RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.)

RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (Full Version)

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dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:58:18 AM)
04 Jul 42 (This report was lost when the game locked up the computer, requiring a hard reboot.) More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 05 Jul 42 The Trusty shelled and torpedoed a freighter in the Malacca Strait. The nightly raids on Tavoy continue. In the day forty Liberators bombed the field. Enemy losses are between thirty-five and forty aircraft destroyed. B-17s bombed Mersing and Singapore, targeting factories and rubber processing centers. Poor weather during the day grounded the Rangoon Hurricanes again. But Wellingtons and B-25s continued bombing enemy troops in the region however. I'm not sure I'd call it a success because of the cost, but we finally had a strike score damage on the enemy carrier group. Three Demons and a dozen P-40s escorted ten Swordfish and three Mitchells. The escorts claimed two Zeroes but lost a Demon, half the Warhawks and a B-25. Five Swordfish were lost to the ships' anti-aircraft fire but they managed two torpedo hits on the carrier Kaga. It also appears that one of the torpedoes set off a secondary explosion on board the ship. The carriers retailated with strikes against the shipping trapped at Soerabaja. Two freighters were sunk and a third was crippled. They also blew apart two-thirds of the defending fighters. The abandoned facilities at Jesselton were bombed by a large group of Japanese Bettys. Lae was bombed again. While doing serious damage to the airfield the aircrews finally saw some evidence of enemy troops in the area. Several raids of Bettys bombed Chinese troops at Canton. Two flights of Hudsons scored a hit on a freighter near Dadjangas on southern Mindanao. The Needwood took another torpedo hit at Gasmata. One P-40 and one Zero were shot down in the dogfight. The Chinese launched an assault on Canton. Casualties were heavier than we had hoped. Now, hopefully, the Japanese will leave their defenses to attempt a counter-attack, as strange as that sounds to wish for. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 06 Jul 42 The Tarpon scored a coup. She hit an enemy carrier, identified as the Hiryu, with a torpedo between Borneo and Belitung. The sonar operator reports a secondary explosion as the sub evaded the escorts. Intelligence is reporting that the IJN carrier Junyo sank near Belitung Island. It isn't happening in a single dramatic battle and the cost for our aircrews is certainly not to be celebrated, but we seem to be finally whittling down the enemy's carriers. The KXI missed a tanker near Singapore and then spent the rest of the day avoiding the escorts. A minesweeper group in the north Coral Sea pursued a sonar contact but couldn't score. Night bombing of Tavoy continues. Chengting was bombed by the Chinese again. The Bomb Group attacking Mersing continued to do so. The other Bomb Group at Batavia was stood down after the Kaga was hit and is preparaing to bomb the harbor at Singapore, which is the most likely place for the damaged carrier (now carriers) to pull back to. Tarawa's Forts bombed Kwajalein, catching some planes on the ground. IL-4s bombed Japanese troops at Canton. One Betty was shot down by AAA at Menado. More Bettys bombed Chinese forces at Canton. Beauforts torpedoed a freighter near Lae. The Japanese kept to form and attacked at Canton. Chinese losses were around five hundred and estimate enemy casualties at around forty-five hundred. Its hard to judge how successful the siege is going. Overall we think the Japs have lost more troops than the Chinese but we are beginning to see signs of strain among the Chinese forces, despite the fact that they have begun rotating units out to Wuchow. More reports to follow.

Smiffus64 -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 11:10:17 AM)
Nice read, what are your losses till now?

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 8:59:23 PM)
Intelligence screen: [image]local://upfiles/12783/Hf101281720.jpg[/image]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:00:04 PM)
Carrier Losses: [image]local://upfiles/12783/Ec894439680.jpg[/image]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:00:43 PM)
Battleship Losses: [image]local://upfiles/12783/Li208673077.jpg[/image]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:01:37 PM)
Cruiser Losses: [image]local://upfiles/12783/Pn360298139.jpg[/image]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:02:44 PM)
Top Aircraft Losses: [image]local://upfiles/12783/Jh155677777.jpg[/image]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/26/2004 9:12:10 PM)
Losses among Destroyers and variants are too numerous to list. But most of the ship losses on both sides have been merchant shipping (AKs and TKs). The Japanese have lost a LOT more there than I have. The US carrier Lexington is still at Pearl with a bit under 30 SYS damage. And as can be read, two IJN carriers should have significant SYS damage recently inflicted. The Saratoga is at Pearl, the Enterprise and Yorktown at Brisbane, all repairing SYS damage from just being at sea. The Hornet is enroute to Brisbane from Pearl. And the two RN carriers are on Ceylon waiting for more escort ships to finish repairing sea damage. I am finding it extremely frustrating to have ships put to sea for two weeks and then have to spend three to four months repairing the damage from just moving at cruising speed. Put a major ship at full speed for just a day or two and you can write it off for most of a year afterwards. It feels seriously out of whack.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/27/2004 9:55:06 AM)
07 Jul 42 The KXI made a couple of unsuccessful attacks on freighters around Singapore. The Skipjack torpedoed and shelled a freighter near Hong Kong/Canton. Blenheims continued nightly raids on Tavoy. Forty-five B-24s pounded Tavoy during the day. They did heavy damage but it looks like the enemy may have withdrawn what aircraft he can from the base. That's fine with me, we'll take advantage of this to ship more supplies in to Rangoon. The Chinese also continued their raids on Chengting. The B-17s bombed Mersing again. The Chinese made a slightly larger than usual nibble on the IJA 3rd Division near Wuhan. Wellingtons and B-25s bombed enemy forces engaged in anti-insurgency actions around Moulmein. Wellingtons from Batavia attacked the retreating enemy carriers. The enemy CAP was weak, only half-a-dozen fighters. One escorting Demon and a Wellington were shot down but it looks like they scored multiple bomb hits on the carrier Akagi. Hudsons scored several bomb hits on a freighter off the south coast of Mindanao. Bettys bombed Jesselton. The enemy carriers launched a large strike against Sinkep Island for some reason. Almost a hundred Vals and Kates blasted the airfield. There were more bombings of Chinese forces at Canton. Half-a-dozen Bettys escorted by a decade of Zeroes attacked a ship docked at Gasmata. The P-40s shot down half the bombers and several of the fighters. The remaining Bettys missed the freighter. The lull at Canton continues. The battleship Oklahoma has reached Pearl Harbor. She will remain there for a day or two before heading for one of the West Coast ports for repairs. Most likely they will take place at Los Angeles, the Arizona has almost completed repairs there. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 08 Jul 42 The Tarpon, on patrol between Borneo and Belitung, spent the day trying to approach and then evading the escorts of the Japanese carriers. The KXI used the last of her torpedoes in a failed attack on a freighter near Singapore. Another night bombing raid on Tavoy. The Chinese bombers are still not having any problem getting past weak fighter defenses at Chengting. The Chinese also continued bombing the IJA 3rd Division. An attack on Yenen cost the Nips several Nates and a pair of Sonias. B-17s bombed facilities at Mersing. The 43rd Bomb Group began bombing the port of Singapore. What happened was just the start of a very bloody day. Damage assessment is still trying to sort out the full extent of the raid's success but the initial assessment is three or four destroyers, a minesweeper or other small ship and almost twenty freighters or transports hit by bombs from the thirty-three Flying Forts. We're also getting hints of heavy casualties among the Japanese forces in the city. Fifty-five more Forts went after Rabaul. One was lost to defending Zeroes but the gunners accounted for two or three fighters. Serious damage was done to the airfield and a dozen or more planes were caught by bombs on the ground. The IJN carriers have apparently turned back south, again. Strikes launched against them from Batavia and Soerabaja. Losses were heavy and a number of the bombers were forced to turn back. The fighter squadrons at Batavia are pretty much decimated. The final toll from all the attacks was five Demons, nine Brewsters, nine Beaufort V-IXs, five Beaufort Is, four Wellingtons and two B-25s. About half-a-dozen Zeroes were shot down by either the escorts or the bomber gunners. But bomb hits were scored on the Akagi and Hiryu and one of the escort cruisers was straffed by a low flying Beaufort. It looks like all the carrier bombers went after Toboali for some reason. Some hundred and twenty aircraft bombed the airfield there. A strike against a freighter at Davao missed. Hudsons and Beauforts got past the Nates defending Tarakan to hit a tanker with one bomb and a transport with five. Bettys and Zeroes attacked shipping at Gasmata. Five fighters and two bombers were downed by the P-40s, who lost one plane themselves. None of the ships were hit. Menado was bombed by some twenty Bettys. Guadalcanal's B-26s bombed the airfield at Shortlands. The Chinese forces at Canton were bombed, but there was no serious fighting on the ground. More reports to follow.

Alikchi2 -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/27/2004 10:23:17 AM)
July, and you still hold Rangoon and Java? AI is a bit.. sluggish.. [X(] Sounds like you're experiencing a bit of success with the heavy bombers, too.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/27/2004 8:59:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Alikchi July, and you still hold Rangoon and Java? AI is a bit.. sluggish.. [X(] Sounds like you're experiencing a bit of success with the heavy bombers, too. I'm a little surprised I'm still holding Rangoon myself. As for Java..., well, the AI is only set to 'Historical'. Next game I'll set it to 'Hard' or 'Very Hard'. (The AI having access to look at the player's units under 'Very Hard' bothers me, so I'm not sure I want to use that level.) But I suspect that the main reason the AI's advance in the DEI has slowed (maybe stopped, can't tell for sure yet) is the losses in AKs and APs I've inflicted. "Dead Jap Strait", the bombings at Singapore and the Dutch/ABDA bombers around Borneo and in the Celebes Sea have racked up a horrible toll among IJN shipping. There was also the initial surge of Allied sub activity, although that has severly tapered off as boats come in for repairs and refits. I've begun a shuffling of units from bases farther back recently. Baker, Nanomea, Pearl and a few other bases that have substantial garrisons are no longer under threat of attack. So I've begun shifting units from them towards Darwin and the DEI. Mostly engineers and AAA units, but there's an Armored Regiment and an RCT on the move. I'm also putting a few of my half-strength BFs in places where they can build up to full strength. My plan at the moment is to continue to build up forces at Soerabaja and Balikpapan (maybe make an overland attack from Balikpapan on Tarakan, not sure about that yet) and push up the Solomons to secure the final part of the US-OZ convoy routes. The Marine 2nd Division is almost completely rested at Brisbane, there's a RCT there also. I've almost finished moving the PT boats from Pearl to Lunga (constantly sipping from an oiler the entire way). And I'll soon have three carriers in the region. What I don't have are support LCUs, Base Forces, artillery, construction engineers and the like. Hence some of the shuffling to get some BFs in positions where they can build up. But overall, I'm relatively pleased. I obviously learned the basics way too fast. [:D]

dtravel -> May our deities forgive us for what we do (11/28/2004 10:11:53 AM)
(May our deities forgive us for what we do.) 09 Jul 42 Just west of Banjarmasin the Dolphin took a shot at an IJN cruiser but missed. There were a number of ASW actions in the Coral Sea during the night. Minesweepers in the north spent all night hunting an elusive Jap sub. East of Townsville another ASW patrol sank an I-boat. In between the two an enemy sub fired on and missed the gunboat leader of a third group. Operations against Tavoy continue with 27 Squadron bombing during the night. Forty-four B-24s of 7th Bomb Group hammered it during the day. Another Japanese raid on Yenen suffered heavy losses. Two Nates and two Sonias were claimed by Chinese I-16 fighters. Two more of the Sonias were shot down by AAA. The heavy bombers seem to be hitting their stride. In addition to the raid on Tavoy already mentioned, B-17 Bomb Groups attacked at Mersing, Singapore, Rabaul and Kwajalein. Sixteen bombers dropped on raw material facilities at Mersing, although this unit will now switch to bombing Singapore. Thirty Forts continued their slaughter of enemy shipping at Singapore, hitting, we believe, four destroyers, a small escort ship and fifteen merchant vessels. Kwajalein suffered under the bombs of thirty-three heavies. A few Nates in the air declined to engage and a dozen more enemy planes died on the ground. At Rabaul thirty-eight Flying Forts lived up to their name, shooting down several of the fifteen Zeroes that engaged them. Heavy damage was done to the air base and more enemy aircraft were blown apart, although three B-17s were too heavily damaged to be repaired or salvaged. SB-2s continued bombing the enemy division west of Wuhan. Hurricanes, Wellingtons and B-25s continued their constant attacks on enemy troops near Rangoon. Two of the fighter-bombers were lost the enemy AA fire. The Battle of Java Sea continues. The enemy has naval forces at three separate points. First is a force of cruisers attacking Palembang. Second is an IJN carrier group about a hundred miles southwest of Belitung. The final group appears to be just the carrier Akagi and escorts, just west of Banjarmasin. The fighting was constant from sunrise to sunset. Beauforts at Palembang concentrated on defending their own base, launching strikes against the cruisers. One heavy cruiser took some damage from the machineguns of the Beauforts and a light cruiser took two bomb strikes as well as more machinegun straffing. We lost a dozen Beauforts and Hawks either to AAA fire or on the ground when the base was shelled. The remaining three PT boats at Palembang were unable to engage the enemy ships. The base itself took heavy damage and casualties from the bombardment. The main enemy carrier force was attacked by Swordfish and B-25s from Soerabaja, but despite a valient effort by the aircrews no hits were scored on the enemy ships. In return, the Nip carriers struck Batavia with ninety bombers and over a dozen fighters. Two defending Demons and a Brewster were lost in the air, but the rest of the fighters got past the Zeroes and spread havoc among the Vals and Kates. AAA claimed a large number of enemy aircraft as well, but our own losses on the ground were considerable. We lost a dozen aircraft to enemy bombs while Intelligence places the enemy's losses here at two Zeroes, thirteen Vals and twelve Kates. Swordfish, B-25s, Beauforts and Hudsons from Soerabaja, Banjarmasin and Balikpapan kept the Akagi under nearly constant attack. Her CAP was not strong to begin with and several Zeroes were shot down by escorting fighters or gunners on the bombers. By the end of the day the Akagi had suffered one torpedo and two bomb hits. But even as the Akagi was being attacked her aircraft hit our shipping. The freighter Meroendoeng was blown apart and sank east of Pamakasan. The transport Van Overstraten took three bomb hits at Pamakasan itself. The Empire Mariott took a torpedo hit in Soerabaja harbor and the Vermont took another not far from where the Meroendoeng was lost. Totalled together, our aircraft losses around the Java Sea today came to: Twelve P-40s, nine B-17s, eleven Beaufort V-IXs, five Hawks, five Swordfish, three B-25s, three Demons, two Beaufort Is, two Hudsons, a Wellington and a Brewster. Over fifty aircraft and crews in one day. Jesselton and Menado were bombed by Bettys out of the Philippines. Morotai received some attention from Nells flying in from the east. The Chinese at Canton were bombed in three separate raids during the day. Hudsons made strikes against ships at Davao, but failed to hit. There was no significant fighting around Canton. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10 Jul 42 We got a report of enemy troops landing on Emirau Island. The Growler evaded an enemy ASW patrol near the entrance to the Sea of Japan. East of Cooktown an ASW group lost the minesweeper Ipswitch to a pair of Jap torpedoes. The night bombing of Tavoy continues. Chinese forces bomb Chengting. There was another attack on Yenen by three Nates and three Sonias. The Chinese fighters took out one of the Nates in passing and shot all the bombers down. Two dozen B-17s continued the attack on Singapore's port. Two destroyers, a minesweeper and four transports were struck by bombs. Thirty heavies attacked Rabaul and were intercepted by fourteen Zeroes. One bomber was shot down and three more either crashed on landing or couldn't be repaired. They did serious damage to the Japanese base. The Battle of Java Sea rages on. The enemy carriers have moved south, with the main group now east-southeast of Soerabaja and the Akagi only fifty miles south of its previous day's position. The Akagi was hit again three more times in three strikes. Attacks on the main group scored three Swordfish torpedo strikes and a couple of 500lb bomb hits on a light carrier. The enemy's carrier planes sank three freighters at Soerabaja and damaged two more. Another attack further damaged the transport Van Overstraten as it struggles to make it to Soerabaja. Losses today were somewhat lighter than yesterday, but only because we didn't have as many aircraft to fly. We may have taken down almost a dozen enemy Zeroes but our fighter squadrons continue to disintegrate when fighting the carriers. More than twenty P-40s and half-a-dozen Demons were lost escorting the strikes. The only good news is that they did manage to keep the Zeroes mostly away from the bombers as only two of them were shot down. A dozen Wellingtons attacked an Japanese task force near Singkawang. The hit a light cruiser once and a destroyer twice, as well as straffing the destroyer. They also report an apparent magazine explosion on board the tin can. More strikes around the Celebes Sea also failed and B-26s from Lunga bombed the airfield at Shortlands. In order to keep operations in the Java Sea going, the two nearly full strength squadrons of P-40s at Balikpapan switch places with the two P-40 units at Soerabaja who were at less than one-third strength after yesterday's fighting. Unfortunately a convoy of tankers arrived at about the same time, attracting the attention of Bettys. In multiple attacks they and their escort model three Zeroes cost us half the remaining fighters and scored torpedo hits on three of the tankers. Neither side made any movements at Canton. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> Bloodbath in Java Sea continues (11/29/2004 9:01:42 AM)
11 Jul 42 The Growler made a surface torpedo attack on a freighter at the entrance to the Sea of Japan. She hit with two torpedoes as well as using her new 20mm guns to shoot the ship up. At the south end of the Malacca Strait the KXIII put two torpedoes into a loaded troop transport. The Blenheims continue to bomb Tavoy during the night. Chengting was bombed again. Almost thirty B-17s were able to attack Singapore today. The damage to enemy shipping increased appropriately. Five destroyers or destroyer transports and twenty freighters or transports were hit. Another twenty Forts bombed Kwajalein. Three Zeroes and six Nates tried to intercept. The gunners shot down all three of the Zeroes but one bomber was lost to enemy flak. They did destroy half-a-dozen planes on the ground. Rabaul also came under attack from two dozen B-17s that fought their way thru a dozen Zeroes, losing one bomber enroute. One Zero was shot down and almost three dozen Bettys were destroyed or damaged by bombs. The enemy's Ann squadrons made a move against the weakened defenses of Balikpapan. Almost thirty divebombers, escorted by eight Zeroes and a few Nates, attacked the airfield. A dozen P-40s were able to intercept. The fight with the escorts was brief, with two fighters lost on each side, before the defenders got in among the bombers. Six Anns were shot down with another claimed by AAA. The weather in Burma kept Mandalay's bombers grounded today, but the Hurricanes flew against the Japanese troops. The battle in the Java Sea is degenerating. From the reports, the enemy's Command and Control ability is also suffering. The Akagi has continued south and is now northwest of Macassar. This puts it within range of the Hudsons based at Kendari who joined the battle. The main group is now between Pamakasan and Bali. Disorganized, small groups flew all over in both directions. Units on both sides attacked as quickly as they could put together crews and aircraft before their own bases came under attack. However, the continued southern movement of the Japanese carriers has moved them out of range of the bombers at Batavia. On the other hand, the squadrons there will have a chance to re-group and repair. And the IJN flattops will have to sail past them with their reduced air groups to return to Singapore. Radio intercepts indicate that the enemy carrier Shoho sank overnight. Strikes against the Akagi's group scored another two bomb hits. The transports Republic and Van Overstaten were both sunk by attacks. The main group launched aircraft against Soerabaja but they either never tried to stay together or got separated. In one incident a group of nine Kates came in alone. The defending fighters shot the entire group down. Various disjointed groups of Bettys tried to take advantage of the situation to continue attacking Balikpapan but all of them were forced to abort by the small surviving CAP. A strike from the Akagi did get thru and did heavy damage to the tanker Topila. The tanker Meton was hit by a torpedo from a small second carrier strike that caught the CAP by surprise. Convoy 1141, six freighters loaded with supplies for Soerabaja from Darwin, has been pushing thru at full speed. The supplies are too badly needed on Java for them to wait and their luck ran out today just north of Pamakasan. Five of the ships were damaged in a strike but should be able to make it to port. Two more freighters, travelling separately, were damaged after reaching port. Today's aircraft losses (as far as we can determine): 16 P-40E 12 Kates 8 Zeroes 8 Vals 5 Hudsons 2 Demons 1 B-25 1 Beaufort V-IX 1 Swordfish Fifty B-26s from Guadalcanal bombed Shortlands, doing some damage to the enemy air base. The Chinese launched another assault on Canton. While the Allied losses were not trivial, compared to previous assaults the results were better. Perhaps the enemy is beginning to suffer under the seige afterall. In addition to the attack at Canton, eight Chinese Corps sallied from Changsha to attack the IJA division west of Wuhan. They attacked and drove the Japanese back into Wuhan with heavy losses. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (11/30/2004 8:31:20 AM)
12 Jul 42 The KX missed a freighter near Kuching. The Triton was attacked by minesweepers north of Aparri. The Sculpin's attack on a freighter near Singapore failed. The nightfighters bombed Tavoy again. Forty-six B-24s bombed the base in the morning. A lone Zero made a single pass at the bombers but quickly broke off. Heavy damage was done to the airfield. The Chinese continued their attacks on Chengting. Thirty-eight B-17s continued the assault on enemy shipping at Singapore. Reports indicate four destroyers and ten merchant ships were hit today. Only fifteen heavy bombers were able to attack Rabaul, but the enemy's fighter defenses have been greatly weakened and only a dozen Zeroes resisted the raid. Several bombers were damaged but no aircraft were lost in the air. Intelligence estimates that about sixteen aircraft were destroyed and about twice that many damaged. Chinese bombers attacked enemy troops at Canton. Hurricanes and Mandalay's bombers pounded enemy troops around Rangoon. Bettys attacked Balikpapan in several small groups. One of those strikes succeeded in hitting a tanker with a pair of torpedoes. Our attacks on Shortlands continue. Forty B-26 Marauders were in today's strike on the airfield. Although the enemy is apparently not using the field yet, pre-emptive damage is good and it provides practice for the crews. A lull has descended on the Java Sea. The Akagi seems to be holding station while the main group has moved north to the center of the Java Sea, about a hundred miles east of Kragen. The enemy carriers didn't launch any strikes and only the Hudsons at Kendari were able to launch attacks on the Akagi. Four of the bombers were lost but they weren't able to make any hits. The Japanese launched an attack at Canton. The Chinese are claiming four thousand enemy casualties for less than five hundred of their own. Another base engineer unit is now in San Francisco, where they will finish filling out their TO&E. As well, another squadron of Marine Wildcats is in Seattle. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 13 Jul 42 Outside Singapore the Sculpin used her deck and AA guns to shoot up a freighter. Also outside Singapore, the KXIII torpedoed a gunboat. Near Davao the Gato tried a surface attack on a freighter but got hit by the enemy's deck gun. Her captain reports the damage as minimal, but is heading for Wake anyways since he is out of torpedoes. The night bombing of Tavoy continues. Forty Liberators flew during the day. Twenty B-17s hit Kwajalein's airfield, destroying half-a-dozen enemy aircraft. They were opposed by three Zeroes and six Nates but pushed thru without loss. Only nine bombers were in shape for the attack on Rabaul. While they did catch a few more enemy planes on the ground the damage they did was light and most of them were damaged by the dozen Zeroes protecting the base. Chinese bombers attacked Japanese troops at Canton and Wuhan. Enemy forces outside Rangoon were subjected to full attacks from the Rangoon based Hurricanes and Mandalay's B-25s and Wellingtons. Fighting in the Java Sea picked up again. The Hudsons from Kendari kept up their attacks on the Akagi, still moving slowly near Macassar, but again were unable to hit the carrier. Several strikes against the main group near Lombok Island also failed to score any hits. Fortunately casualties were light. It looks like we only lost two B-25s, three Swordfish and five P-40s today. The enemy carriers launched multiple strikes against ships at Soerabaja. Somehow they were able to target only ships attempting to unload supplies. The freighter Dakotan was blown apart by multiple bomb and torpedo hits as she was at dock and several other ships suffered damage. The only good part was that the enemy's strikes were again not as well co-ordinated as they could have been with several groups of bombers coming in unescorted. Unfortunately the fighter squadrons are too badly weakened to be able to take full advantage of this. They did manage to shoot down a dozen Vals. The enemy's carriers were all out of range of the bombers at Balikpapan, so they went after the enemy's shipping at Tarakan. They hit two freighters, one of the several times. Hudsons on the east end of Sulawesi hit a freighter in the Celebes Sea near Mindanao. The Marauders continued bombing Shortlands. In a serious setback we lost a third of the US 37th Division today. The convoy carrying the troops to Darwin came under attack near the Louisiade Arch. by two dozen Betties. Two transports suffered multiple torpedo hits and sank. A third was hit by one more torpedo. Both sides used their artillery at Canton, but nothing more serious than that took place today. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/2/2004 9:39:40 AM)
14 Jul 42 The Sculpin got caught up in a gun duel with a freighter near Singapore. She managed to get away without damage, but is heading for Soerabaja to reload torpedoes. Outside Tarakan the S-39 put several torpedoes into a freighter. In the approaches to Shortlands the S-28 scored two hits on one ship in a convoy. The escorts seemed upset by this and chased the sub the rest of the day. The Aussie minesweepers between Cooktown and Gili Gili finally tracked down that sonar contact. They are certain they scored multiple hits on the enemy sub. Blenheims denied the enemy forces at Tavoy another night's sleep. Forty-five B-17s bombed Singapore harbor. Damage assessment places the hits at four destroyers and eighteen freighters and transports. Intelligence also believes that one of the destroyers was sunk outright when her magazine exploded. A dozen B-17s bombed Kwajalein. They fought their way thru half-a-dozen enemy fighters but did only light damage to the airfield. Hurricanes bombed and straffed Japanese troops near Rangoon. The Chinese attacked the Vietnamese troops in the jungle near Hanoi. In the Java Sea the enemy's main carrier group moved north to a position between Banjarmasin and Soerabaja. They traded strikes with Soerabaja. Two more freighters at Soerabaja were further damaged, but our strikes failed to hit any of the enemy ships. Enemy aircraft losses are believed to be five Zeroes, six Kates and two Vals. We lost three Demons, two P-40s and a pair of Swordfish. The Akagi's force continued slowly south and is now due west of Kendari about a hundred miles away. In addition to the Hudsons from Kendari, this placed them within range of Hudsons at Lautern. The fact that the Akagi is apparently only able to put a few Zeroes up for defense has helped. Athough it does leave me wondering why she is still heading south, deeper into waters we have air control over. One Hudson claimed a bomb hit on the carrier. Hudsons from Menado were able to score multiple bomb hits on a freighter near Tarakan. B-26s attacked the enemy convoy approaching Shortlands. Despite their numbers, over forty aircraft, they were unable to hit any of the enemy ships. Obviously our aircrew training needs improvement. Morotai came under attack. Sort of. The enemy Nells are apparently no more accurate than our B-26 crews. Both sides continued to regroup at Canton. A new wave of troops arrived in theatre. The Australians have a new AT Regiment. The 823 EAB and 16th Chindit Bde arrived at Karachi. The bulk of the new units is in San Francisco. The 52nd and 72nd Aviation Regiments, the 7th and 8th Sea Bees, 821 EAB, 52nd and 72nd Base Forces, I Corp HQ and the 112 Cavalry Regiment are all waiting. My big problem now is lack of shipping to move the forces I have. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 15 Jul 42 The S-28 was subject to a powerful ASW attack near Shortlands today but was able to escape unharmed. Near Hiroshima the Growler shelled a small freighter. A three destroyer ASW group south of Gili Gili tried to chase down a sonar contact. Tavoy was bombed again overnight. Chinese bombers continued attacking Chengting. The two Bomb Groups of B-17s at Batavia continue to hammer enemy shipping at Singapore. An APD was sunk, two destroyers and sixteen transports were damaged. Reports also indicate heavy casualties among troops stationed there. Chinese bombers attacked Japanese troops at Wuhan. They also bombed the VM unit near Hanoi. The IJN carrier Akagi continued slowly moving south, reaching Butung Island just south of Kendari. Hudsons from Kendari and Lautem launched several strikes. The enemy CAP was almost non-existant and none of the bombers were lost, but they only scored one bomb hit on the carrier. The Akagi launched a strike of only four Kates and three Zeroes against the Kendari airfield. The main carrier group appears to be heading north and is now slightly south of Belitung. Batavia launched a good strike against them but only got a single hit on an escorting cruiser. The escort fighters managed to shoot down one of the defending Zeroes but our own losses were heavy. Five Brewsters, a Demon, three Wellingtons and three Beauforts didn't make it back. B-25s joined the B-26s from Lunga in two attacks on an enemy convoy at Shortlands. One freighter was sunk and four more were hit, almost all of them multiple times. Jambi was bombed by a small enemy strike. A couple of strikes were launched against enemy freighters in the northern Celebes Sea but no hits were made. The Chinese continued to prep for their next assault on Canton. More ships and aircraft have come under Allied command. The carrier Wasp along with two anti-aircraft cruisers and four destroyers has reached San Francisco. The RN battleship Valiant arrived at Karachi. The Australians launched three more minesweepers and along the West Coast we have three subchasers and two submarines. The British got another squadron of Hudsons, while I have a full Fighter Group of P-36 Mohawks, two squadrons of Marine F4Fs and a recon unit with F-5a Lightnings. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/3/2004 9:49:00 AM)
16 Jul 42 The KXVIII put two torpedoes into a freighter near Singapore before blasting it with her 88 and 40 mm AA guns. Our trio of destroyers patrolling south of Gili Gili had a very busy day. First they were attacked by an enemy sub. The torpedoes missed and the ships were able to sink the I-boat. They were then immediately attacked by a second Jap sub. While they are certain they hit this second submarine as well they can't confirm it as a kill. East of Cooktown the minesweeper Warrnambool was sunk by a pair of torpedo hits. The rest of the task force searched but was unable to locate the sub. The Blenheims made another night attack on Tavoy. The Chinese bombed Chengting again. They also attacked enemy troops at Wuhan and near Hanoi. Ten Dutch Hudsons joined the forty-four B-17s bombing Singapore today. Another enemy destroyer was sunk, two more damaged along with seventeen merchant ships and a subchaser. More heavy casualties were apparently inflicted among the Japanese troops. The Akagi appears to be going around Sulawesi and is now about fifty miles east of Kendari. Hudsons from Kendari, Lautem and Menado attacked in small groups all day. Three bombers were lost to the few enemy Zeroes flying but they are claiming two more bomb hits on the carrier. The main enemy carrier group turned around and headed south again. I find this highly suspicious because it appears that they did so at exactly the same time that freighters at Soerabaja began trying to unload again. Soerabaja was caught by surprise and none of the aircraft there were able to launch. Banjarmasin launched strikes but none were successful and several P-40s and Beauforts were lost in the attempts. The enemy's attacks were more successful. The transport Siberg was sunk and three freighters were hit. The only vaguely good news is that the defending P-40s and Demons were able to shoot down seven Vals, three Kates and a Zero without loss themselves. (I'm serious here. There is no way that a Japanese player in that position could have been aware of the ships changing from disbanded in port to single ship TFs unloading cargo. They didn't move at all, were out of range of the carrier TF's spotter aircraft and no other Japanese aircraft flew over the base. Yet the carriers immediately moved to attack them. This is <censored>.) Lunga's bombers attacked the IJN convoy escorts near Shortlands but couldn't hit any of the agile ships. The Chinese launched an assault on Canton to provoke another Japanese sally outside their fixed defenses. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 17 Jul 42 The KXIII hit a tanker outside Singapore in the Malacca Strait. The ASW group that lost a minesweeper yesterday lost another one to a sub's torpedoes today. I'm ordering the survivors back to port and moving another group into the area. The three destroyers south of Gili Gili found and hit another enemy sub. Half-a-dozen nightfighters bombed Tavoy. Forty-seven B-24s announced their return by hammering the runways in the morning. One Chinese bomber was lost over Chengting. Three dozen Flying Forts bombed Singapore port. Damage Assessment says a destroyer, a subchaser and ten transports were hit. Chinese long range bombers bombed Canton. The Japanese troops around Rangoon came under full scale air attack again. Seventy Hurricanes, fifteen Wellingtons and fifty B-25s made bombing runs against the enemy forces. The Chinese bombers at Haiphong bombed VM forces. The Akagi is moving east now. The Hudson squadrons kept up the pressure, launching more strikes throughout the day. One strike had the bad luck to run straight into the CAP and lost several bombers but aircrews report three more bomb hits on the enemy carrier. Half-a-dozen bombers from the Akagi attacked the seaplane tender Pocomoke at Menado. The ship was hit by twice, doing serious damage. Once I ordered the ships at Soerabaja to stop unloading the enemy's main carrier group headed north again. Unfortunately we lost them in a rain squall. Only one flight of B-25s, lost enroute to Pontianak, ran into their CAP and lost one plane. Not able to attack the enemy carriers, the bombers from Batavia attacked three destroyers at Pontianak. Some of the Wellingtons attacked low enough to strafe one ship and another was hit by over half-a-dozen bombs from Wellingtons and Hudsons. The Guadalcanal bombers hit the airfield at Shortlands. The expected enemy sally at Canton failed to materialize. Both sides shelled each other but there was no serious fighting. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/4/2004 9:09:47 AM)
18 Jul 42 The Silversides was attacked by several destroyers and minesweepers in the ocean a few hundred miles east of the Bonin Group. She escaped unharmed and is continueing to her patrol zone. The Snapper hit a tanker north of Brunei but was hit in turn by the escorts. The sub is trying to make it to a nearby port to control flooding. 27 Squadron continued its nightly bombing of Tavoy. Only twenty B-17s were able to attack Singapore today. They spotted a single Zero in the air but were not attacked. Eleven transports and freighters were hit in the raid. Chinese bombers attacked enemy troops at Wuhan. The partisans at Moulmein are certainly keeping the Japanese in southern Burma occupied. The Rangoon Hurricanes attacked Japanese troops in support, losing one plane to ground fire. The Akagi continues to move east and the main IJN carrier group continued north. The Beauforts at Palembang attacked the main group, taking heavy losses but were not able to hit the enemy ships. There were also losses among the Wellingtons and Hudsons attacking from Batavia. Hudsons hit a freighter around Mindanao. The bombers on Guadalcanal attacked two IJN battleships north of Shortlands. No hits were scored. It looks like the enemy is preparing for a major push in the Solomons. Skirmishing at Canton lead to some light casualties on both sides. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 19 Jul 42 The KX hit a freighter near Kuching with one torpedo. She followed up with an attack on a second freighter, blowing it apart with three torpedoes and deck gun rounds. The S-39 sank a freighter near Tarakan with two torpedoes. The S-32 used her deck gun on a barge north of Rabaul. More night bombings of Tavoy. The B-24s switched to bombing Bangkok's airfield since the enemy seems to have withdrawn his aircraft from Tavoy. They destroyed over thirty aircraft and did heavy damage to the base. B-17s bombing the harbor at Singapore hit a destroyer and a dozen transports. The pilots are reporting difficultys because of the smoke and ash in the air from all the burning ships. The Port Moresby B-17s attacked Rabaul. One bomber was lost to Zeroes but the did very heavy damage and destroyed some sixty enemy planes. The Chinese bombed Canton. Wellingtons and B-25s attacked Japanese troops at Moulmein. The main enemy carrier group has apparently continued north but in any event has either moved beyond our search radius or wasn't spotted. The Akagi is continueing to move east and is now midway between Amboina and Wasile. We lost another Hudson in attacks on the ship in return for another bomb hit. We have also spotted and attacked a tanker south of Menado, but wasn't able to hit it. The Akagi's planes hit the Pocomoke with two more torpedoes. They also hit the freighter Sagadahoc unloading supplies for Menado and a tanker loading oil at Sorong. B-26s attacked and missed a destroyer near Shortlands. A flight of Hudsons hit a freighter east of Tarakan with three bombs. Outside Davao another flight hit another freighter. The Chinese shelled Canton while they regrouped for another assault. The ability to repair our ships is turning into a critical factor in this war. Its not just battle damage. It is taking more than a month just to deal with the minor issues that arise just from sailing from San Francisco to Brisbane. This has kept our carriers in port all this time. I have to wonder how the enemy is keeping his ships constantly at sea. We have finally repaired enough ships in Australia to put together a small cruiser and destroyer force. They have set sail from Brisbane for Lunga. Once there we'll see how chewed up they are just from moving and what the situation is. If we can supress Rabaul's airfield we may be able to send them to shell Shortlands. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/6/2004 7:05:16 AM)
20 Jul 42 The Trigger shot up a freighter just south of Truk, leaving it burning. The S-32 missed an escorted transport outside Rabaul. The S-39 put a torpedo into a tanker near Tarakan. The Pickerel scored two torpedo hits and a number of deck gun hits on a freighter off the northwest corner of Borneo. The KXIII was attacked by a very powerful group of destroyers and heavily damaged at the south end of the Malacca Strait. In desparation the sub has docked at Sinkep Island to try to control the flooding. Intelligence believes she was attacked by the escorts of the IJN's main carrier group. If true, this could have serious consequences for the Royal Navy. The freighter Peter Kerr was hit by a torpedo south of Gili Gili while enroute back to Brisbane from Gasmata. It remains to be seen if the ship can make to a port before sinking. Blenheims bomb Tavoy during the night. Forty-five B-24s continued the bombing of Bangkok. More heavy damage was done to the airfields and almost forty enemy aircraft were destroyed. The Hurricanes continued their low level attacks on Japanese forces near Rangoon, losing one aircraft. Wellingtons and B-25s bombed those same forces. The Akagi was lost most of the day in a rain squall near Morotai. As a result the Hudsons launched most of their strikes against enemy shipping again, but had little luck. Once the IJN force came out from under the clouds she was attacked but the nine Hudsons were not able to hit. The Akagi's own small strike scored two more bomb hits on the damaged tanker at Sorong. In addition, the freighter earlier damaged at Menado sank today. With the suppression of Tavoy, the Royal Navy's carriers sailed. Today they launched an attack on the airfield at Victoria Point. Unfortuantely they will have withdraw sooner than we had hoped because of the risk of the Japanese carriers possibly moving thru the Malacca Strait. The enemy airfield at Shortlands was bombed from Lunga. No serious action to report at Canton. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 21 Jul 42 The S-32 spent the night avoiding several ASW groups north of Rabaul. The Pickerel spotted a heavily damaged freighter off northwest Borneo. An Australian minesweeper group spent the day trying to locate a sub spotted by an air patrol east of Cooktown. We continued the nocturnal bombing of Tavoy. The Chinese did noticable damage to Chengting today. The pilots' skill is slowly but steadily improving and it looks like they caught some of the enemy's recon aircraft in today's raid. Other Chinese squadrons attacked enemy troops at Wuhan, Canton and outside Hanoi. The Hurricanes continued their attacks outside Rangoon, losing another plane. Guadalcanal's bombers attacked Shortlands in two strikes. The first attack hit a freighter. The escorting P-40s shot down one of the flight of Zeroes over the island. The second attack hit the airfield hard. There was only light fighting at Canton but the Chinese report that they are ready for another assault. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 22 Jul 42 The tender Pocomoke was unable to bring the flooding under control and sank today. The KXVIII had her attack on a freighter interrupted by escorts near Singapore. Chinese bombers continued bombing Chengting. Forty B-24s bombed the airfield at Tavoy. Forty B-17s attacked Rabaul. About sixteen Zeroes intercepted them and this cost us six bombers. The remaining aircraft destroyed some two dozen enemy planes and did heavy damage to the airfield. Wellingtons and B-25s bombed enemy troops north of Rangoon. Hudsons and Beauforts attacked enemy ships at Tarakan in multiple raids. They hit one freighter with several bombs and a transport with two more. A flight of B-25s hit a freighter at Pontianak. The enemy airfield on Shortlands came under continued attack from the bombers at Guadalcanal. The Chinese launched their assault on Canton. We'll have to see if the launch a counter-attack or if they've learned not to do so. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 23 Jul 42 The Skipjack missed a freighter near Hong Kong. The KXVIII hit a transport with two torpedoes near Singapore. The Growler suffered heavy damage after the torpedoes she fired at an enemy destroyer at the entrance to the Sea of Japan proved to be duds. 27 Squadron returned to bombing Tavoy. The Liberators reported two Zeroes in the air over the base in the morning when they bombed the base. One of the twenty-two B-17s attacking Rabaul was shot down by the dozen defending Zeroes. Many others were forced to turn back by damage. The rest still did serious damage to the air base. Enemy troops at Wuhan and Canton were bombed. Infantry and armor were bombed north of Rangoon by the bombers from Mandalay. Strikes against shipping at Tarakan and to the east scored hits on two freighters and a transport. The port at Pontianak was bombed by B-25s. The Japanese launched an attack at Canton. The Chinese report less than four hundred casualties and estimate enemy losses at nearly nine thousand. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/13/2004 9:32:03 AM)
24 Jul 42 The Seadragon was forced to avoid a hard pressed attack by a large number of enemy destroyers near Camranh Bay. Tavoy continued to come under round the clock attack. Half-a-dozen Blenheim nightfighters cratered the runways under cover of darkness. Thirty B-24s followed up after sunrise, doing additional damage without opposition or loss. Batavia was able to fly eighty B-17s against Singapore. They proceeded to carpet bomb the docks and anchorages of the harbor. A destroyer was hit an estimated six times and more than twenty freighters and transports were hit, most of them by multiple bombs. It is hard to not conclude that there is a correlation between the slowdown of the enemy's offensive and the damage and losses to shipping he is taking at Singapore. A flight of Beauforts from Palembang attacked the airfield at Singapore in the afternoon. It looks like they caught the enemy by surprise and destroyed three fighters on the ground. Over fifty more B-17s hit Kwajalein, destroying more than twenty enemy aircraft on the ground while doing serious damage to the air base. Two of our bombers were lost to heavy AAA fire. Fourteen P-40s from Balikpapan made a sweep for enemy fighters over Tarakan. They were able to engage five Nates and shoot two of them down. With the IJA 3rd Division having been driven back into Wuhan, the Chinese bombers at Kweilin that have been bombing the enemy there were re-tasked to bombing Canton in support of the long-standing seige there. Several raids from various Chinese bomber squadrons attacked the city. They also bombed the VM division near Hanoi. Poor weather kept the Hurricanes at Rangoon grounded but Wellingtons and B-25s out of Mandalay continued bombing enemy forces outside the city's defenses. With all of the enemy's carriers now out of sight and presumably out of range of our bombers, the ABDA bombers have returned to their campaign against enemy shipping in the Celebes Sea. A freighter east of Tarakan was hit by a flight of Hudsons. An attack on the port itself scored two bomb hits on a patrol boat. A number of other attacks failed to hit their targets. B-25s bombed Pontianak to no effect. Forty B-26s and thirty B-25s from Guadalcanal hammered the enemy's airbase on Shortlands. The Chinese bombarded Canton while they regroup for another assault. They are have also begun moving troops against the enemy troops west of Hanoi. They are hoping to encircle the VM force with movements from Hanoi and Luang Prabang and then use them to hammer the enemy against the anvil of the dug in Mekong River defenses. More reports to follow.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 9:44:13 AM)
25 Jul 42 The Chinese bombed Chengting. Bad weather kept the night flyers grounded but Manadalay's bombers were able to bomb Tavoy. The B-24s report spotting a pair of enemy fighters but they declined to engage the thirty bombers. Seventy Flying Forts continued bombing the harbor at Singapore. They hit some two dozen enemy ships, all apparently freighters and troop transports. Intelligence confirms one transport sinking. Two Beauforts were shot down by flak when they attacked the airfield in the afternoon, but the rest of the dozen aircraft destroyed or damaged a similar number of enemy planes while putting some craters in their runways. Three dozen B-17s hit Kwajalein again. As at Tavoy, the two enemy fighters seen failed to attack. It looks like less than half-a-dozen planes were caught on the ground, although damage to the base was serious. P-40s contested the enemy's control of the air over Tarakan and Rabaul. At Tarakan fourteen Warhawks were only able to find three Nates, shooting one down. We didn't do as well over New Britian where thirty P-40s went up against a dozen Zeroes. We lost four fighters while only downing one enemy plane. The airfield at Samarinda was bombed by a decade of Sallys and a few Anns. They did some damage to the base and destroyed one of the Dutch recon biplanes. Another attack against Balikpapan did not fair as well. That raid was almost thirty Anns and a scattering of Bettys and Sallys. The two escorting Nates failed to even slow down the ten defending P-40s as they ripped thru the attacking bombers. Damage on the ground was minimal and cost the enemy at least a dozen divebombers and several of the level bombers. The weather over Rangoon did clear during day, allowing the almost eighty Hurricanes to join the Wellingtons and Mitchells in attacking Japanese troops. The amount of damage we appear to be doing to the enemy's spearhead combined with the trouble he is having with partisans seems to have stalled his offensive in Burma. The fact that we have had no difficulty sending a number of ships to Rangoon with supplies is tempting me to send more troops there for an offensive of our own. We seem to be able to keep Tavoy shut down and the Royal Navy is saying they are capable of supporting an offensive along the coast as long as that remains true. Chinese bombers attacked the Vietnamese troops west of Hanoi, covering the movement of their own forces into positions to attack. Hudsons, Beauforts and Swordfish from Samarinda spent the day attacking enemy shipping at Tarakan. Taking advantage of the weakening of the enemy CAP, many aircraft were able to fly two sorties today. The hit a destroyer with a pair of bombs, one tanker with several bombs and a second tanker with a torpedo. Strikes by Hudsons against ships in the Celebes succeeded in strafing and bombing a transport. Soerabaja's B-25s continued to use Pontianak as a training target. Guadalcanal's bombers continued to blast away at the enemy air base on Shortlands. Beauforts out of Port Moresby hit a freighter off the northwest corner of New Britain. I may have spoken too soon about the enemy carriers. A small strike of Vals and Kates from somewhere southeast of Mindanao attacked the tender Langley at Morotai. They did heavy damage to the ship with several bomb hits. She will try to pull back to patch up before heading to Australia for repairs. Chinese and Japanese artillery duelled at Canton. We received a message from the partisans that formed around the former workers at Moulmein. They are claiming to have taken control of several important sections of road and ambushed IJA supplies enroute. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 26 Jul 42 The S-31 torpedoed a freighter between New Britain and New Guinea. Three destroyers tracked down and attacked a Jap sub west of Deboyne Island, south of New Guinea. They were able to track it down with help from airborne ASW patrols out of Gili Gili and are reporting multiple hits on the I-boat. A minesweeper group east of Townsville tried to run down a sonar contact. The Blenheims returned to bomb Tavoy last night. Sixty B-17s hit Singapore's port again. Twenty more enemy ships were hit. A source in occupied Singapore reports that all the burning ships in the harbor "have turned it into a vision out of Dante". They also confirm at least one more freighter sinking. A flight of Beauforts hit a transport just outside the port. Balikpapan came under heavy attack. Thirty Zeroes and a pair of Nates escorted some fifty bombers, Anns, Sallys and Lilys. They were met by twenty P-40s. Half-a-dozen fighters on both sides were lost in the resulting dogfight before the surviving CAP broke thru to claim a few of the bombers. We also lost two Beauforts and six C-47s on the ground in the bombing. Both sides lost four more fighters when our P-40s at Gasmata made a sweep over Rabaul. Unfortunately, much as I would like to keep wearing down the enemy's fighter squadrons we cannot afford the losses right now. The Battle of the Java Sea cost us heavily and it looks like its going to take up to two months to rebuild the fighter units involved even without additional fighting. Chinese bombers attacked Japanese troops at Canton. A couple of strikes by Hudsons have spotted the Akagi at Davao, but despite their best efforts they weren't able to hit any of the ships in the group. Enemy ships at Tarakan were not as lucky. A destroyer was hit by a pair of torpedoes. The Aussie B-25 pilots continued practicing over Pontianak. Shortlands was hit again by seventy B-25s and B-26s from Guadalcanal. Beauforts from Port Moresby torpedoed and sank the freighter hit earlier by the S-31. A Japanese cruiser force was spotted near Singkawang and attacked. While two of the cruisers were hit, a number of Wellingtons were shot down by flak while making low level attacks. The Chinese shelled Canton as they finished their final preparations for another assault. The Chinese also began an artillery preparation for their attack west of Hanoi. We lost the tanker Imlay. She foundered along the Great Barrier Reef while enroute to the repair yards in southern Australia. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 27 Jul 42 While enroute to her patrol zone the Nautilus shelled a freighter in the Mariana Islands, scoring more than half-a-dozen hits with her deck gun. The KXVIII started a surface attack on a freighter outside Singapore but aborted her attack when the ship fired back. The Pompano was forced to use her deck gun when her torpedoes failed to detonate in an attack on a transport in the Philippine Sea a few hundred miles south of Matsuyama. The minesweeper group east of Townsville finally found their target. Unfortunately it was by being torpedoed. One ship was sunk and a second crippled by torpedo hits. The survivors are claiming to have hit the sub. Another minesweeper group to the north attacked a sonar contact but wasn't able to hit it. More night bombing of Tavoy. The Chinese bombers continued their attack on Chengting. The Liberators switched their attention from Tavoy to Bangkok. Thirty-four B-24s hit the air base there, doing heavy damage and destroying a dozen or so enemy aircraft. Fifty heavy bombers were able to attack the harbor at Singapore today. We lost one of them to flak but they hit twenty ships again. Intelligence reports two transports sinking in the harbor. We are seeing more movements of Japanese forces back towards Moulmein again. Wellingtons and B-25s chased them. Chinese bombers attacked the enemy troops near Hanoi. We lost one Hudson in an aborted attack on the Akagi as she moves west into the Celebes Sea. The enemy responded with an attack on a freighter unloading supplies at Menado, hitting it with three bombs. An attack by two flights of Bettys failed to hit any of the destroyers that hit that Nip sub near Deboyne Island. The Australian B-25s finally hit something. They caught a convoy docked at Pontianak and hit two freighters. Another half-dozen Bettys tried to bomb Batavia. The defending CAP shot most of them down. The bombers on Guadalcanal hit Shortlands air base again. The base has been pretty thoroughly hammered. Its time to switch them to the port facilities. Our attacks on Tarakan continue, although less successfully. One freighter was hit by two bombs and two torpedoes. The Chinese launched their assault on Canton. The results were predictable, no ground gained and some thirteen hundred casualties. The Chinese also launched their attack against the VM unit west of Hanoi. Their attack ran head on into the enemy's attempted pre-emptive attack. Despite this, losses were light on both sides. More reports to follow.

Marten -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 9:52:27 AM)
What has happened to Akagi? Your bombers claimed a few hits... Did she hit the bottom? BTW: Splendid AAR!

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 10:05:11 AM)
Read the latest update. It would appear that my bomber crews reports were not entirely accurate! [;)] The ship is still afloat and fighting, although she hasn't been able to launch a strike of more than about eight planes. So at least her airgroup has been decimated apparently. Now if only my veteran Dutch airgroups with their 80's and 90's skill levels could hit a moving ship. [:@]

Marten -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 10:23:09 AM)
Well... what a shame... The air crews are always overreacting: once in my game they've shoot down 12 out of 6 japanese planes. [:D]

2ndACR -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 1:22:01 PM)
Time for you to take on a wily human.[:-]

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/14/2004 8:50:20 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: 2ndACR Time for you to take on a wily human.[:-] I'm not reliable enough these days to consider a PBEM game. Got to close out my father's estate, I've promised myself a long (two months I think) road trip vacation and then I've got to find a job. So its not really a viable option.

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/17/2004 9:40:16 AM)
<Somewhere in a different part of the cosmos, two beings wait while a third approaches. Trying to describe them would take a great deal of time and risk the sanity of both the writer and the reader. It is easier and safer to just say their appearance is much like a nightmare version of a human size bat, only much, much worse. The third being reaches the other two, where they appear to be gazing at a projection of a planet, floating between them. The planet has the blues and greens of a life-bearing world. The being manipulates a, call it a tool, then waves it over the projection. As it does so, a subtle change comes over the globe. The viewer cannot tell what has changed, he just knows it is different. The being examines its tool for a moment and then puts it away. It turns to the other two. Some form of communication takes place, incomprehensible to a human. But the gist of the message is "Its patched to 1.4 now." The first two beings return their attention to the globe as the third begins moving away.> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 28 Jul 42 The S-32 avoided a lone enemy destroyer north of Rabaul. The Sculpin hit a freighter along the north coast of Borneo. East of Townsville the surviving three minesweepers continue to try to pin down the enemy sub that has torpedoed two of their sister ships. To the north, about two hundred miles south of Gili Gili, three US destroyers sink another sub. 27 Squadron continues to bomb Tavoy at night. Chinese SB-2 bombers continue attacking Chengting. It was a bad day as two of the bombers were lost to flak. Almost thirty B-24s bombed the enemy air base at Bangkok. They did heavy damage to the field and destroyed some half-dozen enemy aircraft. One of the Bomb Groups at Batavia has stood down, so only a bit under thirty B-17s were able to attack Singapore. They were briefly annoyed by a pair of enemy Zeroes, but the fighters failed to press the attack. A dozen more transports are hit, at least one of them sinking. A dozen Beauforts followed to bomb the airfield, destroying about half-a-dozen enemy planes. More than thirty Forts bombed Kwajalein. The three Nates that they encountered did attack but were unable to do any substantial harm to the raid. Many of the bombers were damaged by flak as they dropped their payloads. Another half-dozen enemy aircraft were destroyed. Seventeen B-17s attacked Rabaul, where they were met by a nearly equal number of Zeroes. While only one bomber was lost, almost all of them were damaged to varying degrees by either the fighters or AAA. Only a few enemy aircraft were caught by the bombs and damage to the base was light. The bombers in Burma continue to hit enemy troops around Rangoon and Moulmein. A section of Hudsons followed up on a PBY's report and tried to hit the Akagi at Davao, but were unable to hit the ship. Other attacks on shipping in the Celebes Sea also came up empty. A hundred B-25s and B-26s hit Shortlands. They caught a freighter in port and hit it with almost half-a-dozen bombs. The rest of the aircraft concentrated on a supply dump, doing substantial damage to the stores. The convoy carrying the 4th SeaBees to Gili Gili was attacked just short of their goal. Some Kittyhawks from the base tried to provide some cover but were only able to engage the enemy briefly. They only shot down one of the twenty Bettys attacking. One freighter was hit by a torpedo and the destroyer Hatfield blew up and sank after taking several torpedo strikes. No serious action at Canton today. The Japanese regained control of the roads near Moulmein, the partisans fading back into the jungle rather than risking a full scale battle with enemy regulars. Chinese forces near Hanoi are having problems pinning down the enemy forces there, launching an attack that netted nothing. The freighter Peter Kerr, despite making it to Townsville, was unable to bring her flooding under control and sank. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 29 Jul 42 The Growler, already heading home due to damage, was forced to evade a pair of minesweepers west of Tori Shima. The Trout hit a freighter with several torpedoes in a surface attack near Bonin. The S-32 was pursued again by an enemy destroyer, so she swatted it with a pair of torpedoes. The IJN ship sank when her magazines exploded. The Blenheims had a good night over Tavoy. Two dozen B-17s bombed Sinapore's port again today. They hit at least ten enemy transports as well as warehouses and the like. Intelligence confirms another transport sinking. A dozen Beauforts hit the airfield again today. They destroyed or damaged more than their own numbers of enemy planes. Only a little more than a dozen bombers were able to hit Kwajalein. About half of them were damage by flak. A bit under fifty were able to attack Rabaul today. We lost three of them to the sixteen Zeroes but the gunners did well, shooting down almost twice as many of the fighters. Heavy damage and casualties were inflicted. Chinese bombers attacked enemy troops at Canton and near Hanoi. Bad weather kept Mandalay socked in but the Hurricanes continued to strafe enemy forces. The bombers at Balikpapan and Samarinda kept Tarakan under heavy attack all day. Three different freighters all received at least two bomb or torpedo hits. A section of Hudsons also hit a freighter near Tawi Tawi. Two more sections slipped past the Akagi's CAP. But two of the planes were lost to AAA and the rest were unable to hit west of Davao. In return the Akagi launched half-a-dozen bombers to attack the damaged freighter Edgar Allan Poe at Menado, hitting it with three more bombs. Our freighters trial hasn't ended now that they've reached Gili Gili. A decade of Bettys surprised the CAP and got thru with only one plane lost. A second freighter was hit by a torpedo. More target practice at Pontianak. Only about half the numbers from yesterday were able to attack Shortlands today. They hit the same damaged freighter with several more bombs and destroyed more enemy stores. There was more minor fighting at Canton. The jungles of northern Indo-china is are proving to be a bigger opponent than the enemy troops. It looks like the Vietnamese militia also tried to launch an attack at the same time the Chinese did, but all that occurred was a scattered series of small unit actions. The weak Chinese bombers are doing more harm than the infantry on the ground. More reports to follow. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 30 Jul 42 The Sculpin made a couple of unsuccessful attempts on a tanker near Brunei. Having cleared the area by sinking a destroyer yesterday, the S-32 hit a transport today. East of Batan Island the Pompano shot up a freighter. The minesweeper Cowra failed to make port, sinking this morning. The sub that sank it is now being hunted by a fresh group of minesweepers lead by a gunboat. 27 Squadron continues to do well over Tavoy. They are doing good amounts of damage, especially considering how few of them we have. The Chinese continued bombing Chengting. Thirty-six Liberators hit Bangkok again. Although their performance was a bit disappointing today. The Bomb Groups at Batavia have swapped, so thirty B-17s hit Singapore's shipping today. A dozen ships were hit, including one patrol boat. Intelligence confirms more ships sinking. Let them learn to dread the sound of four-engines. Thirty more B-17s fought their way thru a dozen Zeroes to bomb Rabaul's airfield. Two of them were lost and several more were forced to turn back by damage. But between the bombs and the gunners more than twenty enemy aircraft were destroyed. Hurricanes, Wellingtons and Mitchells continue to rain death on Japanese troops around Rangoon. The British have deceided to be more aggressive. Two task forces are setting out from Trimcomalee, one lead by the battleships Warspite and Valiant, the other by the carriers Illustrious and Formidable. The surface combatants will risk the mines we have laid around occupied Andaman Island to shell it before moving towards Malaya. The carriers will move to strike Tavoy and cover the shipping of additional troops into Rangoon. The 14th Chindit Brigade is boarding ships at Diamond Harbor to be transported to Rangoon. Additional troops will be moved as shipping becomes available. Some Hudsons attacked the Akagi at Davao but are still not able to score any hits. Another pair hit a freighter near Tawi Tawi. Today's attack on Shortlands was back up to strength, with a hundred medium bombers hitting the port. Heavy casualties are being reported among the garrison and more damage done to the enemy's supply stockpiles. More attempts were made by the Chinese to attack the enemy near Hanoi, but no serious action was reported. Artillery fire was exchanged around Canton. I have to agree with the British decision. I have been a bit too passive recently, although with some excuse. The American carriers have almost finished refitting their torpedo bomber squadrons with new TBF Avengers. While the Lexington is still undergoing repairs at Pearl, once this re-equipping is completed the three carriers in Australia will move against the Japanese in the Solomons. We also have a RCT that has been prepping to land on Munda. We have already moved two surface combat groups to Guadalcanal, one lead by the battleships New Mexico and North Carolina, the other a cruiser/destroyer group. Unfortunately ground troops for offensive action are a bit lacking. Many of our troop transports are in port undergoing refits to improve their AAA capability. We are also moving understrength units around with what ships we can so that they can fill out. Many of these are aviation and military engineering units. This is a category in which we are feeling a desparate need for more, so I will be keeping close track of their progress so that they can be moved as quickly as they can be made ready. The need is most being felt in the DEI, where the front line bases are already at their limits in terms of aircraft they can support. We are beginning to stack up squadrons and groups in Australia because there is insufficient support for them farther forward. I am also shifting some command responsibilities. Australia Command has moved north to Townsville. This places it closer to Port Moresby and the Solomons, so it can act as a rear area refit and replenishment center for the upcoming actions there. SWPAC is currently boarding ships at Port Moresby and will move to Darwin, where it can support the rebuilding of units for action in the DEI. Some additional artillery and AAA batteries are already in place or are enroute to bases on Borneo and Java. Infantry will follow as soon as possible. I am looking at putting together an offensive from Balikpapan aimed at Tarakan once we can do so. Because of the good overland connection between the two, we can stage units from Darwin to Balikpapan one at a time. They can then move overland en mass without needing large amounts of sea lift that we desparately need everywhere. Additionally, re-capturing Tarakan will deny the enemy raw materials that we believe he desparately needs. More reports to follow.

Smiffus64 -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/17/2004 10:35:46 AM)
Did you change the map in any way then?

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/17/2004 11:08:15 AM)
No, just applied the 1.4 patch. Let's just say that I have already written the last post for this AAR. [sm=terms.gif][sm=00000622.gif]

rtrapasso -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/17/2004 4:31:14 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: dtravel No, just applied the 1.4 patch. Let's just say that I have already written the last post for this AAR. [sm=terms.gif][sm=00000622.gif] Eh? What happened? Problems with game? Out of time? Problems with Life? Restarting from scratch? Starting PBEM?

dtravel -> RE: Reports From the Front (AAR from a first time player.) (12/17/2004 9:37:10 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: rtrapasso quote: ORIGINAL: dtravel No, just applied the 1.4 patch. Let's just say that I have already written the last post for this AAR. [sm=terms.gif][sm=00000622.gif] Eh? What happened? Problems with game? Out of time? Problems with Life? Restarting from scratch? Starting PBEM? No, no, nothing like that. I will continue this game and its AAR for some time. I actually wrote the "end" a few months ago. Just think of that interlude as a preview for an in-joke. [sm=00000613.gif]

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