Bullwinkle58
Posts: 11302
Joined: 2/24/2009
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With obvert's indulgence in a hijack I can fill in some history. Girl of the Prairie is in Texas this week and I'm home with flu, so I could use the diversion. I have all of the reports (all hail the Archive switch!), so I can post some tidbits. If nothing else this will give obvert a view into how Loka does certain things.
Everything in this game was late on my side. Many reasons for that, but suffice to say that I went across CentPac late in game terms. Not in historic, but the game doesn't work that way. My intention was to do a pretty historic pattern: CentPac to the Marianas, a New Guinea secondary, and avoid the rat's nest of the DEI if possible. It didn't work out that way.
Before I show any Truk CRs it's important to see how Ponape went. Loka's philosophy is to massively defend what ought to be massively defended. He doesn't dink around; he doesn't try to defend everything. He is utterly analytical about VP exchange ratios and has no emotional connection to his forces. They're just pieces to him. He is a lot like Nemo was in that respect. I am not, and he used that against me. My fault, but it's a weakness in me. I love my ships.
So after slogging through the Gilberts and Marshalls pretty much, I went after Ponape. It was a fortress, but I couldn't leave it. There were a lot of preliminary days of bombardment, Netty strikes, a lot of mines, pretty heavy sub ops, and then days of bombardment after the initial landings. This is the first day of real attacks. Forts were Level 5 as I recall. Defensive numbers at this point were down from 70,000+ men at the start of the landings. YOu can see what I invested to be able to even begin to compete on this island.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 54558 troops, 1070 guns, 1326 vehicles, Assault Value = 2187
Defending force 36760 troops, 403 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 1120
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4
Allied adjusted assault: 2174
Japanese adjusted defense: 3023
Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
1690 casualties reported
Squads: 48 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 49 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 28 (3 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
6498 casualties reported
Squads: 58 destroyed, 873 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 128 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 69 disabled
Guns lost 166 (8 destroyed, 158 disabled)
Vehicles lost 146 (14 destroyed, 132 disabled)
Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
3rd Marine Division
754th Tank Battalion
1st/102nd Infantry Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
767th Tank Battalion
4th USMC Tank Battalion
40th Infantry Division
27th Infantry Division
24th Infantry/A Division
1st USMC Amphb Tank Battalion
24th Infantry/B Division
145th USA Base Force
607th Coast AA Regiment
810th Engineer Aviation Battalion
14th Marine Defense Battalion
10th Marine Defense Battalion
XIV US Corps
41st Aviation Base Force
22nd USN Naval Construction Regiment
15th Marine Defense Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion
181st Field Artillery Regiment
23rd USN Naval Construction Regiment
Defending units:
3rd South Seas Gsn
28th Ind.Mixed Brigade
Sasebo 6th SNLF
32nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
52nd Naval Guard Unit
7th Indpt SNLF Coy
Det. 3rd Special Base Force
Maizuru 1st SNLF
41st Naval Guard Unit
4th Guards Division
24th JNAF AF Unit
50th JNAF Coy
1st JNAF AF Unit
41st JNAF AF Unit
5th Air Division
2nd Medium Mortar Battalion
Ponape Naval Fortress
45th Ind.AA Gun Co
64th Field AA Battalion
109th JAAF AF Bn
Seven days of Allied bombardments, minesweeping, and sub ops west of the island followed. A strong IJN carrier force was sighted and engaged by subs, to no avail. Many IJN BB TFs. Sparring with 2E torpedo bombers. On the seventh day this:
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ponape at 119,113
Weather in hex: Light cloud
Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes
Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 31
N1K1-J George x 18
Ki-43-IV Oscar x 28
Ki-84r Frank x 26
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 130
SBD-5 Dauntless x 63
TBF-1 Avenger x 36
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IV Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-84r Frank: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 7 destroyed
SBD-5 Dauntless: 15 destroyed, 6 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 13 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
xAK Nitiho Maru, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Utide Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Toyooka Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
xAK Hakodate Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nichiren Maru
xAK Tatuno Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Mansei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Satsuma Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ponape at 118,111
Weather in hex: Light rain
Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 34
SBD-5 Dauntless x 15
TBF-1 Avenger x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa, Bomb hits 1
DD Suzukaze
CA Kako, Bomb hits 1
Loka was making a maximum effort to delay me, damage me, and provide for his garrison. It was exactly the right move in late January 1944.
The next night it continued. More of the KB spotted near Truk, which was a main base. All through this there was also a major landing underway at Kusaie Island. Allied deep raiding DD TFs also engaged transport TFs near Truk and fought off Francis torpedo attacks.
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ponape at 117,111, Range 12,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
E Wakamiya, Shell hits 3
E Amakusa
PB Wa 18, Shell hits 1
xAK Tatuno Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAK Nichiren Maru, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships
DD Claxton
DD Foote, Shell hits 1
DD Hudson
DD Thatcher
The next day, Jan. 15, 1944, this shows the correlation of forces on Kusaie. A fairly minor island to most players, but Loka made me pay and pay and pay every step. The daily bombardments continued at Ponape, into the second week. To take some pressure off, extensive bombardments of Rabaul also took place in this period.
Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 13069 troops, 407 guns, 236 vehicles, Assault Value = 995
Defending force 18566 troops, 160 guns, 79 vehicles, Assault Value = 605
Japanese ground losses:
82 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Assaulting units:
1st USMC Tank Battalion
158th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
3rd USMC Parachute Battalion
1st USMC Parachute Battalion
298th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
151st Combat Engineer Regiment
138th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
161st Infantry Regiment
102nd Combat Engineer Regiment
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
22nd Marine Regiment
15th NZ Bde /13
6th USA Defense Battalion
143rd USA Base Force
168th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Marine Raider Bn /2
142nd USA Base Force
131st Field Artillery Battalion
I US Corps
7th Marine Defense Battalion
B Det USN Port Svc
18th Marine Defense Battalion
26th USN Naval Construction Regiment
29th USN Naval Const Rgt /9
36th Aviation Base Force
198th Field Artillery Battalion
1881th Engineer Aviation Battalion
17th USN Naval Construction Regiment
511th Cst AA Rgt /13
Defending units:
78th Naval Guard Unit
37th Division
23rd Nav Gd Unit
52nd Construction Battalion
56th JNAF AF Unit
9th Field AF Construction Battalion
97th JAAF AF Bn
It was not until the 21st that the allies tried another Deliberate on Ponape. It went fairly well, but the clock continued to move.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 63525 troops, 1221 guns, 1585 vehicles, Assault Value = 2151
Defending force 34650 troops, 376 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 1003
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3
Allied adjusted assault: 2715
Japanese adjusted defense: 1507
Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2572 casualties reported
Squads: 61 destroyed, 77 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 36 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 22 disabled
Guns lost 47 (10 destroyed, 37 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1590 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 214 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 48 (1 destroyed, 47 disabled)
Vehicles lost 74 (2 destroyed, 72 disabled)
Assaulting units:
24th Infantry/B Division
767th Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
27th Infantry Division
1st USMC Amphb Tank Battalion
24th Infantry/A Division
3rd Marine Division
1st Marine Division
1st/102nd Infantry Battalion
40th Infantry Division
4th USMC Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
24th Infantry/C Division
10th Marine Defense Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion
145th USA Base Force
15th Marine Defense Battalion
181st Field Artillery Regiment
41st Aviation Base Force
22nd USN Naval Construction Regiment
14th Marine Defense Battalion
810th Engineer Aviation Battalion
607th Coast AA Regiment
XIV US Corps
23rd USN Naval Construction Regiment
Defending units:
Maizuru 1st SNLF
41st Naval Guard Unit
Det. 3rd Special Base Force
32nd Ind.Mixed Brigade
28th Ind.Mixed Brigade
Sasebo 6th SNLF
7th Indpt SNLF Coy
52nd Naval Guard Unit
4th Guards Division
5th Air Division
64th Field AA Battalion
1st JNAF AF Unit
41st JNAF AF Unit
3rd South Seas Gsn
45th Ind.AA Gun Co
50th JNAF Coy
24th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Medium Mortar Battalion
Ponape Naval Fortress
109th JAAF AF Bn
The same day Kusaie continued to be a meat grinder.
Ground combat at Kusaie Island (125,118)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 46692 troops, 805 guns, 718 vehicles, Assault Value = 1568
Defending force 17371 troops, 156 guns, 75 vehicles, Assault Value = 550
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 5
Allied adjusted assault: 1387
Japanese adjusted defense: 1097
Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 5)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 5
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
1156 casualties reported
Squads: 60 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled
Guns lost 21 (12 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1775 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 152 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 68 disabled
Vehicles lost 22 (1 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Over the succeeding week the supply at Kusaie was eliminated and the island took big hits for the Allies. Ponaper ops continued to be intense, with the KB lurking out fo sight tot he west and sprinting in for hits. Allied night bomabrdemnts over several night.s Then another attack on the 29th.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 66320 troops, 1291 guns, 1660 vehicles, Assault Value = 2290
Defending force 32588 troops, 345 guns, 70 vehicles, Assault Value = 901
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Allied adjusted assault: 2435
Japanese adjusted defense: 947
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 2)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: HQ(+)
Japanese ground losses:
2947 casualties reported
Squads: 70 destroyed, 87 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 56 (29 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units destroyed 2
Allied ground losses:
1841 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 231 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 52 (1 destroyed, 51 disabled)
Vehicles lost 45 (4 destroyed, 41 disabled)
The next day another without rest.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 58685 troops, 1189 guns, 1545 vehicles, Assault Value = 2067
Defending force 30172 troops, 318 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 804
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Allied adjusted assault: 2062
Japanese adjusted defense: 809
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2535 casualties reported
Squads: 142 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 52 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled
Guns lost 43 (24 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
1461 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 106 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 110 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Guns lost 57 (2 destroyed, 55 disabled)
Vehicles lost 210 (63 destroyed, 147 disabled)
February 2nd.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 58394 troops, 1193 guns, 1529 vehicles, Assault Value = 1981
Defending force 27841 troops, 275 guns, 68 vehicles, Assault Value = 723
Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Allied adjusted assault: 2294
Japanese adjusted defense: 1569
Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
2949 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 86 destroyed, 69 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 46 (25 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units destroyed 1
Allied ground losses:
1397 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 169 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 57 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Vehicles lost 118 (25 destroyed, 93 disabled)
Feb 3. The island falls. A huge stack goes into the jungle.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 45771 troops, 967 guns, 1385 vehicles, Assault Value = 1831
Defending force 24891 troops, 240 guns, 65 vehicles, Assault Value = 612
Allied adjusted assault: 1248
Japanese adjusted defense: 221
Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)
Allied forces CAPTURE Ponape !!!
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
3597 casualties reported
Squads: 66 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 45 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 85 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 92 (77 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 40 (40 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
554 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 101 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Vehicles lost 51 (23 destroyed, 28 disabled)
First day of mopping up. It went on for a long time.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 28907 troops, 708 guns, 1088 vehicles, Assault Value = 1880
Defending force 21673 troops, 155 guns, 25 vehicles, Assault Value = 398
Allied adjusted assault: 1276
Japanese adjusted defense: 605
Allied assault odds: 2 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
1529 casualties reported
Squads: 111 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 23 (19 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Allied ground losses:
965 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 78 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 28 (1 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 48 (1 destroyed, 47 disabled)
Feb 10th. The last day. Note the number of Allied LCUs committed. They were all in very tough shape and not available for Truk, more or less. Dozens of significant actions have been omitted, including a large number of bombardment runs and 2E and 4E strikes by both sides. It was a very major commitment. I had torpedoed carriers, and as I recall three BBs as well. The supply consumption was through the roof.
Ground combat at Ponape (119,113)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 40042 troops, 843 guns, 1260 vehicles, Assault Value = 2038
Defending force 5046 troops, 21 guns, 18 vehicles, Assault Value = 8
Allied adjusted assault: 759
Japanese adjusted defense: 1
Allied assault odds: 759 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
6106 casualties reported
Squads: 58 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 697 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 22 (22 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 21 (21 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2
Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Assaulting units:
24th Infantry/B Division
1st Marine Division
1st/102nd Infantry Battalion
766th Tank Battalion
138th(Sep) Infantry Rgt /15
767th Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
3rd USMC Parachute Battalion
24th Infantry/C Division
27th Infantry Division
22nd Marine Regiment
151st Combat Engr Rgt /13
40th Infantry Division
1st USMC Parachute Battalion
1st USMC Amphb Tank Battalion
3rd Marine Division
4th USMC Tank Battalion
24th Infantry/A Division
754th Tank Battalion
1st USMC Tank Bn /6
148th Field Artillery Battalion
145th USA Base Force
41st Aviation Base Force
14th Marine Defense Battalion
181st Field Artillery Regiment
607th Coast AA Regiment
810th Engineer Aviation Battalion
10th Marine Defense Battalion
15th Marine Defense Battalion
22nd USN Naval Construction Regiment
XIV US Corps
23rd USN Naval Construction Regiment
Defending units:
4th Guards Division
5th Air Div /1
_____________________________
The Moose
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