LoBaron + Robbrennan vs Offenceman, allied secret AAR

[Rob Brennan UK]

19th Sept 1942 .

Disaster in china , screams the London Times.

Japanese Panzer forces have brushed aside the defenders close to the main city of changsha in China. What will the chinese military do now ? an interview with Mrs Changkaichek revealed an insight into the thought processes behind her husbands military thinking.

" Defending china is like defending a big house from a gang of burgulars all trying to get in through differant points, while the owner is tied to a lump of concrete going from door to window etc. " ..

The valiant chinese AF had tried to stop the heavy japanese air but never got past the escorts

Morning Air attack on 21st Chinese Corps, at 79,53

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 18
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 12
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 74
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 46



Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 5
P-43A-1 Lancer x 15
P-66 Vanguard x 5


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed
P-43A-1 Lancer: 2 destroyed
P-66 Vanguard: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
157 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Come ground combat :-


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

Ground combat at 79,53

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 47029 troops, 344 guns, 1160 vehicles, Assault Value = 2023

Defending force 26911 troops, 251 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1083

Japanese adjusted assault: 1635

Allied adjusted defense: 629

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
421 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 54 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 128 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 146 (11 destroyed, 135 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
10998 casualties reported
Squads: 349 destroyed, 312 disabled
Non Combat: 150 destroyed, 276 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 5 (4 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 8


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

now we are in deep trouble in Central China , those tanks will persue and run dow the survivors and chinese reserves are up in chungking or over in sian , both far too far away to help much. YIKES !

[PzB74]

I think it's wise of Allies not to request quiet China; this makes lots of LCU available for the Central Pacific.
A campaign in China grows its own ambition and devours LCUs, supplies and reinforcements!

[Rob Brennan UK]

Hi PzB , thank you for dropping by, any and all vistors are most welcome. China does seem to be concentrating japan right now as most other theaters are pretty quite (hence the lack of updates recently). November should be an interesting month for any readers so please bear with us untill then.

China ..

Central china was made indefensible after the panzer armee Japan broke through the woods west of Hengyang. with a lot of japanese troops still surrounding changsha , both combined japanese stacks would be on the order of c.6000 AV , plenty enough to isolate and then reduce any heavy troop concentrations left in changsha. The supply will be dreadfully missed and even with recent heavy losses there are plenty of mouths to feed in china right now.

Japan assault on changsha today was a bit of a bonus for the allies as its heavily disrupted about a divisions worth of enemy troops.


Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 76935 troops, 742 guns, 749 vehicles, Assault Value = 2943

Defending force 35961 troops, 154 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1317

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

Japanese adjusted assault: 2982

Allied adjusted defense: 4611

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 6)

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

Japanese ground losses:
3246 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 227 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 274 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 44 disabled
Vehicles lost 91 (1 destroyed, 90 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
4096 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 179 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 148 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled

We'll have to try and rely on the heavy terrain from now on, but with a defensive value of x3 i'll need c.1500-2000 av to have much effect on stopping the japanese advance. also with the rail lines now in japanese hands he can tranfer troops all along this front, so the defence of Tuyun (further west) cannot be neglected. We might well decide to consolidate and leave chengteh as well if china cant scrape up enough troops to man the trenches along this area. I'm semi hopeful we can hold here though. Japans massive air weapon will soon be in range of good allied airpower and not just the 50 odd chinese fighters he's faced here upto now.

Oven in burma, bright moonlight allowed targetting of the oil refinery at Magwe and in 8 days of uncontested night attacks all of about 6 bombs landed on target , whoopee <sarcastically>.. with the monsson hopefully ending shortly burmese supply sont be so bad and we can fly more into china as opposed to the roughtly 50/50 split we are providing now with the allied transports available.

TTFN all

[LoBaron]

...and we all celebrate our new best friend, the Bofors 40mm.

All warships not on a mission will now receive their october upgrades.
I hear very often that AAA is weaker than real but I am still not sure it isn´t the same numbers game as the air war.

High enemy altitude, low or bad AAA, high number of incoming planes, low number of ships, high plane durability -> no shootdowns.
Low enemy altitude, most modern AAA, low number of incoming planes, high number of ships and maybe additional CAP, low plane durability -> they die in droves.

And the truth is always somewhere in between those extremes.

Anyway, I am not taking second guesses and all ships will receive
it as soon as possible.

Naturally the CVs go in first as I will need them soon.
Sara and Lady Lex are in PH, Big E is in LA, Hornet in SF and Wasp in Alameda.


Other news is that Mike seemed interested in Adak Island. 3 SSX were sighted and engaged ineffectively
by the local YMS on patrol.
ASW forces are on the way but I will keep my eyes open and accelerate the buildup of my support bases,
now mainly consisting Dutch Harbour.
Umnak Island will receive some seabees to build a lvl 5 AF there.

3 SSX means one of two things IMO:

He is just trying to see whats going on at Adak and combines that effort with cheap throwaway forces and a lucky hit.

He got an invasion convoy a few days out and wants to take the place. (recently got a sighting report of a larger TF east of the Japanese Home Island
and it is a natural target because it keeps the US from island hopping at least for some time)

Adak Isl. is medium safe in my opinion. Against a multi division invasion it will not hold, but I got a fine bunch of troops there.

2 Infantry Regiments, the 164th and the 58th(Sep) - what does the Sep mean btw? - , 181st FA and the 108th USN BF plus 2 USN Naval construction
Btls for quick repairs.
250 AV alltogether and 24 155 Howitzers to put some holes into incoming ships.

The forts are a bit lacking (3) but building up fast now since I suspended the AF and Port buildup for the time being.

[Alfred]

The (sep) means one of the "separated" regts made free when they went from a quad to tri division. There was a recent post on it just the other day, might have been in the mod sub forum.

Alfred

[LoBaron]

Alfred I wonder if I some time will ask a question you can not answer immediately. [:D]
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
We had a short discussion about Adak Island&nbsp;with our honoured opponent Mike:
&nbsp;
Me: Wonder where you will go next Mike.
&nbsp;
Mike: Are you talking about Adak?&nbsp;&nbsp;
My sub crews report that it is cold and there is a lack of women
&nbsp;
Me: I too think there is absolutely nothing of interest on this island.
Thanks for the clarification.
&nbsp;
Rob: Unless you like ones who wear furry hoods and smell of fish
&nbsp;
Mike: lol I could dig the hood if the parka were short enough.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Does this give away any valuable information? No. It just confirms that he knows that
I know, the he is aware of the potential importance of the Adak area, but we all know
that already...
&nbsp;
Basically it could just be the same type of game I am playing on him at Marcus Island, but
since I can commit forces without strangling other areas at the moment theres no need
to take chances.
&nbsp;
It wont be much, a bit of air and a small surface action group lead by a fast BB. If he does
show up and brings KB to the party I will hold back and try to find a weak spot.
Subs are already assigned to the area.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Sept 29th and 30th 1942

China.

Chinese forces withdrew in good order from changsha last night while japanese bombers continued to hammer the airfields. Japanese troops attacked at dawn to find the place deserted. Also on the aggenda in china is abandoning changteh (just n of changsha). Is a small resource loss but leave me with 3 less hexes to defend, allowing for better concentration of forces. How supply will work now is anyones guess.

Burma.

Japan again launched artillery attacks on the fortified city, allied counterbattery fire once again destroyed a large number of japanese support personell, field pieces and the odd truck.

29th


Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 851 troops, 106 guns, 57 vehicles, Assault Value = 3329

Defending force 67866 troops, 1187 guns, 1535 vehicles, Assault Value = 2152

Japanese ground losses:
105 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 49 (22 destroyed, 27 disabled)
Vehicles lost 64 (58 destroyed, 6 disabled)

How the total losses relate to the rest of the report , i.e non combat destroyed etc ??? clueless. FOW perhaps ? either way allies lost nil compared to japanese casualties. shows the value of fortifications even in clear terrain.

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

30th


Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 334 troops, 98 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 3325

Defending force 67999 troops, 1191 guns, 1535 vehicles, Assault Value = 2156

Japanese ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 33 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 34 (29 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 13 (13 destroyed, 0 disabled)


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


thats in total destroyed/damaged

combat squads 0/1
non combat squads 94/25
engineers 0/1
artillery 51/32
vehicles 71/6

That suggests a few things to me:-

1) Japans just attacking with arty units only , not combat units or the squads losses would be higher
2) the large number of destroyed in all 3 categories suggests a very heavy disablement situation even before attacks.

Is Japan getting frustrated here ? quite possibly since the flank march failed.

Allied units have moven into Akyab to threaten Japans western flank in burma now , Japan responded with medium army bomber raids but the allied AKL's dropping off supply (as trails suck badly for supply flow) all pretty much emptied out over 4 days with not whiff of anti shipping a/c. Given that australian AK's are running regularly from Perth to Darwin too without incident. where are the netties ? I have a strong suspicion that japans assets in the pacific will be well guarded as a result.

Speaking of frustrating for Japan , ground assault on Madeoin (java bastion) was repulsed with heavy casualties on the 29th too.


Ground combat at Madioen (54,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29811 troops, 496 guns, 88 vehicles, Assault Value = 953

Defending force 34529 troops, 377 guns, 174 vehicles, Assault Value = 955

Japanese adjusted assault: 396

Allied adjusted defense: 4984

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 12 (fort level 4)

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

Japanese ground losses:
4182 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 236 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 150 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 40 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
597 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 65 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Madeoin still has over 35k supply left and at this rate will hold out till early 43.

now to discuss the CW now ex-plans for nov 42 , reinvasion Java now scrubbed for several reasons

1) one CV in CW service
2) japan can easily cut off and destroy and serious landings at this stage.
3) fragility of CW units is serious given the much lower replacements than US forces , any destroyed divs just wont be back for a very long time (if at all).
4) already heavy commitment to burma means that the CW would be stripping almost every combat capable unit from its territory to have a realistic chance to relieve Madeoin.
5) relieving the dutch , while a laudable goal, is in the long term pointless as no more dutch recuits to speak of. might as well die in place and tie down 2 divs + some tanks etc in java.
6) the longer madeoin holds, christmas and cocos become utter fortresses which can be used at any time to threaten Java at a later date.
7) much more sensibley would be a slow ozze back into the DEI (already started) under LBA from Darwin. Much much less risky and still has the same end result. Timor is ofc a distinct possibility so long as i can get some supporting airbases in place closeby before we rush in. I'll detail this a bit more next post.

Plans are still very fluid at present but units in OZ prepping for horn island (definate invasion later this year) while some restriceted aussie units prepping for PM as a target of opportunity (given the PP's for release). This is potentially planned with american support (PM , horn island we'll try for just LBA). american plans however are not for the foreign ministry to divunge at this moment.

TTFN . pics next turn

[Alfred]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Alfred I wonder if I some time will ask a question you can not answer immediately. [:D]

If only.[:)] Had you asked a week ago I would not have known the answer. Very recently someone else had asked that same question and it had been answered, I merely passed on the information. It happens more often than you might realise.[8D]

Rather than being viewed as a "wikipedia biological"[:D] perhaps I'm better described as a spambot.[;)] And can you trust whatever I say, after all I have very recently in the main AE forum been called an "(unintentional) liar" whose actions are those of "self-important bureaucrats".

Alfred

[LoBaron]

You are none of the above.

Thanks for dropping by and sharing your knowledge in our AAR.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Alfred i prefer the idea of you as a WitP AE Sensai , far more flattering than a spambot [;)]. And i second LoBarons thanks and extend it to all readers and contributors alike.

1st Oct 1942

WOW ! .. this was one bang for the start of the month. USA ASW forces had some success up north (LoBaron can pass on the more detailed info here , all ABDA command got was an encrypted message from Adak stating "Yippee").

China

Japan consolidating around changsa , which im quite grateful for as a rush north would hurt badly untill i get into position. it's still not guaranteed the chinese will, but any delay is welcomed with open arms. as a first too , japanese recons spotted over chingking , so he's seen my fighter numbers there .. boo hiss .. but hardly unexpected. Actually i might have to send them back to Burma given what happened there this turn.

Burma .. heavy japanese medium bomber raids over mandalay signalled a japanese ground assault that reduced the forts by one but did inflict heavy casualties on both sides. On a game related note, after yesterdays bombardments i put all troops in mandalay with <50 morale into reserve and supect this might well have made a differance to the total AV in the following combat report. From now on being sad and depressed will NOT get you a pass to the rear areas [;)]. Fortunately the 7th armoured brigade had just arrived (in combat mode) and helped fend off the 3 japanese tank regiments.

CW losses seem to be from the british 70th division (and yes i know its restriced and shouldnt be in Burma with our house rules, but its been discussed and im keeping 2 unrestricted indian divs out of burma as a balance) which lost a substantial section of its rear area support units destroyed and disabled (read - lorry park overrun) . and the /c brigade from the indian 17th division lost about 10% destroyed. The remaining troops and tanks are all pin pretty good condition.


Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 86372 troops, 795 guns, 509 vehicles, Assault Value = 3326

Defending force 67991 troops, 1191 guns, 1535 vehicles, Assault Value = 2152

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Japanese adjusted assault: 2067

Allied adjusted defense: 5061

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 4)

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
6671 casualties reported
Squads: 129 destroyed, 554 disabled
Non Combat: 111 destroyed, 447 disabled
Engineers: 10 destroyed, 149 disabled
Vehicles lost 181 (30 destroyed, 151 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1039 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 84 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 306 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 50 disabled
Vehicles lost 98 (3 destroyed, 95 disabled)

All reserves called up and the british 2nd division should arrive tomorrow in combat formation. also railing down the chinese 5th corps (at 85% TOE) from mythilinka to mandalay. that should stop any more japanese attacks for the forseeable future. A big decision has to be made about whether to commit the allied fighters either here or in china. Doing both would imo just not send enough to do either job properly. I 'think' burmas going to get the US a/c back from china (p40's and P38's) as we need numbers here more than in china.

[LoBaron]

Well the good old Royal British Empire is overclaiming a bit on the Yippee on Adak island.

The ASW kills were 2 IJN mini subs and a few mines, and 80 miles to the northeast my small shuttle
service delivering fuel from Dutch harbour was intercepted by their big brother.

Later a nice revenge on another sub a bit too agressively moving into one of my own minefields though. [;)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 01, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 255 encounters mine field at Adak Island (162,52)

Allied Ships
DMS Zane



3 mines cleared


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Adak Island at 162,52

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-6, hits 9, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AMC Prince Robert
KV Vancouver
KV Dawson
PC Vigilant


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Adak Island at 162,52

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-3, hits 15, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AMC Prince Robert
KV Vancouver
KV Dawson
PC Vigilant

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Atka Island at 163,51

Japanese Ships
SS I-31

Allied Ships
xAKL Mapele, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage



xAKL Mapele is sighted by SS I-31
SS I-31 attacking on the surface


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 181 encounters mine field at Dutch Harbor (171,50)

Japanese Ships
SS I-33, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

The rest is still very logistical, Ill talk more about the details when the time comes.

[Rob Brennan UK]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 07, 42 and the 8th

Japan has moved in another flanking force towards shwebo in Burma, japanese bombers have been harassing Mandalay for a few days while the allied debate over what air cover to move in (japanese have heavy escorts and sweeps over mandalay). To stop the complaints from gen alexander in Mandalay the allied heavy bombers were tasked with hitting the mobile columns advancing from the west. :-

A small hurricane unit was tasked with sweeps over the expected CAP from the japanese , this went in perfectly , all 16 flying in basic early huricanes which have a hard time shooting down Nicks but did bag a new model Zero for only one allied loss. More importantly in both days the hurricanes drew the CAP away from the bombers whose escorts flew perfectly on day 1 but failed to meet up on day 2 resulting in 2 bombers going down and inaccurate bombing. Day 1 one however the P38's kept the local CAP well away from the heavies and they heavily damaged the 1st RTS Div.

Afternoon Air attack on 1st RTA Division, at 57,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet. (was 20k in fact)
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 8
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 26



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIa Trop x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIa Trop: 1 destroyed


Afternoon Air attack on 1st RTA Division, at 57,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 22



Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 9
B-17E Fortress x 28
P-38E Lightning x 13


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38E Lightning: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
176 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Over in China The chinese airforce made a new attempt on japanese bombers that were hitting the men retireing from chengteh. On the 7th the Chinese forces clashed with escorting oscars and did very well but didnt quite reach the bombers before they made the target, however the japanese bombers did not quite make it away as a few enraged chinese pilots pounced on the retreating bombers.

Morning Air attack on 4th Chinese Corps, at 80,50

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 30
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 37
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 24



Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 6
P-43A-1 Lancer x 19
P-66 Vanguard x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 10 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-43A-1 Lancer: 1 destroyed


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

On the 8th however the japanese escorts were not nearly as dogged as the day beofore and many refused to fight and withdraw after a few casualties. The bombers were not amused by this and japan also failed to coordinate properly and 2 more unescorted raids were nibbled away by the tired chinese fighter pilots.

Morning Air attack on 28th Chinese Corps, at 80,50

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 42
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 8
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 18



Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 6
P-43A-1 Lancer x 21
P-66 Vanguard x 7


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 3 destroyed, 13 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed


I suspect that japanese losses have been exaggerated but the allies as you can see came off rather well in the air this past 2 days

[Rob Brennan UK]

Heres a new area that the CW are quietly reinforcing, it could be im making 2 POW camps for my own men but so far all shipping close to timor has been utterly unmolested , large supply convoys should reach darwin shortly (not that darwin needs much more but i want to have a big stockpile here). america has promised the australian prime minister some new fighter groups which will be moved north as soon as they appear, meanwhile the small kittyhawk (16's) are providing some measure of air cover for now.

[Rob Brennan UK]

As if in response to my lst piccie , Japanese Military ships came and bombarded Saumlaki this turn. after supriseing 4 PT boats and sinking 3, the heavies opened fire and did little damage, thankfully.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 10, 42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Saumlaki at 78,117, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Atago
CA Chokai
CA Ashigara
DD Kazegumo
DD Asashio
DD Oshio
DD Natsugumo
DD Minegumo

Allied Ships
PT TM-5
PT TM-6, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-10, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT TM-11, Shell hits 1, and is sunk


Night Naval bombardment of Saumlaki at 78,117 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Ashigara
CA Chokai
CA Atago


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


Like buses , SC groups eem to come along in pairs after a long wait in the cold and rain. An amphib convoy heading to koumac in New Caledonia (from sydney) was bounced in borad daylight by a heavy surface raiding group. Are there Jap carriers nearby too ? as PBY's from new Cal failed to spot the CA's , anything might be lurking in the SW Pacific.

CL Achilles was sunk but did fight well and distracted a lot of japanese attention. The hero was the DD Arunta :-

HMAS Arunta during World War II
Career (Australia)
Namesake: The Arrernte people
Builder: Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company
Laid down: 15 November 1939
Launched: 30 November/1 December 1940
Commissioned: 30 March 1942
Decommissioned: 21 December 1956
Motto: "Conquer or Die"
Honours and
awards: Battle honours
Pacific 1942-45
New Guinea 1942-44
Leyte Gulf 1944
Lingayen Gulf 1945
Borneo 1945
Fate: Sold for scrap in 1968, sank while under tow in 1969
Badge: Ship's badge
General characteristics
Class and type: Tribal class destroyer
Displacement: 1,990 tons (at launch)
2,122 tons (1945 refit)

HMAS Arunta (I30/D5/D130) was a Tribal class destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Named for the Arrernte Aborigines, the destroyer was laid down in 1939 and commissioned into the RAN in 1942.

Arunta fought during the second half of World War II; initially as a convoy escort and patrol ship, then in the shore bombardment and amphibious landing support roles while attached to the United States 7th Fleet. During the war, she was responsible for sinking Japanese submarine RO-33 off Port Moresby on 24 August 1942, and earned five battle honours (one of which was later rescinded). After the war's end, Arunta underwent two deployments to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force.

The ship underwent a lengthy modernisation from 1949 to 1952, and was reclassified as an anti-submarine destroyer. After conversion, Arunta served in Korean waters after the Korean War armistice, and was one of the first Australian warships assigned to the Far East Strategic Reserve.

Arunta was paid off into operational reserve at the end of 1956, where she remained for twelve years. In 1968, the destroyer was sold for scrap, but was never broken up, instead sinking while under tow off Sydney Heads on 12 February 1969.


This plucky DD fought all through the lenghty naval combat and single handedly managed all the allied hits on the japanese DD's ! she has almost no ammo leat and the surface search radar has been shot off but sys damage is 26 with negligible fld and fires. She will be detached and sent to Aus for repair and reloading .. also medals and tea !

2 Merchantmen collided TWICE ! and subsequently sank , fortunately for the captains neither were rescued.


Ref - Quote from Wikipedia.

[LoBaron]

As a rection to the Japanese move into the Coral Sea the US decided to catch some CAs.

Assumption:
Chikuma and Tone both must be low on ammunition after expending it on poor Achilles, some of the
escorting DDs could have a bit more than paint scratches and also low main gun ammo.

So if I was Mike I would run north, maybe even detach a DD from the TF if low on fuel or with engine damage.
I would plot a course through central coral sea to avoid detection from the Australian coast and stay away from Noumea.
Potentially the TF is a bit low on fuel, depending on whether he refueled before making contact with Rob transports.

There are two harbours where he could go to replenish: Rabaul and PM. I tend to bet on Rabaul because it is better protected and
sheltered from Aussie naval search.

So below is the intercept plan:
2 TF will move into the Coral sea, one centered on venerable CA San Francisco, currently based at Noumea, the second force with
CA Vincennes as a flag will suspend escort duty for a Luganville convoy and move west.
The forces aditionally consist of 3 CL´s and 7 DDs total, quite evenly spread.

I decided against Full Speed because this could limit my options after the next turn too much and I doubt Mike will run Full Speed
himself because of similar reasons.

I think both could be able to handle 2 CAs low on ammo with escorts, or at least put up stiff resistance.
Most of the combat ships involved, sadly with the exception of San Francisco have received their new radar sets which I hope
will equal out the missing night experience of my crews.

This is, as always, considering that KB is NOT part of the comittment, but if I treat no sign of KB as a sure sign of her presence I couldn´t
move around at all.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Oct 13th 1942

Japans reign of terror over Mandalay was due to pay a heavy price as the british and US airforce moved into burma with a vengence and desire to stop this free reign from Japan. B17's were tasked with hitting the airfields at Magwe in the hope japanese fighters would be either over mandalay or on LRCAP over thier ground forces trying to invest shwebo. Good and bad news really

1) the allied fighters tore into japanese escorts over mandalay (mainly oscars) and then onto the brand new Helen II's which i suspect have his best bomber pilots as its a new plane type. Suprisingly no japanese sweepers or LR cap was encountered over Mandalay so the allied low flying P40's and hurricane a's as well as the higher B's and C' had a romp through the CAP and then onto the bombers. Realisitically japan was crushing allied supply levels in mandalay and had to be stopped. I was not expecting it to be this succesful. Only one japanese raid escorted by tojos vs very tired and small CAP made it through intact. the tojo was a v dangerous plane and i am glad its only got short legs.

Todays (no doubt exaggerated ) kill claims speak for themselves. heres hopeing that jap bombers stop flying so freely over burma.


2) the B17's hit hard CAP and again the damn nicks claimed the best hits and damaged a slew of E models. Bombing results were fair to poor but psycologically it was succesful and if possible the allies will sweep the skies next turn over Magwe while the incoming expected jap sweeps will be ignored.





EDIT NOTES ..

Supply dropped to a critical 1k in mandalay so the AC have been flow out to india while any damaged planes railed to mythilinka for repairs to save a few points in mandalay. OUCH .. even with the entire allied transport ac base in ledo supply in burma is now critically short. Fingers crossed this monsoon event ends shortly and we can get some flow from india.

Pilot losses today were 2 dead 8 woinded and 2 missing .. amazing resilience in the air units operating in the burma theatre. this is probably explained by the investment in defensive training before comitting to combat. keeping veteran pilots alive is in some ways more important than a steady flow of replacements. This training does take a lot longer than just air skill training but imo its worth every second.

[Rob Brennan UK]

15th Oct 1942

Dutch SS KVII hits and sinks a japanese patrol boat near singapore , time to change its patrol route and as i have just found the jap BB anchor in the south DEI, she's heading down there for bigger fish.

Sub attack near Tandjoengpinang at 51,85

Japanese Ships
PB Hirota Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
PB Mikage Maru

Allied Ships
SS KVII

China , Japan launches a prepared assault into the forested mountains on the new 'front line' for chinas survival. The plucky chinese held ground and despite anything remotely like AT weapons managed to fend off the japanese armour somehow ?. AT guns are heading there. Hopefully a full chinese cav corps will decimate the mongolian cav its facing in N china tomorrow. Unless he runs away again [;)].

Ground combat at 78,51

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 74829 troops, 635 guns, 1476 vehicles, Assault Value = 3099

Defending force 80594 troops, 384 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3188

Japanese adjusted assault: 1795

Allied adjusted defense: 5359

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
5341 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 284 disabled
Non Combat: 35 destroyed, 479 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 30 disabled
Vehicles lost 299 (24 destroyed, 275 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
2830 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 365 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 391 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 25 disabled


Burma is once again very odd. Last turn (not in AAR) supply in mandalay went upto 5000 , today its down to 2.5k. the only differance is that last turn was a 'day off' from japanese bombing. while today the medium bombers returned behind large tojo and oscar sweeps. fight again in the burmese air ? or hope beyond hope that sully levels will pick up here. Trnasport ac stood down as weather forecast to be thunderstorms. the powerful 5th chinese corps (840 AV) will arrive in mandalay on the 17th and the troops whose morale has been shot are withdrawing to shwebo for train jouneys back to quieter bases for recovery.

[LoBaron]

Meanwhile two rather disappointing events took place for the US:

BB Tennessee, bravely crawling back to Midway, sank after her temporary flooding repairs which kept her afloat for over two weeks
finally gave in. The skeleton crew was brought aboard the escorting DDs and is on the way back to PH, while her captain decided to go
down with his beloved battlewagon.

The cruiser intercept failed too, I put it down to a combination of bad luck, bad weather and low aggression commanders, both taskforces
are now back on the way to Noumea, having missed the Japanese fleet by only 40nm.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Oct 17th

Better news for the allies today , P38E sweeps over Burma net us a few good kills esp on the newer tojos and the hated nicks. P38 Losses were once again caused by Nicks predominately , what is he feeding his pilots ?[;)]. Still im not complaining over the loss ratio. Burmese supply hit an all time low today after 2 days of japanese artillery assaults on Mandalay. Stuff the weather! , the transports are flying daily and any ops losses are going to be considered acceptable.

Supply

Mandalay 19
Scwebo 20
Katha 233
Mythilinka 1200
Lashio 1500

This is horrendous , but i hope todays counter bombardments will put him off assaulting , esp on day 2 when the chinese turned up , look at the huge jump in allied AV ! hooray . although i suspect the chinese in china are eating better than the ones in burma.




Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 907 troops, 106 guns, 52 vehicles, Assault Value = 3251

Defending force 79365 troops, 1543 guns, 1803 vehicles, Assault Value = 2581

Japanese ground losses:
75 casualties reported ????????????
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 16 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 39 (8 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 47 (30 destroyed, 17 disabled)


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

DAY 2


Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 479 troops, 101 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 3257

Defending force 98390 troops, 1687 guns, 1803 vehicles, Assault Value = 3422

Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported ?????????
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 21 (11 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Vehicles lost 14 (14 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Once again , casualties reported makes no sense unless japan has been using robot warriors ? [;)][:D], could it be that jap support squads are lone koreans with a large wheelbarrow ? [&:]






Moonlight has reached 71% and allied bombers of all shapes and sizes will be taking off at dusk and heading to Magwe airfields , this will be another test of our house rules on night bombing .. 10k alt and all on 50% rest .. launching from lots of differant airfields too. I mistimed railing the chinese bombers down from Delhi (they will arrive in chittagong tomorrow).

a/c types involved in the night attack

B17E Fortresses
B24J Liberators
B25C Mitchells
Blenhiem I
Blenhiem IV
Hudson I
Hudson III
B18 Bolo
Wellington I

If that lot get co-ordinated from 5 differant airfields it will be a major miracle [;)][;)]

Australia switched over to its first LBA torpedo armed Bombers ! hooray , and we had trained pilots in the pools for them too (pure luck,, but if you train everything then no need to micromanage so much) <cough> .. now all i need are the HQ's allowing torp ops , forgot about those ..oops ! going to send 2 down from India where i dont need them much on the burmese border. Wierdly i was marching one to mandalay ! why i need torps there i have no idea .. its been recalled for chittagong (replacing the US one thats being railed out).

TTFN , enough rambling for one day

[Rob Brennan UK]

Oct 18th - 21st 1942

Allied night attacks on magwe airfields and refinery made a few hits on both and on the 20/21 was augmented by the Chinese SBIII's flying from Chittagong.

Night Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 6
SB-III x 12
Blenheim IV x 3
B-18A Bolo x 6
B-17E Fortress x 10
B-25C Mitchell x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed on ground




Refinery hits 2
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

Japan flew a few zeros on night dutys and made the mistake of encountering the b17's at point blank range .. hehe

Night Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 4


Allied aircraft
A-29A Hudson x 6
SB-III x 17
Blenheim IV x 4
Hudson IIIa x 3
Wellington Ic x 4
A-29 Hudson x 3
B-18A Bolo x 4
B-17E Fortress x 9
B-25C Mitchell x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 14

Japan continues its bombardment of Mandalay and even loses a unit on the 20th , what this units is/was, is a mystery even after comparing the combat reports ??


Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 169 troops, 73 guns, 11 vehicles, Assault Value = 3291

Defending force 98473 troops, 1687 guns, 1802 vehicles, Assault Value = 3429

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 24 (19 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


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

And again in China Japan tries to shift the Chinese off the hills ---------

Ground combat at 78,51

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 84169 troops, 739 guns, 1459 vehicles, Assault Value = 3374

Defending force 82495 troops, 424 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3180

Japanese adjusted assault: 2014

Allied adjusted defense: 8845

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 4

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

Japanese ground losses:
2216 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 236 disabled
Non Combat: 32 destroyed, 333 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Vehicles lost 335 (88 destroyed, 247 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


Allied ground losses:
4188 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 203 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 144 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 27 disabled

Interesting that the Chinese have a leaders advantage on this combat, I'm hoping that the soon to arrive AT guns will cut down on allied losses. Also the US air force fighters will soon arrive to try another air ambush over the huge Japanese bombing missions (which are well escorted sadly)