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

[Lokasenna]

The turn is returned. Back to the top of the subforum!

I'm most curious to see what my unload rates were. Yes, I'm actually going to try to quantify the bonus from the HQm/AGC combo. Pertinent info for future landings, if I can glean any.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The turn is returned. Back to the top of the subforum!

I'm most curious to see what my unload rates were. Yes, I'm actually going to try to quantify the bonus from the HQm/AGC combo. Pertinent info for future landings, if I can glean any.

I am not sure if it increases the unload rates - I always thought of the Amphib Force/AGC helping reduce losses during embarkment/debarkment of the landing craft. No boat collisions and such.

It will be hard to sort out the unload rate question if there are Amphibious Truk and similar landing assistance units.

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

The turn is returned. Back to the top of the subforum!

I'm most curious to see what my unload rates were. Yes, I'm actually going to try to quantify the bonus from the HQm/AGC combo. Pertinent info for future landings, if I can glean any.

I am not sure if it increases the unload rates - I always thought of the Amphib Force/AGC helping reduce losses during embarkment/debarkment of the landing craft. No boat collisions and such.

It will be hard to sort out the unload rate question if there are Amphibious Truk and similar landing assistance units.

It definitely increases the unload rate, as stated in these threads I looked up a few weeks ago:
tm.asp?m=3402290&mpage=1&key=� leading to
tm.asp?m=3260766&mpage=1&key=agc%EF%BF%BD leading to
tm.asp?m=2799794&mpage=1&key=agc%EF%BF%BD

Also, tm.asp?m=3152593&mpage=1&key=� with the following:

quoting michaelm:
"The Amphib HQ bonus applies to the hex. However the TF with the AGC will get an additional bonus for itself, even if it isn't carrying an Amphib HQ (AGC has the command and control ability. However, loading a non-amphHq will be constrained by normal loading limits)."

so, the ForceHQ applies to the whole hex - all TFs (unloading bonus) and on-land LCUs (combat bonus).
the AGC gives an unload bonus to its TF only.

more from michaelm:
"An Amphib HQ present in the TF increases the Amphibious unloading rate.
It is increased more if the Amphib HQ is on board an AGC.

If an AGC is present without a HQ, then the bonus is smaller.

Preparing the AmphibHQ for the target further increases the unloading rate."

Also, I have some basic data. Some of the numbers are insane. Will post shortly. I could look for amphibious truck stuff, but the only naval support I brought was in the British BFs. 75 of that made it ashore - that's not nothing, but it's also not huge. So far as I know, none of the other units have landing parties/etc.

Edit: Also, TFs unload in order of number - lowest to highest. The BFs were in TF 400. That is after 7 TFs (2 of which didn't unload except for 1 point of supply each per ship - presumably because no Ops remaining).

[Lokasenna]

I was going to post as text for search purposes, but too much work to use the 'code' tag and get the spacing correct. Easier to just post a screenshot of the spreadsheet.

Ignore the 3/13 and 3/14 instead of 8/13 and 8/14 error here... nothing to see, move along.



Things worth noting:
--Just 1 "turn" of unloading (phase - PM only)
--The 2 big TFs, 367 and 370, unloaded prior to TF 400 with the naval support.
--Some of the averages are a bit guesswork, but I did look at the individual load levels for the odd-ship TFs in some cases (those with just 1 AK and the rest xAPs, for example).
--The bonus seems variable.

Stated APA/AKA/LSD/LSV/LSI(L) unload rate is 3000 points per ship per turn. Average for TF 367 was just 2315 per ship (all APA), although some of that was supply. Maybe supply unloads more slowly. I wrote in the spreadsheet that 2300 was huge, but I was remembering the AP/AK unload rate: 600.

But let's move down to the xAPs. TF 404 had an AK unload 1811 points, and the full average for the TF was just under 818 per ship. The xAP average was 718.4 - almost 3 times the stated rate of 250 points per ship. The HQm/AGC(/potentially 75 naval support on the beach) increased the unloading rate past the point of a regular military AP/AK. I didn't get details on TF 402's AK, but the effect looks similar. Likewise for TF 401.

For TF 374 I wrote that the AKA is pulling the average down because it didn't unload as much as the LSDs, from checking the 2 saves.


So.... mixed results. Perhaps there's a check, and perhaps it's random(-ish)? Perhaps the HQm/AGC only provides a bonus to the civilian ships? I couldn't find anything in the manual about naval support assisting with unloading over a hostile beach. Page 127-8 is the relevant section. Still, the xAPs definitely unloaded far faster than their regular rate. Even the TF 400 itself, which was just xAPs and had the naval support on it (so presumably wasn't benefiting itself?), unloaded 463.53 points per ship in a single unloading phase. That's almost double the stated unload amount of 250 for xAPs.

HQm with 100% prep, and obviously all other units with 100% prep.

[Lokasenna]

Remember how Southern Army is at Lautem?

If my opponent has any Independent air units anywhere on the map at a base that falls under the Southern Army umbrella, when they take replacements and need to pull from the HQ of the base that they're at, it's going to suck the supply out of Lautem. I hope he has a lot of them sitting around, eating planes.

[BBfanboy]

Very interesting spreadsheet. I think if you put in a couple of separate columns to compare equipment separate from supply it might clarify things. Some big pieces of equipment use up more than one unload cycle of ops points. e.g - radars. The AA units might have radars? And for units that are all "non-combat troops", the troops do not unload until the equipment that they use unloads. Tank crews stay with their tank, gunners with their gun, etc.

I'm not talking about an item by item line on the equipment, but looking at individual ships shows the equipment/supply tonnage left on board so that figure should be easy to extract.

The Ops thought is worth checking- the ships will show ops points used. Could they have refuelled from an AO when they got to the target? Engaged enemy guns?

It almost looks like the Amphib. Force HQ took all the landing boats in the fleet and allocated them to the infantry units first, leaving the AA with nothing to work with?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

Very interesting spreadsheet. I think if you put in a couple of separate columns to compare equipment separate from supply it might clarify things. Some big pieces of equipment use up more than one unload cycle of ops points. e.g - radars. The AA units might have radars? And for units that are all "non-combat troops", the troops do not unload until the equipment that they use unloads. Tank crews stay with their tank, gunners with their gun, etc.

I'm not talking about an item by item line on the equipment, but looking at individual ships shows the equipment/supply tonnage left on board so that figure should be easy to extract.

The Ops thought is worth checking- the ships will show ops points used. Could they have refuelled from an AO when they got to the target? Engaged enemy guns?

It almost looks like the Amphib. Force HQ took all the landing boats in the fleet and allocated them to the infantry units first, leaving the AA with nothing to work with?

Right, I didn't get too gritty at first because I wanted to see about things, and obviously there is going to be a "remainder" in terms of unloading capability left if large devices don't get unloaded.

I did what you're suggesting for the odd-man-out ships, like the AK in with the xAPs and the APDs, but via comments because I didn't want to clutter the sheet (those red triangles). Comment is like: "8/13 180 = 102t+0c+26s
8/14 ? = 0t+0c+15s"

It gets a little funny for "cross-loaded" equipment/squads - I'm not sure whether the capacity used or the actual size/load of the device is what's used for the unloading. That APD comment example shows this: its full capacity of 180 (troops only) was used on 102 troops and 26 supply, so the 26 supply actually takes up 78 space (an even *3), and what unloaded was then 102 troops and 11 supply for a total "load cost" in that instance of 135. But I don't know if the APD was limited to 113 unload or 135. But that's really more gritty than I want to get. I just want to know how big the bonus is for unloading, in rough terms, and how it works - is it 100% reliable, or random? It looks pretty reliable for xAP types in this single day of data, but didn't appear to do anything for the APAs.


It's worth noting that the first things ashore for the British aviation support unit I sent were the radars, though. Also the base forces unloaded the radars. The AA units - I'm not sure why they didn't unload, nor the big xAK supply TF, except perhaps they were out of Ops from running to the beaches at full speed (6 hexes out and their max speed is 6)? They weren't the only TFs doing that, but maybe they had to refuel? I haven't dug into that yet. It should be fine, though - the AA units are on all LST's, which should unload completely in a single phase, so the AA will be present and in combat mode for any air strikes on the coming day. That's most of what we brought them for.

The Tank Brigade and 25th USA division both unloaded completely. The 36th Indian isn't far from unloaded.

[Lokasenna]

Operation Gibbet - August 14, 1944

Alright, lots of thoughts. Taking my time since it's been 2 weeks since I sent this turn off, so I need to regain my bearings. I've been thinking about this for such a long time, in the abstract, that I'm just looking at details now. The broad strokes are already accomplished.

Initial thought: I should've just gone straight for Malaysia. Yes, another day of detection and preparation for him, and while it's possible there will be a response in strength on this coming day, I'm doubting it. I could've landed on the coast of Malaysia and just neutralized Sabang with bombers/naval bombardments, and then landed there after. Oh well, this is what I've got to work with now.

Chumphon, rail lines, and Japanese reinforcements from the north: 2 units there, with 1 movement dot. Just 2500 troops and small numbers of guns/vehicles, though. Plus, the rail is already cut. Any reinforcements for the south are going to have to reestablish the rail line first. I might have a couple of weeks to enact further disruption. This is going to largely be contingent upon my ability to keep the airfield open at Sabang. I'm optimistic about that, but not completely sure. I didn't bring a lot of dedicated engineer units for this one.

The transport air fleet is going to be working around the clock for the next few weeks between here and Thailand. On the plus side, within a few weeks I will be able to fly planes to Cocos, then Sinabang, allowing me to rapidly shift my airpower from the Darwin area if I need to. Transports are the big thing right now: I have 100+ sitting idle in the Timor-Sorong area, and need at least 50 more in the Rangoon area.

[Lokasenna]

Japanese response - SIGINT hits

On the 13th, Helen kamikazes flew from either Georgetown (AF 4) or Taiping (AF 3). Per SIGINT, he has an artillery unit at Taiping but the only other hit I got on a unit there is now at Udon Thani, so I don't know if anything else is there.

Given my opponent's patterns, I expect he will try a full frontal hammer blow, or a succession of naval strikes combined with repeated LBA. SIGINT for today offers some boons:

3/10th Exped.Force is loaded on a Japanese xAK moving to Tandjoengbalai.
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Manila (79,77). (1)
Radio transmissions detected at Bataan (78,77).
Radio transmissions detected at Babeldaob (90,97).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Soerabaja (56,104). (2)
68th Division is located at Padang(44,85).
6th JAAF Base Force is located at Palembang(48,91).
12th JAAF AF Coy is located at Bengkalis(48,82). (3)
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Etorofu (128,52). (4)
Radio transmissions detected at Etorofu (128,52).

My conjectures about all of that:
1) The larger KB that he used recently off Sorong is probably homebased at Manila. Heavy radio transmissions can mean anything, but typically it means either lots of air unit movements (possible but less likely given the amount of aircraft he has at the very front or just behind) or lots of ship/TF movements (a bit more likely, and the timing would be right for the larger KB).

1a) It's possible Manila is just a staging area for an operational reserve, which could be borne out by the 10th Exped. Force being bound for that base SE of Medan.

1b) The radio transmissions at Bataan and Babeldaob are interesting, especially Bataan. Bataan is built to port 2(1) and AF 6(6), which is a bit unorthodox, right?

2) The smaller KB, the 4-CV force he tried to raid Rangoon with, is possibly based out of Soerabaja, although recent-ish recon does not necessarily bear that out. So I'm not entirely sure what the heavy radio at Soerabaja means. Perhaps just planes transferring to Singapore, where there are now several hundred planes.

2a) It's possible that the smaller KB was actually at Manila also. He may have decided that I was getting ready for something else in the Pacific with the move on Sorong, and wanted to respond there. He seems to be wary of a move north towards the Marianas from New Guinea. I would be, if I were him.

3) I already knew the 68th Division was at Padang. From memory, it's a smaller one, similar to the 70th in TOE. Weak - minimal embedded artillery and armor, small or nonexistent combat/regular engineer presence. It's nice to know he has at least some modicum of air support at Bengkalis, but it's only AF 1(2) so I suspect it's for ASW only. Medan is the only other airfield on Sumatra that can cause me problems.

4) This is the really interesting bit for the medium term. Is this a reaction to the continued harassment by my subs, or was he keeping a bunch of reserve stuff up here in case I moved on the Kuriles? All of his CVs/CVLs are accounted for in the SRA. Only 2 CVEs remain, and I suspect they are escorting TK convoys from Singapore. For BBs, the 4 Kongos were at Sorong a few days ago. Ise and another were at Singapore not so long ago. That leaves Musashi and just 2 others. Were they really up at Etorofu? Doubtful, but possible. For CA/CL types, most of his remaining were spotted recently in the SRA or near there. The only exceptions are the later Aganos - I haven't seen any of them. Either they're serving as KB/Musashi escorts, or they could've been at Etorofu. I haven't been tracking DDs much... so maybe it was an aerial move. Still, it's interesting. I can't help but interpret this SIGINT hit as a shift in his defensive posture since nothing is happening up there.


This was my best SIGINT day in a very long time. Most of them have been full of garbage, like Yokosuka naval fortress being located at Yokohama/Yokosuka. Thanks Felix, great intel there.

[Lokasenna]

Gibbet - Day 2 options

The biggest question, and I knew this after being detected 2 days out, is whether or not I can land at Sibolga without issues on the coming day. I know that there are no CVs coming from Singapore, but they could be coming from southern Sumatra or Batavia. If so, I would need to prepare for a battle.

Since I need to protect Sabang for another day from the air, I'm leaning towards simply landing my Sibolga-prepped forces at Sabang, enabling me to concentrate my CVs while I await the arrival of my CVEs from the southwest - however, they won't arrive for another 5 days, and I may rather just land at Sabang and march down the coast. It's a long march, but not that long - the dirt road goes from north to south at least, and I could be at Medan within 10 days if I continue to roll him up. A bonus there is that a lot of my forces for Sibolga were tanks, and the major road runs from Sabang all the way past Medan. I could simply march to Sibolga later - it would be nice to cut off the units at Sabang and Medan to destroy them more quickly, but not necessary. With the ARM units, once I get him pushed back to Medan there's a good chance I could cut SW and then SE, and loop around behind him to ensure destruction rather than having him continue to retreat south.

So I suppose we're hoping that Sabang falls in a single day (we are risking it - one of the INF divisions is in Reserve to pursue, should the base fall) so that we can land our Sibolga-prepped and other forces on the 15th. We'll likely need the full strength of our CVs, plus any and all LBA we can transfer in, at that time.

I'll lay mines in the approach hexes on the 15th as well.

[Lokasenna]

Finally got the next turn back. Just from Tracker alerts it's a lot of good (captured Sabang and Cam Ranh Bay, shot down a lot of KB-type planes), some bad (lost the 2 CVEs covering Sabang in-hex). Lost 2 CVEs, 2 DDs, 1 DE, 3 xAK, and 3 xAP all at Sabang, and looks like 97 VPs from lost LCU devices (probably there)... but still +143 VPs on the day and +488 overall. I think that means about 325-350 IJ planes shot down (I lost 64).

But hopefully this means the game is back on a regular pace again for a while.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Finally got the next turn back. Just from Tracker alerts it's a lot of good (captured Sabang and Cam Ranh Bay, shot down a lot of KB-type planes), some bad (lost the 2 CVEs covering Sabang in-hex). Lost 2 CVEs, 2 DDs, 1 DE, 3 xAK, and 3 xAP all at Sabang, and looks like 97 VPs from lost LCU devices (probably there)... but still +143 VPs on the day and +488 overall. I think that means about 325-350 IJ planes shot down (I lost 64).

But hopefully this means the game is back on a regular pace again for a while.

You captured CRB? Huh?

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Finally got the next turn back. Just from Tracker alerts it's a lot of good (captured Sabang and Cam Ranh Bay, shot down a lot of KB-type planes), some bad (lost the 2 CVEs covering Sabang in-hex). Lost 2 CVEs, 2 DDs, 1 DE, 3 xAK, and 3 xAP all at Sabang, and looks like 97 VPs from lost LCU devices (probably there)... but still +143 VPs on the day and +488 overall. I think that means about 325-350 IJ planes shot down (I lost 64).

But hopefully this means the game is back on a regular pace again for a while.

You captured CRB? Huh?

I sure did [:D]. Paratroopers from Shangri-La. It failed yesterday, just barely, and today he flew 80 IJAAF 2E bombers against the guys but I flew in more. A worthy distraction from bombing the troops at Sabang with those bombers, but he wasn't able to muster much in the way of strikes against Sabang anyway (other than the big KB strike).


I read the wrong columns for LCU VPs. He lost 97, I lost 21. The ships he sunk were empty of all but maybe some supply.

[Bullwinkle58]

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

ORIGINAL: Bullwinkle58

ORIGINAL: Lokasenna

Finally got the next turn back. Just from Tracker alerts it's a lot of good (captured Sabang and Cam Ranh Bay, shot down a lot of KB-type planes), some bad (lost the 2 CVEs covering Sabang in-hex). Lost 2 CVEs, 2 DDs, 1 DE, 3 xAK, and 3 xAP all at Sabang, and looks like 97 VPs from lost LCU devices (probably there)... but still +143 VPs on the day and +488 overall. I think that means about 325-350 IJ planes shot down (I lost 64).

But hopefully this means the game is back on a regular pace again for a while.

You captured CRB? Huh?

I sure did [:D]. Paratroopers from Shangri-La. It failed yesterday, just barely, and today he flew 80 IJAAF 2E bombers against the guys but I flew in more. A worthy distraction from bombing the troops at Sabang with those bombers, but he wasn't able to muster much in the way of strikes against Sabang anyway (other than the big KB strike).


I read the wrong columns for LCU VPs. He lost 97, I lost 21. The ships he sunk were empty of all but maybe some supply.

Did you bag some supply at CRB?

[Lokasenna]

I didn't even check, but I doubt it. It would depend on how he had things set up... the base can be big enough for nothing to spoil, but he only had the static fortress there and nothing else. He throws everything to the front, which works until it doesn't. All I needed was an airfield in range, and 3-4 months of walking through the jungle.

[Lokasenna]

A slide from my master class - How To Notice Sh*t in the Replay: 101.

If you really want to, wait for the combat report to come up (if there's any night action) and scroll around the map. You can peek around the edges of the combat report text window and it will show you a snapshot of what's going on in terms of vision anywhere on the map at that point in the replay.

[Lokasenna]

Slide 2 in the master class, which was originally just going to have one slide for now but I happened upon this one in the replay also. This is useful information to gather when deciding which bases to bomb, for example.

[Lokasenna]

Dare I say... slide 3? The bit I'm referring to is my note in the screenshot about reliable numbers for strike aircraft that were shot down by CAP prior to attacking. This does not apply to fighters as they will turn away and attempt to RTB without being destroyed - I've never noticed this happen for bombers that were escorted (although that's not to say that it can't happen).


Part of defending Operation Gibbet. KB moved 31 (or more) hexes in 2 days, presumably from Manila due to the radio transmissions.

Someday in the next few months I will seek out a battle with KB directly. Even with weakened CAP, this strike didn't hurt very much. It will only get better for the next one, as his pilots continue to degrade while mine "level up." Butch O'Hare is at 95 Exp... 6 CV pilots are at 90 or higher in total. 44 more are between 85-89. Countless others 75+. Average XP of fighter units:

Hornet - 83
Enterprise - 82
Yorktown - 81
Essex - 81
VF-37 (CV Victorious, 54 planes) - 78
Cowpens - 76

...you get the idea



Gory and long combat report for it:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Sabang at 44,70

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 156 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 51 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 13
A6M5b Zero x 59
B6N2 Jill x 55
B7A2 Grace x 60
D4Y3 Judy x 106

Allied aircraft
Hellcat I x 15
FM-2 Wildcat x 18
F4U-1A Corsair x 17
F6F-3 Hellcat x 80

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 7 destroyed
B6N2 Jill: 12 destroyed, 5 damaged
B6N2 Jill: 3 destroyed by flak
B7A2 Grace: 8 destroyed, 11 damaged
B7A2 Grace: 2 destroyed by flak
D4Y3 Judy: 24 destroyed, 17 damaged
D4Y3 Judy: 6 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Hellcat I: 3 destroyed
FM-2 Wildcat: 2 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVE Rudyerd Bay, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
DE Cauvery
CVE Begum, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
APD Barr
APA Calvert, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Cabarita
DD McKee
CA Baltimore
DD Worden, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
DD Hickox
DD McNair
DD Mertz
DE Steele, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
LSI(L) Dunedin Star
xAP Koolinda
DD The Sullivans
xAK Fort Dearborn
xAK Fort St Croix, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAP Henry Dearborn
DD John Rodgers
DD Evans, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CLAA San Juan, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DE Thomason
xAK Fort Lajoie, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Stembel
xAP Glenbank
DD Saufley
xAK Nemiskan Park, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAP George Vancouver, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Baron Cawdor, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
1 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
13 x B7A2 Grace launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x B7A2 Grace launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
10 x B7A2 Grace launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
9 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x B7A2 Grace launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
5 x B6N2 Jill launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-22 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(16 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
VF-24 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(16 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 11 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
VF-8 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 25 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 19000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VF-23 with F6F-3 Hellcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 14 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 30000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
VF-31 with F6F-3 Hellcat (14 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
14 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 15000.
Raid is overhead
No.1839 Sqn FAA with Hellcat I (0 airborne, 3 on standby, 3 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
No.1844 Sqn FAA with Hellcat I (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 3 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
VC(F)-77 with FM-2 Wildcat (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 7 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
VMF-114 with F4U-1A Corsair (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 7 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes

Ammo storage explosion on CVE Begum
Magazine explodes on DE Steele
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Fort Lajoie
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Fort St Croix
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Nemiskan Park
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Worden

[Lokasenna]

Perhaps he's run out of Jills? Either that, or he is downgrading to Kates then re-upgrading to Jills in order to replenish more than 12 planes at once and either forgot or was unable to get this unit back up to Jills "in time."

I don't have a note for when (or if) I last saw this unit in a combat report.

[Lokasenna]

Operation Hangman - August 15, 1944

The supplement to Gibbet. This one, and its timing, just kind of materialized out of nowhere. I started the march through the jungle in the hopes that the timing would line up, but I couldn't be certain. Then there was the sudden ability to take Chiang Mai and conduct paradrops from there (why he hasn't bombed it again to knock it out of action is beyond me - even if he didn't kill 100 transport planes again).

I hope to be able to fly TR planes from Exmouth to Cocos to Sabang soon. That will make things much easier for me - the units present are stretched very thin at the moment. Unfortunately, Exmouth to Cocos is 31 hexes, which C-47s and Dakotas can't make (they go 30). I may need to air transport them. At least I'll be able to shuttle bombers through, which will alleviate things somewhat if I am able to spare them to do some supply transport to Indochina, which right now I am running with a few transport units from Rangoon and Toungoo to Vinh. I could use more.

Morning Air attack on 111th Chindit Brigade, at 64,72 (Cam Ranh Bay)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 20
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 61

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
23 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 5000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
33 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 5000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
5 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 5000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Morning Air attack on 111th Chindit Brigade, at 64,72 (Cam Ranh Bay)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 19

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 5000 feet *
Ground Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb

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Ground combat at Cam Ranh Bay (64,72)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 385 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 13

Defending force 96 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 14

Japanese adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Cam Ranh Bay !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
111th Chindit Bde /7

Defending units:
Cam Ranh Fortress

2 xAKs (worth 2 VP each) were reported to be cancelled at CRB. I will have to check the scenario in a dummy game to see if there was more.



After doing all that work in the image typing, it occurs to me that I had previously concluded he will probably just try to use those 2 tank regiments now at Nakhon to reconquer this area. That will work for Nakhon but I will fly in Indian squads and some supply if I can, and engineers if I can lay some golden eggs, to try to prevent that from happening at Udon and Pakse at the least. I'll focus on Pakse if I have to pick one due to terrain.