An Aussie Affair: Luskan vs Raverdave

[Raverdave]

THe 182nd RCT came as a shock....I should have closed down the airfield sooner, but was busy landscaping Luganville.......well that oversight is about to be fixed.






AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/22/42


Air attack on Luganville , at 53,53

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 91
A6M3 Zero x 7
D3A Val x 95
B5N Kate x 95

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 14
P-400 Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 2 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 1 damaged
D3A Val x 3 destroyed
D3A Val x 4 damaged
B5N Kate x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat x 7 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5 damaged
P-400 Airacobra x 2 destroyed
Hudson x 5 destroyed
Hudson x 2 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 2 destroyed
B-25D Mitchell x 2 damaged

ENS M. Tootle of VF-3 is credited with kill number 3

LCDR C. Fenton of VF-42 is KILLED


Allied ground losses:
Men lost 105

Airbase hits 9
Runway hits 37
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 2

Attacking Level Bombers:
13 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
15 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
14 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
16 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
20 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
10 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
7 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wunpuko

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2204 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 7221 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles



LT P.Nagaishi of Okinoshima-1 Chutai is KILLED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wunpuko

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4296 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 3724 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 90 to 1 (fort level 0)


Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 4506
Guns lost 47

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 56


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

[Luskan]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/22/42

Air attack on Luganville , at 53,53

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 91
A6M3 Zero x 7
D3A Val x 95
B5N Kate x 95

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 14
P-400 Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 2 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 1 damaged
D3A Val x 3 destroyed
D3A Val x 4 damaged
B5N Kate x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat x 7 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat x 5 damaged
P-400 Airacobra x 2 destroyed
Hudson x 5 destroyed
Hudson x 2 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 2 destroyed
B-25D Mitchell x 2 damaged

ENS M. Tootle of VF-3 is credited with kill number 3

LCDR C. Fenton of VF-42 is KILLED


Allied ground losses:
Men lost 105

Airbase hits 9
Runway hits 37
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 2

Attacking Level Bombers:
13 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
15 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
14 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
16 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
20 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
10 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
7 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wunpuko

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 2204 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 7221 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles



LT P.Nagaishi of Okinoshima-1 Chutai is KILLED

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Wunpuko

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4296 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 3724 troops, 36 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 90 to 1 (fort level 0)


Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 4506
Guns lost 47

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 56


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

Take that raver!

[mogami]

Hi, Nice AAR. Just a little note. Airfields can not be closed to air transports coming in!!! The transport groups will suffer high damage but supply and troops can always be brought in no matter what damage is done to airfield.

[Raverdave]

Foiled again! By a Squadron of DDs no less! Curses !

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 07/23/42

Night Time Surface Combat, near Luganville at 53,53

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 1
BB Nagato, Shell hits 1
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 2
BB Yamato
CA Suzuya, Shell hits 2
CA Kumano
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Shiranui
DD Amatsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Arashi
DD Hagikaze
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 1
DD Michishio
DD Natsugumo
DD Yamagumo
DD Asagumo
DD Kasumi

Allied Ships
DD O'Brien, Shell hits 1
DD Morris
DD Blue
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Jarvis
DD Gridley, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD McCall, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Cummings
DD Drayton
DD Perkins
DD Fanning
DD Phelps
DD Farragut
DD Dewey
DD MacDonough
DD Dale
DD Monaghan


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Port Moresby at 10,40

Japanese Ships
AV Kamikawa Maru, Shell hits 18, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola
CA Salt Lake City
CA New Orleans
CA Astoria
CA Quincy
CA Vincennes
CA Canberra
DD Walke
DD Mugford
DD Henley
DD Mahan
DD Lamson
DD Cushing
DD Preston
DD Selfridge
DD Arunta


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Port Moresby, at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 3 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 2 damaged

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 46
Port hits 1


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Wunpuko , at 51,51

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
D3A Val x 88
B5N Kate x 111

no losses


Allied ground losses:
Men lost 386

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2

Attacking Level Bombers:
7 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
15 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
13 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
20 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
15 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
16 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
9 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet
16 x B5N Kate at 5000 feet

[Raverdave]

Originally posted by Mogami
Hi, Nice AAR. Just a little note. Airfields can not be closed to air transports coming in!!! The transport groups will suffer high damage but supply and troops can always be brought in no matter what damage is done to airfield.

Well that is plain dumb.....if a P-39 cannot take off from an airfield that has 100% damage, how the hell is a C-47 going to take off???

[Raverdave]

Another two subs sunk......that makes 4 in 2 days. The USN has to be hurting !:D

Plans for the invasion of Australia are now well advanced, with the assault on Luganville only days away, I have really got Luskan under the pump;)

[Luskan]

I don't care about loosing the Gatos, but the two s-boats stung.

Stop posting the AAR before I get to see the turn!!!!!!!!!!

Don't trust a word he says, he's unable to invade australia because I've had enough time to pack the place full of troops.

Luganville on the other hand needs to TLC. Just as soon as somebody sends me some fighters, some bombers and some more carriers.

[Raverdave]

Well so long as you feel really safe in Australia, thats fine with me......makes it even more fun when I kick-in the door !

[Raverdave]

Oh man........wait till you see the next turn......that has really got to HURT!

[Raverdave]

Originally posted by Raverdave
Oh man........wait till you see the next turn......that has really got to HURT!

Just messing with ya head:D

[Luskan]

Sinking your CVs is going to be soooo sweet . . .

Just as soon as I get up the nerve to take them on.

[Pawlock]

Originally posted by Raverdave


Well that is plain dumb.....if a P-39 cannot take off from an airfield that has 100% damage, how the hell is a C-47 going to take off???

I think the emphasis was on supplies being ferried in, not actually taking off. This also is'nt as barmey and unrealistic as it sounds. Cant think of any instances in WW2 ,but if memory serves me correct, during the Vietnam conflict was'nt Kaysong(SP?) supplied with heavy transports without even landing, by flying real slow over airfield and the rear doors open then the supplies were pulled out by parachutes? or something very similar.

[Raverdave]

Originally posted by Pawlock


I think the emphasis was on supplies being ferried in, not actually taking off. This also is'nt as barmey and unrealistic as it sounds. Cant think of any instances in WW2 ,but if memory serves me correct, during the Vietnam conflict was'nt Kaysong(SP?) supplied with heavy transports without even landing, by flying real slow over airfield and the rear doors open then the supplies were pulled out by parachutes? or something very similar.

Yeah but it was not until 1943 IIRC that parachutes were being used, up until that time it was just a case "toss it out the door" with the resulting losses due to damage etc. The Aussies found this out the hard way during the Kokoda campaign some times loosing 75% of the load.

[Luskan]

Supplies yes. But troops and tanks take some encouraging to jump out of a plane - especially since parachute require a fair bit of altitude to deploy . . . Fortunately I've had my troops training at their extreme low altitude head first parachute-less jumping, and the ground at Wupunko is especially soft for the ones who stuff it up and don't land on their helmets.

[Admiral_Arctic]

The RAAF flew C-47s in New Guinea at zero feet over grass patches in the mountainous terrain where airfields could not be bashed out of the stone. The planes had their wheels down and flaps wide open to reduce speed. They then tossed put the cargo. They didn't have any parachutes or contains. Heaps was smahed and wrecked on striking the ground. But enough was scrounded for use. This happened over the Kokoda Track during the Australian offensive stage.

[Grotius]

Pardon me for jumping in, but I have a newbie question. How does one "close" an airfield? By bombing the airfield until there's 100% damage? If I own an airbase but anticipate that I'm about to be kicked out, can I sabotage my own airbase or port?

[mdiehl]

Just curious, Raver, have those IJN BBs and the port from which they're based run out of fuel yet? I can take my reply off-thread. Yamato alone should consume a month of fuel production per sortie.

[mogami]

Hi, Well the P-39's could take off but the thing is the airbase is KO'd so they can not be fueled or armed. The C-47's on the other hand have enough fuel for the round trip they just have to dodge the pot holes taking off and landing. It doesnot take much repair to put the P-39's back on CAP (if there is enough supply and engineers) Transport groups flying into damaged airfields really take a beating. If possible the enemy should have LRCAP fly over the base.

[Luskan]

Grotius: No, you can't sabotage an airfield. You don't have to wipe the airfield down to 100% to close it. There is open (undamaged or very little damage - all missions fly fine), half closed, where CAP is the only mission that gets off the ground (and it is impossible to transfer air groups out of the airfield due to damage) and nailed shut - which takes weeks to repair.

Thankfully Raver's ships have headed back to Lunga (not all the way, but out of range at least) - his bbs and CVLS have already arrived. Lets see if my remaining subs can do any damage. Am forced to consider the possibility that when he refuels his ships and replaces the 60 odd carrier a/c my guys have shot down, he may try to attack Australia. Good luck! <sarcasm tag>

Fortunately, Luganville is back online due to the extraordinary talents of the engineers there. Marauders and mitchells from Efate Port Vila, dauntlesses and havocs from luganville and b17s and hudsons from Noumea are all regularly bombing Raver's troops at Wupenko. I managed to sneek in the 756th tank battalion and the RCT's heavy guns (as well as parts of another RCT. They arrived just in time to halt Raver's deliberate attack, which revealed that he too has brought in more infantry from Lunga.

Once more I outnumber him there and will enjoy crushing his troops. I may feel secure enough to transfer some fighter bombers to Wupenko (undamaged airfield, 150 aviation support) so they can bomb the enemy at their gate.

In news I forgot to mention before, I hastily shoved a minefield between his BB group and Luganville and Yamato and Kongo both hit mines

In other news, Raver landed 40 or so infantry from a sub at the base imbetween Koumac and Noumea. The 1st marine raiders have been dispatched to deal with this suicide attack.

Also, the dozens of navy wildcat pilots who defended luganville with such success (until all their f4f-3s were grounded and destroyed on the ground) have returned to their cvs. These pilots now have to share 5 or 6 planes between 20 of them on each carrier, however there are loads of f4f-3s (and even better, f4f-4s) in the replacement pool. My calculations indicate they will be back to almost full strength by next turn. Tomorrow also herlads the arrival of 2 wildcat groups in Noumea which will be very useful in securing the area.

[Raverdave]

Originally posted by mdiehl
Just curious, Raver, have those IJN BBs and the port from which they're based run out of fuel yet? I can take my reply off-thread. Yamato alone should consume a month of fuel production per sortie.

This is my first time playing as the IJN....in ALL my other games either PBEM or against the AI I have always played as the allies, so this is a real eye opener for me. Yes I have been some what shocked by the amount of fuel that the IJN ships consume (causing some logisical headaches).

Second point, I made the assumption that a "super" TF of BBs would be better for shore bombardment. While in theory this sounds good, but the problem is, and the AARs show this, that if you come up against an enemy TF the large amount of ships in your TF actually hamper your TF in the surface action. I think that the game mechanics will place a penalty on you for having such a large bombardment TF, and talking to Drongo, he thinks the same. Certainly the encounters that I have had some far seem to show the truth of this. In the last surface action that my "super" TF had they came up against a TF of DDs and while they sunk two, they got a surprising amount of hits in on me. Again, underlining (possible?) penaltys.

Time to rethink my bombardment TF structures.