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

[Rob Brennan UK]

I fear you may be right Aztez ,, BUT nothing sighted ,, even by subs .. then again i dont have search a/c out when approaching the enemy [;)].. apert from the float planes obviously ..

Enjoy the popcorn nik ! ..

hope i don't choke on it ..

the night naval engagement ( if it happens ) should be a great watch however it goes ..

[Nikademus]

Make sure you turn em on when your ready to attack. Having your carrier planes on no search or minimal search can cause your planes to not launch at extreme ranges (i.e. Range 4 attack for USN CV's)

[Rob Brennan UK]

the planes from timor gave adquate warnign and i did launch ! .. first though the night battles

Combat opened with Warspite engaging the Kongo with 15 inch shells , 2 hits !

Resolution came under heavy fire from teh get go too and suffered 2 14 inch hits

Warspite later took a 16 incher ..

CL dragon bravely took on the mighty yamato .. oops .. brave though

Strangely lots of torps launched on both sides .. no hits ..
although im sure mutsu was hit with 2 duds in the animations .. bah humbug.



Night Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 28,77

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 8, on fire
BB Haruna, Shell hits 2
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 1
BB Nagato, Shell hits 3
BB Mutsu
BB Yamato, Shell hits 2
BB Fuso, Shell hits 2
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2
BB Ise, Shell hits 1
CA Tone, Shell hits 2
CA Chikuma
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Maya
DD Asakaze
DD Harukaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Hatakaze
DD Hayate
DD Asanagi, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
BB Warspite, Shell hits 3, on fire
BB Resolution, Shell hits 3, on fire
CA Houston
CA Exeter
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 1, on fire
CL Danae, Shell hits 3
CL Dragon, Shell hits 1
CL Durban, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Concord, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Bulmer
DD Edsall
DD John D. Edwards
DD John D. Ford
DD Paul Jones
DD Stewart, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Vampire
DD Banckert
DD Van Nes

[Rob Brennan UK]

Round 2 !

The brits came back for more it seems ..

I definately came off worse in this one

CL durban took 2 16 inch shells from the fuso ! ouch

and the kongo and warspite again traded one big hit each

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koepang at 28,77


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 7, on fire
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
BB Hiei, Shell hits 5
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 4
BB Nagato, Shell hits 1
BB Mutsu
BB Yamato
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2
BB Ise, Shell hits 2
CA Tone
CA Chikuma
CA Takao
CA Atago
CA Maya, Shell hits 1
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Matsukaze
DD Hatakaze
DD Hayate
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
BB Warspite, Shell hits 3, on fire
BB Resolution, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CA Houston, Shell hits 3, on fire
CA Exeter, Shell hits 3
CL Enterprise, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae, Shell hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
CL Dragon, Shell hits 9, on fire, heavy damage
CL Durban, Shell hits 28, and is sunk
CL Concord, Shell hits 15, and is sunk
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Edsall, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD John D. Edwards, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD John D. Ford, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Paul Jones, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Vampire
DD Banckert
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 2, on fire

also the one and only torpedo hit .. doomed the paul jones .. to his name sakes locker room [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

then much to my suprise the japanese ran away !

Force Z never engaged and no bombardment run was made, he must have had a very cautious admiral

DD Asakaze ran over 2 subs waiting to pounce .. missed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 29,75

Japanese Ships
DD Asakaze, on fire

Allied Ships
SS KVII

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 30,75

Japanese Ships
DD Asakaze, on fire

Allied Ships
SS S-38


Daylight broke over the pacific .. and to keep in theatre for now the japanese raided Lautern

Day Air attack on Lautem , at 33,78

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
A6M3 Zero x 53
Ki-49 Helen x 34

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 4 destroyed, 21 damaged

Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 10000 feet

Dedicated AA fire did a great job of disrupting the raid .. good going boys
building this up a bit has paid off nicely ..

also the swordfish flew finally .. although they went for the wrong target.

11 japanese BB's just 180 miles away .. light CAP and they joined in the CV's
to finish the Kongo ..

Day Air attack on TF at 30,75


Allied aircraft
Albacore x 25
F4F-4 Wildcat x 7
SBD Dauntless x 54
Swordfish x 22
T.IVa x 6


Allied aircraft losses
Albacore: 1 damaged
Swordfish: 1 damaged
T.IVa: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage

TIV's put 3 into her ! .. good old dutch .

she sank quickly and many follow up raids missed completely

however the last raid got the escorting DD

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 30,75


Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 9
F4F-4 Wildcat x 4
SBD Dauntless x 36
Swordfish x 22
TBD Devastator x 15


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, on fire, heavy damage
DD Asanagi, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage SANK

A pitiful PM strike on the retreating intact BB's was a disaster

Day Air attack on TF at 32,75

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 3
T.IVa x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
T.IVa: 4 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Asakaze, on fire

useless ..

BUT .. as expected japanese bombers targeted the surd=face groups at koepang ..
and the LR cap form the brits and americans slaughted the Zeros ! .. and i mean slaughtered !

Day Air attack on TF, near Koepang at 28,77

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
G4M1 Betty x 6

Allied aircraft
Sea Hurricane Ib x 29
F4F-3 Wildcat x 26
Brewster 339D x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 29 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Hurricane Ib: 4 damaged
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Maury
CA Devonshire

Is he down to trained monkeys i wonder [;)]

1st main victory over the zero ! hurrah ..

time to pull back from timor .. that went well overall .. quite pleased
he now knows where my CV's are . but im glad i remained here rather than
fall back to sydney when he raided the aussie east coast ..

I just wish he'd had 'do not retire' orders .. than one more surface action and my
carriers woudl have sunk the entire japanese battle line ..

Resolution is badly damaged ! .. probably wont make it home to derby
Warspite while a bit war torn is fine

[Rob Brennan UK]

Elsewhere in the Pacific .. landing forces approaching gili gili are
hit quite hard from PM ..

Day Air attack on TF, near Fergusson Island at 57,94


Allied aircraft
Beaufort V-IX x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 13


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Fubuki
DD Shirakumo
AP Kaijo Maru #2, Bomb hits 1
AP Daihachikyo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported

afternoon was much better

Day Air attack on TF, near Fergusson Island at 57,94


Allied aircraft
Beaufort V-IX x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 8


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Kotobuki Maru #5, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kaijo Maru #2, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AP Otake Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Daijukyo Maru
AP Daihachikyo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
184 casualties reported

shame i was unable to get the aussie 12th here before he arrived ..

B17's moved to cooktown as well .. tomorrow should hurt him some more .

finally a brave dutch sub skipper tried to intercept the BB's..

ASW attack at 32,75

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
DD Hayate
DD Hatakaze
DD Matsukaze

Allied Ships
SS O24, hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 32,75

Japanese Ships
DD Hayate
DD Hatakaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Harukaze

Allied Ships
SS O24, hits 3

no real damage but need some yard time .. shame

well thats all folks .. could have been better/worse ..

[Nikademus]

then much to my suprise the japanese ran away !

at a guess, he might have set the TF to surface combat/retirement in anticipation of your having a surface force there. TF's fight better against warships when set to surface attack vs. bombardment.

[Rob Brennan UK]

that was my guess, but im still suprised that my faster SC group didnt engage while the slower one did .. would have been great if both attacked .. esp if he was low on ammo in the 2nd round ( probably why he withdrew).

But i'll take the Kongo for the Resoulution .. if she sinks 90% sure she will ( cant leave her in koepang)

[rroberson]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Wish it was hot here ,, grey cool and damp .. come on spring .. need sunshine and grass and flowers and trees going green .. maybe a bear or 2 as well [;)]

No turns today [:(]..

97 today in Tempe Arizona!

[rroberson]

haha next time Ill read the whole thread before I talk about the weather...


Nice surface duel there....Id take that exchange in heavies too any day. You have them to offer, anytime you take one of his...it hurts him fo the rest of the war!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Thanks Rob .. by the way .. lovely and sunny here today 27c..

Yup .. considering the vintge of the resolution .. very good , wouldn't like losing a fast BB for a jap one , but even then it would favour me.

next turn quiet

he's unloading as expected in gili gili .. 3 more ap's hit . one badly.. he'll have trouble with my subs getting home from here.

also he hit my transports unloading at PM .. no fair [;)]

anyhoo .. KB (well kaga confirmed ) sighted here of all places .. is he trying to sneak into my SLOC ?

[aztez]

That was one huge naval battle [:D] Any word on the Japanese damage from that encounter?

[Nemo121]

Aye, its nice to see a gutsy move like that come off. Keep on trucking!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Aztez ..

only

BB Kongo, on fire, heavy damage SUNK
DD Asanagi, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage SANK

All my firepower was aimed at the invulnerable BB's very little vs the lighter escorts or even the CA's ..

Nemo

Thanks .. we shall never surrender ! ..

Well time for a break here . 2ndACR will be out of town till sunday. so no further posts till then ..

[Rob Brennan UK]

Good old Scotty squeaked out a last turn before leaving .. [:D]

I've grabbed a number of images , which unfortunately i cant collage together
so i'll be messing up my post/hit ratio [;)]

anyhoo here is the situation as of July 1942.

Round the clock as always [;)]

Here in the north , im making size 4-5 airbases for future use.
Catalinas are pleantyful and even a few b25's flying as a small
deterrant.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Central pacific next ..

2 full strength Divs on Pearl and i'm re-mining the base just in case.
Most outlying islands have regimental infantry/CD and AA .. along with
BF's of about 60-90.

main exception is christmas is. no inf spare for here. building upto a size
5 AF .. so i can operate 4E heavys if needed. 20k supply + on all bases
and PT's and fuel too.

French frigate shaols built up .. no longer used as the threat to midway
recedes.

Jervis island ( a non-base dot island south of christmas has 2 eng units
to make an AF1 for fighter transfers to/from PH to Canton.

dead quiet really.

[Rob Brennan UK]

South Pacific ..

Dratted Photo was the same as central Pac .. oops

Oh well ..

in combat terms suva/tonga/pago have RCT size forces and CD too.

Canton has a full division + tanks + small marine raider bits n bobs
smaller units prepped/prepping for baker .. AV support is a bit short
in pago .. another 30 heading here from mainland USA. (64 mitchells +cats)
only 60 AV here. hardly a major shortfall. AVD's in post for the Cats.
mostly the extra AV will be to base a small fighter unit ( poss a canadian
kitty hawk 16 plane group as escort should CV's come calling)

Pago is also home to heavy surface units 4 BB's CA's and a few DD's
really need more DD escorts . but if i see any japanese surface
activity i can always steal a few from passing convoys to make up
the numbers.

Supply 20+ all across bar Canton which has 120k and fuel is plentyful everywhere.

With an MLE in pago 6 DM's are plying the waters escorted by 3 DMS and will in a few months
have made massive mine belts around all my bases.



SW PAC

Noumea main picture , with ground forces in luganville highlighted on map

another RCT for luganville is loading up at noumea .. prepped 70+ already and
now the 1st USMC is in noumea i feel it safe to move out.

Engineers are in the base N of noumea to prepare forts for forward troops deployments
should he come calling .. overall a lack of good eng units 2 more Seebees loading up
in america and heading to aukland to help.

Fighter power is a bit weak , but bombers are plentyful.

[Rob Brennan UK]

East australia now

The big weak link so to speak ..

I've highlighted all the main A/c in theatra and its really pathetic in fighters.

Made a rather big boo boo too .. upgraded too many a/c to hurricanes and the pools
empty ! .. cant downgrade back to wirrys either .. i thought i'd be able to but no.

Hornet down to 79 sys ( repairing VV slowly ) even with 4 AR in port too.

At this rate she'll be out for ages ..

[Rob Brennan UK]

New guinea

OK .. piccie reveals the PM defences .. ok ..

a second div is at cairns .. and can be moved up fast on AP's
if i decide to move it, and dodging KB all the while.

Thursday is is now well defended with an RCT and 160 AV support
for future ops vs Lae AF. size 3 56% .. when at 4 i intend trying
to make life miserable for the engineers at Lae .. if i can prevent that
from becoming a size 4 .. PM is relatively safe from the air imo.

Also recently discovered that empire search a/c can be converted to dakotas ! [:D]

Thats a bonus as losing 16 in java was a waste .. I need more transport a/c everywhere
but no where is more pressing than australia right now.

[Rob Brennan UK]

N autralia and Timor

Piccie shows a/c strangth in derby. plenty more beauforts/hudsons in wyndham
and even more in darwin .. the fighters are recovering well .. with his
failed BB move and the crushing of a zero datai . i will move back when all fixed up

The Tf's are air combat guardng the 2nd USMC to koepang ..

also there are 30 odd AK's for timor too. lets boost supply to ridiculous levels.
derby has 120 k + supply now .. will last a good long while.

Australian ground defence is full div in derby/darwin with a 2nd brigade in darwin and the
62st PI inf div , which is being evacuated from the PI by large sub groups. If he want take my men
on the ground i'll melt away .. and be used elsewhere ..