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

[apbarog]

5 Mar 43

Taberfane is bombed, an everyday occurrence now. Damage is always light. No other combat.

There is no sign of the possible big activity northwest of Darwin. None of my subs are lit up. If they head toward Carnavon, I won't see them coming. No search there. I do have some at Perth.

I order a small cruiser force to bombard Port Moresby in a couple of days.

My preparations for a Buna invasion now move to more than just a plan. I start loading troops at Brisbane. Extra shipping, not needed for this, moves up the coast to Rockhampton, and will be used for Port Moresby, possibly. Loading at Brisbane will take a few days, as I'm loading so many troops on so many ships.

Just today, I see that more enemy troops have arrived at Buna. SigInt says that part of the 9th Division/B is moving to Buna. This matches what I'm seeing. There's ships there now unloading. Looks like DDs and APDs. The fighters that were at Buna went back to Lae, probably figuring that I was coming again. There are still fighters at Port Moresby.

I've detailed the enemy forces and airfield sizes for the bases in the area.

My plan is for my shipping to go to Milne Bay and then hit Buna and the adjacent dot base Oro Bay. Troops for Oro Bay will come from Townsville and will start loading in 2 or 3 days, and then join up with the invasion task forces on the way in.

For Buna, I'm tasking:

2 US Marine Division
3 US Marine Division
43 US Army Infantry Division
19 Aust Brigade
1 US Marine Amphibious HQ
Aust II Corp HQ
1 Tank Bn
2/8 Armor Regiment
205 Field Artillery
2 USMC Field Artillery
259 Coastal Artillery
C/D Coastal Artillery
4 Aust Light AA
21 Base Group
1 RAAF Construction Battalion
US 14th Construction Battalion

With 30000 men spotted at Buna, it will be a tough battle of attrition, not a quick victory. I'd like to see an enemy pullback from Port Moresby after the Buna battle starts, just in time for my landing there.

Taking Oro Bay will be important too.

My carriers will not go past Milne Bay, and will support from a distance. I will be hitting Lae with as much airpower as I can when it comes time. My 2 squadrons of P-38s and 2 squadrons of Corsairs will be used here.

Most of the US, British, and Australian navies will be here. I'll bombard Buna, and may risk a bombardment of Lae. My secret weapon will be sneaking AKEs into Milne Bay to help rearm combat vessels quickly.

I still wonder whether it's best to fight into the enemy's strength, or just bypass in force. I think that there is value in tying down and eliminating so many ground troops here. It's still early in '43. And don't forget, I have troops all prepped for Lae also, should that opportunity arise. I do know that the part of the 9th Division that is arriving at Buna is coming from Lae.

Time will tell how things go. I think that the enemy has diverted forces to react to my Taberfane and Dobo landings. But of course, it only takes a day for all of the airpower to come back. Taking out Lae will be key as it will be the hardest to suppress.

[apbarog]

6 Mar 43

Today was a day for the Silent Service.

First, Wahoo spots a bunch of patrol boats (probably looking for the sub), and gets a torpedo hit on patrol boat Tsuneshima Maru. It's undoubtedly a goner.

Two hexes north of Rabaul, Haddock was transiting to its new patrol location to the northwest, and finds a big tanker convoy. One torpedo hits tanker Batopaha Maru. The ship is loaded with fuel and burns nicely. Chalk up a tanker, always nice.

Between Mindanao and Babeldaop, Swordfish finds a big troop convoy. It gets a torpedo hit on xAK Hokutai Maru, and there are men on it. This is a probable sinking. Swordfish does take some moderate depth charge damage. It now starts the long run home to Ndeni.

And finally, some bad news for the submariners. Near Taberfane, Dutch sub O24 was found by I27, and hit with 2 torpedoes. There were no survivors.

During the day, Taberfane was hit by many Sallys again.

The map shows that the Japanese are now inbound. To somewhere.

Carriers are spotted by Ambon, probably a mini-KB based on the aircraft spotted and that I saw CVLs. To the southeast are a couple of patrol boat task forces. Near Timor there's a big task force. I'm seeing cruisers, destroyers, and possibly an xAP. I'm guessing that this is the task force that set off the SigInt near Waingapoe a couple of turns ago.

The question is, where is the enemy heading?

With the patrol boats leading the carriers, it looks like a straight line to Saumlaki. Saumlaki has been empty. My Indian paras are prepped for it, but they are at Gove, and the airfield needs more construction time. I won't get there in time, apparently.

Or the enemy is coming directly for Taberfane.

My only response, besides lots of subs, is a naval bomber unit being moved to Merauke. It is Beuafighters, I believe. With a normal range of 11, I've trained this unit in low naval and strafing skills. They are set for 100 feet. If the enemy shows up at Taberfane, they should respond.

At Brisbane, loading continues for Buna. About half of my task forces are loaded now. They may move out tomorrow.

The small interesting feature for today is that I have a small cruiser task force going to bombard Port Moresby for the first time.

[apbarog]

7 Mar 43

Sub Pompano spots a task force northwest of Taberfane. I think that it is mini-KB, but Pompano only sees a destroyer, and misses. Pompano redeployed to the west of New Guinea after refueling and rearming at Townsville, following its famous sinking of Akagi with 4 torpedoes last month. I'll be keeping an eye on this charmed ship and crew.

Growler takes a shot at a destroyer also, in the same area. Looks like the leading patrol boats may have been destroyers.

Sailfish gets a shot at an xAK convoy near Kwajalein, gets one hit on xAK Koyo Maru, but it's a dud. I'll trade 4 duds on cargo ships for the 4 that worked on Akagi last month!

West of Taberfane, S-41 is spotted by escorts of a huge task force. It looks like Taberfane is about to get hammered.

ASW attack near Taberfane at 80,117

Japanese Ships
CL Kashima
DD Yanagi
E W-22
E Uji
SC Ch 12
AMC Awata Maru
AMC Kinryu Maru
AK Tosan Maru
AK Kyushu Maru
xAP Ukishima Maru
xAP Naminoue Maru
xAP Tsingtao Maru
xAP Manzyu Maru
xAP Kokuryu Maru
xAP Takatiho Maru
DD Susuki
DD Tsuga
DD Yunagi
DD Hatsuyuki

Allied Ships
SS S-41

A side note - battleship Massachusetts arrived in Balboa today. Nice to see another battleship on the way.

Looking at the map, it's now obvious that Taberfane is about to get counter-invaded. This is more or less expected, but I'm not reacting. I could have rushed my carriers back to this area, and maybe gotten here in time. But I've decided to keep to my plan, and enjoy that the enemy is diverting a lot of attention away from the Coral Sea.

Loading for the Buna invasion continues at Brisbane. Not quite everything was loaded, but will be tomorrow. I have decided to start loading for a Port Moresby invasion. My carriers will be right there to support Buna, so why not follow up immediately. The great news about my carriers is that I was able to completely fill out my 36 plane SBD groups today, so all carriers will be at capacity.

Tomorrow the Brisbane convoys pull up anchor and head north, along with most of the Brit Navy, including 3 slow battleships and BC Repulse. After a day, the carriers will leave Rockhampton and rendezvous. Then it's on to Milne Bay and Buna.

Today I see over 33000 men at Buna. It's almost like he knows I'm coming! Not really, but not the best of news. I do see at least one unit at Buna moving inland. The inland dot bases are not built into bases, but I do know that they are occupied. I have paras fully prepped for them. They will wait for an opportune moment to sever Port Moresby from Buna.

Considering my opponent is now moving on Taberfane, and I'm about to launch a major offensive in southern New Guinea, the next week is going to be exciting. We did 2 turns today and yesterday, which is unusual. I think that we are both looking forward to the action that is sure to come.

[IdahoNYer]

Apbarog - gotta say you continue to impress the heck out of me with your offensive Tempo at this point in the war!!! All before the Hellcat and against a still robust KB capability.

Each jump you make, I keep thinking its the "one too many", but you keep moving forward very successfully.

Very Nicely done so far.

Think Buna will be a tough fight - to sustain that size force in range of multiple LBA bases. But, you've done this before....

[apbarog]

Thanks IdahoNYer. It may turn out that my Taberfane landing was the "one too many" you referred to, as it is about to get hammered and I don't have air to support it, and I'm not committing my navy at the moment. I hope that it is contested for awhile, and I can come back to it and keep it going.

Part of my success with keeping an offensive tempo is that I've been allowed to do this. My opponent went to the defensive in the Solomons and New Guinea, and has been very careful not to risk his ships. This worked for him, as far as not losing many ships, but it's worked for me, as I can hit here and there and keep the perception of being on the constant offensive.

Some of this is just smoke and mirrors. Let's face it. My early invasion of Horn Island failed. I've aborted invading Tabiteuea four times, once with everything right there (and not by choice). So it all hasn't gone well, but it has reinforced the idea that I'm the one attacking now.

Buna will be tough, no doubt.

[apbarog]

8 Mar 43

Sub Porpoise finds an xAK convoy northwest of Taberfane, but takes a good depth charge hit, and will now return to base.

At Taberfane, a few enemy cruiser and destroyers arrive and engage my 2 remaining PT boats. The PTs do engage, but fire a torpedo at a destroyer and miss. No hits for either side.

Taberfane is then bombarded. Base damage is minimal but is unimportant as its already damaged. Over 200 casualties are caused, including combat squads.

I then bombarded Port Moresby for the first time, and results were very poor.

Taberfane is then invaded. The enemy lands the 48th Division, and artillery unit, and the 16th Engineer Regiment, as well as a HQ. Judging from the low disablements on landing, the division was mostly prepped for the target. The mandatory Allied bombardment showed 0 combat value for my troops, which is very concerning.

During the day, a squadron of Beaufighter VIc fly from Merauke to Taberfane, and find the invasion shipping with no CAP at all. They attack at 100 feet, strafing and bombing. In morning and afternoon attacks, results are very nice:

Morning attack:
xAP Manzyu Maru, Shell hits 2, Bomb hits 1
xAP Yoshino Maru, Shell hits 2, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAP Taizan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Tsingtao Maru, Bomb hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
293 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 29 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Afternoon attack:
xAP Takatiho Maru, Shell hits 3, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Taizan Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
205 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

It won't change the battle, but it's a nice strike on some huge xAPs.

Remember Burma? I did a nuisance sweep and bombing of Cox Bazar today. 4 Oscars were shot down on ranged CAP from the south. Bombers did light damage on the airfield.

As for today, I see shipping north of Boela. Multiple task forces. Probably coming for Dobo. I also got SigInt that the 8th Infantry Division and the 8th Ind Eng Rgt is headed to Boela. Yep, that's them. They are headed to Dobo. Taberfane may fall immediately, which is not what I had in mind. If attacked today, my troops would retreat into the jungle, a hex that is adjacent to Taberfane and Dobo. If the enemy smartly waits and invades Dobo first, then there will be no retreat. This could all end very quickly for me, I'm afraid.

My invasion shipping for Buna and Oro Bay leaves Brisbane. Combat task forces are formed and move out also. Carrier task forces are formed and will leave Rockhampton tomorrow. Loading at Rockhampton continues for Port Moresby.

The interesting twist for today is that yesterday there was over 33000 men at Buna. Today I see 16000 men. I've been seeing movement inland, into the mountains toward Port Moresby. Could I really be so lucky to have an infantry division get caught in the mountains while I land at Buna and Port Moresby? Granted, this unit will end up reinforcing one or the other, but I like my chances a lot more for a successful landing at Buna going up against one division instead of two.

We shall see, before long.

[BBfanboy]

What's the march rate on the Kokoda Track? 5 miles a day?

[apbarog]

I don't know the answer to that. I do know that my armored unit that is slowly moving into Oro Bay is moving 2km per day in combat mode, and 3km per day in move mode. But that's an armor unit, which is different.

[BBfanboy]

Yeah, I know the normal rate of progress through Jungle and Jungle/Rough, but some time back there was an observation that troops and supplies moved much more quickly on the Kokoda Track than ought to have been possible, given normal game calculations and R/L actual experience. I don't know if this magic moving sidewalk was addressed by any of the updates in the past couple of years.

So my comment was more of a heads-up for the possibility that the IJA can move quicker than normal over that route.

[apbarog]

9 Mar 43

More enemy unloads at Taberfane.

Near Timor, sub Growler spots the cruiser force that bombarded Taberfane, lines up cruiser Atago, and misses with 4 torpedoes. The cruisers are retiring to Koepang via the northern coast of Timor.

During the day, many Sallys bomb the troops at Taberfane. Damage is very light, but troops are getting disrupted.

One day after the landings begin, Taberfane is shock attacked. The result is far worse than I expected. I figured that a regiment was not going to stand up to a division for too long, but I didn't expect an attack at 75 to 1 odds. The defender was penalized for leaders, disruption, fatigue, and experience. Losses are 654 for the enemy and 1742 for the Allies, with most of the Allied losses being troops destroyed. The survivors retreat into the jungle, where they are guaranteed to survive longer than just another day. Dobo has some supply, and will probably be invaded very soon. Maybe the guys in the jungle can survive for awhile, and maybe I can retake the island at some point.

Ships from Brisbane have started moving north for the Buna invasion. Ships leave Rockhampton to rendezvous, including the carriers. Loading continues at Rockhampton for Port Moresby. Loading begins at Townsville for Oro Bay.

Today I'm hitting Buna. There's around 80 fighters there. I'm trying a different approach. For the first time, I'm using the 2 P-38 squadrons that I brought from India, as well as my first 2 Marine Corsair units. These units will sweep Buna, as well as a P-40K unit. All of my B-17s will bomb and all of my B-24s will join in. Hopefully, in this order, but we know how that goes.

I'm moved more recon to Goodenough Island near Milne Bay. They will start looking at Oro Bay and the 2 inland dot bases on the Kokoda trail.

I did see that the suddenly low number of troops spotted at Buna yesterday was a day of bad recon. Today, the number is back over 30,000 men.

In summary, I'm dissapointed to lose Taberfane so quickly, but I expected a violent response, and I got it. My main objective was to force activity on this side of New Guinea while I head to Buna. So far, I think this is working to some degree. What I'm not seeing anyhere is KB and battleships. And haven't for awhile. I suspected not long ago that carriers went back to Japan for upgrades. And I saw one task force with a battleship in Japan. I can hope that is true.

[apbarog]

10 Mar 43

Near Taberfane, sub Guardfish spots a big xAP task force, fires on a destroyer, and misses.

A bit west of there, sub Seal does the exact same thing.

Dobo is bombarded by 4 cruisers. Damage is very light.

Bettys then bomb the troops at Dobo. Dobo is obviously getting the same treatment that Taberfane did. The Sallys come in next. Damage is light.

At Buna, today was my big attack day. Lots of sweeps by my newest aircraft, then B-17s and B-24s pummel the airfield. Well, it didn't go that way.

In the morning, the bombers flew, and in many fragments. A very heavy CAP was waiting. I can't be sure how much of it was based at Buna, and how much was ranged CAP from Lae. The first strike ran up against 2 Zero groups, 2 Oscar groups, and a Tojo group. All in all, lots of bombers were lost. The airfield did get moderately damaged, just from the sheer number of planes, and that most of the B-24s flew late and most of the fighers had landed.


I sent B-26s and B-25s to Port Moresby, and they encountered ranged CAP from Buna. One Zero group and one Tojo group. A few planes were lost.

In the afternoon, my P-40K group at Milne Bay decided to sweep Buna. The CAP was less by then, but the Warhawks still lost twice as many planes as the Oscars downed. What happened to the 2 Corsair and P-38 groups? None of the 4 groups flew at all. The base was not overloaded. Just a fluke I guess.

About as bad a day as I could imagine for committing so many bombers and good fighters on one target. Total losses were 16 B-17s, 4 B-24s, 7 P-40Ks, 4 B-26s, and 2 B-25s. The enemy lost 12 Tojos, 8 Oscars, and 6 Zeros.

Dobo is then invaded, starting during the daylight. Beach losses for the enemy are much higher than for the troops that landed at Taberfane. The 8th Infantry Division was obviously not as prepped for Dobo. When the obligatory Allied bombardment attack occurred, combat values are about even. But I realize that the landing started during the daylight, and most of the division probably hasn't landed yet. I do have level 1 forts here, and it's about to go to 2, if I can avoid base damage one more day. A Brit sub had dropped some mines at Dobo, but none were hit.

For today, I recommit the 2 Corsair units and the 2 P-38 units, but they fly to Lae for the first time. We'll see what happens.

I sent some Beaufighters to Gove, which just became a level 2 airfield. Merauke just became level 3. 4 Fletcher class destroyers go to Merauke.

The many task forces headed to Buna, Oro Bay, and Port Moresby continue north. Ships join from Townsville. It's going to be big, it's going to be fun, but the outcome is to be determined.

First recons of the inland bases between Port Moresby and Buna show 2 units at both Kokoda and Dobadura. Earlier there was a para unit at one of them. Both are still dot bases. I have paras prepped for both, with planes ready to go, should I sense an opportunity to use them.

I will land at Buna before Port Moresby, hoping to get some of these units into motion. All the better to drop on them in movement mode.

[apbarog]

11 Mar 43

More enemy lands at Dobo.

Near the eastern tip of Timor, sub Guardfish spots xAP Taizan Maru on fire and with heavy damage, escorted by destroyer Hokaze. They are headed to Koepang most likely. Guardfish fires on the destroyer and misses.

Near the Wessel Islands southeast of Darwin, sub Sturgeon fires on I-166 and misses.

My big sweep of Lae does occur. 3 squadrons of Corsairs and 2 squadrons of P-38s sweep. Lae's CAP is 2 types of Zeros and 2 types of Oscars. The fight is moderately successful. The small squadron size of the Corsairs, and going in individually, hurts. Enemy losses are 15 Zeros and 11 Oscars. US losses are 12 F4Us and 5 P38s. OK but not outstanding. But I'm sure the new planes got the enemy's attention. It appears that the Tojos moved from Buna to Lae after this.

I had moved a Beaufighter group to Gove hoping to catch shipping west of Taberfane. Well, that shipping dissapeared, and the group flew all the way to Dobo, where it found ranged CAP, with 2 Zero groups and 2 Oscar groups. Most of the bombers were lost. One attacked an AK but missed. They go back to Conclurry to fill back out.

The forced Allied bombardment at Dobo now shows combat Japanese combat value of 291 and Allied at 102. Dobo did get to level 2 forts today, which helps a little. Attacking Dobo is the 8th Infantry Division and the 8th Ind Engineer Regiment. Defending is the US 24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment.

I am running 4 Fletcher class destroyers from Merauke to Dobo at full speed. That is maximum range. If the stars align, they make it there at night, engage, and run away a good distance. This isn't a bombardment, but missions like this rarely go as planned. It would be nice to catch some transports still at Dobo.

[apbarog]

We'd planned another set of turns tonight, but my opponent Walker said that there was clearly a lot of movement on the map, and that he needed more time for the turn.

There's no doubt that he now sees the huge armada approaching Milne Bay. He has 2 days to react, if he guesses correctly that I'm going to Buna. There's just no way to sneak in an invasion of this size, unless I just left lots of transport shipping at Milne Bay doing nothing, then all of a sudden launched from there. No way that would work. Milne Bay is way too vulnerable.

So what's it going to be? A huge success, bagging multiple enemy divisions? A huge failure, with the US and Brit fleets mauled? Or just a stalemate on the ground after landing?

I don't know. Could be any of these. If KB does show up, it won't be risked close to Buna. It will sit up past Umboi Island, within bomber range of Buna but out of my carrier range, unless I got really aggressive with mine.

[jwolf]

If KB does show up, it won't be risked close to Buna. It will sit up past Umboi Island, within bomber range of Buna but out of my carrier range...

This does sound like Walker's usual tactic from earlier engagements in this area. If so ... can you do anything about it?

[apbarog]

It would probably be foolish to send my carriers north of Milne Bay with his airfields operational. I can say that I have enough subs in the area to blanket just about every hex that he could put carriers. I'm definitely flooding the zone. Maybe I can get lucky again.

I won't hesitate to go after him if I think the fight approaches an even fight, or better, for me. I just don't see that happening the way KB usually sits right by a big airfield and uses its CAP.

I do have to keep in mind my objectives though, and that's to land at Buna, Oro Bay, and Port Moresby, and not lose the troops while still loaded and to get most of the shipping home safely.

[apbarog]

12 Mar 43

An interesting day. The next two days will be very tense.

More enemy lands at Dobo.

South of Milne Bay, there are many enemy sub sightings and ASW attacks. Probably multiple attacks on the same boats, so I won't list names, as they are probably wrong anyhow. Many Allied ships are identified, including Brit battleships, LSTs, US battleships, and my AKEs that I had hoped to sneak into Milne Bay's port. 2 enemy subs are probable sinkings. Most subs aren't able to fire torpedoes. The ones that did targeted destroyers and missed.

South of Dobo, my 4 Fletcher class destroyers run over a sub and badly damage it in the shallow waters. The ships then make it do Dobo at night, and engage destroyers Urakaze and Tanikaze. The fight is not conclusive, but Tanikaze is left burning badly. Urakaze and O'Bannon take one hit each, taking minor damage.

Still at Dobo, the Fletchers then find PB Yahonui Maru and SC Ch 26, and pummel them mercilessly, with 18 and 14 hits each, sinking both ships. Lots of ammo is used.

Then, still at Dobo, the Fletchers find cruiser Myoko and 5 destroyers. The fight is not short, but both sides get only 1 hit. Isonami is set on fire, and destroyer Fletcher is hit once by the cruiser, doing lots of damage and setting the ship on fire. Fletcher's damage is 58 SYS, 34/13 FLOT, 15 ENG, and 22 FIRES. It is 5 hexes from Merauke, and won't quite make it to port tomorrow unless some damage is repaired overnight and it can make a little more speed. It should survive though. All US destroyers took damage from the high speed run both ways, and will go to Sydney for repairs. It was a good run though. Most importantly, it showed that the area is within my reach, and that I'm willing to attack. When I've done similar things earlier in the war, the benefits of a more defensive enemy far outweighed the actual damage that I did. I hope that this results in the same.

During the day, there was more sub activity. The damaged Fletcher was fired upon by I-16, but torpedoes missed. Most activity was by Milne Bay again, and some minor damage was done to a few subs.

My troops at Dobo were bombed again by about 50 Sallys.

18 SBDs bombed the 21 Division/B at Woodlark Island. I wanted to show new attention here with so many ships arriving at Milne Bay. I'm not going to Woodlark now though.

And my mistake for the day was leaving a P-38 group on sweep orders to Lae. About 8 went, 4 didn't return. About 6 enemy planes were downed. Enemy CAP was over 60 planes, but no Tojos.

The enemy did a bombardment attack at Dobo, doing no damage.

The next turn will have my CVEs turn northwest and head toward Port Moresby, escorting the invasion convoy for there. My fleet carriers will move west of Milne Bay and range CAP. Lots of task forces go to Milne Bay. A destroyer group goes northwest of Milne Bay, along with a cruiser group. Another destroyer group goes northeast of Milne Bay. I do see an enemy cruiser task force at Lae. If they get aggressive, I hope to fend them off outside of Milne Bay. Way too much valuable shipping at the base itself.

Air-wise, carrier bombers that don't fly a naval strike will bomb Port Moresby. I'm ignoring Buna for today. Tomorrow all attention will be at Buna and Oro Bay, and that will be when I invade those bases, as well as Port Moresby.

[BBfanboy]

No sign of his carriers reacting out of the DEI yet? Tense situation for sure - they could reach your area with a sprint.

[apbarog]

13 Mar 43

A very good day in the air for the Allies.

First, more enemy lands at Dobo.

Near Merauke, I-32 fires on 2 of the Fletcher class destroyers moving to Townsville. Misses.

Dobo is bombarded by cruiser Myoko and 5 destroyers. Damage is light but I'm sure that disruption is the objective.

Near Milne Bay, an ASW task force of DEs finds I-11 and gets 2 good depth charge hits.

O21 then fires on the Myoko task force heading west from Dobo. Misses a destroyer and takes some damage, and will now return to base.

The destroyer Fletcher makes it into Merauke's port, where it will repair some FLOT damage before heading to Australia.

P40K's sweep Munda, finding weak ranged CAP from Shortlands. About 8 Zeros are downed, losing 2 P40s.

I had moved 2 destroyer groups just northwest and just northeast of Milne Bay, to hopefully catch any aggressive ship moves to Milne Bay. It caught something else, thanks to the ranged CAP from Milne Bay and surrounding islands.

Nells and Bettys, escorted by Oscars, Zeros and Tojos, fly from Rabaul and attack the destroyer group just northeast of Milne Bay. About 40 bombers, escorted by about 50 fighters. On ranged CAP are about 70 fighters, a mix of Kittyhawks, Spits, P-38s, P-40Ks, and F4us, all at different altitudes. It's not exactly the Marianas turkey shoot, but the fight goes very well for the Allies. Total losses in this fight are 20 Nells, 18 Bettys, 13 Tojos, 7 Oscars. 7 Zeros are lost on the day, most at Munda though. I lose 3 P-40Ks (2 at Munda I think). The bombers that did make it to the destroyers missed with all torpedoes.

Back at Dobo, the daily Sally bombing occurs.

Some B-25s and B-26s bomb Port Moresby. No CAP. Airfield shows 20 damage. Buna is still over 60.

B-25s bomb troops at Oro Bay, and find that the 2 units are the 86th Naval Guard unit, and the 56th construction unit.

Then my carriers launch on Port Moresby, and I get an incredibly coordinated raid of 54 fighters and 180 SBDs in one strike. The airfield and troops are bombed. If only I can get a carrier strike raid this coordinated!

Finally at Dobo, the enemy attacks, gets a perfect 2-1 attack with 302 to 151 AV, and reduces the forts to 1. The enemy takes 367 casualties, I take 240. The end will come quickly here too.

With SigInt, I learn that the 48th Division is headed to Koepang on Timor. Could be going there or going further to Darwin, or countering me somewhere like Gove. We'll see.

As for today, it's one of those huge turns that take many weeks to build up for. Port Moresby, Buna, and Oro Bay will all be invaded. Carriers will move adjacent to Port Moresby, on the coast, and range CAP all invasion targets. Some LR CAP will be used too. Fighters from Milne Bay and Ferguson will sweep Lae. Lae will hopefully have been successfully bombarded during the night. Buna will be bombarded also. Other combat task forces will guard the invasion hexes. Medium bombers will hit the troops at Buna. Mines will be laid at Finshafen. A daring move by 2 DMs will take place, running full speed to the hex next to Rabaul to drop mines.

The enemy cruiser task force that was at Lae moved north to Hansa Bay. If they come back, maybe they'll find the mines at Finschafen.

B-17s and B-24s will bomb Lae's airfield. One group of B-24s will hit Hansa Bay's airfield. If the night bombardment of Lae damages a bunch of planes, maybe my bombers will destroy more.

It's going to be a big day.

[apbarog]

I've watched the replay, but don't have the turn yet. I should get the turn tonight or tomorrow.

The landings actually went as planned. BC Repulse and friends had a very successful bombardment of Lae, destroying and damaging many planes. When the sweeps and bombers arrived during the day, only a dozen Tojos remained on CAP. The bombers did a great job taking out many more planes.

Port Moresby, Buna, and Oro Bay were all invaded. There was no interference. My minesweepers at Buna did not detect mines during the night, but did during the day. The field was small, but one DMS hit a mine and sank. Some mines remain.

Bettys from Rabaul did fly, without escort, and hit an ASW task force that I had patrolling northeast of Milne Bay a couple of hexes. Beyond my ranged CAP. 2 AMs were sunk.

My carrier planes sank a tiny minesweeper at Umboi Island.

On the down side, Dobo was lost an my US infantry regiment, an air support unit, and engineer unit were lost. My regiment that was at Taberfane is in the jungle, adjacent to Taberfane and Dobo. The cost was high and came sooner than I expected, but these troops served there purpose.

Port Moresby and Buna will still be tough fights on the ground.

I'll give more details when I have the turn and combat report listing.

[jwolf]

The landings actually went as planned.

Don't act so surprised. [:'(] Heh. Anyway, looks like you got off to a good start, but the question is if and when you can close the deal at Buna and Moresby, both of which I am assuming are pretty well defended. Good luck!