Bombers everywhere...

Matrix Games Forums

Forums Register Login Photo Gallery Member List Search Calendars FAQ

My Profile Inbox Address Book My Subscription My Forums Log Out

Bombers everywhere...

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

Users viewing this topic: none

Printable Version

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> Bombers everywhere...

Page: << < prev 17 18 [19] 20 21 next > >>

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Bombers everywhere... - 1/20/2006 10:28:28 PM

ADavidB

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

September 22 -

Recently I've been wondering what Tophat has been doing with his submarines. The majority of my subs - those scheduled for the October upgrade - are sitting in Naval Shipyard ports. The rest of my subs that aren't due for an upgrade form a north-to-south picket line in the Central Pacific. But I've had almost no reports at all of Japanese subs for the past couple of game-months. So today when a Glen spied on an American transport TF at Layton it was a bit of a novelty. I wonder if Tophat has also been sitting his subs out for R&O and upgrades, or if he has set up picket lines too?

The one area where I've kept subs active is around Timor where we have been playing a game of cat and mouse with Tophat's naval bombers doing a very good job of "cat". I got a bit of a surprise today however; a Dutch sub that was traveling past the Eastern tip of Timor was spotted by any Alf. Hmmm; is that a land-based Alf, from a cruiser in a transport TF on its way to Timor, from a cruiser in a surface combat TF that is on its way to bombard one of the Northern Australian ports, or from a cruiser in an air combat TF that is on its way to raid one of the Northern Australian ports? I've got a lot of planes on aerial search in that region and I haven't noticed any TFs recently. So I'm still going to send my Darwin-based bombers and fighters on another attack on Kai Island next turn, but I'm also keeping my eyes open.

In the Air War, Tophat continued with his recent string of air attacks on Hengchow while letting Wuchow rest some more. The weather cleared and Tophat was also able to get off a couple of large attacks on Sian again too. I presume that he is moving his attacks around in order to keep me from dropping my big P-40 groups in for ambushes, but what it does is allow my forces to recover so I don't mind. One aspect of this that did surprise me was that Tophat sent his naval bombers from Timor against Derby this turn instead of Wyndham. There's not much for him to hit in Derby either, so this just gave the folks at Wyndham a chance to repair things a bit.

My air units also continued with their attacks. The B-25s in Chandpur made a mass attack on the airfield at Pagan with good results. Those B-25 pilots aren't that experienced and I want to give them additional easy runs before I use them in more dangerous situations. The "Miscellaneous Brits" in Dacca made a good, solid attack on Mandalay anyway, so that was sufficient. My main Wellington attack squadrons were still resting in Chengtu; I'm sending them out against the Japanese besiegers at Kungchang next turn. My SB-2cs are continuing to hit the Mongols outside of Lanchow so I'm leaving them set to attack.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 541

Japanese Push in China... - 1/20/2006 11:35:16 PM

ADavidB

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

September 23 -

Tophat sent a big air attack at Hengchow again, followed by an equally big attack at Sian. My Wellingtons didn't fly so the air over China was essentially all Japanese this turn other than my SB-2c attacks on the Mongols. Surprisingly, despite the strength of the Japanese air attacks on Sian and Hengchow the follow up artillery attacks didn't do as much damage as usual. I wonder of Tophat is resting some of his assault troops for an upcoming land attacks. Tophat does seem quite pleased with how his plans are progressing.

Tophat's four divisions kicked my Chinese unit out of the hex to the south of Kweilin this turn, opening up Kweilin to attack. I don't have much in the way of defenders there - I suspect that Tophat could take the base even with the level 9 fortifications. And since the roads in that region are painfully slow I won't be able to get any fresh defenders into Kweilin very quickly. So if it looks as if Tophat intends to attack Kweilin seriously I'll probably pull back from both Kweilin and Wuchow and head my troops north before they can be surrounded. I'd rather give up territory than loose lots of troops. Anyway, all of my supply is further north so my supply lines will shorten and Tophat's will lengthen.

Elsewhere, Tophat sent his Bettys and Zeros against Derby again. The AA in Derby has been doing quite well and Tophat's bombers are taking regular damage while causing little damage themselves. My bombers and fighters took off from Darwin and hit Kai Island again. And as usual, Tophat's own aerial practice flew in the Philippines.

Next turn I've got my Indian bombers going after Dacca and Pagan again. I've also pulled the AVG back from China so that the group can receive some replacement planes. Once the AVG is back to strength I'll switch it with the 23rd FG and let them rebuild too. I've also set that B-17 Group in Canton Island to hit Baker Island. It will be interesting to see what they can do.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 542

RE: Japanese Push in China... - 1/21/2006 12:20:35 AM

anarchyintheuk

Posts: 3921
Joined: 5/5/2004
From: Dallas
Status: offline

Any ideas where you're going to first start using your P-38s?

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 543

RE: Japanese Push in China... - 1/21/2006 1:18:19 AM

ADavidB

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: anarchyintheuk

Any ideas where you're going to first start using your P-38s?

I've got a couple of P-39 squadrons that I'll start out with - one in the Central Pacific and one in Australia. I'll start to train the CenPac squadron against Baker Island and the Aussie squadron against Kai. Then when I have a couple of group's worth I'll move the groups forward for training. With the production rate this means that I'm not really going to be in a position to do seriously big attacks until early 1943, but that's okay, I'm not in a hurry. I want to be able to get rid of the "Curse of 42" on my carriers too, so that I can send out two-carrier TFs and have a reasonable chance of getting combined attacks.

I'm leaving the boys in India as they are for now. I don't have any real need for P-38s out there until the summer of 43 and IIRC, I'll get one P-38 group in Karachi anyway just through the usual reinforcements.

The 4th quarter of 42 is actually a bit "lean" for the Allies - they don't get a lot of good reinforcements. Therefore I don't want to try anything too ambitious too early. I'll probably continue to build up the South Pacific until I can bother the Gilberts from more than one direction.

Right now Tophat has just reached 14,000 victory points, thanks mainly to having 8000 points from Allied land casualties. His non-stop campaign in China is a real meat grinder. I'm just about at 6,000 points, with more than a third of those points thanks to Japanese Air losses, so I have a lot of reasons to continue with my current approach.

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to anarchyintheuk)

Post #: 544

RE: Japanese Push in China... - 1/21/2006 2:12:48 AM

Andy Mac

Posts: 15222
Joined: 5/12/2004
From: Alexandria, Scotland
Status: offline

AdavidB with your Carrier fleet at full streength and Seafires on board would you consider a carrier confrontation in late 42 with a combined RN/USN CV force?

Although having been patient this long and without him threatening anywhere vital probably not worth it.

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 545

RE: Japanese Push in China... - 1/21/2006 6:00:02 AM

ADavidB

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: Andy Mac

AdavidB with your Carrier fleet at full streength and Seafires on board would you consider a carrier confrontation in late 42 with a combined RN/USN CV force?

Although having been patient this long and without him threatening anywhere vital probably not worth it.

I'd rather not because at best I'd get an "exchange" and I have to achieve decisive victories if I am going to get enough points to win on points, which is my goal. So I want to delay any major confrontations with the KB until I've got the LBA that can wear down the KB before my carriers come in to apply the coup de grace... At least, that's the theory...

Thanks for the comments -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to Andy Mac)

Post #: 546

Mongols Mashed... - 1/21/2006 7:17:00 AM

ADavidB

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

September 24 -

Tophat sent this turn with the following cryptic comment:

"Here goes the ballgame..."

I was hoping that meant that something he tried didn't work, but on the other hand it might also mean that he was starting some major final attempt at breaking the game open. So I watched the combat replay even more intently than I usually do.

First off, tons of Japanese planes hit Hengchow again, closing the runway but causing few casualties. Surprisingly, there were no attacks on Sian. Other than the training runs in the Philippines, the only other Japanese air attack was an attempted Zero sweep of Darwin.

In contrast my bombers flew everywhere that I had ordered them to go. The Mitchells hit Pagan again but caused little damage. I'm resting them now but next time I'll send them back to Mandalay so that they find more targets. The Brit bombers in Dacca hit Mandalay hard with little damage to themselves - the AA in Mandalay isn't getting fixed very fast. My Chinese bombers also hit the Mongols outside of Lanchow while my Wellingtons hit the besiegers of Kungchang very hard.

My other planned attack was the B-17 group strike at Baker Island. It worked out to be a draw with a couple of planes shot down on both sides, which in essence is a loss for the Japanese. But I'm going to wait until I get Canton Island airfield built up more before I send the massed bombers out again.

By that point I hadn't seen anything that indicated that Tophat was making any major move by sea, so it was time to watch the land combat in China. Tophat did the usual artillery attacks at Sian, Hengchow and Wuchow, with fewer Chinese casualties occurring than usual, even in Hengchow. The Japanese attack at Kungchang totally fizzled after the Wellington bombing attack and my troops in Kungchang were able to bombard the Japanese besiegers quite readily, causing lots of casualties.

Then I finally saw what Tophat was referring to:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Lanchow

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4785 troops, 33 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 13421 troops, 84 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese ground losses:
1782 casualties reported
Guns lost 17
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tophat had hoped to catch me with only a base force in Lanchow, but I got a full-strength, experienced and fully supplied big Chinese combat unit back in ahead of the attack. Those Mongolian cavalry units have been sitting out at the far end of their supply lines for a long time and have been bombed regularly for a while too. It was a good idea for Tophat to try to cut off my troops at Kungchang, but he didn't bring enough troops of his own. It's something for me to keep in mind once I start to go on the offensive.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 547

Hengchow Hangup... - 1/21/2006 1:08:13 PM

ADavidB

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

September 25 -

Rain dampened things for both sides this turn and few bombing missions flew. However, Tophat was able to get a couple of fairly strong air attacks on Hengchow. Tophat then tried a deliberate attack at Hengchow:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hengchow

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 175073 troops, 1847 guns, 147 vehicles

Defending force 117831 troops, 549 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 8

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

Japanese ground losses:
5843 casualties reported
Guns lost 195
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
1786 casualties reported
Guns lost 25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

That will "keep him honest" for a while. I'm maneuvering my planes around China again and will be in a position to hit Tophat's forces hard again in a couple of turns, rain permitting.

Elsewhere, I was looking around at some of my capital ships that have been awaiting upgrades in port and I noticed that a Japanese leader was put in as captain of the Yorktown. Fortunately I was able to change him over to a good US naval air leader and the change stuck. But I also found that the San Diego had a Japanese army officer and while I could change him for a US naval officer while the San Diego was in a TF, the change wasn't permanent. I'll have to keep that in mind once I put the San Diego out to sea. I wonder if the ship has to be at Hawaii for the change to stick since that's where CenPac is located?

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 548

More Mongol Mashing... - 1/21/2006 11:15:58 PM

ADavidB

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

September 26 -

The rain cleared this turn and both side's planes flew in huge numbers in the Far East. A hundred or so Japanese bombers hit Hengchow, accompanied by nearly as many fighters on escort. And Sian got hit again hard by an equally large attack. On the Allied side Mandalay was pounded in sequence by the full Mitchell BG followed by the Miscellaneous Brits. Even the Chinese bombers and fighters got into the action and hammered the Mongol cavalry units at Lanchow.

Speaking of the Mongols, a second cavalry division crossed the river and was forced into a shock attack on the fortifications at Lanchow:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Lanchow

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4601 troops, 37 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 13421 troops, 84 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese ground losses:
1693 casualties reported
Guns lost 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unless Tophat is going to send more troops to Lanchow I really can't see the point of this. I'm just going to have an easy time getting practice for my land and air troops. I've even brought more bombers into play against the Mongols. Tophat does have another three Mongol cavalry divisions near the Soviet border, but they are attempting to pin down a Chinese unit that I have out there. This unit is the sole leftover from my initial attempt to disrupt the Japanese attack by going to the rear of the Japanese forces way back at the beginning of the game.

In any event, the milestone for today was that I passed the 6000 victory point mark. The score is now Japanese 14043, Allies 6002. I'm pretty confident that Tophat can't find 10000 points between now and the end of 1942 so auto-victory is just a fading dream for him. Now, the question for me will be, can I find 40000 victory points by 1944 so that I can win early?

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 549

Three different units hit... - 1/22/2006 6:31:26 AM

ADavidB

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

September 27 -

Tophat wants Sian really badly - he now has 30 units besieging it. I'm moving yet another big Chinese combat unit to join the rest there. My units have been holding out fairly well so far and I haven't had to pull any back yet. But I expect to do so sooner or later.

China saw the usual aerial and artillery bombardments this turn. Both Hengchow and Sian were hit hard from the air by the Japanese. I was pleasantly surprised when my Wellingtons attacked the Japanese besiegers at Hengchow - they attacked in three groups, with each group attacking a different Japanese division. The end result was that the Japanese artillery attack accomplished nothing this turn. Finally, my SB-2cs hit the Mongols at Lanchow hard again. I can't wait to get decent planes for those Chinese pilots.

Otherwise, the only other major action was an attack on Kai by my Dutch, Brit and Aussie trainees out of Darwin. I've moved the bombers back now and moved longer range fighters into Darwin to give them practice too.

It's almost October. It will be nice to start to get P-38s without being desperate to bring them to the front as soon as they show up. My current front line fighter units are doing quite well. For example, the AVG and the 23rd FG just built back up to strength with little or no reduction in average experience. And I still have plenty of replacement planes in reserve.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 550

Sian Attacked... - 1/22/2006 2:48:40 PM

ADavidB

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

September 28 -

This was another fairly typical turn for the pattern that Tophat and I have been in for some time now. Hengchow was hit from the air, and then Sian was hit from the air very hard. Next my Miscellaneous Brits hit Mandalay very hard. Tophat's training runs flew in the Philippines, and then my Chinese bombers hit the Mongols in Lanchow hard. We both have our own objectives and we are sticking to them.

One thing that has been a bit different lately is that Tophat has been regularly sending recon flights over Chungking and Yunan again. I've got lots of good fighters in both bases, so it won't be that good of an idea for him if he tries some long distance raids. Never-the-less I'm keeping an eye on this situation.

The big change in operations this turn was that Tophat tried a deliberate attack on Sian again:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sian

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 268706 troops, 2846 guns, 202 vehicles

Defending force 105242 troops, 319 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 6)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 6

Japanese ground losses:
9231 casualties reported
Guns lost 190
Vehicles lost 9

Allied ground losses:
2232 casualties reported
Guns lost 45
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It will take Tophat a while to get over that attack, and I'll help him take longer by sending my crack Wellingtons to hit his troops at Sian again next turn. I've also got more troops on their way to bolster the defense at Sian. This continuous pressure in China is irritating, but it does mean that those Japanese units aren't elsewhere. Tophat may well regret that once I start to move in 1943.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 551

Loose Lips Sink Ships... - 1/23/2006 12:04:23 AM

ADavidB

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

September 29 -

Tophat hasn't kept up his AAR on this game, and we haven't been sending each other a lot of comments directly related to the game either, but when I sent the September 29 turn to Tophat I did make the following quip:

"You certainly enjoy that war in China. It's a good thing that ground combat doesn't work well in this game or you would have won it by now on land...<L>"

When he returned the September 30th turn he uncharacteristically wrote the following:

"Well,

My current situation finds me fighting this war exactly as I don't want to do. I really don't like trying to exploit China and stand on the defensive elsewhere waiting for you to make a move so I can ambush/counter attack. But your withdrawal strategy, my mistake in moving 2 key divisions along with my Singapore screw-up has brought us to this point. I just spent over an hour and a half refining my production and culling the force pool.

I find it ironic that I'm almost repeating Jap intentions in the Pacific, but shamelessly prosecuting the war in china <to pull a win or draw>LOL!!! It's really striking me funny at the moment, you'll see why soon enough. This game certainly has been a surprise for me and I'm curious if it's taken you aback as well?"

After watching the Combat Replay and seeing that there was nothing particularly surprising about it I responded with the September 30 turn as follows:

"Why do I get the feeling that you are considering a thrust directly at Chungking? ... <g>"

As far as I can tell, Tophat's only real choices to find lots of points right now are by attacking Chungking in force, by grabbing Noumea and maybe by attacking Northern Australia. And October 1942 is only a day away, so his options are slipping away.

As far as the actual turn went, Tophat threw even more planes at Hengchow, including tons of escorts. He also ignored Sian and Wuchow.

My Mitchells flew this turn and hit Mandalay hard. Next turn they will rest and the Miscellaneous Brits will fly. My crack Wellingtons flew out of Chungking in three flights again and hit three different Japanese units at Sian hard. The end result was that the daily Japanese artillery bombardment at Sian did a lot less damage than usual. And my Chinese bombers hit the Mongols at Lanchow hard again too. Meanwhile, the Mixed Leftovers in Darwin hit Kai hard again. I'm resting everyone in Darwin next turn.

My big change in strategy is that I've started to rebuild my forces at Canton Island since the October upgrades are so close. I'll send a battle squadron out there along with a couple of carriers and that ought to take care of any raiding by Tophat. I don't believe that Tophat has any significantly large ground units in the Central Pacific considering how much he has been building up China and the DEI. But I expect that Tophat will get tempted to do some raiding once I set up a more regular and more damaging aerial bombardment routine out of Canton Island.

One other strange thing is that Tophat has started to regularly recon Lashio again. I find it hard to believe that he would start a jungle campaign at this date, particularly since I still have those Chinese Divisions there that are assigned to SEAC. But if he does I'll happily train my air units on his attacking troops too.

BTW - if Tophat does decide to make a dash for Noumea I already have a battle squadron and a carrier group in that part of the South Pacific too.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 552

One More Day Until Lightnings - 1/23/2006 2:54:05 AM

ADavidB

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

September 30 -

Tomorrow I get massive ship upgrades and the first P-38s. September was a long month. Granted, October won't bring "instant gratification" but at least I'll be able to see my plans come to fruition.

Tophat's plans are coming to fruition too, particularly since he has started to focus his efforts in China instead of spreading his forces out everywhere. This turn he sent some massive air raids at Hengchow and then followed up with a deliberate attack:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hengchow

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 165426 troops, 1655 guns, 5 vehicles

Defending force 113746 troops, 479 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 7

Japanese ground losses:
2725 casualties reported
Guns lost 124
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
746 casualties reported
Guns lost 24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to try to get more troops to Hengchow, but my Chinese land forces are stretched a bit thin and it will take some time. Fortunately Tophat has stopped his air raids elsewhere in China which will allow my other forces to regroup a bit.

But I've decided that its time for me to increase my air raids in China too, and I'm doing so next turn with a massive combined attack on the air fields at Changsha. I'm sending the crack Brit Wellingtons and the Mitchells along with the full AVG for escorts. I'm hoping to catch most of Tophat's CAP out over Hengchow.

In other news, the Game decided that I have to send 1 Brit CL and 2 Brit DDs back to England. I had a weak example of both in Karachi already so that made two thirds of the job easy. I've got another weak DD in Bombay so it's heading over next. Sure, I've got lots of preparation points, but I do use them, such as I did last turn to reorganize my Chinese leadership.

Speaking of points, below is the Intel screen for October 1, 1942. All things considered, it's not too bad. But I do need to find a way to stop Tophat from getting troop points everyday in China.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 553

RE: One More Day Until Lightnings - 1/23/2006 3:00:28 AM

KDonovan

Posts: 1157
Joined: 9/25/2005
From: New Jersey
Status: offline

Hey Dave...great AAR...i actually used yours as a model for my own AAR, due to your sparse use of Combat Reports, which i liked a lot. Its a pain to scroll through post after post of Combat Reports. Anyways..just wondering if you could post a screen shot of the situation in China..as that seems to be the main thearte as of now

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 554

RE: One More Day Until Lightnings - 1/23/2006 3:19:06 AM

ADavidB

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: KDonovan

Hey Dave...great AAR...i actually used yours as a model for my own AAR, due to your sparse use of Combat Reports, which i liked a lot. Its a pain to scroll through post after post of Combat Reports. Anyways..just wondering if you could post a screen shot of the situation in China..as that seems to be the main thearte as of now

Thanks for the support. I actually moved to limit Combat reports at the beginning of this AAR after getting some "gentle" comments that my reports were better without the pages of CRs.

I'm posting a screen shot of China below. To give you an idea of what I'm up against, I'll give a list of the numbers of Japanese units that show up on the map:

Wuchow - 13
Hengchow - 15
The road from Wuchow to Hengchow - 1,1,2,2
The crossroads between Hengchow and Changsha - 1
Changsha - 5
Wuhan - 6
Nanchang - 4
Sian - 30!
Kungchang - 13
Lanchow - 2 (Mongol cavalry)

BTW - there are only 4 Japanese units in Mandalay, but one of them is a big division.

Thanks again for the interest!

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to KDonovan)

Post #: 555

RE: One More Day Until Lightnings - 1/23/2006 3:56:52 AM

KDonovan

Posts: 1157
Joined: 9/25/2005
From: New Jersey
Status: offline

wow..Burma road is still open...that'll make it harder to take China. If China is his main focus, i'm suprised that the Burma road isn't on his hit list

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 556

RE: One More Day Until Lightnings - 1/23/2006 4:07:53 AM

ADavidB

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

quote:

ORIGINAL: KDonovan

wow..Burma road is still open...that'll make it harder to take China. If China is his main focus, i'm suprised that the Burma road isn't on his hit list

I made it my focus from Day 1 to keep Lashio and Myitkyina under my control. I immediately sent the Chinese troops under SEAC control to both bases and also pulled Commonwealth troops from Burma to keep the bases garrisoned until the Chinese arrived. Tophat did try to move a couple of units to Lashio, but I immediately started to pound him from the air, and with the jungle and malaria, he realized that this would be a death trap if he stayed. So he pulled back.

He has been reconning Lashio regularly recently, but I'm in an even better position to defend it now than I was in the beginning of 1942. If he wants to start a war of attrition in Burma I'll be absolutely delighted. Where is he going to start from? I've been keeping Mandalay closed every day for weeks and there is no way he can move forward if Mandalay continues to use up supplies to repair damage. (And there is no way to shut off repairs to runways.)

That's a big part of the reason why Tophat has had such a tough time in China. I intend to keep that reason "alive and well"...

Thanks again -

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to KDonovan)

Post #: 557

Lightnings... - 1/23/2006 8:32:19 PM

ADavidB

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

October 1, 1942 -

The long awaited day is here; Q4-1942 begins! My US combat ships got their upgrades and the first four P-38Gs entered the replacement pool. Things are generally looking very good. Less than a handful of ships missed their scheduled upgrades; two APDs that were returning from a troop delivery and the two remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack that are still being repaired. And those two 20-knot battleships are at system damage levels of 7 and 11, so they ought to see their upgrades within the month.

China continues to be the main theatre of operations. Tophat hit Hengchow with over 200 planes, followed by a smaller, but still substantial air raid on Sian. But my planes in Chungking responded equally intensely:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Changsha, at 47, 36

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 71
P-40B Tomahawk x 60
F-5A Lightning x 6
B-25C Mitchell x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 12 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 3 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 33
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 157
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The pilots of the 23rd FG blasted through the seven Tonys on CAP, shooting them down one after another. Then all of the waves of bombers hit, blasting the runways and destroying more Tonys on the ground. In all, the score was 16 Tonys destroyed; 7 in the air and 9 on the ground. It's a shame that there weren't other planes at Changsha, but this sent a strong message to Tophat anyway. BTW - at the end of the day there were 20 Japanese air losses in total against a loss of two Allied planes (both to operational losses). I'll take a 10:1 ratio any day.

Otherwise the day was fairly typical. Tophat sent his training attacks at my trapped Philippine forces and I sent my trainees against Kai Island. My Chinese bombers also hit Japanese stragglers in the backwater theatres. Ground combat was limited to artillery exchanges at the usual bases in China. My troops at Lanchow hammered the Mongol cavalry hard. Those Mongols must be pretty low on supplies by now.

SIGINT reported once again that the Japanese 4th Division is preparing for an attack on Canton Island. However, the last location report, as of the end of August, placed the 4th Division still at Bataan. So I am no longer worried because even if the report is true the time has passed for Tophat to be able to easily invade Canton Island. The tide is turning and soon Tophat will have to start to worry about the Gilbert Islands instead of my bases.

So October will still be a month of preparation and training. My intention for Q4-1942 is to move more forces forward and set up a systematic bombing campaign in a number of theatres in order to stretch the Japanese defences and to soften up future invasion sites. With the US Pacific Fleet whole and upgraded Tophat's options to respond to my strategy will be very limited. Q1-1943 will see the first limited counter-offensives on the part of the Allied forces, with Q2-1943 bringing the serious threats to bear once the Japanese forces are committed.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 558

Chungking Air Raid! - 1/25/2006 1:56:31 AM

ADavidB

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

October 2 -

Tophat has been waiting for an opportunity to attack my crack P-40 groups in China and my move to base the 23rd FG in Chungking gave him that chance. But to his chagrin, the weather and the 23rd FG didn't cooperate with his plans the way that he had hoped:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking, at 43, 32

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3 Zero x 21
Ki-21 Sally x 81
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
P-40B Tomahawk x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed
A6M3 Zero: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 6 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 7 destroyed, 14 damaged
Wellington III: 5 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 4 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 23

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 7000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 7000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 7000 feet
1 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 7000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A fighter sweep that Tophat had also ordered was late and then also missed the target, so Tophat ended up with fewer fighters in the air than the 23rd FG. The 23rd FG blasted the Zeros then hit the Sallys, scaring off three quarters of them. (As you can see only 21 got through to bomb.) They were crack bomber units so they did destroy 17 Allied bombers on the field, but all-in-all I'm happy with the results at the end of the day - the boys of the 23rd FG shot down 15 Zeros and 8 Sallys for the loss of only 7 of their own. And even with the on-the-ground losses the day still ended up with 33 Japanese planes lost against 24 Allied planes lost. (All the details are captured in the Aircraft Loss screen below.)

So I was faced with a choice, do I stay or do I pull back? I checked to see if the AVG could reach Chungking, in which case I would stay and put everything up in the air. But they couldn't, so I pulled everyone out instead. The weather has also reverted to thunderstorms everywhere in China and India so I'm betting that Tophat will be hard pressed to push his fatigued forces into another long range attack next turn.

However, the end result of this has caused me to change one of my plans. I will no longer change a couple of the P-39 squadrons in the Pacific into P-38s first this month. Instead, I will wait until I've accumulated 72+ P-38s and change the AVG over from P-40Es to P-38Gs. That will be an unwelcome surprise to Tophat at the end of the month.

In other news, with all those Sallys striving for Chungking Tophat didn't have a lot left with which to hit Hengchow, but Tophat still found one squadron of bombers that did their job well. And he also got off as big an air attack on Sian as he did on Chungking. My Chinese bombers hit the Mongols at Lanchow and some of the Japanese at Kungchang with their usual small but effective attacks. And one Brit B-25 squadron hit Kai Island from Darwin.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 559

Shell Game... - 1/25/2006 5:47:23 AM

ADavidB

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

October 3 -

Tophat did the smart thing this turn and rested his battered air units in China rather than risk them with high fatigue in another attack on Chungking while everything was covered by thunderstorms. That doesn't mean that Tophat is happy about the situation; he is still grousing about the "lost opportunity". In any event, this means that I was afforded the time to pull back and reorganize my forces even more. I'm resting almost all of my forces in the China/Burma/India theaters except for the Chinese air units which are still happily bombing the Japanese troops at Kungchang and Lanchow.

So this turn Tophat returned to his daily bombings of Sian and Hengchow, although there were still fewer bombers than normal hitting Hengchow. Tophat also mentioned that he is reorganizing his forces. The SIGINT report indicated that too - he is moving yet another engineering regiment to Canton and there is a paratroop unit there too. Tophat has also gone back to sending recon flights over Yunan, and today, for no obviously good reason, he tried to send a 10 Tojo sweep over that base. He is very lucky that they couldn't find it, because they would have found the nearly full strength 23rd FG waiting there.

So I'm in a bit of a lull right now. I'm continuing to build up a network of inter-supporting bases in the South Pacific (all those US Engineering units make short work of any base, even "dots") and I'm moving more troops and planes there. In the meanwhile, my recently upgraded ships continue to be repaired regularly. I expect to send some of them out to more forward bases in a couple of weeks.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 560

"Now you see them"... - 1/26/2006 12:09:32 AM

ADavidB

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

October 4 -

Tophat lucked out again this turn as he sent another small sweep of Tojos to Yunan and they missed the target in the rain. I suspect that he was still looking for the Brit Hurricanes that I had there a while back. But this time one of his recon flights did fly over the base and got chased by the 23rd FG. Afterwards Tophat commented in his email to me:

"My, you are moving fighters around aren't you?"

So what will he do next turn, let "sleeping dogs" alone or try to come back and hunt my planes? Just in case he does decide to come back I moved the AVG into Yunan too, and put both FGs at 80% CAP. That ought to be an interesting surprise for him if he does come back. Tophat is operating under the misconception that I have the usual shortage of P-40Bs and P-40Es that afflicts most Allied players. But because of my "miserly ways" I actually have well over 100 of both models in reserve, so I can fight for quite a while without running out.

Meanwhile, I finally brought back to India from China those three Brit Hurricane squadrons that I mentioned above. They all now have decent experience so I upgraded them to Spitfires. I also took the time to upgrade my remaining Brit Mohawks to Hurricanes since I have so many Hurricanes in reserve. Spitfires remain my only real worry as far as fighter reserves go, since they arrive so slowly.

In China Tophat sent out another smallish bomber attack at Hengchow and another big bomber attack on Sian. As well, he sent some bombers out to hit one of my Chinese combat units that is blocking the road to Chungking. Tophat's land attacks in China were limited to artillery bombardments. A fresh Chinese LCU arrived in Sian today so I gave orders for my weakest unit in Sian to start the long hike back to Chungking and R&R. Then I ordered my best unit in Chungking to start on the trek to Sian. When it gets to Sian I'll send another weakened unit back to Chungking. Thus goes my strategy in China.

Elsewhere, Tophat's training air units hit my trapped Philippine units again, and then my training air units from Darwin hit Kai Island again. I've also had a recon unit snooping around Baker Island for the past few turns, just to get Tophat used to it. This turn I'm finally sending a B-17 group along with it.

For the day, Tophat hat lost 6 aircraft to operational losses and 1 to flak. I lost no planes. Tophat now has nearly 40% more air losses than I have. My next goal is to push him to the "magic" 50% more mark.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 561

"...and now you don't" - 1/26/2006 3:27:54 AM

ADavidB

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

October 5 -

Tophat decided that "digression is the better part of valor" and didn't go after Yunan this turn. Instead he spread his attacks out on a number of other targets in China, which once again is the smart thing to do. But he still kept up his heavy air attacks on Hengchow and Sian in addition to the other raids. Tophat also sent his recon flight to Kunming this turn instead of Yunan. Some of the P-40s from Yunan showed up over Kunming to chase the recon planes, so that might give rise to some confusion for Tophat.

In response all of my Brit Wellingtons hit Mandalay hard. I'm sitting them down again and letting the Mitchells fly next turn. My B-17s from Canton Island also flew and fought their way past the Zeros at Baker Island. They shot two zeros and destroyed one on the ground for the loss of one B-17. Once the airfield at Canton Island finally reaches level 5 it will be easier to send out strikes that will do serious damage.

Otherwise, things continue to stay fairly quiet.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 562

The Worm Turns... - 1/26/2006 4:29:44 AM

ADavidB

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

October 6 -

Well, I started to get a bit lackadaisical about things in China and Burma and at the same time Tophat started to change what he was doing, and the end result was a good turn all around in the air for Tophat. Not only was he able to bomb Sian and Hengchow heavily but he also sent in a very big strike at Chungking having guessed that I still had my P-40s out in Yunan. Fortunately I had few planes left on the ground in Chungking, so the cost was relatively light in terms of destroyed and damaged aircraft, but Tophat did some serious damage to the runways and if he continues I won't be able to use Chungking for a while.

At the same time Tophat surprised me my putting some good Zeros on LR CAP over Mandalay for the first time in ages. I've been sending unescorted bombers in to hit Mandalay for game-weeks now so this hurt as my Mitchells came in with only moderately trained pilots and got hit hard. I didn't end up losing that many planes, but the morale is now in the 20s for this group. That means "backwaters" for them for a while.

So I'm going to have to regroup a bit and go back to my earlier more conservative approach to China and the Far East. I don't want to give Tophat more "freebies" in the region. And I'll have to be careful elsewhere too. Now that Tophat has his confidence back he'll probably do more raiding in Oz and in the Central Pacific.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 563

Licking my Wounds... - 1/27/2006 1:21:31 AM

ADavidB

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

October 7 -

Widespread rains caused most air attacks to be split into pieces this turn. But since neither side was attacking defended targets it didn't matter in the end. Tophat once again sent large numbers of planes against Hengchow and Sian, scouted Wuchow and Lashio, trained in the Philippines and left Chungking along. This allowed my engineers to repair the damage to the runways but not to the support nor to the damaged planes that were still on the ground. If Tophat and/or the rain "cooperate" Chungking ought to be pretty much repaired by next turn.

The only action on the part of the Allies was the Chinese air units hitting the Japanese besiegers at Kungchang and Lanchow again. It's just such a shame that those units can't get decent planes until the middle of 1943.

With the repair of the damage from the October naval upgrades well in hand I've started to reposition more of my forces for the next stage of my plans. Canton Island is getting fortified nicely and I am now landing an RCT unit on it in order to protect it from "nuisance" invasions. My scrutiny of the SIGINT spreadsheet as well as Tophat's focus on India and Timor leads me to believe that Tophat doesn't have any large ground forces in the Central Pacific. So I shouldn't have to worry about a multi-divisional invasion in the near future. I'm also continuing to build up my network of mutually supporting bases in the South Pacific. And I get even more engineering groups in the next few weeks.

I also feel quite secure from any potential invasion of India, so I've started to move some of my combat units forward, all the while still leaving a strong reserve in my key bases. I want to be in a good position to "step forward" a bit during the next two months along the Front in that region. While I'm not currently planning any land offensives in the region, I do want to move back into some abandoned positions that the Japanese haven't occupied. Therefore I want to be able to move good units in quickly that can defend the bases from Japanese intervention. The War will slowly be moved back to the Japanese.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 564

Ready to Try Again... - 1/27/2006 5:44:07 AM

ADavidB

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

October 8 -

This turn Tophat wrote of modifying his strategy again. I didn't see much evidence of that other than a Nell that came and reconnoitered over Canton Island. Otherwise, it was much the same usual; big bomber raids hit Hengchow and Sian and the Japanese land forces engaged in China did their usual artillery attacks. There was a bigger than usual attack by Zeros and Bettys on Derby, but I don't have anything there other than Catalinas, so it wasn't a big bother.

The continued respite at Chungking allowed my engineers to finish repairing the base and start to repair some of the damaged planes on the ground. One more day of "peace" and I ought to have all remaining planes back with their units. I've decided that I will "test the waters" over Mandalay again next turn by sending out my experienced Wellingtons accompanied by the P-40Bs of the 23rd FG. They ought to take care of any reasonable level of CAP. Otherwise things continue to tick along quietly.

Dave Baranyi

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 565

October Regions - 1 - 1/28/2006 1:20:35 AM

ADavidB

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

With all the continuous action in China I haven't been saying a lot about what is going on in the other Theatres of the War. For the most part the Fronts elsewhere have been quiet as we've been both building up our defences in the background. But I have been tracking via SIGINT the location of enemy forces, particularly those at the Fronts and I have a pretty good idea of where Tophat has committed major forces and where he hasn't. So I want to take a while a bit of space to show some of the current situations at the quieter regions of the battle.

First off, let's look at the Central Pacific. Tophat has (justifiably) been depending upon the KB and his naval LBA to protect his bases in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. Tophat's move to take Baker Island is a two-edged sword; while it pushed the Allied forces further back from the Gilberts it also allows the Allied forces to practice attacks on a relatively isolated Japanese base.

The visible locations of air and land units on the map below are accurate according to SIGINT; there are a number of smaller bases which are empty and which present interesting potential targets for the future. As long as Tophat does not move any major Japanese Army divisions into this region the opportunities for an Allied blitzkrieg improve with time.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 566

October Regions - 2 - 1/28/2006 1:21:26 AM

ADavidB

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

The corresponding South Central Pacific Allied front continues to be built up. Thanks to the plethora of Allied Engineering units I have been able to build up "dot" bases into "stepping stone" bases for moving air units forwards as well as for increasing the number of locations from which I can send out naval search and reconnaissance. In addition, these bases provide safe havens for naval aircraft in the case of naval air battles that cause carriers to be heavily damaged or sunk. The larger bases have also been equipped with naval support ships to provide local rearming and short term repair. Marine Air Units have been poured into this area, along with some longer range Army Air units.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 567

October Regions - 3 - 1/28/2006 1:22:25 AM

ADavidB

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

However, the key to the control of the South Central/South Eastern Fronts is the development of a strong set of mutually-supporting bases in the South Pacific. Note below that there are currently eleven bases being developed and there are opportunities to develop several more. Again, I've developed strategically important "dot" bases in order to provide local support to key bases. Sydney Island, for example, is positioned to provide Marine Air Support to Canton Island and also to provide a stepping stone to Pago-Pago and islands further to the South West. I've been slowly developing bases in a northwards motion in order to be able to provide LR CAP to new bases since the northernmost bases are within the range of Japanese Naval Air from the Gilberts.

The key thing about this regional development is that it allows me to station strong Naval Combat forces in the southernmost bases that can be quickly sent to either protect the northernmost bases or to raid Japanese possessions further to the north. And by having air bases everywhere I can also provide continuous LR CAP for Surface Combat TFs, negating the impact of Japanese Naval LBA.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 568

October Regions - 4 - 1/28/2006 1:23:20 AM

ADavidB

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

Further to the Southwest, the PNG/Solomons area is still pretty much a buffer zone. Tophat has been satisfied with grabbing some of the more historically important bases that are readily covered by his Naval LBA in Rabaul but he has not extended to the bases where I can easily commit forces from Northeastern Australia. The Santa Cruz Islands, the New Hebrides and New Caledonia remain undisputed and under Allied control. I have only simulated the presence of Allied forces in New Caledonia, and have instead maintained all of my forces for the region in New Zealand. As I receive more reinforcements over the next couple of game-months I will start to put forces into the region for real, including finally returning to PNG. But I will do that only after I start movements in other regions so that Tophat has to commit parts of the KB elsewhere.

BTW - I do have US naval surface combat and air combat forces in this region just in case Tophat does decide to expand a bit further from his current air control. Tophat hasn't moved a lot of forces directly into this region either. He is holding back the great majority of his uncommitted forces in non-malarial Truk and in the Mandates.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 569

October Regions - 5 - 1/28/2006 1:24:10 AM

ADavidB

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

One of the major reasons why Tophat hasn't moved more forces into the South Pacific is because he is building up the Timor region. He has poured combat troops, CD units and engineers into the various bases and built up a mutually-supporting network. Although the Japanese engineers work more slowly than their American counterparts, given time they are still able to build up substantial defences. The one big disadvantage for Tophat is that the bases in this region are malarial, which means that his forces are constantly fighting attrition just by being there.

Because of the multitude of Japanese bases in this region mounting an effective Allied Air campaign is fairly difficult. Of the four Allied bases in Northern Australia only Darwin is non-malarial, and it is very difficult to suppress a number of opposing bases from only a single base. I would need to commit at least two crack P-38 groups along with two crack Long Range bomber groups to have a reasonable chance of starting to close down some of the nearby Japanese bases. The risk then remains that Tophat would simply send a naval bombardment group in to close the airfields at Darwin.

The Timor-Northern Australia front is actually very difficult for the Allies to support, which then makes it even more difficult to use for sustained offensive operations. The Japanese player has a much easier time supplying his forces in the region. But, at the same time, the threat of an Allied Air Campaign against resource sites in the region makes it imperative that the Japanese player maintain a strong presence. Thus, in the long run it is more important for the Allied player to maintain a credible threat in the region than to actually commit to action simply because the forces that the Japanese player commits to the region aren't available elsewhere.

Dave Baranyi

Attachment (1)

(in reply to ADavidB)

Post #: 570

Page: << < prev 17 18 [19] 20 21 next > >>

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports >> Bombers everywhere...