AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 04/29/43
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TF 1131 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)
TF 1131 troops unloading over beach at Babo, 42,77
Allied Ships
MSW Grebe
MSW Turkey
MSW Mildura
MSW Lithgow
MSW Launceton
MSW Katoomba
MSW Horsham
MSW Gladstone
MSW Echuca
AK Silindoeng, Mine hits 1, on fire
Coastal Guns at Babo, 42,77, firing at TF 1131
111 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CL De Ruyter
Allied ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1
the last troops unloaded from the invasion TF...
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Sub attack near Babo at 42,77
Japanese Ships
SS I-23
Allied Ships
AK Texan
AK Honomu
MSW Ipswitch
torps miss... sub operates in the invasion hex how...
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Sorong at 42,74
Japanese Ships
CL Agano
CL Naka, Shell hits 1
DD Naganami
DD Hatsukaze, Shell hits 2
Allied Ships
CL Helena, Shell hits 1
DD Abbot, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Aulick, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Taylor
Allied ships track the enemy on radar and.... GET SURPRISED... [8|] Abbot and Aulick are shot to pieces by 5,5 inch shells, counterfire is light, no real damage on the Japanese ships...
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Sorong at 42,74
Japanese Ships
CL Agano
CL Naka, Shell hits 1
DD Naganami
DD Hatsukaze, Shell hits 3, on fire
Allied Ships
CL Helena, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Abbot, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Aulick, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Taylor
[8|][8|][8|] what can I say... I should just know it better and try to play the game gamewise and not to try to play it and to expect it to play out realistically. I don´t want to say that this result couldn´t have happened in real life, BUT I clearly have to say that the super duper Long Lance torpedo attacks are so overrated, there´s once again something wrong with the results the game. Someone mentioned that historically the hit rate of the LL that were launched was somewhere between 1 and 3% IIRC. In the game the long lance attacks are most times deadly as seen in this example. Again we spotted and tracked the enemy on radar, both TFs maneuvered, then the message: "Japanese units launch long lance attack", so my undamaged CL and DD were hit by an enemy that was even spotted. How often did that happen? In the game, this is totally the NORM when Japanese forces encounter Allied forces. The hit rates of Allied torps are very low, which seems reasonable, the hit rates of Japanese LL shouldn´t be higher IMO.
How realistic is it to see three torps hit an undamaged CL and another one a DD, launched from ships that are already spotted.
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Coastal Guns at Babo, 42,77, firing at TF 1131
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TF 1131 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)
TF 1131 troops unloading over beach at Babo, 42,77
Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
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TF 1131 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)
TF 1131 troops unloading over beach at Babo, 42,77
Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
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Coastal Guns at Babo, 42,77, firing at TF 1139
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TF 1139 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)
TF 1139 troops unloading over beach at Babo, 42,77
65 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied ground losses:
389 casualties reported
unloading the support troops...
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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 23
B-24D Liberator x 187
Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
69 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 70
Aircraft Attacking:
34 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 26000 feet
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Day Air attack on Sorong , at 42,74
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 48
A6M3a Zero x 39
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 14
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 6
Allied aircraft
P-47C Thunderbolt x 44
F4U-1 Corsair x 36
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 10 destroyed, 7 damaged
A6M3a Zero: 18 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 8 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 5 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-47C Thunderbolt: 10 destroyed, 24 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 4 destroyed, 25 damaged
Sweep from Kai Island as I was sure that the enemy TFs would still be at Sorong, so the enemy LRCAP would still be there also. With 80 exp Thunderbolts and 65 exp Corsairs we manage to achieve a 2:1 kill rate against the Zeroes. I only have one FG equipped with P-47, as soon as those pilots are dead, we have to send 50 exp pilots again (that will be dead meat against the Zeroes).
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Day Air attack on Kiska Island , at 92,35
Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 16
P-39D Airacobra x 45
PV-1 Ventura x 23
PB4Y Liberator x 19
Allied aircraft losses
PV-1 Ventura: 1 damaged
PB4Y Liberator: 1 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 19
Port hits 2
Aircraft Attacking:
14 x TBF Avenger bombing at 22400 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Sorong at 42,74
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 39
A6M3a Zero x 32
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 2
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 3
Allied aircraft
Seafire x 14
F4F-4 Wildcat x 21
SBD Dauntless x 47
TBF Avenger x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
A6M3a Zero: 7 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed, 9 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 10 damaged
TBF Avenger: 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Kuroshio Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Mitsu Maru #3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP La Plata Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kuraido Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kiyama Maru
AP Minryo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Konan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Mikage Maru #2, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
morning strike. No clue why it´s not possible to launch a bigger strike from the carriers. I´m at the max of our stacking limit (550 carrier based aircraft) and we launch those laughable strikes. The enemy Cap must have been disrupted by our sweep as our escorts performed far better than usual. Even our bombers achieved some hits today...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Waigeu Island at 41,73
Allied aircraft
Barracuda x 17
Avenger I x 4
Allied aircraft losses
Barracuda: 9 damaged
Avenger I: 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Kisaragi
DD Suzukaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yugure
DD Nagatsuki
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Avenger I bombing at 5000 feet
4 x Barracuda launching torpedoes at 200 feet
don´t know if this is an ASW TF or a DD LONG LANCE ATTACK GROUP to shoot up my invasion at Babo...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Waigeu Island at 41,73
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
DD Kasasagi, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Yugure
DD Yamakaze
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
one 500lb bomb hit...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Waigeu Island at 41,73
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 29
Allied aircraft
PV-1 Ventura x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 6 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
PV-1 Ventura: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Kasasagi, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Suzukaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x PV-1 Ventura bombing at 6000 feet
long range strike of high exp Venturas from Darwin. Excellent job, they finish the two damaged DDs...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Sorong at 42,74
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 3
A6M3a Zero x 20
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 6
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 1
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 5 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
the bombers are low on morale and turn back. Best they can do, this way they are risking nothing and will nevertheless attack uncapped targets...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Sorong at 42,74
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 3
A6M3a Zero x 20
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 2
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 1
Allied aircraft
Seafire x 11
F4F-4 Wildcat x 22
SBD Dauntless x 38
TBF Avenger x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 8 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 5 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed, 14 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
TBF Avenger: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Naganami
CL Agano, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
3 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
afternoon strike! Note, again not a single British torp bomber, again a f*cking number of bombers, we could have launched 200 DBs and 150 TBs against this TF alone... twice a 1000lb bomb hit, the CLs will be operational again in 6 weeks...
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Day Air attack on TF, near Waigeu Island at 41,73
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 29
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 4
PV-1 Ventura x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 damaged
PV-1 Ventura: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Shinonome
DD Ayanami
DD Nagatsuki
DD Akatsuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x PV-1 Ventura bombing at 6000 feet
last strike today. From the aircraft that could launch, we manage to get perhaps 20% into the air... This is a good example, 4 out of 50 Lightnings escort 15 out of 80 Venturas. This is a big TF with half a dozen DDs, so why don´t we launch a strike that could be a threat to the DDs?? [8|]
Oh well, it turns out to become a war of attrition now and this is exactly what Hortlund can´t afford. The enemy lost more aircraft than we did this turn, most important are the 45 Zeroes that were shot down A2A. We have lost 20+ Kingfishers in two turns that are flying nav search... [8|] Overall this was a good turn, the downside is of course the loss of CL Helena to the super Long Lance. Lol, super Zeroes, super Long Lance and the so crippled Japanese side...[:D]
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Ground combat at Babo
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 13476 troops, 107 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 575
Defending force 18290 troops, 159 guns, 70 vehicles, Assault Value = 417
Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Guns lost 1