RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (Full Version)

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apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (7/25/2016 7:13:12 AM)

31 May 43 (continued)

I spent several days working on this turn. I won't receive another turn from Walker until sometime in mid-August, so I could have taken longer. But I will be upgrading to Windows 10 shortly, and I didn't want to take any chances with upgrading mid-turn. Spent too much time on the turn and didn't want to lose my work. So now we wait...

As for today, the enemy task force that bombarded Wetar is returning to Kendari. All transports have left Wetar and Lautem and are returning to Darwin.

I spent a lot of time planning. With the beginning of June, many cargo ships have upgrades, and many will start those immediately. Various other ships will do the same. US subs have an upgrade now. They will do so as they return to base for fuel and torpedoes. Their upgrades can be done anywhere.

I planned out my next phase of invasions, and got shipping and units moving to make these happen.

I've circled in black all the bases on the map that I currently have units prepping for. I can't say that all of them will be invaded, but they could be. The order is to be determined but I have a pretty good idea what I am going to do.

Some paras will be involved. I've brought 2 small transport squadrons from India, C-87 transports. They are essentially B-24s. I don't know if they could have dropped paras in real life, but have about 12 planes total that I will use. They have very nice range, about double the C-47s. I hope to take a base or two that isn't even on the map with them.

Koepang will initally be bypassed. I have substantial forces prepping for Koepang, and they will continue to prep for that target. But if I land there, it will be later rather than sooner. I can keep the base suppressed. I expect Walker to eventually start ferrying troops out by air. At some point, it will become easier to invade and take the important base.

Darwin will be my primary point of embarkation. I am juggling units there. Some units, like most of those prepping for Koepang, are moving inland to Fenton to await further orders. With stacking limits, I have to be careful what is at Darwin and when. Units will stage there when it is their turn to embark.

I'll document all of the parts of the map sometime in the next few weeks, while we wait for a turn.


[image]local://upfiles/6549/F9A72309959D4C13A1BB2C4F097C2CE5.gif[/image]



Macclan5 -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (7/25/2016 3:22:55 PM)

Thank you APB ~ very thorough and great update.

A very fine and detailed map. At a glance it would appear that Ser Walker has created 'fortress' Kendari is 'Rabul West'. Further there are no real roads as I recall into Kendari so supply shipping must come via Soerabaja or points north west around the horn so to speak. Your ring of bases around should be very effective in isolating the threat.

I assume after the rearm / refuel / update of the submarine corps you will shift deployment of them ? I note your dislike for shallows. Deep waters west of Maakasar could allow you to dash in and out into the shallows around Soerabaja for example...??

Good luck with a couple of weeks of relaxation and thank you for this AAR. Most educational.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (7/25/2016 10:02:26 PM)

Thanks Macclan5.

There are a few really talented writers doing AARs. Not being one of them, I stick to the events of the day and my thoughts about them. A map always helps the summary. I hope that my postings are interesting enough. Before writing this AAR, I was a forum lurker, reading AARs every day but posting little. I can tell that there are many lurkers out there. Hopefully this is interesting enough, and may have a few pearls of wisdom here and there. I've played many games as the Japanese, but this is my first AE game as the Allies. There's always more to learn.

If I keep Koepang suppressed, it won't matter how many divisions he has there. I'll go around it and clear it out later.

I have started shifting some of my subs. I have a few west of Japan now, as well as a couple by Formosa, and several between Borneo and Thailand, hoping to pick off a tanker or two. Having Darwin as a sub base has made this possible. I'll get very serious about hunting merchants and tankers in October, when the final dud torpedo penalty goes away.

My subs recently near Soerbaja, Balikpapan, and Makassar were in the shallows, but Walker has a high level of aircraft ASW from Waingapoe to Makassar to Balikpapan to Soerbaja. Just not safe to be in those shallows.



Macclan5 -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (7/26/2016 3:08:28 PM)

Dont sell yourself short. [8D]

I 'lurk' and follow all the Allied AARs. Read many archived ones as well when Santa brought me the game. I try to minimize my being too much a contributor so PM me if I am bothering your flow.

--

Your AAR is very well written, forward looking, nice notes especially vis a vis Order of Battle. i.e. 1st Marine Div >> here...

Extended results of battles are fine mixed into the AAR ~ but Maps / OOB / Spotting ~ Search results really spice up the AAR as I can "see myself in your shoes".

In honesty your current time period helps generate my enthusiasm as the Allies and Axis are very finely balanced by mid 1943. This is the crucial period where decisions have consequences latter on.



BBfanboy -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (7/27/2016 7:27:04 AM)

+1 - I read every update but you seem to have everything under control so I make no suggestions or comments most of the time. Keep up the good work!



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/11/2016 5:00:52 AM)

Still waiting for Walker to return from his around-the-world travels. He had said that he'd be back mid-August, so I'm guessing that he'll be back next week some time. It will be interesting looking at the turn after several weeks of being away from the game. I spent a great deal of time with the last turn. It will take some effort to get back into the game. Like, why is this task force heading here? :)

I do know that I'm preparing for the next round of invasions. I'm looking forward to that. I expect to be spotted moving into position for that, but then I will be making move that, I hope, will make it look like I'm doing something when I'm really doing something else. More to come.



Macclan5 -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/11/2016 2:36:47 PM)

I find it tough after one day away ! [8D]

It wasn't so bad in early 1942 but by 1943 the sheer amount of ships/squadrons/brigade began to overwhelm me.

I have recently taken to a plain old pencil and paper (note book) and I make notes on "strategic objectives" next 3 months. Note which troops are in transit for which objective. i.e. ships / air squadrons / LCU

Every month end I look at what I planned / how it progressed / or changed due to some unforseen event. Then I update it again.

Sort of rolling "fiscal quarter planning" ... a kind of Banker's typical tool.




apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/18/2016 4:32:47 AM)

I've heard from Walker, and he is back from his trip. We hope to be resuming the war tomorrow. I'd thought about updating region by region, but to be honest, there's nothing going on anywhere except around Timor and New Guinea, and mostly around Timor. I do look forward to the daily turns again, but I have to be honest. After breaking my addiction after a week of no turns, I started to not mind the lack of turns so much. I'll need to spend some extra time on the first turn to reacquaint myself with what is going where, and why.

So, hopefully a turn tomorrow.



IdahoNYer -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/18/2016 4:15:05 PM)

will be good to see the campaign back again!



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/19/2016 12:06:47 AM)

1 Jun 43

Back to the war!

Just west of Nagasaki, 6 destroyers are spotted. Not an ASW task force, too big. Escorting something,probably. A check of the Ops Report shows that CV Soryu was not sunk, and was spotted at 100,59. Just west of Nagasaki. Knowing that one carrier is near Japan is a good thing to know.

Enemy cruisers Tone, Atago, and Agano, with 3 destroyers, move quickly to Salamaua. They find a KV and 6 xAKLs, and sink them all. The ships were not loaded with men, thankfully. I think they were bringing in supply. The enemy then bombards the base causing over 200 casualties, and there were some squads lost. Minor damage was done to the airfield and port. Then, on the way home to Rabaul, the enemy runs into 6 PT boats at Finschhafen. The fight starts at 4,000 yards, despite being daylight, due to thunderstorms. Several PT boats launch torpedoes, but all miss. 4 of the 6 PT boats were sunk. It was a successful raid for these enemy ships.

At Koepang, 12 B-24s bomb the port, and hit an ACM there, sinking it.

A couple of heavy squadrons bombed Taberfane's airfield, doing minor damage.

Today, more shipping will arrive at Lautem, bring the SW Pacific HQ, and a big port support unit.

US carriers will arrive at Normanton, where they will wait for the ships carrying a Brit division, coming from Townsville. The Brits will arrive at Townsville today and will start loading tomorrow. Then it's off to Darwin to reload for a new invasion target.

It's good to be back in the game again. My Windows 10 conversion has been successful, so the war goes on.

[image]local://upfiles/6549/DA4DA069FE294A51952C641C6B8ECD7A.gif[/image]



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/19/2016 10:51:47 PM)

2 Jun 43

Not much action today. West of Nagasaki, sub Snook spots a big tanker task force, fires 2 torpedoes at TK Koho Maru. One hits, but is a dud.

North of Dobo, Beaufighters from Merauke attack an xAKL, probably running supply in and/or troops out. The fighterbombers attack at wave height, bombing and strafing the ship and sinking it. Finally a successful attack for these guys! They are excellent bombers and strafers, as long as the ship target doesn't have CAP.

Brits start loading at Townsville, bound for Darwin, and the next invasion. US carriers arrive at Normanton and will wait there for the Brits to pass by.

Troops unload at Lautem without interference. Lautem is overstacked, but just for today. Tomorrow forces finish marching to Dili.

Yesterday I had SigInt that the 19th Army was prepping for Buna. Today I got intel that 1/19th Army is prepping for Buna, meaning that the unit is now fragmented and probably loading on ships. Could an invasion really be coming? I think not, but I have a big cruiser force at Milne Bay. This unit is probably loading to head elsewhere. I'm just not seeing significant shipping at Rabaul or Truk.

Several towns in India are now under garrisoned, due to units withdrawing. I'm scrambling to send appropriate sized units to cover these towns now.

An A-20 attack squadron appeared at Calcutta. I will ship it to Australia, where it will be put to use sooner.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 12:40:43 AM)

3 Jun 43

Near Manado, sub Raton spots a big task force, with many xAKs, and AV, and many small escorts. Raton fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Macassar Maru, hits with one, but it's a dud. Bad run of luck lately.

The only other action was a squadron of B-17s flying to Boela and bombing the port. I've been seeing 2 tankers in port here for a long time. I had hit a number of them a month or so ago, and I suspect that there are a couple of badly damaged ships here. Today the B-17s finds xAK Teiryu Maru, and get one bomb hit.

Ground forces from Lautem made it to Dili and will attack tomorrow. They have a Corp HQ, and they have the SW Pacific HQ right next door at Lautem, with all prepped for Dili.

The Brit Division at Townsville is now loaded and headed for Darwin. CV Essex will arrive at Townsville today, and will then also go to Darwin. Essex will make it there in time for the next phase of operations.

I had battleships Royal Sovereign and Ramilles, and battlecruiser Repulse at Sydney, ready for upgrades. I saw that I only needed a size 10 or 15 shipyard for the upgrade. But I ignored the fact that all of these ships are over 30k tons, too big for Sydney's shipyard. I'm sending them all to Capetown now.

I do see what may be a surface group at Kendari now. Recon was poor so I can't be sure, but that would be consistent with recent sightings. And Kendari has over 120 fighters now. Must be something worth protecting. All of my ships are leaving Lautem now anyhow. The cruiser task force that was guarding will now bombard Dili to aid in the attack, and head for Darwin.

West of Darwin, at Wyndham, I'm unloading some base support and picking up the Australian brigade, which will be used in the next op. I'm also unloading at Port Hedland. So there's just a few enemy bases left in Australia, in the Broome area. The bases are almost, if not completely, empty now.



BBfanboy -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 2:54:30 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog

I had battleships Royal Sovereign and Ramilles, and battlecruiser Repulse at Sydney, ready for upgrades. I saw that I only needed a size 10 or 15 shipyard for the upgrade. But I ignored the fact that all of these ships are over 30k tons, too big for Sydney's shipyard. I'm sending them all to Capetown now.

If the upgrade does not cause floatation damage, you do not need to send the big ships to a full sized shipyard. If the upgrade calls for only a 10 or 15K shipyard that is because you need the cranes and workshops, not the drydock.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 4:03:47 AM)

All 3 ships will incur from 1 to 4 points of flotation damage in the upgrade. I got confused because it listed the size of the shipyard required as 15, so I thought I could manage it at Sydney.



BBfanboy -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 7:20:55 AM)


quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog

All 3 ships will incur from 1 to 4 points of flotation damage in the upgrade. I got confused because it listed the size of the shipyard required as 15, so I thought I could manage it at Sydney.

A major port can handle up to 5 points of float damage without using the drydock. Give it a try - it only takes a day to find out if they will start the refit vs. a six week round trip to CT.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 7:33:44 AM)

I've already tried. The ships were in port set to upgrade, and they didn't.



jmalter -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/21/2016 5:37:41 PM)

quote:

ORIGINAL: apbarog
Several towns in India are now under garrisoned, due to units withdrawing. I'm scrambling to send appropriate sized units to cover these towns now.

Those INC riots can be demmed annoying, what?

By chance, I was looking at the Ground Withdrawal screen & discovered 3 towns in India that will lose their required garrisons on 01 Jan 44 - Ambala, Bareilly & Sialkot. It took some scramblin', but I found 3 battalions to replace the withdrawing units. One was an almost-completely filled-out repurchase that was already on the sub-continent, but 2 had to come from my active operations in Thailand, and needed to move to an airbase & air-transported to Rangoon, then shipped to Diamond Harbor. They'll get there in time, but it was an unwanted diversion of assets.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/22/2016 3:40:57 AM)

4 Jun 43

Near Formosa, sub Puffer spots an E boat and a destroyer, fires at E Sanae, but misses. Puffer has been in the area for awhile, and was unspotted until today, when it left due to low fuel.

US cruisers bombard Dili, doing decent damage to the troops, and little damage to the facilities.

Near Guam, sub Peto spots an xAP task force, fired 4 torpedoes at the huge xAP Kamakura Maru, gets one hit, and yes, again, it's a dud.

An xAKL is loading some tanks at Lae, pulling them out for future operations. 7 Lilys from Rabaul attack in 2 attacks, escorted by 3 Zeros the first time, and 16 Nicks the second time. No bombers get through to the ships, as 3 Allied squadrons are on CAP at Lae. Losses are 13 Nicks and 10 Lilys.

Dili's troops are bombed by some B-25s, causing disruption and little else.

Dili is attacked for the first time. It's a good thing I chose to land at Lautem and walk to Dili instead of landing directly. There's a lot more enemy there than I thought.

******************************
Ground combat at Dili (71,115)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12668 troops, 217 guns, 179 vehicles, Assault Value = 403

Defending force 14208 troops, 110 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 420

Allied adjusted assault: 564

Japanese adjusted defense: 969

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
245 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
801 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 108 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 25 (1 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Vehicles lost 35 (2 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
640th Tank Destroyer Battalion
XIV US Corps
1st RAA Jungle Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
11th Garrison Unit
14th Garrison Unit
24th Infantry Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion
56th Construction Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
86th JAAF AF Bn
***********************************

I decide to send the Brit Division that took Lautem to Dili to join the fun. This will leave Lautem uncomfortably low on combat value, with lots of support there. I will send an Australian Brigade that was to garrison Darwin. Should be enough for any unexpected counter-landing.

Cruisers will cycle from Darwin to bombard Dili occasionally. And bombing will continue. Once I have 2 divisions there, I should start wearing the defenders down. And I don't mind keeping the focus here for a bit. I'll be moving the focus soon enough.

SigInt today was interesting. Lots of "heavy activity", at Manando, Guam, Babeldaop, and Manila. So there's lots of activity out there. I'm just not seeing it. Yet.




BBfanboy -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/22/2016 3:16:11 PM)

Those Garrison Units are usually not very good in morale and experience so the IJA Infantry Regiment is the heart of the defence.
The RF Gun Battalion is what hurt your tanks but the only artillery he has (other than small unit guns) is the Jungle guns, which are likely 75-85 mm.
If your 1st RAA has larger caliber guns or lots of guns in the 85 mm range you might be able to win artillery duels.

But you really need Combat Engineers to deal with those level 3 forts.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/22/2016 10:19:34 PM)

5 Jun 43

I-9 spots sub Seadragon northeast of Timor, fires 2 torpedoes at the sub, but misses.

At Bima, a small enemy base in the chain of islands between Timor and Java, O21 spots lone xAKL Kofuku Maru. The Dutch sub gets one gun hit on the cargo ship, but takes a hit also, and immediately decides to submerge.

2 squadrons of heavy bombers hit Dobo's airfield, doing minor damage.

Bad weather prevents bombers hitting enemy troops at Dili. The Allied artillery attacks today, and it goes better for the enemy than for us, so we won't be attacking this way. We'll wait for reinforcements.

Brit cruisers will sortie from Milne Bay and move quickly to Torokina, in the Solomons. I'm seeing a few small cargo ships there. It would be nice if there are no mines there.

CV Victorious, upgraded on the West Coast, has made it to Luganville, and it will continue to Townsville. It probably won't get to Darwin in time for the next operation.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/24/2016 11:10:27 PM)

6 Jun 43

Not a lot of activity today. The weather cleared somewhat over Dili, and my bombers hit the airfield and the troops. A squadron of B-17s also hit Dobo's airfield.

At night, multiple task forces were spotted east of Tarakan, on Borneo. Ship types unknown.

A big British cruiser task force moved from Milne Bay to Torokina, but the enemy ships had left. Some of the Brit ships will now head to Australia to repair damage from the high speed run.

An enemy sub was spotted at Dili. It could be laying mines, and I want to continue sending in cruisers to bombard, so I postponed the next bombardment a day, and I've sent a DMS on a high speed run from Darwin to Dili to sweep.

US carriers leave Normanton and head for Darwin.

Exemouth, on the northwestern tip of Australia, has built to a size 1 airfield and port. I will build this base big and use it as a sub base.

A small Australian unit has been unloaded at Darwin. It has been prepping for Derby, and it will be loaded ASAP to take this base back.



Macclan5 -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/25/2016 3:14:02 PM)

Nice to see you both back at firing control Apbarog....

--

Just a curiosity.. We are Jun 6 1943.

We are very deep in operations in the Timor and Solomon Sea's respectively; since the big carrier battle of Nov 20 1942 (ergo page 25 or so as I recall)

--

What's happening in Burma ? India ?

Looking at operations it appears of course Aussie and Brit forces have been redirected for your ABDA line invasions.

--

No rush but when you have time drop us a screen shot on the other front.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/25/2016 5:54:55 PM)

Correct observations Macclan5. A large number of Brit, Aussie, and even Indian units were sent from India to Australia. I'm using 2 Brit divisions, and a bunch of big Indian para LRP units in the Timor area. Plus many (over 20) other units.

Burma has been absolutely quiet. There's an enemy tank division on the road between Chittagong and Cox Bazar, in the jungle, plus elements of the Imperial Guard Division scattered nearby. I don't have enough unrestricted units there to try an offensive, but have a sufficient supply of restricted Indian units for any kind of defense. The units that are available, such as a huge Chinese corp that I built from purchased components and evacuated to India while I could, are prepping for action, but they would be involved in an amphibious assault, and not anytime soon. I highly recommend buying out the components for this Chinese corp. Building to full size in India works well. For me, the unit serves as an emergency reserve. With over 800 combat value, it's going to be fun dropping this unit somewhere. Right now, I'm planning Pegu. But that's for the future.

I'd rather push to Java and then maybe to Sumatra. I can threaten Singapore from that direction, and threaten to cut off the entire Burma theater. I don't know if I'll go this direction though.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/27/2016 12:20:36 AM)

7 Jun 43

Sub Sculpin spots BB Haruna and friends just outside of Kendari. 4 torpedoes miss the battleship.

Koepang's airfield is bombed. Enemy troops at Dili are bombed. Dobo's airfield is bombed. And for the first time, the airfield at Ternate is bombed. No CAP at Ternate either, as this is well behind the lines as probably wasn't expected. Just 10 or so B-24s flew from Timoeka, doing minor damage to the airfield and hitting a couple of Sallys on the ground. Just want to force more bases to have fighters, so it's easier to hit my objectives when it comes time.

Haruna was one hex southeast of Kendari during the night phase, where Sculpin attacked it. Don't know where it was coming from, but it ended up at Kendari.

I've changed my mind about the 4th Marine Division, which just arrived on the West Coast. I was going to prep for Kusaie Island. Now I'm prepping for Buin, next to Shortlands, in the Solomons. I can do this invasion without carriers. Kusaie would threaten the Marshalls from the west, but I think the Marshalls are practically empty now anyhow. I'll move closer to Rabaul. From Buin, Rabaul will be shut down by my airpower.

I've marked my objectives for the next phase of operations. Denpassar (Bali), is the primary objective. Divisions will land there and at Waingapoe. Smaller units at the other targets. If I'm lucky, and approach unseen, I may open the attack with a port strike on Soerbaja. Denpassar is uncomfortably close to Soerbaja when I invade, but it's also nicely close after I've built up Denpassar. Java will truly be threatened.

I got intel that 3/8 Div/A is at Manando. 8 Div was at Dobo, and parts have been extracted. I suspect that extraction continues there, at least with 2/3 of the division.

Essex will join the other US carriers near Gove today. The Brit division destined for Denpassar is 2 days out of Darwin where it will reload for the invasion.

[image]local://upfiles/6549/9467534811164452960D5C92B5CEAE28.gif[/image]



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/27/2016 11:43:25 PM)

8 Jun 43

Little combat but lots of activity.

2 B-24 squadrons bomb Koepang's airfield, doing minor damage.

Just outside of Davao, sub Blackfish spots a couple of subchasers, fires 2 torpedoes at one, and both miss. The subchasers attack but get no depth charge hits.

The enemy task force at Kendari remains there today. Lots of enemy CAP.

Today US carriers, now including Essex, will move through Darwin and stop to the WSW of Darwin. I'm hoping to have them avoid being seen. Darwin sees enemy recon planes every day, so the carriers move west, and a replenishment task force will meet them and top off the tanks. The plan will not change if the carriers are spotted, but it would be nice to move west unseen.

The Brit division will arrive at Darwin and unload.

Preparations are in high gear for the next operation.

Lots of heavy bombers will bomb Taberfane's airfield today.



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/29/2016 8:05:59 AM)

9 Jun 43

Today was the day to spot enemy tankers, apparently.

Near Balikpapan, sub Steelhead spots a tanker convoy, fires 2 torpedoes at E Uji, and misses.

Mid-ocean between Borneo and Vietnam, sub Pike is spotted by escorts in a tanker convoy. Pike takes serious damage from 2 solid depth charge hits. Damage is SYS 42/FLOT 70-47/ENG 11. It's a long way home to Darwin. I can hope that the flotation damage will come down some, but the issue is in doubt.

North of Kendari, sub Rasher spots a tanker convoy, fires 2 torpedoes at PB Hakka Maru, and misses.

US cruisers bombarded Dili at night, doing good damage to the troops and minor damage to the facilities. I'm sure that disruption was caused.

Many heavy bombers hit Taberfane's airfield. Good results.

At Dili, the 18th British Division joined the attack. Results were much improved from the one division attack earlier. Odds were 1 to 1, and the forts were reduced to 2. I noticed that my corp HQ here had the South Pacific HQ as its parent HQ. I have the Southwest Pacific HQ just one hex away, hopefully lending support. So before this attack, I changed the parent HQ of the XIV US Corp to the Southwest Pacific HQ. I don't know if this really makes any difference, or if just being in range of the parent HQ helps. Regardless, the attack went better. I'll rest a day and repeat, along with more ship bombardments. No air flew again today to Dili, again due to weather. A bunch of B-25s have a ground attack mission assigned here. It would be helpful if the weather cleared.

*********************************
Ground combat at Dili (71,115)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25084 troops, 447 guns, 326 vehicles, Assault Value = 697

Defending force 13903 troops, 110 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 403

Allied adjusted assault: 1171

Japanese adjusted defense: 811

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
749 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 60 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 16 (1 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
641 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 37 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 11 (2 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 64 (10 destroyed, 54 disabled)

Assaulting units:
640th Tank Destroyer Battalion (mostly disrupted now)
32nd Infantry Division
18th British Division
XIV US Corps
1st RAA Jungle Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
11th Garrison Unit
14th Garrison Unit
24th Infantry Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion
56th Construction Battalion
86th JAAF AF Bn
*****************************

Today the US carriers moves WSW of Darwin, and were unseen. They'll loiter here in this dead zone until the invasion shipping moves out. The Brits have unloaded at Darwin and start a 3 day transition to combat mode, then loading will occur. Every day is another day closer to the next big and important operation.



jwolf -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/29/2016 7:28:35 PM)

Those landings between Java and Timor will certainly draw Japanese attention. I'm looking forward to some fireworks!



apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/30/2016 12:22:26 AM)

10 Jun 43

Sub Shad spots a tanker convoy in the straits northeast of Balikpapan. Escorts can't hit the sub.

32 B-25s flew to Dili today and bombed the enemy troops, doing almost no damage. Today our troops rested. They will attack again tomorrow, combined with another cruiser bombardment, and hopefully more bombing. The cruisers that are inbound are at Saumlaki today. Moved them there as a misdirection, showing interest in that area, while remaining in bombardment range of Dili.

I'm fairly sure that Koepang has troops being airlifted out now. I got SigInt of part of an air support unit being there. There's a lot of troops there, far more than can be airlifted out. I'll try to verify my hunch today with some LRCAP from Lautem.

CV Victorious offloaded its fighters and loaded a big F4F group at Townsville. The carrier will now move to the Darwin area.

US carriers remained unseen WSW of Darwin, but a cruiser's floatplane did spot a sub in the area, which means that the sub spotted the floatplane. Here, though, it doesn't matter, as Darwin is so close, this spotting won't raise any suspicions. I'm considering whether to rest all of my search planes when the armada moves out. There is risk and reward to this.

The Brits still have 2 days till loading begins at Darwin. Loading is beginning now at Gove.

As a side note, I did see over 120 ships in Nagasaki's port, from intel. With previous spottings, I can be sure that Walker is using Nagasaki as a big naval base. Something to keep in mind for the future. Maybe I'll sneak some heavy bombers into China and hit the port at long range...




apbarog -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/30/2016 7:56:52 PM)

11 Jun 43

PC issues. Since getting the big Windows 10 update yesterday, I've had graphical issues followed by the game crashing when trying to save. This has resulted in losing 3 hours of work yesterday, then 2 separate times losing 2.5 hours of work each today. Details are in the Tech Support area.

I did finish a turn though, finally. I don't know if my PC issues are resolved or if I just got lucky this time.


Between Japan and the Iwo Jima area, sub Muskallunge spots a transport task force, fires 4 torpedoes at the huge xAP Argentina Maru, and gets one torpedo hit.

US cruisers bombarded Dili, and B-25s attacked the troops. A deliberate attack followed.

*******************************
Ground combat at Dili (71,115)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 24684 troops, 446 guns, 322 vehicles, Assault Value = 632

Defending force 13058 troops, 108 guns, 25 vehicles, Assault Value = 344

Allied adjusted assault: 517

Japanese adjusted defense: 327

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
639 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 6 (3 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
638 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
640th Tank Destroyer Battalion
18th British Division
XIV US Corps
1st RAA Jungle Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
11th Garrison Unit
14th Garrison Unit
24th Infantry Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion
56th Construction Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
86th JAAF AF Bn
**********************

Good progress. I will again rest for a day, then reattack. Dili will be captured soon.

One more day until the invasion troops start loading at Darwin.

With enemy carriers spotted at Kendari, I increased the CAP at Darwin, pulled out most of the planes at Lautem, fearing a bombardment then a KB strike, moved SBDs to Babar, just in case something comes within range, and sent a minelaying sub to drop some presents north of Kendari, along the coast.

On the West Coast, the 4th Marine Division and the 1st Cavalry Divisions have arrived, and are prepping for Buin and Torokina. I'll push a bit closer to Rabaul when they get to the Solomons.

[image]local://upfiles/6549/5869FC90F3DC4529863C89970E895DED.gif[/image]



jwolf -> RE: See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28 (8/30/2016 8:07:35 PM)

Are Derby and Broome the last Japanese bases left in Australia? I can't tell from that picture and I can't remember farther back. [:'(]



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