Mines in the Pacific

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:25 pm

24th September 1942

INDIA
He's tried to put up some effort defending Ceylon, 25 Oscars each in the skies over Calcutta and Trimcomalee. ...they promptly suffered horribly at the hands of sweeping P38Fs and Hurricanes. 16 shot down though they did manage to bag two of the P38s which is actually pretty good going I think given how uber the twin tailed terror is. The airfields at Ceylon are all perma wrecked so I dunno how he managed to even base a/c there at all. My own bombers have switched to working on the light industry at Colombo, as I plan to starve the buggers out.

In Bengal Allied recon is building up a picture and the Allied advance to contact is continuing. I think the plan is attempt to lunge past Silchar and go all the way to Ledo. That road is long and tenuous though so I'll have to position strong forces in the difficult terrain there. It means Dacca and Chittagong will be highly vulnerable and so I don't plan on leaving many units there.

Plan is :-

Comilla will be fortified and held by second line units, ie Indians - 1 or maybe 2 divisions. This is mainly to stop him from simply rolling back up to Dacca again. However, the lack of rail links and the fact that the ground is totally open means I dont think he will be so inclined anyway.

A large concentration of troops will dig in in the hex two hexes due north of Silchar, one hex SW of the red dot on the road. This will prevent him from moving

The main force of the best units, mostly British and Australian with 1 US division, will advance down the northern road to Dimapur to capture and hold it. A fragment will then be detached ot assume control of Ledo. The problem then will be ensuring that the road is kept open in the face of a Japanese counterattack, however the tough terrain means I think this is eminently possible.

The capture of Ledo will reopen aerial supply into badly hit China.

Given Japanese strength on the Burma/India border, it looks like this fairly modest objective is all that is currently possible in the area.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 12:40 pm

AUS/SOPAC

KB came in between Ndeni and Lunga and made a mess of things, but damage could have been worse. Much bitching from my honourable opponent about aircraft not launching. That said he sunk a lot of stuff, the problem is almost all of it was expendable AKLs worth 1 or 2 points each. I got plenty more where they came from, and I do tend to use them as suicide runners.

The Allied airfarce was ready and waiting for this and full force attack was ordered. This turned out to be a total debacle. Out of about 8 bomber squadrons only half (the heavies) launched. And hit nothing. The purpose of the heavies was really to break up CAP rather than hit things - they did the former quite well but the killing units, the Helldivers, Dauntlesses and squadrons of trained skip bombing Mitchells just sat on their ass for three days. Clear weather throughout. The heavy bombers may be tough but they ain't that tough and the B17s and B24s suffered 20 casualties, quite the disaster. This will set back Allied bomber upgrades significantly. I wasn't very happy at all when KB went within 4 hexes of a base with 75 fighters and about 75 dedicated anti naval bombers of various description and they didnt even bother launching while the heavies much further back launched to die.

Main loss was CA Dorsetshire at Luganville, unfortunate but the vast majority of the Allied warships managed to evade.

More frustration as a Dutch submarine torpedoed CV Hiryu with a dud. The Dutch navy has had awful luck in this game, that is the 2nd or 3rd Dutch torpedo that hit a CV only to not explode. [8|]

Unfortunately he then trashed Lunga with carrier air and did so many supply hits that htis basically cancelled out the benefit of the supply convoy in the first place. [:D]

Betties and Nells from Rabaul have been night bombing Lunga throughout, not many kills but they regularly damage 50% of Lunga's 50 defending P40Es and there's nothing whatsoever I can do about it. Night bombing is pretty damn cheap now you get damaged results with it. I've been forced to use my naval bombing trained Beaufighters as night fighters and they've had some success in shooting down the enemy but no success in stopping him from very effectively suppressing my P40s.

When the P40s do fly though they do well, for example in one day he lost 22 carrier Zeroes while I lost two P40s. This is due to him escorting and my P40s being at max altitude and getting the bounce, so favourable for me. He's retaliated somewhat by setting one of his carrier Zero squadrons to sweep Lunga at 32k feet and this has inflicted some damage back at me.

Other bit of action in a busy week was his efforts to engage with surface ships, a cruiser force hit Lunga in the night to try and bag all my AKLs but my PT boats engaged and while no hits were exchanged the Japs did run away. At Ndeni he raided as well into a PT boat squadron but they were set as docked and half of them were sunk before they could get underway - moral of that story is never, never set PT boats to be docked.

Anyway looks like he's pulling back now. The Allies are wasting no time, more convoys are already being loaded up at Noumea to send into the cauldron hopefully in the gap in which his CVs will be off reloading. Lunga is on about 4000 supply, however it now has an airfield 4. Tulagi is on 3000 and is less developed. I'm hoping to swap one of the Lunga air squadrons for P40Ks in the next week, so the place should be a slightly tougher target. I'm also shifting extra aviation support to Ndeni as he just loves trashing it and I have no fighters there at all, only 10 av support for a squadron of transport aircraft.

I feel that I need to press the initiative a little and therefore have been looking for alternative axes of advance. 500lb recon bombs over Port Moresby found a Japanese division there, so I won't be doing anything there. Looks like Tarawa is on like donkey kong when my CVs are fixed.

CENTPAC
No offensive action, except against Japanese submarines between Hawaii and Christmas Island. The fleet is still being refitted. Tabiteau has some Airacobras now, so the buildup near Tarawa continues and my string of bases is working as intended. Midway Island has been reinforced very slightly as it had no fighters, now it has a P40K and a Dauntless squadron, not that I really expect any Japs to be found up here, he's shown no interest in Centpac since the game started.

Fleet will be entirely ready in about 10 days from now best guess.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Sat Jul 17, 2010 3:37 pm

25th September

Catalinas bagged a Jap CL and a DD off Lunga - the US isn't so toothless that he can just bum around 80 miles from Guadalcanal in daylight without air cover, luckily. They flew from Tulagi.

Henderson Field is wrecked and while KB is apparently gone for now he's switched to daylight bombing from Rabaul. He's got a Zero squadron sweeping the P40s to great effect and some more escorting, the 7 P40s which were all that could fly out of two squadrons today were no match.

This is kinda bad, we can't let him keep it suppressed, so I moved up some Airacobras to Tulagi and they've been set to LRCAP Guadalcanal. Some fresh a/c might be a surprise for him.

In the good news, two AKLs that survived KB are now unloading at Lunga and supply is over 5000 now. A lot more en route. The battle for supply might be won after all.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:29 pm

3rd October 1942

Some good, some bad. Very good news this week though!

INDIA
No change by Ceylon, aside from a Jap I-boat being sunk in Trimcomalee harbor by heavy bombers. I'm starting to pull out Illustrious' air units, because I plan on sending Illustrious to the Pacific to link up with the USN. That means no torpedo bombers covering the island...

In Bengal I now have 1400 AV at Tezpur, and plenty more is coming. 2 Aussie Bdes, 2 British Bdes, an Indian division, an understrength Chinese division. The full force I am amassing will come up to 2000 AV thereabouts when the Chindits get there. These are the boys headed for Kohimi.

Currently 1700 AV is the blocking force, though I think thats too much and I'll likely redistribute somewhat. Probably the Americans will be detached and become part of the offence, as they are more replaceable than the British - and have more firepower and more AA guns too.

Plan is, again, to form an anvil and a hammer - his main body at Silchar will be blocked but not engaged by my blocking force, threatening him and hopefully pinning him. The hammer meanwhile will strike more or less behind him at Kohima/Dimapur. Kohima will be taken due to its defensive nature, and then we'll move on to the ultimate objective of Ledo when I'm sure that the Japs are contained and will not be able to cut me off.

I'll take a screenie of this at some point to better illustrate.

The air war in India has gone very quiet as its totally one sided now, the only Jap activity in the last week was a sudden bombing of my single armoured recce unit which took back Chittagong. it did some damage but only sustained bombing would be serious - he hasn't bothered as I'm sure he knew the twin tailed terrors would be about (they were). Allied bombing alternates between Imphal with the aim of damaging supply, and Akyab/Magwe, as these appear to be the main Japanese air bases covering the Burmese border. Occasionally I bomb Paoshan on the Burma/Chinese border, as he has a Bde there engaging my Chinese defenders. I'm actually bringing up some Chinese reinforcements, as he presses in on China from all sides.

CHINA
In the north he seems content with Lanchow/Sining under his control, no indication of reinforcement or more troops headed in this direction.

Front lines are currently between Chungking and Sian (stalemate in the mountains, I succeeded in attacking and destroying a whole Bde pretty much that he attempted to flank with - in insufficient force), Patung (a very minor Japanese force took it, I promptly took it back, now we're eying each other one hex apart) and the Wuchow-Kukong road after a failed Chinese offensive aimed at Wuchow (Stalemate in the forests). He's opened another minor front in CHina onthe Burmese border at Paoshan, 100 AV vs 100 AV, stalemate in the mountains. More Japs are coming though so the respawned Red Chinese units are being ordered to Paoshan to help the defence.

SOPAC/AUS
He's launched a major counterinvasion at Guadalcanal, just how major i'm not quite sure. I have a habit of underestimating his forces, so I'll assume the situation could be grave. Tassafaronga was prepared by Jap paras and now he's landing. It is however a port 0, and he has no bases in range aside from an undeveloped Shortlands and far off Rabaul, so this seems like quite a tenuous lodgment compared to what i got. He's clearly going to be reliant on CVs, and indeed KB has been very busy around Lunga/Ndeni. Ndeni was heavily suppressed and took quite major damage, he's been wary of advancing further south though towards Noumea/Efate. Wise, I got a lot of firepower there, though not enough to beat KB, but a single bomb can ruin a CVs day unlike a land base.

He has failed to keep up the suppression against lunga - I am not sure why. This gave me the chance to reinforce with a P40K squadron which despite being massively outnumbered has managed a 1:1 kill ratio against mostly Jap carrier air. They have been unable to prevent damage to the airfield but it's still open. Less promising were my skip bombers, I moved up some trained Mitchells and some trained Havoc attack bombers - my first attack bombers - and reigned them in with max range 1 to hit Tassafaronga. Less than 20% launched. I presume because of Lunga's lack of supply.

The Allies have some cruisers ("somewhere, just out of sight, the unicorns are gathering") roaming around just beyond Jap recon range SW of Guadalcanal. I'm hoping to dart these in and hit the landing fields as I've seen no Jap warship bigger than a CL there so far. I think landing a major force at Tass will take time, and he'll need 2 divisions I think to have a realistic chance of taking Lunga, so that'll be a while in the unloading given he only has about 12 APs according to recon.

Deviousness is being hatched on the Australian mainland as I discover that Cooktown is just about in B24 range of Rabaul. Rabaul is absolutely jam packed with aircraft and they are leaning on Lunga hard, I'd like to think that 50 night bombing B24s will do some damage to an overstacked a/f even at half bombload. Port Moresby is being blatted by them atm, no hint of any Jap molestation of Cooktown yet, so hopefully by the time he notices it'll be too late.

As his CVs have been welded to Lunga, Allied subs have been congregating off Guadalcanal in large numbers. And with success. Soryu apparently took two hits, *AMMO STORAGE EXPLOSION* - if the skipper of O24 is not bullshitting me the Dutch navy just entered legend. Friendly ports are a long way away for a heavily damaged Japanese CV, she may well be toast. If so this might possibly be a war changing event as Soryu is a pretty major combatant by any standard.

CENTPAC
The more I see of the Lunga campaign with its apparent utter dependence on Japanese CVs the more I think I need to hit Tarawa, to try and force him to spread out - admittedly not a great distance from Guadalcanal but far enough for me to slip in supplies without CVs being stuck there 24/7.

Unfortunately a major cockup on my part has put back the Tarawa op even more. I didn't realise that October was another upgrade month for the USN so every US carrier pretty much just stood down for 20 days to get the next round of AA guns. F***. I suppose in the long run it may be for the best, but thats Tarawa put off again.

Or is it. Tarawa has a single Jap LCU, and if I can get P38s to Tabituea to cover any long range Netties out of Kwajalein et al, maybe I wouldn't need carriers. We shall see.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 6:32 pm

Oh one thing I forgot, that was a bit of surface action at Lunga a few days ago when he raided with 2 DDs. He was very unlucky - one DD wore an 8" shell from CA San Francisco, and then in the day the US bugged out.

Unlucky because KB was in range at this point but didn't bother launching. He must be spitting blood as KBs performance has been very poor this last month.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 8:01 pm

Quick update as this was a busy day...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 04, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Munda at 110,135

Japanese Ships
xAP Ussuri Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Palau Maru
xAP Kowa Maru
xAP Taizan Maru
DD Murakumo

Allied Ships
SS S-40

Japanese ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

SS S-40 launches 4 torpedoes at xAP Ussuri Maru
S-40 diving deep ....
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Munda at 110,135

Japanese Ships
DD Murakumo
xAP Kowa Maru
xAP Dairen Maru
xAP Kashima Maru

Allied Ships
SS S-40

SS S-40 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Murakumo
S-40 diving deep ....
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Etorofu at 126,49

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-37
SC CHa-38

Allied Ships
SS S-33, hits 1

SS S-33 is located by SC CHa-37
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-37 attacking submerged sub ....
SC CHa-37 is out of ASW ammo
SC CHa-37 is out of ASW ammo
SC CHa-37 is out of ASW ammo
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near New Hanover Island at 104,123

Japanese Ships
E Kamo, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Teika Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon

SS Sturgeon launches 4 torpedoes at E Kamo
Sturgeon diving deep ....
Sub escapes detection

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 10

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 38500 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 9
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 32
Ki-27b Nate x 11
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-48-Ib Lily: 1 damaged

Light Industry hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
12 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x Ki-21-Ic Sally bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
3 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 94th Chinese Corps, at 77,56

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 21
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 12
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 6 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
17 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 46th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 3rd New Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 72nd Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 94th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 46th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 94th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 46th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 72nd Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 94th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 46th Chinese Corps ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 40,500 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 2

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 38500 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 6

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 14th Division, at 60,40 (Imphal)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 3

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 37

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed on ground
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
H6K5 Mavis: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 5 destroyed on ground
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 1 destroyed on ground

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

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 24

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 5 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Colombo , at 29,48

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 21
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 25

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12
B-24D Liberator x 13
P-39D Airacobra x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
SS I-166, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
SS I-165, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

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

Repair Shipyard hits 1
Port hits 6
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (21 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
21 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Raid is overhead
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (25 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
25 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36740
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Colombo , at 29,48

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 13
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 18

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 3

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

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
13 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 260 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
18 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36740 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 362 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Colombo , at 29,48

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 8
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 18

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38F Lightning: 1 destroyed

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 18 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 36740 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 36th Chinese Division, at 65,45 (Paoshan)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 13

No Japanese losses

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

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 8000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 59th Chinese Corps, at 81,40

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 16
Ki-30 Ann x 11
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 14th Chinese Corps, at 81,40

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 20
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
G3M3 Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 14

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 35

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
16 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet *
11 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
6 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
12 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet *

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (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 9000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 6

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (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 9000
Raid is overhead

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

Ground combat at Paoshan (65,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3484 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 125

Defending force 2324 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 96

Japanese adjusted assault: 56

Allied adjusted defense: 76

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 1)

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

Japanese ground losses:
68 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
109 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
5th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
36th Chinese Division

Aside from Allied subs having a very good week and continuing on their success, the long range Liberator raid from Cooktown at Rabaul destroyed 58 (!) enemy aircraft on the ground, a disastrous day for him at Rabaul I think! It didn't stop a heavy Japanese raid on battered Lunga, but even so, thats gotta hurt, almost 60 a/c lost in an eyeblink. No CAP, he wasn't expecting that. I've promptly switched to night port bombing as Rabaul apparently holds a lot of ships.

Not all good, 1/3 of the Liberators concerned were taken off for maintenance after the raid - anything up to 16 days off, gotta love service rating 4. The price of operating at maximum range. Still, a handsome haul.

Heavy fighting over Ceylon as well, not going quite so well, several P38s and 3 heavy bombers shot down by Tojos today. First use of Tojos in large numbers by the Japs. The P38Fs involved are my elite flying circus, they did well, but several were still shot down. I think I hold the initiative though so pressure is being maintained.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Tue Aug 03, 2010 4:17 pm

Its about October 11th now, more or less. Turns have been slow.

INDIA
Bombing of Ceylon was unopposed all this week, I've actually moved the heavies to Bengal now where targets are juicier but the B25s, SBDs and Vindicators are still here to stop any ships from sneaking around.

In Bengal the air war has been ramping up. The Japs conducted one raid on Dacca this week out of Akyab and Magwe (guess), and a raid on exposed Allied tanks near the front lines. Allied bombers have hit Akyab and Magwe in returns, and P38 sweeps have been a daily occurrence. The Japs are tending to decline combat though, he moves in, hits, and moves out. Occasionally I catch him and he gets thumped. Losses are probably half a dozen bombers for me, probably a dozen fighters and half a dozen bombers for him.

On the ground we're still jockeying for position, Operation Hammer aimed at Dimapur now has 2300 AV, Operation Anvil has about 1900, I might adjust this. Some armour is moving up to spar with Japanese armour scouting the frontal area (these are the guys he bombed). I'd really need a screenie to elaborate further though. The Jap defences have not moved at least so he doesn't appear to have reacted to my developing attack. Hopefully he doesn't know it's developing just yet.

CV Illustrious is less than a week from Cape Town, from then on its off to the Falkland Islands and on to the South Pacific for her!

CHINA
Looks like a serious attempt is being made on Chungking, as he's attempting to break the deadlock in the mountain hexes between Chungking and Sian by a pincer attack, he's forced out 3 corps with a huge stack of Japs - I was unable to move in time. Reinforcements are being rushed to the northern sector from elsewhere, for the first time ever in China I feel short of troops. Ichang is being abandoned completely, it's useless anyway. Situation is developing and rather worrisome, but it's early days yet, ground combat is sloooow.

SOPAC/AUS
Been a very busy week in SOPAC.

Several surface actions over the week, all Japanese raids. A CL and two DDs raided Ndeni with perfect timing, sinking six APs, an AM and wiping out 90% of a US marine combat engineer regiment. Ouch.
Couple of days later two Jap DDs hit Lunga and ran into six APDs and CL Concord, the DDs hit an APD, took a few 3" hits and then the Allies disengaged.
Then after that some Jap CAs raided the open seas west of Lunga and found two AKLs, sinking them - this was very near a big Allied cruiser SAG so they were quite lucky, and I dunno how they found the AKLs in the open water like that, but they did!

He sortied his carriers and hit Lunga and Ndeni, but results were poor, didn't close any runways, and the defending CAP did quite a bit of damage despite being heavily outnumbered. The P40K is an excellent machine. Losses were about 1:2 in my favour in the air, as Vals got shot up by Airacobras despite heavy escort, however Allied a/c losses on the ground probably made the exchange about even. SS Peto put two dud torpedoes into the side of CV Zuikaku and he's grumbling in his emails about this, the CVs bugged out quite soon afterwards, so he clearly doesn't like running the gauntlet like he's doing. The Allied sub presence around Lunga and Rabaul is impressive, there must be 15-20 boats on patrol in the area now.

The Japs landed on Munda and are building up Shortlands, but they are doing it very slowly.

The Japs at Tassafaronga have not moved. Supply there must be pretty bad for them. Allied supply is in the yellow at Lunga and the red at Tulagi, so we're just about sort of ticking over, just about. Allied merchant ship losses are mounting, we're being bled alright, but we are a long way from having to amass ships from far off places to send to SOPAC, Australia has dozens of AKs lying unused in ports ready to be drafted. Allied losses are disproportionately AKLs as I prefer these for the small bases like Lunga, so they are fairly expendable.

Allied SigInt got some juicy info, a Jap division prepping for Noumea. I'm going to see what I can do about reinforcing Noumea - they have 1000 AV on New Caledonia and all are prepping for Noumea now, no more adventurism (some were prepping for Shortlands, clearly this is beyond our capabilities right now).

Overall - looks like a stalemate in SOPAC. I'm being bled in AKLs but he's lost CV Soryu so I have to say, as far as attrition goes, I guess I'm winning. Given no Allied CV power has yet been seriously committed here I think we're doing very well really.

CENTPAC
Started loading up at Savaii for the Tarawa op, it's on. Surprised how long it takes to load everything and get it all ready, I think it's going to be another week just to get the TFs sorted out, let alone the sail time. By the time they are en route the US CVs should be free to leave port finally, they might even be able to support the landings.

An AE is at Tabiteaua, which also is being seriously pumped up with supply, the many BBs I have will find that useful. Air power is currently two B26, one Airacobra and one Wildcat squadron. P38s are kinda nearby, and probably will be ready for the actual landing so the landing will be under LRCAP just in case Betties from Kwajalein appear but thats a hell of a long way for them to fly.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 6:04 pm

October 15th

INDIA
The news here was a massive raid on Magwe by about 50 Allied heavy bombers. There were 25 Tojos on CAP but they were brushed past, and heavy damage was done to Magwe, 50 Jap a/c destroyed on the ground. Then to rub salt in the wound, P38Fs stratoswept the base and shot down half a dozen Tojos without loss.

The Tojo isn't distinguishing itself so far. I have no idea what his pilot quality is though.

Ground units still inching to their start points!

SOPAC
Heavy raid on Port Moresby by 39 B24s and 15 Beaufort Vs destroyed 11 Japs on the ground and damaged umpteen more - Vals and Zeroes. Jap ships sighted at PM, so I've ordered a cruiser SAG up there, maybe we can have a nice convoy engagement.

Lunga has been very quiet since his CVs left. A screenshot is attached as there are a ridiculous number of Allied submarines in SOPAC now - this is just a taster, there are even more around Truk and Rabaul...

Yet more convoys headed for Lunga, will they make it?

CENTPAC
Still loading at Savaii but things are coming together. Prince of Wales is en route to Tabiteau, where an AE is ready. I've ordered B26s to begin bombing today - this might distract him a bit from Guadalcanal hopefully.
5 days till the CVs at Pearl are ready, they'll be sortied ASAP.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 7:45 pm

looks like you're getting supply into Lunga. Those air transports i warrant

So saith my foe.

It's true, I have about 15 transports and 20-30 bombers on daily supply runs. Lunga is still in the red though, it's a trickle, not a flood... is it really making that much difference?

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:42 pm

(yet) i'm sure there're not that far away... (allied CVs)

i use the repair of your airfield as an indicator of how much supply you have left

i'm not at all convinced its worth it operationally for me.

Looks like my honourable opponent is getting itchy feet in SOPAC. Given his precipitous retreat in Bengal he must be thinking of doing likewise in SOPAC? His troops on Guadalcanal sent over intelligence shells today, I didnt think they were moving but apparently they were. I guess he's not happy with what he sees.

FIrst real Allied skip bombing attack of the war, did a good job at Port Moresby. Yet another Allied convoy bit the dust near Guadalcanal, he's a wily foe, his CVs appeared to the west of the island this time. But... I have so many more AKs to send to their doom. Will it make any difference? SS Argonaut has been added to the resupply op, so we got a lot of APDs, a lot of a/c flying supply, a lot more tranport aircraft headed slowly into theatre on lumbering AKs.

Whenever his airforce comes into contact with mine, he suffers. The hugely outnumbered P40Ks at Guadalcanal did yet another good job and held off the Zeroes while Airacobras murderised some more Jap Vals. He lost another 20 odd carrier air today. Total carrier air losses in the SOPAC deal must be well into the 100s now with all these ops against defended airfields. Can his pilots handle this level of attrition? Surely he's going to blunt his katana for the true fight against my CVs doing this.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 16, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 220 encounters mine field at Munda (111,134)

Japanese Ships
AMc Tomozono Maru #3

5 mines cleared

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Lingga at 52,88

Japanese Ships
E Kari

Allied Ships
SS Sargo

SS Sargo is located by E Kari
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Lingga at 52,88

Japanese Ships
E Kari

Allied Ships
SS Sargo

SS Sargo is sighted by escort
Sargo bottoming out ....
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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 31

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
31 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Lunga , at 114,138

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 13

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses

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

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 220 encounters mine field at Munda (111,134)

Japanese Ships
AMc Tomozono Maru #3

6 mines cleared

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tavoy at 53,58

Japanese Ships
xAKL Kaishi Maru
PB Ginyo Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel

SS Pickerel launches 4 torpedoes at xAKL Kaishi Maru
Pickerel bottoming out ....
PB Ginyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ginyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ginyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ginyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ginyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

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

CAP engaged:
3rd Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 32000.
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 107,143

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 35,810 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 5 destroyed

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (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 32100
Raid is overhead
347th FG/67th FS with P-40K Warhawk (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 94th Chinese Corps, at 76,55

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 12
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 4 damaged

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

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
17 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 74th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 46th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 72nd Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 94th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 74th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 72nd Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 94th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 74th Chinese Corps ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 40th Chinese Corps, at 80,41

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27b Nate x 8
Ki-30 Ann x 18

Allied aircraft
P-43A-1 Lancer x 2
P-66 Vanguard x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27b Nate: 1 destroyed
Ki-30 Ann: 2 damaged

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

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
5th FG/17th FS CAF with P-66 Vanguard (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 28000
Raid is overhead
3rd FG/32nd FS CAF with P-43A-1 Lancer (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 33000
Raid is overhead

Also attacking 27th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 1st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 40th Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 1st Chinese Corps ...
Also attacking 40th Chinese Corps ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 1st Chinese Corps, at 80,41

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 19
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
P-43A-1 Lancer x 2
P-66 Vanguard x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-66 Vanguard: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x Ki-30 Ann bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
5th FG/17th FS CAF with P-66 Vanguard (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 28000 , scrambling fighters to 3000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 14 minutes
3rd FG/32nd FS CAF with P-43A-1 Lancer (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 33000 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 2
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 12
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 3

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
2 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 7

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 14th Division, at 59,39 (Silchar)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Allied aircraft
Lysander II x 11

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Lysander II bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 20th Infantry Regiment ...
Also attacking 14th Division ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3

Allied aircraft
Mitchell II x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Mitchell II: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Terushima Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Mitchell II bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 6 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
50th Sentai/B with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufort V x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Kamikaze Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Terushima Maru, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hibiki

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Beaufort V bombing from 8000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x Beaufort V bombing from 8000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Kamikaze Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 113th Infantry Regiment, at 59,39 (Silchar)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Allied aircraft
Wellington Ic x 15

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Wellington Ic bombing from 8000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed on ground

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

Airbase hits 6
Runway hits 54

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
5 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 22

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

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

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 37

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 107,143

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
D3A2 Val x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AM Bunbury, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
AO Sabine, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AO Sabine
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AM Bunbury

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5M1 Mabel x 10
B5N2 Kate x 9
D3A1 Val x 12

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Blue, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Malancha, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAK Taiyuan, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Mugford, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Marpessa

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters to 4000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes
347th FG/67th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 12 minutes

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Blue

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 35,810 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 3
P-40K Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (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 32100
Raid is overhead
347th FG/67th FS with P-40K Warhawk (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 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 5
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 14
Ki-27b Nate x 10
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 3 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 4 damaged

Light Industry hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x Ki-21-Ic Sally bombing from 6000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 36th Chinese Division, at 65,45 (Paoshan)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 12

No Japanese losses

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

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-49-Ia Helen bombing from 8000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,139

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
B5M1 Mabel x 15

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-40K Warhawk x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
B5M1 Mabel: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Marpessa, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Mugford, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet
7 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet
2 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 32810 feet

CAP engaged:
8th FG/35th FS with P-39D Airacobra (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters to 32100.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
347th FG/67th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 32810.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 6 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Changsha , at 82,52

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 39,500 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 10

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 38500 feet

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

Ground combat at Lunga (114,138)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11210 troops, 124 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 430

Defending force 17210 troops, 402 guns, 334 vehicles, Assault Value = 461

Japanese ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
10th Division

Defending units:
164th Infantry Regiment
1st USMC Parachute Battalion
1st Marine Raider Battalion
57th Coastal Artillery Regiment
182nd Infantry Regiment
7th Marine Regiment
1st USMC Engineer Aviation Battalion
10th USN Naval Construction Battalion
1st USMC Air Wing Base Force
2nd RNZAF Base Force
96th Coast AA Regiment
II US Fighter Cmnd

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:58 pm

Hmm... looking at other AARs, and the sort of air to air kill ratios being achieved here - it seems to me very likely that his pilot quality has been cut and cut hard. In other October 42 AARs the Japs seem able to hold up at 1:1 kill ratios easily enough - not so in this game. It's 5 to 1 or even more tilted towards the Allies. His naval aviation is not immune to this either, he's committed his CVs quite heavily at various points and, while they have swept all before them and the flight decks themselves are none the worse for wear bar Soryu, he has lost significant aircraft.

This bodes well for a roaring 1943.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 5:51 pm

Been a bit of a delay while my honourable opponent was on holiday but we've done enough now to make it worth an AAR post.

24th October 1942

BURMA/INDIA

Heavy fighting in the skies over Trimcomalee, the Allies have a slight advantage over the defending Tojos but it is slight. Getting a 1.5 : 1 kill ratio I would guess. P40Es and Hurricanes and Mitchells vs Tojos.

The main action is in the Bengal/Burma border where Operation Hammer has succeeded! 3000 AV of Allies assaulted Dimapur which in the event was fortified but only defended by 500 AV of Japs. They were pushed back with heavy casualties. The rest of the Japs have not moved yet.

Most heartening of all is the apparent lack of Japanese supply.

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

Ground combat at Dimapur (62,38)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 75718 troops, 1214 guns, 1265 vehicles, Assault Value = 2894

Defending force 13797 troops, 202 guns, 30 vehicles, Assault Value = 351

Allied adjusted assault: 1393

Japanese adjusted defense: 183

Allied assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Dimapur !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
7615 casualties reported
Squads: 171 destroyed, 80 disabled
Non Combat: 178 destroyed, 134 disabled
Engineers: 86 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 95 (94 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 30 (30 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 12

Allied ground losses:
1607 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 189 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 142 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled
Vehicles lost 35 (1 destroyed, 34 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
16th Australian Brigade
18th Australian Brigade
18th Canadian Brigade
77th Chindit Brigade
87th Mountain Regiment
23rd Indian Division
32nd Infantry Division
18th British Division
21st Australian Brigade
200th Chinese Division
111th Chindit Brigade
14th British Brigade
17th Australian Brigade
19th Australian Brigade
25th Australian Brigade
7th Indian/A Division
2/11th Field Brigade
IV Indian Corps
Burma Corps
2/9th Field Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
17th Infantry Regiment
21st Infantry Regiment
3rd Ind. Engineer Regiment
9th Infantry Regiment
55th Infantry Regiment
20th AA Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
16th Engineer Regiment
27th JAAF AF Bn
34th Const Co
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
62nd JAAF AF Bn /2

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 6:14 pm

CHINA
Not much change, the slow dance of ground combat continues. Main focus remains the mountains between Sian and Chungking which is the new front, but it's rugged terrain, hard for either side to make progress.
Chinese operations are wholly defensive in character atm.

SOPAC/AUS
Still been unable to resupply Lunga with any surface merchant ships. I'm still trying though. There was a major demonstration at Tarawa with 3 x BBs bombarding the place, hopefully this might lure the Japanese away from SOPAC but we'll see.
No ground combat at Lunga for some time but he's still trekking over land. Allied logistics hang by a thread, I'm having to resupply purely by air and by submarine - Argonaut and half a dozen other subs are doing runs, so a trickle of supply is coming in. Enough to keep the Cactus Air Force P40Ks flying, and those P40Ks have done admirably, getting 3 to 1 at least in the air. Still it sucks to be on Guadalcanal, and I think the current scale of balance is in his favour to be honest.

I'm going to have to move CVs down here and really commit if I want to hold.

B24s at Cooktown periodically do heavy damage to Rabaul, we're talking 20-25 airframes toasted in a major raid once a week more or less. Allied airpower is building around Ndeni/Luganville/Efate to the point that RAAF base forces are being shipped there as theres a shortage of wrench turners.

CENTPAC
The Allied CV force is finally fixed and on the move. The Tarawa invasion got the green light but they are holding fast until the CVs arrive. Yet another AKL convoy is en route to Lunga, I plan on timing it to match the same time that the Tarawa op goes ahead.

I felt forced to demonstrate and try and lure the IJN from Guadalcanal so I bombarded Tarawa with 3 x BBs. Intelligence shells revealed a modest garrison of a naval guard unit so I undoubtably have enough marines to do the job, and then some. However while he pulled back right after the demonstration - successful or not? any surprise that I may have enjoyed has been lost. Hence why I'm waiting for the CVs and waiting for this Lunga convoy to go in at the same time, I'm kinda assuming there will be a response and want to make the most of my situation either way.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:51 am

A mini update for SOPAC only

October 27th, 1942

He tried to catch shipping at Lunga by sending in surface raiders (CL + 2 DD) to clear the place out - I'd ordered my AKL convoys hovering nearby to stay put though so he achieved nothing. During the day Helldivers at Tulagi hit CL Tama with two 500lb bombs, which did penetrate and did heavy fires but no heavy damage unfortunately.

Next day he withdrew his surface ships, unsurprisingly.

Meanwhile KB has taken the bait it seems and headed East to Nanumea, which is two days sailing from Lunga. He took out a couple of sacrificial subchasers at Nanumea, and now it's decision time. I've ordered my AKLs to Lunga, as well as a cruiser SAG based around CA Devonshire in case he tries surface raiding again. KB is two turns from being in range of Lunga, so this move at least should be safe from his CVs. If he loiters off of Nanumea or heads up to Tabiteau, where the main Allied force is, then I think Lunga will certainly be resupplied. Here's hoping he does that.

If he heads back immediately than I'll have to abort.

In related news the USN is massing near Baker Island, and I do mean massing. There's an armada of about 120 ships there getting ready to support this Tarawa op, including half a dozen BBs and all 5 USN carriers. There might be a clash between USN and IJN fairly soon... I'm less afraid of the KB than I was as I've noticed a distinct reduction in KB aircrew quality in the last few months, which is understandable given their heavy use, and he's not been afraid of suppressing airfields with carrier air in the past. Airfields defended by P40Ks, even, capable of inflicting significant casualties. Also with the Wildcat CV group upsizing of October the USN are bringing 200 Wildcats to the party, which strikes me as a lot given the biggest Zero escort I've seen out of him so far has been 68 aircraft, and usually less than that.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Sun Aug 29, 2010 5:37 pm

29th October 1942

Pretty tense turns lately!

His CVs turned back from Nanumea. I accordingly moved my AKLs away from Guadalcanal. He's now five hexes NE of Lunga, sitting on O19 who already bagged Soryu (no attack this turn from O19 unfortunately).

On the 27th Allied bombers wrecked two AKs at Munda, and recon suggested there were plenty more AKs about. So I sent in the Dorsetshire SAG to Munda to finish any off if he had the temerity to stick around, with orders to retreat to Rockhampton (and thus away from the approaching KB) and they found a Japanese SAG, 1 CA, 1 CL, 4 DDs so outnumbering my 1 CA and 3 DDs. The Allies crossed the T but the Japs had ungodly accuracy with their torpedoes regardless, Dorsetshire and DD Bankcert were sunk in exchange for CA Myoko being hit three times by 8" shells and a single AMc being blown out of the water. Bad exchange, bad intelligence, but kinda bad luck, too. They are now well en route to Rockhampton though so that part of the plan worked nicely!

Another cruiser SAG is almost in range - plenty of CAs and CLs assigned to SOPAC! A bit heftier. The AKLs are loitering well away from Lunga, ready to pounce.

Elsewhere orders are given for The Armada to move one hex from Tarawa, and the bombers at Tabiteaua are warmed up (the weather is terrible there, the airfield has been closed constantly) with ground targets in mind. The great attempt to regain the initiative and split the Japs up a bit is about to begin. Things are coming to a head...

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Mon Aug 30, 2010 9:19 pm

2nd November 1942

An absolutely catastrophic turn for the Allies, of strategic import I feel.

CA Takao and 4 DDs ran into my fast transport TF off Lunga. CL Concord and about 10 APDs. CL Concord didnt fire her guns at all in two engagements, one night and one day, and in the daytime one got annihilated by Takao, along with 7 APDs, the majority. With the APD fleet slaughtered my ability to resupply Lunga - tenuous at best - is now almost nonexistent. Might be time to throw in the towel there.

Additional badness as CA Salt Lake City loitering SW of Lunga was hit by Vals from Munda - an unwelcome but not altogether unexpected surprise. P40Ks from Lunga inflicted fairly heavy damage to Zero escort but the Vals got through.

And the icing on the cake - CV Wasp was torpedoed off of Tarawa by an I-boat. **AMMO STORAGE EXPLOSION**, guess it's my turn to be Soryu'd.

She's on 62 flot damage, 32 of it major. Be touch and go if she makes it out of there - and even if she does, she's out of the war for months. Small mercy that it's the smallest American CV.

I've aborted the Tarawa op, it was always a little touch and go - the forces allocated for it will be reassigned to Noumea as I keep getting these 'X is prepping for an attack on Noumea' sigint messages. The Cooktown heavy bombers are in range of Munda so I got somewhere to splatter now of more direct tactical value than general a/c pool attrition. I think I'm going to shift focus onto Lunga with what few CVs I have left - question is should I evacuate or resupply? An evacuation is very tempting.

I got a few turns to decide while the USN moves to SOPAC.

I'll keep the B26s bombarding Tarawa, it may still serve as a useful distraction if nothing else.

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:21 pm

9th November 1942

Carrier clash!

BURMA/INDIA
Allied success on the ground continues. Ledo and Kohima are now in my hands. The IJA has been given yet another beating at Kohima in a three day battle that ground down pretty much an entire IJA division, though it did cause about 50 disablements to allied combat squads. The ground campaign has been a truly multinational effort, even the Canadians, not known for a big Indian presence, have been involved in heavy fighting.

Air superiority over the Indian border seems to be uncontested of late. Allied bombers are now raiding deep into Burma heavily, going for the oil at Magwe and various tactical targets as the opportunity presents.
... a ground bombing of a Jap air HQ on its own at Magwe inflicted 72 disabled squads lost. I'm tempted to keep pummelling and wipe those guys out completely.

All quiet on Ceylon, it gets bombed round the clock, I occasionally see shipping in the Bay of Bengal but he must be in and out fast, never any ships at Ceylon itself.

Tenth USAAF HQ is en route to Ledo with engineers. The transport aircraft fleet will soon be up and running, flying over the Hump.

CHINA
The Chinese continue to fall back. The Japanese took Liuchow, cutting off Nanning from the main army. Pitiful attempts to block him without supplies are going on. Here's hoping Stilwell's transports, now moving to Ledo, can help out as the CHinese can't last many more months like this.

SOPAC/CENTPAC
The main action.

CV Wasp did not make it. On 5th November she was torpedoed again en route out of the battle area by one of the many submarines trying to hunt the crippled CV. She was hit twice and sank immediately, one hex from an AR at Arorae. Sad.

The fleet then moved towards SOPAC. On the 10th, Japanese CVs raided Lunga and trashed the place. Wasn't sure if he would raid further south - I moved the USN one hex east of Ndeni, thinking it would be quite safe here given the range and the fact that it is a large airbase in its own right.

He decided to move his CVs to pretty much maximum range off Ndeni. Carrier clashes ensued! Damage to both fleets were minor - he suffered 3 1000lb bomb hits, each on a different CV. I suffered one torpedo hit on a BB and a torpedo hit on a CA, 30 major flot to both. Saratoga was hit by a dud torpedo. Indecisive.

In the air however, very decisive. Total losses come to 200 Japanese airframes across all types. Allied losses are 100 airframes, mostly Wildcats but some SBDs too. Surely a victory. LBA fighters were heavily involved, the P40E was the model fighting the most and they did very well.

Large numbers of damaged a/c on the Allied CVs means that I can't really safely capitalise on the victory. That said. I seriously doubt he'll be planning to stick around 200 a/c down and far from home, with some light damage to flight decks. So a moderately aggressive stance seems justified. Ndeni is reinforced, so now it has 1 P40E, 1 P40K and 1 P38F squadron. These are all set to LRCAP my CVs, who are ordered slightly west of Ndeni. A four DD ASW force is tagging along this time. Cargo ships are ordered up to the CVs. Surely it's resupply time now.

He made light of the effect on pilot quality in his email to me. Surely this is disinformation? The loss of 200 carrier air pilots in one day has to be catastrophic, right? He's lost plenty of carrier air beforehand as he's really been using KB hard. I think I've detected a fall in Japanese quality as it is, and I think that lack of qualitative edge showed in this particular battle, as well.

Full combat report as November 9th was an exceptionally busy day, full of good news for the Allies.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Nov 09, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Kushiro at 123,57

Japanese Ships
DD Natsugumo

Allied Ships
SS Whale

SS Whale is sighted by escort
DD Natsugumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Natsugumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Natsugumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Natsugumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Natsugumo fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ndeni , at 120,143

Weather in hex: Light rain

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 15

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
C-47 Skytrain: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 9000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
9 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 9000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Colombo , at 29,48

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 36,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 12

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 35600 feet *

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 8

Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 25

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

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

CAP engaged:
64th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13500 , scrambling fighters to 13000.
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 50th Chinese Corps, at 82,54 (Pingsiang)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 34 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 2

No Japanese losses

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

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 100 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 50 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 67
B5M1 Mabel x 51
B5N2 Kate x 27
D3A1 Val x 19

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 21
P-40K Warhawk x 8
F4F-4 Wildcat x 80

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed
B5M1 Mabel: 10 destroyed, 10 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed, 12 damaged
D3A1 Val: 9 destroyed, 3 damaged

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

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga, Torpedo hits 1
BB North Carolina, Torpedo hits 1
DD Lansdowne
CV Enterprise
CL Helena
CA Astoria
DD Russell

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
15 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(8 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(21 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 15 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 6 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 1000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes
9 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 6 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 14 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
13 planes vectored on to bombers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 52 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
B5M1 Mabel x 12
B5N1 Kate x 9

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 14
P-40K Warhawk x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 47

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5M1 Mabel: 6 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 18000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 59 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
17 planes vectored on to bombers
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
8 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 32100.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
11 planes vectored on to bombers
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters to 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 24 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kirakira at 114,143

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 118

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 79
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33
TBF-1 Avenger x 48

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 9 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 13 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Yamato
CV Shokaku
CV Akagi, Bomb hits 1
CV Hiyo
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Mutsu
CVL Ryujo
CVL Shoho
CV Zuikaku

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
1 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 3000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
1 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 3000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
1 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 3000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
9 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 2000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
9 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 4000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
1 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
9 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 5000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 4000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 4000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x TBF-1 Avenger bombing from 2000 feet *
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
Akagi-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(12 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 12 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 2 on standby, 12 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
10 planes vectored on to bombers
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 8 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 32810 , scrambling fighters between 16000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
Kaga-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 13000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kirakira at 114,143

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 80 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 73

Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 6 destroyed

CAP engaged:
Akagi-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 73 minutes
Kaga-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 51 minutes
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 9 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 76 minutes
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 116 minutes
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 87 minutes
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 58 minutes
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 21000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kirakira at 114,143

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 63

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu

CAP engaged:
Akagi-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 7 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 76 minutes
Kaga-1 with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 3 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 22000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 56 minutes
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 21000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810 , scrambling fighters to 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 11th Special Base Force, at 60,40 (Imphal)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
Lysander II x 8

Allied aircraft losses
Lysander II: 3 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Lysander II bombing from 8000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 100 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 20th Infantry Regiment ...
Also attacking 11th Special Base Force ...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Trincomalee , at 31,47

Weather in hex: Severe storms

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

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Hudson IIIa x 9
B-25C Mitchell x 14
B-26 Marauder x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-15-II Babs: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 14

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Hudson IIIa bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 8000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Colombo , at 29,48

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 48 NM, estimated altitude 37,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 35600 feet *

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 53rd Naval Guard Unit, at 136,128 (Tarawa)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 12

No Allied losses

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

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 56th Const Co ...
Also attacking 53rd Naval Guard Unit ...

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

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

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

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 23

No Allied losses

Port hits 7
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

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

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Port hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 8000 feet
Port Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

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

Japanese aircraft
D3A2 Val x 28

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 6 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis
CA Quincy, Bomb hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
6 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters to 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 13

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 47 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 13

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 2
F4F-4 Wildcat x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 8 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 5 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 81 minutes
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 13

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 1
F4F-4 Wildcat x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters to 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 7 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 121,143

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 18 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 9

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 11
P-40K Warhawk x 1
F4F-4 Wildcat x 29

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 5 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 7 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes
VF-3 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 29000
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on 53rd Chinese Corps, at 72,55 (Nanning)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-Ib Lily x 4
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 21

No Japanese losses

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
11 x Ki-48-IIa Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb
4 x Ki-48-Ib Lily bombing from 6000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 100 kg GP Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Imphal , at 60,40

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

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

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,143

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
B5M1 Mabel x 15

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 8
P-40K Warhawk x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed
B5M1 Mabel: 4 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis
DD Dewey
CA Quincy, Torpedo hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B5M1 Mabel launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
VF-3 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.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
VF-42 with F4F-4 Wildcat (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 12000
Raid is overhead
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(11 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (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 29000
Raid is overhead
12th FS with P-40E 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 32100
Raid is overhead

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 120,144

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
D3A1 Val x 8

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 4
P-40K Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Conyngham
DD Mustin

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
49th FG/9th FS with P-40K Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 29000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
12th FS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32100 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 28000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 52 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers

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

Ground combat at Kohima (61,39)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 54959 troops, 952 guns, 1061 vehicles, Assault Value = 2280

Defending force 21650 troops, 258 guns, 21 vehicles, Assault Value = 673

Allied adjusted assault: 1414

Japanese adjusted defense: 514

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Kohima !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
7453 casualties reported
Squads: 240 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 161 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 37 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 88 (86 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 23 (23 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 6

Allied ground losses:
1231 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 124 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Vehicles lost 49 (2 destroyed, 47 disabled)
Units pursuing 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
19th Australian Brigade
18th British Division
17th Australian Brigade
23rd Indian Division
16th Australian Brigade
18th Australian Brigade
32nd Infantry Division
87th Mountain Regiment
111th Chindit Brigade
21st Australian Brigade
25th Australian Brigade
7th Indian/A Division
2/11th Field Brigade
Burma Corps
2/9th Field Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
9th Infantry Regiment
4th Division
14th Division
55th Infantry Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
20th AA Regiment

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

Ground combat at Ledo (65,38)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 2428 troops, 42 guns, 18 vehicles, Assault Value = 118

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

Allied adjusted assault: 109

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 109 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Ledo !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
14th British Brigade

KenchiSulla · Post by **KenchiSulla** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 6:48 pm

Loss of pilots can hurt. It depends on a couple of things:

Did he loose a lot of cadre pilots? (70+ experience)
How many pilots does he have in reserve? (50+ experience, 70+ primary skill)

If he has a good pool he can afford one or two of these clashes

EUBanana · Post by **EUBanana** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:10 pm

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

Loss of pilots can hurt. It depends on a couple of things:

Did he loose a lot of cadre pilots? (70+ experience)
How many pilots does he have in reserve? (50+ experience, 70+ primary skill)

If he has a good pool he can afford one or two of these clashes

Well, KB has been used a lot, and has been attritted a lot. 20 planes here, 30 planes there. He's lost 200 Kates and 200 Vals since the game started and presumably all or almost all of those are from KB. I assume a hefty chunk of those 900 dead Zeroes came from KB, as well. I think he's been much harder on his carrier air than I have, constantly sortieing to cover invasions.

Does't seem to faze him much.

KenchiSulla · Post by **KenchiSulla** » Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:17 pm

If I compare it to my own game those losses seem to be pretty high (Assuming its air losses, not op losses)... and we are in september 1942 now..

I guess it has hurt his pilot quality although you can drain your land squadrons and retrain the pilots there.... I saw a lot of fragmented unescorted raids hitting your vessels. Think he has to become more careful there... hehe

gj

Mines in the Pacific

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