Rob vs. 2ndACR .. Divine intervention needed NIK mod 5.2

[Nikademus]

when you fly out a whole unit, the whole unit goes correct?

[Rob Brennan UK]

ORIGINAL: Nikademus

when you fly out a whole unit, the whole unit goes correct?

EH? .. you mean all in one go ? i have lost control of 2 inf /1 fragments that should be the main unit. all because of air transport bug. so im being careful .. moving a tiny fragment to meet up later. its the only way to be sure [:D].

I dont have the lift capacity for one units a day.

[Nikademus]

no, thats not what I mean. I meant, you can move the entire contents of the LCU (eventually) by air alone.

[Rob Brennan UK]

I know i can do that BUT i have been hit by the air transport bug even though im very careful and wait for the parent unit to rename properly before flying in the last bit. even so 2 units reverted to /1 status just as the last fragment arrived. So maybe im getting paranoid and flying bulldozers dosent seem to work either (for BF's ) need a C5 Galaxy for them and i suspect mandalay runway woldn't cope with one of those [;)]

[Nikademus]

It should be more than bulldozers too. (I can fly tanks in) Hopefully we can get this addressed in a future enhancement. (Air transport has always caused a big frown for me [:@] )

[Rob Brennan UK]

sorry for no recent updates. been bust time for scotty.

anyway we had an interesting day.

Midnight may 6th 1942

Sumbarine patrolling 120 miles east of singapore sighted a lone japanese merchant ship.
approaching at full ahead on the surface 4inch shell accompanied a heavy torpedo
hit amidships. 1 more volley was fired byut the detonators failed. the skipper ordered the boat
in close and japanese men were machine gunned on the deck ( this ship was full).
keen to avoid retaliation the sub dove into the night and a stern volley again failed
to detonate. The navy board really should review thier torps.

Sub attack at 25,50

Japanese Ships
AK Muko Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Tarpon

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Soon after a lone tanker in palembang harbour was suddely and accurately shelled
by japanese raiders

Night Time Surface Combat, near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
CA Aoba
CA Kako
CL Natori
DD Minekaze
DD Yakaze
DD Yukaze
DD Tachikaze
DD Nokaze
DD Namikaze
DD Numakaze
DD Wakatake

Allied Ships
TK Talang Akar, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

the oil spillage was terrible.

the raiders then continued to hammer the airfields

Naval bombardment of Palembang, at 20,55


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 1 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Kako
CL Natori
CA Aoba
CA Mikuma

Allied Ships
AK Malda, Shell hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


Allied ground losses:
125 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 10
Port hits 5
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 3

On the other side of the pacific and technically hours earlier a small american
raiding group struck gold .. lone AK

Night Time Surface Combat, near Nukufetau island at 87,103

Japanese Ships
AK Ehime Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Anderson
DD Craven
DD Gridley
DD Lawrence

again and again torps missed and failed. however the shell fire looks to be enough

come dawn the sky over palembang was blocked out by attacking bombers ( now coming
in at heigher altitude)

Day Air attack on Palembang , at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
G4M1 Betty x 27
C5M Babs x 4
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 32
Ki-49 Helen x 48

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed
Wellington III: 1 destroyed
Martin 139: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 6
Runway hits 14

this place is a ruin ! .. evacuation started yesterday and more a/c flew out today

further south a japanese troop convoy was sighted west of kendari.. and the dutch rose to
the occasion from bases in timor.

Day Air attack on TF at 32,70


Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 5
Martin 139 x 8
Hudson I x 5


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Daitei Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Ujigawa Maru
AP Anrugu Maru, Bomb hits 2
AP Shinkoku Maru
AP Yamafuku Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage


a follow up raid was met by zeros but 3 made it though

Day Air attack on TF at 32,70

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16

Allied aircraft
Martin 139 x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Martin 139: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Ujigawa Maru
AP Shinkoku Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Also the B17E has its baptism of fire today. ordered from darwing to hit the troops
ships at kendari. they flew into the teeth to japanese CAP and failed to attack the
correct target as well.

Day Air attack on TF, near Kendari at 33,71

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged

Japanese Ships
MSW W.7
MSW W.3
MSW W.5
MSW W.8

OUCH .. forgot to change thier orders too [:@] DOH ..

additional swordfish have arrived at lautern and kragen is now operational
to take the pressure off batavia and soerbaja.

todays piccie .. the lone japanese island in the south pacific. site of the succesful DD
raid during the night.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Apologies for no updates recently .. RL has been good ( My brother came over for a few days )
and BAD ( i may get evicted in less than 2 weeks ! eek !).. Landlord hasn't been paying
the mortgage. [:@]

Anyway back to the game

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/10/42

Day dawned with a japanese ( for a change) sub attack

Sub attack at 52,93

Japanese Ships
SS I-29

Allied Ships
AK Barwon, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage SUNK

She was part of a 2 AK CS route from brisbane to PM. MSW will be added for the next run.

Yesterday saw a lot of bombing in the java sea. several japanese troops ships (empty) and
2 escorts were sunk. LR cap from zeros wreaked havoc amongst the escorting demons and buffalos.
The bombers made it though though. He's also tripped the swordfish in kragen so that is
no longer a surpise. He swept it today but my hurricanes are pure escort fighters here.

In Burma he's boming the troops covering the flank of mandalay. 200 fighters are now based
at mandalay and will fly heavy cap for a few days . lets see what happens. ( hurricanes and P40E's)

Today in the java sea an asw group was targetted by bonmbers from batavia

Day Air attack on TF at 24,57

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
CW-21B Demon x 9
Blenheim IV x 3
Wellington III x 6
Martin 139 x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
CW-21B Demon: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Wellington III: 2 damaged
Martin 139: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
MSW W.11
PC Ch 12


ouch ! .. my demons are piloted by exp 20-30 now .. and are only used to mak the bombers
launch [:D]. crummy result though.

Clarke field is still holding

Ground combat at Clark Field

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 112013 troops, 484 guns, 80 vehicles

Defending force 46704 troops, 28 guns, 81 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1227 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
1361 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1

I shock attacked out 2 days ago to ruin my strength and alomst pushed him out of
the base ! hehehe .. the upshot is a really battered allied army , hence the 12-1 odds.
but because of the daft non base surrender routine they fight to the end. dumb i know.

In china i have the sb2's and the il4's on anti shipping duty out of wuuchow. they have good exp now
and when i get more AV support here the AVG will join them as escorts. Seems a more useful role than pointless ground attack. hes stalled all over ch1na right now. but he could shift rapidly and i suspect he will at some time.

todays piccie is the newly invaded west burma. it cost him about 6 ships to do this ,, fair enough
for an empty base. not that the one above is well defended[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Woah! Evicted Rob. That's not good. What are you thinking? I assume you're looking around?

Just to say on the war front. Things are looking good for you. You are clearly far more competent than Nik is......[:'(]

Keep it up.

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks Steven.

More competant than nik ?, i doubt it [;)]

and yes possibly evicted monday week .. i'm unable to find anywhere soon so have no clue what to do ? rents paid till the end of may and i need my deposit back to put down on a new place ( chronic cash flow ).. If you have any spare Vals , theres an address in Hampstead I'd like you to target [:D].

Cheers !

[Rob Brennan UK]

11th May 1942 !

Invasion Java ! .. from the air too. rats that was the only thibng i wasnt able to defend against as the dutch brigades can't split and i sent the out lying troops to timor. well done Scotty.

I am frantically rushing to the base . 3 brigades on the way. lets see how much capacity he's got. I suspect its huge .. japan has a LOT of air transports.

Nice move

[Rob Brennan UK]

Quick update ..

He's got 15000 men in there already ! .. 3 dutch brigades cant shift that.

I have been CAPPING it but scoring few hits but many intercepts. no idea if that slowing him much. AF attacks trying to crater the runway and eat up any supply he's lifted in. I'm tempted to attack even with less men BUT if i bounce, java will fall a lot sooner.


oddly enough i'd sortied the brit and american CV's to the west of java ( still coming). but 2 large surface action groups are now in the area . i feel a heavy bombardment might be beneficial. [:D]

[Nikademus]

don't bother Capping.....the ability to intercept transports was nerfed a long time ago by player request. I both tried to CAP a supply transport drive and failed (got a couple Dakotas here and there) and then successfully moved an entire Mixed brigade through an enemy LRCAP. Despite the interception messages....i don't think i lost any troops.

[Rob Brennan UK]

thats a real pain ! .. so killing 6 transports is a good result then ? never knew it was nerfed ? why ? . seems obvious that lumbering transports should be easy to kill. old UV leftover ?

my fatigue was abysmal anyway. so i stood down the soerbaja a/c and moved some hurricanes to tjiljap to cover the surface forces.

[Nikademus]

back in UV days, LRCAP was deadly against the unprotected and unarmored transport planes and they went down in droves. Players whined and complained about it until the devs rewrote the routine. Now its to the other extreme. Personally i liked that you could stop air transport cold using your own airpower because the whole thing is far too easy and quick to move troops with to begin with.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks for explaining that. i had UV but never played PBEM with it. Seems like a lot of tweaks and complaint these days are a result of priop whining .. "be careful what you wish for" is alive and well in this community at least [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

big day

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/16/42
my 1st heavy hitting BB gouop hit the air landing forces

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Madioen, at 21,64

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 5 destroyed
A6M2 Zero: 8 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Boise
CLAA Capetown
CLAA Ceres
CLAA Columbo
CL De Ruyter
CL Enterprise
CA Houston
CL Java
DD John D. Ford
DD Parrott
DD Paul Jones
DD Pillsbury
BB Revenge
DD Stewart
CL Tromp

Japanese ground losses:
691 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 14
Runway hits 134
Port supply hits 1

very very nice .. [:D]

2nd group not so good .

Naval bombardment of Madioen, at 21,64

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Electra
DD Jupiter
DD Isis
DD Encounter
DD Van Ghent
DD Piet Hein
DD Van Nes
DD Banckert
DD Whipple
DD Pope
DD Peary
DD John D. Edwards
DD Edsall
DD Bulmer
DD Barker
CL Glasgow
CL Mauritius
CL Durban
CL Dragon
CL Danae
CL Sumatra
CA Exeter
CA Cornwall
BC Repulse
BB Prince of Wales

Japanese ground losses:
220 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 16
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 15

but none too shabby either [;)]

now i have to avoid the the inevitable betty counter attack .. eek

also i think ive spotted cv's to the very nw tip of borneo . allied CV's still undecected afaik.

[ctangus]

Hi Rob,

I have absolutely nothing worthwhile to suggest, but wanted to let you know that i'm still follwoing with interest.

Give him 'ell in Java! While it looks dicey, I'm sure you'll put up a good fight at least.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks for the words of encouragement[:D]

Its time for me do do a proper update next turn. pictures/dispositions etc.

Java was a veritable armadillo. hard on the outside and sofy and squishy on the inside. he's neatly avoided a very costly landing very good move on his part. however the BB groups definately came as a nasty suprise. [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

another day .. another bombardment and then :---- see below ..

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/17/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Madioen, at 21,64

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Electra
DD Jupiter
DD Isis
DD Encounter
DD Van Ghent
DD Piet Hein
DD Van Nes
DD Banckert
DD Whipple
DD Pope
DD Peary
DD John D. Edwards
DD Edsall
DD Bulmer
DD Barker
CL Glasgow
CL Mauritius
CL Durban
CL Dragon
CL Danae
CL Sumatra
CA Exeter
CA Cornwall
BC Repulse
BB Prince of Wales

Japanese ground losses:
127 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 50
Port hits 11
Port supply hits 19

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Madioen, at 21,64

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Boise
CLAA Capetown
CLAA Ceres
CLAA Columbo
CL De Ruyter
CL Enterprise
CA Houston
CL Java
DD John D. Ford
DD Parrott
DD Paul Jones
DD Pillsbury
BB Revenge
DD Stewart
CL Tromp

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Runway hits 19
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 2

that runway must be a smoking ruin after 2 days of that .. in hindsight i should have split the
groups into smaller elements to maximise the damage. and reduce the risk.

S-38 had a nice night too.

Sub attack at 27,54

Japanese Ships
AK Taisei Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-38

sunk immediately


What appears to be a sumatran invasion force was attacked several times from batavia

EG

Day Air attack on TF at 23,53


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3
Wellington III x 9
Martin 139 x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Hino Maru #3
AP Jusan Maru
AP Kaihei Maru

Not one hit ! .. 2 more attacks failed too. these are experinced guys too.


THEN ....

I had ordered force z back to australia , but i'd left the revenge group to rearm at tjiljap
for a 2nd BB run .. Japanese carriers spoilt the party though

Day Air attack on TF, near Tjilitjap at 19,62

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
D3A Val x 44
B5N Kate x 60

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 3
Hurricane IIb x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 3 destroyed, 17 damaged
B5N Kate: 4 destroyed, 46 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 2 destroyed
Hurricane IIb: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Revenge, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CL Tromp
CLAA Capetown, Bomb hits 1
CA Houston
CLAA Ceres, Bomb hits 1
CL Boise
CL De Ruyter

LBA Betties joined in too .. and added to the carnage

Day Air attack on TF, near Tjilitjap at 19,62

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 11

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 9 damaged


Allied Ships
CLAA Capetown, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Revenge, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA Houston

Thabnkfully nothing was sunk immediately , but the Revenge is looking v v battered
I suspect a portb attack tomorow to finish her off.

see piccie :-

All remaining ships to head west .. but they replenished so will be v v slow .. rats

Now the US CV's are 2 days away from the combat zone and the british 3 days ..
with CV support like that it'll be a nightmare.. BUT he's in range of TB's from both
soerbaja and batavia .. fingers crossed. He might loop round java of course . THEN i have a
tough decision to make .. single CV's (+escort) might really hurt him as he's still bunched
together ( shokaku identified . so its KB all right). Also he'll be a long way from home (but
so will I) .. AO's are 3 days away from a CV rendesvous so fuel wont be an issue.

With KB in the DEI ( or at least a good part of it) .. i may decide to re-take that
little island in the south pacific. looks like 12k men though .. more recon needed.

interesting times ahead i think

[aztez]

You are doing an good job [:)]

I have been busy and it will continue still few weeks but I have been reading this AAR everytime I have had chance.

It is shame that BB Revenge got blastered but she was an old and obsolete BB anyway [:D]

" i may decide to re-take that
little island in the south pacific. looks like 12k men though " ... [:D][:D][:D][:D]