Speedy vs Swift - Jap perspective. Fight to the death

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Noumea faced it's first aerial attack for 3 days and it was a successful one for my boys. Several obsolete Mohawks were even caught flying CAP!:

Day Air attack on Noumea , at 68,113

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 135
A6M3 Zero x 50
G3M Nell x 23
G4M1 Betty x 54
H8K Emily x 5

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
Spitfire Vb x 3
P-36A Mohawk x 20
P-39D Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 7 destroyed
Spitfire Vb: 3 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 16 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 2 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 2 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 12

Aircraft bombing at 15000 feet

In total I lost 7 planes to 56 Allied today [8D]

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Otherwise justy the usual. KB 1 is reaching the Iwo Jima area en route to Maizuru and KB 2 is nearing fueling at Saipan before moving to Tokyo.

In China Sining was taken which just leaves Sian and Homan on the northern front.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A 2 day update due to the relative quiet period.

All proceeding as planned. KB 1 is nearing Japan. KB 2 is nearing Iwo Jima. Both will rest and allow the carriers to receive their 7-9/42 upgrades.

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Noumea has been bombed from Luganville on both days. Results have been good. I have destroyed 79 enemy aircraft over the 2 days vs 11 losses[8D]

I know the Allies receive a lot of replacement planes but I doubt he can sustain these sort of losses in the long run.

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Burma - quiet. 35th Brigade still marching from Akyab.

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SS I-32 achieved it's mission. It attacked TK A.C. Rubel hitting it with 2 torpedo's. As per norm though she was gang banged by the escort. At least the fuel laden TK should sink with the nearest port being Christmas Island 360 miles away.

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Below is a screenshot of China. Note the current action areas are in the north (with stalemates in the centre and south). IJA units are marching on Sian........

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A fairly quiet day with minor Allied bombing strikes on troops outisde of Kunming in China.

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KB 1 passed the immense port of Osaka today on their way to Maizuru. 100's of men and women lined the quays to cheer the passing ships.......

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Interesting. Werner appears to be moving his PT's upto Luganville for a surface attack. I have 3 x BB divisions sitting there for the future bombardments of Noumea.

As such i've ordered all of the float planes to naval attack at 100 feet. If he stays in the area i'll get them.

LBA at Luganville has been ordered to bomb Noumea's airfields again.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Nice clobbering of noumea Speedster [:D]. I can only hope to do as well in my new japan game. [&o]

Any other plans other than takign noumea ( although that will be a toughie )

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Thanks Rob. Support as always is much appreciated[8D]

Other than Noumea not really. It will require all my assets to do it. He has, according to intel, 17 units at Noumea alone and 200+ aircraft.

Quite a few of my LCU's involved in the Noumea operation are already 100% ready but are still recovering after either the PM or Luganville ops (75% operational). These are all recovering at Truk.

I also want KB to be upgraded and repaired. If possible it would be nice to have Kaga along (down to 47 SYS damage) but my jump-off for this is by mid-November at present.

Within the next month i'll experiment again with sending BB runs against Noumea. It will be interestign to see if my bombing attrition has had any effect on his air assets.

Thanks again.

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Today was more of the same. Noumea bombed from Luganville with 33 more enemy planes torched on the ground.

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In Burma a Division sized recon has arrived at Ledo. We'll bombard tomorrow and see what he has there.

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KB1 will be at Maizuru tomorrow.

KB2 at Tokyo

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A new month brings the same war results!

The Allies are allowing me to mercillesly bomb them at Noumea when I please! Fine by me. Destroyed another 40 aircraft on thre ground today...........

PO2 V. Komachi scored his 10th kill today when he personally swatted the sole plane (a P39) on CAP over Noumea........

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Here's the score situation.

[DuckofTindalos]

Perhaps a promotion is in order?

[Speedysteve]

For me?[;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Great points score there ! .. i guess all the noumea a/c helps a lot too. keep on pounding and he'll never recover. its he's kept replacemenst on the a lot of supply will get used up.

if you get noumea an auto victory will be assured.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A 2 day update due to the 2nd being very quiet.

SS Swordfish was confirmed sunk on the 3rd. Must have been due to eaerlier ASW damage. She was clearly trying to make the Aussie mainland but sank 100's of miles from the coast.

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No major air raids by me but Luganville LBA will hopefully bomb Noumea again tomorrow.

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In conjunction with the move up the rail into India the 33rd (Kohima) and 55th (Ledo) Divisions have moved into the enemy defences to keep him pressured on all fronts. I can't take either of these places as our forces are evenly matched. The aim is to keep him pinned down though.

LBA attacked both divisions on the 3rd. A6M3's are to fly CAP over Kohima on the 4th to hopefully greet him.

The 35th Bde is still marching from Akyab to the rail front. 2 more divisions are en route to Mandalay to be air lifted into Akyab.

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Here's the situation in Burma:

[jimh009]

I've enjoyed reading your AAR.

You've really romped. I almost feel sorry for your opponent - especially since it is his first time in a PBEM.

Noumea is yours if you just keep pounding it with your aircraft and the occasional bombardment later on - his air groups must be really beat up by now and won't recover unless you let them.

Your whole game really illustrates how futile it is for the Allies to try to stand up to a full sledgehammer of the Jap forces in the early, mid-42 period. I generally run like hell when the full jap force approaches - cowardly but it preserves my forces for another day. Once the allies lose half or more of their carriers - and the japanese haven't lost any - it REALLY opens up the whole pacific theatre to basically any operation the japanese want to do with few worries about what the allies can do to them.

I'll be very interested to see how your invasion of India goes. Are you planning on still doing everything overland or are you also contemplating an amhpib invasion once Noumea has been reduced??

Also, I wonder why he didn't switch over his B-17 to low level night bombing when he was bombing Luganville. A couple of night passes of large B-17 sweeps can wreak havoc on any airfield - especially a small one like Luganville. It's a bit late for that now, though, since his forces seem badly mauled - but was a good course he could have followed when your first took Luganville.

Jim

[Speedysteve]

Hi Jim,

Thanks a lot for your thoughts. Nice to hear them and to see you have enjoyed this too[8D]

India - more of a sideshow, at least for the next 3 months for me. I was intrigued to see how it went with an overland march from Akyab more than anything. Werner clearly detcted it and moved sufficient covering forces.

I don't plan on any further movement by land or sea unti Noumea is finished. Having daid that 2 further divisions are en route to Rangoon from China/Korea. They will also be airlifted to Akyab and march overland.........

As for night bombing - no go there. It's one of our house rules. No night bombing unless it's city or naval attack.

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A good day for the Empire.

25 enemy planes were lost in the theatre for the loss of 1 Zero due to an Engine failure.

Several of the enemy planes were lost on the ground at Noumea once more but my CAP over Kohima performed magnificently. 4 crack Zero pilots were on patrol and managed to outperform the Hurricanes flying escort for Wellies. By the end of he day 5 Hurricanes and a Wellington had been shot down for no loss on my side. Well done boys.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

The 5th was relatively the same as normal.

As was the 6th. Bombing of Noumea netted me 18 planes on the ground. In total the Allies lost 23 for 5 for the day.

The Allies bombed IJA troops in Burma and in China.

A few more subs have been repaired at Truk and Kwajalein. They are moving back into the east Pacific.

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Here's a screenshot of China. Note the advance on Sian from the north.............

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Werner is away for a week now so no updates until then.

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Usual type of turn.

I'll have 2 more divisions landed in Rangoon within 2 weeks time.

LBA is ordered to bomb Noumea again tomorrow.

Here's the state of my CV's at anchor for R & R:

[Rob Brennan UK]

Looks like agaki need a bit of yard time there [;)]. she was the one hit by a sub iirc. The rest are useable if a little more vulnerable and spotable with sys over 10.

good luck

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

That's right Rob. Akagi was tagged by the US sub. I plan to let all my CV's rest and upgrade before moving them back down to Truk.

Werner is back from holiday now and we continue.........

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Noumea was profitably raided today. 48 enemy planes were lost to my 6.......

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SS Tautog surprisingly hit DD Hatsushima, part of an ASW group hunting for her, with a torpedo. She is heavily damaged and probably won't make Tulagi (300 miles away).

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Aircraft losses:

[Rob Brennan UK]

Good to see this continuing ..

have fun

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Thanks Rob[8D]

I'm just sorry there isn't a lot going on at the moment. Werner is not counter-attacking anywhere in the slightest. I have to prepare my forces for the HUGE operation against Noumea, allow my troops time to rest and prepare, allow my ships to repair and upgrade = little action apart from me bombing Noumea, me bringing more troops to the frontline rail in Burma, me advancing slowly against Sian in China and LCU bombardments.

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Today for example a further 43 enemy planes were destroyed vs 4 of mine.

CV Shokaku upgraded to 8/42 state today. More 25mm AA. Better than nothing.

[Rob Brennan UK]

He's certainly getting a baptism of fire into the world of PBEM play. poor soul.

Oddly enough my japan game just finished ( amicably ) into early jan 42 vs a 1st timer too. he got slaughtered .. i might be brave and do another japan game soon. BUT the production still worries me long with supply production etc. i've read a ton about it but some is conflicting and i'd love more transparency so we could 'see' what we are and are not making .. and manually moving supply on the mainland would be a boon. shuffling round the home island hq and a div or 2 is a pain.

Cant wait for the noumea operation ! .. wonder if he;ll contest it ? have u got PDU on ?

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Rob [8D] - Yes we have PDU on. I have wondered whether he would contest it. He clearly has several LCU's on New Caledonia. He doesn't have many offensive ships to hit me with (3ish US CV's I believe). I am looking forward to it for sure.

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Today Noumea received another aerial demolition. 40 enemy planes were lost to my 5 for the day:

Day Air attack on Noumea , at 68,113

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 108
A6M3 Zero x 32
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 52
H8K Emily x 5

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 2 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 4 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 6 destroyed
Spitfire Vb: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 31

Aircraft bombing at 14000 feet

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I invaded one of the few minor places left in the SRA today, Pamakasan, with the 1st Parachute Regiment.

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Tomorrow the Akyab A6M3 Daitai will fly CAP over Kohima to try and 'trap' some more Hurri's.