24 Apr. 42

24 Apr. 42 (Full Version)

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Jim D Burns -> 24 Apr. 42 (12/20/2007 3:24:51 PM)
24 Apr. 42 Today was a very tough day for the allies. The turn starts off with Japanese air attacks on Moulmein and Manila. The allies reciprocate by hitting both Cooktown and Cairns. Then the carnage begins. Near Noumea, Japan had moved all six of his fleets into hex 64, 115, three hexes northwest of the Noumea base. Just within range of my 3 hex mission limitation set last turn. With KB sitting in the hex with the fleets, it was a total slaughter for allied air as the uber CAP did its bloody work. To make matters even worse, I must have rolled some pretty poor coordination rolls as my boys went in piecemeal which made the carnage even worse. I’ll just list all the air attacks in their proper sequence, as you can see it was a very bloody day. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 136 Allied aircraft A-20B Boston x 3 B-25C Mitchell x 10 A-29 Hudson x 17 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 23 damaged Allied aircraft losses A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged A-29 Hudson: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Nagato CA Atago Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 136 Allied aircraft A-29 Hudson x 8 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged Allied aircraft losses A-29 Hudson: 7 destroyed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 136 Allied aircraft A-20B Boston x 12 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 10 damaged Allied aircraft losses A-20B Boston: 8 destroyed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 136 Allied aircraft P-400 Airacobra x 7 P-39D Airacobra x 14 B-25C Mitchell x 4 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-400 Airacobra: 7 destroyed P-39D Airacobra: 14 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed Japanese Ships CA Kumano Aircraft Attacking: 2 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 100 Allied aircraft B-25C Mitchell x 5 A-29 Hudson x 6 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged A-29 Hudson: 3 damaged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,115 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 100 Allied aircraft P-400 Airacobra x 6 P-39D Airacobra x 9 B-25C Mitchell x 3 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-400 Airacobra: 3 destroyed P-39D Airacobra: 7 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan only launched one air strike today, but I think it was two separate missions (port and airfield attack) that coordinated and flew as one. Damage was caused to both the airfield and port and 4 of the ships hit sank this turn. I expect many more will sink tomorrow. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Noumea , at 66,117 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 55 B5N2 Kate x 160 Allied aircraft P-400 Airacobra x 5 P-39D Airacobra x 13 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 16 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-400 Airacobra: 3 destroyed P-39D Airacobra: 13 destroyed A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 3 destroyed A-24 Dauntless: 1 destroyed A-29 Hudson: 1 destroyed Allied Ships AK Kwangtung, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage AK Mormacland, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage AK Exmoor, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage TK Montebello, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage TK Larry Doheny, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage AK Coldbrook, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage AK Georgian, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage AK Puerto Rican, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage AK Empire Selwyn, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage AK Kansan, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage Allied ground losses: 431 casualties reported Guns lost 5 Vehicles lost 5 Airbase hits 15 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 40 Port hits 4 Port supply hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 25 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 23000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In total the allies lost 94 aircraft at Noumea today and Japan only lost 6 zeroes and 4 Kates. Air to air losses were 32 P-39’s, 12 P-400’s and 5 Zeroes. To make matters even worse, I had replacements turned on for all my air groups, so they all refilled just in time to lose even more planes to the BB nukes about to descend on the base tomorrow. I’ve rebased the few undamaged aircraft that could reach Auckland out, but there are still over 150 damaged planes parked on the ground like sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered thanks to replacement draws. Japan then launches two deliberate attacks at Manila and Soerabaja and they capture both bases. While I expected to lose both bases, it was kind of odd to see them both fall on the same turn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Manila Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 126212 troops, 611 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 2001 Defending force 33108 troops, 11 guns, 161 vehicles, Assault Value = 751 Japanese max assault: 1918 - adjusted assault: 1202 Allied max defense: 627 - adjusted defense: 229 Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Manila base !!! Japanese ground losses: 5743 casualties reported Guns lost 61 Vehicles lost 16 Allied ground losses: 74021 casualties reported Guns lost 11 Vehicles lost 105 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Soerabaja Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 82194 troops, 271 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 1417 Defending force 35783 troops, 73 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 384 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1 Japanese max assault: 1084 - adjusted assault: 882 Allied max defense: 337 - adjusted defense: 241 Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese forces CAPTURE Soerabaja base !!! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses C.XI-W: 2 destroyed Japanese ground losses: 1754 casualties reported Guns lost 13 Vehicles lost 4 Allied ground losses: 67587 casualties reported Guns lost 53 Vehicles lost 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 141,608 allied soldiers march off to POW camps. Japan also launched a deliberate attack at Thursday Island and thanks to an oversight on my part the allied unit was still set to bombard this turn. Given that they still failed to take the base, I think this was a blunder on my part as my halved AV of 27 would have been 54 instead and I probably wouldn’t have lost the fort level. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Thursday Island Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 4929 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 140 Defending force 1862 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 23 Japanese max assault: 129 - adjusted assault: 77 Allied max defense: 21 - adjusted defense: 27 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 3) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Japanese ground losses: 19 casualties reported Allied ground losses: 113 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hopefully the next attack won’t reduce forts even more, now that the unit is back on defend, but this may have given Japan the edge it needs to take the base now. With six Japanese fleets sitting just 3 hexes northwest of Noumea, I can’t tell if he’s going to land more troops or not. But I’m leaning towards him coming to evacuate the S.S.D. as it would have made more sense to land at Koumac this turn had he been bringing more troops to the fight. I still have the armor battalion sitting in the hex with the S.S.D., but I expect he’ll bombard it with one of his nuke fleets, so I’ll refrain from setting it to attack until I think he’s expended all his fleet ammo. If no landings commence next turn I’ll send the Americal Division back to try and catch the last bit of the unit as it tries to embark off of an unfriendly beach. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 25 Apr. 42 (12/20/2007 6:00:25 PM)
25 Apr. 42 Near Noumea allied subs try in vain to close with the enemy fleets. One sub is hit by naval air and two others by several ASW attacks made by Japanese escorts. All subs are ordered to return to port for repairs. Japan’s naval bombardment at Noumea does surprisingly little damage, and no planes are destroyed on the ground. One small bright spot to be thankful for during a dark time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Noumea, at 66,117 Japanese Ships CA Takao CA Maya CA Nachi CA Ashigara BB Nagato BB Mutsu CA Furutaka CA Atago Allied ground losses: 526 casualties reported Guns lost 6 Vehicles lost 6 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Japanese have embarked the entire S.S.D. this turn, so there is no chance to cause it further damage. I have set my A-24’s to naval attack with range 4 set in hopes they can catch some of the transports. None of the medium bombers have the morale to make any attacks as most are in the 20’s and 30’s, so only the A-24s are set to attack. Even though the P-39s are in the morale 30+ range, I’ve set them to escort with a 0% CAP setting in hopes they help the A-24s launch an attack. Thursday Island falls today, looks like last turns goof by me made the difference and the base goes down to a 4-1 attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Thursday Island Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 4998 troops, 27 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 141 Defending force 1752 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 13 Japanese max assault: 133 - adjusted assault: 61 Allied max defense: 12 - adjusted defense: 13 Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Thursday Island base !!! Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses A-24 Dauntless: 1 destroyed Japanese ground losses: 14 casualties reported Allied ground losses: 1385 casualties reported Guns lost 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Things are stirring in China. First one of my guerilla units at Ichang that was plotted to move NE towards Nanyang, made an illegal move. The unit’s info sheet showed it was moving to the NE, but when it reached 60 miles it moved east instead along the road and into a Japanese zoc. I really hope AE addresses some of these kinds of anomalies in the movement code. This was clearly an illegal move and the code should not have allowed it. There is one other guerilla unit with the exact same plot and 56 miles accumulated. I’ve asked my opponent not to respond to the move until I can get my two units off the road and back into my territory. A bit further south though, Japan has 22 units across the river in the swamp hex southwest of Hankow. He also has one unit that has moved into the hex with my 7 corps blocking force in the woods hex just west of his 22 units, so it looks like Japan’s first big attack in China is now underway. The situation at Changsha is it has level 9 forts completed, but only its single fixed Corps, a baseforce, 2 HQ’s and 4 artillery units are in the hex right now. I have the large mobile reserve at Hengchow currently working on forts and airfields there. Of the 10 mobile corps, 7 will immediately head east. 4 of these 7 corps are prepped for Nanchang, so they will head there to fix that bases Japanese forces (6 units reported) in place and prevent further Japanese forces from crossing the river from the north. The other 3 corps are prepped for Changsha and they will head to the northern forest hex to reinforce my 7 corps blocking force there. My southern blocking force of 4 HQ’s and 7 Corps has 3 HQ’s prepped for Nanchang, so they’ll join the reinforcements from Hengchow in Nanchang once they arrive. The rest of the units are all prepped for Changsha, so 3 corps will immediately head north to reinforce the northern forest hex and the other 4 corps and 1 HQ shall remain in place to act as a flank guard for Nanchang or the northern forest hex should Japan try to outflank one or both. I’m also sending one of the two HQ’s at Changsha to the northern forest hex. [image]local://upfiles/5815/45D6C8399C9C44EDA57F422845EC588B.jpg[/image] So should all my units arrive in time, I’ll have 5 HQ’s and 13 corps in the northern forest hex to oppose Japan’s 23 units. 1 HQ and 4 Corps will remain in the southern forest hex and 3 HQ’s and 4 corps shall enter Nanchang. I’ll still have 3 more mobile corps, 1 HQ and 3 artillery units at Hengchow that can be added to the battle if needed, but those units are prepped for Hengchow and I’d like to keep them as a reserve if I can in case an attack from the south emerges. Should Japan’s attack prove too powerful, I’ll immediately fall back to Changsha and its level 9 forts. All units are 100% prepped for the hex, so I doubt Japan will be able to storm the base. The river hex to the northwest of Changsha is the weak point of the defense, so if I do fallback I’ll probably send the Hengchow and Nanchang prepped reserves there. All in all I think this is a strategic mistake for Japan, he should be attacking where I’m weakest in the north, not where I’m strongest. My entire defensive setup around Changsha was designed to oppose just such a move, so from a strategic point of view I’m very happy. Whether or not my poor quality Chinese troops perform well enough to actually hold onto my bases is another story though, he may just simply blow them away with his uber stack. Though it is perhaps possible his recon does not see my huge reserve army at Hengchow and he believes I’m weak in the region. If so his attack makes perfect sense from his point of view and my surprise reserves will catch him off balance as they enter the fray over the next few days. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 26 Apr. – 27 Apr. 42 (12/23/2007 9:19:11 AM)
26 Apr. – 27 Apr. 42 Not a lot happened on 26 Apr. that was note worthy to mention. Japan hit Rangoon and my guys struck Cooktown. My A-24’s did launch a strike at the withdrawing Japanese transport fleet, but the Japanese uber CAP shot down almost every plane in the strike. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 64,114 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 85 Allied aircraft P-400 Airacobra x 4 P-39D Airacobra x 6 A-24 Dauntless x 14 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-400 Airacobra: 4 destroyed P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged A-24 Dauntless: 13 destroyed -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 Apr. sees my subs last attempts at launching against the task forces leaving the Noumea area fail to even launch many torpedoes and the one that launches is a dud. One sub is damaged by Japanese ASW and ordered to return to port. Although I had 7 subs lying in wait for these task forces, not one Japanese ship was hit on this rescue mission and 3 or 4 of my subs were hit hard. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 64,112 Japanese Ships DD Tokitsukaze DD Amatsukaze DD Hayashio DD Yukikaze CA Haguro Allied Ships SS Cuttlefish -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 64,112 Japanese Ships DD Mochizuki DD Uzuki DD Yayoi DD Kisaragi Allied Ships SS Cuttlefish, hits 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 64,110 Japanese Ships AP Igasa Maru AP Jinshu Maru AP Heiwa Maru DD Mikazuki DD Hibiki CL Jintsu Allied Ships SS S-28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 64,110 Japanese Ships AP Shanghai Maru DD Mikazuki DD Oboro DD Hibiki Allied Ships SS S-28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 64,110 Japanese Ships DD Shinonome DD Akatsuki DD Umikaze DD Kawakaze DD Yamakaze DD Shigure DD Kasumi DD Arare BB Kongo Allied Ships SS S-28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/261DDBCDEF63423F8007FE58BA26507A.jpg[/image] Rangoon is hit by Japan again today, and the allies again hit Cooktown. For some reason my Hudson’s at Alice Springs ordered to hit Daily Waters are not flying, even though they’ve had orders to fly for several days now. On Sumatra Japan attacks Medan again and fails to take the base. He does reduce the forts by one though, so it’s just a matter of time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Medan Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 6196 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 57 Defending force 1628 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 13 Japanese max assault: 52 - adjusted assault: 25 Allied max defense: 7 - adjusted defense: 9 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 3) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2 Allied ground losses: 77 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With all the Singapore evacuee’s off of Sumatra now, I’ve decided to pull out a Dutch battalion and Baseforce as well. Political Points were paid this turn and the battalion will be lifted out first. The battalion will come in handy as a rear area base para attack guard, and I can always use another baseforce. I may also evacuate the remnants from the Medan defenders, but they’ll be pretty chewed up and I’ve already got several Dutch units that need rebuilding in Australia. I’ll probably grab the baseforces for sure, the two battalions will only be taken out if there is time after the two baseforces get pulled. With Christmas upon us, my opponent has flown home to England to visit family and friends, so our game will be postponed for the next two weeks. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 28 Apr. 42 (1/7/2008 1:07:26 PM)
28 Apr. 42 After a two week pause for the holidays, we’re back up and running. I cannot believe how much I have forgotten about the game in just 2 weeks. The old grey matter just can’t retain that much minutia for so long anymore I guess. My Hudson’s from Alice Springs finally launch a strike on Daily Waters. Damage is very slight however, so it looks like I’m going to have a hard time keeping that base shut down. Hopefully my guys will do better on future raids. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Daly Waters , at 35,90 Allied aircraft Hudson I x 54 Allied aircraft losses Hudson I: 2 damaged Airbase hits 1 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 4 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No allied bases were hit today by Japanese air raids. Japan focused all of its raids on allied land units in China and the PI’s. Allied bombers hit Cooktown today and caused moderate damage. In China Japan launched its first bombardment attack of hex 47,36 east of Changsha and gave me my first look at what he’s bringing to the fight. 15 units have arrive with another 7 still reported east of the battle. 7 of the units are divisions, 2 are artillery regiments, 3 are engineers and one is a tank regiment. I assume the last unit is an HQ as it wasn’t on the battle screen. Our comparative AV’s gives me hope that my guys can hold out until the 6 reserve corps en route to the battle can arrive in time. All of my units are at level 3 forts, so hopefully my low morale won’t hurt my AV too much. Even if all 7 Japanese units still east of the battle are divisions, I’m pretty sure I can hold on. If the hex goes down before the reserves arrive, I’ll simply pull back to Changsha and sit behind its level 9 forts. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 48466 troops, 228 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3354 Defending force 85701 troops, 343 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2358 Allied ground losses: 91 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Sumatra Japan attacked Medan and took the base with a 12-1 attack. Japan launched a deliberate attack at Cagayan and achieved 2-1 odds. The base held but as the last fort was destroyed as a result of this attack, I expect the base to fall on the next assault. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Cagayan Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 15993 troops, 84 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 384 Defending force 6416 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 184 Japanese max assault: 336 - adjusted assault: 246 Allied max defense: 99 - adjusted defense: 97 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1) Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0 Japanese ground losses: 200 casualties reported Guns lost 5 Allied ground losses: 63 casualties reported Guns lost 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Japanese sub began flying recon missions over Perth today. Given the fact he has already landed at Darwin and Cooktown, I’m thinking this may be a prelude to a landing at Perth. Japan’s carriers are east of Rabaul right now, so if he does come to Perth right now I may have a chance to hurt him. [image]local://upfiles/5815/DF8775B0E9DD4460BB46925BF31CC10E.jpg[/image] I have an under strength cavalry division at Perth, an infantry brigade at Geraldton and a cavalry brigade at Albany. I’m pretty sure these 3 units and the other misc. units at the three bases can stop as much as 2 Japanese divisions if they all work together and conduct a fighting withdraw towards Kalgoorlie. I simply cannot spare any more land forces for the Perth area at this time, so if he brings more than two divisions I’ll have to beat feet out of the area to spare my units combat effectiveness. I’ll need them for the fighting that is sure to come around Adelaide and Sydney. No sense getting them worn down in a hopeless fight at Perth. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 29 – 30 Apr. 42 (1/11/2008 8:34:55 PM)
29 – 30 Apr. 42 Sorry for the delay in the AAR, my opponent has been traveling for work and we haven’t played much lately. Not much happened on 29 Apr, allied bombers hit Cooktown, Cairns and the 4th Mixed Regiment a few hexes south of Moulmein. Japanese bombers hit a couple of Chinese units in hex 47, 36. No other Japanese raids were conducted. Japan did capture Cagayan, but this was expected. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Cagayan Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 15885 troops, 82 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 372 Defending force 6331 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 181 Japanese max assault: 326 - adjusted assault: 181 Allied max defense: 111 - adjusted defense: 37 Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0) Japanese forces CAPTURE Cagayan base !!! Japanese ground losses: 338 casualties reported Guns lost 11 Allied ground losses: 10631 casualties reported Guns lost 18 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 30 Apr, allied bombers hit Daily Waters, Cooktown and the 28th Engineer regiment a few hexes south of Moulmein. Japanese bombers hit units in hex 47, 36 and some of the small isolated units left in the PI. No other raids were conducted by Japan. Japan launched their first deliberate attack on hex 47, 36 and achieved a 1-1 odds attack, but I took fewer casualties than him so I feel it was a Chinese victory. All my corps units are still entrenched to level 3 and the 4 HQ units in the hex are entrenched to level 5 still (Chinese corps don’t entrench past level 3 in this mod it seems). All land units in the hex pulled supply this turn and each corps now has 1400+ supplies on hand. All but 1 corp is now at or above 50 experience, so I should be able to hold out unless I get a really bad die roll. [image]local://upfiles/5815/8C88D841C3A54DF589E21FFF1BB2C3A0.jpg[/image] Recon still spots 5 units east of the battle area, so Japan may bring in some more strength, but my first reinforcing corps should start arriving in 3 turns. They are 1 hex west with 15 miles accumulated, so they should accumulate 15 miles a day. Up till now I’ve had the AVG sitting at Chungking flying 50% CAP over the base. I’ve stood them down to repair all their disabled planes. In a couple of turns I’ll rebase them to Changsha and fly a LRCAP over hex 47, 36 to see if I can ambush some of his attacking planes. By then his Oscars and Nates should be pretty fatigued as they are flying missions every day. So hopefully the AVG can bag some victims. Jim

Gen.Hoepner -> RE: 29 – 30 Apr. 42 (1/12/2008 3:12:25 PM)
Keep it up Jim. We're still reading it even if not posting every day![;)]

Jim D Burns -> 1 – 3 May 42 (1/13/2008 2:22:35 PM)
1 – 3 May 42 Things are really slowing down in game, so I’ll do multi-day reports until they begin to pick up again. 1 May 42 arrives and the British can now upgrade their air frames. A few squadrons are upgraded, but nothing major was changed since there aren’t enough Hurricanes to upgrade any of the squadrons that upgrade to them. All British CV’s are now operating Martlet’s and Sea Hurricanes, so that was a big improvement in their fighter defense. Japanese bombers hit Moulmein, some Chinese land units at hex 47, 36 and some PI units. Allied bombers hit Cooktown this turn. Japan launches its second deliberate attack on hex 47, 36 and gets 0-1 odds. Chinese troops perform admirably and all corps now have experience levels exceeding 50. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 175782 troops, 752 guns, 82 vehicles, Assault Value = 3734 Defending force 82839 troops, 303 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2306 Japanese max assault: 2987 - adjusted assault: 1271 Allied max defense: 2113 - adjusted defense: 1947 Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 Japanese ground losses: 3930 casualties reported Guns lost 38 Vehicles lost 3 Allied ground losses: 1356 casualties reported Guns lost 23 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 2 May 42, Japanese bombers hit hex 47, 36 two times, but run into 32 fighters from the AVG flying LRCAP over the hex from Changsha. The AVG shoots down 13 planes in the first intercept (mostly light bombers), but no planes are destroyed in the second. Japanese maneuverability simply proves too high for my fighters to overcome and my little ambush barely scratches the Japanese airforce in China. [image]local://upfiles/5815/FF5AF5C3A740412BA5E9131BFE559C3E.jpg[/image] I’ve rebased the AVG back to Chungking as there simply isn’t enough air support at Changsha to repair disablements very quickly. I’ll try another ambush later once their air frames are at 100% again. Japanese bombers also hit the remnant units in the PI again, looks like Japan plans on training his bombers on these guys until he has managed to take all the bases. Allied bombers hit Daily Waters, Cooktown and Cairns today. After last turns defeat in hex 47, 36, Japan as switch to bombardment attacks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 162764 troops, 700 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 3465 Defending force 80842 troops, 276 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2279 Allied ground losses: 169 casualties reported Guns lost 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 3 May 42, Japanese raids on Chinese and PI units continue as normal. No other Japanese air raids are conducted. The allies hit Cooktown and Cairns today. Japan conducts another land bombardment at hex 47, 36 and finds the Chinese AV has gone up. The first two reinforcing corps have arrived and I’m now confident I’ve stopped his attack even before it had a chance to get started. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 163292 troops, 699 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 3505 Defending force 105806 troops, 389 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 2949 Allied ground losses: 104 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Not much else to report today, other than I did a little searching for any allied fighter squadrons (other than the one that starts on map with them) that could switch to the P-38F’s that recently started arriving. I couldn’t find any that switched from their current fighters. Do I need to upgrade some of the squadrons to other fighters before they can upgrade to P-38’s? If so which groups are they? Jim

Jim D Burns -> 4 – 5 May 42 (1/17/2008 8:34:46 AM)
4 – 5 May 42 4 May 42 has the allies conducting air raids on Daily Waters and Cooktown. Allied heavies from Dacca also conduct a large raid on Rahaeng and find only 6 Oscars flying CAP over the base. Damage to the base is moderate and 9 Japanese planes are destroyed on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,36 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 6 Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 24 B-17E Fortress x 44 LB-30 Liberator x 12 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed Ki-51 Sonia: 3 destroyed L2D2 Tabby: 2 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-17D Fortress: 3 damaged B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged LB-30 Liberator: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 33 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Airbase hits 6 Airbase supply hits 4 Runway hits 28 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese planes conduct raids on some Philippine units. No other raids are conducted. I wonder if my little AVG ambush has thrown him off balance in China? Not much else to report other than Japan captured Kuala in Sumatra. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Kuala Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 18909 troops, 110 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 341 Defending force 613 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5 Japanese max assault: 678 - adjusted assault: 339 Allied max defense: 1 - adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 339 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Kuala base !!! Japanese ground losses: 7 casualties reported Allied ground losses: 301 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On 5 May 42 Allied bombers hit Cairns and Cooktown. Japan again hits units in the Philippines but conducts no other air raids. In China my reinforcements have started to arrive and our comparative AV’s now guarantee my position will hold. In a few more days I should match or exceed Japan’s AV and then I’ll begin conducting land bombardments of my own. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 164292 troops, 711 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 3558 Defending force 116894 troops, 449 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 3336 Allied ground losses: 132 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the Philippines Japan has begun mop-up operations at the few remaining allied bases with land units. I expect all bases will fall within a week or two at most. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 6 May 42 (1/17/2008 8:52:28 AM)
6 May 42 6 May arrives and it’s time for another look at the air to air loss numbers in game. To date 478 (+139 on the month) allied fighters have been lost in air to air. Japan has lost 103 (+28 on the month) fighters in air to air engagements. That’s a kill ratio of 4.6 – 1, slightly up from last month’s ratio of 4.5 – 1. We’re now 5 months into the game and Japan is still dominating the air to air game decisively. It should be noted that Japan almost achieved a 5 - 1 kill ratio for the month against front line allied fighters, so there is no anomaly in the numbers caused by the obsolete planes lost early on being included. [image]local://upfiles/5815/68D22635CDA14584963AA61F54D3F889.jpg[/image] The one large attrition battle I fought with him saw him completely wipe out the replacement pools for my Hurricanes and they have just now begun to rebuild again (about 10 in pool) after my groups finally fleshed out. Japanese bombers conducted a port attack on Rangoon today. Damage to the base was light and no ships were in port to get hit. I suspect Japan was after a sub I had docked at Rangoon to repair float damage before sending it on to Calcutta for further repairs. Luckily it had only taken 1 turn to patch up, otherwise it would have probably been sunk in today’s raid. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,33 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 48 Ki-21-II Sally x 21 Ki-49 Helen x 49 Ki-46-II Dinah x 4 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-II Sally: 2 damaged Ki-49 Helen: 10 damaged Port hits 3 Port fuel hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x Ki-21-II Sally bombing at 14000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The only other air strikes today were two allied raids on Cooktown. 31 Japanese zeroes were flying LRCAP over the base, and they chewed up 7 allied fighters. Of course no zeroes were lost as allied fighter simply couldn’t overcome their high maneuverability. Most of the damages to the zeroes were caused by bombers shooting at their attackers. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Cooktown , at 48,100 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 31 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 16 B-17E Fortress x 25 LB-30 Liberator x 5 F-4 Lightning x 3 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 8 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 4 destroyed, 8 damaged B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged LB-30 Liberator: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 38 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Airbase hits 2 Runway hits 18 Aircraft Attacking: 5 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Cooktown , at 48,100 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 22 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 9 Beaufort V-IX x 6 B-26B Marauder x 14 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged Beaufort V-IX: 1 damaged B-26B Marauder: 6 damaged Japanese ground losses: 6 casualties reported Runway hits 9 Aircraft Attacking: 4 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing else to report today. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 7 May 42 (1/17/2008 9:21:03 AM)
7 May 42 Japanese ASW attacks pound a couple of allied subs in Australian waters. SS Grayback is hit near Cooktown and SS S-36 is hit near Milne Bay by escorts in a task force with CVL Ryujo. Both subs will need yard time and are sent back to port. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 49,96 Japanese Ships DD Nowaki DD Hamakaze DD Shiranuhi DD Hatsukaze DD Kagero DD Akigumo Allied Ships SS Grayback, hits 1, on fire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 59,96 Japanese Ships CL Nagara DD Oshio DD Natsushio DD Oyashio DD Yugumo CL Kuma Allied Ships SS S-36 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 59,96 Japanese Ships DD Oshio DD Natsushio DD Oyashio DD Yugumo CVL Ryujo Allied Ships SS S-36, hits 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see from the below screenshot, the CVL’s task force appears to be heading into waters off the east coast of Australia again. I’m actually surprised that the CV’s may possibly be returning so soon after so much recent activity. [image]local://upfiles/5815/D04651A632C047CF89E14D08219FB264.jpg[/image] I’m also wondering if perhaps another stage to the Australian invasion may be about to get underway. I’ll be keeping a close eye on things, but there isn’t really a lot I can do that I haven’t already done. Townsville now has over 600 AV, and every base south of there has at least a division defending it. I’m gathering my Philippine Corps at Adelaide for rebuilding, it consist of 2 Reserve divisions, 1 PS RCT and 1 PS Cav Rgt. Of the four units only one of the divisions has any real strength (about 90 squads), the rest are about company strength. At Melbourne I’m gathering all units attached to Australia command and the two AIF cadres from Malaya. Combined the units will be about as strong as a full regiment, so they have a long way to go before they are rebuilt as well. I’ve sent the motorized brigade to Whyalla along with an AT battalion for defense there. Sydney has a hodge podge of units consisting of 2 Australian brigades that need some rebuilding. One of the brigades has 104 squads so is a decent sized unit. I’m also sending the USMC and US regiments from the PI there for reconstruction, but both units are only at about platoon strength right now. Sydney also has 2 armor units and an AAA unit, so I think it’s pretty well defended. With a brigade at each of the coastal bases that flank Sydney, I can swiftly bring sizable additional land strength into the hex if Japan tries a direct assault. So with these dispositions, all I can do is wait and see what Japan has in store for Australia’s future. Allied bombers hit Daily Waters and Cooktown today. Allied mediums from Imphal also hit the 2nd Para regiment retreating back to Siam along the trail from Taung Gyi and cause heavy damage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 2nd Parachute Regiment, at 32,33 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 30 Wellington III x 22 B-25C Mitchell x 27 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 133 casualties reported Guns lost 2 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With its next hex a rail hex, the two Japanese para regiments will be available for operations soon. I can only hope my repeated air bombardments have caused massive disruption and disablements that will take months to repair. Jim

Gen.Hoepner -> RE: 7 May 42 (1/17/2008 9:59:11 AM)
Hi Jim, generally speaking, how are your subs performing so far?

Ron Saueracker -> RE: Burns vs. Yubari, CHS scenario 158 version 2.08c (1/17/2008 3:12:11 PM)
Good AAR Jim. One thing so far...why move the damaged PH BBs so early? Most folks do this and lose them to subs or a lurking KB. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dec. 25th heavily damaged US battleship California torpedoed and sunk on route to west coast from Pearl. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 120,66 Japanese Ships SS I-17 Allied Ships BB California, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage DD Hull -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The damaged battleship Arizona was also torpedoed but is so far still afloat. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 121,63 Japanese Ships SS I-25 Allied Ships BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage DD Farragut DD MacDonough --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ron Saueracker -> RE: Burns vs. Yubari, CHS scenario 158 version 2.08c (1/17/2008 4:35:23 PM)
Ignore my previous post...I just read through the entire AAR and got my answer plus some excellent entertainment. Pretty decent defending overall. [8D] Only bad spot is the convoy debacles and once again, the inclusion of strict a/c ranges in an operational level game with no air phase naval movement lead to a bogus range 5 IJN CV attack with no Allied strike, thus losing Yorktown. Personally, unless they address this in AE I'd advocate a house rule where IJN a/c be set to range 4 max. Another HR would be requiring same nationality and same service (naval or air) base forces to service a/c. Why not use your CAF IL-4s 50% on naval search and 50% on naval attack at 5000ft? Causes the Japs cluster migraines![:)]

Jim D Burns -> 8 May 42 (1/17/2008 7:15:45 PM)
8 May 42 Japanese bombers make another port attack on Rangoon today, guess he was trying to get lucky. I had 3 short legged Dutch subs in harbor for refueling and his recon spotted 2 of them last turn. He must have thought I was going to disband them into port and tried to catch them. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,33 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 34 Ki-21-II Sally x 18 Ki-49 Helen x 45 Ki-46-II Dinah x 4 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-21-II Sally: 2 damaged Ki-49 Helen: 11 damaged Port hits 3 Port fuel hits 1 Port supply hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x Ki-21-II Sally bombing at 14000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied bombers hit Cooktown twice today. No other air raids were conducted by either side today. Several Chinese corps have arrived in Nanchang and Japan conducts a bombardment attack. With three divisions plus at the base, it doesn’t look like I’ll be attacking. The rest of my troops should arrive within 2 days. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 7807 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1740 Defending force 57357 troops, 268 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1500 Allied ground losses: 12 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sabang falls and with it all resistance left in northern Sumatra surrenders. I was able to pull out 1 battalion and a piece of the three Dutch base forces. One of the base forces was at about 2/3rds strength still, the other two have less than 10 elements each and will require extensive rebuilding. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Sabang Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 9977 troops, 85 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 332 Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2 Japanese max assault: 117 - adjusted assault: 75 Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 75 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Sabang base !!! Allied ground losses: 37 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As requested here’s a screenshot of my sunken subs and all the Japanese ships sunk to date sorted by what weapon was credited with sinking them. [image]local://upfiles/5815/028946A555CC464AAC9DEC1CABAAEB5C.jpg[/image] It looks like only 9 (possibly 11) ships are confirmed sunk by my subs, the 18in Mk VII’s are British air torpedoes and I believe the 21in Mk VIII’s are Dutch air torpedoes, but I wasn’t sure so I circled them too. My subs have probably damaged 15-20 ships or so in addition to those they’ve sunk. Currently the vast majority of my subs are in port repairing sys damage from attacks or recent upgrades. I should begin another sub surge in about a month or two. Right now I probably have less than 15 subs total out patrolling. Jim

Jim D Burns -> RE: Burns vs. Yubari, CHS scenario 158 version 2.08c (1/17/2008 7:27:03 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Ron Saueracker Ignore my previous post...I just read through the entire AAR and got my answer plus some excellent entertainment. Pretty decent defending overall. [8D] Only bad spot is the convoy debacles and once again, the inclusion of strict a/c ranges in an operational level game with no air phase naval movement lead to a bogus range 5 IJN CV attack with no Allied strike, thus losing Yorktown. Personally, unless they address this in AE I'd advocate a house rule where IJN a/c be set to range 4 max. Another HR would be requiring same nationality and same service (naval or air) base forces to service a/c. Why not use your CAF IL-4s 50% on naval search and 50% on naval attack at 5000ft? Causes the Japs cluster migraines![:)] Hi Ron, Welcome glad you enjoyed the read. I like the HR about same nationality air bases servicing same aircraft, but I think perhaps it is a little too strict. A better solution would be same command base forces servicing same commands aircraft, otherwise historical deployments like US planes in India and Australian planes in Malaya wouldn’t be allowed. But even this gets sticky with cross-map redeployments needing same command base forces to keep damaged planes repaired so they can finish their cross-map moves. Perhaps just a penalty to repair rolls for non-national or non-commands air frames would be better? Once/if I ever get the IL4’s above 40-45 experience I’ll do naval attacks and more. Right now they couldn’t hit the broad side of a factory (Hanoi raids missed everything) if it was painted red. Once they have some decent pilots I’ll start using them offensively again. Putting them on 50% recon and 50% naval search is a good idea, but I’m a tad worried about operational losses with such low pilot experience. Replacement air frames are almost non-existent for the Chinese airforce, I’ll have to mull it over. It should be noted Japan now keeps about 10 fighters flying CAP over Hanoi, so they are causing him to react even though they haven’t flown in a while. Jim

Ron Saueracker -> RE: Burns vs. Yubari, CHS scenario 158 version 2.08c (1/18/2008 2:34:05 AM)
In my CHS non respawn variant I drastically reduced pilot experience. (I actually have pilots in single digit exp levels...like 2![:D]) But my IL-4 pilots are in the 30s and wreak havoc on Japanese merchants...the 50% on naval search really help my sub deployments as well. You are right about the draconian strictness of the HR on base forces. There are a few exceptions to every rule. I like yours.

Jim D Burns -> 9 May 42 (1/18/2008 6:06:42 AM)
9 May 42 Allied bombers hit Daily Waters, Cairns and Cooktown today. Cooktown was far from routine and turned into a disaster for the allies. Two raids were flown against the base and 82 Japanese zeroes were flying LRCAP over the base. The range of the zeroes must have been pretty far as none of my bombers were shot down in air to air. Allied fighters however were cleared from the skies and I lost over half a month’s production of Kittyhawks. The only good news was one of the raids was a naval strike and a Japanese DD was hit. Only moderate damage was caused to the DD however. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Cooktown , at 48,100 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 82 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 12 B-17E Fortress x 22 LB-30 Liberator x 2 F-4 Lightning x 2 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 24 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 12 destroyed B-17E Fortress: 22 damaged LB-30 Liberator: 2 damaged F-4 Lightning: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 44 casualties reported Guns lost 5 Airbase hits 1 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 12 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Cooktown at 48,100 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 56 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 13 B-26B Marauder x 12 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 10 destroyed B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged Japanese Ships DD Hatsukaze DD Hamakaze DD Nowaki, Bomb hits 1, on fire Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It looks like the reason Japan was bringing his CV’s back to Australian waters is to escort in more transport convoys. Recon reports about 11,000 more troops and over 100 more guns at Cooktown this turn (both Cooktown and Cairns had similar troop numbers before today). 6 units are reported, so he’s landing an additional 4 units. Allied naval search aircraft failed to detect any of these transport fleets during their moves into Cooktown. Looks like I'll need to rebase more search aiircraft to Townsville. [image]local://upfiles/5815/23EC6D895FE64A5FA6E05D7B175607FF.jpg[/image] Allied air was too chewed up to try another air strike this turn, so I reduced bombing ranges to 4 hexes. Hopefully enough fighters will repair this turn to allow another naval strike mission before his ships leave the area. No Japanese air raids occurred today. In China all my forces are in position except one corps that will arrive in hex 47, 36 tomorrow. Here are Japan’s bombardments this turn: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 82196 troops, 346 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 3659 Defending force 131674 troops, 618 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 3741 Allied ground losses: 86 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 7807 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1740 Defending force 66893 troops, 320 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1793 Allied ground losses: 8 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Given our comparative AV’s and the fact I have far more guns in both hexes, I’ve turned on bombardment attacks for both hexes. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 10 – 11 May 42 (1/20/2008 1:00:47 AM)
10 – 11 May 42 10 May saw my reduced bombing ranges pay off a little as two raids were flown at task forces 4 hexes north of my airbases. As small raids against a Japanese surface fleet failed to het the DD targeted. But a larger raid flown against a transport task force at Cairns managed to hit a couple of AP’s, even though 21 zeroes flying CAP over the fleet broke up my strike. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 49,102 Allied aircraft B-26B Marauder x 3 Allied aircraft losses B-26B Marauder: 3 damaged Japanese Ships DD Akigumo Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF, near Cairns at 48,102 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 21 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 10 T.IVa x 7 Beaufort V-IX x 12 B-25C Mitchell x 4 B-26B Marauder x 25 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed, 4 damaged T.IVa: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Beaufort V-IX: 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged B-26B Marauder: 3 damaged Japanese Ships AP Teiryu Maru AP Kensho Maru, Bomb hits 1 AP Tafuku Maru AP Argentina Maru PG Iwate AP Tatsuta Maru AP Baikal Maru AP Kongo Maru AP Chinko Maru AP Daigen Maru PG Ikunta Maru AP Takayo Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing else occurred on 10 May except the land bombardment exchanges in China. On 11 May Japan hits Moulmein and pounds the base hard. Damage is heavy and I now doubt I’ll be able to finish my level 5 forts before land combat commences at the base. I’ve detected at least 1 more brigade and a division on the trails leading to Moulmein, so the Burma campaign should begin soon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 30,34 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 16 Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 50 Ki-21-II Sally x 23 Ki-49 Helen x 47 Ki-46-II Dinah x 4 No Japanese losses Airbase hits 8 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 50 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x Ki-21-II Sally bombing at 9000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My opponent must have been upset by last turns strike on his transport fleets,, because KB appeared 5 hexes north of Townsville (just outside my bombers 4 hex range limit) and hit the base hard putting it out of commission. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Townsville , at 46,105 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 12 B5N2 Kate x 134 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 3 Japanese aircraft losses B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed B-26B Marauder: 3 destroyed Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed A-24 Dauntless: 1 destroyed Allied ground losses: 48 casualties reported Guns lost 2 Airbase hits 27 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 111 Aircraft Attacking: 25 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 22000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I guess the reason more of my planes weren’t destroyed on the ground is because this raid against Cairns was apparently flown simultaneously and most of my planes were in the air. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Cairns , at 48,102 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 4 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 6 T.IVa x 6 Beaufort V-IX x 6 A-24 Dauntless x 30 B-25C Mitchell x 6 B-26B Marauder x 19 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses A-24 Dauntless: 1 damaged Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 38 Aircraft Attacking: 16 x A-24 Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My engineers managed to repair enough damage to make the field operational this turn, but with KB so close I decided to withdraw all my air groups south for refits. Some of my level bomber squadrons had only 5 planes left in them since I haven’t been able to pull replacements for weeks due to the Southwest Pacific HQ not pulling enough supplies to Townsville. So I’ll ride out the KB storm with no air power at either Charter Towers or Townsville and let my engineers bring the airfield back to serviceable condition. Here’s a screenshot of the base: [image]local://upfiles/5815/3C6A6C0E73E04B9DBE709F3197E72C2C.jpg[/image] In China we’re still trading land bombardments. Nothing else to report this turn. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 12 – 13 May 42 (1/20/2008 1:29:23 AM)
12 – 13 May 42 12 May starts out with Japan conducting a naval bombardment of Townsville. It looks like it was a good idea to pull all my air units out to the south last turn. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Townsville, at 46,105 Japanese Ships CL Nagara CL Kuma CA Kumano CA Kinugasa CA Kako CA Ashigara CA Nachi CA Haguro Allied ground losses: 259 casualties reported Guns lost 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- KB then conducts two air raids, one against Townsville the other Charter Towers. I believe the only reason a few planes flew escort is because I had no CAP over the bases. Escorts usually only fly in large numbers when CAP is present over the target. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Townsville , at 46,105 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 7 B5N2 Kate x 74 Allied aircraft no flights No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses No Allied losses Allied ground losses: 23 casualties reported Airbase hits 7 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 46 Aircraft Attacking: 20 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 22000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Charters Towers , at 45,105 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 5 B5N2 Kate x 25 E13A1 Jake x 4 No Japanese losses Airbase hits 2 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 18 Aircraft Attacking: 25 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 22000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In China the usual land bombardments are traded, though it appears Japan has brought at least another division into Nanchang. Here are our Nanchang bombardments. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 10688 troops, 115 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2243 Defending force 66561 troops, 314 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1789 Allied ground losses: 171 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Allied Bombardment attack Attacking force 55939 troops, 312 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1783 Defending force 111568 troops, 542 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 2243 Japanese ground losses: 20 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At hex 47, 36 Japan appears to have pulled out some of his strength. Recon only reports 18 units there now and his AV has dropped to about 2800. Guess my Nanchang move has caused him a little consternation. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 82806 troops, 357 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2849 Defending force 143263 troops, 688 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 4125 Allied ground losses: 23 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Allied Bombardment attack Attacking force 129903 troops, 688 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 4125 Defending force 144322 troops, 572 guns, 88 vehicles, Assault Value = 2849 Japanese ground losses: 22 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I’ll keep things as they are for now in China, but if he moves any more forces into Nanchang, I’ll send in the 3 flank guard corps 1 hex east of there. I’ll then send 3 corps from hex 47, 36 to take the place on flank guard duties, since it is apparent I’ve stopped his attack at this point. 13 May has two allied air raids launch against hex 30, 35 southeast of Moulmein. Both raids strike the 23rd Mixed Brigade. I had hoped that multiple targets would be hit so I could confirm recons report of a division in the hex a few turns back. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 23rd Mixed Brigade, at 30,35 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 6 Wellington III x 3 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged Aircraft Attacking: 2 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 23rd Mixed Brigade, at 30,35 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 9 Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 6 B-17E Fortress x 23 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 damaged Allied aircraft losses B-17D Fortress: 2 damaged B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 16 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Recon is still limited after these strikes, so I don’t even have a troop numbers count yet. Hopefully next turn will see some confirmation of the division. Land bombardments traded in China, nothing else occurred today. Although I did get some useful info from SIGINT this turn. It appears Japan is bringing another division to Cooktown. The 48th Division was used in the Philippines, so if he’s embarked the majority of those forces to bring to Australia, the country is in dire trouble. [image]local://upfiles/5815/D60412BEC58D46B2AEDCB491CB4400B1.jpg[/image] I’m starting to regret sending the 7th AIF division to Noumea. As soon as significant reinforcements arrive at Noumea from Panama and the states, I’ll send it back to Australia ASAP. The 6th AIF is about half way to Australia and will sail all the way to Sydney before debarking. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 14 – 16 May 42 (1/22/2008 9:02:04 PM)
14 – 16 May 42 14 May begins with an allied raid of Hudson’s on Daily Waters today and caused pretty good damage to the base for a change. The bombers struck the runway 36 times and the airbase 6 times. In Burma my bombers finally flew against multiple targets in the hex one hex southeast of Moulmein and identified several units. Two divisions and a brigade are hit, so it looks like things are about to get real hot for the British in Burma. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 23rd Mixed Brigade, at 30,35 Allied aircraft B-17E Fortress x 11 Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 39 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 30,35 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 21 Wellington III x 10 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 3 damaged Wellington III: 3 damaged Japanese ground losses: 78 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 4 x Wellington III bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 5th Division, at 30,35 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 8 Wellington III x 6 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 4 damaged Wellington III: 3 damaged Japanese ground losses: 94 casualties reported Guns lost 3 Aircraft Attacking: 3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 8 Japanese Jake’s escorted by 7 zeroes hit Charter Towers today and cause no damage. 15 May is probably the shortest combat report I’ve ever seen. I’ve cut and pasted the entire report: AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/15/42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Kwajalein at 81,84 Japanese Ships AP Kashima Maru PC Takunan Maru #7 PC Takunan Maru #6 PC Shonon Maru #11 PC Shonon Maru #10 PC Shonon Maru #3 PC Kyo Maru #7 PC Kyo Maru #6 PC Fumi Maru #3 Allied Ships SS Narwhal, hits 5, on fire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Kwajalein at 81,84 Japanese Ships ML Shirataka Allied Ships SS Narwhal, heavy damage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 10th Group Army, at 48,38 Japanese aircraft Ki-15 Babs x 1 No Japanese losses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 10th Group Army, at 48,38 Japanese aircraft Ki-15 Babs x 1 No Japanese losses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 83224 troops, 356 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2888 Defending force 143872 troops, 698 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 4132 Allied ground losses: 26 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 10684 troops, 116 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2247 Defending force 65378 troops, 307 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1782 Allied ground losses: 128 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With such an uneventful turn, I’m at a complete loss for what to say. If not for the pounding the Narwhal took, I’d say it was as if both sides took the day off from the war. If you thought that was bad, 16 May was even shorter: AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/16/42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 10th Group Army, at 48,38 Japanese aircraft Ki-15 Babs x 1 No Japanese losses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Charters Towers , at 45,105 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 9 E13A1 Jake x 8 No Japanese losses Aircraft Attacking: 4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet 4 x E13A1 Jake bombing at 2000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Noumea at 66,117 Japanese Ships SS I-22, hits 1, on fire Allied Ships AP Van Neck, Torpedo hits 1 Landing an engineer battalion PG Charleston Allied ground losses: 44 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 83288 troops, 357 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2903 Defending force 144168 troops, 696 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 4141 Allied ground losses: 44 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 10704 troops, 116 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2248 Defending force 65269 troops, 306 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1783 Allied ground losses: 232 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Having drawn replacement air frames and taken a few days rest, I rebased the allied bombers back to Charter Towers and Townsville. Things should be a little livelier tomorrow given several Japanese fleets are still lurking around Cooktown. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 17 May 42 (1/22/2008 10:46:24 PM)
17 May 42 Boy did things pick up today, a nice change after so many uneventful days. Overall it was a good day for the allies. At Kwajalein the US Nautilus makes an uneventful attack and escapes two ASW attacks. I post this because it appears there is a lot of shipping activity going on at Kwajalein right now. The Nautilus spots 4 fleets docked at Kwajalein. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Kwajalein at 81,84 Japanese Ships AK Hirokawa Maru PG Toyotsu Maru Allied Ships SS Nautilus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Kwajalein at 81,84 Japanese Ships MSW Shonan Maru #8 MSW Shonan Maru #7 Allied Ships SS Nautilus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Although recon reports are too sketchy to make a guess as to what is going on, I’m pretty sure Japan is preparing to invade somewhere in the Pacific. There are simply too many fleets present for simply supply runs or ASW patrols. At Madras allied ASW assets score a single hit on the Japanese sub I-159. Japan conducts a large air raid on Moulmein and causes heavy damage. With my engineers 90% of the way to level 5 forts, it’s becoming a real nail biter as to whether I’ll finish the forts before the Japanese troops arrive. With only 600 AV in the hex, I’ll need ever fort I can get. Allied heavies from Charter Towers hit Cooktown and cause light damage to the base. Japan appears to have fighters stationed at Cooktown now, so the attrition war shall commence in earnest in Australia now. Only 1 of the 8 Kittyhawk escorts was lost to the 25 zeroes flying CAP today, so his pilots must be fatigued from the transfer in. THE HIRYU IS BURNING! Allied medium bombers from Townsville conduct two air strikes against a Japanese CV task force containing the Hiryu and Soryu. Unfortunately only about 2/3rds of the planes from my bomber squadrons were ready, and even fewer flew, so the attacks were not strong ones. The escorting fighters were in even worse shape as far as ready aircraft, but they managed to allow the bombers to get through somehow, even though Japan had over 70 zeroes flying CAP over the fleet. I’ve put together a pretty detailed screenshot of the two strikes below. As you can see a large percentage of my bombers got through and managed to score several hits on the Hiryu. Also between the two attacks, we managed to put a torpedo into the side of both escorting battleships. Although I would have preferred to hit the CV’s with the torpedoes, I’m glad to see this many hits in one day. [image]local://upfiles/5815/A17EB09A580F496B9BD4EE586B0151E4.jpg[/image] Of the three hits on the Hiryu, one bounced! The other two have started moderate fires, but given that CAP over the fleet on the second wave was stronger than CAP vs. the first wave, I doubt I’ve hurt her that much. In between my two raids, Japan flew a strike against Townsville. He has definitely split up KB now. My only guess is he misinterpreted my recent withdraw of air frames as me conceding the air game in northeastern Australia. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Townsville , at 46,105 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 20 B5N2 Kate x 111 F1M2 Pete x 26 E13A1 Jake x 8 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 2 Japanese aircraft losses B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged F1M2 Pete: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed B-26B Marauder: 5 destroyed A-24 Dauntless: 2 destroyed T.IVa: 1 destroyed Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed Allied ground losses: 238 casualties reported Guns lost 4 Airbase hits 14 Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 67 Aircraft Attacking: 25 x B5N2 Kate bombing at 20000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I pulled back mainly because my squadrons were running out of air frames, but I think this emboldened my opponent and he lingered too long within range of allied air bases he hadn’t been able to permanently shut down. Had he managed to close the airfields, then splitting KB and leaving these two CV’s and parts of mini KB behind all alone would have been fine. But because he couldn’t close the airfields, it has almost cost him a CV. Like the Zuikaku earlier though, I don’t think he’ll lose the ship, so at best it’s out of action for several months. But who knows, perhaps I’ll get lucky and the fires will rage out of control. I also have 2 subs right next to these fleets, so maybe I can pick off a straggler. After today’s fighting, most of my bomber squadrons have only 1 or 2 planes ready, so I’ve staged them back for refits and left only some search planes at Townsville. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 18 May 42 (1/26/2008 4:16:11 PM)
18 May 42 At Kwajalein US sub SS Nautilus gets some revenge for the allied ML’s Japan sunk earlier in game and slams a torpedo into the side of a Japanese ML. US sub SS S-18 gets a shot at a Japanese CVE fleeing north from the Cooktown area, but the torpedoes miss. I think this is at least 3 torpedo attacks made on a Japanese CV or CVE in our game now, with still no luck for the allies. [image]local://upfiles/5815/B4BFD7362B454D32AB7116EEEBDA80D4.jpg[/image] Allied Hudson bombers hit Daily Waters today and cause light damage. Japanese bombers hit Moulmein today and cause moderate damage to the base. Unescorted Allied heavy bombers then hit Rahaeng airfield and manage to push through the light CAP defending the base, damage to the base however was light and only a few Japanese planes were destroyed on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,36 Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 9 Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 9 Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 18 B-17E Fortress x 30 LB-30 Liberator x 9 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged B-17E Fortress: 14 damaged Japanese ground losses: 40 casualties reported Airbase hits 4 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 5 Aircraft Attacking: 4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese Nell bombers then fly an unescorted mission over Charter Towers. Unfortunately my lone fighter group was still pretty chewed up from the recent CV strike and only 2 planes rose to oppose the raid. No bombers were shot down in air to air combat, though 2 were destroyed by flak. Damage to the base was very light and 1 Kittyhawk was destroyed on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Charters Towers , at 45,105 Japanese aircraft G3M Nell x 28 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 2 Japanese aircraft losses G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 17 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged Allied ground losses: 11 casualties reported Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 5 Aircraft Attacking: 7 x G3M Nell bombing at 7000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In China Japan continues his two land bombardment attacks. I now count 5 divisions at Nanchang, but I still have no other units I can send in yet. Japan’s bombardment at hex 47, 36 keeps resetting my units move plots. I’ve given them Changsha as a destination hex, let’s see if they hold the move plot to a friendly base. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 83661 troops, 361 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2927 Defending force 144762 troops, 709 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 4150 Allied ground losses: 33 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 10636 troops, 115 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2689 Defending force 64750 troops, 302 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1770 Allied ground losses: 165 casualties reported Guns lost 7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Noumea we’ve run into a possible new bug. Ever since the battles at the island ended and my base was repaired, I’ve been trying to get my bomber to strike Luganville which is just 8 hexes away from the base. I recently rebased in my P-38F group and had that on airbase attack to see if the 9 hex range they are capable made a difference, but even they wouldn’t fly an airstrike. I’ve now switched them to escort 50% CAP, to see if perhaps no escorts are what is causing the problem. I know bombers sometimes don’t fly missions reliably, but fighters usually always fly airbase attacks if they have high morale and are in good repair as all my air groups are. I have well over 300 air support at the base, so that isn’t the problem. Has anyone else run into this problem in CHS with allied planes failing to fly missions from Noumea to Luganville? Jim

Jim D Burns -> 19 – 21 May 42 (1/29/2008 2:38:33 PM)
19 – 21 May 42 19 May has the allies bombing Cooktown and Daily waters. Damage to the bases is light. Japan bombs Moulmein and causes moderate damage to the base. Japan then launches a deliberate attack at Nanchang and gets a 1-1 odds attack. Japan takes almost 4-1 more casualties than China, so I consider the battle a Chinese victory. I do note however that Japan now has over 150,000 troops (6 of them divisions) at Nanchang. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 132893 troops, 654 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 3169 Defending force 64543 troops, 294 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1773 Japanese max assault: 2834 - adjusted assault: 944 Allied max defense: 1825 - adjusted defense: 722 Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 Japanese ground losses: 4578 casualties reported Guns lost 34 Vehicles lost 2 Allied ground losses: 1480 casualties reported Guns lost 20 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/CD75751FFF1C4795B27F6C462E5296C2.jpg[/image] With so much power at Nanchang, I’ve gone ahead and committed my three reserve corps one hex west to move into the city. The three corps pulling out from the battle in the wooded hex north will replace the reserve corps on flank guard duty once they arrive in the area. 20 May has 2 Japanese air strikes. One hits Moulmein and the other was a small strike of 23 Ann’s that hit the WS Garrison Battalion remnant on the western shores of Sumatra. The allied heavies hit Cooktown today, damage to the base is slowly building with these daily raids. Hopefully we can get the airfield shut down soon to drive the zeroes based there out of Australian skies. Nothing else of note occurred today. 21 May starts with a Japanese sub attack at Palmyra. A small allied AK is hit but the sub gets hammered for its trouble. This small fleet was sent there to shuttle the 2 short legged squadrons of A-24’s from Palmyra to Canton Island. Hopefully the damage to the sub is sufficient to cause it to return to port so the remaining AK can begin the shuttle moves. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Palmyra at 110,90 Japanese Ships SS I-21, hits 5 Allied Ships AK Kaula, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage DD Pope DD Pillsbury DD Peary -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied heavies hit Cooktown again today and cause light damage. However three zeroes were destroyed on the ground. Recon reports my opponent has moved his zeroes to Cairns. With the allied medium bombers back at Townsville this turn, I’ve set them to begin hammering that base again. If things go well I should regain air superiority in about 2-4 days. My fighters are still in bad shape from the KB raid last week, so I fear losses will be high as I won’t have many escorts. In China Japan has reverted to a land bombardment at Nanchang. He has discontinued his land bombardment in the northern forest hex, perhaps he has supply issues there, or he may even be withdrawing. I’ll keep an eye on things, if the number of units in hex drops suddenly, I’ll launch a shock attack to try and hit his rear guard before it escapes. At Noumea the 1st Marine Air Wing (SPAC command) has arrived at the base. This allows me to embark the 51st Aviation Regiment (originally diverted from SWPAC command) to send on to Sydney and ultimately Townsville. It will be nice to finally have decent air support available in Australia for a change. Currently most of my active air squadrons have 50% - 70% of their air frames disabled most of the time. While this does allow daily raids to be conducted because just a small percentage of the pilots gain any fatigue, it takes forever to accumulate enough damage at a base to put it out of commission. With near 100% of the air frames operational, I’m hoping it will be a lot easier to maintain air superiority in Northeastern Australia. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 22 – 24 May 42 (2/1/2008 7:14:05 PM)
22 – 24 May 42 22 May has the allies conduct two air raids. One on Daily Waters and one on Cooktown. Japan conducts one air raid on Wyndham. This is Japan’s first attack on the base and damage to the base is light. With supplies in the red however, I rebased the float plane group out. I also ordered the baseforce unit to march to Tennant Creek since this probably means Japan is preparing to take the base. My equipment pools are pretty dry right now, so no sense adding one more unit that needs rebuilding to the mix by leaving the baseforce unit at Wyndham to be destroyed. I would have air lifted the unit out, but all the baseforce units in northern Australia are fixed units, so they’ll all have to march out eventually. As I fled the SRA, I managed to dump about 8,000 supplies at Broome, so I’ll wait to pull out from the last two bases until my squadron of Hudson’s at Broome has a chance to sink a little Japanese shipping. 23 May starts off with a little sub activity. First the SS Bonita gets hammered by Japanese escorts after its torpedo attacks miss their targets. Next the US sub SS S-27 slams a torpedo into a Japanese AK and manages to elude the escort’s counter-attacks. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 57,97 Japanese Ships AK Biyo Maru PC Ch 24 PC Ch 23 PC Ch 19 PC Sonan Maru #6 PC Kyo Maru #11 PC Kyo Maru #2 Allied Ships SS Bonita, hits 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 57,97 Japanese Ships AK Ryuun Maru AK Biyo Maru PC Ch 24 PC Ch 23 PC Ch 19 PC Sonan Maru #6 PC Kyo Maru #11 PC Kyo Maru #2 Allied Ships SS Bonita, hits 5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 66,99 Japanese Ships AK Ryuko Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire AK Isuzu Maru PC Ch 22 PC Ch 20 PG Daido Maru Allied Ships SS S-27 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The allies bomb Daily Waters and Cooktown again today. Allied heavies also hit the Japanese 5th Division on the trail one hex southeast of Moulmein. Japan bombs Chinese units at Nanchang today in 4 separate raids. 24 May has the allies again hitting Daily Waters and Cooktown today. In addition some of my planes from Noumea finally fly against Luganville after weeks of inactivity. I had been trying to get my planes to fly for several weeks now against the airbase. This turn I had switched these two long range units to port attack and ground attack to see if that made a difference. Sure enough they flew, so perhaps the fact that Luganville is a 0 (0) airfield right now is the reason none of my other planes are flying. I even have my single squadron of P-38F’s at Luganville, so I was getting worried that the base was bugged. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Luganville , at 71,111 Allied aircraft F-5A Lightning x 3 A-29 Hudson x 11 No Allied losses Port hits 2 Port supply hits 1 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 6000 feet 5 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Maizuru 1st SNLF, at 71,111 Allied aircraft PBY Catalina x 1 F-5A Lightning x 1 A-29 Hudson x 9 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 24 casualties reported Aircraft Attacking: 9 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My range 8 bombers still have not flown a mission yet and neither have the P-38’s, so this turn I set all bombers to naval strike/Port attack commanders decision to see if they will all launch on the next strike. The P-38’s are set to escort. Allied mediums and heavies hit the 23rd mixed brigade on the trail hex one hex southeast of Moulmein. I think ground attack bombers usually hit the most effective land unit in a hex, so perhaps this means my previous ground attack missions against his divisions have caused them so much disruption that they are weaker than the brigade now. Of course I could be totally wrong, but I’ll take it as a good sign for now. Other than a land bombardment at Nanchang, Japan conducted no activity of note today. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 25 – 27 May 42 (2/4/2008 10:36:38 AM)
25 – 27 May 42 25 May begins with Dutch sub KXVI slamming a torpedo into the side of a Japanese AK at Batavia. I was surprised to see no escorts assigned to the ship, perhaps my recent sub inactivity with all my radar refits has caused my opponent to get complacent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Batavia at 20,60 Japanese Ships AK Nojima Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage Allied Ships SS KXVI -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied heavy bombers hit Cooktown today. I also finally got the B-25C’s to fly against Luganville from Noumea. It looks like the lack of an airbase level is why they hadn’t been flying before. This raid will become another one of my routine raids. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Luganville , at 71,111 Allied aircraft PBY Catalina x 1 F-5A Lightning x 1 B-25C Mitchell x 30 A-29 Hudson x 30 P-38F Lightning x 15 No Allied losses Aircraft Attacking: 12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other than a land bombardment at Nanchang, Japan conducted no operation of note today. 26 May begins with a Japanese naval bombardment of Benkolen on western Sumatra. I was surprised to see this operation. Perhaps my opponent thinks I’ve reinforced the base, but all I have there are the starting Dutch forces that begin the game there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Naval bombardment of Benkolen, at 17,55 Japanese Ships CL Kinu CL Natori CA Myoko CA Chokai CA Tone Allied ground losses: 210 casualties reported Airbase hits 6 Airbase supply hits 3 Runway hits 19 Port hits 6 Port fuel hits 1 Port supply hits 9 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese bombers hit Moulmein today and stop base fort construction at 99%. With Japanese land units arriving in the hex now, it’s doubtful I’ll have a chance to finish the level 5 forts. Allied bombers hit Luganville today. Then just as the turn was about to end, US sub SS Halibut slams a torpedo into the side of a Japanese AP south of the Home Islands. No casualties were reported, so I assume the ship was empty. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 66,48 Japanese Ships AP Taiho Maru, Torpedo hits 1 PG Aikoku Maru PG Shoei Maru Allied Ships SS Halibut -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/103744F855864C19BD08760ACFDE4174.jpg[/image] 27 May begins with two failed US sub attacks. Both ships launched torpedoes, one missed and the others were duds. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 62,92 Allied Ships SS Barracuda -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Tori Shima at 64,48 Japanese Ships AK Asahisan Maru Allied Ships SS Halibut -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied bombers hit Daily Waters and Luganville today. Allied medium bombers from Townsville also launched three attacks on several Japanese task forces that appeared in waters east of Cooktown this turn. Over 100 zeroes (presumably flying from KB’s decks) were flying CAP over the fleets. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 49,101 Japanese aircraft A6M2-N Rufe x 4 A6M2 Zero x 107 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 2 B-26B Marauder x 12 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 7 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed B-26B Marauder: 11 destroyed Japanese Ships AP Higashiyama Maru Aircraft Attacking: 1 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 49,101 Japanese aircraft A6M2-N Rufe x 4 A6M2 Zero x 107 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 22 B-25C Mitchell x 14 B-26B Marauder x 44 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2-N Rufe: 2 damaged A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 20 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 15 destroyed B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged B-26B Marauder: 10 destroyed, 24 damaged Japanese Ships DD Shiranuhi DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Hamakaze Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on TF at 49,101 Japanese aircraft A6M2-N Rufe x 4 A6M2 Zero x 62 Allied aircraft Kittyhawk I x 5 B-25C Mitchell x 6 B-26B Marauder x 13 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2-N Rufe: 1 damaged A6M2 Zero: 6 damaged Allied aircraft losses Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 4 damaged B-26B Marauder: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged Japanese Ships AP Genoa Maru AP Tanba Maru Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The net effect of the raids is no Japanese ships were hit and allied air power in Australia is decimated. There are now no Kittyhawks in the reinforcement pools and less than 25 left on map between the three squadrons that use them. The only other allied fighters available in Australia are the Wirraways and about 50 Dutch fighters. The Dutch fighters just recently appeared and have morale and experience in the 20’s-30’s, so can’t even be considered. The Wirraways would get decimated by the zeroes, so no sense sending them forward to train up Japanese pilots. So At this point I’ll have to concede the air war in Australia until more fighters become available. Two more sub attacks are launched near the end of the turn and one catches another unescorted Japanese AK at Tarakan. The skipper surfaces and adds his deck gun to the mayhem caused to the ship. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 62,48 Japanese Ships AK Tokiwasan Maru MSW Yoshino Maru Allied Ships SS Halibut -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Tarakan at 34,60 Japanese Ships AK Nissen Maru #3, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage Allied Ships SS Sailfish -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In China Japan conducts two land bombardments this turn. With my recent redeployments finished, I decided to post the attacks to give readers an idea of how the AV’s in the two hexes stack up now. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Nanchang Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 94691 troops, 519 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 2485 Defending force 93457 troops, 434 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2824 Allied ground losses: 154 casualties reported Guns lost 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at 47,36 Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 2104 troops, 48 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2995 Defending force 117049 troops, 558 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 3254 Allied ground losses: 10 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I doubt Japan is going to be able to break these two stalemates unless he brings a lot more power to the fight. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 28 – 30 May 42 (2/8/2008 3:16:34 AM)
28 – 30 May 42 28 May starts off with more Japanese troops landing at Benkolen. Looks like the recent naval bombardment was in preparation for an invasion. I had assumed my opponent would march overland as he did at the base further north, but I guess he decided the direct approach was better. Later in the turn the base falls to a 78-1 attack and the last large Dutch unit in the SRA marches off into POW camps. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Benkolen Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 2782 troops, 13 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 77 Defending force 651 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 23 Japanese max assault: 79 - adjusted assault: 78 Allied max defense: 13 - adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 78 to 1 (fort level 2) Japanese forces CAPTURE Benkolen base !!! Japanese ground losses: 22 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Allied ground losses: 1847 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied bombers hit Daily Waters and Luganville today. Japan conducts a sweep of Moulmein but finds no allied LRCAP over the base. I had brought my Hurricanes down to Rangoon and conducted some LRCAP for an ambush recently, but they are now back at Mandalay. My stockpile of hurricanes in the replacement pool is still less than a month’s supply, so OI don’t want to try and fight him in the air again in a sustained campaign for at least a month or two. In fact I’ll probably only conduct ambush type raids with my hurricanes until the Mandalay battles commence. By then I should have about 80 or so hurricanes stockpiled in the replacement pools and it should allow me to contest the air over the base for at least one or two big air battles. Japan conducts a land bombardment at Moulmein and we get a look at the comparative AV’s. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Moulmein Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 22142 troops, 101 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1056 Defending force 25890 troops, 240 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 687 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There are still quite a few units along the trails leading to Moulmein, but allied recon isn’t good enough to paint an accurate picture. If I had to guess I’d say at least one or more divisions are still on the trail. 29 May barley rates as a turn. Here is the combatreports.txt file in its entirely: AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/29/42 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Moulmein Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 42591 troops, 184 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1059 Defending force 25835 troops, 239 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 683 Allied ground losses: 26 casualties reported Guns lost 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 May starts off with a lot of allied sub activity. The net result is one allied sub heavily damaged and one Japanese AK with troops aboard eats two fish. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Benkolen at 17,55 Japanese Ships AK Delagoa Maru AP Takunan Maru MSW Atsu Maru Allied Ships SS KXVIII -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Benkolen at 17,55 Japanese Ships AK Bordeaux Maru MSW Atsu Maru Allied Ships SS KXVIII -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack at 59,49 Japanese Ships MSW Togo Maru DD Hatakaze Allied Ships SS Halibut, hits 3, on fire -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 57,97 Japanese Ships AK Arabia Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire DD Tokitsukaze DD Amatsukaze DD Hayashio DD Yukikaze Allied Ships SS S-18 Japanese ground losses: 66 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At Moulmein allied medium bomber fly two separate raids and pound the Japanese 33rd and 55th Division’s. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 30,34 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 19 Wellington III x 6 B-25C Mitchell x 10 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 70 casualties reported Guns lost 2 Aircraft Attacking: 3 x Wellington III bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 55th Division, at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 15 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 71 Wellington III x 15 B-25C Mitchell x 21 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 8 damaged Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 3 destroyed, 16 damaged Wellington III: 3 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 10 damaged Japanese ground losses: 210 casualties reported Guns lost 4 Aircraft Attacking: 12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan launches a small raid on Moulmein with 19 Ann’s and does minor damage to the base. Japan then launches a deliberate attack at Moulmein and his engineers reduce the level 5 forts one level before the battle. Even though the forts came down a level, Japan only achieves a 0-1 and takes much heavier losses than the allies do. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Moulmein Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 50538 troops, 177 guns, 80 vehicles, Assault Value = 1055 Defending force 25774 troops, 237 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 681 Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4 Japanese max assault: 598 - adjusted assault: 399 Allied max defense: 669 - adjusted defense: 1589 Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4) Japanese ground losses: 2100 casualties reported Guns lost 13 Vehicles lost 1 Allied ground losses: 597 casualties reported Guns lost 19 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [image]local://upfiles/5815/C36E4288CBFA48EE9B7BA29916585597.jpg[/image] This is a big win for the allies in Burma. Japan is a very long march from his rear area bases and recovering the disablements from a battle like this will take him months in a malarial hex. If Japan can force me out of Moulmein, then Rangoon will be his in short order and suddenly he’ll have a non-malaria hex to rest and recuperate his units in during the campaign to retake the rest of Burma. With having such a late start in Burma, I’m starting to think I should fight for every inch of the small country. I’ve got the two British infantry divisions at Bangalore and the first Chindit brigade that I can send to Burma, but I still don’t know where the rest of his Singapore and Java forces are. I think if Moulmein can hold for about a month, I may shift a large number of troops to Burma in July. The Chindit’s will go there as soon as they arrive since they are so easy to airlift in, but I’ll hold the British out for another month I think, then I’ll commit them somewhere. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 31 May – 2 Jun. 42 (2/8/2008 5:17:32 PM)
31 May – 2 Jun. 42 31 May starts out with the US sub SS Nautilus getting another shot at a Japanese minelayer at Kwajalein and again missing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Kwajalein at 81,84 Japanese Ships ML Shirataka Allied Ships SS Nautilus -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later in the turn the Chinese airforce makes its presence felt and actually scores a couple hits on a city attack of Hanoi’s resource. Conducting naval searches and recon flights has gotten the pilots experience levels all up to 49-70 or so (most are in the lower 50’s), so now at least they can hit something. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on Hanoi , at 36,37 Allied aircraft IL-4c x 9 No Allied losses Resources hits 2 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet 3 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied bombers then conducted several air raids on two Japanese divisions at Moulmein and pound them. Hopefully this will keep their disruption high and prevent them from recovering from last turn’s battle casualties for quite some time. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 7 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 47 Wellington III x 14 B-25C Mitchell x 16 Japanese aircraft losses Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 damaged Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 2 damaged Wellington III: 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged Japanese ground losses: 93 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3 Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 7 B-17E Fortress x 12 LB-30 Liberator x 3 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 9 casualties reported Aircraft Attacking: 3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 55th Division, at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 7 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 16 Wellington III x 6 B-25C Mitchell x 10 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 1 damaged Wellington III: 1 damaged B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 26 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 4 x Blenheim IV bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 55th Division, at 30,34 Japanese aircraft Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3 Allied aircraft B-17D Fortress x 10 B-17E Fortress x 25 LB-30 Liberator x 6 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged Japanese ground losses: 24 casualties reported Guns lost 1 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing else of note occurred today. 1 June begins with two more failed allied sub attacks at truck. The AO would have been a sweet target to hit. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships AK Yanagigawa PG Seikai Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships AO Shiretoko PG Kure Maru #5 PG Akitsu Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Allied bombers hit Daily Waters today. Japan then launches an ASW attack on the SS Tambor at Truck, but fails to score any hits. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships PG Seikai Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The big news for today is Japan is on the move in Australia. As you can see from the below screenshot, allied recon spots units marching south from Daily Waters and Cairns. [image]local://upfiles/5815/DA6E6A34A72A4F9D8F6E52FBE1E0D835.jpg[/image] I have no idea what he has in the two hexes as allied recon is pretty bad right now. I know he’s landed 2 divisions at Darwin and 2 at Cooktown. I have no idea how many more troops have come ashore after he won those two battles. What little recon I had in Townsville did spot a lot of shipping activity around Cooktown, so I’m sure he’s brought plenty of stuff to the party. I have no eyes on the area around Darwin anymore, so as far as I know he’s landed hundreds of thousands of troops up there. I guess I’ll find out soon enough. 2 June also has some allied sub activity, but this time the allies manage to score some hits. The Tambor finally scores at Truk and the S-39 hits a loaded ship north of Cooktown and causes some casualties. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships AK Yanagigawa, Torpedo hits 1, on fire PG Seikai Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Singapore at 22,51 Japanese Ships MSW Wa 20 Allied Ships SS Salmon -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships PG Seikai Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 48,96 Japanese Ships AP Nichiai Maru, Torpedo hits 1 DD Sazanami Allied Ships SS S-39 Japanese ground losses: 27 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japanese bombers launch 3 raids against Moulmein today, causing heavy damage to the base. Allied bombers hit Luganville today. Other than the Japanese land bombardment at Moulmein, nothing else of note occurred today. Jim

Jim D Burns -> 3 Jun. 42 (2/8/2008 5:46:32 PM)
3 Jun. 42 With the Japanese on the move in Australia, I’ve decided to go back to doing daily reports. Today has a lot more allied sub activity, but no hits score. The AO was hit, but the torpedoes were duds! [sm=Christo_pull_hair.gif] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 62,47 Japanese Ships AK Noshiro Maru PC Shonon Maru #11 PC Shonon Maru #10 Allied Ships SS Grouper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Portland Roads at 49,94 Japanese Ships AP Heiyo Maru AP Hakusan Maru Allied Ships SS S-39 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Truk at 66,78 Japanese Ships AO Notoro PG Kure Maru #5 PG Akitsu Maru Allied Ships SS Tambor -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan’s subs make themselves felt today however, sub I-29 slams a torpedo into the side of one of my large AO’s (20500 capacity!) east of New Zealand. Damage to the ship is heavy and it has been split off from the task force. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack at 70,134 Japanese Ships SS I-29, hits 1 Allied Ships AO Cimarron, Torpedo hits 1, on fire DD Clark DD Patterson DD Monssen -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I created 3 ASW task forces at Auckland with orders to head out and escort the damaged ship and the undamaged task force into port. The escorting DD’s did manage to score a hit and flooding was reported, so I’m hopeful the sub loses track of the crippled AO. Japan launches a small raid on Moulmein today. Allied bombers hit Luganville and Moulmein. The Moulmein raid is flown as one large strike and pounds the Japanese 5th Division hard. I’m glad to see this result, as the broken up raids my bombers have been flying before this were only causing a small fraction of the heavy casualties caused today. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Air attack on 5th Division, at 30,34 Allied aircraft Blenheim IV x 73 Wellington III x 18 B-25C Mitchell x 17 Allied aircraft losses Blenheim IV: 6 damaged Wellington III: 1 damaged Japanese ground losses: 175 casualties reported Guns lost 4 Aircraft Attacking: 6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet <snip> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Japan arrived at Townsville and conducts a land bombardment. 4 divisions are detected and our core AV’s show he already has a 2-1 on me. Luckily I have another brigade one hex south that will enter Townsville this turn, so I should have about 950 AV once it arrives. [image]local://upfiles/5815/B59399DDA8BF4B2EA5A1127267ABD05A.jpg[/image] With level 6 forts in Townsville, I think I can hold on long enough for the 6th AIF and 7th AIF Divisions to make their way to the battle. The 6th is near Sydney with orders to debark at Brisbane and the 7th is just leaving Noumea. I’ll probably send it to Sydney as KB was recently near Cooktown and could easily be heading south right now. At Moulmein Japan now has 3 divisions, 1 Tank regiment, 1 mixed brigade and 1 mixed regiment in the hex. Here’s today’s bombardment and our comparative AV’s. I doubt I’ll be able to get the level 4 forts to increase again, so I’ll probably have to pull back to Mandalay when the forts drop to level 2. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Moulmein Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 62114 troops, 262 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1643 Defending force 24781 troops, 208 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 634 Allied ground losses: 13 casualties reported -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If my units are still in decent shape when the forts drop to level 2, I may just pull back one hex across the river and defend there while cycling units into Rangoon for brief refits. I have another SEAC brigade and a Chinese division in Rangoon, so I could cycle two units at a time into Rangoon to allow them to recover disablements. My first Chindit Brigade is about half way between Karachi and Delhi. I’d like to get it flown into Mandalay before I have to fallback if possible, but with so much Japanese force at Moulmein and more units still one hex southeast on the trail, I may be forced to fallback sooner than I’d like. Jim

Gen.Hoepner -> RE: 3 Jun. 42 (2/8/2008 5:59:26 PM)
Hi Jim. Can you give us some details about the situation of Alice Spring?...i really think that Japan cannot march that south with a considerable force...too far away...too stretched the supply paths...would be a mistake imho!

Jim D Burns -> RE: 3 Jun. 42 (2/8/2008 6:27:19 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner Hi Jim. Can you give us some details about the situation of Alice Spring?...i really think that Japan cannot march that south with a considerable force...too far away...too stretched the supply paths...would be a mistake imho! Hi G.H., I’m typing this from memory, so I may forget something or screw up some facts, I’ll confirm everything and do a detailed breakdown of all of my Australian defensive dispositions in my next update. I have a division at Alice Springs along with a couple of baseforces and they are dug in to about level 4 forts I think. ANZAC HQ is marching back to Alice Springs (it’s around Rockhampton right now) after having marched all the way to Townsville to pull supplies there and to Charter Towers (120,000+ combined at the two bases now) because SWPAC HQ wouldn't pull any supplies to itself. At Tennant Creek I have the under strength Cavalry division from Darwin and 4 independent companies along with a baseforce unit. I think it only totals about 180 AV there, so I may have to leave that base in a hurry. I only planned to slow down the two divisions he landed at Darwin with the forces I left at Tennant Creek. But with 4 divisions at Townsville, I’m worried he may have a similar amount of troops heading to Tennant Creek. If he does I’ll simply flee to Alice Springs. I’ll also bring up my Philippine Corps from Adelaide that is currently busy rebuilding there. It is made up of the two reserve divisions, 1 PS RCT and 1 PS Cav. Rgt. All are seriously under strength since almost 100% of the units were wiped out fighting in the SRA, but one of the divisions has about 108 squads now (I airlifted a large chunk of this unit off of Timor, so it wasn’t completely shattered like the other three units were). Together the corps can probably add another 150AV to Alice Springs if needed. So with the 400 or so AV at Alice Springs, I can get it up to about 740 or so pretty quickly. Japan has to approach across 6 or so hexes of grey roadway as well, so my Hudson’s can really work over his units as they close on the base. I deliberately didn’t build up the airfield at Tennant Creek, and I’ve kept him from building one at Daily Waters, so he’ll be without air cover for quite some time if he tries for Alice Springs. I also have 2 more Australian brigades I can send from the two bases that bracket Sydney. These bases aren’t critical and they both have their own CD units that each have a small AV, so I view these 2 brigades as my last ditch reserves. I won’t commit them unless one of the two fronts begins to collapse. Jim

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