RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please.

RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (Full Version)

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FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (6/26/2011 5:33:21 PM)
Aircraft Research Besides what you can see here, Helen transport also was accelerated by one month recently, and then I switched the research to Shiden. I decided to use Shidens way too late, but I still hope to accelerare the first model at least to 43/6. And then stick with it until N1K5-J at least. N1K1-J is the altitude king, at least among Japanese Navy aircraft, and practical tests seems to demonstrate that Service Rating 3 is tolerable on large bases with sufficient support. I'm researching D4Y2 at the moment, but I think D4Y3 will be my definitive production model. It has the same cruse speed as B6N2, is far more reliable than D4Y1-2, and the loss of range does not matter for carrier use. [image]local://upfiles/33131/6C0BCBC56D3841B784B96F6DCD56D320.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (6/26/2011 5:53:14 PM)
I don't think that producing that many Ki-61s is wise, John... They are fairly niche planes in early 1943, and will be relegated to pure bomber interceptors soon.

John 3rd -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (6/26/2011 7:33:55 PM)
I am working to changeover my Sentai (4-5) to Mr. Tony and then shift roughly 50% over to Frank research while the rest keep on producing. Should give a decent point-defense fighter for the short term with Tojo's holding the air predominatly until Frank is here.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (6/26/2011 9:59:20 PM)
February 19, 1943 Two more Indian Divisions have rolled into Magwe today. Looks like I did right by committing the whole five-division force after all. Meanwhile, super-Es made their entrance into war, with a hunter-killer group led by Etorofu-class Matsuwa finally finding and annihilating SS Porpoise, that was foolishly hanging in shallow water south of Singapore for the last week and avenging two Lima-class xAKs sunk near Nagasaki a few days ago. Power of pre-nerf Es is unfair to Allies, I must say, but this time Bigred brought this on himself. The Big Question I'm not missing the fact that I'm mostly fighting second-rate Allied naval and ground forces. With Pearl cut off more than half-year ago, Bigred should now have a very sizeable unrestricted US troop contingent outside of it. Similarly, fast USN battleships, modern USN cruisers and modern USN destroyers, as well as the remaining Allied carrier force, made almost no moves since the naval battle of Hawaii. Sub ightings of large number of ships, including CVEs, modern capital ships and fleet oilers around Perth might be an indication that Bigred was up to something there... But now the number of ships detected in local ports has dropped radically. If these ever were real invasion preparations, my overkill response to the latest convoys to Broome might have convinced Bigred to shift focus. Ideally I would have liked to see Allies committing on the other side of Australia at them moment, if only because I don't have free manpower to vigorously counterinvade possible beachheads. Of course, I continue blockading Pearl. Mostly to keep troops there bottled up, so that they won't screw with support operations for my main move for 1943.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (6/30/2011 11:41:48 AM)
February 24, 1943 - Pocket in Burma Bigred did not really try to retreat from Irawaddy valley after it became clear that Japanese reinforcements are arriving into the theatre. Big mistake. I've sent three divisions by rail to Magwe and two to Mandalay. The former launched several attacks, but, despite achieving greater than 2:1 odds on the last two, failed to dislodge Allied troops. Loss were about even, but Allies lost far more squads and vehicles destroyed. Meanwhile, 38th and 48th Divsions, supplemented by most of the garrizons from Meiktila and Mandalay, marched to the hex NE of Magwe, through which Allied troops first entered Magwe. They met a theoretically strong, but already battered in previous battles for Magwe and undersupplied force and routed it on the first try. Ground combat at 58,46 Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 45499 troops, 452 guns, 184 vehicles, Assault Value = 1748 Defending force 14066 troops, 273 guns, 844 vehicles, Assault Value = 612 Japanese adjusted assault: 802 Allied adjusted defense: 252 Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: supply(-) Attacker: disruption(-) Japanese ground losses: 1312 casualties reported Squads: 6 destroyed, 52 disabled Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 108 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled Allied ground losses: 2553 casualties reported Squads: 86 destroyed, 39 disabled Non Combat: 176 destroyed, 167 disabled Engineers: 7 destroyed, 7 disabled Guns lost 39 (25 destroyed, 14 disabled) Vehicles lost 365 (162 destroyed, 203 disabled) Units retreated 8 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 1st RTA Division 56th/A Division 38th Division 40th Brigade 48th Division 56th/B Division 15th Army 9th RF Gun Battalion Defending units: 50th Tank Brigade 254th Armoured Brigade 73rd Motorised Brigade 24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment 268th Motorised Brigade XV Indian 4th Field Artillery Battalion 501st Coast AA Regiment This is an absolute disaster for Allies, because this victory also cut the sole path of retreat available for the following exhausted units: 84th Indian Brigade 19th Indian Division 20th Indian Division 77th Chindit Bde /2 86th Coast AA Regiment 21st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment 25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment 14th Indian Light AA Regiment Now they are going to be exterminated, and taking into account losses already inflicted on other units, the overall cost to Allies should exceeed that of the fall of Port Blair. While on tactical level Bigred's play had improved considerably and in the air he outplays me quite often, operationally he's still willing to stick his hands into the Japanese meatgrinder. [image]local://upfiles/33131/60C862B67B384BE8BD068C240BE72EDA.jpg[/image] Air and Sea War On Western Flank Speaking of air warfare, I don't even have free reign over Irawaddy valley anymore. On 23th in particular Allies have laid a huge ambush, full of Lightnings/Corsairs/Spitfires, taking down almost fifty planes, half of them Helens, in exchange for 28 of their own. On the next day my aviators managed to beat diminished Allied squadrons, but failed to interfere with Allied bombers, hitting my troops in the field (that's why you can see disruption modifier for Japanese in the combat report above). I still win air exchanges half the time, and I believe my figher losses remain lower, but when I lose, I now tend to lose badly, while Japanese victories are relatively narrow... A stupid mistake also was made at sea. I've lost a couple of heavily escorted transports to resupply Port Blair, but failed to take into account their speed. So they ended up outside of Zero umbrella, but within Dauntless range from Little Andaman. Five Aden-class xAKs were sunk by divebombers. Subsequent air attacks during unloading were repelled, but one more xAK was lost to sub attacks on the way back. That's pretty painful losses, particulary because most of them were easily preventable.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/2/2011 10:44:36 AM)
February 27, 1943: LBA Revenge For several months now I've attempted no daylight bomber attacks or sweeps farther than Chittagong. That apparently made Bigred complacent, and disregarding constant recon flights over his bases. Most of his fleet from Arakan landing operations had retreated to Calcutta... and seeing few fighters there, I've decided to punish Allies for their belief that they already own the skies by staging a combined day bomber attack by everything and kitchen sink from Burma and Andamans, including patrol Emilies. This worked magnificently, as nearly all of my squadrons took off and weather, for once, decided to be clear. Oscars and A6M2s were working on achieving air superiority, but Allied CAP was completely absent anyway. A couple of planes were taken down by flak, but the results were as follows: CA Hawkins, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage CA Devonshire, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage CL St. Louis, Bomb hits 4, on fire CL Caradoc, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage DD Hughes, Bomb hits 1, on fire DD Wilson, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires DD Arunta, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires AVD Mackinac, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage xAP Arawa, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Rangitiki, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Gogra, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Duntroon, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires xAP Chaksang, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires xAP Forafric, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires xAP Koolinda, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Egra, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires xAP Nirvana, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Clan Macfadyen, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires xAP Gandara, Bomb hits 1, on fire xAP Tai Sang, Bomb hits 1, on fire Judging by sinking sounds, at least a couple of these ships went down. In a big port the great majority of them are going to survive... although they will be stuck in a port without shipyard. Either way, most of the Allied surface forces spotted in Indian Ocean just have been neutralized for the immediate future. Some of my bombers also went for the airfield, but Allied losses there were minimal. Meanwhile, in NG-Solomons theatre Betties have launched a few day raids against unprotected airfields in Northeastern Australia and a night port raid on Luganville, where Allied ships were spotted, but these achieved almost no results.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/2/2011 2:33:57 PM)
AA Units As Ground Defense An interesting combat outcome was observed today NE of Magwe: Ground combat at 58,46 Japanese Deliberate attack Attacking force 36103 troops, 377 guns, 126 vehicles, Assault Value = 1657 Defending force 391 troops, 36 guns, 33 vehicles, Assault Value = 1 Japanese adjusted assault: 618 Allied adjusted defense: 1 Japanese assault odds: 618 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: leaders(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), supply(-) Attacker: disruption(-) Japanese ground losses: 297 casualties reported Squads: 2 destroyed, 25 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled) Allied ground losses: Guns lost 39 (39 destroyed, 0 disabled) Vehicles lost 19 (19 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Assaulting units: 1st RTA Division 48th Division 56th/A Division 40th Brigade 38th Division 56th/B Division 15th Army 9th RF Gun Battalion Defending units: 14th Indian Light AA Regiment Well that expains the massacre of the Allied shock attack in Magwe. It is clear, that AA guns do fire at ground targets, and, moreover, are potent in that role. This might cause me to rethink Japanese AA units disposition and spread some of them across more valuable island bases.

janh -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/3/2011 10:45:35 AM)
Think of the famous 88, "rasante 88". The IJA fielded quite a few different calibers and types (though all inferior in muzzle velocity to german flak 38 and 43) that are probably the best platforms in their arsenal for AT use in later war. Much more so than the dedicated AT guns at least.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/3/2011 6:58:31 PM)
February 28, 1943: Second Naval Battle of Ndeni On the night of 28th my Mandate Islands cruiser detachment returned to Ndeni, where it sank a small Allied fast transport force a few days ago, as I noticed that size 1 airfield was heavily stacked with fighters and patrol planes and decided to slow down Allies a bit with a good naval bombardment. What rear admiral Shimamoto had encountered at Ndeni was faaar beyond my expectations based on previous low-level Allied commitment or search data. After passing a few PT boats, my ships ran into a massive Allied force, unloading at the beaches. For yet-unknown reasons, American warships were at anchor, so the battle started at knife range and was both short and brutal: Night Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 120,143, Range 1,000 Yards Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses No Allied losses Japanese Ships CA Aoba, Shell hits 1 CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 24, heavy fires, heavy damage CL Natori DD Shigure DD Uranami, Shell hits 1 DD Amagiri DD Ushio DD Kuretake Allied Ships BB South Dakota, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk CA Wichita, Shell hits 1 CL Concord CL Honolulu CL Montpelier, Torpedo hits 1 DD Laffey DD Woodworth DD Caldwell DD Downes, Shell hits 2, on fire SC-741 LST-447 LST-448 LCI-62 LCI-63 Japanese Ships Reported to be Approaching! Allied TF begins to get underway Reduced sighting due to 25% moonlight Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 25% moonlight: 1,000 yards Range closes to 26,000 yards... Range closes to 23,000 yards... Range closes to 20,000 yards... Range closes to 17,000 yards... Range closes to 14,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... Range closes to 9,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 9,000 yards Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 7,000 yards Range closes to 6,000 yards... CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 6,000 yards Range closes to 5,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... Range closes to 2,000 yards... Range closes to 1,000 yards... CA Kinugasa engages BB South Dakota at 1,000 yards Kinugasa drew the first real blood by putting a torpedo at Montpelier, but the latter responded with a furious hail of 6in fire, cripping Kinugasa immediately. Then Shigure, for a change, decided to engage enemy capital ships, and put three Long Lances at South Dakota from 1000-yards range. Before being completely smothered by fire from Allied cruisers, Kinugasa added two more, and SoDak succumbed to massive damage, managing only a couple of 20mm hits on the enemy in her extremely brief fighting career. Allied TF, burdened with landing craft, beat a retreat after that. To my surprise, the main Japanese force proceeded to bombard Ndeni after that, torching a dozen of planes on the ground and sinking a lone xAK found on the way. Points to RADM Shimamoto for determination, but I would have preffered my TF switching to surface combat mode. With the dawnbreak it became clear why Allied force was so careless - they relied on their covering force: Day Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 119,142, Range 19,000 Yards Japanese Ships CA Aoba, Shell hits 3 CL Natori, Shell hits 4 DD Shigure, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage DD Uranami, Shell hits 4, on fire DD Amagiri DD Ushio, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage Allied Ships CL Helena, Shell hits 1 DD Conway, Shell hits 1 DD Cony DD Jenkins DD LaVallette DD Taylor I can only guess, why their best ship were in close escort, tied by transports, unable even to hunt down my escaping ships and take their revenge. As Japanese exhausted their ammo already, this battle was rather one-sided, but thankfully Allied TF lacked punch and was unable to score any penetrating hits on cruisers. Meanwhile, CA Kinugasa retreated only far enough to transfer surviving crew to Kuretake and be scuttled. Fires were at 99, so there wasn't any hope of saving her. As you can see here [image]local://upfiles/33131/B9BC182E0BFC45068446F30A2706915F.jpg[/image] "heavy fires, heavy damage" in the report might mean very different things. Shigure will most likely survive, barring new attacks or freak accidents, Ushio is probably toast. Still, not a heavy price to pay for a battleships. Only 3 B-26s sortied from Luganville to chase my escaping ships. LRCAP from Tulagi took them down, alongside with escorting Wildcats.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/3/2011 7:27:35 PM)
Meanwhile, take a look at Air losses by March 1st Allied air losses today are so massive also because of air attacks on the convoy that tried to resupply Great Nicobar. Allies lost almost 30 planes there on 26th and 28th, but managed to sink an APD and a fast AK, which is not an exchange I'm happy about. Ki-49-IIa still die like flies to Allied fighters. Very disappointing, and I don't have anything radically better to look forward. [image]local://upfiles/33131/41932BCD71394ACCAFC5F78E18BF1860.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/3/2011 10:27:33 PM)
Ace List, March 1st Unfortunately the pilot list in the game got bugged, showing Allied pilots as well, so take a look at what the Tracker can show us. 44 Japanese pilots (23 Navy, 21 Army) managed to score more than 5 kills during this war, and 32 of them still are alive, including all five double aces. Except for carrier pilots and guys from 202 Ku, which was out of active fighting for more than half a year, most of them actually are wartime pilot schools graduates. Half of those units that currently shoulder active frontline duties are relatively freshly-raised and were packed with newly trained pilots to begin with, others had their pre-war veterans killed off. Only 64th Sentai retains about half-dozen of its starting pilots, despite being deployed in Andamans and Burma. Yet, save for the fact that Air skill of my current top pilots usually is just a little above 70 (which, for Army units, is not even that much of a loss), I can say, that I'm successfully maintaining an elite core in my airforce so far. Besides pilos in the list, the war produced 41 aces with 5 kills (again, 32 still are alive) and a wealth of lesser skilled pilots. Most of the aces are fairly long-lived with 200-300+ missions on their records (the Tracker doesn't show that). On a whole, most Japanese pilots in the frontline units have kills. Average figher pilot experience is 57, but that includes rookies in the training units. Pilots in Burma and around rarely have less than 60. I also have a solid reserve to maintain this quality. I believe, though, I'm mainly still holding Allies off in the air due to lack of focus and patience on my opponent's part, rather than my own skill or objective conditions of our forces. Allies already have tools to nuke just about any airfield in Burma they want and inflict disproportionate hurt on my airforce, but they mustn't squander them in countless minor skirmishes. [image]local://upfiles/33131/CD6B9C295784420A99614069573150F0.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/3/2011 10:35:50 PM)
Industry at the Beginning of March I thought that the increased pilot training tax should kick from January of 1943, but apparently it is active from February. Well, I still (barely) have enough HI to break even. And still not enough fuel/oil. Supply situation also deteriorates, to which heavy fighting in China probably contributes most of all. A single bombardment by main force seems to consume supply in tens of thousands of tons. In a bright news, with CL Oyodo just arriving, naval expenses finally begin to shrink. I'm pondering if I should complete some of the currently-stopped KD subs, available before 1944, as Bigred continues to neglect his ASW (even with that, building any subs that won't be ready in 1943 is out of the question, Allied ASW potential will be just too great even through simple escort availability to justify them). [image]local://upfiles/33131/ADAD1CC6608844AEB16038F5E4375766.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/7/2011 11:41:15 AM)
Aftermath of the Battle of Ndeni: March 2-3 As I expected, Ushio sank and Shigure successfully reached Tulagi. However, I did a bone-headed mistake by not immediately sending ships from Tulagi to Rabaul, even though I knew Tulagi is in 4E range and Bigred has units in the theatre. As a result, Shigure was sunk in the harbor, and Uranami damaged badly enough that her survival is not assured. Meanwhile, I-158 managed a single hit on CA Wichita, resulting in reported heavy damage, and was killed by escorts in return. The new front already is bleeding my forces... but at least now I know where the new front is. With the best non-carrier USN ships on the frontline, it looks like a serious commitment, if not exactly to Solomons, then to SWPac. While my defences in Solomons/Gilberts aren't top-notch (too little infantry), they are not exactly weak, and I'll be happy to fight a delaying fight here. If Allies won't be able to break into the Bismark Sea for a year, this might be considered a victory. Burma, by March 3 Under repeated deliberate attacks Allied units at Magwe began to surrender, one by one... Meanwhile, battered Allied armored force tried to flank my infantry, now moving north, using the road running along Irawaddy, but my own tank regiments met it on the right bank, preventing them from deblocading forces caught at Magwe. My air support was more efficient and despite Allied numeric superiority, they were unable to dislodge my tanks so far. Speaking of the air fighting, there Japanese squadrons are destroying more planes than they are losing lately, thanks to all fighting predictably happening over the armored forces. Corsairs and Lightnings aren't able to wrest air superiority from me so close to my bases yet. However, I'm bothered by the fact, that despite 250 air support and effective AF rating of 10, Magwe still can't service my planes satislyingly. 1/3 of my fighters remain grounded every day. Might be due to exhaustion of AF units by extended fighting - all of them have fatigue of 99 or close by now. [image]local://upfiles/33131/F0248407E40544959A1357F05B4F7FA6.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/7/2011 2:19:47 PM)
Defense At Solomons: After actually looking through what I have at Home Islands, I found that I still can scrounge a decent number of support units for Solomons, as well as an infantry group. Now that Allies will soon have a working airfield at Ndeni, the plan is to set up the main airbase with torpedo support at Munda (already decently build up) and reinforce Tulagi/Lunga with more infantry, in hope that Allies will try to take them directly, instead of employing dot bases crawl. Tulagi, Lunga and Tassafaronga all have at least size 2 airfields, so, considering that the dread 4E bombers are spread between Burma and SWPac (and their slow, but considerable attrition in Burma), it will be hard for Bigred to completely suppress my forward airfields. If air raids will remain bearable, divebombers also will be based there - I'm shifting a large unit to the theatre. I've encountered a problem though: a number of Japanese base forces are scheduled to gt extremely useful upgrades, that give them signigicant number of 12cm and 8cm DP guns, and the upgrade time passed weeks ago... but none of them expanded its TOE yet, not even a base force sitting on a lot of supply at Singapore. This is puzzling and problematic. I have only one mobile CD unit worthy of the name (and it goes to Georgetown currently, until and unless Andamans are completely secure), so these base forces are my main actual CD force. Never mind AA value of those guns.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/26/2011 2:45:39 PM)
Situation up to March 24 Battles continue to rage across the Empire's perimeter. In Burma I cleaned up Allied troops surrounded at Magwe and chased Allied armor into jungle with considerable losses. Allied aviation is back to nuisance night raids again, as they probably need to lick their wounds. I tried a limited air offensive, targeting Allied shipping and airfield at Akyab, and achieved favorable kill ratio against the Allied airforce, but bombers failed to achieve anything. Allied land-based flak is monstrous on Arakan front as well, and even night raids suffer heavily from it. In Solomons we both maintain limited commitment. Allies brought Ndeni to AF level 2 by now, despite some naval and air bombardments (the former cost me 1 modern DD lost to mines). Second Naval Battle of Ndeni was fought between destroyer groups and ended undecisively, with no loss no either side. I've also lost another medium sub and about half-dozen more subs were crippled by roving USN DDs, sinking only one more xAK in return. I think it is about time to withdraw most of my subs, to preserve them for supporting the fleet in major haval battles - Allied ASW is just too good. China Front With great concern I must say that by now the situation ended in a stalemate, instead of a breakthrough. The Southern Army force needed to detach too many units to guard its stretched supply route and ended up with 900 AV against first 2000 and now over 3000 in Kweiyang. I'm forced to retreat now, although all Chinese attempts of counterattacking my spearhead were repelled so far. I don't think that even committing my strategic reserve from Burma will be enough to break there. Meanwhile, my main army remains blocked on the road north of Kweilin, after five attacks. While unceasing bombardments whittle the Chinese down, and Japanese both lose less squads destroyed in deliberate attacks than the defenders and recover disablements much faster, breakthough is still not achived, because Bigred gradually feeds new units into the grinder, maintaining the size of his force between 3400-4000 AV, so my 10000 AV (twice dropped almost to 8000) cannot rout them, and Chinese still have plenty of reserves in the rear to keep this up. I think I should have tried a shock attack at one moment... This pretty much demolished my offensive schedule for the entire war. The only resort in this situation is trying to attrit the Chinese, primarily of supply, abandoning my intent to capture as much industry as possible intact. Most of IJAAF now operates in China and I put a serious effort at firebombing Chungking. Other cities in the Chinese heartland will follow. I also have a plan of another land operation (using further optimization of garrizon forces, units from Home Islands, fresh arrivals and possibly a part of my reserve), aimed at the same goal of achieving a better position in the war of attrition... more on that later. [image]local://upfiles/33131/68D5541F587E4F0FACAE1480B2B2BFCB.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/28/2011 10:02:25 PM)
March 28, 1943: Exchanging Blows Major air action took place today in SWPac. Betties from Munda were set to free day hunt, responding to signs of major Allied troop movements around Ndeni, while fighters fighters swept and LRCAPped Ndeni. The latter met only a lone Corsair. The former ran into a large concentration of Allies ships around Vanikoro, SW of Ndeni, that astonishingly had no aircover. Unfortunately, their accuracy left much to be desired. At the end of the day, after 68 sorties against the Allied surface combatants, CLs Columbia and Honolulu took a single torpedo hit each. DD Laffley was torpedoed as well, and I hope at least this one is a kill. 24 planes diverted to attack Allied landing ships and sank an LST and two LCIs, unfortunately already empty. Weather was only "Moderate rain" during the biggest raid at the morning, and pilots were decent (65-70 NavT in general). Either Yankees got lucky, or flak played a role. Speaking of flak, 4 Betties were shot down, which, I admit, is quite low for this type of attack, even taking into account big raids and ability to set up torpedo runs without fearing fighter interference. Meanwhile, about 36 Liberators visited the port of Munda and hit my auxilaries there. Defending A6M4s reportedly took down five of the monsters, in exchange of four of their own, but failed to prevent bombing runs. An ACM and the big AKE Pshc Maru went down. What is the point of having auxilaries if I cannot place them close to the front? I guess they will be more useful once I don't have a big base like Rabaul immediately at the rear... Point-wise this was an Allied day, but hopefully damage to the modern USN cruisers will slow down Allied operations at Solomons, which already unfold at a pace so slow, that I would have found it very suspicious and decoy-like, if not for commitment of fleet units up to a fast battleship. And while ships and planes burned at SWPac, the IJAAF bomber force started the offensive operation in China I mentioned above, by beginning to pound the 2000+ AV army Bigred incautiosly moved into the open ground at Sian. I hope 3-4 turns of raids by over 300 medium bombers should be enough to raise their disruption sky-high.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/29/2011 4:55:03 PM)
March 28-30: Convoy to Burma and the Naval Battle of Ramree Island I needed to drop more supply to Burma, while extracting my reserve committed against the recent Allied offensive to a place from which it can be safely sealifted in case of an emergency. So, a large convoy moved to Rangoon, preceded by a light cruiser SCTF. Allied aviation remains strangely passive so far. One of the smaller Dutch subs tried to attack my convoy in shallow water and was apparently sunk by Mikazuki and Mutsuki in return. Meanwhile, a small Allied DD force of four ships, including two four-stacks, moved down the Arakan Coast, my SCTF reacted to it, and a prolonged battle/chase ensued. DDs Patterson and Gilmer were sunk, in exchange for moderate damage to Akatsuki. My squadron was stuck around the western tip of Burma's landmass by the daylight and I dreaded an Allied aviation response, but it did not materialize. The lesson: don't set reaction value too high, if you just want your ships to patrol under the air umbrella. Sub Wars While withdrawing surviving medium boats (three of which were sent to the bottom in March: I-158, I-173 and I-171 that finally succumbed to the damage sustained a week earlier on March 30), I moved the undamaged large ones further away from SWPac front, hoping to interdict the Allied communications around Suva-Pago Pago, instead of pounding my head against the fist of the American combat fleet. The ploy worked, with 4 hits on xAKs over the last week, 2 of which were scored by I-22, although not all of these transports might be lost. Of course, this is mostly due to Bigred's grievous lack of convoy discipline (most if not all of the victims were unescorted) and airsearch cover, but I'll take whatever victory I can.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/29/2011 9:42:50 PM)
Shipbuilding Cuts I see no significant increase in Allied sub activities and damage they do so far. In fact, the most sub sightings are in forward combat zones, where subs are relatively easy to suppress, or at least avoid. This might be caused by lack of appropriate forwards bases for Allies, as Bigred certainly tries to interdict communications around Home Islands and Formosa, but the number of USN subs on patrol there is too low. In the light of this, and my existing surplus of xAKs, I've decided to reduce the merchant shipbuilding program significantly. Besides completing ships already well on the way to completion, I'm going to stop all the construction projects, save for Std-A large xAKs (I like their high cargo/fuel efficiency, plus, they are survivable and, by Japanese standards, well-armed) and TKs (I want to eventually relieve converted Std-C tankers from their fuel-hauling duties, as they are inefficient compared to purpose-built tankers) - but not purpose-built AOs. These are junk - not enough cruise speed to keep up with the fleet, and low capacity, which makes them poorly suited for SRA convoys. Merchant shipyards will be shut down, leaving only enough of them working to accomodate the reduced production schedule. In case I'll need more xAKs later, there still are over 17k Merchant SY points in the pool, stored during 1942 - should be enough for several dozens of small Std-D ships. This should make my HI stockpile expand steadily once again.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/30/2011 6:51:03 PM)
Situation Update: Beginning of April, 1943 Burma and Solomons barely smolder now. It is possible that Bigred waits for his Hellcats to resume serious air action. Meanwhile, my schedule for 1943 is more or less shattered by failure to overrun Chinese and reconnect Southern Army forces advancing across the Burma Road with my main forces. I wanted to land on Little Andaman in March, to clear the threat from my flank before the Allied airforce starts growing by leaps and bounds. May it the earliest viable date at the moment, if there is a viable date for this invasion at all now. At least on the last day of March the garrizon of Sian (about 1200 AV) smashed the Chinese forces (about 2200 AV before the beginning of massed air raids), heavily disrupted by four days of air bombardment. This success will be exploited to the North, with the help of concentrating Japanese reserves, to cut off and seize the northern Chinese oilfields, reducing their supply production to whatever available in the Chinese heartland (which will be bombed). Taking a look at the current victory screen, one can see that the fight remains bloody for the Japanese. I'm continuing losing ships, thankfully nothing critically important so far, by careless mistakes [image]local://upfiles/33131/99C586EEAEF445A0A710BD77084F4FC7.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/30/2011 9:58:31 PM)
Japanese Aircraft Pool on April 1, 1943 Despite my efforts to avoid overproduction of early-war planes, I ended up with almost 3700 planes, nearly all of them obsolete to some degree, in the pools. This number will swell significantly, as I phase out older Navy bombers. Producing Nates until running out of engines was a mistake, looks like on-map tranining isn't going to use up all of them. Note, that there are annoying mechanics in the game which causes Japanese planes of the types that aren't used by any airgroups to be broken up for resources... So I try to use a bit of every old model in my training airgroups I'm now considering shutting down Tojo production entirely for the time being (you might notice that 2/3rds of it are stopped already). I don't want to end up with a huge pile of old Tojo IIa airframes, once IIc model enters production (which can be expected in June). They are not very useful as future kamikaze planes... [image]local://upfiles/33131/BA6CF35938E94192A660F990E1449229.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (7/30/2011 10:14:56 PM)
Japanese Pilots and Their Losses The bug which was polluting the list with the Allied aces disappeared after installing the beta pactch, thankfully... As you can see, my pilot losses are brutal (but not brutal enough to exhaust my pools - not sure how I can count my trained reserve pilots but there are alot of them, for IJAAF I even sucked all replacements dry and was drafting pilots right from the training program, until the beta patch removed the ability to do so). I'm losing close to one pilot killed or missing per two destroyed planes. A few of MIAs will return later, but only a few. I wonder what ratio of pilot lossed to plane losses Allies usually have. Even though the Army aviation had seen more combat and more losses than their Navy counterparts so far, 4 out 5 five double aces on my list are riding Zeros. I guess it is hard to score big with mere machineguns. [image]local://upfiles/33131/0F68C83215604469961D7CFAB70B0E4B.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/4/2011 9:30:52 PM)
April 6, 1943 - Bloody Hex 76,51 On April 6th, after almost a month of constant artillery bombardment, the sixth Japanese assault on Chinese positions in hex 76,51 finally succeeded, albeit at a great cost. Ground combat at 76,51 (near Chihkiang) Japanese Shock attack Attacking force 268464 troops, 3232 guns, 2217 vehicles, Assault Value = 9586 Defending force 119967 troops, 996 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3465 Japanese adjusted assault: 8354 Allied adjusted defense: 2995 Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 14412 casualties reported Squads: 162 destroyed, 1116 disabled Non Combat: 98 destroyed, 1648 disabled Engineers: 12 destroyed, 210 disabled Vehicles lost 215 (11 destroyed, 204 disabled) Allied ground losses: 38746 casualties reported Squads: 1430 destroyed, 370 disabled Non Combat: 1139 destroyed, 495 disabled Engineers: 57 destroyed, 18 disabled Guns lost 40 (33 destroyed, 7 disabled) Units retreated 15 Defeated Allied Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 19th Ind.Mixed Brigade 110th Division 32nd Division 26th Division 9th Division 8th Recon Regiment 17th Division 1st Division 116th Division 23rd Tank Regiment 40th Division 39th Division 10th Division 9th Tank Regiment 36th Division 51st Recon Regiment 6th Division 3rd Division 19th Division 35th Division 19th Tank Regiment 16th Division 3rd Tank Division 4th Division 15th Tank Regiment 14th Division 3rd Tank Regiment 41st Division 22nd Division 11th Tank Regiment RGC Army 11th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 10th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment 14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 1st Mobile Field Artillery Regiment 9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion 13th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 4th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment 4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 2nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment 10th Mortar Battalion 15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment 12th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 11th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion 12th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion 2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 13th Mortar Battalion North China Area Army 4th Medium Field Artillery Regiment China Expeditionary Army NCPC Army 7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 7th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 4th Army 3rd Army 1st Mobile AA Battalion 13th Army 10th Mortar Battalion 22nd Ind.Mtn Gun Battalion 21st Mortar Battalion 12th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion 6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Mongol Garrison Army 5th Army 1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 22nd Medium Field Artillery Regiment 6th Army 5th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion 20th Medium Field Artillery Regiment 15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Kwantung Army 4th Mortar Battalion 3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 13th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion Defending units: 71st Chinese Corps 95th Chinese Corps 1st New Chinese Corps 98th Chinese Corps 80th Chinese Corps 24th Chinese Corps 27th Chinese Corps 56th Chinese Corps 14th Chinese Corps 31st Chinese Corps 9th Chinese Corps 8th New Chinese Corps 5th War Area 1st Group Army 7th War Area 9th Group Army Central Reserve 22nd Group Army Bigred could have doubled the number of defenders here, but I think that endless artillery fire, that (in combination with poor supply situation, I believe, mostly prevented Chinese from recovering their disabled squads, discouraged him from piling up too many units. I still think it was possible for him to improve odds by withdrawing a couple of exhausted infantry formations and replace him with fresh ones, without exposing toom many units to artillery. 19th Independent Mixed Brigade was reduced to effective AV 3 by this battle. I don't like the game's propensity for concentrating fire on unlucky units during the assaults, sometimes even wiping them out entirely. The breakthrough at Sian is equally successful, with Chinese being chased north under air attacks and routed repeatedly. It seems that the road to Lanchow is open. There is still tough fighting in China ahead, but I think the end of the road is finally in sight.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/5/2011 1:24:33 PM)
April 6-7, 1943: Convoy Fighting The previous Allied convoy to Little Andaman was sunk by my aviation at the beginning of March. This time Bigred has deployed what was probably a decoy convoy meant to draw my forces into fighting. My reaction was proportional. On April 6 preliminary air raids against approaching Allied ships occured, with my Vals demonstrating abysmal accuracy and only hitting a single xAK, and on April 7 the main battle happened. To demonstrate what out battles usually look like now, I'll repost the relevant sections of the combat report: AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Apr 07, 43 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Car Nicobar at 44,61, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Hagikaze DD Sazanami DD Mutsuki DD Mikazuki DD Yuzuki Allied Ships PT-165, Shell hits 3, and is sunk Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms with 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards Range closes to 10,000 yards... Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 6,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 2,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 2,000 yards PT-165 sunk by DD Yuzuki at 2,000 yards Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Little Andaman at 44,60, Range 1,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Hagikaze DD Sazanami DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Mikazuki DD Yuzuki Allied Ships CL Trenton DD Ward, Shell hits 2, on fire DD Kennison, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk Poor visibility due to Thunderstorms with 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards Range closes to 19,000 yards... Range closes to 13,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... Range closes to 1,000 yards... Inoue, Yoshio crosses the 'T' DD Kennison engages DD Yuzuki at 1,000 yards DD Kennison engages DD Yuzuki at 1,000 yards DD Kennison engages DD Mutsuki at 1,000 yards DD Kennison sunk by DD Kagero at 1,000 yards Range increases to 2,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Ward at 2,000 yards DD Ward engages DD Mikazuki at 2,000 yards Range increases to 5,000 yards CL Trenton engages DD Mutsuki at 5,000 yards DD Kagero engages DD Ward at 5,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Little Andaman at 44,60, Range 2,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Hagikaze DD Sazanami DD Mutsuki, on fire DD Mikazuki DD Yuzuki Allied Ships PT-182, Shell hits 1 Reduced visibility due to Thunderstorms with 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards Range closes to 10,000 yards... Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 6,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... Range closes to 2,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards PT-182 engages DD Yuzuki at 2,000 yards PT-182 engages DD Mikazuki at 2,000 yards Tibbetts, D.D. orders Allied TF to disengage DD Yuzuki engages PT-182 at 2,000 yards DD Urakaze engages PT-182 at 2,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Little Andaman at 44,58, Range 1,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Hagikaze DD Sazanami DD Mutsuki, Shell hits 1, heavy fires DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 19, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Yuzuki Allied Ships DD O'Brien DD Vampire, Shell hits 4, on fire Low visibility due to Thunderstorms with 7% moonlight Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards Range closes to 23,000 yards... Range closes to 17,000 yards... Range closes to 11,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... Range closes to 5,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... Range closes to 1,000 yards... DD Vampire engages DD Mikazuki at 1,000 yards DD Mikazuki sunk by DD O'Brien at 1,000 yards Range increases to 2,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Vampire at 2,000 yards DD Vampire engages DD Mutsuki at 2,000 yards DD Vampire engages DD Urakaze at 2,000 yards Range increases to 4,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages DD Vampire at 4,000 yards DD Mutsuki engages DD O'Brien at 4,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Little Andaman at 43,59, Range 3,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Hagikaze, Shell hits 3, on fire DD Sazanami DD Mutsuki, heavy damage DD Yuzuki Allied Ships DD Scout, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk DD Stronghold, Shell hits 2, on fire Low visibility due to Thunderstorms Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms: 4,000 yards Range closes to 19,000 yards... Range closes to 13,000 yards... Range closes to 7,000 yards... Range closes to 3,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 3,000 yards DD Hagikaze engages DD Stronghold at 3,000 yards Task forces break off... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day Time Surface Combat, near Little Andaman at 44,60, Range 4,000 Yards Japanese Ships DD Kagero DD Hatsukaze DD Urakaze DD Sazanami DD Yuzuki Allied Ships PT-161, Shell hits 16, and is sunk Low visibility due to Thunderstorms Maximum visibility in Thunderstorms: 4,000 yards Range closes to 14,000 yards... Range closes to 8,000 yards... Range closes to 4,000 yards... CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 4,000 yards CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 4,000 yards Shiraishi, Nagayo crosses the 'T' DD Sazanami engages PT-161 at 4,000 yards DD Kagero engages PT-161 at 4,000 yards Minnick, G.H. orders Allied TF to disengage Range closes to 2,000 yards DD Yuzuki engages PT-161 at 2,000 yards PT-161 sunk by DD Kagero at 2,000 yards Combat ends with last Allied ship sunk... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Little Andaman , at 44,59 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 39,740 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 32 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 17 Spitfire Vc Trop x 11 Kittyhawk I x 2 P-40K Warhawk x 29 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zero: 4 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 6 x A6M5 Zero sweeping at 36740 feet CAP engaged: No.14 Sqn RCAF with Kittyhawk I (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling) 8 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters between 35000 and 36000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 3 minutes No.146 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (2 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 35600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling) 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 35600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes 49th FG/7th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 17 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes 23rd FG/74th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 9 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 29000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Little Andaman , at 44,59 Weather in hex: Light rain Raid detected at 227 NM, estimated altitude 40,740 feet. Estimated time to target is 68 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M5 Zero x 3 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 7 Spitfire Vc Trop x 3 Kittyhawk I x 1 P-40K Warhawk x 10 Japanese aircraft losses A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed No Allied losses CAP engaged: No.14 Sqn RCAF with Kittyhawk I (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters to 34600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters between 36640 and 38740. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 35640 and 36740. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 67 minutes 49th FG/7th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 15000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 68 minutes 23rd FG/74th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 34740. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 75 minutes No.146 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 36740. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on TF, near Little Andaman at 41,56 Weather in hex: Moderate rain Raid detected at 144 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 53 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 31 G3M3 Nell x 22 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 5 Allied aircraft no flights Japanese aircraft losses G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak No Allied losses Allied Ships CL Trenton, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk DD Ward Aircraft Attacking: 21 x G3M3 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58 Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 10 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 6 Allied aircraft B-24D Liberator x 10 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged Runway hits 2 Aircraft Attacking: 10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 11000 feet Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb CAP engaged: Kamikawa Maru-2 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on Little Andaman , at 44,59 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 39,740 feet. Estimated time to target is 8 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 11 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 14 Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 41 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 17 Spitfire Vc Trop x 12 Kittyhawk I x 6 P-40K Warhawk x 20 Japanese aircraft losses A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses Hurricane IIc Trop: 3 destroyed Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed P-40K Warhawk: 4 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 18 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet CAP engaged: No.14 Sqn RCAF with Kittyhawk I (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters to 30600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 4 scrambling) 6 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters between 30000 and 37000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes No.146 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 2 scrambling) 3 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 35600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 4 scrambling) 7 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 35600. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes 49th FG/7th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 13 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 Raid is overhead 23rd FG/74th FS with P-40K Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) intercepting now. 0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on Little Andaman , at 44,59 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 41,740 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 9 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 10 Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 35 Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 4 Spitfire Vc Trop x 2 P-40K Warhawk x 4 No Japanese losses No Allied losses Aircraft Attacking: 31 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 36740 feet CAP engaged: No.146 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 4000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 5000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes 49th FG/7th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 6000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 132 minutes No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) 2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 6000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Little Andaman at 44,59 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 161 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 68 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M2 Zero x 40 B5N2 Kate x 27 Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1 Allied aircraft Spitfire Vc Trop x 1 Japanese aircraft losses B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged No Allied losses Allied Ships BB Ramillies Aircraft Attacking: 27 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo 3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet 20 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet CAP engaged: No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling) (1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.) 1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 35600 , scrambling fighters to 18000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Little Andaman at 43,59 Japanese Ships DD Hagikaze Allied Ships SS Scamp DD Hagikaze is sighted by SS Scamp SS Scamp launches 2 torpedoes at DD Hagikaze A disappointing performance by my DD flotilla, that searched for the Allied transports, and Kates' pilots surely were blind to miss a barely moving target. Mutsuki is crippled and might be lost on the next day. Air losses were about even, thanks to planes from Port Blair not flying in the morning phase and leaving their comrades from Victoria Point to fight alone. I-166, however, helped to save the day (together with the Nell kokutai from Trinkat), sinking DD Russel south of Perth in the evening.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/6/2011 12:47:28 AM)
Adding to the post above, according to Bigred's email, he places alot of SBDs at Little Andaman on that turn, but they did not fly. I suspected this after seeing a number of bombers there, and, I must say, I was quite lucky, as LRCAP over my destroyers included only one group (which wouldn't have covered damaged ones that fell behind of the main TF). Well, he wasn't the only one suffering from this. Two groups of Helen skipbombers from Trinkat refused to sortie for two days in a row... I'm not sure of the reason. Morale was excellent and commanders good.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/18/2011 3:55:28 PM)
Victory in China - April of 1943 On April 24 China Expeditionary Army finally met forces of Southern Army at Kweiyang, after fighting for every hex on the road to it, and on April 25 the Chinese garrizon was pushed out of the city with massive casualties. Lanchow was overran by my northern offensive several days earlier, cutting remaining heavy industry in the Chinese heartland from oil flow. Low supply levels are evident whenever we encounter Chinese troops. [image]local://upfiles/33131/1E32C5D3AAF643488A479082C6E066EE.jpg[/image] I think there is no possibility of preventing my army in Kweiyang area, that numbers almost 10000 AV in the first line now, and will grow more as disabled squads are recovered, from breaking in the Chinese heatland and besieging Chungking from all sides. The question is whether I'll be able to storm Chungking. Remnants of the main Chinese force in the south were pushed in the woods, but they will require troops to watch, and I believe that Bigred still has 1.5-2k of surviving AV north of Kweiyang-Kunming road. Recon shows 29 units at Chungking, but who knows, how many of them are remnants, instead of reconstructed units, and how starved they are. I took care to isolate rather than destroy as many Chinese units as I can, so I think there is a chance of ending the campaign decisively. Naval Woes On the seas, though, war is not going well for IJN. Allied subs claimed DD Mutsuki, as it retreated from the fighting, described above, 1 E and 2 PBs. Skipbombers destroyed DD Nowaki and APDs Oite and Wakatake during an ill-planned resupply run to Milne Bay area. The only noticeable Japanese success was sinking 2 xAKLs and 2 patrol boats from a resupply convoy to Little Andaman by Nells, that executed a night torpedo attack on a 100% moonlight night. Another transport from this convoy was sunk by a sub. My pilots failed to repeat this feat, though, and several more night attack there and at Solomons resulted in torpedoing of only one xAKL. Worse still, I think a couple of transports managed to unload at Little Andaman, while BB Ramillies somehow got out, despite taking about 20 bombs hit while in port... Bigred is employing a lot of single-PT TFs, so I gave up on checking every one of the many detected TF in close proximity to the island. In better news, CV Ryukaku just joined the fleet, while almost all of my other carriers finished their 4/43 upgrades. Taking them all out of comission for a month and leaving only two small carriers in the Pacific was rather risky, but I decided to gamble on Bigred being cautious and busy with expanding his bases around Ndeni. This worked. Possibly the surprise Allied air raid on Rabaul, that resulted in Hosho damaged at the pier (only system damage) helped to convince Bigred, that KB is busy watching his every move.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/19/2011 12:39:37 AM)
Brief Analysis of the China Campaign 1. Full-stength Chinese troops produced by a bug in the scenario turned my advances in China into a crawl (and there were a few points, where I avoided a rout only by emergency concentration of bombers on top of the most of IJAAF bomber force already occupied there). This lasted until Bigred took over and we dropped all HRs, allowing me to move Kwantung Army forces into China. 2. Even then, my victory owed more to an accumulation of tactical mistakes by my opponent, than to any big plan of my own. I've started employing diversionary moves only in 1943, more by accident than by design, and I'm not sure if they were effective at all. As about mistakes, I believe that Bigred grasped the importance of concentrating forces into mega-stacks, rather than trying forming a frontline too late, and allowed his forces to be defeated piecemeal or blocked in pockets too often. In particular, the forces that stalled me for several months after Japanese breakthrough at Hengyang should have been combined with the army that defended Hengyang... I'm pretty sure that they weren't newly regenerated units. 3. My own conduct of the second stage of the campaign (after Kwantung Army entry into it) was lackuster and insufficiently vigorous. Bigred outmaneuvered me in the grand scheme of things, when I attempted to march five divisions through Hymalaias, creating a series of threats on their stretched flanks, guarding against which took more AV than actually reached Kweyang, and I've failed to regroup and counter in a meaninful manner. Breakthrough in the hex 76,51 was bought with over 100 000 Japanese men overall (about a thousand of destoyed squads and vehicles, if not more), and I could have implemented the measures that let me won after the first failed assault, not after the fifth. Similarly, northern assault could and should have been planned moths sooner, as soon as Bigred moved his northern army in the open, leaving it exremely vulnerable to disruption by massed air attacks. As a result of this, I'm entirely late with the planned invasions. It remains to be seen if I'll still be able to pull them off in the Hellcat age. Allied aviation remains quiet since almost the beginning of April, save for nuisance raids, attempts to catch my convoys in Solomons by unescorted skipbombing raids, and temporarily putting stiff and successful resistance over Little Andaman. This is certainly the calm before the storm - Bigred is correct taking his time to build up the Allied airforce, after it was battered during the last battle for Burma.

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/21/2011 2:13:30 PM)
Entering May of 1943 The war goes on without big events. No major Allied moves so far. I'm suffering steady but ultimately acceptable losses in ships and planes, while inflicting about as much damage on the enemy. Hopefully I'll be able to mop up China and proceed with other operations, planned for 1943, by the end of May. [image]local://upfiles/33131/4A558BA7CA7B495D8C7501CC6450F330.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/21/2011 2:29:32 PM)
Southwestern Pacific Everyday Allied actitivites are limited to building up Ndeni and Vanikoro, plus nuisance raids by night bombers and PT boats. Suits me just fine. Fleet units up to cruisers are sighted in the theatre. On my side, Tulagi, Lunga and Munda were strongly reinforced, Rabaul stocked with massive amounts of fuel and supply. Unfortunately, skipbombers make further convoy movements towards forward bases quite dangerous already. Inclusion of heavy cruisers as AA units and good CAP mitigates losses even against 4Es, but did not eliminate them entirely. Airlift will be used to mitigate this problem. [image]local://upfiles/33131/B7BFE78E800E4ED5B40DAEC217AD271A.jpg[/image]

FatR -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/21/2011 2:37:24 PM)
Burma and Andamans Absolutely no moves on the ground for weeks. In the air things were relatively quiet as well, but now I'm moving the bomber force no longer needed in China to set Allies straight here. Unfortunately, my attempt of a surprise mass night raid on Ledo, where Allied 4Es and transports, supporting the Chinese, are based, ended up with a whimper - night CAP was small and quickly overwhelmed by numbers, but bombing accuracy remained completely pathetic. Weather was good, so I'm not sure why. Allies restrict themselves to nuisance night raids, which I'm not contesting, except over Magwe, as they do not cause any appreciable damage. Although Bigred tried a high-altitude day 4E attack on Mandalay the last turn, with barely better results. [image]local://upfiles/33131/0859B564364543F99B2C76BE2F05D6B4.jpg[/image]

bk19@mweb.co.za -> RE: Ocean of Blood. FatR (J) vs. yubari (A) - no yubari, please. (8/21/2011 4:01:49 PM)
HI, There are some interesting markings on these latter two maps that I have not seen before. I refer to the various digital values displayed. Will you please indicate what they are and how there are generated? Bruce Knowles [image]local://upfiles/39162/D6C05AE5B843465FAEDEA69A37C53AAD.jpg[/image]

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