LST vs. IdahoNYer (DBB-C, A AAR) 6 yrs and done! VJ Day!

[IdahoNYer]

10-11 Sep 42

Highlights - Amchitka is leveled by IJN fleet bombardment; Zeros hold their own against P-38 sweep over Port Hedland.

Jpn ships sunk: None

Jpn ships unsunk:
CA: 1 (Kinugasa)

Allied ships sunk:
PC: 1
AM: 2
xAK: 1
xAKL: 1

Air loss:
Jpn: 16
Allied: 41

Subwar:
Jpn: 3 Attacks, 1 ships hit (xAK sunk)
Allies: 1 Attacks, 0 ships hit

Jpn Amph Inv:
Kangean (DEI)

Allied Amph Inv: None

Bases lost:
Kangean (DEI)

Bases Liberated:
Nukufetau (SOPAC)

SIGINT/Intel: Major portions of the IJN remain in NOPAC waters.

West Coast/Admin. NSTR

In NOPAC, major portions of the IJN remain focused in NOPAC waters. BB TF (4BB, 4CA, DDs) level Amchitka during a massive bombardment. 11 a/c are destroyed on the ground, and the AF is shut down, while a small resupply convoy loses a PC, 2AM and an xAKL; one xAKL manages to escape somehow. US subs continue to hunt for the enemy fleet, presumed to be overwatched by four KB carriers. With this size of a bombardment, I’m not sure at this point this is to protect Attu - perhaps he’s going to land at Amchitka?? Meanwhile, the Attu Invasion TF, w/BB TF and support, arrives at Kodiak and starts unloading the troops.

CENPAC, NSTR.

In SOPAC, NSTR.

In SWPAC, US Mediums hit Moresby AF with good effect - no CAP and the AF should be closed. A couple of xAKs are found at Milne Bay by Aus Hudsons, which are met by a half dozen A6M3 Zeros and fail to score on the transports.

In WAUS, 20 P-38Fs sweep Port Hedland and are met by 42 A6M3 Zeros on CAP and roughly handled - 8 P-38s are lost in exchange for 6 Zeros. Not good. Will wait for Exmouth to build up before we try another sweep on Port Hedland. IJA forces have in fact withdrawn north from Tennant Creek - no threat expected any time in the future.

In China, NSTR.

In India/Burma, a heavy Betty raid (36 Bettys and 45 Zeros) hit British troops near Akyab and do no damage. Chittagong AF is back in operation and will support the upcoming British 70th Div attack NE of Akyab, along with Calcutta based Blenheims.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Have you thought about sending the carriers to raid somewhere quiet?

having the KB, or an important component of it in NOPAC can mean opportunities in other areas

[IdahoNYer]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

Have you thought about sending the carriers to raid somewhere quiet?

having the KB, or an important component of it in NOPAC can mean opportunities in other areas

Yeah, and luck hasn't been with me. Sent two CVs up to the Aleutians to support an invasion of a what I thought would be a quiet, isolated rock called Attu - and of course, that quiet was interrupted by the KB!

Bad luck there - had a couple of CVs waiting for another bombardment run off Carnarvon - and the bombardment TFs headed to the Indian Ocean....more bad timing.

So, that window has passed - focus for the CVs is getting them to refit in the coming weeks.

[IdahoNYer]

12-13 Sep 42

Highlights - IJN air hits shipping off Amchitka; heavy Blenheim loss in Burma for no gain.

Jpn ships sunk:
xAP : 1 (old sinking reported)
xAK: 1

Allied ships sunk:
AM: 1
xAKL: 1

Air loss:
Jpn: 30
Allied: 40

Subwar:
Jpn: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 5 Attacks, 3 ships hit (xAK sunk, xAP and AMC dam)

Jpn Amph Inv: None

Allied Amph Inv: None

Bases lost:
Agutta Is (DEI)

Bases Liberated:
Funafuti (SOPAC)

SIGINT/Intel:IJN CVs confirmed in the Aleutians, NE of Attu.

West Coast/Admin. NSTR

In NOPAC, heavy IJN presence continues to safeguard Attu and threaten Amchitka. AM and xAKL sunk by carrier borne Vals off Amchitka - supply on which is at zero due to the massive bombardment. B-17s will be used to fly in supply, although the AF remains closed. Subs will attempt to track down the IJN ships. Allied warships have cleared the Amchitka/Adak area, save for two PTs at Adak. Adak LBA remains robust - with planes from CVs Wasp and Hornet. CVs remain well to the east and south of DH.

CENPAC, NSTR.

In SOPAC, nothing significant, only shipping continues to push supply and transit troops/units from Noumea to Allied bases to the north. No sign of IJN other than subs. Will move an infantry regiment from Luganville to Ndeni which will have CA TF escort. The only US CV in SOPAC remains at Auckland awaiting refit and conducting minor repairs.

In SWPAC, one squadron of B-25s hit Moresby AF with good effect, but suffer two losses to heavy AA at 7000 ft. Heavy IJN shipping activity at Milne Bay and Buna, but outside the effective range of fighters, so only subs attempt to disrupt - S42 sinks an xAK at Milne Bay, but is damaged by escorts and will have to return to Brisbane for yardwork.

In WAUS, small convoys of xAKLs continue to run between Carnarvon and Exmouth without interference, while IJN subs seem to be concentrated off Geraldton - one is claimed hit by an RAAF Hudson and will direct two ASW TFs tosee what they can find before another transport TF departs Perth for Carnarvon. Exmouth AF now at level 2, and engineers will now focus on increasing fortifications to level 4 as supplies are built up.

In China, IJA pressure is increasing in the SE, focusing on taking Kukong which has a couple of Chinese Corps defending it, but supplies are in the red - supplies are just not getting to troops in the front lines, here and most everywhere. Without supplies, the Allied air is also grounded, one P-40E squadron remains at Chungking, but with barely a dozen planes, and only flying sporadic CAP over the Capital.

In India/Burma, the Blenheim support to the 70th Div attack is a fiasco. A squadron of P-40s sweep and do fairly well against a LRCAP of Tojos and Oscar IIs, 15 Oscars and 2 Tojos fail to return in exchange for 7 P-40s, but there are too many enemy fighters, and the Blenheims escort didn’t fly - 23 Blenheims are lost. Vengences did get escorted, but they were the last squadron to arrive - only 1 Oscar was able to meet them and was shot down by Hurris. The 70th Div attack is held, but casualties are light, and the 2nd Div should arrive next turn to continue the attack. At sea, a CA TF (3CA, 4CA, DDs) bombard British positions at Akyab, but do little damage. In Calcutta, the P-40k arrival has been slow, and the first squadron to receive the plane (replacing P-36s!) should become operational next turn.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Blenheims die almost as Japanese planes [;)]
4E works much better when there is expected opposition. I would only send the Hudsons/ Blenheims/ etc. when the base has been softened

4E bombers are the key

[IdahoNYer]

ORIGINAL: Jorge_Stanbury

Blenheims die almost as Japanese planes [;)]
4E works much better when there is expected opposition. I would only send the Hudsons/ Blenheims/ etc. when the base has been softened

4E bombers are the key

Got a few precious 4E bombers in the inventory - more coming.....sloooowly...

[IdahoNYer]

Game on hold for bit as my computer fried. Will be a bit before I can get things back up and running...

[IdahoNYer]

double post

[BBfanboy]

Christmas is coming .... drop a few hints to your spouse, family, rich relatives ....[;)]

[Capt. Harlock]

Christmas is coming .... drop a few hints to your spouse, family, rich relatives ....

And get those hints in before Black Friday!

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Wait until Black Friday, but certainly don't wait until Xmas.

I bought a new PC last year, and big win was to also buy an "xbox like" controller. so I can play both "arcade" and "wargames" in the same platform

[IdahoNYer]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Christmas is coming .... drop a few hints to your spouse, family, rich relatives ....[;)]

Can't wait that long, I'm already in WiTPAE withdrawal!!!

New laptop ordered, should be here in week or so. Will see if I can get WiTP running on my work machine in the meantime.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Christmas is coming .... drop a few hints to your spouse, family, rich relatives ....[;)]

Can't wait that long, I'm already in WiTPAE withdrawal!!!

New laptop ordered, should be here in week or so. Will see if I can get WiTP running on my work machine in the meantime.

Glad to see that you have learned how to prioritize! [:D]

[IdahoNYer]

OK, got WiTPAE up and running on a temporary PC!! Great rejoicing (except from the wife[:D])!
Not fully functional though - no tracker or combat reporter till I get the replacement laptop in a week or so.

14-15 Sep 42

Highlights - IJN raids Vaitupu; major reinforcement convoy arrives in India

Jpn ships sunk:
xAK : 1 (old sinking reported)
AMc: 2

Jpn ships unsunk:
DD: 1 (Usugumo)

Allied ships sunk:
YMS: 1

Air loss:
Jpn: 25
Allied: 24

Subwar:
Jpn: 3 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 2 Attacks, 0 ships hit

Jpn Amph Inv:
Timoeka (SWPAC)

Allied Amph Inv:None

Bases lost:
Shemya Is (NOPAC)

Bases Liberated: None

SIGINT/Intel:KB 2 is prowling the waters in SOPAC, north of Vaitupu.

West Coast/Admin. Large troop/supply convoy departs LA for Auckland and a slow convoy departs SF for PH.

In NOPAC, 8DDs bombard Amchitka with little to show for it. KB not sighted. Amchitka still critical on supply. Still surprised at the IJN commitment to the Aleutians - US BBs and Attu Amph TF remains at Kodiak, with the troops ashore. No immediate plans to strike at Attu with all the IJN activity - the bigger question, and more concerning is whether the IJN will land troops at Amchitka - defended by a US IN Regiment and support - well dug in at fort level 4, but without adequate supplies, they won’t hold long if invaded. Will continue to push xAKs under light ASW escort as they are available, but not ready to challenge the IJN in NOPAC as the US CV TF is headed to Bremerton for October refits. Lastly, Shemya Is reverted to Jpn control - no landing was reported, but perhaps its due to expanding the garrison/supply on Attu?

CENPAC, combat engineer regiment is pulled out of Midway, enroute to SWPAC. IJN sub sighted off PH is pursued, but not effectively attacked.

In SOPAC, am surprised when the KB 2 launches a fairly large strike (58Z,54K, 51V) on Vaitupu port - apparently L_S_T values this real estate more than I do. The raid sinks a YMS in the port, but does surprisingly little else. Following the raid, a CA TF (3CA, CL, DDs) bombarded the island, causing moderate damage to the port. AVD McFarland was lucky - enroute to Vaitupu, she was still 80m to the south, and she escaped without being engaged. The presence of the IJN at sea is concerning of course, and I curtail offloading of a IN Reg at Ndeni; the TR TF with CA TF escort will pull back to Luganville until the threat subsides. Had that raid hit Ndeni instead, it would have been much more concerning - although USMC F4Fs are at Ndeni, the 30 or so planes wouldn’t have been enough - hence the pullback to Luganville which has nearly 100 fighters avail, plus more in reach at Efate and Noumea - with the AFs and support to sustain them, something that Ndeni is still building towards. L_S_T does seem a bit reluctant to close on the Santa Cruz or New Hebrides; but truthfully, he probably has enough seaborne air to cause much trouble if he did so.

In SWPAC, an Aussie Beaufighter squadron strafed and bombed an IJN resupply attempt to Port Moresby - two AMcs and four barges were sunk for no loss. Other Allied air was shut down for rest and awaiting the P-38s transfer back from WAUS. Will start increasing coastal shipping from Cairns to Portland Roads in the coming weeks to see what attention it draws, as well as move additional support to the base there.

In WAUS, still no Jpn response to shipping bringing supplies up to Exmouth as engineers work on fortifications for the inevitable bombardment - its bound to happen, and I’m surprised we’ve had this much time to establish the base without a response. Subs still reported off Geraldton are maddeningly tough to hunt down and destroy despite both sea and air ASW efforts.

In China, NSTR.

In India/Burma, the big news is a major reinforcement convoy arriving in India carrying a US In Reg, 5 HB squadrons, MB squadron, 2T and 2F squadrons - the first Martlets and P-39s in theater. The heavies are the reinforced US 307 BG - which still need to equip with B-24Ds. Still looking at beginning offensive air operations after 1 Oct, but its good to finally have the assets in Theater to start thinking offensive operations! Additional air reinforcements are still about a month away, including a USMC MAG (2F, 2DB), a P38 squadron, and another heavy bomb group, plus ground support troops such as engineers and AA. On the ground, the British 70th Div is hit by heavily escorted Netty raids which do very little, but IJN fighter sweeps and escorts overwhelm CAP that wondered into the hex from Chittagong CAP - 11 Zeros and 2 Nells are destroyed in exchange for 7 P-40s and 9 Hurris. Much of the Allied air has been pulled back to refit - two US fighter squadrons are equipping with the P-40K, another rebuilding to full strength with P-40Es, and a significant amount of Hurris are receiving replacements to bring them up to full strength - leaving maybe a third of my available fighters for frontline engagement. While I don’t want to totally have Allied air disappear in the coming weeks - that would be a giveaway that something is up - I do need to conserve and build up the fighters as L_S_T has an estimated 250+ in theater. The goal of the October air offensive will be to tackle that fighter strength head on with fighter sweeps and escorted bomber raids on key AFs. Keeping the Allied buildup (especially the Heavies) secret is essential to success.

[IdahoNYer]

16-17 Sep 42

Highlights - Pretty quiet; IJN hits Vaitupu again

Jpn ships sunk:
DD: 1 (Usugumo back on the blood board!)

Allied ships sunk: None

Air loss:
Jpn: 14
Allied: 08

Subwar:
Jpn: 2 Attacks, 0 ships hit
Allies: 0 Attacks, 0 ships hit

Jpn Amph Inv:None

Allied Amph Inv:None

Bases lost:
Kai-eilanden (DEI)

Bases Liberated:None

SIGINT/Intel:NSTR

West Coast/Admin. Slow supply convoy departs West Coast for Auckland

In NOPAC, its quiet for a change. No enemy contact other than a few subs off DH.

CENPAC, NSTR.

In SOPAC, KB2 launches another pair of airstrikes on Vaitupu port, so in three separate strikes over 4 days, 28 port damage remains. Nothing significant is threatened, but KB2 is reportedly heading east - Canton Island the next target perhaps? Not much there in any case. With KB2 heading east, I’ll reroute convoys back to Ndeni.

In SWPAC, its quiet as a small Allied convoy prepares to transit from Cairns to Portland Roads with a naval construction battalion - first troop convoy to Portland Roads. Will cover with LBA, and restart bombing of targets in New Guinea as the P-38s return from WAUS. I want to ramp up activity here to camouflage the future Horn Island operation - the increase in “noise” won’t spike when I launch the invasion until it lands on the beaches.

In WAUS, NSTR.

In China, NSTR.

In India/Burma, I’m resisting the temptation to commit Allied air - still trying to conserve it for the upcoming air offensive. To that, three bomb squadrons of the 307th BG trade out their single B-17s for B-24Ds - and transit to Bombay to train up and finish uncrating the new machines. All told, I have 40 B-24s currently in India, with more coming. On the ground, the British 70th Div attacks again and is held with light loss, but the Brit 2nd Div has arrived and will join in the attack next turn. As I expected earlier, this is a slow grind to flank Akyab, not a blitz.

[IdahoNYer]

18-19 Sep 42

Highlights - Vaitupu hit again by air and sea; bad day for the Silent Service

Jpn ships sunk: None

Allied ships sunk:
SS: 2 (S28, S30)

Air loss:
Jpn: 08
Allied: 13

Subwar:
Jpn: 2 Attacks, 2 ships hit (S28 sunk by I-16, S30 sunk by I-18)
Allies: 3 Attacks, 1 ships hit (PB dam)

Jpn Amph Inv:None

Allied Amph Inv: None

Bases lost: None

Bases Liberated: None

SIGINT/Intel: None

West Coast/Admin. NSTR

In NOPAC, IJN subs are still thick, and two subs get the better of their USN counterparts off Attu, two US subs sunk by IJN subs. Not sure what the trick is to get the edge on sub vs. sub combat, but so far I’ve lost 7 subs to IJN subs - far greater than the next cause, three to aircraft.

CENPAC, Engineer regiment loads on transports at PH, bound for SWPAC to support offensive operations.

In SOPAC, KB2 launches another 150 plane airstrike on Vaitupu port, doing little except keeping the engineers busy. CA TF (3CA, CL, 3DD) also bombard without major effect. Vaitupu port damage remains at 28. US convoy docks and resumes offloading troops at Ndeni. Lunga is hit by air for the first time; the 21xB24s do little damage - no CAP.

In SWPAC, Horn Island hit with good effect by A-20s out of Portland Roads. P-38s are staged at Portland and 81 B-17s are staged at Coen - going to hit Buna next turn while Mediums will hit Port Moresby. This will start a sustained air offensive against Jpn bases on Eastern New Guinea - the goal being to render airfields inoperable to cover the Horn Island landings. Wau (lvl 3, Lae (lvl 2) and Nadzab (lvl 5). Convoy carrying engineers arrives at Portland Roads and begins offloading, so far without interference.

In WAUS, NSTR.

In China, Chungking swept by numerous fighter waves; no Allied interference as the last 11 P-40s have been withdrawn back to Burma.

In India/Burma, so much for resisting the temptation to commit Allied air - the British ground attack near Akyab is again held - this time two British Divs and support are stalled - losses have been light, but fatigue and disruption are mounting. Part of the reason could be the recent heavy Jpn air support - many fighter sweeps supporting Netty strikes. This may be a good opportunity to unleash the hard built Allied fighters in LRCAP over the ground attack - so, to that, I’m sending a total of 12 fighter squadrons in LRCAP over the British Divisions next turn, totaling almost 200 a/c from three separate airfields. This totals about 2/3s of my current fighter strength in theater, a truly multinational effort - Brit, Can, US, NZ and even Dutch squadrons. Also, with the Jpn fighters focused on the Brit ground attack, Lashio is lacking its usual CAP, so I’m going to sortie B-25s to hit the AF - the goal to reduce the supply flow to the IJA threatening Paoshan.

[jwolf]

...so far I’ve lost 7 subs to IJN subs - far greater than the next cause, three to aircraft.

This seems rather unrealistic; I'm tempted to say preposterous. I admit I don't know the facts, but my impression was that sub vs. sub combat in the actual war was rather rare. Am I wrong on this?

I hope your massed airpower will start to turn the tables along the India-Burma border. Ditto at Moresby/Buna etc, good to see you're starting to dish out some serious punishment against the Japs!

[Sangeli]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

...so far I’ve lost 7 subs to IJN subs - far greater than the next cause, three to aircraft.

This seems rather unrealistic; I'm tempted to say preposterous. I admit I don't know the facts, but my impression was that sub vs. sub combat in the actual war was rather rare. Am I wrong on this?

I hope your massed airpower will start to turn the tables along the India-Burma border. Ditto at Moresby/Buna etc, good to see you're starting to dish out some serious punishment against the Japs!

In real life it was rare. And in my experience its rare in this game as well. I think what's going on here is that you got unlucky with sub vs sub encounters while Japanese ASW against you has been pitiful. When you're dealing with small sample sizes sometimes you have these sorts of huge imbalances that you wouldn't otherwise expect.

[BBfanboy]

I suspect D/L is the reason for the IJN sub success. They must have had some forewarning that your subs were in the area to set up that many successful ambushes. Do you monitor your subs D/L and move them when there is any detection at all?

[Bif1961]

The sub to sub encounters that favor the Japanese might be due to commander aggressiveness and that he has good torpedoes and you don't yet.