Nomonhan Redux: Seydlitz (Japan) vs. MBatch729 (Allies)

[seydlitz_slith]

a/c production 1

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a/c production 2

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a/c production 3

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device production 1

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2

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3

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5

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[seydlitz_slith]

If everything goes well, I should surprise him with hordes of zeroes, vals, and kates hitting his inland airfield next turn.

Action should be picking up again over the next few turns in all theaters. It is just taking a bit to move the troops around. It is unusaul having to work to defend Japan from air attack since normally a Japanese player doesn't have to worry about this as long as he keeps enough points in Korea to keep the Soviets from activating. Playing with the Soviets active clearly demonstrates to me why Japan kept such a large force in Korea. If they hadn't, the bear would have certainly have chewed on them well before 1945.

[seydlitz_slith]

Turn 24: December 29, 1941

The turn had several unusual events and some disappointments for Japan. Such is the fortune of war.

To start with, I attempted to penetrate the Vladivostok mine barrier with I-153 so that I could attack his task force that kept bombarding Rashin. Unfortuneately, I-153 hit a mine and sank.

As predicted, he bombarded Rashin again. Luckily I had moved my zeroes elsewhere, and he found only a CD unit that was ready for action and engaged his ships, which were silhouetted in the moonlight.

[seydlitz_slith]

As a matter of fact, not only did they engage the bombardment TF, but they sank one of the destroyers and damaged some of the other ships.
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Naval bombardment of Rashin at 110,46 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

63 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-13, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC CHa-25, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Stalin
DD Rezhtelnyi
DD Rastoropnyi, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Ryanyi, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Tblisi, Shell hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Runway hits 2
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 1

DD Stalin firing at Rashin Fortress
DD Rezhtelnyi firing at Rashin
DD Rastoropnyi firing at Rashin Fortress
DD Ryanyi firing at Rashin Fortress
DD Tblisi firing at Rashin Fortress

[seydlitz_slith]

At daybreak, I began my airstrikes with a raid on Voroshilov.
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Morning Air attack on Voroshilov , at 112,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
G3M2 Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 25



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 29
I-153 x 48


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 4 destroyed, 11 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 2 destroyed
I-153: 2 destroyed
DB-3T: 1 destroyed on ground


Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12
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Morning Air attack on Voroshilov , at 112,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 14
Ki-27b Nate x 28



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 20
I-153 x 26


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-27b Nate: 3 destroyed

[seydlitz_slith]

He countered first with a PBY Catalina raid on my ships in Hong Kong

Morning Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes


Allied aircraft
PBY-4 Catalina x 2


Allied aircraft losses
PBY-4 Catalina: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Taigen Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x PBY-4 Catalina bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Hong Kong at 77,61

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes


Allied aircraft
PBY-4 Catalina x 2


Allied aircraft losses
PBY-4 Catalina: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
PB Nanpo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x PBY-4 Catalina bombing from 6000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

[seydlitz_slith]

He also launched an airstrike at Rashin.
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Afternoon Air attack on Rashin , at 110,46

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 4
I-16m24 x 4
SB-2 x 22


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 14

[seydlitz_slith]

He continued his attacks on Kotou, but this time I had a unit of zeroes on LRCAP there.

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Afternoon Air attack on 4th Border Defense Fortress, at 116,42 (Kotou)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 13
SB-2 x 13


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 3 destroyed
SB-2: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SB-2 bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 100 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Tainan Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (15 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
15 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000
Raid is overhead

[seydlitz_slith]

Then the KB hit Bikin. For whatever reason, most of the zeroes stayed with the carriers even though I only had the cap level at 40%.

At first, his initial cap looked manageable.

[seydlitz_slith]

Then it got ugly....swarms of fighters that overwhelmed my limited escorts and fought their way into the bombers.

[seydlitz_slith]

Despite losses, we fought our way through to the target and completed the bombing runs.
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Afternoon Air attack on Bikin , at 117,42

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 75 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
B5N2 Kate x 102
D3A1 Val x 67



Allied aircraft
I-15bis x 28
I-16m24 x 63
Mig-3 x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 21 destroyed, 31 damaged
D3A1 Val: 8 destroyed, 24 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-15bis: 1 destroyed
I-16m24: 3 destroyed
SB-2: 1 destroyed on ground



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 41