My opponent was going out with friends this evening, but he took the time to run the Combat Replay and send it to me. So this is an interim report.
April 6, 1943 -
Some Subs just don't have any luck. USS Sawfish was limping back from Darwin when it was caught on the surface by a Japanese RO-class sub. The RO put one torpedo into Sawfish and the US sub went down like a stone.
Then Dutch sub KIX was chased unsuccessfully by a PB near Moulmein. But later on at the end of the Day the PB caught up with KIX and hit it a few times. So KIX will be limping home – hopefully without running into any Japanese subs.
Last turn the Japanese Air Attacks on Liuchow were accompanied by indications that more Japanese Troops were getting into position to move in and besiege the Base. Under those conditions, my opponent tends to send out his Bombers repeatedly. So I pulled up almost all of the Chinese Fighter Squadrons to Bases that are near to Liuchow, and set them all to Max Alt LR CAP.
Sure enough, the IJAAF started in right from the crack of dawn.
First in were 18 Oscar IIs, which were met by 23 P-66s, 11 P-40Es, 5 H81-A3s and 6 P-43As. The Chinese “reject” fighters did very well for themselves, shooting down 5 Oscar IIs at the cost of 1 H81-A3, 1 P-40E and 3P-66s.
Next in was the main Japanese Air Attack: 18 Sonias, 7 Lily IIas, 42 Sallys IIas, and 3 Helen IIas, escorted by 5 Tojos and 15 Oscar Is. They were faced by 7 P-66s, 6 P-40Es, 2 H81-A3s, and 3 P-43As. The Chinese fighters shot down an Oscar I but they couldn't get through to the Japanese bombers, which then hit the Chinese Troops at Liuchow fairly hard.
Next came in 21 Helen IIas and 21 Sally Ics. The Japanese Bombers were unescorted this time and they had to face 5 P-66s, 6 P-40Es, 2 H-81-A3s and 3 P-43As. The Chinese Fighters attacked aggressively, shooting down 2 Sallys and 1 Helen, but they couldn't turn back the Japanese Bombers which again hit the Troops at Liuchow fairly hard.
Finally, 3 Oscar IIas straggled in to face 2 P-66s, 3 P-40Es, 2 H81-A3s and 3 P-43s. This trio of Oscar IIa pilots was good and they shot down a P-66 without any losses to themselves.
So my Air Ambush worked as well as I might have hoped, given the types of Fighters that the Chinese have available to them and the quantities of Japanese Fighters and Bombers that they had to face. I will now pull the Chinese Air Squadrons back and try to avoid losing too many to Japanese Counterattacks.
BTW – the Japanese Bomber Attacks on the Chinese Troops at Liuchow are very educational – most of the Chinese troops there are out of Supply and so the Japanese Bombers are not facing Flak, and also the Chinese troops are taking many more casualties than they usually do when they are dug-in in a City.
The Chinese Air Force had one more Card to Play. The entire Chinese Bomber Force - 6 SB-IIIs, 2 Hudsons, and 4 DB-3as - attempted to bomb a Japanese Infantry Division that is parked one hex from Changsha, but none of the Chinese Bombers hit their Target.
There was also Air Action in Northern Oz as Japanese Bombers returned their attention to the two retiring Australian Armoured units that are still trying to pull away from Wyndham. The Aussie Tankers are low on Supply too, so the Japanese Air Attacks were quite successful.
In return, B-24s hit the Japanese Troops at Wyndham again, and this time caused a lot more casualties than they usually do. I wonder if those Japanese Troops at Wyndham are also low on Supplies.
This time the B-17s in Northern Oz flew Recon Missions over Japanese Bases rather than Troop Hunting. I like to know what is happening and 4E Recon is one of the best ways to accomplish this.
Finally, in Burma 4Es and 2Es flew and hit the Japanese Troops at Katha along the Mandalay-Myitkyina Road. Katha is still a “dot” base so there was no Air Base to attack. Therefore, the Allied Bombers had to be satisfied with the usual poor results of bombing Troops in Burma.
In addition, 2Es and DBs hit Warazup again, and as usual, the 2Es hit the Air Base nicely while the DBs did little damage to the Japanese Troops.
Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)
Moderators: wdolson, MOD_War-in-the-Pacific-Admirals-Edition
April 6 1943 Final Report
My opponent has been busy with Real Life recently, but he found time to send the rest of the April 6 Turn to me today.
April 6, 1943 – Final Report -
The End-of-Day Air Combat results were rather pleasing, particularly when you consider that it was the Chinese Air Force, fighting with leftover US planes, that surprised the Japanese so well:
Ki-43-IIa Oscar IIa – 10 A-to-A
Ki-21-Ic Sally – 3 A-to-A
Ki-49-IIa Helen – 2 A-to-A
Ki-43-Ic Oscar – 1 A-to-A
P-66 Vanguard – 5 A-to-A, 1 Ops
P-40E Warhawk – 4 A-to-A
H81-A3 – 2 A-to-A
I'm guessing that the Oscar IIs were in Training Groups and that's why they did so poorly.
I pulled back most of the Chinese planes in advance of the major Sweeps that I expect to come from the Japanese next turn.
Meanwhile, my Long Range Recon is showing that my opponent continues to amass greater and greater numbers of Fighters and Bombers in Northeastern Oz, Southern Burma, the Eastern Kuriles, PNG and obviously China. So where is he “light” in Fighters? I'll have to probe around a bit and see.
SIGINT gave the usual page-full of useless info, along with one potentially useful message – some Radio Operator thinks that he overheard a message from around 42,114, which is northeast of Exmouth in Western Australia. Is the KB out there again? I don't have much sailing in that region right now, so I don't particularly care. And usually, when there is a Radio Report but no “ship mark” the SIGINT report is erroneous, but just in case it isn't I sent a few more subs out that way.
April 6, 1943 – Final Report -
The End-of-Day Air Combat results were rather pleasing, particularly when you consider that it was the Chinese Air Force, fighting with leftover US planes, that surprised the Japanese so well:
Ki-43-IIa Oscar IIa – 10 A-to-A
Ki-21-Ic Sally – 3 A-to-A
Ki-49-IIa Helen – 2 A-to-A
Ki-43-Ic Oscar – 1 A-to-A
P-66 Vanguard – 5 A-to-A, 1 Ops
P-40E Warhawk – 4 A-to-A
H81-A3 – 2 A-to-A
I'm guessing that the Oscar IIs were in Training Groups and that's why they did so poorly.
I pulled back most of the Chinese planes in advance of the major Sweeps that I expect to come from the Japanese next turn.
Meanwhile, my Long Range Recon is showing that my opponent continues to amass greater and greater numbers of Fighters and Bombers in Northeastern Oz, Southern Burma, the Eastern Kuriles, PNG and obviously China. So where is he “light” in Fighters? I'll have to probe around a bit and see.
SIGINT gave the usual page-full of useless info, along with one potentially useful message – some Radio Operator thinks that he overheard a message from around 42,114, which is northeast of Exmouth in Western Australia. Is the KB out there again? I don't have much sailing in that region right now, so I don't particularly care. And usually, when there is a Radio Report but no “ship mark” the SIGINT report is erroneous, but just in case it isn't I sent a few more subs out that way.
Hurricane IIds
April 7, 1943 -
The Night Phase saw USS Lapon take a shot at a Japanese DD to the southeast of Saipan, but miss. The Japanese escorts chased off Lapon which only received minor damage. What was important about that encounter was that Lapon reported back the Japanese TF composition: 3 BBs, 2CAs, 2CLs, and 6 Dds. I bet that the TF is being sent to the Gilberts in response to my build-up in the south-central Pacific.
Daylight saw the Japanese Air Force go after the retiring British Armoured Regiments that are now a couple of hexes away from Wyndham. Despite the Bombing Raid the Mysteries of the Supply System came into play and both Australian units were in Full Supply at the end of the turn.
The Japanese Air Force also Went to Work in a Big Way at Kweilin in China where multiple large Fighter and Bomber raids hammered the Air Base. This was fine because the Chinese planes that had been there were already gone, and this way Liuchow get a breather.
Allied Air Efforts were bedevilled by Bad Weather again, but some planned attacks did fly.
In Australia it would have been better if the B-24 Raid on Wyndham had been rained out because 4 dozen Nicks showed up on LR CAP. The Nicks shot down 2 B-24s, while the 4E gunners were only able to shoot down 1 Nick. Those B-24 Squadrons are pretty worn down at this point so I will rest them for a while.
And in Burma, various DB, 2E and 4E Squadrons flew attacks on Warazup and Katha. The Raids were all scattered out by Weather, and only the Vengeance Attacks caused much damage. I find it ironic that I have more Vengeance DBs in Reserve than any other Bomber, but I've got only 3 Squadrons that can use them. Oh well, I'll do what I can with them.
I also noticed that Hurricane IIds have shown up. They are Fighter Bombers that can't carry Bombs, but they have a higher ceiling than the Beaufort FBs, so I'm switching the Beauforts out. Maybe my opponent will make a mistake sometime and the IIds will get a chance at some bombers.
And there is some sort of British Liberator upgrade available now, but the replacement rate is almost unnoticeable, so that won't affect the Outcome of the War in any manner. [8|]
The Night Phase saw USS Lapon take a shot at a Japanese DD to the southeast of Saipan, but miss. The Japanese escorts chased off Lapon which only received minor damage. What was important about that encounter was that Lapon reported back the Japanese TF composition: 3 BBs, 2CAs, 2CLs, and 6 Dds. I bet that the TF is being sent to the Gilberts in response to my build-up in the south-central Pacific.
Daylight saw the Japanese Air Force go after the retiring British Armoured Regiments that are now a couple of hexes away from Wyndham. Despite the Bombing Raid the Mysteries of the Supply System came into play and both Australian units were in Full Supply at the end of the turn.
The Japanese Air Force also Went to Work in a Big Way at Kweilin in China where multiple large Fighter and Bomber raids hammered the Air Base. This was fine because the Chinese planes that had been there were already gone, and this way Liuchow get a breather.
Allied Air Efforts were bedevilled by Bad Weather again, but some planned attacks did fly.
In Australia it would have been better if the B-24 Raid on Wyndham had been rained out because 4 dozen Nicks showed up on LR CAP. The Nicks shot down 2 B-24s, while the 4E gunners were only able to shoot down 1 Nick. Those B-24 Squadrons are pretty worn down at this point so I will rest them for a while.
And in Burma, various DB, 2E and 4E Squadrons flew attacks on Warazup and Katha. The Raids were all scattered out by Weather, and only the Vengeance Attacks caused much damage. I find it ironic that I have more Vengeance DBs in Reserve than any other Bomber, but I've got only 3 Squadrons that can use them. Oh well, I'll do what I can with them.
I also noticed that Hurricane IIds have shown up. They are Fighter Bombers that can't carry Bombs, but they have a higher ceiling than the Beaufort FBs, so I'm switching the Beauforts out. Maybe my opponent will make a mistake sometime and the IIds will get a chance at some bombers.
And there is some sort of British Liberator upgrade available now, but the replacement rate is almost unnoticeable, so that won't affect the Outcome of the War in any manner. [8|]
Torpedo Overkill
April 8, 1943 -
The Night Phase saw a real case of Overkill as USS Skipjack put three torpedoes into a Japanese PB just off of Soerabaja.
Daylight saw Japanese Air Attacks on Hengyang as my opponent continued to work his way along the Central Rail Line bases in China. Kweilin also got a light Bombing. But Liuchow was spared again, and for some reason it even looks as if some of the Japanese troops that are near Liuchow are moving away.
Japanese planes also hit the Australian Armoured units that are retiring away from Wyndham.
Allied Bombers flew against Warazup again this turn. The DBs missed their targets but the 2Es hit the Air Base hard. I've ordered the 4Es to hit the Air Base at Myitkyina again next turn in order to keep it suppressed.
My opponent asked my when I was going to start an “all out” attack in Burma. I replied that with the Weather, the Movement Rules, and the Supply Rules, what he has been seeing is about as “all out” as it will ever get...
BTW – for the first time that I can remember, 3 different P-38 Squadrons actually flew together to Sweep over a Japanese unit near Katha. Unfortunately, the Allied Bombers didn't fly, and there was no chance that there would be any Japanese LR CAP over there, so it was a waste of time and fuel for those P-38 Squadrons. And I hadn't even ordered those planes to Sweep that location – they were supposed to be on CAP back at their Base. Also, for some reason, a half dozen planes in one of the P-38 Squadrons were out of commission with odds-and-ends damage after the flight, despite the relatively short range. The Randomness in this Game can sometimes be incredibly nonsensical.
At the End of the Day USS Balao was chased by a Japanese E-class in a Support TF southeast of Iwo Jima. Balao was hit twice and is now limping home. The Support TF contained 2 AS, 1 AV and 2 AKEs and was heading southeast. I presume that my opponent is getting set to support Naval Ops in the South-central Pacific in response to my Build-Up in that region.
And finally, an Australian Armoured Unit reached Broome this turn. The Australians will assault the Base next turn and my Long Desert Adventure will be done for the time being. Now it is the Turn of the Navy to get Support and Supplies into those North-central Australian Bases.
The Night Phase saw a real case of Overkill as USS Skipjack put three torpedoes into a Japanese PB just off of Soerabaja.
Daylight saw Japanese Air Attacks on Hengyang as my opponent continued to work his way along the Central Rail Line bases in China. Kweilin also got a light Bombing. But Liuchow was spared again, and for some reason it even looks as if some of the Japanese troops that are near Liuchow are moving away.
Japanese planes also hit the Australian Armoured units that are retiring away from Wyndham.
Allied Bombers flew against Warazup again this turn. The DBs missed their targets but the 2Es hit the Air Base hard. I've ordered the 4Es to hit the Air Base at Myitkyina again next turn in order to keep it suppressed.
My opponent asked my when I was going to start an “all out” attack in Burma. I replied that with the Weather, the Movement Rules, and the Supply Rules, what he has been seeing is about as “all out” as it will ever get...
BTW – for the first time that I can remember, 3 different P-38 Squadrons actually flew together to Sweep over a Japanese unit near Katha. Unfortunately, the Allied Bombers didn't fly, and there was no chance that there would be any Japanese LR CAP over there, so it was a waste of time and fuel for those P-38 Squadrons. And I hadn't even ordered those planes to Sweep that location – they were supposed to be on CAP back at their Base. Also, for some reason, a half dozen planes in one of the P-38 Squadrons were out of commission with odds-and-ends damage after the flight, despite the relatively short range. The Randomness in this Game can sometimes be incredibly nonsensical.
At the End of the Day USS Balao was chased by a Japanese E-class in a Support TF southeast of Iwo Jima. Balao was hit twice and is now limping home. The Support TF contained 2 AS, 1 AV and 2 AKEs and was heading southeast. I presume that my opponent is getting set to support Naval Ops in the South-central Pacific in response to my Build-Up in that region.
And finally, an Australian Armoured Unit reached Broome this turn. The Australians will assault the Base next turn and my Long Desert Adventure will be done for the time being. Now it is the Turn of the Navy to get Support and Supplies into those North-central Australian Bases.
Broome Liberated!
April 9, 1943 -
The Night Phase saw a Japanese sub attack AVD Preston off of Carnarvon, but the sub's torpedoes missed. The AVD then couldn't find the sub.
Then USS Amberjack took a shot at a Japanese DD northeast of Etorofu. Unexpectedly, a torpedo hit the DD, but as luck would have it, the torpedo was a dud. Amberjack was chased by the DDs in the TF but escaped with minor damage.
What was interesting was the composition of the Japanese TF: 2 CAs, CL Oi, 2 CLAAs and 6 DDs. Seeing that, I assumed that this TF was on its way to try a Naval Bombardment TF against the western Aleutians. But later on when I checked the location on the Turn, I was surprised to see that the TF was actually a small CV TF.
So just what is my opponent planning up there? The TF had moved to the southeast of Etorofu with a reported SW heading. Is it heading back towards Tokyo, or is it going to zigzag south and then east in an attempt to intercept some of the TFs that I have travelling to and from the Aleutians? In light of this I upped the Search Levels of the planes at my bases and reformed the PT TFs that I had disbanded some time ago.
Daylight brought a return of Japanese Bomber attacks on the Air Base at Liuchow. I've been pulling out unnecessary units out of Liuchow and so the general Supply level has improved a bit. This meant that there was some AA fire to harass the Japanese Bombers.
BTW – the number of Japanese LCUs around Liuchow has dropped a bit. I'm wondering if my opponent is trying a different type of end-around, because in a surprise moment of SIGINT success, an intercepted Radio Report lead me to discover that a Japanese LCU is moving along the road from Paotow towards Lanchow. The Japanese unit hasn't gotten too far, and it is a long haul without Supply, but I've got to keep my eye out on this. In any event, in response I ordered a nearby Chinese LCU to move toward Paotow again.
Japanese Bombers also hit the retiring Australian Armoured units near Wyndham. My 4Es in the region need a fair amount of time for R&O so the two LCUs will have to tough it out for a while longer yet.
In Burma the Vengeance DBs flew again, and once again couldn't hit their target at Warazup. The Allied 2Es were able to hit the Air Base at Warazup. But the 4Es took the Day Off due to Weather.
And in the Big News of the Day, an Australian Armoured unit Liberated Broome. Now, if I can get some Transport TFs into Northern Australia I will be in fairly good shape.
Finally, the Allied Ops Report contained a message that I haven't seen before; “Pilot H.L. Krippner escaped capture”.
Of course, if he was one of my 4E bomber pilots the message just meant that he escaped capture by the MPs after a night on the town...
The Night Phase saw a Japanese sub attack AVD Preston off of Carnarvon, but the sub's torpedoes missed. The AVD then couldn't find the sub.
Then USS Amberjack took a shot at a Japanese DD northeast of Etorofu. Unexpectedly, a torpedo hit the DD, but as luck would have it, the torpedo was a dud. Amberjack was chased by the DDs in the TF but escaped with minor damage.
What was interesting was the composition of the Japanese TF: 2 CAs, CL Oi, 2 CLAAs and 6 DDs. Seeing that, I assumed that this TF was on its way to try a Naval Bombardment TF against the western Aleutians. But later on when I checked the location on the Turn, I was surprised to see that the TF was actually a small CV TF.
So just what is my opponent planning up there? The TF had moved to the southeast of Etorofu with a reported SW heading. Is it heading back towards Tokyo, or is it going to zigzag south and then east in an attempt to intercept some of the TFs that I have travelling to and from the Aleutians? In light of this I upped the Search Levels of the planes at my bases and reformed the PT TFs that I had disbanded some time ago.
Daylight brought a return of Japanese Bomber attacks on the Air Base at Liuchow. I've been pulling out unnecessary units out of Liuchow and so the general Supply level has improved a bit. This meant that there was some AA fire to harass the Japanese Bombers.
BTW – the number of Japanese LCUs around Liuchow has dropped a bit. I'm wondering if my opponent is trying a different type of end-around, because in a surprise moment of SIGINT success, an intercepted Radio Report lead me to discover that a Japanese LCU is moving along the road from Paotow towards Lanchow. The Japanese unit hasn't gotten too far, and it is a long haul without Supply, but I've got to keep my eye out on this. In any event, in response I ordered a nearby Chinese LCU to move toward Paotow again.
Japanese Bombers also hit the retiring Australian Armoured units near Wyndham. My 4Es in the region need a fair amount of time for R&O so the two LCUs will have to tough it out for a while longer yet.
In Burma the Vengeance DBs flew again, and once again couldn't hit their target at Warazup. The Allied 2Es were able to hit the Air Base at Warazup. But the 4Es took the Day Off due to Weather.
And in the Big News of the Day, an Australian Armoured unit Liberated Broome. Now, if I can get some Transport TFs into Northern Australia I will be in fairly good shape.
Finally, the Allied Ops Report contained a message that I haven't seen before; “Pilot H.L. Krippner escaped capture”.
Of course, if he was one of my 4E bomber pilots the message just meant that he escaped capture by the MPs after a night on the town...
Japanese Bombers Over Derby
April 10, 1943 – Interim Report
My opponent is going away for the weekend so he only had time to run and send the Combat Replay this evening. Hopefully he will be able to send the Turn on Sunday.
There was no Night Action.
Daylight brought a change of pace as Nells, Bettys, and then Helens hit the Australian Armoured unit at Derby. They caused some damage, mainly because the Australian unit is low on Supply. But as long as they continue to pester Derby and leave my other northern Australian bases alone I will be able to alleviate that problem soon enough.
Helens also made a raid on Daly Waters, but there the Allied Troops include an AA unit and so the Helens had to deal with a fair amount of Flak. The end result was that the Japanese attack took a fair amount of damage, the damage to Daly Waters was minimal, and the rest of my vulnerable northern forces, particularly the two Australian Armoured units that are retiring from the Wyndham area, were left alone.
The Chinese were also left alone, with left the remaining Air Action to the Allied Forces in India. Warazup was once again a major target as DBs and 2Es hit it repeatedly. The Vengence pilots finally found the range and caused minor damage to the Japanese troops at Warazup, but the 2Es hammered the Air Base and in particular the Air Fields.
Allied 2Es also repeatedly went after a Japanese Infantry Divison that is southeast of Kalemyo. The Bomber pilots did better here, and while they didn't do any massive damage, each attack did do some damage.
Finally, the 4Es flew and obliterated the Air Base and Air Fields at Myitkyina. I want to make it impossible for the Japanese forces to improve the Fortifications or build up Supply in that Region. And with any luck I will cut the Central Burma Rail Line around the same time as the first Allied Troops reach Warazup.
My opponent is going away for the weekend so he only had time to run and send the Combat Replay this evening. Hopefully he will be able to send the Turn on Sunday.
There was no Night Action.
Daylight brought a change of pace as Nells, Bettys, and then Helens hit the Australian Armoured unit at Derby. They caused some damage, mainly because the Australian unit is low on Supply. But as long as they continue to pester Derby and leave my other northern Australian bases alone I will be able to alleviate that problem soon enough.
Helens also made a raid on Daly Waters, but there the Allied Troops include an AA unit and so the Helens had to deal with a fair amount of Flak. The end result was that the Japanese attack took a fair amount of damage, the damage to Daly Waters was minimal, and the rest of my vulnerable northern forces, particularly the two Australian Armoured units that are retiring from the Wyndham area, were left alone.
The Chinese were also left alone, with left the remaining Air Action to the Allied Forces in India. Warazup was once again a major target as DBs and 2Es hit it repeatedly. The Vengence pilots finally found the range and caused minor damage to the Japanese troops at Warazup, but the 2Es hammered the Air Base and in particular the Air Fields.
Allied 2Es also repeatedly went after a Japanese Infantry Divison that is southeast of Kalemyo. The Bomber pilots did better here, and while they didn't do any massive damage, each attack did do some damage.
Finally, the 4Es flew and obliterated the Air Base and Air Fields at Myitkyina. I want to make it impossible for the Japanese forces to improve the Fortifications or build up Supply in that Region. And with any luck I will cut the Central Burma Rail Line around the same time as the first Allied Troops reach Warazup.
April 10 1943 Wrap-up
April 10, 1943 – Wrap-up
There was nothing unexpected when I finally got to check out the turn this evening. One nice part was that the End-of-Day report confirmed that 2 Helen IIas did get knocked down by Flak.
Otherwise, I've got lots of Forces moving around and they will be reaching their destinations during the month of April. I'm hoping to pull off a few small surprises in May.
And I keep on watching the F6F pool slowly climb. It is painful to see the Hellcats come in at such a slow pace. But it is less painful than watching Wildcats go up against 1943 Japanese Fighters...
There was nothing unexpected when I finally got to check out the turn this evening. One nice part was that the End-of-Day report confirmed that 2 Helen IIas did get knocked down by Flak.
Otherwise, I've got lots of Forces moving around and they will be reaching their destinations during the month of April. I'm hoping to pull off a few small surprises in May.
And I keep on watching the F6F pool slowly climb. It is painful to see the Hellcats come in at such a slow pace. But it is less painful than watching Wildcats go up against 1943 Japanese Fighters...
Burma Wars
April 11, 1943 –
There was no Night Action again.
Daylight brought Japanese bombers back over Liuchow and Hengyang. The Japanese took some Ops losses, so it wasn’t a total loss for the Chinese. The only other Japanese Air Attack was in northern Oz in the Afternoon when the retiring Australian Armoured units were hit again, albeit not as hard as in the past.
Allied Air started the Morning out poorly as multiple missions were scrubbed by Bad Weather, but eventually the 2Es in the Indo-Burma region started to fly after their targets – Japanese troops that are southeast of Kalemyo, and the Air Base at Warazup. Some of the 2Es that went hunting in the jungle near Kalemyo found their target, while all of the 2Es that went to Warazup hammered the Air Base there and closed it. The usual Vengeance Attacks flew too, and as usual they did little damage to the troops at Warazup.
Japanese Recon was busy again, particularly over Corunna Downs. My opponent continues to show unusual interest in that base. I wonder if he is considering trying a Paratroop Drop. My Fighter Pilots stationed there would like to see that. On the other hand, maybe he is just checking to see when the Air Base will finally be big enough to house 4Es.
A Japanese Recon Flight also buzzed the British Infantry Division that I have in the Jungle south of Kalemyo. So my attempt at another end-around has been discovered. Now it’s a Race Through the Jungle to see which side gets to the Rail Line first.
Finally, USS Sunfish was whacked by Japanese LBA off of Sendai this turn, so the Sub is limping home.
There was no Night Action again.
Daylight brought Japanese bombers back over Liuchow and Hengyang. The Japanese took some Ops losses, so it wasn’t a total loss for the Chinese. The only other Japanese Air Attack was in northern Oz in the Afternoon when the retiring Australian Armoured units were hit again, albeit not as hard as in the past.
Allied Air started the Morning out poorly as multiple missions were scrubbed by Bad Weather, but eventually the 2Es in the Indo-Burma region started to fly after their targets – Japanese troops that are southeast of Kalemyo, and the Air Base at Warazup. Some of the 2Es that went hunting in the jungle near Kalemyo found their target, while all of the 2Es that went to Warazup hammered the Air Base there and closed it. The usual Vengeance Attacks flew too, and as usual they did little damage to the troops at Warazup.
Japanese Recon was busy again, particularly over Corunna Downs. My opponent continues to show unusual interest in that base. I wonder if he is considering trying a Paratroop Drop. My Fighter Pilots stationed there would like to see that. On the other hand, maybe he is just checking to see when the Air Base will finally be big enough to house 4Es.
A Japanese Recon Flight also buzzed the British Infantry Division that I have in the Jungle south of Kalemyo. So my attempt at another end-around has been discovered. Now it’s a Race Through the Jungle to see which side gets to the Rail Line first.
Finally, USS Sunfish was whacked by Japanese LBA off of Sendai this turn, so the Sub is limping home.
RE: Burma Wars
I've never said anything in your AAR, but I am enjoying reading it! Keep er' up!
Life is tough. The sooner you realize that, the easier it will be.
RE: Mystery Theater
ORIGINAL: ADB123
April 2, 1943 – Final Comments -
The actual Turn contained some relatively good news and a big mystery.
First off, the damage to Port Hedland wasn't too bad, and I've got LOTS of Engineers there, so things ought to be back to scratch pretty fast. I also only lost 3 P-40Ks and 1 P-38G on the Ground.
The Mystery is how the Japanese Naval Forces off of Northern Oz totally disappeared this turn. Nothing is out there except for one Japanese sub. And I've got a lot of subs sailing around the area, as well as 3 PT TFs, and plenty of Long Range Search Planes at various bases in Northwestern Oz. But they spotted nothing. Talk about going “stealth” in a big way!
I found it interesting that the PT TFs that I sent out after the Japanese CV TFs ended up running themselves out of fuel while trying to get away from Enemy Aircraft Sightings. Considering that nothing really attacks PT Boats, this seems to be a bit of an overreaction for the PTs.
In any event, I've got a Secret Weapon on its way to Port Hedland – McHale's Navy. Yes, McHale is commanding a fresh PT TF that is now on its way to take the place of the other scattered and fuelless PT TFs.
One thing that my Air Search has noticed that there are now a lot of Japanese subs off of Canton Island and Palmyra Island. Those subs will have to deal with my LBA which has been training in ASW for the past 15 months.
Otherwise, I sat down most of my Bomber Squadrons to give them time to rest up and repair the odd damaged plane. In Burma I've ordered most of my 2E Squadrons to do extended Recon in case some new and interesting Targets show up.
And I keep on looking at the ever-increasing pool of Mk 13 Mines while wondering when I will be able to start to use them. It's too bad that the Designers decided not to give the Players even semi-historical quantities of the other mines.
Mk13 are air dropped mines. You can start using them as soon as they go into production. I have.
I am the Holy Roman Emperor and am above grammar.
Sigismund of Luxemburg
Sigismund of Luxemburg
RE: Burma Wars
ORIGINAL: jeffk3510
I've never said anything in your AAR, but I am enjoying reading it! Keep er' up!
Thanks! This is an AAR that requires a LOT of patience from the readers, because our turns are relatively infrequent. But I'm enjoying the match and I'm glad that other folks are enjoying what I am writing.
RE: Mystery Theater
Mk13 are air dropped mines. You can start using them as soon as they go into production. I have.
I haven't found any bombers that can use them yet. I presumed that I had to wait for B-29s. How do I find out which planes can use them?
Thanks -
RE: Mystery Theater
ORIGINAL: ADB123
Mk13 are air dropped mines. You can start using them as soon as they go into production. I have.
I haven't found any bombers that can use them yet. I presumed that I had to wait for B-29s. How do I find out which planes can use them?
Thanks -
Go to city bomb...it's the option left of "commander choice"
RE: Mystery Theater
ORIGINAL: GreyJoy
ORIGINAL: ADB123
Mk13 are air dropped mines. You can start using them as soon as they go into production. I have.
I haven't found any bombers that can use them yet. I presumed that I had to wait for B-29s. How do I find out which planes can use them?
Thanks -
Go to city bomb...it's the option left of "commander choice"
Ah, I see. That's not very intuitive...
Unfortunately, it appears that I can't mine my own ports by air. That's where I really need the mines right now, not as nuisance mines in enemy ports.
Thanks -
A-36s Arrive
April 12, 1943 -
There was some Night Action, however it wasn't very successful Night Action for the Allies. First off USS DE Lawrence spotted a Japanese sub southwest of Suva but couldn't find the sub afterwards.
Then USS Finback shot a half dozen torpedoes at an E-Class escort at Amami Oshima, but the only torpedo that hit was a dud. Finback was chased away but not damaged. But this was another Japanese Tanker Transport TF with 4 TKs in it, so this was another opportunity wasted.
Daylight saw the Allied Bombing Missions in Burma all rained out.
Japanese Bombers in China hit Chinese Troops in Liuchow and the Air Base at Ichang. Neither attack was particularly successful.
The only other major Air Activity was an increase in Japanese Air Search and Patrol in the South Pacific. It appears that my opponent has a fair number of Glen-equipped subs in the region.
Finally, at the end of the day Japanese Paratroops captured the empty Philippine base of Guiuan.
The Pseudo-Big News this turn was the arrival of four A-36 Squadrons at the US East Coast Base. The A-36s are very underwhelming – lousy manoueverability, low ceiling (25.1K), and unremarkable range. They can carry 2 - 500lb bombs, but I really wonder whether they will actually be effective as fighter-bombers, considering how poorly my real bombers do on an on-going basis.
In any event, with only 4 planes per squadron, and no replacements until October 1943, I decided to fill them up with Rookies, send them to Cape Town, and use them to Train Pilots until the end of 1943. Sure, I could fill them with P-39Ds, but I don't need more P-39D Squadrons on the US West Coast, and I don't see how I could use them effectively anywhere else.
Finally, thanks to Greyjoy's instructions, I have set my Indian 4Es to dump mines on Rangoon. Air Recon tells me that there is a Tanker TF there, so maybe I can cause some headaches for my opponent. In any event, it will be interesting to see just what happens.
There was some Night Action, however it wasn't very successful Night Action for the Allies. First off USS DE Lawrence spotted a Japanese sub southwest of Suva but couldn't find the sub afterwards.
Then USS Finback shot a half dozen torpedoes at an E-Class escort at Amami Oshima, but the only torpedo that hit was a dud. Finback was chased away but not damaged. But this was another Japanese Tanker Transport TF with 4 TKs in it, so this was another opportunity wasted.
Daylight saw the Allied Bombing Missions in Burma all rained out.
Japanese Bombers in China hit Chinese Troops in Liuchow and the Air Base at Ichang. Neither attack was particularly successful.
The only other major Air Activity was an increase in Japanese Air Search and Patrol in the South Pacific. It appears that my opponent has a fair number of Glen-equipped subs in the region.
Finally, at the end of the day Japanese Paratroops captured the empty Philippine base of Guiuan.
The Pseudo-Big News this turn was the arrival of four A-36 Squadrons at the US East Coast Base. The A-36s are very underwhelming – lousy manoueverability, low ceiling (25.1K), and unremarkable range. They can carry 2 - 500lb bombs, but I really wonder whether they will actually be effective as fighter-bombers, considering how poorly my real bombers do on an on-going basis.
In any event, with only 4 planes per squadron, and no replacements until October 1943, I decided to fill them up with Rookies, send them to Cape Town, and use them to Train Pilots until the end of 1943. Sure, I could fill them with P-39Ds, but I don't need more P-39D Squadrons on the US West Coast, and I don't see how I could use them effectively anywhere else.
Finally, thanks to Greyjoy's instructions, I have set my Indian 4Es to dump mines on Rangoon. Air Recon tells me that there is a Tanker TF there, so maybe I can cause some headaches for my opponent. In any event, it will be interesting to see just what happens.
Mines from the Sky
April 13, 1943 – Interim Report -
My opponent only sent the Combat Replay this evening because he said that he was caught by surprise by the sudden appearance of mines being dropped from 4Es over Rangoon. Apparently, he was unaware of this capability. He was also surprised by the inability of his Fighter CAP to engage the 4Es – again he obviously hasn't followed the discussions in the Forum on this topic.
So he wants time to think about it because he sees Air-Dropped Mines as a real game-changer. I wrote back to him and told him that as far as I'm concerned this is a deliberately designed game-changer and as such I'm going to use it. We will see how he responds. But after giving him a re-play during his initial disasterous invasion of Perth, way-back-when, because he was unaware of the BB re-arming rules, I'm not keen on giving him another break. My decision at Perth has caused my a lot of grief in the long run.
BTW – I was interested to see that while the Fighter CAP didn't do anything to the 4Es, the Flak in the Base did hit a few. I'm glad that I suspected this in advance and sent in my Bombers at 12K in order to minimize potential Flak damage.
Now I'll have to wait to see just how many mines my Bombers actually dropped.
BTW II – I was surprised to see that my opponent had Oscar Is on CAP at Rangoon, along with Tojos. He must have overproduced the Oscar Is. That is very tempting to me, because Oscar Is are useless against 4Es.
In any event, back to the rest of the turn:
There was no Night Action.
Daylight brought Japanese Bombers out against Liuchow, against some Chinese troops that I've moved near to Paotow, and in something of a surprise, against Changsha. Changsha is fully supplied so there was Flak to greet the incoming Japanese bombers. But I may fill the place with Fighters next turn too, just to draw a line in the sand.
Next it was the turn of the Allies as various Bombers flew against Targets in Burma, in addition to the Air-Mining 4Es. Once again, dozens of Vengence DBs flew against Japanese Troops at Warazup, and once again the British DB Pilots couldn't find their targets. However, Allied 2Es flew in against the Air Base at Myitkyina and hammered it pretty good.
So tomorrow will tell how my opponent decides to respond to the new Allied Capability.
My opponent only sent the Combat Replay this evening because he said that he was caught by surprise by the sudden appearance of mines being dropped from 4Es over Rangoon. Apparently, he was unaware of this capability. He was also surprised by the inability of his Fighter CAP to engage the 4Es – again he obviously hasn't followed the discussions in the Forum on this topic.
So he wants time to think about it because he sees Air-Dropped Mines as a real game-changer. I wrote back to him and told him that as far as I'm concerned this is a deliberately designed game-changer and as such I'm going to use it. We will see how he responds. But after giving him a re-play during his initial disasterous invasion of Perth, way-back-when, because he was unaware of the BB re-arming rules, I'm not keen on giving him another break. My decision at Perth has caused my a lot of grief in the long run.
BTW – I was interested to see that while the Fighter CAP didn't do anything to the 4Es, the Flak in the Base did hit a few. I'm glad that I suspected this in advance and sent in my Bombers at 12K in order to minimize potential Flak damage.
Now I'll have to wait to see just how many mines my Bombers actually dropped.
BTW II – I was surprised to see that my opponent had Oscar Is on CAP at Rangoon, along with Tojos. He must have overproduced the Oscar Is. That is very tempting to me, because Oscar Is are useless against 4Es.
In any event, back to the rest of the turn:
There was no Night Action.
Daylight brought Japanese Bombers out against Liuchow, against some Chinese troops that I've moved near to Paotow, and in something of a surprise, against Changsha. Changsha is fully supplied so there was Flak to greet the incoming Japanese bombers. But I may fill the place with Fighters next turn too, just to draw a line in the sand.
Next it was the turn of the Allies as various Bombers flew against Targets in Burma, in addition to the Air-Mining 4Es. Once again, dozens of Vengence DBs flew against Japanese Troops at Warazup, and once again the British DB Pilots couldn't find their targets. However, Allied 2Es flew in against the Air Base at Myitkyina and hammered it pretty good.
So tomorrow will tell how my opponent decides to respond to the new Allied Capability.
Jaw Dropper
April 13, 1943 – Final Report -
My opponent sent the Turn this evening, and of course, as soon as I opened the Turn I went to the Intel page to see just how airborne mines my 4Es laid.
My jaw dropped as I saw a grand total of 95 Mk13 Mines used.
Huh? [&:] That's how many 4Es I sent out. So the Big Boys only carry 1 mine per trip. [X(]
Hmmm – this is definately not going to be a game-changer.
Oh well...
So I went about my normal tasks of checking Forces, setting orders, and looking around for Opportunities or Perils.
I was interested to see that my opponent now has 3 Submarines around Canton Island. That's fine, I'm building up plenty of other bases in the Region, so I hope that he continues to focus on Canton Island.
I received a number of Soviet LCUs this turn, along with a fresh, useless Chinese LCU.
So it's business as usual again.
My opponent sent the Turn this evening, and of course, as soon as I opened the Turn I went to the Intel page to see just how airborne mines my 4Es laid.
My jaw dropped as I saw a grand total of 95 Mk13 Mines used.
Huh? [&:] That's how many 4Es I sent out. So the Big Boys only carry 1 mine per trip. [X(]
Hmmm – this is definately not going to be a game-changer.
Oh well...
So I went about my normal tasks of checking Forces, setting orders, and looking around for Opportunities or Perils.
I was interested to see that my opponent now has 3 Submarines around Canton Island. That's fine, I'm building up plenty of other bases in the Region, so I hope that he continues to focus on Canton Island.
I received a number of Soviet LCUs this turn, along with a fresh, useless Chinese LCU.
So it's business as usual again.
Spreading the Joy
April 14, 1943 -
There was no Night Action.
Daylight started out with a few Japanese bombers attacking the Chinese troops that are northeast of Paotow. I noticed afterwards that a Japanese LCU was moving from Paotow towards the Chinese LCU, so I ordered the Chinese LCU to retire one hex.
Some Japanese bombers also attempted to hit the Chinese LCU that is blocking the southern road to Myitkyina, but the Japanese couldn't find their target in the Rain and Jungle. I'm not going to bother putting up any LR CAP over that Chinese LCU for now because my opponent rarely flies twice in a row against a target that can be Capped, and anyway, this LCU may be as hard to hit as the Japanese are in Warazup.
Speaking of Warazup, British DBs attacked the troops at the base and once again they couldn't find their target. At the same time various Allied 2Es hit the Air Base at Myitkyina nicely. My Recon is telling me that some Japanese Troops are leaving Myitkyina. I'm surprised at that. The first Allied troops ought to reach Warazup in another day or two.
Otherwise, it was mainly a day of Recon Wars for both sides.
This turn brought a lot of new ships for the Allies, most of which were escorts and transports, but there were subs in the arrivals too. I'm sending some of the subs to the Indian Ocean and some to the South Pacific.
I received no reports that any Japanese ships ran into any mines at Rangoon, but then that is always going to be a random chance sort of thing. Never-the-less, I decided that I ought to use up some of the Mark 13 Mine stockpile, so I ordered a couple of 4E squadrons in northeastern Oz to drop some mines in some PNG bases, and I also moved a couple of 4E squadrons from India to Chungking. I've got plenty of Supply in Chungking, so I can fly at least one day's worth of 4E Air Mining flights. I actually hope that my opponent does notice what I am doing so that he spreads his forces out a bit more.
There was no Night Action.
Daylight started out with a few Japanese bombers attacking the Chinese troops that are northeast of Paotow. I noticed afterwards that a Japanese LCU was moving from Paotow towards the Chinese LCU, so I ordered the Chinese LCU to retire one hex.
Some Japanese bombers also attempted to hit the Chinese LCU that is blocking the southern road to Myitkyina, but the Japanese couldn't find their target in the Rain and Jungle. I'm not going to bother putting up any LR CAP over that Chinese LCU for now because my opponent rarely flies twice in a row against a target that can be Capped, and anyway, this LCU may be as hard to hit as the Japanese are in Warazup.
Speaking of Warazup, British DBs attacked the troops at the base and once again they couldn't find their target. At the same time various Allied 2Es hit the Air Base at Myitkyina nicely. My Recon is telling me that some Japanese Troops are leaving Myitkyina. I'm surprised at that. The first Allied troops ought to reach Warazup in another day or two.
Otherwise, it was mainly a day of Recon Wars for both sides.
This turn brought a lot of new ships for the Allies, most of which were escorts and transports, but there were subs in the arrivals too. I'm sending some of the subs to the Indian Ocean and some to the South Pacific.
I received no reports that any Japanese ships ran into any mines at Rangoon, but then that is always going to be a random chance sort of thing. Never-the-less, I decided that I ought to use up some of the Mark 13 Mine stockpile, so I ordered a couple of 4E squadrons in northeastern Oz to drop some mines in some PNG bases, and I also moved a couple of 4E squadrons from India to Chungking. I've got plenty of Supply in Chungking, so I can fly at least one day's worth of 4E Air Mining flights. I actually hope that my opponent does notice what I am doing so that he spreads his forces out a bit more.
Letting the Whole World Know
April 15, 1943 –
There was no Night Action again.
Daylight brought reports that Allied Air Missions were cancelled everywhere due to Bad Weather.
Japanese Bombing Attacks did fly against Liuchow and against the Chinese troops that are northeast of Paotow.
In something of a surprise, Japanese Bombers hit the Chinese troops that are southwest of Myitkyina again. My opponent doesn’t usually do that sort of attack twice in a row, outside of China. So this time I set some P-38s on LR CAP over the Chinese troops, just in case my opponent lets the Bombers fly again.
Finally, in the Afternoon some Allied 2Es flew against the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina and also Warazup. The Allied DBs didn’t fly.
And I received another surprise as the 4Es that I sent out on Airborne Mining Missions showed up in the Combat Replay, even when there was no enemy CAP present. That makes air-dropped mines pretty much useless anywhere. Oh well, I’ve got hundreds of Mark 13 mines in stock so I’ll use them up in the dim hope that some Japanese ship becomes terribly unlucky.
BTW – although I only had 2 squadrons of 4Es in Chungking doing airborne mining, the Supply Level in Chungking immediately dropped into the Yellow Zone, so I pulled those Bombers back to India.
Finally, in something of a miracle, 4 squadrons of B-25s showed up in Eastern US this turn, and all four had full complements of Bombers. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
So I set the new squadrons to Training and put them on the Railroad to the West Coast.
There was no Night Action again.
Daylight brought reports that Allied Air Missions were cancelled everywhere due to Bad Weather.
Japanese Bombing Attacks did fly against Liuchow and against the Chinese troops that are northeast of Paotow.
In something of a surprise, Japanese Bombers hit the Chinese troops that are southwest of Myitkyina again. My opponent doesn’t usually do that sort of attack twice in a row, outside of China. So this time I set some P-38s on LR CAP over the Chinese troops, just in case my opponent lets the Bombers fly again.
Finally, in the Afternoon some Allied 2Es flew against the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina and also Warazup. The Allied DBs didn’t fly.
And I received another surprise as the 4Es that I sent out on Airborne Mining Missions showed up in the Combat Replay, even when there was no enemy CAP present. That makes air-dropped mines pretty much useless anywhere. Oh well, I’ve got hundreds of Mark 13 mines in stock so I’ll use them up in the dim hope that some Japanese ship becomes terribly unlucky.
BTW – although I only had 2 squadrons of 4Es in Chungking doing airborne mining, the Supply Level in Chungking immediately dropped into the Yellow Zone, so I pulled those Bombers back to India.
Finally, in something of a miracle, 4 squadrons of B-25s showed up in Eastern US this turn, and all four had full complements of Bombers. I can’t remember the last time that happened.
So I set the new squadrons to Training and put them on the Railroad to the West Coast.
Subs on the Attack
April 16, 1943 – Interim Report
My opponent is tied-up with a number of pre-Christmas activities, so he was only able to send the Combat Replay this evening, and may not be able to get the turn back for a couple of days.
The Night Phase brought a bit of Allied Submarine Aggression. First off, Dutch Sub KXIII hit a PB in a Transport TF about half way between Moulmein and Tavoy. The PB went down and KXIII got away from the Japanese Escorts.
Then US Sub S-44 hit an xAK with a torpedo at Onnekotan-jima. This time the Escorts hit S-44 and the old sub will be limping back to Port. But the Japanese Freighter went down.
Daylight brought Rain-Outs to most Allied Air Missions. Japanese bombers hit Liuchow again. The Japanese Escorts are fairly spread out and there continue to be a number of older Fighters in the mix, so I may try another Chinese Ambush over Liuchow soon.
Speaking of Ambushes – no Japanese Bombers flew over the Chinese troops that are southwest of Myitkyina, so my P-38 Pilots didn't get a chance at some easy kills.
In the Afternoon a few of the Allied Air Missions over Burma flew, but most continued to be Rained-Out. The Allied 4Es attempted to hit the Japanese Troops at Warazup, but most of the Big Bombers missed. But they still did better than the one DB Squadron that flew.
And the Allied 4E Aerial Mining Missions flew again. They appear to be Weather-Proof. B-24s dropped Mines at Lae while B-17s dropped Mines at Buna. A mix of A6M2s, Tojos and Tonys flew at each base, but of course, they couldn't intercept of interfere with the Allied Bombers.
One nice side benefit of sending out Aerial Mining Missions is that the Allies get to find out exactly what the Japanese have on CAP at a Base without any risk.
Otherwise, Japanese Float Planes, most likely Glens, continue to snoop at the US TFs that are unloading at an ever-increasing pace in the South Pacific. I've got Tons of Engineering Troops that I no longer need in the Aleutians, and they are all moving South.
My opponent is tied-up with a number of pre-Christmas activities, so he was only able to send the Combat Replay this evening, and may not be able to get the turn back for a couple of days.
The Night Phase brought a bit of Allied Submarine Aggression. First off, Dutch Sub KXIII hit a PB in a Transport TF about half way between Moulmein and Tavoy. The PB went down and KXIII got away from the Japanese Escorts.
Then US Sub S-44 hit an xAK with a torpedo at Onnekotan-jima. This time the Escorts hit S-44 and the old sub will be limping back to Port. But the Japanese Freighter went down.
Daylight brought Rain-Outs to most Allied Air Missions. Japanese bombers hit Liuchow again. The Japanese Escorts are fairly spread out and there continue to be a number of older Fighters in the mix, so I may try another Chinese Ambush over Liuchow soon.
Speaking of Ambushes – no Japanese Bombers flew over the Chinese troops that are southwest of Myitkyina, so my P-38 Pilots didn't get a chance at some easy kills.
In the Afternoon a few of the Allied Air Missions over Burma flew, but most continued to be Rained-Out. The Allied 4Es attempted to hit the Japanese Troops at Warazup, but most of the Big Bombers missed. But they still did better than the one DB Squadron that flew.
And the Allied 4E Aerial Mining Missions flew again. They appear to be Weather-Proof. B-24s dropped Mines at Lae while B-17s dropped Mines at Buna. A mix of A6M2s, Tojos and Tonys flew at each base, but of course, they couldn't intercept of interfere with the Allied Bombers.
One nice side benefit of sending out Aerial Mining Missions is that the Allies get to find out exactly what the Japanese have on CAP at a Base without any risk.
Otherwise, Japanese Float Planes, most likely Glens, continue to snoop at the US TFs that are unloading at an ever-increasing pace in the South Pacific. I've got Tons of Engineering Troops that I no longer need in the Aleutians, and they are all moving South.