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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

 
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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:38:48 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		7 Mar 43

Sub War

If you don’t recall, the I-122 dropped a load of mines up near Chittagong, with the hopes of one of Ted’s BBs running over one or two. When she dropped the mines, that bombardment fleet reacted into the hex (I think) and one of the DDs hit her with a DC. She was limping back to Singapore and was caught today a few hexes south of Rangoon by the British sub Trusty. She took a torpedo and went down. I’m now down to just the I-124 of my four minelaying subs. Other subs can use that mine, but they drop only a handful of mines, not 40. I’ll have to be very careful with I-124 now.

Burma

As I said yesterday, Magwe is my major forward airfield in Burma. The second most important is Shwebo. Today, a handful of Hurricanes swept Shwebo and a full squadron of P-40Ks swept Magwe. Three Warhawks were lost for no Japanese loss. The P-40K is rapidly becoming obsolete. Ted gets a boatload of them each month, so they are still the major American Army fighter. Better for me.


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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:39:54 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		8 Mar 43

Sub War

Here’s one for the record books. The I-157 found an unescorted xAKL off Merauke. She surfaced and pumped a shell into the cargo ship. Then she broke off the attack and submerged due to damage! What?!

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted invaded Woodlark Island, a dot hex south of Gasmata again. The first time he did it, a few months ago, I counter invaded and took it back. This time he used the 503 Para Reg and 112 Cav. Ok. If he chooses to head north, he’ll have to fight his way through a bunch of subs, mines and infantry, not to mention Betties and possibly KB. Have at it!

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Two full Hurricane squadrons (12 planes per Brit squadron, right?) swept Shwebo littering the countryside with 8 planes with a loss of 3 Oscars. Then, 9x P-40Ks and 5x Hurricanes swept Magwe losing 1 of each for no Japanese loss. Something is brewing here as well. He’s trying to whittle down my fighter strength (unsuccessfully, I might add).

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:
SS RO-105 – headed to SE Fleet.

An xAKL is confirmed sunk near Cooktown on 19 May 42.

The Ki-100-II R&D advanced to 10/44.


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Post #: 2372
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:40:59 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		9 Mar 43

Sub War

My 12.8k TK fleet was headed back to Singapore when they were attacked by Tautog. She put a torpedo into one of them, lightly damaging the TK at 16-22(12)-0-1. The TK remained with the TF and safely made Singapore a few days later for repairs.

5 Fleet

I haven’t discussed Adak lately, mainly because nothing is happening there, other than the continued buildup. The 7 Base Force is up to 89% strength, constantly added DP guns, AS and engineers. The forts are up to 5.84, increasing 0.01 a day. At this rate, the forts will reach level 6 before the end of the month. Supply is just under 15k with 4k due to arrive in a couple of days. Life is good!

4 Fleet

Forts, forts, forts…

SE Fleet

Betties escorted by Zeros attacked the shipping around Woodlark today. I ended up losing 4 Betties and 9 Zeros (ouch) vs. 7 Allied fighters, including a Corsair. Gotta change the Betties to night attack.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Magwe and Shwebo were hit by multiple Hurricane sweeps (no P-40Ks today). Total losses were 6x Hurricanes and 4x Japanese fighters (1 KIA, 3 WIA).

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:
SS I-37 – will head to 5 Fleet AO.

An xAK was confirmed sunk near Raoul Island on 18 Nov 42.


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Post #: 2373
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:42:43 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		10 Mar 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I forgot to change the Betties to night naval attack. The result of my mistake cost me 6 Zeros and 5 Betties over Woodlark Island this time. I finally changed to night attack.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Well, it started. There were several fighter sweeps over Magwe and Shwebo as well as 8 bombing attacks on the oil fields at Magwe composed of 189x 2E and 24x 4E sorties. Losses were:

1 Japanese fighter
14 Allied fighters
16 Allied 2E bombers
1 Allied 4E bomber

Allied bombers lost 8% of their sorties and the oil fields had 2 points damaged, leaving 125 remaining. I had quite a few fighters damaged and swapped out some of my sentai with fresh sentai in reserve at Rangoon. In addition, I transferred the 70 Sentai, part of 2 Air Division (Manchuoko) to 3 Air Division (Burma) and upgraded the Nates to Tojos. They were rail transported to China where they will repair, then fly the rest of the way to Burma. If this battle goes on for a few more days, I’ll need the extra fighters. The problem I have isn’t losses, it is pilot fatigue and morale. I keep some of my fighters flying at maximum height for defense against Allied sweeping fighters and that saps their morale and spikes their fatigue, even with 50% flying and 50% resting, along with extra pilots. It is definitely time to increase the number of fighter sentai here. I’m still winning the air superiority war, but now I rarely take it to Ted’s airfields. I may have to change that and start my own air offensive once again.

China

Remember the Chinese army I have surrounded near Kanhsien? There are ~20 units in that base and an additional 8 units that were 2 hexes to the NE. I hit those 8 units today, trashing them some more and pushing them over the river to within 1 hex of Kanhsien. I’ll attack across the river in a few days bottling the entire force in town. Then I’ll surround the base and let them rot. This will free up the 13 Army, a rather potent force, for missions on the front line. I still haven’t decided whether to move this army to the battles raging south of Chunking, or to send them to Sian where they can sweep in from the north and take the 3 bases (which have 1 unit each) on the plateau where Chungking is. I’m leaning toward the latter but I’ll make a final decision when this operation is complete.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:
TK Palembang Maru – Type-1 TM (8150 capacity)

The Ki-43-IIIa R&D advanced to 3/44.

The DMS Dorsey was confirmed to have sunk near Unmak on 14 Aug 42.


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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:44:42 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		11 Mar 43

Sub War

Just to the SW of Woodlark Island, the RO-103 surfaced and shelled LCT-59. No confirmation that she sank, but I’m pretty sure she did.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet
SE Fleet
SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Today, a large bombing campaign of Magwe’s oil fields occurred. Here’s the rollup:

Japanese fighters: 7 of 78 lost (9%) – Pilots: 2 KIA, 3 WIA

Allied fighters: 7 of 26 lost (27%)
Allied bombers: 41 of 85 lost (48%!)

One oil point was damaged (124 remaining). Needless to say, Ted was less than thrilled with the result. He told me he’s going to try something else. No idea what that will be.

China

The attack on the northern oil field at Urumuchi finally happened. The 3 Tank Division, 26 Division, 12 Tank Regiment and 4 Cavalry Brigade attacked the defenses there, which were composed of 3x Chinese brigades and 1x base force. The 3:1 attack reduced the fort to 0 and pushed the defenders out. Casualtis were 878(1) Japanese to 1832(219) Chinese. The cavalry will garrison Urumuchi, the 12 Tank Regiment will head to the NW to take the Chinese base up there and the infantry and tank divisions will pursue the rabble to kill them off. The infrastructure is relatively intact at: Manpower 1(1), Resources 38(2), Oil 47(3), Refineries 19(1) and LI 19(1). I will not repair anything here. I had heard that the stuff produced here doesn’t move. Here is what I captured:

Fuel: 16,721
Oil: 12,981
Resources: 83,678
Supply: 20

I will test this for a few days to see what happens. I am leaving everything producing, for now.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
TK Kotai Maru – Type-1 TM
TK Komaki Maru – Std-E
61 Division Engineer Battalion – Eastern Army – will combine with some infantry to form the 61 Division.

B6N2 R&D advances to 9/43.
Ki-44-IIc R&D advances to 6/43.


< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 2/19/2015 2:45:34 AM >

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RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/19/2015 1:47:13 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		12 Mar 43

Sub War

The Perch caught the amphib TF that was returning to Shanghai (moved an infantry regiment to Rangoon) and put a torpedo into the AMC Nosiro Maru. Damage is 35-63(48)-6(2)-0. Fortunately, she’s only a day out of Shanghai so she should make it there to get repaired.

The I-174 ate a DC south of Tonga. Her damage is 3-38(31)-0-0. She’s headed back to the barn for repairs.

Finally, the RO-103 ate a DC 1 hex SW of Woodlark Island (where she attacked the LCT yesterday). Her damage is 27-79(41)-16(5)-0. She’ll limp back to Rabaul for repairs. I hope she makes it. I should have moved her after the attack.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet
SE Fleet
SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

A small flight of Hurricanes swept Magwe.

A squadron of bombers keeps harassing one of my regiments holding the line SE of Katha. I had some of my Tojos try to intercept them, but they were flying too high and didn’t intercept. Today, I set some fighters to LRCAP the hex at 10k feet. Hopefully I can decimate another British bomber squadron. Heh, heh, heh…

China

Ted had moved all of his Chinese air units to Chengtu after I destroyed a fighter squadron in the air over Chungking a while back. I built up Sian enough to house an Oscar chutai and a sentai & chutai of Sallies. They bombed Chengtu’s airfield destroying a handful of obsolete planes (SB-III, I-15-III, Hawk 75, I-16-III) and damage about a dozen more, along with a bit of unrepaired airfield damage. I’ll continue to bomb them.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement:
xAK Risshun Maru – Std-A, will convert to a TK.

A6M5c R&D advanced to 8/44.


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Post #: 2376
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/21/2015 1:55:26 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		Quick R&D update while I wait for a turn from Ted and watch the snow get dumped on us here.

I have 3x30 Ki-44-IIc factories that will be completing their acceleration of the final Tojo model soon. In 16 days, the Tojo IIc will accelerate to 5/43, at the end of March 43. At that point I am going to convert the factories to the N1K1-J George to assist acceleration there. I currently have 6 factories assigned to this model, with 3 completely repaired and the others very close (3x30, 28, 27, 26). The George has accelerated to 8/43, with 49 points toward 7/43. That will allow the 3 Tojo factories to repair relatively quickly, bringing me to 9 R&D factories. Also, the Ha-45 will become operational in 4/43 with 240 repaired factories currently and increasing to 360 when they become operational. I should get to 500 engines in the pool by mid to late May, doubling my R&D for the George, Frank, Peggy, Francis, Myrt and Grace (when their factories finish repairing).

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Post #: 2377
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 1:09:23 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		13 Mar 43

Sub War

The I-25 caught an unescorted convoy heading back to San Francisco and put 2 torpedoes in to the xAK Autolycus in the morning. Later that day, she put 2 more torpedoes into the same cargo ship and had the satisfaction of seeing her go down.

The I-25 wasn’t finished. She then found the xAK John Burke, surfaced and put 3 torpedoes and a couple of shells into her sinking her.

The I-25 is the only sub I have in this fertile area. I dispatched another sub from Kwajalein to assist her since she’s used many of her torpedoes. It’s just too good an area to not have subs there. It also takes ~10 days to get a sub there from Kwajalein.

5 Fleet

I expect another move against Adak once winter is over. Fortunately, the fort level will have reached the magic “6” (currently at 5.88) and most or all of the DP guns will be in place. The 7 Base Force is currently at 91% strength with only ~8 DP guns needed to reach full strength (plus some engineers and AS). There are also 200 mines in port and 18k supply. I have Emilies doing naval search out of Amchitka Island, which is working on a level 2 airfield. Once that is achieved (hopefully by the end of March), I will station some Judies there. That should come as a big surprise. There are 42 Oscars stationed at Adak as well.

I’m considering moving some carriers there (stationed at Etorofu), probably a slice of MKB. Still pondering that. It’ll cost some fuel, but could be worth it. There is a steady stream of merchant ships going to and from Dutch Harbor. I’m increasing Glen coverage of the area to the east of Dutch Harbor to find the route they are taking. I usually lose the convoys a day or so after they leave Dutch Harbor and don’t see them until they are about to arrive there. Admittedly, I only have a few subs (including only 1 Glen sub) in that area right now.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted swept Shortland Island with 22x P-38Gs at 39k ft. I had a sentai of Tojos on CAP, but they were looking for bombers and were at 15k ft. I was lucky with the losses with 5 Tojos lost (2 pilots WIA) against 4 P-38s lost.

I sent a BB/CA bombardment fleet out of Truk to hit Woodlark Island. Ted usually has ships there. He’s building up the base (still a dot hex, but probably not for long). I want to hit those ships and hopefully trash the base to slow things down.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I finally caught the Vengeances that were bombing my regiment to the east of Katha today. 5x Oscar IIbs ambushed 10x Vengeances shooting down 5 for no loss. It’s the little victories.

Elsewhere, a Hurricane was shot down over Shwebo.

China

My Sallies hit Chengtu’s airfield again today damaging ~8 planes and causing more damage to the airfield. More importantly, they got a couple airfield supply hits. Killing supply here is more important than anything.

I have decided to send the 13 Army up to Sian and then attack to the west to liberate the 3 bases to the north and west of Chungking. That will reduce Allied China to only 1 base (Chungking) that is producing supply for him. That will drastically curtail the inexperienced but massive Chinese Army from doing anything useful for him. To the south of Chungking, there are Chinese units causing a few problems, but nothing I can’t manage. This includes the Great Yellow Horde (GYH), some 65 Chinese units of >500k strength. I don’t think they have enough supply to do anything because they’re just sitting on the road, 2 hexes south of Chungking. I’d love to surround them, but I don’t have the force to do it right now. If I can clear the 3 bases mentioned above and then surround Chungking, the GYH will die on the vine, as will all the other Chinese units scattered around the countryside.

I suspect this will take most of 1943. Once Chungking is isolated and the other units are destroyed or surrounded, then I can start to pull good units out of China to reinforce my perimeter.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
xAK Kinmon Maru – Std-A, will convert to a TK.
63 JNAF AF Unit

I have noticed that Urmuchi will not ship anything out. I’ve heard that base has that problem. Does anyone have a solution to this? I turned off the refineries so I don’t build up too much fuel and lose it to wasteage.


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Post #: 2378
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 1:13:50 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		14 Mar 43

Sub War

Exciting day today…

Another sub was found and prosecuted in the straights south of Formosa. The SCs, Ch-10, 11 & 12 patrol the straights and found the Pompano today. They hit her twice forcing her to the surface. Then they started shooting at her, hitting her only once. Of the two SC classes (Ch & CHa) I like these better because they have Type 95 Mod 2 DCs. (The CHa class has the Type 95 DCs.) But I discovered today that their guns suck. I begin getting a string of E escorts (Otoris initially then a new one). I will group the Otoris in 4 ship divisions as escorts/ASW, but the other (Matsu I think?) I will group with 3x Ch class for ASW. That way, when a sub is forced to the surface, there will be something with a real gun to shoot at it. What happened here was that the Pompano got away after surfacing. She hasn’t sunk, but I doubt she’ll get home. She should have been sunk by gunfire after eating 2 depth charges.

After that attack, a couple of Allied DEs caught the RO-104 7 hexes east of Cairns and hit her with 2 depth charges. She’s still afloat but pretty badly damaged: 32-82(47)-1-0 and limping back to Rabaul. We’ll see if she makes it. Anyway, that area between Pt. Moresby and the Aussie mainland is becoming too hazardous for my subs. I’m pulling them out of that area and placing a few of my ROs south of Milne Bay and the remainder will form 2 east-west lines in the hex rows 1 and 2 hexes south of Gasmata. I fear an attack against Gasmata and want to have as many weapons available to trash it as possible, to include subs, mines, midget subs, DP guns, Betties and possibly KB.

No, it’s not over yet. Some Mutsuki class DDs caught the Permit a hex to the SE of Truk and hit her with a depth charge. She definitely didn’t sink, but that hit should send her home. That’s good, because I’m sending supply convoys out from Truk to Rabaul and Shortland Island and will send another out to Kwajalein soon. Also, KB is there should it be needed. I see only 1 other Allied sub sniffing around Truk, but I suspect that there may be a third one out there. There usually is. Assuming the Permit goes home for repairs, that’ll leave (for now) 1-2 Allied subs near Truk. Oh yeah, there’s also another fuel convoy 1 day out and a supply convoy from Japan a few days out. Truk is a hopping place, and I want the Allied subs gone so I can hop in peace. My DDs and ASW aircraft are doing a great job, but I’d rather Ted’s subs litter the bottom of the ocean there.

Finally, The I-28 patrolling off the northern US west coast, surfaced and shot up an xAK there, hitting her with 3 torpedoes and 9 shells. The xAK went down. That was an excessive amount of ordnance for 1 cargo ship, and an empty one at that.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The P-38s swept Shortland Island again, shooting down 3 Tojos (plus a couple of op losses, 4 KIA, 1 WIA) for 1x P-38. Ouch. I’m going to replace that sentai with another one from Rabaul so that one can rebuild and rest.

The BB/CA bombardment force will reach its target hex, 8 hexes from Woodlark Island. Then I’ll decide whether or not to send them in. I see a couple of TFs and one sub in the Woodlark hex. One TF is composed of LCTs (targets) and the other is DDs, probably ASW. The only thing I am concerned about is the sub. I’d hate for one of my capital ships to eat a torpedo. We’ll see how things look tomorrow.

SRA

It looks like I finally drained Palembang, Medan and Singapore. That’s good. I wanted to do it before Ted gets too rambunctious with my TK convoys. I still produce a lot so there will still be convoys heading to Japan, but the total amount of oil/fuel in that area is down to ~200k vs. the 5-800k that was there for the longest time.

Balikpapan is still shipping all of its fuel to Truk (and will continue to do so as long as possible). Tarakan ships its fuel to wherever it is needed (Hong Kong this time). I have 3 CVEs stationed at Soerabaja and some surface ships and subs there as well. There is currently 67k fuel there. I ship out fuel when the total there is >50k, but don’t have any TKs stationed there. I am going to move some to be stationed there to haul it out more regularly. They’re currently in Japan (new conversions) but will head out shortly. The last bases, Babo and Boela, have a few TKs and xAKs to haul the oil/resources to Babeldaob. So far, I’ve lost some TKs, but I’ve been successful in getting stuff to Japan with little loss.

Burma

My Oscars caught the 5 remaining Vengeances over my regiment just east of Kalemyo, shooting down four of them for no loss. One of the pilots shot 3 of the four!

Elsewhere, I lost an Oscar (1 WIA) to his Hurricanes.

The reinforcement sentai (70 Sentai – 42 Tojos) arrived in Hanoi and will reach Burma in a couple of days.

China

The 26 Division and 3 Tank Division caught up with the former Chinese Urmuchi garrison (3x brigades and 1x base force) and pummeled them again. The 18:1 attack killed 2222(187) Chinese to 121(1) Japanese casualties. My troops continue to chase them north. The Chinese are out of supply and should die soon.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
AM Wa-104 – ASW
E W-25 – Convoy escort based in Japan, probably Tokyo
E W-26 – Convoy escort based in Japan, probably Tokyo
SC CHa-54 – ASW

The xAK Knoxville City was confirmed sunk near Victoria on 11 Feb 43.

Economy:

Things are looking good. Since the beginning of the month:

Fuel is up 100k (currently 3.25 mil) – note that this doesn’t include fuel in TKs headed for Japan, at least 150k, possibly more. Life is good!
Supply is up 75k (currently 3.47 mil)
Oil is down 60k (to be expected, currently 2.5 mil) – there is some in TKs but I don’t know how much offhand. I suspect it’s most of that missing 60k.
HI is up 80k (remember, my goal is +100k per month, currently 1.29 mil, goal is 1.3 mil for March)

Armaments: 108k in the pool, 500 of 620 are off.
Vehicle points: 13k in the pool, all 150 are on (and will remain on).
Merchant yards: 100 of 807 off (I’ll slowly turn more off with time). Hopefully, this will offset the increased HI cost of the increased number of pilots entering training each month.

Air R&D:

-Zero M5b becomes operational in April 43. I may or may not produce this model. The M5c becomes operational in July 43. I need to look at the differences to see if it is worth it to produce yet another model of aircraft.

-Tojo IIc becomes operational in May 43. (Production 120, replaces Tojo IIa, skipping IIb which also becomes operational in May 43, I’d like to say I planned it that way, but it’s really dumb luck. I recall doing some figuring many moons ago, but didn’t really expect to hit it dead on.)

-George K1-J becomes operational in June 43. (Production 90-120, convert Zero M2 factories, which have been off for months.)

-Norm becomes operational in June 43. (Production 30, replaces Jake.)

-Jill N2 becomes operational in June 43. (Production 30, replaces Kate, which has been off for months.)

-Zero M5c (Armor!) becomes operational in July 43. (Production 120, replaces Zero M5b currently off.)

-Tony 100-II becomes operational in July 43. (Production 90-120, factories from R&D.)

-Judy Y2 becomes operational in July 43. (Production 30, replaces Judy Y1. I really want the Judy Y3 & Y4 for my carriers. The Y1& Y2 will do limited ground-based missions but mainly be a Kamikaze. The Y3 & Y4 use the Ha-33 engine.)

It just dawned on me that I need to do some calculations to figure out when to upgrade the R&D so that the Y2 & Y3 become operational at the same time. I want the Y3 as early as possible. Hmm…

Ok, I figured it out. When the D4Y2 R&D advances to 10/43 (late April 43), I’ll upgrade to the D4Y3. That airframe (and the Y4) use the Ha-33 engine and will also become operational on 10/43 in early October. When I upgrade to the Y3, I’ll shut off the Ha-60 engine factories for good with ~500 in the pool. I’ll continue to build 30 D4Y1 a month until 10/43 and upgrade to 30 D4Y2 a month. I’ll run out of engines in Aug-Sep 44 with about 200 D4Y1 and 300 D4Y2 produced. Kamikazes! When I shut off the Ha-60 factories, I’ll have 2 factories at a total size of 120 that will be available for conversion to something else for late war.


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(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 2379
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 1:38:07 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		15 Mar 43

Really quiet day, with one important exception.

In China, I bombed Chengtu's airfield again, destroying a few planes and damaging a few more, while adding to the damage.

A couple of Hurricanes were shot down in Burma.

Finally, Ted invade and took Ramree Island with some Chindits. I've never paid any attention to that dot hex. Now I realize how important it is. he can move one hex to the road cutting my supply line to my army. I have plans. I'm moving the 4 Parachute Regiment north for an air landing. I have 99 transports to haul them. Also, my theater reserve, the 21 Division has spent pretty much the whole war in Singapore. They're loading up for an seaborne invasion. I'm also sending up two bombardment TF, one of 4 BBs and 4 DDs and the other of 4 CAs and 4 DDs. Finally, I'm sending my tiny KB, the one that trashed the 9 Aussie Division a while ago. They still have 9 Zeros, 21 Kates and 27 Vals. I'll take that lousy dot hex back!

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Post #: 2380
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 1:42:56 AM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		I took a look at how the Home Islands are doing. Pretty good, actually:

Fuel: 2.4 mil +100k enroute
Oil: 2.1 mil + 14k enroute
Resources: 14.3 mil + 270k enroute
Supply: 1.6 mil

My goals for 30 Jun 44:

Fuel: 3 mil
Oil: 2.5 mil
Supply: 1.8 mil

I'm pretty confident that I'll make the fuel and supply. There's no way I'll get that much oil there. That's about all I have everywhere. If my total of fuel and oil is >=5.5 mil, that'll work. The more oil the better though, because that's more for the refineries to use to make supply.


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Post #: 2381
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 2:09:40 AM   
Lokasenna


Posts: 9297
Joined: 3/3/2012
From: Iowan in MD/DC
Status: offline 		If the Oil isn't being shipped out of Urumchi, you may as well turn on the refineries and at least see if Supply/Fuel will flow out on the days Oil flows out too... otherwise you're wasting oil production each day.

Mine doesn't appear to ship out, but I'm not positive - my global oil levels in Tracker match up pretty well with my -277 Oil/day from the summary. Not on every day, so it's not shipping out all the time....but sometimes? And only in small quantities. It's always up between 49-50K.

(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 2382
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 6:19:15 PM   
geoffreyg


Posts: 123
Joined: 4/1/2008
From: London
Status: offline 		Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this AAR.

(in reply to Lokasenna)
Post #: 2383
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 8:16:27 PM   
Zorch

 

Posts: 7087
Joined: 3/7/2010
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quote:

ORIGINAL: geoffreyg

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this AAR.

+100!

Ted is probably waiting for the F6F. Then the fireworks start.

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Post #: 2384
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/27/2015 8:24:32 PM   
Sangeli


Posts: 1132
Joined: 3/29/2012
From: San Francisco
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
Finally, Ted invade and took Ramree Island with some Chindits. I've never paid any attention to that dot hex. Now I realize how important it is. he can move one hex to the road cutting my supply line to my army. I have plans. I'm moving the 4 Parachute Regiment north for an air landing. I have 99 transports to haul them. Also, my theater reserve, the 21 Division has spent pretty much the whole war in Singapore. They're loading up for an seaborne invasion. I'm also sending up two bombardment TF, one of 4 BBs and 4 DDs and the other of 4 CAs and 4 DDs. Finally, I'm sending my tiny KB, the one that trashed the 9 Aussie Division a while ago. They still have 9 Zeros, 21 Kates and 27 Vals. I'll take that lousy dot hex back!

Ramree isn't that useful in bypassing the Japanese lines. In order to do that, he has to cross a river into 2x terrain with no roads. And any advance past that should the river crossing succeed will have to rely on supply trickling across from Ramree so its rather hard to exploit. That being said, Ramree is very useful to the Allies in that it gives them a base within 7 hexes of Rangoon. But the base is pretty exposed. Good luck taking the base but I don't have to tell you how Japanese invasion in 43 are dangerous. Even if you do succeed you may be opening yourself up to an attack elsewhere.

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Post #: 2385
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 12:51:38 AM   
Lowpe


Posts: 22133
Joined: 2/25/2013
Status: offline 		I have had several run ins with those Chindits & they are tough guys...kill them off now if you can...but they get to over 100AV so you will need much more than 4 of your own paratroopers I think. Try to get some artillery there as well as that infantry division, that way you can bombard daily to eat up his supplies.

My bombardments with BB against Chindits in jungle terrain have been negligible.

The Chindits, even when heavily outnumbered, were hard to get to retreat or surrender, -- tough troops. I always wanted to look up what their replacement pools look like, but never did.

Allies will be able to stalemate you if he drops the other Chindits there as well I think.

< Message edited by Lowpe -- 2/28/2015 1:53:45 AM >

(in reply to Sangeli)
Post #: 2386
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 12:46:29 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

If the Oil isn't being shipped out of Urumchi, you may as well turn on the refineries and at least see if Supply/Fuel will flow out on the days Oil flows out too... otherwise you're wasting oil production each day.

Mine doesn't appear to ship out, but I'm not positive - my global oil levels in Tracker match up pretty well with my -277 Oil/day from the summary. Not on every day, so it's not shipping out all the time....but sometimes? And only in small quantities. It's always up between 49-50K.


I looked at that a different way, Lokasenna. I shut off the refineries because I didn't want to hit the fuel ceiling and have wastage. I don't recall what that ceiling is right now. Also, if it does begin to move, fuel is lost during movement, but oil isn't. In addition, there is no ceiling for oil.

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Post #: 2387
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 12:49:06 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Zorch


quote:

ORIGINAL: geoffreyg

Just wanted to say how much I am enjoying this AAR.

+100!

Ted is probably waiting for the F6F. Then the fireworks start.


Thanks guys, I appreciate it, more than you know. I really enjoy all the input from everyone. I learn a lot that way.

Zorch, you're right. Ted mentions that every chance he gets, including how he will get 130 a month.

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Post #: 2388
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 12:52:03 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
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quote:

ORIGINAL: Sangeli

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli
Finally, Ted invade and took Ramree Island with some Chindits. I've never paid any attention to that dot hex. Now I realize how important it is. he can move one hex to the road cutting my supply line to my army. I have plans. I'm moving the 4 Parachute Regiment north for an air landing. I have 99 transports to haul them. Also, my theater reserve, the 21 Division has spent pretty much the whole war in Singapore. They're loading up for an seaborne invasion. I'm also sending up two bombardment TF, one of 4 BBs and 4 DDs and the other of 4 CAs and 4 DDs. Finally, I'm sending my tiny KB, the one that trashed the 9 Aussie Division a while ago. They still have 9 Zeros, 21 Kates and 27 Vals. I'll take that lousy dot hex back!

Ramree isn't that useful in bypassing the Japanese lines. In order to do that, he has to cross a river into 2x terrain with no roads. And any advance past that should the river crossing succeed will have to rely on supply trickling across from Ramree so its rather hard to exploit. That being said, Ramree is very useful to the Allies in that it gives them a base within 7 hexes of Rangoon. But the base is pretty exposed. Good luck taking the base but I don't have to tell you how Japanese invasion in 43 are dangerous. Even if you do succeed you may be opening yourself up to an attack elsewhere.


Sangeli, I hadn't thought of the supply issue over the river. Still, I'd like to wipe that unit out. At least it'll keep a good unit out of the war for awhile. I ran another turn and began execution of the operation, but the game engine reared its ugly head. I'll give the details later.

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Post #: 2389
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 12:58:31 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline
quote:

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

I have had several run ins with those Chindits & they are tough guys...kill them off now if you can...but they get to over 100AV so you will need much more than 4 of your own paratroopers I think. Try to get some artillery there as well as that infantry division, that way you can bombard daily to eat up his supplies.

My bombardments with BB against Chindits in jungle terrain have been negligible.

The Chindits, even when heavily outnumbered, were hard to get to retreat or surrender, -- tough troops. I always wanted to look up what their replacement pools look like, but never did.

Allies will be able to stalemate you if he drops the other Chindits there as well I think.


I just checked and the Chindits use run of the mill Indian infantry. They begin with 80 experience, but if they get trashed, the replacements will bring the experience level down.

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Post #: 2390
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 1:00:33 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		16 Mar 43

Sub War

There has been a sub hanging around in deep water just off Cam Ranh Bay. That base gets many of the tiny 1250 capacity TKs regularly from Brunei and Miri as well as a 4 TK TF (11.6k TKs) that hauls the fuel and oil to the Home Islands. The big TF had the W-19 & W-20 as escorts but they were due for upgrades so I sent the W-19 to Saigon for her upgrade. She just finished yesterday and was headed back to Cam Ranh Bay when she found the Tautog a few hexes south of CRB and hit her with a depth charge. Those Type 2 DCs work pretty darn well!

At Woodlark Island, the I-7 arrived with 12 eggs to plant. She planted the mines and then surfaced and shot up LCT-60. Then she found LCT-64 and shot her up as well.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Things are heating up here. Ted admitted that he wants to build up Woodlark to an airfield close to many of my airfields (Gasmata – fighters on occasion, Shortland – fighters and Betties, Madang – fighters on occasion, Rabaul – everything). I set my Betties (Shortland and Rabaul) to night naval attack and watched the fireworks… I wish… Six Betties went after 2x DDs at Woodlark and missed. Then 4 more went after the LSI(L) Westralia (gotta remember to look this ship type up)… and missed.

My bombardment fleet (2 BB, 4 CA, CL, 4 DD) is hovering a couple hexes to the SE of Rabaul (shallow hex) waiting to visit Woodlark Island. I goofed here. I just dropped a dozen mines in the hex, so I have to wait until they are gone. It would be bad form to hit one of my own mines. The Allied sub is still in the hex too. Maybe the sub will hit a mine.

I still think Ted is going to go after Gasmata, so I reinforced with the 87 Naval Guard. They came in today by xAKL and were sitting in port at daybreak. Eighteen SBDs came in after them unescorted. An even dozen assorted fighters from Rabaul intercepted and shot down 11 of them. Banzai! One of the remaining hit and sank an xAKL (Kasu-D), taking some troops with her. Later I discovered the troops were only support troops. All the combat troops made it safely. Banzai!

Ted’s P-38Gs swept Shortland shooting down 3 Tojos (no pilot losses). The Lightnings fly too high to combat them effectively.

Ted is sending SBDs and Mitchell II bombers against Madang’s port, about 45 sorties, along with an escort of 15 P-39Ds. I’d love to get some fighters there to ambush them. I’ll try and free up a sentai of Tojos if he keeps it up.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My bombers (about 100), in several missions, bombed the Chindits at Ramree Island, probably giving them headaches and disrupting some. My invasion/bombardment/air assault/carrier forces continue to move into position.

China

My bombers hit Chengtu’s airfield again, damaging a handful of planes and adding to the unrepaired damage. Ted had moved some planes to Chungking, so I hit that airfield with a chutai of Sallies, damaging a few planes and causing a bit of easily repaired damage.

The 3 Tank Division hit Wasu (north of Urumchi) where the remnants of the former Urumchi garrison fled, pushing them out of that base and killing a brigade (2x brigades and 1x base force remaining).

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
D Suzunami – Yugumo class, headed to Truk to escort KB
HQ Burma Area Army – arrived at Rangoon

The Ki-100-II R&D advanced to 9/44.


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Post #: 2391
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 1:01:58 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		17 Mar 43

Sub War

The I-28, patrolling off Astoria, put a torpedo into the xAK Tuscaloosa City. No report of her sinking.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Well, all those Allied bombers that had been absent for a while came back with a vengeance. Three Allied bombing missions (15x 2E and 66x 4E sorties) blasted Gasmata. I lost 3 Tojos in the air and one destroyed on the ground. Ted lost 7x 2E and 5x 4E bombers. Gasmata is still operational, barely. Almost 15% Allied bomber losses. If I can keep that up, I can win this battle.

My night flying Betties were at it again. There were missions against Woodlark (7 Betties – all missed) and Milne Bay (7 and 5 Betties – all missed). They went after that LSI(L) again (still haven’t looked it up) and 2x DDs.

19x P-38Gs swept Shortland Island again. Losses were 9 Tojos to 3 Lightnings with 3 more Japanese op losses. At least he’s not sending his bombers here. Not that the Betties stationed here are doing anything….

Nothing happened at Ramree Island, but I did see that the DDs there are slowly removing the mines. My bombardment fleet is still hugging the coast of the long island to the east of Rabaul (can’t remember the name) in an effort to hide from enemy subs.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I have a sentai of Tojos set to sweep Ramree Island, and another to escort my bombers. The sweep found 9x Allied fighters. Three were lost on each side.

My bombers went in again, disrupting more Chindits.

China

Japanese bombers hit Chengtu and Chungking again, killing a couple of Chinese fighters on the ground and damaging more. Unrepaired damage increased at Chengtu but Chungking once again repaired their damage. Chengtu’s airfield is probably closed now, but he wasn’t flying anyway.

The rabble 1 hex NE of Kanhsien (1 HQ, 7 Corps) was pushed into Kanhsien, except for 1 Chinese Corps. Losses were 1938(5) Japanese to 5052(355) Chinese. This was a shock attack over a river. This mission is almost complete.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.


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Post #: 2392
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 1:03:57 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		18 Mar 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Madang was hit again today by 13x Mitchell II bombers and 29x SBDs, escorted by 15x P-39Ds. (I forgot to send some fighters here to ambush them. Need to make a note.) They caused a little more port damage but the airfield is still fine.

Gasmata was hit by the bombers again, this time by 73x 4E and 4x 2E bombers. No Allied losses, but none of my fighters contested them. Four Tojos were destroyed on the ground. Gasmata is definitely closed. Too bad, because the fort level is stuck at 5.92.

Today, 4 and 6 Betties went after shipping….. and missed. That makes at least 39 sorties, all coming up empty.

The DD Nepal, which has been sitting at Woodlark for days, hit one of the I-7 deployed mines and went down! Yay! That must have been the last mine because none showed after the turn. Also absent was the Allied sub that had been sitting there. Given that, I decided to send in the bombardment TF. That TF was sighted today (DL 7/7) so I was squirming quite a bit when I saved the turn and sent it off to Ted. Maybe Ted thought it was just a supply convoy. Keeping fingers crossed.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Not much happened today. My bombers didn’t fly. My fighters shot down 3x Allied fighters over Ramree Island, and lost 3 Oscars over Shwebo.

My two bombardment TFs are in position to the SW of Ramree, with the invasion TF and MKB 2 days south. The 4 Para Regiment is in position to make its para attack. Just waiting for all the pieces to fall into place.

China

I hit the lone Chinese Corps 1 hex NE of Kanhsien with the full might of 13 Army, destroying the rabble. There are 28 Chinese units bottled up in Kanhsien with Japanese units in the 6 hexes surrounding that base. 13 Army will make the long trek to Sian, where it will then attack and take the 3 bases to the N and W of Chungking. Chengteh has 2 units (presumably a corps and base force) and the other two bases each have 1 unit (probably a corps. Once taken, Chungking will be isolated from the couple of bases the Chinese still hold in the far west of China. Currently, 13 Army is composed of 4x divisions, 2x independent mixed brigades and a mortar battalion. I’ll reinforce it with whatever I can scrounge up.

The 28 Chinese units in Kanhsien are now a self-sustaining POW camp. Well, not really self-sustaining because there is no supply there. I am not going to attack them. I will let them whither on the vine and die off eventually. I seem to recall that if Chinese units die of their own accord, they don’t return to Chungking at 1/3 strength. I might be dreaming, but even if they do come back, they’ll be delayed in coming back to regain replacements and causing problems.

The remnants of the Urumchi garrison (2x brigades and 1x base force) was hit again by 3 Tank Division and 26 Division, killing 60 more squads. The Chinese retreated into some rough terrain. The 26 Division will pursue them, but the 3 Tank Division will head south to join 13 Army.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.


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Post #: 2393
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 1:05:42 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		19 Mar 43

Sub War

The NW corner of Australia is proving to be another fertile hunting ground for my subs. The RO-33, a nice 8000 endurance “coastal” sub, found the unescorted AP Harris and put a torpedo into her. She was damaged from something previously. Not sure what. Mines at Darwin maybe? I vaguely remember mining Darwin, but that was a long time ago, if it really happened. Anyway, the sub caught up with her later in the day and put 2 more torpedoes into her, putting her down for good. Sinking a nice, big, 10k ton AP is always a nice thing. Too bad she was empty.

Just off Truk, the W-18 got a whiff of an enemy sub and hit the Plunger once with her Type 2 DCs. Another Allied sub that has to limp home (hopefully). I really like the former DMS W-19 class escorts. Upgrading them from DMS to E gives them Type 2 DCs. Very nice platforms. In my eyes, they are escorts, not minesweepers. The little AMcs (coastal minesweepers) do the minesweeping job well. I usually place a couple of them in each important port for minesweeping if needed.

5 Fleet

Adak is just 5 days from reaching fort level 6. Everything except the 7 Base Force is at 100%, with the BF at 93% and climbing. I’m ready for whatever Ted has in store for me. I see a bunch of LCTs at Dutch Harbor just sitting there. I’m confident that Ted will try for Adak, possibly as early as next month. I have decided to station a small naval force at Etorofu, just in case. It’ll be composed of Shoho, Zuiho and Hosho, along with 3x slow AOs. The air component is 57 Zeros and 24 Kates. It’s not a lot, but if Ted doesn’t have carriers when he attacks, they’ll do well. If carriers are present, they won’t enter the fray. On the ground are 42 Oscars at Adak and 9 Emilies at Amchitka, with a dozen Judies being shipped in to arrive in about a week (too far for them to fly). The Judies will be 4 hexes west of Adak, so they can pummel an invasion TF with 500kg bombs. Ouch! If Ted chooses to attack a dot hex east of Adak, I’ll move the Judies to Adak and have a field day.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Three flights of Betties went in today against Milne Bay and Woodlark Island, 13, 8 and 9. All misses. That’s at least 69 sorties with no hits. Sheesh.

Next the bombardment fleet reached Woodlark, composed of 2 BB (Kongos), 4 CA, CL, 4 DD. Two Allied DDs on ASW found them and ran screaming like little girls. Not a good start. I’m reluctant to use the Kongos in surface fleets. Their fast speed and AA makes them a natural to escort KB. Part of the reason I was squirming was because I had these 2 Kongos in a bombardment fleet.

Then, the Dutch sub O19 took a shot at a DD, missed, was prosecuted with no luck there either. At this point I’m thinking that all I did was waste fuel.

Next, the bombardment TF found the lone DD Lamson, teammate to the Nepal, which hit a mine and sank yesterday. She was overwhelmed by shellfire, but not before she put a shell into one of my DDs setting her on fire. My burning DD finally put her down with a Long Lance. It turned out that the DD Ushio’s damage was minor at 9-4(1)-3-0. She’ll be repaired in no time when she returns to Truk.

The bombardment TF then found a TF composed of an AM and 5x LCTs. That TF was destroyed easily. Three of the LCTs were obliterated by 36 cm (14”!) shells. One thing I noticed was that sunk LCTs don’t show up in the sunk ship list nor do they count as victory points. Odd. That’s 7 LCTs that were definitely sunk and they don’t show anywhere. Maybe it’s just coincidence that they aren’t reported yet, but it seems odd.

Finally, the bombardment TF did what their mission said to do, bombard Woodlark. I never knew that a dot hex could take port damage. The 112 Cav took some destroyed and damaged squads and the port took 21% damage. That’ll slow him down a bit. My task force got away free and clear. It’ll make it back to Truk in the next day or two.

Remember the SE Fleet HQ that I had been using to allow some of my base forces to upgrade to DP guns? Well, that fast transport TF (4 CL, 4 DD) just reached Talasea to drop the HQ off there so I could upgrade the 4 Base Force stationed at Gasmata. What I didn’t know was that Ted had some SBDs on naval attack orders and they went after this TF. Since its fast transport, the troops were dropped off, so only the ships were in danger. Two attacks came in, and luckily 15 Japanese fighters on Rabaul CAP came for the party. The first attack was 14 SBDs escorted by 14 Corsairs. Fighters locked into escorting bombers are at a definite disadvantage. I shot down 2 Corsairs and 1 SBD. The remaining bombers went after my fast little ships, and missed them all. The second attack was 15 unescorted SBDs, opposed by 6 Japanese fighters. They shot down 6 Dauntlesses and flak got another. Again, they all missed. Scary and exhilarating all at the same time. The ships will sail to Rabaul until the 4 BF upgrades (hopefully tomorrow). Then I’ll use my air transports (42 total) to move the HQ from Talasea to Rabaul where they can load and move on to the next BF.

So much for the fun stuff. Ted’s bombers came in for a visit next, to Gasmata again. I’m glad he’s putting he effort into Gasmata and not spreading the wealth because he probably could take out more than 1 airfield at a time now. This time, 65x 4E and 4x 2E sorties hit (no Allied loss) adding a bit to the airfield damage. The airfield is already badly damaged now, so that much effort didn’t do much more damage.

Madang’s port was hit again, by the Mitchells and again escorted by P-39Ds. Again I forgot to put fighters at Madang, but I made a note to do it next turn.

I have more evidence to support my theory that something is up here soon. Today I noticed that there were a couple of Allied subs near Rabaul and headed north. I believe they are replacing the subs stationed around Truk that were recently damaged/sunk. I’m pretty sure his intel told him that some carriers are in port at Truk. He wants some cheap shots at carriers coming out of port when he makes his move at Gasmata. They’re still at least a couple of days out from there. Here’s an overall look at my defense of Gasmata:

Two lines of RO subs in the hex rows immediately south of Gasmata, a dozen or more fleet/Glen subs, 200 mines, a midget sub, (almost) level 6 forts, packed with troops, DP guns (soon), 72 Betties (not that they’ve done anything so far), 150 fighters, ~100 army bombers, KB, Combined Fleet. If this isn’t enough, I don’t know what is.

Tomorrow, I am going to send KB1 (Soryu, Ryujo, Shokaku, Zuikaku – 129 Zeros, 54 Vals, 72 Kates) and the fast replenishment fleet south from Truk, just in case Ted tries something. They’ll hide in the Pacific south of Truk, a day’s steam from the north side of New Britain, where they can smash an invasion fleet in relative safety.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

A couple of small air skirmishes were all that happened today. My bombers didn’t fly, probably due to the weather.

Tomorrow everything should be in position to liberate Ramree Island for a second time this war (BB bombardment TF, CA bombardment TF, MKB, subs, 21 Division from the sea, 4 Para Regiment from the air, 100+ IJA bombers (if they decide to fly), 100+ IJA fighters, 36 Betty bombers stationed at Pt. Blair, 36 Zeros each at Pt. Blair and Rangoon). I’m looking for a brigade to station there as a garrison, probably from Kwantung Army. Until it arrives (a couple weeks), I’ll station the 4 Parachute Regiment or an infantry regiment already in Burma at Ramree.

China

My bombers bombed Chengtu and Chungking’s airfields again.

Other Stuff

Kwajalein’s fort reached the magic level 6.


< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 2/28/2015 2:06:42 PM >

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Post #: 2394
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 4:45:39 PM   
Malagant

 

Posts: 372
Joined: 3/13/2004
Status: offline 		Westralia is a converted Aussie AMC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMAS_Westralia_%28F95%29

Biggest mutiny in Australian history! :)






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(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 2395
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 2/28/2015 5:47:48 PM   
Lokasenna


Posts: 9297
Joined: 3/3/2012
From: Iowan in MD/DC
Status: offline 		To my knowledge, there is a ceiling for Oil - at Urumchi, it is 50,000. That's why I have the refineries turned on, because the Oil is going to get wasted anyway.

At least, Tracker tells me that it's a maximum of 1000 per oil center. My experience in-game bears this out also.

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Post #: 2396
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/1/2015 2:20:06 AM   
rustysi


Posts: 7472
Joined: 2/21/2012
From: LI, NY
Status: offline
quote:

I have noticed that Urmuchi will not ship anything out. I’ve heard that base has that problem. Does anyone have a solution to this? I turned off the refineries so I don’t build up too much fuel and lose it to wasteage.


I've read that to get the oil from here to move you need to create a demand at Port Arthur. Let me repeat that, I've read, so I don't know if it will in fact work. I'm about to attempt it in my AI game but it'll be some time before I can confirm/deny as I have to move about 225K oil with ~10 2850 size tankers.

quote:

-Zero M5c (Armor!) becomes operational in July 43. (Production 120, replaces Zero M5b currently off.)


Don't want to rain on your parade, but you are aware that the Zero's normal range drops to like 4 or 5 when they get armor? Not so hot for carrier ops!!

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Cave ab homine unius libri. Ltn Prvb

(in reply to Lokasenna)
Post #: 2397
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/2/2015 10:29:46 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		Thanks for the info, Malagant.

The oil at Urumchi is still low compared to the fuel. I'm going to try sucking oil from Pt. Arthur to see if that works. I have ~125k oil there right now.

Rustysi, the plan for the A6M5c is land based, due to the range. I'll use the older models on KB. You're right, that range sucks, but it'll work for defense.

< Message edited by Mike Solli -- 3/3/2015 8:04:23 PM >

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Post #: 2398
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/3/2015 7:10:51 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		19 Mar 43

Sub War

The NW corner of Australia is proving to be another fertile hunting ground for my subs. The RO-33, a nice 8000 endurance “coastal” sub, found the unescorted AP Harris and put a torpedo into her. She was damaged from something previously. Not sure what. Mines at Darwin maybe? I vaguely remember mining Darwin, but that was a long time ago, if it really happened. Anyway, the sub caught up with her later in the day and put 2 more torpedoes into her, putting her down for good. Sinking a nice, big, 10k ton AP is always a nice thing. Too bad she was empty.

Just off Truk, the W-18 got a whiff of an enemy sub and hit the Plunger once with her Type 2 DCs. Another Allied sub that has to limp home (hopefully). I really like the former DMS W-13 class escorts. Upgrading them from DMS to E gives them Type 2 DCs. Very nice platforms. In my eyes, they are escorts, not minesweepers. The little AMcs (coastal minesweepers) do the minesweeping job well. I usually place a couple of them in each important port for minesweeping if needed.

5 Fleet

Adak is just 5 days from reaching fort level 6. Everything except the 7 Base Force is at 100%, with the BF at 93% and climbing. I’m ready for whatever Ted has in store for me. I see a bunch of LCTs at Dutch Harbor just sitting there. I’m confident that Ted will try for Adak, possibly as early as next month. I have decided to station a small naval force at Etorofu, just in case. It’ll be composed of Shoho, Zuiho and Hosho, along with 3x slow AOs. The air component is 57 Zeros and 24 Kates. It’s not a lot, but if Ted doesn’t have carriers when he attacks, they’ll do well. If carriers are present, they won’t enter the fray. On the ground are 42 Oscars at Adak and 9 Emilies at Amchitka, with a dozen Judies being shipped in to arrive in about a week (too far for them to fly). The Judies will be 4 hexes west of Adak, so they can pummel an invasion TF with 500kg bombs. Ouch! If Ted chooses to attack a dot hex east of Adak, I’ll move the Judies to Adak and have a field day.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Three flights of Betties went in today against Milne Bay and Woodlark Island, 13, 8 and 9. All misses. That’s at least 69 sorties with no hits. Sheesh.

Next the bombardment fleet reached Woodlark, composed of 2 BB (Kongos), 4 CA, CL, 4 DD. Two Allied DDs on ASW found them and ran screaming like little girls. Not a good start. I’m reluctant to use the Kongos in surface fleets. Their fast speed and AA makes them a natural to escort KB. Part of the reason I was squirming was because I had these 2 Kongos in a bombardment fleet.

Then, the Dutch sub O19 took a shot at a DD, missed, was prosecuted with no luck there either. At this point I’m thinking that all I did was waste fuel.

Next, the bombardment TF found the lone DD Lamson, teammate to the Nepal, which hit a mine and sank yesterday. She was overwhelmed by shellfire, but not before she put a shell into one of my DDs setting her on fire. My burning DD finally put her down with a Long Lance. It turned out that the DD Ushio’s damage was minor at 9-4(1)-3-0. She’ll be repaired in no time when she returns to Truk.

The bombardment TF then found a TF composed of an AM and 5x LCTs. That TF was destroyed easily. Three of the LCTs were obliterated by 36 cm (14”!) shells. One thing I noticed was that sunk LCTs don’t show up in the sunk ship list nor do they count as victory points. Odd. That’s 7 LCTs that were definitely sunk and they don’t show anywhere. Maybe it’s just coincidence that they aren’t reported yet, but it seems odd.

Finally, the bombardment TF did what their mission said to do, bombard Woodlark. I never knew that a dot hex could take port damage. The 112 Cav took some destroyed and damaged squads and the port took 21% damage. That’ll slow him down a bit. My task force got away free and clear. It’ll make it back to Truk in the next day or two.

Remember the SE Fleet HQ that I had been using to allow some of my base forces to upgrade to DP guns? Well, that fast transport TF (4 CL, 4 DD) just reached Talasea to drop the HQ off there so I could upgrade the 4 Base Force stationed at Gasmata. What I didn’t know was that Ted had some SBDs on naval attack orders and they went after this TF. Since its fast transport, the troops were dropped off, so only the ships were in danger. Two attacks came in, and luckily 15 Japanese fighters on Rabaul CAP came for the party. The first attack was 14 SBDs escorted by 14 Corsairs. Fighters locked into escorting bombers are at a definite disadvantage. I shot down 2 Corsairs and 1 SBD. The remaining bombers went after my fast little ships, and missed them all. The second attack was 15 unescorted SBDs, opposed by 6 Japanese fighters. They shot down 6 Dauntlesses and flak got another. Again, they all missed. Scary and exhilarating all at the same time. The ships will sail to Rabaul until the 4 BF upgrades (hopefully tomorrow). Then I’ll use my air transports (42 total) to move the HQ from Talasea to Rabaul where they can load and move on to the next BF.

So much for the fun stuff. Ted’s bombers came in for a visit next, to Gasmata again. I’m glad he’s putting he effort into Gasmata and not spreading the wealth because he probably could take out more than 1 airfield at a time now. This time, 65x 4E and 4x 2E sorties hit (no Allied loss) adding a bit to the airfield damage. The airfield is already badly damaged now, so that much effort didn’t do much more damage.

Madang’s port was hit again, by the Mitchells and again escorted by P-39Ds. Again I forgot to put fighters at Madang, but I made a note to do it next turn.

I have more evidence to support my theory that something is up here soon. Today I noticed that there were a couple of Allied subs near Rabaul and headed north. I believe they are replacing the subs stationed around Truk that were recently damaged/sunk. I’m pretty sure his intel told him that some carriers are in port at Truk. He wants some cheap shots at carriers coming out of port when he makes his move at Gasmata. They’re still at least a couple of days out from there. Here’s an overall look at my defense of Gasmata:

Two lines of RO subs in the hex rows immediately south of Gasmata, a dozen or more fleet/Glen subs, 200 mines, a midget sub, (almost) level 6 forts, packed with troops, DP guns (soon), 72 Betties (not that they’ve done anything so far), 150 fighters, ~100 army bombers, KB, Combined Fleet. If this isn’t enough, I don’t know what is.

Tomorrow, I am going to send KB1 (Soryu, Ryujo, Shokaku, Zuikaku – 129 Zeros, 54 Vals, 72 Kates) and the fast replenishment fleet south from Truk, just in case Ted tries something. They’ll hide in the Pacific south of Truk, a day’s steam from the north side of New Britain, where they can smash an invasion fleet in relative safety.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

A couple of small air skirmishes were all that happened today. My bombers didn’t fly, probably due to the weather.

Tomorrow everything should be in position to liberate Ramree Island for a second time this war (BB bombardment TF, CA bombardment TF, MKB, subs, 21 Division from the sea, 4 Para Regiment from the air, 100+ IJA bombers (if they decide to fly), 100+ IJA fighters, 36 Betty bombers stationed at Pt. Blair, 36 Zeros each at Pt. Blair and Rangoon). I’m looking for a brigade to station there as a garrison, probably from Kwantung Army. Until it arrives (a couple weeks), I’ll station the 4 Parachute Regiment or an infantry regiment already in Burma at Ramree.

China

My bombers bombed Chengtu and Chungking’s airfields again.

Other Stuff

Kwajalein’s fort reached the magic level 6.


_____________________________


Created by the amazing Dixie

(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 2399
RE: Once Again into the Breech - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A) - 3/3/2015 7:45:27 PM   
Mike Solli


Posts: 15792
Joined: 10/18/2000
From: the flight deck of the Zuikaku
Status: offline 		21 Mar 43

Sub War

The Allied minesweeping TF (now 4 AM and 1 YMS) stayed in Adak from yesterday, determined to sweep some mines. I had a midget sub sitting in the hex, waiting for an opportunity. The Ha-43 took a shot at the AM Bayfield and hit her with both torpedoes! There was nothing left of the Bayfield but a wet spot on the water. Banzai! I learned that I am unable to reload torpedoes so I am transporting another midget sub to Adak and will bring the Ha-43 back to Kwajalein to get rearmed and prepared for another mission.

5 Fleet

My sentai of Oscar IIbs flew a naval attack mission against the Allied minesweeping TF (3 AM and 1 YMS) taking out 2 AM in two separate attacks. Unfortunately, they ran into Allied CAP (3x P-400 and 7x P-40E) and lost 2 to enemy fighters and 1 more to flak. They did, however shoot down all of the P-400s and 3 of the P-40Es. I lost 3 pilots, but all but 2 of the pilots in the sentai have experience ~50/70, so I’m not too concerned about it. The IJAAF currently has 318 fighter pilots in reserve with many more (>200) in training units at or greater than 50/70.

Yeah, these ships are minor and expendable, but it’s showing Ted that I have defenses even in my minor bases. He’s going to need significant force to take Adak.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted rested his planes here today.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted sent his bombers after the hex to the SE of Akyab. I’m not sure why because the Aussie division garrisoning Akyab can’t move directly to that hex. I have there the 10 RF Gun Battalion (18x AT guns). Anyhoo, Ted sent in a total of 145x 2E and 26x 4E sorties in 5 raids, one of which was escorted by 17x P-40Ks. I had a couple dozen fighters in the hex from surrounding bases. When it was all finished, my RF Gun battalion was about 75% disabled (no losses) and I lost 4 fighters (+2 op losses) to Allied losses of 4 fighters, 13x 2E and 3x 4E bombers. That’s 9% bomber losses for no real gain. I love it.

Ramree Island: My BB bombardment fleet went in, causing an additional 10 points of port damage and, more importantly, 10 hits on port supply. Minor hits were made on the Chindits. I also had 110 Sallies and Helens hit the Chindits as well, causing more minor damage.

Six Nells, escorted by a handful of Tojos, unsuccessfully attacked the CA Dorsetshire at Ramree. A couple of Martlets were defending and one was shot down. MKB was only 6 hexes away, but sent in only 3x Kates. They couldn’t find the target and returned.

It turns out that the fumble of the 21 Division was beneficial. The BB TF did its job and left. Had I sent in the invasion TF, it would be sitting in the hex and the Dorsetshire, along with whatever else was in that TF would have trashed my invasion TF. Dodged a bullet there!

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

The A6M5c R&D advanced to 7/44.

An Allied xAKL was confirmed sunk near Pt. Moresby on 9 Mar 42.


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(in reply to Mike Solli)
Post #: 2400
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