LoBaron + Robbrennan vs Offenceman, allied secret AAR

[Rob Brennan UK]

Rob can it be related to mission frequency? You are flying a lot of transports up there.
When I shuttle troops around in the south pac I usually do this with squads on 40%-50% rest
and my TCS did not have a single op loss for weeks now.

Maybe , I had a similar thought last turn too and put my transports on 30% training to help the recruits a lot faster and try and alleviate ops losses from incompetent pilots[;)]. I have kept an eagle eye out for fatigue and always stand down any units with 15 or more fatigue. Given the short range of the Burma hops this almost never happens though and even 4 days of china trips = fatigue from 5-12 so I doubt fatigue is the problem. Given the large number of bombers with v bad pilot skills on transport ( why this is a separate skill [&:] as anyone good enough for combat operations should be able to pilot a fully loaded a/c regardless of 'skill' level, (minor grumble). and no noticeable bomber losses for the past
weeks they have been operating at 100% non-stop.

anyhoo , enough moaning [;)]


Plans for next turn:-


Japan's been keeping up its sweeps over Akyab and tomorrow we hope to welcome the Oscars with multiple hurricanes / P40 + P38 greeters. The B17's will go for the Thai units still in the open while we build up a small force in Shwebo to go and pay them a visit.

One noticeable event was in china where the first Oscar II's were sighted , why these are in china and not in Burma I cannot guess. But I strongly suspect that we will be seeing these a/c types very soon. Brits have to wait till 9/43 for newer a/c so i have a horrible feeling that we might become seriously outclassed in 43, at least the threat to India is now over.


Hi Augustus ,, LoBaron answered your question and nice to see you here again , thanks for posting.



EDIT :- .. The heavily damaged BB's from Darwin are heading to Cape town from broome (where they escaped to) with decent DD escorts they might make it even with the heavy sys damage. fingers crossed.

[seydlitz_slith]

Lenny,
Mike's reaction looks very simple to what mine would have been. Send in the subs and move the aircraft down to Shortlands.
From the Japanese perspective, he can build several closely spaced mutually supporting bases in the Bougainville area that interlocks with the Rabaul/Kavieng/ Truk defense line. Looking at the Ontang Java recon report, I would bet that he has a 24AV base force and some construction units there. Possibly with plans to start as a seaplane base with later upgrade to landbased aircraft when the airfield is ready.

Think about it.....most players wouldn't even give the dot a second thought. If you hadn't reconned it, he could have built up a secret base that would have been unexpected.

If he has built up interlocking airfields in the islands, then you might see the KB show up. Less chances to lose the pilots if you are fighting over friendly airbases and there are friendly subs in the sea hexes.

Kudos to both sides here.

Sounds like you need to recon carefully. Leave no dot uncovered.

[LoBaron]

Youre right, thanks. And true its funny how you can hide your presence on a original dot base without
the opponent noticing anything even if its right under your nose. If you keep low profile there you could remain
undetected for ages.
I did something similar at Tabiteuea and Vavau. Took Mike some time to find out that Vavau is in truth
the main base for the south pac, in fact I am not sure yet he really knows.

10k troops, on first recon flight, I would not bet on that count yet.
I will take my time to track the numbers down, and from experience a solid count of 10k means something in the
30k league. So he may have a strong combat formation there too.
Bombardements will be neccesary to find out details.

I will recon every dot. I got the assets and enough time.

14, 15th Dec 42:

The only news worth mentioning is:

Lunga, 3 days after landing, is now a lvl 1 AF going for 2 in huge steps. I will not use it yet because Mike has too many options.
To make the area active and compete with Japanese naval and air units we must be able to protect (at least) Lunga against a 3
dimensional threat: air, sea, sub.
Basing a couple of Wildcats there will not help the cause unless Mike is unable to bombard the base with ships.

The situation will improve significantly when the first reinforcement convoy arrives (a must to deliver 2nd line troops, AAA and
maybe CD guns, lets see what I can scrape together in time) and Tulagi and Tassafaronga have their airbases ready as well.

Still, 3 days after landing, replicate that IJA. [;)]

Another interesting occurance did not happen in US but in Australian territory:

Night Naval bombardment of Port Hedland at 57,129

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya
CL Kiso
CL Abukuma
CL Jintsu
CL Naka
CL Sendai



Port hits 8
Port supply hits 2

Wow, looks like Mike forgot to add some light cruisers to the TF.

I dont have a clear pic of the numbers but this looks like the majority of active CLs in a single TF.
(You may remember 4-5 were sunk in the initial days after pearl)
Got subs in the area, Rob? [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

The Australian Bombardment came as a complete surprise ! the place is utterly empty and I suspect its because of the resource centres there , which I don't need anyway.

Rather worryingly the BB escort group and an amphibious AP group were sailing past during the same night ! The AP's are carrying a BF to exmouth for a new search plane base , in an attempt to spot damn jap subs transiting to/from Perth. The BB's are heading back to CT with 4 DD ASW group which will detach to Perth in a turn or 2.

The Australian response has been to move in some PBY's and low level Hudson attack planes to broome. also a dutch sub had just finishing minor repairs and it will patrol the area for now.








The proposed Burma ambush didn't materialise and B17 raids were met by nicks, Oscar II's and Tojos , the raids did not go well esp the lightning escorts. win some lose some .

[Rob Brennan UK]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 16, 42
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OK here we go after a small break .

Allied (Dutch) subs made 2 attacks off of Borneo today , one in the NW the other to the SW , both encountered convoys but only one scored hits, the other missed the PB it shot instead of a juicy AK.

Sub attack near Serasan at 56,85

Japanese Ships
xAK Hokuan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Tazima Maru
xAK Mito Maru
xAK Keisho Maru
xAK Yamagiri Maru
xAK Tatuharu Maru
xAK Tokai Maru
PB Kosin Maru #3

Allied Ships
SS KIX


Due to Japan good placement of mines between Java and Sumatra , getting short legged subs near the N or Borneo had been on hold because the auto router sent any patrol subs back through the minefield on the way home. I sent one up from Broome (this one) as a test. Additionally 2 US boats will mine palembang today coming from Colombo , going past Singapore is a bit scary but they made it. Really just to annoy Japan if we get a lucky tanker hit.

Tomorrow allied sweeps over the Thai army in Burma , fingers crossed.

also in the News , Mandalay is upto 8k supply (still in the orange) but far better than it has been for months. I think the combination of bombers on supply runs / expanding bases and more transport planes have helped hugely.

as an aside about the C47 constant crashing issue despite low fatigue. LoBaron suggested putting them on 30% rest and see what happens. Well i put them on 30% train for the same effect and lo and behold no losses today ! this is ofc only one turn but might hold a key to preserving these fragile units. More to come on this.

[Rob Brennan UK]

The game rolls on !


Allied sweeps over Burma are a great success unless your Canadian, The canuks went in 1st as 16 plane sqds and got hit hard by the higher flying enemy on both days, Followed by the P38E's who utterly cleaned the clock on the Japanese, next in were the 40's who at 15k alt still killed off any remaining Tojos quite efficiently. Where is the RAF ? they all secretly decided to fly in the afternoon so encountered re-set CAP but still hammered it with one SQdn going in one after the other and mopping up stragglers/late arrivals. Given this happened on both days there is conclusive proof that the game has a huge British bias and the designers want the colonials and Americans to die to preserve the master race [;)]

Enough silly conspiracy theories.

C47 losses of 2 as a daily result in the ongoing transports test.

S39 and S36 laid mines at Palembang but were spotted on the way out by a Japanese patrol boat, all inconclusive and they made it back past Singapore easily enough.

Mandalay dropped to 4k supply for no apparent reason. Still monitoring here.

Also we have started a ground op in Burma aimed at the 2 Thai divs east of Shwebo, hopefully we'll have plenty to drive over the river and rout these pests , this will draw in jap bombers like flies to honey but at least they wont be elsewhere and today's air action means Japan wont be happy using small escorts. As its a nice clear moonlit night tonight we are going to hammer Magwe fields with every bomb carrying a/c in theatre , I even put some P38's on night sweeps over the base to disrupt any Japanese CAP , meanwhile the allied bomber bases have solid night fighter cover as well as daylight with the hurricanes repositioned. The night sweep will be interesting as i cant say I have any idea what will happen with this order ??

TTFN

[LoBaron]

A perfect display of how a sweep should be fought. [&o]
Grat job, your Burma air war is so interesting to watch and Mike is a very skilled opponent.

Dec 20th 42:

USN decided to take a risk today. A convoy was sighted resupplying Ontang java, 10 ships alltogether but the sightings suggest
a high ammount of combat vessels. As I said I will take any chance to attrit the IJN, and this is a chance.

The CVs are south guarding a major resupply of Ndeni. They will try to jump the convoy.

Best case: sink some CAs
Medium case: Hit empty air or trade even punches with KB
Worst case: Scrach some flattops.

I know its early to run into traps, but I feel the chances are higher than 50% that this aint a trap, and if it is
the move is supported by fighter sweeps over OJ and Munda and an additional VMF covering the battleship groups
running forward cover for the CarDivs.

2 squads of Avengers have also been replaced by marine fighters, so while I wont be able to compete 1:1 against
full grown KB plus Netties (the absolute worst case) I will dish some damage back and have enough vessels to disperse potential
damage.

Understandably I look forward to next turn with a bit of anticipation.

[LoBaron]

Dec 22, 42:

The battle of Ontang Java

No combat materialised until afternoon Dec 20th, but then
the fireworks began.
After a small strike from Ndeni B24s which did not deal any damage
the carrier strike arrived, putting bombs on the decks of the major
surface combat vessels protecting the Japanese transports.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 115,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
F4F-4 Wildcat x 30
SBD-3 Dauntless x 97


Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 10 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 6, on fire
BB Mutsu, Bomb hits 5, on fire
CA Haguro
BB Fuso
DD Teruzuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Naganami
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Makigumo
DD Makinami
DD Yukikaze

The appearance of mighty BB Musashi came as a surprise, considering the Thunderstorms
15% hit percentage was satisfying.
Clearly none of the hits on the two battleships dealt much damage but Myoko was
hit hard and separated from the combat group.

No air cover to be seen, where is KB?

After sunset the combat group around BB Indiana encountered the separated
cripples and finished the job. Myoko is sunk, one dangerous IJN CA less.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ontong Java at 113,131, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Shell hits 4, heavy damage
DD Teruzuki, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Hamakaze

Allied Ships
BB Indiana
CA Indianapolis
CA Louisville
CL Perth
CL Helena, Shell hits 1
DD Frazier
DD Gansevoort
DD McCall
DD Sterett
DD Cummings
DD Selfridge, Shell hits 2

The battlegroups lost contact after the initial engagement but engaged a
second time in the morning hours.

Dec 21st brought more death to sailors with Indiana group intercepting the
Japanese battlewagons. It was an uneven duel against the Japanese behemoth
Musashi but the USN faught a valiant battle.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Ontong Java at 115,131, Range 26,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 2
BB Musashi, Shell hits 1
BB Fuso, Shell hits 5
CA Haguro, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Nachi, Shell hits 8, on fire
DD Makigumo, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Makinami, Shell hits 1
DD Naganami
DD Yukikaze

Allied Ships
BB Indiana, Shell hits 20, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Indianapolis
CA Louisville, Shell hits 5, on fire
CL Perth, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Helena, Shell hits 4
DD Frazier, Shell hits 1
DD McCall, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Sterett
DD Selfridge, Shell hits 1

Brave Indiana came under fire from all 3 enemy battleships and disapeared
behind a wall of water as near misses turned the sea into steam.
Perthcought a 40inch monster amidships, nearly breaking the small CL in half.

On the other side Haguro was last seen retreating north with a slight list belching
thick plumes of smoke.

Then came the Betties, attacking in small groups of 3-8 planes, obviousely hindered
by the weather. Still the number of raids had to cost the USN.

CA Louisville, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Gansevoort, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Indiana was also attacked unsuccessfully but succumbed to her wounds at dusk.

The counterattack by the carriers again found the battleships, several 1000lbs hits were
scored on Mutsu, Fuso and Musashi and last xAP Naminoue Maru and xAP Hie Maru
were found and attacked, receiving 1 and 2 hits.


Losses were the following:

USN: 1BB, 2 CA (1 already sunk, 1 will sink tonight), 1CL, 2DD, minor damage to other vessels.

IJN: 1CA, 2-3DD (conservative estimate, several hits on DDs by Dauntless´ on search missions were reported)
3 IJN BB are searching for their upperworks and minor/medium damage to several other combatants.
In addition I might be able to add 2 APs to the list.


This battle aint over yet. The next 2 days will decide who won Ontang Java as I still
have some cards up the sleeve. [;)]
I have to say that considering the odds I am already pleased with the result, even if
total loss numbers clearly show a IJN tactical victory atm.

But the carriers are out of the game and will retreat south. Staying power is yet not the
strenght of the USN air arm, and KB could be round the corner any time.

[Rob Brennan UK]

From the backwoods of Burma now

Night bombing was all a bit underwhelming for 4 days , some light damage to Magwe and a few destroyed Japanese fighters. Japan's CAP of A6M3's is a far better choice than the unarmoured earlier variants and even though only one A29 was downed the accuracy was abysmal. Called off for now.

Mandalay upto 9k supply and 2 and 3 C47 lost in the last 2 turns respectively.

china however is mobile (ish) once again . I really should have tried harder to annotate this map but frustration and time got the better of me [;)]. Japan shifting troops from right to left as china has now advance forward in a probe along the road on the west most block. Also a small raid appears to be coming up the middle , we should have this covered easily.

Bombardments ordered on the left flank as a probe to see whats there. i can if pushed add in another 2k AV anywhere along the front to try and make a decent hole , just need to find a worth while weak spot first.






almost forgot ,, Java ..


The end is most definitely nigh :-


Ground combat at Madioen (54,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 60345 troops, 709 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 2094

Defending force 32581 troops, 386 guns, 174 vehicles, Assault Value = 825

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 889

Allied adjusted defense: 3901

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
4777 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 206 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 216 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 32 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1709 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 123 disabled
Non Combat: 47 destroyed, 109 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 54 (33 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


If we can hold on till start 43 I will be overjoyed about this delaying move back in June.

[LoBaron]

Thanks again for suggesting Paint.NET, perfect program for drawing battle plans. [&o]

[LoBaron]

Ontang Java, Battle summary:

The 2 next days brought no new casualties except for xAP Hie Maru who ate a 14inch N of OJ.

This enables us to summarise losses and look for mistakes.

First the losses updated after the confusion of battle is over:

All in all it looks better than anticipated:

USN: 1BB, 1CL, 1DD

This does NOT yet include CA Louseville - which I thought to be dead after the surface battle and 2 torp hits.
Brave ship, she is on the way south to Ndeni with 75flt(35) stalked by subs and escorted by a single DD.

Minor damage to other vessels.

IJN: 1CA, 2-3DD, 1-2AP

This does NOT include potential major damage to a second CA, and slight-medium sys/upperworks damage to 3BB.


Conclusion:

IJN tactical victory, but costly. All 3 BB received several 1000lb hits and could be out of the game for a bit,
so we opened a window of opportunity. Don´t know what to do with it yet as it came quite early in the campaign.
Also Mike has those 3 battlecruisers spotted operating around Guam, which could now be anywhere.

Loss of Indiana hurts, that was a highly capable fast BB, but I guess Mike thinks the same about Myoko.

The main mission, attriting the IJN, has to be viewed as success. [8D]


Mistakes:

I decided against full scale move with the slow BBs also rushing North until too late, BB Indiana was the only battleship and
so got outgunned by 3 Japanese, 1 being Musashi. With 20/20 hindsight I should have sent either everything or nothing.
I can talk my way out of that though: first I expected cruisers as opposition, not BBs, second I wanted surface combat protection
for my CVs only 5 hexes to the south.
That leaves us with the option of only sending CV strikes, might have been the right thing to do. Such is life...

Much bigger was the mistake of not LRCAPing the Indiana group. The P-38s had been enough to scare off the scattered
Betty raids and this, while not saving Indiana, could have resulted in less damage to Louseville - and Gansevoort might
have had a chance.

Not too many mistakes for my rusty naval skills I think. Mike admitted sending Musashi down was a last minutes decision,
so luck, as always, played a role.

Finally, again thanks to witpqs, here is the New And Enhanced Battle Map: [;)]

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Thanks again for suggesting Paint.NET, perfect program for drawing battle plans. [&o]

You're making most excellent use of it!

[Rob Brennan UK]

28th and 29th Dec 1942

Its been a slow time again for the game, both action wise and soon to be players on various vacations and work schedules [:(], we will try and keep some semblance of pace but no promises. If as I suspect it slows to a crawl in the next week or two I'll do an in-depth look at the Commonwealth and Chinese situations .

The news today however is that Java still holds on by its fingernails ! despite relentless Japanese bombing and new ground assaults the plucky Dutch hold out once again vs superior ground forces.

There was a plan to fly up the new Australian Beaufort VIc's from Broome to Christmas island ( allowable due to their phenomenal transfer range compared to the older Beaufort I's) . However Japan spotted them landing and has since flown sweeps over Java with large Oscar formations. It was decided to withdraw the new planes for LRCAP ops when we go for New guinea (soon) and not risk losing them without a free hit on the bombers. It would have been nice to hack a few more helens from the sky but eagle eyed Ofenceman spotted us.

the 2 ground assaults today resulted in a Dutch hold ! , much to my surprise and who know we might even make it into 43 , not bad for just the dutch holdouts in redoubt Madeoin , Bataan looks like a short stay weekend holiday compared to this place [;)]

28th Dec



Ground combat at Madioen (54,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 55049 troops, 707 guns, 180 vehicles, Assault Value = 1800

Defending force 25902 troops, 363 guns, 132 vehicles, Assault Value = 455

Japanese adjusted assault: 580

Allied adjusted defence: 385

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
1707 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 83 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1932 casualties reported
Squads: 62 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 43 destroyed, 74 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (7 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units destroyed 1


On the 29th the assault continued with little hope for the Allies.


Ground combat at Madioen (54,104)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 54016 troops, 707 guns, 178 vehicles, Assault Value = 1726

Defending force 23853 troops, 353 guns, 123 vehicles, Assault Value = 384

Japanese adjusted assault: 193

Allied adjusted defence: 271

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
968 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Vehicles lost 10 (10 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
1992 casualties reported
Squads: 25 destroyed, 74 disabled
Non Combat: 23 destroyed, 159 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 6 disabled




Japan must have had a FUBAR command die roll for the adjusted assault to drop by so much in one attack. We aren't complaining in London however .. 3 cheers for the Dutch ! hip hip hoorah etc.


Once Madeoin falls I expect Japanese attention to switch to Christmas island , which is why we have launched 2 more amphibious groups to drop off more support troops and supply to this new front line Island. AT guns / Artillery / AA guns and some smaller Aussie HMG groups shipping in to help the defence. WE have 725 AV behind level 5 forts (75k supply) so its not going to be easy to assault. and even if Japan manages that then cocos island is even more heavily defended further out into the Indian ocean. I would imagine Japan will just use us as bombing practise while we try and slip in more supply.


More later folks.

Java , the beginning of the end , or is that the end of the beginning ? , must ask Winnie about this one [;)]

[LoBaron]

Dec 30 42:

Jan 43 CV airgroup resizing is a pita.
I hope the coordination gain is worth the troubles of babysitting USN pilots. [:D]


Otherwise no news except that Guadalcanal continues to be built up (Lunga is lvl4 AF now) and waiting for the carriers to return from Auckland to action.

[Rob Brennan UK]

30Dec

This was a good end to the year for the Dutch secret service.


Sub attack near Dadjangas at 79,94

Japanese Ships
TK Huzisan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Nagato Maru
DMS W-22
DMS W-19
APD Tade
APD Fuji
TK Toa Maru
TK Teiyo Maru
TK Rikko Maru
TK Goyo Maru
TK Gen'yo Maru
PB Shinkyo Maru
PB Seikyo Maru
PB Sinko Maru
PB Ronsan Maru

Allied Ships
SS KVIII


Also :-


Sub attack near Kendari at 71,107

Japanese Ships
PB Kinsyo Maru #2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Tonon Maru

Allied Ships
SS KXIII



B17's hit the Japanese troops besieging Mandalay and barely damaged the 15th Army HQ, Back to supply hauling while Japan flies LRCAP over the target for a few days. The P38's will try and sweep any Japanese fighters that venture over Mandalay however.

[Rob Brennan UK]

1943 has arrived !


With a whimper rather than a bang. The B17's hit troops unmolested once again although Japanese AAA fire did damage a few at 10k , so we'll up the altitude to 12-13k when we add in the mediums after a days rest and transferring fighters for a heavy CAP as I'm horribly aware of what happens to medium bombers if left unescorted.

Java is still alive, but one more push and it will collapse, but lasting into 43 is a miracle even if its provided some good bomber practise. The Additional troops and supplies have arrived safely in Christmas island (much to my surprise 3 TF's spotted by Japan and no attempt to attack them oddly) the 16 Canadian kittyhawks seem to deter any non escorted attacks. although I suspect Japan has its Netties in the Pacific while the CW is facing more army bombers.

Here is a list of the top pilots for the Allies for now. The huge numbers on the P38's are somewhat due to the pilots being ex-AVG who did very well early war and have survived. I cannot see any point in putting these guys into reserve as America needs more pilots like a giraffe needs a ladder [;)].

Further down are 5 Chinese Aces and a lot of British hurricane drivers. The Dutch never quite got to 5 kills but 2 have 4 kills and there are 2 Dutch fighters left in cocos so they might get to 5. Really wish I could transfer some fighters to the Dutch as we have huge pools of P40E's and P39's , even hurricanes look good over with over 60 C Models. not to mention the vast numbers of obsolete buffaloes (just as good vs bombers as anything else flying solo).

Piccie , and any requests ?

[LoBaron]

The first days of 1943 already got me a sunk minesweeper by an MK14.
Greetings to the IJN, you guys will hear more boom and less boing over the
next months. [;)]

Sub attack near Kushiro at 124,54

Japanese Ships
CM Nasami, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
CMc Ma 2

Allied Ships
SS Tuna

Jan 3rd will be a bit higher tension bacuase of two parallel operation which
I really want to be successful:

- The first reinforcement of Marcus Island, supplies, fuel and a USN BF will land there
and be the first step of turning the Atoll into a forward sub base.
If successful the AS based at Midway will relocate there and then we will start to have some fun
with the Japanese transfer routes to the south/southwest pac.

- Lunga will get its first reinforcement convoy. Heavily guarded by combat ships but without
carrier support, this time the air defense will be kept to 3 VMF fighter squads at Lunga AB and
P-38 LRCAP from Ndeni. I´d really like to wait for the CVs to get ready but I want to keep
the pressure on.
The worst case would be an intervention by KB, but even then I expect high A2A losses for any
attacking force and Mike is careful, so playing around with high value assets is the only
way to get him involved anyway.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Jan 3rd 1943

Chinese hopes for a quick sneak breakthrough in the north have been dashed in main due to the awful supply levels, not enough was sent forward to support the attack else the result could have been very different. Oh well at least its keeping Japan's eyes away from other areas.



Ground combat at 86,29

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 15379 troops, 134 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 621

Defending force 3407 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 126

Allied adjusted assault: 290

Japanese adjusted defense: 389

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
361 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
1346 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 100 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled



Assaulting units:
82nd Chinese Corps
3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps

Defending units:
12th Indpt Infantry Regiment



Java will fall at the next assault certainly given the foods almost run out and ammo is as rare as hens teeth. Christmas island however has been topped upto max supply (80K) and all the new troops offloaded unmolested, this will be a tough nut should Japan try and assault it. I suspect though that Japan will just suppress it with bombers for a long while until the allies can achieve enough numbers to warrant a war of attrition.

The Commonwealth will bomb heavily Mandalay besiegers tomorrow with heavy fighter CAP while the Chinese take a rest as today's small sir combat was a it of a draw (5 Oscars - 4 lances ). Not a good ratio but some P40's are flying into china to buff up the numbers next time we have a go at stopping Japan bombing offensives.

Morning Air attack on Kweiyang , at 74,49

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 10
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 62



Allied aircraft
P-43A-1 Lancer x 8
P-66 Vanguard x 3


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

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


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


Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 45


TTFN.

P.S with the coming of 43 , The allies have to keep a careful eye out for the new "43" squads and not waste them on base forces. this is particularly true for the Australians and Indians. with the Indians not arriving till 3/43 we have enough time to fill out the 93/93 11th division refitting since Singapore to max 42 squads. Ram-tree island (off the Burmese coast and still an allied dot hex) is looking like a nice expansion ooze for next ops in Burma. We have one Brit brigade and some Base units prepping already and will hopefully move in a few weeks time.

[LoBaron]

Jan 3rd, ´43:

Both, the reinforcement of Marcus Island and the reinforcement of Lunga started smoothly, but this was to be expected.

Still, while continuing to unload at Lunga I decided to retreat from Marcus island because I was spotted by subs there.
I am very reluctant to risk my CVEs and the only BB in the CentPac, the USN BF unloaded safely and I got about 10k supplies
off the ships. The rest will move back to Wake and unload there in case I am not detected.
Considering Mikes careful play I see higher chances that he will try to intervene with the Marcus Island operation and I simply do
not have the forces there for a fair battle.


Lunga is a different story. The convoy is covered by a large SAG and has enough air cover to make an attack costly.
Also I need those supplies there soon, first because Rob and my first joint op is on the horizon for which I will need
the APs, second because the AF is going lvl 5 next turn and will receive additional air support, opening the base for heavy bomber
ops.
Recon flights show ships docked at Rabaul but I expect heavy fighter cover, so the next thing moving over will be more fighters
and maybe medium bombers, this is still in the works.

Except for 2 Nells trying to penetrate the Marcus Island convoy CAP (and failing with one bomber shot down) theres not much more to report.


Edit: see bold text quoted in the post below. Thanks witpqs. [;)]

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: LoBaron

Jan 3rd, ´42:

I hate it when I do that (which is every time a new game year rolls over). You'll be dating checks wrong for the next month too! [:'(]