See you in Tokyo Bay - Apbarog(A) vs Walker(J) DBB-B Scen28

[apbarog]

12 May 42

My artillery attack at Calcutta shows that the Japanese still have 3 infantry divisions, 2 tank regiments, 3 engineer regiments, 4 artillery units, and 2 anti-tank units. The Imperial Guard Division is missing. Over a dozen units are still at Diamond Harbour, but repeated recon keeps showing very low number of men there. I'm increasing the recon. There could be whole units here, or there could be fragments. It would be nice to know where the Imperial Guard unit is.

A smaller mystery is that I got SigInt that the 33rd Division is at Diamond Harbour. But I also got SigInt that 1/33 Division is at Katha in Burma. This is odd to me. Katha is still a dot base, and probably isn't a spot to fly men out of India to. But there's no denying that a fragment of an infantry division that went to Diamond Harbour is now in Burma.

I'm going to roll the dice in India. I'm gathering everything I can to attack Diamond Harbour from the east. This will include the 2 British divisions, and as much armor as I can get. Because of the way the rail system works in the Calcutta area, units coming from the west have to be sent up to Benares, then south toward Burma, then west to the base next to Calcutta, in order to avoid getting stuck in Calcutta in strat mode.

As for New Guinea and the Solomons, there is absolutely no doubt that the Japanese have started to emphasize these areas. The before mentioned units are unloading at Port Moresby, and I just got SigInt that the 5th Air Division is on a ship going to Buna. The number of units spotted at Rabaul have drastically increased recently.

My carriers moved southeast and refueled from AO's. They weren't spotted this turn, but the AO's were. Carriers will slide to the east and go north of Koumac. I want to disappear for a few days, and Noumea is a nest of enemy subs.

A new unrestricted US infantry division appeared on the West Coast. It starts to prep for Tulagi. The Solomons are going to be a bigger fight as time goes on.

[apbarog]

13 May 42

It's all Dutch today.

The Dutch bombers make an appearance, hitting a transport task force off the Java coast. (Unknown if it is coming or going) The Dutch have luck, and there's no enemy CAP. Still, with a total of 56 bomber attacks during the day, only 1 bomb hits, setting xAK Yuri Maru on fire. One gun is lost, so it is loaded with something.

Approaching Ambon from the west, Dutch sub KVII hits light cruiser Oi with one torpedo. This task force is one of at least heading right towards Ambon. The big coastal guns await.

In other news, the 4 Allied carriers are once again spotted near Koumac. They will continue to the east.

I finally got a very strong recon of Diamond Harbour, and it's highly likely that the Imperial Guard is there. I see 13 units with 35k men, 229 guns, and 220 AFV's. There are over 80 fighters there, on a size 3 airfield.

I'm wondering how wise it would be to assault Diamond Harbour. I continue to move all the pieces towards the area.

[apbarog]

14 May 42

US sub Permit fires on cruiser Kako as it runs in to bombard Ambon. Torpedoes miss. Kako, along with 2 other cruisers, bombard Ambon doing minimal damage. 4 large caliber gun hits are distributed on the 3 cruisers, setting Kako on fire.

A small tanker task force leaving Port Moresby to the west is fired on by US sub Searaven, and torpedoes miss.

Sub S-18 fires on an xAKL near Milne Bay, and misses. Unknown which direction the small task force was heading.

The Dutch bombers attack shipping at Tjepoe, but find 12 Oscars there now. About a dozen Dutch planes are lost. No Oscars are downed. No bombs hit.

At Bataan, I thought that it was all over when I saw a deliberate attack. But the attack goes at 1 to 1, lowering the forts to 1. 1250 Allied casualties and 973 Japanese. Happy to disrupt as many enemy squads as possible, and still be doing it in mid-May.

No Japanese carriers are spotted, but several US subs get high detection levels northeast of Cairns. I think the carriers moved from Horn Island to the southeast some. My surface task force at Townsville may have gotten their attention. I move it south to Rockhampton this turn. Allied carriers are spotted again, northeast of Koumac. I move them toward Suva this turn. I can't risk the possibility that KB has entered the Coral Sea.

At Noumea, the 2nd Marine Division has formed. It is prepping for Buna now. Lots of shipping has arrived at Suva for my planned move on Tulagi and Lunga. I hope to kick that off in the next few days.

[apbarog]

15 May 42

The enemy lands at Merauke, on New Guinea's west coast. It is undefended. Troops also land at Babo.

Sub Tambor fires at cruiser Tone passing through Milne Bay towards Rabaul, but misses. BB Kirishima and CS Mizuho is here also, along with at least 6 DD's. My subs in the area get very high detection levels. This is a carrier task force, the one that was by Horn Island. Probably a mini-KB.

12 B-17's out of Charter Towers bomb Port Moresby's port. 20 Zero's intercept, shooting down 4 B-17's for the loss of 1 Zero. Bombs hit nothing.

Allied carriers finally are not spotted. They will stay in the area of Luganville and Efate. Nearby ports aren't big enough to refuel anyhow. Unloading and reloading at Suva is taking place for a possible invasion in the Solomons.

I'm setting up a somewhat devious plan. I've been doing steady recon of Singapore from Batavia, although on most days, I get no detection level. But when I do, I see many ships in port, approaching 200 lately. I'm moving all of my B-17's from India to Ceylon and then to Batavia. They will hit Singapore's port. I'm sure there will be CAP, but maybe it will be light, and I'm guessing that there's a good chance that a bunch of shipping will be hit. Then I'll send some or all of them back to India.

[BBfanboy]

You can refuel the CVs in any port that has enough fuel - just transfer the ship from the TF into the port, then go to the port and hit "Refuel ships in port". Then put the ship back in the TF. The only issue is the fuelling limit in small ports, but if you have lots of them you could send the TF from port to port on subsequent turns until you have decent fuel in all the TF ships.

[apbarog]

16 May 42

34 Oscars sweep Batavia, downing a bunch of Hurricanes. Just a few Dutch fighters left now, along with a Dutch fighter pilot with 6 enemy planes to his credit. Right after the raid, about 40 B-17's fly in from India. Next turn, about 35 of them will bomb Singapore's packed port. A CV of some type is there too, probably CVE Hosho getting repaired, but who knows. KB could be there. That would be something.

At Bataan, a Japanese deliberate attack only gets a 1 to 2 odds, lowering the fort to 0, but Allied casualties are 1735 while Japanese are only 393. This fight is about to end. It's been a nice long delaying action.

Many units are converging on the area east of Calcutta, preparing for the Diamond Harbour attack.

Good thinking BBfanboy. I'll keep that in mind for refueling.

[apbarog]

17 May 42

My big B-17 strike on Singapore does not occur. None fly. The enemy gets a good look at Batavia and undoubtedly spotted the big increase in bombers there, considering how small the Dutch air force is now. I send all the bombers back to India. Higher than normal enemy fighter ops losses could show a shuffling of enemy planes. I wouldn't be surprised if Singapore is well covered now.

At Bataan, another Japanese deliberate attack goes at 1 to 1 with Allied casualties being 4 times more than the Japanese. The end is tomorrow, or the next day, at the latest.

Enemy carriers now suspected to be northeast of Kavieng, probably headed to Truk.

Where's KB? This has been unknown for a couple of weeks now, so they could be anywhere. This might be a good time for them to do some refits, if the enemy is going defensive now. They could also be still hoping for action in the Indian Ocean near India.

[poodlebrain]

Be careful disbanding TFs, you might lose good commanders when you try to reform them. You might want to use the add/remove ships from TF instead and refuel them one or two at a time.

[apbarog]

18 May 42

I'll be careful, poodlebrain, and welcome to the war. I'm good on fuel for now, doing limited movement.


At Tjepoe, Java, sub S-41 fires torpedoes at an xAK, but misses. It will cycle back to nearby Soerbaja and is replaced by another "S" sub.

At Djokjakarta, Java, 2 enemy infantry regiments and 2 tank regiments do a bombardment attack. The base will probably fall with a deliberate attack.

The Japanese go back to an artillery bombardment at Bataan. The next deliberate attack will probably finish off the brave defenders.

SigInt has 2 reports of heavy activity at Truk. I tracked high detection levels on my subs from Horn Island to Milne Bay to Rabaul and now Truk. Carriers are there, I just don't know how big or how many.

Loading continues at Suva for Lunga and Tulagi. I will head out that direction, but I'm willing to cancel should I get an sign of KB approaching.

[apbarog]

19 May 42

Dutch sub KVII takes a shot at a transport task force at Tjepoe, Java, but misses a TB. It takes minor damage and heads back to nearby Soerbaja for repairs.

The Japanese have been blocked at Malang, just southeast of Soerbaja. They've since landed at Tjepoe and cut the island in two, but there's still forces in the mountains at Malang. Today the enemy probes with an artillery attack. There's still the 4th Infantry Division along with and engineer regiment and an artillery regiment. Just a holding force. I've stripped my defenses some here also, but still have enough to hold off this division. It's all going to be lost eventually, but Java is dying a very slow death.

At Bataan, a Japanese deliberate attack gets a 1 to 1, but inflicts huge Allied losses.

Japanese ground losses:
231 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2626 casualties reported
Squads: 78 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 37 destroyed, 87 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 23 (21 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

I've been predicting an imminent loss here, and I still do. I just don't know if it is tomorrow or the next day.

Lots of shipping leaving Suva for a possible landing in the Solomons.

[apbarog]

20 May 42

Another deliberate attack at Bataan, with huge Allied losses, but the base still holds. My opponent suggested that the combat results are a bit odd, with the Japanese combat value being too low, but I think not. He only waited one turn between deliberate attacks, not letting his units recover. I'm out of supply, and there is little to no recovering. I also replied that he only has about 2 divisions of men here attacking. This may be a case of the Allies having lots of "devices", giving a better defense despite the total AV that is showing up as 0 in the replay. Here's the details of this attack:

Ground combat at Bataan (78,77)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29520 troops, 355 guns, 315 vehicles, Assault Value = 799

Defending force 21231 troops, 226 guns, 27 vehicles, Assault Value = 34

Japanese adjusted assault: 112

Allied adjusted defense: 121

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
173 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1412 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (15 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Assaulting units:
3rd Ind Engineer Regiment
16th Engineer Regiment
20th Infantry Regiment
65th Brigade
4th Tank Regiment
48th Division
7th Tank Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
Clark Field AAF Base Force
4th PAAC Avn Sup
803rd Aviation Engineer Battalion
I/Prov'nl SPM Grp
4th Constabulary Regiment
21st PA Infantry Division
86th PS Field Artillery Battalion
Asiatic Fleet
88th PS Field Artillery Regiment
Nichols Field AAF Base Force
24th Avn Sup
45th PS Infantry Regiment
35th Avn Sup
200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
Bataan USN Base Force
1st PA Infantry Division
57th PS Infantry Regiment
1st Constabulary Regiment
US Forces Far East
Manila Bay Defenses
III/Prov'nl SPM Grp
2nd Constabulary Regiment
1st USMC AA Battalion
31st Infantry Regiment
24th PS FA Regiment
4th Marine Regiment
Cavite USN Base Force
301st Construction Battalion
11th PAAC Avn Sup
31st PA Infantry Division
Far East USAAF
II Corps
I Corps
301st PA Field Artillery Regiment

**************

[apbarog]

The gathering armada destined for Lunga, Tulagi, and Tassafronga

[Mike McCreery]

Not exactly sure what your opponent is crying about with that last attack.

Japanese suffered almost no losses and the Allies took it on the chin. Their adjusted AV to 112 = lots of disabled men and/or nowhere near enough support.

[apbarog]

It may be more about the series of attacks, not just this one. There have been 5 or 6 deliberate attacks at Battan so far. The first few, though, were when the defenders had supply, and they went very badly for the Japanese. The last couple went well for the Japanese, in my opinion. It may be that my opponent thinks that this should have been over by now. My opinion is that it is playing out exactly as it should, given the forces lined up, the supply situations, and considering when the attacks were ordered.

[magic87966]

Very informative. Thanks.

[apbarog]

21 May 42

My invasion armada continues to move toward the Solomons. The last 2 carriers are about to join up, giving me 5 US carriers and 1 Brit carrier in the task force. A cruiser task force leaves Rockhampton to possibly bombard Buna, the closest bomber base to Tulagi and Guadalcanal.

At Jessore, just east of Calcutta, a Brit infantry division needs 2 more days to change out of Strat mode. Then everything moves south and then attacks Diamond Harbour from the east. If I go through with this, it promises to be decisive, one way or the other.

The enemy invades Taberfane, a small island northeast of Darwin.

I moved a small Dutch armor unit from Soerbaja to Tjepoe, the enemy invasion hex. I hoped that the enemy had mostly moved out, and they had. However, it appears a bunch of new units had just been unloaded. They were in Move mode, but my attack goes poorly being outnumbered. Now the Dutch will sit and force combat to kick them out.

[apbarog]

22 May 42

A Change of Plans

Near Luganville, enemy sub I-7 puts a torpedo into big AMC Hector, carrying part of the infantry division headed for Lunga. The AMC will take 2 days to get to Luganville. I give it 50/50 odds of making it with the high FLOT damage, not counting any additional attacks.

My subs northeast of Buna in the Solomons are suddenly getting very high detection level. There are carriers in the area. All 3 of my carrier task forces, as well as most of my other task forces, are spotted.

At this point in the way, I cannot risk it all. It would take me several turns just to get to the Guadalcanal area with the transports. The enemy only needs one turn to get there with carriers. I make the decision to go with Plan B.

Forces redirect to Luganville, Ndeni, and a small base southeast of Ndeni. I'll fight the war of building bases for awhile.

I do have a crusier force continue northeast from Rockhampton. The enemy just landed on Woodlark Island, east of Milne Bay. My force will just show itself, presenting a threat from a different direction, and then withdraw. If it isn't spotted, it will bombard Woodlark Island and hope to catch some shipping there.

Elsewhere, at Tjepoe, Dutch sub S-41 targets destroyer Natsugumo, and hits! But it's a dud! Bad luck... The sub then takes some minor damage by depth charges, and returns to Soerbaja.

[BBfanboy]

S-41 would be an American sub, but one of the old models with the "working" Mark 12 torps. Unfortunately even these have a fairly high dud rate at the beginning of the game - I don't know the numbers but it sure seems like more than 10%!

Do you really prefer the hex detail on for your game? I find the thick lines hide some details and make scrolling very slow, so I set it off and just use the F6 key whenever I need to see the hexside stuff (or W key for contested hexes to see ownership).

[apbarog]

Actually I really do prefer the hex sides on all the time. I grew up on board war games before the computer versions. I'm just more comfortable seeing exactly how many hexes apart things are all the time.

Looking back on this turn, already, I do wish I could be more aggressive. I planned the Solomons invasions when KB was in the Indian Ocean. I just couldn't get everything ready in time, and now KB has been missing for weeks and detection levels in the area tell me to be careful.

It's still early. This is my first game as the Allies. I know from playing as the Japanese many times that the Japanese player would like nothing more than to crush the US carriers as early as possible. Does it really matter if I have Lunga and Tulagi right now, or just settle for Luganville and Ndeni? I don't think that it does, not with KB (probably) around.

[BBfanboy]

In most games the Japanese can take everything down to Suva if they really want it. Your opponent may have taken too long with his beginning moves to get to Suva, but the Solomons are easily within his air and sea power, and even Luganville cannot be considered secure. They are just too close to Truk and the Marianas.

Until your CVs get better aircraft and AA they cannot escort your convoys to support islands like Espiritu Santo. Getting troops on an island in a hurry is easy, keeping them alive is the hard part when the Japanese want the same island.

If you want to put some expendable troops out there as a speed bump, that is an OK strategy as long as you are building up your secure logistics bases further back to stop his expansion with aircraft and surface combat ships, with the threat of your carriers backing them up when he doesn't bring KB.