Pauk's corner: sake break for Japanese fanboys

[pauk]

ORIGINAL: PzB

Me thinks tomorrow will be bloody with all those Allied ac at PM... [&o]

I think Pauk's English has improved quite a bit, AAR style is also excellent! [8D]
It's difficult to manage to update an AAR for 4 years, have anyone done it yet? Don't think so!

thanks for support... i'm the one who certainly wants to update an AAR for a 4 or even 5 years... but cant guarantee i will do it. Why? Well lets put in that way... i will say ho! before i jump... it means that i'm waiting Andy to answer on few questions...

veji, it seems that my bombardments won't get through anyway (according the picture attached)[:D]



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/24/43

I have been chasing enemy convoy for couple of weeks... but this is all i've got... phew!

Sub attack at 3,62

Japanese Ships
SS I-166

Allied Ships
TK Empire Norse

As i expected Andy gave up from the China...no enemy opposition against Kunming and - Yunan!

Day Air attack on Kunming , at 39,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 48
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 20
Ki-49 Helen x 53
Ki-46-III Dinah x 4

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
65 casualties reported

Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 61

at 6000 feet
-----------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Yunan , at 38,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 35
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 33
Ki-21 Sally x 33
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 7
------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 35
Ki-21 Sally x 71

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Boomerang II: 2 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
101 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 78

at 6000 feet

KB was in the range and intercepted enemy transports heading for PM... or, better to say... enemy transports after creating few PT flotillas at open ocean....

Day Air attack on TF at 52,93

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
A6M3 Zero x 2
D3A Val x 21
A6M3a Zero x 121
B5N Kate x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 2 damaged
B5N Kate: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Thomas Nelson, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Laws, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Wood

------------------------------------------------------

Day Air attack on TF at 52,93

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 21
A6M3a Zero x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Admiral Wood, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
AK Thomas Nelson, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Laws, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 2
Ki-46-III Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 15
F4U-1 Corsair x 19
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-38G Lightning x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed

One pathetic attack at Burma road - but 200 chinese calvary men were repulsed by our tanks - common guys you shouldn't learn from the Poland campaign...

Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13401 troops, 151 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2783

Defending force 81630 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2077


Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: pauk

But, i assure you, all JFB will enjoy, even some "honest" AFB [;)]

Honest AFB? Bah - none of those - all of us AFB know that the Corsair is far too weak in the game and that we should be getting 1000 P-40Es every month. [;)]

IMO your opinion to rest at Kunming is correct. I think you could take it now, but if he doesn't have reinforcements close it's certainly safer to wait a few days to get your disruption down.

I'm surprised he stopped CAPing Yunan, too. [&:]

[pauk]

yes, you are on spot, ctangus[:D] - Corsair is good plane but not a winner,[8|] as we can read on the forum. I'm just curious then why Andy choosed to go for PM/PNG then instead of Marshalls where he could advance too... part of me never believed that he would go for PNG after the way of cross (????) he had in the game with PzB?[;)].. but it seems that advantages of that route (many nearby AFs/targets where Corsairs can be used) are bigger than disadvantages....

Yes i do think that no Chinese reinforcements can reach Kunming in next two days. Airfield is closed so no airlifts [:D] and the nearest respectable force is at Yunan (but i'm sure that those 3 enemy corps are preparing for Yunan) and i don't think he would risk with them while my units are just 60 miles south of Yunan...

This is assault value for both sides at Kunming in last few days (note: i'm using AV from units screen but for Chinese troops i can't see its AV, of course. Chinese AV is based on combat report. So actually my AV is bigger if i look at combat report).

DAY TWO:after assault on Kunming: Japanese 2201 - Chinese 2245
DAY THREE:after resting one day: Japanese 2271 - Chinese 2063
DAY FOUR:resting one more day: Japanese 2342- Chinese 2077

Big drop in Chinese AV from day two to day three is result from that i've used AV from CR, but it seems that there is difference in AV shown in CR depending on that are the units attacked or bombarded (day three and day four - only bombardment)...

In short it seems that my units recuperating faster than Chinese (i gained 71 assault points while Chinese got only 14).

Paukashwa-san almost convinced general Pauk that another shock is neccessary and it wasn't easy decision for Pauk to rest his troops. But, at the and, commonsense, this most important virtue of great imperial general [;)] prevail!

Can't say i'm very suprised about stoping CAPing Yunan. Leaking CAP (i guess) probably gives him a lot frustration - and he didn't build a big enough fighter reserve at Mytkyina (i think there was quite a lot Corsairs at Ledo last turn) - after massacre of his British Airforce (Spits) last week he was forced to withdraw them and only Americans left for the protection....it must be frustrating that you can't establish air balance even with SpitfireVb, P-38G and Corsair but you can't expect that using them in relativly small numbers. Plus, he was inactive for one year which was enough to train my air force[:D]

Anyway, we had a lot of fun for almost a year (yes, we started our game in the late fall last year), right? Perhaps it is time to say goodbye.....

[Honda]

See, this is why you had to press on with air strikes on PM. As far as the PTs, can you gather enough light TFs to make runs on PM. Possibly some PGs and MSWs. Gather them and charge!!! At least he'll waste his ammo on them. Anyway, do something. I know it sound stupid fom my possition, but you really have to do something. If you plan on doing a little better don't. If you're going in, do it in style.

[jumper]

"Anyway, we had a lot of fun for almost a year (yes, we started our game in the late fall last year), right? Perhaps it is time to say goodbye..... "

[&:][&:][&:]

Hope you are not planning to quit, are you?

those PTs in PM - well, it seems rather unfair to me. It´s too many of them there. According to the current game engine, they are something like "fire-wall" for free. The worst think is, that even if you sink them all, the fight will eat your action points, so they will succeed in their mission regardless of the combat result.. And strafing can cause an "out of sync" bug..
I´m thinking about house rule, that barges/PTs can be build only in Osaka/SanFran (and all other places, where they were originaly produced) and has to be transfered from there. Or something like that.. In this case he wouldn´t be able to replace them so quickly.
Well I know you are unhappy about the WAY, he is transporting them there on the first place..
Hope you will clear the "PT problem" soon..

greets Jumper

[pauk]

HONDA:

Imperial HQ estimated that our losses would be too big and thus price paid to keep PM closed for few weeks more would be unacceptable. Our opinion is that we can keep PM isolated for certain time with KB - supplies are needed for expanding AF and conducting offensive actions, right? Our grand strategy is still based on flexibility - just as we were flexible in offensive. That means we will fight enemy only on favourable terms and sometimes, if we estimate that we have chance to hurt enemy go for bold, risky but not stupid attacks. Changing types of defence is very important - and only way to caught enemy off guard. I believe that todays report prove it...



JUMPER:

No, i won't quit. I wanted to hear from Andy about PTs first. The whole problem is what i would never do something doesn't means it is gamey for another one. I'm willing to admit that i'm partly responsible for this issue but i never thought i have to ask about PTs because it is common "issue" and Andy is well aware about it. Since he have his fleet intact i wasn't expecting hordes of PTs at one place (he can use "regular" ships for protection). Yes, i see "PT firewall" as biggest problem since they are incredibly cheap and you can throw them in masses.

Actually i do not have problem with transporting them (Andy and I agreed on that at the start of the game - and he did not created them in the ocean hex). What is most frustrating in this situation is loss of the time - and that Japan can't affort (my carriers could be in Japan for upgrade, ie). If i only knew his intentions earlier, i wouldn't be happy but i will continue with play with no hard feelings and planed my actions quite different. At the end, we agreed on certain limits for the PTs and must say that Andy was more than generous about that - he even offered me to withdraw his air and naval force from PM and allow me to continue with suppresion of PM! I couldn't accept that, he gained local air superiority with good play and i would feel very cheap to accept and unfair take advantage of it.

so, this case is closed and i started to think about another possibilities to keep PM closed....







AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/25/43


PNG

Although i didn't planed in this way, i can not be disssatisfied. Original plan was strike Townsville with SC TF and KB ac and sink as many ships we can (a lot of enemy ships were reported in the port). Even a damaging enemy ships would be our victory because it seriously hurt enemy ability to reinforce/supply PM. KB was spoted today and will return closer to PM...





It seems that Andy expected full scale assault both from the sea and air on PM but instead of my fleet only transports at Lae were in range of his bombers...


Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 18
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 54
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 11

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
F4U-1 Corsair x 12
P-38G Lightning x 12
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 8 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 10 destroyed
B-24D Liberator: 3 destroyed
---------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 17
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 51
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 9

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 24
SBD Dauntless x 5
Beaufort V-IX x 6
P-38G Lightning x 28
B-24D Liberator x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 18 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 11 destroyed, 2 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 17 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AK Shinsei Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Chile Maru
AK Unyo Maru #2
------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 13
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 37
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 8

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
P-38G Lightning x 7
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 3 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AK Chile Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 21000 feet - wow, this ac are ship killers, really!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 13
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 36
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 8

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 4
F4U-1 Corsair x 9
Beaufort V-IX x 3
P-38G Lightning x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 8 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 6 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 9 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AK Sakae Maru


Perhaps it's now time to strike on PM with all our assests. 30 Corsairs shouldn't be easy to replace, but there is still too many enemy ac at PM for my taste (app 100). But then again, even if he transfers new units from Cooktown and Townsville they will have 10 points of fatigue. My units are in range from 3-7.....

CHINA

Since he left Yunan (only operational Allied base in China) IJAAF visited this place...

Day Air attack on Yunan , at 38,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 29
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 61
Ki-49 Helen x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 43

at 6000 feet

While i don't like big ops losses i can't allow enemy to place Corsairs in the heart of the China! It's all about my training program!

Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 33
Ki-21 Sally x 100
Ki-48 Lily x 24
Ki-49 Helen x 72
Ki-46-II Dinah x 5

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 4 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Boomerang II: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
349 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 122

at 6000 feet

Quite a lot casaulites - only one artillery unit bombarded the enemy. I think my troops are ready for another shock attack....


Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1518 troops, 58 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2854

Defending force 81625 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2081


Allied ground losses:
218 casualties reported

[pauk]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/26/43


We have good and the bad news today. First, the good news - Chinese defence collapsed!

CHINA

Yunan AF is not closed - i expect Andy will move fighters there tomorrow, but i don't think i have a choice. I need to close this AF now becaue once he transfer Corsairs there i will suffer bigger ac loses than we are expecting tomorrow, IMO.

Day Air attack on Yunan , at 38,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 36
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 46
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 3 damaged


Allied ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 34

at 21000 feet
at 6000 feet





After the fall of Kunming, Chinese situation becomes desperate - enemy units at Kunming will be trapped. I'm very pleased that i capture Kunming because i think i can save my encircled units near Chungking and i can open new traing camp (there are two enemy units in the woods near Kweiyang). I recall that Andy was glad that i'm "wasting" paras attacking the Kunming and Yunan in the past - but don't think he is happy with that now. These para attacks destroyed forts in the Yunan and Kunming and my troops have lvl 4 forts against them - not 8 or 9!


Ground combat at Kunming

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 181880 troops, 1590 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2936

Defending force 81506 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2081

Japanese max assault: 5502 - adjusted assault: 2146

Allied max defense: 2041 - adjusted defense: 488

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kunming base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
5483 casualties reported
Guns lost 105

Allied ground losses:
4436 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Chinese took heavy casaulties - 110 victory points; i've lost troops worth 10 victory points! General Pauk will remembered as one of the greatest generals of all times!


PNG

Now the bad news. Paukashawa-san judged situation well, but his plan failed. Idea was that fighters from Lae deal with enemy CAP and this part of operation goes well. Loses were heavy (61-47 A2A in my favor) but i was ready to sustain that - and the enemy CAP was disrupted.

Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 44
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 48
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 42
Ki-21 Sally x 52

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 14
Beaufighter Mk 21 x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-38G Lightning x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 12 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 22 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 7 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 8 destroyed
Beaufighter Mk 21: 13 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 12 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 18 destroyed
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
352 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 4

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 39

at 6000 feet

For unknown reasons, Navy and Army LBA from Siador decided to rest while their colleagues from Lae bleeded for them!. I had lots of bombers on naval search and enemy DD TF couldn't hide from them! Due to heavy losses in last two days we are forced to strengthen air defence with Tojo sentai (59 exp)...


Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 10
Beaufort V-IX x 7
P-38G Lightning x 15
B-24D Liberator x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Shinju Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Myoho Maru
-----------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2
Beaufort V-IX x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Unyo Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------


Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 4
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2
F4U-1 Corsair x 6
Beaufighter Mk 21 x 2
P-38G Lightning x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Mk 21: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Rathburne


KB will withdraw to more safe position. I don't want to lose crack pilots for nothing again...And i'm wondering where are his carriers: perhaps he planing invasion on Mili (i have app 70 long range planes on naval search in the area) or he moved them to Perth and planing something nasty from there?

INDIAN OCEAN

One of my 10 subs finally attacked and hit enemy tranport in the ocean. My subs following this convoy for 10 days at least and perhaps this is a start of successfull hunt?


Sub attack at 3,73

Japanese Ships
SS I-157

Allied Ships
AK Empire Ibex, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

[PzB74]

Excellent news in China General [8D]
If you can manage to pacify the Chinese, you will have your training camps for the rest of the war.
Told Andy that he was welcome to move Allied ac into his Chinese bases in my game and try to make life difficult for me.
This could of course mean that I would no longer be content with the status quo and cease fire that has existed there
for 2 odd years. Think he may try later on when he got more long range P-38Js to spare.

The situation in PNG and Coral Sea is getting closer to that point were you will no longer be able to sustain enough
pressure on PM to keep it suppressed. This will most likely happen when you withdraw the KB and only have 59 exp Tojos
left....

I recommend that you don't let this happen, and let events evolve according to your time schedule, and not Andy's [;)]
Keep up the good work!

[pauk]

Great news indeed...now i just need Yunan and will feel pretty safe there[8D]. Sounds reasonable what you said to Andy - although it could be painful experience for you[;)]. Truth is, we have to disrupt Andy's time schedule - if we manage do it perhaps could become hasty - and that's good for us[;)]




AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/27/43

CHINA

No enemy found at Yunan again - well i'm not the one who will complain about that.


Day Air attack on Yunan , at 38,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 93
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 62
Ki-21 Sally x 58
Ki-49 Helen x 89
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 77


PNG

Can't say Paukashawa-san judged well last turn - no enemy reinforcements today in PM. But, i must say in his defence that he can not do all job instead our I-men and bombers crew.
Surface TFs couldn't intercept enemy transports because they are heading to PM! Does it mean that Andy is pretty low on supply there? If this is a true we cant allow that - one more offensive action was approved...


Well this is all happening when you do your turn wrongly (i should stay with KB where i was last turn and i wouldn't think about them). Oh well, i guess Paukashawa san was under impression of great uncle's victory in the China.




Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 30
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 34
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 12
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
F4U-1 Corsair x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 3
P-38G Lightning x 9
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 9 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 3 destroyed
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Shinsei Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 21000 feet

Nigh figters saw first action, but can't say i'm impressed with their performance. Our stupid daitai leader decided to attack combat ships at PM under enemy umbrella, and not unprotected tranports heading to PM... phew!

Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 14
P-38G Lightning x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 damaged
P-38G Lightning: 1 damaged

I must say that i'm not satisfy with my LBA. They often won't attack enemy transports from the unknown reasons. This happend this turn too - enemy transports spoted moving to Ndini but nothing.... we will se if we can do something tomorrow...


Crippled enemy transport in Indian ocean is finished.

Sub attack at 3,75

Japanese Ships
SS I-11

Allied Ships
AK Empire Ibex, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

[pauk]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/28/43

Uh, allied AKs are fast, too fast for my taste. One small DD TF missed them (new DDs) but two old DDs found them during the night 60 miles from Port Moresby. They fought well but couldn't stop transports from reaching the port (both of them gained 1 night exp). What was i thinking two turns eariler?




My fighters done good job - 2-1 in my favor but i can not keep pace with the enemy on the long run. One Tojo sentai (75 exp) will reinforce PNG in a week, and that's it!

Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 38
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 42
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 13

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
F4U-1 Corsair x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 9
P-38G Lightning x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 13 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 10 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 8 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 8 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 21 destroyed

Agrhhh.. i shouldn't do stupid thinks like that - assign few fighers for the escort. Not many bombers on attack...


Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 7
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 14
Ki-21 Sally x 17

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1
F4U-1 Corsair x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 1
P-38G Lightning x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Kilty, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (SINKS!)
DD Rathburne
DD Kennison, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage

LBA and subs crew finally return from their hollidays and damaged several transports.





We ordered our fighers at Lae to escort bombers- no sweep mission scheduled for tomorrow. I almost decided to go for all (or nothing) at PM with 3 DD TFs and CA bombardment TF and move KB to 5 hex and get into position with my fast BBs. But, two PT flotillas and 4-6 unscratched DDs can spend lots of ops points and he still have more than 50 bombers at PM....

[pauk]

Andy evacuating Yunan and moving troops to Chungking - but, i've repulsed them and it seems that Yunan will be another big POW camp[8D].

More good news from Paukashawa san too... in night raids 4 enemy AK sunk, 6 PTs, two enemy DDs heavily damaged, one moderate damage - without significant damage to our DD raiders groups!

More details latter...

[pauk]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/29/43


PACIFIC

Minelaying subs returns to Gilberts after several weeks and lay down some mines. Andy is caught off guard again:

TF 1083 encounters mine field at Tarawa (85,91)

Allied Ships
AVD Hulbert, Mine hits 1, on fire
DM Montgomery, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Our bombers didn't attack enemy ships in morning phase (unable to locate enemy ships) but they bombed PM AF in the noon phase. 10 enemy planes destroyed on the ground and lot's of casaulties to the enemy support troops.

PNG


Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 28
G4M1 Betty x 11
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 62
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 8
Ki-21 Sally x 66

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
Kittyhawk I x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 4
P-38G Lightning x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 7 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 7 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 5 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
600 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 4

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 51

at 6000 feet

CHINA

As i mentioned, Andy is evacuating Yunan and another heroic struggle occurs at the Kunming-Yunan crossroad.


Ground combat at 39,32

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 113712 troops, 918 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 2540

Defending force 79760 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1849

Japanese max assault: 3194 - adjusted assault: 482

Allied max defense: 1744 - adjusted defense: 331

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
3124 casualties reported
Guns lost 51

Allied ground losses:
2044 casualties reported
Guns lost 8



AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/30/43


PNG

Three DD divisions were ordered to clear waters near PM. They did it their job in the fascinating way, almost suffering no damage!

Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Takanami
DD Kuroshio
DD Isokaze
DD Inazuma
DD Kisaragi
DD Nagatsuki
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
AK Libra, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Takanami
DD Kuroshio
DD Isokaze
DD Inazuma
DD Kisaragi
DD Nagatsuki
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
AK Alcyone, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Takanami
DD Kuroshio
DD Isokaze
DD Inazuma
DD Kisaragi
DD Nagatsuki
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
DD Crosby, Shell hits 1
DD Crane, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Rathburne

PTs fired their torpedos but all missed....

Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Takanami
DD Kuroshio
DD Isokaze
DD Inazuma
DD Kisaragi, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Nagatsuki
DD Asanagi

Allied Ships
PT PT-187
PT PT-188
PT PT-189, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
PT PT-191, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
PT PT-196, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT PT-219
----------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Asagumo
DD Kasumi, Shell hits 1
DD Yudachi, Shell hits 4
DD Hibiki
DD Yuzuki, Shell hits 1
DD Yunagi, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
PT PT-220
PT PT-221
PT PT-222
PT PT-223, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
PT PT-224
PT PT-229
PT PT-231
-------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure
DD Samidare
DD Yugure
DD Oite
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
AK Electra, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure
DD Samidare
DD Yugure
DD Oite
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
AK Bellatrix, Shell hits 19, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
---------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure
DD Samidare
DD Yugure
DD Oite
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
DD Crosby, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Crane, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Rathburne, Shell hits 2, on fire
---------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 53,91

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure, Shell hits 1
DD Samidare
DD Yugure
DD Oite
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
PT PT-187
PT PT-188, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
PT PT-219, Shell hits 139, and is sunk

AK Admiral Wood finally sinks in the PM port and that makes 5 AKs sunk this turn...

Now i wish that my CA TF bombarded the Port Moresby as it was planned, but i didn't want to risk my irreplaceble cruisers. I had a chance to strike enemy in the day phase too with air force - Andy didn't moved ac yet and all his remaining bombers were on naval search so one of my DD TF wasn't attacked (this TF was only two hexes away from PM).

So, the truth is i had a chance to hit him hard, but at the same time we must be objective and aware that we could lost a DD TF and lots of ac in case that Andy moved Corsairs in PM.
(i've noticed one VMF air group upgraded to Corsairs so he must be busy with upgrading ac to Corsairs).

Ok, perhaps i have enough time to send IJA AF to PM just once more but i'm not going to risk with that. Andy got spanked in the skies above PNG last few times but i'm sure that he is planing revenge. Even if he is short in supply and air support (due to my air strikes in the past) if he move 50 Corsairs there i'm screwed. And, we must not forget our victories were costly and we can not affort to lose another 50 acs (64th ftr Sentai is reduced to 10 pilots!).

What to do now? My DDs need to repelnish and i cant assign more ships to raiders duty - KB is already desperate low on the escorts and Andy still has app 25 PTs disbanded in the port. So it is easy for him to replace sunken PT boats.

Checked experience gained and quite a lot DDs gained 1 night exp point: Takanami 66/72, Isokaze 65/70, Kuroshio 74/74, Nagatsuki 74/78, Kisaragi 70/68, Hibiki 65/75, Shigure 65/73 and Samidari 69/69. True heros were DD Inazuma which gained 4 night exp points 71/73 and Oite with 8 exp points - 70/83!


CHINA

More enemy units arrived at crossroads - IJA AF finally offer air support and one Chinese corps was heavily hit before ground assault by my heroic troops!

Day Air attack on 50th Chinese Corps, at 39,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 30
Ki-21 Sally x 18
Ki-49 Helen x 28

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 50th Chinese Corps, at 39,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 35
Ki-21 Sally x 28
Ki-49 Helen x 32

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
123 casualties reported

I've got 2-1 odds and enemy units retreated to Yunan! This is paid off for all my frustrations earlier in the game when i was unable to broke Chinese defence north of Wuhan several months ago!... hehe, Yunan is trap and we are going to inprison all these chinese and white mercenaries there!





Ground combat at 39,32

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 154213 troops, 1210 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 2372

Defending force 79799 troops, 40 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1793

Japanese max assault: 1625 - adjusted assault: 356

Allied max defense: 1653 - adjusted defense: 145

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
2622 casualties reported
Guns lost 55
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
1236 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

I lost 5 victory points in this engagement while enemy lost 118 VP!

INDIAN OCEAN

Enemy convoy reached Australia's northwest horn. Few more turns and will be safe from my subs. But my subs really decided to work - another enemy AK was hit with torp, while AK Fairland City was reported sunk...


Sub attack at 4,91

Japanese Ships
SS I-166

Allied Ships
AK Empire Hope, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

[pauk]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/31/43


PNG

Sometimes i feels like idiot - Andy withdraw all ac from the PM and i was free to bomb PM port and finish damaged DDs there, and score some hits on PTs and two AKs...well, who could know that? i ordered two less experienced IJA AF bomber groups to attack PM tomorrow - don't want to be faced with 40+ Corsairs (yesterday they were on CAP over Townsville) tomorrow with my fighters on escort duty.

Andy relased hordes of subs in PNG waters... lots of engagements and this turn is more than
clear warning what i can expect from the enemy subs in the future.

First encounter - my DDs withdrawing from PM waters sought Stingray...

ASW attack at 56,96

Japanese Ships
DD Isokaze
DD Kuroshio

Allied Ships
SS Stingray

Damn! The only good thing is Kisaragi is Mutsuki class..

Sub attack at 55,95

Japanese Ships
DD Kisaragi, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Inazuma

Allied Ships
SS Pompano

Now, my heart still goes hard - Kongo was attacked but torpedoes missed....

Sub attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
DD Akebono
DD Sagiri
DD Akatsuki
DD Kiyonami
DD Naganami
BB Kirishima

Allied Ships
SS Albacore
------------------------------------
ASW attack at 56,96

Japanese Ships
DD Isokaze
DD Kuroshio

Allied Ships
SS Stingray
---------------------------------------
Sub attack at 57,96

Japanese Ships
DD Kisaragi, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon

I hate to see this. Enemy subs probably using Star Trek technology and almost always attacking most valuable ship, or most valuable ship in same class. On the other hand Japan subs often attacks MSWs, PGs etc.... Needless to say Hatsuzuki is Akitsuki class.

Sub attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuzuki, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yugiri
DD Shirayuki
DD Shinonome
DD Nenohi
DD Minegumo
CA Takao

Allied Ships
SS Albacore

Good job by my ASW force...

ASW attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #10
PG Myoken Maru
PG Koei Maru
PG Heijo Maru
PG Tamo Maru #6

Allied Ships
SS Albacore, hits 2, on fire
----------------------------------
ASW attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #10
PG Myoken Maru
PG Koei Maru
PG Heijo Maru
PG Tamo Maru #6

Allied Ships
SS Albacore

Will you sink bsard???

ASW attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
DD Akebono
DD Sagiri
DD Akatsuki
DD Kiyonami
DD Naganami
CL Kitakami
CA Tone
CVL Ryujo

Allied Ships
SS Albacore, hits 4, heavy damage

Ok, it could be even worse... now, Paukashawa-san ordered his personal to increase ASW effort. app 15 aux ships (PC/PG) and 10 DDs will form several ASW TFs and try to broke this subs offensive - CVE Kaiyo entered into service and already sailing towards Truk - i'm ready to assign this ship to ASW effort too. We need to discourage Andy ASAP and stop this cowardly ([:D]) tactic...




CHINA

Yunan and Chungking bombed. My forces runing to Yunan and one hex towards Chungking - i wan't to deblocade my trapped units ASAP.


IMPERIAL HQ NEWS SHEET

Our spies in Downing street reported that Churchill demands one BB and two DDs.

[pauk]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/01/43

The reason for another succesfull hit is quite a big exp for some of this aux ships. To be honest, this hit was only minor one but hopefully it will sent this sub to the bottom of the sea.


ASW attack at 56,97

Japanese Ships
PC Showa Maru #3
PC Shonon Maru #10
PG Myoken Maru
PG Koei Maru
PG Heijo Maru
PG Tamo Maru #6

Allied Ships
SS Albacore, hits 1, heavy damage

Nice work by I-158 - another enemy AK goes down. I think enemy convoy suffers 40 % losses.

Sub attack at 6,98

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
AK Empire Seal, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Ooops... fortunatly, Helens crew were recruits. But, 27 A2A losses doesn't look pleasnt, i admit.

Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 7
Ki-49 Helen x 18

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16
F4U-1 Corsair x 46
Kittyhawk I x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 17
P-38G Lightning x 29

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 6 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 18 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 12 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

I may be one of the greatest idiots on the world but i have to try it - ordered sweep on PM tomorrow. Yes, yes i know that almost 50 Corsairs were on CAP today.... my reasoning is following - 12 Corsairs are damaged and shouldn't be repaired by tomorrow so 12 less beasts to fight tomorrow. Recon says that 110 enemy fighters are at PM and if this is true that means almost all enemy fighers were in the air today - so they should be fatigued (app 13-16). My crew is quite rested (app 5) and in 1:1 ratio we could have an edge...

I was suprised how many enemy fighers were damaged from the only 25 bombers (10 of them are veterans with 75 exp)... so...

One green Tojo group is on escort and app 60 bombers will try attack PM tomorrow so we could caught some planes on the ground (if weather allows them)... So, lets see what we can do...

[Honda]

Good reasoning. Fingers crossed.[;)]

[Kapten Q]

Hi Pauksan.

How do you set up your resource convoys? Escorts, routes, defence of these routes?

Andy should start the sub offensive against these convoys soon!

Q

[pauk]

hi, Kapten...

I have no need to escort my convoys at all at the moment. Being sailor on the japanese merchant ship is most pleasing and most safe duty today in the mighty Empire[;)]. Don't think that Andy will start unlimited sub war on my convoys in SRA - it is quite far away from his frontier bases and Andy already have experience with PzB and ASW[:D]. But you are right, I'm sure he will try to do something there and imperial Pauk family already have plans for this threat (never thought that i could learn something from the Speedy's AAR[:'(]). We are organising 3-4 crack Army bomber groups (90+ exp!) for ASW duty. When/if his subs start attacking my ships i will organise big, well protected convoys with less experienced aux ships, and these big convoys will have additional protection - at least 2 high experienced or well equiped ASW TFs (Pc/PG with 55+ exp, DDs and APDs).

I would say we are ready to teach him a lesson if start to copycating (?) Germans [;)].




AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/02/43


PNG

Well, i'm not one of the biggest idiots on the worls but i can't say that i'm a clever guy
neither. Andy had more fighers than i thought there and victory goes to him. I lost 90 planes A2A combat, 20 of them were Army bombers and 20 recruits flying in Tojos so all in all i lost 50 figther veterans. But this is simply too big price for shoting down 64 enemy planes and destroying only 5 ac on the ground. Ok,lesson learned and form now i really need to restrain from the offensive air missions. It could be worse, i could learn this in air battle with 400 planes involved so i would say we took the risk, not the gamble (there is nice signature one of our members which quoted Erwin Rommel's words about difference between the risk and the gamble)....

Allied radar is one of big advantage, that's for sure!

Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 50
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 61
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 7
Ki-21 Sally x 65

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 15
F4U-1 Corsair x 52
Kittyhawk I x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 18
P-38G Lightning x 38

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 19 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 46 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 7 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 12 destroyed, 12 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 11 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 26 destroyed, 1 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 9 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-38G Lightning: 15 destroyed, 8 damaged


Allied ground losses:
308 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 8
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
5 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
8 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
5 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
2 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet

It is time to dig in and try to hold against enemy hordes as long as we can. I think there is no point to keep airforce at Lae anymore - all i've got is two veteran (75+) Tojo sentais and two veteran Jack daitais. I hope that AFB will read this and will realise that even with advanced training system Japan can't hold against mediocre (but in masses) Allied AF - ok, i've delayed Andy a month perhaps, but look at the airgroups which are down to just couple of pilots and needs reforming and training for several months!

70th Ftr Sentai

68th Ftr Sentai

64th (Praetorian) Ftr Sentai - only one pilot survived!

87th Sentai

26th Ftr Sentai (already started training - currently at 58 exp)

F1 Tainan Daitai

So, 230 veteran/crack pilots gone forever....


ASW TF found the enemy but damage is minimal...


ASW attack at 59,95

Japanese Ships
PC Shonon Maru #15
PC Shonon Maru #11
PC Nichi Maru #1
PC Fumi Maru #3
PG Kongosan Maru
PG Hirotama Maru
PG Chiyo Maru
PG Chitose Maru
PC Ch 3
DD Arare

Allied Ships
SS Drum, hits 3


CHINA

Andy sent lots of troops to save trapped units at Yunan. Several units arrived from Yunan to crossroad and we are going to spank them this turn... grrr, i feel really stupid when i think what i've done with units marching to Yunan from south (canceled their movement before few weeks - they marched only 23 of 60 miles to Yunan so far). Enemy strength is unknown and it will be interesting what will happens there.

INDIAN OCEAN

Nice, Empire Hope is caught just at the Perth gate.


Sub attack at 6,98

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
AK Empire Hope, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage





PROPAGANDA WARFARE

Sometimes, you need to disavow unpleasent defeats and claim that everything goest according to plan:[;)] Andy sent me email, "it is bad,bad day for Tojos:)"

and i've replied to him:

"bah, i will tell you a secret... almost half of them were recruits in the 40s - i've tried super-advanced training program to see what would happend - the truth is none of them survived and my experiment failed but it is not big deal for me.... lets see how many corsairs you can throw into air battle for PM - i've already scrapped a full month of production:):)"

[PzB74]

Well played Pauk! [8D]
Interesting game, I could see that 'rebuff' in the air coming...
When you get drawn into such a firefight one usually continues to feed the fire until there is no more firewood left.
Believe me, it's a bit dangerous - been there several times [;)]

Think this is a first for you; now you have to rebuild your fighter wings and prepare for the next round - the enemy onslaught.
This will come as soon as the KB leaves the area. Can you provide a strong naval bomber force and long range expendable fighters?
Should be possible to hurt the enemy and then surge back with the KB.

Good work in China [8D] Should keep the wolves at bay for a while!

I just download The Operational Art of War III and will have a go at the Eastern Front again. Kinda missing it, too bad they
put the new Eastern Front on hold [:(]

[pauk]

Yes, it is dangerous - too dangerous for my taste. From now i would order my brave IJ AF to go over the top only if: a) we can seriously hurt enemy fleet b) enemy approach bases we can not affort to loose (yet). I still have a cuning plans for them[;)]

This is a PDU game and it requires slightly different apporach than "tradicional" game. There is no point to send fighters in hordes over the enemy bases when enemy can mass Corsairs, just to delay him a week or two... I'm aware that Andy didn't even start to use his 4E bombers and i need decent fighter force to protect my bases and inflict him a serious losses. That means we have to evacuate Lae and Siador eventually (leaking CAP) - outside of Corsair range.

Yes, i still have few long range figher groups for escort duty (plus 4-5 airgroups on my CVEs), and yes, that is the plan for the upcoming months.

Oh, Operational War is a great game, but i'm not going to buy it - to much money for "refreshed" game[:(]. It is pity that WIE is on hold, just imagine team game PzB & pauk wersus evil commies![;)] (we would drove the enemy all way to Vladivostok - i'm afraid that this is the only way to help Japanese with their struggle against Allies[:D])





AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/03/43


PNG





It is time to withdraw with KB - i don't have big hope that we can intercept enemy fleet 11 hexes west of Lunga (i guess this is a protected convoy for Ndini or just decoy fleet) but they are on KB route anyway so why not to try it.

Shark is not seriously damaged, but it is nice to see hits on covardly enemy...

We lost air superiority over PNG and from now we are defending our bases. It may look ugly our 18 planes lost in A2A while enemy lost 15, but 16 of them were night fighers. They aren't perfect fighters for daily duty but they claimed 6 kills and only 8 pilots are killed in action. F4 Toko daitai (Jack) lost 2 pilots and awarded with 2 kills while F1 Yamada daitai shot down 9 enemy planes without losing a single pilot (i counted there enemy planes on naval search too).

Day Air attack on TF, near Lae at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 21
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 3
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 29

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 11
Avenger I x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 3
P-38G Lightning x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 2 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 16 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 4 destroyed
Avenger I: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Shogen Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Avenger I launching torpedoes at 200 feet


CHINA

Heavy strike on Yunan and it is closed. Andy gave up totally from that base- Tojos on LR CAP didn't found enemy transports flying supply/troops in the base. Chungking and Chengtu also got their portion...


Andy desperatly trying to save his troops at Yunan. Time for some LRCAP...

Day Air attack on 32nd Division, at 39,32

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 3
B-25J Mitchell x 17
B-17E Fortress x 11
LB-30 Liberator x 14
B-24D Liberator x 3
IL-4c x 3

Japanese ground losses:
137 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

at 7000 feet
-----------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 8th Ind. Brigade, at 39,32


Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 2
B-25J Mitchell x 9
B-17E Fortress x 6
LB-30 Liberator x 6
B-24D Liberator x 3
IL-4c x 3

Japanese ground losses:
157 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

at 7000 feet

Enemy is defeated and forced to retreat to Yunan again.


Ground combat at 39,32

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 151602 troops, 1278 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 3114

Defending force 26975 troops, 48 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 512

Japanese max assault: 3624 - adjusted assault: 1718

Allied max defense: 481 - adjusted defense: 85

Japanese assault odds: 20 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1431 casualties reported
Guns lost 21

Allied ground losses:
2337 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 1


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

[pauk]

Had a conversation with Andy and he told me he was very satisfied with outcome of our airbattle over the PM, "i lost 400 planes but you lost 300 high skilled pilots, and that's the price i'm ready to pay". Also, he stated (and he is right) i don't believe you will be back....

My estimation is that IJ AF lost app 200 veteran/crack pilots (some of our losses were recruits and some of them survives - wounded in action). But there is no reason to cheer about it - 200 pilots is still too much and we have to re-organise our Air force.

15-20 airgroups are veteran/crack ones. About 15 airgroups are reforming or training (30-60 exp range). We also have strategic reserve (app 200 veteran pilots (70-75) in Home islands) and this reserve will be activated only in desperate situtations.

Overall i can be pleased with my Air force, we shot down 1.500 planes more then we lost and more than 1.600 enemy ac are destroyed on the ground. Our ac losses on ground were light.

We also lost 133 ac monthly due to ops and i would say that is a moderate rate.. As for ground losses they exceeding 1.000 VP but we are still maintaining 13:1 ratio in our favor.

Supply situation improving slowly but steady - 3.078.000. Oil is not a problem - about 2.1 million are stockpiled. Resources aren't problem neither, we have about 2 million.

War industry runing smoothly - our engine reserves (Nakajima and Mitsubishi) are near 12.000 engines, so all we have to do is delay enemy and keep him outside the SRA and HI while minimizing our, and maximizing enemy casaulties - simple, eh?[8|]


STRATEGIC SITUATION IN PNG/SOLOMONS

We are entering in second phase of the battle for PNG. We expect that enemy will start air offensive soon - no latter than two weeks. While we are still to strong to be steamrolled, Paukashawa san is aware that days of pride and glory are over. Japan still have two (of three) strongpoints at First defensive line: Gili-Gili and Lunga and will try to hold it as long as it possible. Meanwhile we are preparing 2nd and 3rd defensive line in PNG - Admirality islands, Wewak and Holandia. Emirau Island will be expanded too. Also, Buin, Torokina, Kaveing will recive garnisons and air support in next two weeks, while most of the air support will be evacuated from the Lae.