RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/9/2013 6:10:58 PM

PaxMondo

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I'm very much the same. After Dec 42, I only engage with at least one class higher.

But I'm even worse, pretty much from '43 on, I will pretty much only engage in SCTF actions with my BB's against the allies CA or less. The problem is that the allied CL's are better than the IJ CA's. Even the Fletcher DD's are a match at 2:1 (meaning if allies have 8 Fletchers, I need to have at least 4 CA's just be even), and of course even for the IJ is always a losing effort. Allies can, and will, trade Fletchers at 2:1 against IJ CA's all day as they can replace those Fletchers and the IJ CA's aren't replaceable.

So, referring back to Mike, its all about the KB and LBA to really fight off the allied SCTF's. I need to save my SCTF's for bombardment missions against 4E airfields under cover of the KB. I can't squander them against the limitless allied SCTF's in actions.

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Post #: 1741

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/12/2013 11:06:27 PM

Mike Solli

Posts: 15792
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From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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25 Jul 42

Sub War

West of Hawaii, I have a screen of Glen subs to watch for enemy fleet movement toward the 4 Fleet AO. An enemy xAK ran over the I-23 and she promptly sank the cargo ship.

I have a sad story to tell. Remember the valiant crew of the xAKL Bizen Maru? Well, they finished offloading their supply at Buna and began traveling back to Rabaul when they came across another Dutch sub, the KXV, who also decided to attack her on the surface. One of the Dutch sub's torpedoes connected and broke the back of our valiant little cargo ship. AFTER she was, hit, the Bizen Maru pumped 3x 8cm shells into the sub. Unfortunately, she succumbed to her wounds and the sea took her.

SE Fleet

My daily Oscar sweep of Pt. Moresby ran across the remaining 9x Kittyhawks but I realized that they were the Kittyhawk I model. They're Canadians! Well, they're down to 5 remaining of the squadron, for the loss of 1x Oscar.

Goodenough Island's airstrip reached level 2 finally. Now I need some AS there so I can use it.

Burma

Lots of air attacks...

I tried to sweep and bomb Cox's Bazaar because Ted's stationing fighters there again. Unfortunately, the bombers went in first.

Six Sallies went down. The Oscars then came and lost 4 of their number in exchange for 2x P-40s and 5 Hurricanes.

Next, 16x Betties did a port attack against Calcutta and heavily damaged 2x AMcs and 2x xAKs for no loss.

Finally, the Chittagong sweep arrived and took out 3x Hurricanes and a P-40 in exchange for 5 Oscars.

Another turn just arrived, and it promises to be an exciting one (28 Jul 42 turn).

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Post #: 1742

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/13/2013 1:06:09 AM

Chickenboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
I have a sad story to tell.

Too bad. I salute their 'sticking it in the eye' of the Dutch on their way out. Twice.

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/14/2013 11:33:26 AM

ny59giants

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While looking up your posting about how to use the different DD Classes, I saw your posting about multiple Naval HQs in the South Pacific. I used a Command Naval HQ to go around the map in early '43 to be within range of all those BFs that need upgrades. I know it is a while till this happens, but I know you will file this info for later.

Its Feb '44, so I better look at my DD usage, don't you think?!?

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 1:02:02 AM

Mike Solli

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Michael, yeah I know there's a nice little naval HQ to use for this. Can't remember which one offhand but I plan on doing just that.

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 1:08:20 AM

Mike Solli

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26 Jul 42

Quite turn, but pretty bloody in the air.

Over Merauke, Zuikaku's A6M3a daitai caught a couple of Aussie Kittyhawks and shot one down.

Over Buna, 9 Oscars met a boatload of Allied 4E bombers and shot down a B-17 for the loss of 2 Oscars.

Over Chittagong, 30 Oscars met a mixture of US and Brit fighters and lost 8 or their number for the loss of 4 Allied fighters. Ouch.

Hollandia's port reached level 3. That's becoming a nice little base.

Salamaua's airfield reached level 2, but there is no AS there to use it. Right now it's just a target.

I had dropped off a midget sub at Nadi. It foundered.

My forces are closing in on Merauke. KB (Shokaku, Zuikaku and Ryujo) are supporting the invasion fleet hauling the 48 Division. I can see 2 subs sitting in Merauke's hex as well as a couple of AVDs in port. The attack goes in two days from now.

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Post #: 1746

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 1:11:50 AM

Mike Solli

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27 Jul 42

Another relatively quiet turn, but significant.

Over Chittagong, the tables were turned. For a loss of 4 Oscars, 7 enemy fighters were shot down. Better.

The 4E bombers hit Buna again supporting the Allied attack of 2x Aussie divisions. The 3:1 attack was barely held off. The forts were reduced from 2 to 1. Not sure how much longer they'll last. Losses were 274(17) Japanese to 596(8) Aussies.

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Post #: 1747

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 1:37:57 AM

Mike Solli

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28 Jul 42

Well, the attack on Merauke happened today, but I'll save that story for last.

Burma

Betties performed a night port attack against Calcutta again further damaging the two xAKs they hit a few nights ago.

I allocated two Oscar sentai to sweep Chittagong, but they went in separately. When it was all said and done, losses were 9x Oscars to 8x Allied fighters.

Aleutians

The 5x B24s flying out of Anchorage hit Dutch Harbor's port, where the I-123 was recuperating from hitting a mine a while back. Two 500 lb bombs finished her off. Darn!

SE Fleet

Well, Ted hit Buna again with bombers and his two divisions. I was hoping the divisions had incurred enough disruption to make them wait a few days. No such luck. The DA was enough to take the base in a 2:1 attack eliminating the fort. Losses were 296(166) Japanese with a lot of disruption to 182(3) Aussies. Buna is trashed but that won't last long. The only good thing was that a handful of Zeros, Nicks and Oscars ambushed some P-39Ds in a ground attack mission and shot down 20 of them!

Merauke

This was an interesting battle with things going both ways. Here's the low down:

The first skirmish was between Zuikaku's 27 A6M3as and 11 P-40Es and 2 Kittyhawk IAs. Losses were 5 Zeros to 2 P-40s. My mistake here was to not put the recruits in group reserve. The losses were all recruits. I guess I can live with that.

Fortunately I had good recon of the area and saw a surface TF composed of the Repulse, 3 CAs, 2 CLs and 1 DD sitting in the port of Merauke. My invasion TF commander decided not to be valorous and withdrew about 4 hexes from Merauke. That saved that TF. Some of Ryujos A6M2s were set to provide LRCAP over the invasion TF, which was a very good thing. 10 Zeros met unescorted Dauntlesses and shot down 13 of them. Banzai! The remaining 3 all missed.

KB also noticed the enemy forces in Merauke and reacted away from Merauke, exactly 8 hexes away. *Sigh* Then they sent in 17 B5N1s and 26 B5N2s unescorted after the TF. They lost 4 and 6 respectively and managed to put 2x 250 kg bombs into the Portland and Repulse, none penetrating. No escorts! The handful of P-40s and Kittyhawks had a heyday.

Next, 4 surviving Dauntlesses went after the invasion TF again. The 10 Zeros were there and shot down 2 of them, and the survivors fled.

Finally, 29 B5N2s and 15 Nells (from Darwin) hit the TF again putting 3 more bombs into the Repulse. She was left on fire but still no penetrating hits.

Overall aircraft losses for today:

Oscars 15 shot down + 4 op losses
B5N1 9+1
B5N2 7+0
A6M3a 5+1
A6M2 1+0

P39D 20+8
SBD 17+0
Hurricane IIc 6+1
P-40E 3+0
Hurricane IIb 2+0
PBY-5A 1 (Flak)
B-24D 1+0
B-17E 1+0
Catalina I 1+0
Kittyhawk IA 0+1

Yikes!

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 1:56:34 AM

Mike Solli

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29 Jul 42

Sub War

The xAKL Shinmei Maru was heading to Gasmata from Buna and came across the KXV, who surfaced and shot a couple of torps at her, which missed. My little xAKL fired back and drove off the Dutch sub! I'm loving this.

SE Fleet

I sent the Nicks after the two Aussie Divisions in Buna. They're fighter-bombers, right? Well, the lowly P-39s (18 of em) shot down 8 of 12 Nicks.

I've withdrawn them to Rabaul to rebuild. It'll take awhile. There's only one in the pool.

Nine Betties, flying out of Gasmata, evaded 4 Wildcats at Horn Island and torpedoed 2x xAKLs and sank them. I'm not sure what they were carrying but a bunch of vehicles are gone.

Burma

I noticed enemy fighters at Cox's Bazaar yesterday so I sent an Oscar sentai there to visit today. They shot down 5x Hurricane IIcs. Heh, heh.

Merauke

Well, I tried again. The results were pretty poor.

Three Nells (from Darwin) and 6 Betties (from Gasmata) tried to hit the TF still sitting at Merauke. 3 Kittyhawks shot down 4 of the Betties with the rest missing. They can hit little xAKLs but they can't hit a freaking BC sitting in port!

KB then tried. A total of 39 Zeros escorted 10 B5N1s, 30 B5N2s and 48 Vals. The TBs all missed and the Vals hit the Repulse with 8 bombs and the Portland with 2 bombs - all 60 kg bombs! Sheesh!

Other Stuff

I have an AR and naval HQ at Naha to help repair the Tonan Whaler, but it'll still take 270 days. I've decided to increase the repair shipyard there to size 15, large enough to work on the TK. It'll take 10 days to complete the yard upgrade.

I get the Hiyo tomorrow!

Edit: Merauke is getting pretty interesting. KB is playing cat and mouse with 2 Allied subs, probably effective ones. I have a couple of ASW TFs trying to catch the subs as well.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 2/17/2013 1:57:45 AM >

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 10:38:28 PM

Mike Solli

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30 Jul 42

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Let's start with the boring stuff....

SE Fleet

I had some Zeros sweep Buna and they caught some P-39s. The trade was 1 Zero for 4 P-39s. I'll take it.

Ted's 4E bombers, now up to 77 of various flavors, hit Salamaua's port again. Guess Ted doesn't want me to reinforce there.

I had Oscars sweep Pt. Moresby but no one came up to play.

Burma

No Allied fighters came out to play. I hold air superiority over Akyab (which is still surrounded), Cox's Bazaar and Chittagong. He's got to be low on fighters there, though that'll turn in the next couple of months most likely. In about a week, I get another IJA fighter sentai reinforcement for 51 Air Division (training). I'm going to transfer it to 3 Air Division and send it to Burma.

All of the units of the 1 and 2 Tank Divisions have landed at Rangoon. All of the 2 Tank Division units were in Rangoon so it combined. One tank regiment of the 1 Tank Division is still moving to Rangoon so those units are sitting and building up strength while waiting for the last unit. Hopefully, these units will be a big shock to Ted.

Merauke

Well, more sparring happened today. I'm a dope. I didn't realize that the Vals carry 60 kg bombs at 7 hexes. I set KB at that distance intentionally. Oh well, my other planes fought well today. Here's the blow by blow:

16 Betties out of Gasmata went after the Allied TF still sitting in port. (The TF is composed of BC Repulse, CA Canberra, CA Portland, CA Northampton, CL Helena and CL St. Louis.) Two Kittyhawk IAs caught the Betties shooting two down and flak got another 2. No hits were scored.

Four Nells came in from Darwin evading the Kittyhawks and also missing.

KB launched full deck loads. 9 B5N1s, 22 B5N2s and 26 Vals were escorted by 27 A6M2s and 11 A6M3as. For a loss of 3 Kates (+1 op loss) and a Val, 1 Kittyhawk was shot down, the Portland was hit by a 60 kg bomb

and the Repulse was hit by a torpedo and 10x 60 kg bombs.

Nine more Betties from Gasmata put 2 more torpedoes into Repulse, losing one to flak.

In the afternoon, KB launched 38 Kates escorted by 38 Zeros and put 1 torpedo into the Portland and 2 more torpedoes into the Repulse making her into a reef. Banzai!

My intent for tomorrow is to move KB 1 hex closer to Merauke to make the Vals potent. The invasion force is going to move to within 1 day's steam of Merauke. If I can wipe out and/or drive off the Allied surface force, I'll invade. MKB is a couple days sail from the area and headed here. They'll replace KB to allow KB to refuel, rearm and replace aircraft. I really want to take Merauke from Ted.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
Hiyo - her air complement is now 27 Zeros, 18 Vals and 9 Kates. She's at Kobe with Akagi, who just finished upgrading today, and the 6 Shiratsuyus. They're waiting for Kaga, who finishes her upgrade tomorrow. They'll sail to Davao to join either MKB (Hiyo) or KB (all the rest).
22 Tank Regiment - Northern Army - Japan garrison for now.
56 JNAF AF Unit - Southern Army - headed to SE Fleet AO.

I culled my training units today:

IJA
Air - 77
GrdB - 33
NavS - 4
Rcn - 2
ASW - 19
Tran - 5
LowN - 7

IJN
Air - 60 Yay!
NavB/NavT - 23
NavB - 10
Rcn - 9
NavS - 5

The arrival of the Hiyo frees up 84 naval shipbuilding points a turn. I'll have to see what I can accelerate. It's not enough to accelerate a CV (need 126) but maybe I can free up some other points somewhere else. We'll see.

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/17/2013 10:44:36 PM

Mike Solli

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Losses to KB so far:

planes/pilots

Shokaku Z - 1/0, V - 1/1, K - 2/2
Zuikaku Z - 6/6, V - 0/0, K - 5/5
Ryujo Z - 4/4, K - 9/9

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 4:08:25 PM

Mike Solli

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Since today is a federal holiday and Ted and I are both federal employees, we're hoping to get a few turns in. I just sent back one. This one was hard on the ticker.

31 Jul 42

SE Fleet

Rough day for the IJN land based fighters. 12 Zeros found 19 P-39s over Buna and lost 5 of their number to only 1 P-39.

I'm going to sweep with Oscars now. Waste of what I thought were good IJN fighter pilots. Sheesh.

Lae's airfield was visited by 4Es. So was Milne Bay's airfield.

I bombed the two ground units between Port Moresby and Buna that are moving to Buna. They are the 32 US Infantry Division and the 5 RAA Coastal Artillery Regiment. I guess Ted really wants to hold Buna. That brings the total strength at Buna to 3 Infantry Divisions and the coastal art. reg. I'm thinking I can keep that base pretty isolated so there will be a chronic shortage of supply. I expect Ted to attempt to move 2E bombers to Pt. Moresby to get them in range of Rabaul. The first IJA fighter sentai in this AO will upgrade to the Tojo IIa in 9-10 days. This should be fun.

My goal is to keep Ted's attention in this AO at least through the end of 1942, spring of 1943 would be even better. I'll keep burning his resources down here and when he gets the upper hand, I'll pull my air force out. I'm building airfields to the north so I can stage a withdrawal as he advances.

Burma

Ted still doesn't want to engage me in the air here. Fine by me. I'm bombing Akyab into the stone age with 5 sentai of IJA bombers. A 6th just upgraded to Helens and will join in on the fun in a few days.

The Betty daitai has been night bombing the port of Calcutta and will for a few more days. My intel says there's a TK there. I really doubt there is because I keep hitting the same ships but I'll keep trying as long as the moonlight holds out.

Aleutians

The 5x B-24s up there keep bombing Dutch Harbor. The damage they cause is easily repaired, but supply is running low. I'm going to have to send some xAKLs up there to ship in some more. I know he's going to make a play for Dutch Harbor eventually (I think soon) but I don't want it to fall prematurely due to a lack of supply. There are 2x Naval Guard units and an engineer company there and the forts are up to level 3.

Merauke

I got KB to within 6 hexes of Merauke hoping that Ted would leave his surface TF there one more day. He didn't but he has 3 subs in the area that I can see, and two of them are adjacent to KB!

He also sent Canberra on a suicide mission to try and catch KB, which she did.

Fortunately, the carriers are escorted by the 4 Kongos, 2 Tones and 7 DDs. The Chikuma took a couple of hit resulting in 11 sys damage. No big deal. The two TFs separated and then 27 Vals put 13x 250 kg bombs into Canberra. She's not showing up as sunk, but she's also not anywhere to be seen. Scratch one CA.

I've set a high speed run for KB to get out of there tomorrow. The two ASW TFs will attempt to cover KB. We'll see what happens. The invasion TF will withdraw again. Without a surface force, Merauke is doomed. I just need some air cover to protect the invasion TF to get it in to Merauke. MKB is 2 days out. Once I get KB out of harms way, it'll refuel and rearm, just in case. I am going to take Merauke.

Other Stuff

Akagi, Kaga, Hiyo and 4x Shiratsuyus are leaving Kobe today to head to Davao. The other two Shiratsuyus will wait for Soryu to complete her upgrade in 2 days. In addition, the last 4 Shiratsuyus, Tenryu and Tatsuta will complete their upgrades in 9-13 days and they will then join KB/MKB.

Fusan's port finally reached level 8.

The Ki-44-IIa becomes operational finally with a monthly production of 90. The D4Y2 Val also becomes operational, but I'm not upgrading to that model. Too short a range.

Reinforcements:

xAK Hofuku Maru - Std-B - will convert to at TK.
SC CHa-39 - ASW
3 Independent SNLF Company - this unit was destroyed a while back and has been rebuilt. It'll help garrison Cotobato.

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Post #: 1752

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 4:14:45 PM

Mike Solli

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Ship losses for the month of July, 42:

Japan
xAK: 2
xAKL: 4
SS: 2
SSX: 1
PB: 1

Allies
BC: 1
CA: 2 (not counting Canberra)
DD: 1
xAK: 1
xAKL: 5
SS: 2

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Post #: 1753

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 4:23:47 PM

obvert

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In addition to Merauke getting those islands off of North OZ seems a good strategic move to me right now. If you get them, just build forts to make them difficult for the Allies to take back, and if you have some of NW OZ to fly from, he'll have to risk some things to get them later. Might be good to pick them up while you're out there, even with some small SNLF Coy units or paras.

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Post #: 1754

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 4:39:27 PM

Mike Solli

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Clever idea obvert. I have an SNLF para bn and a raiding regiment in the area. I need to move one to Darwin and then can use it. I have an engineer company at Balkipapan that's available too. I like Wessel Island. I have a Rufe chutai at Balikpapan that can fly there. I also have at Kendari one of those AS companies that has engineers and a few AA guns. This could be interesting. I'll make a plan waiting for my next turn.

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 5:12:04 PM

Mike Solli

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Ok, Operation Wessel Island:

Ground forces:
2 Raiding Regiment(-) - Para-assault force
9 JNAF Coy - occupation force (has 8 AV, 4 engineers and 12 SNLF squads)- will arrive by sea
36 Engineer Coy - construction force (16 engineers)- will arrive by sea

Air Forces
14 Ku S-1 - 9 Rufes - occupation force
1 Tpt Chutai - 8 Ki-57-II
2 Tpt Chutai - 9 Ki-57-I
13 Tpt Chutai - 9 Ki-57-II
14 Tpt Chutai - 9 Ki-57-I

Operation: Elements of the 2 Raiding Reg will fly from Koepang to Darwin using the 4x Tpt Chutai. The 4x Tpt Chutai will relocate to Darwin. 14 Ku S-1 will fly to Darwin. Transport units will pick up 9 JNAF Coy (Kendari) and 36 Const Coy (Balikpapan) and move to Darwin where the TFs will combine.

Day 1 of operation: invasion TF will sail from Darwin to Wessel Island (approx. 2 day trip) and 2 Raid Reg (-) will paradrop and capture Wessel Island.

Day 2 of operation: Invasion force lands, 14 Ku S-1 relocates to Wessel Island, 4x Tpt Chutai continue to fly supply to Wessel Island.

Raiding regiment is withdrawn by sea.

Engineers will build a level 2 airfield and level 3+ forts. I may move a Dinah Det here in the future.

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 8:05:06 PM

Mike Solli

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1 Aug 42

Sub War

Well, my extraction of KB was successful. I spotted 4 enemy subs surrounding KB but, at full speed, it made it safely away and refueled. KB is now headed to Ambon to rearm. The high speed move gave most of the ships some damage, but it's minor and worth it. There were 2 ASW TFs in the area as well, each with 4x Mutsukis split off from the fast AO TF. One of them caught the KIX twice hitting her once and also getting several near misses. She's reported as sunk but I doubt it. That same TF caught the O20 but a shortage of depth charges prevented an damage against this sub. Both ASW TFs will retire to refuel and rearm tomorrow.

Just south of Kyushu, the Perch found my carriers that just left Kobe and took a shot at the Hiyo. Fortunately, the torpedo was a dud.

SE Fleet

B-17s visited Lae & Milne Bay's airfields.....

Burma

I stopped the Betty night bombing of Calcutta's port. No more luck and the moonlight is fading. Ted isn't opposing me anywhere. I'm considering another naval bombardment of Cox's Bazaar. I have 9 CAs available for the job. It appears that Ted is moving forces to try an break the ground stranglehold of Akyab. I'd love to slow him down.

Merauke

I pretty much discussed everything going on here above. I can see 6 enemy TFs at or west of Horn Island. I'm hoping my Betties fly out of Gasmata tomorrow and whittle them down a bit. I don't see any ships sitting in Merauke's hex though. I suspect it's the surface force that Ted had at Merauke earlier. At any rate, MKB will be in position to support the invasion of Merauke in a couple of days.

Forces are gathering for Operation Wessel Island too. I'll probably drop the paratroopers first to attract his attention then go in with the ground forces at both places.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: xAK Sanju Maru - Std-B - will convert to TK.

Some of you may wonder why I'm converting so many TKs. Just at Palembang, Singapore, Saigon and Cam Ranh Bay I have over 450k oil/fuel just waiting to be shipped to the Home Islands plus >120k at Davao. I want to get this stuff to the Home Islands as fast as possible.

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Post #: 1757

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/18/2013 11:51:40 PM

Mike Solli

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2 Aug 42

SE Fleet

Typical day. Allied 4Es over Lae and Milne Bay.

Helens flew a bombing mission but their Oscars didn't fly escort so 6 Helens were shot down by P-39s.

Burma

A sentai of Oscars flew a sweep mission over Chittagong shooting down 9 Allied fighters for the loss of 2 of their own.

Merauke

Zeros from Hollandia swept Merauke and traded 3 fighters each. MKB has refueled and is preparing to move into the lion's den.

The 2 raiding regiment is at Darwin and will land at Wessel Island tomorrow. I just realized that the regiment has engineers so they'll begin to build an airfield immediately.

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Post #: 1758

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/3/2013 2:55:16 PM

Mike Solli

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Morning guys. Keeping busy but still running turns. I'm about a week or so behind.

3 Aug 42

Sub War

The I-122 successfully dumped a load of mines in Perth's harbor. As a bonus, she caught and sank the CM Rigel. I don't think Ted gets many minelayers so this is an unexpected pleasant surprise.

The Ro-66 arrived at Horn Island to check out the ships there and put a torpedo into the Helena. Hopefully, she'll sink enroute to get repaired, wherever that may be.

The I-10, north of Rangiroa, caught a DMS pursuing her and sank her with a torpedo. Banzai!

SE Fleet

Milne Bay got trashed by 109x 4E bombers. I simply have no defense against them.

Burma

A sentai of Oscars swept Cox's Bazaar shooting down 3x P-40s and 5x Hurricane IIcs for the loss of 1 of their number.

Merauke

A Zero sweep of Merauke took out a Kittyhawk and P-40 in exchange for a Zero. I can't get enough force there at one time to get a decisive hit in.

I took Wessel Island with my raiding regiment. Ted told me he has no idea what I'm doing there.

Engineers and AV are enroute.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: I-176 - a new class of sub with 8k endurance. Will be based at Kwajalein.

The A6M5 accelerated to April 43.

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Post #: 1759

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 4:31:57 PM

Mike Solli

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Geez, 6 days since I last posted. I just finished the 15 Aug 42 turn. Life is hectic around here. My wife went to NJ yesterday to pick up her father. He's moving in with us. Medical issues. This place is a geriatric ward and has been off an on since 2004. I fear this will be short lived though. The medical issue is most likely terminal. At any rate, I'm a bachelor today and will attempt to catch up.

Here goes....

4 Aug 42

Sub War

Merauke continues to be a hot spot, with air, surface and sub-surface forces jockeying for position. I'd really like to take that base, but Ted has lots of Dutch and S class subs in the area, half a dozen or more. Today, the I-157 caught and sank an xAP a hex outside of Merauke loaded with troops. I hope it was a good unit because now it's gone or depleted.

Burma

I have 2 issues here, supply and air support. The supply is preventing me from building up my airfields fast enough and lack of AS is preventing me from bringing all my air forces to bear. Very frustrating. It's a long ride from the Home Islands to Rangoon to supply that area too. No where else has the supply to spare unfortunately. I'm still repairing the oilfields and refineries at Soerabaja (~45 days to completion) and am building up the HI in Batavia and Soerabaja too (~70 days to completion). That's sucking 4k supply a day, which is coming from the Home Islands, Palembang and Balikpapan. Once that is complete, supply will be freed up for other uses (Burma comes to mind). In the mean time, I have to make due. Right now I have 5x Oscar Sentai and 3 Oscar chutai totalling 206 fighters in Burma but only 96 are in the front line. The nice thing about it is that I can rotate out units easily to keep everyone up to strength and rested but I can't overwhelm some places I'd like to hit, mainly because a lack of AS. I'm scrounging AS battalions as I can to send there but it's a slow process. I also have 6x sentai of bombers totalling 170 aircraft (3x Sally IIa, 2x Helen IIa and 1x Lily IIa sentai). The Lilys will be replaced soon. With their longer range, they all can bomb targets. Five of them are bombing Akyab or the enemy ground troops attempting to relieve the seige of Akyab. The 6th is bombing random airbases or ports as far as Calcutta pretty successfully. It's causing Ted to use some of his scarce fighter assets to protect those bases. Right now (15 Aug), Dacca has 27% damage to it's airfield. Not a war winner but it definitely causes Ted to focus on unimportant things.

Anyway, today I shot down a couple of enemy fighters for no loss over Cox's Bazaar. Also, every day I put fighters over Akyab and shoot down some transports attempting to fly supply into Akyab. The port and airfield of Akyab always both show 95-100% damage. If it's below 100, I allocate 1 bomber sentai to bomb it until it goes up to 100 again.

China

I've been chasing the old Yenan garrison and caught it a few hexes SE of Yenan but couldn't surround it. It was a shock attack from a river crossing. I trashed it and pushed it west along the road. I'll just chase it and keep hitting it.

SE Fleet

I swept Pt. Moresby shooting down 5 P-39s. Again, not a war winner, but irritating to Ted (I hope) and it gives good experience to my Oscar pilots. In return, Ted's 4Es trashed Milne Bay's airfield.

Other Stuff

The Soryu returned to service after her refit. She'll head from Kobe to Davao to rejoin KB.

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Post #: 1760

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 4:38:03 PM

Mike Solli

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5 Aug 42

Sub War

A US DE (converted 4 stacker) caught the Ro-66 with 2 depth charge hits. I figured she was a goner but was pleasantly surprised: 35-89(49)-7(5)-0. The closest port was Rabaul, 27 days away. I figured she was a goner. As of 15 Aug, she's 3 hexes SE of Pt. Moresby (17 days out from Rabaul) and her damage is 40-78(49)-8(5)-0. I think she may make it!

Keeping fingers crossed though.

Not much to talk about though. 110 4Es trashed Goodenough's airbase. That's fine by me. There's no AS there. It's just a target.

Over Buna, an Oscar sentai ambushed some P-39s and shot down 10 for the loss of 1 Oscar and an additional op loss.

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Post #: 1761

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 4:44:31 PM

Mike Solli

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6 Aug 42

Sub War

Off Rangiroa, the I-10 caught and sank an xAK loaded with guns. Then she caught and sank an xAP loaded with troops. Banzai!

The I-157, still off Merauke, dudded against the CL St. Louis.

Burma

No one came up to play over Cox's Bazaar. Too bad.

SE Fleet

92x 4E bombers trashed Gasmata's airfield. They destroyed around 15 planes on the ground as well. I guess it's time to move back to Rabaul. This is happening too early and I don't have a solution for the Allied 4E infestation.

Other Stuff

I got a report of the Helena sinking. I don't think it's accurate.

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Post #: 1762

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 4:52:21 PM

Mike Solli

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7 Aug 42

Sub War

Four US DDs caught and sank the Ro-68 off Pt. Moresby. That's becoming a pretty dangerous area for my subs. I'm going to continue patrolling that area, but I'm going to pull them back a bit from PM and move them around more. They aren't very effective any more over here.

The Ro-61 took a depth charge off Cairns. The damage wasn't too bad but she'll have to head to Rabaul for repairs.

SE Fleet

75x 4Es hit Gasmata again closing down the airfield and destroying about 2 dozen planes on the ground, all damaged from the day before.

Burma

Ted came up for fun over Cox's Bazaar today and lost 4 more Hurricane IIcs for his effort.

I lost 2x Oscars to op losses, but no pilots.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 3/9/2013 4:54:07 PM >

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Post #: 1763

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 4:54:27 PM

Mike Solli

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Just got another turn. Be back in a couple hours.

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Post #: 1764

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 7:12:54 PM

Mike Solli

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Interesting turn, but it'll have to wait until I catch up....

8 Aug 42

Sub War

Long ago I found the sea route out of San Francisco. There are a lot of convoys that head SW out of SF in a straight line. I seem to attack a ship every few days. Ted hasn't caught on so my subs there are rarely attacked. Today was no exception. The I-15 caught a good sized xAK and put her under with 3 torpedo hits out of 4 launched.

Burma

Similar day. An Oscar sentai shot down 4 Hurricanes and a P-40 over Cox's Bazaar for the loss of 1 Oscar.

SE Fleet

Stupid, stupid, stupid!!!!

I finally realized I can disband the damaged planes (all that's in Gasmata) and get the pilots out as well as most of the planes. Of course this happened after Ted bombed the airfield again. Another 10 planes destroyed on the ground but now the survivors are gone.

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Post #: 1765

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 7:29:11 PM

Mike Solli

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9 Aug 42

Sub War

Another sub ate a depth charge off Pt. Moresby today, this time the Ro-64. She'll survive, but she'll need a bit of yard time. 11-44(32)-3(3)-0

The I-15 sank another xAK off San Francisco. She's running low on torpedoes so I sent another sub to replace her. What fertile grounds.

SE Fleet

Lae's airfield was trashed by 84x 4Es.

16 Betties flew and took out an xAKL near Cooktown. Really? They fly against these tiny ships and pass up on bigger xAPs and xAKs. Ah well, at least they're flying.

Burma

5x CAs bombarded Akyab. They did some damage to the ground troops there and caused 160 fires. What will the fires do? I have another TF that will bombard again tomorrow.

Cox's Bazaar - 2 more Hurricanes down in flames. Ted's running low on fighters in the front line. Only 7x Hurricanes and a P-40 rose against the 40x Oscars.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement: 248 Sentai - 30 Nates - 51 Air Division - I transferred it to the 5 Air Division and upgraded it to Oscars. It's headed to the SE Fleet area. I'm going to need it.

The Ki-44-IIb accelerated to June 43. I expect it to become operational ~24 Jan 43. The 3x R&D factories will remain R&D and the 3x30 operational factories will upgrade. My goal for the Tojo is the IIc model. I expect the IIc model to become operational in Jun 43.

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Post #: 1766

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 7:46:10 PM

Mike Solli

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10 Aug 42

Sub War

Another rough day for the IJN sub force. This time the I-165, patrolling off Kodiak (east of the Aleutians) ate 2 depth charges from the DD Phelps. Her damage is surprisingly moderate at 48-59(36)-5(5)-0. She does have a long way to go to port though. That makes 3 subs limping to port now.

SE Fleet

Ted sent 109 4E bombers against Goodenough Island. Another target with no AS. Good. It gives my important bases more time to repair their damage although I suspect most of them will never house planes again.

Burma

The second bombardment force of 4 CA and 4 CL went in to Akyab again. Again there was moderate damage to the troops but fires jumped up to 873!

I sure hope it does something significant.

Today over Cox's Bazaar, a P-40 and 3x Hurricanes failed to make it home.

Other Stuff

The three Katoris and the remaining 4x Shiratsuyus completed their refits.

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(in reply to Mike Solli)

Post #: 1767

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 8:14:53 PM

Mike Solli

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From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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11 Aug 42

Sub War

I have 4x Type-1 TM class TKs (8150 capacity, 14 kt speed) that haul oil from Davao to the Home Islands. They were on their way back to Davao when the Task Force was attacked by the Permit, which had one torpedo that actually worked! She hit the Okigawa Maru causing moderate damage: 19-46(29)-2-8. She'll make Hiroshima in a couple of days to be repaired. The Permit got away.

I've called the 13x Minekazes to Tokyo where they are each being teamed up with 3x CHa class SCs for ASW duties around the Home Islands. I think this is a nice mix. The CHa class has 8 DC racks each but only 1000 endurance. The Minekazes carry only 2 DC racks but they have very experienced commanders. Their 2500 endurance makes them useless for fleet operations but is great when teamed up with the CHa class. Their commander always is the TF commander. I'm hoping this will help make the CHa class more effective. We'll see.

SE Fleet

Today 67 4Es and 41 B-25s trashed Milne Bay's airfield again. I am going to pull out the independent engineer regiment from there to give it something useful to do instead of filling holes.

China

I had something interesting happen here today that I had never seen before. We both have large armies in Ichang. I had tried unsuccessfully to cut off that base and finally gave up and did a deliberate assault to push them out. Ted set his army to a deliberate assault as well and both attacks happened! Mine went in first. The 2:1 DA against level 2 forts caused 2633(16) Chinese casualties vs. 5722(19) Japanese casualties. The Chinese 1:2 DA caused 3511(15) Japanese casualties to 4000(89) Chinese casualties. Pretty much a stalemate. Pretty interesting.

Merauke

I haven't been talking about Merauke much but it's been pretty active. I still want to take that base but Ted has at least half a dozen Dutch and S class subs hanging around there which prevents me from supporting the invasion fleet with KB or MKB. It's frustrating. There is a lot of maneuvering going on where we try to outsmart the other. Lots of fun. I occasionally send out some DDs separated from my replenishment fleet to go after subs. I had one such TF that got just in range of the SBDs flying out of Merauke. The Dauntlesses put a 1000 lber into the Yuzuki. I figured she was done for. Those 1000 lb bombs are usually murder against small ships. Once again I was pleasantly surprised to see the damage at 57-35(22)-14(5)-2. She'll limp off to Soerabaja for repairs.

Burma

Today 3x Hurricanes went down in flames for no Oscar losses.

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Post #: 1768

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 8:23:12 PM

Mike Solli

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12 Aug 42

Quiet day today. All of my damaged ships are still limping to whatever port they're aimed at.

Only 1 Hurricane was shot down over Cox's Bazaar (with no Oscar losses).

I haven't talked about Australia lately either but there's movement going on there. I still control all the bases from Port Hedland to Darwin and south to Katherine. Ted controls Daly Waters and has pushed the 4 Aussie Division up to Katherine. All I have there is a garrison unit and an SNLF para unit. I have a division several hexes to the east of Daly Waters headed there. It looks like Ted doesn't have much at Daly Waters. I hope to take it and cut off his forces in Katherine. Anyway, Ted is using 2E bombers to harass my ground forces. I have some Nells and Zeros in Darwin harassing his forces. His airfields are too far for fighter support. (Darn!) My Zeros caught a small raid composed of 9x B-26s and 6x Hudson III (LR). They shot down 6 of the B-26s. Banzai!

He attacked Katherine, got 1:2 odds and caused light damage to both sides. He's sending another unit (don't know what it is) to reinforce the Aussie Division.

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Post #: 1769

RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/9/2013 8:53:40 PM

Mike Solli

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13 Aug 42

SE Fleet

Salamaua's airfield was trashed by 83x 4E bombers. This is getting old.

China

I hit Ichang again today getting only 1:1 odds but reducing the forts to 1. Not much in the way of casualties for each side. Supply is low so I'll wait a couple of days before I attack again.

I'm upgrading my bombers in China (all 1E types) to the Sally IIa. When I'm done, only Sallies or Helens will be in the front line (except for 1 Lily IIa sentai, which will be upgraded as soon as I have Sallies or Helens to spare). I'm using the Lily Ib, Sally Ic and some Sally IIa for the 2E trainers, along with all the trashy 1E bombers. I'm using the Ann and Mary for ASW.

Burma

Two Hurricanes (of 3 flying) were shot down over Cox's Bazaar.

Ted has moved 2 divisions into the hex NE of Akyab to attempt to relieve the siege. They attacked the 18 Division and an AT bn and were pretty harshly treated. More Allied troops are enroute there. I have begun movement of the 2 Tank Division and 3 more infantry divisions plus lots of artillery there, but they're still a long way off. I'm going to start bombing his troops with some of my bombers. Should be in interesting battle. I'd love to force the Akyab garrison to surrender (>40k troops stuck there) but I doubt I can do that. They should be pretty well trashed. They'll take a while to recuperate if they get out and they will suck up valuable replacements.

Aleutians

I laid a sub minefield at Unmak, just to be social.

Suva

I dropped off a midget sub here, again to be social.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

3 Raiding Regiment (Para) - Southern Army - Filling it out with replacements - not sure where it's going.
4 Raiding Regiment (Para) - Southern Army - Filling it out with replacements - not sure where it's going.
Sasebo 6 SNLF - SE Fleet - Off to Truk then garrison somewhere.
Yokosuka 6 SNLF - 4 Fleet - Marcus Island garrision.
51 Base Force - 5 Fleet - Filling out with replacements and then to Etorofu.

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Post #: 1770

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