Bring me the head of Diego Garcia...and the Mayor of Addu Atoll too!

[Cap Mandrake]

Arafua Sea/Banda Sea/Coral Sea/Torres Strait etc.: Last turn, there were LYB transports headed East between Broome and Darwin. I presume they are reinforcements for Darwin. The 3 CV task forces are moving ahead of the main body today, which should be off Townsville today. Most likely, the Jap sub at the Rockhampton Bulge got the message out. Indiana and Washington are going to refuel at Horn Is and may be ready to intercept any reinforcements to Darwin. The cruiser group at Merauke also moved West to a station to cover both Gove and Timaoke (New Guinea).

It would be much easier to kill a LYB division at sea than on land.

[Cap Mandrake]

Burma: Hurricanes sweep over Myitkinee..yah..ville. Rots of Tojos in air. In the afternoon, they get another Tojo. 2 to 0 for the Hurris.

Morning Air attack on Myitkyina , at 64,42

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 27



Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

This is still better than having them plaster Ledo, which is now supporting transports again.

A raid over JJ troops in the jungle finds more Tojos. This isn't working. We need to find out where the sneeky LYB's are flying from.

Afternoon Air attack on 4th Guards Division, at 59,43 , near Kalemyo

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 14



Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 29
Hudson IIIa x 12
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 6


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 7 damaged
Hudson IIIa: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

[Cap Mandrake]

New Scotland: A Marine regiment is embarking at Auckland for Koumac. The golden goose has already fled but we can kill 4-5K LYB's in daipers and deprive the Empire of a recon base.

[Cap Mandrake]

So I got to the party about 9:30 and they are already on the prime rib course. Stalker Girl started helping Pocahontas shuck oysters about 5:30 and they had doubtless been drinking the whole time so I am pretty much the only one with my wits about me. Stalker Girl tells this story about an infant she had cared for as a foster mom. The baby had cancer and eventually died from his disease. I had never heard this story before and it was very, very sad. You can imagine the mood swing at the table. There was about 20 seconds of awkward silence and then Stalker Girl asks, "Can I tell a personal story?" [X(]

Santa Maria! Like the last one wasn't personal? [X(] All the guys are getting nervous and I can tell they had the same thought. What could possibly be more personal? Oh, Sweet Jesus, not the Adolph and Eva in the Berchtesdgarten roll-play thing! Please, please, come on social filter! Please start working again. I closed my eyes and said a silent prayer.

Then she launched into a story about catching her son spanking the monkey when he was a teen. Whew! [&o] That's all. The dinner was saved. We were back to talking about sex again.

[Cap Mandrake]

By ra way. S'pose Washington and Indiana get in a fight before the landing, where can they go to reload?

Horn Is is still level 3 port with limited Naval Support troops and several AKE's.

Townsville is level 6, IIRC. I wont have to send them all the way back to Brisbane will I?

As I recall, the key factors are port size and naval support and <waves hands around> AKE's.

Also, does Katherine have any kind of terrain bonus?

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

By ra way. S'pose Washington and Indiana get in a fight before the landing, where can they go to reload?

Horn Is is still level 3 port with limited Naval Support troops and several AKE's.

Townsville is level 6, IIRC. I wont have to send them all the way back to Brisbane will I?

As I recall, the key factors are port size and naval support and <waves hands around> AKE's.

Also, does Katherine have any kind of terrain bonus?

I don't recall all that stuff about loading points required, but I do remember that 16" guns require a level 7 port or the equivalent in points from nav support or AKEs/AEs. That means Townsville [Level6] with an AKE for each of the BBs should do it.

[CT Grognard]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

By ra way. S'pose Washington and Indiana get in a fight before the landing, where can they go to reload?

Horn Is is still level 3 port with limited Naval Support troops and several AKE's.

Townsville is level 6, IIRC. I wont have to send them all the way back to Brisbane will I?

As I recall, the key factors are port size and naval support and <waves hands around> AKE's.

Also, does Katherine have any kind of terrain bonus?

BB Washington and BB Indiana can reload no problems from a Level 7 Port.

To reload at Townsville (Level 6), you would need to have a whopping 756 Naval Support squads present. I'm going to guess you don't.

To reload at Horn Island (Level 3), you will need even more - 888 NS squads.

However, should you have an AKE or AE at Horn Island with capacity equal to or larger than 4,480 (the Rearm Cost for a 16in/45 Mk 5 Gun!) - then you're a winner!

Katherine is a clear hex and therefore has no terrain bonus. However - its north border is a river hexside.

[CT Grognard]

An AE or AKE of sufficient capacity (in this case at least 4,480) can reload those BBs in any port, even a Level 1.

This is why AKEs/AEs are such popular targets.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: CT Grognard

An AE or AKE of sufficient capacity (in this case at least 4,480) can reload those BBs in any port, even a Level 1.

This is why AKEs/AEs are such popular targets.

Thanks for the clarification CTG. I haven't read the manual in some time and thought there was a minimum port size for BBs after which you added the support points. Guess it's just all about the points then. So is the cargo capacity of the AKE/AE the number of loadiing points it provides?

[CT Grognard]

Correct. The "cargo capacity" of an AKE or AE is its Rearm Level.

US 16-inchers and Japanese 40cm shells require AKEs of 4,500 cargo capacity.

As far as I'm aware the heaviest weapon - the 46cm/45 T94 on the BB Yamato and BB Musashi - cannot be reloaded by AKE since no AKE exists with a high enough capacity (needs 6440) and requires a Port 9 or a Port 8 with 88 Naval Support squads.

[Lomri]

The strangest thing happened to me today. I got into work, got myself a coffee, and hit refresh on my now newly titled "Hearts and Minds" browser tab. But what did I find? NOTHING! That is right. NO posts. Now, some other AARs sometimes don't have new posts but those people are fighting a war, what do you expect! I'm shocked, and a little confused. Maybe I'll wander over to the War Room while I sip my coffee.

[moore4807]

Yeah - maybe its spring break for the AAR...[:D]

[Moondawggie]

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

*********Dec 18, 1942(c), 3rd Planet from the Sun**********


In one turn I lost Hill 441 near some burg called Kweiyang or Poontang or something like that. Nobody mention it, OK?

Uh, Cap, I'm pretty sure Hill 441 isn't anywhere near Poontang. IIRC, the nearest town is Bigwang...

[Chickenboy]

ORIGINAL: Moondawggie

ORIGINAL: Cap Mandrake

*********Dec 18, 1942(c), 3rd Planet from the Sun**********


In one turn I lost Hill 441 near some burg called Kweiyang or Poontang or something like that. Nobody mention it, OK?

Uh, Cap, I'm pretty sure Hill 441 isn't anywhere near Poontang. IIRC, the nearest town is Bigwang...

I WISH Bigwang was near Poontang. I'd travel there more often if these two places weren't so far apart. Of course, the train does go there sometimes, but it costs more and more to make the trip these days...

[Cap Mandrake]

************April 12, 2012(a), Isla Mujeres, Mexico***********


Just a note to let everyone know things are going splendidly. Isla Mujeres is known for its topless sunbathing....and not just the men either! It's about a 30 minute boat ride from Cancun and the drinks are free on the boat. Everyone told me it would be a bad idea to go to Mexico with the security issues but last night the hotel grounds crew found only one headless torso on the beach and they had it cleaned up before the first guests were up.

Even so, I declined the cabeza tacos at dinner last night. OK, I'm off to play beach volleyball with some coeds.

TTFN

[sprior]

Hi, I'm home!

[Cap Mandrake]

ORIGINAL: sprior

Hi, I'm home!

Ah..hope the gypseys treated you well..just sent off the turn. I:

1) Moved some Hurris to Chunking as they have started bombing there.

2) Converted one USAAF squadron of Tenth Air Force to P-39 and one to P-40K as we are out of P-40E's

3) Converted one RAF squadron to export F4F's to free up Hurris

4) Hurris sweeping over Myitkinia

5) LRCAP over that LYB unit in the jungle in Burma to see if we can dissuade the damn Tojos flying LRCAP in the same hex.

6) JJ has Kweiyang.

[Cap Mandrake]

.

[Cap Mandrake]

*************Dec 19, 1942(c)**********

Katherine: LB-30's and B-17's from the East annoy and bullyrag the 20th Div., which then sallies forth and shock attacks. This works in China but not with Commonwealth troops of nominal equal or greater strength. This is going to seriously weaken the LYB position at Katherine. JJ suffered a 65% reduction in assault value before the attack. So far, so good. Supply permitting, Admiral Lord Sprior might even be able to attack. Transports from Tennant are air dropping supply but Tennant is starting to run low on the depot we built up over months.

Ground combat at Katherine (76,128)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 17829 troops, 189 guns, 64 vehicles, Assault Value = 585

Defending force 23256 troops, 552 guns, 692 vehicles, Assault Value = 1194

Japanese adjusted assault: 136

Allied adjusted defense: 1011

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 7

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker: shock(+), disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
5406 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 185 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 81 disabled
Guns lost 69 (3 destroyed, 66 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Assaulting units:
20th Division
38th/C Division

Defending units:
3rd Army Tank Brigade
2/4th Armoured Regiment
6th Australian Brigade
9th Australian Brigade
4th Aus Cav Brigade
3rd Motor Brigade
18th British Division
108th Tank Attack Regiment
205th Field Artillery Battalion
NW Australia Base Force

[Cap Mandrake]

Darwin: You would think 54 B-24's could do more damage...but the Oscars are persistent. The Beaufighters at Gove wont take off due to supply. Runway damage recon for the prior turn was at 48%.


Morning Air attack on Darwin , at 76,124

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 13



Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 54


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 18 damaged

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



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 9

You know that task force approacing Darwin that disappeared? Well, S-37 found it.

Sub attack near Darwin at 75,124

Japanese Ships
xAK Miyatama Maru
DD Yugumo
AMC Nosiro Maru
xAP Koronado Maru
xAK Okuyo Maru
xAK Arima Maru
DD Kosugiri
DD Suresushio
DD Tadeshiwa

Allied Ships
SS S-37, hits 24, and is sunk