The Turning Point: floydg (A) & Coach Z (J) -- Luganville liberated

[floydg]

November 1, 1942

Highlights: Luganville port bombed

• Leaving the area of Canton Island, the AP Tenran Maru takes a torpedo hit from the SS Cuttlefish.
• The Japanese bomb Changsha again, but for a loss of two Allied fighters, 6 Japanese are downed. But the airbase still takes some damage.
• The Japanese also bomb Chungking, causing minor damage.
• 42xB-24D's bomb Gili-Gili and do slight damage.
• 92 Allied bombers attacked the port at Luganville and hit many of the ships in port. The SS RO-33 and DD Hasu were sunk.
• The Japanese bomb troops marching towards Akyab. P-40's are covering them and down 11 Japanese attacking planes, losing none of their own. The troops are not hit by any bombs.
• South of Osaka, the SS Halibut took a depth charge hit.
• Two Chinese corps enter the area around Hengchow and the Japanese attack, forcing them to fall back southwest.
• Spies report the airfield at Yenen expanding to level 3 and recon planes note the airfield at Wake expanded to level 4.

Analysis: He had some ships at Luganville just sitting there, so since the airbase is closed down, I decided to go for some target practice and hit all nine ships reportedly docked there. Two sank outright and the rest were nice and damaged.
I'll be moving in more fighters to China to try to stem the damage to my airbases - especially at Changsha, where the airbase supply hits are killing me.

[floydg]

November 2, 1942

Highlights: Japan continues to bomb airbases in China

• The Japanese bomb the airfield at Changsha again. 9 Allied fighters are lost to 4 Japanese aircraft. The airbase takes moderate damage.
• The Japanese also hit Wuchow again, but lost 9 planes to only 1 Allied fighter, and cause slight damage.
• Americans again bomb the port at Luganville, this time with over 120 planes, doing damage to all of the ships in port, sinking the DD Tsuga and AP Fusemi Maru.
• The Japanese carriers retreating from Canton Island attack Baker Island and manage to score one runway hit, but lose 4 planes in the process. The Americans lose 5 fighters.
• West of Yenen, the Japanese attack the Chinese, but the Chinese continue to hold, but not for long.
• The port at La Foa expands to level 3.

Analysis: His constant bombing of my airbases at Changsha and Wuchow are starting to make a difference for him. I'm losing supply way too fast at Changsha, and since it's still surrounded, they may not last long. I'm trying to break a hole in his lines to get in supply, but it's not going well.
In other areas, I have troops ready to invade Attu, but the base is not yet supressed; I have the base at Luganville supressed, but the troops aren't ready. I have great timing... [:(]

[floydg]

Here is the latest in Southern China.



I've given up on Canton and am now withdrawing troops NW of there to relieve in other areas.
Changsha is surrounded, but I'm trying to break through from the road. He has part of a mixed brigade there, but I can't muster enough AV, so some is coming down from Chungking, but it's too little and too late, I fear.
His next push may be Homan...
And further north, he's pushing me back from Yenen.

I'd give him China, but I don't want to allow him the leeway to release troops for action elsewhere. So I have to fight back.

[floydg]

November 3, 1942

Highlights: Attu bombed; Airbases in China under constant attack

• South of Baker Island, the SS Cuttlefish locates the burning AP Nagano Maru and puts a torpedo into her and sinks her.
• Once again, the Japanese bomb Changsha. The Japanese lose 12 planes to 9 Allied, but the airbase takes moderate damage.
• And once again, Wuchow is bombed, with the loss of 11 Allied planes and moderate damage to the airbase.
• Hudsons bomb the port at Luganville and put bombs in a few more ships, sinking a PG.
• 152 B-24D's bomb the airbase at Attu. Around 20 bombers are downed, but almost 30 planes are destroyed in the air and on the ground, but the airbase takes only slight damage.
• South of Port Moresby, the SS Flying Fish locates some damaged ships leaving port and puts a torpedo into the AV Sanyo Maru.
• South of Darwin, the Japanese attack. The Allies are caught off-guard and the Japanese force the Allies to retreat, but the Japanese take almost 1200 casualties to just over 300 Allied.
• West of Yenen, the Japanese attack and once again, the Chinese retreat west. Two Japanese armor regiments pursue the Chinese.

Analysis: I did decent damage to the airbase at Attu, but not enough. We'll see what tomorrow holds...
I keep getting pounded in China -- I need a bit of good luck to turn this one around now...

[floydg]

November 4, 1942

Highlights: Chinese fail in Northern China

• South of Port Moresby, the SS Flying Fish finds the AK Shinetsu Maru, puts two torpedoes into her and she sinks.
• The Japanese bombard Baker Island with the BB Yamato and two CA. Almost no damage is done to the base, but coastal guns landed a few hits on each ship.
• 56xB-25C bomb the airbase at Myitkyina and do moderate damage.
• 110xB-24D bomb Attu and 13 bombers are downed, and only about 10 Japanese planes are destroyed. The airbase takes minor damage.
• West of Yenen, two Japanese armored regiments make a blitzing attack on the weary Chinese and the Chinese fall back again.
• East of Lanchow, the Chinese attack, but the attack is awful and the Chinese take over 1100 casualties to under 100 Japanese.
• Spies report the airfield at Shimizu expands to level 3 and the airfield at Andaman Island expands to size 2.
• The port at Yanam completes initial construction at level 1. Alice Springs expands the airfield to level 4.

Analysis: Northern China is becoming a problem now that Yenen has fallen. He is moving way too quickly towards my northern bases and I will probably lose those quicker than I expected.
I am making some progress against Attu and should be coming in next turn to bombard with 3xBB and cruisers. The troops are loading up and should be ready to go soon. The downside to the air bombing is that my B-24 pool is almost depleted, so I may need to do some downgrading of rear units. [:(]

[floydg]

November 5, 1942

Highlights: Chinese hold

• Northwest of Singapore, the SS KXIV puts a torpedo into the DD Fuyo.
• The Japanese bomb Changsha again. Some planes from each side are downed and the base takes minor damage.
• The Americans bomb Attu Island again in a snow storm. Some bombers turn back because of visibility problems while under attack from the CAP, but a large portion of the 85 bombers do moderate damage to the base.
• East of Lanchow, the Japanese counter-attack against the Chinese who had a failed attack the previous day. The Japanese take over 1700 casualties to under 100 Chinese, and the Chinese hold their positions.
• West of Yenen, the Japanese armor attacks again, but the Chinese find good defensive positions and are able to hold the line.
• The airfield at Imphal expands to level 4 and Diamond Harbor expands to level 8.

Analysis: Today was a decent day in China, with CoachZ's two attacks failing to dislodge me and causing more casualties to himself than me.
He has spotted my bombardment TF 2 hexes east of Attu (they didn't make it in last turn) and I spotted at least the BB Mutsu 1 hex west of Attu, and recon shows 3xBB. I don't think I want him knowing exactly what I have (though he's sure I have 3xBB, which is correct). So I assume he thinks he's at least even or maybe out-gunning me. So I decided to fall back and let him come to me. And if he doesn't, maybe a few naval strikes from my LBA will change his mind, or open Attu up again for another attempt for bombardment.

[floydg]

November 6, 1942

Highlights: S-23 has some fun, takes a hit

• The SS S-23 locates the MSW W.3 by Attu Island and sinks her with one torpedo. Later the MSW W.8 meets the same fate. Then two Japanese DD's locate the sub and hit her with a depth charge.
• Three Japanese minelayers are located near Attu Island and are struck by some 4E bombers. The ML Kurokami takes two bombs and sinks. The other two are unscathed.
• In Northern China, the Japanese attack again east of Lanchow and again the Chinese hold, causing over 1000 casualties to under 50 Chinese.
• West of Yenen, the Chinese hold again against the Japanese armor.
• Spies report the airfields at Yenen and Hengchow expand to level 4.

Analysis: The SS-23 did a good job today, but took a hit that will put her out of action for a while.
I was happy that I held position in China, but now that he has two forward airbases level 4, I'm in for some trouble.
Around Attu, he commented that I wimped out by not bombarding and facing his BB TF. I responded that I'll just put all my 4E bombers on naval search and watch his ships attrition away... [:D] But now that I see he's mining Attu, I'll need to be careful when the invasion is ready.

[floydg]

November 7, 1942

Highlights: American sub sunk

• South of Rabaul, a Japanese ASW TF locates the SS S-44 and plasters her with two direct depth charge hits, sinking her.
• The Japanese bomb Changsha, with minor airbase damage.
• West of Yenen, a Chinese corps mixed it up with a large Japanese force and then retreated south after being beaten.

Analysis: So long to the S-44. She hit two AKs in her short career...
I found that he has mined the port in Noumea (snuck in some subs) when an AK hit a mine, so now I need to sweep it clean.
I've lost sight of his capital ships around Attu, so I'll need to wait until the storm lets up before I can hit them. Or I can just bombard now, assuming if I can't see him, he can't see me. I have maybe 10-12 more days before he can get the KB up in that area from the area of Tarawa when they were last spotted.
Despite things moving slowly, my front-line aircraft pools are not doing so well - I may be a bit too aggressive.

[floydg]

November 8, 1942

Highlights: SS Sunfish hits a mine

• By Palmyra, an American TF locates the SS I-157 and puts one depth charge hit on the sub.
• The SS Sunfish maneuvers around Wake Island looking for a prime place to lay some mines and finds a perfect place, except that the Japanese have already laid mines there and the Sunfish hits one, blowing a massive hole in the hull.
• The SS S-43, patrolling around Wake finds a small Japanese task force and sinks the MSW Choun Maru #18 with a torpedo hit.
• South of Darwin, the Japanese attack the heavily disrupted Allies and the Allies are forced to retreat southeast.

Analysis: I got knocked back in Australia, south of Darwin. I kinda expected that, since my Australian Divsion was at over 80 disruption. I gotta rest them all before I can make any offensive attempts.
North of Perth, he's running away fast, so I can't keep up. I'm wondering if his retreat is a trap or a real withdrawal. I assume it's a trap and he wants me in his LBA range and out of mine. I may make a foray to the north shore anyhow, just to keep him honest. I think I'm okay at Perth, so hopefully this won't be a huge mistake...
Elsewhere, I'm not making much progress towards invasions at either Luganville or Attu, and I'm sure Coach Z is anxiously awaiting both.

[floydg]

November 9, 1942

Highlights: Defenses at Changsha weaken

• The Japanese bomb the airfield at Lanchow and do minor damage.
• The Allies bomb the airfield and Myitkyina and do moderate damage.
• A few Allied bombers brave the rain and bomb the port at Luganville, hitting the AP Kuraido Maru, sinking her.
• Almost 100 American bombers strike Attu Island. About a dozen bombers are downed and around 20 Japanese planes are wiped out in the air and on the ground.
• The Japanese attack at Changsha, reducing the defensive fortifications to 5. The Japanese take over 1400 casualties to just over 800 Chinese.
• Two Chinese corps encircle Hengchow. The Japanese attack to push them back, but the Chinese hold their positions.
• Spies report the airfield at Haiphong expanding to level 6.

Analysis: I feel that whatever momentum I had before is slipping away. I'll try to re-invigorate things by hitting Amchikita Island with an RCT to distract the Japanese from Attu. I think his capital ships are just outside Attu, and this may draw them out to fight in my range.
But otherwise, Coach Z keeps prodding me about when I'm going to invade something. I told him why invade when bombing his bases to rubble is more fun. But of course, I'll invade.
The SS Sunfish sunk (hit a mine the day before).
Weather still crappy, so not much action in the air.

[floydg]

November 10, 1942

Highlights: Amchitka invaded

• In the Malacca Straits, the SS KXII takes a depth charge hit.
• American subchasers enter the area around La Foa and the SC SC-641 hits a Japanese mine and sinks.
• Japanese bomb Changsha again. The escorts wipe out around half of the CAP and then do moderate damage to the airbase.
• Americans begin to unload troops at Amchitka Island. The coastal guns pound two of the transports and a significant number of casualties are reported in the disembarkation process. Fortunately, the Japanese defenders do not attack the troops on the beachhead.
• The Chinese forces at Hengchow are attacked again, and this time, despite some reinforcements arriving, are forced to retreat.
• The port at La Foa expands to level 4.

Analysis: I'm glad his troops at Amchitka didn't attack, since my troops are about 90% disrupted... I'll come in with my capital ships to protect the transports unloading, in case he comes in with his capitals.
In China, my air force leaves a lot to be desired. The pilots aren't that bad, but they seem completely ineffective against the Japanese. I fear Changsha will fall within two weeks (maybe sooner).

[floydg]

November 11, 1942

Highlights: Changsha weakend; Allied sub sunk

• American troops continue to unload at Amchitka Island. A few coastal guns connect on a transport. Then the BB South Dakota, BB Washington and BB North Carolina, with a CA and three CL bombard. Slight damage is done to the facilities and about 750 casualties are reported. The sub SS I-174 attempted to go after some Allied ships in the area, but the ASW screen was too heavy and the sub took a few shots that banged it up.
• South of Osaka, the SS Pogy takes some near miss depth charge hits.
• The SS Trigger, south of Rabaul is not so lucky, suffering three direct hits and sinking. She did sink an AO and an AK before her demise.
• Changsha was bombed by the Japanese again. This time, 8 Allied planes were downed and the airbase took minor damage. The Japanese troops then attack, knocking down more fortifications, but take over 1700 casualties to just over 1000 Chinese.
• The Japanese armor east of Kungchang attack the Chinese and are easily repulsed.
• The Allies attack at Myitkyina, but the Japanese defend well and the Allies make no progress.
• Spies report the airfields at Rangoon expands to level 5 and Shimizu to level 4, while engineers report expanding the airfield at Suva to level 5.

Analysis: Again, my air force over Changsha did poorly and then the troops got pounded. The forts are down to 4, so he should be able to complete his work in about 5-7 days, I think. The engineers have the forts up to 110% complete to build them back up, but since the airbase is a shambles, that gets fixed first - silly prioritization... Plus, supplies are dipping into the red and I can't boost it enough by air.
Since he didn't attack my ships at Amchitka, I decided to bombard and then wait him out. The bombardment wasn't great, but it's still something. Also, his troops didn't attack again, which is good because it seems my troops are really disrupted. That winter effect on invasions is a real killer -- I don't have too many undisrupted infantry squads...

[floydg]

November 12, 1942

Highlights: BB North Carolina pounded

• Americans continue to unload at Amchitka Island.
• The DD Oite hits a Japanese mine at Kwajalein. [8|]
• Changsha is bombed again and the Allies take further losses.
• Japanese carrier planes come out of the storm clouds and attack the American task force at Amchitka Island. The Allied CAP downs a few of the incoming planes and AA downs some more, but two bombs hit the BB South Dakota and 6 torpedoes connect on the BB North Carolina.
• North of Alice Springs, the Japanese attack an Allied armored unit and they retreat off of the transport network.

Analysis: After suffering 6 torpedo hits, the BB North Carolina is still afloat, but it may not make it back to port. And if it does, it may not be seen from again... I didn't expect the carrier attack -- it was CV Akagi and CVE Ryuho. I guess I lost track of the Akagi and got hit. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, so I'll be thankful for that. Now the weather has turned stormy, so I may be able to escape and hope the CAP and AA did enough to weaken him to discourage further attacks. But now the RCT may be on its own for a while...

[n01487477]

Floyd,

That winter effect on invasions is a real killer -- I don't have too many undisrupted infantry squads...

I did say that winter invasions were dicey ...

Coach must have got lucky with his CV force, I spent weeks up in the Aleutians without being able to launch a spitball.[;)]

Walk the line, pay the fine...one BB might be a small price to pay. Good luck saving her anyway.

Any chance of an update on ship losses / air losses ?

All the best, I'll email you again in the next few days.
Damian

[floydg]

ORIGINAL: n01487477

Floyd,

That winter effect on invasions is a real killer -- I don't have too many undisrupted infantry squads...

I did say that winter invasions were dicey ...

Coach must have got lucky with his CV force, I spent weeks up in the Aleutians without being able to launch a spitball.[;)]

Walk the line, pay the fine...one BB might be a small price to pay. Good luck saving her anyway.

Any chance of an update on ship losses / air losses ?

All the best, I'll email you again in the next few days.
Damian

Yeah, you were right. Since I never tried before, I needed to experiment. Amchitka Island isn't a major target, so it's not critical...

Here are air and ship losses so far:

[floydg]

November 13, 1942

Highlights: Shipping attacked around Amchitka

• Near Amchitka Island, the SS Amberjack locates the Japanese carrier task force. The sub gets a bead on the CV Akagi and launches torpedoes. The DD Mikazuki gets in the path of the torpedoes and takes a hit, sinking the destroyer, but saving the carrier.
• Changsha is bombed yet again, this time doing more damage and destroying most of the defending aircraft.
• The Japanese make a sweep at Dacca with 40xA6M2. The Allies meet the Zeros with 34 assorted planes, shooting down 7 down and losing 9 of their own.
• 9xB-24D attack some minelayers at Kiska Island, scoring several hits on the ML Katashima, sinking it.
• Japanese carrier planes attack Allied shipping around Adak Island. The AK Ewa takes a bomb hit, the DD Allen takes a bomb and the DD Lardner takes two bombs. At Amchitka Island, the AK San Anselmo takes a torpedo hit.

Analysis: I almost got a shot in on the CV Akagi. But at least I took down a destroyer.
Looks like he's massed his fighters in a few places, making it hard for me to really make a dent, usually being outnumbered 4-to-1 (especially in China). I need to put up some resistance or he'll be able to bomb with impunity (which he does in some areas).
The BB North Carolina is still afloat (and Tar Heel fans rejoice)...

[floydg]

November 14, 1942

Highlights: Dacca airfield pounded

• Japanese perform their daily air raid on Changsha and do moderate damage.
• Japanese also bombard Kweilin with 50xKate and over 130 fighters. The 9 Hurricanes on CAP are no match and all are shot down. The airbase takes moderate damage.
• After the previous day's sweep of Dacca, the Japanese hit the airbase with full force of almost 70 bombers, escorted by almost 70 fighters. The CAP of 32 planes got torn up and around 45 planes were lost in the air and on the ground, with under 20 Japanese planes downed. The airbase took moderate damage.
• In the area of Attu Island, some B-24D's attack a few DD's and miss, and then some TBF attack the BB Mutsu and none connect.
• Engineers complete a level 5 expansion of the port at Dutch Harbor. Spies report the airfields at Swatow and Mandalay expand to level 5.

Analysis: Most of the planes and pilots at Dacca are easily replaced, so I'm not that worried there. I'll move in some more fighters so he doesn't get off so easy next time.
In the Aleutians, things are slow, but my RCT at Amchitka Island is starting to recover disruption, so I should be able to make some progress soon. But again, this is not the primary target - Attu is, but I needed to see what I would be facing with the winter effects, so I made a "test" landing.
In China, I think Changsha will last maybe 4 more days. All of the troops will end up surrendering, since there is no way out. Oh, well. He really did beat me there, so I need to learn my lesson about getting "flanked". [:(]
In Australia, I'm making an advance towards Derby, but I think I may end up just turning around and going back to Perth, since his air bombardments make it difficult to advance (and could be why he abandoned his move on Perth).

[floydg]

November 15, 1942

Highlights: BB North Carolina sinks

• East of Adak Island, the SS I-166 torpedoes the AK San Vincente and sinks her. Then the sub puts two more torpedoes into the BB North Carolina, sinking her as well. A few DM's passing by get two near misses on the sub before she disappears.
• Near Gili-Gili, the SS S-47 puts a torpedo into the DD Shikinami. She does not sink, but the captain believes she will not make it back to port.
• The SS Whale, on patrol south of Tokyo locates the CV Kaga, steaming in at full speed. The captain launches torpedoes, which hit the carrier, but fail to detonate. Several escorting DD's fail to locate the sub, despite the captain's loud banging of his head on the hull.
• Japanese bomb Kweilin and do moderate damage to the airbase.
• The Japanese attack at Changsha reduces the fortifications to 3 and pushes the defenders deeper into the city.
• East of Kungchang, the Japanese attack, but the Chinese hold.
• The ports of Wellington and Christchurch expand to level 7 and the airfield at Adak Island expands to level 4.

Analysis: Busy day for the I-166. I'll get her yet... [:(]
Stupid dud torpedoes denied me an excellent victory for the turn when they bounced off the Kaga. [:@]
Changsha may last only 2-3 more attacks.
My P-40 pool is now empty, so I need to downgrade some back-water planes to recover my losses...

[floydg]

November 16, 1942

Highlights: Changsha falters; Myitkyina attack fails again

• Four allied DD's bombard Efate and do negligible damage, but take a few damaging shell hits from coastal batteries.
• Japanese bomb the airfield at Kweilin again, doing minor damage.
• Japanese sweep Thursday Island and down four of the 11 Kittyhawks on CAP.
• Americans bomb the airfield at Luganville and do minor damage.
• Near Attu, a few B-24D's attack the AK Uyo Maru and put two bombs into her.
• South of Derby, the Japanese attack the Allies and push them south, incurring over 1000 casualties on both sides.
• The Japanese attack at Changsha drops the fortifications to 2, as the Chinese slowly run out of defensible positions.
• Southeast of Yenen, a Chinese unit blocking the way to Sian is pushed back by a Japanese attack.
• East of Kungchang, the Japanese attack, but the Chinese hold well and the Japanese make no headway.
• Allies attack at Myitkyina, but fail to make any progress against the fortifications or the defenders.

Analysis: I continue to make slow or neglibile progress in Burma, and in China, things are getting worse.
I think Coach Z has decided to mass his fighters and sweep my paltry CAP. I need to build up my fighter reserves in order to go head-to-head with him. But most of my fighters in Burma are point-defense (range 1 for LR CAP), so I need to work on lots of upgraded units, which I don't have a sufficient pool for. So for now, instead of constant losses, I'll hold back a little.
In New Caledonia, I'm trying to confuse him as to where I will concentrate. The bombardment of Efate did nothing useful except add to his confusion (I hope). My troops are getting well-rested and I suspect in about a week or so, they will be ready to load up and make the trip to his shores.
At Amchitka, I think I've turned the corner and my RCT is recovering disrupted squads and could soon out-AV him. I don't think I'll be able to take the base with just the RCT, but this is not crucial, as my real target is elsewhere.

[floydg]

November 17, 1942

Highlights: Japanese sweeps over Myitkyina

• The Japanese bomb Wuchow and do minor damage, in addition to downing 8 fighters on CAP.
• A Japanese sweep at Myitkyina downs 13 Allied planes to 3 Japanese, but the Japanese did outnumber the Allies almost 4-to-1.
• The port at Wenchow is reported to have expanded to level 6 and Allied engineers expand the port at Perth to level 7.

Analysis: I'm losing too many planes over Myitkyina due to his sweeps. I'll be standing down my fighters until I can get a decent number of P-40's and P-38's available to face his onslaught.
Otherwise, not such an exciting turn.