RE: Shortland invaded

RE: Shortland invaded (Full Version)

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Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Shortland invaded (1/21/2012 9:27:36 PM)
4 day update for the Commonwealth forces as we have had a fast paced e-mail exchange recently and somewhat quiet turns. Bolo was bombarded by Japanese BB's out of range of the local CD units and we don't have mines here sadly (Lack of minelayers and only Americans have ACM minefield tenders annoyingly). Night Naval bombardment of Dobo at 83,116 - Coastal Guns Fire Back! 8 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. Japanese Ships BB Fuso BB Mutsu CA Kako CA Furutaka Allied ground losses: 45 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled) BB Fuso firing at A/B Battery Heavy Coastal Artillery Regiment A/B Battery Heavy Coastal Artillery Regiment firing at BB Fuso BB Mutsu firing at 2nd RAN Base Force 2nd RAN Base Force firing at BB Mutsu CA Kako firing at 3rd Australian Brigade CA Furutaka firing at 8th Australian/B Division Very little damage caused and the airfield with its P40's was utterly unaffected. AF size grew to 3 this turn too so it wont be long before i can fully operate 2E mitchells here to try and close down Oil shipping from the small Oil centres in North New guinea. I have no further plans to send shipping here as it has 40k supply and enough men/eng for now. Piccies .. 1) Bolo , As its already friendly from a previous invasion (evacuated later) I'm flying in a small base force using catalinas to set up a fighter base to cover the weak AP's operating from Darwin. Once this is good enough we move onto base 2. 2) Soumlaki - Japan pushed us out of this earlier in the war but this time I want proper integrated base air defences that can mutually support (will be begging for some P38 lightnings from the Yankees shortly) 8th Australian division (brigades) /A and /C are planned for these bases with /B on Dobo. We have a shortage of major units to make any further progress in this area but we do have more fighters and medium bombers here than before against an aggressive Japanese response. 4) Taberfane - CW aims are for a small Eng unit to build this up to support Dobo. If Japan continues to harass Dobo we can unload supplies here and hopefully avoid any nasty night clashes. 3) Dobo -- AV 386 with 2 AAA and 1 CD with 155 mm guns. one small armoured 'regiment' with 5 Grants 8 Stuarts and 10 Humber a/c's .. Not exactly a prime Tank unit but well worth it if Japan invades imo. And yes its at 100% strength, It really is a pathetic regiment [;)] Aviation support only 44 , but im short up here anyway and it'll have to suffice for now. More soon I hope. [image]local://upfiles/7467/5A7D395D0AFA45EAA9B273E2EA65FC38.jpg[/image] Antone viewing on a 4:3 pls let me know if this pic or previous one is best sized . Thank you EDit , a bit more info now im looking at the turn . Brit SC TF with Price Of Wales as flagship and The repaired CA Indianapolis with CL and DD escorts leaves Brisbane for New Guinea to meet up with the BB Maryland. Hopefully this group can challenge Japan's surface navy should it return. Found 2 Minelayers for use in Darwin .. on the way now. Lae has almost enough supply now from small 1-2 ship AK's sailing up from Milne bay with DD escorts (for ASW) .. moved up some Albacore Torp bombers to Lae too (with Air Hq in Buna we can use torps here) . limited range set to 4 but have now closed off the jap retreat from Finchafen as well as i can. Aussie Div marching on Finchafen will arrive next turn and bombers from PM have prevented any fort building here , so we will only hit any pre-existing ones (fingers crossed)

kfsgo -> RE: Shortland invaded (1/21/2012 9:36:42 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK 3) Dobo -- AV 386 with 2 AAA and 1 CD with 155 mm guns. one small armoured 'regiment' with 5 Grants 8 Stuarts and 10 Humber a/c's .. Not exactly a prime Tank unit but well worth it if Japan invades imo. And yes its at 100% strength, It really is a pathetic regiment [;)] Aviation support only 44 , but im short up here anyway and it'll have to suffice for now. Are you sure you didn't miss a TOE upgrade? Sounds like one of the 2/x etc armoured regiments - they should be kicking around 40 Grants and 18 Stuarts by March 1942...

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Shortland invaded (1/23/2012 2:53:13 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: kfsgo quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK 3) Dobo -- AV 386 with 2 AAA and 1 CD with 155 mm guns. one small armoured 'regiment' with 5 Grants 8 Stuarts and 10 Humber a/c's .. Not exactly a prime Tank unit but well worth it if Japan invades imo. And yes its at 100% strength, It really is a pathetic regiment [;)] Aviation support only 44 , but im short up here anyway and it'll have to suffice for now. Are you sure you didn't miss a TOE upgrade? Sounds like one of the 2/x etc armoured regiments - they should be kicking around 40 Grants and 18 Stuarts by March 1942... I Don't think so , but I'll confirm it next turn received just in case. Might well have been an Australian restricted unit freed up with PP's earlier on. And welcome to the AAR by the way. Japan hit Bolo with Helen bombers with a good sized zero escort. The P40E's fared quite well and honours about even. This turn Australian command flew in a small 16 plane squadron of spitfires to fly high CAP as the P40's operate best below 20k feet, As i suspect Japan might send in Zero fighter sweeps the spits should be a nasty surprise. Afternoon Air attack on Dobo , at 83,116 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 9 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 36 Ki-49-IIa Helen x 30 Allied aircraft P-40E Warhawk x 25 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged Allied aircraft losses P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed Airbase supply hits 1 Runway hits 8 Aircraft Attacking: 13 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 14000 feet Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb 15 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 14000 feet Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb CAP engaged: 51st FG/16th FS with P-40E Warhawk (3 airborne, 6 on standby, 16 scrambling) 3 plane(s) intercepting now. Group patrol altitude is 14000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 18000. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes Elsewhere our subs in the DEI were attacked by 2 ASW groups , thier patrols have been altered (as have all other subs in the area ) to avoid this happening again. PS . the Dutch sub reported sunk by mines 6 days ago arrived in Christmas island with heavy damage. Closely followed by another with even worse damage. It appears 2 subs were hit and in the confusion one was reported sunk erroneously. Both are so full of holes that even with repairs to the critical systems I'm not sure they can make it back to Perth for the needed shipyard time. We will endeavour to save both however as the Dutch silent service has been excellent so far. TTFN [image]local://upfiles/7467/DBA54E734F334578AC7E47DF8454A773.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/23/2012 7:58:48 PM)
Below is a rough summary of the successfully concluded OP Predictable. Shortland fell after stiff resistance on Jul 10th, Fighter units relocate as we speak. [img]http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/280Shortland.png[/img]

witpqs -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/23/2012 8:22:41 PM)
Very nicely illustrated!

LoBaron -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/24/2012 6:37:34 AM)
You know, it´s all your fault... [;)]

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/24/2012 5:24:07 PM)
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 14, 43 Night air raids on Rangoon and Pegu were ineffective , mostly due to terrible weather and Japanese night fighters. One good point was shooting down 3 Nick night interceptors for no allied bomber losses. My bombers have great def skills and very high exp FYI. We have a house rule that night ops groups have to be set at 50% rest -- i forgot so I'll be standing them down for the duration of high moonlight this month in the interests of fairness. Japanese subs laid a minefield at cocos islands , we have no worries about this at all and its being cleared as we speak. Picture details .. I did try your program Witpqs .. did like the format tbh and so here is my usual pre-school scribblings. 1) Basein AF 1(6) forts 2 .. very small recon armoured unit and 2 eng battalions .. just building up forts and AF (later) when we go for Rangoon it'll be a useful assembly area , as its over a river from Rangoon we will be relativity safe once allies send down some decent troops (awaiting fort building 1st) . for the actual Rangoon attack we wont be crossing the river but heading NE 1st before assaulting. 2) Prome AF 9 forts 4 .. AV support now at 250+ .. supply is great too. Main assembly area for Rangoon attackers. 3) Toungoo . AF 4 (building to 9) forts 3 .. Waiting for AF to hit 9 as a second forward fighter base. There is one rather large possibility that the huge Japanese army in Pegu could push north once I commit to Rangoon. Ideally Id like to take Pegu 1st , then commit to Rangoon .. Although I am preparing for Rangoon I'm 1/2 tempted to re prep for Pegu as its not an urban hex .. Also Japan might be preparing for Rangoon too so I'll catch him unprepared to defend here. its a conundrum tbh as i do not have enough men for both places AFAIK. 4) Port Blair Port 2 AF 4 Forts 3 .. building all 3 with 146 eng squads and 14 eng vehicles. 2 full brigades and CD guns defending .. not planning any more men for here for now. Just running a small supply ship between madras and here. 5) Little Andaman .. Eng unit in transit to build up for mutual AF's .. once both are prepared this will be a good platform to hit Japanese positions in Malaya. More a decoy than a real threat as any and all spare units are shipping down to Perth for the invasion of Java. New Guinea Attack on Finchafen -- very disappointing 1-2 odds .. we will grind them down with air attacks eventually. POW/Maryland sent to bombard tonight (with LRCAP cover from land bases) ,, home base Buna (large AKE for replenishing the BB guns). I wonder how this will affect his defence. Aussie div stood down for now to rest. Ground combat at Finschhafen (100,126) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 10264 troops, 134 guns, 148 vehicles, Assault Value = 410 Defending force 4129 troops, 74 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 84 Allied adjusted assault: 80 Japanese adjusted defense: 100 Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-) Attacker: leaders(-) Japanese ground losses: 486 casualties reported Squads: 19 destroyed, 15 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 10 (5 destroyed, 5 disabled) Allied ground losses: 216 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled) Assaulting units: 4th Australian Division Defending units: Yokosuka 6th SNLF 43rd Naval Guard Unit 89th Naval Guard Unit I/19th Naval Guard Unit 82nd Naval Guard Unit 87th Nav Gd /1 1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment 2nd Mortar Battalion 1st Base Force /1 [image]local://upfiles/7467/53CEE280F32B4055A5CACDD2E017B79C.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/24/2012 7:01:12 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK Picture details .. I did try your program Witpqs .. did like the format tbh and so here is my usual pre-school scribblings. Its a bit like art. [&o]

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/27/2012 11:18:48 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: LoBaron quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK Picture details .. I did try your program Witpqs .. did like the format tbh and so here is my usual pre-school scribblings. Its a bit like art. [&o] A dead Sheep in formaldehyde is considered art these days , mines a masterpiece by comparison [;)] AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 16, 43 Finchafen was the only real activity for the CW this turn , 2 decent air attacks and a superb bombardment from the POW group did a huge amount of damage. Morning Air attack on 82nd Naval Guard Unit, at 100,126 (Finschhafen) Weather in hex: Light rain Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 6 Beaufort VIII x 16 Spitfire Vc Trop x 4 B-26B Marauder x 11 P-39D Airacobra x 25 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 26 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 16 x Beaufort VIII bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb 11 x B-26B Marauder bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb 25 x P-39D Airacobra bombing from 100 feet Morning Air attack on 82nd Naval Guard Unit, at 100,126 (Finschhafen) Weather in hex: Light rain Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 5 minutes Allied aircraft Hurricane IIc Trop x 6 Beaufort VIII x 16 Spitfire Vc Trop x 8 B-26B Marauder x 11 P-39D Airacobra x 25 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 71 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 16 x Beaufort VIII bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb 11 x B-26B Marauder bombing from 6000 feet Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb 25 x P-39D Airacobra bombing from 100 feet Night Naval bombardment of Finschhafen at 100,126 Allied Ships BB Prince of Wales BB Maryland CA Suffolk CA Indianapolis CL Capetown CL Caradoc CL Hobart DD Relentless DD Redoubt DD Napier DD Arunta DD Frazier Japanese ground losses: 403 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 31 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 12 (3 destroyed, 9 disabled) Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled) Airbase hits 3 Airbase supply hits 7 Runway hits 24 Port hits 19 Port supply hits 10 The spits and hurricanes were combat air patrols over finchafen while the P39's (who really need combat training) were on ground attack . POW and escorts did a masterful job and the Aussie div will shock attack tomorrow with a new BB mission hopefully going in just before. piccie of air combat reported kills , as per usual I don't believe a word but looks like the US did well over Rabaul LoBaron can fill in all other US stuff , sorry to poach your thunder but nothing else was worth screening all turn. [image]local://upfiles/7467/7B35AF8E122241C98692EBF2AA9F929C.jpg[/image] EDIT :- AKE in Buna had no supplies loaded in it and therefore could not reload the BB guns .. AKE will load supply this turn and just the cruisers and DD's will return to hit the place while the Aussies shock attack.

LoBaron -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/28/2012 6:24:25 PM)
Rob already summed it up quite well. The Solomon situation: I tested the CAP defense of Rabaul with a P38 sweep for two days, below is the initial raid: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125 Weather in hex: Clear sky Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 16 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 93 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 27 Allied aircraft P-38F Lightning x 24 P-38G Lightning x 41 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 7 destroyed Ki-61-Ia Tony: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38F Lightning: 1 destroyed P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 22 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet 12 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet 17 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet The follow up raids of the next days met still resistance, I assume the true kill ratio to be about 2.5:1, which means I lose more pilots, but less airframes. Pilots are not a problem as long as the attrition rate doesn´t go up at least to double loss figures. Airframes are another story, Mike outproduces me probably 6:1 in Lightning:Zero&Tony airframes, so if I cannot break his air defense in short time, and only fight winning battles, the P38s alone won´t win this. But this was expected and the preparations to bring Shortland AF into action are already in the makes. With numerical support of USMC/USN Wildcats and USAAF P40s I expect to reach air superiority within the next 1-2 months. This is supported by the fact that Mike needs to pay attention to the Commonwealth advancing in NG to avoid getting isolated in the Bismark Sea. Other news: Good day for both, the silent service and the ASW effort: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Munda at 111,136 Japanese Ships SS I-124, hits 8, heavy damage <--- one less of the sub Nemesis Mike tries to release at the Solomons. Allied Ships PC Jackson AM Pieter de Bitter KV Quesnel Captain of SS I-124 elects not to launch torpedoes at this target KV Quesnel fails to find sub, continues to search... PC Jackson fails to find sub and abandons search KV Quesnel fails to find sub, continues to search... KV Quesnel fails to find sub, continues to search... KV Quesnel attacking submerged sub .... Large oil slick appears over area of attack! Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Torishima at 106,67 Japanese Ships xAK Kinugawa Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage <--- Fuel laden AK with course HI xAK Nichibi Maru xAK Yamazato Maru xAK Tamagawa Maru PB Santos Maru PB Saiko Maru Allied Ships SS Harder SS Harder launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Kinugawa Maru PB Santos Maru attacking submerged sub .... PB Saiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Santos Maru fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Saiko Maru attacking submerged sub .... PB Santos Maru fails to find sub and abandons search PB Saiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Saiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Saiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub

Alfred -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/28/2012 7:36:41 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK ... A dead Sheep in formaldehyde is considered art these days ... ... LoBaron can fill in all other US stuff , sorry to poach your thunder but nothing else was worth screening all turn... What, not even a dead sheep in formaldehyde? Alfred

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/30/2012 12:51:22 AM)
Do dead Japanese is a bad state of decay count ? Anyhoo .. Finchafen attack worked like a charm today , and the follow on shock attack destroyed/surrounded the rest and wiped them out. Also got the dot base just NW of Finchafen too so no jap bases left south of Munda on NG anymore. WE still need to wipe out the unit that retreated right onto our supply path to munda however [:'(] Night Naval bombardment of Finschhafen at 100,126 Allied Ships CA Suffolk CA Indianapolis CL Capetown CL Caradoc CL Hobart DD Redoubt DD Napier DD Thracian DD Arunta DD Frazier Japanese ground losses: 27 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Airbase hits 2 Airbase supply hits 2 Runway hits 8 Port hits 10 Port supply hits 2 Ground combat at Finschhafen (100,126) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 10242 troops, 137 guns, 148 vehicles, Assault Value = 404 Defending force 3147 troops, 64 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 60 Allied adjusted assault: 616 Japanese adjusted defense: 19 Allied assault odds: 32 to 1 (fort level 0) Allied forces CAPTURE Finschhafen !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), morale(-), experience(-) supply(-) Attacker: shock(+) Japanese ground losses: 642 casualties reported Squads: 49 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 15 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 16 (10 destroyed, 6 disabled) Vehicles lost 12 (12 destroyed, 0 disabled) Units destroyed 1 Allied ground losses: 273 casualties reported Squads: 3 destroyed, 36 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Assaulting units: 4th Australian Division Defending units: I/19th Naval Guard Unit 82nd Naval Guard Unit 89th Naval Guard Unit 43rd Naval Guard Unit 87th Nav Gd /1 1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment 2nd Mortar Battalion Yokosuka 6th SNLF 1st Base Force /1 Ground combat at Finschhafen (100,126) Allied Shock attack Attacking force 10044 troops, 137 guns, 148 vehicles, Assault Value = 374 Defending force 2139 troops, 54 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 16 Allied adjusted assault: 261 Japanese adjusted defense: 10 Allied assault odds: 26 to 1 Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-) experience(-), supply(-) Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-) Japanese ground losses: 358 casualties reported Squads: 33 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 25 (17 destroyed, 8 disabled) Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled) Allied ground losses: 18 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Assaulting units: 4th Australian Division Defending units: 43rd Naval Guard Unit 87th Nav Gd /1 2nd Mortar Battalion 89th Naval Guard Unit 1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment 82nd Naval Guard Unit Yokosuka 6th SNLF 1st Base Force /1 Ground combat at Saidor (99,124) FYI in the cloudy hex NW of finchafen Allied Shock attack Attacking force 2987 troops, 34 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 102 Defending force 497 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3 Allied adjusted assault: 92 Japanese adjusted defense: 4 Allied assault odds: 23 to 1 (fort level 0) Allied forces CAPTURE Saidor !!! Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), leaders(-), preparation(-) experience(-), supply(-) GOOD ! Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-) Japanese ground losses: 212 casualties reported Squads: 12 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Units retreated 1 Defeated Japanese Units Retreating! Assaulting units: 2nd Australian/B Division Defending units: 65th Naval Guard Unit Not much else to add from the CW war department today. [image]local://upfiles/7467/023682ED5025439B9FAFC7B91EF3D964.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (1/31/2012 8:22:17 AM)
Jul 18/19, 43 Congrats to the CW victory at Finschhafen! The noose around Rabaul tightenes, I wonder how long Mike tries to stem against the tide before digging in further north. The longer he stays and fights, the better. A quiet turn for the the US forces. Air suppport and engineers continue to increase on Shortlands, we now have 70 fighters already stationed there. The AF is fully repaired, now port damage needs to be reduced. 4 days ago Bunker Hill and Yorktown II arrived @ Panama and already set sail with escorts to join up with the rest of the carriers, currently on R&R at Auckland. When the fleet joins up it will the first time in war the US carriers are able to match KB in raw combat power. The 32nd division is already halfway through the jungle to Torokina where the AF is closed by daily B24 raids. The sub war in the solomons continues, this turn without casualties: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Shortlands at 110,132 Japanese Ships SS I-159 Allied Ships DD Stuart BB Mississippi CA San Francisco CA Houston DD Selfridge DD Dunlap SS I-159 launches 8 torpedoes at DD Stuart DD Stuart fails to find sub and abandons search DD Selfridge attacking submerged sub .... DD Dunlap fails to find sub and abandons search DD Selfridge fails to find sub, continues to search... DD Selfridge fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ASW attack near Choiseul Bay at 112,132 Japanese Ships SS I-8, hits 3 Allied Ships DD Meade SC-708 PC Taney SS I-8 is located by DD Meade I-8 diving deep .... DD Meade fails to find sub and abandons search PC Taney fails to find sub, continues to search... PC Taney attacking submerged sub .... PC Taney fails to find sub, continues to search... PC Taney fails to find sub, continues to search... PC Taney fails to find sub, continues to search... PC Taney fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (2/1/2012 7:27:45 PM)
July 20+21 2 days dominated by submarines and mines , not much else bar a few air missions to talk about. First up the sad news that KV Claydaman has been sunk by a mine off Dobo, The Mine sweepers did their jobs but the Corvette sadly tried to emulate them and did in fact clear one mine, explosively. TF 371 encounters mine field at Dobo (83,116) Allied Ships AM Launceton AM Pirie AM Kalgoorlie KV Cyclamen, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage 7 mines cleared Ground attack aircraft in New guinea hary the last remaining Japanese troops south of Madang. There was LRCAP in case Japan tried to intercept but the fighters mainly went ground pounding. Afternoon Air attack on 65th Naval Guard Unit, at 98,124 , near Madang Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 4 minutes Allied aircraft Beaufighter Ic x 12 Beaufort VIII x 12 Hudson I x 2 B-26B Marauder x 9 P-39D Airacobra x 22 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 7 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Morning Air attack on 65th Naval Guard Unit, at 98,124 , near Madang Weather in hex: Severe storms Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 10 minutes Allied aircraft P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 25 No Allied losses Japanese ground losses: 7 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled I'm guessing the results being poor are because we lost our recon spotting when they retreated last turn. We can and will get better recon on them. annoyingly this jap unit forced the tanks trundling north to Madang to change course .. so had to reset their movement .. grrr.. Dutch sub O21 sank a merchantman in the south DEI . I have most of my subs concentrated between south Java and south of Davao in the Philippines. Sub attack near Morotai at 81,100 Japanese Ships xAK Tateisi Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage SC Ch 16 xAK Sydney Maru #2 xAK Manko Maru PB Hokutai Maru Allied Ships SS O21 Lastly we almost certainly got an enemy sub trying to intercept the transports heading to Lae .. chalk one up for the good guys. 3 more subs in various places were reported being hit by ASW a/c .. dubious to verify. ASW attack near Buna at 100,128 Japanese Ships SS I-25, hits 10, heavy damage Allied Ships xAK Ulooloo xAK Time DE Arrow [image]local://upfiles/7467/473F35B6159C42FCAE924FFA76A38230.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: Operation "Predictable" Summary, Shortland Captured! (2/3/2012 6:47:20 AM)
Jul 20/21, 43 Totally quiet day for the US. No combat nowhere. Nothing. Just like peacetime. The 32nd should arrive and set up the siege of Torokina next turn if fatigue does not slow them down, but except for this, quiet. Sensational news from our intel guys meanwhile: Tokyo Bay Fortress is located at Yokohama/Yokosuka(113,61). I never knew! Thanks you! [X(]

LoBaron -> The Solomons Situation (2/7/2012 7:43:47 AM)
Jul 24/25 ´43 The Solomon Situation Another turn with the task to challenge Rabaul, another inconclusive result, below is a short overview on the force balance in the upper Solomons. [img]http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/136Demo.jpg[/img] The current task is twofold: Attrit the JAAF/IJN air, and gain air superiority over Rabaul. I currently have the numbers and capability to sweep Rabaul with my P-38 fleet originating from Munda. The sweeps are performed at 39k, the so called "exploit invincible altitude" where there is no counter for the "poor Japanese suffering endless dives". High alt sweep my ass... [:'(] As you can see, Mike puts up stiff professional resistance, limiting my sweeps to 2 days per week at best. Combat over Rabaul is intense, the developement of the air battles is what I would expect in such a situation. Rabaul is a fighters nest, hosting about 200 fighters, from what I see about 160 Zeros and 40 Tonys, so total numerical superiority cannot be achieved, as I can only bring 60-70 Lightnings over target. Usually a fight is initiated with the Lightnings screaming down at the CAP formations and shooting down a couple. After the initial attack the fight evens out with the nimble Zeros dogfighting on eye level with my veteran pilots, and the Tonys mix in pretty well. In the screenshot you see 15th FG/45th FS, an elite unit which suffered worst on the last attacks run, losing 12 A/C and 7 pilots over the last 2 days. I can replace the pilots with equally skilled reserves, but I have to keep an eye on the plane pools. I am confident with this situation, I can dictate the op tempo and fight a war of attrition, which basically is the main target in this theatre anyway. As soon as Shortlands is regarded safe, additional shorter ranged squads can support the effort against the Japanese main base, by then the air balance will tilt in our favour. As if it needs proving, but this is a perfect demonstration that you cannot "game the air model" with high alt sweeps as long as the opponent is bright enough to set up a good defense, and know when to fight and when to pull back. The "invincible high alt sweep" is a myth from people unable or unwilling to understand a tactical situation and act accordingly.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/7/2012 4:33:12 PM)
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 26, 43 The Commonwealth (and China) , have some news this turn. Japan has initiated artillery bombardment operations in central China, Whoopee doo dah frankly. OK China has a huge supply defect and is on 1/2 rations at best in most places. Allied flight from Ledo now that Burma is secure and no longer a supply sink. have helped build the capital to over 20k supply to allow gradual upgrading of specific units. Chinese pools are very healthy atm too, with the exception of artillery which is the Chinese Achilles heel (among many tbh) Ground combat at 78,51 (near Chihkiang) Japanese Bombardment attack Attacking force 3430 troops, 196 guns, 258 vehicles, Assault Value = 3158 Defending force 146483 troops, 739 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5737 Japanese ground losses: Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled) Allied ground losses: 54 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Assaulting units: 22nd Division 12th Tank Regiment 20th Recon Regiment 78th Infantry Regiment 40th Division 5th Armored Car Co 15th Tank Regiment 102nd Infantry Regiment 69th Infantry Brigade 31st Tankette Co 6th Division 39th Division 66th Infantry Regiment 14th Division 2nd Recon Battalion 4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion 7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 1st Mortar Battalion 4th Mortar Battalion 11th Army 2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment 8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment 8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion 31st Mountain Gun Regiment Defending units: 75th Chinese Corps 99th Chinese Corps 74th Chinese Corps 26th Chinese Corps 79th Chinese Corps 18th Chinese Corps 10th Chinese Corps 65th Chinese Corps 60th Chinese Corps 2nd Chinese Corps 59th Chinese Corps 8th Chinese Corps 10th Construction Regiment 33rd Group Army 6th Construction Regiment 7th Artillery Regiment 20th Group Army Lusu War Area 25th Group Army 1st Artillery Regiment 41st AA Regiment 56th AT Gun Regiment As you can see we have plenty of units defending here , I have ordered the 3 weakest back for growth/refit given we have enough AV here to blunt any Japanese advances. Actually i believe we have enough forces in all critical areas to repel Japanese aggression. Chinese attacks to recapture areas lost early in the war however are a fantasy atm. Supply being the main issue (again). Japan also unleashed some bombers on an unsuspecting HQ relocating to the Chinese cavalry arm which is massing in the hills (no inf units so its much faster and all cav units refitted and maxed out to 100% TOE) Morning Air attack on 38th Group Army, at 86,31 , near Ningsia Weather in hex: Moderate rain Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 12 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 24 Ki-49-IIa Helen x 44 No Japanese losses Allied ground losses: 104 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Aircraft Attacking: 22 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 4000 feet Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb 22 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 4000 feet Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb Not a lot i can do about this , no airbases nearby and chain has had several unit withdrawals over the past few months so Chinese fighters in china is about 70 a/c all in the capital. Rest of the Chinese airforce is in India training up a new generation of pilots for bombers/fighters and recon a/c , we will hopefully start getting in late 43 (fingers crossed). Over in New Guinea the Albacores bored of waiting on naval strike have switched over to ground attacks to help batter the last jap units into oblivion. .. more bombers and ground attack a/c from Port Moresby join in a rather ineffective attack. The pattern seems to be disabling units when bombers from PM fly, while the albacores KO several inf squads over 2 days. Swordfish have been moved up to Lae in-case Japan's surface navy gets involved. Additionally the POW and Massachusetts act as naval patrol off Lae while a large support troop convoy unloads. Also in Australia we have been tinkering massively with restricted and non restricted air units (mainly to allow the ones that can be changed to useful units have been given the best a/c and pilots , while the perma-restricted units are relegated to training in the hinterland and search patrols from major ports. Its all abit of a mess in Darwin right now as we try and free up units for use on the forward island bases. Thunderbolts will hopefully make a surprise sweep next turn [image]local://upfiles/7467/30C1504212E741859C65BEF1154EC29D.jpg[/image]

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/8/2012 4:15:23 PM)
28/9 July The combat sweep over Boela went as well as could be expected , below is day 1 sweep, we failed to achieve air superiority this turn (ie planes left at the end) , however on day 2 we did. Given the hoo-hah surrounding high alt sweeps day 1 was as 'expected' for the initial dive attack then it evened out allowing Japan to bag a few of mine. Day 2 however Japan got in the 1st attacks and we failed utterly to get much in the way of an initial surprise dive phase... Posted below day 1 for comparison. Morning Air attack on Boela , at 80,110 Weather in hex: Heavy rain Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 48,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 7 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 29 Allied aircraft P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 22 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 7 destroyed No Allied losses CAP engaged: 251 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 20 on standby, 0 scrambling) 9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 36000 and 36750. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes Morning Air attack on Boela , at 80,110 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 46,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 8 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 18 Allied aircraft P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed Aircraft Attacking: 12 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet CAP engaged: 251 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling) 4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 36000 and 36750. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes Combat report says 21 zeros shot down for 6 thuds .. we lost 11 a/c in total which hurts badly tbh. Japanese losses can ofc not be verified. Standing down for tomorrow while the torpedo bomber crews arrive from reserve to the Beaufort sqdn now stationed here. Also for the Aussie Mitchell 2 low level nav attack specialists move across to a non restricted squadron in Darwin. once we have these in place i hope to close boela to tanker traffic. Subs have been stationed in the south DEI and are now a lot more active with b25 and Catalina search a/c combing the seas providing targets for them to react to. TTFN [image]local://upfiles/7467/67C5EEBD37F34BED9AA6017882D5F924.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/10/2012 7:29:48 AM)
Jul 28/29 ´43 Quiet day for the US except for a couple of inconclusive Sub/ASW engagements without casualties and the usual B-24 raid against Torokina. Will try a deliberate attack there next turn to test defenses, although it could fail in a spectacular way, because the prep of 32nd division is in the high 30´s only. I am taking the risk because I assume lots of exhausted Japanese there trying to recover from the retreat from Shortlands.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/10/2012 5:29:31 PM)
quote: Quiet day for the US except for a couple of inconclusive Sub/ASW engagements without casualties and the usual B-24 raid against Torokina. 1st August .. NOT so quiet or inconclusive. Firstly though, Commonwealth side of the war. P40K fighter sweep to test some newly reconnoitred bases in Java faced sever resistance from Japanese A6M3a's 1-1 allies lose these as the alt chosen , i.e 19k for max P40 Manoeuvre. Our pilots lacked experience but did have good def and a2a skills, losses est at P40K - 11 planes and 8 pilots Zero's - None listed as air to air This line of attack has been halted for now. We need numbers for the P40 to work imo . layered if possible too. Morning Air attack on Bandoeng , at 50,100 Weather in hex: Thunderstorms Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 16 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 23 Allied aircraft P-40K Warhawk x 22 No Japanese losses Allied aircraft losses P-40K Warhawk: 4 destroyed CAP engaged: 253 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling) 7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact. Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 36000 and 36750. Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes Japan had the alt advantage but the combat animations showed no massive dive that initially killed off allied planes , rather a slow trickle of kills throughout the animations. All else pretty quiet , Japan seems to be sending more subs to the south of Lae but at least 3 attacked in 2 days by dedicated ansons and LR Hudsons. There is a piccie , but its not embedded until LoBaron does his report. You'll understand why if you peek or wait for a few hours. [image]local://upfiles/7467/E5F1381E93494FD4B24E2B9796C3F673.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/12/2012 10:41:28 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK quote: Quiet day for the US except for a couple of inconclusive Sub/ASW engagements without casualties and the usual B-24 raid against Torokina. 1st August .. NOT so quiet or inconclusive. I agree old friend! Aug 1, ´43: A working MK14 smacked conclusively into the broadside of CV Unryu West from Guam, she was reported moving SE with a slight list. Although overeager sailors reported heavy damage and some intel guys try to convince me she went to the bottom I allow myself a slight margin of doubt... [img]http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/924CV.png[/img] Still, she might need yardtime, so it is clearly a good thing. I did not change any sub orders as I had no more sightings or sigint reports on her location, but the area is quite flooded with subs anyway, so maybe I got the chance for another run. If not it is still a nice success.

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/12/2012 6:04:06 PM)
Aug 2, 43 Operation Vodka has its first success before it even starts. I tried to infiltrate Grampus into the Sea of Japan to create a new threat in the Japanese rear. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sub attack near Wakkanai at 121,47 Japanese Ships xAK Omi Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage TK Akitsushima Maru xAK Zinzan Maru xAK Nissho Maru xAK Totori Maru xAK Calcutta Maru PB Shonan Maru #2 Allied Ships SS Grampus SS Grampus launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Omi Maru Grampus diving deep .... PB Shonan Maru #2 attacking submerged sub .... SS Grampus eludes ASW attack from PB Shonan Maru #2 SS Grampus eludes PB Shonan Maru #2 by diving deep PB Shonan Maru #2 cannot reach attack position over SS Grampus SS Grampus eludes ASW attack from PB Shonan Maru #2 PB Shonan Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Shonan Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Shonan Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search... PB Shonan Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search... Escort abandons search for sub Interestingly if you set patrol zones its possible to refuel (rearm?) at SU ports, I wonder if this is intended. Comments on gameyness are welcome. If this is intentional I got 2 more SS which will join the fray in 1-2 weeks.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/13/2012 3:54:29 AM)
quote: Interestingly if you set patrol zones its possible to refuel (rearm?) at SU ports, I wonder if this is intended. Comments on gameyness are welcome. New one on me completely , could you load up some WORKING Soviet torpedoes[;)] Personally I'd ask Mike (our opponent) about this as it seems a bit cheesy to me .. my 2p worth

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/13/2012 6:14:58 AM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK quote: Interestingly if you set patrol zones its possible to refuel (rearm?) at SU ports, I wonder if this is intended. Comments on gameyness are welcome. New one on me completely , could you load up some WORKING Soviet torpedoes[;)] Personally I'd ask Mike (our opponent) about this as it seems a bit cheesy to me .. my 2p worth Sadly I kinda agree. We are talking about a time where the non-aggression pact between japan and SU was still honoured. The SU would not refuel US submarines in the Japanese backyard, rearm is out of question anyway. Before I make any decisions though, I will find out if this even works. Currently the only indication that it could work is the option "full refuel" selectable when setting a patrol zone in a SU port. As it is possible to select that in an open sea hex as well, it might have no impact. If the sub refuels/rearms I will stop the patrol and post in the tech forum.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/15/2012 7:38:46 PM)
Seems like the fairest thing to do. AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Aug 03, 43 Not a Lot .. WE did take a small island north of darwin to make it 4 new/potential airbases Afternoon Air attack on 74th Chinese Corps, at 78,51 , near Chihkiang Weather in hex: Light cloud Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 2 minutes Japanese aircraft Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 24 Ki-49-IIa Helen x 20 No Japanese losses Allied ground losses: 39 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled WE have 4 very fast AP's doing these runs and i am loathe to lose them , so after this we will return to Perth for the Java invasion and send up 4 slower and more expendable ones. One question re the new CW aircraft sharing rules Do the Brits get access to the Australian spitfires in 9/43 when they get them themselves ? Reason I'm asking is for the upgrading of the brit hurricane groups in Burma when we do some smoke and mirrors stuff in early sept to draw attention away from Java. Now NG is happily commonwealth with no further realistic land advances due to terrain, I have downgraded our best fighter groups to free up more airframes for both the Yankees and brits in Burma . No piccie as i didnt take one.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/15/2012 7:39:24 PM)
Seems like the fairest thing to do. AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Aug 03, 43 Not a Lot .. WE did take a small island north of darwin to make it 4 new/potential airbases Amphibious Assault at Saumlaki (78,117) TF 148 troops unloading over beach at Saumlaki, 78,117 Allied ground losses: 14 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled WE have 4 very fast AP's doing these runs and i am loathe to lose them , so after this we will return to Perth for the Java invasion and send up 4 slower and more expendable ones. One question re the new CW aircraft sharing rules Do the Brits get access to the Australian spitfires in 9/43 when they get them themselves ? Reason I'm asking is for the upgrading of the brit hurricane groups in Burma when we do some smoke and mirrors stuff in early sept to draw attention away from Java. Now NG is happily commonwealth with no further realistic land advances due to terrain, I have downgraded our best fighter groups to free up more airframes for both the Yankees and brits in Burma . No piccie as i didnt take one.

Rob Brennan UK -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/16/2012 4:19:36 PM)
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Aug 05, 43 General news Japan has restarted its bombing and arty attacks in China once more, I'm guessing he has a large supply surplus and also wants some free attack training for his bomber crews. This is just south of Chihkiang, where we have plenty of AV to stop Japan advancing any further. No other Japanese movement seen in the china theatre. That said we have 0 recon ac or even bombers in China ATM. All Chinese fighters are the obsolete variety and the new P40's and B25's are a trickle. Good news is that Chihkiang is home to the 14th USAAF Air HQ , which allows me to operate upto 180 US/brit aircraft from here. With RAF Air support in the capital chungking we have a corridor for better fighter to fly in and operate in China. Allis are in the process of returning the no-longre-needed P47's from New Guinea to the pools allowing the elite US groups in Burma to upgrade and in a week or so fly into China and hopefully give Mike a nasty surprise. Port Blair ..Received some very unwanted attention from Japanese BB's during the night and we lost 4 xAP's and 2 escorts as they finished unloading. Basically Japan turned up, shot the snot out of 4 xAP's, hit the air fields hard, then shot up the local minesweeper on the way out. SS truant did nothing sadly. extended her patrol further south now. I was somewhat surprised i had no notice as hudsons were on nav search, this have been overlapped with longer range PBY's from now on. Additionally just flown in are a few Vengeance Dive bombers with high NavBomb skills (only 10 so far) just in case we get the opportunity to hit back. Truthfully the only surprise here is Japan doesn't do this more often. Although he can't know ALL my BB's are in refit until the end of August and most of my fleet is in Cape town. 2 old R class are in Colombo (with good escorts) so we will eventually force a night engagement in a few weeks (I hope as I love naval clashes) . The losses shown for a/c are hugely exaggerated , 3 P40's 1 hudson and 0 PBY's actually lost and no pilots either. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Blair at 46,58, Range 6,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Takao CA Aoba DD Oyashio DD Hatsukaze DD Hayashio DD Maikaze DD Isokaze DD Hagikaze Allied Ships xAP Adelong, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk xAP Allara, Shell hits 2, and is sunk xAP Colac, Shell hits 5, and is sunk xAP Corio, Shell hits 4, and is sunk ML No. 201, Shell hits 1, and is sunk ML No. 202, Shell hits 3, and is sunk Night Naval bombardment of Port Blair at 46,58 Allied aircraft no flights Allied aircraft losses Hudson IIIa: 23 damaged Hudson IIIa: 2 destroyed on ground P-40K Warhawk: 21 damaged P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground Catalina I: 12 damaged Japanese Ships BB Ise BB Yamashiro CA Aoba CA Takao Allied ground losses: 490 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled Non Combat: 17 destroyed, 41 disabled Engineers: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled) Airbase hits 14 Airbase supply hits 5 Runway hits 52 This is a mess , and closed for now Supply's not an issue tbh , didn't have a record of before/after so cannot compare. We still have ample and I have no intention of stopping the small AKL supply runs , IF they get caught c'est la guerre. Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Blair at 46,58, Range 3,000 Yards Japanese Ships BB Yamashiro BB Ise CA Takao CA Aoba DD Oyashio DD Hatsukaze DD Hayashio DD Maikaze DD Isokaze DD Hagikaze Allied Ships AMc Patna, Shell hits 1, and is sunk WE do have a minefield at Port Blair of 85 mines and will be dropping in the last of the ones i have in a few days (upto about 200) Finally we have sent in B24's to the admiralty islands (with P47 sweeps) as recon suggested a DD was in port , over 4 days we hammered a Japanese AS (it must be sunk by now) 6 bomb hits in total. Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119 Weather in hex: Partial cloud Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 6 minutes Allied aircraft B-24D1 Liberator x 11 Allied aircraft losses B-24D1 Liberator: 3 damaged Japanese Ships AS Yasukuni Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage Japanese ground losses: 9 casualties reported Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled [image]local://upfiles/7467/56F9D3D6AFAD40C1AD15487A140A722F.jpg[/image]

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/19/2012 10:43:46 AM)
Aug 09/10, 43 This was a busy turn for the US. The focus of action was in two areas, the northern CentPac and, surprize, surprize, Rabaul and the Shortlands. Lets start with the CentPac op first: 2 weeks ago Raider Force I departed PH with a small but important mission: Force composition: CVE Santee and Anzio BB Idaho 6 DD 1) Evaluate Japanese NavS capability N of Marianas and the Bonin Isl. area. 2) Show flag in the Northern CentPac in case sighted. 3) If breakthrough is possible proceed into the Phillippine sea and sink some. The first attemt to break through the NavS umbrella was about 10 days ago. The TF was sighted only 80nm after passing Marcus Isl., so I decided not to risk a breakthrough but to preoceed on a Northern course and purposely remain in Japanese search range. Four days ago Raider Force I refuelled at Adak and then turned back SW again. Again they were sighted but this time much closer to Iwo Jima. Sadly the composition of the raiding force already decloaked as Avengers attacked a small convoy SEE from Iwo Jima, sinking 2 AKs. [img]http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/378raiderforce1.png[/img] The raiders will now make a bold turn to the NNE, try to sink some more and then hopefully disappear to the E between Bonin and Torishima. If KB is in Tokia I might be dead, if KB is in Truk this has a good chance to succeed. Luck and time will tell. The other action was seen at Rabaul. As promised, with Shortlands operational and growing to a lvl5 airfield soon, I intend to ramp up the pressure against Rabaul. Mike really got a fighters nest there, and a great coverage with several layers of high alt CAP. Because of this the Lightnings have a tough time going in alone as I pointed out a couple of days ago. So I came up with a new plan: Like a boxer doing some jabs and then a knockout punch I set up my forces like this: The Jabs: I used Shortland fighters (USMC Wildcats and Corsairs) to pull Mike´s CAP down to "reasonable" altitude, and increase fatigue, reaction time, and a/c availability. As expected these attacks suffered badly, below is an example: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 17 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 69 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 45 Allied aircraft F4F-4 Wildcat x 15 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed Allied aircraft losses F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed The unit involved suffered roughly 40% losses during tha last 2 days and desperately need R&R. The knockout punch: My collection of Twintaildevils, as the Japanese liked to call the Lightning, was waiting for this at Munda. Perfectly coordinated they hit Rabaul out of clear air while the defenders were still recovering from their duels against the F4F/F4Us. The results were very much in our favor, and only 2 P-38 fell victim to the IJA/IJN CAP mix. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125 Weather in hex: Overcast Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet. Estimated time to target is 13 minutes Japanese aircraft A6M3a Zero x 34 Ki-61-Ia Tony x 40 Allied aircraft P-38G Lightning x 21 P-38H Lightning x 44 Japanese aircraft losses A6M3a Zero: 8 destroyed Ki-61-Ia Tony: 4 destroyed Allied aircraft losses P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed Still, it will be some time until air superiority will be secured over Rabaul. But in total I estimate about 50-60 Japanese fighters killed over the last 2 days. [img]http://fsfiles.org/flightsimshots/images/891A2A.png[/img] Ground fighting took place at Torokina, where another assault by the 32nd Division on the Japanese defenders failed, although I was valiantly supported by CW force airstrikes. The 32nd got herself a bloody nose and will need a few days to recover, well no rush there. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ground combat at Torokina (109,130) Allied Deliberate attack Attacking force 10040 troops, 211 guns, 228 vehicles, Assault Value = 387 Defending force 10352 troops, 102 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 286 Allied adjusted assault: 68 Japanese adjusted defense: 385 Allied assault odds: 1 to 5 (fort level 3) Combat modifiers Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-) Attacker: fatigue(-) Japanese ground losses: 520 casualties reported Squads: 1 destroyed, 48 disabled Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled Guns lost 9 (2 destroyed, 7 disabled) Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled) Allied ground losses: 607 casualties reported Squads: 5 destroyed, 75 disabled Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled Vehicles lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)

castor troy -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/19/2012 2:14:46 PM)
I may be beating a dead horse, but with months, if not years discussion about strato sweeps and you literally being 100% the opposite of me when it comes down to the oppinions on it, why do I always see your fighters coming in at 40000ft+ on sweeps? And exxageration or not, why do I see one of those super kill rates as a result of that strato sweep? What you are doing is something I would do (going with my experience and my view on things) but that just doesn't correlate with what you have been saying since the game came out. [&:] What's your oppinion on it? edit: knowing how sensible everyone is, this is not meant to start a fight and I refused from posting in the past, but the norm seems to be to use ceiling sweeps more or less always which makes me think the participating players seem to have found it to be the best way to go, well knowing it is ridicoulos compared to real life and it was pointed out by the airteam lead it would be an exploit, which makes me even more curious.

LoBaron -> RE: The Solomons Situation (2/19/2012 3:12:15 PM)
CT, for the sake of keeping this AAR without extensive debates, lets please leave it with one response and no follow up. But as for your question: No, going in with stratosweep alone cannot result in what you see in the last combat, at least not against a defender who knows what he is doing, and Mike definitely is such a person. This result was achieved because I already engaged the CAP before the high alt attack from Lightnings and so forced the CAP to disperse, attrit, and be left at the wrong altitude and the wrong situation to effectively engage my high alt sweepers. For comparision of a pure strato sweep against dedicated CAP without distinct numerical superiority, please check my post #436. As you can see there the kill:loss ratio against Mike´s CAP there was not even 3:1, although my Lighting squads are elite - meaning the best US pilots I can muster. Had I continued this habit the only reasult would have been a war of attrition in Mike´s favor. The reason for this turn´s success is due to: - the timing and combination of med alt and high alt sweep while accepting that my lower flying units will bear the brunt of the losses (which they did). - the numerical superiority achieved by 99morale/0 fatigue expert pilots flying Lightnings over target (which was a wanted sideffect of the earlier sweep by F4F and F4U units) - the fact that of the 2 airframes on CAP over Rabaul only one is able to compete with the P-38 face to face (the Tony), while the other airframe (the A6M3a) is completely outclassed. - the assumed med-high fatigue and med-low morale of the defenders of Rabaul who already suffered a number of defeats in the SWPac in the past weeks. This is not a result of any indefensible high alt sweep, but a result of tactics, numerical superiority, higher airframe quality and better pilot condition and - but not exclusively - altitude advantage. Mike performs well, this is the first time where I really was able to achieve a combat result over Rabaul skies I can without second thoughts classify as victory. And before you ask: Yes, I would also know how to defend against such a situation, but this is another story. [;)]

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