RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/17/2017 6:44:26 PM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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17 Jan 42

Nells by Malang, Java. Enemy troops start to move into the mountain holdout.

In China, a stack of enemy starts to approach Wenchow in the south. This stack is probably part of the big stack that ran wild in the plains to the north. Enemy bombers hit here daily, but the wooded terrain limits their effectiveness.

In Malaysia, Alor Star has been getting a lot of bomber attention. This base is one of just three left on the peninsula. The others are Kuantan and Singapore.

Watampone, west of Timor, in invaded. Benkoelen, Java falls. Ndeni falls to just the 1st Engineer Co. Waingapoe falls to the 1st Ind Engineer Regiment.

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Post #: 121

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/18/2017 6:39:45 AM

apbarog

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18 Jan 42

Today could be titled "And now for Plan B", or "And now for something completely different".

Sub attack near Ambrym at 124,151

Japanese Ships
SS I-171

Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 1
CA Chicago
CA Portland
CL Trenton
DD Hammann
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Russell
DD Mustin

SS I-171 launches 4 torpedoes at CV Yorktown

This attack occurred east of Luganville. Surprise is lost. KB will undoubtedly be heading this direction now. 3 US carriers still flying some Buffaloes are no match for KB. It's time to leave.

Yorktown isn't hurt too badly. SYS 16, FLOT 18-9, ENG 3, FIRE 0. Enough to slow the task force from 8 hexes a day to 6.

My new plan is to get the carriers back to Pearl Harbor. My thinking is if there's major activity in the South Pacific now with KB, I will lose the carriers if I stay and fight. And if KB does not come south to Noumea or Suva, then keeping the carriers here isn't necessary.

I split off some cruisers and destroyers, ones that don't upgrade anytime soon, and sent them towards Suva moving less than full speed. I turned up the search plane percentages. I want them to be seen by the subs. My 4 carrier task forces became 3 task forces. All will head to the NE, which I hope is an unexpected direction, and I hope that they disappear from the radar today. I turned off all search planes for the carrier task forces. Enemy carriers can't be in range. They were all at New Guinea just 2 days ago. And light carriers were near Borneo. As far as I know, there's nothing out this direction. I'll run silent for a few days, if I disappear successfully. AOs will top off the tanks for the run home.

In a couple of days, I'll fly some SBDs to Suva to simulate carriers in the area.

Other than that, just the usual bombing in China and Malaysia. The enemy is now at Wenchow in Southern China.

So, Aurorus had some luck with his subs. He is now 1 for 2 with sub shots at carriers. I'm 0 for 3. Sometimes there's just some luck. In my previous game, I got 4 torpedo hits on Kaga, sinking her, with a US sub very early in the war. The key is getting as many shots as possible. You can't worry about whether they hit or not. Just do what you can to raise the probabilities as much as possible, and let the odds play out.

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Post #: 122

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/18/2017 3:23:17 PM

Macclan5

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Damned bad luck.

Probably frustrating with the ASW DD escort leading the way.

No thought to retreat to Suza first ? Confident your opponent could not / will not "cut the corner on you" and launch an 8 hex alpha strike ?

_____________________________

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Post #: 123

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/18/2017 7:20:27 PM

apbarog

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I've shown the flag with the carriers. As I had said, little point to keeping them here with KB not far away. I'm not going to throw them away in a blaze of glory, hoping to take down part of KB in the process. Speaking of odds, the odds of that with Buffalo fighters and poorly trained pilots are low.

I will defend Noumea, Suva, and Pago Pago, but not with the carriers. Not right now. Aurorus may not even come that far south. Too soon to tell.

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Post #: 124

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/18/2017 7:22:22 PM

apbarog

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19 Jan 42

I-20 has been patrolling very close to Suva. I have had a couple of AMs on ASW duty. An AM found I-20 today but didn't get a hit. Later the sub attacked the AM, but missed. The diversion cruiser force moved to Suva today but wasn't spotted. 4 DDs break off this force and assume ASW duty around the island. I want to show activity here.

4 enemy battleships bombard Malang with great effect. They are probably basing at very near Soerabaja now, so this could be a daily thing until the base falls, which will be soon. Lots of bombers hit the troops also, but did little. The BBs caused 634 casualties in the mountain terrain. The enemy deliberate attack was a huge battle.

Ground combat at Malang (55,105)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39004 troops, 396 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 1201

Defending force 12584 troops, 119 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 290

Japanese adjusted assault: 605

Allied adjusted defense: 289

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
2058 casualties reported
Squads: 50 destroyed, 163 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 11 (3 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1687 casualties reported
Squads: 36 destroyed, 81 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
4th Division
38th Division
33rd Division
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
14th Army
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
6th Cav Sqdn
Groep Zud
III Landstorm Cdo
5th Cav Sqdn
I KNIL Battalion
VIII KNIL Battalion
3rd Cav Sqdn
II KNIL Battalion
XIII KNIL Battalion
III KNIL Battalion
II Marechausse Cdo
VI Landstorm Cdo
Marinier Battalion
V KNIL Battalion
HQ III KNIL Division
2e-VLG-II Sup Afd
1e-VLG-IV Sup Afd
A-II-Ld AA Battalion
1e-VLG-II Sup Afd
3e-VLG-IV Sup Afd
NI-MLD
Madoeng Defenses
Soerabaja KM Base Force
HQ II KNIL Division
2e-VLG-IV Sup Afd
Soerabaja Defenses
VkA-2 Sup Afd

I'm not pleased that the base will fall soon, but I am happy with the strong showing of the Dutch here in the mountains. The enemy brought in 3 divisions for this attack, and lost 50 squads and 163 disabled. Java was always going to fall. It's nice to see a sigificant portion of these divisions out of action for awhile. And those divisions are worth watching. Where they go after Java will show where Aurorus' plans for the next phase are.

Other enemy bombings were at Kuantan, Wenchow, near Hankow, and near Kweisui.

I thought I'd see an enemy para drop on Port Blair a long time ago. It came today. I had not reinforced the base so it fell easily. 2 B-17 squadrons moved to Rangoon to bomb Port Blair's airfield. It's a size 1, and could have fighters already, but the airbase is damaged a bit, and maybe I can damage it a bit more. A Brit cruiser force leaves Colombo to bombard the base in a few days. A small minesweeper from Rangoon will pass through Port Blair ahead of time, just in case. Just showing some interest here. No enemy ships in this area, probably, until Singapore falls.

US carriers moved ENE from their sub encounter and were not spotted. The enemy ships at Ndeni did flee to the NW.

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Post #: 125

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/19/2017 7:19:22 AM

apbarog

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20 Jan 42

My newly formed ASW TF of 4 DDs tracks down I-20 near Suva, but can't hit her. I-20 returns the favor later in the day, firing 2 torpedoes at DD Conyngham, but misses.

Malang is bombarded by a TF of just 4 heavy cruisers. Aurorus used just 4 battleships yesterday. There must be some reason not to use destroyers in the TF. A bit risky with subs around, I would think.

In what had to be a mistake, 30+ Nells fly from Bangkok to attack troops at Rangoon. I'm betting that their previous ground target was eliminated in Malaysia yesterday, and they went for any ground target in range. 34 Nells are shot down by a squadron of the AVG.

Tjilitjap, Java was bombed, attacked, and lost to the enemy. Same for Alor Star, Malaysia. The enemy has finally cleared the western rail line from the top of Malaysia to the outskirts of Singapore.

Malang got just a bombardment attack today.

Katherine, Australia flipped to the enemy. The enemy's 8th Tank Regiment is heading south there.

US carriers continue to move without being seen. KB has been missing also.

The most interesting news today was in SigInt:

1 Raid Regiment is at Raheng

Raheng is inland, east of Moulmein. 1 Raid Regiment is a para unit. Port Blair's paratroopers were Yoko 3 SNLF, not this unit. So this unit is in a very forward position. Aurorus had made no move at all into Burma so far. And his air activity, just 2 raids on Rangoon, were mistakes. He hasn't done any recon in Burma. Almost like he isn't interested in it at all.

Yea, I'm not buying it. He's going to drop those paras somewhere where it will be a big surprise and where it will make a difference. Like behind Chittagong, or a dot base near the India/Burma border to cut off troops in Burma. I've started moving a bunch of units to cover possible important bases like these. What's the range of a Tina? I need to find that out. He took his first ops loss of a Tina today. Coincedence?

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Post #: 126

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/19/2017 12:38:37 PM

BBfanboy

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I looked at the list pulled up by the database button at the top of the screen. It says the normal range of a Tina is 16 hexes, but I think that is the extended range. IIRC the Thalia extended range is 15 and Topsy 14.

He may have put those paratroopers in Rahaeng just to keep your paratroops from grabbing the hex. If SIGINT does not show larger units prepping for Burma/India targets I wouldn't load up the area with forces you need elsewhere.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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Post #: 127

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/19/2017 5:03:48 PM

apbarog

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I was looking at the Tina for a worst case scenario. I can't rely on SigInt now. The Japanese doesn't need to prep units for easy targets, like a para drop behind the lines. The units that I'm garrisoning possible targets aren't big units, and they were already in India and available. I haven't used anything that would be of use elsewhere.

The only SigInt I've gotten for Burma or India was a division prepping for Rangoon. Aurorus has been prepping some units for Singapore, and they are already known to be in Malaysia. He didn't prep anything, that I know of, for Java and elsewhere. He didn't need to.

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Post #: 128

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/20/2017 12:50:00 AM

apbarog

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21 Jan 42

I-2 spots xAP Monterey, a big fast transport. Other fast xAP are with it. 4 torpedoes miss the ship. No escort with these guys. They are relying on their speed to get back to the West Coast.

This attack is significant because Aurorus hadn't spotted the ingress/egress route that I was using for the West Coast. I send out a couple of ASW TFs, but the sub is too far for air to help the search or fight.

Malang is bombarded by cruisers again. A now daily occurrence, with them going back and forth from Soerabaja.

Swordfish fires 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat near Horn Island. It is escorting an AG that was at Horn, and now appears to be headed to Port Moresby.

I-20 tangles with destroyers near Suva, again. Depth charges miss, torpedoes miss. 2 out of 4 DDs are out of depth charges. Resupply at Suva won't be possible for a couple of days.

Bombings in Java, Malaysia, and China.

8 B-17s, flying from Rangoon, bomb Port Blair's airfield. Damage is light. Bombers go back to India. Cruisers will bombard in 2 days. No mines here, scouted out by a tiny minesweepers.

A Chinese corp is wrecked in an attack near Hankow. It retreats across the river, and importantly, one hex closer to Changsha. The corp is doomed, but now I can LRCAP P-40s over it. They fly to Changsha from Ledo, and hope to catch some bombers. This isn't an AVG unit. It is one of the units flown over from the Philippines, and the pilots are still poor to average. Hoping for no fighters escorting the bombers. There weren't any today.

Kolaka, Celebes falls to the enemy. Defenders were those originally at Kendari.

US carriers continue east unseen. Troops start to land at Noumea.

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Post #: 129

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/20/2017 6:19:43 AM

apbarog

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22 Jan 42

A patrol boat gets a depth charge hit on Brit sub Truant near Bandjermasin. Truant is transiting from Ceylon to Australia, to get another sub that has working torpedoes in the South Pacific. Damage is light, so light that it will continue its trip unchanged.

4 cruisers bombard Malang again. 2 ground units evaporate. I'd like to slip some mines in here, but the nearest mining sub is about a week away, and I'm afraid that the troops won't hold up that long, even in the mountains. Not with these daily bombardments.

My CAP trap in China didn't work, as the enemy bombers didn't show up. Today, an enemy ground unit is in the same hex as the retreated Chinese corp, so maybe the bombers will return. I leave the P-40s on LRCAP there to find out.

Enemy carriers are suspected to be SE of Rabaul, NE of Buin. My subs are getting lit up with detection levels. Could be half of KB, could be all of it. I only saw 2 light cruisers in the sighting.

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Post #: 130

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/20/2017 11:00:44 PM

BBfanboy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

I looked at the list pulled up by the database button at the top of the screen. It says the normal range of a Tina is 16 hexes, but I think that is the extended range. IIRC the Thalia extended range is 15 and Topsy 14.

He may have put those paratroopers in Rahaeng just to keep your paratroops from grabbing the hex. If SIGINT does not show larger units prepping for Burma/India targets I wouldn't load up the area with forces you need elsewhere.

Correction - I checked and the Tina does have a normal range of 16 - extended range is 20.

_____________________________

No matter how bad a situation is, you can always make it worse. - Chris Hadfield : An Astronaut's Guide To Life On Earth

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Post #: 131

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/21/2017 4:15:14 AM

apbarog

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Thanks BBfanboy. That puts the area around Chittagong and to the east at risk, and of course, all of Burma.

23 Jan 42

The usual 4 enemy cruisers bombarded Malang. They keep doing good work, 281 casualties today.

Light cruisers Capetown, Dauntless, and Hobart, with destroyer Nizam, bombard Port Blair. Moderate damage, with 8 airbase hits, 5 airbase supply hits, 23 runway hits, 11 port hits, and 2 port supply hits. Aurorus commented in his email that he won't be sending ships past Singapore before he captures it. I agree with this, and appreciate his decision and telling me about it. We didn't house rule this, but I agree that this is reasonable. He could still send something to the Indian Ocean from the Java area though.

Near Hankow, China, my CAP trap succeeds. Just 6 P-40Es make it to the LRCAP hex, 4 hexes from Changsha. They encounter about 24 Sonia, and shoot down about 8 of them. There was no escort. Note that the bombers still caused 113 casualties in the clear terrain. The ground unit was eliminated in combat later.

3 Dutch units were eliminated by the 4th Tank Regiment near Tjilatjap.

Back on Mindanao, the enemy has closed in on the mountain holdout of Malaybalay. They do a probing artillery bombardment.

Ground combat at Malaybalay (80,90)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8307 troops, 68 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 263

Defending force 6019 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 190

Assaulting units:
143rd Infantry Regiment
144th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
102nd PA Infantry Regiment
103rd PA Infantry Regiment
101st PA Infantry Regiment
3rd Constabulary Regiment
Agusan Constab Battalion
Mindanao Force
Del Monte AAF Base Force

This base should hold awhile. It has supply and forts built in the mountains. The defenders have been able to rest for a number of weeks.

Lots of enemy shipping, including some or all of KB, is spotted just north of the Solomons, north of Tulagi. They were heading SE. Could be invasions of Tulagi, Guadalcanal, or any other island in the area. They could go further to Luganville. Ndeni is already enemy held. They could go just about anywhere they want, to be honest.

The game is now on hold for a week or so. Aurorus is traveling. I will be taking my time with this turn. I'll do a region by region update sometime before the war resumes.

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Post #: 132

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/21/2017 7:59:42 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Solomons

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/22/2017 11:36:15 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Northern Australia and Timor

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/23/2017 7:24:44 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Java, Celebes, Borneo, and Mindanao

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/23/2017 11:34:13 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Philippines

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/24/2017 12:29:09 AM

Bo Rearguard

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I see a few anchor icons. Do you still have any ships of value holding out in Philippine ports besides submarines?

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/24/2017 1:30:21 AM

apbarog

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There is a small xAKL at Leyte with too short of a range to make it to Australia, an ACM at Bataan maintaining a small portion of the many mines there, and an ARD at Manila, with no hope of escape.

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Post #: 138

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/24/2017 6:23:00 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Malaysia and Sumatra

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/24/2017 11:35:42 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Southern China

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/25/2017 1:20:44 AM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Northern China

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/25/2017 8:29:16 PM

apbarog

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23 Jan 42 - Summary

I finished my work on the turn, finally. Aurorus will be travelling until Thursday, but I'd done about all I can do with a single turn. Training squadrons, planning for reinforcements, etc.

One thing I did do was purchase a number of destroyed ground units: a couple of British base units, and a handful of Indian units. These were lost in Malaysia. The cost was low, and all will arrive at Aden. My plan for the Indian units is to build to levels just enough to cover city garrisons, freeing up some other units with at least some more offensive capabilities.

CV Hornet is due to arrive in about 30 days.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/25/2017 10:26:45 PM

Platoonist

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Since your opponent passed up on the Pearl Harbor strike it sounds like you now have a nice reserve fleet of plodding but powerful battlewagons.

Any near-term plans for them or will you just be keeping them tucked out of harm's way until the inevitable counteroffensive? I suppose other than keeping an eye on the date for the occasional refit there isn't much they can do but be on standby. Being that they are undamaged must be a nice asset though. Frees up a lot of dockyard space.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/25/2017 10:40:51 PM

apbarog

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Some of the slow Pearl Harbor BBs went to the West Coast, for upgrades. Most remain at Pearl. I'm making plans for an early advance into the Marshall Islands. Conditions have to be just right for that to occur, though. KB must be away. And the Marshalls must not have been significantly reinforced. If this operation did occur, slow BBs would participate.

My thinking on this is if KB goes to the Indian Ocean, I advance early in the Pacific. If this draws KB back, I have my opponent reacting to me, instead of vice versa. If KB stays away, I do more.

Whatever I invade early, though, I have to be willing to defend with enough to stay. The enemy can attack anywhere it wants, early, without regard for prepping the units. US ground units have been prepping for the Marshalls since December 8.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/27/2017 12:55:55 AM

Bif1961

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You may want to wait until after his amphib bonus is over if this scenario has that if not be prepared to lose whatever u take. So leave a small defense BN behind and an AVP/D for search planes to use.

< Message edited by Bif1961 -- 9/27/2017 12:56:33 AM >

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/27/2017 3:26:06 AM

apbarog

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That's good advice, Bif1961. I won't be invading anything early just for the sake of doing something. The northern Marshalls mostly have a stacking limit of 6,000 on each island. That's difficult to defend. Maybe impossible. You take a base, and naturally want to place some base support troops to use air units. That cuts into the combat troops that can be there. Let's face it: you can land a division on an island with a 6,000 limit, as long as you land supply simultaneously, and are prepared to quickly pull the troops off of the island. You can't defend against that.

The southern Marshalls have some bigger stacking limits, like Tarawa and south. But anything and everything is vulnerable in the first half of 1942. If I can draw some attention to the Marshalls when the enemy is moving big to Ceylon or India, I will.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 9/30/2017 9:39:34 PM

apbarog

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24 Jan 42

Aurorus is back from his travels. He commented on making a mistake, which I would notice.

First, Dutch sub torpedoed and undoubtedly sank RO-62 in the Solomons.

US sub Seadragon spots huge tanker Tatekawa Maru off the coast of Vietnam, but misses with 2 torpedoes. Good to start seeing the tankers in the South China Sea. Will be doing a lot more of this in the future. Nearby, sub Stingray fires 2 torpedoes at a subchaser, part of an ASW task force. One torpedo hits, and its a dud.

Malang gets its daily 4 cruiser bombardment. 604 casualties. It's brutal and can't be stopped. Probably training the enemy ship crews too.

Wenchow is bombed and deliberately attacked. I did not evacuate Wenchow, and the first attack didn't go too badly for the defending Chinese.

Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29065 troops, 367 guns, 296 vehicles, Assault Value = 965

Defending force 13004 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 405

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 1155

Allied adjusted defense: 1342

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
1159 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 185 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Allied ground losses:
686 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
17th Division
22nd Division
12th Tank Regiment
13th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
13th Army
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Army
1st Mortar Battalion
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
100th Chinese Corps
25th Group Army

The attackers are a lot of the same units that were clearing the northern plains earlier. Good to put a dent in some of the units.

Then 2 enemy tank regiments crossed into Singapore, ahead of everything else. A mistake, but not one that is going to make much difference. This attack put Singapore into the red on supply.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 768 troops, 0 guns, 165 vehicles, Assault Value = 103

Defending force 29995 troops, 302 guns, 206 vehicles, Assault Value = 386

Japanese adjusted assault: 113

Allied adjusted defense: 931

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 8 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 74 (10 destroyed, 64 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
96 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th Tank Regiment
6th Tank Regiment

Defending units:
1st Manchester Battalion
2nd Loyal Battalion
1st Malay Battalion
3rd Cavalry Regiment
2/17 Dogra Battalion
2nd Malay Battalion
2nd Gordons Battalion
SSVF Brigade
27th Australian Brigade
AHQ Far East
224 Group RAF
Singapore Fortress
29 Battery/3 HAA
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
Malayan Air Wing
Malaya Army
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
III Indian Corps
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
Singapore Base Force
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment

To the west of Wenchow, an unoccupied Pucheng fell to the 14th JNAF AF unit.

Finally, Beaufort on Borneo fell.

Today KB and friends move near Ndeni, and with the postioning of the leading DMSs, it looks like they are going further than Ndeni. They could hit Luganville, or current path projects to going to Suva.

A US cruiser task force is west of Suva. It is 10 hexes from Luganville, just a bit too far to run in full speed at night. I was tempted to run in anyway, and get there during the daylight, hoping to hit landing ships and then, maybe, run far enough away from KB. I decided that the latter hope was a hope too far. The ships will move slightly to the southwest and see what happens today. With the DMSs 6 hexes from Luganville, and landing ships probably 8 or 9 hexes away, they wouldn't be at Luganville tonight anyway. Probably.

SBD's at Suva today did spot an enemy sub, and vice versa, of course. I wanted this to happen, to give the impression that the US carriers may still be in the area. They were last spotted east of Luganville, where Yorktown took a torpedo. Yorktown just repaired itself enough to start moving 8 hexes a day instead of 6. The US carriers have passed Canton Island on the way back to Pearl Harbor.

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Post #: 147

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 10/2/2017 6:47:11 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

25 Jan 42

Sub Shark fires 4 torpedoes at DD Tokitsukaze just NE of Luganville. Torpedoes miss. Also spotted is BB Haruna, CL Kitakami, and 4 DDs. This task force is positioned one hex to the SE of KB, in the usual one hex guarding position to a threat axis to the SE.

AM Breeze is spotted by the pesky sub I-20 near Suva, but the sub elects not to fire. Another AM and a DD task force is hunting this sub.

Malang gets the daily 4 cruiser bombardment. Aurorus will get one more free bombardment tomorrow. Then a Brit sub is going to drop mines at Malang.

Near Efate, south of Luganville, 9 Vals from KB find AVP Arend fleeing Luganville, and sink the support ship. Catalinas repositioned to Noumea.

Djambi, Sumatra is lost. This is the other oil production base on Sumatra, other than Palembang. None of the oil is damaged at either base.

So KB is now near Luganville. I'm guessing that the DMSs are at Luganville looking for mines. There aren't any. BB Haruna is one hex to the NE of Luganville. KB is one hex to the NW of Haruna. There's another task force well to the northwest of Luganville. These ships came from the Port Moresby area, maybe passing by Horn Island. If this is the Luganville invasion task force, it needs more than a day to get to the destination.

I was really tempted to send in the cruisers to Luganville. Very tempted. I plotted the full speed move initially. Then I reconsidered. With BB Haruna there, and KB adjacent, what can 3 CAs, 2 CLs, and 2 DDs reasonable expect. The Allied ship training is not as good. They are outgunned with a battleship. And the enemy destroyers are dangerous with the torpedoes. Any damaged ships will probably not get out of range of KB during the day. They are then gone. I just can't pull the trigger, yet.

Instead, the cruisers move a bit to the south, staying in range of possible future activity, but out of range (hopefully) of KB. Almost all ships unloading at Noumea leave immediately. KB is now within one day's move of Noumea. Most of 2 US Marine regiments have unloaded, but not some of the guns and support. Same for a couple of base units. Radar did not unload. These ships will retire to Auckland and do a combat reload on smaller, more expendable ships. I got many small shorter ranged xAPs out of Java. They will be ideal for this mission. They are moving from Australia to New Zealand now. I'll filter in the remainder of those units to Noumea as fast as I can.

US carriers will meet up with a tanker task force near Christmas Island. The carriers don't have enough fuel to make it to Pearl Harbor as is. Yorktown's engine damage ticked up from 1 to 2, enough to slow the speed back down from 8 hexes a day to 6.

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Post #: 148

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 10/2/2017 10:41:21 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

26 Jan 42

Multiple engagements of US subs near Port Moresby and Milne Bay. This was the first time that we had many dud hits. One engagement had several duds in one torpedo spread. There were a few xAPs in the task forces, which are eastbound, either going to the Solomons or to the Luganville area.

The only attack that resulted in a hit was sub Porpoise's hitting CL Tenryu once, and then getting a depth charge hit. Porpoise has moderate damage and will retire to Brisbane.

Malang bombarded again. A Brit sub will lay mines tonight, which may or may not be in place in time for tomorrow's visit.

Enemy troops unload at Gasmata and Luganville.

Singapore is bombed very heavily, and the base is then attacked and captured.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 57882 troops, 625 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 1842

Defending force 29915 troops, 302 guns, 206 vehicles, Assault Value = 370

Japanese adjusted assault: 2406

Allied adjusted defense: 551

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Singapore !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
2035 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 208 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 23 disabled
Vehicles lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
40688 casualties reported
Squads: 482 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2555 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 65 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 419 (419 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 257 (257 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 22

Assaulting units:
Imperial Guards Division
18th Division
5th Division
14th Tank Regiment
21st Division
23rd Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Tank Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
25th Army
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
2/17 Dogra Battalion
1st Manchester Battalion
1st Malay Battalion
SSVF Brigade
3rd Cavalry Regiment
2nd Loyal Battalion
2nd Gordons Battalion
2nd Malay Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
Singapore Base Force
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
Malayan Air Wing
224 Group RAF
Malaya Army
Singapore Fortress
III Indian Corps
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
29 Battery/3 HAA
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment

A heavy loss for the Allies. Inevitable though. Over 200 enemy squads disabled, which is something, at least. I'll be watching these enemy divisions closely to see where they are headed and prepping for.

KB moved a bit west of Luganville, maybe fearing those US carriers that could be to the east. BB Prince of Wales is west of KB, only 8 hexes away. Was lucky that it wasn't spotted today. PoW will move north and hope to intercept ships coming from the Port Moresby area. Another CA force will position SE of Luganville, to be ready to raid the base if KB goes chasing PoW.

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Post #: 149

RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J... - 10/3/2017 8:54:43 PM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
Status: offline

27 Jan 42

The daily bombardment of Malang occurs. Brit sub lays mines there, but none hit today. May have arrived too late for today. Let's hope for tomorrow.

Near Suva, I-20 fires 6 torpedoes at CL Leander, which is escorting some xAKs back to Auckland. All torpedoes miss. The cargo ships delivered supply to Suva.

Sub Tarpon fires 4 torpedoes at DD Yukaze near Gasmata. All miss.

South of Milne Bay, Dutch sub KVIII spots a big transport task force.

Japanese Ships
xAP Koan Maru, Torpedo hits 1
DD Murasame
xAP Kobe Maru
xAP Argentina Maru
DD Suzukaze
DD Samidare

Allied Ships
SS KVIII, hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

The location of this task force is very important. It looks like it is headed in the direction of Koumac, and this would coorelate with the enemy shipping, including KB, nearing Koumac. Big transports here. See the map for my plans for these enemy ships.

Luganville is captured by the enemy's 146th Infantry Regiment. The base was not defended. Gasmata was lost also.

I have high hopes for my surface groups south of the Solomons.

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