which reminded me that I haven't seen a single Japanese ship hit a mine so far in this game. The Japanese mine sweeping and mine avoidance capability has been quite amazing. I certainly have to wonder if it is really worth the risk to plant mines either offensively or defensively.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 277
Bomber antics... - 10/22/2005 5:28:09 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 28 -

Things are staying pretty "normal". Tophat sent some troops in to Pamakasan (I think by fast transport) which is on the island just off of Soerabaja. There originally was a Dutch base force there but I moved them to Timor quite a while back. So whenever Tophat decides to attack he will capture the base without a fight.

Tophat also sent his bombers at Benkolen again. It appears that the "training" is helping because his pilots are getting more hits. I'm trying to off load some supplies there by submarine - we'll see if the supplies get immediately destroyed by the ongoing bombing. The Nells hit Soerabaja again and their aim isn't improving. If Tophat doesn't wear down my troops by land attack he sure isn't going to do it with those particular bombers.

Weather got in the way of my bombing attacks on Koepang and only the Mitchells took off. They are getting better and they caused some nice damage. I'm resting the Mitchells this turn and waiting to see if the Hudsons and B-17s take off.

Tophat tried to sweep Ichang again with 30+ Oscars, but they couldn't find the target. So I decided that there was no point in losing more biplanes and moved the silly things back to Chunking. It's such a pain that I have to wait until late 1943 to be able to replace those useless deathtraps.

The usual artillery duels continue in China and other than Tophat continuing to move troops forward, nothing much is happening.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 278
Saw ship, sank same... - 10/22/2005 6:55:14 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 29 -

What a pleasant surprise! One of the subs that had just dropped off a few supplies at Benkolen found a transport ship going by, put three torpedoes into it and sank it! So those air raids on Benkolen weren't just for training purposes; Tophat is invading it. Despite the loss of that ship the rest of the ships in the TF arrived and started to unload their troops. Because the base is out of supply my troops didn't fire back. I don't think that Tophat put any escorts with that invasion TF, so I'm sending another sub back to Benkolen that I had doing supply transport, just in case it gets lucky too.

Tophat didn't send his Nells to Soerabaja today - I don't know if it was the weather or if he decided that a bit of rest might help things. My Hudsons and B-17s did fly over to Koepang and added more damage to the already heavily damaged air base and port. So I'm standing them down and sending the Mitchells again next turn. It looks as if Tophat is no longer trying to send LR CAP over Koepang - he was probably taking too many operational losses.

In China Tophat sent his Oscars out on a sweep of Homan this time. But my Chinese fighters held their own:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Homan, at 49, 30

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 31

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I put more I-16cs in Homan in case Tophat sends his Oscars back again. BTW - my IL-4cs, with the help of escorts, easily got back a few Nates that were on LR CAP over Hengchow and bombed a Japanese unit there. All this air action aside, Tophat's troops captured the empty Pamakasan.

Tophat was also bragging in his email about all the upgrades and reinforcements that he is receiving - Lucky Guy - all I'm getting right now are Dutch re-treads in obsolete planes with untrained pilots…

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 279
Fire over China... - 10/22/2005 6:27:51 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 30 -

There is a mystery in the Eastern Pacific. SIGINT reported a radio transmission emanating from 134, 49. This location is around 15 hexes west of San Francisco. I don't have any task forces in that region, so it isn't a misattribution. Now, it could just be a Japanese sub out there, but Tophat was commenting a few turns back that he wanted to "sink some shipping". Could this be the KB back in the Eastern Pacific? Sure, I have a multilayer sub picket line from the outer Aleutians down to Canton Island, but with the cloudy/rainy/stormy weather that has been occurring on a daily basis throughout Alaska, the Eastern Pacific and the West Coast for game-months, it is possible that the KB could have snuck through without being seen, particularly if Tophat took the risk to not fly his search planes.

So I've redirected the two task forces that were supposed to go through that area of the Pacific and I put all my West Coast, Alaska and Hawaiian forces on full alert. Now is when I really wish I had more Coronados! I've been diligently changing my Catalinas to Coronados and have several groups out in the Midway to Canton line of bases, but I don't have any on the West Coast and the build up rate is very, very slow. So we will see what happens; it is always better to be safe than sorry.

Meanwhile, back in the "tangible" war, things heated up in my favor in the Chinese front as Tophat sent his Oscars back to Homan where they faced my Chinese aces. Quantity did not win over Quality this time:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Homan, at 49, 30

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 31

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 4 destroyed, 3 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My IL-4cs also flew past the Nates on LR CAP over Hengchow to hit the Japanese 6th Division again. The Nates seemed to flee at the sight of my escorts.

In the DEI Tophat sent his bombers against Benkolen again, but his troops didn't attack. Maybe that lost transport was more important than I first thought. The Nells also flew en masse against Soerabaja again; 1 Nell was damaged by flak and there was no damage on the ground. Finally, my Mitchells didn't fly, but my recon did and I think that I noticed some LR CAP around.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 280
Wayward ground troops... - 10/22/2005 11:37:26 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		May 31 -

Nothing turned up this turn as far as that SIGINT warning that I got last turn about a radio report originating off of San Fran. It was probably a false report or a sub, but I'm still not taking any chances. I'm in no hurry and I don't want to make a costly error after being so careful for so long.

My AA seems to be getting better at Soerabaja - today's Nell attack took a lot of damage and accomplished nothing. On the other hand, my Mitchells didn't achieve anything at Koepang either, but at least there was no flak against them.

Tophat tried a ground attack at Benkolen that failed despite my troops having no supplies. So that lost ship full of troops is hurting him. But the lack of supply will still end up being the deciding factor and my troops won't last much longer there.

Speaking of troops, I've got a bunch of Burmese troops that either have no sense of direction or they are extremely undisciplined. I ordered these troops out of Ledo to Myikyina a while back and instead of taking the inland route they tried to go through Mandalay which is in enemy hands. So I ordered the troops back to Ledo, then to the next hex to the east, then to the next, and finally to the trail hex to the north that leads to Myikyina. So the troops finally achieved the magical "60" and instead of heading north as they were ordered, headed southeast towards Yunan! I'm giving up at this point and letting those troops continue to Yunan - after all it is a "temperate" base and has supplies, but I sure would like a better way of giving troops movement orders. (No other troops in Ledo had similar problems in following orders.)

And June 1 is upon us. I received notice from the Admiralty to send back one British BB and two British DDs. Fortunately I have plenty of Brit ships around so this is an easy task.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 281
Hard Fight at Homan... - 10/23/2005 4:19:05 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 1, 1942 -

Tophat has a ton of troops at Homan and he decided that since he does, he ought to use them. But he probably should have prepared a bit better first:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Homan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 191858 troops, 2226 guns, 201 vehicles

Defending force 88918 troops, 367 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
7185 casualties reported
Guns lost 158
Vehicles lost 14

Allied ground losses:
1016 casualties reported
Guns lost 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is a good break for me; I have more good troops on the way but it will be a while before they get there.

Tophat also sent some Sallys in to hit Sian. I had pulled my fighters back to rest them and so it was just up to my AA to handle the attack. Things didn't work out badly but I've put some fighters back just to discourage the Japanese bombers.

Tophat sent a couple of TFs to Koepang - a combat TF and a supply TF. He also put LR CAP over the base which tangled with my incoming bombers. I bet that Tophat is unloading a base force in Koepang too.

In other action, Tophat started to land troops at Bali and his troops at Benkolen captured the base but my troops escaped. There was no air attack on Soerabaja today but there was an artillery barrage which did minimal damage. Sooner or later Tophat will have to commit ground troops to real attacks in order to take the base.

Below are the June 1, 1942 stats. Tophat has pulled well ahead in total points thanks to his captures of Luzon and Singapore. I'm pleased that he is still ahead of my by 10% in air losses.

Dave Baranyi







Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 282
Chinese torture... - 10/23/2005 5:30:14 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 2 -

Tophat is certainly interested in China. He keeps on piling on the pressure there, particularly in the East. Today he sent "the works" at Sian - Sallys, Oscars and Zeros. They fought their way past my CAP and caused a little damage. So I've moved more escorts back to Sian and Homan. Tophat's artillery also caused a surprising amount of damage at Homan today. He actually had fewer guns than me but caused significant casualties. I presume that he has brought in some big, dedicated artillery units. Tophat's troops also captured Bali this turn.

I'm still following my general strategic plan. I had hoped that the June upgrades for the Lexington and Saratoga would cause them to take on more fighters, but that didn't happen. So I'll leave all five carriers back for the rest of this month and wait to see if the July upgrades bring the greater fighter capacity. Anyway, July also brings Avengers, so I'll finally be able to bring my "full" offensive capability to bear. (I consider Devastators as liabilities, not assets.)

Time is on my side, I just have to continue to be patient.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 283
Soerabaja under siege... - 10/23/2005 4:22:07 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 3 -

Tophat sent a bunch of Bettys this time against Soerabaja instead of the Nells. The Bettys were flying lower and so did a better job, but they also ran into more flak. I'll take these sorts of results any day:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 6th Coastal Gun Battalion, at 22, 65

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since I've got reinforcements set to "on" and lots of supply I don't care about niggling losses like this, particularly since it doesn't look as if Tophat will attempt any naval bombardments against my shore defenses. However, Tophat's land efforts are looking better for him:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Soerabaja

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 74391 troops, 816 guns, 77 vehicles

Defending force 51908 troops, 360 guns, 42 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 8

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
1758 casualties reported
Guns lost 61
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
640 casualties reported
Guns lost 40
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In retrospect I should have committed some better ground troops to Soerabaja. Obviously the presence of lots of supply and no malaria makes it a good place to make a stand. The problem is, of course, is what to do if your opponent takes one of the two obvious responses to a serious Allied buildup of Soerabaja:

1 - Throws a dozen or so good Japanese Divisions in and you lose everything like I did against PzB

2 - Isolates Soerabaja by air and sea and throws those good Japanese Divisions against other targets that are now weakened because the good Allied forces are sitting idle in Soerabaja

It's quite the conundrum.

In other news, my air units in China got back into their normal business of bombing Japanese besiegers. There was no interference from Tophat's air units, probably because of weather again. The daily artillery bombardment of Homan gave more typical results again too. I have no idea what was the reason behind the results of the last turn - "beginner's luck" on the part of a new artillery unit perhaps?

And Tophat has started to bomb Padang on the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra. I guess that this means that he is headed there next. This time I've decided to see if I can "interfere" with his operation a bit…

Dave Baranyi



(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 284
RE: Soerabaja under siege... - 10/23/2005 4:36:56 PM   
PzB74


Posts: 5076
Joined: 10/3/2000
From: No(r)way
Status: offline 		Hi Dave,

In my Allied WitP game my opponent decided to leave Soerabaja to whither on the wine...
It's now almost July 1942 and he finally decided to reduce the place.

I got 3 Dutch Regiments and a variety of support units in place, including ac. The 9 forts make
it a daunting task, even with 3 divisions and engineers:

Ground combat at Soerabaja

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 62527 troops, 534 guns, 8 vehicles

Defending force 23938 troops, 191 guns, 4 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)

Japanese ground losses:
952 casualties reported
Guns lost 39

Allied ground losses:
79 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've used Soerabaja as a transit base via Australia and Burma/India for heavy bombers.
I'm not going to reinforce the place, but I'm pretty impressed about how the Dutch grunts fight
behind the thick walls. The large amount of supplies and engineers is certainly an advantage.

_____________________________



"The problem in defense is how far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without"
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 285
RE: Soerabaja under siege... - 10/23/2005 11:09:20 PM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline
quote:

I've used Soerabaja as a transit base via Australia and Burma/India for heavy bombers.
I'm not going to reinforce the place, but I'm pretty impressed about how the Dutch grunts fight
behind the thick walls. The large amount of supplies and engineers is certainly an advantage.


That, plus the fact that it is non-malarial in a sea of malarial bases makes it a must to keep and equally a must to grab. I'm surprised that more Japanese players don't go after it earlier in the game.

Take care -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to PzB74)
Post #: 286
Sallys over Sian - 10/24/2005 5:19:07 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 4 -

Tophat threw the works at Sian again this turn with lots of Zeros, Oscars and bombers. He is slowly wearing down my Chinese fighters, so I threw some more in to add to the pressure from my side. Despite the air assaults my bombers still got off to hit the Japanese troops at Homan.

Tophat has gone back to only bombarding with dedicated artillery units at Homan, Hengchow and Soerabaja. This way he is resting his main assault troops for the next attack. I expect another attack to occur soon at Soerabaja - Tophat can "smell blood" there and wants to win that battle quickly. I'm hoping to get some more troops into Homan before the next assault, but I need a couple of weeks to do that, but I don't know if I have that much time.

In Timor my Mitchells tried to attack one of the task forces at Koepang, but Tophat had a bunch of Zeros on LR CAP and the Mitchells were handled pretty roughly. So I'm sending my B-17s back over there to attack the airfield in the hopes of roughing up some of those Zeros in return.

Otherwise, it is pretty much a case of "hurry up and wait" for me. My next big batch of reinforcements comes in 10 days but the real news comes in July when I start to get Avengers as well as the Wasp. With those additions August promises to be my first month with real potential for serious "mischief".

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 287
June 42 Status Review - 10/25/2005 12:28:24 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		We've completed six game-months and I thought that I would give a review of the progress from the point of view of my original strategy and where I am planning to go from here. My original objectives were to try to minimize Allied losses while maintaining the key regions from which my reinforcements and supplies originate. Thus I wanted to assure the safety of the US West Coast, South-eastern Australia and India first and foremost. Next, I wanted to be in a position to cause significant losses to the Enemy if there were attacks on key forward positions such as the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. Finally, while I was willing to look for opportunities to raid if they presented themselves, I was not going to openly risk my forces against superior Enemy forces.

Current Status:

West Coast/Alaska - There have been no enemy attacks on the West Coast bases. All Units that were assigned to West Coast, Canada or Alaska remain in their respective regions. Anchorage has been built up nearly to a "3 - Nines" base and is now a major forward staging base for future operations. Seven of the US 20-knot battleships remain in West Coast ports awaiting upgrades for radar. The four Pearl Harbor survivors among those seven battleships have system damage ranging from 24 to 32 and thus should be repaired fully by the Fall of 1942.

Hawaiian Islands - There have been no attacks on the Hawaiian Islands since the initial Pearl Harbor attack. There was one early raid by the KB into the North-eastern Pacific shipping lanes which succeeded in sinking a number of supply transports, but there have been no incursions since. The six initial semi-developed bases in the Hawaiian Islands are all occupied by US Units and are being built up to full potential. There are approximately 700 combat planes of various types spread across the six air fields. There are four Infantry Divisions stationed in Pearl Harbor, with RCT units in the remaining bases. The two Marine Divisions are on their way to Hilo and Kona respectively. The bulk of the US Pacific fleet including 3 radar-equipped battleships and the 5 US carriers are in Pearl Harbor. All ships have zero or near zero system damage. An early warning picket line of US submarines extends from the Outer Aleutians down to Canton Island

Mid/South Pacific Islands - There have been no attacks on any of those Island bases other than occasional incursions by enemy submarines. Midway, Johnson, Palmyra, Christmas, Canton and the other South Pacific Islands that started out with Allied units are still manned and are being built up. The first five Island bases mentioned above have had additional units added to them including CD, AA, Base Force and Engineering units, but no infantry units have been added. Air units on all bases consist solely of Patrol Seaplanes. The Enemy holds the Gilbert Island group and has built up Tarawa to a level 4 airbase. Baker Island remains unoccupied by either side. US submarines are scattered throughout the Marshall and Gilbert Island groups.

South Pacific/New Zealand - There have been no incursions by Japanese forces into this region after some early enemy submarine visits. The base force that started out in Noumea was moved to Christmas Island early on and has been replaced ever since by a AVD that is providing support to a PBY squadron. There are no other Allied units in New Caledonia or vicinity. New Zealand still has all of its original forces and all four NZ bases are being built up. Auckland is nearly at a level 9 port after which it will be capable of sustaining all naval operations. Supply and fuel has been brought in to all New Zealand bases to allow sustained defence against attack. A SWPAC Infantry Division is a couple of days sail from landing at Auckland. There this unit will be in a position to assist in the defence of New Zealand if necessary, and will also be in position to move to the South Pacific Islands or Australia if needed.

PNG/Solomon Islands - Japanese forces have taken northern PNG to just past Madang and the Solomons to Munda. Lae, Port Moresby, Gili-Gili, Guadalcanal and the bases in between remain unoccupied by either side. There are no Allied forces in PNG or the Solomons other than a Catalina unit in Thursday Island that is supported by an AVD, and a number of submarines scattered throughout the region. Rabaul has been built up to a level 4 airfield. The Japanese do not appear to be basing troops in most locations other than Rabaul, Munda and perhaps recently Madang. Submarine contacts suggest that Japanese carriers are currently based in Truk.

Australia - There have been no enemy attacks on Australia. All bases in Australia are occupied by base forces, with combat units also present in all non-malarial bases. All Australian forces remain in Australia and the Australian forces that were originally in Rabaul and Port Moresby were brought back to mainland Australia early on. The air units from the Philippines and the DEI are in Australia. The Dutch air units are worn-out from the conflict in the DEI and are recovering and re-training in Southern Australia. The US air units from the Philippines are fully recovered and flying modern aircraft from bases in the East and Northeast of Australia. A number of US land units were recovered from the Philippines and are rebuilding in Australia, but no Philippine land unit were brought out. There are no Dutch land units in Australia. The two Australian infantry units that were in Malaya were evacuated to Australia early on and are rebuilding.

Dutch East Indies - The Japanese have occupied all major bases in the DEI with the exception of Soerabaja, which is currently under enemy siege. A number of minor bases remain under Allied control in the DEI but cannot be held. Significant Japanese land, air and naval units are present in the Japanese-controlled portions of the DEI, making Allied naval travel impossible through the region. Until recently, 8 of the Japanese battleships and an equal number of heavy cruisers were being regularly spotted in the DEI. A few Allied subs are scattered through the DEI, with a number more in port in Western Australia receiving repairs. Only the Dutch troops in Soerabaja have significant supplies left to them - all other remaining Dutch forces in the region are in bases that are out of supply or are scattered in the countryside with no bases left to go for safety. There are no Dutch base forces left in position to allow Allied fighters to go from Australia to Soerabaja.

Philippines - The Japanese have occupied all major bases in the Philippines. Two minor island bases which contain Philippine combat units remain in Allied hands, but there is no supply in those bases. Significant Japanese land, air and naval units are present in the Japanese-controlled portions of the Philippines, making Allied naval travel impossible through the region. A number of Japanese air units bomb the remaining Allied ground units on a daily basis.

Burma - The Japanese hold Burma up to Mandalay. There was an early Japanese advance on Lashio, but that was quickly abandoned and the units returned to Mandalay. Mandalay contains several large groups of Japanese army fighter aircraft. No air combat has occurred over Burma since the Front stabilized early in the Year. Akyab remains in Allied hands but is unoccupied. Chinese troops under SEAC command garrison Lashio and Myitakyina. All Commonwealth combat troops have been pulled out of the malarial bases in Burma and along the Indian Burmese border, leaving only base forces and the Chinese troops. SIGINT reports that Mandalay is garrisoned by a Japanese HQ, a large AA unit, a Division and an armoured unit in addition to a large base force.

India - There have been no Enemy attacks on India and no enemy submarines have been spotted in Indian waters. All bases in India and Ceylon contain base forces and all coastal bases as well as many inland bases also contain combat units. Mobile reserves have been established in all bases near the coast that are safe from naval bombardment. A number of strategically important inland bases have been built up to full capacity. Bombay has been built up to a level 9 port and Karachi is at a level 8 port and building. Colombo is also on its way to becoming a level 9 port. All Indian air units, the Commonwealth Air units from Malaya and Burma, and the AVG are based in India. The land units which were withdrawn from Malaya and Burma are spread throughout India, but with a special concentration in the Ganges Delta bases. All units have been under continuous build up. The RN surface combat ships are spread out in the strategically significant ports. An RN air combat TF containing 3 RN CVs and 1 RN CVL along with support ships is currently on an operation to attempt to surprise Enemy forces.

China - Japanese forces have captured two Chinese bases and are besieging three more. Chinese air units have, for the most part, been holding their own against the Japanese air units that are present in China. Supply is tight in China but not critical. An early attempt to capture a base in Eastern Manchuria was unsuccessful but the Chinese forces were able to return to the Front and are currently participating in the defense of a Chinese city. Most Chinese bases have fortifications built up to maximum.

Soviet Union - The Soviets have not been activated. All Soviet forces and bases have been building up. All Soviet air units are at full strength. All Soviet leaders have been assessed and replaced with better and more appropriate leaders if necessary.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 288
June 42 Assessments and Plans - 10/25/2005 12:29:21 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		As mentioned in the previous post, we've completed six game-months and I wanted to give a review of the progress from the point of view of my original strategy, as well as to discuss what I am planning to do next. I have met my original objectives: I minimized Allied losses while maintaining the key regions from which my reinforcements and supplies originate. I assured the safety of the US West Coast, South-eastern Australia and India. I am in a position to cause significant losses to the Enemy if there are attacks on key forward positions such as the Hawaiian Islands and Alaska. Finally, I found opportunities to raid as they presented themselves while for the most part not risking my forces against superior Enemy forces.

Luzon held out until April and a couple of bases still resist in the Philippines. Singapore held out until May. Soerabaja still holds out as do a number of other bases in the DEI including two bases in Timor. Only two bases have been captured by the Japanese in China. Burma remains stalemated. There have been no attacks on Australia or India. The US Pacific Fleet has not lost any significant ships since the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Royal Navy hasn't lost any ships. All air units are filled up and have reserves with the exception of P-40Bs which are only two more replacements away from starting to build up reserves.

So given that I've accomplished all of my original goals, where do I want to go from here? My strategy for the next six months will be a continuation of the strategy of the first six months, but with some controlled expansion as allowed by my forces, particularly the availability of advanced air units.

June brings the arrival of Spitfires. I will replace the British Buffalo fighters with Spitfires and then start to build up a reserve of Spits. Those British and Australian air units which currently have Hurricanes will continue flying Hurricanes. As mentioned above, the last unfilled P-40B group needs only two more planes to be full, after which I will start to build a reserve of P-40Bs. I currently have a reserve of around 50 P-40Es. A reinforcement air group that is supposed to enter service with P-40Bs is due in a month in India. If this unit does come with P-40Bs I will upgrade it to P-40Es and allow the excess P-40Bs to go into reserves. BTW - the AVG is still flying P-40Bs and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

July brings the arrival of Avengers, the arrival of the Wasp, and the ability to start to upgrade Dutch air units. It will take two months to upgrade all of my carrier-based Devastators to Avengers and have the squadrons ready for action. This means that I won't use the US carriers unless I absolutely have to until September at the earliest. I don't want to commit the US Naval Air Combat forces while a third of their attack capability is effectively useless.

The upgrade of the Dutch air units is a marginal benefit. Most Dutch air units have very low experience after being rebuilt subsequent to being decimated by the Japanese in the DEI. Dutch fighter units also don't upgrade to anything worthwhile until mid-1943. So I'll upgrade the Dutch bomber units because I have plenty of B-25Cs in reserve, but I will only use them for patrol unless I am forced to send them into an attack or unless a "soft" Japanese ground unit comes into a location that I can bomb with no chance of opposition.

There are a number of unoccupied bases which provide the opportunity to project forces forward without having to do an invasion. The pros and cons of these opportunities are as follows:

Akyab - This is a P0(1), A3(3) base that is malarial, jungle-bound, and close to the Enemy air bases at Mandalay, Rangoon and others in Burma/Malaya. Getting non-trivial quantities of units and supplies into Akyab requires putting shipping at risk. It is possible to fly in the air support components of base forces, which would allow CAP to be supported in Akyab and thus improve the ability to protect incoming shipping. But Akyab is also within Tokyo Express range of Rangoon, which means that Japanese cruiser and fast battleship TFs can come in to attack supply TFs and the base itself at night. On the other hand, if the Japanese take Akyab, they have to deal with the fact that six big, non-malarial air bases in the Ganges Delta along with four smaller fighter-capable air fields along the Burmese/Indian border are capable of sending very heavy air attacks against Akyab on a daily basis. Therefore I am not planning to put forces into Akyab in 1942.

Andaman Islands - This is a P2(1), A1 (1) island base that is close to all of the bases in Malaya and Burma. Most Allied fighters cannot fly to this base from India. Allied forces that were placed in this base would not only be subject to aerial and naval bombardments but also to invasions that can't be readily stopped from India because the Japanese player can place Air Combat TFs between Andaman and India to prevent task forces from sailing between the two. Therefore I am not planning to put forces in Andaman in 1942.

Timor and Vicinity - I still have control of two bases in Timor and a base on a nearby island to the East, but the Enemy has control over the air and water in the region. In order to bring useful land forces into the islands in this region I would have to commit large quantities of air and naval forces to an area that doesn't currently have any great strategic significance to me. Also, Darwin itself is fairly isolated and would be difficult to keep from being flanked if superior forces were landed nearby. So I am not going to put more forces into the Southern DEI in 1942.

Norfolk Island - This is an interesting P0(0), A1(0) base that has the potential to act as a stepping stone between New Zealand and New Caledonian. But "0" level bases are very hard to develop and this base is far enough away from New Zealand to be very difficult to defend. Right now I have no plans for the South Pacific other than the defense of New Zealand, so I won't be expanding Norfolk Island in 1942.

PNG/Solomon Islands - The Japanese offensive in this region has been very cautious and deliberate. I have made the occasional "demonstration in force" in the region to imply that I have more interest in this theatre than I do. But I don't care how many malarial bases are taken by the Japanese. If the bases are garrisoned those Japanese troops will be worn down by the conditions and won't be on the defensive elsewhere. If they aren't garrisoned then I can recapture them any time that I please. And if the Japanese capture Port Moresby I will simply bomb it from Australia. So I have no intention of putting troops into either area in 1942.

South Pacific Islands - The Islands between New Caledonia and the Line Islands are significant because they lie astride the current safe shipping routes from the West Coast to Australia/New Zealand. There are many islands in the region that can be developed to be mutually-supporting but this will require a non-trivial commitment of land, air and naval units. The fundamental question here is - do I really care if I have unopposed supply lines to Australia? At this point I don't believe that I need to send more units and supplies to the ANZAC region because I am not planning any offensives in the area in 1942 and my defense in Australia is already built up significantly. Any serious Japanese offensive in Eastern/Southern Australia will have to commit such a large portion of the Japanese offensive capability that the balance of power in the Central Pacific will shift in my favour. So I will not put more troops into the South Pacific Islands than I already have there, and will only react to nuisance invasions - major commitments of Enemy troops will be ignored and isolated in 1942.

Baker Island - This P1(1), A1(1) base is still unoccupied. Baker is the stepping stone into the Gilberts. Once I start to bring troops to Baker my intentions in the region will be clear. Baker is also within LBA range of Tarawa, so I will need to be able to get air support units in quickly via fast transport and provide air cover for additional troops. Since Baker is a single base it is subject to the "3 Division Rule" which means that it is very difficult to defend it from a determined, strong invasion. There is one "dot" base nearby at Howland Island, but that is a P0(1), A0(0) base which will be very difficult to build up. Both Palmyra and Johnson Island are a couple of days sailing away from Baker and not within fighter range.

Never-the-less, the Gilberts are my first objectives for the return of the US to the offensive, therefore I must expand to Baker and Howland in order to be able to take the Gilberts. Thus, Baker and Howland are in my plans for early Q3-1942. I intend to move a base force into Baker via fast transport to allow a fighter squadron to be flown in, and then follow immediately with landings of addition base forces, a CD unit, engineering units and an RCT under the air cover provided by my US carriers. I'll also base PT boats at Baker with a fast combat TF at Palmyra and mine Baker constantly. Once I get the air base up to level two I'll put more fighters in place and base a combat TF there to discourage Tokyo Express bombardments. At the same time I'll move Seabee units into Howland to start to build it up in parallel. Unless the KB is brought up to interfere with this effort I will then attack all three bases in the Gilberts simultaneously. By the end of Q3-1942 I want to have Baker, Howland and the three islands in the Gilberts under my control, full of troops, ships and planes, and threatening the Marshalls.

French Frigate Shoals - The "FFS" is a P0(1), A0(1) base that is important as a potential stepping stone for fighter planes between Hawaii and Midway. With work well underway on the six non-dot bases in the main Hawaiian Islands I intend to move troops to FFS as soon as the Marine Divisions get to the Big Island. Building FFS to a "4,4" base will allow me to not only defend Midway but also set the stage for further advances into the Central Pacific. I intend to start to land troops in FFS before the end of June.

The Aleutians - Although I have built up Anchorage extensively I haven't moved any of my Northern Pacific troops further west than they currently sit. Once Anchorage reaches a full "3-nines" status I will move the engineering units out to Dutch Harbor and Kiska and start to accelerate the base building there. As new Northern Pacific land unit reinforcements arrive I will continue to ship them to Anchorage. Because of the Winter weather I will not attempt any additional operations in this region in 1942. In Q2-1943 I will start to move land units to the outer Aleutians and start to build up the bases there. Then in Q2-1944 I will start an invasion of the Kuriles from the Aleutians.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 289
Subs with duds... - 10/25/2005 2:53:51 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 5 -

The Tarpon missed a bunch of ships in a transport TF off of the NE corner of PNG today. The TF then anchored at Finshafen where it started to unload troops. Another of my subs was chased by ASW off of Soerabaja. And most of the rest were chased by planes. Tophat sure is serious about his ASW considering how incompetent my sub commanders are when they have to deliver.

My B-17s "delivered" over Koepang and shot down a Zero while hitting the airbase. But Tophat succeeded in unloading a base force there which is now supporting a fighter group and rebuilding the air field and port damage. That will limit my freedom of action in the region. The transport and combat TF that were parked at Koepang also sailed off, so I'm no longer so certain that I want that Brit AC TF to bother to go all the way to Australia now. Maybe I'll just have them hang out in Mid-Indian Ocean for a couple of days in case Tophat does send a transport TF to Padang after all.

Tophat sent his Bettys over Soerabaja again and around half of them were hit by flack while causing some casualties. But the Dutch are recuperating quickly so that doesn't matter much. What matters is that Tophat now has 10 units with 80K troops at Soerabaja with more troops on the march towards the base. He obviously wants this siege to end quickly.

In China the forces involved in the sieges there continue to grow on both sides. Tophat has another Mongolian cavalry unit heading to Kungchang, s I'll have to divert some more troops up there too. In the meanwhile, Tophat's air units didn't launch today while mine did, so my Chinese air units got more practice on Tophat's land forces at Kungchang and Homan while not getting any interference.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 290
Rain drops keep falling on my head... - 10/25/2005 6:04:09 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 6 -

This was another busy turn on the ground for Tophat. He got to occupy Labao automatically, his troops captured Finschafen and he started to land troops at Sampit. Things didn't go as well in the air for Tophat. Many of his air bases were rained out and what planes took off didn't do too well. For instance, only 9 Bettys attacked Soerabaja this time. Two of them were damaged while there was only one casualty on the ground. On the other hand, my bombers hit the Japanese troops at Homan hard again - to a good extent because no LR CAP got into the air.

But this unrealisticly constant rain that occurs everywhere in the map is a two-edged sword. There is no guarantee that I would be able to get any sort of air campaign started and running consistently. For example, I've had my night fighters in India set to fly for the past two weeks and they haven't flown once. I keep on waiting for the Game to get over this extended phase of too much rain, but it doesn't look as if it will fix itself. I've got to wonder if this is some by-product of the V1.6x changes.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 291
The sub that couldn't shoot straight... - 10/26/2005 1:25:26 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 7 -

Hmmm - one of my picket subs took a shot at a transport TF that was just east of the Marshalls. I wonder what that TF was doing out there by itself? The report said that the TF was moving NW. I'm guessing that it was dropping off supplies, but one never knows.

Tophat got his planes into the air in China again with the escorts taking care of my CAP and most of the Sallys getting through to hit the airfields at Sian. My bombers were still able to take off and bomb Tophat's troops at Homan, but I will eventually have to do something about this, despite my reluctance to bring Brit planes into China. It's just too bad that I can't move Soviet fighters…

Otherwise this was another fairly quiet turn. Tophat is sticking to artillery bombardments for now in the bases that he is besieging. His troops also captured Sampit, eliminating my last toehold in Borneo.

I'm starting to move forward the forces that I will be using in a few months time as per the plan that I detailed a few posts ago. I am now fairly confident that I can pull off a very nice little blitzkrieg come September.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 292
In for a penny... - 10/26/2005 4:40:38 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 8 -

Lots and lots of action in the air this turn…My Beaufighter VIFs finally flew for the first time in several game-weeks. They hit Mandalay at night, destroying one Oscar and scoring one airbase hit. I sat those planes down for a turn then re-set them to attack.

My IL-4cs attacked Wuhan and found it to be without CAP!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuhan, at 48, 35

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 14

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But there was a tough battle over Sian where Tophat's fighters continued to decimate my CAP:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sian, at 47, 29

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 19
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 24
Ki-21 Sally x 16

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 4
I-16c x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 2 destroyed
I-16c: 3 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 27

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Never-the-less my bombers took off and hit Tophat's troops at Homan hard. But I've got to rest my Chinese fighters and so I'm pulling back the I-16cs and putting my I-153cs in as a stopgap until I can bring some Brit fighters in. Yes, I'm "biting the bullet" and doing what I didn't intend to do. But I have no intention of letting Tophat gain total air control over eastern China while we are still battling for possession of the cities in that region. The one good thing is that I have more troops almost in Homan so that will balance things off a bit on the ground too.

The air battles were tough over Koepang too. Tophat now has a fair number of Zeros there along with lots of auxiliaries. My B-17s went in and had a hard fight but still did the job:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang, at 28, 77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 3
B-17E Fortress x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 3 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 21

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Mitchells followed in a naval attack on a transport that is in port, but they didn't get any hits although they stood their own against the Zeros. Then my Hudsons surprised me by not only standing up to the Zeros but by getting three solid hits on an AP in the task force. Never-the-less, Koepang is definitely going to be a tough nut to crack.

In other news, Tophat started to land troops at Lunga. He must be landing a big unit because he is taking lots of landing casualties and there is no one in the base to shoot back at his troops.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 293
...in for a Pound - 10/26/2005 6:15:33 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 9 -

The air battles in China continue - my IL-4cs hit Wuhan again and once again there was no CAP so they got to do more damage:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wuhan, at 48, 35

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-15 Babs: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am resting those bombers this turn. Tophat sent his planes back to Sian again this turn, but there were fewer planes on both sides and my pilots continued to do well enough:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sian, at 47, 29

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 2
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 23
Ki-21 Sally x 12

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 9
I-16c x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 2 destroyed
I-16c: 1 destroyed

Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But this turn things are changing - I've pulled out the Chinese fighters and put a couple of Brit Mohawk squadrons in for a change. If Tophat sends his already tired planes back "to the well" again I think that I'll give them a very unpleasant surprise. We'll see.

In the meanwhile, because I had pulled the Chinese fighters out of Homan to help defend Sian, Tophat's Annes flew back in, but they didn't have any luck, other than the bad luck to fly into flak. So this turn, with the Mohawks in Sian, I was able to put the Chinese fighters back into Homan.

With all this action my bombers were still able to do some serious damage on Tophat's troops in Homan. Ah, if they only had B-25s!

Elsewhere, Tophat continued to land troops at Lunga. I guess that he is landing support troops in addition to combat troops because he still hasn't captured the base. That's fine - I hope that they enjoy the malaria. One slightly irritating thing was that Tophat got to "occupy" Lae automatically. But what can you do?

Tophat's supply TF is still at Koepang. I didn't send any planes this turn, but I will next turn. And with any luck I'll send a few more surprises too.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 294
Lunga falls... - 10/27/2005 2:45:43 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 10 -

The big news, of sorts, today was the capture of Lunga by the Japanese. As I had figured from the time it was taking to unload troops, Tophat had simultaneously unloaded combat troops, a CD unit and a base force. So he now has control over that malarial paradise. Good, I hope that he puts lots of troops there - lots and lots.

There was no Japanese air action over China this turn which meant that my air units got a chance to rest up. But a number of my bombers still took off to hit Japanese combat units. I will be interested to eventually see how well the Brits do against the Japanese.

There was a lot of air action over Koepang. My Mitchells and Hudsons had a tough time of it but they still gave back what they got. I'll rest them this turn and send my B-17s back in. I'm coming close to moving a B-17E group up to northern Australia too, just to see if I can close down Koepang. I've also got a sneaky idea of how to bring some escorts into play.

Otherwise, I spent a lot of time planning out my troop allocations and movements for the next three months. I now have everything planned and only have to make certain that I have the right transports at the right place at the right time. Fortunately, I've lost very few transports so I will be able to move a lot of forces simultaneously when the time comes.

The next few turns should awaken Tophat from his lethargy on a small but non-trivial scale. It will be interesting to see how he responds.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 295
Rain all over... - 10/27/2005 4:39:26 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 11 -

Rain over most of the Far East kept most air units on the ground, particularly in China. Never-the-less my bombers did manage to get off and hit Japanese besiegers at Kungchang. So we will have to wait yet another day before seeing how the Brits do. In the meanwhile thunderstorms are the biggest enemy.

At Koepang my B-17 squad had a tough fight against the Zeros again while rain kept intruders away from the Japanese TF in port. That TF is taking a long time to unload - I bet that it is unloading a CD unit or two. We'll see if my "intruders" have better luck next turn.

Otherwise, things were quiet most everywhere. I haven't seen any Japanese subs in the Eastern Pacific in quite some time. A couple of game weeks ago a number of them were heading westwards out of the region. I presume that they were returning to base to refuel and to work off some of the system damage that they must have accumulated on that long trip eastwards. This is good timing from my perspective because this way Tophat is not getting any indications of my recent movements.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 296
The RN Chokes... - 10/27/2005 6:39:30 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 12 -

I'm disappointed in the RN. They had a shot at the Japanese transports at Koepang and they only got off a few fighter bombers that didn't even find the target. And this was after my B-17E group went in to shake up the Zeros:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang, at 28, 77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 3
B-17E Fortress x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 18 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
50 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 33

Aircraft Attacking:
28 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Even the Mitchells fought their way through although they didn't get any hits. Oh well, I'll refuel the RN AC TF and send it back. There is another Japanese transport TF in the area too. And I have one more surprise on its way.

Tophat now has a lot of troops in Koepang. I won't be able to keep the base suppressed too much longer. But in the long run Koepang is the sort of place where I want Tophat to have lots of troops - malarial, hard to supply, can be raided, and is away from my main areas of interest.

Tophat just sent me an email - it turns out that I really surprised him by having the Brits all the way down there in Oz. He was expecting me to sit around and wait to have "overwhelming odds". Cool - this will keep him a bit more "honest". <g>

BTW - rain kept Tophat's planes at home in China today, but my planes all flew and did their jobs. Even the IL-4cs flew against Wuhan and despite the presence of CAP caused a fair amount of damage.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 297
Fire Over China... - 10/28/2005 12:18:54 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 13 -

The battle in the air over China got rougher this turn as the weather cleared in Tophat's favour and he was able to send out large air attacks against Sian. First off an Oscar Daitai came in and was roughed up quite badly by the British Mohawks despite having a nearly 2:1 advantage in numbers:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sian, at 47, 29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 35

Allied aircraft
Mohawk IV x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Mohawk IV: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But then the combined Oscar, Zero and Sally attack returned, and while the Mohawks held their own against the Oscars they were no match for the crack Zero Daitai:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sian, at 47, 29

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 25
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 28
Ki-21 Sally x 44

Allied aircraft
Mohawk IV x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 6 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Mohawk IV: 12 destroyed
SB-2c: 4 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 26
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tophat is attacking Sian because I am using it as my primary base of attack on the Japanese troops that are besieging Homan. This allows Tophat to concentrate his attacks. Tophat dared me to bring the AVG into the fray, but that only plays into Tophat's hands - I don't want to get my best planes attrited by being subjected to multiple attacks. So instead I am going to bring the attack to Tophat by bringing in British bombers and bombing his air bases as well as attacking the troops at Homan from multiple locations. This way Tophat will have to divide his forces too.

I had previously pulled my CAP out of Hengchow, so of course Tophat's Sonias came in to attack. They didn't accomplish anything except get to get whacked by AA, but I've moved some CAP back in just to discourage them more thoroughly. BTW - despite all the activity by Tophat my Chinese bombers were still able to get out for the most part and bomb Japanese troops.

Tophat's air units were also busy in the DEI. His bombers went after Padang again; I'm still waiting for an invasion TF to appear so that I can go after it with my British carriers. In addition, a bigger than usual force of Japanese bombers attacked Soerabaja. But this time they were Japanese Army bombers and I still ended up with the sort of results that I was hoping for from my Dutch AA:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 4th Dutch Regiment, at 22, 65

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 23
Ki-49 Helen x 21
Ki-46-II Dinah x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 13 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 13 damaged

Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tophat's daily aerial and artillery bombardments have not been doing much if anything at all against my Dutch forces. My troops are steadily rebuilding the fortifications back up from 8 to 9 and they still have nearly 50K of supplies, so they are also getting reinforcements regularly. It is worth it to me to have replacement AA guns go into Soerabaja instead of elsewhere at this time because there they are contributing to slowing down Tophat's offensive.

Things continued to be bloody in the air over Koepang too. I had my Mitchells and Hudsons set to Naval Attack with Airfield Attack as the alternate for the Mitchells and Port Attack as the alternate for the Hudsons. Since Tophat finally sent his transport TF away to safety after realizing that I had British carriers in the area, my planes went to the alternate targets and had to fight through tough Zero CAP. But both air attacks were successful and the Hudsons even put another bomb into the damaged AP that is sitting in the port at Koepang. But both of my air groups need rest now, and my B-17s are still under repair, so Tophat will get a respite at Koepang for a day or more.

In the meanwhile I learned that I had underestimated the quantity of fuel I really needed in Northern Australia to maintain two combat fleets. Fortunately, I have a big fuel transport TF on the east coast of Australia so I broke off some of the ships to send off to replenish the port that I cleaned out. I've already started to send out multiple transport TFs in advance of my planned major operations in the Fall of 1942, but it is obvious that I will need to send out more. I've gotten "lazy" because I haven't been sailing large combat TFs around and thus haven't needed large forward stocks of fuel.

The first part of my big June reinforcement deliveries arrived this turn as I received a bunch of much needed land units. I pulled out my written plan and started to follow it; checking off each operation. It's a good thing that I took the time to write everything down in detail because I had already forgotten some of the more subtle but still important nuances. I get my new planes and ships tomorrow, and the most important part there is that I finally get a fast US battleship. But just beyond that normally scheduled delivery of combat ships will start a month long delivery of converted vessels - AR, AD, AS, AGP, MLE and so on. They are coming just at the right time to support my activities in the Fall.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 298
RE: Fire Over China... - 10/29/2005 12:59:43 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		Here is some interesting news - one of my Dutch subs that was sitting off of Kendari was pestered by Kates several times this turn. So it looks as if Tophat has brought a carrier or two down into the region in response to finding out that I have a British carrier TF in the area. But that's okay; Tophat can have his carriers lurk around as long as he likes; I've already sent the British AC TF heading out into the Indian Ocean to cruise the coast of Java and Sumatra in case there are any "stray" Japanese transport TFs sailing along. I'll have the Brits eventually return to Ceylon; a few of the ships in the TF are due for upgrades in a couple of months and I never know when one of the carriers might be withdrawn.

Anyway, another of my subs that was sitting off of Victoria Point noticed a TF sailing by that contained four cruisers. It looks as if Tophat may be interested in trying to disrupt my activities in the Bay of Bengal. So I'll also want to have the carriers around to keep an eye on this, along with the rest of my forces. Maybe Tophat thinks that because I've moved a couple of British bomber squadrons to China that I don't have enough "eyes in the air" to watch what he is doing?

Tophat has increased the number of Bettys and Nells in the bases to the north and east of Timor in the hopes of catching an Allied TF that might stray into the wrong place at the wrong time. This means that Tophat has had to continue to use Japanese Army bombers in his campaign against Soerabaja. These bombers may have been getting some training against the helpless and out-of-supply troops in my remaining Philippine bases, but that doesn't help against the large quantities of well-supplied AA in Soerabaja:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Dutch Regiment, at 22, 65

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-21 Sally x 9
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 9 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 6 damaged


Allied ground losses:
1 casualty reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 7000 feet
9 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tophat's artillery bombardments at Soerabaja aren't doing much either. So he has to wait for his troops to build up preparation points and then try direct assaults. Cool - this could take a while.

But Tophat isn't letting delays at some locations stop him from his overall plan. So this turn troops finally started to land at Padang and he also started to land troops at Salamaua. The Salamaua landing will confirm for him his suspicions that I don't have anything in PNG to oppose him, but that's okay, as I've written before - if Tophat seriously garrisons PNG and the Solomons then I'll simply isolate and ignore them, while if he just grabs them and pulls out then I will come back later at my convenience and take them back, "for free".

BTW - my general bombing campaign in China has begun with multiple Japanese targets being hit. Tophat sent in a new Daitai of Oscars against my remnants in Sian and it was a nice draw. Next turn Tophat will find more opposition. The next few game-weeks will start to give me back some nice results for my six month investment in building up air units and air reserves. I even now have a tiny, but growing reserve of P-40Bs! BTW - I've moved the AVG up to Dacca and put them on CAP just in case Tophat decides to try to take advantage of my movement of Brit air units to China and send some bombers out from Mandalay or Rangoon.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 299
RE: Fire Over China... - 10/29/2005 1:00:31 AM   
ADavidB


Posts: 2464
Joined: 9/17/2001
From: Toronto, Canada
Status: offline 		June 15 -

Japanese troops are still landing at Padang. One of my British subs tried to sneak in for an attack but was driven off twice by escorts in the invasion TF. I wonder if that TF will stick around long enough for my Brit carriers to catch up to it? In the meanwhile, the Japanese troops in Salamaua captured that base today.

I sent that group of B-17Es back to Koepang today. They duked it out with the Zeros, whose numbers were surprisingly reduced from previous days; Tophat must be redistributing his forces. So this meant that my bombers had a better time of it and are doing their part to wear down the numbers of Zeros around. Also surprisingly, there was no Japanese air attack on Soerabaja. Either the weather interfered or Tophat had to rest up his Army bombers a bit.

The big air action was in China. My bombers attacked everywhere, which is starting to get Tophat a bit nervous. He is betting that I can't sustain the pace due to the chronic supply problems in China. But what I am doing is what I call a "flying circus" routine wherein I fly whole air units in, let them fight for a couple of days, then fly them out to rebuild back where I have plenty of supplies. Since I built up fairly good sized stocks of British fighters and bombers I can do this for some time. My only concern is that I have had thunderstorms over ALL Indian bases for several days now and that is causing me to keep all of my fighters totally stood down or risk taking ridiculously large numbers damaged. Fortunately, Tophat hasn't been taking advantage of this - with the air rules it is possible for an attacker to attack a base that is otherwise socked in.

In addition to my bombing campaign Tophat sent the "kitchen sink" against Sian again. His first attack again consisted of yet another fresh Daitai of Oscars. The fresh squadron of Mohawks that I had sent in took care of them readily. Then the main Japanese show arrived consisting of a crack Daitai of Zeros and a less able Daitai of Oscars, along with a couple of groups of Sallys. Once again, the Mohawks held their own against the Oscars but were hit hard by the Zeros. Never-the-less, at the end of the day the total fighter losses were equal, and I'll take that at this stage of the game.

And to add to the complexity in the North East of China, Tophat is now trying to outflank my position at Kungchang with Mongolian cavalry troops. Thankfully, these guys are pretty beat from the long, slow march over the lousy roads up in the Northeast. And, as they get further away from their bases, their supply lines get longer and thinner. Also, Tophat may not be aware that I still have one Chinese unit up in the hills that was left behind after my unsuccessful raid back in January. That unit still has supply and will be in a position to cut the Japanese supply lines soon.

The "strange observation of the day" today was that the 4-CA TF that my sub spotted off of Victoria Point last turn was still in the same place today. I wonder if it is a fast transport TF that is holding back because of all of the LBA that I have on naval attack in the Bay of Bengal?

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)
Post #: 300
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