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dgaad -> (5/20/2002 4:39:41 AM)
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Rob :
I just had a similar experience with Gili, with the difference that I was very very luck not to have as yet lost a carrier.
If you are able to get transports into Gili, set the troops immediately to shock attack and try to wipe out the japs on the first go. If you have all this time been holding on to your base by your fingernails, its quite likely the japs are starving there, and could succumb to fresh troops.
Here is the glorious combat report from June 26, 1942 in my game. This was the day elements of the 3rd Division landed and came to the relief of the New Guinea forces 7th and 14th Bdes, who were barely holding on.
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 06/25/42
Air attack on 170th Regiment, at 17,42
Allied aircraft
Hudson x 9
B-17E Fortress x 7
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 39
Attacking Level Bombers:
4 x B-17E Fortress at 7000 feet
9 x Hudson at 7000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress at 7000 feet
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Air attack on Gili Gili , at 17,42
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25
G3M Nell x 19
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 92
Attacking Level Bombers:
19 x G3M Nell at 8000 feet
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Ground combat at Gili Gili
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 2665 troops, 19 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 18356 troops, 135 guns, 20 vehicles
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Ground combat at Gili Gili
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 14673 troops, 135 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 5878 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 14 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 7641
Guns lost 51
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 21
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I'd had a spell of bad weather, and had detached all of my cruisers and half of my low-AA destroyers from the carrier groups to cover the landing. So, with the detached surface group covering under heavy weather, the transports went in, landed 3rd Div, and wiped the Japs. This battle had been going on for a month, and it was rare when they Japs were able to get supplies into Gili.
I was not able to do this because I had eliminated the Jap carriers. I damaged a couple of them, but as recently as a week or so ago, they raided Gili with what appeared to be a 3 or 4 carrier force. The big threat, however, was their Battleship-laden surface group that periodically came down from Shortland to bomb Gili. This is why I detached the Cruisers and destroyers.
Normally a 2 Battleship group with lots of destroyers can mess up a cruiser group real bad. This happened to the last cruiser group I sent in with the Chicago, Australia, and the Hobart (with some destroyers). All the cruisers were lost, but the Jap battleships expended their heavy ammunition, and some were damaged quite nicely, and so they retreated before dawn (my carriers were within torpedo bomber range of Gili - 5 hexes). This allowed the transports to get in and start unloading. The next day was when I detached the cruisers from my carrier groups, forming a new TF.
The transports got in, unloaded under cover of heavy weather, and the results are as you see above. I'll be hanging around with the carrier groups set on REACT status until the last transports (the ones with massive supply loaded) are away. Then its back to Noumea where the new Saratoga awaits.
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