ORIGINAL: Ian R
"we have a house rule of only 500 planes in sea hex"
At the battle of the Philippine Sea, with 8 CVs and 7 CVLs present, the USN had approximately 945 aircraft 'in sea hex'. It was the concentration of force which historically enabled Spruance to beat the LBA threat and then the enemy carriers in turn.
Your house rule puts a real crimp on what Mr Churchill called "the proper application of brute force", something central to my "jugular strategy" - which simply skips a couple of steps rather than being completely novel.
It was also very sporting of you not to apply the rule to the Japanese player.
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zeke x 151
D4Y Judy x 205
B6N Jill x 9
B7A Grace x 208
= 573 aircraft, and its reasonable to infer less than a 100% sortie rate and zeros at home on cap.
Well he had planes at Palau and Yap, then his carriers came a long. I keep my planes in three forces in three hexes. The cv's in one hex, the cve's with the invasion and the other cve's in the hex next to the invasion. So that was a mistake on my part as the was little support between the tf's. If he had more than 500 in a sea hex then he did and I did not say thing about it. I don't complain so if he did he did it's just a game. But the fact that he had land support was the key in losing the cve's as the fm-2's are real poor and the pilots are real low rated. That attack above is after my cv's left for home becasue of low fighter numbers and Utilhi had not really became a working runway.
The last turn saw one of my subs hit a cvand I got a few hits on some BB's. Some time today I will put out a little information on the Battle of Utilhi as this has been an one going conflicy for about 2 game weeks. I think it is starting to come down as he has lost a lot of planes and pilots, which I have two, and my airfield is now in use so he has something to think about.
I am going to invade Wolei to give myself releif on one of my flanks towards Utilhi so I can start offensive operation towards the Mariana's. I am also moving from Burma into Tailand, so that should start to get more of his attention as it will hopefully cut off oil from the SRA. I also am moving into southrern PI and that should give him another head ache.
last combat report
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/08/44
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Sub attack at 55,66
Japanese Ships
CV Unryu, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
DD Akishimo
DD Hayashimo
DD Hamanami
DD Okinami
DD Kiyonami
Allied Ships
SS Jack
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Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,35
Allied aircraft
Hellcat II x 8
Spitfire VIII x 12
P-47D Thunderbolt x 34
B-25C Mitchell x 44
B-25J Mitchell x 56
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 80
Aircraft Attacking:
24 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
33 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
11 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
13 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
9 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Rahaeng , at 31,35
Allied aircraft
B-29 Superfortress x 31
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 28
Aircraft Attacking:
18 x B-29 Superfortress bombing at 10000 feet
13 x B-29 Superfortress bombing at 10000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 60,71
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 7
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AP James O'Hara, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 8000 feet
4 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 8000 feet
4 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 8000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 55,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zeke x 228
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
SB2C Helldiver x 35
TBF Avenger x 5
TBM Avenger x 15
Spitfire VIII x 21
Kittyhawk III x 23
P-38J Lightning x 24
P-47D Thunderbolt x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zeke: 59 destroyed, 7 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 2 destroyed
SB2C Helldiver: 35 destroyed
TBF Avenger: 5 destroyed
TBM Avenger: 13 destroyed
Spitfire VIII: 20 destroyed
Kittyhawk III: 23 destroyed
P-38J Lightning: 23 destroyed
P-47D Thunderbolt: 5 destroyed
Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku
CV Hiryu
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x TBM Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 52,65
Allied aircraft
SB2C Helldiver x 17
TBF Avenger x 3
TBM Avenger x 2
Spitfire VIII x 4
Kittyhawk III x 2
P-38J Lightning x 3
Allied aircraft losses
SB2C Helldiver: 3 destroyed, 11 damaged
TBF Avenger: 3 damaged
TBM Avenger: 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 2
BB Hyuga
BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 1
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 1
CA Haguro
Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
2 x TBM Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
2 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
3 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
2 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
3 x SB2C Helldiver bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 50,67
Allied aircraft
TBM Avenger x 3
P-38J Lightning x 2
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x TBM Avenger bombing at 20000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Ulithi at 55,67
Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zeke x 10
N1K1-J George x 28
B7A Grace x 13
G4M2 Betty x 22
Ki-84-Ia Frank x 20
Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 3
Spitfire VIII x 7
Kittyhawk III x 7
P-38J Lightning x 18
P-47D Thunderbolt x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zeke: 6 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 9 destroyed, 3 damaged
B7A Grace: 1 destroyed
G4M2 Betty: 3 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-84-Ia Frank: 10 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
Spitfire VIII: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk III: 5 destroyed
P-38J Lightning: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged
Allied Ships
DE Raymond
DE Stafford
DE Shelton
DD Marshall
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M2 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
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Ground combat at Kweiyang
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 123135 troops, 1388 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value =
2685
Defending force 81325 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2340
Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Chungking
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 124001 troops, 1559 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value =
3747
Defending force 247365 troops, 1071 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value =
5748
Allied ground losses:
89 casualties reported
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Ground combat at 42,32
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 1364 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1775
Defending force 120073 troops, 113 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value =
3567
Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Ulithi
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 10849 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 181
Defending force 56869 troops, 391 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 975
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Ground combat at Ulithi
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 49960 troops, 383 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 975
Defending force 12817 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 181
Japanese ground losses:
1077 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
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Ground combat at Eniwetok
Allied Bombardment attack
Attacking force 3264 troops, 14 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 42
Defending force 179 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6
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Ground combat at Dadjangas
Allied Shock attack
Attacking force 250 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 20
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0
Allied max assault: 18 - adjusted assault: 20
Japanese max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1
Allied assault odds: 20 to 1 (fort level 0)
Allied forces CAPTURE Dadjangas base !!!
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