Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

June 19, 1943 -

The answer to my question last turn was:

Naval Bombardment.

CL Yura sailed in with 4 DDs to hit Tanna. Once again there was no Night Recon and the ships did a bit of trivial damage to the Port. With No Mines available, and no opportunity yet to send in PTs, the small IJN sailed off into the Night.

However, USS Rasher attempted to intercept the TF, but shot and missed at a DD and was then hammered by depth charges from the DDs in the TF and is now limping back to Auckland.

Daylight brought Reports of Rain and Bad Weather most everywhere, but in particular in the South Pacific. So the Japanese Bombardment TF got away undetected, and the USN kept its record unenviably pristine – once again the CV TF that I had nearby Tanna spotted nothing and attacked nothing.

Bad Weather didn't deter the Allied Bombers in Burma, where DBs and 2Es hit the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina again, and large numbers of 2Es attacked the Japanese Armoured Units that are facing the NCAC Corps. Unfortunately, most of the Allied Air Attacks on IJA Tanks missed their targets.

Then it was the turn of the 4Es to go after Pegu. The first Wave came in with a surprise – 12 Marine Corsairs came along as unrequested Escorts for the 42 B-24D1s and 15 B-17Fs. The Allied Attack faced 38 Ki-43-IIb Oscars, 15 Ki-43-IIa Oscars, and in a change of pace, 39 Ki-61-Ia Tonys. The Corsairs did a good job of clearing the way for the 4Es, and 1 Oscar IIa, 1 Oscar IIb, and 2 Tonys were shot down. But the Tonys that got through to the 4Es demonstrated much more effectiveness against the Big Bombers than any previous Japanese Fighter as a number of 4Es were damaged and 1 B-24D1 was shot down. Never-the-less, the 4Es got through, hit the Air Base hard, and destroyed a number of Japanese planes on the Ground.

This attack was followed by a Second Wave that consisted of 27 B-24D1s. The now escort-less Bombers faced 7 Oscar IIbs, 3 Oscar IIas and 17 Tonys. The Bombers got through despite strong attacks from the Defenders and destroyed more Japanese planes on the Ground.

Then the Final Wave flew in as 6 more B-24D1s straggled in. They were faced by 3 Oscar IIbs, 2 Oscar IIas, and 9 Tonys. The Liberators got past the Japanese Fighters, shooting down an Oscar IIb on the way in, and destroying more Japanese planes on the Ground.

The Air Action then shift to Northern Australia as US 4Es went after the Air Base at Darwin. The First Wave saw 14 B-24Ds, 15 B-17Es, and 12 B-24D1s fly in against 10 A6M3as, 24 A6M3s, and 36 Tonys. So Tonys were brought to Northern Oz too. The 4Es got past the CAP and hit the Air Base fairly hard, destroying a number of Japanese planes on the Ground while losing 1 B-24D1 on the way in.

Then a Second Wave consisting of 12 B-24Ds and 6 B-17Es flew in and faced 10 A6M3as, 23 A6M3s, and 27 Tonys. The Bombers faced a stiffer fight this time, losing 1 B-17E and 2 B-24Ds while shooting down an A6M3. But the 4Es got through to hit the Air Base and destroy more planes on the Ground.

The Day Ended with no Ground Combat, which is good because it allowed my Troops in Burma to rest up and recover more.

The End-of-Day Air Combat Results were as follows:

Ki-43-IIb Oscar – 2 A-to-A, 5 Ground, 4 Ops
Ki-43-IIa Oscar – 1 A-to-A, 10 Ground
Ki-61-Ia Tony – 5 A-to-A, 2 Ground, 2 Ops
Ki-46-III Dinah – 1 Flak, 7 Ground
A6M3a – 4 Ground
A6M3 – 1 A-to-A, 3 Ground

B-24D1 – 6 A-to-A, 2 Ops
B-24D – 4 A-to-A, 1 Ops
B-17F – 1 A-to-A
B-17E – 1 A-to-A
F4U-1 Corsair – 1 A-to-A

So this current Bombing Campaign is taking its toll on my 4Es, but it is achieving its goal of wearing down the Japanese Air Force and keeping Japanese Bombers away from Allied Troops. However, I will have to stop next turn and let most of my 4E Bomber Squadrons rest a while.

[ADB123]

June 20, 1943 -

The Night Phase saw USS Greenling hit an SC with a torpedo off of Hakodate. There wasn't much left of the SC afterwards. My attitude is that every SC sunk is an SC that won't be sailing Escort in the future.

Just afterwards USS S-30 hit a mine at Etorofu. So S-30 is heading home.

Daylight brought Japanese Float Fighters over Exmouth and Port Hedland. I'm guessing that these were Glens, although no Japanese Subs were spotted. I don't have anything in the area other than PT TFs so I'm not concerned.

The rest of the Air Action was over Burma where again the Allies attacked in large numbers while the Japanese sat quietly. DBs and 2Es attacked the Japanese Troops at Warazup while 2Es attacked the ever -increasing numbers of Japanese Troops that are facing the NCAC Corps on the Myitkyina Road.

And just in case, Liberator IIs and 2Es hit the Air Base and Troops at Meiktila. That base still only has a Level 1 Air Field, but an Air Symbol showed up, so I'm not taking any chances. It appears that the only LCU at the base is a Japanese Base Force.

And the NCAC Corps escaped a Japanese Ground Attack again, which has allowed the unit to get pretty much back to normal. I'm increasing the number of Air Attacks planned for the Japanese troops in that hex in the hopes of minimizing the effectiveness of a Japanese Ground attack.

And a half dozen USAAF TG Squadrons showed up at Ledo this turn. But each Squadron only contains 5 planes and only a couple of pilots apiece, so they will be in Active Training Mode for the next while, meaning that the Rookie pilots will learn as they fly Supplies.

[ADB123]

June 21, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw an increased but still ineffective presence by the Allied Submarine forces in Enemy Waters. First off USS Jack hit an xAK with a dud near Endeh in the DEI. The Escorts in the Transport TF drove off Jack and hit it once, sending the sub home. Then Dutch sub KXIII was chased off by the Escorts of a large Transport TF near Moulmein without getting off a shot. My opponent continues to reinforce and re-supply his troops in Burma and the Southern DEI without my forces being able to interfere effectively.

Daylight brought Heavy Rains over much of the Map, washing out many planned Air Attacks and adversely affecting others. So hundreds of Allied DBs, 2Es, and 4Es attempted to attack Enemy LCUs in Burma, but for the most part the Bombers couldn’t find their targets.

So when the Japanese attempted another attack on the NCAC Corps on the Myitkyina Road it worked this time:

Ground combat at 62,42

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 27683 troops, 344 guns, 875 vehicles, Assault Value = 1097

Defending force 12207 troops, 99 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 448

Japanese adjusted assault: 1154

Allied adjusted defense: 411

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1311 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 152 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Vehicles lost 92 (2 destroyed, 90 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
4154 casualties reported
Squads: 110 destroyed, 69 disabled
Non Combat: 161 destroyed, 85 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 16 (9 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Division
9th Division
2nd Tank/C Division
20th/A Division
15th Army

Defending units:
1st New Chinese Corps

The NCAC Corps isn’t in bad shape, so I ordered it to go back and cut the Road again as the Japanese Troops start to move towards Myitkyina. I may not be getting any Weather Breaks, but I haven’t given up on pressing the Japanese in Burma.

And in Myitkyina the Japanese Forces attempted an attack on the lone Allied Armoured LCU that arrived last turn ahead of the other Allied Forces. This time the Japanese Forces didn’t get lucky and the Allied LCU held its position:

Ground combat at Myitkyina (64,42)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 5192 troops, 129 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 151

Defending force 565 troops, 0 guns, 83 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Japanese adjusted assault: 115

Allied adjusted defense: 85

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
222 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
11th Infantry Regiment
143rd Infantry Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
44th Cavalry Regiment

Likely, if my opponent had attempted a Shock Attack he would have driven out the Allied LCU.

Otherwise, things were fairly quiet elsewhere.

[ADB123]

June 22, 1943 – Initial Report –

My opponent only had time to run the Combat Replay and send it to me this evening. He was a bit ticked off because the Japanese Escorts in Burma flew to the wrong location and left his long range Bombers unescorted. But then, the Bad Weather in Burma did a number on both sides, and as he wrote, it could have been worse for him.

There was no Night Action. That is good because it means that my Naval Movements in the South Pacific and northwestern Oz continue to chug along unmolested.

Daylight brought End-of-the-World Weather over Burma. Nowadays, because the Pilots on both Sides are reasonably skilled, many Air Missions actually flew, but they were all scattered all over the day.

First up came some scrambles over the Japanese Troops in the jungle two hexes to the east of Akyab. First in were 10 Hurricane IIc Trop which were faced by 2 Oscar IIas which flew over from wherever they were flying CAP. The Hurricanes shot down 1 of the Oscars.

Next 8 P-38Fs flew in and found 4 more Oscar IIas flying in from their CAP location. The USAAF pilots shot down another Oscar. At this point there were still no Allied Bombers to be seen. (But then, I didn’t remember setting them to attack that location, so maybe the Allied planes wandered off course too.)

But later on some Allied 2Es did fly over the Japanese Troops in that hex and got past 1 Oscar IIa on CAP to inflict light casualties on the Japanese.

The Action then shifted to Warazup where 45 Helen IIas flew in without any Escort. They were met by 2 Hurricane IIbs, 21 Hurricane IIcs, and 3 Hurricane FR.IIbs. The Japanese bombers actually got past the British Fighters, but they lost planes on the way in and out and missed their target.

At this point Allied Bombers started to fly to Myitkyina in multiple waves. Essentially, the DBs were able to hit their Target, while most of the 2Es missed their target.

Finally, 4Es started to fly in to attack a Japanese Armoured unit at Mandalay. The first wave consisted of 76 B-24D1s and 12 Blenheim VDs. They found 10 Tojos on CAP. Fortunately for the Brits, the Japanese fighters focussed on the 4Es and ignored the easier targets. The Tojos were able to shoot down 1 B-24D1, but the Allied Bombers hit their target hard.

Then 15 B-17Fs and 12 Liberator IIs flew in accompanied by 12 Hurricane IIcs. There were 4 Tojos on CAP, but the Allied planes got by and hit the Japanese Troops again.

Finally, a squadron of P-39s and a squadron of P-400s attacked the Japanese Troops that are 1 hex to the east of Akyab. This is the first time that these Squadrons saw battle and to my surprise they actually hit their targets. These squadrons had arrived with A-36s, but I wanted to train up Pilots and I have hundreds of P-39s in Reserve, so I swapped out the FB Mustangs and the Pilots got to start their Live Ammo Training.

Yes, there is no doubt about it – Burma has turned into a real Dog’s Breakfast.

[ADB123]

The rest of the story for this turn is in the Air Combat Screen below. The Brit Fighter pilots along the Indo-Burma border have a lot to celebrate...[:D]

[ADB123]

June 23, 1943 –

My opponent is busy again this evening so he only had time to send the Combat Replay.

The Night Phase started out with a Japanese sub firing off a half dozen torpedoes at APN Manley off of Exmouth, but missing. Manley then chased off the sub.

Then the PB escorts in a small Japanese Transport TF that was halfway between Timor and Wyndham spotted Dutch sub O21 and drove it off with a couple of hits. So it appears that my opponent hasn’t given up on Wyndham yet. That calls for another visit by the 4Es next turn.

Daylight brought The Great Deluge to Burma as most Allied Air Attacks in Northern Burma were washed out. But surprisingly, the 4E attacks on Meiktila went ahead.

First in were 12 Liberator IIs, 6 B-24Ds, and 51 B-24D1s, escorted by 9 P-40Ks and 17 P-38Hs. They were met by 21 Tojos, confirming the Recon Reports from last turn that my opponent had moved a Fighter unit into Meitkila. The Allied Fighters fought it out with the Japanese well, and of course, the 4Es blasted through those Tojos that got past the Escorts. The Big Bombers hammered the Air Base and Runway very hard, and at the end of the Attack there were 4 Tojos downed against the loss of 1 P-38H.

Next in were 16 more B-24D1s escorted by 14 P-38Fs. They were met by 5 Tojos. The Allied Planes blasted through again, shooting down another Tojo on the way, and hammering the Air Base and Runway again.

Finally, 14 B-17Fs and 10 more B-24D1s flew in and found no Japanese CAP, so the Big Bombers happily hammered the Air Base and Runway once again.

Air Action then shifted to one hex east of Akyab where 31 P-39Ds, 16 P-39N1s, and 16 P-400s attacked the Japanese 32nd Infantry Division. This time I had sent in the Fighter Bombers at 1000 feet since I had expected my opponent to send some LR CAP over his troops. But there was no CAP, and at 1K, the FBs went down to 100 feet and attempted to Strafe the Enemy in the Jungle. The result was No Hits, so next time they will be going in at 5K again.

And 1 hex further to the east 10 Beaufort Is and 12 Blenheim VDs, escorted by 8 Hurricane IIcs, attacked a Japanese Infantry Regiment in the Jungle. This time there were 2 Tojos on LR CAP, but the Hurricanes kept the Tojos away from the Bombers (at the cost of 1 Hurricane) and so the 2Es actually hit their target.

There were no Japanese Ground Attacks in Burma, so things worked out well overall. More Allied Troops are moving forward, so the Pressure continues to increase upon the Japanese Forces there.

[ADB123]

The End-of-Day Air Combat Report was quite encouraging:

Ki-44-IIa Tojo - 8 A-to-A, 2 Ops

P-38H - 2 A-to-A

The current state of the scramble in Burma is illustrated in the map below.

BTW - Allied Subs near Oosthaven spotted the returning IJN CVs and Bombardment TFs. I'm hoping for a submarine intercept.

[ADB123]

June 24, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw USS Steelhead shoot at and miss a Japanese DD near Nauru Island. Steelhead got away from the DD, but later on during the day a Japanese Patrol Plane hit Steelhead with a bomb and the sub is now limping back home.

Daylight brought a number of sightings of Japanese subs, including one that showed up off of Esperance. That the first time that a Japanese sub has shown up along the south coast of Oz.

There were a lot of Japanese Air Recon and Search Flights going around all over, but the only Air Attacks came from the Allies. Burma saw the following attacks.

- 2Es hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment 2 hexes east of Akyab
- 2Es and DBs hit the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina
- P-39s attacked but missed the Japanese Troops 1 hex east of Akyab
- 4Es hammered the Air Base at Toungoo

There was no Enemy CAP.

And in Northern Australia 4Es hammered the Air Base at Wyndham again, finding another A6M3a on the Ground to destroy. There is now a Japanese TF at Wyndham, so it looks like my opponent is attempting to change things there in some manner. (The Allied Air Recon reported a multi-Patrol Boat TF, which doesn’t seem too likely.)

And in the Ground Combat phase the Indian 14th Infantry Division crossed the River to the east of Kalemyo and Shock Attacked the Japanese Troops there in the Jungle:

Ground combat at 60,42

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 10759 troops, 119 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 389

Defending force 4047 troops, 40 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 148

Allied adjusted assault: 406

Japanese adjusted defense: 565

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
252 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
649 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 15 (1 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division

Defending units:
33rd/C Division

All things considered, the results could have been much worse. (I turned off the “Move” command last turn so that the Indian Division crossed the River in “Combat” mode instead of “Move” mode.)

In other news, the British 2nd Division is back at Shwebo. It appears that there are two small Japanese LCUs there, so I have ordered the Brits to attempt a Shock Attack. I don’t think that my opponent can get more Troops there for next turn. I’ve also ordered Massed Air Attacks on the Japanese Troops at Shwebo in the hopes of Disrupting them. And while that is going on a half dozen other British LCUs are moving along the roads in the Region in an attempt to cut more Rail Lines.

Finally, one US sub located a Japanese TF to the west of Oostahaven, but couldn’t move in for an attack. I’ve ordered more subs to the area in case one gets lucky.

[ADB123]

June 25, 1943 –

My opponent was busy with Real Life again this evening, so he only had time to send the Combat Replay again.

There was no Night Action as the Japanese TF that had gone to Wyndham got away from the Allied subs that were sent there to hunt for it.

Daylight brought End-of-World Severe Storms over much of Burma, but some of the Air Missions flew despite the Weather.

First off 10 P-38Fs lost the Bomber Raids that they were supposed to Escort and instead flew over Shwebo at Hi Alt. There they found 51 Tojos attempting to get in position to provide LR CAP over the Base. The Lightning Pilots had a good time shooting up the Tojos and downed 2 with no losses to themselves.

Next in were 12 Liberator IIs and 12 Blenheim VDs that were escorted by 11 Hurricane IIcs. This British Air Attack found 39 Tojos still around, and the Tojos were able to swarm the British Attack, shooting down 2 Blenheim VDs and 2 Hurricane IIcs without taking any losses themselves. But the Brit Bombers were still able to hit their target and roughed up a Japanese Armoured unit.

This was then followed by 11 Beaufighter Is that were escorted by 8 P-40Ks. There were still 35 Tojos around, but few caught up to the Allied Attack and the P-40 pilots shot down 1 of the Tojos. However, the Japanese Fighters were able to distract the Bombers enough so that they didn’t hit their Target.

BTW – I have once again been quite satisfied with the performance of the P-40Ks in Action. They have been able to hold their own against any Japanese Fighters that have been sent against them.

But the Weather stopped the Main Event – the US 4Es – from going after the Japanese Troops at Shwebo. So the Brit 2nd Infantry Division was going to have to carry out their Shock Attack without the benefit of Mass Destruction from the Air.

The Air Action then shifted to Myitkyina where hundreds of Allied 2Es and DBs flew in multiple waves to attempt to attack the Japanese Troops that are defending the Base. But none of the Allied Air Attacks found their Target, even the DBs. The Severe Storms over the Base were a Kami Ame (Divine Rain) for the Japanese Troops there.

Finally, the USAAF P-39s again attacked the Japanese 32nd Infantry Division that is 1 hex east of Akyab. This time the Aerocobras came in at 5000 feet and found their targets.

So the only Japanese CAP in Burma was over Shwebo. I couldn’t tell exactly, but I suspect that the Tojos were operating out of Pegu and using Drop Tanks. If so, they ought to suffer a fair number of Ops losses too.

At that point it was time for the British 2nd Division to attempt to Clean the Slate after having been Defeated in the Field twice by the Japanese Army. The result was as follows:

Ground combat at Shwebo (59,45)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 8506 troops, 290 guns, 257 vehicles, Assault Value = 283

Defending force 4547 troops, 57 guns, 288 vehicles, Assault Value = 171

Allied adjusted assault: 203

Japanese adjusted defense: 53

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Shwebo !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
1010 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 89 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 24 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 32 (32 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 190 (179 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
2nd British Division

Defending units:
22nd Recon Regiment
2nd Tank/B Division
96th JAAF AF Bn

So it was Third Time Lucky for the 2nd Division. My speculation is that the 2nd Tank/B Division had just Rail-Roaded into the Base and so was still in Strategic Mode – Notice the op mode (-) in the Combat Modifiers. And the 22nd Recon Regiment had been repeatedly hammered in the Open by Allied Bombers as it retired to Shwebo a few days before.

So the Rail Line is Cut again, and this time the Allied have control of a Base. There are more Allied LCUs marching around Shwebo and they will cut the Rail Line in even more places. This effectively cuts off the Best Supply Route for the Japanese Troops that are north of Shwebo.

And I have yet another Surprise planned for the next few days in Burma.

[ADB123]

June 25, 1943 – Final Report –

As I wrote after seeing the Combat Replay, I expected the IJAAF to take a fair number of Tojo Ops Losses, but I didn’t expect anything like what was reported in the Air Combat Results below! [X(]

I wonder if that was somehow related to my capture of Shwebo? But the Combat Report said that there weren’t any Japanese planes caught on the Ground.

It was very strange, but I’ll take it happily!

Otherwise, there were no surprises and everything is going along per plan. My opponent is now sending Troops up the Rail Line to Mandalay, so the 4Es will hammer the Japanese Troops in Mandalay next turn.

[ADB123]

June 26, 1943 – Interim Report –

My opponent only sent the Combat Replay again this evening, so here is the initial report based upon it.

The Night Phase saw USS Greenling hit a Japanese mine at Hakodate while attempting to sneak through the straights there. Oh well, so much for that route.

Then an Allied 3-MSW ASW TF spotted a Japanese sub southwest of Carnarvon and hit the sub three times. Afterwards the same ASW TF spotted another Japanese sub near Geraldton but couldn’t attack it.

Daylight brought Bad Weather throughout most of Burma, affecting most Air Missions.

First out were P-38Fs that Swept over Magwe. There was no Japanese CAP, so the ensuing Allied Bomber attacks were able to hit the Air Base there nicely.

Up at Myitkyina, the first couple of DB and 2E attacks found their targets, but all of the many subsequent Air Attacks couldn’t.

The Bombers that were sent to hit the Japanese troops that are southwest of Kalemyo also couldn’t find their target, but the 4Es were able to find the Japanese Troops at Mandalay quite easily and hammered them in multiple waves.

Finally, the P-39s again attacked the Japanese Troops that are east of Akyab, but this time at 6000 feet the FBs tried to use 500 lb bombs and missed.

There was one Ground Attack this turn:

Ground combat at 58,43

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3976 troops, 42 guns, 418 vehicles, Assault Value = 262

Defending force 4073 troops, 40 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 150

Allied adjusted assault: 96

Japanese adjusted defense: 121

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
407 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 20 (3 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
33rd/A Division

It’s too bad that none of the Allied Air Attacks found their mark, otherwise the Attack might have succeeded. As is, I’ll happily take the 10:1 casualty result.

[ADB123]

USS Greenling survived the mine at Hakodate and is now limping home via another route.

Recon/SIGINT report a ton of Fighters in Pegu, so obviously my opponent hasn't given up on Burma yet. He has finally noticed that the Chindits are working their way out of the jungle. If he doesn't do something fast those additional troops will cut the Rail Line in multiple places.

And it looks as if my opponent may have pulled out of Katherine. I'll eventually have to send in some Recon and Bombers to confirm or deny this Intel.

Otherwise, it continues to be simply moving Forces, Supply and Fuel forward.

[ADB123]

June 27, 1943 -

The Game got delayed this weekend due to a number of Real Life things that I had to do, and also because I came to an agreement with all three of my pbem opponents to upgrade to the latest official patch. So this turn was the first one done with the new patch in this pbem.

The Night phase saw USS Whale shoot at and miss a PB near Tokara Retto. Whale was chased off by the rest of the escorts in the rather large and odd TF. There were a couple of AMCs, a CA, and a number of small escorts, so I have no idea what sort of TF that was.

Then USS Greenling spotted a sizable Transport TF near Sapporo, but was chased off before it could attack.

Daylight brought Tojos on LR CAP over Myitkyina. The first Allied Air Attack consisted of 56 Vengence DBs escorted by 10 Hurricane IIcs. They were met by 11 Tojos. The Tojos ended up downing 1 Vengence and 1 Hurricane. The DBs didn't hit their target.

Next in were 32 Wellingtons and 28 Blenheim IVs, escorted by another 10 Hurricanes. This attack was met by 3 Tojos. The Hurricanes jumped the Tojos, shooting down one and chasing off the others.This allowed the Allied Bombers to hit their target.

A couple more Allied Bomber attacks flew in, and although the Japanese CAP was gone the Bombers couldn't find their target in the Bad Weather.

Other Allied Air Attacks hit Japanese Troops near Akyab and near Kalemyo. But the 4Es didn't fly in Burma. They were supposed to hit Lashio, and sure enough afterwards Recon and SIGINT reported that there were Japanese Fighters at that base. For some reason recently the 4Es just haven't been able to fly to Lashio.

The Endo-of-the-Day Air Results were was follows:

Ki-44-IIa Tojo – 1 A-to-A, 1 Ops

Hurricane IIc Trop – 2 A-to-A, 2 Ops
Vengence – 2 A-to-A

At the end of the day USS Sunfish got caught while trying to sneak into the Harbour at Hirosaki and was roughed up by some Japanese Patrol Boats. Sunfish is now limping home.

And finally, the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina attempted a Shock Attack on the besieging Allied Troops.

Ground combat at Myitkyina (64,42)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 16360 troops, 363 guns, 911 vehicles, Assault Value = 794

Defending force 8373 troops, 178 guns, 190 vehicles, Assault Value = 191

Japanese adjusted assault: 450

Allied adjusted defense: 259

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
359 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (2 destroyed, 30 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
184 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 47 (5 destroyed, 42 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Division
2nd Tank/A Division
11th Infantry Regiment
143rd Infantry Regiment
2nd Tank/C Division
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

Defending units:
44th Cavalry Regiment
22nd (East African) Brigade
25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
X' Force
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
6th Medium Regiment
26th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment


The Attack got a 1:1 result, but the Japanese suffered much more badly than the Allies. In the meanwhile, more Allied LCUs move closer to cutting the Malaya Rail Road in more places.

[ADB123]

June 28, 1943 -

For the first time in a very long while an unoccupied Allied island behind Enemy Lines, Masbate, was occupied automatically by the Japanese. That makes me suspect that my opponent is beefing up his forces in the Philippines.

Off of the west coast of Australia, halfway between Geraldton and Carnarvon, a Japanese sub took out a Dutch AM with a single torpedo. The other AM in the TF chased the sub away. Then USS Pollack hit a Japanese PB with a dud off of Phuket. It looks like it will take more time yet to work those duds out of the Supply Line.

Daylight brought Bad Weather over most of the map, but a number of Allied Air Missions did fly. The Japanese Air Force remained quiet except for Recon and Search Flights.

The PB4Y-1s in the South Pacific flew and hammered the Air Base at Luganville again. My opponent appeared to get some Supply into the base a little while ago and the Air Field Damage was being repaired over the past few days. But the 4Es Wiped the Slate Clean again.

All sorts of Allied 2E and DB attacks flew in Burma against various Japanese LCUs. Most of the attacks missed, but enough found the Target to keep things reasonably under control. The British Liberator IIs and the US P-39s were on Ground Attack Duty again this turn, and they were all effective.

Finally, the US 4Es hammered the Air Base at Lashio, driving out any Japanese planes. Most of the Japanese Forward Air Bases in Burma are now heavily damaged, so my opponent has massed his Fighters in Rangoon and Pegu. But next turn the 4Es will be going after Troops in Myitkyina. There's no reason at this time to spend 4Es against Strong Air Defenses.

[ADB123]

June 29, 1943 – Interim Report -

My opponent was busy again this evening so he only had time to send the Combat Reply.

The Night Phase saw Russell Island occupied automatically by the Japanese. That suggests to me that the Japanese Forces in the Solomons are being augmented too.

The USS Billfish hit a Japanese PB with a dud in Balikpapan Harbour. But to my surprise, Billfish fired off more torpedoes and one hit that wasn't a dud. The other Escorts in the rather large Transport TF chased off Billfish, which is too bad because there were AKs (not xAKs) and xAPs in the mix.

Daylight saw the Japanese Air Forces stay at home other than Recon and Search planes. Bad Weather washed out most Allied Air Missions except in Burma where some flew. The Japanese Troops at Myitkyina were hit by 2Es and DBs, the IJA Troops southwest of Kalemyo were hit by 2Es, and the IJA Troops east of Akyab were hit by Liberator IIs and P-39s. The Lib IIs caused a lot of casualties for a change – perhaps the Japanese Troops are running out of Supplies.

And the US 4Es took the Day Off for some reason or another.

Elsewhere, Naval Air Search reported a couple of Japanese Vessels at Tanna. The Reports couldn't decide if they were Subs or Something Else. I may send out a DD TF just to check it out.

And a number of odd-and-ends Troops showed up in India and in Siberia.

[ADB123]

The story this turn remains all about Burma. The screen cap below gives an idea of the situation. I have more and more Allied LCUs moving into Road and Rail Line Blocking positions, and the Japanese are scrambling to try to escape The Big Trap.

And next turn I will try my first Paradrop. If it works it will scramble things even more.

[ADB123]

June 30, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw Choiseul Bay get automatically occupied by the Japanese. The USS Saury shot at and missed a DD in a large Japanese Transport TF at Tulagi. The Escorts in the TF hit Saury a half dozen times afterwards and Saury is now limping home.

I only wish that there were some way to teach my Sub Captains the difference:

“Transport Ships --- Escorts”
“Good Targets --- Bad Targets”

Daylight brought Oscar IIbs Sweeping over the Chindits near Mandalay. This was followed by Oscar IIbs, Oscar IIas, and Helens which hammered the Allied Troops in the Open. Fortunately, since I have many LCUs moving in the region so when my opponent chose only one to attack that left more to move along unmolested.

Then it was the turn of the Allied Air Forces to frustrate me once again as hundreds and hundreds of Allied Bombers and Fighters attacked the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina, but only a handful of planes found their target, and they did trivial damage.

And, as is usually the case when things are critical, the 4Es in Burma stayed home.

Liberator IIs and P-39s did attack the Japanese Troops that are to the east of Akyab and did hit their targets, but for the most part the damage wasn’t significant either.

Finally, in something of a pointless bit of success, 4Es in Australia hammered the Japanese Troops at Katherine. It’s not like I am going to move my troops to attack, given the idiotic Supply Rules in northern Australia.

Finally, the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina attempted another Shock Attack and this time they succeeded in driving the Allied Troops back to Warazup. So the Moronic Weather, combined with whatever random-chance-rules control successful bombing, once again prevented me from stopping yet another Defeat in the Field. Given the dozens and dozens of turns in which I have sent several hundred bombers daily to hit the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina, there should have been nothing more than a very large and bloody crater there by now. But not in WitP AE.

BTW – I’m starting to have some serious regrets about upgrading to the latest version. I’ve now run into another “improvement” that I dislike vehemently – paying Political Points to change upgrade paths. I really wish that the last version had put in the Bug Fixes but left the rest of the so-called improvements as options. I find that many of the so-called improvements are taking away the fun from the game and replacing it with more pointless key-clicking. So while I’m not ready to throw in the towel yet, I certainly won’t be bothering to start any more games.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get more idiotic – 3 USAAF Dive Bomber squadrons showed up in the Eastern US. But they all have to be withdrawn in 45 days. That means that it is pointless to try to send them anywhere. Instead I played “click-the-mouse”, pulled out the pilots, down-graded to earlier versions of the DBs, and just sent the planes back. I challenge anyone to try to convince me that was a good use of my gaming time.

[ADB123]

July 1, 1943 –

The Night Phase started out with Arawe being occupied automatically by the Japanese. Then, to my Big Surprise, Magwe was occupied by the Allies.

This seems to be something new in the New Version – I’ve seen the same thing in my other pbems. My troops will come to an unoccupied enemy base, I’ll set them to attack, but then the base will switch over to my side without an attack.

The Big Side Effect here was that the Chindits that found themselves in control of Magwe also got to take possession of the Level 3 Fortifications without any Damage! In the past when an empty base was captured the Forts were always demolished. This changes things tremendously in an area like Burma where Troops from both sides are moving all around the map. Magwe should now be much harder for the Japanese to re-take if they try. But then, trying to apply Logic to the Game is always risky, as I will illustrate below.

The only other Night Action was in the South Pacific where a Japanese sub shot at and missed a US DE in a 4 DE ASW TF. The DEs then hammered the Japanese sub with 8 hits and sent the sub either down or home.

Daylight brought a very large and coordinated Air Attack on the British Troops in the Open to the west of Mandalay. The Attack consisted of 108 Helens escorted by 12 Oscar IIBs and 49 Oscar IIas. They were met by 2 P-38Fs that wandered over from a few hexes away. Despite the overwhelming Japanese numbers, the P-38s shot down an Oscar, and a Helen was shot down by Flak. But the rest of the Bombers go through to hit their target.

Then the Allied DBs and 2Es attempted to attack the Japanese Troops at Myitkyina again, and once again almost all of the hundreds of Allied Bombers missed their Target.

Meanwhile, near Akyab, the Liberator IIs and P-39s attacked their Target successfully, albeit without any great amount of damage.

And then the US 4Es, which refused to fly against Ground Troops in Lashio or Mandalay, flew against the Air Base at Rangoon. The Attack consisted of 11 B-24Ds, 13 B-17Fs, and 79 B-24D1s. They were met by 9 Tony Ias, 45 Tojo IIas, 12 Oscar IIbs and 15 Nick Ias. The 4Es blasted through the Japanese CAP, hit the Air Base, and blasted back out past the CAP again. A number of Japanese Fighters were shot down or destroyed on the Ground, but it wasn’t a truly serious blow.

Air Action then switched to the Pacific where 4Es hammered the Air Bases at Katherine and Wyndham. There was no Enemy CAP at either base.

Next came the Land Bombat Phase. I had been very frustrated with the Land Combat Results last turn, so for this turn I set 4 Deliberate Attacks in Burma, just to see if I could get a decent dice roll in any of them. The results baffled my opponent, and baffled me as well:

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

Ground combat at 55,45 (near Akyab)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20129 troops, 229 guns, 356 vehicles, Assault Value = 829

Defending force 14453 troops, 123 guns, 117 vehicles, Assault Value = 450

Allied adjusted assault: 737

Japanese adjusted defense: 293

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
4495 casualties reported
Squads: 70 destroyed, 75 disabled
Non Combat: 93 destroyed, 55 disabled
Engineers: 9 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 32 (15 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 42 (18 destroyed, 24 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Allied ground losses:
83 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
43rd Cavalry Regiment
20th Indian Division
17th Indian Division
3rd (Special Force) Division

Defending units:
32nd Division
17th Army
8th RF Gun Battalion

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

Ground combat at 58,43 (near Kalemyo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3813 troops, 42 guns, 417 vehicles, Assault Value = 261

Defending force 3702 troops, 40 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 126

Allied adjusted assault: 123

Japanese adjusted defense: 273

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
566 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 52 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (3 destroyed, 3 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
33rd/A Division

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

Ground combat at 56,45 (near Akyab)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 4318 troops, 86 guns, 159 vehicles, Assault Value = 150

Defending force 3632 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Allied adjusted assault: 45

Japanese adjusted defense: 772

Allied assault odds: 1 to 17

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

Japanese ground losses:
63 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
351 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)


Assaulting units:
268th Motorised Brigade
29th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
114th Infantry Regiment

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

Ground combat at 60,42 (near Kalemyo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10344 troops, 119 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 365

Defending force 4047 troops, 40 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 148

Allied adjusted assault: 277

Japanese adjusted defense: 569

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
124 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
407 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division

Defending units:
33rd/C Division

I’m starting to get the feeling, from this game and from my other 2 Japanese pbems, that the only thing that matters in Ground Combat is the Random Number generated, and that everything else is window dressing.

In any event, here are the Air Combat Losses and the Intel screen:

[ADB123]

July 2, 1943 –

The Night Phase started with Rennell Island being automatically occupied by the Japanese. This was followed by a Japanese sub off of Tanna that put a torpedo into a DM that was on its way to lay some mines at the base. The DM went down, but the other DMs in the TF hit the sub a couple of times in return. Despite the loss the remaining DMs left their mines at Tanna and are now heading off for replenishment and some repairs.

Daylight brought out Allied 2Es over the Japanese troops on the road to the west of Myitkyina. These 2Es hit their target, but the Allied 2Es that attempted the same thing at Myitkyina missed for the most part. There seems to be some sort of Magical Protection at Myitkyina, compared to the other Jungle hexes nearby.

The Japanese troops that are near Akyab were also hit by Liberator IIs and P-39s. Again, in that region the Jungle doesn't seem to have as much protective effect as at Myitkyina.

Then the US 4Es took off and attacked Rangoon again, this time in 2 waves. The first wave consisted of 34 B-24D1s and 12 B-24Ds. They were met by 10 Tony Ias, 31 Tojo IIas, 8 Oscar IIbs and 11 Nick Ias. The Big Bombers blasted through the Japanese CAP as usual, hit the Air Base, and blasted back out again. However, the level of Air Base damage wasn't very high.

The second wave consisted of 7 B-24D1s and 6 B-17Fs. The only had to face 5 Tonys, 8 Tojos, 4 Oscar IIbs and 5 Nicks. Again the Bombers fought off the CAP and hit the base, but again with less than the usual effect.

I was wondering where the Oscar IIas had gotten to, when after lunch Helens, escorted by Oscar IIas, showed up over Magwe and attacked the Chindits there, despite the "Heavy Rain". The Chindits suffered fairly heavy damage – obviously the presence of Level 3 Forts isn't as important as the Magical Jungle Protection at Myitkyina.

For some reason – most likely something like the sudden appearance of the Great Red Spot of Jupiter – no Allied Bombers flew in Australia this turn, despite their orders.

So while the overall Allied Bombing efforts weren't a total washout, as shown in the End-of-Day screen below, once again things weren't what they might have been.

Afterwards SIGINT started to scream about multiple reports of Heavy Radio Traffic in a spot around halfway between Port Blair and Rangoon. Mousing over the Red TF symbol there didn't give me any information, but that isn't a usual place for a Rangoon Transport TF to wander. So I am guessing that the KB, a Naval Bombardment TF, or Both are heading towards the Akyab/Cox's Bazaar area. So I re-set my Air Units, putting the P-39s on CAP for a change and moving in Naval Bombers, and increased Naval Search. I've also got some PTs and some RN ships there, so I will be interested to see what shows up, and if any of my defenses actually work for a change.

BTW – The Absolutely Moronic Window Dressing of the Day turned out to be a US Army Raider unit that showed up at the East Coast. Nice, eh? What am I complaining about? Well, that unit is due to be removed from the Game in 68 days.

Cool… I'll just be able to bring it to the Front when it will go away.

Oh well, at least I don't have to waste time with mouse clicks on this one.

[ADB123]

The Night Phase saw the Japanese occupy Long Island. (They couldn’t afford Manhattan.)

Off of the south coast of Australia a Japanese sub put two torpedoes into an unescorted xAK and sank it. I’ve now sent off some AMs to escort that Transport TF the rest of the way to its destination.

Daylight brought out Helens escorted by Oscars over Shwebo where they attacked the British 2nd Division. Four Hurricanes wandered over and fought it out a bit with the Japanese Escorts, but the damage to the Attack was done by the Flak from the British AA guns.

This was followed by Allied DB and 2E attacks on Japanese Troops at Myitkyina and other locations. For the most part the Allied Air Attacks didn’t cause many casualties.

Air Search indicated that the Alarm last turn about a possible KB spotting was wrong as various Japanese Transport TFs showed up at Moulmein and Rangoon. The TF at Rangoon was attacked twice by Liberator IIs. The first time the British 4Es came in unescorted but they were able to hit an E-class. Next came another half dozen Lib IIs which were now escorted by a handful of Corsairs. The Corsair pilots shot down a couple of Tojos on CAP, but this group of Lib IIs missed their AMC target.

And in Australia, 4Es hammered the Air Base at Wyndham again. There was no Japanese CAP present.

Finally, Allied Troops attacked in two locations near Kalemyo in the Burmese Jungle:

Ground combat at 58,43 (near Kalemyo)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3838 troops, 42 guns, 418 vehicles, Assault Value = 258

Defending force 3356 troops, 40 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 91

Allied adjusted assault: 219

Japanese adjusted defense: 125

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
374 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
50th Tank Brigade
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
33rd/A Division

And:

Ground combat at 60,42 (near Kalemyo)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 10033 troops, 119 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 314

Defending force 3986 troops, 40 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 143

Allied adjusted assault: 98

Japanese adjusted defense: 241

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
241 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
615 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled

Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division

Defending units:
33rd/C Division

I still can’t figure out if the results make any sense at all. For one, if you look at the first attack, the Allied Troops were given a negative modifier for “fatigue”, but they actually had very low fatigue before and after the attack. And in the second attack that unit actually has a very good leader. So I’m not certain that those “modifiers” aren’t just window dressing.