Banzais Don't Make Victories - Anachro (A) vs John 3rd (J) BTS 5.7

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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Anachro
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RE: July 16 1942

Post by Anachro »

I don't bother following up on a potential retreat path for a few reasons: 1) it's burdensome to reset orders 2) it's hard to gauge where a retreat path might be sometimes 3)LBA ASW can usually do the trick for follow-up attacks (especially if the sub was hit during the night phase).

So I don't think the gain from doing that outweighs the additional input in orders required. My ASW forces stay at their assigned hubs and that is where they are most useful. Heavily damaged subs often sink anyways if they are far away from home.
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Anachro
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July 17-18 1942

Post by Anachro »

July 17-18 1942

Not a very interesting few days except for this heart burner below at Coconada. They were set to strat move (strat mode fully done last turn) but I didn't realize the moving for strat happens after the combat phase, so they suffered a big malus in the attack. Is this the same for other types of movement? Because I've had the enemy move out of hex, denying my units the opportunity to attack before. Good news is they should be able to move away without much issue (my airforce will be sweeping and bombing John's chasing units). Moreover, a lot of the destroyed AFVs were good tanks, but a about half were also improvised AFV's, so they can only improve up from here!
Ground combat at Cocanada (41,37)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27695 troops, 245 guns, 65 vehicles, Assault Value = 875

Defending force 2729 troops, 4 guns, 471 vehicles, Assault Value = 156

Japanese adjusted assault: 579

Allied adjusted defense: 29

Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Cocanada !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
73 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
144 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 200 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 472 (467 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units retreated 5

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
16th Division
48th Division

Defending units:
50th Tank Brigade
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
42nd Cavalry Regiment
16th Light Cavalry Regiment
3rd Cavalry Regiment

However, next turn should at least see me some recompense, as I am set to shock attack (British division crossing stream) and deliberate attack with troops in hex next turn, so hopefully John loses some squads and guns tomorrow. The Japanese units in this hex only started moving away this turn. Furthermore, I've caught up to the brigade north of Carnarvon again and will attack tomorrow.
Ground combat at 55,32 (near Patna)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3530 troops, 77 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 114

Defending force 1284 troops, 45 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 60

Japanese ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
159th Mot Infantry Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Para Assault/B Division
8th RF Gun Battalion

Would post more, but I'm a bit busy right now with only some downtime between meetings. [:D]
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Canoerebel
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RE: July 17-18 1942

Post by Canoerebel »

I'm not sure I fully understand the situation, but if your guys were in Strat mode, they couldn't leave the hex.

Your units can Strat mode in to a friendly base in a hex that includes enemy units, but they can't Strat mode out of that contested hex.


"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Anachro
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RE: July 17-18 1942

Post by Anachro »

Ah, that makes sense. They had been going to strat mode and were set to move last turn, but I guess being contested cancelled that. Something new learned. Good news is about half the units are still in strat mode a hex over and can be stratted to wherever I want them.
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Anachro
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RE: July 17-18 1942

Post by Anachro »

My carriers are almost home. Lexington is about 2 days out fro Pearl. The others 3-4 days east of Palmyra. They have been at sea almost continuously for a month, picking up wear and tear. They will go into Pearl for extended refit and upgrades. Lexington and Saratoga will get their 6/42 upgrades. Wasp and Enterprise will get their 7/42 upgrades.

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Anachro
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July 19 1942

Post by Anachro »

July 19 1942

In India and Australia, I get some recompense for yesterday with my ground combat today, which is effective if not spectacular. However, this might prove short-lived as two AFV units did not move (I might have forgotten to set their destination) last turn and it will be a race to see if they escape as John's units might shock attack instantly by crossing the river from Cocanada. 3 tank units do safely strat away, however.

I'm not sure what John's strategy is in India. He seems to be concentrating around Asanol, Jamshedpur, and Ranchi with almost all his forces, but he seems to have no effective concentration of forces anywhere. He has even stopped bombing my airfields (Asanol is now 65% of the way to level 5 forts). One division seems to have moved between Asanol and Ranchi, 3-4 divisions remain at Asanol, a smattering of units and 2 divisions occupy the hex between all three bases, and 3-4 tank units are between Jamshedpur and Ranchi. Meanwhile, his 2 divisions at Cocanada continue to meander away towards unimportant areas. Furthermore, north of Calcutta two of the IJA divisions (the 4th and 5th) have been severely degraded and have retreated south.

With 1300 AV versus ~1500 IJA AV at Asanol with level 4, almost level 5 forts, I don't see what John's plan is. He's certainly not taking Asanol with that. With the forces he doesn't have at Asanol, I don't see how he can take Jamshedpur or Ranchi, which together have ~2000 AV which an additional ~500-1000 AV outside of that. If he tries to push in my center towards Raipur, not only does Raipiur have ~650 AV and 4 forts, I can quickly strat move reinforcements in.

Madras has level 6 forts, Bombay has level 5 forts (going to 6), and Karachi has level 4 forts (going to 5), all with decent AV garrisons, so none can be easily taken in a surprise move. My defensive line north of Calcutta is in decent shape, Bezwada on the way to Madras has 600 AV and level 3 forts (and isn't subject to naval bombardment). Either I'm missing something, or John isn't concentrating his forces effectively to push my defenses back. He could try to paradrop behind me, but that is risky and those forces more likely to be destroyed. I have stationed small amounts of AV at rear bases.

Do you agree? If you were John, what would you do?

Image
Ground combat at 55,32 (near Patna)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 18050 troops, 339 guns, 310 vehicles, Assault Value = 523

Defending force 1288 troops, 44 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Allied adjusted assault: 103

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 34 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
544 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 39 (11 destroyed, 28 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
280 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
159th Mot Infantry Regiment
70th British Division
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Para Assault/B Division
8th RF Gun Battalion
Ground combat at 49,131 (near Carnarvon)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 821 troops, 0 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 36

Defending force 1110 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Allied adjusted assault: 3

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker: leaders(-), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
310 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2/7th Armoured Regiment

Defending units:
65th Bde /1
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jwolf
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RE: July 19 1942

Post by jwolf »

Do you agree? If you were John, what would you do?

A deep KB raid on the transport lanes to Karachi. Banzai! Banzai!! [:D]

More seriously, your defense in India looks pretty good IMHO. I don't know if he could perhaps overwhelm Madras if he shifted some big forces down to there. But he's already taken all the easy stuff; anything else will be very difficult or impossible.
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RE: July 19 1942

Post by Canoerebel »

His objective could be to destroy Commonwealth units. Or he may have lost sight of his objective, supposing he had a clearly defined one at one time. He is an advocate of the "when in doubt, do something" school of thought, trusting to boldness, luck, and improvisation to steer him. Stonewall Jackson did some things that way.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Anachro
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July 20 1942

Post by Anachro »

July 20 1942

India

Today is a decently good day for me in India as John does a series of air raids where his forces come off worse than my own, with the particular prize being a large number of a the new Japanese Helen bombers shot down over the skies of Ranchi and Raipur. Furthermore, my two tank units west of Cocanada luckily are able to move a hex during the night (I was really stupid to try strat moving them earlier) and escape destruction from John's two divisions that he has there.

John's quote for the day:
About the time I THINK I am gaining a firm upper hand in the air over India, I get a turn like this.

Image

As for reading the tea leaves and what the future portends. Sigint shows Japanese heavy artillery planning for an attack on Jamshedpur. John has a number of weak unit forces around it and I currently have ~1840 AV at Ranchi that can redeploy down to quickly degrade some of his units north of his concentrations in the center between my three defensive bases and at Asanol. John appears to be moving a division north (and might or might not already have moved some tank units up in that direction). He might be trying to bypass my defenses to get at the bases behind me, such as at Benares. I am setting a lot of bombers and recon units to recon various hexes and will send some scout AFV units to look around. Regardless, I'm not too worried. Quick strat movement allows me to quickly redeploy forces.

In the next couple of days, I might redploy a division or two north. Given the recon showing units moving north the last couple of days (such as the division currently west of Jamshedpur), as well as the series of air attacks on Raipur today, that might be where John is headed.

Tomorrow, I bombard Asanol to see what is there, and will show forces moving down from Ranchi to scare John. Let's see how he reacts. Asanol is 65% to 5 forts, Jamshedpur is 56%. Keep in mind, if John moves north, a lot of my rear northern bases have at least level 3 forts.

Image

Australia

The mini-KB from before is moving around near Carnarvon. John bombarded Carnarvon again today. Perhaps he'll try and take it with a division soon coming from Darwin.

Image
Night Naval bombardment of Carnarvon at 49,133

Japanese Ships
BC Kirishima
BC Hiei

Allied ground losses:
64 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 13 (6 destroyed, 7 disabled)

E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BC Kirishima
BC Kirishima firing at 2/5th Armoured Regiment
E13A1 Jake acting as spotter for BC Hiei
BC Hiei firing at 2/9th Armoured Regiment
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Anachro
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by Anachro »

Removed air battles because they make things way too cluttered.

Sigint for the Day
23rd Ind.AA Gun Co is located at Hiroshima/Kure(106,58).
4th Ind Com Engineer Regiment is located at Jaffna(31,45).
Radio transmissions detected at Tabiteuea (137,134).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at 47,77.
54th Division is located at Kobe(108,59).
Radio transmissions detected at Yenki (110,44).
Radio transmissions detected at Hakodate (119,53).
3rd/C Division is located at Hengyang(80,53).
Radio transmissions detected at Kanoya (102,61).
33rd JAAF AF Coy is located at Chittagong(55,41).
28th JNAF AF Unit is located at Oita(104,59).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Truk (112,108).
Radio transmissions detected at Nagoya (111,60).
3/5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion is planning for an attack on Jamshedpur.
Radio transmissions detected at 74,52.
Radio transmissions detected at Baybay (81,86).
Radio transmissions detected at Cotabato (78,90).
9th Port Unit is located at Miri(64,87).
301st Ind.Infantry Battalion is located at Shikuka(126,43).
China Expeditionary Army is located at Hankow(85,50).
2nd RTA/B Division is located at Magwe(57,47).
62nd JAAF AF Bn is located at Diamond Harbour(52,38).
Radio transmissions detected at Calcutta (52,37).
23rd Fld AA Gun Co is located at Niigata(114,57).

Oh and then there is this baby from my ops report. Already knew for the most part, but nice to see it confirmed.
CVL Shoho is reported to have been sunk near Efate on Jun 29, 1942
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Anachro
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by Anachro »

Seeing things like this is my favorite part of a good day in the air (only a partial list)...
2LT Flowers H. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 4
2LT Blair H. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 5
2LT Blair H. of AVG/2nd Sqn attains ace status!!
1LT Heath R. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 2
2LT Irwin O. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 2
2LT French K. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 3
2LT French K. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 4
2LT Bryan T. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 2
2LT Morrison G. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 4
2LT Morrison G. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 5
2LT Morrison G. of AVG/2nd Sqn attains ace status!!
2LT Ward M. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 3
2LT Peck A. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 2
2LT Simo R. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 3
1LT Arnold M. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 2
1LT Arnold M. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 3
2LT Simo R. of AVG/2nd Sqn is credited with kill number 4
1LT Draper V. of 8th FG/36th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Morrison L. of 8th FG/36th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Morrison L. of 8th FG/36th FS is credited with kill number 4
FO Welch J. of VMF-121 is credited with kill number 3
FO Henderson N. of VMF-121 is credited with kill number 3
FO Welch J. of VMF-121 is credited with kill number 4
Japanese Fighter sighted over Madras
Japanese Aircraft sighted over Umnak Island
2LT Brors V. of 12th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Brors V. of 12th FS attains ace status!!
1LT Daniels L. of 12th FS is credited with kill number 2
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AcePylut
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by AcePylut »

Questions for the peanut gallery... but is that actual confirmation of the ship being sunk?

I always thought you needed the report needed to say "confirmed" to "know" for sure... as in "CVL Shoho confirmed sunk at xxx,yyy" or something.

I think the Shoho is sunk, don't get me wrong... just asking for clarification so there is no surprise if the message "previous report of sunk ship incorrect, ship is in service at xxxx" appears at a future date.
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by jwolf »

I'm pretty sure the line quoted by Anachro is confirmation of a sinking of that type of ship, though the name might be botched.
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by Anachro »

I believe the "reported" message can be proven incorrect if the ship makes a reappearance or simply over time. A "confirmed sunk" message is a definitive, however. I knew something sunk at Efate, or was like 99% sure, but my intelligence was saying it was the CVL Ryukaku. This confirms it in my mind to be the Shoho.

Historically, the Shoho was sunk on May 7th, 1942. We were late in sinking it by a little under 2 months. The Zuiho, also sunk, was historically sunk in 1944. Of course, KB was sunk in June 42 and it's already late July...
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by Canoerebel »

Ships reported sunk in the Operations Report list are certain.

Ships reported sunk in the Ships Sunk part of the Intel Screen are not certain until confirmed via Ops Report, though sometimes you can deduce with certainty (sinking sounds immediately following strong hits; keeping track of the Ships Sunk points; etc.)
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Anachro
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RE: July 20 1942

Post by Anachro »

Canoerebel, you are right. For some reason I remember having seen such messages in the operations report only to have a "previous reports are incorrect" message later on, but I guess this is incorrect. I also thought there were "confirmed sunk" messages in the report in addition to "reported sunk," but going back through my logs, all the messages use the "reported" terminology. So Shoho confirmed sunk, I guess.
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Anachro
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July 21 1942

Post by Anachro »

July 21 1942

Will post more info with the next update (John says he's willing to do another tonight, we'll see), but my fighters sweep Calcutta today and do a decent job (~40 Japanese fighters shot down in exchange for ~20). John's forces aren't pursuing my tanks at Cocanada, so that front might be relieved of pressure. Meanwhile, the division south of Ranchi has moved back to Asanol and appears to be moving east.

The important thing here is that one division has definitely moved north and if I had any sort of supposition, it would be that there are more Japanese units in the unknown hexes between Raipur and Ranchi. Benares is 9/10 DL, Raipur is 9/10 DL, Patna is 5/10 DL, Ranchi is 9/10 DL. I have 3 British Divisions all on strat mode that can be quickly moved anywhere... Scout AFV units continue to move around.

The 18th British Division is heading to Raipur, the 2nd British Division to Bezwada (might move elsewhere soon), the 70th British division is heading to Patna to switch to strat movement and will head to Benares. The 7th Australian Division, 41st US Infantry Division, and tank units are scouting out and moving towards Japanese units north of Jamshedpur (their orders can change depending on recon tomorrow).

Image
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RE: July 21 1942

Post by Canoerebel »

Is the 70th Brit Division "complete" in this Mod? In stock, of course, it's just a fragment of the division (70 AV?) and never fleshes out, if memory serves.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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Anachro
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RE: July 21 1942

Post by Anachro »

From what I can tell, the 70th Division in this mod is a full division (400+ AV). It is fully fleshed out.
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RE: July 21 1942

Post by Canoerebel »

This may be far more than you want to know, but I think 70th Div. in stock is the "HQ" component, with the other components (infantry, artillery) on map but using names that don't identify them as part of that division, and the player is unable to combine them to flesh out the division. So, in stock, 70th Div. is a really weird unit of about 70 (or 40?) AV that a lot of players simply park at Karachi to bolster the garrison a bit, guarding against a worst case scenario.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
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