Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

9 Oct 42

I guess my limited night bombing response called for a response to the response. A squadron of Bettys from Rabaul bombed Lunga at night. They came in fragmented, in 3 small groups. Minor damage was done to the airfield, all of which was repaired by the end of the day. And 7 Bettys flying at 6000 feet were downed by flak. I have Lunga well protected with AA units. I doubt that the Bettys will return. I do have a P-70 unit at Pearl Harbor, my first dedicated night fighter unit. If the night bombing is going to continue, I'll have to get them to the front. I order them to start flying island to island to eventually get to Lunga.

3 enemy cruisers and destroyers bombarded Australian troops at Portland Roads. Damage was light. This task force had engaged at Port Moresby and moved up near Horn Island. They were low on ammo.

Cruiser Sendai and 6 destroyers are spotted near Victoria Point, destination and direction unknown.

Sian was bombed heavily, as usual. A group of 42 Tojos escorted one raid.

OPilot noted that I didn't have fighters at Chungking, so heavy industry was bombed. About 15 was destroyed. Fighters fly back in from Burma. It's a bit of a catch-22. I have to burn supply to try to save supply. Also, I'm noticing a slow process of enemy units being pulled from the front, one at a time, and moving to the southwest towards Canton. I've stopped the enemy offensive near Sian, for now. I'm still thinking that something is developing in the Canton area. I got SigInt today that the 2nd RF Gun unit is at Hong Kong. I need to do some digging to see if I can determine where I've spotted this unit before. If it just landed at Hong Kong, China is being reinforced and something is up.

The enemy cruiser force that bombarded Portland Roads retreated back towards Horn Island, and is one hex southwest of Horn, as if it is heading towards Darwin. A squadron of drop tank equipped SB2Us attack.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Horn Island at 90,129

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 16

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 damaged
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko
CA Haguro, Bomb hits 1, on fire

12 B-17s bombed Port Moresby's damaged airfield. 7 Zeros were on LRCAP from Buna. Bad weather prevented meaningful damage.

The Australian army reconquers Portland Roads.

Ground combat at Portland Roads (91,132)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13681 troops, 253 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 302

Defending force 9236 troops, 61 guns, 10 vehicles, Assault Value = 107

Allied adjusted assault: 411

Japanese adjusted defense: 131

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Portland Roads !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
1512 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 47 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 23 (18 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (9 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
268 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Australian Brigade
6th Australian Brigade
8th Cav Recce Regiment
2nd Australian Brigade
21st Fld RAA Regiment
70th Coast AA Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
Aus II Corps
22nd Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th/A Division
4th/B Division
12th Naval Construction Battalion
7th Naval Construction Battalion
48th JNAF AF Unit

With the enemy now without a base, the Aussies will rest a bit and bombard with artillery and slowly eliminate the stranded enemy. I'm very happy with this result. The right number of troops were sent up the long trail to Portland Roads. Losses were incurred, but almost all were disablements, and these units are restricted, so they'll have plenty of time to recover. The reconquest took just 3 days. I estimate that about half of the enemy's 4th Infantry Division is now stuck at Portland Roads.

The Wake invasion armada approaches. 3 US subchasers were spotted but nothing else. I wonder what OPilot thinks he is seeing.

[EDIT: Missed something: PBY attack at 16 hexes from Australia]

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kiriwina Island at 103,131

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 7 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Yamahagi Maru, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk [was carrying fuel]
PB Kaikei Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PBY-5 Catalina launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

[Lowpe]

If you have AA present, I wouldn't sweat the Bettys on night attacks, since that is about the worst possible thing Japan could be doing with that precious resource at this point in the game.

Where they might do some damage is at bases with no AA, or where you might have important ships in port.

A good use for those (very early) night fighters, would be LRCAP from close by over bases likely to be naval bombarded, and attempt to shoot down the spotter planes. I am not 100% sure it can be done, but it would be a good to find out. Just base them where they won't be bombarded.

You have the measure of your opponent, and I do not. But this early, I always have a division 100% prepped for a counter invasion of Wake. He might still have the Wake CD unit there, as it spawns there and is difficult to move those 20cm guns, which is Japan's nastiest CD unit to date. Also, Wake or Midway are some invasions that are fairly easy to predict and offer Japan one of their best opportunities to spring an ambush (when you cannot fly naval search from pbys).

Good luck!

[apbarog]

It is interesting that just a week or so ago I got SigInt about that Wake CD unit, saying that is was on an xAKL and at Wake. Since I think that it spawns at Wake, I took that to mean that it was being picked up and going elsewhere.

[apbarog]

10 Oct 42

Oscars swept Chittagong and bombers hit the troops, which is different. Could be to disrupt units recovering behind the front. Could be to identify what troops are there.

The enemy retreated back to Cox's Bazar. Allied troops are following.

Sian was bombed heavily, but heavy industry was also hit for the first time. It's all damaged now, and since I don't expect to hold Sian forever, I'm not concerned. I did move 2 P-40 squadrons to a base 2 hexes away, and will LRCAP.

28 B-17s hit Port Moresby's airfield and found about 10 Zeros on LRCAP from Buna. 2 Fortresses were lost and 1 Babs was destroyed on the ground. No fighters or bombers based at Port Moresby now.

Here's the opening naval bombardment at Wake:

Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

2 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Indianapolis
CA Portland
DD Blue
DD Bagley

Japanese ground losses:
250 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2
Port hits 1

CA Indianapolis firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
Wake Coastal Gun Battalion firing at CA Indianapolis
CA Portland firing at Wake Coastal Gun Battalion
DD Blue firing at Wake Island
DD Bagley firing at Wake Island

The defense appears weak and will be weaker after 4 slow US battleships bombard tonight.

Australian troops rested at Portland Roads while the artillery caused another 100 casualties to the stranded 12,000 or so enemy troops there. Deliberate attack today.

The story for today will be Wake Island. This isn't the typical 1942 Allied invasion using every carrier in the fleet. Just 2 CVs and 2 CVEs here. I hope to get in and get out immediately, and make Wake another Kusaie Island for OPilot to deal with. It's brilliant if it goes as planned. Not so much if KB rushes from Truk and is there today. We'll see.

[Macclan5]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

If you have AA present, I wouldn't sweat the Bettys on night attacks, since that is about the worst possible thing Japan could be doing with that precious resource at this point in the game.

Curious advice [:)]

Only because fighter coverage in Australia in 1942 is scarce although Apbraog has elements of II and V USAAF there as I recall.

I would assume you says this because of Operational Losses ?

Night trained Betty's can be a significant pain in my experience albeit (i) more in Naval Attack (ii) before the Allied carriers get any quality Night Fighters to CAP and (iii) particularly when landing / taking new bases before adequate Night Fighters are able to fly a LRCAP as well... i.e. in this era transport ships that may be purposed to land on Lae or some such place.

[apbarog]

11 Oct 42

Snapper hit PB Seikai Maru near Kiriwina Island. It was escorting a YO that was hit with a dud last week. And Seikai Maru was also hit with 2 duds 3 days ago. Today, however, a torpedo worked. Probable sinking.

Haddock spotted an AD escorted by a PB near Boela. Seems to be headed south, maybe to Darwin, maybe elsewhere.

I loaded up Chittagong with British fighters, and guessed right. The Hurricanes got past most of the Oscars, getting to the bombers early in the fight. More of a dogfight after the bombing.

Morning Air attack on Chittagong , at 55,41

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 153 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 65
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 39
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 39

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 12
Hurricane IIc Trop x 63

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 10 destroyed, 8 damaged (ACTUAL LOSS: 21)
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed (ACTUAL LOSS including both Oscars types: 17)
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed (ACTUAL LOSS: 6, with 4 of them OPS losses)

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 15

I had LRCAP over Sian but the enemy didn't show up. The P-40s weren't spotted at their base, so they'll stay and rest and try again.

B-26s bombed troops at Cox's Bazar and hit the 18th Division. I don't think I'd spotted this division before. There were 2 regiments that were defeated near Chittagong, along with the Imperial Guard Division. Maybe the regiments formed the 18th, or it's a new reinforcement.

Australian troops at Portland Roads got a 5 to 1 attack against the isolated enemy and caused 755 casualties with mostly destroyed squads. Australian losses were 205. The enemy is being eliminated.

And the main event, Wake Island.

4 slow US battleships bombarded Wake Island.

Night Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied Ships
BB Tennessee
BB California
CL Marblehead

Japanese ground losses:
160 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 15 (11 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 15
Port hits 7
Port supply hits 2

and

Night Naval bombardment of Wake Island at 136,98

Allied Ships
BB Oklahoma
BB Nevada
CL Trenton

Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 9 (8 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 16
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 1

Troops unload at Wake, with another 200 enemy casualties.

Carrier aircraft didn't not bomb Wake due to weather.

Ground combat at Wake Island (136,98)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4221 troops, 60 guns, 16 vehicles, Assault Value = 133

Defending force 2716 troops, 33 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Allied adjusted assault: 54

Japanese adjusted defense: 2

Allied assault odds: 27 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Wake Island !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
2960 casualties reported
Squads: 73 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 167 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 46 (46 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 3

Allied ground losses:
126 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
298th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
141st USN Stn Base Force
Wake (Det.) Defense Battalion

Defending units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF
6th JNAF AF Unit
Wake Cst Gun Bn /1

A near perfect invasion. All troops were unloaded in one day, including support troops. 15,000 supply was unloaded also. This was much better than the opportunistic Kusaie invasion, which didn't use good APs, half of the troops weren't unloaded, and little supply was unloaded. Wake may become another Kusaie, being isolated and hammered with battleship bombardments, but Wake is starting out with lots of supply.

I do note that my speculation about the Japanese Wake Coastal Gun unit was correct. A fragment of it was destroyed, and this included just the big guns. OPilot moved the rest and probably had trouble loading all of it.

My planning did have 2 flaws which I discovered afterwards. The Wake Det unit, which had coastal guns initially when on Wake and lost them there, doesn't have any now. The model of 155mm M1918GPF isn't produced, being an old model. However, I found a coastal gun unit on the West Coast that does have this model gun, and I'm going to try and disband it so that Wake can get some of these guns.

The second mistake I made was not bringing enough engineers. I have only 30 engineers and 2 engineering vehicles. My battleships did a lot of damage. The airfield is not operational, and I need to fly in a fighter and bomber squadron from Midway. Wake is too far for the Japanese to escort Bettys, so I can protect against air attack. But I need to have more engineers. I'll try to sneak some in eventually. I'm overstacked now at 6129 with a stacking limit of 6000. Not much but I'll remedy that when I can.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: Macclan5

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

If you have AA present, I wouldn't sweat the Bettys on night attacks, since that is about the worst possible thing Japan could be doing with that precious resource at this point in the game.

Curious advice [:)]

Only because fighter coverage in Australia in 1942 is scarce although Apbraog has elements of II and V USAAF there as I recall.

I would assume you says this because of Operational Losses ?

A bit yes, but primarily because I think the far better use of Bettys at this stage of the game is information gathering. Imagine spotting the Wake Island invasion at 16+ hexes out, even at 12-15 hexes.

In addition they are only effective where flak is almost non existant, or flying over the flak and thus lessening the hits.

The Wake invasion was very well done, with a minimum of force. I don't see how Japan can let you keep it as a forward naval search base though, but we shall see.

[BBfanboy]

The 155mm 1918 gun is replaced by the 155mm M1A1 gun. Don't disband the stateside unit until you check if M1A1s are available for Wake. If you have enough supply and the TOE includes the newer gun, just rest the unit a day and let the upgrade happen. He surely will not have prepped troops to bring in immediately.

[apbarog]

12 Oct 42

Permit fired 4 torpedoes at DD Usugumo near Bassein. This looks like the regular Chittagong bombardment force, and moving into position. It wasn't spotted during the day, but it's there. I move all of the Hurricanes out of Chittagong and will LRCAP Chittagong from 2 hexes away. OPilot likes to bomb bases on the same turn as a naval bombardment, in the hopes of an easier fight and more damaged planes on the ground. I like to do the same thing.

APD Colhoun, by itself, fast transported in supply to Kusaie. It wasn't much, but it's something. All of the rest of the APDs are upgrading in Australia. Colhoun was fired upon by I-15 just southeast of Kusaie but 2 torpedoes missed. OPilot knows that I'm doing fast transport again.

Spearfish fired 4 torpedoes at destroyer Michishio and missed. Cruisers are spotted, including CL Isuzu showing heavy damage. This task force was the one engaged at Port Moresby. Now it is east of Timor and heading north. Isuzu was the worst damaged Japanese ship from the battle, so it appears that no enemy ships were sunk. We lost a light cruiser. Our damaged ships are in the process of leaving Townsville and/or traveling south along the Australian coast.

Bettys hit troops on Kusaie again. The airfield is slowly repairing as the bombers hit troops instead. Supply is non-existent though. I now have 2 transport squadrons flying in supply, as well as a Catalina unit and 2 SSTs. Some supply is getting to the troops but there's no excess in the base. I am going to try and force a small xAK TF into Kusaie soon, combined with putting fighters there.

Nothing to report around Wake Island, except that the carriers and transports were spotted withdrawing to the east. They'll head more southeast today, and should be far enough from enemy land bases to disappear. Then they'll head south and go to Australia.

I have concerns about the Vietnam area, specifically Hanoi and Haiphong. Both have been building airfields. Hanoi is now a level 4, and Haiphong is a level 6. OPilot doesn't build up bases everywhere just to do so. We've both read books recently about the Flying Tigers, and know the significance, in history, of the western China bases. I just have this feeling that a new front is going to be opened up in this area, pushing north into western China. Enemy troops that conquered Luzon will go somewhere, and I have no indications where. Some are reported still at Manila.

I've stymied the Japanese offensive in China in the north. I think it's just a matter of time until a new offensive opens up around Canton or north of Vietnam. There are no Chinese reserves at this time, and little defense in those areas.

I'm not sure if the Wake Det. unit's 155mm M1918 GPF upgrade to 155mm M1A1 guns. I had the unit at Pearl Harbor for a long time, with replacements on, but I see that the M1A1 guns don't appear until October 1942, so I may not have had replacements on recently, once the unit appeared to be filled out. That device does go to M1A1, so I think that it should take them on. There's over 100 in the pool now, so we'll see. I have them set to take replacements on Wake now. It's not a unit upgrade for Wake Det; it doesn't have one. But it could be a device upgrade, one I just don't see because I have no M1918s. On the other hand, the TOE only shows the M1918 guns. So I'm just not sure. We'll find out.

[BBfanboy]

A unit needs to be in rest mode for the TOE to change to the next one. If that is the case for the Wake CD unit, once the TOE changes, the device upgrade should kick in.

I have just started a Scenario 1 game and already the CD units that appear in San Francisco and other WC bases have ungraded to the M1A1 after starting with the M1918 GPF version. I am still in December 1941. Of course SFO is slightly more developed than Wake, probably has more supply, and there are a few HQs in or near the city! [:)]

[apbarog]

13 Oct 42

Sian got a big enemy air raid today, like most days, and parts of 2 Warhawk squadrons were on LRCAP flying 2 hexes.

Morning Air attack on Sian , at 83,41

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 42
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 25
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 22
Ki-51 Sonia x 33

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed
P-40K Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 15
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 102

About half of each P-40 squadron participated. The Warhawks never got to the bombers. They were outmatched by the Tojos and their (probable) very good pilots, even with the Tojos flying escort. 11 P-40Es and 5 P-40Ks were lost. 4 Tojos were downed. The Warhawks redeploy west, north of the capital, and will return to Calcutta to rebuild.

Cleaning up at Portland Roads continues.

Ground combat at Portland Roads (91,132)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13672 troops, 253 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 292

Defending force 7670 troops, 42 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 59

Allied adjusted assault: 540

Japanese adjusted defense: 61

Allied assault odds: 8 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
766 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Australian Brigade
6th Australian Brigade
8th Cav Recce Regiment
2nd Australian Brigade
Aus II Corps
70th Coast AA Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
21st Fld RAA Regiment
22nd Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th/A Division
4th/B Division
12th Naval Construction Battalion
7th Naval Construction Battalion
48th JNAF AF Unit

A couple of enemy task forces is at Merauke, and there's more than one ground unit there now. Horn Island's airfield and port remain heavily damaged. Port Moresby is still more damaged than I would have expected, this many days since the last Allied raid.

The 2 xAKs unloading at Wake were spotted today. Minelayers will do their thing there today, and an ACM is now in port. A fighter squadron and a divebomber squadron are there, along with some Catalinas. Base repair is slow. The US carrier, escort carrier and battleship task forces were not spotted today as they headed ESE from Wake. The big carriers will rendezvous with a replenishment task force that can keep up with them, and head south. The escort carriers will head a bit more east, moving slower, and rendezvous with a different replenishment task force west of Johnston Island. They will then move to the South Pacific also.

In about a weeks time, the many Allied ships in refit in Australia will be eligible to come out. Most have minor SYS damage to repair, and with Sydney so crowded, the ships probably won't all be repaired simultaneously. Once they're all ready, whether the Wake ships are there or not, and I don't think they will be there, we start the rapid-fire invasions.

I'm happy to report that the Wake Detachment on Wake took on an upgraded 155M1A1 gun, so there's no need to disband another unit to get more of the older model.

[apbarog]

14 Oct 42

Triton fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Sanko Maru near Victoria Point. One hit and it was NOT a dud. Audio of a sinking occurred just after the combat.

Bettys continue to hit US troops on Kusaie Island, having moved on from hitting the airfield daily. But I've been getting some supply into Kusaie, and the base is fully repaired. I have 2 transport squadrons flying supply from Nauru now, while the airfield is operational. All but one ground unit has enough supply. An SST is unloading. An APD will make a fast transport run into the island tonight. And an xAK will move adjacent to Kusaie. Hopefully the Bettys won't hit the airfield now. If they don't, I can move fighters in to CAP the xAK. The flaw in all of this is that there is a cruiser TF at Ponape. If the xAK is spotted, the enemy will show up at Kusaie. But maybe my fighters can get some Bettys.

Cleanup at Portland Roads continues, with enemy units evaporating.

Ground combat at Portland Roads (91,132)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13610 troops, 253 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 282

Defending force 7174 troops, 40 guns, 3 vehicles, Assault Value = 39

Allied adjusted assault: 286

Japanese adjusted defense: 29

Allied assault odds: 9 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
602 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 15 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (4 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
6th Australian Brigade
15th Australian Brigade
8th Cav Recce Regiment
2nd Australian Brigade
Aus II Corps
70th Coast AA Regiment
21st Fld RAA Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
22nd Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th/A Division
4th/B Division
12th Naval Construction Battalion
7th Naval Construction Battalion
48th JNAF AF Unit


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7th Naval Construction Battalion Wiped Out at Portland Roads by attrition!!!

12th Naval Construction Battalion Wiped Out at Portland Roads by attrition!!!

4th/A Division Wiped Out at Portland Roads by attrition!!!


No enemy reaction of any kind around Wake Island. The pace is going to increase dramatically around Port Moresby in about a week. Lots of enemy TFs spotted at Darwin, but I'm seeing many small ships. No idea where KB is, with it missing for weeks.

I'm very much aware of the chance of an enemy landing at Chittagong. As the enemy withdraws south on the eastern side of the front, it could be tempting to try and cut off the Allied spearhead now at Cox's Bazar. I know because I've done this in multiple games as the Japanese. If I get a hint of KB in the Indian Ocean, I'll know something is coming. But I'm ready. A huge Chinese corp, over 800AV sits in strategic mode at the dot base east of Comilla, waiting to move to Chittagong at a moment's notice. And with the enemy pullback in northern Burma, I'm pulling the parts of the other Chinese corp out of the line. They will all go to Calcutta to reform the corp and build up.

[apbarog]

15 Oct 42

I-22 hit a mine at Wake Island and sank. 5 DMs laid a big minefield right after the island was captured.

23 P-38s swept Cox's Bazar and did well against about 16 Oscars. 12 Oscars were downed for no loss of P-38s.

Sian was bombed heavily again. Enemy units have pulled back from the front to the north of Sian, and appear to be moving towards Sian now. I have 3 Chinese corps there and they are dug in well. They sometimes have supply. The city never does. Sian will be lost, eventually, but it will exact a price. Not to mention the extra time being taken to try to surround it and now to finally attack it. And the 100+ enemy planes overhead every day. There's a cost.

Merauke was bombed by 12 B-17Ds, causing light damage to the airfield. There are multiple task forces here, and now 3 enemy units. Defenses are increasing. That is fine. Merauke is not on the list for an invasion, and will be bombed and bypassed.

10 Catalinas from the east coast of Australia flew at range 16 to Merauke and attacked.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Merauke at 89,124

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 10

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AMC Nosiro Maru, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
APD Aoi
APD Hagi

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PBY-5 Catalina launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

2 squadrons of B-17Es hit Port Moresby's airfield. A handful of Zeros are there, and they aren't based at the heavily damaged Port Moresby, or the nearby base of Buna, which doesn't have an airfield. They are coming from Lae. Too far to be effective.

I was surprised to see that my small cargo TF moved 7 hexes instead of the predicted 6, and made it all the way to Kusaie Island. I hadn't moved fighters in yet. 9 Bettys attacked PC Onondoga and xAK Kauri. 2 torpedoes hit the patrol craft, sinking her. Torpedoes missed Kauri, which then unloaded some supply. Seeing an enemy combat TF at nearby Ponape, I disbanded Kauri into port, and moved a P-40 squadron to Kusaie. The Warhawks may or may not fly, due to low supply at the base.

An Allied bombardment of Cox's Bazar finds that there is a new enemy infantry division there, the 18th Division. The obliterated Imperial Guard Division has retreated south. Cox's Bazar will not be conquered quickly with this strong division there. I'll bombard for a bit and move more reinforcements south from Chittagong. I may threaten a move to cut off Cox's Bazar before actually attacking it. There's a big TF at Akyab now, and it looks like more troops have unloaded, maybe another division. Taking Cox's Bazar is now not a sure thing, and moving to Akyab is looking more difficult. The positive spin is that more enemy troops are being tied down here. I wasn't going to be able to move past Akyab regardless. This isn't the big reconquest of Burma. Not yet.

Portland Roads is cleared of the enemy.

Ground combat at Portland Roads (91,132)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13586 troops, 253 guns, 241 vehicles, Assault Value = 280

Defending force 3673 troops, 18 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 33

Allied adjusted assault: 405

Japanese adjusted defense: 5

Allied assault odds: 81 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3404 casualties reported
Squads: 92 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 156 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 20 (15 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
95 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled

Assaulting units:
6th Australian Brigade
15th Australian Brigade
8th Cav Recce Regiment
2nd Australian Brigade
Aus II Corps
21st Fld RAA Regiment
70th Coast AA Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
22nd Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th/B Division
48th JNAF AF Unit


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

48th JNAF AF Unit Wiped Out at Portland Roads by attrition!!!

[apbarog]

15 Oct 42 - Kusaie Island

[Macclan5]

Hey Apbarog

Congrats - I am still lurking.

If you have time / inclination - I hope you might comment on Ocean / Nauru / Kusaie ...

As opposed to Makin / Milli / Ailinglaplap.


Personal - though of limited experience - I struggle - on these islands. i.e. the choice.

I mention the last 3 - Makin / Milli / Ainlinglaplap largely because of the generous stacking limits as opposed to others.

Your choices may be dictated by scouting invisible to us readers - other knowledge - or a conscious strategy..

As noted bu other posters you are advancing well and 'expertly' capturing bases and SLOC with 'minimum required force' as opposed to "2 - Division landings'

Is this due to deployment elsewhere ? Reacting to circumstances and opportunity ?

Or are you purposely building a line to cut of SLOC on the IJN ?

[apbarog]

Hi Macclan5.

I had a general plan to possibly envelop the Marshalls. Ocean and Nauru had minimal defenses. I thought about threatening Truk from Ponape. I used good APs to take Nauru, but discovered that Kusaie had no defenders at all. I threw together a force for Kusaie and used ordinary xAPs for that. KB was at Truk, and bad weather prevented a catastrophe. But using ordinary xAPs prevented me from unloading about half of the troops and equipment, and little supply was unloaded. Kusaie has been struggling for supply ever since.

With a plan to isolate the Marshalls, the islands directly north of Tarawa aren't needed. I just took Wake. I have troops fully prepared for Kwajalein and Roi Namur, but I've decided that invasions in other areas will come first. When Kwajalein and Roi Namur are taken, the rest of the Marshalls become irrelevant.

I have big plans, plans that require the good APs that were just used at Wake Island to be back in Australia. They are on the way, along with 2 CVs and 2 CVEs. These carriers will support landings at Torokina and Buin. The APs will be used with a large landing at Port Moresby. When the troops have unloaded there, the APs will return to Australia to pick up troops for Horn Island. The carriers will slide east from Port Moresby to Milne Bay to cover a landing there. The carriers will then move west to cover Horn Island. Included in the Horn Island armada will be troops for Gove and Wessel Islands (still Allied dot bases) and then we go directly up to Taberfane and Dobo. The Horn Island to Gove to Taberfane will be in one fluid motion. I've seen no base expansion at Taberfane or Dobo so far, so they are probably undefended or lightly defended. Merauke is getting reinforced by the enemy, but we will pass it by and bomb it regularly.

Troops are prepping for Darwin but that will be after everything else, and probably a period of time for Taberfane and Dobo to build. These 2 islands are key for me. From there, the Allies can exploit north or west, and there are so many places to go that the Japanese cannot defend them all. Busting past Horn Island quickly, if it works, will shorten the war.

Of course, all of this might be affected by the enemy.

[apbarog]

16 Oct 42

Enemy destroyers were spotted southeast of Ponape, but they didn't make a run into Kusaie. Just looking for subs, I guess.

There is certainly an enemy reorganization going on in China. Units have left the front north of Sian and are heading to the city for a big battle. The stacking limit is huge in Sian, and I've already withdrawn all but 3 Chinese corps, so I think it's time to start moving out the last defenders. They probably won't make it, moving in combat mode and getting bombed every day, but they can make it before a huge number of enemy get to Sian. There are forts and they'll make the enemy pay for the city as it is now.

There's a big enemy task force at Akyab now, and recon shows a big jump in the defenders there. Now over 20,000 troops. I think another division landed there. I'll attack at Cox's Bazar today, but may not be able to take it without another attritional battle and shuffling in new divisions. And I may not have that luxury. I have to defend just east of the base, in case of a flanking move to cut off my units there. I was going to do the same thing to the enemy, south of Cox's Bazar, but with more troops arriving at Akyab, I think the first Allied coastal offensive in Burma is just about over. We took 2 hexes on the trail south of Akyab.

[EDIT: We did trash the Imperial Guard Division south of Chittagong. That is something. And appears to have forced the enemy to heavily reinforce Burma, which counts too.]

Lots of shipping in the South Pacific start to move to bases of troop embarkation for the upcoming invasions. I see 150 fighters at Rabaul all of a sudden. I wonder what that means. Just 60 bombers seen there. I may not want to go to Buin and Torokina with just 2 CVs and 2 CVEs. I have time to consider it.

Darwin is seen to have at least one enemy AKE now.

[apbarog]

17 Oct 42

Plunger hit subchaser SC Ch 29 near Kiriwina once but it was a dud.

Major Allied effort at Cox's Bazar. P-38Fs swept and found no LRCAP. 6 or 7 bomber squadrons from India tried to hit the port and enemy troops there. Nothing was hit in heavy cloud.

Lots of enemy bombing at Sian, as usual. The last Chinese units are moving out, slowly, and will be attacked before they can leave.

Enemy troops are now moving towards Kukong in southern China. I've realigned the front line down here, and moving a couple of units west of Kukong to form a more continuous line. No supply here. Never is, with daily bombing.

Allied attack at Cox's Bazar.

Ground combat at Cox's Bazar (54,43)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 37042 troops, 650 guns, 586 vehicles, Assault Value = 1078

Defending force 16821 troops, 263 guns, 168 vehicles, Assault Value = 387

Allied adjusted assault: 1487

Japanese adjusted defense: 1141

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
227 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 48 (1 destroyed, 47 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
856 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 19 (4 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Assaulting units:
70th British Division
7th Armoured Brigade
32nd Infantry Division
Waziristan Division
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/13th Fld RAA Regiment
IV Indian Corps
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
209th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
18th Division
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
25th Army
26th Fld AA Gun Co
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

The Allied infantry other than the US division is restricted, so I don't mind getting the most out of them to try for Cox's Bazar. 2 other British divisions are now just east of the fight, and may swap in if I continue. The trashed Imperial Guard Division is south of town and moving to Akyab. Another unit, probably armor, is moving into Cox's Bazar. And there is other movement north out of Akyab, with enemy troop strength at Akyab rising to almost 25,000 men now.

The Allied fleet which is upgrading at Sydney now has 4 days left, with most ships having 5 SYS damage. Today I'll start to see how quickly the repairs will actually take. Sydney is full of ships. Hermes in is an ARD repairing, and Yorktown is in the shipyard. Most everything else is in pier repair. We have to wait for the good APs coming from the Wake invasion before we move on Port Moresby anyhow. They are northeast of Pago Pago now.

[apbarog]

18 Oct 42

30 some Zeros from Roi Namur sweep Kusaie Island and find about 22 Warhawks on CAP. It wasn't not pretty, with the Zeros dominating. 16 Warhawks were lost. Just 2 Zeros were downed, one by Lt. A. Irwin, getting his 6th kill. He was then reported KIA. 4 US KIA total. The remaining Warhawks are all damaged. And another Zero sweep arrived afterwards, from the direction of Ponape, but there weren't any US planes still flying.

The lone xAK at Kusaie did unload supply, and is now disbanded back into port. It'll be lost one way or the other, but I want to try and get as much supply out of it first. The island now has a few hundred supply and all ground units have supply.

Sian was clobbered from the air and on the ground. 25 Lilys, 30 Helens, 21 Sallys and 33 Sonias bombed troops, with 42 Tojos and 27 Oscars escorting. Almost 600 Chinese casualties in the bombing.

Ground combat at Sian (83,41)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 66601 troops, 540 guns, 122 vehicles, Assault Value = 2081

Defending force 31727 troops, 172 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 915

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 3936

Allied adjusted defense: 322

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sian !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
4077 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 429 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 46 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
11918 casualties reported
Squads: 487 destroyed, 88 disabled
Non Combat: 292 destroyed, 48 disabled
Engineers: 67 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 82 (42 destroyed, 40 disabled)
Units retreated 4
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
35th Division
32nd Division
9th Division
27th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
1st Chinese Corps
36th Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
7th Group Army
57th AT Gun Regiment

At least the enemy took some disablements. The Japanese will no longer have supply issues in the Sian area. And I won't keep losing supply there with the daily bombings.

The enemy has advanced into Kukong in the south.

B-24s bombed Merauke's facilities, doing moderate damage. No CAP.

Another Allied attack at Cox's Bazar. An enemy tank regiment reinforced.

Ground combat at Cox's Bazar (54,43)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36474 troops, 650 guns, 583 vehicles, Assault Value = 990

Defending force 16814 troops, 262 guns, 263 vehicles, Assault Value = 417

Allied adjusted assault: 1029

Japanese adjusted defense: 639

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
688 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 42 (4 destroyed, 38 disabled)
Vehicles lost 19 (2 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
866 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 140 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 34 (3 destroyed, 31 disabled)
Vehicles lost 16 (3 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
70th British Division
7th Armoured Brigade
Waziristan Division
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/13th Fld RAA Regiment
IV Indian Corps
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
209th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
18th Division
14th Tank Regiment
26th Fld AA Gun Co
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
25th Army
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

Allied troops will rest a day while the artillery bombards. The enemy is showing movement out of Cox's Bazar. That could be just one unit or the whole stack. 2 British divisions and an armored unit have started to move around Cox's Bazar to threaten to cut it off. I don't know if they'll actually move there, we'll see.

The P-38G pool is starting to slowly fill and is up to 13 aircraft now. A P-40 squadron at Townsville will take the first of the new fighters, for use in the upcoming invasions.

At Sydney, all of the many heavy and light cruisers, as well as Wasp went from SYS 5 to SYS 4 as they finish up refits. Carriers Enterprise and Hornet stayed at SYS 5. So it will take a bit longer than the minimum to get everything out of refit. That's ok though. The needed invasion APs are still 8 days from getting to Townsville. Things will be picking up soon, and all at once.

[apbarog]

19 Oct 42

The 4 enemy battleships returned to Kusaie Island.

Night Naval bombardment of Kusaie Island at 125,118

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CL Yubari
CL Tatsuta

Allied ground losses:
300 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 19
Port hits 22
Port supply hits 1

Not too terrible for the Allies. Some supply was lost but not much. xAK disbanded in port was not hit, and neither were the ten or so damaged Warhawks still there.

Zeros swept Kusaie in the morning, but the only Allied planes there are those damaged Warhawks.

21 P-38Fs swept Akyab and found a strong CAP of 36 Oscars and 12 Tojos. 11 B-17Fs bombed the airfield, doing minor damage after taking some damage from 29 Oscars and 8 Tojos. Just one Fortress lost.

A Japanese unit has moved south from Darwin and is now at Katherine, which is barely defended. 31 Lilys bombed the 2/2nd Ind Coy there. The base will be lost today. I'd be happy if the enemy kept moving south. Darwin is on the list of upcoming invasion targets, although it is near the end of the current list.

Allied bombers hit Cox's Bazar's port, doing minor damage. Allied troops will attack again.

All US ships repaired one SYS at Sydney, so the refit pace is going well. Almost all will be available in 4 days. 2 of the mine-damaged cruisers from Port Moresby just arrived at Sydney, and will begin repairs. They have high SYS damage but low FLOT damage, so readiness repairs will be used until the port is less crowded. Another crusier with over 20 FLOT damage is headed to Auckland for repairs. Destroyer Worden is repairing in Brisbane's shipyard.

The all-important APs from the Wake Invasion are now near Funafuti and headed west. They'll pass by Luganville and head to Townsville.

[EDIT: I got SigInt that the enemy 56th Division was planning for Imphal. I searched all of the previous combat reports, and this division has not been in action so far. Maybe a big enemy commitment to Burma coming?]