obvert
Posts: 14050
Joined: 1/17/2011 From: PDX (and now) London, UK Status: offline
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30 - 31 December 1943 ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ SUBS: Halibut gets the business near Luzon. After several days of searching both ASW TFs found it and the Es dropped a good amount of ordnance on her. That should be it. On the 31st the RO-104 gets a shot at the Essex. No hits from four TT. So close again. Jocke's not happy my subs are getting inside the screen and all of the way to the CVs, but these are night attacks, so I could see how it could happen. Also, for someone who's had subs hit CVs about 6 times in game so far, he shouldn't be too upset about this! SOUTH PACIFIC: After two shore bombardments and two massive air raids, the US infantry sends us packing at Milne Bay. It's a long walk to Buna. This was not much of a speed bump. Buna will likely not be much better as the Allies control the skies and there is little remaining supply there. I'll hold as long as I can there though. The next line should be at Salamua, but that is assuming he will move overland. I have to prepare more garrison at Gasmata, Umboi and Cape Gloucester as well as Lae and Finchafen. If I don't see a move overland I may pull back to the choke point around Umboi and try to hold there, which is much closer to air support as well. Virtually all units and pieces of units that can be airlifted from Deboyne Island, Fergussen Island, Kirawina and Woodlark have been removed. I'm now working on Rossel and getting more troops up from the lower Solomons. The Coastal Gun unit that's been at Ndeni is mostly lifted. Only the 20cm guns remain, and I'll send in a very small one transport TF to try for that. BURMA: Troops at last made it across the river and the main Allied army is now sitting in the woods one hex from our stack and across from Toungoo. I've got units moving to that hex from Toungoo, the hex to the North of that where our line is set, and now from the main stack. I'll attempt to invest the hex from those three sides in order to block any further forward movement once those sides are closed. Our main stack will al move in apart from the tank divisions that I want to be available for reserve and support. So two will stay in hex next to Prome and one will sit one hex North of Toungoo. Still no movement from the Allies in Magwe. CENTRAL PACFIC: Here we go. Bombardment of Baker has begun. This has level 6 forts, but it doesn't take the first blows well. Subs have been vectored in now that we know where the CVs are again. Also good to know as the Essex confirms this is the main fleet, so they won't be running any snap invasions elsewhere fr at least another 1-2 months. That will give plenty of time to bring in the last frontline defenders to Sumatra and Java and fill in some behind them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR December 30, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Naval bombardment of Baker Island at 149,136 Allied Ships BB Mississippi CA Boston CA Vincennes CA San Francisco CA Minneapolis Japanese ground losses: 179 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled) Airbase hits 4 Airbase supply hits 4 Runway hits 18 Port hits 15 Port supply hits 4 OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Mississippi BB Mississippi firing at 82nd Naval Guard Unit -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Naval bombardment of Milne Bay at 101,133 Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales BB Alabama BB Massachusetts BB Indiana DD Doyle DD Carmick DD Meade DD Hobby DD Gillespie DD Farenholt DD Monssen DD Gwin Japanese ground losses: 152 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled) Airbase hits 7 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 13 Port hits 1 BB Prince of Wales firing at 8th Garrison Unit OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Alabama -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Naval bombardment of Milne Bay at 101,133 Allied Ships CA Baltimore CA Wichita DD Trathen DD Taylor DD Spence DD Schroeder DD Ringgold DD Renshaw DD Philip DD Brownson Japanese ground losses: 28 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled) Airbase hits 8 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 17 Port hits 11 Port supply hits 1 OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for CA Baltimore CA Baltimore firing at Milne Bay -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Bataan at 75,77 Japanese Ships DD Wakaba DD Hatsuharu Allied Ships SS Halibut SS Halibut launches 4 torpedoes at DD Wakaba Halibut diving deep .... DD Hatsuharu fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Bataan at 75,77 Japanese Ships E Wakamiya Allied Ships SS Halibut, hits 18, heavy damage SS Halibut is sighted by escort E Wakamiya fails to find sub, continues to search... Sounds of submarine breaking up detected! Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 18th Garrison Unit , at 101,133 (Milne Bay) Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 26 minutes Allied aircraft Mitchell II x 10 B-17E Fortress x 19 B-24D Liberator x 22 B-24D1 Liberator x 98 B-24J Liberator x 32 B-25C Mitchell x 46 F6F-3 Hellcat x 18 PB4Y-1 Liberator x 27 Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 99 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 5 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 3rd Base Force, at 101,133 (Milne Bay) Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 21 minutes Allied aircraft Mitchell II x 17 B-25D1 Mitchell x 111 F6F-3 Hellcat x 9 Allied aircraft losses B-25D1 Mitchell: 5 damaged B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak Japanese ground losses: 41 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 17 x Mitchell II bombing from 8000 feet Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on 61st Naval Guard Unit, at 149,136 (Baker Island) Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 23 minutes Allied aircraft F6F-3 Hellcat x 120 SBD-5 Dauntless x 27 TBF-1 Avenger x 71 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 145 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 24 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 10000 feet Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Milne Bay (101,133) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 22287 troops, 427 guns, 596 vehicles, Assault Value = 888 Defending force 13253 troops, 170 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 282 Allied adjusted assault: 1871 Japanese adjusted defense: 107 Allied assault odds: 17 to 1 (fort level 4) Allied forces CAPTURE Milne Bay !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), experience(-) Attacker: Japanese ground losses: 4327 casualties reported Squads: 104 destroyed, 74 disabled Non Combat: 111 destroyed, 16 disabled Engineers: 37 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 78 (65 destroyed, 13 disabled) Vehicles lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units retreated 11 Allied ground losses: 502 casualties reported Squads: 3 destroyed, 58 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 52 disabled Defeated Japanese Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 32nd Infantry Division 110th Combat Engineer Battalion 131st Combat Engineer Regiment 24th Infantry Division 2nd USMC Tank Battalion 3rd USMC Tank Battalion Defending units: 18th Garrison Unit 8th Garrison Unit Det. 3rd Special Base Force 26th Air Defense AA Regiment 23rd Field AA Machinecannon Company 20th Fld AA Machinecannon Company 22nd Field AA Machinecannon Company 29th Field AA Machinecannon Company 37th Const Co 28th Field AA Machinecannon Company 25th Field AA Machinecannon Company 3rd Base Force -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Det. 3rd Special Base Force Wiped Out at Milne Bay by attrition!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR December 31, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Baker Island at 155,136 Japanese Ships SS RO-104, hits 5 Allied Ships CV Essex CLAA Oakland DD The Sullivans DD Aylwin DD Lang DD Ellet DD Benham SS RO-104 launches 4 torpedoes at CV Essex RO-104 diving deep .... DD Aylwin fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Lang fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Kure 7th SNLF, at 99,129 (Buna) Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 26 minutes Allied aircraft Mitchell II x 18 B-17E Fortress x 18 B-24D Liberator x 23 B-24D1 Liberator x 101 B-24J Liberator x 40 B-25C Mitchell x 6 PB4Y-1 Liberator x 25 Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 67 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 4 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 8000 feet Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on 3rd Garrison Unit , at 99,129 (Buna) Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 78 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 22 minutes Allied aircraft Mitchell II x 10 B-25C Mitchell x 52 B-25D1 Mitchell x 78 F6F-3 Hellcat x 6 Allied aircraft losses Mitchell II: 1 damaged B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 17 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 10 x Mitchell II bombing from 8000 feet Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reinforcements: Much needed base forces for Malaya and Sumatra. Lots of new fighter groups for the IJN. All will train first and then some will move to the frontline. One of the last xAKs being built arrives. The merchant building now will be TKs and LSTs for the most part. 19th JAAF AF Bn arrives at Nagoya 31st JAAF AF Bn arrives at Tokyo MTB G-538 arrives at Yokohama/Yokosuka 31st Army arrives at Truk 343 Ku S-1 arrives at Matsuyama 343 Ku S-2 arrives at Matsuyama 345 Ku S-1 arrives at Takamatsu 345 Ku S-2 arrives at Takamatsu 453 Ku S-1 arrives at Matsuyama 1021 Ku U-1 arrives at Chiba 1021 Ku U-2 arrives at Chiba ML G-202 arrives at Shimonoseki SC CHa-73 arrives at Niigata xAK Hoten Maru arrives at Maizuru Aircraft Ki-67-Ia (T) Peggy advances R&D (8/44) Losses: None. Ships Sunk: I'm pretty sure the Halibut went under for good. Previous report of sinking of SS Devilfish incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service SS Halibut ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ By current estimates the Peggy (T) should arrive in 6-7/44. That will be interesting, as I'll need to train up a bunch of TT capable IJAAF pilots. Also, it will give another option for MB units that really can't do much on land or at sea currently, other than the ASW role. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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< Message edited by obvert -- 1/21/2013 8:52:04 AM >
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"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill
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