Waiting for 3rd AE patch - bigbaba vs. Castor Troy

[castor troy]

Screenshot of the situation at the moment. The enemy carriers have been spotted in these hexes for the second day in a row. Don´t know what Miller is up to, perhaps he´s been refulling or trying to get more of his damaged fighters to be repaired. He stays in Betty torp range, but outside of escort range, so I surely won´t send in the bombers...

The question will really be if he will head North (where nearly all my LBA was transferred again) or if he will retire.

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/21/43

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Sub attack near Derby at 24,85

Japanese Ships
AG AG-357, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Truant

also moved some 50 barges with supplies to Derby (which makes up for some 1500 supplies) and only one is lost to a deck gun hit from the Brit sub. The barges have been refulled twice by my ships going there, I´m not using them without having fuel. They came from and will head back to Koepang (8 hexes) and will also be refulled by my ships on their way home. Miller doesn´t realize how important it is to kill of the supply carrying vessels going to Derby... All he would have to do is set everything at Derby to nav attack (1 hex) and Broome (3 hexes). This would then result in attacks on only the ships at Derby, even if I would have left KB in the area, which I haven´t after the losses yesterday...

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Day Air attack on Pamakasan , at 24,66

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 35

No Japanese losses

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-45 KAIa Nick bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 7
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 37

No Japanese losses

Runway hits 42

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo bombing at 2000 feet

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Day Air attack on Derby , at 24,85

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 80
J1N1-R Irving x 5
Ki-49 Helen x 166
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1
F4F-4 Wildcat x 5
Boomerang II x 6
Spitfire Vb x 5
Kittyhawk I x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 9 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
Boomerang II: 4 destroyed
Spitfire Vb: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 7 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 10 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 3 destroyed
Swordfish: 9 destroyed
Beaufort I: 4 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
80 casualties reported

Airbase hits 19
Runway hits 113

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 11000 feet

land based Zeros and some coming from mini KB escort an IJAAF medium bomber strike to Derby. The Zeros do their job and the bombers achieve a nice hit rate. BUT, the airfield is still not knocked out! Unbelievable after more than 200 hits in two days! [X(]

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Day Air attack on Wallis Island , at 93,107


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 48
Kittyhawk I x 29
P-40E Warhawk x 27


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 2 damaged

Runway hits 49

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Kittyhawk I bombing at 2000 feet

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Ground combat at Derby

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 55735 troops, 146 guns, 3077 vehicles, Assault Value = 1796

Defending force 37622 troops, 259 guns, 97 vehicles, Assault Value = 801

Japanese max assault: 3022 - adjusted assault: 2012

Allied max defense: 681 - adjusted defense: 701

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 6)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4


Japanese ground losses:
1470 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 96

Allied ground losses:
901 casualties reported
Guns lost 19
Vehicles lost 7

we´re close to 3:1. Another 2 forts knocked down, the tanks have already received supply for another two attacks, the AKs keep unloading unharmed. [:)] At the moment, I´m 90% sure to finally take the base, this would be a milestone. But Miller can still fly in 5000 troops in one day from Wyndham but has obviously stopped doing that.

Taking Derby and Broome would make life in Northern Australia far more easy to me. With the enemy carriers coming North (at least I guess they will come North) and the enemy at Wyndham being (probably) resupplied, this means we won´t be able to take Wyndham. I don´t see a chance to do so. But if we own Darwin, Derby and Broome, I guess I will be able to do an organized evacuation from Northern Australia without suffering that many losses as soon as I have to do so.

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Ground combat at Chungking

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15820 troops, 181 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1867

Defending force 266318 troops, 1368 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 6271



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Ground combat at Kweiyang

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22640 troops, 264 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 2823

Defending force 180891 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5161



Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported


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Ground combat at 36,88

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 52493 troops, 612 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 2073

Defending force 82881 troops, 968 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2046



Allied ground losses:
122 casualties reported
Guns lost 6


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Ground combat at Wyndham

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8335 troops, 280 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4173

Defending force 134825 troops, 986 guns, 356 vehicles, Assault Value = 2971



Allied ground losses:
175 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


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Ground combat at 36,88

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 14065 troops, 188 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2037

Defending force 95808 troops, 1021 guns, 34 vehicles, Assault Value = 2073


Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


here´s a current intel screenshot...

[castor troy]

ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! Enemy CVs approaching Darwin! [X(]


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/22/43

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Sub attack near Derby at 24,85

Japanese Ships
AK Hokuzyu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Truant

Truant kills one of my AKs at Derby today...

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Night Time Surface Combat at 26,83

Japanese Ships
CL Tenryu
DD Ikazuchi
DD Shirakumo
DD Uranami

Allied Ships
LCT LCT-58, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
LCT LCT-59, Shell hits 11, and is sunk
LCT LCT-60, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
LCT LCT-62, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
LCT LCT-63
LCT LCT-64, Shell hits 7, and is sunk
LCT LCT-66
LCT LCT-67, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
LCT LCT-128
LCT LCT-129
LCT LCT-130
LCT LCT-131
LCT LCT-132
LCT LCT-133
LCT LCT-134
LCT LCT-135
LCT LCT-136
LCT LCT-137
LCT LCT-138, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
LCT LCT-139
LCT LCT-140
LCT LCT-141
LCT LCT-142
LCT LCT-143
LCT LCT-144
LCT LCT-145
LCT LCT-146
LCT LCT-147
LCT LCT-148
LCT LCT-149
LCT LCT-150
LCT LCT-155
LCT LCT-156
LCT LCT-159

a small surface combat TF was sent to intercept an Allied barge convoy going West from Wyndham. Thought it would carry troops that were evacuated from Wyndham but unfortunately I guess it was bringing supplies to Wyndham and is now returning empty... Killing 7 barges isn´t worth the fuel my TF spent...

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Sub attack near Derby at 24,85

Japanese Ships
AK Raizan Maru, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Grunion

another AK is history, still keeps unloading the 500 supplies aboard though. The dozen AKs that were sent to Derby were all on a kamikaze mission, if none will survive then it will only happen as expected. They unloaded far more supplies already than expected anyway...

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Day Air attack on Pamakasan , at 24,66

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 35

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-45 KAIa Nick bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 47
Ki-49 Helen x 3

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 42

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo bombing at 2000 feet

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Day Air attack on Luganville , at 72,107


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 55
Hurricane IIb x 16
P-36A Mohawk x 51
P-40B Tomahawk x 5


Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 damaged
Hurricane IIb: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
23 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 26

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x P-40B Tomahawk bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Wallis Island , at 93,107


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 33
Kittyhawk I x 30
P-40E Warhawk x 30


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 3 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Runway hits 39

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Kittyhawk I bombing at 2000 feet

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Day Air attack on TF at 41,86

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
A6M3a Zero x 42
G4M1 Betty x 24
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 15

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 59 [X(]

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
A6M3a Zero: 4 destroyed, 10 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 23 destroyed, 13 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Revenge, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Royal Sovereign
BB Ramilles

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

the enemy TFs made a full speed run towards Darwin. Just last turn did I ask Paul if he´s too scared to move his CVs North and I´m expecting him to retire anyway. Well, he moved them in today and it seems they got pretty much separated. Nevertheless, we only launch one strike from New Guinea today as all other strike bases were clouded in (as was Noemfor in the morning where this strike came from). And unfortunately our strike goes in against a BB surface combat group. God damn! [:@] I was more than amazed to see only 59 Seafires on Cap and my bombers got through without much problem to put three torps into BB Revenge. We actually hit it four times but one torp was a dud. [:(] We nearly trade one of our escorts for one of the Cap fighters with the kill ratio slightly in our favour, which is excellent. Oh what would I have given for this attack going in against the Brit carriers and hitting one of the armored CVs with 3 torps. Three torps on an Allied BB is far from enough to be 100% sure that it will sink, even though it will have 15 hexes to Derby (a level 5 port). We will see if it will be attacked on the way there or if it will head South to Townsville which would be a bigger distance and we could hit it again out of Lae with long range torp bombers.

More important than the hits on this BB is the fact that the enemy Cap again lost two dozen fighters with another dozen damaged. We will see what will happen the next turns, in any case it will be frightening, either for both of us or one of us will prevail...


The situation is as follows: we have moved in hundreds of Zeros and Oscar IIs to fly escort for our Betties/Nells. They are stationed on several bases on New Guinea and Timor. Darwin received 380 Tojos to fly Cap there 18 float planes will fly nav search, we have 7 BBs and escorts there to cover the base against naval bombardments which Miller surely has planned as he used 25!!! Kingfishers to fly recon over the base. [8|] 23 were shot down!!! [:@] Adm Tanaka is leading the BBs in a TF grouped around BB Yamato and Musashi. High exp admirals are in command of two more BB TFs (one with two Nagato class BBs and one with two Fusos and BB Ise). And we have moved in one of our "secret weapons". A TF of 5 Yugumo class destroyers was split off mini KB and moved at full speed to Darwin. The radar equipped DDs are tasked to spot expected bomber strikes from the enemy carriers early enough to enable our IJAAF fighters to scramble and intercept the enemy in big numbers. KB was in position North of Wyndham today so Miller could mean I would send it towards his carriers tomorrow but that would be suicide, KB will retire full speed to Koepang tomorrow. The plan is still the same as it always was, wearing down the enemy carriers (means their fighters to be more precise) and hit some of them with torp bombers. If we then see a good chance for KB to do real damage without having to fear to lose a couple of carriers also, then KB will join the party.

As the enemy will be in strike range to Darwin tomorrow I expect them to launch massive bomber strikes with small numbers of escorts against my BBs at Darwin. Most of his fighters will probably fly Cap over the carriers to cover them against my LBA. Hopefully we will get a good number of Tojos into the air, without the Yugumos at Darwin we had a Cap of something like 160-180, which is not even 50% as usual. [>:]

If the enemy bombers will come in without enough escorts then my Tojos will shred them, means the offensive capability of the enemy carriers will look pretty much different the day after. I don´t expect to stop the bombers though, this is Nikmod afterall. The only thing that can really hurt my BBs are torp bombers of course, while US CVs don´t carry really a lot of them, unfortunately Miller is going in with something like 4 Brit carriers also, means we will face something like 80 additional torp bombers with fully functional torps, which doesn´t make the situation any better. His BBs aren´t in a position already to move in to Darwin at night, so I don´t expect a naval engagement tomorrow. I do expect to see my BBs hit by several torps though. Darwin is a level 6 port and we have moved in a nav HQ (which brings the port to level 8), this means that the enemy has to achieve probably something like 4 or 5 torp hits on a BB to immediately sink it. With three torp hits I guess my BBs would have a fair chance to survive if being disbanded into port if not suffering further hits. As there are three BB TFs at Darwin all we can do is to hope to see more than one coordinated strike on one BB TF as five or six dozen torp bombers attacking only two BBs in a TF could mean both of them being lost after one strike. We have to take the risk, this is our chance to do serious damage. In three months, the first Hellcats will leave factory, everything will become worse then. The enemy has a level 5 port at Wyndham, but surely no naval HQ. But a level 5 port can be enough to save heavily damaged ships with the superior Allied damage control.

NOW is the time to strike! And the enemy gives us the best chance we can get, striking from several bases with LBA and with our carriers afterwards. BANZAI!


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Ground combat at Derby

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 54706 troops, 138 guns, 3004 vehicles, Assault Value = 1709

Defending force 36145 troops, 242 guns, 85 vehicles, Assault Value = 742

Japanese max assault: 2754 - adjusted assault: 1182

Allied max defense: 686 - adjusted defense: 473

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2


Japanese ground losses:
950 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Vehicles lost 49

Allied ground losses:
1897 casualties reported
Guns lost 15
Vehicles lost 12

while our adjusted av doesn´t look that good, it seems obvious that we will soon take the base. I expect it to fall after another two attacks. We already have enough supply for at least 5 more attacks as Miller failed to knock out our resupply attempt. Wouldn´t have been hard to kill those 12 AKs at all...

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Ground combat at Chungking

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15812 troops, 180 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1865

Defending force 267823 troops, 1400 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 6307



Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported

looks like the enemy received a small unit as reinforcement here at Chungking as the av went up today...

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Ground combat at Kweiyang

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22655 troops, 266 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 2825

Defending force 180521 troops, 13 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5150



Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported


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Ground combat at 36,88

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 52568 troops, 612 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 2076

Defending force 82932 troops, 962 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2043



Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Guns lost 3


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Ground combat at Wyndham

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8339 troops, 282 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4243

Defending force 135807 troops, 1004 guns, 355 vehicles, Assault Value = 2983



Allied ground losses:
224 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 2

there´s still enough supply at Wyndham to see the Allied av and troop strenght growing every turn... not good...

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Ground combat at 36,88

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 14163 troops, 186 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2041

Defending force 95849 troops, 1020 guns, 34 vehicles, Assault Value = 2076


Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

[bigbaba]

whats up chris?i miss the daily victory proclamation from the imperial HQ! what happend with millers carriers?

if you win this battle too, what can stop you until the end of the game? i mean nothing.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: bigbaba

whats up chris?i miss the daily victory proclamation from the imperial HQ! what happend with millers carriers?

if you win this battle too, what can stop you until the end of the game? i mean nothing.

what´s up? [:D] well, doing a turn takes me 5 hours at the moment, guess 2,5 hours is the replay alone (Nikmod takes forever...), not to talk about the thinking I spend to give orders, checking everything ten times, looking at every daitai, every ship, every detail... and of course there´s the work on the AAR, taking screenshots, using paint.net... etc...

and don´t forget the gf! I spent the whole evening with her yesterday but was able to do a looong turn on Sunday, update will follow now...

even if I would sink EVERY Allied carrier on the map now, there is nothing that can stop the ALLIED. I started the war, I´ve lost it... been like this in real life, it´s like this in the game. You can´t "beat" the Allied, they just get too much material...

[Q-Ball]

The United States Navy didn't solve it's problems. It overwhelmed them.

[castor troy]

Have to do the next updates in bits and pieces as I don´t know how to post more than one screenshot in one of the posts, so here we go...

I don´t want to take away the whole surprise but with the recent developments you can imagine the next turns will see MASSIVE engagements.!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/23/43

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ASW attack at 34,83

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
DD Cushing
DD Downes

this attack on my sub alerted me as this means the Allied TFs again did a full speed run...

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Day Air attack on Pamakasan , at 24,66

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 65

No Japanese losses

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
31 x Ki-45 KAIa Nick bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 47
Ki-49 Helen x 3

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 52

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo bombing at 2000 feet

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Day Air attack on Luganville , at 72,107


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50
Hurricane IIb x 9
P-36A Mohawk x 43
P-40B Tomahawk x 7
P-40E Warhawk x 3


Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 damaged
Hurricane IIb: 1 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 26

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P-40B Tomahawk bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Wallis Island , at 93,107


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 32
Kittyhawk I x 22
P-40E Warhawk x 28


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 3 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Kittyhawk I bombing at 2000 feet

so far, nothing but training runs and a HELL A LOT spottings of enemy TFs around Darwin...

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Here we go!

Day Air attack on TF, near Darwin at 36,84 [:)]




Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 295 [X(][:)][:)]

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 52
FM-2 Wildcat x 64
SBD Dauntless x 72
TBF Avenger x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 32 destroyed, 59 damaged [:D]

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 42 destroyed [:D]
FM-2 Wildcat: 59 destroyed [:D]
SBD Dauntless: 38 destroyed [:D]
TBF Avenger: 22 destroyed [:D]

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 5, on fire [8D]
BB Musashi

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
1 x TBF Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet

so what? Seems like our plan is working just perfectly? As mentioned in the last post, we have positioned 7 of our BBs in three different TFs at Darwin to attract enemy strikes and to guard Darwin against enemy naval bombardments. It was amazing enough for me to see Miller NOT sending in his BBs (the British ones that know how to fight at night) to knock out some of my BBs and to try to do a bombardment. Miller knew I have the BBs there but I guess spotting more than just one or two scared him. Excellent! And what´s the best thing that happens? We nearly get 300 high exp Tojos into the air engaging the incoming strike from the US carriers that moved full speed to a position NW of Darwin. I guess Miller meant to catch KB that he probably expected to move to the Darwin area, but KB retired to Koepang on Western Timor. [:D] As you can see the rest of the enemy armada stayed East of Darwin as all the TFs with the merchants can´t move fast enough. The British carriers together with the US CVEs seem to cover the enemy BB TFs and the rest of the convoys. Can´t be any better, the Brit CVs are clouded in the morning, two strikes back to back on my Cap would mean serious trouble.

Our radar equipped Yugumos spot the imcoming strike early enough and our Tojos scramble in big numbers from the level 8 airfield of Darwin, meeting the incoming strike from superior position and bouncing the enemy! BANZAI! The enemy fighters were shot down in dozens during our bounce phase, once again it´s unbelievable to see how powerful the bounce is in the game (too powerful). While I doubt that the FM-2s are flown by really high exp USN pilots, the F4F-4s should all have very experienced pilots. But being bounced for quite some time and on escort mission makes them easy targets and the IJAAF pilots score kill after kill. After watching the engagment for an hour, nearly all enemy fighters were shot down and we still had more than 250 fighters left, screaming at the enemy bombers now. As you know, the SBDs can´t hurt our BBs but I somewhat feared the TBFs. Many of them were shot down but in the end over a dozen TBFs came in low to drop their torps (all on Yamato) but all missed!

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI! The day starts off with a nice aerial victory over the US carrier TFs. We have spotted squadrons from at least 5 US carriers in this attack. Losing a hundred fighters means the US carriers are more or less helpless now! I just can´t believe that Miller really did this! You can´t go in against several bases with lots of LBA and KB in the area and keep your CAP level so low just because you think you could hit KB with a full strike (this strike on KB would have cost me several carriers I guess). But KB wasn´t there, so the strike went in against my BBs under 300 high exp Tojos.

BANZAI!

[castor troy]

Day Air attack on TF, near Derby at 24,85


Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 10
Swordfish x 3
TBF Avenger x 3
Beaufort I x 18
B-25C Mitchell x 41
B-25J Mitchell x 11


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Huzikawa Maru, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Hokutai Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AK Hitati Maru, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Holland Maru, Bomb hits 1
AK Hokuroku Maru, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 5000 feet

then my AKs around Derby were once again target of Allied LBA... but it´s too late now Paul! My convoys had enough time to unload most of their supplies, the Allied now need a wonder to hold Derby against my tanks... [:)]

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Day Air attack on TF, near Derby at 24,85


Allied aircraft
Boomerang II x 16
Wellington III x 49
P-38G Lightning x 29
B-25C Mitchell x 58
B-25J Mitchell x 25


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Hokutai Maru, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
AK Holland Maru, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 5000 feet
4 x Wellington III bombing at 5000 feet

situation now is as expected, none of my AKs will return to Timor I guess... well, perhaps one or two heavily damaged if they are lucky... but other than expected, they delivered enough supplies for at least a dozen attacks with my tank units. I expected the two convoys to be sunk after two turns at the latest and only if the first turn when they arrive sees bad weather over Derby and Broome...

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Day Air attack on TF at 34,83




Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 107
G3M Nell x 33
G4M1 Betty x 29

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13 [X(][X(][X(]
FM-2 Wildcat x 15 [X(][X(][X(]

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
G3M Nell: 4 destroyed, 25 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 9 destroyed, 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 7 destroyed
FM-2 Wildcat: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 3, on fire
CV Essex, Torpedo hits 3, on fire
BB Washington
BB North Carolina
CLAA San Diego

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

Could someone enlighten me what my opponent is thinking? Holy crap, what percentage of Cap did he set? 10% 20%? But hey, it seems he still doesn´t get punished for doing it like this. Paul stated in his email after this turn that my Betties really missed a lot and I can only confirm that. Hit rate of my really high exp bombers was miserable. And as you can see, 3 IJN torps on a US CV means obviously nothing... CV Lexington even suffered a follow on ammo storage explosion, doesn´t mean the damned ship would be heavily damaged though. Months ago, Lexington already took three torps when the enemy tried to engage my LBA near Canton Island (where he lost two fleet CVs). At this point I was pretty confident that it would turn out to be a bloody affair for the Allied to move the fleet into this region. It´s like I´ve mentioned it earlier a couple of times. This is a region I would throw in the kitchen sink immediately. Not blind in anger, but still the kitchen sink... Hopefully the enemy flight decks are closed...

still can´t believe there are only 28 fighters on Cap...

[castor troy]

Day Air attack on TF at 34,83

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 18

Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed, 10 damaged


Allied Ships
CV Yorktown
CV Hornet
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
CA Astoria

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet

we launch another strike from Dili and even though it is an unescorted one, there´s nothing to fear, only two crappy FM-2 are left to fly Cap. This time we attack the TF with Yorktown and Hornet, the carriers are both missed but two torps slam into the modern BB South Dakota... and do nearly no damage it seems... I can already say that flakfire of the enemy TFs is murderous, there´s not much left that could fly tomorrow...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Darwin at 36,84




Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 276 [:)]

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 49
SBD Dauntless x 16
TBF Avenger x 14
Avenger I x 74 [X(][X(][:(]

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 10 destroyed, 17 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 13 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 49 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 11 destroyed
TBF Avenger: 14 destroyed
Avenger I: 30 destroyed, 14 damaged

this is the afternoon phase and now the British CVs and the US CVEs moved out of a bad weather front and launched a massive strike against my BBs at Darwin. Seeing this strike I was already sure I would lose either two BBs or three. Two, if this strike attacks one of the two two BB TFs, three if the three BB TF is attacked. Even though we suffered losses during the morning engagment with the Wildcats from the US CVs, we get an impressive number of Tojos into the air again. This must be something like 90-100% of the undamaged fighters at Darwin. Looks like my 5 Yugumos at Darwin made my day! The enemy is again bounced and this time we achieve an even better kill ratio against the enemy fighters. But you may not forget that those Wildcats are coming from US CVEs and probably don´t have a high enough exp to be a real match for the high exp IJAAF pilots flying those Tojos (actually I have my best Tojo sentais here). But still, seeing one enemy fighter after another going down in flames, I still was sure that a hell a lot of those British torp bombers would make it through my Cap to sink one of my BB TFs. British carrier based torp bombers are a real pain, those Avengers with working torps are far more dangerous than Kates as the Avenger has the same range, also a working torp but is far more durable than the Kate and therefor more will resist your Cap and flak. As soon as A L L of the enemy fighters were shot down for the loss of a ridicoulosly low number of Tojos, our fighters dove down on the incoming bombers that were mostly carrying a heavy torpedo, making them easy to hit targets. Nevertheless, it wasn´t that easy to actually take them down. But we still nearly had 250 Tojos that could knock down a good number of bombers (one of my fighter sentais turned back due to low morale, otherwise there would have been even more Tojos attacking the bomber formations).

And then the absolutely unexpected happened! The British bomber squadrons started to turn back due to low morale! Holy god, what is happening here? How can they have low morale? They haven´t seen combat for months! This really made my day as the enemy started to turn back in the dozens and while I couldn´t believe my eyes, in the end, not a single bombers made an attack run on my BBs cruising around near Darwin! This means the enemy has lost nearly all of his fighters on all of his carriers already, I guess at this stage all the enemy carriers NW and E of Darwin have something like 50-75 operational fighters left. Don´t forget that we took dozens down near Thursday Island a week ago already. It really seems to turn out into a chance to achieve a totally unexpected and stunning victory!

BANZAI! BANZAI! BANZAI!

[castor troy]

Day Air attack on TF at 24,83


Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 7
Beaufort I x 10
B-25C Mitchell x 36
B-25J Mitchell x 12


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Akashi Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tokuwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Ryuzan Maru, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boko Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 5000 feet

more attacks on my AKs near Derby... this means nothing anymore...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,83


Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 7
Beaufort I x 10
B-25C Mitchell x 36
B-25J Mitchell x 12


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Akashi Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Tokuwa Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Ryuzan Maru, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boko Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 5000 feet

also the second TF is again targeted...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 39,85

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 6
F4F-4 Wildcat x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 1 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 damaged

we launch a ridicoulos strike from Northern New Guinea. This was when Miller was lucky, the big escorted strike against this hex was totally missing the target... This could have been the end of one or two CVs already, had nearly 100 Betties/Nells at the base this strike was coming from (and all were flying, saw very high fatigue next turn within all my daitais). [:(]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 39,85

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 3

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 6
F4F-4 Wildcat x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 damaged

the Betties sacrifieced themselve...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 34,83

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
DD Cushing

there would surely be better targets in this hex than a modern US DD... we were lucky the sub didn´t get sunk. Only one DD, could mean this is the single escort of either one of the two damaged US CVs or of BB South Dakota... what a pity...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 34,83

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
DD Downes
DD Cassin
DD Tucker
DD Flusser
DD Reid
DD Preston

then we probably met an ASW TF... amazing to see my sub still alive...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 34,83

Japanese Ships
SS I-158

Allied Ships
DD Wilson
DD Sterett
DD Stack
DD Lang
DD Ellet
DD Benham
DD Morris
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Russell
DD Mustin
CA Astoria

wow, I-158 is either really lucky or the skipper really knows what to do... 11 modern US CVs is freightening to see when I have a sub in the same hex... I´m operating a little more than half a dozen subs in the area, no matter if I lose them or not, a torp hit from a sub on an enemy damaged capital ship could be the difference between the ship being sunk or saved... but my subs are in real danger of being sunk in this area, but I´ll take that risk. Couldn´t move in more subs in this short period of time, more than a dozen SS were operating North of Perth when I realized the enemy is coming North via Thursday Island...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Derby

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 54127 troops, 132 guns, 2974 vehicles, Assault Value = 1673

Defending force 33982 troops, 224 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 701

Japanese max assault: 2704 - adjusted assault: 1327

Allied max defense: 672 - adjusted defense: 592

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0 [8D]


Japanese ground losses:
729 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 41

Allied ground losses:
1565 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 18

Bet Derby will fall tomorrow! Banzai!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Chungking

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 15841 troops, 179 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1866

Defending force 269659 troops, 1423 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 6358



Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22707 troops, 268 guns, 7 vehicles, Assault Value = 2825

Defending force 179963 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5131



Allied ground losses:
24 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 36,88

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 52777 troops, 616 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 2088

Defending force 83119 troops, 959 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2045



Allied ground losses:
68 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wyndham

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8329 troops, 283 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4307

Defending force 136758 troops, 1015 guns, 355 vehicles, Assault Value = 2983



Allied ground losses:
329 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 36,88

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 14293 troops, 186 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2042

Defending force 96122 troops, 1023 guns, 33 vehicles, Assault Value = 2088


Japanese ground losses:
28 casualties reported
Guns lost 1



and here´s the screenshot after the combat replay was over. The US CVs sitting West of Darwin, the Brit CVs sitting East of it, covering merchant convoys and some BBs. You may have noticed that we haven´t really been lucky with the numbers of strikes we were flying against the enemy carriers. Strikes either didn´t launch due to bad weather or they also missed the target. But nevertheless, the losses of the Allied carriers (especially fighters) were severe.

AND THIS MEANS NOW IS THE TIME TO STRIKE!!!!

KB is in position at Koepang and is ordered to move full speed to a position South of Lautern, with the reacting set to 1 hex. 1 hex due to the fact that we will try to engage the British carriers and I want to be in torp range at all cost as the Brit CVs are 100% bomb prove. Doesn´t matter anyway if we are four of three hexes away of the British as their Avengers carry torps out to four hexes also. Expect the enemy fleets E of Darwin to move 4 hexes and to see the US CVs fleeing to Wyndham full speed. CV Essex, CV Lexington and BB South Dakota all took torps and hopefully they can´t move fast enough to reach Wyndham. Have limited my bombers everywhere to ranges that they don´t fly to Wyndham as there are 100+ Allied fighters on Cap (more than 50 Corsairs), so this would be similar to my "Cap trap" at Darwin. Hopefully we can catch at least one US carrier tomorrow. Hornet and Yorktown are undamaged (we also spotted Wasp), I´m sure they will be at Wyndham together with some surface combat groups tomorrow.

IMO, Miller now has to RETREAT! No matter if he has to leave his merchants back or if he has to sacrifice his damaged ships. If he now stays he will lose A LOT! It´s 3/43 already but he doesn´t have dozens of fleet CVs and he also has to rely on his CVEs that he brought together with the Brit CVs. It´s not sure we will sink one of the damaged US CVs tomorrow, but if the British don´t retreat, or don´t move full speed towards Darwin then the will be in strike range of KB, in range of the bases on Timor and in range of the torp bombers I moved to Darwin today.

[castor troy]

And here are the air losses of today. As you can see, losses within the Allied carrier based ac were horrendous, I don´t expect the enemy carriers to be a real threat tomorrow when KB will be in position to strike (if the enemy moves as I expect him to do). There are not many enemy fighters left and while there are still a good number of carrier based bombers, as soon as they encounter more than 100 fighters going after them, they will turn back for sure. The biggest threat I see at the moment for KB will be LBA from Wyndham. There are Boomerangs and Lightnings there to fly escort and Miller could move 200 B-25 (not to talk about 4Es) to Wyndham which could mean trouble for KB. But we of course still have our BB TFs that could attract bomber strikes to Darwin that will still have 150 or more fighters on Cap there. Cap level there for tomorrow will be 70%, we need some Tojos to fly escort for the Betties. The only real threat for our airforce so far was flak fire, insane what those Allied TFs can put into the air...

[veji1]

God !!Well done on your part but horrendous play from Miller. If he wanted to supply Wyndham he should have had all his fleets following the transports with massive CAP, lots of NAv search and no strike...

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: veji1

God !!Well done on your part but horrendous play from Miller. If he wanted to supply Wyndham he should have had all his fleets following the transports with massive CAP, lots of NAv search and no strike...

We have a stacking rule for carrier based ac which is 450. Same as a level 9 airfield, so all his CVs in one hex isn´t possible. The easiest way would have been to decide to supply Northern Australia would have been coming from the WEST and not going up the EAST coast IMO.

[Xxzard]

gah----------- /drool------------- So we are going to have Brit CV's brutalized and US CV's stuck at Wyndham apparently.... ouch. [:D]

Tojos did great all things considered, and looks like those Yugumos helped. Wow, this could be a game changer if everything gets taken out. Not like it'll win the war (unless he gives up like Mogami vs Honda) but hey, it ought to slow him down.

[Ambassador]

Wow, I'm absent a few days, and the decisive battle takes place ![X(]
 
BANZAI !!!  Bomb them, torpedo them, shell them, stun them, sink them, destroy them ![&o]

[Rainer79]

Wow.

I wonder what the Allies were thinking. The fighter settings were pretty much suicidal.

[bigbaba]

now thats a extremly good result so far. with the enemy carrier fleet slowed down and without claws, the mighty KB can now go in and finish the job.

excellent fighter defense and fighter control over darwin!

after this battle, a screenshot of your top pilots would be nice, chris.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: bigbaba

now thats a extremly good result so far. with the enemy carrier fleet slowed down and without claws, the mighty KB can now go in and finish the job.

excellent fighter defense and fighter control over darwin!

after this battle, a screenshot of your top pilots would be nice, chris.

If I don´t forget it I will take a screenshot when I will do the next turn, but there aren´t that many real aces around, guess the leading pilot has something like 12 confirmed kills. This is due to me taking out my sentais before they get completely shot up and lose most of their pilots. So far I could afford that. But I have dozens of pilots with more than 5 kills.

[Q-Ball]

I never thought of parking radar-equipped ships in a base hex to improve the CAP. Obviously it worked. Can the ships be disbanded, or do they have to be an active (but docked) TF?

You learn something every day, but those Yugumos make a difference! They are more valuable for the Radar then anything else!

[castor troy]

And now the real fun starts... [:D] most important turn of the war so far...


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/24/43

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TF 1039 encounters mine field at Wyndham (30,86)

Allied Ships
DD Tucker, Mine hits 1, on fire [:D]

lol, DD Tucker hits a VH2 at Wyndham. But the DD isn´t even heavily damaged and will live on...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 32,85

Japanese Ships
SS I-158, hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Morris
DD O'Brien
DD Walke
DD Benham
DD Ellet
DD Cushing

the enemy TFs around the US CVs are moving towards Wyndham... I-158 takes two near misses...

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Sub attack at 30,85

Japanese Ships
SS I-34, hits 9, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Frazier
DD Gansevoort
DD Gillespie
DD Edwards
DD Hammann

this is one hex North of Wyndham, South Dakota was able to move 6!! hexes today, this after taking two aerial torps yesterday.... but this Type 95 could do some serious additional flt damage... I-34 is sunk immediately in return... but this time it was worth it I guess...

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Sub attack at 37,83

Japanese Ships
SS RO-34, hits 3

Allied Ships
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Lansdowne
DD Duncan
DD Buchanan
CV Victorious
DD Nicholson
DD Waller
DD Taylor
DD Strong

This is North of Darwin, the British CVs move to a position one hex South of Tenimbar, which is strange as I´ve thought they would pass just one hex North of Darwin... 6 torps missed the CLAA and RO-34 takes three near misses in return that don´t do much more than 4 or 5 sys damaged points. The sub will be kept in operation...

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Day Air attack on Pamakasan , at 24,66

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 65

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
28 x Ki-45 KAIa Nick bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lautem , at 33,78

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 2
Ki-49 Helen x 139
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 8 damaged


Allied ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 72

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-49 Helen bombing at 6000 feet

my medium IJAAF bombers didn´t launch yesterday to attack Lautern and while recon still tells me the airfield would be 90% damaged (this after not having bombed it for weeks) I feared that Miller could fly in either lots of bombers or fighters, or both to attack KB that was tasked to do a full speed run to a position two hexes South of Lautern. There were no aircraft and the base is surely 100% inoperational again... those bombers will now be kept in reserve to attack enemy shipping if needed...

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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
A6M3a Zero x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 47
Ki-49 Helen x 3

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 49

Aircraft Attacking:
32 x Ki-44-IIb Tojo bombing at 2000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Luganville , at 72,107


Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 48
Hurricane IIb x 9
P-36A Mohawk x 34
P-40B Tomahawk x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 5


Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
Hurricane IIb: 2 damaged
P-36A Mohawk: 6 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 49

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P-40B Tomahawk bombing at 2000 feet

I have moved in two AA rgts by fast transport to bolster the AA defense here to interdict those training raids. Two AA rgts and two base forces and we still don´t do damage... [8|]

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Day Air attack on Wallis Island , at 93,107


Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 27
Kittyhawk I x 29
P-40E Warhawk x 25


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger: 2 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 3 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Kittyhawk I bombing at 2000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,83


Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 3
B-25C Mitchell x 4


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Holland Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Beaufort I bombing at 5000 feet

bombers from Derby and Broome are still active against my shipping that brought the needed supplies to the tank units at Derby...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 24,81


Allied aircraft
Boomerang II x 10
Beaufort I x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Tokuwa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boko Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Beaufort I bombing at 5000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 37,82

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 3

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 28
F4F-4 Wildcat x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged

unescorted attack into the hex with the Brit CVs and US CVEs. Seeing only 86 fighters on Cap (of which the Wildcat pilots surely are second class when it comes down to experience) makes me confident for the day... one Nell turned around...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now let the real action begin...

Day Air attack on TF at 37,82

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 100

Allied aircraft
Seafire x 28
F4F-4 Wildcat x 58

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 45 destroyed, 10 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Seafire: 20 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 21 destroyed, 16 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Victorious

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet

Like mentioned last turn I moved Betties to Darwin and I´ve set my Cap to 70% there to still have a big Cap to cover my BBs. This engagment started awfully though, my incoming strike got bounced for quite a long time and I guess the enemy achieved something like 25 kills before the first enemy fighter went down in flames. Would the enemy have got the bounce for the whole engagement I guess we would have lost 80 Tojos for 5 or 6 enemy fighters. Really unbelievable how powerful the bounce is in the game. And the Tojos proved to be totally outclassed when being on escort and being bounced. As soon as the Allied bounce ended we increased our kill rate and more and more enemy fighters were downed. The Betties made it through but missed the enemy carrier. Seeing 41 enemy fighters downed and another 16 damaged means major trouble for the enemy carriers in this hex as we also have KB in strike range now... Darwin´s strike arrived first because it´s only two hexes to the enemy TFs...