Big Guns of the Pacific: FatR (A) vs NY59Giants (J)

[FatR]

Pilot losses.

So far, the experience levels of my fighter squadrons involved in heavy combat are growing, rather than deteriorating.

[FatR]

Warship losses.

BB Jellicoe fails show up in this WitPTracker table, for some reason.

[FatR]

Short-term plans.

One positive thing can be seen in the recent developments: the invasion of Java is not going to happen in the near future. This can be quite beneficial for Allies, if I can keep Batavia and Soerabaja functioning as major airbases until Dutch get enough new planes. I'm carrying supplies from Colombo to that port with unpronounceable name on the southern coast of Java, to solve supply problems. So far DEI-Colombo shipping lanes remain blissfully free of Japanese subs, and Netties do not raid this far.

One of my problems was evacuating short-range ships, such as xAKLs and auxilaries from Java. To help them reach Colombo, my tankers dropped some fuel at Padang on Sumatra. The operation went well, and, as my ships weren't harassed by Japanese aviation in the process, I assume that NY59Giants doesn't search this area. I'm sending a cruiser TF to park there and wait for an opportunity to cause mischief. Hopefully, NY59Giants thinks that he chased my surface forces out of DEI.

Meanwhile, in SWPac Allied heavy cruisers will revisit Rabaul as a part of the Port Moresby reinforcement operation that is currently underway, and CV Saratoga currently provides cover for the main troop-transporting TF. Its fighter squadron has upgraded to Wildcats, so, hopefully, Betties from Rabaul will be in for an unpleasant surprise on the next turn. Recon and NavSearch show some ships in the harbor, but no surface combat forces. Hopefully, putting all seaplanes they carry on ASW will help against submarines. As about KB at Darwin, it cannot reach the striking range of PM in a single turn, so even if it is not out of sorties yet, my carrier is not directly threatened.

[FatR]

February 7-8

DEI: Balikpapan invaded

Exactly what it says in the title, really. 2/3rds of 38th Division and some support units have landed there. Coastal guns did some superificial damage, O16 torpedoed a xAK and DD Asagumo reportedly was lost to a mine, but it looks like the main Japanese force got on the shore undisrupted. Mini-KB hangs around and my closest major airbase is Soerabaja, so there were no air raids. Instead, my trusty B-17s raided Tarakan, which was captured intact on the previous turn and did 15 damage to refinery. In return most of IJNAF LBA bombed Balikpapan, concentrating on its port and aifield. Either this or naval bombardment caused major disruption to my base force units, but not to infantry. While Balikpapan has level 3 forts, I don't hold much hope for long resistance or major damage to the oil fields.

Meanwhile, old Japanese battleships had bombarded Cagayan. Good that the airfield was nearly empty. CL Takase is reported as sunk by collision. As this information comes from the same guys who still insist that BB Shinano was sunk, I don't really believe it. Hopefully, it, at least, is damaged.


SWPac

Things went rather well around Moresby. The expected air raid from Rabaul ran into more than 40 Wildcats and Warhawks. Both Zeros and Betties were chewed up pretty badly. A few made torpedo runs, but missed with everything. Using this distraction, my cruisers approached Rabaul and bombarded it again, shutting the airfield down on the second day. No Japanese ships were encountered, except for RO-64 on the return trip. This time DDs did their job, and all the sub's crew got for their troubles were 2 depth charge hits.

Meanwhile, Dauntlesses from Saratoga found a small TF of one Ansyu-class PB and two xAKs of the same type at Madang. It apparently was loading troops that recently took the place, because troop losses were reported after each strike. One xAK sank, and the two other ships likely are goners as well.


China

More Japanese troops approach Chuhsien. 2 divisions that spearheaded the assault moved into the hex after all. Chinese bombers launched some strikes on marching enemy columns, with satisfying results. In return, what looks like half of IJAAF continues pounding Chuhsien. I assume that the main purpose of this offensive is retaking relativel good airbases along Chinese coast. Considering, that I maneuvered my available B-17s (plus some reinforcements) between Singapore, Cagayan and Java, striking Saigon twice and Babeldaob twice, and tried to raid Shanghai with Chinese squadrons several times, the threat of 4E bombers staging sneak attacks from Chinese airfields might seem quite real.

On the Central Plains, Japanese continue to advance, clearly aiming to cut off Loyang defense area. I want to see what NY59Giants mobilized for this offensive, before beating a retreat.

[FatR]

Air production.

As you can see from the table below, US armed forces get quite a lot of fighters - 130 modern planes per month, plus 28 Bufalloes per month. As long, as I mix various types in the field, this is almost enough to keep up with Japanese air production (judging by various AARs, most people don't aim for expanding production to 200 Zeros/Hayabusas per month at the beginning).



British fighter replacement rates, however, are woefully inadequade, with 16 Hurricanes, 8 Sea Hurricanes and 8 Fulmars per month. Keeping Dutch alive and kicking into March is clearly vital. They add 12 Hurricanes per month already and will get 27 Warhawks per month in March. British, by comparison, only get 10 Martlets and 10 Mohawks per month on the same date.

As about bombers, the situation is extremely bad. Only 55 modern aircraft per month for US Army, and 21 Dauntlesses per month for US Navy. British get some stringbags, Australians get 10 Hudsons, and that's it. In March there will be much improvement, with 20 Havoks per month for US Army and 30 Hudsons III (LR)s for Australians, but, again, Dutch get much bigger reinforcements, with 73 modern bombers per month (including 45 units of punishment from God to Japanese air force that is B-25), plus some Falcons for pilots feeling suicidal.

This demonstrates the importance of demolishing the organized resistance in DEI by early March for Japanese players. And keeping at least the bases on Java alive as long as possible for Allied players (I didn't check, but I believe, that the vanilla has same replacement rates).

[FatR]

February 9-10

Darwin falls, but that was predictable. Unfortunately, constant air raids, forcing my units into combat mode, prevented me from evacuating those that didn't start pulling out before the second appearance of KB.

The decisive air battle over Soerabaja.

On 9th, the Japanese air armada, including Ki-21s, likely from Makassar, struck Soerabaja harbor and airfields. The assortment of Allied fighters, from Demons to Hurricanes, put up a good fight, partially thanks to the fact that Sallies came in unescorted. In fact, Allies now have their first aces, both from 27 Squadron RAF (on Hurricanes IIb), one of which became an ace in a day. However, Netties were almost entirely kept from harm by their Zero escorts, and bombed accurately. In the harbor the grounded wreck of BB Warspite soaked almost all the damage once again, so only one of the smallest Dutch AMcs was hit and sunk. However, the airfield, overcrowded with aircraft, offered an excellent selection of targets. On the next day, the airfield was pounded even worse, as too few fighters were in shape to fly. Overall, I lost 37 planes on the ground, including 12 precious Flying Fortresses. This is almost their monthly production. I'll be moving what's left of my strategic bombing force in DEI to India, so the units can rebuild. Overall losses per two days are 36 Japanese planes and 55 Allied. Thankfully, only 5 pilots bit the dust.


Sub wars.

Lots of Allied subs converged on Makassar Strait, so several attacks were launched. Unfortunately, all the good targets escaped without scratch. KXVIII started the turn by attacking CVL Shokaku (it is about as big as RL Ryujo), but launched only 2 torpedoes and both missed. SS-41 sank large xAK Maebasi Maru. Meanwhile, Salmon attacked old BB Kaga and, after that, CA Kumano on their way from the second night of bombarding Cagayan, but torpedoes refused to detonate both times. Porpoise attacked two large xAKs one after another on their way along the north coast of Celebes. One torpedo exploded, causing fires and heavy damage to xAK Mito Maru. Finally, Snapper launched two fruitless attacks against transports, KX was lightly scratched after meeting a surface combat TF near Palau and KXVIII found a goddamn To'su class PB worthy of four torpedoes. Not that successfully sinking anyting is a bad thing, but I would like to have a word with her commander about target prioritization. Overall, a bit disappointing for more than a dozen of subs, hunting in a narrow strait and around it, but, on the other hand, none of them took noticeable damage in return.


Enemy at the gates of Singapore

Japanese troops mass at Johore Baru, apparently prepare for crossing. Waiting for them are three infantry divisions (including 18th British Division and two divisions from III Indian Corps), supplemented by a ton of smaller units. I not only sacked Percival, but replaced the commander of III Indian Corps and all division commanders with more worthy men. As Japanese have only 25th army, and, maybe, 33rd Division in Malaya (artillery from Hong Kong also went to Balikpapan), while my troops escaped the peninsula with very light losses, this can become interesting.

[FatR]

Something that I should have done in the beginning, for the benefit of those unfamiliar with the mod:

OOB of Allied Naval Forces, February 10, 1942.

Carriers

All Allied carriers are identical to their RL/vanilla equivalents.

It should be noted, that I checked every carrier and every cruiser assigned to carrier TFs (those with highest AA ratings were picked for this task, generally I included two CAs per one CV) and replaced inept commanders.

Enterprise and Saratoga (under Adm. Halsey) are in SWPac, with their main base being Sydney. Enterpise currently undergoes repairs in Sydney shipyard after the torpedo hit in the Battle of Eastern DEI (about 20 days until readiness). Both CVs are short on divebombers.

Lexington and Hornet (under Adm. Sherman) just returned to PH after the Hokkaido raid. They will be joined by Wasp in 8 days. This time will be used for routine repairs and upgrading some destroyers. After that, they will either head to SWPac, or bomb Kwajalein, retreat west and then head to SWPac. The former variant will get my ships to the theater faster and in better shape, the latter can misdirect my opponent and draw his attention to CentPac.

CV Illustrious and CVL Hermes hang in Colombo. Hermes is repairing at the piercide (about 10 more days until readiness). Illustrious' fighter squadrons, both on Sea Hurricanes now, have only 2/3 of their full complement of planes. After Hermes is repaired, I intend to visit DEI waters once more, in search of targets of opportunity.

In the next four months, three Essex-class carriers arrive in Eastern USA and Yorktown will be out of the drydock in Pearl Harbor. After that, there will be a five-month lull in US CV reinforcements, unless I start converting BC Constitution after the repairs. British get only Implacable (in five months) for 1942.

As about CVEs, one arrives in six months and three more in eigth. After that, nothing until summer of 1943. Japanese will actually have significant superiority in light carriers.

Allied CV roster:

[FatR]

Adding to the above, these carriers that have no direct counterpart in Vanilla are, of course, their own beasts. Tikonderoga class is an Essex variant, slightly improved in every area.

OOB: Battleships

All old USN battleships in this mod can be put through a conversion, which replaces their medium-caliber guns with 127/38 DP turrets and increases their AA potential considerably. Unfortunately, this takes up to 200 days. Even more unfortunately, I learned where Puget Sound shipyard is only well after starting the game, so San Francisco is now overloaded with repairing warships.

Currently Allies have:

2 Nevada-class BBs (10x356/45, slow) - Nevada will be repaired quite soon, but Oklahoma is taken out of the war for a while by the above-described conversion. Converting it was a mistake, I think. Oldest battleships are better candidates for sacrificial missions in the opening months.

2 Pennsylvania-class BBs (12x356/45, slow) - Arizona finishes repairs and the first uprade in PH, Pennsylvania arrives at the East Coast in 19 days.

2 Tennessee-class BBs (12x356/50, slow) - won't be out of shipyards after PH for many months. California isn't even in the shipyard yet - PH has no space, and she won't make it to the West Coast in the current condition.

3 New Mexico-class BBs (12x356/50, slow) - New Mexico is en route to Noumea, Mississippi is almost ready to sail at PH and Idaho underoges the conversion.

3 Colorado-class BBs (8x406/45, slow) - the best of old battleships. None is going to be seaworthy any time soon, as Maryland still has alot of damage to repair after PH, and other two are in the process of conversion.

1 Constitution-class BC (8x406/50, fast) - Constitution is a good ship, which will be fully repaired in 2.5 months, but it can be converted to a CV. What I will do with it depends on my losses by the time it will be ready to sail.

1 North Carolina-class BB (8x406/50, fast) - Louisiana is en route to PH.

1 South Dakota-class BB, with 3 more arriving within 4 months (9x406/50, fast) - South Dakota undergoes maintenance in Sydney, after accumulating significant damage on the way there.

Iowa-class battleships (9x406/50, fast) will arrive starting in November.

1 Queen Elizabeth-class BB (8x381/42, slow) - Warspite is a grounded wreck in Soerabaja. Hopefully, it'll serve as a bomb bait and flak battery until the fall of the city.

1 Revenge-class BB (8x381/42, slow) - Ramillies arrives at UK on the next day.

1 Repulse-class BC (6x381/42, fast) - Repulse is en route to Colombo.

1 Anson-class BC (9x381/50, fast) - Howe still requires three more months of repair at Colombo.

1 Jellicoe-class BB (8x381/42, fast) - Beatty sits in Colombo, waiting for some seaworthy battlewagon company.

1 Hood-class BC (8x381/42, fast) - Hood arrives in four months.

1 De Zeven Provincien-class BC (9x280/54.5, super-fast - five hexes of cruise speed) - De Zeven Provincien repairs at the pieside in Colombo harbor. Must be transferred somewhere else to finish repairs any time soon.

As you can see, not much of a force in either ocean. I hope to concentrate 2 new and 3 old USN battleships in SWPac within a month. On the other side of Australia, I have only one fast BB and one weak BC (which might require serious maintenance upon arrival) to contest IJN main thrust. Also, even my newest battleships still are weaker than Japanese 12x410mm superdreadnoughts.

The roster of Allied battleships and battlecruisers (Nevada, Oklahoma and Arizona didn't fit into the screen):

[FatR]

OOB: Cruisers

Long story short, I have 18 USN heavy cruisers (2 with 10x203/55, the rest with 9x203/55, not much, if any, real deviations in design from RL), 8 USN "light" cruisers (15x152/47), 2 British + 2 Australian heavy cruisers, 1 Atlanta-class CLAA and 1 decent RN CL (Southampton class, 12x152/50). 2 USN CAs (Wichita-class) can be converted into CVLs, so it is better not to lose them, but Wichita is one of the few good Allied ships fit for battle in the Indian Ocean (edit: i.e., there at the moment). All of these ships, except CA Chicago, which is still being patched after a sub attack around Port Moresby, are ready to fight. There are also 19 smaller and older CLs. But, as the game demonstrated so far, these perform poorly against IJN. While on the paper many of them are more than a match for most of Japanese CLs, in practice Japs so far run circles around small British and Dutch CLs, probably thanks to the gap in crews and captains experience. Only four good cruisers are in the Indian Ocean, and ther rest are scattered across the Pacific. Within the next six months I get one CA, one good CL, three CLAAs and a couple of old CLs.


OOB: Destroyers

Allies have 99 active destroyers and about 30 more will arrive within the next 6 months. Once again, there is a wealth of DDs in the Pacific, and dire shortage behind the ABDA zone.


OOB: Subs

Allies have 69 subs, including 52 oceanic and 12 short-range subs, plus 24 subs due to arrive within the next six months.

[Capt. Harlock]

2 USN CAs (Wichita-class) can be converted into CLs, so it is better not to lose them, but Wichita is one of the few good Allied ships fit for battle in the Indian Ocean.

Don't you mean "converted into CVL's"? And what makes Wichita more useful than the Astoria class? IIRC they have the same weapons and armor.

[FatR]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

2 USN CAs (Wichita-class) can be converted into CLs, so it is better not to lose them, but Wichita is one of the few good Allied ships fit for battle in the Indian Ocean.

Don't you mean "converted into CVL's"? And what makes Wichita more useful than the Astoria class? IIRC they have the same weapons and armor.

Yeah, that's what I meant. Missed a "V" somehow). Going to fix the post now. And Wichita is currently more useful than other cruisers by virtue of being available for diversionary operations in DEI right now (Cornwall just finished repairs). I can send more ships around Australia, of course (Torres Strait is now closed, as Darwin is in Japanese hands, and KB might lurk nearby), but this will take time. I hope NY59Giants might get a bit careless with landing operations and/or NavSearch, now that he chased my capital ships out of Batavia and Soerabaja.

[FatR]

February 11-14, 1942.

Quiet turns, just air war, mop-up of insignificant Allied bases in Japanese rear areas (the only one of them with a garrison was Davao, and even there it's only two weak batallions), small-scale action in China and Allied sub attacks foiled by duds. Only O21 was succesful, finding DD Asagumo, which survived the mine, after all, and sending it under for good. I belive that NY59Giants uses bombardment in ground combat more than advisable under the current version of the game - he prefaces almost every attack with it, and still bombards Tarakan. Although, maybe he aims to kill engineers in the latter case.

The event with the most strategic importance happened far behind the lines - 6th Australian Division is loading on transports in Colombo and heading for Northwestern Australia (through Perth), in accordance with my overall stragegy of reinforcing SWPac. I'm concerned about lack of experienced troops in Cairns-Townsville area and Port Moresby. While elements of 7th Australian soon will replace 6th in Colombo, this decision leaves eastern coast of Australia weakly protected. But it's a strategic dead end anyway, for both sides (at least when northern coast is already overrun by Japanese).

[FatR]

February 15-18, 1942.

Japanese march on, but there weren't many unexpected events.

Combined Arms

On the night of February 16 the Allied cruiser TF bombarded Bilition and escaped to the north unscathed. I was afraid, that Netties will be able to intercept them on the next turn, as my cruisers decided to hang in Singapore by the evening of 16th, but everything went well. Japanese lost at least a bunch of planes on the groung, and Zero sweeps from Biliton did not fly to Soerabaja during the day. As a result, Sallies from Makassar slammed into my CAP and were horribly decimated. NY59Giants did not launch any airfield raids against Java on the next turn, so it seems his airforce took a significant heat. This pause was much needed, as my fighter squadrons verged on turning into sitting ducks, due to accumulation of damaged planes.


So, that's where Japanese paratroops are

Namely, in Northern Australia. Daily Waters was captured by paradrop on 17th, cutting off the remnants of Darwin's defenders (thankfully, there weren't much of them, already). This new commitment makes me think that NY59Giants has big plans indeed for this theater.


The first bastion falls

Balikpapan was taken by shock attack on February 17. Thankfully, the shattered remnants of my troops have retreated to Samarinda, so NY59Giants probably wouldn't want to haul the main part of 38th Division from there immediately. I didn't see how much damage oil fields and refineries took yet, but I hope for the main Japanese force to stay there for one more week.


Making the silent victory closer, one step at a time

SS Plunger put two torpedoes in AS Heian Maru right off the coast of Japan, near Hamamatsu, on 17th and returned on the next day to finish her off, but all torpedoes failed to detonate. Still, "fires, heavy damage" result, with the ship failing to move out of the hex after the attack might well mean fatal damage. A half-dozen more sub encounters around Japanese Islands, including an attack by Gudgeon on CVL Unho ended in nothing. Maybe NY59Giants does not pay enough attention to air patrols around Home Islands, as I have only 5 subs currently on the patrol there...


In the meantime, both Midway and Dutch Harbor are fortified and expanded. I hope to use them as forward sub bases, if I can hold them, but I'm not sure if it is at all possible to load torpedoes on Midway, even with an AS.

[FatR]

Looks like I was incorrect about the number of my subs patrolling Japanese waters - about 5 more just arrived there during the last turn.

Anyway, I decided to launch two major fleet operations when making the last turn. The first is Kwajalein raid. While attacking a large base in the middle of the ocean with only two carriers, one of which still carries Bufallos is somewhat risky, I don't like the thought of two CVs either hanging in PH until Wasp arrives, or moving to SWPac when I don't know KB position. Sherman's TF will make a long detour and attempt to approach from southwest. To minimize risks to carriers, Louisiana is included into the TF as a torpedo bait.

Meanwhile, Saratoga will sail once again, covering a new batch of reinforcements for Port Moresby and supporting a new bombardment raid against Rabaul, as well as the evacuation of Lark Batallion from Gasmata. The risk might be extremely high, but, I hope, if KB appears in the vicinity while my forces approach, strikes against small transport groups, now close to PM, will notify me about that. South Dakota will sail with the bombardment TF, in case NY59Giants now has a greeting committee in Rabaul.


China Situation

Frontlines slowly coagulate in Central and Southern China. Also looks like NY59Giants still has at least one division planning for Ichang. Don't know why a Japanese player might bother with retaking it. It might serve as a place to kill some Chinese, if they launch an attack there in the debute, but otherwise has no economic importance, and is located in a strategic dead end.

Map of Northern China on February 18, 1942:

[FatR]

And the map of Southern China:

[Smeulders]

Ichang does lie on a road that can lead you to the rear of Changsha, so it has some importance in that.

[FatR]

A road through forested hexes crossed by a river (with a good road on the Chinese side of the river) and controlled by a Chinese base? No, that doesn't look promising. Although, I'll probably fight for Ichang anyway, if NY59Giants attacks within the next few weeks. With two operations going on, he won't be able to bring an overwhelming force, keeping some Japanese troops from participating in these operations is worthwhile, and I have several units with full preparation for Ichang anyway.

[FatR]

February 19-20, 1942

A black day for IJA

Japanese crossed into Singapore on 19th, and looks like they had only original troops of 25th Army with them. The results were not disappointing - for Allies.

Ground combat at Singapore (50,84)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 15040 troops, 347 guns, 98 vehicles, Assault Value = 2370
Defending force 65633 troops, 872 guns, 672 vehicles, Assault Value = 2088

Japanese adjusted assault: 118
Allied adjusted defense: 3341
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 28 (fort level 4)
Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
3951 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 127 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 218 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (0 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
401 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (0 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Assaulting units:
14th Tank Regiment
18th Division
16th Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
2nd Recon Regiment
4th Infantry Regiment
5th Division
56th Recon Regiment
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
113th Infantry Regiment
2nd Engineer Regiment
23rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
148th Infantry Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
25th Army
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
56th Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
5th Mortar Battalion
1st RF Gun Battalion
2nd Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st Malay Battalion
45th Indian Brigade
1st Mysore Battalion
FMSV Brigade
2nd Malay Battalion
Singapore Fortress
3rd Cavalry Regiment
1st Manchester Battalion
2nd Gordons Battalion
44th Indian Brigade
11th Indian Division
2nd Loyal Battalion
1st Hyderabad Battalion
18th British Division
SSVF Brigade
22nd Australian Brigade
2/17 Dogra Battalion
27th Australian Brigade
9th Indian Division
112th RAF Base Force
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
AHQ Far East
1st Indian Heavy AA Regiment
Malayan Air Wing
3rd Heavy AA Regiment
2nd ISF Base Force
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
24th NZ Pioneer Coy
1st ISF Base Force
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
110th RAF Base Force
Malaya Army
3rd HK&S Light AA Regiment
224 Group RAF
Singapore Base Force
III Indian Corps
111th RAF Base Force

A massive 100-bomber raid against my ground troops didn't help. I briefly pondered whether I should counterattack immediately, and decided not to. Even if Japanese just lost 1/4th of their AV, which might be an optimistic estimate, considering, that most of their losses were taken by non-combat elements, the attack is still likely to stall. Instead, I'll bombard and defend. A siege, continuing well into March, if not longer, and drawing even more IJA troops to Singapore is a victory in itself.


In other news, Japanese sweeped Soerabaja again, and my fighters were massacred by Zeros. CAP arrived piecemeal on both days, perhaps becase the airfield was overstaked. I'm clearly doing something wrong, because Allied fighter losses are at least three times that of Japanese so far. Perhaps I should bother with CAP flying different attitudes and picking optimal bands, and just set everyone's attitude on maximum.

[FatR]

February 21-24, 1942


Fiasko at Coral Sea

On 23th my third operation against Rabaul commenced, but things went awry. I planned to strike the harbor with Dauntlesses, while LRCAPping Saratoga's TF with about 45 Warhawks from Port Moresby. The port strike achieved little - although Wildcats, at considerable cost, shielded the dive bombers from CAP, the only result was hitting an AV once. Japanese flak was quite strong.

Then Warhawks mostly refused to fly, and with only 2 of them on the scene, remaining Wildcats failed to even touch the incoming Netty attack from Rabaul. Strong flak minimized the damage, but Saratoga was hit by 3 torpedoes. She's at 58 flotation damage (40 major) and limps to Townsville.

During the night, the surface combat TF bombarded Rabaul, meeting no resistance, and the airfield was trashed, as usual. However, ships in the harbor were completely ignored. Also, DD Ellet struck a mine, but damage was light.

Oh, and RO-subs, that partol around the tip of New Guinea, encountered both of my TFs, but failed to score any hits.

Even if the evacuation of Gazmata won't be interrupted and Saratoga survives, this is a major blow for the Allies. I grew too careless and used an excessively compicated battle plan.


Fighting on the ground...

We exchange bombardments at Singapore, and Allies come out on top, so far. However, I won't be able to keep firing for more than a few more turns, because supplies dwindle noticeably.

In China, I attempted to counterattack his forces, moving to cut off the Loyang area. The exchange of attack was undecisive (on 21th my deliberate attack against two divisions produced equal losses, on 22th the third division arrived in the hex, shock attacked and inflicted significant losses on the Chinese), but any stalemate benefits me in the long run.

In DEI, Ambon was taken.


...And under the seas.

Allies subs launched a lot of attacks, primarily around Kendari, and against a convoy moving around Sakhalin. A xAKL from the latter was claimed by Cachalot, while all the other attacks seem to have missed or (more often) foiled by defective torpedoes. Several ASW attacks, launched in return, did nothing. Allied subs clearly dominate Japanese escorts at this point and don't massacre them only thanks to the high dud rate.

And most importantly, Sturgeon put a torpedo into the CVL, which was reported as Zuiho, off Manado. NY59Giants, however, said that it was another carrier in his e-mail. An ammo explosion appeared in the repaly, but the combat report indicated only "fires" and there was no sinking sound.

[FatR]

February 25-28, 1942

Carrier operations

Adm. Sherman raid to Kwajalein ended in a whimper. No Japanese ships were detected within the striking range, and Devastators did not fly against Kwajalein's port for some reason. The last week I'm just plagued by bombers refusing to fly. British obviously don't like the idea of bombing Pisanuloke, and B-17s from Port Moresby (where the airfiled just went to level 4) failed to raid Rabaul. Anyway, Allied carriers retreated immediately after being spotted. While Saratoga seems to be out of immediate danger, the repairs might take many months, particularly because she seems to be too big for the shipyard in Sydney, and I don't want more knocked-out carriers.

Meanwhile, Force X (British carriers) sneaks along the southern coast of Java, searching for an opportunity to strike at Jap surface forces. Several TFs are currently observed in Makassar Strait and east of Java, but I hope they'll come closer by the next turn.


Surprise in Burma

Japanese forces suddenly appeared next to Moulmein! Looks like I seriously screwed up, expecting Japanese to come through Pisanuloke and Rahaeng, and being supported by air operations from Chiang Mai. Instead, looks like they marched straight from Bangkok, by the road that wasn't observed by my recon planes! A great move by NY59Giants. I deluded myself, thinking that other players will use my own preferred plan of attack, thought that the presence of a large force in Pisanuloke confirms my ideas, and, worse of all, did not recon the roads, once 33rd Division did not show up in Malaya. As a result, the opportunity to pound Japanese troop columns from the air is missed.


Assault at Clark

Japanese launched a disastrous attack on 27th.

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 32173 troops, 335 guns, 297 vehicles, Assault Value = 1076
Defending force 42080 troops, 731 guns, 432 vehicles, Assault Value = 1380

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese adjusted assault: 550
Allied adjusted defense: 2386
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
5033 casualties reported
Squads: 75 destroyed, 232 disabled
Non Combat: 77 destroyed, 165 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 35 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 50 (5 destroyed, 45 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1749 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 112 disabled
Non Combat: 48 destroyed, 227 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 58 (12 destroyed, 46 disabled)

I'll counterattack on the next turn. Hopefully, the shock attack disrupted Japanese sufficiently. Moreover, I'm moving forward everything I can from Bataan, where troops that prepared for Bataan camped until now, to join in the attack. The supply levels at Clark-Bataan are in the red, but units still have enough, so it is probably my last chance to give a good battle.

In other news from frontlines, Chinese scored a significant victory, when two Japanese brigades moved into the railroad hex northeast of Ichang and were crushed by 6 Chinese corps. Splitting Japanese forces wasn't a good idea.


Air war.

Japanese continue to wipe the floor with my fighters, alhough I still maintain the CAP presence over Soerabaja. 3rd AVG squadron attempted to surprise Japanese raiders over Singapore, but instead my pilots were suprised by much-stronger-than-usual Zero sweeps and lost 11 planes for no kills. Either I suck at managing fighters, or NY59Giants is that good. It seems, that on average I lose 3-4 fighters for every killed Zero. But, at least, March is here, and so are modern planes for the Dutch airforce.

IJAAF continues to pound Clark Field, Singapore and Chuhsien with massive raids. It should be noted, that NY59Giants exchanged all the crap bombers (Ki-36, Ki-32, Ki-30) in the frontline units for early model Sallies from Manchukuo. Still, bombardments don't seem to do much anywhere except at Clark. I think, that at least in China he would be better off concentrating on harassing my troop movements. Bombing infantry in trenches, particularly in forested hexes, just doesn't do much.