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A navy that can at least hold it's own in a carrier battle with the USN would be a good start.
Inner Circle, Fgorginator - I would tend to agree. This is why Attu is on the hit list for 1948 but I doubt that will stop the Allied ships going anywhere they wish.
alan_le_cowboy - Naval activity is always nice. It tends to go in short bursts as my fleet needs months of repairs after this type of combat most of the time.
Sokraates - The Allies seem to have woken up somewhat which makes things a little more interesting. Edwards will manage to avoid my bombers for some time. Encryption and Decryption give surprise chances for naval engagements with Naval research responsible for positioning which is the more direct reason for spotting.
zdlugasz - It is likely to remain negative for some time yet.
safferli - I prefer more matched research components and Mitsubishi is better at other things. With blueprints more matches tends to be faster overall.
Beppo - Thank you. Obata is a little busy to fly over the Med for the time being and there is also a much higher chance of him being intercepted if he does. The Allied troops are going to die one way or another
Maj. von Mauser - Edwards is one of those sneaky Allied Naval Commanders that actually has some idea what he is doing.
Nathan Madien - Thank you. The Emperor may not like the response he gets if he asks how the enemy Carriers got there. "The AI cheats." is not likely to be much of an excuse. The speed of the American fleets causes major problems for spotting. I am, and always have been, patrolling the seas around Japan but the newer enemy ships can move so fast that they can avoid daytime detection on some occasions.
thatguy - My Carriers won the last battle against American Carriers. Ok they had a large numerical advantage against a largely crippled CTF but they did win
Update to follow ...
alan_le_cowboy - Naval activity is always nice. It tends to go in short bursts as my fleet needs months of repairs after this type of combat most of the time.
Sokraates - The Allies seem to have woken up somewhat which makes things a little more interesting. Edwards will manage to avoid my bombers for some time. Encryption and Decryption give surprise chances for naval engagements with Naval research responsible for positioning which is the more direct reason for spotting.
zdlugasz - It is likely to remain negative for some time yet.
safferli - I prefer more matched research components and Mitsubishi is better at other things. With blueprints more matches tends to be faster overall.
Beppo - Thank you. Obata is a little busy to fly over the Med for the time being and there is also a much higher chance of him being intercepted if he does. The Allied troops are going to die one way or another
Maj. von Mauser - Edwards is one of those sneaky Allied Naval Commanders that actually has some idea what he is doing.
Nathan Madien - Thank you. The Emperor may not like the response he gets if he asks how the enemy Carriers got there. "The AI cheats." is not likely to be much of an excuse. The speed of the American fleets causes major problems for spotting. I am, and always have been, patrolling the seas around Japan but the newer enemy ships can move so fast that they can avoid daytime detection on some occasions.
thatguy - My Carriers won the last battle against American Carriers. Ok they had a large numerical advantage against a largely crippled CTF but they did win
Update to follow ...
Operation Lynchpin
11
11
0900 January 10th 1948.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Ulan-Ude, Soviet Union.
Reinforcements were still slowly arriving for Terauchi as he tried to secure his primary objective in Irkutsk as well as securing his right flank.
General Okabe's arrival in Mogocha secured the flank and placed a large army directly in the path of any possible march of Soviet troops from the east. Okabe would need to wait for several more days before Zhang Haipeng would arrive with Manchurian troops from Hailar to the south but his forces were still fairly fresh and there would be no attempt to remove him from Mogocha.
0700 January 11th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Ashgabat, Soviet Union.
Hata's primary weapon was hard at work as always as Obata continued to bomb enemy targets north of the Kaukasus mountains.
Having cleared Grozny he had moved slightly to the north to target the only remaining Soviet division in Bashanta. Hopefully he would be able to return to Iraq after destroying this division as the Allies were continuing their advance in his absence.
BB Division was returning from its reconnaisance mission in the West Gulf of Aden when Ozawa encountered two American Transport Divisions. IJN Yamato sank the Molly Pitcher Flotilla with IJN Fuso sinking the Charles Goodyear Flotilla as BB Division 1 entered the East Gulf of Aden on January 12th.
Hata's advance in the eastern part of his line continued as Hoshinata arrived in Kulsary with his Armour as Hata's Headquarters completed its advance into Nukus. These two advances isolated the Polish division in Kungrad which surrendered to Lt. General Muto who attacked from Ashgabat with support from the other two forces on the flanks. Muto would continue his march towards Kungrad.
A resurgance of the Allied bombing campaign in Iraq and Persia began to occur on January 13th as a full Strategic bomber wing targetted the airbase in Abadan. Only Fukudome's Interceptor wing would manage to attack the bombers as night fell. One Interceptor wing would prove to be enough as the American bombers suffered large losses as they were caught during their bombing run. The dogfight would last for four hours with one Strategic bomber squadron being totally destroyed and a second badly damaged. Fukudome's Interceptors lost only a handful of aircraft during the encounter.
Obata returned to the desert at 0600 hours on January 14th to see a large enemy army still trying to advance into Iraq. An Armoured division had joined the other troops already moving forwards as Obata targetted the single division in Ar-Ruwayshid.
The Tactical bombers would become embroiled in a dogfight on their way back to Baghdad as Fukudome intercepted another American bomber wing over Karbala. This time the American aircraft were returning to base after completing their mission over Hilla and would be able to escape after two hours. They would all survive but would suffer huge losses.
Tashkent was the pivotal province in the east of the Central Asia Army's advance and Itagaki captured it at 1400 hours on January 14th. Even though his troops were still tiring he had sufficient numbers to easily repel a weak counter attack and hold his position.
Two hours later Obata was in action again as he switched targets to Amman. The Armoured division proved to be Brazilian Light Tanks but it was fast moving even in the desert. The large landings in Haifa had apparently eased somewhat for the time being which would allow Obata some time to stabalise the situation.
At 0600 hours on the 15th Fukudome encountered his third American bomber wing in as many days. The majority were un-escorted Tactical bombers on this occasion as the Japanese Interceptors caught the enemy over Hilla. One Tactical bomber squadron would be destroyed with the remainder badly damaged before they could break off their bombing run and escape. Even though Fukudome was catching most of the bombers he could only stop one at a time and the airbases in the region were taking considerable damage during this latest bombing campaign.
0900 January 16th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
The advance was painfully slow for Higashikuni as his troops struggled to overcome bad weather and terrain but they were making progress.
General Kataoka's Headquarters had arrived in Yusun Bulag where he was waiting for redeploying troops to arrive from the rear. Huntrakool and his specialist Mountaineers had occupied Dunhuang and began to march towards Qumul. Soviet forces were also moving towards the province which required some advanced planning from Higashikuni otherwise Huntrakool would not stay in Qumul for long. The commander of the North China Army had thirteen days to think of a plan.
1200 January 16th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Nukus, Soviet Union.
There was some concern for Hata as his airbases took a pounding in the Middle East from the resurgent Allied bombers as three straight days of bombing turned into a fourth.
Fukudome would lead yet another Interception, this time over Kuwait City. Lt. General LeMay found himself attacked by twice his number of Interceptors but continued with his mission nonetheless. He would lose one Strategic bomber squadron and almost a second before he headed for home. Fukudome would also suffer some losses during this air raid and would require some rest before flying again. Saboru's wing was still in good condition and would continue to patrol in his absence.
The arrival of Lebanese forces in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq, drew Obata's attention on January 17th as he set about halting any plans of further advance from these divisions.
Muto would add a second captured division to his tally as he continued his advance towards Kungrad. Redeploying to a province already surrounded by the enemy was not a good move by the Soviet Militia.
The arrival of Allied troops in Karbala would see Obata target them on January 19th after he had removed one of the Lebanese divisions in Kirkuk. The second had vanished before it too was destroyed. Obata still had a wealth of targets to choose from in the Middle East.
I admit, I've never imagined that Tacs would be so powerful in DD. It's impressive at which rate they can tear through whole divisions (maybe that's how they do it? if they fly low enough ...).
If all goes well, will you attack the UK after eliminating resistance on mainland Europe or will you first turn against the US to give the UK some time to buildup and properly defend their home islands (though they didn't use the chance in Creek without a Paddle).
If all goes well, will you attack the UK after eliminating resistance on mainland Europe or will you first turn against the US to give the UK some time to buildup and properly defend their home islands (though they didn't use the chance in Creek without a Paddle).
I wouldn't consider my TAC's current performance to be out of the ordinary. They spent the best part of a year bombing targets in mountains and forests, both of which are bad terrain for them. They gained masses of experience doing so and are now nearly all 100% experienced. Attacking small concentrations of troops in open or desert terrain is childs play compared to their previous environment.
I would expect aircraft of this experience and against the same targets to be just as lethal in Arma as well, although I cannot confirm this as I do not have Arma. I am sure someone can either confirm or refute bombers effectiveness in Arma against similar targets. I have read that bombers suffer high losses and are less effective against large enemy stacks but these are not my current targets most of the time.
My bombers were a lot less effective against larger stacks and when they were less experienced. The AI's inabilty to use its fighter/interceptor cover effectively has allowed my bombers to become so experienced though which should not really be the case.
My Interceptors struggled badly against enemy escorted bombers for much of the time but now that they are on a more even experience footing they too perform better, which leads me to believe that experience makes a world of difference to all aircraft performance. My air commanders are also a lot better as well which adds to the damage even more. Allied bomber commanders have not increased in experience as quickly making them less effective as time goes by.
The U.K. will probably be left until the end as they were in my previous AAR.
I would expect aircraft of this experience and against the same targets to be just as lethal in Arma as well, although I cannot confirm this as I do not have Arma. I am sure someone can either confirm or refute bombers effectiveness in Arma against similar targets. I have read that bombers suffer high losses and are less effective against large enemy stacks but these are not my current targets most of the time.
My bombers were a lot less effective against larger stacks and when they were less experienced. The AI's inabilty to use its fighter/interceptor cover effectively has allowed my bombers to become so experienced though which should not really be the case.
My Interceptors struggled badly against enemy escorted bombers for much of the time but now that they are on a more even experience footing they too perform better, which leads me to believe that experience makes a world of difference to all aircraft performance. My air commanders are also a lot better as well which adds to the damage even more. Allied bomber commanders have not increased in experience as quickly making them less effective as time goes by.
The U.K. will probably be left until the end as they were in my previous AAR.
Bombers are as effective in arma as they are here as the attack is unchanged. But they take much more losses what leads to slower experience gain and - when attacking larger formations - significant losses.
When the bombers attack in the desert, they can destroy enemy divisions as fast as here and the losses for the attacker are slightly worse, but they could perform as good as here. The difference would be that you would not attack stacks bigger than three or four as the casualties for the bombers would increase greatly.
A reconnaissance mission against a 20 unit stack - possible in DD - would kill at least one bomber in arma.
Bombing units that started to dig in in mountains would raise the casualties and therefore increase repair time and reduce the precious manpower.
You can still use bombers in arma as effective as in DD, but medium stacks or bigger are a no-go area for them. So I think the biggest problem would have been the beginning of the war against the Soviets, when small, moving targets were not available. The situation now is - besides a few days ground time each month - the same in DD and arma.
Back to the AAR: I really start to love the BB fleet
When the bombers attack in the desert, they can destroy enemy divisions as fast as here and the losses for the attacker are slightly worse, but they could perform as good as here. The difference would be that you would not attack stacks bigger than three or four as the casualties for the bombers would increase greatly.
A reconnaissance mission against a 20 unit stack - possible in DD - would kill at least one bomber in arma.
Bombing units that started to dig in in mountains would raise the casualties and therefore increase repair time and reduce the precious manpower.
You can still use bombers in arma as effective as in DD, but medium stacks or bigger are a no-go area for them. So I think the biggest problem would have been the beginning of the war against the Soviets, when small, moving targets were not available. The situation now is - besides a few days ground time each month - the same in DD and arma.
Back to the AAR: I really start to love the BB fleet
Well, bomber losses seem to have reduced considerably in patch 1.3 compared to arma 1.2. That is at least how it feels for me
I second this. I recently played a game as US and bombed a 5 div stack that were dug in and I took comparatively small losses.
Nice update, alot of destroyed Air and Land divisions.
Personally I always use Tac's, I never build CAS.
Personally I always use Tac's, I never build CAS.
Thurak, Manziel, trekaddict - Thanks for pointing out the air attack comparison for Arma to DD
Maj. von Mauser - Thanks. I prefer TAC's myself because of the range.
Kanitatlan - Russian Militia is usually a pointer towards a defensive stance as they are rarely seen before that time. It does show that the Red Army is still building new units though.
Phax - Behind in the field yes but I complete the same research in the update which will put me on an equal footing if I can ever get the upgrades done.
Update to follow ...
Maj. von Mauser - Thanks. I prefer TAC's myself because of the range.
Kanitatlan - Russian Militia is usually a pointer towards a defensive stance as they are rarely seen before that time. It does show that the Red Army is still building new units though.
Phax - Behind in the field yes but I complete the same research in the update which will put me on an equal footing if I can ever get the upgrades done.
Update to follow ...
Operation Lynchpin
12
12
0600 January 21st 1948.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Irkutsk, Soviet Union.
After a long march Field Marshall Terauchi had managed to arrive at his primary objective. The airbase in Irkutsk was in Japanese hands although there was the possibility of a counter attack by enemy troops in Kyzyl.
Nakajima's Close Air Support group was ordered to move to the newly captured airbase from Lanzhou to provide support in the area. There would be no Soviet counter attack against Terauchi despite their numerical superiority. Japanese troops began the redeployment process to strengthen the hold on Irkutsk and to begin the build up of forces necessary to attack East Asia Army's secondary objective. The only province held by Tannu Tuva.
Nakajima would attack a recently arrived Soviet division in Khobdo before his attention turned towards the dug in troops in Kyzyl. The division in Khobdo had tried to attack the Japanese Headquarters in Yusun Bulag unsuccessfully and would soon be destroyed.
0600 January 21st 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. In Transit.
The situation in the Middle East, and Iraq in particular, was slowly coming under control as Obata's air group mercilessly pounded the Allied troops trying to advance in open terrain.
Having already destroyed the enemy in Kirkuk Obata began attacking the single Lebanese division that had avanced into Mosul. British forces were moving south towards Najaf from Karbala and would also need to be stopped. General Abe, who had been forced to withdraw a lot further than normal, began the process of re-taking Japanese territory as he moved towards Kirkuk.
Recent arrivals in the region had included Mj. General Banzai who was commanding 12 Gundan. He had been embarked onboard a Transport fleet and began the invasion of Doha on the opposite side of the Persian Gulf. The invasion was a test of Allied resolve as well as a means to capture more Oil reserves. Hata would use Banzai to try and bait the American forces in Mukalla. The fifteen divisions were still staying put and remained a threat to the entire region until they could be forced to move.
By January 23rd Hata had sufficient firepower in Tashkent to broaden his assault on the resource rich region in the south of the Soviet Union. Itagaki led nine divisions from Tashkent and the three recently arrived divisions of Lt. General Iida in Chimkent towards the Rare material rich province of Zhambyl, where three Soviet divisions were trying to set up a hasty defence. Their defence would fail as Japanese troops began to exert more control over this region.
A Cavalry division had taken over the responsibility of capturing Stalinabad with Kuribayashi recently advancing into Kzyl-Orda in the north. Hata's troops were moving north towards the snow line which would be a natural place to set up a defensive line.
A Cavalry division had taken over the responsibility of capturing Stalinabad with Kuribayashi recently advancing into Kzyl-Orda in the north. Hata's troops were moving north towards the snow line which would be a natural place to set up a defensive line.
Banzai had not stayed in Doha and had been embarked back onboard his Transport fleet where he began a second invasion. Dubai would be his next target after recovering his organisation from the previous landing.
The Imperial Japanese Air Force was still out looking for Admiral Edwards and his Carrier Task Force when an enemy fleet was sighted off the coast of Ceylon.
The Imperial Japanese Air Force was still out looking for Admiral Edwards and his Carrier Task Force when an enemy fleet was sighted off the coast of Ceylon.
Genda would not locate the main enemy fleet known to be at sea and would instead encounter HMS Southampton in the Palk Strait. The British Light Cruiser would be sunk long before it could pass through the Gulf of Mannar. There had still been no sign of Edwards since he had been spotted off Tokyo.
Ozawa had taken BB Division 1 on a scouting mission of Mukalla to see if the invasion of Doha had been met with any response from the American army in the province. No movement was sighted and the landing had apparently been ignored.
0400 January 26th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
The North China Army was still advancing with minimal opposition and taking back territory which had been lost to the Soviets over a year ago.
Chandra Bose arrived in Bayan Nur, which had been the main highway province for Soviet troops for much of the time, with Mengkukuo staking its claim on the province. Huntrakool was close to arriving in Qumul which he could easily be repulsed from if enemy troops bordering the province were not neutralised. Six divisions led by General Shima had recently completed their redeployment to Golmud and would not be idle for long.
At 0300 hours on January 27th Higashikuni ordered the attack on Korla which should prevent any sizable response once Huntrakool occupied Qumul. Field Marshall Kanin led the attack with support from Shima who would continue to advance once the battle was won. Kanin's troops would redeploy after recovering from the short firefight.
1300 January 27th 1947.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Irkutsk, Soviet Union.
0000 January 29th 1948.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
0100 January 29th 1948.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Irkutsk, Soviet Union.
0300 January 29th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
0300 January 29th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Tashkent, Soviet Union.
0200 January 30th 1948.
The Skies Above Kyzyl.
1600 January 30th 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Ahmadabad.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Irkutsk, Soviet Union.
The complete lack of a counter attack by enemy troops to his south west would allow Terauchi to contemplate more advances.
His Headquarters had recovered enough to begin another march. Krasnoyarsk had a large Energy capacity which was vital to Japanese interests and was the logical province to move towards. There were more Energy reserves a little further west as well which would also be targetted.
There were still sporadic encounters with redeploying and freshly deployed Red Army troops in most areas. Lt. General Sumida's troops were already exhausted even though they had not even managed to march half way towards Barguzin to the east of Lake Baikal. The arrival of an Armoured division in their path could easily have halted the advance if it had not been for the support of General Okabe's troops in Mogasha to the east. Okabe would continue to shepherd Sumida's advance in the future to allow it to continue.
0000 January 29th 1948.
Intelligence Offices. Tokyo, Japan.
January continued to be a good month for Japanese research teams as another project came to a close.
Tokyo Arsenal had concluded its project which would allow upgrades to all of Japan's Infantry forces including Garrison divisions. This latest advance would also place Japanese Infantry on an equal footing with its better equipped enemies once the upgrades had been completed. The only drawback was the increase in Oil required to support these more modern divisions. Kuniaki ordered Mitsubishi Jukogyo to begin to researching Frontline Vehicle Repair which would increase the speed of all repairs throughout Japan's Armed Forces.
News of the research quickly spread to the Industrial Offices of Ginjiro who gave the necessary orders to begin the raising of Garrision divisions and their Police attachments as had been discussed at the Annual Cabinet meeting.
0100 January 29th 1948.
East Asia Army Headquarters. Irkutsk, Soviet Union.
The Close Air Support bombers based in Irkutsk did not possess enough range to attack east of Lake Baikal which meant that Hata had to request the use of a Tactical bomber group.
Itabana's group was moved to Irkutsk to support operations and began to target the retreating Armoured division in Barguzin. This province was deemed a critical strategic defensive position and had to be captured to secure East Asia Armys' defences.
0300 January 29th 1948.
North China Army Headquarters. Lanzhou, China.
The recent attacks by Higashikuni had done their job as Huntrakool arrived in Qumul with only a minor counter attack from Urumqi to bother him.
Huntrakool would need to wait for reinforcements to arrive before he could attack North China Armys' primary objective of Urumqi. To his north a large number of such redeployments had already occured and a large Japanese force was assembling to strike westwards once it had recovered from the move.
0300 January 29th 1948.
Central Asia Army Headquarters. Tashkent, Soviet Union.
Hata had spent the last week moving his Headquarters south to Tashkent to support operations in this area. The defensive line was well ahead of schedule in the north but the snow and mountains in the south and east were slowing his progress.
With his forces moving forwards across the entire area he took on the task of capturing Osh as he was better positioned and faster than any other forces available to complete the job. He would have to advance without support until Itagaki arrived in Zhambyl but there were not thought to be enough enemy troops in the area to halt his progress. Unfortunately there would be no reconnaisance reports or Air support until North China Army captured Urumqi or he captured Semipalatinsk.
The slow going in the Kaukasus mountains continued but his troops had made some advances. Yamashita had taken over the move towards Makhachkala as Honda's troops were too tired to continue. Okamura had captured Yerevan and had resumed his march north towards Tblisi after a short rest period. Hata would order troops from Baku to redeploy north once these advances had been completed.
0200 January 30th 1948.
The Skies Above Kyzyl.
Nakajima had been given no option but to bomb the defenders of Kyzyl for several days and the results of the constant attacks against the enemy troops organisation were pleasing.
Only two of the six divisions were capable of any sort of prolonged defence and the entire force was in absolutely no condition to hinder Terauchi's plans. Nakajima would continue to pound the defences until Japanese troops could arrive in sufficient numbers to launch an attack.
1600 January 30th 1948.
BB Division 1 Flagship. IJN Fuso, Ahmadabad.
Ozawa had moved back to Ahmadabad to conduct some minor repairs and to restock on food and supplies before continuing his patrol of the Arabian Sea. He opened a new report that had just arrived and quickly read it before turning towards the commander of IJN Fuso.
"Admiral Masami get BB Division 1 underway as soon as possible." Ozawa ordered.
"Yes Sir."
Ozawa headed towards the nearest plotting table to work out how long he would need to reach Gwatar Bay.
"Admiral Masami get BB Division 1 underway as soon as possible." Ozawa ordered.
"Yes Sir."
Ozawa headed towards the nearest plotting table to work out how long he would need to reach Gwatar Bay.
The latest report had come from Fukui as he patrolled the northern Arabian Sea. He had spotted an enemy Carrier Task Force in the Gulf of Halaniyat which was heading north east. Ozawa knew he could not reach Gwatar Bay before Edwards which meant a possible confrontation between the USS Phillipine Sea and CA Division 1 which continued to blockade the Persian Gulf and protect the Japanese invasions in that area.
Admiral Takasu was made aware of the approach of an enemy fleet which ensured a higher readiness for CA Division 1 should Edwards head his way. Ozawa hoped that Edwards would instead turn east and encounter BB Division 1 and its greater firepower. Other forces would also respond to the sighting as both Genda and Ichimaru altered their patrols from around Ceylon to the Arabian Sea.
Admiral Takasu was made aware of the approach of an enemy fleet which ensured a higher readiness for CA Division 1 should Edwards head his way. Ozawa hoped that Edwards would instead turn east and encounter BB Division 1 and its greater firepower. Other forces would also respond to the sighting as both Genda and Ichimaru altered their patrols from around Ceylon to the Arabian Sea.
Oooh, I hope things workout for you and your navy. CA 1 wont get too far if it meets those carriers.
Nice progress, I look forward to seeing Tannu Tuva getting invaded.
Nice progress, I look forward to seeing Tannu Tuva getting invaded.