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

[FatR]

July 19 - July 22, 1942: Battle of Madang

On 20th Marauder skipbombers from PM suddenly sortied without escort against a Japanese convoy at Madang, hitting an APD, despite aerial opposition. On 21-22th Lightnings from PM swept Madang, facing Oscars and Tonys and shooting down up to 14 (reports may exaggerate the result) at the cost of three ops losses. Then two squadrons of Marauders flew in search of targets and found a large convoy of xAPs. Despite still fierce aerial opposition and intense flak, at least 3 ships are reported hit and sinking sounds were heard later during the replay. Bomber losses during these raids amounted to 13 planes. Not that bad, considering that at least one sentai of Oscars and a chutai of Nicks were on high alert, lack of available escorts and surprisingly poor coordination (I expected better from units with good leaders and under the same command).

Meanwhile, the Japanese air offensive against Rangoon seems to be petering out, with Tojos losing twice the number of Allied planes shot down on the last turn. Zeros don't show up anymore.

Subs also continue to bring the good news. USN subs sank a xAK on the doorstep of Home Islands and a subchaser near Truck, while Dutch double-teamed and sank a xAK south of Medan.

Finally, Tennant Creek was taken without resistance. I plan to bring a corps HQ there and build up the airfield before moving further. But the true assault will be launcned not from there, but from Normanthon, along the coast of Carpentaria Gulf, particularly if Michael starts reconning Tennant Creek to keep tabs on my forces..

[FatR]

July 23 - July 28, 1942


Assault on Pegu.

Well, the quiet and predictable flow of turns was disrupted on July 28 by Japanese 15th Army suddenly crossing the river and attacking my forces at Pegu, most of which were in rest mode, to save supply. While Japanese air efforts at Burma were significant over last weeks (since my last report, Michael started night-bombing Rangoon, and overall enjoyed success, pushing my bombers to Chittagong, so that I can bring in more fighters), but I did not expect a push in Burma before the end of his DEI campaign and therefore paid little attention to his forces. The results, together with the failure to stockpile resources in Burma, might just have cost me the campaign:

Ground combat at Pegu (55,53)
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 48697 troops, 515 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 1686
Defending force 35290 troops, 263 guns, 351 vehicles, Assault Value = 1435
Japanese adjusted assault: 1811
Allied adjusted defense: 1963
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
5074 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 222 disabled
Non Combat: 17 destroyed, 288 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 21 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3844 casualties reported
Squads: 77 destroyed, 132 disabled
Non Combat: 71 destroyed, 250 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 73 (8 destroyed, 65 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Division
Imperial Guards Division
33rd Division
143rd Infantry Regiment
112th Infantry Regiment
55th Engineer Regiment
8th RF Gun Battalion
15th Army
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

Defending units:
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
Tenasserim BAF Battalion
17th Indian Division
1st Burma Division
Railway BAF Battalion
2nd Royal Tank Regiment
7th Hussars Regiment
36th Chinese Division
Rangoon BAF Battalion
RM Viper Force
46th Indian Brigade
4th Burma Rifles Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
3rd Burma Rifles Battalion
88th Chinese Division
NCAC
Burma Corps


Independent battalions took most damage. As I have no Burmese reinforcements, it is pretty much irrecoverable.

The current situation around Burma. Note, that the buildup at Akyab and Cox's Bazaar still is not sufficient to move my air assets from Chittagong to there:




USN sails south.

The Pacific Fleet carrier core is ordered to leave Pearl Harbor and move to South Pacific. I've formed two TF (no escorts for more), consisting of 4 CVs, 1 fast BB, 1 CLAA, 2 CA and 8 DDs each. All ships are fully upgraded. All carrier torpedo squadrons are upgraded to Avengers. I'm still stuck with some SBD-2s, though.



Birth of the legend?

July so far shapes as the best month for my subs since the beginnig of the war. They have sunk for certain at least 6 ships, with 1-2 more probably still unreported. No subs were sunk or crippled in return. In fact, the only thing that keeps IJN ASW groups for obliteration by the very subs they hunt is unreliable USN torpedos. Even so, my subs have killed at least 4 SCs and 7 PBs since the beginning of the war, nearly all from decicated ASW groups.

Notably, Wahoo started her war career by cleanly sinking a xAKL north of Sapporo in her very first attack. Hopefully, she'll continue in this vein.

[FatR]

On the Allied warplane production.

As the beginning of August is about to start the great shift in the balance of airpower, let's look at what Allies have right now. Note, that the air war was rather bloody in this game (I'll post what the exact numbers will be around 7th of August in the next statistics review, but on average both sides are losing around 350+ planes this month) and I engaged in a few attritional air campaigns waged on less-than-ideal terms. The table from Tracker below shows all planes with the current pool greater than a dozen. As about the squadron conditions, all fighters squadrons and all non-restricted bomber squadrons are currently filled out (except ones that didn't yet replace recent losses). Many US restricted bomber squadrons have less than full complement. Most Chinese squadrons are unable to upgrade planes due to supply shortages.



As you can see, the fighter situation is fairly safe and Allies easily can easily maintain the existing tempo, while phasing out old plane types. In particular, USN has major and relatively idle fighter reserves, so it should probably shoulder a bigger combat load.

However, while at least some Allied nations now have more short-ranged torpedo bombers and dive bombers than I know what to do with, the level bomber situation is rather disheartening. USAAF actually has more 4E bombers than 2E bombers available. Also, I need to put at least one Canadian bomber squadrons on the frontline ASAP, because 57 level bombers seem like a treasure trove on this background.

[FatR]

July 29 - August 1, 1942

Burma Front.

British Wellingtons and Tenth USAAF's 4Es launched some successful bombing raids against Japanese troops at Pegu on 29th-30th, pushing aside weak Tojo opposition (with the help of Hurricanes from Rangoon) and causing pretty heavy casualties. I kept them on the ground on the next day, though. No need to push my luck. Having one squadron of Warhawks on night CAP proved to be an effective deterrent against night bombing and now Japanese lose more planes than they destroy on the ground


Operation Arrow update.

With only about 40 planes (including some Wirraways), the supply situation at Tennant Creek had deteriorated quicky. Unfortunately, I still don't have much dedicated transport planes for the air bridge. More bombers will be put to hauling supplies, but it seems that the supply difficulties might prove too big for the overland offensive, after all.


Operation Recovery update.

I think I'll combine the landing at Rossel Island and the airdrop at Finschafen with sending troops to Merauke, as I have more than enough ships for two landing operations. I already have the future garrizon with considerable preparation, and Merauke remains unoccupied so far. This will require an extra good coordination of forces, to mimimize the risk of IJN interference, though.

I also concentrated almost 50 4E bombers to support this operation, and more will arrive soon. I think between this and 2E bombers from Port Moresby (where the airfield just reached Level 7) I should be able to shut down the closest Japanese airbase at Gasmata. Hopefully, my airbase at Cooktown will be ready to service heavies by the day D, as flying from Cairns seems to put too much strain on them.


Sub wars update

A half-dozen of Allied subs got damaged by Japanese destroyers and aviation over the last two turns. None seem to be in danger of sinking, though. Enemy avoided all harm, thanks to the effort of the guys who invented Mk 14. Still, considering that even in the shallow water of Malacca Strait Japanese succeeded only at damaging my subs, I see no reason to change my general sub deployment (my main patrol fields are west of Nagasaki, south of Tokyo, between Luzon and Formosa, around Truk and south of Cam Rahn for fleet subs; Malacca Strait and Solomons/around Rabaul for short-ranged subs). Damaged subs will be repaired, unlike sunk merchantment and escorts. And constant attacks all over the map no doubt force Japanese to commit significant air resources to ASW.

[FatR]

August 2-3, 1942

Not much new. Every Allied bomber capable of reaching Pegu from Chittagong was put on ground attack at 6k, while Rangoon Hurricanes provided cover. Over two days, air raids inflicted up to 800 casualties on Japanese troops, but Tojos managed to break through en masse to a lone Hudson squadron and decimate it. We shot down some Tojos too, but not enough to compensate for this.

NY59Giants is taking minor bases in DEI right now. The only remaining major centre of resistance is Soerabaja with more than 1500 AV, but constant air raids are swiftly exhausting my supply stores there. Hopefully, the buildup at Merauke, that will start as a part of Operation Recovery, will force his to pay attention to eastern DEI. I think that jumping from Merauke forward to DEI is too risky without clear carrier superiority (they are too far to , but I believe he will be forced to reinforce the closes bases to prevent me from taking them on cheap, therefore weakening the defenses at New Guinea. Or, if he doesn't, I'll try occupying something like Aru Island on cheap with a ton of engineers, once Merauke is built up enough to launch a massed skipbomber strike in response to any counter-invasion attempt.

My biggest dream at this point is a Japanese attempt to unseat me from New Guinea entirely. With a level 7 airfield at Port Moresby, level 2 at Terapo, level 3 at Horn Island, level 3 swiftly rising to level 4 at Cooktown, newly opened airstrips at Buna and Milne Bay; at least 8 2E squadrons trained in LowN, plus two squadrons of divebombers, and my fleet concentrating nearby, this will be a perfect chance to bleed Combined Fleet of ships. As PM has level 5 fortification and terrain bonus (all my major bases in SWPac are built up to this level by now), taking it will be next to impossible.

[FatR]

August 4-7, 1942

The battle on the doorstep of India.

Japanese are landing at Port Blair under Mini-KB cover, with 2/3rds of 21th Division and some support troops. The first deliberate attack came at 1:2 odds and did not drop level 3 forts, but caused higher casualties to the defenders. I'll fly in some infantry from Colombo, using Catalinas, and try to hold on.

Meanwhile, Japanese deliberate attacked at Pegu on 6th. Odds were 1:3, and Japanese took higher men casualties, but inflicted higher troop casualties. As I just get a large bunch of air support to Akyab, another massed air raid against Japanese troop formations at Pegu is ordered for the next turn, and this time Blenheims and Beauforts will be able to participate. An Indian brigade currently marches down the coast from Akyab to reinforce the defenders, and I hope they'll be able to hold until that.


Air raids against Gazmata.

Marked the first time I deployed a large mass of 4Es - over 50 - in a single strike. However, despite inflicting noticeably higher casualties on defending Zeros over 4 days, we failed to shut down the airfield. Level bombers from PM largely failed to sortie, and the damage was not enough. Now I must stand down my planes to rest and repair.


Japanese carriers?

Navsearch found something interesting this turn:


I don't known what this might mean, but USN CVs (now in Suva) are ordered towards Koumac, to be in position to interfere. I don't intend to move them out of Allied waters until the Operation Recovery starts (now not all transports and escort ships are concentrated yet), but if my opponent intends to invade something, I'll try to interfere.


China woes.

20 or so turns back I started preparing an offensive against Loyang-Tsiaotso area, as my troops in Nanyang are dying out from hunger, so I need to take some industry, or at least expend them instead of allowing them to perish without a shot (strangely, troops in non-base hexes have enough supply). Secret troop redeployments for a simultaneous twin attack were unfolding nicely, until only one corps moved into the open hex right to the west from Loyang, instead of the whole army. Guess all the surprise is blown now.

[FatR]

The statistics for the eigth months of the war:


The last three months were marked by some bad decisions on my part, leading to needless losses. As a result, the point gap continues to widen.

[FatR]

Detailed air losses:

[FatR]

Pilot losses and top pilots:



Not many new aces and Hurricanes continue to dominate the roster...

[FatR]

Allied ships witn point value 15 or above sunk:

[FatR]

Japanese ships with point value 10 or above sunk:



Not much to boast. The biggest warship catch by far was from unfortunate (for Japanese) accident with Soerabaja coast defenses. I need to do better.

[Capt. Harlock]

The biggest warship catch by far was from unfortunate (for Japanese) accident with Soerabaja coast defenses. I need to do better.

And both CA's were sunk by mines. Time to get some admirals who know how to conduct a surface fight!

[FatR]

I handpick my admirals for important TFs, of course. My capital ships losses are mostly from aviation and subs as well. It seems that both of us do not seek battleship engagements. Also, both Japanese CAs listed are most likely not sunk, judging by Michael's mention of that engagement in the War Room. At least Japanese tanker losses are very high for this stage in the game.

[FatR]

August 8-13, 1942: The Storm Before the Storm.


August 13th and 14th saw heavy fighting at Soerabaja, attacked by five divisions and supporting troops, at Port Blair and in the skies over Rangoon.

At Soerabaja two deliberates came at 1:1, dropped the forts only from 5 to 4, and caused 8k+ casualties to both sides. Allies lost more squads destroyed and more vehicles, but still, at this rate Japanese will need several weeks more to crack this coconut.

At Port Blair the first attack came at 1:1 and dropped the forts to 2, the second came at 1:2. Casualties were slightly in Japanese favor. I'm continuing to airlift troops to Port Blair, and at this rate Allied perspectives look good.

Over Rangoon, waves of Zeros and Tojos, including, it seems, elite Zero crews from Mini-KB, were handled rougly by Hurricanes and Warhawks, taking 30:16 losses. Allied pilot losses were nearly nonexistent, while Japanese surely lost at least 10-15. Veeery nice. As a small consolation gift for Japanese, I forgot to stand down some Hudsons from Chittagong, after cancelling another Pegu raid, and they got chewed.


Operation Recovery: Ready, Steady...

The Rossel Island invasion convoy has started to load at Suva. Lesser convoys, meant for Merauke and Milne Bay are loaded already. As a side note, I was wrong to choose Suva as my main staging area in SWPac. The port potential is too small. After this I'm going to use Noumea instead.

About 85% of the Pacific Fleet surface assets are concentrating around Effate, meanwhile. The sighting of Japanese carriers, I mentioned previously, seems to be a false alarm. KB is likely to hand at Truk now, so I intend to swiftly unload my invasion TF and retreat after, at worst, the second turn. To achieve this speed, the TF is composed of APs, with only one fast xAK.


Tsiaotso-Loyang Offensive.

You can see the situation below. Looks like Michael isn't checking this corner of the map... too bad for him. The first attack is scheduled for the next turn. Loyang and the hex where my southern group is are garrizoned very weakly, witn only one unit, Tsiaoso has three, with reported 15k of troops. I believe I have a good chance to unhinge the entire Japanese position in Central China and draw Japanese reserves from other theaters.

[FatR]

August 14-15, 1942

A quick update:

- New air battles over Rangoon and Gazmata ended heavily in Japanese favor. Over Gazmata my sweeping Lightnings and Wildcats (the latter from Buna) met a 100-plane CAP and were overwhelmed by numbers.

- The first attack in China routed 41st Division. A good start. Michael started reacting this turn, but Loyang and Tsiaotso are going to be attacked on this turn, so it is largely too late.

- Sudden growth in detection of Effate (to 1) and suspicious sightings around make me think, that my hand is revealed prematurely. I'll decide whether to cancel the Rossel Island invasion or not on the next turn. Reinforcemet of NG will proceed anyway, as I'm willing to accept a battle under solid LBA CAP.

[FatR]

August 16-17, 1942

Air battles over Burma
For these two days Allies have lost 68 planes and Japanese 60, nearly all over Burma. Bombers repeatedly flattened the Rangoon airfield, but Kates from Mini-KB decided to glidebomb and were shredded by flak at low altitude. It seems, that I'm losing the battle, because my defending squadrons have 3/4th of their planes damaged after this turn. Pilot losses are very light, though.


Port Blair
Fell on 17th. I really hoped to hold out there, but the first deliberate attack dropped the forts, and then engineers managed to reduce them after the second attack and then my garrizon was history.


China
My attacks bogged down. At Tsiaotso Chinese troops took disproportional casualties, at Loyang Japanese ended worse off on the second day, so I probably will be able to take it.


Operation Recovery status
I decided to cancel it, except for the convoy to Merauke and reinforcement of New Guinea. Milne Bay still cannot provide any real support, the chance of meeting with IJN is higher than I like, and, moreover, the garrizon seems to consist of a Naval Guard unit and a SNLF Coy. My force (1st Marine Division and support units with 40+ prep points) might not be able to overwhelm them immediately. Moreover, recent air battles demonstrated to me, that the Japanese airforce still is very strong. Therefore I decided to avoid the temptation of using my naval forces just because I have them.

After the next turn or two I'll present my middle-term plans for the future. In all likelyhood, I'll forego any major amphibious operations around New Guinea and Solomons, because the Japanese part of the area is well-fortified now, and I do not want to throw my ships against these defenses until my LBA can soften them.

Southern Gilberts, though, are still unoccupied. Establishing a foothold there in near future seems to be a low-risk operation.


Operation Arrow status
On the other hand, the airlift finally got enough supply for all units present into Tennant Creek. I'm considering an armored advance towards Daly Waters in the near future.

[FatR]

Sub warfare Considerations.

To illustrate why dedicated ASW groups do not really work for Japan, our losses for the last two months:



This list might be somewhat incomplete. At least one more Kiso-E PB and one xAKL are almost certainly sunk.

On the other hand, I've had no contact with Japanese tankers for months. I'm starting to suspect that my esteemed opponent deliberately continues running resource convoys through sub-infested deep waters, to keep my attention focused on them and prevent my subs from changing their standard patrol zones and seeking out his tanker convoys, likely moving south of Mindanao.

[FatR]

August 18-19, 1942


Burma

Michael stood down his planes for this turn. (Doesn't seem like bad weather kept them grounded.) This might cost Japanese dearly, as my beaten-down squadrons got a chance to repair their damaged planes.
Masses of Allied bombers raided Pegu and took out around 800 guys, in exchange for 8 2E planes, despite lack of cover. As far as supporting ground troops goes, Allied airforce definitely does a much better job in this campaign so far.
Meanwhile, a large mass of Japanese troops is detected moving through Moulmein... Since the last battles Pegu was reinforced by one weak brigade, another is on the way, but won't be in time. Supply levels are now sufficient to keep all units fully stocked.


Southwestern Pacific

My attepmt to bombard Lunga by a cover cruisers force that now doesn't have anything to do, nearly ended in disaster - they camped just four hexes away from it. Thankfully, no Netties sortied. However, I-20 torpedoed and badly damaged DD La Triomphant, which is now retreating to Ndeni and is in two hexes from port.


China

More bloodshed and no new successes. I still hope Loyang will fall on the next turn, its single brigade of defenders should be heavily attrited.


Plans for the future

Salamaua is still unoccupied by Japanese. I will airlift some British base forces (these have the least amount of non-airtransportable equipment) and an infantry batallion there, to establish a fighter base. Depending on how effective the airlift operation and air resupply is, I'll decide whether to proceed with paradrop on Finschhafen.

Troops have started their preparations for Operation Scout, the move to southern Gilberts. I have three extra Marine Defense batallions, so I decided to establish bases on Tabiteuea, Onotoa and a base for shutting planes on Funafuti. The latter will be established before moving on with the main operation.

EDIT: Oh, and the most important thing, of course - the goal of the operation. Besides creating an outgard for Fiji, I want bases from which my LBA can scout and, eventually, bomb Gilberts and some Marshalls. Southern Gilberts can be built up very nicely, while Japanese must attack them from very poor airfields or commit IJN. Expanding from them to, say, Ocean, Nauru and Tarawa, creates another route by which USN ships can safely move into Central Pacific. But the most importantly, I want my opponent to feel threatened from multiple directions.

Also, as I still hold Wake (recently reinforced with a base force), and have more than enough destroyers, a bit of surface raiding against Japanese communications in Central Pacific, is in order. Tankers are ordered to carry some fuel to Wake, but the first, probing raid will be launched from Midway.

[FatR]

August 20-27, 1942: The tide has turned?

Operations at New Guinea proceed relatively quietly. Only one group of Sallies sortied to attack my ships and was annihilated for their trouble. RO-60 scored a single torpedo hit on Lexington, but one turn later the crew even managed to restore Lady Lex to full cruise speed. The landing at Merauke is not yet noticed. Finschhafen fell to a paradrop assault, the defending SNLF combany was all but annihilated by the preceding massive air raid alone.

More importantly, it seems, that Japanese are retreating from Pegu, rather than facing annhilation at the hands of Allied LBA. Up to 5-6 thousands casualties were inflicted on their ground forces there, mostly by Fortresses and, particularly, Wellingtons. Allies might not have the superior anti-shipping force, yet, but there is no question, that in the ground support role their aviation is much superior by this point. I'm not sure, why Michael decided not to contest air superiority over Burma anymore. I can maintain those raids only as long as Hurricanes can sortie from Rangoon to fly LRCAP over the hex, because British bomber replacement rates are sluggish. Maybe his fighter pilot losses became unsustainable.

All in all, the reversal of Japanese advance at Burma is a welcome sight, considering, that my last stronghold at DEI, Soerabaja, is starving, crumbling under new attacks, from which Allied took disproportionate casualties, and about to fell.

[FatR]

August 28-September 2, 1942: The war goes on.

The biggest event for these turns was new Allied air raids on Gazmata and Pegu, which ended up in massive battles. While we exchanged fighters at about 1:1 or better rate, Allied bombers took heavy losses, particularly over Pegu, where one of my Wellington squadrons got decimated. Wellingtons proved to be total beasts in ground support role, but, alas, they don't have toughness of 4Es, only their payload. And as their replacement rate is only 12/month, these losses were felt keenly. I don't know why Michael didn't try to send 50 Tojos over Pegu earlier.


Operation Arrow update.

Allied tank hordes are closing on Daly Waters, as you can see on the map. While my opponent no doubt noticed the movement from Tennant Creek, thanks to his air recon, the flanking move from Normanton should remain secret to him. So, I hope that he'll severely underestimate Allied numbers his pixeltruppen are going to face. Now, that I no longer need my transport planes in New Guinea, the supply situation at Tennant Creek had stabilized once again.



On the right side of the screen you can see my convoy finishing unloading at Merauke. Those xAPs surely take forever to unload, but now enough air support guys made it to the land to set two squadrons on CAP over them. As Michael surely had seen my battleships in the area only recently (the slow battleships TF retreated just the last turn), I think that continuing unloading for at least one turn should be safe. Japanese subs took some shots at my ships around Merauke, including one attack on Essex, but missed every time.

Meanwhile, Japanese are landing at Saumlaki. Had my feint at Merauke worked, or is that a part of routine cleanup?