Headhunter - Lokasenna (A) vs. mind_messing (J) - No MM yet

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Trying something here...


This is about half of my Chinese army in exile. All 1943 squads. 2 Commonwealth units mixed in.

List below is drawn from SIGINT and bombing results. I suspect it's 2-3 HQ, 4 IDs, 2 Tank Rgts, and the rest artillery. We'll see if my forced shock can smash them... it's only a +2 hex, but about half of the units have been dug in for a while. One or two of the divisions are recent arrivals, however.

Attack will occur on September 14. I've been bombing for about a week to wear down enemy supply. Supply for my guys isn't great, but at least it's not in the red.

Known/suspected enemy:
13th Army
14th Army
15th Army

110th Division
55th Division
16th Division
33rd Division

12th Tank Regiment

10th Med FA Rgt
14th Med FA Rgt
3rd Mortar Bn
15th Ind Med FA Rgt
6th Med FA Rgt
2nd Ind Art Mortar Bn
3rd Ind Mtn Gun Rgt
21st Med FA Bn
5th Mortar Bn
Tonei Heavy Gun Rgt

I say this is a really bad idea. Why?

Well, because Torsten tried with about 3200AV of mixed commonwealth and Chinese units to hit my dug in Thai units with one only Japanese Div there, about 1100AV, and it was a DA and not a shock over a river. He lost a lot of Chinese troops.

The Chinese don't shock over rivers well in my experience. I just looked and a Chinese 43 squad is still only 5/15 hard/soft. Not great.

If the Japanese have been here long enough to build decent forts, this could end badly.

My requirements for a decent chance of success with solid commonwealth or US forces in x2-3 terrain is 3:1 AV ratio advantage with similar support in HQs, arty and tanks. This is based not on an Allied experience but on defending with Japanese troops. When Chinese troops invest in difficult terrain I stay put up to 4:1 ratio at least until the first attack. This is assuming at least two forts dug in x3. If it's x2 like this I might consider moving at 3.5:1 if the first attack get a 1:1. For a river crossing I'd always stay put to see how it plays out. Too much can go wrong on a river crossing without the benefit of prep.

You have slightly over 3:1 but with Chinese units, and he has a lot of arty plus some experienced divisions (33rd and 55th for sure). Your Chinese don't have much arty I'm guessing. And you're going over a river.

What kind of damage are you doing with the bombing runs?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Trying something here...


This is about half of my Chinese army in exile. All 1943 squads. 2 Commonwealth units mixed in.

List below is drawn from SIGINT and bombing results. I suspect it's 2-3 HQ, 4 IDs, 2 Tank Rgts, and the rest artillery. We'll see if my forced shock can smash them... it's only a +2 hex, but about half of the units have been dug in for a while. One or two of the divisions are recent arrivals, however.

Attack will occur on September 14. I've been bombing for about a week to wear down enemy supply. Supply for my guys isn't great, but at least it's not in the red.

Known/suspected enemy:
13th Army
14th Army
15th Army

110th Division
55th Division
16th Division
33rd Division

12th Tank Regiment

10th Med FA Rgt
14th Med FA Rgt
3rd Mortar Bn
15th Ind Med FA Rgt
6th Med FA Rgt
2nd Ind Art Mortar Bn
3rd Ind Mtn Gun Rgt
21st Med FA Bn
5th Mortar Bn
Tonei Heavy Gun Rgt

I say this is a really bad idea. Why?

Well, because Torsten tried with about 3200AV of mixed commonwealth and Chinese units to hit my dug in Thai units with one only Japanese Div there, about 1100AV, and it was a DA and not a shock over a river. He lost a lot of Chinese troops.

The Chinese don't shock over rivers well in my experience. I just looked and a Chinese 43 squad is still only 5/15 hard/soft. Not great.

If the Japanese have been here long enough to build decent forts, this could end badly.

My requirements for a decent chance of success with solid commonwealth or US forces in x2-3 terrain is 3:1 AV ratio advantage with similar support in HQs, arty and tanks. This is based not on an Allied experience but on defending with Japanese troops. When Chinese troops invest in difficult terrain I stay put up to 4:1 ratio at least until the first attack. This is assuming at least two forts dug in x3. If it's x2 like this I might consider moving at 3.5:1 if the first attack get a 1:1. For a river crossing I'd always stay put to see how it plays out. Too much can go wrong on a river crossing without the benefit of prep.

You have slightly over 3:1 but with Chinese units, and he has a lot of arty plus some experienced divisions (33rd and 55th for sure). Your Chinese don't have much arty I'm guessing. And you're going over a river.

What kind of damage are you doing with the bombing runs?

I don't think it will succeed either, at least tactically. I say very low chance. Until about a month ago, he had only 15 units here, and I have recon running on all of the hexes. I don't think he knows I'm coming in... Now he's got 22. I think 2 divisions moved in as well as an HQ and some more arty.

I am doing about 100-120 casualties per turn with the bombing, mostly on 2 divisions, so am pretty sure they're the recent arrivals.

I know that these divisions didn't participate in China, so they mostly just have their starting experience plus the campaign for Singapore. So he has about 1800-2000 AV. My Chinese have good morale, and I'll doublecheck the Support levels (I may be a bit low). A few units have "OK" experience, in the 50s.


Strategically, I am looking to bleed his supplies. I know he's got to be hurting on logistics, at least somewhere, because his VPs will inexplicably drop on some days and rise on others, which means bases are running into the red on supplies. My guess is that this is in Burma. I've got subs between Rangoon and the Straits of Malacca, and I rarely see xAKs making a trip - which means he's trying to live off of what flows in naturally via Rahaeng/Moulmein (little to none, in my experience, as it all just pools at Singers) and what is made at Rangoon. Reinforcing this impression, I recently bombed the units at Mandalay in the open - several hundred casualties and a few dozen vehicles from just one attack. I think his forts levels there are low, which may be either because he doesn't have enough engineers (he's built up a lot of islands) or because there are no supplies to do the building.

He has a large stack of units at Rangoon and Moulmein, so it's got to be very hard for his supplies to flow up this far north. There's a reason I don't have units in these hexes in my own game, choosing instead to fortify and defend where I can supply them.

I'm also looking at landing at Ramree sometime in early '44, I think, and if this attack fails as semi-expected, but he can't dislodge me from the hex, he may get focused about defending forward and I can then cut him off. In any case, we'll find out in 2 more days. But like you, I'm pretty sure I won't defeat the units with this shock attack. I've got supplies coming in to Cox's Bazar soon, though (plenty of fighters at Chittagong to transfer for CAP or LRCAP).


You can also see that I have some units moving SE from Kalemyo. He's drawn back some of his units from the border, and it's mostly RTA (which withdraws soon) and 1/3 divisional fragments. I'm going to see if I can cut the rail line to Myitkyina and go from there. I would love to be able to open up a thrust on Chungking in 1945, which means taking back Rangoon and upper Thailand, probably.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Trying something here...



This is about half of my Chinese army in exile. All 1943 squads. 2 Commonwealth units mixed in.

List below is drawn from SIGINT and bombing results. I suspect it's 2-3 HQ, 4 IDs, 2 Tank Rgts, and the rest artillery. We'll see if my forced shock can smash them... it's only a +2 hex, but about half of the units have been dug in for a while. One or two of the divisions are recent arrivals, however.

Attack will occur on September 14. I've been bombing for about a week to wear down enemy supply. Supply for my guys isn't great, but at least it's not in the red.

Known/suspected enemy:
13th Army
14th Army
15th Army

110th Division
55th Division
16th Division
33rd Division

12th Tank Regiment

10th Med FA Rgt
14th Med FA Rgt
3rd Mortar Bn
15th Ind Med FA Rgt
6th Med FA Rgt
2nd Ind Art Mortar Bn
3rd Ind Mtn Gun Rgt
21st Med FA Bn
5th Mortar Bn
Tonei Heavy Gun Rgt

Hrm. I have another option here that I overlooked.

1/3 of an RTA division is due east of here. Alone. That's it. Am I missing something here? Couldn't I just drive right on through that hex and then move to threaten Magwe? I would need to be prepared to compete in the air, but it would make him start moving things...

Forces are 42 of 46 miles on the way. Changed to combat mode, so I have a day to decide to change directions.

[Lokasenna]

This is also why I'm moving now...

ORIGINAL: witpqs

This is a quotation that I saved in a text file. I did not think to save attribution with it.

The monsoon runs from May 15 to Oct 15 and is only for bases that have max draw in Burma and along the India/Burma border.

I'm capable of moving enough supplies by air, or by dropping right next door at Cox's. He's gotta rely on a long dirt road.

[Lokasenna]

Got the next turn back. Have to decide on the upcoming... do I divert and go due east instead? I think maybe. I have 2k Indian AV at Akyab... I could bring some of them up to the hex as well. I would only need to leave behind about 1k AV as Akyab has level 6 forts.

Off to a birthday party, will mull over drinks [8D].

[Lokasenna]

Here's what we've got now:



You can see that I decided not to do the big attack with shoddy troops.

He's moving some stuff towards Shwebo-Katha... interesting. These movement dots showed up the day after my 2 Indian Divisions attacked outside Katha, meeting the 12th IJA ID. He brought in the 8th over the next couple of days and he's attacked me twice now, getting 1:2 odds each time and 1250 or so casualties for him against a few hundred for me. Looks like he's bringing in another unit from Katha itself - an ID, perhaps? He has plenty.

The RTA division fragment at the tip of his sentry line there is moving back also. This makes me think that maybe he's not just moving for my troops outside Katha - which I judge to be an unlikely victory for him, given the terrain and movement rates...10 days to safety for my troops and he can't take the intervening hex from me to cut them off.

I'm wondering if he has eyes on my stack outside Akyab. It's possible, but I'm not sure. I've been watching the air phases in "slow mo" and haven't seen the crosshair/picture icon over that hex. Other hexes, yes. But not that one.

I'm happy that at least part of his stack is moving from outside Akyab. That'll reset his forts... I'm still sweeping/bombing daily to burn up his supply. I'll put another big raid together against Mandalay's units in the open soon as well.

[Lowpe]

Is there a reason you have not taken Ramree?

[Lokasenna]

Operation ...Oswald the Octopus?

Nauru LCUs are known from a bombing raid on September 14.

Stuff's loaded up. Also have things moving to Luganville for a quick reload for Tabiteuea, although I may try to sweep/bomb some from Nauru first. His assets are focused near Rabaul. If he shifts to the Marshalls/Gilberts, I'm ready to load up from Townsville to shoulder my way out into the Coral Sea to Woodlark and maybe Kiriwina.

Big Blue Fleet is gradually piecing together. I have CV deck number parity at this point, even if he accelerated the first 3 Unryus and Taiho from day 1: 8 CV operable, plus 1 CV repairing (he would have 10 at most)... plus 5 CVL and multiple CVE.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Is there a reason you have not taken Ramree?

Lack of air support and ships for landing. I have things prepped, but I don't have the ships to sustain the operation at the moment. I plan to transition some USN assets here sometime... I sent some Fletchers through Cape Town and they're at Trincomalee now. With no China, his air force can be concentrated entirely here and in the Pacific. Without the ability to provide enough CAP... basically, I can't lose that many assets. I'd prefer not to give him permanent VPs from using 50 xAPs to land enough somewhere in one or two days of unloading.

But it is a thought to get him active on the west as well as the east. I'm going to see how the stuff with the Chinese/Indian LCUs develops. He might put himself out of position.

I also just sent in that amphib TF you can see at Cox's - it's landing about 40K supply. He didn't detect it until it was at Cox's, so I think he curtailed his air search in the area (really, across the whole map...).

But it leads me to believe that I might be able to load up at Trincomalee and get all the way to the Akyab area before he notices. I still want some kind of CV cover, though.

[Lokasenna]

Time for updates - it's been a month! Going to focus on operations in the Pacific, although there are Burma updates as well.

From September 17 to September 25, 1943, I'm just prepping for landing at Nauru. Highlights:

- IJA at Tassafaronga finally surrenders the base and is wiped out
- Lunga airfield maxes out to 8, Ontong port is at 1 and AF gets to 2 before landing at Nauru
- Munda airfield begins expanding
- Some smaller TKs (3) sunk in the SRA
- 2 DDs sunk west of Perth by BB Ramillies, CL Sumatra, and PG Soerabaja ([:D]), but CL Sendai escapes

Then:

September 25 - Operation Oswald (and periphery of the AOO)

Rasher sinks an AMC that she damaged yesterday:

Japanese Ships
AMC Kongo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Rasher

AMC Kongo Maru is sighted by SS Rasher
SS Rasher launches 4 torpedoes

Georges from Rabaul sweep Munda, destroying a fair number of my planes:

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 36

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 10
F6F-3 Hellcat x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 9 destroyed

He gets into a pattern with his sweeping, seemingly addicted to sweeping the day I take a base (never gets him anything, I never have anything there) or the day after sighting ships unloading somewhere near/at the front. Lazy play here on my part meant I didn't have more fighters in place, but at least the lost airframes aren't anything major in this case.

He does bring in 42 Judys during the afternoon and they sink 3 xAPs and 2 early war DDs. Thankfully empty at this point (2 phases of unloading). Several others damaged, but they'll make Tulagi on the next day.

My 4Es finally sink an AV at Ocean Island after having damaged it over several days:

Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 12
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 24

Allied aircraft losses
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AV Sanuki Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage

In Burma, 3 IJA divisions finally make 2 Indian divisions retreat, near Katha. I was 3 days from having them moved out of the hex. My bombers just weren't able to break through here when there was just 1 IJA ID present, and it went downhill from there.

[Lokasenna]

September 26 - Operation Oswald, mixed results

Most of my ships were sighted yesterday, outside Nauru. But not all. Still, he runs in 3 Es and 2 DDs, all with torpedoes. They do contact my CV TFs... [:-] Later in the war, I will have to be more careful. I had extensive search up from Ontong over the past week, with Catalinas, and had CV planes searching out 10 hexes. I think these guys came from the Mili area, but I can't be certain. Other, more significant assets (CAs and up) were known to be elsewhere on the map.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ocean Island at 129,130, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Asakaze, Shell hits 2
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 1, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CVL Independence
CVL Princeton
CVL Belleau Wood
CV Lexington
CV Victorious
BB Indiana
CLAA San Diego
CL Birmingham
CL Mobile
DD Brownson
DD Claxton
DD Converse
DD Dashiell
DD Foote
DD Jenkins
DD Pringle
DD Renshaw

Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 7% moonlight: 4,000 yards
Range closes to 24,000 yards...
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 19,000 yards
Range closes to 14,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 4,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 4,000 yards
Michiki, Shozu crosses the 'T'
DD Brownson engages DD Harukaze at 4,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages CV Lexington at 4,000 yards
Range closes to 3,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages DD Brownson at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 6,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages CV Victorious at 6,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages CV Lexington at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
DD Harukaze engages DD Brownson at 9,000 yards
DD Asakaze engages CV Lexington at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 13,000 yards
DD Converse collides with CL Birmingham at 129 , 130
CV Victorious , CV Lexington , CVL Belleau Wood ,
CVL Princeton screened from combat
- escorted by DD Renshaw , DD Pringle , DD Jenkins ,
DD Foote , DD Dashiell , DD Converse ,
DD Claxton , DD Brownson
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ocean Island at 129,130, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
E Hasu
E Kuri
E Tsuga

Allied Ships
CVL Independence
CVL Princeton
CVL Belleau Wood
CV Lexington
CV Victorious, Shell hits 1
BB Indiana
CLAA San Diego
CL Birmingham
CL Mobile
DD Brownson
DD Claxton
DD Converse
DD Dashiell
DD Foote
DD Jenkins
DD Pringle
DD Renshaw

Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 7% moonlight: 2,000 yards
Range closes to 27,000 yards...
Range closes to 25,000 yards...
Range closes to 23,000 yards...
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 15,000 yards
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 7,000 yards
Range closes to 6,000 yards...
Range closes to 5,000 yards...
Range closes to 4,000 yards...
Range closes to 3,000 yards...
Range closes to 2,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 2,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 2,000 yards
Ebihara, Taro crosses the 'T'
E Hasu engages CV Victorious at 2,000 yards
E Kuri engages CV Lexington at 2,000 yards
E Hasu engages CV Victorious at 2,000 yards
Range increases to 3,000 yards
E Kuri engages CV Victorious at 3,000 yards
E Kuri engages CV Victorious at 3,000 yards
Range increases to 5,000 yards
E Hasu engages CV Lexington at 5,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
E Hasu engages CV Victorious at 7,000 yards
E Hasu engages CV Lexington at 7,000 yards
E Hasu engages CV Victorious at 7,000 yards
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Nauru Island at 127,129, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Natori, Shell hits 1
CL Abukuma, Shell hits 1
DD Hatsuharu
DD Nenohi, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise
CV Hornet, Shell hits 1
CV Wasp
BB North Carolina
BB Massachusetts, Shell hits 1
CLAA San Juan
CLAA Oakland
DD Ammen
DD Hutchins, Shell hits 1
DD Carmick
DD Selfridge
DD Clark

Reduced sighting due to 7% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 7% moonlight: 7,000 yards
Range closes to 27,000 yards...
Range closes to 25,000 yards...
Range closes to 23,000 yards...
Range closes to 21,000 yards...
Range closes to 19,000 yards...
Range closes to 17,000 yards...
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
Range closes to 13,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 13,000 yards
Range closes to 11,000 yards...
Range closes to 10,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
CONTACT: Allies radar detects Japanese task force at 9,000 yards
Range closes to 8,000 yards...
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 7,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 7,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Hornet at 7,000 yards
CL Natori engages CV Hornet at 7,000 yards
DD Nenohi engages CV Hornet at 7,000 yards
DD Hatsuharu engages BB Massachusetts at 7,000 yards
DD Nenohi engages DD Hutchins at 7,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Hornet at 7,000 yards
DD Hatsuharu engages CV Hornet at 7,000 yards
CLAA Oakland engages CL Abukuma at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Wasp at 9,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Hornet at 9,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Enterprise at 9,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages BB Massachusetts at 9,000 yards
DD Nenohi engages DD Clark at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 10,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Wasp at 10,000 yards
CL Natori engages CV Hornet at 10,000 yards
CL Abukuma engages CV Enterprise at 10,000 yards
DD Hatsuharu engages DD Hutchins at 10,000 yards
Range increases to 13,000 yards
CV Wasp , CV Hornet , CV Enterprise screened from combat
- escorted by DD Clark , DD Selfridge , DD Carmick ,
DD Hutchins , DD Ammen
CL Abukuma engages BB Massachusetts at 13,000 yards
CL Natori engages CLAA Oakland at 13,000 yards
Allied Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...

Then the landings begin...

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Colorado
BB Maryland
DD Conyngham
DD Frankford
DD McCook
DD Endicott
DD Gansevoort
DD Barton

Japanese ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 14
Port hits 6
Port supply hits 5

In all, only about 150 Allied casualties reported on the beach. Very good!

Then we get this:

Day Time Surface Combat, near Nauru Island at 127,128, Range 19,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio, Shell hits 3, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Maryland, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1
BB Colorado, Shell hits 1
DD Barton
DD Gansevoort
DD Endicott
DD McCook
DD Frankford
DD Conyngham

Damage is 8 major float and nothing to the engines, so she's off to Pearl in the near future but I'll use her for a few more things first.

And then I-10 puts a torpedo into CA Baltimore and it isn't good. I try to send her to Sydney, but she gets sunk later by another sub. The only major loss in the whole operation.

Elsewhere, Sculpin sinks an AK without an escort outside Truk. Bueno.

During the day's air phases, various air raids on my TFs. Eventually my CAP gets worn out, but it's too late for it to benefit him any. In future, I'll have more decks available and this hopefully won't be an issue.

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 27
A6M5b Zero x 19
G3M3 Nell x 9
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 12

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 66

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 4 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 5 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3
G4M1 Betty x 24

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 77
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 12 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 damaged

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 12

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 7 destroyed

No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 17
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 12

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 6 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 4 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota, Bomb hits 1 (loses 1 of her radars, but Luganville can fix it)
CV Essex
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 8
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 14

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 2 damaged
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 4 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
CV Essex
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 74

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 6 destroyed

No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 10

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 74

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed

No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Bomb hits 1 (damage is negligible)

Carrier support unable to supply air cover..
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 28
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 5

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 52

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 11
G3M3 Nell x 9
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 3 destroyed
G3M3 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 33
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 23

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 100

Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 19 destroyed, 1 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP George H. Williams, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DMS Boggs, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Kane
APA Sumter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 3

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
F6F-3 Hellcat x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 27
Ki-48-IIb Lily x 7

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 86

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-48-IIb Lily: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 4 destroyed

I think his pilot quality among Betty/Nell pilots is suffering at this point. He must have lost so many - over 250 Bettys lost to A2A and AAA alone, with another 250 of G3M2/G3M3 lost to the same.

During the day, 54x 4Es and CV pilots bomb the crap out of Nauru, getting ~700 reported casualties amongst the defenders. We also bomb Ocean Island a bit.

Ground combats - Nauru falls, and Tassafaronga units finally wipe themselves out.

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

Ground combat at Tassafaronga (113,137)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 5691 troops, 47 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 39

Defending force 23995 troops, 457 guns, 358 vehicles, Assault Value = 676

Japanese adjusted assault: 0

Allied adjusted defense: 1639

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
5040 casualties reported
Squads: 256 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 134 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 35 (31 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
60th Division
45th Const Co
55th JNAF AF Unit
29th JNAF AF Unit
4th JAAF Base Force
52nd JNAF AF Unit
83rd JAAF AF Bn
50th Fld AA Bn /1

Defending units:
27th Infantry Division
2nd Marine Division
223rd Field Artillery Battalion


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

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 3274 troops, 31 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 147

Defending force 16557 troops, 263 guns, 388 vehicles, Assault Value = 413

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

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

Assaulting units:
86th Naval Guard Unit
4th Raiding Regiment
Sasebo 5th SNLF
6th Indpt SNLF Coy
50th JNAF AF Unit

Defending units:
32nd Infantry Division
178th USAAF Base Force /1
2nd USMC Air Wing Base Force /1
3rd NZ Division
842nd Engineer Aviation Battalion
21st USN Naval Construction Regiment
95th Coast AA Regiment
228th USN Base Force /1
15th USN Naval Construction Regiment
39th Aviation Base Force /1
7th USN Naval Const Rgt /2


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

Ground combat at Nauru Island (127,128)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 12223 troops, 233 guns, 210 vehicles, Assault Value = 411

Defending force 5217 troops, 56 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 146

Allied adjusted assault: 784

Japanese adjusted defense: 11

Allied assault odds: 71 to 1 (fort level 4) [:D]

Allied forces CAPTURE Nauru Island !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed
Ki-46-III Dinah: 3 destroyed

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

Japanese ground losses:
2248 casualties reported
Squads: 81 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 46 (38 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
1308 casualties reported
Squads: 28 destroyed, 104 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 27 (2 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 13 (5 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
228th USN Base Force /1
15th USN Naval Construction Regiment
178th USAAF Base Force /1
39th Aviation Base Force /1
95th Coast AA Regiment
2nd USMC Air Wing Base Force /1
21st USN Naval Construction Regiment
3rd NZ Division
842nd Engineer Aviation Battalion
7th USN Naval Const Rgt /2

Defending units:
Sasebo 5th SNLF
4th Raiding Regiment
86th Naval Guard Unit
6th Indpt SNLF Coy
50th JNAF AF Unit

[Lokasenna]

September 27 - October 8

I notice that the Ki-100-I Tony is now able to produce. Decent plane.

Nauru:
45 Georges from Kusaie and Makin sweep Nauru the day after I take it. I still have ships unloading and so my CV CAP is still present. Comparable losses to both sides, but I should have saved more pilots. Jills, Zeroes, and Frances from the Mili/Makin area come in and damage 2 AKs, and sink 2 other AKs. About 40 IJN planes shot down for minimal CAP losses.

The airfield begins expanding and is at 3 when his 3 Takao CAs come to bombard on October 6. I saw them coming and he only gets a few casualties amongst the USA ID.

Ocean Island:
We fail miserably here. Not enough stuff makes it ashore - AV on the IJ auto bombard is 120 for him, 75 for me. Not good. The shock attack gets 1:99 odds, and the next day I lose my entire regiment to attrition. 179 LCU VPs for him. Ugh. I didn't devote enough bombing and bombardment here, nor enough troops - which was tough, because it's stacking only 6000.

Solomons/Coral Sea:
Lightnings and LBA continue working on Torokina/Shortlands. I have been lax in keeping these AFs suppressed, given that detection level intelligence shows service damage instead of runway damage...

Goodenough Island flips, and by now I've landed some men at Woodlark Island via APD and supplied them via C-47 from Rossel. Good enough for now. Kiriwina is now his only island off the coast of PNG, and I'll take it later since he was kind enough to build me an airfield. I actually lost the 3 APDs after they offloaded, to Jills from Rabaul. Oh well.

Lunga's port maxes out at 4. Time to start using LCTs to ferry all my Seabees to the NW, to other destinations. Ontong progresses to AF 3... Tulagi and Rossel are nearing maxed as well. Munda's airfield is approaching complete, but we still want the port.

Some Seabees are already present at Vella Lavella and working there.

Gilberts:
Tabiteuea, our next target, is periodically bombed and bombarded. A couple of ACMs are sunk, as well as a couple of SSX's.

Intel and other things:
Subs show me that a KB is just outside of Truk, 1 hex to the NE. A bit late to do anything for him at Nauru, but I've got to be careful now with my eyes and ships.

He continues to try to interdict my supplies between Cape Town and Australia. I have been lazy and not rerouted by convoys, but at this point I've brought in so much through Sydney (from CONUS) and it doesn't matter. I stood them all down several weeks ago, except for one... one of his AMCs runs into it near the western map edge, but DD Nepal nails it with a torpedo and some shells. I doubt she lives.

He appears to have a CVE or two operating here as well, and he manages to sink a couple of xAKs with fuel and 1 SC on October 6. I send the rest back to disband at Cape Town.


It is worth noting that at this point, VP ratio is 1.949:1 in his favor and continuing to fall. We might be down around 1.8:1 by the end of 1943.

[Lokasenna]

October 9 - October 20: Just a summary and prepping for next op

While I was hitting Nauru and Ocean Islands with my assault shipping, I was shuttling my Tabiteuea-prepped LCUs to Luganville, as I planned to simply reload and head back out. I end up doing pretty much that... except that I accidentally leave the 4th USMC Division behind, and its TF sails empty! This delays the operation by about a week (October 14 to October 22). [>:]

Subs:
Lots of sightings/misses giving me some general intel on his movements. Here's the actual action.

-Thresher sinks an AK (not an xAK) on the surface on October 9 outside Ponape. I wonder why he's got these in 1-ship TFs, is he that short on ASW assets?!
-Steelhead cripples, probably sinks an AO outside Donggala on October 10.
-Wahoo sinks an xAK to the SE of Iwo Jima with guns loaded (Oct 11).
-Sealion sinks a small TK outside Toboali (Oct 11).
-Barb hits CV Akagi with 1 torpedo outside Aogashima (Oct 15). On a late upgrade cycle? Damage looked slight.
-Scorpion and Flasher team up to sink an xAK outside Tokara Retto (Kyushu) on Oct 17.
-Tally Ho sinks an SC outside Medan (Oct 17)
-Ray sinks an xAKL outside Muntok (Oct 18).
-Harder sinks an xAK outside Saipan (Oct 19)

-Herring is sunk outside Torishima on October 15.
-Greenling misses BB Hiei with 6 torpedoes outside Namlea/Ambon on October 19. She is forced to surface and sunk. Also sighted were Kirishima and 2 DDs. This TF appears to be heading SE...

Solomons/Coral Sea:
MechaJills sink 36 VPs worth of xAPs at Munda on October 9, which I foolishly left underprotected. Still, he also lost 36 total aircraft on the day so it's a wash. But on October 10, he sweeps Ontong with 27 Georges. I have 50+ Hellcats in the air, but the pilot quality was not good. I lose about 30 Hellcats on the day, including at Munda: 24 Georges sweep there and my 84-plane CAP is set up to shoot down air raids. I lose some Hellcats and Warhawks. 16 Spitfires, set up high, perform decently and don't lose a single plane.

Treasury Islands occupied by rowboat on October 11. 54 Avengers from Tulagi keep Shortlands airfield suppressed, while B-25s from Lunga do the same for Torokina. Bombing every other day on average. This should also be keeping his supply low...

Lae is completely pounded and put out of commission on the night of October 10. 52 planes of his are lost on the ground, and the airfield shut down. Another one bites the dust.

Tulagi airfield reaches maximum, so barges are created to shuttle Seabees to the NW... Vella Lavella AF to 3. Munda AF to 5. Rekata Bay begins expanding. Terapo almost maxed.

Nauru:
Airfield/forts are expanded. Plenty of supply is here, and plenty of engineers. I bring in P-38s on October 12 and sweep Kusaie, winning the day.

Burma:
Just wanted to mention that a couple of Chinese Corps made an RTA fragment retreat into an open hex... and I promptly pasted them into the dirt over 2 days of bombing by hundreds of RAF/USAAF 2Es/4Es [:D]. The entire unit is destroyed.

Gilberts - Operation Grapevine:
On October 9, what I think is my full invasion forces for Tabit leave Luganville. Except for the 4th USMC. Oops. I'm bringing more than my available assault shipping can carry, so some of my stuff is in xAPs... Meanwhile, some small forces from Pearl Harbor set sail on xAPs for Arorae - they are fully prepped and it should be undefended.

On October 11, Navy Liberators bomb the place at night, damaging the airfield and destroying about a half dozen IJN a/c on the ground. A6M5, Georges, and Nells present.

During the night of October 12, I send 6 Fletchers to Tabit - I saw some IJN transports heading that way. They sink 1 E and 3 AKs unloading at the island. Presumably this was a last-ditch attempt to bring in some supply.

On October 12, just 2 days before I intend to land, I have Hornet's Hellcats sweep Tabiteuea to try to take advantage of a weakened CAP. I might have won a minor victory in terms of aircraft losses, but it doesn't go that great.

For the next few days, I bombard with some DDs (which will have time to go to Luganville and rearm while I bring up the 4th USMC...). On October 17, I send in 4x2 YMS TFs and lose 7 of the YMS, but clear about 50 mines. Definitely worth 7 VPs to do that. I have dozens of these things. Several midget subs also sunk at Tabiteuea. 4 VPs every time...

On October 19, SST Argonaut drops Aussie paratroops at Nikunau in preparation for landings at Tabiteuea in a few days.

[ny59giants]

Ocean Island:
We fail miserably here. Not enough stuff makes it ashore - AV on the IJ auto bombard is 120 for him, 75 for me. Not good. The shock attack gets 1:99 odds, and the next day I lose my entire regiment to attrition. 179 LCU VPs for him. Ugh. I didn't devote enough bombing and bombardment here, nor enough troops - which was tough, because it's stacking only 6000.

I have to include at least two tank battalions to these small island (SL of 6k) along with the inf rgt. Tanks seem to be the the best way to ensure victory here as often the Japanese LCUs have little or no Anti-Armor values to defeat them.

The "Art of the Invasion" can be a tough skill to master at times. [;)]

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Ocean Island:
We fail miserably here. Not enough stuff makes it ashore - AV on the IJ auto bombard is 120 for him, 75 for me. Not good. The shock attack gets 1:99 odds, and the next day I lose my entire regiment to attrition. 179 LCU VPs for him. Ugh. I didn't devote enough bombing and bombardment here, nor enough troops - which was tough, because it's stacking only 6000.

I have to include at least two tank battalions to these small island (SL of 6k) along with the inf rgt. Tanks seem to be the the best way to ensure victory here as often the Japanese LCUs have little or no Anti-Armor values to defeat them.

The "Art of the Invasion" can be a tough skill to master at times. [;)]

For the 6-10k bases it's all about making sure those troops have some disruption and disablements before the landing. Tanks definitely help, as do combat engineers, but they suffer, and there just aren't enough to go around.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Ocean Island:
We fail miserably here. Not enough stuff makes it ashore - AV on the IJ auto bombard is 120 for him, 75 for me. Not good. The shock attack gets 1:99 odds, and the next day I lose my entire regiment to attrition. 179 LCU VPs for him. Ugh. I didn't devote enough bombing and bombardment here, nor enough troops - which was tough, because it's stacking only 6000.

I have to include at least two tank battalions to these small island (SL of 6k) along with the inf rgt. Tanks seem to be the the best way to ensure victory here as often the Japanese LCUs have little or no Anti-Armor values to defeat them.

The "Art of the Invasion" can be a tough skill to master at times. [;)]

Most of mine were prepped for Tabiteuea [:D]. Probably would've done better if it had been an USMC regiment, but almost all of those are combined into divisions at this point...

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Ocean Island:
We fail miserably here. Not enough stuff makes it ashore - AV on the IJ auto bombard is 120 for him, 75 for me. Not good. The shock attack gets 1:99 odds, and the next day I lose my entire regiment to attrition. 179 LCU VPs for him. Ugh. I didn't devote enough bombing and bombardment here, nor enough troops - which was tough, because it's stacking only 6000.

I have to include at least two tank battalions to these small island (SL of 6k) along with the inf rgt. Tanks seem to be the the best way to ensure victory here as often the Japanese LCUs have little or no Anti-Armor values to defeat them.

The "Art of the Invasion" can be a tough skill to master at times. [;)]

For the 6-10k bases it's all about making sure those troops have some disruption and disablements before the landing. Tanks definitely help, as do combat engineers, but they suffer, and there just aren't enough to go around.

Yeah. I think I could have taken it with a USA infantry regiment alone, as I took Jaluit against my other opponent with an early war USA regiment, but I had been pounding it with bombers for weeks. Similar forces on the ground (~120 mostly SNLF assault value, plus whatever guns are in 2 SNLF units, and some air support). I just needed to be bombing it more.

I'll bomb it out now, from Tabit and Nauru, and take it later with one of my USMC regiments that's still split. Part of the 1st USMC Division, currently at Noumea. The other 2 regiments are still at Pearl Harbor, and prepped for Roi-Namur and Kwajalein. I may not end up going for those islands given how late I am into 1943 already, but just in case I do I don't want to re-prep them yet. I have enough forces prepped for my next landings already.

[Lokasenna]

Operation Bilge Pump - October 21 to October 25

Gotta begin pumping the dirty water out of this giant "hole" in my SLOC. Objective 1: Tabiteuea.

MM believes it well-defended, however I've been bombing and bombarding periodically for quite some time. I even sunk some AKs and a SC delivering supplies to the island not so long ago. With the torpedo hit on Akagi up near Tokyo on October 15, this operation is even more of a "go" than it was before.

Before I get into that, elsewhere on the map subs continue to take their toll:
-Sealion sinks a TK outside of Toboali with Oil/Fuel on board (didn't quite catch the message in the replay)
-Barb cripples an xAP outside Aogashima, with troops on board
-Skate hits AS Jingei with 1 torpedo at Rabaul (why isn't the ship disbanded in port...?)

October 21 - the invasion begins

Two xAPs hit mines at the beach, but they'll live. In exchange, 2 SSX's are sunk. Easy 8 VPs... Several I- and RO-boats are present, but all are run off by escorts.

Night Naval bombardment of Tabiteuea at 137,134 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales
BB Colorado
BB Maryland

Japanese ground losses:
487 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 20 (6 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 10
Port hits 6
Port supply hits 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Tabiteuea at 137,134 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Alabama, Shell hits 1
CA Wichita
CA Louisville
CA Northampton

Japanese ground losses:
259 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 6
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 1

P-47s sweep Tarawa to help clear the area, with the Tabiteuea airfield shut down. 12 of them meet 48 Oscar-IIb's and win out.

The CVs get in on the action at Tabit as well:

Afternoon Air attack on Kure 7th SNLF, at 137,134 (Tabiteuea)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 34
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 176
SBD-5 Dauntless x 124
TBF-1 Avenger x 171

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 4 damaged
SBD-5 Dauntless: 5 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
258 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Kind of poor results, but I find out later that the forts were at least at 5. The goal here was to disrupt and burn IJ supply.


October 22 - Landings

Unfortunately.... I had forgotten to transfer ships heavier than a DD into my invasion forces. So I had to wait a day on the landings, which required me to transfer some of the CV escorts into another bombardment TF to help with D-Day disruption.

Initial landings go swimmingly, with 720 IJA casualties from counterbattery and bombardment fire compared to 500 Allied casualties on the beach. Then another bombardment from the CV escorts (2 BB, 3 CL, 3 DD) gets 530 more casualties, and 15 guns (probably within the Kure 7th SNLF coastal defense force) reported hit.

2 DMS work to clear more mines and are fired upon, taking a handful of hits, but they'll survive. Several hundred more casualties throughout the day from Navy Liberators and the CV TF planes. And then the main event:

Ground combat at Tabiteuea (137,134)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 264 troops, 27 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 201

Defending force 24337 troops, 260 guns, 765 vehicles, Assault Value = 776

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (5 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
Kure 7th SNLF
1st Shipping Engineer Regiment
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
56th Field AA Battalion
40th Const Co
24th Air Flotilla
56th JNAF AF Unit
51st Const Co
11th JNAF AF Unit
53rd Field AA Battalion
7th JNAF Coy /2

Defending units:
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
763rd Tank Battalion
131st Combat Engineer Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
4th Marine Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
226th USN Base Force
857th Engineer Aviation Battalion
8th USN Naval Construction Regiment


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

Ground combat at Tabiteuea (137,134)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 21635 troops, 260 guns, 680 vehicles, Assault Value = 769

Defending force 11570 troops, 186 guns, 37 vehicles, Assault Value = 201

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 4

Allied adjusted assault: 313

Japanese adjusted defense: 13

Allied assault odds: 24 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied forces CAPTURE Tabiteuea !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed

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

Japanese ground losses:
2631 casualties reported
Squads: 22 destroyed, 221 disabled
Non Combat: 36 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 53 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 100 (75 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 25 (25 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
478 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 36 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 36 disabled
Vehicles lost 28 (2 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Assaulting units:
763rd Tank Battalion
4th Marine Division
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
131st Combat Engineer Regiment
1st USMC Tank Battalion
857th Engineer Aviation Battalion
226th USN Base Force
8th USN Naval Construction Regiment

Defending units:
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
Kure 7th SNLF
1st Shipping Engineer Regiment
40th Const Co
56th JNAF AF Unit
15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
24th Air Flotilla
11th JNAF AF Unit
51st Const Co
53rd Field AA Battalion
56th Field AA Battalion
7th JNAF Coy /2


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

15th Medium Field Artillery Regiment Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

56th Field AA Battalion Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

40th Const Co Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

51st Const Co Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

53rd Field AA Battalion Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

1st Shipping Engineer Regiment Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

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

Kure 7th SNLF Wiped Out at Tabiteuea by attrition!!!

So, that went easier than expected. In my opinion, Tabiteuea is the keystone to the Gilberts and then the Marshalls and then Kusaie at the very least. I don't have time in this game to take all of the Gilberts and Marshalls, I think, but I'll take the ones I absolutely want (Tarawa, Makin, Maloelap for sure - maybe also Roi-Namur so that I can feel secure in Eniwetok...might backfill later to secure SLOC). We'll see. In my other game, it took several weeks to take Tarawa/Makin after Tabiteuea, and then about a month to get Mili and Maloelap. MM is better prepared in this area than my other opponent, so I don't think I have the time for that kind of slog.

Over the next few days, I bomb/bombard Tarawa to make sure it's kept shut down, but I need Tabiteuea to expand to maximum ASAP. It fully repaired from 100/100/97 damage in all of 3 days...and I'm expecting AF level 5 within a week or so. After that, I can base 4Es here and I'll begin on the port. Also need to be bringing in lots of supply...

On October 26, KB revealed itself just north of Ponape and on October 27 (current game date), it is ensconced at Truk under my LBA recon. He seems to be anticipating a further push here, perhaps on Kusaie - but I'm not ready to jump that far yet. I have some other targets in mind that KB shouldn't be able to assist with, at least not without 1+ days of warning...

[Lowpe]

Boy, roughly same dates and look at the different progress in our respective games. I lost Tarawa on the day I took over in July of 1942...been downhill ever since.[:D]

Well done, seems like you have a plan![&o]

[Lokasenna]

Here is what the SWPAC theater, the most recent focus of action, looks like. Also a bit of SOPAC/CENTPAC.



The bombers at Rabaul have been an 81-plane unit of Jills. I expect those remain. I think there is IJAAF ASW operating from Kavieng, but given my plans for New Ireland I haven't reconned it yet as I don't want to tip him off. I have a bunch of armor and 2 USA IDs prepped for Namatanai (that little dot base east of Rabaul), but I need to get Shortlands/Torokina and then Buka first - and then built up. I likely also need Woodlark operational, which is going to take a "shouldering in" move covered by CVEs or CVs, to get all of the Av Supp and engineers and Supply ashore.

Torokina and Shortlands forces are currently loaded up and forming up SW of Guadalcanal. CVEs and some CVs will escort them in, as well as LRCAP from Munda (~15000 more Supply lands there tomorrow). I should be landing there within 10 days. KB currently at Truk, but I should see if coming if he moves. He may not get a bead on my landing forces until I'm 1.5 days out (so far as I can tell his reliable Nav Search goes about as far south as Rossel Island). I think his bases are hurting for supply - he ran in some xAKs to Torokina recently but I failed to intercept. I'm hoping to intercept the ones clearly going in this time... I have been bombing/bombarding both airfields for weeks now. The 5th Australian Division will land at Shortlands. Av Support will be delivered from Lunga via LCT later on.

I am probably going to wait for the 40th USA ID to load up at Noumea as well.

1 USMC and 1 Australian armoured unit each will land at Torokina. Resistance there looks light. I plan to land on the same day to prevent retreat from Shortlands and to take advantage of simultaneous carrier air cover. I will need >150 fighters on CAP in each hex, plus >150 over the CVs themselves, in order to render damage from Rabaul minimal - at current reported airpower.

I plan to do simultaneous night bombing of Rabaul's airfield for the day I land - he will be sending fighters out on sweep over Shortlands, I am sure. I am hoping that the landing at Torokina takes him by surprise and doesn't get hit by sweeps.