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

[apbarog]

19 Mar 43

I-10 finds AO Suamico well south of Rossel Island. The AO was with tankers that had already unloaded at Milne Bay. Suamico is badly damaged, but not burning. It may survive. A destroyer will link up with it today.

Port Moresby is bombarded by battlecruiser Repulse and friends. Results are very poor. I'm not going to bother with bombardments from now on, not at Port Moresby. Not unless I'm ready to attack.

Beaufighters from Gove Island attack a cruiser task force at Darwin, but find 8 Oscars on CAP. A couple of bombers are lost. Destroyer Hibiki takes a very minor strafing hit, but no bombs find their target. A dozen B-25s then fly the same route, but from 6000 feet, all bombs miss, and a couple of bombers are lost.

B-25s and B-26s bomb the airfield at Terapo, northwest of Port Moresby. There is no CAP, and results are good.

B-25s bomb the Kure 3rd SNLF at Kokoda, trying to slow the ground movement to the northeast of Kokoda.

I try an artillery attack at Port Moresby, but losses are even. Port Moresby will not be attacked, just isolated, at this point.

Today I see that the enemy carriers have found yet another hex adjacent to big airbases, a hex to hide under land-based CAP. They are now 1 hex northeast of Rabaul, and benefit from fighters from the base east of Rabaul also.

I see a battleship group northeast of Umboi Island. Could go to Lae, could go to Buna.

But I got SigInt that the 4th Infantry Division is loaded and headed to Lae. I had SigInt just yesterday that this unit was headed to Rabaul. This makes me think the the unit is not far away.

I decide to act as if there will be shipping at Lae today. My slow battleships are too slow to get to Lae and back to Milne Bay in one day, and Repulse had left to bombard Port Moresby, so no combat ships will go to Lae. I move lots of naval bombers to Horn Island, Portland Roads, Milne Bay, and Deboyne Island. Milne Bay has SBD's, the others have medium bombers. Torpedo bombers are at Horn. I will sweep Lae from Milne Bay, figuring that there will be some kind of CAP if ships arrive. Remember, Finschafen is mined, and I don't think that this minefield has been spotted yet. That could help makes things interesting.

My carriers continue south to Rockhampton. Loading for Lae continues. I'll start loading for Salamaua and Terapo tomorrow. Shipping is now being distributed for loading for Darwin, which will occur just after these other landings.

Lots of recently used APs disband in Australian ports for upgrades to APAs.

[jwolf]

Loading for Lae continues. I'll start loading for Salamaua and Terapo tomorrow. Shipping is now being distributed for loading for Darwin, which will occur just after these other landings.

Your organization must be top notch to arrange all these operations in such tight sequence. Kudos!

[apbarog]

20 Mar 43

I was correct about the enemy combat ships and enemy troops headed to Lae.

First, sub Thresher hits xAK Toho Maru near Saumlaki, west of Taberfane, with 2 torpedoes.

Southwest of Milne Bay, a small cruiser force finds I-174 and gets some good hits on hit. The task force is moving to Normanton.

Near Ambon, sub Saury spots CVL Ryuho and fires 4 torpedoes, but all miss. The carrier has 4 destroyers as escort. It looks like it is in transit to....somewhere. Direction is unknown.

Near Goodenough Island, by Milne Bay, we had an interesting subchaser versus sub encounter. 4 US subchasers pummelled I-34, forcing it to the surface, but then getting no gun hits on the sub. In return, the sub hits SC-738 with one gun hit, sinking the subchaser! The sub is in dire straits (quite literally), but it wasn't seen sinking, just surfacing. An interesting combination of events that I'd never seen before.

Near Kendari, sub Whale fires 4 torpedoes at a big xAP, but misses.

B-25s hit enemy troops leaving Kokoda. 3 Zeros are there, on some kind of very long range CAP. 24 P-40K are on escort, by accident really. They were supposed to escort possible naval strikes but the bombers on both missions were assigned the same altitude.

At Lae, enemy ships are spotted. First 16 SBDs, escorted by P40Ks and F4F-4s attack a cruisers task force. 6 Zeros are on CAP. About 6 planes are lost on both sides. 11 bombers get through, dropping 1000 pounders:

CA Takao, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CA Maya
DD Murasame, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Samidare

Then more SBDs arrive, with no CAP left.

CA Takao, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Samidare, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CA Maya
DD Murasame, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

After that, Hudsons, B-25s, and B-26s attack these ships, but no hits are achieved. I had 2 B-25 groups well-trained in low level bombing, but untrained in regular naval bombing, and I mistakenly set them at 6000 feet instead of 1000 feet. My error. I could have done more damage.

The one thing for sure is that Maya was untouched. My sweeps of Lae didn't occur, but weren't needed. There are other ships at Lae, and I'm almost positive that troops are being unloaded. My minefield at Finschafen was discovered, but not by these ships. A tiny minesweeper, moving with these task forces, found the field. There's enough mines for it to last a few days, probably.

Enemy carriers moved back to Kavieng. If the enemy is still unloading at Lae, I'll bet that the carriers move west to support these ships. Whenever I have something work on one turn, like these naval strikes, my opponent always compensates for it the next turn. Nothing ever works 2 days in a row. So I pull my bombers out of Milne Bay today and rely on subs and mines for today.

An enemy crusier force is spotted just northeast of Darwin. It could head to my island bases, or to Timoeka, or Merauke. I have an APD and an xAKL trying to sneak into Timoeka, and they were spotted just south of the base. They are carrying much needed supply. My guess is that the cruisers will charge in, after these ships, today. Gove and Wessel Island are building. Just a matter of time until I gain more control of this area. And I have plans for Darwin.

Loading for Lae continues. One damaged CVE leaves Milne Bay today. 2 remain. One is ordered to readiness mode to prepare to leave. The other will do the same in a couple of days, after fixing more damage.

My fleet carriers are about to rearm and refuel in Australia. Lae is next on the agenda. I'm loading for Terapo now also. Plus a couple of surprises in the near future.

[apbarog]

21 Mar 43

A small enemy minesweeper is clearing my mines at Finschhafen. It will take awhile, at this rate.

In the Solomons, I-21 fires on S-42 with 2 torpedoes and misses.

Near Umboi Island, sub Trout fires 4 torpedoes on a minelaying ship, and misses. At least 2 CMs in this task force, and they are now at Umboi, undoubtedly laying more mines.

At Timoeka, Bettys and Sallys bomb my troops. My APD ran in, dropped supply, and ran south at high speed. It left an xAKL at Timoeka unloading supply, and it's still there, and spotted. I am sure that the Bettys will return tomorrow and sink it, but I'm happy to have gotten some supply in. I may be able to build the airfield up to level 1 fairly soon, and then fly in as much stuff as I can.

Today I don't see the enemy carriers. I do see the cruiser task force that I bombed at Lae. It's now by Madang, and northbound. Unfortunately they drove over my subs near Umboi and weren't spotted.

I'm sending a big task force into Port Moresby today, carrying leftover parts of the units that are already there, and some supply. I'll LR CAP it from Milne Bay.

Other ships are loitering southwest of Milne Bay. Many ships are leaving Townsville and Rockhampton. Invasion targets are Terapo (northwest of Port Moresby) and Lae, as well as Salamaua, between Lae and Buna.

The most difficult part of my plans for the area is that I want to pick up a Marine division at Buna and drop it at Salamaua. Then pick up another Marine division at Buna and drop it at Finschhafen. This will be difficult without Buna's airfield being operational, and won't be easy even when it is. There's now over 100 fighters at Hansa Bay to the north, and I see 190 fighters now at Rabaul.

I hope to spring my invasion of Darwin very soon after these invasions, maybe catching more enemy interest back on the east side of New Guinea. Weave and punch, weave and punch. And keep the pressure up.

[apbarog]

22 Mar 43

Some interesting sub work today.

Pickerel is spotted by subchasers, but isn't hit.

More of my mines swept at Finschhafen.

Dutch sub KVIII spots damaged sub I-34 near Goodenough Island. I-34 was badly damaged in the epic encounter yesterday with subchasers, but apparently was not sunk yesterday. Today KVIII hits it with 2 torpedoes, undoubtedly sinking the enemy sub.

Near Cairns, I-24 spots 3 US cruisers and some destroyers, fires on CL Raleigh with 6 torpedoes ,and misses. I-24 is slightly damaged in return.

I thought that Bettys would take care of my lone xAKL unloading supply at Timoeka. They didn't get the chance. During the night, cruisers Myoko and Mikuma, with 5 destroyers, storm into the area and sink the little cargo ship. It was just about empty, having delivered important supply to the isolated dot base.

At Timoeka, this task force then finds sub Growler, damaging it some, enough for it to be ordered back to base.

The enemy cruisers then bombard my troops at Timoeka, and damage the nonexistant port some.

Then sub Pickerel, patrolling near Hansa Bay, spots a carrier task force, picks out Soryu, fires 6 torpedoes and gets 3 hits! The first hit causes a fuel storage explosion. The second and third are then duds. Somehow both sides have reason to feel lucky with this attack.

Near Ambon, famed sub Pompano, the sub that hit a big carrier with 4 working torpedoes, takes minor damage from destroyers.

Enemy carriers (minus Soryu), turn up northeast of Umboi Island. They launch on 4 tiny AMs patrolling at Oro Bay. Vals sink one minesweeper, Kates sink another.

I get one round of unloading at Port Moresby. I've brought the remaining fragments of the units already there. This task force immediately pulls up anchor and will leave still loaded. Too much risk with enemy carriers in range to the northeast.

The enemy then does the mandatory artillery attack at Port Moresby, since I was unloading. 80 Japanese casualties and 2 Allied vehicles lost.

Today I'm going to drop paras at both Nadzab and Wau. Both are adjacent to Lae, and both are inland bases. Nadzab appears to be minimally defended, but there has been a movement arrow from Lae. I'm dropping now to hopefully get there before the enemy moves from Lae. Wau appears to be empty. These drops could help isolate the area, further cutting off Port Moresby and troops inland. My Lae and Salamaua invasion task forces are getting together and moving toward Milne Bay. I also have a Terapo invasion arranged, and these ships move north also. 2 CVEs will cover Terapo directly. Other shipping is moving to Normanton to load for Darwin.

As for the carrier that I damaged today, it's possible that it autodisbanded in the size 1 port Hansa Bay. It was adjacent to it when hit. Hansa Bay has about 100 fighters though, and it would be very predictable for me to try to bomb the ship. If it autodisbanded, it may have automatically gone into Pier mode, like my CVEs did at Milne Bay. In that case, I have 3 days to hit this port. Today, I risk 3 subs moving directly into the port, looking for the burning carriers. We'll see about tomorrow. I figure that the base may be less defended after I drop my paras and my great number of ships are seen approaching.

[IdahoNYer]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

22 Mar 43

Some interesting sub work today.

Then sub Pickerel, patrolling near Hansa Bay, spots a carrier task force, picks out Soryu, fires 6 torpedoes and gets 3 hits! The first hit causes a fuel storage explosion. The second and third are then duds. Somehow both sides have reason to feel lucky with this attack.

Near Ambon, famed sub Pompano, the sub that hit a big carrier with 4 working torpedoes, takes minor damage from destroyers.

Wow! Your subs have been doing great lately! What's your magic?? Are you patrolling an area or setting your subs in a specific hex? I'm assuming your subs are penetrating a healthy screen of DDs right?

Keep up the great work!

[apbarog]

I think that attacking the carrier, this time, was just something that happened with the sheer number of subs I have in the area. It's bound to happen eventually. I have almost 10 subs darting into and out of this area. Not getting attacked by ASW, or screened by the escorts, or targeting the escorts instead, that's just luck. I use patrol zones. I try to keep one of the patrol points away from enemy bases so that the sub can become undetected. I don't worry about the length of the patrol segments. I actually prefer not making the segments exactly the maximum movement of the sub. I find that, for example, making each segment 4 hexes means that the sub is always seen in just the 3 hexes it has as patrol points. Better to show up anywhere along the routing, I think. With the number of subs, and the various patrol segments plotted, it would be impossible to track an individual sub. Overlapping areas and all.

As for sub leaders, I don't worry about assigning them. Since almost every sub mission ends with the sub disbanding in port and losing its leader, I don't feel that it is worth worrying about.

The enemy has a very limited area north of New Britain for carriers to be relevant. Combined with my opponent's love of hugging friendly CAP, I can get a lot of subs into a small area of concern. Good things have to happen, eventually.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

As for sub leaders, I don't worry about assigning them. Since almost every sub mission ends with the sub disbanding in port and losing its leader, I don't feel that it is worth worrying about.

??!![&:]
I have never noticed this, except for TF leaders as distinct from the ship commander. I always select the sub itself (rather than the TF it is in) when I assign a leader, and AFAIK the leaders don't change.

[apbarog]

I may be mistaken then. I always assumed that the leader would be lost, but you're right, that's a task force thing, not a ship thing. I'll definitely reconsider!

[apbarog]

23 Mar 43

sub Grenadier spots some type of transport force near Koepang, seeing an AMC but also a CL and DDs, as well as an E. 4 torpedoes miss the E-boat.

I ran 3 US subs into Hansa Bay, looking for the damaged carrier in the port. None found a carrier, but there were many ships in task forces. Pickerel, Blackfish, and Pollack all take some damage in the shallow waters but all will survive. Pollack got a shot at cruiser Atago, and got 2 duds.

I dropped paratroopers today, behind enemy lines. Before my paras dropped on Nadzab, north of Lae, bombers hit the enemy troops. Unfortunately, I found the 3rd Raiding Regiment defending. I was hoping for a construction unit. The enemy is using his paras in defensive spots. Others are at Kokodo. Neither place has an airfield. Odd to use them that way, in my opinion, with no chance of offensive operations. But this doesn't bode well for my inbound paras.

Not to mention that there is a heavy ranged CAP at Nadzab. Some bombs are dropped, but 12 B-26s are lost on their unescorted mission.

Many B-24s in Australia flew to Saumlaki, west of Taberfane, to hit the port. My goal is to stop fort building here. I may be landing here very soon. The bombers do some port damage.

Then part of the 1st Australian Para Battalion drops on Nadzab. Base combat values are slightly in favor of the enemy (29 to 19), but the adjusted values are a disaster for me (22 to 0). The enemy benefitted from terrain and leaders, but was penalized for preparation and experience. The Aussies benefitted from the shock attack but was hurt by leaders. Australian losses were heavy. I expect to lose the fragment in a counter-attack today. The rest of the unit, at Milne Bay, is being picked up by air and is headed back to Australia to rebuild.

The news at Wau, to the west of Lae, is better. There are no defenders when the 2nd USMC Parachute Battalion (at least a small part of it) drops there. The Marines capture the base. I wouldn't be surprised to see enemy paras counter-drop here today. Otherwise, with the terrain, the Marines will hold for awhile, as it's a tough walk in.

[jwolf]

Instead of Saumlaki, would it be possible to re-invade Taberfane?

[apbarog]

I can't really go back to Taberfane yet. Saumlaki is lightly defended, and I have a huge Indian para unit at Gove fully prepped for it. I'm prepping a new division on the West Coast for Taberfane, and it's about to be bought out, but it will be awhile until it's in the area needed.

[apbarog]

24 Mar 43

Sub Seadragon spots a cruiser task force near Taberfane, but misses with 4 torpedoes when firing on a destroyer.

At Wessel Island, an enemy cruiser task force appears, hoping for some transports or tankers seen in the area. But instead, the enemy finds a smaller cruiser task force. Cruiser Cornwall does very well, getting hits of multiple ships. Many Japanese torpedoes are fired, but most target destroyers. All miss. The fight is not conclusive, but damage is done to the enemy, and no other Allied ships are engaged.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Wessel Islands at 83,126, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Shell hits 3, on fire
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 1
CL Nagara
CL Isuzu, Shell hits 1
CL Kinu
DD Asashio
DD Hibiki
DD Hatsuyuki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Oboro
DD Akebono

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 3
CA Exeter
CL Trenton, Shell hits 1 (16 SYS)
DD Lardner
DD Farenholt, Shell hits 2, on fire (25 SYS/21-9 FLOT/1 ENG/0 FIRE)

Over 40 Bettys from Ambon bomb Allied troops in the jungle near Taberfane. Sallys join in.

The enemy carriers moved slightly south, and sent a big strike to attack the airfield at Wau. This is the base that my Marine paras just took, and it has a size 1 airfield. I knew that this would provoke a strong response. I am sure that the base was LR CAPPED also, so I didn't bother trying to bring in more troops or supply. Over 80 carrier bombers attacked, escorted by over 60 fighters, some land based. The Marines will hold as long as possible.

At the adjacent enemy base of Nadzab, another strong enemy response. I had dropped Aussie paras here but did terribly, and most troops are disrupted. Today, the enemy drops his own paras in, parts of 2 units actually. The enemy attack is 6 to 1 but the Aussies hold. I'll definitely lose here, but it's a nice distraction for what's about to happen in the area.

Now for the plan for today.

I'm hoping to spring a trap at Buna. Enemy carriers are 6 hexes to the north, adjacent to Madang. 2 cruiser task forces, and xAKs, are at the dot base adjacent. Troops may be landing there, or coming further south. Unknown at the moment. I do expect the carriers to stay in range of Buna. Buna's airfield has been slowly repairing. Today the runways are fully repaired, but the service areas are still 48 damaged. I have 0 air support here. All of the followup engineers and base support units have been loaded at waiting at Milne Bay. Today I'm moving them to Buna. I need them to unload, but I'm also using them as bait for the enemy carriers. I've moved 150 P-40s to Buna, and 50 P-39s. Other units will LR CAP. I want "KB" (or whatever it is) to strike my ships, but deplete themselves on my strong CAP. I need this to happen if I want to land at Terapo or Lae.

I'm setting up no naval bombers at all in the area. It's completely a fighter operation. I doubt that enemy ships would stay in range regardless. They just don't take that risk.

I really, really want to massacre those Zeros, Kates, Vals, and Judys. My ships going to Buna are 5 big xAPs with those support units, with 3 destroyers. Another slow battleship task force will cover. I have 388 mines at Buna. And a sub in every hex between Buna and Umboi Island.

My carriers continue to escort the Terapo invasion shipping, and will move just one hex northeast today, waiting to see what happens today at Buna. My Lae invasion shipping moves to Milne Bay. Multiple battleship task forces move into Milne Bay. So do all those AKEs that I moved out of Milne Bay. I have just one CVE left in port at Milne Bay, and it will be there just one more day.

Many heavy bombers will fly from Australia to hit Hansa Bay. There's about 100 fighters there. The base could get ranged CAP from the carriers, depending on where they go. That's ok, maybe more KB fighters will be depleted.

2 B-17 groups will hit Finschhafen's airfield, hopefully preceded by P-38 sweeps.

At Normanton, an infantry division starts loading for Darwin. The Brit division that is also going is already loaded and is northbound on the eastern coast of Australia.

The other big news is that 70 C-47s will drop a big Indian para unit on Saumlaki, west of Taberfane, today. I do hope to find a small unit there. The fight on Saumlaki will help as Darwin is invaded.

[jwolf]

How exactly will Saumlaki help with Darwin? As a distraction?

[apbarog]

Partly a distraction. I do want to hold it though. An enemy airfield there threatens anything going into or out of Darwin, even if I control Darwin. The Indian unit I'm using is a big para unit. It would take a prepped division to defeat it. If I can get the whole thing into Saumlaki.

It's an objective, but one that is subordinate to taking Darwin. I starting prepping this unit long ago, hoping to combine it with my moves on Taberfane and Dobo, but I couldn't build Gove fast enough to send the paras from there.

[apbarog]

23 Mar 43 - First Glance

I didn't receive a turn today, but I did receive the replay. Here's the highlights:

Near Manus, sub Trigger spots a big task force, with battleships Hyuga, Ise, Musashi, and Kongo, cruiser Ashigara, CS Chitose, and 7 destroyers. I suspect carriers are with it, but I can't be sure. Trigger then spots cruisers Tone and Agano, and 2 destroyers, in the same hex.

Finschhafen is swept by P-38s. No CAP.

12 PB4Y-1 Liberators bomb the airfield at Katherine, doing moderate damage. No planes there.

B-17s bomb Finschhafen's airfield, doing moderate damage.

Hansa Bay is hit by every other heavy bomber in the region. I don't know the totals, but bomber losses are heavy. The CAP is about 100 enemy fighters, but in most attack runs, most of the Zeros showed up after the bombers had dropped. Bombing results are pretty good, I think. I will be interested to see my losses and how many planes were destroyed on the ground. There were some.

I think I did valuable damage to the airfield and fighter units. I would consider this a success even if I lost a bunch of bombers. This could make a landing at Lae a bit easier.

At Nadzab, where I dropped an Aussie para unit 2 days ago, the enemy again attacked, got 3 to 1 odds, and killes a couple of squads. The paras have no supply and were wiped out by attrition.

And then I dropped on Saumlaki. As we've seen elsewhere recently, there were more enemy troops there than what my recon was showing.


Ground combat at Saumlaki (78,117)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 649 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 55

Defending force 2052 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 62

Allied adjusted assault: 1

Japanese adjusted defense: 25

Allied assault odds: 1 to 25 (fort level 1)

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

Allied ground losses:
410 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
77th LRP Bde /1

Defending units:
83rd Naval Guard Unit
34th Const C

I expected better. I used about 70 C-47s. The paras leader was excellent, and the unit had very high experience, 80 I think. It was fully prepped for the target.

Anyhow, chalk up another failed para attempt. The enemy has done a good job getting at least some troops to where they are needed and did so quickly. The rest of the Indian para unit will remain at Gove and defend and rebuild. If this happened as the Japanese player, it would be more concerning. For the Allies, this is just a small blip that will be forgotten in a week.

I am keeping up the pressure at various spots.

A convoy is headed to Aurorae, near Tabiteuea, loaded with a big air support unit. The airfield is a size 1 and will grow to a 2 soon. Then I own the air in the area. That whole area has been quiet for quite awhile. Once I establish air there, it's back to Tabieuea! Again! This time it's for real!

[jwolf]

Once I establish air there, it's back to Tabieuea! Again! This time it's for real!

Heh. This time you really mean it. [:D]

[apbarog]

Tabiteuea is just a side-show in my plans though. I'll take a close look at the turn when I get it, but I think that the Terapo ships will move in close with the next turn, and invade in 2 turns, supported by all Allied carriers. Lae will wait a few days, at least, and may occur without carrier support. From Terapo, the US carriers could sprint past Horn Island, probably be unseen for a day or two, and then approach Darwin with invasion forces. That's what I'm looking at now.

[jwolf]

From Terapo, the US carriers could sprint past Horn Island, probably be unseen for a day or two, and then approach Darwin

This seems optimistic to me. And I admit to being nervous about the Lae invasion without your carriers. [X(] But I hope it works!

[apbarog]

True, I'm probably being too optimistic. Regardless, we'll may head that way next, seen or unseen.