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... - 12/25/2018 11:51:42 PM

apbarog

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

15 Sep 42

I-28 hit xAK Chickasaw City between Nauru and Ocean Islands. I was moving it and two other cargo ships from Nauru to Ocean to finish unloading supply and to be a little less vulnerable with enemy combat ships prowling to the north. Chickasaw City did sink.

Battleships Hyugo, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso bombarded Kusaie Island, along with 8 destroyers. I guessed correctly that this was coming, although it wasn't difficult, with ships spotted three hexes to the west. 582 casualties and moderate base damage. Most importantly, however, supply was reduced from around 2,600 to 575. SSTs are unloading more now and the APD shuttle continues from Nauru.

I like to give my opponent a place to focus on. A place of my choosing, and a bit further than my primary goal. I took Nauru and wanted to build it up, and saw an opportunity to take an undefended Kusaie. Kusaie is a bit out on a limb, but it would take a major effort for OPilot to reconquer it. He's focused on Kusaie, and all the while, Nauru is building. At some point, focus will shift elsewhere and I'll get the rest of the unit fragments to Kusaie and jump to Ponape next. I thought the focus would shift with the Guadalcanal landings, but they went without interference. So for now, Kusaie gets bombarded once in awhile. We'll see if the focus shifts when I go to Port Moresby and Horn Island.

O23 did fire 2 torpedoes at destroyer Satsuki, part of the big battleship task force, but missed.

My minefield along the Australian coast finally pays off. It appears that APD Nadakaze swept the very last mine the old fashioned way.

TF 250 encounters mine field at 91,130

Japanese Ships
APD Shimakaze
APD Nokaze
DD Maikaze
APD Nadakaze, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

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

4 mines cleared

Enemy troops are being ferried out of Portland Roads to Horn Island. Later in the day, S-28 fired 2 torpedoes at APD Shimakaze and got one hit. It's a probable sinking. S-28 was taking a risk in the shallow water and got away unscathed.

And I guessed correctly that Chittagong may get a bombardment. 4 cruisers and 6 destroyers arrived at night, causing 470 casualties, starting some fires, but doing minimal base damage.

58 Oscars then swept Chittagong but found that the CAP had left.

Nearby in the contested hex, the Allies attacked again.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39685 troops, 628 guns, 497 vehicles, Assault Value = 1205

Defending force 13116 troops, 232 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 412

Allied adjusted assault: 637

Japanese adjusted defense: 799

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
524 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 33 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 31 (3 destroyed, 28 disabled)
Vehicles lost 73 (71 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
697 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 20 (3 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 24 (4 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th British Division
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion
18th Australian Brigade
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
134th Field Artillery Battalion
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
209th Field Artillery Battalion
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
IV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
12th Engineer Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

Not as good a result as the first attack, but acceptable. Lots of enemy vehicles destroyed. This is a battle of attrition. I plan on exhausting my restricted Indian divisions and then replacing them with unrestricted Chinese, British and American units. We bombard today while the infantry rests a day. Still seeing low supply for the enemy, and that helps.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 631

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/26/2018 10:50:29 PM

apbarog

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

16 Sep 42

The four enemy battleships that bombarded Kusaie Island yesterday returned again today, probably with low ammo. 107 casualties today and no base damage. OPilot has done this kind of repeat bombardment before. He's never done three in a row, but he spotted my APDs south of Kusaie, and he knows that I've been ferrying in supply with them. On the chance that he goes for three, I move the APDs a bit west in hopes of disappearing for a day and going to Kusaie afterwards.

S-32 spotted the battleships on the way out and fired 4 torpedoes at BB Hyuga, but missed. Too bad, working torpedoes and all.

In a bit of a surprise, Bettys hit Kusaie from Roi Namur (with Zeros) and from Truk unescorted. The airbase is pretty badly damaged, so that probably factored into the choice to strike. Moderate airbase damage resulted.

Some enemy bombing, with the biggest being the contested hex northwest of Sian where the river crossing attack was a few days ago. I've had Warhawks at Chungking, just being seen and defending the capital. Today I move them near the contested hex and will LRCAP it from range 1. One of the big enemy strikes in this turn had 42 Tojos and 36 Oscars escorting, so it could be a big fight.

I can see that the enemy troop count at Portland Roads has dropped from 18,000 to 12,000. Unfortunately for the enemy, not all of them made it to Horn Island.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 65 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 20

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Nokaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Numakaze

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

and

Morning Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 54 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 13

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 1 damaged
Beaufighter Ic: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire
APD Nokaze, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 4

Japanese ground losses:
487 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 22 (8 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Beaufighter Ic bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Nowaki
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1
DD Maikaze

Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, and is sunk
CL Naka, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Nowaki
DD Maikaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
571 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 17 (14 destroyed, 3 disabled)

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Nowaki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 5, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
308 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Beaufighter Ic bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

The Beaufighter pilots had trained for months in low naval attack and strafing, and it paid off.

Hudsons also attacked but missed everything. A good day in the air over Portland Roads. I knew that there were enemy fighters at Horn Island, and figured that they could be doing LRCAP of Portland Roads or CAP of Horn Island, but probably not both. I sent some heavies to Horn Island and found that the CAP was there. 5 B-17Ds and 3 B-24s were lost.

Allied troops will attack again south of Chittagong. I expect heavy enemy air activity there, so I'm range capping from Chittagong and doing LRCAP from Comilla. Lots of bombers will hit the enemy troops, with some escort. Fighters will also sweep from Comilla.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 632

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/28/2018 5:37:48 AM

apbarog

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

17 Sep 42

Snapper fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Yamayuri Maru near Koepang. One hit but was a dud. The cargo ships are running between Koepang and Darwin. This is Snapper's fourth dud torpedo hit with no working torpedo hits.

A strong Allied cruiser task force bombarded Milne Bay, damaging and destroying Petes there. Moderate damage to the port and considerable damage to the size 1 airfield.

The enemy lands at Wyndham, west of Darwin. The base has some squads of a base force but every squad is disabled from heavy bombing.

With Kusaie's airfield damaged, it appears that Bettys are going to continue bombing every day. More damage but light to the airfield in thunderstorms.

Yesterday a big enemy raid hit Chinese troops near Tienshui, in a critical contested hex. Today, either by accident or by design, the enemy fighters did not show up to escort the bombers. P-40s were moved to Tienshui and intercepted. It was a good day, and another ace was made.

Morning Air attack on 91st Chinese Corps, at 81,39 , near Tienshui

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 3
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 25
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 25

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 9 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Actual losses were 16 Helens, 12 Lilys and 3 Anns. One P-40E was an ops loss, either here or somewhere else on the map.

One of the surviving Philippine divisions was dug out of the jungle in northern Luzon.

Allied bombers hit the contested hex south of Chittagong but couldn't hit the troops in heavy rain. The Allies then attacked.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39243 troops, 628 guns, 498 vehicles, Assault Value = 1133

Defending force 12534 troops, 228 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 364

Allied adjusted assault: 590

Japanese adjusted defense: 563

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1029 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 116 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 21 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
704 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 83 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 17 (4 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
209th Field Artillery Battalion
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
IV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
Imperial Guards Division
12th Engineer Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

A good result. Today they'll rest and then go again. Enemy troops are moving in from the south, but it doesn't look like strong forces. We'll continue to wear them down and, when needed, replace our frontline troops with unrestricted ones to continue on into Burma.

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 633

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/29/2018 11:00:15 PM

apbarog

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

18 Sep 42

Destroyers Worden and Benham raced to Portland Roads but didn't find any shipping. Worden hit a mine there and is gravely damaged. It should be scuttled but I will try to save the ship. Benham will continue escorting, putting herself in harm's way with Worden barely able to move. RO-63 took a shot at Benham today but missed.

US APDs hit I-33 with a depth charge at Kusaie Island. The APDs successfully unloaded supply.

There was a big enemy air effort directed at Calcutta, which hasn't happened in a long while. A big Oscar squadron swept high and found just Hurricane IIb's and IIc's on CAP. Despite there being more defenders, the Oscars had a field day downing Hurris. Then Sallys and Oscars arrived, finding a more limited CAP. A total of 54 Sallys bombed the port. Besides minor damage to the facilities, all of the ships in port were destroyed.

Allied Ships
TK Lady Myrtle, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
TK Sabari, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AM Oudh, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
ML No. 432, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

This was probably satisfying for OPilot after enduring my successful port strikes on Kwajalein and Kavieng. But these ships were left there while anything valuable left long ago. The tankers were very small ones, with very limited range. Little was lost, really.

The enemy also went after Ledo with a big Oscar sweep, also finding Hurricane IIb's and IIc's. But the result was different there, with the Allied fighters dominating. No bombers attacked Ledo.

Total air losses for the day were 46 Oscars and 6 Sallys, for the cost of 21 Hurricane IIc's and 11 Hurricane IIb's. Only 6 Allied pilots were KIA. The Hurricane pools are in good shape, so this result was fine. Hopefully a bunch of those ace Oscar pilots were downed.

SBDs and F4F-3s from Lunga hit small shipping at Shortlands. An ACM was sunk and a patrol boat was probably sunk. No CAP.

Wyndham, west of Darwin, was lost to the Kure 2nd SNLF.

An Allied bombardment attack in the contested hex south of Chittagong showed that two infantry regiments have reinforced the Imperial Guard Division. We deliberately attack today anyway. The losses will be higher but we'll continue with the plan. A fresh restricted British division will move to Chittagong and then replace infantry units as needed in the hex. When it is depleted, another unrestricted British division and a fresh US infantry division will move into the line and push south. Given what I can see of enemy troop strength in this part of Burma, the plan will work. Imperial Guard Division appeared to be at about half strength.

2 US carriers will be coming out of 40 plus day refits at Pearl Harbor this week. I am going to commit to a Wake invasion immediately after they are available. I was going to try to hit Wake a bit before a move to Port Moresby, but US troops won't be prepped enough for that anytime soon. Horn Island troops will be ready sooner, but I don't want to go to Horn until Port Moresby is neutralized.

4 US carriers will go into a 21 day refit at Sydney at the beginning of October. 5 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers will do a 21 day refit at Sydney at the same time. After these refits, the troops should be ready enough for Port Moresby.

The 2 US carriers at Pearl that will support Wake will refit after the Wake actions.

Other invasions will follow very closely after Port Moresby, including Horn Island and the islands east of Milne Bay.

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 634

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/30/2018 7:16:55 PM

apbarog

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

19 Sep 42

Northwest of Kwajalein, Amberjack fired 2 torpedoes at patrol boat Yamahagi Maru #3. One hit but it was a dud. A bit later, Amberjack fired 2 torpedoes at already heavily damaged patrol boat Chitose Maru. One hit, but again, it was a dud.

British sub Trusty spotted an xAKL task force headed to Akyab.

Troops at Broome were heavily bombed. Probably the next target for invasion on the northern Australian coast.

B-17s and B-26s hit the airfield and troops at Portland Roads.

This is the order of battle in the highlighted hex south of and closest to Sian. All of the Chinese are out of or low on supply here.

Ground combat at 84,42 (near Sian)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 69548 troops, 533 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 2208

Defending force 55842 troops, 229 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1691

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

Allied ground losses:
62 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
36th Division
69th Division
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
41st Division
37th Division
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
84th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps
31st Group Army
34th Group Army
1st Artillery Regiment
4th Group Army
5th War Area
18th Artillery Regiment

Here's the order of battle in the critical hex near Tienshui. About half of the Chinese units are low on supply.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59242 troops, 509 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 1838

Defending force 31568 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 956

Japanese ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
26th Division
9th Division
8th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
29th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
18th Group Army
13th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

Allied troops attacked south of Chittagong and wrecked one of the enemy infantry regiments that just arrived in the hex. This result was very good. The Australian Brigade took the worst of this battle and will move to Chittagong to recover. It will be replaced by a nice armored unit.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 38926 troops, 623 guns, 497 vehicles, Assault Value = 1085

Defending force 23350 troops, 327 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 538

Allied adjusted assault: 681

Japanese adjusted defense: 977

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
2086 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 180 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 50 (1 destroyed, 49 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
575 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 112 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 20 (2 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
IV Indian Corps
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
209th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
56th Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
114th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
25th Army
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
51st Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

Destroyer Worden is now SYS 33(+1) and FLOT 90(-2). It moved just one hex. Odds are low for saving the ship but we press on.

The Chinese front is now at a critical stage. The enemy is now aligned for attacks, with the stack near Tienshui just one hex from completely cutting off northern China. P-40s move back to Tienshui today to LRCAP the critical hex.

[edit: Note that the enemy is overstacking in some of these critical hexes]

Attachment (1)

< Message edited by apbarog -- 12/30/2018 7:19:34 PM >

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 635

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 12/31/2018 6:55:49 AM

apbarog

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

20 Sep 42

A sad loss. British sub Truant had just refueled at Tabiteuea and was heading west from the base when it was found by I-175, which fired two torpedoes, and one hit, sinking Truant. This is the first British sub lost. It is also only the fourth Allied sub lost in the war, with two others also getting torpedoed by enemy subs. The fourth was sunk in Manila's port. No Allied sub has been sunk due to ship or air anti-sub efforts. Truant did not have any successful torpedo attacks.

East of Townsville, destroyer Express found RO-65 and hit the sub with one or two depth charges. The sub was reported to be on fire and with heavy damage.

I-174 fired 4 torpedoes at APD Whipple as it headed southeast from Ocean Island. All missed.

The story of badly damaged destroyer Worden continues. Its FLOT damage went down 2 to 88. With it moving a predictable one hex per day, it's easy to position subs in its path. RO-61 fired 2 torpedoes at Worden and fortunately missed. Escorting destroyer Benham went after the sub but got no depth charge hits. In another attack, RO-61 went after Benham but missed with 2 torpedoes. Again Benham couldn't get the sub, and all depth charges were expended. 3 destroyers are ordered north from Townsville at full speed to escort Worden. The ships will be 3 hexes from the nearest base, so some LRCAP will be provided.

A squadron of B-26s bombed the Imperial Guard Division in Burma, but Oscars appeared, and shot down 8 of the bombers.

The enemy continues to hunt down the two remaining Philippine divisions on Luzon. They've been chased out of the jungle and their end is near. They've occupied the enemy for longer than I could have hoped, though.

No enemy ground attacks in China, just a couple of artillery bombardments.

Much planning was done. I've made the earliest plans for a push past Horn Island, with units now prepping for places like Darwin, Taberfane, Dobo and Gove. I think that a quick thrust towards Darwin and Taberfane will be possible. Timor's bases are building, however, including the eastern bases. How well defended they are remains to be seen. Those troops that took Java will be going somewhere, and I have no indication where that is or will be.

Tentative plans are invading Wake Island next with 2 big carriers and 2 CVEs. I may or may not wait for battleship Washington to come out of refit at Pearl Harbor. It would add another week to the wait for going for Wake.

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(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 636

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/1/2019 4:32:19 AM

apbarog

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

21 Sep 42

The enemy battleship force approached Kusaie Island from the west and was spotted by Dutch sub O23. 4 torpedoes were fired at destroyer Hatsukaze but all missed. Eventually I'm going to catch one of those battleships. Hyuga, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso then bombarded the island effectively, causing 676 casualties and moderate damage to the facilities. Most importantly, to me, every bit of supply was destroyed.

Destroyers Banckert and Van Ghent are patrolling southeast of Guadalcanal, near Kirakira. They were spotted by I-34 which fired 6 torpedoes at Banckert but missed. The destroyer then hit the sub with a depth charge.

O16 then spotted the battleship task force nearing Ponape on the way home. 4 torpedoes were fired at destroyer Satsuki but all missed.

Broome was bombed heavily again. Not much left of the Australian base force there. No supply.

A mix of US bombers hit Portland Roads airfield and port, and the enemy troops there. A decent effort.

6 B-24s, flying all the way from Ledo, hit enemy troops near Tienshui, causing 185 casualties in the wooded terrain. I expected an enemy deliberate attack but there was none.

Another Allied attack near Chittagong, and the enemy continues to be worn down. A fresh Allied armored unit arrived in the hex but too late to contribute to this attack. I'll continue the pattern of deliberately attacking every other day.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34835 troops, 545 guns, 438 vehicles, Assault Value = 1124

Defending force 22327 troops, 330 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 442

Allied adjusted assault: 399

Japanese adjusted defense: 531

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
884 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
696 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 49 (3 destroyed, 46 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
7th Armoured Brigade
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
209th Field Artillery Battalion
IV Indian Corps
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
56th Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
114th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
25th Army
51st Field AA Battalion
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

The armored unit with just Humbers took the brunt of the losses today. They will move back to Chittagong to recover.

To the east, near Ledo, I see that the 33rd Infantry Division has started to move south. It had made it to one hex south of the rail line west of Ledo.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 637

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/2/2019 2:26:32 AM

CaptBeefheart

Posts: 2301
Joined: 7/4/2003
From: Seoul, Korea
Status: offline

Just did my post-holiday catch up of this AAR. Good slaughter at Kavieng. In future decades that'll be a great wreck diving spot.

Your "Kusaie as tar baby" strategy seems to be doing well. It's attracting a lot of attention while you make moves in the greater Coral Sea area.

Cheers,
CB

_____________________________

Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.

(in reply to apbarog)

Post #: 638

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/2/2019 2:50:38 AM

apbarog

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

Kusaie is working out that way. I like to advance a step a bit too far and let the enemy go after the leading edge, while everything behind builds and supports. Of course, if Kusaie had been ignored, I would have landed all of the unit fragments and gone for Ponape already.

That's the thing, though. The Japanese are in a bad spot no matter what. Get them to pay attention in one area, hit them in another. Get them to jump back and forth if possible. Pay attention to Kusaie? I'm coming for Shortlands and Buin and Port Moresby. The Allies don't absolutely have to have the final plan of advance to Japan figured out all along. Attack in multiple areas and the enemy's defense will show the best approach. Because the Japanese cannot defend everything.

22 Sep 42

RO-61 is hunting badly damaged destroyer Worden near Cooktown. The sub spotted DD Nizam, which just took over escort duty for Worden. 6 torpedoes missed Nizam. Worden's FLOT damage went down 1 to 87 and its ENG went up 1 to 21. It is moving one hex a day.

S-28 fired 2 torpedoes at PB Kaiun Maru which was patrolling southeast of Rabaul. Fire and heavy damage are reported but no sinking audio.

In the Slot near Munda, I-19 fired 2 torpedoes at S-18 and missed.

34 Oscars swept Chittagong and found 15 Hurricane IIc's. 2 Hurris were lost and 1 Oscar was downed.

Broome was bombed and invaded by a small force, the Yokosuka 4th SNLF. Plenty to take the base though. I'll continue to invite an advance in Northern Australia, as I have plans to rush past Horn Island and counter-invade the north.

Various enemy bombings in China.

One of the two last two Philippine divisions on Luzon was wrecked but retreated back inland into the jungle. There's only a shell of a unit left, and no supply, but the enemy will have to take even more time to go back in and finish them off.

Big battle finally in the contested hex near Tienshui, one hex from cutting off all of Northern China.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 59538 troops, 508 guns, 233 vehicles, Assault Value = 1832

Defending force 31641 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 962

Japanese adjusted assault: 756

Allied adjusted defense: 1375

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
2488 casualties reported
Squads: 48 destroyed, 197 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 53 (15 destroyed, 38 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1711 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 131 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
8th Division
26th Division
9th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
56th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
18th Group Army
13th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

A relatively fresh Chinese division will start to move into this hex and replace a unit there. I'll overstack briefly. I don't want to show a retreat out of the hex. I want OPilot to do a retreat of his own. All of China depends on this battle. I seriously considered flanking this hex from the south and northeast. The enemy has 2 units east of the contested hex, and his big stack there has only that hex to move to. I could move in about 1000 AV from the south, and they have supply for one attack, but it is a river crossing and into rough terrain. In the north, I have a good road into that hex, where a few more corp could join.

But, for now, I decided not to try it. For one, OPilot would see me on the move, and can react faster than my units can move without a road. And two, even if they all got there, if they didn't win the hex, he would just retreat some units from the western hex and overwhelm the Chinese. Not to mention, rough terrain doesn't do much against airpower. And he'd commit everything.

No, I think the best offense is a good defense. Well, a defense in forest terrain but without much supply and almost no air support. As good as it gets.

(in reply to CaptBeefheart)

Post #: 639

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/3/2019 12:41:20 AM

apbarog

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

23 Sep 42

Chittagong is bombarded by 4 cruisers with 6 destroyers. Damage is light. 153 casualties and no base damage. A big Oscar group swept the base, finding about 20 P-40Es and 12 Chinese I-15s. The Warhawk pilots were good but not great. They had had great success in China. The Chinese pilots were decent, but the best I expected was that the Chinese would pull some sweepers low. The plan failed. The Oscars here are great pilots, and it showed. Total losses were 11 Warhawks and 10 I-15s. No Oscars were downed. Win some, lose some.

Sallys and then more Sallys with more Oscars hit the airfield, but damage was light and all repaired by the end of the day.

Badly damaged destroyer Worden moved to just one hex from Cooktown. And RO-68 spotted the barely moving ship, and fired 6 torpedoes. You know the rest of the story.

But no! All torpedoes missed! Escorting destroyer Nizam did some minor damage to the sub. Worden's FLOT damage went up 2 to 89, and ENG damage went up 1 to 22. But Worden should make it to Cooktown tomorrow! I'll need to keep a decent CAP there, since it is obvious where Worden will be for awhile. I'll move it south as soon as possible.

Broome was bombed heavily again today. It was a bit humorous, with the Australian base force being eliminated by bombers. Then the enemy finally attacked with 3 infantry units, and took the unoccupied base. The three units are all SNLF units. I expect one to stay at Broome, and the other two to move inland to occupy the two nearby bases.

Allied bombers hit the port at Cox's Bazar. Some supply hits. The enemy's supply from Akyab flows through here to the front. B-26s hit the 22nd Recon Regiment there, doing almost no damage. The regiment had retreated from the front after being mauled in battle.

The almost daily bombing of Portland Roads ran into a LRCAP of A6M3 Zeros from Horn Island. 3 B-26s and 3 B-17s were lost.

Finally! I had just spoken about my lack of success with subs near Kusaie and Ponape Islands.

Sub attack near Ponape at 117,112

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 1
BB Hyuga
BB Yamashiro
DD Hatakaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Harukaze
DD Asakaze

Allied Ships
SS O19

SS O19 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Fuso

Most torpedo hits on battleships, if real, mean extended stays at far away repair yards.

The Allied attack today near Chittagong didn't go as well as the previous ones.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36318 troops, 574 guns, 569 vehicles, Assault Value = 1049

Defending force 22147 troops, 331 guns, 186 vehicles, Assault Value = 422

Allied adjusted assault: 330

Japanese adjusted defense: 927

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
477 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 21 (2 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
907 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 61 (6 destroyed, 55 disabled)

I'll rest a day, then go again, despite the losses. The restricted Allied infantry units there can contribute one more time, I think, before being replaced. I've started moving a fresh British restricted division south into this hex. We'll get the most out of it, then replace with an unrestricted US infantry division and an unrestricted British division. And don't forget, we have a huge Chinese corp almost completely filled out and waiting in the area too.

And since I found a unit that could upgrade to P-38Fs, and it was in Calcutta, we'll be sweeping Akyab in about a week. We'll get those ace Oscar pilots.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/4/2019 12:39:48 AM

apbarog

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24 Sep 42

5 US APDs got into and out of Kusaie Island and dropped off supply. On the way out, I-10 fired 2 torpedoes at APD Fox and missed. This was just southeast of the island. In that location, light cruiser Tatsuta and 8 destroyers intercepted the 5 APDs. Miraculously, the US ships evaded combat and continued retiring towards Tarawa. Visibility was 30,000 yards. The US ships spotted the enemy at 21,000 yards and then evaded. It turned out that enemy carriers are in that hex also.

Near Ponape, Flying Fish fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Satsuki but missed. Battleship Hyuga is spotted.

Near Babar near Timor, Spearfish fired 2 torpedoes at xAKL Aiyo Maru and both hit. The first was a dud, but the second was not. The cargo ship is presumably sunk.

Allied bombers hit Cox's Bazar's port and cause moderate damage. B-26s hit the 55th infantry regiment there.

Derby in northern Australia is lost to part of the Yokosuka 1st SNLF.

Destroyer Worden (SYS 34/FLOT 87-57/ENG 23-16/FIRE 0) made it to Cooktown. It will do some repairs there at the pier and go south when damage isn't so critical. The ship is certainly seen there, and could be a target of Bettys, but I have 2 fighter squadrons there now. Saving this ship (so far) has been unexpected and gratifying.

Battleship Washington just finished a refit at Pearl Harbor, and unexpectedly immediately entered its next scheduled refit. I'd never encountered that situation before. I'm ok with it, though, as I had decided to do the same. I had been debating whether to hold off my Wake Island invasion 7 more days to wait for Washington, and I was going to anyway.

Remember the 4 British battleships ambushed by enemy carriers near Akyab when they were moving into position for a bombardment? They all were heavily damaged, and spent time at Diamond Harbour repairing, as well as moving to and repairing at Madras and Colombo before heading towards Capetown. Royal Sovereign (SYS 1/FLOT 33/ENG 0/FIRE 0) just arrived at Capetown and has 88 days of shipyard repair. Resolution (SYS 11/FLOT 5/ENG 0/FIRE 0) has 21 more days of repair at the pier, where it just moved from the shipyard. Revenge (SYS 1/FLOT 46/ENG 0/FIRE 0) and Ramilles (SYS 1/FLOT 41/ENG 26/FIRE 0) are still slowly moving off-map to Capetown. But all were saved.

I moved 37 B-17s to Chungking and ordered them to hit the airfield at Nanyang. Nanyang now has a huge airfield, and aircraft there are heavily supporting the enemy around Sian. Maybe I can get a surprise hit in.

I have an LB-30 squadron in Australia. I moved out the bomber pilots and moved in recon pilots. The squadron moved to Cloncurry where it will start daily recon flights over Darwin. I have enough move heavily protected bombers now, so I can spare these planes for recon. They have excellent range. And there are just a couple left in the pool.

ARD Dewey is now moving from Vava'u to Luganville.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/5/2019 12:33:12 AM

apbarog

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25 Sep 42

S-38 was transiting through a shallow hex east of Rabaul when found by enemy patrol boats. The sub was hit by a depth charge and several near misses.

Hyuga, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso again bombard Kusaie Island. 540 casualties and moderate damage to the airfield. There's just 20 supply at the base, and that's due to Catalinas and transports flying in supply, and that 2 SSTs just unloaded. The 2 partial infantry regiments there are now showing a shortage of supply. It's a tough spot, but totally acceptable to me, unless there is a counter-invasion.

Pompano spotted carrier Junyo near Ponape and fired 6 torpedoes. 2 of the torpedoes hit, but both were duds. How disappointing! Lots of Allied subs in this area, including 3 Dutch subs, so as long as the enemy keeps coming to Kusaie, we'll keep rolling the dice trying to get good hits.

Sian got major enemy air activity, and that included lots of planes from Nanyang. So when my thiry-some B-17s arrived, there was no CAP. Surprise was achieved. Unfortunately, the enemy planes seemed to all be flying also, and the weather was heavy rain, so results were very poor. Minor airfield damage and just one Helen destroyed on the ground. The bombers head back to India.

Sallys with Oscars hit Comilla near Chittagong. Irrelevant to me. Just some recon there. No supply issues on the rail line.

2 B-25 squadrons hit the 51st Naval Guard on Makin, and cause very heavy casualties, over 300. I can bomb this unit out of existence with just medium bombers. Since I've lost units in this manner, I will do so.

Thirty-some B-17s also hit Horn Island, finding 27 A6M3 Zeros on CAP. One Zero was shot down and no Fortresses were lost. Base damage was light in thunderstorms, but one squadron lined up ships in the port.

Japanese Ships
APD Nadakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Maikaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

The Allies attack south of Chittagong yet again, this time after adding a fresh British infantry division. Results were fairly even, and that is acceptable. I'll now bombard a day or two and wait as another British division moves in to replace an Indian division headed back to Chittagong.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 35707 troops, 575 guns, 567 vehicles, Assault Value = 877

Defending force 20314 troops, 304 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 357

Allied adjusted assault: 589

Japanese adjusted defense: 815

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1107 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 82 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 29 (2 destroyed, 27 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
920 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 99 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 16 (1 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

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Post #: 642

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/5/2019 9:00:59 PM

apbarog

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26 Sep 42

Interesting. Sub Blackfish just recently took up station west of Wake Island. It fired 4 torpedoes at xAP Kobe Maru but missed. I have designs on Wake fairly soon. I hope this hasn't gotten too much attention. Odds are the Wake has been reinforced. OPilot may be starting to load up defensive positions. He hasn't seen my carriers in quite awhile.

Chittagong is bombarded again by 4 cruisers. 584 casualties and minor base damage. They probably got rearmed at Rangoon, but I'm going to do some recon of the dot base south of Akyab. It's possible support ships are there despite it being just a dot base. I'm considering a long range B-24 strike of Rangoon. I doubt that surprise would be achieved with this type of mission again, but who knows.

Sub Snapper fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Yugao and missed. Yugau is escorting a minelayer between Timor and Darwin.

Off the coast of Burma, British sub Trusty fired 2 torpedoes at patrol boat Ayaha Maru. Both hit, but one was a dud. The one that hit, however, was enough to sink the ship.

A couple of Chinese squadrons had arrived at Chungking. One had P-66s, the other I upgraded to P-66s. The pilots I assigned are adequately trained in air to air but have low experience. Now there are fewer P-66s. 2 Oscar groups swept the capital, and the Chinese were no match. 12 Vanguards were lost and 1 Oscar didn't make it home. The enemy knew that many B-17s came from Chungking yesterday. I did fly out all of the operational Fortresses but there's still some damaged ones there. So another experiment with the Chinese Air Force ends as the previous ones did. I spent a handful of points to buy the units out and am sending them to India to train more.

Dutch B-25s have been bombing units just behind the lines near Cox's Bazar. Oscars were on LRCAP there for the first time today. 4 Mitchells were lost.

Similar activity over Makin. 3 Zeros were on LRCAP and got a Mitchell bombing troops.

The activity around Kusaie ramped up again today. Enemy carriers are now northwest of the island, and there appears to be more of them. They hit the airfield on Kusaie, doing minor damage. 95 Kates and 88 Vals with 69 Zeros on the raid. The airfield is badly damaged and there's no supply on the island. I continue to fly in bits of supply on Catalinas, and on transports when the airfield is open.

I could almost certainly force a carrier battle here if I wanted to. But I'm sticking to my plans and allowing OPilot to continue his activity around Kusaie. One concern is that Kusaie is pretty close to Wake Island. I'll need to do something to draw the enemy south before I go to Wake.

Interesting artillery attack. Bombardments usually aren't worth mentioning, but the high number of enemy casualties stood out to me with this attack.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 57588 troops, 508 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 1671

Defending force 41134 troops, 246 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1236

Japanese ground losses:
284 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
26th Division
8th Division
9th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
29th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
95th Chinese Corps
13th Group Army
18th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

In a break with my recent pattern, I won't continue with my every-other-day deliberate attacks south of Chittagong. We'll continue with artillery until the fresh British division and US division replaces exhausted units there. A huge Chinese corp remains in reserve. If the enemy continues to bombard Chittagong, I may want to move my recovering units further inland. We'll see. I'd like to keep them there to show a strong defense and discourage a Chittagong landing behind my lines. This is something I've done as the Japanese. In one game, I did it twice.

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Post #: 643

RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/6/2019 7:44:32 PM

apbarog

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27 Sep 42

Sub Halibut fired 4 torpedoes at xAK Horuriku Maru near Wewak. One hit but it was a dud.

Two big Oscar groups swept Chittagong but I had move my fighters out.

Sian still gets heavily bombed almost daily. The supply drain has lessened as I have just three Chinese corps there now. I'm not going to leave Sian completely. OPilot has positioned his strength to surround Sian, not to take it. I can hold it even out of supply against the forces he has adjacent to it on the same side of the river.

Three B-24 squadrons hit Horn Island's airfield and port. 21 A6M3 Zeros intercepted. 4 Liberators were lost but 7 Zeros were lost also, one on the ground. Minimal base damage in severe weather.

There's a big task force at Horn now. Many destroyers, not sure what else. With reduced CAP there, I moved several naval strike bombers to Normanton. The range is 10 so I'm using medium bombers, some trained in low level naval attack.

23 Nells from Timor bombed Derby's Base Force as it fled inland. 131 casualties of the 18 non-combat squads destroyed. The unit was completely eliminated by Nells.

A fresh British division has joined the line south of Chittagong. A depleted British division and a depleted Indian division are moving north to Chittagong to recover, but haven't left the hex yet, so I'm a bit overstacked for a couple of days. But supply is plentiful in India, and at Chittagong, so I'm not concerned. The troops will deliberately attack today. A fresh US infantry is moving into the line also, but it'll be a few days until it arrives. It will be ready for the attack after this one.

We're going to take Cox's Bazar and Akyab. The coastal offensive has already had an effect elsewhere in Burma. The 33rd Infantry Division, that did threaten the Ledo area, appears to be pulling back to the south to get to the rail line. It will probably head towards the coast.

What I'll call KB moved aggressively southeast of Kusaie Island after seeing my APDs once again approaching from the southeast. I moved the APDs to Nauru and they were 8 hexes from KB, so no strike. I had 2 fighter squadrons there. With Kusaie obviously now under an aggressive blockade by KB, I'm giving up on using APDs for now. They'll go to Brisbane for an upgrade. I continue to use 2 SSTs as well as aircraft ferrying in supply. But that is small bits and with every naval bombardment, all is lost. Still, KB is there being an irritant but not really contributing like it could be. This isn't my focus, but it is OPilot's.

Loading for the Wake Island operation from Pearl Harbor will be in about a week. Most of the rest of the US fleet is in the South Pacific, and many ships will upgrade at Sydney in a few days. They'll be out of action for most of October, but then things will get fast and furious. I plan rapid-fire back-to-back invasions of Port Moresby, Horn Island, islands east of Milne Bay, Buin and Shortlands, and a quick push past Horn Island to Gove, Wessel Island, Taberfane and Dobo. The troops will all be ready then. It will just be a matter of using the nice APs over and over. The 2 US carriers and 2 CVEs that will participate in the Wake Invasion will join the others for all of the action around New Guinea.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/7/2019 7:13:48 AM

apbarog

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28 Sep 42

Enemy battleship TF appears at Cooktown. I didn't see them coming. There were ships at Horn Island, and it may have been them. I'd just ordered AM Cessnock to start patrolling for mines up and down the coast south of Cooktown. Cessnock got to Cooktown for the first time and was greeted rudely by Hiei and Kirishima. The enemy then bombarded Cooktown, possibly drawn to the opportunity to finish off destroyer Worden. The bombardment is weak. A P-39 is destroyed on the ground, some others are damaged. Minimal damage to the airfield and no damage to the port. And Worden was not hit. Worden's FLOT went from 79 to 74. It should be leaving Cooktown in about a week.

4 enemy destroyers make a fast transport dropoff at Vangunu, just southeast of Munda. Munda is an enemy dot base with a small enemy unit. Vangunu was an unoccupied Allied dot base. It's close to Guadalcanal. Allied aircraft go after the enemy ships from Tassafronga and Lunga, surprised to see the ships still there during daylight. The weather was overcast.

16 SBDs miss.
12 Swordfish miss.
15 Albacores miss.

Finally

Morning Air attack on TF, near Vangunu at 111,135

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 16

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hakaze, Shell hits 17, Bomb hits 1
DD Yukaze, Shell hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Beaufighter Ic bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

Then 16 SB2U-3s got one 1000 pound bomb hit on Yukaze, setting it on fire.

Against the right targets, these Beaufighters do well at 100 feet. The pilots are well trained in low naval attack and in strafing.

B-17s bombed Horn Island's airfield, destroying an A6M3 Zero on the ground. The attack was in heavy rain and did little base damage.

KB moved to the northeast of Kusaie Island, and again sent a big strike against the island's airfield and port. 95 Kates and 88 Vals with 71 Zeros.

Near Phuket, Dutch sub O20 fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Matsukawa Maru, and got hit. The ship is loaded with fuel and burns, sinking just after the replay. Probably pulling fuel from Rangoon to Singapore.

In the jungle of northern Luzon, 3 enemy armor units finish off the Philippine 21st Infantry Division. This was the last Allied unit in the Philippines.

The Allied attack south of Chittagong went rather poorly this time. An Indian and a British division did not participate and were heading north. A fresh British division did participate for the first time.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25105 troops, 446 guns, 445 vehicles, Assault Value = 1259

Defending force 16826 troops, 266 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 286

Allied adjusted assault: 403

Japanese adjusted defense: 609

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
416 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1263 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 95 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 28 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 63 (3 destroyed, 60 disabled)
Vehicles lost 24 (9 destroyed, 15 disabled)

The next attack will include a fresh US infantry division, on top of what attacked here.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/8/2019 2:22:32 AM

apbarog

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OPilot will be traveling until Sunday. I should get a turn tonight, and I will try to have the patience to do a little bit of it each day. I'll take a detailed look at everything, and I will post a region by region update, which is something I haven't done in awhile.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/8/2019 4:20:02 AM

apbarog

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29 Sep 42

AMc Patna has been patrolling Calcutta and Diamond Harbour looking for mines. Mines were discovered at Diamond Harbour. The 4 enemy cruisers and 6 destroyers reappeared at Chittagong for another bombardment. 364 casualties and no base damage. They bombarded Chittagong 3 days ago. That's not enough time to go back and forth from Rangoon, unless they are using full speed all the time, and I doubt that. This can only mean that the enemy has replenishment ships at Ramree Island. Ramree is just a dot base, but that doesn't prevent replenishment ships from being there. I'll be ordering up a massive heavy bomber strike immediately! I will also move all of the coastal guns I have in India (which aren't many) to Chittagong. Chittagong already has a nice static base force and a small CD unit that I moved there, but it isn't enough.

Allied ships bombard Horn Island, and I have to declare it to be a nuclear bombardment for having no battleships.

Night Naval bombardment of Horn Island at 91,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 22 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
CA Exeter
CA Canberra
CA Australia
CL Enterprise
CL Hobart
CL Perth
CL Achilles
CL Leander
DD Express
DD Encounter
DD Nizam
DD Nestor
DD Stuart

Japanese ground losses:
1036 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 50
Port hits 18
Port supply hits 10

No CAP was observed with later airstrikes, so the bombardment was effective. The task force then ran into tiny AMc Iwate Maru #5 just outside of Horn Island, but both sides evaded combat.

Kusaie Island is getting even more enemy attention now. 2 Bettys units bombed it from Truk, and another from Roi Namur, doing minor damage to the airfield in thunderstorms. KB is now a few hexes due northwest of the island, and something else is further out to the northwest. Could it be an invasion? I haven't loaded up the turn yet, so I don't know what the mouse-over shows.

B-17s hit Horn Island's airfield and port and did light damage to both. One or two A6M3 Zeros were destroyed and many were damaged.

West of Horn Island two or three hexes, an enemy cruiser force was spotted. A squadron of B-26s, one of Hudson IIIs, and one of B-25s all attacked the cruiser force and all bombs missed in light rain.

42 Zeros from Port Moresby swept Cooktown, finding about a dozen P-39s. It looked like about 4 P-39s were lost for the downing of one or two Zeros. A P-40 squadron is there but was on LRCAP of the cruiser force that bombarded Horn Island.

Chungking was bombed by 15 Helens, looking for the B-17s again. One already damaged plane was damaged again. The main units are all back in India.

B-26s bombed the enemy unit that just took Vangunu near Munda. The unit is I/19th Naval Guard Unit. Tiny. It will be bombed and bypassed.

With OPilot now traveling until next weekend, I'll work on this turn very slowly and look at every little detail. I will post a region by region update as the week goes on.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 5:31:58 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Aleutians

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 5:32:45 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Marshall and Gilbert Islands

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 5:33:30 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Solomons

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 1:00:42 PM

Wuffer

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This is an interesting read, apbarog.
It's quite seldom that I'm actually logged in, so it's a great opportunity to thank for this entertaining effort.

The only complain? It's looking so damned easy... :-)

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 7:30:52 PM

apbarog

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Thanks Wuffer.

Guadalcanal was easier than expected. The Japanese did not contest the landings in the air or on the sea. The enemy troops were overwhelmed with 2 US divisions and didn't stand a chance without help. In that respect, the Solomons has been easier than expected. OPilot is paying a lot of attention to Kusaie Island still. KB remains there.

Once I show my updates for Burma and China, you'll see that everything is not so easy.

29 Sep 42 - Northern Australia and Timor

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/9/2019 10:29:37 PM

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29 Sep 42 - Burma

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/10/2019 12:02:17 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Northern China

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/10/2019 12:02:55 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Southern China

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/10/2019 12:42:58 AM

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29 Sep 42 - More Game Info

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/10/2019 12:55:39 AM

apbarog

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29 Sep 42 - Ships Lost

[EDIT: Many lower point ships not listed]

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< Message edited by apbarog -- 1/10/2019 12:58:03 AM >

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/10/2019 1:19:45 AM

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29 Sep 42 - Overall Map

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/11/2019 2:28:18 AM

apbarog

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Upon further review, the call is reversed. Chittagong has been bombarded with heavy cruisers on 3 day intervals. I didn't think they could get to Rangoon and back in that time, but they can. I went ahead with the port bombings of Ramree and Moulmein, as well as Rangoon.

My detailed planning review is complete. To land 2 US divisions at Port Moresby, I'll need to use every good AP in the US Navy, just as I did at Lunga. Half of them, however, are at Pearl Harbor, and will be used in the Wake Invasion. Assuming no losses at Wake, they will then go to Australia. Wake loading will start within a week. Many US ships and carriers will upgrade at Sydney starting October 1, and will take 3 to 4 weeks for everything to finish. That will be enough time for the good APs at Pearl Harbor to get to Australia.

When I go to Port Moresby, the carriers will support. After unloading there, the good APs will go back to Townsville and load for Horn Island and maybe beyond Horn, as only one division will load for Horn. Invasions of the islands east of Milne Bay and also Shortlands and Buin will follow. I'm not sure on the order of those, or what carriers will support.

In my opinion, there's a great advantage to pushing northwest from Horn while still attacking in the Solomons (or near Kusaie, for that matter). KB can only be on one side of New Guinea or the other, and it's a long trip to go around New Guinea to get to the other. I will definitely attack where KB is not. And since if KB is still depleted from the earlier battle, at some point I'll seek a carrier fight. But the strategy is mainly to push the invasions with carrier support.

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RE: Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apba... - 1/15/2019 10:21:49 PM

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30 Sep 42

An enemy cruiser force is spotted near Horn Island. It appears to have passed north of Horn Island and definitely ended up at Port Moresby. I will move my stronger cruiser force from Townsville to Cooktown today.

This is the second major task force to head east past Horn Island. A battleship task force did the same last week, headed to Rabaul. A bit of a reinforcement of the region, I think.

Speaking of battleships, Hyuga, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso make another appearance at Kusaie Island, causing 369 casualties and more base damage. The island is basically out of supply every day now, despite SSTs unloading and Catalinas flying in supply. All ground units are now in the red. 2 Betty groups from Truk and another from Roi Namur bombed the airfield, and this is an everyday occurrence now that the airfield is down. KB is near Ponape.

And yet the US fleet is not coming.

I am starting to extract the Marine raider unit at Kusaie. All of it can be flown out by Catalinas.

Allied bombers hit Ramree Island's port but do minor damage in the rain. No ships in port here, based on recon.

Moulmein's port is bombed by B-24s also, with minor damage done. No ships here.

B-17s hit Rangoon's port and find about 12 Tojos on CAP. 5 bombers are lost and a Tojo is shot down but some hits are achieved with bombing the port at 6000 feet. Flak was heavy.

AG Irako, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAKL Shonan Maru #16, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
xAKL Matsutan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AKE Kashino, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Yes, that's where the cruisers that keep hitting Chittagong are rearming. In fact, they are spotted at Rangoon today.

B-26s hit enemy troops at Portland Roads. I notice that both the 4th/A Division and 4th/B Division are bombed, so at least parts of 2/3 of the division are here.

Allied troops bombard south of Chittagong. A fresh US infantry division will arrive and then we attack again.

Today is October 1, 1942. This is a big day for upgrades. Enterprise, Hornet and Wasp, along with 9 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers will upgrade at Sydney. All will take 21 days. The carrier and light cruiser upgrades are substantial. The carriers lose most of their 1.1 inch AA guns, replacing them with 40mm bofors, and add 14 20mm guns, as well as getting new radars.

Battleship Washington has one more day until finishing an upgrade at Pearl Harbor. Then we start loading there for the Wake Island invasion. I got a interesting bit of SigInt today about Wake Island. It said that the Wake Coastal Gun Battalion in on xAKL(s) and headed to Wake Island. This unit is not static, and is a very nice unit to be able to pick and choose where to put it. I'm almost positive that it appears on Wake Island sometime after the Japanese take the island. This SigInt almost certainly means that the unit is at Wake Island now but is loading up to go elsewhere. This would be good news for the upcoming invasion.

I noticed elsewhere on the forum a discussion about disbanding Indian troops. I've never done this, and hadn't seen the need to really, but I'm considering doing so. I could use more of the Indian 42 squads. I have 47 in the pool but only get 48 new ones per month. I have several unrestricted divisions that are just shells. Some were saved from Malaysia, another is the old 1st Burma Division that became an Indian divison. These need 1942 squads. I'm thinking that I could disband one or two restricted Indian divisions, and provide unrestricted divisions with their squads. One restricted division just got beat up south of Chittagong, and over half of the division's squads are disabled. I don't know for sure if disabled squads go into the pool when the unit is disbanded, but I would hope so.

With OPilot's return, it's good to be back in the war. A week is just too long to be away from it.

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