RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

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All Forums >> [New Releases from Matrix Games] >> War in the Pacific: Admiral's Edition >> After Action Reports >> RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/12/2018 7:46:23 AM

apbarog

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

23 May 42

Skipjack spots a task force with seaplane carriers Chiyoda and Chitose near Ramree Island. These ships could have been looking around well to the west of Ramree, where my sub was detected recently. CVLs are in this area now too.

Enemy patrol boats find the recently dropped sub mines at Nauru without hitting any. Mining mission failure.

Dutch destroyers continue to hunt enemy subs near Vava'u, unsuccessfully so far. Support ships, including ones that can rearm depth charges, just arrived at Vava'u.

Northeast of Sian, and southeast of the bigger forces in the contested hex, the enemy attacks.

Ground combat at 86,40 (near Sian)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 11984 troops, 98 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 354

Defending force 10279 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 327

Japanese adjusted assault: 108

Allied adjusted defense: 937

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 8

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

Japanese ground losses:
864 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 96 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled

Allied ground losses:
140 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
32nd Division

Defending units:
33rd Chinese Corps
5th New Chinese Corps
7th Group Army

The Chinese will hold here unless the enemy reinforces. Small Chinese reinforcements are moving into this hex also. A loss of this hex threatens the big stack that is adjacent. The good news is that any enemy reinforcing this hex in the woods will take some time to get there.

With CVLs now near Akyab, one of the reserve British divisions will move to Chittagong tonight. The British slow battleships will arrive at Madras and refuel.

One possibly interesting note: OPilot has never done recon of Diamond Harbour. He looks at Calcutta daily, and also looks at every Allied airbase that is size 2 or larger near Burma. Diamond Harbour has a size 3 airfield. It could be one of those cases where "I don't want you thinking I'm looking here because I am interested in here". Or it is just on the edge of where he wants to do recon.

Most ships, including the still-not-spotted carriers, will now leave the Tabiteuea area. A few xAKs are still unloading supply. One xAP just arrived with a SeaBee unit on it to unload. Transports and cruiser force will go to Christmas Island to await the Tarawa invasion, which will be in a couple of weeks or so. More prep needed. Carriers will head southeast to an inconspicous unbuilt dot base to refuel from tankers. They'll wait for Tarawa also, and also be close enough to Tabiteuea to intervene if needed.

Hermes has taken on fighters instead of the torpedo bombers it had. It will escort BC Repulse and friends for a foray north into the Solomons.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)

Post #: 391

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/12/2018 8:04:18 PM

apbarog

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

24 May 42

Nothing dramatic near Chittagong. Enemy CVLs move a bit south, now southwest of Akyab. British infantry division had railed into Chittagong overnight. It is sent back to the east to its waiting spot again. All of this excitement may have been just another resupply or troop delivery to Akyab.

British slow battleship group refuels at Madras and heads east along the Indian coast. Some fighter protection, at long range, is provided, but not much.

Enemy air seems to stand down in China today. British Hurricane squadrons, which have caught a couple of bomber raids recently, have gone back to Ledo.

The last US sub needing the April 1942 upgrade has started its upgrade at Brisbane. The first P-38 squadron is also there, taking on planes. It's been manned with the best available pilots. Even better Army pilots will become available soon, as there are a number of squadrons withdrawing at the beginning of June. I want the P-38s to have the best, emphasizing the defense skill. The number of P-38s produced are never high. I'll try my best to use them effectively and lose as few as possible doing so. With great pilots, they are effective sweepers.

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 392

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/13/2018 6:24:08 AM

apbarog

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

25 May 42

Salmon fired 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat north of Truk but missed. Porpoise did similarly near Kusaie Island with the same result. I-23 fired 6 torpedoes at destroyer Helm at Tabiteuea. All missed and the sub avoided all depth charges. Helm is escorting the few remaining ships at Tabiteuea, and will escort them back towards Christmas Island today.

The daily enemy artillery attack at Bandoeng. It's hurting.

Ground combat at Bandoeng (50,100)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 19680 troops, 371 guns, 259 vehicles, Assault Value = 600

Defending force 22918 troops, 219 guns, 58 vehicles, Assault Value = 411

Allied ground losses:
214 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
19th Ind Engineer Regiment
2nd Formosa Inf. Regiment
3rd Ind Engineer Regiment
48th Engineer Regiment
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
65th Brigade
21st Ind Engineer Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
48th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
1st Cav Regiment
2nd KNIL Regiment
IV Landstorm Cdo
1st KNIL Regiment
Mobiele Battalion
4th KNIL Regiment
ABDA

Nothing can be done but to hold out as long as possible. Maybe OPilot will deliberately attack again before the defenders are too beaten down.

Enemy CVLs were not seen in the Indian Ocean today. The British slow battleship force moved from Madras to Cocanada and were not spotted. Today they will move at full speed to Diamond Harbor, and hopefully disband in port. I'm not sure on the mechanics of disbanding in port though. It seems to me that ships frequently don't disband in port if they've moved a lot during the turn. I moved some fighters to Diamond Harbour to CAP, and I have every fighter squadron at Calcutta set to CAP at range 1. I'm hoping that the ships aren't spotted, one way or the other, and that they can hide in Diamond Harbour and wait for a juicy target to appear at Akyab. Hope for bad weather. I had a ML at Diamond Harbour for about a week, and it was spotted by the enemy about half the time. And that was just one ship. So the odds are low but worth a shot.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 393

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/13/2018 3:12:20 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

Near as I can tell ships need one phase to enter port and one phase to disband. I. E. if the ships movement does not reach the hex next to the port in the morning, it will be sitting there until next morning before it can enter port. Same for disbanding - if it enters port in the morning it can auto-disband in the PM phase, but if it enters port in the PM it will not disband until next morning phase (or you can disband it yourself when you do your turn inputs).

_____________________________

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

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 394

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/13/2018 9:24:27 PM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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26 May 42

Chittagong gets its semi-regular cruiser bombardment.

Night Naval bombardment of Chittagong at 55,41

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Lysander II: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CL Kashii

Allied ground losses:
425 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (4 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 32
Port hits 9
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 1

2 of the 3 Allied carrier task forces are spotted at the obscure dot base southwest of Canton Island. Detection levels are 4/4. OPilot may or may not see carriers. I'd hoped to keep them hidden having so much luck in not having them spotted at all at Tabiteuea. I order them further south, to another dot base, to again top off the tanks and wait for troops at Christmas Island to be ready for Tarawa.

No sign of KB for 2 weeks. Could show up anywhere.

Got SigInt that the enemy 15th Army HQ is planning for Ledo. This is new.

[edit: As shown below, OPilot had nothing to mouse over at Diamond Harbour today because of thunderstorms. I omitted that fact in the graphic.]

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< Message edited by apbarog -- 9/13/2018 9:25:47 PM >

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 395

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/14/2018 6:55:43 AM

apbarog

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

27 May 42

Nothing notable with the combat today. The Japanese air force in China again stood down. OPilot asked me the other day if I thought that weather forecast was the same for both sides for a given day. I didn't know, but I expect that it would be. He has had far greater ops losses than I have in the game, and he has asked me about that before. I know that weather does make a difference. In this game, I'm not flying supply into China on bad weather day forecasts. I avoid bombing missions on bad forecast days, but I'm not as strict about that. So, I wonder if he is experimenting in China by sitting his planes on bad weather forecast days. It's unusual for him not to fly. I did burn him a few times with CAP traps from my Hurris. They are back in India now, but he doesn't know that. He did get more cautious after the last trap. But this has happened before. After awhile, he'll fly liberally again, and I'll send fighters back into China again.

The action for tomorrow is at Akyab. The British ships were not spotted in port at Diamond Harbour today.

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 396

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/14/2018 7:27:14 AM

Sardaukar

Posts: 9847
Joined: 11/28/2001
From: Finland/Israel
Status: offline

I think Ops losses might be partially be bigger for IJAF/IJNAF because of smaller durability of planes. Just my guess.

_____________________________

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 397

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/14/2018 6:29:22 PM

Bif1961

Posts: 2014
Joined: 6/26/2008
From: Phenix City, Alabama
Status: offline

over use will lead to higher ops loss as well as no armor, no self-sealing tanks and lack of air frame duralability.

(in reply to Sardaukar)

Post #: 398

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 4:29:16 AM

apbarog

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

28 May 42

Things did not go as planned. Some things went better. Some worse.

First cruisers Devonshire and Emerald storm into Akyab looking for shipping. They find it.

Round 1:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
TB Kari, Shell hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire
CL Emerald, Shell hits 1
DD Scout
DD Fortune

Round 2:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAK Toko Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAK Tamashima Maru, Shell hits 35, and is sunk
xAK Rokko Maru, Shell hits 12, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
PB Kensin Maru, Shell hits 19, and is sunk
PB Kohoku Maru, Shell hits 3, heavy fires
PB Manyo Maru, Shell hits 7, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire
CL Emerald
DD Scout
DD Fortune

Round 3:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 18, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire
CL Emerald
DD Scout
DD Fortune

Round 4:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Akyab at 54,45, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
xAKL Fukuyo Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire
xAKL Hachirogata Maru, Shell hits 20, and is sunk
xAKL Tonegawa Maru, Shell hits 26, and is sunk
xAKL Yagi Maru, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
SC Ch 33, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Devonshire
CL Emerald
DD Scout
DD Fortune

This task force then retired towards Calcutta but stopped one hex short of the city on the river.

During daybreak, it's obvious that the battleships did not bombard, and didn't stop one hex from Diamond Harbour either. They moved a few hexes towards Akyab and stopped. This put the ships at a longer range from friendly fighters, reducing the LRCAP over them. Then it becomes apparent that there are now enemy carriers one hex south of Akyab. It is the CVL task force that has been in the area off and on.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Chittagong at 52,41

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
B5N2 Kate x 32
D3A1 Val x 7

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 46

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 12 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 11 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
BB Revenge, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2
BB Resolution, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Ramillies, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
CL Newcastle

The air battle was particularly interesting to watch. The Zeros performed very well, fighting off the Warhawks and keeping them from getting to the bombers.

In the afternoon, the enemy tries again. Fewer Zeros escort. Another exciting battle to watch. The Warhawks slowly go through the Zeros, on by one, until all are shot down or damaged and aborted. About 10 Warhawks remained in the fight. It looked like the British ships would be ok and we'd shoot down some bombers. A couple are damaged and suddenly the fight is over. Plenty of bombers remain. Despair. The battleships are doomed. The bombers attack.

And then a stroke of luck. All of the battleships had detached with a couple of destroyers, leaving the cruisers with a small escort. And the bombers went for the cruisers.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Chittagong at 52,41

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
B5N2 Kate x 28
D3A1 Val x 14

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 34

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Newcastle, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Arrow

Most torpedoes fired at the cruisers missed. All of the torpedoes fired at destroyer Arrow missed. If the targets had been the already damaged battleships, I could have lost them all. All of the torpedo bombers dropped their torpedoes.

It was one of the most exciting battles I've ever witnessed. The highs, the lows. I laughed. I cried. Well, not quite that much. But it was awesome. It was a rollercoaster ride, and both the good and bad was enjoyable gameplay.

In the graphic I show the ships' damage levels. With no further intervention, the battleship task force should get to Diamond Harbour. It may or may not disband into port. There is no fire on the battleships, if they get to port, they should survive. The cruisers should get to Calcutta, where the large port should be able to handle the damage.

Flaws in the plan could include running into a sub on the way home, land-based strikes, another strike from the CVLs, or a naval bombardment of Diamond Harbour after the battleships disband there.

I don't know where KB is. If OPilot had some plans on a big invasion of India or Ceylon, KB could be on the way. It's been missing from the Solomons for 2 weeks. If it was on the way, it could be in a hurry now seeing my damaged battleships, and the chance to block an escape along the coast and around Ceylon. Just speculation. But if I had KB at Singapore now, they'd come running. I have to consider what could happen, not just what I think will happen.

Total air losses for today were 44 Zeros, 8 Kates and 1 Val, for the cost of 19 P-40Es. And a bunch of damaged slow British battleships.

Fun turn though.

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by apbarog -- 9/15/2018 4:38:15 AM >

(in reply to Bif1961)

Post #: 399

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 1:59:11 PM

Bif1961

Posts: 2014
Joined: 6/26/2008
From: Phenix City, Alabama
Status: offline

So why do you think the BBs stopped so short of Akyab, making themselves more vulnerable? What was the TF's setting for danger set at?

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 400

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 2:52:24 PM

BBfanboy

Posts: 18046
Joined: 8/4/2010
From: Winnipeg, MB
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

So why do you think the BBs stopped so short of Akyab, making themselves more vulnerable? What was the TF's setting for danger set at?

With the air threat at Akyab able to reach all the way to Diamond Harbour, the BBs were set to start their run from a point that would enable them to get into Akyab (4 hexes), bombard and retreat all the way back to DH (7 hexes). I think their max range at full speed is only 12 to 14 hexes. I find bombardment TFs rarely set themselves to use ALL of their max movement for a bombardment and retreat. Whether it is ops points used during bombardment or keeping a reserve of movement, the game engine calculation seems to hold some back.

If any waypoints were set that could hinder movement too.

_____________________________

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

(in reply to Bif1961)

Post #: 401

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 5:43:15 PM

apbarog

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

Their maximum speed was 6 hexes per phase. The distance between Diamond Harbour and Akyab is 7 hexes. I didn't think they'd go all the way and bombard but I didn't rule it out either. I thought they may move hex, to set up a run of 6 hexes for the next day. They moved 3 hexes instead. 3 hexes is the cruise speed for the task force. It's possible that the game moves a task force the cruise speed towards the bombardment hex when it starts too far away to do the bombardment run. We know that this is the case when starting further away. The manual says that it moves at normal speed and then high speed for the actual run in to bombard. The question is what happens when you are too far for the bombardment run, but closer to the run-in point than a normal movement.

Maybe we have the answer. Normal speed until distance is <= maximum run-in distance.

It's all good though. I considered just moving one or two hexes out of Diamond Harbour, then setting it for a bombardment run. I just didn't think they'd stay hidden. I should have taken the mostly tried-and-proven approach.

(in reply to BBfanboy)

Post #: 402

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 5:44:35 PM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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I believe that the task force was set to Absolute threat tolerance, but I'd need to check.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 403

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 6:02:43 PM

jwolf

Posts: 2493
Joined: 12/3/2013
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Don't those British battleships need to withdraw pretty soon? Whether yes or no, you'll need to extricate them from the Bay of Bengal and that looks like it will be really tough to do.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 404

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/15/2018 7:00:31 PM

apbarog

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

These battleships are good for awhile. Here's the withdrawal dates:
Revenge 43/09/16
Royal Sovereign 44/01/15
Ramillies 43/12/22
Resolution 43/10/07

Yes, OPilot can make it very difficult to get these battleships to Colombo and off-map for repairs. We'll have to see what he does. I'm making preparations with air support to bases along the coast to support fighters if and when the battleships make a run along the coast to Madras. Right now, we'll just worry about saving them at Diamond Harbour.

(in reply to jwolf)

Post #: 405

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/16/2018 7:11:57 AM

apbarog

Posts: 3769
Joined: 5/23/2002
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29 May 42

Two areas of concern today. First, the British battleships and cruisers make it to port safely at Diamond Harbour and Calcutta. Calcutta got its daily enemy recon, so OPilot sees ships there. No recon at Diamond Harbour today, but OPilot must know that the battleships can't go up the river to Calcutta. There was some minor increases in damage due to the high speed runs. But for now, the ships won't sink in the ports. CAP remains very high and is being increased with other squadrons, including Chinese ones that are somewhat trained now. Diamond Harbour is just a size 1 port, but I've started increasing that. There's over 100 engineers there and more on the way. I may have to build the port around the battleships. More AA guns are moving to Diamond Harbour also, and subs from Colombo will start mining the port approaches.

The enemy CVL task force moved at least 3 hexes due west during the night from where it was just south of Akyab. It probably moved the full normal speed distance west. Subs have detection levels out there. So OPilot is interested in cutting off the battleships' escapes, or at least looking out for that on the first day.

The battleships may just stay at Diamond Harbour as bait. My CAP will remain very strong. He could bombard there. If I see something coming, I'll pull out cruisers from Calcutta and sit them on Diamond Harbour. I may do that off an on anyhow, just in case. I usually don't see his bombardments coming.

If KB shows up, though, I may have to settle for shooting down as many planes as I can, and probably resign myself to losing the battleships.

The other area of concern is in the Coral Sea.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 106,139

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
G4M1 Betty x 25

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVL Hermes, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Durban

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

CAP engaged:
No.800 Sqn FAA with Fulmar II (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 8 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes

Fuel storage explosion on CVL Hermes

The enemy flew from Port Moresby at a 13 hex range, I believe. Hermes is somehow still afloat, with SYS 42/FLOT 73-47/ENG 9/FIRE 1. It may be beyond the threshold of containing its flooding and fire. We'll see tomorrow. I wonder if the number of torpedo hits is accurate, or the fuel storage explosion. The ship should be already gone, I'd think. One worry I have is about a sync bug today. 9 P-40Es were reported lost in air-to-air combat today but I saw no P-40 combat in the replay or in the report. I asked OPilot about that so we'll see.

All 20 Fulmars were lost as they had nowhere to land. 6 Zeros were downed. The map below shows the plan for today.

Attachment (1)

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 406

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/17/2018 1:14:20 AM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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30 May 42

S-44 spots an xAP and a destroyer one hex west of Tarawa, and probably headed to Tarawa. No depth charges hit the sub. During the day, a big task force of cruisers and destroyers is spotted at Tarawa. OPilot likes to use fast transport with his destroyers, so I can't be sure if this is a combat TF or a fast transport TF. It looks like he is rushing reinforcements to Tarawa, alarmed by my forces at nearby Tabiteuea, and that I've already built the port and airfield to size 1, while Tarawa is still an airfield size 0.

Sub Thresher spots unescorted AV Kamoi north of Tulagi. Looks like it fled north when my many ships were spotted south of Shortlands. 4 torpedoes were fired. At least 2 hit and were duds. Could have been 3 duds. It's impossible to tell in the replay how many dud hits there are when there are multiple consecutive dud hits. The dud hit message just stays displayed longer than if there was just one dud.

The cruiser force that was with BC Repulse bombards Lunga. No planes hit on the ground.

Night Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138

Allied Ships
CA Exeter
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CL Phoenix
CL Honolulu
DD Perkins
DD Shaw
DD Conyngham
DD Lamson
DD Patterson
DD Henley

Japanese ground losses:
254 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 18
Port hits 10
Port supply hits 5

ML No. 432 pokes out of Diamond Harbour one hex into the Indian Ocean, and sure enough finds a sub there waiting for ships to flee west. The sub elects not to fire torpedoes, and the ML doesn't hit the sub. ML No. 432 comes from a long line of fine ML's, with perfection achieved with number 432. Presumably. 2 Brit destroyers will check out that hex tonight.

Beafort is invaded by the enemy. There are the bigger parts of 2 British base forces here, waiting to be destroyed so that their evacuated fragments can be rebuilt far away at Sydney. About time OPilot cleans them up for me. Jolo was lost today finally also.

An interesting encounter today.

Morning Air attack on Tabiteuea , at 137,134

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 72 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
H8K1 Emily x 2

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K1 Emily: 1 destroyed (both actually destroyed)

Tabiteuea just became an airfield size 1, and I moved Warhawks there immediately. First time to see Emily's bombing. Maybe the last for OPilot too. In an interesting twist, a squadron of Catalinas moved to Tabiteuea today, and the pilots are trained in torpedo attacks. Base forces there can support this. They are set to naval strike today, so if the enemy ships at Tarawa don't have carrier support, they may get some hits there today.

Bandoeng has been getting ground down. I noticed that there are about 45,000 enemy troops there now, with a stacking limit of 30,000. Looks like OPilot is loading up despite overstacking in an effort to finish off the mountain fortress once and for all.

And what about Hermes? It moved 2 hexes to the southeast today, and was spotted but with just 1/3 detection level. It's FLOT damage went down from 73 to 72, and the FIRE went from 1 to 0. Just getting my hopes up, I know. It will head south today, and it now looks like it can reliably move 1 hex in each phase.

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Post #: 407

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/18/2018 7:12:23 AM

apbarog

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OPilot is involved with disaster recovery support in the Carolinas, so our reliable daily turns back and forth will be sporadic for a bit.

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Post #: 408

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/19/2018 8:10:24 PM

apbarog

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31 May 42 - The 1st Air Battle of Diamond Harbour

First the other events. Plunger spots several xAKLs and a patrol boat near Buna. OPilot has been moving similar task forces west from Rabaul along the coast, then southwest towards Buna, then hugging the coast all the way around New Guinea to Port Moresby. I've dropped mines in a shallow hex between Milne Bay and Port Moresby but no hits. The xAKL hit today had fuel loaded. The ship burns and sinks. Plunger then immediately reattacked and hit PB Sensan Maru with a torpedoe but it was a dud.

At Luganville, 2 US fast xAPs were unloading the final part of an airbase unit. I-24 spotted xAP Maori and hit it with a torpedo, and the ship sank after combat. One non-combat squad hadn't unloaded, so the ground unit had unloaded almost everthing. Maori was a nice faster than average transport. It had been safe moving without escort, but wasn't safe sitting at port unloading.

Then the big battle over Diamond Harbour began with an Oscar sweep. 2 Flying Tiger squadrons and a smaller Dutch P-40 squadron were based at Diamond Harbour. Other units contributed from Calcutta, but most air units at Calcutta were protecting only Calcutta.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 27

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 67

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Then the bombers arrived with a huge fighter escort. The bombers were targeting the port in hopes of hitting the damaged battleships.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 31
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 83

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 57

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 12 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Resolution, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage (did not penetrate)

The Warhawks fought through the first 30 or so Oscars, then got through to the Sallys while there were still about 50 Oscars in the area. Resolution's damage was an additional scratch.

Then more Sallys arrived, without any escort, and none survived the approach to target.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 23

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 12 destroyed

I had moved a couple of cruisers and destroyers from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour to possibly draw an air attack into heavy CAP, and to interdict a naval bombardment if one came. Enemy CVLs moved to within 7 hexes of Diamond Harbour and Kates went after the cruisers.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
B5N2 Kate x 35

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-40E Warhawk x 38

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 16 destroyed, 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Emerald
CA Devonshire, Bomb hits 2
DD Isis

Some Kates had torpedoes, some had bombs. Devonshire took moderate damage: SYS 38/FLOT 10-6/ENG 8-4/FIRE 0. It will move to Calcutta to patch up. OPilot was lucky that the carrier raid came last. He lost most of the Kates but few of the Zeros.

Total air losses for the day were 63 Sallys, 29 Kates, 24 Oscars and 4 Zeros. Allied losses were 12 P-40Es. Just 2 Allied pilots were KIA.

Captain E.F. Rector became an "Ace in a Day" and got 7 kills total, rocketing him up to a tie at the top of the Kill leaderboard. 4 other pilots became an ace today. A massive fight over Diamond Harbour and a big win for the Allies. Many excellent Japanese pilots had to have been lost today, and that is far more important than the airframes.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/20/2018 8:01:48 PM

apbarog

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1 Jun 42

Lots of upgrades this month. A few battleships. Mostly support ships and some transports. TOE upgrades for Australian infantry.

Near Kwajalein, sub Silversides spots a couple of xAPs, but misses a shot at xAP Ussuri Maru with 2 torpedoes.

Manila and Bataan still bombed every day. Supply on Luzon now critical. Red exclamation points everywhere. Bataan doesn't fire flak anymore. I'm sure this has been noticed. Manila is still firing, but not for long. Enemy troops still sit south of Manila.

I-25 slipped into the port of Christmas Island. It spotted xAK Don Isidro but couldn't get a shot. From the "sub escapes detection" message, I thought the cargo ship must be without escort. But when I looked, I saw that it has a PG with it, but the PG has no ASW capability. And most importantly, it is with ARD Dewey! The ships stopped at Christmas Island to refuel on the way to Vava'u. That was a close call. I can't lose Dewey.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/21/2018 1:45:47 AM

DOCUP

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Keep up the great work. I enjoy reading your AAR.

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Post #: 411

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/21/2018 8:00:38 PM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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2 Jun 42

Allied ML No. 432 spotted I-156 sitting at the exit from Diamond Harbour but couldn't hit it. The 2 Brit cruisers and a destroyer made it most of the way to Madras today unobserved. I was going to send 3 of the damaged battleships and a destroyer west from Diamond Harbour, with the expectations of moving 6 hexes at full speed, but I miss-clicked and refueled the ships when forming the task force, limiting their projected movement even further. So they'll probably run tomorrow. Still spotting an enemy xAKL west of Akyab. CVLs have to be there. A sub about 3 hexes away had a 2/2 DL today. If there's xAKLs there, I don't know what they are doing. The spotting is close to the one yesterday.

I moved a squadron of Catalinas to Tabiteuea recently. The pilots are trained in torpedo attacks. Another side effect of having so many Catalinas with no enemy Pearl Harbor attack.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ocean Island at 130,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Daihachikyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hohuku Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PBY-5 Catalina launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

Massive explosion on xAK Daihachikyo Maru

There were 3 dud hits on a second cargo ship. It was interesting the ship was loaded with fuel. For an unknown reason, OPilot is moving fuel to Ocean Island. Ocean Island still doesn't have an airfield, nor does Nauru Island, or Tarawa. Tabiteuea is a size 1 airfield and building quickly.

OPilot gives it another go at Bandoeng. The odds were better for him, with all of the effective daily artillery bombardments, but the attack still hurt the Japanese. Again.

Ground combat at Bandoeng (50,100)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30369 troops, 478 guns, 307 vehicles, Assault Value = 775

Defending force 22273 troops, 212 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 352

Japanese adjusted assault: 632

Allied adjusted defense: 1021

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
2075 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 27 disabled
Guns lost 21 (2 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
932 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 11 (4 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

On the Burma-India border, the enemy shock attacks across a river and finds a weak Burma unit defending in the jungle. Reinforcements move to the area. This is southwest of Ledo and threatens the road to Imphal.

Ground combat at 63,40 (near Warazup)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4726 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 132

Defending force 648 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 30

Japanese adjusted assault: 152

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 15 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
156 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
270 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
144th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
13th Burma Rifles Battalion

Carrier Wasp will appear in Panama in 4 days.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/22/2018 6:34:44 AM

apbarog

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3 Jun 42

Perch spots 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers near Ponape, heading unknown.

It's a more active day for enemy bombers in China. Nothing special to note. There isn't a single Allied fighter in China right now, and just 6 Chinese bombers.

Mixing things up, LB-30s from Charter Towers bombs Lae's airbase, causing minor damage. I noted that Lae's airfield was up to size 3 but probably didn't have any CAP. Target of opportunity for a nuisance raid. In another, B-17s from Townsville hit Buna's port, causing minor damage and destroying some fuel and supply. xAKLs were unloading fuel here yesterday.

Nick's make their first appearance, bombing an RAF base unit fleeing in Burma.

AM Latrobe hit I-16 at Luganville. The sub sank a transport yesterday or the day before there.

Just south of Milne Bay, on the way to/from Port Moresby, Dutch sub KXIII torpedoed xAK Yamahuku Maru twice, sinking the ship.

Near Imphal (see map), the enemy shock attacks across a river:

Ground combat at 60,41 (near Imphal)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3807 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Defending force 4042 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 151

Japanese adjusted assault: 124

Allied adjusted defense: 283

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
467 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
148th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
6th Chinese/C Corps

And near Jorhat, another river crossing, this time by a division:

Ground combat at 63,39 (near Jorhat)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12342 troops, 98 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 388

Defending force 4399 troops, 12 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 190

Japanese adjusted assault: 364

Allied adjusted defense: 118

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
562 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1432 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 38 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 34 (13 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
33rd Division

Defending units:
B Sqn 3rd Hussars Regiment
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
75th Indian Brigade

I didn't see either of these attacks coming. Recon has been keeping an eye on these enemy units but didn't show movement recently. It's a bit of a panic now between Imphal and Ledo. Reinforcements are ordered from far and wide. I will not abandon Ledo quickly. I hope to counter the 33rd Division with a British infantry division. This area is much easier for the Allies to supply their troops than the enemy, so fighting here isn't all bad. As long as it doesn't become a rout. The loss of Ledo won't help China any.

Hermes continues to move toward Koumac. It is now 4 hexes northwest of Balep Island. Balep is a size 1 port, and Hermes will disband there if it makes it that far. Today it increased 1 SYS and 5 FLOT damage, and decreased ENG by 1. That's 10 FLOT damage in the last 2 days. It is now 46/82-47/9-0/0. A cruiser and 2 destroyers have joined Hermes and a DD for the final approach to Balep. All we can do is hope. It's either going to be a fantastic save or a heartbreaking loss. Much like losing the battleship Idaho in another AAR universe long ago for me. Remember the Idaho! Save the Hermes!

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/22/2018 1:01:13 PM

zuluhour

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From: Maryland
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You are in monsoon season and I believe he will have to resort to air drops as his units cross into
India. Thats a lot of jungle to push supply through. I would consider a small but steady air campaign
on anything near Imphal and Ledo, just to force him to use supply. I assume without checking he
has AA built in to his divisions. I think Chittagong is the key to holding him at bay for now.

< Message edited by zuluhour -- 9/22/2018 1:02:07 PM >

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Post #: 414

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/23/2018 9:23:12 PM

apbarog

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4 Jun 42

Swordfish fired 2 torpedoes at PB Tsuneshima Maru between Buna and Rabaul. One torpedo hit and it worked. The patrol boat was sunk.

AM Latrobe again finds I-16 sitting at Luganville. Many minor hits are achieved but no direct depth charge hits. Latrobe is out of depth charges and has to go to Noumea to rearm.

Some minor bombing by British aircraft against Japanese troops in the jungle in Burma. B-26s join in.

Enemy CVLs again move north, in range of Diamond Harbour and Calcutta. CLAA Van Heemskerck was about to make a dash to safety to the west, but I think I forgot to pair it up with a destroyer and make the run. It was by itself, in a task force, at Calcutta. It was accidentally bait.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Calcutta at 52,37

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
B5N2 Kate x 23

Allied aircraft
I-16-III x 10
I-15-III x 7
Hurricane IIb Trop x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 13 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-16-III: 1 destroyed
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

The cruiser now requires repair at Calcutta. It is SYS 70/FLOT 17-13/ENG 17-4/FIRE 27. Total air losses were 22 Kates and 17 Zeros for 5 P-40Es, 3 Hurri IIb's and 3 I-16s. 3 Chinese pilots got kills today. SBD's with some escort are moved to Jessore just east of Calcutta, and may get a chance to fly if the CVLs stay as close as they were today.

1LT W.E.Dyess, with 8 kills, was transferred to the 51st Fighter Group/25th Fighter Squadron at Brisbane. The unit is the first to be filled out with P-38Es. Now it is filling out with the best of the best US Army pilots.

Hermes moved one hex closer to safety, and is now 3 hexes northwest of Balep Island by Koumac. It is SYS 47/FLOT 79-47/ENG 7-0/FIRE 0. SYS went up 1. FLOT went down 1 and ENG went down 2. I'm still hopeful.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/24/2018 11:15:50 PM

apbarog

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5 Jun 42

A US sub just dropped some mines near Babo in northern New Guinea. I'd hoped to get a tanker. An enemy subchaser immediately spotted the mines. This area is highly patrolled and mining here just isn't working. I've done enough mining to make OPilot react and take precautions.

Chittagong is bombarded my cruisers, but the effects are lighter this time.

Night Naval bombardment of Chittagong at 55,41 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CL Kashii

Allied ground losses:
188 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5
Port hits 3

It didn't appear that he used any spotting planes this time.

There was a bit of a change to the enemy recon activity in China. Chungking got recon for the first time, as did Loyang in the north. A couple of unimportant spots in the line were bombed, probably for recon. I think OPilot may be looking for a different spot for an offensive. I may have stemmed the tide in the north, for now.

In Burma, some Allied bombers hit enemy troops in the jungle. It's a hit and run thing; can't run into enemy fighters. B-17s hit Myitkyina's airfield for almost no effect in severe storms.

Hermes is now just one hex from Balep Island. It gained 1 SYS and 2 ENG damage today, and lost 1 FLOT. It will go into the tiny port to repair minor FLOT damage. Koumac is just a size 2, so it will stop at Balep. Noumea is too far away to risk at this point. After some of the FLOT damage is repaired, Hermes will move to Noumea. ARD Dewey is headed to Vava'u Island, and Hermes may eventually go there.

Damaged British battleships made it to Cocanada unspotted. Resolution's damage went from SYS 26 to 30 and FLOT 47 to 50. The task force can still move 6 hexes a day at full speed, and will do so today, moving towards Madras. They will probably repair all minor damage there before moving around Ceylon.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/25/2018 6:44:30 AM

apbarog

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6 Jun 42

At Tabiteuea, 3 xAKs arrive to unload supply. KV Chilliwack is escorting and finds RO-67 there. 2 torpedoes missed xAK Unicoi and the KV did some minor damage to the sub.

It finally arrived. Enemy battleships bombard Diamond Harbour, undoubtedly hoping to hit the damaged battleships. Just one battleship remains in port, and it wasn't hit.

Night Naval bombardment of Diamond Harbour at 52,38 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
CL Natori

Allied ground losses:
497 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (7 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Hyuga
BB Hyuga firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
BB Ise firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Ise
BB Yamashiro firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Yamashiro
2nd Indian Coastal Artillery Regiment firing at BB Fuso
BB Fuso firing at 2nd Indian Coastal Artillery Regiment
CL Natori firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at CL Natori

The coastal guns took a pounding but did fire at the enemy. They just didn't hit, and it wouldn't have mattered with 6 inch guns hitting a battleship. I'm moving the one coastal gun unit to Chittagong now. Cruisers show up regularly there. I did have 115 recently laid sub mines at Diamond Harbour, but none were hit. Typical for a bombardment.

Near Jorhat, southwest of Ledo, the enemy division eliminates the small armored unit. OPilot waited a few days after his last attack, even though I had very little strength there. I suspect he was waiting for supply for his unit. That has to be an issue for him in the jungle there. This contested hex is just one hex south of the rail line to Ledo. He can cut the rail line if he gets there first. I'm moving so he won't get there first, but he could get there with the most. Going to be a big fight here. The Brits are on the way.

Ground combat at 63,39 (near Jorhat)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12055 troops, 97 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 359

Defending force 138 troops, 0 guns, 25 vehicles, Assault Value = 8

Japanese adjusted assault: 319

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 319 to 1

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

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

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 27 (27 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
33rd Division

Defending units:
B Sqn 3rd Hussars Regiment

Today SigInt says that the 301 Ind Inf Regiment is planning an attack at Shemya Island. This is adjacent and just east of Attu Island in the Aleutians. This is the first indication of any activity in the Aleutians. I have some units at Prince Rupert prepping for Umnak, but the shipping for them will have to come from San Francisco and Pearl Harbor, mostly. Have an infantry regiment, a base force, and some engineers. But I'm not sending anything to the western Aleutians. At this point, I don't have anything for Adak for that matter. I don't really want to fight up there, but I'll hold what I have. Umnak is to support Dutch Harbor nearby. I ordered a sub from Pearl Harbor to mine Shemya and another sub will patrol just to the west. I still have Catalinas covering the western Aleutians, but nothing else.

The 3 damaged Brit battleships will get to Madras today. They weren't spotted again. I'll have them repair minor damage there. They did slow from 6 hexes a day to 4 due to damage incurred while traveling.

I pulled over 20,000 supply to Cocanada, the base that I made into a US base yesterday. With that much supply, I was able to create 12 PT boats. They'll head to Diamond Harbour and Chittagong.

CV Wasp arrived in Panama. A few destroyers and a CLAA were there to escort. They'll go to Pago Pago from Panama.

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Post #: 417

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/25/2018 8:10:49 PM

apbarog

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7 Jun 42

RO-67 is still at Tabiteuea. It spots xAKL Atlantic and DMS Chandler, but doesn't get a shot. Chandler can't find the sub. 60 vehicles from the already landed infantry division are about to arrive there on 2 transports.

The enemy attempts to cut the road southwest of Imphal. They do get across the river, but find a decent tank brigade there and get hurt. Allies will counterattack today.

Ground combat at 59,41 (near Imphal)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3882 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Defending force 2636 troops, 40 guns, 123 vehicles, Assault Value = 150

Japanese adjusted assault: 12

Allied adjusted defense: 253

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 21

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

Japanese ground losses:
999 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 90 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
11th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
7/12 Frontier Force Battalion
50th Tank Brigade
25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Troops on Luzon start to starve. Bataan is completely empty of supply. I assume that the coastal guns won't fire when that unit's supply is gone.

A third carrier TBD squadron has converted to TBFs at Auckland. When the planes are operational, they'll join the carriers east of Suva.

The 3 damaged slow British battleships are now safely at Madras. They'll stay there for awhile, repairing minor damage. They were not spotted getting there from Diamond Harbour.

I need to dig into the editor. I'm looking at the Indian Punjab Division, at least the 3 component that make up the Punjab Division. 2 of the components are static at Lahore (I think Lahore), and one component is not static. I wonder if the full division, if combined, is static or not. I need all the troops I can muster, so it's worth a check.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/26/2018 8:30:28 PM

apbarog

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Joined: 5/23/2002
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8 Jun 42

The usual enemy bombings: Bandoeng, Manila, Kukong, Bataan, Darwin.
B-26s again hit troops southwest of Ledo. I switch the targets each day to keep OPilot guessing. Today they get Hurricane escorts. I've done LRCAP over enemy units in the jungle, suspecting supply drops, but I haven't found one yet.

Near Imphal, the Allies counterattack against the infantry regiment that failed badly in its shock attack river crossing yesterday. Results aren't as overwhelming as I had hoped but they are acceptable. Got 1 to 2 odds but did much better on the casualty count. We attack again today. We can get supply here much easier than the enemy.

The enemy 33rd Infantry Division sits just south of the road leading west from Ledo. Today it shows movement to the east, into a jungle hex just southwest of Ledo. Could be a real move, could be a fake move. There's clear terrain to its northeast, where a weak Indian division just arrived. The B-26s already mentioned will hit it today.

I've had a huge Chinese corp at Calcutta, training and building. It has been my strategic reserve. I split the corp today, and 2/3 of it will go between Imphal and Ledo. I was prepared for an enemy landing on the eastern coast of India, or at Diamond Harbour. Now I'm not. The units are needed near Burma now. If this is part of OPilot's strategy, hat's off to him. I'm aware of the possibility but I have to deal with the real threat now as opposed to the possible threat then.

Tabiteuea built it's airfield to size 2 today. A long range recon unit was sent there to take a look at Kwajalein. Hopefully that gets OPilot a little bit nervous. I will move some B-26s to the base soon, and start hitting Tarawa, Ocean and Nauru Islands. None of those have an airfield yet.

< Message edited by apbarog -- 9/26/2018 8:59:05 PM >

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 419

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 9/27/2018 6:36:16 AM

apbarog

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

9 Jun 42

4 enemy DMS sweep the few mines left west of Babo on New Guinea. Interesting that there are 4 valuable fast minesweepers in this area, which is not active. If the enemy comes for Darwin, they'll be used. That could have happened a long time ago though. I do see a big enemy task force at Kendari, and activity on the north Timor coast. But I've seen this before.

West of Ponape, on a southwest diagonal from Truk, sub Perch spots a carrier task force. Kaga is lined up and 4 torpedoes were fired. One hits. And it is a dud. Enemy carriers now northeast of the Solomons. May be headed to Nauru or Ocean Island. May be going to hit Tabiteuea. I've had cargo ships there and they've been seen. They leave today. I pull out the recon and the Catalinas from Tabiteuea, and leave a squadron of P-40s. The Allied carriers are east of Pago Pago at a dot base waiting. Tankers will arrive tomorrow to top off the tanks. I decided not to react to the enemy carriers right now. I will use them in the Tarawa invasion, which is still about 2 weeks away. Units prepping at Christmas Island.

Heavy enemy bombing with heavy escort and sweepers of a contested hex in rough terrain east of Sian. It's on the road, and not in the woods like most of the defenders. Over 200 casualties to the bombers. This is concerning. I move some P-40s from Ledo to Sian and CAP Sian today, guessing OPilot's next move. They will LRCAP this contested hex soon. And the enemy attacks at this hex.

Ground combat at 86,41 (near Loyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45437 troops, 381 guns, 76 vehicles, Assault Value = 1412

Defending force 45661 troops, 214 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1259

Japanese adjusted assault: 806

Allied adjusted defense: 1521

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1456 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 331 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 24 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1098 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 98 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
41st Division
35th Division
27th Division
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
8th Group Army
14th Group Army

The Chinese hold. They'll do ok if the enemy doesn't rotate fresh units in. OPilot is sending at least one unit out of the hex to the east. Enemy air is a problem. I have an AA unit way up north at Lanchow, from when I expected the northern offensive further north. I start it moving toward Sian and eventually this contested hex.

Blens and Wellingtons bomb Cox's Bazar's port. It isn't defended by fighters and is on the supply line to the contested hex south of Chittagong. B-26s bomb the 33rd Division southwest of Ledo.

2 Dutch destroyers hit I-25 with a depth charge east of Christmas Island.

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Post #: 420

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