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IJNAF elite A6M2 Zero unit Chitose Ku S-1 or its detachments or division(s)

3 (42.9%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Indochina, to be used in China/East Indies(mostly)

1 (14.3%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Burma(at least initially)

3 (42.9%)

Total Members Voted: 7

Voting closed: May 04, 2014, 08:49:03 am

[Erkki]

Huh, that sounds a little gamey. What is is supposed to represent?

It helps the Japanese with the early war blitzkrieg through the East Indies mainly. Most of their landings were basically unopposed as Dutch and British did not really defend at the beaches. There would be more casualties and slower expansion without the bonus. By definition it is not gamey, as its WAD in the game design. 

[Anvilfolk]

I just don't understand why that doesn't arise naturally out of better initial training and few and unprepared allied troops. Either way, the point is moot, the game is the game and it's not a terrible idea to make use of it while you have it!

[Erkki]

I just don't understand why that doesn't arise naturally out of better initial training and few and unprepared allied troops. Either way, the point is moot, the game is the game and it's not a terrible idea to make use of it while you have it!

Because the game has the built in "preparation" that simulates all the training, planning and other preparative measures for an amphibious landing or a ground battle at a specific location. Troops landing without preparation suffer much, much higher disruption and good deal more casualties than with even partial preparation. Preparation goes from 0 to 100% in 2 to 4-5 months depending on where the unit is, what doing and how much support is available. It gets reset to 25% of what it was when the target is changed. Amphib. bonus makes it possible for Japan to almost ignore preparation for the first 4 months. Without that mechanism, US could steamroll Japan by early 1944.

Next turn could be interesting. South Pacific will probably be quiet but things are about to happen elsewhere.

[Sheb]

Mmmmh, you got my curiosity here.

Should you focus on getting Java fast? The faster you get it, the faster you'll enjoy that sweet, sweet oil.

[Erkki]

February 25, 2942


China: IJA storms across the river!

Ground combat at 84,46 (near Ichang)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 53391 troops, 418 guns, 334 vehicles, Assault Value = 1973
 
Defending force 34013 troops, 202 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 993
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 1846
 
Allied adjusted defense: 181
 
Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      1807 casualties reported
         Squads: 9 destroyed, 151 disabled
         Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
      Vehicles lost 39 (6 destroyed, 33 disabled)
 
Allied ground losses:
      15822 casualties reported
         Squads: 691 destroyed, 196 disabled
         Non Combat: 418 destroyed, 18 disabled
         Engineers: 13 destroyed, 11 disabled
      Guns lost 51 (15 destroyed, 36 disabled)
      Units retreated 4
      Units destroyed 1
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
Assaulting units:
    15th Tank Regiment
    37th Division
    138th Infantry Regiment
    116th Division
    36th Division
    15th Ind.Mixed Brigade
    12th Tank Regiment
    12th Indpt Infantry Regiment
 
Defending units:
    39th Chinese Corps
    59th Chinese Corps
    55th Chinese Corps
    45th Chinese Corps
    75th Chinese Corps

OUCH! The survivors retreated to a woods + rough hex but I doubt that with those casualties, they will be much harder to retreat again.

Over the battlefield Chinese bombers attempt to help their comrades on the ground but face Ki-43 LRCAP that destroys 4 of the 5 attacking SBs and Hudsons.

Burma: IJAAF sweeps Chittacong, facing a mix of 2 Hurricane types, Buffalos and Hawks. It isnt pretty. Despite numerical advantage and arriving to the area in large packets(defending CAP 1-2 planes at a time) 15 Hayabusas are lost against only 5 Allied. 3:1 losses despite having many advantages. This will only become worse with time.

DEI: Ki-48s from Palembang hit Batavia's port and score hits on torpedo boats and floating dry docks. S.23 Empire flying boats attack IJN battleships near Timor. They score no bomb hits.

PI: Manila bombarded with good results. I wonder if the Allied troops here are about to be short on supplies.

South Pacific: B-17s strike Port Moresby again(1 runway hit) and face a detachment of Zeros: one of the bombers hit by Zeros is confirmed shot down later and anti-aircraft fire scores a direct hit and a kill on a B-17E! If the Allies continue their air strikes here all the AAA units brought across the Pacific will become useful.

B-25s strike Luganville from Noumea but also dont score hits.

Submarines: IJN submarines destroy a large xAK in the middle of nowhere far to the East of Hawaii and another from the force that fled Noumea towards Sydney. These were both ordered intercepts that would not have been possible without E14Y float planes. Still, I was disappointed that the convoy near Sydney was intercepted only once, as there were 11 boats in the area with 6-8 along their path of travel, and the area apparently had little to no Allied air patrols and no surface patrols.


Imperial High Command's fighting morale is on a rise.

[Anvilfolk]

Allied ground losses:
      15822 casualties reported
         Squads: 691 destroyed, 196 disabled
         Non Combat: 418 destroyed, 18 disabled
         Engineers: 13 destroyed, 11 disabled
      Guns lost 51 (15 destroyed, 36 disabled)
      Units retreated 4
      Units destroyed 1

Holy crap! Those numbers looks super high, so I assume it was a great victory. Is there any way that the ground war in China can go in the Allies' favour at the beginning of the war?

Burma: IJAAF sweeps Chittacong, facing a mix of 2 Hurricane types, Buffalos and Hawks. It isnt pretty. Despite numerical advantage and arriving to the area in large packets(defending CAP 1-2 planes at a time) 15 Hayabusas are lost against only 5 Allied. 3:1 losses despite having many advantages. This will only become worse with time.

Ouch! Is that because the Ki-43 isn't that good? I don't recall flying it much in IL-2 since I mostly do naval stuff.

[Erkki]

I think IRL the Japanese had very long only the 77th Sentai's 45 planes in Burma. They scored something like 2:1 against the Allies in 1942, with records cross-checked. Better than Zero did against Wildcat! Of course this isnt real life. I put the blame on incompetent pilots and the range to target that must have given a fatigue hit.

edit: I've seen multiple AARs where the Chinese have been able to stabilize the front and counter attack by mid-1942. I've even seen Chinese conquer Wuchow in late 1942/early 43. This time it should be more difficult for Japan as stacking limits for every hex make defending much easier. I doubt I'll be able to conquer China even if I can hold Burma through 1943(I doubt that too).

[Erkki]

Oh forgot something - 350 artillery pieces arrived to the hex next to Sian today. I think that somewhereabouts doubles the IJA artillery firepower there. Time to start chewing up on Mr. Chiang.

[Erkki]

February 26, 1942


China: bad weather grounds most bomber sorties. A Chinese corps gets routed once again in the far north. Artillery bombardment near Sian doesnt achieve much, but more arty units arrived today bringing another 200-ish guns.

Ground combat at 87,31 (near Ningsia)
 
Japanese Shock attack
 
Attacking force 6052 troops, 66 guns, 100 vehicles, Assault Value = 186
 
Defending force 1731 troops, 35 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 126
 
Allied adjusted defense: 25
 
Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)
 
Japanese ground losses:
      58 casualties reported
         Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      767 casualties reported
         Squads: 43 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)
      Units retreated 1
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
Assaulting units:
    4th Cavalry Brigade
    1st Cavalry Brigade
    11th Indpt Infantry Regiment
 
Defending units:
    81st Chinese Corps

Burma: bad weather grounds sweeps and some bombing sorties. 3 cut off British units near Toungoo are out of supplies as they dont fire at attacking aircraft any more, and some squads are lost for good to the bombings. on the road to Meiktila, 33rd Infantry Division attacks:

Ground combat at 60,43 (near Katha)
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 13089 troops, 120 guns, 32 vehicles, Assault Value = 444
 
Defending force 6756 troops, 95 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 78
 
Japanese adjusted assault: 360
 
Allied adjusted defense: 69
 
Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1
 
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
 
Japanese ground losses:
      66 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
         Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Allied ground losses:
      1947 casualties reported
         Squads: 29 destroyed, 14 disabled
         Non Combat: 211 destroyed, 19 disabled
         Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
      Guns lost 30 (20 destroyed, 10 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 26 (16 destroyed, 10 disabled)
      Units retreated 6
      Units destroyed 1
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
Assaulting units:
    33rd Division
 
Defending units:
    9th Burma Rifles Battalion
    10th Burma Rifles Battalion
    1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
    Burma Command
    104th RAF Base Force
    103rd RAF Base Force
    102nd RAF Base Force
    AVG Ground Echelon

Some of the enemy units remain in the hex and I think will be destroyed tomorrow. The rest retreated to Katha and they can use the railroad to get out before 33rd gets to them again by the dirt road.


DEI: Catalinas and S.23 Empires from Darwin attack IJN ships near Timor but this time face Tainan Ku S-1's Zeros: 7 Catalinas and 2 Empires are shot down. Such a waste... IJA attack at Tarakan fails once again.

PI: artillery bombardment at Manila achieves good results again. Defenders must be short on supplies, so IJA will keep bombarding. IJA attack at Iba achieves 1:1 odds and equal losses for both sides. Iba's defenders seem to be short on supplies.

Submarines: The 12 submarines that were in the hex the Allied merchant convoy passed through near Sydney fail to attack. So 3 days and 30+ individual submarine intercepts(counting being in the same hex as an interception) and only one attack. In contrast, under ASW surface patrols and very high air search and air ASW(over 50 aircraft of different types), a single already sighted USN submarine attacks and sinks a small tanker in Formosa strait without its escorts even attempting to retaliate.

In the NE Pacific the 3 IJN subs that have been sighting enemy TFs for the past days also fail, yet again, to attack and today lose track of their prey.

Allied search and patrol plane losses: so far 66 US Catalinas, 40 Dutch flying boats, 16 British and Australian Catalinas and Empires, and 36 float planes from all Allies(none Dutch). In only 3 months. I hope that hurts them.

Allied Heavy bomber losses: 23 B-17Ds and 23 B-17Es. 46 out of the 370, 12%, or so available through the first 13 months. That has to have some effect too.


Flying boats getting slaughtered, artillery bombardment near Sian and Tainan Ku at Koepang.

[Erkki]

For next turn I will attempt to reinforce Luganville by sending back the amphibious TF with the ships that have most of the supplies still on board. Zeros flown in to protect the ships - maybe they will catch some B-25 bombers. I will also send some troops to Northern Sumatra and a regiment to land at Bengkalis(middle Sumatra) to secure its oil wells.

[10ebbor10]

What are the allies doing with the supplies of oil there anyway. Are they in a position to ship it away, or is all being stored there?

[Erkki]

That place is near Singapore, across the strait. Allies are in no position to do anything with it but let the garrison of Dutchmen starve.

[Erkki]

February 27, 1942


China: 2nd bombardment, now with extra arty, goes well. The Chinese may have supply issues as they dont seem to fire back much.

Burma: AVG again LRCAPs a hex at extreme range(for H81) and despite Ki-43s being based in the adjacent hex, none join to help the bombers. 7 G4Ms and 2 1-engine Ki-51s are lost for 1 Hawk. 77th Sentai sweeps the enemy fighter base these originated from but encounter none. Luckily the bombers were shot down over friendly troops so aircrew losses weren't, for once, 100%.

DEI: What seems to be a Royal Navy carrier escorted by USN battleships(they are probably cruisers?) appears in the Timor Sea! 18 Swordfish torpedo bombers sortie to Koepang - but are not escorted. Tainan Hikotai shoots down them all and PO2 Izumi, H. achieves his 11th and 12th victories! G4Ms from Kendari fail to find their targets. I guess the Allies were looking for torpedo hits on the battleships.



South Pacific: quiet, somehow the Allies manage to lose 3 Catalinas.

Central Pacific: CarDiv V finds prey! A lone 5300-ton tanker in oil or fuel cargo escorted by 2 old Clemson destroyers. They all get sunk. Even float planes attack and score some 60 kg bomb hits.  I had hoped for a better target, and unfortunately...:

...Submarines: I-28 sights a large tanker convoy on its way from San Diego to Hawaii just out of CarDiv V's strike range. Heavy volume radio traffic reported at Pearl so CarDiv V will not take the risk but will instead withdraw.

I hope that attack will tie some enemy assets to escorting convoys even deep behind the lines.

[Erkki]

During the last week IJN has also received some reinforcements: CL Noshiro(Agano class) and 3 submarines. 2 of the subs were sent to operate from Singapore, the 3rd from Truk, and Noshiro was sent to Marianas. Together with her sister Yahagi, she is now one of the only 2 ships in the Navy that are equipped with an air-search radar, and are invaluable as CV escorts.

edit: I wonder who these are...

[Anvilfolk]

What's CarDiv V again?

Also, things don't seem to be going that bad, except for those bomber and their stupid escorts never managing to get coordinated. Do the Allies have some sort of programmed bonus for the AVG like you do for amphibious landings? Because they seem to be doing really well.

What are you planning to do to those BBs off Timor? Are they a danger to all your stuff at Koepang?

And finally, huh, carriers around Line Islands? That's a bit out of the way of everything, isn't it? Or perhaps a round-about way of getting from Australia to the US?