3 Sep 43

3 Sep 43 (Full Version)

All Forums >> [Current Games From Matrix.] >> [World War II] >> War In The Pacific - Struggle Against Japan 1941 - 1945 >> After Action Reports

Message

Jim D Burns -> 3 Sep 43 (9/24/2008 5:35:50 PM)
3 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 1 allied sub attack and 2 Japanese ASW attacks. One of the Japanese ASW attacks scores 2 hits on SS Perch at Shortlands, damage is light but I’ve ordered her to port for repairs. Surface combats today occur at both Rennell Island and Tassafaronga. Five PT boat attacks occur at Rennell against a battleship fleet and Four PT boat attacks occur at Tassafaronga against a cruiser fleet. A few small shell hits are scored, but no torpedoes hit and no real damage is done. Several PT boats are sunk. Japan then bombards both bases. While damage at Rennell is heavy, the base is fully repaired at the start of my turn, so construction on the level 2 airfield continues. Though at a much slower pace than the level 1 airfield went up. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Rennell Island, at 65,103 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! 45 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships CA Kumano CA Suzuya, Shell hits 2 BB Haruna, Shell hits 1 BB Kongo Allied ground losses: 1110 casualties reported Guns lost 18 Vehicles lost 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Tassafaronga, at 66,101 Japanese Ships CL Yubari CL Agano CA Furutaka CA Kinugasa Allied ground losses: 59 casualties reported Guns lost 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied medium bombers hit Meiktila today causing heavy damage to the base. Four Val strikes hit my PT boats today and several PTs are damaged or sunk. Japan attacks Yanku today and is met by 26 Chinese Lancer’s. The 24 escorting Oscars shoot down 2 Lancers at a cost of 1 Oscar. Damage to the base is light and is again fully repaired at the start of my turn. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 4 – 5 Sep 43 (9/24/2008 5:37:05 PM)
4 – 5 Sep 43 4 Sep is so quiet, I’ll post the entire Combat reports text file instead of summarizing the turn. AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 09/04/43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 27 encounters mine field at Tulagi (67,100) Japanese Ships MSW Wa 14 MSW Wa 10 Sub ops for 5 Sep consist of Japanese sub RO-106 slamming LCT-148 with a torpedo and a single shell hit at Irau Island. This barge is part of a barge supply fleet that arrived at the base to deliver supplies today. Allied bombers hit Daily Waters today and cause heavy damage to the base. I launch another big air strike on Lae today, as I still spot large numbers of Japanese planes at the base. This time only 84 P-38s manage to escort the raid, and Japan gets a respectable number of fighters into the air even though the base was hammered hard just a few days ago. It’s a bloodbath, but my fighters manage to hold their own scoring a 1:1 kill ratio with slightly more Japanese fighters going down in air to air than allied (can’t remember exact count). Damage to the base is again very heavy and overall I think Japan lost close to 100 planes total today. This has got to be hurting him, though I’m sure his production can easily keep up, as combats have been relatively light in game up till recent events. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Lae , at 56,90 Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 8 N1K Rex x 3 A6M3a Zero x 67 Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 11 Ki-61-Ib Tony x 13 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 84 B-24D Liberator x 179 F-4 Lightning x 4 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3 Zero: 4 destroyed N1K Rex: 4 destroyed A6M3a Zero: 40 destroyed Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 16 destroyed Ki-61-Ib Tony: 13 destroyed Ki-21-II Sally: 4 destroyed G4M2 Betty: 7 destroyed G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38G Lightning: 22 destroyed, 40 damaged B-24D Liberator: 38 damaged F-4 Lightning: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 110 casualties reported Guns lost 4 Airbase hits 20 Airbase supply hits 6 Runway hits 130 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese Vals conduct two raids on my PTs today, one of which has 3 Corsairs on CAP. I guess this is spill over CAP, as I didn’t assign any. The good news is 2 Vals go down (1 to CAP 1 to flak) and only 1 PT is hit. Soon these PT raids will be too costly for him to continue and I can then keep a decent number on station to help break up his bombardment attacks. Right now however, I’ve been losing several boats each day, so it is nice to see more Vals down than PTs finally. Jim

Jim D Burns -> RE: 1 Sep 43 (9/24/2008 5:38:57 PM)
Hi Monter-Trismegistos, I did a whole batch of updates before coming to the forums today. I'll get a strat map and overview up with my next batch of updates. Jim

Jim D Burns -> RE: 1 Sep 43 (9/24/2008 5:40:55 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: String CV capacity decreases with system damage afaik. Should go up again when it's repaired. Hi String, The ship aircraft capacity hasn't changed, the squadron sizes changed, so the plane counts then exceeded ship capacity when the squadrons filled up. I had to remove the torpedo planes so I can get below operable abilities again. Jim

bigbaba -> RE: 1 Sep 43 (9/25/2008 12:42:09 AM)
great AAR. i am sitting at work with a cup of tea and just went through the last pages of this AAR. keep em comming jim!

Jim D Burns -> 6 Sep 43 (9/25/2008 9:05:27 AM)
6 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 3 Allied sub attacks, 1 allied ASW attack and 1 Japanese ASW attack. All three allied sub attacks find their mark, but two are by the same sub vs. the same target. The SS Gunnel in the South China Sea torpedoes AK Glasgow Maru and hits twice in the morning and once in the afternoon, sinking her. SS Tunny hits a loaded AP with a single torpedo in hex 61, 48 causing 22 casualties. The allied ASW attack scores a single hit on RO-66 southeast of Guadalcanal. The Ise and Hyuga return to Rennell Island and are engaged by two PT boat groups. One of the PTs scores a torpedo hit on DD Akizuki, damage appeared heavy. 3 PT boats are sunk in the two battles. But then for some odd reason the BBs do not bombard the island. I wonder if my opponent forgot to rearm them, or perhaps created a surface taskforce by mistake. I’m glad for the reprieve at Rennell. I’m well above half way to a level 2 airfield now. 147 allied heavy bombers hit Rangoon today and are met by 25 Oscars. 34 bombers are damaged and none are shot down. Damage to the base is heavy. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 7-8 Sep 43 (9/25/2008 9:07:14 AM)
7 Sep 43 Sub ops for 7 Sep consist of a single allied ASW attack on Japanese sub RO-65 by my fast transport APD taskforce south of Rennell Island. 2 minor hits are scored on the sub. Allied medium bombers hit Daily Waters today causing major damage to the base. Japan conducts two raids on Yanku today, damage to the base is heavy. Sub ops for 8 Sep consist of a single allied sub attack. SS Gar hits AK Goyo Maru with a single torpedo in hex 35, 63. Allied medium bombers hit Meiktila today causing heavy damage to the base. Medium bombers also hit Lunga today, causing moderate damage to the airbase. Allied heavy bombers launch another big raid on Rangoon today. Only 40 P-38s manage to make the escort, but it is enough to see my bombers through the small CAP defense. Damage to the base is massive. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Lae , at 56,90 Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 7 A6M3a Zero x 21 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 40 B-24D Liberator x 180 F-4 Lightning x 3 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3 Zero: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged A6M3a Zero: 11 destroyed Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38G Lightning: 6 damaged B-24D Liberator: 19 damaged Japanese ground losses: 128 casualties reported Guns lost 2 Airbase hits 20 Airbase supply hits 8 Runway hits 198 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 B-17s from Chungking launch a raid on a Japanese cargo fleet at Taichu on Formosa, the high experience levels of the pilots pay off as a single bomb hit is scored from 15,000 feet. Damage didn’t appear to be very heavy. As requested here’s a current strategic map of the situation on 8 Sep. Not a lot has changed from the map I posted last year, but I hope to significantly change this border within the next few months. [image]local://upfiles/5815/DA3391E3FBD640279BB32C287A6F4EF1.jpg[/image] For those unfamiliar with the situation about 1 year ago, I’ll list the few changes. NE Australia is now mine except for Thursday Island (awaiting arrival of para regiment). Yanku in northern China is now mine, and I’ve recently landed at Guadalcanal and some of the small surrounding islands. Not a lot to show for a whole game year, but I am now deployed forward in strength and poised to start pushing hard against the Japanese perimeter. Jim

Jim D Burns -> RE: 1 Sep 43 (9/25/2008 9:12:20 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: bigbaba great AAR. i am sitting at work with a cup of tea and just went through the last pages of this AAR. keep em comming jim! Hi Bigbaba, Welcome, it's always nice to get a new reader, glad you're enjoying it. With my turns taking a lot longer now, it's hard to find time to do the updates right away, but I'll try and catch up soon. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 9 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 12:02:51 AM)
9 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 1 allied sub attack, 1 allied ASW attack and 1 Japanese ASW attack. Only the allied ASW attack scores any hits, RO-62 is hit twice, damage appeared minor. At Rennell Island, Japanese DD Sagiri runs into a mine as its bombardments fleet arrives in hex. Damage to the DD was heavy. Allied PT boats then conduct three attacks on the CA fleet, but no torpedo hits are scored. 4 PT boats are sunk in the fighting. The CAs move in and bombard the island, but fail to damage the base at all. Damage to the troops is pretty light, and the CD guns manage to score a few hits on my opponent’s namesake ship, though no real damage is reported, so they probably bounced. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Rennell Island, at 65,103 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! 47 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships CL Yubari, Shell hits 2 CL Agano CA Furutaka, Shell hits 6 CA Kinugasa Allied ground losses: 247 casualties reported Guns lost 5 Vehicles lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later in the turn Japanese minelayer Hatsutaka runs into a mine at Johore Bahru and suffers heavy damage. In the Aleutians, I sent a PC fleet to Atka Island to sweep for mines. One of the small ships drifts into a mine while clearing the harbor. These ships are clearing the way for a barge fleet heading in with an engineer aboard. I plan to bring in several engineers and other troops to get this island into the fight over the next couple of months. With only a potential airfield of 3, it will act as a forward base for my fighters, so they don’t suffer so much fatigue while escorting my heavy bombers against his rear area airfields. About half my medium bombers at Umnak will be upgrading to B-24Js over the next few months, so my ability to dominate the air in the Aleutians will significantly increase. Japan hits Yanku today and causes heavy damage to the base. Yanku is now a level 4 AF, but Japan’s ability to keep my engineers from building up further has gotten worse. I’m, now only making progress on construction perhaps one turn out of 3 or 4 turns. But with the P-47D (Thud) entering production this month, I’ll be able to upgrade some Chinese fighters to this airframe probably next month, so I can then begin to win air dominance in China. I made a boneheaded move today. I was on my way out the door and rushed the turn, so I forgot to turn off my mission over Lae. While damage to the base was heavy, this crashed the morale of most of my heavy bomber squadrons. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Lae , at 56,90 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 9 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 23 B-24D Liberator x 132 F-4 Lightning x 3 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 12 damaged Japanese ground losses: 46 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Airbase hits 13 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 62 Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 15000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I had been very carefully husbanding the morale of these squadrons by only flying a mission once every 2-4 days. Now they’ll need a week or two R&R to get back up into the 90s morale wise. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 10 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 12:04:42 AM)
10 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 2 allied sub attacks and 2 Japanese ASW attacks. Both allied sub attacks score hits. SS Gurnard finds a Japanese minelayer and puts two torpedoes into her in hex 88, 37. SS Tautog arrives at Kai Island to investigate some recent activity spotted by recon planes and slams APD No. 35 with two torpedoes sending her to the bottom. I had set my recon planes in NE Australia to automatic, and they had kept flying over Kai Island, so I sent in the sub. The sub has spotted 3 or 4 task forces in the hex. It makes no sense that Japan would be launching an attack from here, so perhaps he’s preparing a reactionary force to head down to Port Moresby when/if I attack there. At Rennell Island another Japanese battleship bombardment force arrives in hex, and DD Asashio runs into a mine. With so few PT boats left, I had merged them all into one task force and it engaged the battleship fleet. What follows is one of the most bizarre surface engagements I have ever seen. It starts out normally enough as my PT boats opens fire at range 1,000 and PT-295 slams a torpedo into a Japanese DD. But then it goes all wrong. DD Niizuki begins pounding PT-295 with round after round of 3.9 shells and AAA shells. A grand total of 182 hits are scored before the PT boat goes down. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Rennell Island at 65,103 Japanese Ships BB Ise BB Hyuga CA Aoba CA Kako CL Noshiro DD Teruzuki, Torpedo hits 1, on fire DD Susuzuki, Shell hits 1 DD Hatsuzuki, Shell hits 2 DD Niizuki DD Asashio, on fire, heavy damage Allied Ships PT PT-106 PT PT-120 PT PT-189 PT PT-225 PT PT-243 PT PT-295, Shell hits 182, and is sunk -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/F9E40D30301D4B1593B8FAA347B4EA51.jpg[/image] The only thing I can think of is all/most of the hits were tower hits, so no real float damage was being caused. I watched perhaps 30 hits, and a very small percentage of them were not tower hits. But I simply didn’t have the stamina to sit through 182 shell hits… The battleship fleet then bombards Rennell Island and again fails to score any base damage. Damage to the troops ashore is very light considering it is a battleship fleet. I can’t explain the last two Japanese bombardments. After the nuke effects of his early runs, he’s had a very difficult time hitting my base recently. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Rennell Island, at 65,103 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! 33 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships CL Noshiro CA Kako CA Aoba BB Hyuga, Shell hits 1 BB Ise Allied ground losses: 373 casualties reported Guns lost 8 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whatever the cause, this puts me over the top and I finish my level 2 airfield this turn. I rebase in a torpedo and a dive bomber squadron, along with a float plane search squadron. This gives me the equivalent of an unsinkable carrier in the southern Solomon Islands. I am truly on the way to breaching his outer perimeter now. The only air attack today occurs at Atka Island in the Aleutians. A large Betty raid attacks my PC fleet and the 5 Thunderbolts on LRCAP fail to down any planes. Two ships are hit and 1 Betty goes down to flak. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Atka Island at 98,38 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 16 G4M1 Betty x 29 Allied aircraft P-47C Thunderbolt x 5 Japanese aircraft losses G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Allied Ships PC Ute, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage PC Apache PC Navajo, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage PC Chickasaw Aircraft Attacking: 2 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With this attack on the PCs instead of the barge fleet, my engineers are ashore. I estimate it will take several months to build up this base, so this will be a slow speed campaign in the Aleutians. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 11 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 12:06:41 AM)
11 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 3 allied sub attacks and 1 Japanese ASW attack. Two of the allied sub attacks score hits. At Kwajalein SS Sailfish puts one into a Japanese AP. Then near the northeast tip of Borneo, SS Silversides slams a Japanese DD. The screenshot below speaks for itself. [image]local://upfiles/5815/8D273AB2499C429A90F742D6E6E59E18.jpg[/image] Of course she went straight to the bottom. Two allied air raids hit Daily Waters today, causing heavy damage to the base. Then in the first strike from my new level 2 airbase at Rennell Island, 10 TBMs find the DD Asashio (damaged by a mine last turn) at Munda and send her to the bottom. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Munda at 65,98 Allied aircraft F4U-1 Corsair x 13 TBM Avenger x 10 No Allied losses Japanese Ships DD Asashio, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 2 x TBM Avenger bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan conducts a sweep and then an airstrike on Yanku today. No LRCAP is over the base, so the sweep fails to find any victims. Damage to the base is light. Japan also conducts two small air raids on troops moving along the two roads leading east out of Changsha. These troops are moving to replace the last of my low morale troops in the two forest hexes, but I’m sure Japan reads it as a two pronged attack. 19 Jills attack Atka Island, but the 7 P-38s on LRCAP shoot one down and break up the raid. No damage to the base is caused. Japan conducts two land bombardments in the two forest hexes east of Changsha. This is obviously a recon, so I suspect these bombardments shall continue until my fresh troops arrive in hex. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 12 - 13 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 12:40:18 AM)
12 - 13 Sep 43 Sub ops for 12 Sep consist of 2 allied sub attacks, both were made by SS S-40 at Shortlands. One attack scores a hit and 3 torpedoes slam into the DD Sagiri sending her to the bottom. This DD was heavily damaged from a mine at Rennell Island several days ago. Japan conducts two air raids on Yanku today and the base is heavily damaged. Three small air raids hit my units moving near Changsha. The allies send 161 heavy bombers to Luangprabang and are met by a respectable CAP. I had thought this base would have just a squadron or so defending, but 36 fighters meet my raid. While no bombers are shot down, about 1/3rd of the raid is damaged. Damage to the base was moderate, and my unit’s morale is in the tank. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Luangprabang , at 34,36 Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 21 Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 15 Allied aircraft Liberator III x 66 B-24D Liberator x 95 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 4 destroyed, 14 damaged Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged Allied aircraft losses Liberator III: 15 damaged B-24D Liberator: 37 damaged Japanese ground losses: 140 casualties reported Guns lost 4 Airbase hits 16 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 45 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two land bombardments are again conducted in the two forest hexes east of Changsha. Sub ops for 13 Sep consist of 2 allied sub attacks and 3 Japanese ASW attacks. SS S-43 scores a hit on the Japanese BB Nagato just west of Shortlands, though damage didn’t appear to be too bad. S-43 takes a minor hit from the escorts. At Kai Island, the sister APDs of their recently sunk sister ship get their revenge and hammer the SS Tautog with 6 hits. Damage is moderate and I’ve ordered her to port. Just because I like to look at it, here’s a screenshot of the Nagato taking one in the side. [image]local://upfiles/5815/C3F0521B06704D008BDD9D540408A953.jpg[/image] Two more Japanese air raids hit Yanku today and again cause heavy damage. Looks like he’s gotten to a point where I may not be able to make any further progress until I can get some Thuds into the skies over the base. Only one small air raid hits the land units moving near Changsha today. The allied medium bombers hit Meiktila today and cause heavy damage to the base. 83 medium bombers from Luganville hit the port at Lunga today and score 2 port hits and 10 port supply hits. In the Aleutians, Adak Island is hit and damage to the base is heavy. Only one of the two land bombardments is conducted in China today. My units are still not all in the two hexes, so perhaps he no longer sees any along the other route and assumes they all arrived. Unfortunately my opponent spotted my task forces in the Indian Ocean this turn headed to Nicobar Island. Hopefully I can get my troops offloaded before any potential Japanese CVs show up. I think the task forces are at least 2 possibly 3 turns out still. I considered invading Port Blair, but after losing 20+ MSWs at Lunga to the CD guns, I decided I need land based air in range to suppress his CD units before I enter the hex there with ships. So I’ll get Nicobar built up ASAP and hammer the port at Port Blair for a week straight with air power before I attempt any mine clearing ops there. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 14 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 4:10:32 PM)
14 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 1 allied ASW attack, 1 Japanese sub attack and 1 Japanese ASW attack. The allied ASW attack scores 9 hits on Japanese sub RO-105 near Nicobar Island causing heavy damage and fires. Japan’s attack slams an AK near Nicobar Island causing moderate damage. Escorts counter-attack the sub and score 7 hits on it. This is unfortunately one of the 4 AKs carrying short range fighters for offloading at Nicobar once I have a level 1 airfield up and running. I’ve ordered it to try and make it back to Trincomalee. In the Aleutians Islands I get a report of a Japanese DD hitting a mine at the base two hexes west of Atka Island. This is a bit disturbing that Japan has regular surface assets in the area and my huge airforce (including 3 PBM squadrons) hasn’t sighted them. I have no idea what kind of task force this DD is part of. I order the two Essex class CV task forces from Pearl north to try and make short work of any bombardment or possible invasion task forces Japan may be sending against Atka. Though they are several days away at least, so they may arrive too late. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TF 110 encounters mine field at Ogliuga Island (96,38) Japanese Ships DD Murasame, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan hits Yanku today and the inept Chinese airforce manages to get a decent CAP up. Although they lost more planes than they shot down, they almost got a 1:1 overall in airframes shot down. They also broke up the raid and damage to the base was light. Hopefully this caused Japan’s morale to drop at least a little bit. [image]local://upfiles/5815/9A577BD3C438401DAD5786A7131E77A4.jpg[/image] At Port Moresby I ordered my medium bombers now based at Portland Roads again to hit the land units there to try and get some Intel as to what troops Japan has there. The 56th Division is hit this turn by a large single strike. Hopefully future bombardments will be broken up and several land units will get hit. I need to know what kind of potential AV Japan has there is I ever hope to invade with any chance of success. In China Japan flies to small airstrikes against my troops moving near Changsha. Also a single land bombardment is again launched by Japan. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 15 Sep 43 (9/26/2008 4:12:33 PM)
15 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 1 allied sub attack, 3 allied ASW attacks and 2 Japanese sub attacks. At Palau SS Wahoo surfaces and slams Japanese AG with its deck gun scoring 6 hits. The three allied ASW attacks all occur at or near Nicobar Island, and all three score hits. RO-108 is hit twice, first only 1 minor hit is scored, but the second attack scores 10 hits causing heavy damage and fires. RO-109 is hit 5 times causing heavy damage. RO-104 attacks one of the cargo task forces and scores a hit on an AK. Escorts counter-attack and score 9 hits on the sub causing heavy damage and fires. RO-109 also scores a hit on an AK and its escorts counter-attack and land 2 hits setting her on fire. Overall it’s a good day for allied ASW. None of the AK’s hit reported casualties, so they probably offloaded their troops before being attacked. I now have about 80% of the troops and almost 20k supplies ashore at Nicobar. The airfield is already up to 19%, so it should be operational within a day or two once 100% of my troops are ashore. Allied medium bombers hit Daily waters today and cause heavy damage to the base. This is the only allied air mission launched today. Japan’s airforce however has a very busy day. At Atka Island 3 Val raids are launched against my PT boats stationed at the base. The net effect of the three attacks is 1 PT boat is hit and 1 Val shot down by my 3 Thuds flying LRCAP over the base. In China Japan launches 1 small raid against my units moving near Changsha. No attacks are launched at Yanku today, so it appears last turns little skirmish at least forced a rest for the Japanese air groups. At Tassafaronga Japan launches 3 Val raids against my PT boats that just arrived there this turn. Unfortunately I had forgotten to assign them LRCAP from Rennell, so the net effect of the three raids is three PT boats go under. The big air battles for the turn occur at Nicobar and over the British CV fleet one hex northwest of Nicobar today. First Japan launches a medium sized strike at my carriers from land based air based out of Singora. 65 Hellcat IIs are flying CAP over the fleet and they shred the incoming raid. Most of the escorting fighters and bombers are downed by the Hellcats at a cost of just 3 of their own. The few remaining bombers fail to score any hits on my fleet. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 19,37 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 24 G4M1 Betty x 13 G4M2 Betty x 9 Allied aircraft Hellcat II x 65 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 18 destroyed G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged G4M2 Betty: 6 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Hellcat II: 3 destroyed, 27 damaged Allied Ships DD Van Nes DD Piet Hein PC Raub CL Sumatra Aircraft Attacking: 3 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Japan launches a small raid at one of my cargo fleets unloading at Nicobar. The 26 Seafire I/IIs flying LRCAP over the fleet prove less than up to the job and all the bombers get through. One hit is scored on an AK. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 8 G4M2 Betty x 8 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 26 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged G4M2 Betty: 8 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 1 destroyed, 16 damaged Allied Ships AK Empire Falstaff, Torpedo hits 1, on fire AK Empire Pennant Aircraft Attacking: 4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet 4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Then an even smaller raid arrives at Nicobar, but this time it is escorted by quite a few zeroes. Nik mod rears its ugly head again and my Seafire I/IIs are decimated even though they outnumber the escorting fighters. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 20 G4M2 Betty x 4 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 25 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged G4M2 Betty: 4 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 12 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied Ships MSW Cuttack, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The final attack of the day is against my surface fleet by Japanese level bombers. The large escort finishes off my Seafire I/IIs, while they fail to even scratch a single Japanese plane... Only two bomb hits are scored on the BB Valiant, and they bounce. At turn start the BB had 1 fire and no other damage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 7 Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 29 Ki-49 Helen x 25 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 13 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-49 Helen: 3 destroyed, 16 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 10 destroyed Allied Ships CA Cornwall BB Valiant, Bomb hits 2 CA Devonshire BB Royal Sovereign CA Suffolk Aircraft Attacking: 1 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/589FE956446E491B924E69FA8B68B7CE.jpg[/image] I suspect a lot of the info listed in these last few fights is FOW. Air losses for the turn are 35 allied airframes to 48 Japanese airframes. In the area around Nicobar, a total of 23 Zeros and 9 Bettys are shot down in air to air. The allies lose 24 Seafires and 3 Hellcats in air to air. 4 Bettys and 6 Helens are downed by flak. Given the amount of land based air in the area and the fact both my Seafire squadrons were virtually wiped out to a plane, I’ve ordered my CVs to move two hexes NW. I’ve placed the Indomitable and Formidable Hellcat II squadrons to LRCAP over Nicobar. This effectively cuts the CAP over the CVs by 26 Hellcats. I struggled over the decision to do this, but in the end felt it is necessary. One more turn will allow all my troops to unload, after that I can withdraw my fleets and allow the bases airfield to grow. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 16 Sep 43 (9/28/2008 12:14:04 PM)
16 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 4 allied sub attacks, 3 allied ASW attacks, 2 Japanese sub attacks and 1 Japanese sub attack. The SS Wahoo conducts two separate attacks on Japanese AGs at Palau scoring hits on two different AGs. The SS Halibut arrives at Camranh Bay and slams a Japanese AK with a single torpedo. The allied ASW attacks all score hits on subs at or near Nicobar Island. Japanese sub I-159 suffers two of these attacks receiving first 3 minor hits, and then 4 hits that cause fire and heavy damage. Sub I-158 receives 10 hits causing heavy damage. Sub RO-106 scores 1 shell hits and 2 torpedo hits on the barge LCT-320 at Stewart Island. The other Japanese sub attack occurs at Nicobar Island and sub I-158 misses its target, but the escorts pound her with 11 hits causing fires. There is lots of air activity in the game today all over the map. Almost all of today’s missions are instigated by the Japanese. In China Japan flies a single raid on my units moving near Changsha. Japan conducts two raids on Yanku today, causing heavy damage to the base. A small sweep mission over Yanku fails to find any defenders today. 53 zeroes also fly a sweep mission over Atka today. The 10 P-38s flying LRCAP meet them, but nobody manages to shoot anybody down in the fight. Net result, one zero damaged. 8 Vals then attempt to hit my PT boats at Atka and the 8 remaining P-38s shoot down 4. No hits are scored on the PTs. At Tassafaronga Japan flies three different Val attacks today. 9 Corsairs are flying LRCAP over the base and shoot down 4 Vals in the first raid. 7 Corsairs are present for the next two raids, but no additional Vals are shot down, though many are damaged. Japan fails to score any hits on the PT boats. My fleets unloading at Nicobar Island are hit by several Japanese air raids today. First a small raid of 10 Bettys escorted by 11 zeros attacks an AP fleet at Nicobar Island. 6 Hellcat IIs flying LRCAP from my British carriers three hexes to the northwest meet the raid and shoot down 3 zeros for no loss. Japan scores a single torpedo hit on the CL Ceres. Another small raid, this one consisting of 3 Kates and 3 Bettys escorted by 18 zeros, attacks the fleets at Nicobar and is met by 6 Hellcats. 1 zero goes down in flames, but 5 of the Hellcats also go down. 1 torpedo hit is scored on the AK Empire Trumpet. Fleets at Nicobar are then attacked by 17 Helens escorted by 29 Oscars this time. Again 6 Hellcats are over the hex, and they manage to down 2 Oscars at a cost of another 5 Hellcats. 2 bombs hit the MSW Patna and 1 bomb hits the AK Gorgon which is loaded with troops. 21 casualties are reported. The next raid to go after the fleets at Nicobar is of 38 Kates escorted by just 3 zeros. Only 1 Hellcat II remains on LRCAP over the hex and it downs 3 of the zeros and possibly caused the 1 Kate casualty as well, though I think it was more than likely due to flak. Four AKs are hit by torpedoes. The Utsire takes 3 torpedoes, the Aronda 2, and the Empire Adur and Empire Gareth both take 1. The final raid to go after the fleets at Nicobar today is conducted by 16 Bettys escorted by 3 zeros. No hellcats remain over the hex, so the bombers go in untouched. Even though they are unscathed, no hits are scored and 1 Betty falls to flak. CARRIER BATTLE NEAR NICOBAR ISLAND! The big news for the turn today is a Japanese surprise carrier attack against my British CVs near Nicobar Island. My search aircraft had totally failed to spot the incoming Japanese fleets, so I was completely unprepared for the attack. With the losses taken yesterday and two of my carriers smaller Hellcat II squadrons flying LRCAP over Nicobar today, the allies went into battle with only about half the normal compliment of fighters available to them. The first strike to launch was the British strike of 33 Barracudas and 22 Avenger I/IIs escorted by just 6 Hellcat IIs. 62 Zeros meet the raid and shred the incoming planes. Even so, it looks like about 32 torpedo bombers made it through and attacked the Japanese CVs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 19,38 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 10 A6M5 Zeke x 27 A6M3a Zero x 25 Allied aircraft Hellcat II x 6 Barracuda x 33 Avenger I/II x 22 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Hellcat II: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged Barracuda: 19 destroyed Avenger I/II: 4 destroyed, 14 damaged Japanese Ships CV Zuikaku, Torpedo hits 7, on fire, heavy damage sunk! CVL Zuiho Aircraft Attacking: 2 x Barracuda launching torpedoes at 200 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zuikaku gets hammered by 7 Torpedoes and is reported sunk in the sunk ships list at turn start. Due to a screw up on my opponent’s part where he re-ran the turn and got different results the second time around, I didn’t get to see a turn replay. Our first big carrier battle and all I get is a text file and assurances it was an accident. So I didn’t even get the satisfaction of watching her go down… Japan then launches four raids at my CVs, and one raid on my BB task force located in the same hex as my CVs. Of these five raids flown, it appears only three of them were launched by the Japanese carriers. The other two raids being tiny land based Betty raids. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 18,35 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 8 A6M5 Zeke x 10 D4Y Judy x 23 A6M3a Zero x 14 B6N2 Jill x 40 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 3 Hellcat II x 16 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zeke: 2 destroyed D4Y Judy: 5 destroyed, 13 damaged A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed, 4 damaged B6N2 Jill: 5 destroyed, 30 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 3 damaged Hellcat II: 3 destroyed, 10 damaged Allied Ships CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1, on fire CV Formidable, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage CV Indomitable, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1 CVL Hermes, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage CL Glasgow DD Fortune Aircraft Attacking: 3 x D4Y Judy bombing at 2000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 18,35 Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zeke x 9 D4Y Judy x 23 B6N2 Jill x 28 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 1 Hellcat II x 6 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zeke: 1 damaged D4Y Judy: 4 destroyed, 15 damaged B6N2 Jill: 7 destroyed, 14 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 1 damaged Hellcat II: 6 destroyed Allied Ships CV Indomitable, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage CV Illustrious, Bomb hits 1, on fire CL Glasgow CV Formidable, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage CVL Hermes, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 3 x D4Y Judy bombing at 2000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 18,35 Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 5 B6N2 Jill x 12 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 1 Hellcat II x 3 Japanese aircraft losses B6N2 Jill: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses Hellcat II: 1 destroyed Allied Ships CV Indomitable, on fire, heavy damage CV Illustrious, on fire Aircraft Attacking: 4 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 18,35 Japanese aircraft A6M3 Zero x 19 G4M2 Betty x 3 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 1 Hellcat II x 2 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed G4M2 Betty: 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses Seafire I/II: 2 destroyed Hellcat II: 3 destroyed Allied Ships CV Formidable, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 3 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 18,35 Japanese aircraft G4M2 Betty x 3 Allied aircraft Seafire I/II x 1 Hellcat II x 1 Japanese aircraft losses G4M2 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied Ships BB Royal Sovereign, Torpedo hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 2 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As best as I can tell, this is the net effect of the raids on my CVs: CV Illustrious, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire CV Formidable, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage CV Indomitable, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage sunk! CVL Hermes, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage The battleship starts the turn undamaged, so it is possibly a FOW hit we see reported on it. That or the belt armor managed to cause a torpedo to bounce, which I doubt. So the exchange of the Zuikaku for the Indomitable is an allied victory in my book. Of course no other Japanese CVs were even scratched and all my remaining CVs are damaged and only the Illustrious is still capable of flight ops, so the ultimate outcome of the battle remains yet to be seen. [image]local://upfiles/5815/0152FEC7F6EB4B7F8A8DC3A7846D1DC6.jpg[/image] The Illustrious has 11 operational Hellcat IIs. I’ve set them all to 90% CAP. I’ve also divided my three remaining CVs into separate task forces. Weather is predicted to be heavy precipitation next turn, so I’m hoping these smaller single CV task forces will help some or all of them to remain undetected from enemy search attempts. The good news is all three remaining CVs will probably survive if I can get them to port. Additionally they can all make it to within LRCAP range of my 40 or so P-38s stationed at Trincomalee if I set them to move full speed. So all the CVs are ordered to withdraw to Trincomalee at full speed and LRCAP for my land based fighters has been set. Given the results of this turns CV battle, I suspect my opponent assumes I’m going to flee with all my fleets around Nicobar, so I predict he’ll move further north to intercept just such a move. So I decided to stick around for one more turn and take whatever punishment his more than likely heavily fatigued airforce can dish out. Of course this would be suicide if it wasn’t for the fact I should have land based fighters available for CAP over Nicobar next turn. Nicobar is at 71% completion of the level 1 airfield, up from 19% last turn. So as long as it can finish constructing the airbase this turn, I will have an airfield for use next turn. To assure that construction can continue, I’ve ordered my surface fleet of 2 BBs, 4 CAs, 4 CLs and 2 DDs to move to Nicobar in order to protect the base and the ships unloading there. I deemed this move and potential sacrifice as necessary, since next turn P-47Ds will be based in the hex if the airfield gets finished, and they should be able to protect my ships for as long as needed from that point on. This is the critical turn for the battle at Nicobar. Were I to leave, I’m sure Japan’s CAs and possibly BBs as well would enter the hex and make short work of my cargo vessels and smash the base to bits. Without an effective British CV fleet left in the area, there would be no chance of my ever getting supplies or reinforcements into the base again. Given the very close proximity of Japanese bases, Japan could begin regular land and sea bombardments that would permanently prevent the base from ever getting an airfield constructed. Unlike the US, Britain doesn’t have enough engineers to regularly rebuild nuke effect damage to its bases caused by battleship bombardment fleets. One successful nuke attack and I will have lost the battle for Nicobar, so I feel its necessary to expend as many of the ships in the area as needed to get that airfield operational tomorrow. I have however ordered the APs currently at Nicobar to leave the area to the northeast towards Diamond Harbor, since their troops are all ashore now and only supplies remain aboard. Japan has 2 airfields along the coast still operational that can cause major trouble for these APs, so I’ve ordered airstrikes on both bases to suppress the airfields if possible. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 17 Sep 43 (9/30/2008 9:42:34 AM)
17 Sep 43 Sub ops today are rather light compared to the past few days. 2 allied sub attacks and 1 Japanese ASW attack are all that occur. Only one of the allied sub attacks scores a hit, MSW Yoshino Maru takes a torpedo at Johore Bahru in the Malacca strait. There is a bloodbath in the Indian Ocean today, hundreds or possibly thousands of sailors from both navies meet their doom. The carnage begins with a large surface battle at Nicobar Island. As I suspected a Japanese surface group arrives at the hex to try and wreak havoc. The British navy is on hand however and a very long, multi-engagement night battle ensues. Both task forces are each lead by two old battleships. The British have the upper hand however as they outnumber the Japanese CAs by 4:2 and outclass the 4 Japanese DDs with their 4 CLs and 2 DDs. The British ships are also fresh, while several/most of Japan’s ships start the engagement smoking from presumably accumulated system damage from long stretches at sea. Two or three of the four different engagements are 3 round fights, so this was an extensive fight fought at ranges ranging between 4,000 yards to 10,000 yards at night. British night experience pays off however, and they more than hold their own in the early rounds. In fact they gain the upper hand as none of the many Japanese long lance torpedoes launched score any hits, while one British torp does score. I assumed the system damage Japan started with is what was hurting them, because not only do the torpedoes fail to score, the heavy guns of their battleships also fail to score, while the British battleships do score a couple of hits. The accumulated damage from the first fight makes a big difference in the next fight. Britain lands lots of penetrating hits on multiple ships and in the end 2 DDs are sunk and many other ships are flaming wrecks. It is a good thing the second fight went so well, because at the stat of the third fight, Japan surprises the British and gets an unanswered attack round. Luckily the Japanese ships are so badly damaged, they only score a couple of minor hits. Britain hits back a bit in round two, but the fight ends after that and no real changes from dispositions after the second fight have occurred. The fourth and final fight is the big winner for the British. During the Battleships exchanges, a 15inch hit penetrates the Kongo and its magazine exploded. A few pulses later, the Kongo went down. Up to this point in the fight, the Kongo had been doing fairly well, as most large caliber hits had gone into the Haruna. So with this little coupe, one battleship goes down immediately and the other is probably in serious danger of going down. Rather than post the text of all four fights, I’ve collated the results of all four into the single text display below: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese Ships BB Kongo, Shell hits 2, on fire, and is sunk BB Haruna, , Shell hits 22, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage CA Suzuya, Shell hits 40, on fire CA Kumano, Shell hits 21, on fire DD Makinami, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage, and is sunk DD Takanami, Shell hits 13, on fire, heavy damage, and is sunk DD Suzunami, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage DD Hayanami, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage, and is sunk Allied Ships BB Valiant, Shell hits 5 BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 7, on fire CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 5, on fire CA Devonshire, Shell hits 3 CA Suffolk, Shell hits 1 CA Cornwall, Shell hits 2 CL Enterprise, Shell hits 1 CL Danae, Shell hits 2, on fire CL Dragon, Shell hits 5, on fire CL Durban, Shell hits 1, on fire DD Pakenham, Shell hits 1 DD Paladin, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/C888CDC1502E4045BC5DE75BF2AE0899.jpg[/image] I’d say it’s a decisive win for Britain on the surface here, though the day has just begun and it is a long way to safe harbors yet. Another small night surface engagement occurs mid ocean between the CL Ceres and 4 Japanese DDs. Apparently Japan placed these DDS along the hex row NW in an attempt to catch my AK fleets fleeing the island. Instead they intercept the heavily damaged Ceres which is on its way to Trincomalee to repair flood damage. The DDs make short work of the CL, pounding her with shell hits in the first fight and sinking her in the second fight with a couple of well placed torpedoes. At Attu Island, it is reported that Japanese ML Natsushima runs into one of the mines recently placed by the Argonaut and sinks. The allies hit daily Waters today with medium bombers and damage to the base is moderate. The raid I plotted for Tavoy fails to launch, but the Moulmein raid goes in and is met by a very large Japanese CAP. Japan shreds the raid and damage to the base is moderate. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 94 Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 23 Ki-61-Ib Tony x 40 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 11 Wellington III x 27 Hudson I x 16 P-40N Warhawk x 96 B-25C Mitchell x 28 B-25G/H Mitchell x 31 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 15 destroyed, 20 damaged Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged Ki-61-Ib Tony: 2 destroyed, 14 damaged Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged Wellington III: 2 destroyed, 17 damaged Hudson I: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged P-40N Warhawk: 59 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 14 damaged B-25G/H Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 26 damaged Japanese ground losses: 145 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Airbase hits 7 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 59 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan launches two air raids over Yanku today and are met by 28 Lancers flying LRCAP. The lancers only manage to down a few planes and are themselves decimated. Damage to the base is moderate. Another tiny air raid is launched in china against the southern of the two forest hexes east of Changsha, no damage is caused to the unit attacked. At Nicobar Island Japan launches three small strikes against my ships and one sweep over the base. The strikes are all tiny ones and in total just three AKs each receives 1 torpedo. Only one of them is reported to have heavy damage. The seas around Nicobar Island however are far busier with Japanese naval strikes. The remaining Japanese CVs moved to the hex my CVs occupied previously 3 hexes NW of Nicobar. From there they launched two strikes at the Formidable and her single DD escort and hammered the two ships. The Formidable goes down and the DD Isis is left a burning wreck. After the big surface engagement at Nicobar, my ships all divided up into smaller task forces based on damage levels and withdrew towards Diamond Harbor. The CA Cornwall is caught alone and in the open by a tiny 3 plane Betty raid and takes a torpedo in the side, causing heavy damage. Another small Japanese CV strike is launched against the withdrawing cargo fleet containing crated air groups originally intended to be offloaded to Nicobar. Four P-38s are flying LRCAP over the fleet, and manage to break up the raid. Only one Judy is downed, but the raid only scores a single bomb hit on the CL Sumatra. 33 Helens attack one of the AP fleets heading NE towards Diamond Harbor. CL Capetown takes two bombs, DD Banckert and AP Empire Attendant both take one bomb hit. None of the damage is reported to be heavy. Finally the Battleship Royal Sovereign is subjected to two small air raids from land based air, but no hits are scored on the ship. With the sinking of another British CV, I have to give this skirmish to Japan. The decimation of his surface fleet does help mitigate things though, so it is close to a draw I guess. But the good news is Nicobar is now level 1, and I bring in some P-47Ds to fly CAP over the base this turn. Once I can operate medium bombers from Nicobar, I’ll dominate the surrounding seas, so the loss of British CV power won’t be too disastrous to future operations on the Indian Ocean. Port Blair will probably be my next target once I have an airforce at Nicobar that can regularly work over that island. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 18 Sep 43 (10/2/2008 1:16:37 PM)
18 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 2 allied sub attacks, 2 Japanese sub attacks and 4 Japanese ASW attacks. One of the allied sub attacks takes a shot at the CVL Hosho near Nicobar, but misses. The other allied sub attack is made by SS Gato near Formosa. Japanese Tanker Omurosan Maru takes two torpedoes and its oil cargo goes up in flames. Both Japanese sub attacks miss, including one made against CVL Hermes a few hexes SE of Trincomalee. The Hermes escorts manage to score a minor hit on the sub SS I-160 and the other attacks escorts score 4 minor hits on SS I-7. 2 of the Japanese ASW attacks score hits on their targets. US sub SS Peto receives 2 minor hits and Dutch sub SS KXVI takes 7 hits and is set on fire. In China Japan conducts a sweep and a small air raid over Yanku, damage to the base is minor. Two small air raids are also flown against the southern forest hex east of Changsha, damage to the units attacked is very minor. At Tassafaronga a small tanker convoy arrives to offload some fuel for the PT boats to use, and Japan conducts 4 air attacks on the fleet. With just 8 Corsairs flying LRCAP over the fleet, Japan’s bombers get through and score hits on each of the strikes. The net result for all four raids is that CL Richmond takes 2 torpedoes and DMS Perry, DD Hutchins, TK Halawa and TK Benakat each suffer 1 bomb hit. Japan launches two raids against my fleets unloading at Nicobar. 18 Thuds are flying CAP and destroy several attackers and break up both raids, without losing a single aircraft themselves. Only 1 bomb and 1 torpedo hit are scored against a couple of AKs. Neither AK reports heavy damage. The allies fly two raids against ground units at Port Moresby today. Both the 56th Division and Kure 7th SNLF are hit. So it appears there is only one division defending at Port Moresby, along with other supporting troops. I’ll continue these raids for a few weeks just to be sure. The allies also fly a small raid against Lunga today with dive bombers and torpedo bombers from Rennell Island. Damage to the base is light. Based on the location of the Japanese CVs this turn (just south of Nicobar) it appears Japan is withdrawing them from the area. I had expected him to go after my surface fleet heading NE towards Diamond Harbor this turn, so I am glad for the reprieve. One happy bit of news this turn was the BB Haruna going down near Sabang. It's nice to see a few Japanese battlewagons go down for a change. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 19 Sep 43 (10/2/2008 1:17:44 PM)
19 Sep 43 Sub ops today consist of 2 allied sub attacks, 1 allied ASW attack and 2 Japanese ASW attacks. Only the allied ASW attack scores any hits today, Japanese sub SS I-160 is hit by 3 minor hits at Trincomalee. There are three nighttime surface engagements fought today. One at Tassafaronga and two at Nicobar. At Tassafaronga Japan sent in 3 DDs which engaged my tanker fleets escorts. It’s a decisive win for the allies as the escorts score 21 hits to Japan’s single hit in the exchange. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Tassafaronga at 66,101 Japanese Ships DD Shinonome, Shell hits 18, on fire, heavy damage DD Shirakumo, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Hatsuyuki, Shell hits 1 Allied Ships DD Jenkins DD Lansdowne, Shell hits 1 DMS Chandler DMS Wasmuth TK Patapsco TK Djirak TK Iris -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Nicobar Island, Japan sends in a CA task force which engages two of my five or six task forces I have unloading in the hex. The first task force he engages has an escort which does its job and keeps the CAs off the cargo ships for the most part. Unfortunately I lose a DD and fail to do any real damage to the Japanese. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese Ships CA Myoko CA Haguro CA Nachi CL Naka, Shell hits 1 CL Jintsu DD Shimakaze DD Kagero, Shell hits 1 DD Kuroshio DD Oyashio Allied Ships DD Van Galen, Shell hits 28, and is sunk DD Tjerk Hiddes MSW Cromarty MSW Orissa, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage AK Botlea AK Cape Sable AK City of Durban AK Athene, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage AK Auckland Star AK Empire Star AK Dardanus AK Orestes, Shell hits 18, on fire, heavy damage AK Talthibius AK Tantalus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The second task force however is a task force containing all my previously damaged ships from earlier air strikes over the past several days. I had been putting all damaged ships into a single task force each turn, but had forgotten to assign them a few escorting vessels. The task force pays for this oversight and the Japanese CAs rip into the damaged ships. 5 are sunk outright and the rest will probably sink very soon. Luckily no other task forces are engaged for some reason and the CAs leave are not in the hex during the daytime execution phases. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Nicobar Island at 20,38 Japanese Ships CA Myoko CA Haguro CA Nachi CL Naka CL Jintsu DD Shimakaze DD Kagero DD Kuroshio DD Oyashio Allied Ships AK King Guffyd, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk AK Empire Falstaff, Shell hits 14, and is sunk AK Empire Trumpet, Shell hits 9, and is sunk AK Empire Villager, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk AK Eugenie Livanos, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage AK Johanne Justesen AK Skagerak, Shell hits 13, and is sunk AK Chengtu, Shell hits 3, on fire AK Taiyuan, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Aleutians I lose an LCM barge to a mine at Atka Island as the barge fleet arrives to offload another unit. The allies conduct an air raid on Daily Waters today and cause very heavy damage to the base. 166 heavy bombers hit Rangoon today and cause heavy damage to that base as well. At Nicobar Island, Japan conducts five raids today. The first raid of 29 Helens goes against the airfield and is escorted by 30 Oscars. 16 Thuds are on CAP and manage to shoot down 7 Oscars and 3 Helens without losing any planes themselves. Damage to the base is light. The second raid is also a relatively large raid and goes after one of my cargo fleets in the hex. 16 Thuds meet the raid, but only manage to shoot down 1 Zero and 3 Kates while losing 6 of their own planes. The strike is broken up however and only a single AK is hit by 1 bomb. The last three raids are all tiny raids and are all met by the 7 Thuds remaining on CAP over the base. All three raids are driven off and no attack runs are made against the shipping. Only 1 Betty is shot down, the rest ran as soon as a plane in their raid was damaged, so Japan’s morale levels must be getting pretty low. With a Japanese CA fleet in the area and nothing to match it, I’ve decided to pull anchor with my remaining cargo fleets and head for safer ports at Ceylon. I suspect I’ll lose quite a few ships over the next couple of turns, as I have no carrier air to cover them and Nicobar is still too small to have enough extra fighters to cover transiting fleets yet. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 20 Sep 43 (10/2/2008 1:19:13 PM)
20 Sep 43 In an unusual turn of events, there are no sub ops today. In China, Japan conducts a sweep and an air strike on Yanku. Damage to the base is heavy. At Nicobar, Japan conduct a large air raid against the airfield there. 12 Thuds are on Cap, but only manage to shoot down 5 enemy planes. Damage to the base is heavy and several planes are destroyed on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Nicobar Island , at 20,38 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 33 Ki-21-II Sally x 24 Ki-49 Helen x 54 Ki-46-III Dinah x 1 Allied aircraft P-47D Thunderbolt x 12 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-II Sally: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged Ki-49 Helen: 4 destroyed, 29 damaged Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-47D Thunderbolt: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied ground losses: 204 casualties reported Guns lost 9 Vehicles lost 1 Airbase hits 5 Airbase supply hits 8 Runway hits 51 Aircraft Attacking: 8 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Tassafaronga, Japan launches a small raid on my tanker fleet and slams a torpedo into DD Lansdowne, who sinks before the turn ends. With a good 9k+ of fuel unloaded now, I decide to head for Luganville and order the fleet southeast. A total of 13 Japanese air raids are flown against the allied ships fleeing NW from Nicobar Island. Rather than try to summarize all 13 raids, I’ll simply list all the damage results to the different ships that were hit. Allied Ships AK Empire Gareth, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage AK Johanne Justesen, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage CL Java, Torpedo hits 2, on fire DD Scout, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage AK Empire Pintail, Bomb hits 1 MSW Agra, Bomb hits 1, on fire AK Empire Beaconsfield, Bomb hits 2, on fire AK Eugenie Livanos, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage MSW Agra, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage AK Empire Pintail, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage AK Empire Claymore, Torpedo hits 1, on fire AK Tasman, Bomb hits 1, on fire AK Athene, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage MSW Orissa, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage While these results are bad, they were at least expected. What wasn’t expected however was the re-appearance of the Japanese CVs. As you can see from the below screenshot, next turn will probably be even worse for my ships. [image]local://upfiles/5815/4BBAFA0782C6422CB5F2140A2739CCB6.jpg[/image] I debated ordering my ships to return to Nicobar and the small cover provided by the Thuds flying CAP. But after checking the distance to safe harbors, I decided to keep them heading NW. most of my fleets will be under LRCAP from Ceylon this turn, the rest will be under LRCAP by next turn for sure. So I decided it was better to keep heading north since I already paid the price for leaving Nicobar this turn. Were I to go back, I’d have to pay that price again later and the CAP at Nicobar probably wouldn’t be able to protect the ships very well right now anyway. With just the level 1 airfield, my damaged planes aren’t repairing very fast, so I’m only getting 12-18 planes in the air when I could potentially have 48. So until I have a larger airfield that allows my squadrons to repair faster, I feel it simply isn’t safe to keep shipping so close to Japan’s CVs. Besides, that CA fleet is still out there somewhere. Jim

Page: << < prev 10 11 12 13 [14]

Forum Software © ASPPlayground.NET Advanced Edition 2.4.5 ANSI

0.75