March of the Penguins: Onime vs. Fabertong

[Onime No Kyo]

3/8/42

Another raid on PM airfield. The planes I'm losing are not as big a problem as the fact that its become very hard to get supplies in there. I should definitely start moving on transferring the BGs bombing Lautem to PM. Partly because I need to shut down Lae, and partly because of the crummy returns. My raid to Lautem today, for example, consisting of over 100 bombers, killed all of 6 penguins. What a waste of munitions. On the other side of that, Faber has also brought in a Home Defense (I guess) Kate unit. So now its both Vals and Kates out of Lae. Today the little waddling bastards sank 3 AKs and an AP that were unloading supplies. I am royally pissed (ok I was already royally pissed because of RL, but this didnt help). I'm going to bomb Lae to 5 feet below sea level just as soon as I can manage. [:@]

In return I scored a few light bomb hits on Fabers transports going hither and yon among the islands north of Gili.

Bankha fell. [:(]

Faber also landed the 35th Bde to take Balikpapan. While my defenses there would have been impressive in January, but are just on the heroic side of sad now. Forts are at 3 and I have only a handful of engineers. This shouldnt last too long.

I'm sorry that I have been posting these terse AARs lately. I dont have a lot of time as of late. On top of that, I have been forgetting a lot of the things that happened because by the time I get to work (where I update this stuff) its long gone out of my brain. I'll try to post a comprehensive update in the next few days. Sorry again guys.

[BrucePowers]

It looks good to me.

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo


I'm sorry that I have been posting these terse AARs lately. I dont have a lot of time as of late. On top of that, I have been forgetting a lot of the things that happened because by the time I get to work (where I update this stuff) its long gone out of my brain. I'll try to post a comprehensive update in the next few days. Sorry again guys.

Any posting is better than none!

[Onime No Kyo]

Still dont have the time for a proper update, but stuff is piling up...

3/9/42

The 24th FG got into another furball with Zeros over Mandalay. 25 Warhawks went up against 31 Raisins. I lost 9 aircraft for 1 Zero....predictably. I then lost 11 Forts, 3 Well 3s and an IF, but the Forts managed to down 3 more Zeros. I said it before, the B-17 is my most effective fighter.

PM Huds tagged an AP off Kiriwina.

Now for the big news. Faber has kicked my butt again. Here's what happened. I had two supply TFs from the West Coast unloading at Brisbane. Once they dropped off their cargo, I sent them back east, routing through Pago. But in my everpresent stupidity, I did not take the precautions of routing them south first, towards NZ. About 200 miles west of Noumea both TFs ran smack dab into the KB, in all its glory. Out of 25 AKs per TF maybe 10 will survive. The rest either sank outright or sank later or will have to be scuttled. Stupid, stupid, stupid me. [:@] The only saving grace is that they were all very empty. That, and the Allies get plenty of AKs.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/10/42

I did like I said I would. I transferred the medium bombers from Darwin to PM, plus another BG of Mitchells which had been flying ASW out of Noumea. Apparently, or at least as he told me in provate correspondence, this caught Faber unawares. The first raid on Lae (which I did not see on the CR because the sync bug is back), destroyed 9 Oscars, 8 Vals, 5 Kates and a Zero for the loss of a Warhawk, 4 Mitchells and a Marauder. I got 89 runway hits, which according to my intel added up to 30% AF damage.

Meanwhile, over PM, I just could not helpmyself and sent the CAP up again. Out of 10 Wildcats and 9 Warhawks I lost all 10 Marines (including one of my 90 XP pilots) and 8 Warhawks. The raid on the AF also cost me 7 Huds, 3 Beaus, 3 Marauders, 3 Mitchells, 8 Aircobras an SBD and 2 Cats.

Faber took Malang, ending active resistance on Java. Almost 29000 Dutch troops surrendered. (I'd write something up, but I just dont have the wherewithal at the moment).

[Onime No Kyo]

3/11/42

A squadron of US Mohawks out of Ledo (34th FS IIRC) got into a fight with some Oscars over Mytkina. At least this encounter showed that I can still hold my own against at least one type of Japanese aircraft. The Mohawks, mostly piloted by green newbies, shot down 2 Oscars losing 3 of their own in an even up fight between 19 aircraft apeice. Unfortunately, I then lost 3 Blen IVs to the same Oscars.

A naval strike out of PM hit a Japanese TF at Gili, heavily damaging, and probably sinking a destroyer and a PG.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/12/42

I think Faber turned off CRs again, to take care of the sync bug but sent me his CR (havent actually seen the turn yet).

It seems that Fabers pilots might be getting timid in burma (and watch me lose 50 planes tomorow for bad karma). There are Oscars over Mandalay, but they did not engage either the 24th FG sweep nor the Blenheim raid afterwards. They did pick a fight with the Fort/Wellington raid, damaging a bunch of planes but not shooting any down.

Faber got a break at Lae yesterday because PM was socked in. Today, a raid of 40 Mitchells and 23 Marauders renewed the offensive. I lost only 1 of the escorting Warhawks of the 49th. Faber lost 4 Raisins, 5 Oscars, 6 Vals, 4 Kates and a Mavis. 37 runway hits. I think this might be working (cross my animated fingers).

Faber struck back at PM, destroying 5 Marauders (which should have been out bombing anyway [:@]), 13 Huds, 4 Beaus, a Cat, 5 Mitchells, a Dutch Falcon (supplies of which are rather short..that is to say nonexistent), a Wildcat, 2 SBDs and a P-40. I have a convoy with 18k supply heading in day to day. Hopefully, with the Lae Kates and Vals otherwise occupied (dodging bombs) I might be able to unload in peace. The supply situation is pretty sucky. I also tagged a few APs at Gili.

Faber finally attacked Balikpapan (the only site of organised resistance left in the DEI, but not for long). Forts down from 3 to 2. We each lost about 100 guys apeice, but he has me at a 3:1 disadvantage in that area.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/13/42

The 17s and Well IIIs fell afowl ([;)]) of some Zero's over Mandalay. I lost a Fort and Faber lost a Zero. I also lost 3 Warhawks from the sweep over Mandalay. The USAAC is facing a serious aircraft shortage.

Fabers raid on PM killed over 20 aircraft on the ground. The worst part is that my strikes on Lae are not flying, making this entire endeavor rather silly.

The USS Greenling hit the AP Ozan Maru with 1 torp. There were troops aboard.

Balikpapan and Cagayan fell on the same day.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/14/42

Its days like this that make me think I'm doing something very wrong in this game. The KB came a-callin' at PM. I had 5 AKs unloading supplies in port. I am now short 5 AKs. [:@]

All other theaters are blessedly quiet.

[VSWG]

ALL Japanese fleet carriers? Did you count squadrons? In that case, this info is worth 5 AKs. Now is the time to do some raids with your own carriers, or to reinforce those places that you didn't dare to while KB was hiding.

[Onime No Kyo]

"Now, refresh my memory, Mr. Penguin. Did I, or did I not, ask you nicely to remove your carriers off my front lawn? Hmm? It would be quite unfortunate if something were to happen to them." -Me

"Just a small misunderstanding.......that's my lawn........my house.......my world........."
-Fabertong

[:D][:D][:D]

3/15/42

Just when I thought the situation could not get any worse...it did. When Faber said in the Thread that he had destroyed over 150 of my planes, he wasnt kidding. The Hyuga and Yamashiro with 4 Mogamis came by for a visit at PM. The airfield is a wreck as is most planes on it. I lost over 60 planes just today. In the last few days 150 planes lost would be a rather conservative estimate.

It has now become blatantly clear to me that this strategy of my has failed. I did initially catch Faber unawares and probably beat his Lae Kates and Vals to a pulp. However, Faber is holding all the cards right now. For the third or fourth time now Faber has brought a BTF right down the coast, bombarded PM and returned unscathed. My PM aircraft do not have the ability to stop him. Basically, heres how it works. I spot him about 2 days out (if I'm lucky), north of Gili, but none of my planes aside from Hudsons have the range to hit him right then. The Hudsons go out, possibly plant a few 250lbs bombs but do not stop him. The next day he is attacked by Beaus (at bomb range) and SBDs, which maybe get one or two more bombs in, no damage. That night he plasters the PM airfield, damages many of my bombers and retreats while my PM ground crews run around like headless chickens. This time was particularly bad because PM was full to overflowing with planes, Marauders, Mitchells, Bostons, even the 5th BG in addition to the Hudsons and Beaus.

While I have 3 BBs at Noumea, I have no way of using them to block this nonsence because Faber usually has the KB covering the seaward flank and would just love to sink the few USN battlewagons it hasnt sunk yet.

Basically, I am powerless while the KB is still out there. My only solution is to engage the KB. At the moment, the Hornet is about 4 days out of Brisbane. The Indomitable is approaching northern OZ but is very low on fuel. 4 other USN CVs are already in Brisbane with plenty of fuel and supplies. I will wait until all 6 cariers assmeble at Brisbane and will then put to sea in the homes of catching the KB unawares. I am hoping that Faber has botten a bit overconfident. If I approach from the SW, I may just get the drop on him. In any case, I'm willing to try it. In fact, I'll do it even with 5 carriers. While I'm not expecting outright victory, I would like to see at least 2 IJN CVs sunk, 2 badly damaged and at least half of his carrier bomber pilots killed. To me, this is worth 4 US CVs. If I get results at least this good, Faber will have to step back. By my estimates, he will not be able to approach within my LBA range with anything less that 3 carriers.

Meanwhile, I am pulling everything out of PM. My bomber units are a complete shambles. While the pilots are mostly still there, the planes are not, and it will take me a little time to reconstitute the groups.

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

ALL Japanese fleet carriers? Did you count squadrons? In that case, this info is worth 5 AKs. Now is the time to do some raids with your own carriers, or to reinforce those places that you didn't dare to while KB was hiding.

I've known where he was the whole time. Thats not the problem.

Actually, I didnt count the squadrons, but my estimates say that 104 Vals and 114 Kates is about right for all 6. But if he didnt bring all 6, its even better. When I go out looking for him in a week or so, if he brought anything less than 6, I'll sink whatever he has, no matter what losses he inflicts on me.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/16/42

The pullout from PM continues. Todays raid cost me about 15 more of the damaged planes.

Everything else is quiet.

Can someone please tell me why Dakota op loss rates are so high? In this PBEM, Dakota op losses are second only to the B-17, and those actually get shot at.

In any event, now seems like a good time for that comprehensive update I'm been promising. Hopefully, this mess will make a lot more sense with pictures and details. So bear with me....

[Onime No Kyo]

OK. Here we go....this is how the situation stands as of 3/17/42

WEST COAST



As you can see, the WC has been completely stripped of anything useful and portable. There are very few air units and virtually no ships left. Even Canada has been stripped. The only Canadian units left are the 4th and 9th RCAF Stranaer units in Vancouver and Prince Rupert.

-Seattle
-74BG/B a WC Bolo group. 20 Bolos and 2 in repair.
-US IX Corps HQ, 41st ID a WC unit, 18th Eng Rgt, 183rd and 188th Artilery regiments, both CentPac, and the 104th USN BF.

-SF
-VP 22 and 24 with 12 Cats apeice. Both CentPac units that are only here because I have no ships to load them in. 54th FG, a WC Aircobra unit with 39 aircraft.
-West Coast, US III Corps and 7th AF HQs are based here.
-Infantry units are the 111th RCT a CentPac unit, 102 RCT-SoPac (Here for lack of lift capacity), 125th RCT-WC, and the 7th ID-WC.
-USN 31st BF (SoPac), 811th EAB (SoPac), 807 EAB (NorPac...will be sent marching to Alaska as soon as I remember to do it), 71st BF and 71st AV Rgt (both CentPac), 1 MAW (WC), 19th and 47th Eng Rgts (both WC), 103rd USN BF (WC)
-30th, 40th and 147th Artilery Regts (all WC)
-193rd Tank Batallion (CentPac)
-65th and 78th AA Regts (both CentPac)

The SoPac units will be sent south as soon as I have the lift capacity. The CentPac units will likely stay where they are. I have no use for them in Hawaii and plan no offensive ops here in the near future.

-LA
-47BG/A
-40th ID (my dear Flaming @ssholes, still at 63/104..retards.)
-102nd BF (CentPac), 250th CD (CentPac) and 205 and 206th AA Regts (both CentPac)

All this stuff will stay here for the forseeable future.

-SD
-47th BG/C
-101st USN BF (CentPac), 216 and 217th AA Regts (both centPac)
-1 PT boat WOOHOO

[Onime No Kyo]

CENTPAC

This area is pretty much a backwater how. The only two honestly garrisoned bases are Midway and PH and these are now only service depots for Japan sub ops.

Midway
-45th FS 24x Mohawk, VP-21 12xCatalina
-3rd and 6th USMC DBats, 161st RCT, 56th and 144th CD, 251st AA Regt, 107th and 115th USN BFs and 113 USAAF BF
-AVD Casco

PH
-Chester, Chicago, San Francisco, Raleigh and 40 DDs
-2 APDs (will have to move these south at some point), 2 APs (4k models), 9AKs, 3 AOs, 2 subs (in repair, about 5 sys dmg, will be heading out soon), 3 ARs, 4 AVs, 3 AVDs, 2 AEs, 3 ADs (have no clue how to use them).
-46th FS (freshly converted to P-35s to free up the Mohawks it was flying), 47th FS (Mohawks), VMF-211 (F4F)
-58th BS (Mitchells)
-VP 13 (Coronados) and VP 44 (Catalinas)

[Onime No Kyo]

One of the most important areas to me personally is the stretch of ocean between the West Coast and SoPac. Here is whats there, from East to West, stopping at Pago....

-TF carrying VPs 11, 42 and 72...all Catalinas

-The Americal Division

-120 RCAF and 9 RCAF (Catalinas), 115 RCAF and 8 RCAF (Wellington IIIs)

-TF of 27 TKs and 2 AOs carrying 66400 fuel

-VMF-111 (F4Fs)

-AK Boreas, returning to WC

-754th Tank and one APD

-AP Wharton, returning to WC

-TF consisting of 28 AKs, 10 APs and 9 TKs on its way to the WC

-8th BS (A-24s)

[Onime No Kyo]

SOPAC

For me, SoPac is Pago, Suva and Noumea...the 3 bases I really pay any attention to...

Pago
-5 RZNAF (16xCatalina), VP 91 (12xCatalina)
-ASW unit of 4 DMSs

Suva
-1 and 4 RNZAF (16x Hudsons each on ASW)

Noumea
-Noumea Naval Squadron
-Mississippi, New Mexico, Colorado, Porland, Northampton, Concord, Phoenix and 4 DDs
-1 AP (No idea what its still doing here, I havent had enough time to go over these things lately), 5 AKs (3 of which are seriously damaged survivors of Faber's KB raid, waiting for the FLT to go down to send them to repair), 2 AVDs and the PG Sacramento.
-3 RNZAF (Hudsons), VPs 9 and 14 (Catalinas)
-2nd USMC DBat, 2nd MarDiv, 2nd USMC Para, 14 NZ Bde, 117 USN BF

Between Pago and Noumea (including slightly south) are the following TFs, east to west, stopping at Noumea....

-TF of 6 TKs and an AO with 117k fuel

-8 DDs heading to Pago to augment its ASW squadron

-89th BS (16 Bostons)

-TF of 12 TKs and 5 AOs with 295.5k fuel

-TF of 16 AKs and 3 APDs with 110k supplies

-TF of 9 AKs with 60.5k supplies

-8 AKs headed for the WC

-2 PCs (Noumea ASW unit)

-AO Pecos and a MSW (I will assemble about 5 AOs to create a replen unit for carrier ops)

....also, between Noumea and OZ are the following TFs....

-Hornet and 4 DDs

-TF of 22 TKs with 396k fuel

-AK with 36 SYS damage headed to Sydney (KB raid survivor)

-15 TKs returning to the WC

-25 AKs returning to the WC

-1 AK (87/60/0 damage, KB survivor headed to Auckland. Hope she survives).

-TF carrying the 16th, 17th and 18th TCS (I need to assemble these guys and ferry them over to Burma quick, before Faber cuts my last PI ferry route. Will probably unload at Brisbane, transfer them to Darwin by rail and assembe them there.) as well as the 22nd BG (64xMarauders)

-810 EAB (going to Cooktown which until now I havent bothered to develop. With this new lesson Faber taught me at PM, I have a Dutch BF headed there from Darwin and this EAB to help build the airfield.)

-30 TKs returning to the WC

-20 TKs returning to the WC

-3 TKs, 2 PGs, 5 APs and 18 AKs going to the WC

-1 AK (62/30/0, KB survivor headed for Sydney)

-4 AK (moderately damaged by the KB...2 at 26 sys, 1 at 1 and 1 at 4 IIRC...going to Sydney)

-15 AKs to WC

-6AKs, 1 AP, 1 TK to the WC...currently cocated south of Melbourne

[Onime No Kyo]

SOUTHERN AUSTRALIA

Sydney
-9 RAAF (12x Walrus), 5 RAAF (16 Huris)
-(Sydney is is my biggest repair base this side of PH so most of the ships here are here to repair) CL Sumatra (2 sys damage, it arrives damaged do...), DD Kortenaer (24 sys), DD Tenedos (2 sys)
-16 AKs (2 damaged), 1 TK (49 sys), 1 SS (2 sys)

Melbourne
-1 SS (32 sys), 1 AK (68 sys)

Canberra
-100 RAAF (Beauforts)

Perth
-3 squadrons of Dutch FK 51s and the 36 Squadron (12 Vildebeests)

[Onime No Kyo]

EASTERN AUSTRALIA

Brisbane
-TF 1
-Saratoga (flag), Lexington, Yorktown, Enterprise, 4 CAs, 2 CLs, 10 DDs
-35th FG (Aircobras, nominally at full strength, but most planes are actually being assembled as a result of reconstitution after the losses taken at PM).
-3 APs, 3 AKs

Rockhampton
-18th FG (Currently at 11xp-40Bs....will probably not see action until I can put them into Lightnings or something [8|]. Like I said, theres a fighter shortage.), 41t BG (Bostons. About 5-6 planes are still damaged at PM. There should be no problem with aircraft, but I'm going to need some time to put this unit back together).

Charter Towers
-The Illustrious 49th (currently at about a dozen Warhawks. Another unit that will probably not see any action until 1943), 7 RAAF (Beaufighters), R2/VI (Dutch Recce unit, this is the part that really hurts. Unit lost all but 2 of its Falcons and I will not see any more good recon planes until the the P-38s. Thankfully all the pilots are fine, including Lt. Voorhees at 92 XP).

Townsville
-2/22 RAAF and 2/24 RAAF (Hudsons, both about halfstrength), 35 RAAF (16x Empire), 75 RAAF (brand new Kittyhawk one unit, never flew one mission but lost half its planes at PM [8|]), VMF-221 (F4Fs), VMSB-232 (while the material part of the TO&E has turned over about twice, most of the oriinal pilots are still there and some of them are getting quite good).

Cairns
-The TF you see on the map is a 12 ship Fast Transport unit I assembled for supplying PM. They can lift almost 3k supply and are all 30 knot ships. Although with all the aircraft gone it doesnt look like I'll need them.
-2/13, 2/23 RAAF, 30 RAAF all Beaufort units in various stages of decomposition.Luckily, there are plenty of Beaus in the pool. 4 RAAF (Hurricanes), 77 RAAF (Kittyhawks, at full strength), VP-12 (Catalinas, very experienced but cant spot a damn thing. [:@])

PM
-Or as I'm starting to think of it "The Disaster Area".
-Most of the aircraft are now gone. Aside from the 12 Catalinas, there are 46 other aircraft, all damaged, and mostly level bombers. These will either be destroyed or I will fly them out, whatever happens first.
-There are 4 AKs in port, of which 3 are damaged and one of these still has ~4k supply aboard.
-Ground units are: PM Bde, 1 and 30 Australian Bdes, 51st BF nd 51st AV Rgt, 808 EAb and the 112 RAN BF.

The TFs you see on the screenie are (south to north)...

-AP Henderson (30 sys)

-S-34 (33 sys)

-2 DMSs (one has 34 sys, other with normal W&T)

-1 AK, 1 AP, DMS (47 sys), MSW

...all of these are running from PM.

The gaggle of subs was my attempt to catch the KB. 2 of these need a little wrench time (10 and 12 sys, nothing serious) and 2 will patrol around Gili.

[Onime No Kyo]

NORTHERN AUSTRALIA



This place is growing into a major staging area, not sure for what yet, however.

Darwin
-The TF in port consists of 16 AK which just finished unloading a lot of supplies and will now set out on a long journey back to the WC
-78th FS (24 Mohawks), 8th FG (Aircobras, at full strength for all the good it does me), 23 and 24 RAAF (Hurricanes), 25 RAAF (Wirraways)
-11th BG (64 Mitchells, about half assembled), 42nd BG (looks to be the hardest hit of the bomber units. Currently at about 6 Marauders. I can get it up to maybe 2/3 with what I have in pool now. Note to self. Losing planes at this rate is not a good thing), 5th BG (will spend some time rebuilding. Luckily I have plenty of Forts in pool now since I discovered the trick to unlocking the LB-30), 90th BS (down to about 3 Mitchells, of shich 2 are still in PM), 2, 6, 13, 14 and 32 RAAF (All Hudson units. The problem is, I'm fresh out of Hudsons).

-Darwin Naval Squadron
-Indianapolis, Louisville, Pensacola, Marblehead, 6 DDs
-6 APs (14k carrying capacity), 7 AKs, 6 AS, 3 AVDs, 1 AD

-1st Australian ID, Darwin Brigade, Prajoda Bat. Sparrow, Gull, Moluken Bat., 21st PA ID (at 8%)
-More BFs than I care to list, most of them in the process of rebuilding.

Wyndham
-F2/V and F4/V (8 339Ds each), F1/III (16x339D), 22 RAAF (Hurricane), 11 RAAF (5x Catalina I), and 4 Martin 139 units with one plane left.
-2nd Australian ID, 6th Australian Cav Bde

Derby
-F3/III (16x Demon), 12 RAAF (Hurricanes)
-13th Australian Bde, 111 RAN BF

Broome
-100 Squadron (16 Vildebeest), F1/V (16x339D), F3/V (8x339D), GVT12 and 14 (8 T.IV each), GVT16 (3x Catalina I), GVT6 (3xDo24)

The CV TF in Broome is the Indomitable with 5 CLAAs and 5 DDs. Headed to Brisbane but rather short on fuel.

The Transport TF SE of Darwin is carrying the 6th DAF BF to Cooktown.

The subs are either here to refuel, or rearm, or are heading to Sydney to repair.