AE = Alpine Edition <-> Rainer79 vs. ranting castor troy

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 09, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tanegashima at 102,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-39
SC CHa-38

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo



SS Wahoo is located by SC CHa-39
Wahoo diving deep ....
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 attacking submerged sub ....
SS Wahoo eludes ASW attack from SC CHa-39
SS Wahoo eludes SC CHa-39 by diving deep
SC CHa-39 cannot establish contact with SS Wahoo
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Truk at 110,110

Japanese Ships
DD Minegumo
DD Arare
DD Asagumo
DD Kawakaze
DD Kasumi

Allied Ships
SS Barb



SS Barb launches 6 torpedoes at DD Minegumo
DD Kawakaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Kasumi fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Kawakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kawakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kawakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kawakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

I guess we could have sunk a dozen DDs of those fast transport TFs out of Truk already if our torps would work...

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Sub attack near Kochi at 107,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-28
SC CHa-35

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion launches 6 torpedoes at SC CHa-28
Scorpion diving deep ....
SC CHa-35 fails to find sub and abandons search
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

same goes for the ASW TFs around Japan and Formosa, they would be obliberated...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Talaud-eilanden at 79,96

Japanese Ships
DD Fuyo, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage [:D]
AO Kyuko
AO Shiriya
AO Sata
AO Ondo
AO Hayamoto
DD Kuri

Allied Ships
SS Tautog


SS Tautog launches 4 torpedoes at DD Fuyo
Tautog diving deep ....
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri attacking submerged sub ....
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

while I would love to hit one of the AOs, hitting a DD is fine... one of the fine aspects of the game is that you bitch about something during the replay and you get positively surprised a moment later... [;)]

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ASW attack near Truk at 111,109

Japanese Ships
DD Oyashio
DD Isokaze
DD Yamagumo
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Amatsukaze

Allied Ships
SS Seal



SS Seal launches 4 torpedoes at DD Oyashio
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

to be disappointed the next second...[:'(] all our torp salvoes hit their target today...

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Morning Air attack on Salamaua , at 98,127

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed [8|]



Aircraft Attacking:
19 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32000 feet

CAP engaged:
VMF-111 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes

nothing new anymore...

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Morning Air attack on Salamaua , at 98,127

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6



Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32000 feet

CAP engaged:
VMF-211 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead
VMF-221 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
49th FG/8th FS with P-40E Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Raid is overhead

losing five of our fighters out of PM for one Zero shot down... with the altitude advantage and leaking Cap, there´s nothing I can do... hey, one of the advise usually is: don´t put up Cap... and wait for the enemy to bomb your base to destroy a yearly replacement of 4Es? [>:] Rainer suffers from the same, I pick off leaking Cap from Rabaul at will, he has to Cap the base, otherwise I will plaster it... leaking Cap and the "altitude feature" are a both a pain and together they are a mega pain...

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Sub attack near Sangi at 78,96

Japanese Ships
AO Iro
AO Teibo
AO Shiriya
AO Sata
AO Ondo
AO Hayamoto
DD Kuri

Allied Ships
SS Searaven



SS Searaven launches 4 torpedoes at AO Iro
Searaven diving deep ....
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kuri attacking submerged sub ....
SS Searaven eludes DD Kuri by diving deep
DD Kuri loses contact with SS Searaven
Escort abandons search for sub

more duds... looks like Truk is in need of fuel again...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Hengchun at 85,68

Japanese Ships
E Otori
E Kari
E Hayabusa

Allied Ships
SS Halibut



SS Halibut is sighted by escort
Halibut diving deep ....
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 10, 42
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Sub attack near Koshiki-jima Retto at 100,60

Japanese Ships
xAK Kuritake Maru
xAK Koyu Maru
PB Konei Maru

Allied Ships
SS Gato



SS Gato launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Kuritake Maru
Gato diving deep ....
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru attacking submerged sub ....
SS Gato eludes ASW attack from PB Konei Maru
PB Konei Maru loses contact with SS Gato
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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ASW attack near Truk at 110,110

Japanese Ships
DD Oyashio
DD Isokaze
DD Yamagumo
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Amatsukaze

Allied Ships
SS Perch



SS Perch launches 4 torpedoes at DD Oyashio
Perch diving deep ....
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Amatsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Amatsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

more of the same but that will change in three weeks when halve of our torps should go boom... [:@]

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ASW attack near Shikuka at 126,44

Japanese Ships
PB Uruboko Maru

Allied Ships
SS Shad



SS Shad is sighted by escort
Shad bottoming out ....
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Pescadores at 85,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 13
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Growler



Captain of SS Growler elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

what I don´t get is this, a nice new feature but on the other side it seems it wasn´t thought out well... probably has to do with the fact that a sub "attack" always gives the escorts the chance to attack the sub too... if the torps miss the target (or none are fired at all) how often in real life did the convoy or the ship the torps were aimed at didn´t even notice that the sub is there? I guess quite often, but in AE (as well as WITP) the escorts get the 100% chance to attack the sub, no matter if the torps missed or none were fired at all... when the sub captain decides not to attack, are the escort captains psychic to notice that? How often in such a case should the task force just move along?

There are those instances when "sub escapes detection" but that seems only to be true when there´s no ship in the TF with depth charges, otherwise there´s always the chance for the escorts to attack the sub...

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Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
DD Tatsukaze
xAK Kinryu Maru
xAK Hakusika Maru

Allied Ships
SS Gato



SS Gato launches 4 torpedoes at DD Tatsukaze
Gato diving deep ....
DD Tatsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Tatsukaze loses contact with SS Gato
SS Gato eludes DD Tatsukaze by diving deep
DD Tatsukaze loses contact with SS Gato
DD Tatsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Tatsukaze cannot reach attack position over SS Gato
DD Tatsukaze loses contact with SS Gato
DD Tatsukaze loses contact with SS Gato
DD Tatsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
SS Gato eludes DD Tatsukaze by diving deep
DD Tatsukaze cannot establish contact with SS Gato
SS Gato eludes ASW attack from DD Tatsukaze
DD Tatsukaze loses contact with SS Gato
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

hey ho, guess with the DDs hit in the last two turns we could have sunk halve a dozen...

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Morning Air attack on Tenth USAAF , at 55,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 31



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 35000 feet

CAP engaged:
No.5 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Raid is overhead

that´s one hex off Akyab, amazingly the Oscars weren´t set to max alt, guess Rainer didn´t expect non US fighters? The Hurricane got away...

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Morning Air attack on Lihir , at 108,124

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes

leaking Cap from Rabaul, the usual story... the turns of this AAR are more or less a mirror of the previous turn all the time... only one Tojo was shot down, the other two were damaged...

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Morning Air attack on Great Sitkin Island , at 163,52

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24



Allied aircraft
Hurricane XIIb x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed [:'(]




Aircraft Attacking:
19 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32000 feet

CAP engaged:
No.118 Sqn RCAF with Hurricane XIIb (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

Hurricanes can go higher than Zeroes... nah, the altitude factor isn´t important... while the Wildcats and Warhawks from PM get shot to pieces all the time due to flying lower than the Zeroes, the Hurricanes do just fine as they fly higher...

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Morning Air attack on Tenth USAAF , at 55,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 8



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 5
Hurricane IIc Trop x 15
P-40B Warhawk x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 2 destroyed




CAP engaged:
No.30 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
No.34 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
No.79 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
No.136 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
No.261 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
51st FG/16th FS with P-40B Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32400
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
51st FG/26th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
70th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead
23rd FG/75th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead
No.5 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Raid is overhead

as always, the good thought out feature of squadrons not being able to fly together, the Japanese come in in two dispersed waves... and as always two, the second wave meets more fighters... yeah, there´s so much random in this game... lol, doesn´t it hurt to pray that on and on when it´s not true? As the first wave of this sentai too, those Oscars sure were flying on 35.000ft and that meant that 20 Hurricanes were flying higher and diving on them, while the Warhawks were happy to get away when flying lower than the Oscars... we take down more of the IJAAF fighters and lose two Hurricanes to ops... these are the results that will either stop the enemy from doing those sweeps or of course doing them at 38000ft which the Oscars should reach... that would more than reverse the results I guess... but we should be safe from the 32.000ft Zeroes...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 13
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 40
P-40K Warhawk x 21


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged

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



Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 10
Runway hits 99

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 20000 feet
4 x P-40K Warhawk sweeping at 29000 feet

CAP engaged:
801 Ku S-1 with A6M2-N Rufe (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

Lae still has Rufes, this time they are shred by the Warhawks and the heavies plaster the base...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 11


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 37

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 10


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 26

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Runway hits 26

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Great Sitkin Island , at 163,52

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7



Allied aircraft
Hurricane XIIb x 4
P-400 Airacobra x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 8


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
18th FG/6th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
343rd FG/18th FS with P-40E Warhawk (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Raid is overhead
18th FG/19th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes
No.118 Sqn RCAF with Hurricane XIIb (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Raid is overhead

and here comes sweep two... one Sentai in Burma, two sweeps... one daitai at Rabaul, two sweeps... yes, sure that´s how it worked in WWII... the Zeroes take down a P-40 but suffer from the higher flying Hurricanes... note that the USAAF needs Canadian Hurricanes and Australian Spitfires to deal with A6M2 in Dec 42 as their fighters (except the Lightning) can´t fly as high as the Zero... lol, sounds like a quote from "Command and Conquer - Japanese invasion"...




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Moppo at 99,53

Japanese Ships
DD Okikaze
SC CHa-41
PB Muroran Maru

Allied Ships
SS Seadragon, hits 2



SS Seadragon is located by DD Okikaze
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

mixed ASW force...

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Sub attack near Rekata Bay at 114,133

Japanese Ships
xAK Kogyoku Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Kohoku Maru
PB Kyo Maru #7

Allied Ships
SS S-31



SS S-31 launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Kogyoku Maru
S-31 diving deep ....
PB Kyo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kyo Maru #7 attacking submerged sub ....
PB Kyo Maru #7 cannot reach attack position over SS S-31
SS S-31 eludes ASW attack from PB Kyo Maru #7
PB Kyo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kyo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kyo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

wonder if the freighter will survive...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 11, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Perth at 46,147

Japanese Ships
SS I-11, hits 1

Allied Ships
AM Ungava, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
AM Outarde



SS I-11 launches 6 torpedoes at AM Ungava
I-11 diving deep ....
AM Outarde attacking submerged sub ....
AM Outarde loses contact with SS I-11
SS I-11 eludes AM Outarde by diving deep
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

one of my ASW TFs from Perth loses another ship but those low endurance mine sweepers are expandable... and IIRC they´ve also sunk a sub already, they for sure damaged a couple of them near Perth... two or three of them were sunk by the subs though...

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 162,52, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Musashi
CL Kitakami
DD Akebono
DD Sazanami

Allied Ships
PT-76
PT-79, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-118



Reduced sighting due to 14% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 14% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
Japanese open fire on surprised Allied ships at 2,000 yards
BB Musashi engages PT-118 at 2,000 yards
PT-79 sunk by DD Akebono at 2,000 yards
CL Kitakami engages PT-76 at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
BB Yamato engages PT-76 at 6,000 yards
DD Akebono engages PT-118 at 6,000 yards
Kuhnle, E.R. orders Allied TF to disengage
Task forces break off...

no joke, the tow destroyers are the only escort for Yamato and Musashi! [X(] Now if this isn´t asking for a disaster, but Rainer got away with it... my recon was as useless as it has been in the whole war, considering the two hundred PBYs lost so far, you´re better of standing them down on the West Coast, or even better, using them for torp attack training for your USN pilot reserve pool... no doubt, that is a nuclear bombardment task force coming in... one of the PTs fired a salvo at Yamato but missed... the really disturbing fact once again were the other three PT squadrons at the base, after this engagement I got three times the message of TFxy meeting enemy task force, TFxy retreating to Adak after combat... what the hell? There was no combat and why on Earth wasn´t there a surface combat? The same thing happened twice at Milne Bay already and I have a suspicion already. I´ve set my PTs to "react 1" and haven´t done that far earlier. Early in the war, all my PT squadrons engaged but then I haven´t had them at "react 1". All my PTs were reset to 0 so lets see if that makes a difference...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Adak Island at 162,52 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5A Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground

53 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Musashi, Shell hits 9
BB Yamato
CL Kitakami

Allied Ships
ACM Bastion, Shell hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 8 (3 destroyed, 5 disabled)


Airbase hits 23
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 84

BB Musashi firing at 250th Coastal Artillery Regiment
BB Yamato firing at Adak Island
CL Kitakami firing at Adak Island

and here comes the bombardment I was sure of... the base is heavily damaged but the aircraft at the base got away surprisingly... Rainer told me he wasn´t happy with the result, well, we´re both used to the uber nuclear bombardment of a couple of hundred hits already as we both know how to achieve them 9 out of 10 times (anyone doesn´t know that on the forum?[8|]). In fact, those 84 hits were only achieved by Yamato and Kitakami as Musashi was only dealing fire with one of the CD units at Adak and was hit by 155mm gunfire in return that won´t have done any damage I guess...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Koshiki-jima Retto at 100,60

Japanese Ships
xAKL Horei Maru
xAKL Ryua Maru
xAKL Bokuei Maru
PB Nigitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



Captain of SS Scorpion elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Scorpion diving deep ....
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

na, better not to attack some freighters...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Adak Island at 161,52, Range 23,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Musashi
CL Kitakami
DD Akebono
DD Sazanami

Allied Ships
PT-76
PT-118



Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 23,000 yards
Allied TF attempts to evade combat
Range increases to 28,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 28,000 yards
Range increases to 30,000 yards...
Both Task Forces evade combat

the one PT squadron that has lost one PT retreated into the direction the enemy took during the day movement but the two PTs got away...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-41
PB Muroran Maru

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion is sighted by escort
Scorpion diving deep ....
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Muroran Maru cannot reach attack position over SS Scorpion
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Uttaradit , at 59,56

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 22


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
22 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

no leaking Tojos in Burma today? A pity... HEY! HEY! Wait! Only one Lightning squadron coming in? Does that mean two squadrons weren´t able to fly together in WWII? Wow! That took me by surprise... [8|] When the designer is an expert, then I guess all those books about WWII airwar will have to be rewritten...


sweep one... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Uttaradit , at 59,56

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 16


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

ahh, so there is the other squadron... will there be some stranglers from both squadrons flying together?

sweep two... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 26
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 24
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 21



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 7 damaged
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 7 damaged
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 7 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
21 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

only the bad hit rate saves us from major damage... I really wonder why Rainer isn´t doing big style bomber attacks more or less daily all around the map... if he can get his Tojos in range of my bases then I will have to abandon them due to the Tojo whiping the floor with all our fighters on sweeps and Allied land based flak is so pathetic above 9000ft that the enemy bombers don´t have to fear any massed land based flak by the Allied... only weather is saving us from suffering more... Allied land based flak has the effect of Japanese flak in WITP now, while Japanese land based flak isn´t existing anymore... wonder if I have lost two dozen aircraft to land based flak in one year of war, I seriously doubt it... in this example not one enemy bomber was shot down... does that mean that 11000 ft was a save altitude for bombers in WWII when attacking Allied targets that are heavily defended by flak? Only a rethoric question, I know it wasn´t... it´s more or less completely save in the game though... the attacks we´ve seen in the last two months usually were against targets with over a dozen base forces or AA units but I´ve rarely seen more than one bomber shot down... when you mass halve of India´s flak in one hex, would that mean that this would be a place that would be dangerous for Japanese bombers at 11.000ft? None of the bombers was shot down...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Uttaradit , at 59,56

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 2
P-38F Lightning x 3


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
2 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

pathetice design... the stranglers of the two squadrons then always fly together... seriously borked and nothing else...

sweep three... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Laoag at 80,72

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-23
SC CHa-20

Allied Ships
SS Tunny



Captain of SS Tunny elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Tunny diving deep ....
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

that skipper won´t earn a medal...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
DD Okikaze
SC CHa-41
PB Muroran Maru

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion is located by DD Okikaze
Scorpion diving deep ....
PB Muroran Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Muroran Maru is out of ASW ammo
PB Muroran Maru is out of ASW ammo
PB Muroran Maru is out of ASW ammo
PB Muroran Maru is out of ASW ammo
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Mussau Island at 104,117

Japanese Ships
DD Isokaze
DD Yamagumo
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Amatsukaze

Allied Ships
SS Skipjack



SS Skipjack is sighted by escort
Skipjack diving deep ....
DD Yamagumo fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Tokitsukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Amatsukaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tokitsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 12, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Taihoku at 90,62

Japanese Ships
PB Konei Maru
xAK Koyu Maru
xAK Kuritake Maru

Allied Ships
SS Greenling



SS Greenling launches 4 torpedoes at PB Konei Maru
Greenling diving deep ....
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

lots of duds but 1/43 is coming soon...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Iriomote at 92,62

Japanese Ships
xAKL Keizan Maru
xAKL Gyokurei Maru
xAKL Taiyo Maru
PB Seikai Maru

Allied Ships
SS Greenling



Captain of SS Greenling elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Greenling diving deep ....
PB Seikai Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Seikai Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikai Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikai Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikai Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

wth are those skippers thinking? and why are the escorts always getting the chance to attack?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Itbayat Island at 83,69

Japanese Ships
E Hayabusa
E Otori
E Kari

Allied Ships
SS Kingfish



SS Kingfish is located by E Hayabusa
Kingfish diving deep ....
E Kari fails to find sub and abandons search
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 98,59

Japanese Ships
xAKL Yamayuri Maru
xAK Yubari Maru
xAK Toyu Maru
xAKL Fukuyama Maru
xAKL Chosen Maru
xAKL Aiyo Maru
PB Menado Maru

Allied Ships
SS Gato



SS Gato launches 4 torpedoes at xAKL Yamayuri Maru
Gato diving deep ....
PB Menado Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Menado Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Menado Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Menado Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Menado Maru attacking submerged sub ....
SS Gato eludes ASW attack from PB Menado Maru
PB Menado Maru cannot establish contact with SS Gato
Escort abandons search for sub

Gato´s skipper is doing better but only got a load of defective torps...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lihir , at 108,124

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
24 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

there we go... the Lightnings work just fine when you equip them with drop tanks so that really was a step forward when I finally figured out I could do that to nearly tripple their range... two Tojos shot down, the third one damaged... no chance for them when they´re flying below the Lightnings...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Cape Gloucester at 102,124

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 6


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Asagumo
DD Arare



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

grrr... fast transport screwed up and we had a chance to attack... got a load of messages of B-25 turning back, not lauching due to weather or missing the target... finally the first six showed up but nothing to hit in such a weather...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Cape Gloucester at 102,124

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 6


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hayate



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

there are two different DD TFs in the same hex, this one hasn´t got as deadly flak as the other one...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cape Gloucester at 102,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 8 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Kawakaze
DD Arare



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

we also launch in the afternoon, weather got slightly better but is still bad... the Mitchells all miss and flak fire is murderous... when looking at our bombers at the end of the turn, they don´t look good at all... while a low alt attack surely isn´t a non dangerous task, I wonder what would be worse, attacking a dozen AA units at 11.000ft in Burma or attacking five IJN DDs in late 42 at 1.000ft... the answer in the game is easy...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Cape Gloucester at 102,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 8


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Kasumi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

we get 23 out of some 50 bombers over the target int he afternoon and this last attack finally manages to put two 500lb bombs into DD Kasumi that was left heavily damaged... after seeing two 1000lb bombs not immedietely taking out a DD (if sinking at all) in the past, I´m not sure two 500lb bombs are enough to really sink the destroyer... the ship seems to be in trouble though...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Hobart at 82,181

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
SC-702
SC-706
SC-704



SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes at SC-702
I-10 diving deep ....
SC-706 fails to find sub and abandons search
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-704 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

after losing a tanker in this area, we have formed a sub chaser TF to patrol the area... the small TF acts as a target now...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 13, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tenth USAAF , at 55,46

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 39,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 30



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.5 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Raid is overhead

seems like the max alt for the Oscars is 36750... 750ft higher than the Hurricane´s and therefore the single British fighter was bounced but only damaged... 30 Oscars smells like the bigger part of a Sentai, I expect the small rest come in later...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 57,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 22


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
22 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes

ceiling sweep against leaking Cap by the Japanese, ceiling sweep against leaking Cap by us too of course... this time we meet some Tojos... the usual stupidity of one squadrons flying after another... perhaps the air team lead should play the game instead of putting myths into the forum... or it´s just us, Rainer and me (the bad players), that forget to kill a chicken daily to get two squadrons fly together... if you kill a cow every day, it wouldn´t help, it´s not woodoo, it´s a borked desing... not having "thousand bomber strikes" as compared to WITP is a good thing but having a completely borked strike feature now is at least as bad...

to repeat it for the 2.419 time, all those myths about coordination met... even was so kind to use some of the now not so precious pp anymore to be spent on changing squadron HQs... that doesn´t help...

sweep one... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 57,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6



Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
18 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
50th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 11000
Raid is overhead
260th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 26000
Raid is overhead

here´s the other squadron as usual... here´s the bigger leaking Cap for the second sweep as usual... predictable from A-Z...

sweep two...[8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tenth USAAF , at 55,46

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 42,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 8



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

and there´s the rest of the Oscars... why did I knew it before? none of my fighters though and that was SURPRISING!

sweep two... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 5



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 13
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 39


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 99

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
264th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

Nicks over Shortlands, the base is reported empty... the only base with lots of fighters in the area is Rabaul, but then we would be talking about LRCAP...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 8


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 48

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 25

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Feni Islands , at 108,126

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

we of course also got our Lightning squadron from PM active, taking down more Tojos for no loss...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 1st Tank Division, at 57,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 13



Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 3
P-38F Lightning x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38E Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-38F Lightning: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
50th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 11000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
260th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 26000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

and to complete the ridicoulos picture of the air routine, as usual, here comes the rest of the two squadrons together... and of course the third strike then meets the most fighters... in that case it meant the dive was over in no time and due to numerical superiority the enemy got a shot at our fighters... no biggy though, in the end we claim a dozen Tojos for 3 Lightnings...

sweep three... [8|]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Koshiki-jima Retto at 100,60

Japanese Ships
TK Shiyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
SC CHa-4
SC CHa-7

Allied Ships
SS Gato



SS Gato launches 6 torpedoes at TK Shiyo Maru
SC CHa-7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


unfortunetely this is very close to Japan and the tanker isn´t even heavily damaged... expect the ship to survive...

[terje439]

About the Catalinas, what settings do you use, because in my games my ops losses for catalinas are something like 20 in total (one game in july 42 and one in mid may 42).
Do you have them flying at max altitude at 100%? Just curious.

Terje

[khyberbill]

About the Catalinas, what settings do you use, because in my games my ops losses for catalinas are something like 20 in total (one game in july 42 and one in mid may 42).
Do you have them flying at max altitude at 100%? Just curious.

Terje

I rarely fly PBY's more than 40% and 6k. I have more than enough in the pool to make up for ops losses in my PBEM that is up to 6/44. Early in the game, I restrict their range to 75%. Also, early in the game, they are one of your best shore based naval attack weapons. One foe is invading NZ and he will take it but he has lost a lot of AP's to PBY's on naval attack. The Hudsons & Vincents just make water spouts.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: terje439

About the Catalinas, what settings do you use, because in my games my ops losses for catalinas are something like 20 in total (one game in july 42 and one in mid may 42).
Do you have them flying at max altitude at 100%? Just curious.

Terje

the 200 lost was understated, I´ve lost beyond 200 Catalinas. See the attached screenshot and add in the other nations patrol aircraft. On top of that, there are dozens of Hudsons and Hudson III lost on navsearch. My settings usually are 70 or 80% search, 30 or 20% rest, normal range. Pilots have flown hundreds of missions, doesn´t mean experience would really raise, nothing I can do about it. Their nav search skill usually is between 50 and 70. Using search arcs. And they have kept on dropping out of the sky from day one of the war. That´s why I often said: "naval search, the most dangerous mission in AE"... at the moment, I´ve got some 20 PBY in the pools but also have disbanded one or two squadrons in the past. And they don´t spot anything coming in in their search arch, no matter if there are 50 aircraft flying over the dedicated route a fat bombardment TF is coming in... with the pilots maxxed out in the squadrons, they usually accumulate lower fatigue than fighter pilots in two days from flying 50% Cap... [8|] never used a single PBY for naval attack.

just one of the examples why I say I´ve got a special edition of AE as other people seem to experience it complete differently...

[crsutton]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: terje439

About the Catalinas, what settings do you use, because in my games my ops losses for catalinas are something like 20 in total (one game in july 42 and one in mid may 42).
Do you have them flying at max altitude at 100%? Just curious.

Terje

the 200 lost was understated, I´ve lost beyond 200 Catalinas. See the attached screenshot and add in the other nations patrol aircraft. On top of that, there are dozens of Hudsons and Hudson III lost on navsearch. My settings usually are 70 or 80% search, 30 or 20% rest, normal range. Pilots have flown hundreds of missions, doesn´t mean experience would really raise, nothing I can do about it. Their nav search skill usually is between 50 and 70. Using search arcs. And they have kept on dropping out of the sky from day one of the war. That´s why I often said: "naval search, the most dangerous mission in AE"... at the moment, I´ve got some 20 PBY in the pools but also have disbanded one or two squadrons in the past. And they don´t spot anything coming in in their search arch, no matter if there are 50 aircraft flying over the dedicated route a fat bombardment TF is coming in... with the pilots maxxed out in the squadrons, they usually accumulate lower fatigue than fighter pilots in two days from flying 50% Cap... [8|] never used a single PBY for naval attack.

just one of the examples why I say I´ve got a special edition of AE as other people seem to experience it complete differently...

Yeah, I have to concur with the others. It is 11/42 and I got about 100 pbys in my pools. Never fly more than 40% and check morale for all of my units once a week to stand down anybody that is getting close to 80 or lower. I use them for recon when needed but not for long and always at higher altitudes when reconning large bases.

They are lousy at nav search. I am hoping that changes with some more training and exp but so far am not too excited with the results. Gave up on ASW as they never attack much and I have not got enough to spare for more training. They are better off searching. We will see how ASW goes once I get more radar.

My opponent is bombing the crap out of my subs and getting a fair number of hits. I just think the Japanese player has more opportunity to train up, and with more Alllied subs concentrated around their basese, gets more spots and more experience. Usually, bomb damage is light. Just enough to send me home. But as far as I can see Japanese air ASW is as effective as it was in WITP. Considering the Allied subs had air search radar, there should be much fewer spots.

[khyberbill]

never used a single PBY for naval attack.

just one of the examples why I say I´ve got a special edition of AE as other people seem to experience it complete differently...

I don't have the ops losses you do, but I don't use them like you do either; I rarely operate above 40% and then, only for short stretches of time. I never put PBYs on train or rest, just set the arcs and continuously vary the range so that the enemy cant conclusively determine my search pattern. I use those squadrons that one gets on the west coast for training pilots, both search and ASW.

I change arcs and ranges every few weeks of real time. My PBYs see subs all the time and I have been quite successful at killing the little buggers once they detect them. I have used the PBYs against invasions and they are good if they dont have to face a strong CAP.

[terje439]

I use mine at 6k altitude, 70% search 30% rest, BUT I reduce their range by 5, and I lose at most one per week to ops, and every week irl I take one turn where I go over the airgroups and manually stand down pilots who are too tired.

Terje

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 14, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub vs Sub: SS S-38 attacking SS RO-66 at 102,135 - near Deboyne Islands

Japanese Ships
SS RO-66, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-38



SS S-38 launches 4 torpedoes at 4,000 yards

nice, that´s the sub I thought it would already be sunk by my destroyers off Townsville after taking multiple hits... obviously wasn´t sunk but limping back towards Rabaul or Truk... now it´s sunk for sure...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Iriomote at 88,68

Japanese Ships
xAKL Horei Maru
xAKL Ryua Maru
PB Nigitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS Haddock



Captain of SS Haddock elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Haddock diving deep ....
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru attacking submerged sub ....
SS Haddock eludes PB Nigitsu Maru by diving deep
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

please attack the freighters... too many of those "decisions" lately...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Iriomote at 88,68

Japanese Ships
xAKL Horei Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Nigitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS Haddock



SS Haddock launches 6 torpedoes at xAKL Horei Maru
Haddock diving deep ....
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

kind of funny...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Truk at 111,109

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuyuki
BB Nagato
DD Hibiki
DD Oboro

Allied Ships
SS Seal



SS Seal launches 4 torpedoes at DD Hatsuyuki
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hatsuyuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Oboro fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

exploding torps on a small freighter followed by the usual duds on a destroyer... two more weeks... two more weeks...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tenth USAAF , at 55,46

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 39,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 38



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
38 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.5 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIb Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes

the Hurricane was unlucky... dive boom... unfortunetly for the Hurricanes, the Oscars acn fly some 800ft higher...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 22


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed




Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 23

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

Merauke is the next target on our list, therefore I want to have the airfield closed and not seeing high fort levels... guess with port and airfield being level 1 the damage will be repaired in no time and it won´t be possible to stop the enemy from building forts... 15.000 troops reported there, seems like not that a hard target...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 24


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 21

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Buna , at 99,129

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 30



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 3
P-40K Warhawk x 24
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
VMF-111 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
VMF-211 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
VMF-221 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
49th FG/7th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 11 minutes
8th FG/36th FS with P-38G Lightning (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 39000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
35th FG/41st FS with P-40K Warhawk (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
15th FG/72nd FS with P-40K Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes
318th FG/73rd FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes


Rainer wants to pick off leaking Cap but a USAAF base force reached Buna yesterday which means there are two radar sets now which meant we end up with a higher number of fighters over Buna than expected... the Oscars come in at max alt (needless to say I guess) and our fighters (except the Lightnings) were bounced for quite a while but it ended at some point due to the nice number of fighters in the air... the three Lightnings got the dive also and took out some of the Oscars... in the end, it was quite an equal fight with the Japanese surely losing more pilots than us... hope the losses for the Japanese were high enough to not see them over Buna again...

[castor troy]

intense turn, good and bad things happened... [:D]


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 15, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tokara Retto at 99,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-39
SC CHa-38

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger is located by SC CHa-39
Trigger diving deep ....
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Portland Roads at 93,131

Japanese Ships
SS I-25

Allied Ships
DD O'Brien
BB Warspite
BB North Carolina
BC Repulse
CA Vincennes
CA Quincy
CA Portland
CL Honolulu
CL Boise
CLAA Juneau
DD Blue
DD Gridley
DD Craven
DD Jarvis
DD Patterson



SS I-25 launches 6 torpedoes at DD O'Brien
DD Gridley fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Craven fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Jarvis fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Patterson fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

one of the bad things... the sub gets a shot at one of the DDs (thank god not at the battlewaggons) and misses, but Rainer gets intel on something big heading his way again... this is one of the CV TFs and while most of the TF was spotted, the CVs weren´t... but he knows the fleet raised anchor so he´s alerted now... I haven´t mentioned it yet, that´s one TF of over halve a dozen that is heading towards Merauke... two divs and two base forces were embarked to invade Merauke, 150 ships for the amphibious TFs, two big CV TFs, a BB SC TF and two ASW groups... some 450 carrier based aircraft and 250 land based fighters at Horn Island will be ready to defend the invasion... Horn Island is 4 hexes from Merauke so I don´t expect more than 50 fighters on LRCAP being over the target but that´s better than nothing... Merauke is far away from any bigger Japanese airfield so KB would be the main threat as usual... but I expect KB to be on the other side of New Guinea and while bomb equipped Kates could reach Merauke from the other side (9 hexes) I doubt (or hope) that Rainer won´t do that...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Rabaul at 105,124

Japanese Ships
DD Hayate

Allied Ships
SS KXI



SS KXI is sighted by escort
KXI diving deep ....
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Naha at 96,66

Japanese Ships
PB Choun Maru #8

Allied Ships
SS Pollack



SS Pollack is sighted by escort
PB Choun Maru #8 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #8 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #8 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #8 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #8 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
xAKL Saiho Maru
xAKL Gyoun Maru
PB Toshi Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Gato



SS Gato is sighted by escort
Gato diving deep ....
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Taihoku at 87,62

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-27
SC CHa-21
SC CHa-37
SC CHa-29

Allied Ships
SS Greenling



SS Greenling is located by SC CHa-27
Greenling diving deep ....
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub and abandons search
SC CHa-29 attacking submerged sub ....
SS Greenling eludes ASW attack from SC CHa-29
SS Greenling eludes ASW attack from SC CHa-29
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

our subs all fail today...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Akyab at 54,45

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed on ground
P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed on ground
Hurricane IIc Trop: 4 destroyed on ground
P-40B Warhawk: 3 destroyed on ground
Hurricane IIb Trop: 5 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mogami
CA Ashigara
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Myoko


Allied ground losses:
321 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 61 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (2 destroyed, 7 disabled)


Airbase hits 66 [8|]
Airbase supply hits 20
Runway hits 462 [8|]
Port hits 1

CA Kumano firing at Akyab
CA Suzuya firing at Akyab
CA Mogami firing at Akyab
CA Ashigara firing at Akyab
CA Nachi firing at Akyab
CA Haguro firing at Akyab
CA Myoko firing at Akyab

that´s what was really bad today... as usual, a huge Japanese TF steams all the way towards Akyab and over 50 aircraft on search can´t spot the TF with their set search archs and I´m sure we´re focussed on exactly where the Japanese are coming from and going back to... nothing... once again, nothing... just like the halve dozen times before when BBs and CAs came in for a call... the result was clear to me already when I say the bombardment message, it has to be a nuke as the base was at 9/10 detection level all the time... the usual loop but as I´ve mentioned before, that works for both sides and it won´t take long and I will do the same again... the airfield and airbase are 100% destroyed, we´re talking about a level 7 complex... some 30 fighters are destroyed on the ground and 100% of the rest are damaged... sorry, but these result bear no realistic or historic background, they´re by nothing better than in WITP, the damage on the bases seems to be even worse than in WITP... but again, hey, that works for both sides... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Flinders Island at 84,174

Japanese Ships
SS I-3

Allied Ships
AM Glenelg



SS I-3 launches 4 torpedoes
I-3 bottoming out ....
AM Glenelg fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Glenelg fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Glenelg fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Glenelg fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Glenelg fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kobe at 107,61

Japanese Ships
DD Asagiri
DD Yugiri

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo



SS Wahoo launches 4 torpedoes at DD Asagiri
DD Yugiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yugiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yugiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yugiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yugiri fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lihir , at 108,124

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes

the usual picking off of some Tojos... so far it worked well, but I fear that at some point I will just run into a hundred fighters on LRCAP...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and now comes the good part of the day...

Morning Air attack on Horn Island , at 91,128

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 31



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 16
Kittyhawk IA x 15
P-39D Airacobra x 4
P-400 Airacobra x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 8


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 16 destroyed




CAP engaged:
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 13 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 13 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (1 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 31000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes

I was unaware about the reason for this attack during the replay, I was more than surprised... no TF at the base other than some PT boat squadrons so that isn´t a naval attack... asked Rainer after the turn and he said his recon was totally off, not showing any of my fighters... funny thing is that I just last turn transferred them there for the upcoming Merauke invasion... looks like the enemy was really unlucky but even without having fighters there, such an unescorted long range attack against the base isn´t worth it, no matter if I´ve got fighters there or not... a good number of bombers turned back before the fight started due to being unescorted... but there were a lot left to be shot down... [:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Horn Island , at 91,128

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 8



Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 16
Kittyhawk IA x 15
P-39D Airacobra x 4
P-400 Airacobra x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed




CAP engaged:
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 13 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 25000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 13 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 31000
Raid is overhead
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

even a small second wave is coming in... in total the loss list comes up with 44 Betties shot down, I guess it´s more like 25-30... but it was nice to watch...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 4
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 7



Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 14
B-17E Fortress x 22


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 48

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
246th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
77th Sentai Det B with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes

had hopes that there wouldn´t be any fighters in the air, those have again been identified as aux by my recon... looks like some of the enemy fighter types are always identified as aux [&:]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Gasmata , at 103,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 7



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 10
B-24D Liberator x 36


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 6 damaged



Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 68

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 18000
Raid is overhead

Nicks over Gasmata, must be LRCAP from Rabaul...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Gasmata , at 103,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 2



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 11


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 39

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 18000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 5
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 6



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 7 damaged



Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
77th Sentai Det B with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
246th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Gasmata , at 103,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 18

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 3



Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
246th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Gasmata , at 103,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 14


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 34

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Gasmata , at 103,127

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 23

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Taihoku at 87,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Greenling



SS Greenling launches 4 torpedoes at SC Ch 15
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Perth at 46,147

Japanese Ships
SS I-11, hits 1

Allied Ships
AM Bunbury
AM Outarde



SS I-11 is located by AM Bunbury
I-11 diving deep ....
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
AM Outarde attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-11 eludes AM Outarde by diving deep
AM Outarde fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 16, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 99,63

Japanese Ships
xAK Hikosan Maru
PB Senyu Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Hikosan Maru
Trigger diving deep ....
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

knock knock...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Amoy at 84,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 13
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Growler



Captain of SS Growler elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Growler diving deep ....
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

again...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Amoy at 84,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 13
SC Ch 14
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Sawfish



SS Sawfish is located by SC Ch 13
Sawfish diving deep ....
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Shikuka at 126,44

Japanese Ships
PB Tamo Maru #7

Allied Ships
SS Shad



SS Shad is sighted by escort
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 1
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 11



Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-61-Ia Tony: 2 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
14 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
77th Sentai Det B with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
246th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 11 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 5 minutes

after having encountered some fighters with our heavy bombers yesterday I decided to send in the Lightnings directly... the usual BS of two squadrons not being able to fly together... the dive stayed on our side and therefore it was quite a onesided affair...

sweep one... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 4
Ki-61-Ia Tony x 1



Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
13 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
77th Sentai Det B with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
246th Sentai with Ki-61-Ia Tony (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

here comes the main part of the second squadron... we take down a good number of enemy fighters for the loss of two Lightnings to ops... both pilots survived as the twin engined fighters were written off but none crashed... we don´t have replacements for the E but still have over a dozen F in the pools... only P-38G are produced, but those are in use on New Guinea (one squadron with another one being equipped soon)... not sure what I´m going to do when the two squadrons in Burma run really low on aircraft, probably just downgrading them to P-40E (or K perhaps)...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Goodenough Island , at 101,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 36,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 24



Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
24 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36000 feet

CAP engaged:
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Raid is overhead

what I´m trying to do with the Japanese, the Japanese are trying to do with me... The Spit was flying higher and survived after damaging an Oscar...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 30
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 40
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 24
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 21



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 4 damaged
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 7 damaged
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 7 damaged


Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 69

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
21 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

looks like it will be not that an easy task to build up Prome... can be built up to a mega airfield complex and is save from naval bombardments... but isn´t safe from the IJAAF and is in easy strike range for the Tojos from Moulmein so moving aircraft to Prome is a nogo anyway... I can move a lot of fighters there (which I can´t spare in Burma/India) to make a direct attack costly but then the Tojos would pick off lots of leaking Cap every day... but there´s no real need to base lots of aircraft at Prome at the moment as the front is just outside of Pegu and can be reached with heavy bombers from bases outside of Tojo range...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Tavoy , at 54,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 2
P-38F Lightning x 3


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
2 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

the stupidity of the "lost" fighters flying together DAILY! so much randomizing... NOT...

sweep three... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Goodenough Island , at 101,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 7



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 5
Spitfire Vc Trop x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed




CAP engaged:
No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
No.54 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

having the one Sentai on attack being split up all the time just like my two Lightning squadrons flying alone all the time and the fact that the second strike always faces more leaking Cap means bad news for the rest of the Oscars... two were shot down, a Spit was written off... looks like I shouldn´t complain about TWO squadrons flying separately, the Japanese aren´t able to have a single unit fly together... yeah, aircraft coordination ridicoulosness...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Amoy at 84,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 14
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Sunfish



SS Sunfish is located by SC Ch 14
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Amoy at 84,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 3
SC Ch 15

Allied Ships
SS Sunfish



SS Sunfish launches 6 torpedoes at SC Ch 3
Sunfish diving deep ....
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 15 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

boy, my subs are so useless at the moment... two more weeks and we´re into 43... thank god...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 17, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Laoag at 80,72

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-23
SC CHa-20

Allied Ships
SS Kingfish



SS Kingfish is located by SC CHa-23
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
PB Senyo Maru
SC CHa-41
DD Okikaze
PB Muroran Maru

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion launches 6 torpedoes at PB Senyo Maru
Scorpion diving deep ....
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
SS Scorpion eludes ASW attack from DD Okikaze
DD Okikaze cannot establish contact with SS Scorpion
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like I´ve already mentioned, Merauke is on top of our target list, today the invasion begins...

Pre-Invasion action off Merauke

218 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins
CL Concord
CL Marblehead
CL Trenton
PG Charleston
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
131 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (0 destroyed, 6 disabled)


CA Hawkins firing at 2nd Division
CL Concord firing at 41st JNAF AF Unit
CL Marblehead firing at 2nd Division
CL Trenton firing at 2nd Division
PG Charleston firing at 2nd Division
PG Charleston firing at enemy troops
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Merauke

TF 6 troops unloading over beach at Merauke, 89,124


Allied ground losses:
110 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)


13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 42 lost in surf during unload of 41st Infantry Div /7
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 42 lost in surf during unload of 32nd Infantry Div /7
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad 42 accidentally lost during unload of 32nd Infantry Div /10
Motorized Support damaged beyond repair during unload of 41st Infantry Div /20

losses so far look good, our troops are 100% prepped...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Merauke

235 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CL Durban
CL Danae
CL Adelaide
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (0 destroyed, 6 disabled)


CL Durban firing at 2nd Division
CL Danae firing at 2nd Division
CL Adelaide firing at 2nd Division
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 6,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Merauke

TF 387 troops unloading over beach at Merauke, 89,124


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


8 Engineers lost overboard during unload of 106th USN Base Force /3
Motorized Support lost in surf during unload of 106th USN Base Force /3
8 Aviation Support troops lost overboard during unload of 106th USN Base Force /3
8 Naval Support troops lost overboard during unload of 106th USN Base Force /3


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

114 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins
CL Concord
CL Marblehead
CL Trenton
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (0 destroyed, 5 disabled)


CA Hawkins firing at 41st JNAF AF Unit
CL Concord firing at 41st JNAF AF Unit
CL Marblehead firing at 2nd Division
CL Trenton firing at 41st JNAF AF Unit
2nd Division firing at AMC Hector
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

188 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CL Durban
CL Danae
CL Adelaide
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


CL Durban firing at 41st JNAF AF Unit
CL Danae firing at 2nd Division
CL Adelaide firing at 2nd Division
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 6,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

we moved into position yesterday to reach the invasion beach today during the night... we´ve got a full day to unload...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Laoag at 80,72

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-23
SC CHa-20

Allied Ships
SS Tunny



SS Tunny is located by SC CHa-23
Tunny diving deep ....
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Talasea , at 103,125

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

we engage leaking Cap...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Normanby Island , at 102,133

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 40,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 24



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 5
Spitfire Vc Trop x 10


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 3 minutes
No.54 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

the enemy does the same... all our Hurricanes were bounced but not so the Spitfires... it´s all about altitude, 10ft higher than the enemy would be enough... funny air routines... it was a pretty even fight in losses in the end...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

and here starts the real show of today...

Morning Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 6
Beaufighter Ic x 7
Kittyhawk IA x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 10
F4F-3A Wildcat x 17
F4F-3 Wildcat x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 35


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(17 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 13 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
13 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(13 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(13 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 9 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(12 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
12 planes vectored on to bombers
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 59 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes

our carriers have been unspotted, only the amphibious TFs are attacked during the mornnig... LRCAP from Horn Island and leaking Cap from the carriers one hex South West is taking care of the incoming strike...

wonna hear me bitching some more about the borked air routine? Here you go... the coordination "routine" is just a piece of sh*t and together with the altitude issue ruins an air routine that would have had quite some potential... while you get screwed up strikes as the NORM when trying to launch from a huge airfield complex with perfect conditions (even killing a chicken in front of your monitor), the stupidity par excellence of the coordination routine is shown in this example... while the Betties are coming from Darwin (range 12 or 13 hexes, the Zeroes are coming from Hollandia, range 8 hexes)... so tell me what BS went into this routine to see fighter squadrons on sweeps going alone as the NORM (obviously just not possible to launch 50 fighters at once from a level 9 airfield - stupid), this routine is borked enough to manage a coordination from two different airfields (that are some 900 miles from each other) to fly an attack onto a target that has got a different range from each base... so tell me how that works, this must be the most difficult case to get the fighters over the target at the same time as the bombers, well, the routine is borked enough to manage that...

doesn´t help the Betties and Zeroes at all though, the Betties come in at 4000ft, means the Zeroes are at 7000ft... they got endlessly bounced, the same would have been true if they would have been on 14990ft as none of my fighters flew below 15000ft... it was a massacre with only one Betty managing to get through Cap... a short moment of hecticness on my part when I saw the Betty attacking CA Hawkins followed by relief when the bomber was taken out by flak before releasing the torp...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 56 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
G3M3 Nell x 9



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 6
Beaufighter Ic x 7
Kittyhawk IA x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 8
F4F-3A Wildcat x 14
F4F-3 Wildcat x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 28


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 1 destroyed
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 9 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
13 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 15 minutes
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
5 planes vectored on to bombers
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers

here comes the next wave, again, the Nells from Darwin with the Zeores from Hollandia... while non combat report AARs surely are a benefit for the readers, it´s a pity there aren´t more combat report style AARs as the so called air team leader always asks for evidence... well, combat reports of those broken things should be enough evidence for someone who actually doesn´t play the game...

airstrike coordination? a wet fart... same result as with the first wave, the enemy got bounced endlessly, but the Zeroes did slightly better in taking down some of our fighters too... it still was a complete massacre...



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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 25


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged

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



Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 48

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 34


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 47

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 26 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 37

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

we do some airfield suppression...

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Morning Air attack on Manus , at 101,119

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


No Allied losses



Runway hits 18

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Normanby Island , at 102,133

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 37,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 7



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 3
Spitfire Vc Trop x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
No.54 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Raid is overhead

and the enemy sends in the "second part" of his Sentai on sweep... should I even complain that it isn´t possible to see two USAAF fighter squadrons flying a sweep together when the enemy doesn´t even get a single daitai to fly together? Hey, it´s no problem to launch escorts from Hollandia and bombers from Darwin to fly together though... that´s ridicoulos and needs serious fixing when you consider which historical or realistic claims this game had in it´s commercials...

the Hurricanes flying 1150 ft lower than the Oscars got bounced, the Spitfires flying 250ft higher than the Oscars bounced the Oscars... predictable? Altitude the only thing that matters? Nooooooooo.... [8|] 250ft... wow, for a European, that´s quite a number, until you realize that 250 ft is something like 80m... now that must have been an advantage in real life... woooohoooo.... thanks for the new details in the airroutines... lol

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

only two attacks in the morning that were shredded, some more in the afternoon...

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 6
Beaufighter Ic x 6
Kittyhawk IA x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 10
F4F-3A Wildcat x 11
F4F-3 Wildcat x 4
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed




CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 58 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
3 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 6 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 59 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 57 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes

34 fighters from Horn Island managed to be over the target when this attack came in... sounds like a reasonable number, some 250 fighters were set to LRCAP with drop tanks, range is 4 hexes... like in the morning, it would have been bloody without the leaking Cap from the carriers though... the P-400 proved to be a real Zero killer today...

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Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G3M3 Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 9



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 5
Beaufighter Ic x 4
Kittyhawk IA x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 7
F4F-3A Wildcat x 10
F4F-3 Wildcat x 10
F4F-4 Wildcat x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Allen



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
No.30 Sqn RAAF with Beaufighter Ic (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 25000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
No.75 Sqn RAAF with Kittyhawk IA (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 11 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

those "strike packs" are just too small to really harm our invasion TFs and they are all shredded... in this case, two bombers got through Cap though, then attacking an agile destroyer...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

note the different target hex to above´s attacks, our carriers have been spotted in the afternoon and this strike is aimed at our flight decks...

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 88,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G3M3 Nell x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 28



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 4
F4F-3A Wildcat x 16
F4F-3 Wildcat x 16
F4F-4 Wildcat x 48


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 4 destroyed
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 1 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 2000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes

therefore also no land based fighters on Cap (this time it seemed to have worked not to see LRCAP leaking out of their ordered target hex)... I wasn´t really amazed to see only 86 of our fightesr on Cap, mostly being on standby on the flight decks... at the beginning there were only some two dozen fighters showing up and I was already thinking about a disaster but more and more fighters managed to get airborne... in the end this strike was mauled just as bad as the earlier strikes on my amphibious TFs at Merauke... the enemy flew lower and our fighters kept diving on the from the beginning until the end... the Oscars proved to be very agile and many of them managed to evade the attacks, they even were able to damage quite a lot of our fighters, which proves again a problem for us as the fighter numbers diminished quite fast... we still had three dozen fighters attacking the small number of bombers and the Nells had no chance as the Nells (as well as the Betty) are really easy to be shot down by our fighters...

this was the last wave attacking our Merauke operation for today and I guess Rainer was quite happy that it was the last wave... he told me he feels like being in 44 already, with a total of 3 bombers managing to break through Cap (for no hit) and heavy losses in bombers as well as fighters... understandable, for me it was fun to watch, I felt more or less save as long as I saw my fighters diving and that didn´t change at any time today as we had numerical superiority and were flying higher than the enemy...

the kill ratio was totally one sided, we shot down over a hundred enemy aircraft above our ships for the loss of a good dozen of our fighters, kill rate is somewhere between 8-10:1... sounds high and perhaps is a little too high (that may well be discussable) but considering the fact that every enemy attack was highly outnumbered and the enemy fighters were on escort it is probably more realistic than those fighter sweeps when you have equal numbers on each side but one side gets the endless dive due to at least 10ft height advantage to see kill rates of 10-15:1 in the end...

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Sub attack near Taihoku at 89,61

Japanese Ships
xAK Hakusika Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
xAK Kinryu Maru
DD Tatsukaze

Allied Ships
SS Greenling



SS Greenling launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Hakusika Maru
Greenling diving deep ....
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Tatsukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

we finally get a working torp again... rare happening lately...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

116 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

124 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 8 (0 destroyed, 8 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

and the unloading phase at the end of the day... we have used far over 150 ships in our invasion (escorts included) to carry two US Inf divisions and two base forces... learning from our previous invasions, this should have been easily enough to unload in one turn and have enough supplies being unloaded to bail out ofter one turn if needed but for whatever reason, the unloading seems to have been totally borked... we got one division more or less completely on shore and this units also holds 15000 supplies now... the other division is still a fragment with all infantry unloaded but more or less none of it´s heavy equipment and no supply... same goes for the base forces... looking at the ships, many of the supply carrying AKs have unloaded only exactly 60 supplies... grmpf... [&:] so it will take us at least another day tomorrow, I can only hope that we´re going to unload more then... I´m unaware of KB´s position, nor do I know where the enemy BBs are... with us obviously directing our efforts towards Merauke and the Darwin area, as the Japanese I would keep some surface combatants in the Darwin area so I would expect some heavy cruisers perhaps doing a high speed run at the invasion site and if KB was at Truk today, it could be in position near Hollandia to launch bomb equipped Kates with Zeroes from 9 hexes to attack the amphib TFs... while I haven´t had any SC TF at the invasion site today I will dispatch the surface combat TF (including three BBs) from the carrier TFs and it will take up position at the invasion site... that means we would have an answer to any enemy attempt of attacking our invasion with heavy cruisers (doubt that any BBs would come in as they would probably end up in range of my carriers) and our BBs would be the main target for the hundred Kates that could attack with bombs from KB if KB is positioned at the other side of New Guinea... of course, the worst case scenario would be KB appearing in torp range of my carriers tomorrow as I´m totally sure that my carriers are far from being able to go into infight with the enemy´s carriers... two of my fleet carriers are still in the shipyard, both should be ready within the next two weeks with Saratoga being fixed at Cape Town, which means she needs another two weeks for transfer to Sydney...

halve a dozen CVEs are coming in to Australia to help us though, this wll give me over a hundred Wildcats more, the CVEs with the "R" squadrons will have their bomber squadrons removed and will be used as fighter support carriers, each giving us additional 28 Wildcats. The other "normal" CVEs will have 18 Wildcats and some TBFs... all those squadrons already have had their low skilled pilots replaced with 70 skill pilots from the reserve pool... With the 180 aircraft from our two fleet carriers in the shipyards and the CVEs arriving at the front soon we will have quite a substantial force, even if we don´t have Hellcats yet. On the defense against incoming strikes our fighters proved to be deadly anyway (as long as they´ve got the "dive" so with such a reinforced CV force we could think about attacking more dangerous targets... attacking a major land base (like Rabaul with hundreds of fighters) and KB showing up at the same time is a nogo though, at least as long as we haven´t got Hellcats available...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Merauke (89,124)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11382 troops, 136 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 483 [X(]

Defending force 15790 troops, 202 guns, 381 vehicles, Assault Value = 619

Japanese ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Assaulting units:
2nd Division[X(][X(]
Bandasan SNLF
41st JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
41st Infantry Div /18
32nd Infantry Div /1
106th USN Base Force /2
118th USAAF Base Force /2


wow! Besides the fact that the unloading got screwed up due to whatever reason, facing a fully combat ready 2nd Division is a shock to be honest... when Rainer reinforced Merauke we caught his transports with the troops aboard with our carriers (more or less by accident) and from that on I´ve thought Merauke would be an easy target. Recon showed 15000 troops all the time (quite a good result considering the 11400 troops there) so I´ve thought we only would face some remnants of the trashed reinforcement convoy and the Merauke operation has been seen as a cakewalk up to now... Facing now a full division with an assault value of 400+ is not what I wanted to see to be honest... add in the jungle terrain and some forts for sure and our two divs could be bogged down as I´ve again got no combat engineers in this invasion... all our combat engineer units are used against Lae and they are marching overland there, which will take some weeks more... I´ve also more or less got no tank units for my invasions at the moment as all of them have been sent to Kathering to face the five IJA divisions that still hold Northern Australia... it´s a draw at Katherine with no side daring to attack but at least my Army forces the enemy to keep his units in place or withdraw from Northern Australia completely...

[castor troy]

and here are today´s air losses... not a bad result at all for us, we lose a good dozen of fighters over the invasion site with most pilots surviving anyway... the enemy formations were hit hard, far too many dispersed strikes broke the enemy´s neck... I didn´t wonder about my opponent´s comment: "it feels like 44"... if you add up the numbers of aircraft destroyed on the left side you get far more than the total number of ac destroyed on the right side... left side is FOW with often more ac destroyed than even being in a strike but the right side pretty much seems to be spot on...

so far so good...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 18, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

110 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

as the unloading was borked yesterday, we have to keep unloading also today... if we wouldn´t face the 2nd Division at Merauke I would have bailed out with my convoys after one day...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

227 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (4 destroyed, 3 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 100,58

Japanese Ships
E Kamo
E Kasasagi
E Kiji

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion is located by E Kamo
E Kamo fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Shikuka at 126,45

Japanese Ships
xAK Tatuha Maru
PB Yachiyo Maru

Allied Ships
SS Shad



SS Shad is sighted by escort
Shad diving deep ....
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Mussau Island at 104,120

Japanese Ships
DD Mochizuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Uzuki
DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
SS KXI



SS KXI launches 2 torpedoes at DD Mochizuki
KXI diving deep ....
DD Yuzuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Mochizuki attacking submerged sub ....
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki attacking submerged sub ....
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

while my USN fleet subs hit like wild, the rest just misses enemy DDs all the time... that´s mostly true for IJN subs too... no idea why the MK-14 are like homing...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tandjoengbalai at 47,79

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio
CA Kumano
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Myoko
DD Arashio
DD Oshio
DD Shikinami
DD Murakumo
DD Isonami
DD Shinonome

Allied Ships
SS Truant, hits 1



SS Truant launches 6 torpedoes at DD Michishio
DD Shikinami fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Murakumo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isonami fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Shinonome fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Murakumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Murakumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Murakumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Murakumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Murakumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

more misses of course... there would have also been some juicy targets in this TF... cruisers going back to Singapore it seems...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Emirau Island at 104,121

Japanese Ships
DD Uzuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Yuzuki
DD Mochizuki

Allied Ships
SS O24



SS O24 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Uzuki
O24 diving deep ....
DD Yuzuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Mochizuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

and another miss... [>:]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Taihoku at 90,62

Japanese Ships
xAKL Gyoun Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAKL Saiho Maru
PB Toshi Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Sunfish



SS Sunfish launches 6 torpedoes at xAKL Gyoun Maru
Sunfish diving deep ....
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toshi Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

we sink a xAKL... hurrey...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

110 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (0 destroyed, 3 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

238 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
43 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

127 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

213 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 4,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

all TFs still haven´t completely landed their troops... grmpf... what do I need? 300 ships to unload two divs and two base forces? Wonder why it worked elsewhere with fewer ships... with AKs unloading only 60 supplies in a whole day, I guess there went something seriously wrong... just like if the game thinks it would be unloading at a friendly port... [:@] this smells again...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tokara Retto at 100,63

Japanese Ships
E Shimushu
E Ishigaki

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger launches 6 torpedoes at E Shimushu
Trigger diving deep ....
E Ishigaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Ishigaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Ishigaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Ishigaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Ishigaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tokara Retto at 99,63

Japanese Ships
PB Senyu Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger is sighted by escort
Trigger diving deep ....
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 17


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
17 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

set one squadron to do a sweep and you get all it´s fighters into the air at once... set two squadrons to sweep and you get two "main" groups of both squadrons fly alone and the rest of both flying together... it´s consistently not working and it smells like cow sh*t...

sweep one... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 26 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 17


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
17 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet *

sweep two... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 16
B-17E Fortress x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground


Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 35

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

then the bombers show up...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground


Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hollandia , at 93,116

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 14
B-24D Liberator x 53


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 4 damaged

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



Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 19

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

want to take out Hollandia as that´s the staging base for the Zeroes it seems...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hollandia , at 93,116

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground




Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

which supports my comment about the screwed air coordination routine, while "coordination" is the wrong description for this broken routine... bombers at 12 hexes from Darwin get escorted by Zeroes at 8 hexes from Hollandia... distance between both bases is some 900 miles AND the bases are situated in two totally different locations, it´s not like the bombers coming from the West and pick up their escorts somewhere on the way to their target... don´t make me sick please...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hollandia , at 93,116

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 14


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hollandia , at 93,116

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 12 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 8

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground


Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 9

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 45,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 2
P-38F Lightning x 2


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
2 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet *

and here´s the rest of the two Lightning squadrons... Chiang Mai was reported to be more or less empty, I just wanted to make sure to take out any fighter resistance before the bombers come in...

sweep three... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the funny part of the turn begins...

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
G3M3 Nell x 13
G4M1 Betty x 11



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-400 Airacobra x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 14
F4F-3A Wildcat x 14
F4F-3 Wildcat x 11
F4F-4 Wildcat x 29


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 10 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed



CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(14 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 10 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
14 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 10 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(12 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 6 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 14 minutes
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
8 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 7 minutes
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
35th FG/41st FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
8th FG/80th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes

just like yesterday, the enemy launches strikes against our invasion fleet... LRCAP from Horn Island and leaking Cap from the carriers is waiting for the enemy and the results are as devastating as yesterday... the strikes are too small and all our fighters get the endless dive due to their height advantage and superior numbers... it´s a blood bath...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 40,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 25



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
25 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

other than the Lightnings I´ve got nothing in Burma or India that could compete with the Oscar II´s or Tojo´s max altitude, therefore I´m happy not to engage such sweeps...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Prome , at 55,50

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 35
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 12
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 17



Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
17 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
20 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 11000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

am planning to build up Prome to a huge airfield complex, level 9 is possible here... as long as there are hundreds of enemy aircraft at Moulmein I can´t use the airfield though... would I place 200 fighters at Prome the enemy would just start sending Tojo sweeps to the surrounding bases and we could expect to lose a dozen fighters every day I guess... so I will just move more engineering units and flak to Prome...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
G3M3 Nell x 9



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-400 Airacobra x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-40K Warhawk x 14
F4F-3A Wildcat x 30
F4F-3 Wildcat x 26
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed




CAP engaged:
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 10 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 14 minutes
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(16 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 18 being recalled, 12 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(16 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 20 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
35th FG/41st FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
8th FG/80th FS with P-40K Warhawk (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
7 planes vectored on to bombers

we´re already in the afternoon, the strikes are getting smaller and our fighters have no problem at all to fend them off...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 44 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13



Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-400 Airacobra x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-40K Warhawk x 14
F4F-3A Wildcat x 30
F4F-3 Wildcat x 26
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed




CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (22 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
22 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (18 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
18 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
No.881 Sqn FAA with Martlet II (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 11 minutes
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 6 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
49th FG/9th FS with P-40E Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
12th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 6 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
35th FG/40th FS with P-40E Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
35th FG/41st FS with P-40K Warhawk (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
347th FG/68th FS with P-400 Airacobra (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
8th FG/80th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes

even totally unescorted bombers are coming in now... to be honest, with the poor results for the Japanese yesterday I was amazed that Rainer sent more strikes in today that had no hope of achieving something... another 30 aircraft were shot down for more or less no losses on our side... KB did not show up which means the Merauke invasion was a full success so far (except the strange unloading of course)... the unloading here is a screwed masterpiece of it´s own, at the end of the day, we still haven´t unloaded all our troops and it will take another day... oh cmon, there are so many ships they should have unloaded in one day... [>:]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

226 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
48 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 5,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

110 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton


Allied ground losses:
24 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Merauke (89,124)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11194 troops, 130 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 469

Defending force 24436 troops, 406 guns, 705 vehicles, Assault Value = 766

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Assaulting units:
2nd Division
Bandasan SNLF
41st JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
41st Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Div /1
106th USN Base Force /2
118th USAAF Base Force /2


as you can see, only 41st Inf Div has completely unloaded... [8|] I was able to unload in one day exactly such a force with far fewer ships earlier but in this case, it seems to be completely screwed up... if that isn´t just an exception then sooner or later we will run into a disaster with such invasions as we´re just asking to get pummeled when we aren´t able to unload fast and retire... it takes a couple of hundred Hellcats to cover an invasion over a "longer period" 200 Wildcats and land based LRCAP is by far not enough for such a job... would have KB popped up yesterday or today we would have lost some carriers for sure... granted perhaps would we be able to achieve some hits on the enemy too but I wouldn´t bet on it...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 19, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tsushima at 102,56

Japanese Ships
E Kasasagi
E Kamo
E Kiji

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion is located by E Kasasagi
Scorpion diving deep ....
E Kamo fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji attacking submerged sub ....
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

106 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole


Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards

and we keep on unloading...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

118 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Georgetown at 47,75

Japanese Ships
TK Kanze Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Chosa Maru

Allied Ships
SS Truant


SS Truant launches 4 torpedoes at TK Kanze Maru
Truant bottoming out ....
PB Chosa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chosa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chosa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chosa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chosa Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

nice one... after missing a destroyer yesterday, Truant probably sunk a small tanker today...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

108 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

120 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

210 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 4,000 yards
Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

113 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards

and more unloading... looks like the troops are on the beach now...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tsushima at 102,56

Japanese Ships
E Kamo
E Kiji

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion is sighted by escort
Scorpion diving deep ....
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kamo attacking submerged sub ....
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kavieng , at 106,122

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 4



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
23 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes

the usual attack on Rabaul´s fighter defenses that are leaking out to the surrounding bases... so far we haven´t lost a single Lightning A2A in these operations... IIRC one was lost to ops so far...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Fergusson Island , at 102,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 41,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 24



Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 1


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
24 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes

the enemy is doing the same with his Oscars...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Fergusson Island , at 102,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 39,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 7



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 4
Spitfire Vc Trop x 10


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

CAP engaged:
No.77 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
No.54 Sqn RAF with Hurricane IIc Trop (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 35600
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
No.76 Sqn RAAF with Spitfire Vc Trop (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37000
Raid is overhead

but isn´t able to fly a concentrated attack with his single Sentai, therefore more of our fighters are meeting the second sweep... deja vu? And the bad news for the Oscars are the Spitfires flying the usual 250ft higher than the incoming attacker which meant the dive was on our side... two Oscars are reported lost for no losses on our side... aircraft "coordination" (how much cynicism lies in that?[8|]) and the altitude issue makes it quite frustrating all the time IMO...



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

111 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
AMC Hector
AM Oriole



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 2,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Invasion Support action off Merauke

96 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
xAP Jalaputra
AM Shepparton



Defensive Guns fire at approaching troops in landing craft at 1,000 yards


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Merauke (89,124)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11131 troops, 130 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 466

Defending force 24528 troops, 410 guns, 705 vehicles, Assault Value = 774

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



Assaulting units:
2nd Division
Bandasan SNLF
41st JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
41st Infantry Division
32nd Infantry Div /1
106th USN Base Force
118th USAAF Base Force

no, obviously 32nd Inf Div still hasn´t completely unloaded... zzz, sitting on four dozen ships and still not unloaded after day three... go figure that there´s something broken... 41st Inf Div got the same number of ships and unloaded three times faster...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Katha (61,43)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 892 troops, 12 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 36

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 18

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 18 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Katha !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(-)



Assaulting units:
2/2 AIF Pioneer Battalion

empty dot base in Burma, railline to Myitkina is now open... after the liberation of Burma down to the line Moulmein - Chiang Mai the supply has been steadily flowing to China which was the main reason for our "early" attack into Burma... I guess it will take 2 months and we will have enough supply in China to be able to keep our troops in bases without starving to death...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 20, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tawi Tawi at 71,91

Japanese Ships
DD Karukaya
TK Kyoko Maru
TK Kozui Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXVII



SS KXVII launches 4 torpedoes at DD Karukaya
KXVII diving deep ....
DD Karukaya attacking submerged sub ....
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

you could bet on the sub attacking the destroyer (and missing) instead of attacking one of the tankers and probably hitting it... it was a good idea to tone down the hit probability against escorts IMO, the old problem is still there though, subs attack escorts far too often instead of the tankers or freighters... I guess that´s not what was done in real life that often, unfortunetely, the targetting routine isn´t really making me happy...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Denpasar at 57,109

Japanese Ships
xAK Asahisan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Kamitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXVI



SS KXVI launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Asahisan Maru
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

at least another Dutch sub hits a freighter...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Nakadori-jima at 101,56

Japanese Ships
E Kamo
E Kiji

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion



SS Scorpion launches 4 torpedoes at E Kamo
E Kamo fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

depserately waiting for 1/43...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Denpasar at 57,109

Japanese Ships
xAK Hokuan Maru
xAK Imizu Maru
PB Kamitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS O21



SS O21 launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Hokuan Maru
O21 diving deep ....
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kamitsu Maru attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

missed...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Orchid Island at 87,68

Japanese Ships
E Otori
E Kari
E Hayabusa

Allied Ships
SS Kingfish



SS Kingfish is located by E Otori
Kingfish diving deep ....
E Kari attacking submerged sub ....
E Hayabusa fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 6
Ki-45 KAIb Nick x 1



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 14
B-24D Liberator x 61


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase hits 15
Runway hits 119

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 18000
Raid is overhead
Spc.Attck.Unit with Ki-45 KAIb Nick (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
264th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

I can only wonder where those Niks are coming from... from my daily recon over months, they can only come from Rabaul... Rabaul? That´s quite a distance...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 2nd Division, at 89,124 (Merauke)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 23


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...

have ordered massive airstrikes on Merauke for the coming days and hope we´re able to disrupt 2nd Div. Not much hopes though as we´re talking about a jungle base and some forts so I´ve got no real clue how my airstrikes will turn out... with only one div there, the attacks should at least focus on that unit, otherwise I already see my two divs with 600+ av together failing against a 400+ IJA div in jungle terrain and probably 2-3 forts...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 2



Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 22


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 30

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 18000
Raid is overhead
264th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

the Betties that were damaged from our naval bombardment never were repaired as the base never got operational again...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 1



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 13


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
264th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 2nd Division, at 89,124 (Merauke)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 16


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 7 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

not really a lot effect it seems...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 2nd Division, at 89,124 (Merauke)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 98,59

Japanese Ships
xAK Pacific Maru
PB Choun Maru #21

Allied Ships
SS Albacore



SS Albacore launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Pacific Maru
Albacore diving deep ....
PB Choun Maru #21 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #21 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #21 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #21 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choun Maru #21 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

more duds as usual...

we´ve ordered our invasion TFs at Merauke to stop unloading and head out of the area, therefore no ground combat today...

[castor troy]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 21, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 99,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-38
SC CHa-39

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger launches 4 torpedoes at SC CHa-38
Trigger diving deep ....
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

more duds...
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ASW attack near Truk at 110,109

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
DD Mutsuki
DD Oboro
DD Yayoi
DD Kisaragi

Allied Ships
SS Perch



SS Perch is sighted by escort
DD Yayoi fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Kisaragi fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

and Japanese battlewaggons on the move again... doubt that this is KB, perhaps Rainer is relocating some Nagato class BBs to Rabaul?

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Sub attack near Sapporo at 120,49

Japanese Ships
xAK Kinsyu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Sikisan Maru
PB Takunan Maru

Allied Ships
SS O19



SS O19 launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Kinsyu Maru
O19 diving deep ....
PB Takunan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Takunan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Takunan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Takunan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Takunan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

O19 finds a target near Northern Japan...

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Sub attack near Tawi Tawi at 72,89

Japanese Ships
TK Sanraku Maru
PB Shintohoku Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXVIII



SS KXVIII launches 4 torpedoes at TK Sanraku Maru
KXVIII diving deep ....
PB Shintohoku Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Shintohoku Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Shintohoku Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Shintohoku Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Shintohoku Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

these were duds... [:(]
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Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 99,63

Japanese Ships
PB Senyu Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger launches 4 torpedoes at PB Senyu Maru #2
Trigger diving deep ....
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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ASW attack near Horn Island at 93,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-169, hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Stuart
DD Morris
DD Nepal
DD Fortune



SS I-169 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Stuart
DD Nepal fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

our ASW group is acting as target again... torps miss and Fortune achieves two near misses...

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Sub attack near Tawi Tawi at 71,92

Japanese Ships
TK Nissho Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Chitose Maru

Allied Ships
SS Triton



SS Triton launches 6 torpedoes at TK Nissho Maru
PB Chitose Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

later on Triton heavily damages a precious tanker... I hope to reduce the enemy tanker fleet by at least 1/3 with my subs in 43...

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Morning Air attack on Meiktila , at 58,47

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 38,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 31



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
31 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

no Cap to pick off...

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Morning Air attack on Lihir , at 108,124

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed


Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes

the usual leaking Cap from Rabaul for us...

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Morning Air attack on Meiktila , at 58,47

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 39,750 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 8



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar sweeping at 36750 feet

and the usual fact that the enemy Sentais are always split up, no matter at which place on the map...

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Morning Air attack on 2nd Division, at 89,124 (Merauke)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2



Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 61


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

Also attacking Bandasan SNLF ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking Bandasan SNLF ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking Bandasan SNLF ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking Bandasan SNLF ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...
Also attacking 41st JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking Bandasan SNLF ...
Also attacking 2nd Division ...

all our medium bombers on New Guinea were set to attack 2nd Div at Merauke today... all our Marauders flew in one strike today... amazing...

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Morning Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

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


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 38


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 63

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 38


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 54

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

the heavies were tasked with airfield suppression in the Solomons, I want to keep the three airfields closed, Munda, Shortlands and Lunga...

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Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 23


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 36

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 16


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 10 damaged



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 16

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
202 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead

unlike the Marauders, the Mitchells from the same base came in in bits and pieces...

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Ground combat at Wau (98,126)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10646 troops, 211 guns, 287 vehicles, Assault Value = 746

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 206

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 206 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Wau !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: op mode(-)



Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

our two divisions marching on Lae... will take another three or four weeks to arrive there but we´ve got time... amazingly, the Inf divs are marching at twice the speed the combat engineer units are able to march... perhaps the motorized support is the reason for this but what do trucks help in jungle terrain... using trucks and taking all the heavy weapons on such a march wouldn´t be possible anyway... hmm, after thinking about it, I guess you should restrict land movement with hrs in a PBEM, the only question is how to do that... all those bases on New Guinea should only be attacked by amphibious invasion IMO, land movement shouldn´t be possible between those bases at all I guess... wasn´t there a thread about how to make hexes impassable?