The Hive - Cruft PBEM (Japan, Scen 2 Beta + Stacking Limits)

[FDRLincoln]

93 disruption. Ouch.
 
 

[Saros]

That was a damn good showing against the bombers. I don't think I have ever had results that good using Zekes. Especially with only 12 minutes warning as well.

[Captain Cruft]

Yes I was very surprised at how well they did.

I'm going to dump out the airgroup data ...

[Captain Cruft]

First group.

[Captain Cruft]

First group pilots.

[Captain Cruft]

Second group.

[Captain Cruft]

Second group pilots.

[Captain Cruft]

Nov 27 1942

This was a much quieter turn, unsurprisingly.

Here is Burma. As I guessed he is going for Magwe over the river. The Swarm is ready ...

[Captain Cruft]

The only thing that really happened today was 4 cruisers of the Australian fleet turning up at Merauke. Nells out of Ambon had a go at them but were beaten off by the flak with no hits.

[Captain Cruft]

Pilots

There have been a fair few additions to TRACOM recently in both services. So, we now have 160 IJN and 64 IJA pilots there. These boys will only be extracted when it looks like there is a decisive battle or two about to occur.

Both replacement pools are full to bursting. I just don't have the airgroup space to accomodate any more pilots on map at this point.

[Captain Cruft]

Nov 28 1942

Another very quiet turn. Things should be getting quite interesting in Burma soon though.

My opponent was not pleased with the results of the Truk raid, but he is not the type to get discouraged. I expect he will be back, only next time we will have to face P-38s sweeping out of Kavieng and/or Manus alongside the 4Es. None of which will matter though, since Truk is not being used for anything except as a place to attrit his airpower. Cackle cackle ... [;)]

[Captain Cruft]

Alternate fleet bases

A key part of the cunning plan for the Pacific is to enable the KB and Kongos to re-arm at numerous places that are not Truk.

Babeldoab is a size 5 port and hosts the 3rd Fleet HQ
Ulithi is a size 5 port (soon to be size 6) and hosts the 8th Fleet HQ
Guam is a size 5 port and hosts the Southeast Area Fleet HQ
Saipan is a size 4 port and could host some AKEs if necessary
Kwajalein is a size 4 port (soon to be size 5) and hosts the 6th Fleet HQ

This gives me lots of options if and when he finally commits his CVs and takes the offensive seriously.

[Captain Cruft]

Mindanao

The way things are going it seems almost inevitable that his main thrust will eventually end up pointing towards Mindanao. Indeed you could almost say I am inviting him to do that. Which is not true, I just thought of it this turn.

Anyway, I have decided to make Mindanao "Swarm capable" just in case. I have a hunch that massed Oscars naval bombing at 100ft would be quite effective even without having trained for it. So I am moving my one spare IJA air HQ and a couple of IJAAF base forces to the island. These will complement the remnants of the original 16th Army invasion forces, which remain in place and have been building mostly Fort. There are no divisions there, but given the mostly horrible terrain I am hoping none will be needed. Or at least not yet.

[Captain Cruft]

Nov 29 1942

Not a lot happening. The Swarm vs. the Brits should kick off in 2 or 3 days time.

While waiting, I have been pondering (as always) and decided that I shall include the Ki-67 Peggy in my plans.


I have always really liked the look of this plane, but more importantly it is the nearest thing to a useful bomber that is available to the Empire. The plan is to use it in conjunction with the Ki-43 IIIa, the Ki-83 and the Ki-74 to make a "14 hex range airfield destruction unit" for the end-game.

The tactical deployment would be thus, with airgroups spread around numerous size 2 and 3 airfields:

Ki-83 high altitude Sweep (draw off the CAP)
Ki-74 high altitude Airfield Attack (draw off the CAP and possibly increase DL)
Ki-67 medium altitude Airfield Attack (destroy airfield)
Ki-43 IIIa (Escort for Ki-67s, plus maybe low level Sweep)

This unit will not be a Swarm, it is too expensive and fragile, but it may nevertheless be useful. By 1945 I may even come up with a name for it [:'(]

[Captain Cruft]

Nov 30 1942

Mandalay falls to air-dropped Chindits and the 2nd British Div stack has arrived at Magwe. No automatic shock attack was triggered by crossing the river though for some reason.

The 33rd Division is now entrained at Meiktila and should be in Rangoon in two days. It has thankfully not received any Allied ordnance since vacating Mandalay so is starting to recover slowly.

Rain is forecast for next turn in Burma so I will not commit the Swarm yet.

[Captain Cruft]

Dec 1 1942

Swarmage is on for next turn. The forecast is still Rain but what the hell. There will be up to 190 planes doing a Ground Attack at Magwe. I don't need to try an Airfield Attack at this point since the damage is still very high due to previous Allied LB bombing.

Note the 33rd Div on the rail to the NE of Pegu. Sanctuary is in sight, and the unit still has 98% strength assuming full recovery of disablements. Phew ...

[Captain Cruft]

Dec 2 1942

Well the Swarm co-ordinated perfectly from the 3 airbases and a total of 239 planes flew.

It was about as I expected. The flak was not overcome and 34 planes were lost, along with 29 pilots. That's a 14.2% loss rate. However reasonable damage was done to the British stack, which comprises 1 Division + 2 Brigades.

We are going in again tomorrow ... [8D]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 16th Indian Brigade, at 57,47 (Magwe)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 239

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 105 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 9 destroyed by flak

Allied ground losses:
629 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 38 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 59 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Guns lost 17 (1 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
28 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
29 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
23 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
25 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
29 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
24 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
19 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
26 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd British Division ...
Also attacking 14th British Brigade ...
Also attacking 2nd British Division ...
Also attacking 16th Indian Brigade ...
Also attacking 2nd British Division ...
Also attacking 14th British Brigade ...
Also attacking 2nd British Division ...

[Captain Cruft]

Dec 3 1942

Chiang Mai was socked in, so only 107 planes flew. Of these 18 were lost, which is a 16.8% loss rate. Damage caused was minimal.

I am going to stand down and defend for a bit, see what he does and whether my 400+ fighters in the Burma area can achieve air superiority or not. The Swarm is not just intended for bombing but also for air fighting.

Note though that I am absolutely not giving up on the idea of low-level bombing. I just can't do it every day.

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

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 107

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 42 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 8 destroyed by flak

Allied ground losses:
123 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
29 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
27 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
22 x Ki-43-IIa Oscar bombing from 100 feet
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

Also attacking 14th British Brigade ...
Also attacking 2nd British Division ...
Also attacking 14th British Brigade ...
Also attacking 2nd British Division ...

[Captain Cruft]

The 33rd Division is now safely at Rangoon, where it will de-train for some much needed rest. It has performed its job admirably, and should be able to recover to full strength within a reasonable timeframe.

[Captain Cruft]

Just an aside ...

I have recently started a game as the Allies, which is fun. However I really did not realise just how few aircraft you get prior to 1945, especially bombers. No wonder the Truk raid erked my opponent so much. It will take him a month to replace the lost B-17s and B-24s.

Meanwhile, I can produce 300 or 400 fighters a month and pilots to fly them without causing any strain on my economy whatsoever. The only real limiter on Japanese airpower is airgroup space.

This hardens my determination to play with mostly Oscars and Zeros. Otherwise it's just not a fair game.