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

[apbarog]

9 Jan 43

US destroyers and enemy subs play cat-and-mouse well south of Guadalcanal. Neither gets the other.

P-38s from Darwin swept Babar, but found no CAP. OPilot has been placing fighters there only when needed to cover a task force passing by. Soon I'll bomb it regularly and put the airfield out of action. Heavy bombers are currently tasked out of Townsville, hitting Buna today.

Enemy bombers hit a few Allied units on the Burma border. I've been showing lots of movement south into the enemy line, and this has his attention.

After a long rest, an Allied attack at Buna. A US armor unit joined the fight.

Ground combat at Buna (99,129)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13403 troops, 230 guns, 218 vehicles, Assault Value = 361

Defending force 13012 troops, 173 guns, 22 vehicles, Assault Value = 293

Allied adjusted assault: 1014

Japanese adjusted defense: 543

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
359 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 8 (1 destroyed, 7 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
880 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 78 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled

Assaulting units:
41st Infantry Division
1st Tank Battalion
I US Corps
13th Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th Division
90th Infantry Regiment
85th Naval Guard Unit
39th Field AA Battalion
13th Naval Construction Battalion
3rd Base Force
15th Naval Construction Battalion
14th Naval Construction Battalion
41st Field AA Battalion
40th JNAF AF Unit

Taking heavier casualties. I may be able to wear down the enemy enough to take the base despite that. The armor is in good shape still. Bombers join in today. New Guinea is just a sideshow, and I welcome more enemy to the area, like I'm seeing arriving at Lae. I plan on a slow advance, just enough to show intent and pull in enemy reinforcements.

Finally! Loading for the big Burma operation begins at Colombo and Trincomlee. Today follow-up units load. These units will land at bases after they are captured. Tomorrow the combat assault forces will load.

[apbarog]

10 Jan 43

Perch is patrolling east of Soerabaja, and spotted a convoy of small tankers. 4 torpedoes were fired at TK Kanzaki Maru. One hit but was a dud. Torpedoes are better, but not quite right yet.

22 P-40Es swept Buna and found 8 A6M3a Zeros, LRCAP from Lae probably. Buna has no airfield. Then 22 P-39s swept. Losses were 5 A6M3a Zeros and 2 P-40Es. Fortresses and Liberators arrived in the afternoon, and 6 Zeros reappeared, but no bombers were lost. Almost no damage to the port or to the enemy troops there.

Sallys and Zeros from Koepang bombed the Australian armor unit west of Katherine again. I moved some Wildcats down from Darwin and will LRCAP today. Can't let the unchallenged bombing of the unit in the clear go on. It's not a critical issue, but OPilot is bombing it just because it is an easy target.

Some enemy bombing in China. I move two fighter squadrons to Hengyang to LRCAP a Chinese unit behind the lines in rough terrain to the south, a unit that keeps getting bombed. Easy target, again.

O19 hit subchaser SC Ch 13 near Manado, sinking the ship.

I overlooked something in the immediate re-attack at Buna.

Ground combat at Buna (99,129)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12697 troops, 230 guns, 218 vehicles, Assault Value = 275

Defending force 12722 troops, 172 guns, 22 vehicles, Assault Value = 266

Allied adjusted assault: 49

Japanese adjusted defense: 405

Allied assault odds: 1 to 8 (fort level 1)

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

Japanese ground losses:
145 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1278 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 55 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 37 (3 destroyed, 34 disabled)

Assaulting units:
41st Infantry Division
1st Tank Battalion
I US Corps
13th Fld RAA Regiment

Defending units:
4th Division
90th Infantry Regiment
85th Naval Guard Unit
39th Field AA Battalion
41st Field AA Battalion
3rd Base Force
14th Naval Construction Battalion
15th Naval Construction Battalion
13th Naval Construction Battalion
40th JNAF AF Unit

Supply. This is a setback that delays any immediate conquest of Buna. The division will rest for a longer period of time and then start to attrit the enemy again.

Everything is now loading on Ceylon for Burma. The loading of the combat units will take longer than one day, unfortunately. Just too much for either Colombo or Trincomlee to handle. I'm not happy to see that Trincomlee got a visit from enemy recon for the first time in the war. Something must have tipped off OPilot to activity on Ceylon. The good news is that only one task force was spotted, and it had just one xAP in it. A good recon of either Ceylon base now would reveal many task forces with many ships in them, and many carriers and combat ships in Colombo's port. I'm hoping that doesn't happen.

I can't rule out KB heading in this direction. Still unlikely, but possible. It's been missing since the carrier strike of Taberfane from the east side of New Guinea, and could be anywhere by now.

To stir up OPilot's concern, I moved a long range recon unit to Wake Island. It will start looking at Marcus Island. Maybe I can get some alarm bells ringing there.

[apbarog]

11 Jan 43

It didn't take long for the enemy to find my mines at Umboi Island, in the straits west of Rabaul. Destroyer Yukaze is reported to have hit a mine, with fire and heavy damage. It was still in the hex at the end of the day.

P-40s were unsuccessful in China. OPilot didn't hit the target that I had LRCAP. I'll try again today. He got 5/10 D/L at Hengyang, where they are based, but in our game of wits, I decided to switch things up and stay there another day, when I'd be expected to pull them out once spotted. Maybe he'll try to switch up on me and hit the expected target. The enemy did bomb Kunming, in western China, for the first time.

Two enemy combat task forces spotted moving southeast from Rabaul. One moved near Buin, the other is closer to Rabaul. There were ships unloading at Vangunu. I ordered them back to Lunga. There's still tiny bits of units on them. They'll reload and head back to Vangunu soon.

P-38s from Darwin will sweep Dili on Timor for the first time.

Loading was not complete at Colombo or Trincomlee. All should be loaded today and move out the next day. Bettys did recon of Trincomlee, getting a 1/1 D/L on the base. There's nothing special in the port. About 20 xAKLs and some small ships. There are many ships in task forces there, though. He got 2/2 D/L on a task force there, but it only had one ship in it, so surprise is still possible. A Betty was shot down there.

So the next turn will be the day when the armadas of ships move out from Ceylon, join up, and head to the Andamans.

[apbarog]

12 Jan 43

22 P-38Fs swept Myitkyina but found no enemy planes.

26 Bettys with 36 A6M3a Zeros, flying from Koepang, went after the Australian 13th Armored Regiment again, southeast of Wyndham, in open terrain. 13 Wildcats were on LRCAP from Katherine. 9 Zeros were shot down, for the loss of 4 Wildcats, but the fighters couldn't get to the Bettys. 137 more casualties to the troops. 29 Sallys then came in unescorted, with 9 Wildcats intercepting, but the Wildcats didn't engage. Just 23 casualties this time.

I was unloading troops at Vangunu, but spotted enemy combat task forces in range to the northwest. I sent the ships back to Lunga. The enemy ships didn't appear, but 27 A6M3 Zeros did sweep Vangunu, finding no CAP. I assume that there were naval strike aircraft set to hit ships at Vangunu, but there were no ships other than PT boats. Vangunu became a level 1 airfield and port today. I chose not to immediately CAP the base. I expect the sweepers to come back tomorrow. I'll wait until the next day.

25 P-38Gs swept Dili on Timor, flying from Darwin. No enemy fighters spotted.

I spent hours working on forming up task forces out of Colombo and Trincomlee. Almost everything is now loaded for Burma. I still have to load troops for Little Andaman, which probably is not defended. Carriers have formed up, as well as task forces for combat, ASW, amphibious supply, minesweeping, support shipping and tankers, and of course the invasion task forces. I'll list out all that is involved after everything rendezvous south of Ceylon today.

[EDIT: All shipping south of Ceylon has all search planes grounded. They'll remain grounded until the approach to Port Blair. Every day of surprise could be important. Search planes from land bases continue to fly.]

[Lowpe]

Great work.[&o] If it isn't too much trouble, can you give us a picture of the ocean south and east of Ceylon? Perhaps some insight into what resistance you expect to meet? Any disinformation tactics you employed?

This is great stuff.

With a very strong China (even if you don't think it is, it is!) Japan is going to be extremely hard pressed.

I feel so bad for Japan.

[apbarog]

Thanks Lowpe. I've enjoyed your AAR in your fight against Wargamr. You play the game at the highest level. Thanks for the comments.

13 Jan 43

Allied mines are already being cleared at Umboi Island. It is very rare to get more than one hit with a minefield, in multiple days. We know where the mines are. We avoid them when found and sweep them if we need to. In the actual war, it wasn't so easy.

Caught a break. AP William P. Biddle was heading from Panama to San Francisco, unescorted. I-10 spotted it near the map edge by San Diego, fired 2 torpedoes at it, and missed.

6 B-25s tried to bomb Akyab at night, but hit nothing in light rain. The weather was severe storms during the day, so my fighter sweep and heavy bomber raids didn't happen. I moved the two P-40K squadrons from China to Chittagong. We'll try again with four fighter squadrons sweeping, and heavy bombers hitting the airfield. There's now over 90 enemy fighters there.

I also rest all heavy bombers and transport aircraft that have been ferrying supply into China. I need them all in the next week for my Burma invasions.

East of Borneo, near Tawi Tawi, Plunger fired 4 torpedoes at big transport xAP Kokuryu Maru, and missed. OPilot caught a break this time.

But between Formosa and China, Haddo spotted xAK Taketoyo Maru and a patrol boat. 2 torpedoes were fired at the cargo ship. Both hit, but one was a dud. Later in the day, Haddo would attack again, firing 2 torpedoes at the same cargo ship, and hit with both. Sinking audio was heard immediately after the combat. This is what a successful sub attack can look like, with fewer duds.

I was wrong about Vangunu. OPilot reacted immediately and sent 72 Bettys and 30 Zeros to this the newly built size 1 airfield. Moderate damage was done. No CAP. Flak was effective, shooting down a few Bettys and damaging more than a dozen. I move 2 fighter squadrons in today.

The enemy hit Cox'x Bazar's airfield, causing moderate damage. I'm not using it, for the most part. Chittagong is where my sweepers are today.

Oscars from Koepang swept over the Australian armor unit near Wyndham. I wasn't using LRCAP today.

Here's a look at the area between Ceylon and Burma. The enemy has been running small ships into Akyab, and occasionally has a combat task force at Rangoon. Little else seen, other than subs around Ceylon, mostly to the west and southwest.

I've turn my naval search planes on, along with air ASW. It may not be clear what I'm up to yet, but OPilot has seen enough to know that something unusual is going on.

[apbarog]

14 Jan 43

I-159 found the destroyer TF that diverted from the armada and headed east instead of southeast. The sub was hit by a depth charge. The destroyers weren't seen during the day, but if OPilot notes where this engagement occurred, he could think that there is something headed to northern Burma. It isn't. The destroyers will rejoin the armada today.

25 P-38s swept Akyab, finding 78 Ki-43-IIb Oscars on CAP. The Lightnings do very well. This was followed by sweeps of 19 P-40Ks and 23 more P-40Ks. The final sweep did the worst, which is unusual. Must be due to the pilots. 12 B-17s hit the airfield, running up against 35 Oscars. The fighters were tired out and did little. The bombers barely scratched the airfield, bombing in severe storms. Finally another P-40 squadron swept Akyab, doing well. Total losses here were 27 Oscars for the cost of 13 P-40Ks and 4 P-38Fs. I pull most of the fighters back to Calcutta to rest and fill out again.

28 Bettys with 26 Zeros hit the Australians near Wyndham. Then 28 Sallys with 36 Oscars did the same. I can't effectively LRCAP the Aussies at range 4 from Katherine. For now, I have to be content with doing nothing. The Aussies are badly disrupted, and have been since the bombing in the clear terrain started. Can't take Wyndham this way.

32 B-17s from Nauru hit Kusaie Island's airfield, causing moderate damage. No CAP. The bombers will continue.

I'm liking how the sub war is shaping up, now that it is 1943. Haddo is the first US sub to patrol near Formosa. Yesterday it sank a cargo ship. Today it found a huge tanker convoy.

Sub attack near Taihoku at 87,62

Japanese Ships
TK Kinrei Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Takashima Maru
TK Shinfuku Maru
TK Kinmo Maru
TK Okuni Maru
TK Chuko Maru
TK Oyashima Maru
TK Yamamiya Maru
TK Fukoku Maru
TK Katsukawa Maru
TK Taijima Maru
TK Azuchisan Maru
TK Shinetsu Maru
TK Seiwa Maru
PB Kyo Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Haddo

SS Haddo launches 4 torpedoes at TK Kinrei Maru

The tanker was loaded with fuel and burned, and was most probably sunk. With fuel noted, I know the direction it is headed, and Haddo is ordered to patrol northeast with its last torpedoes. I consider this to be the beginning of the US sub war against the merchants.

Way up in northern China, the enemy bombarded Ningsia. The Chinese here have no supply at all. The bombardment is notable because the enemy's 3rd Tank Division is spotted here. This is the first time a tank division has been seen. And way up here, this is alarming. Ningsia will fall easily. The defense behind it has enough troops, but not enough supply, and the terrain won't protect the Chinese against the many bombers OPilot is using in China. There is a single anti-tank unit there, but it won't be enough. Far northern China could be cut off, just as the Allies are working on reopening the Burma Road.

Top ace W.E. Dyess, with 12 kills, is flying Warhawks out of Chittagong. He was promoted to Major today.

The big show moves closer to the Andamans.

[EDIT: I'm using British carrier fighters to sweep Port Blair today. Maybe it'll look like just British ships involved, for another day or so. Worth a try.]

[CaptBeefheart]

Always good to see an historical ace doing well. Dyess has a very interesting story.

Regarding the campaign, the late great R. Lee Ermey might say, "Pucker up, buttercup." Good luck!

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

Yes, I'd posted info on Dyess earlier in this AAR, somewhere. His name, in game, caught my attention and I had to look him up.

I'm tempted to start loading troops at Luganville for a re-invasion of Kusaie Island. All of my CVEs are there for support. I'd only want to do this invasion if I knew that KB wasn't in the area. I have a feeling that, if they were in the area, they are headed to the Indian Ocean now. It's just a matter of whether to wait until I'm sure, or not. Thinking about it.

[EDIT: Thanks for your link CaptBeefheart. There was more to his story than I was aware of. Quite a hero.]

[apbarog]

15 Jan 43

6 old Lysanders try to make a "washing machine Charlie" night attack at Akyab. Couldn't hit anything. Just trying to be a nuisance.

Trailing the armada west of Port Blair, I-154 spotted a task force with an AKE and an AGP. There can be no doubt what my intentions are now. These ships need a friendly port to go to.

32 Martlet IIs sweep Port Blair, and find no CAP. 2 Liberator squadrons hit the airfield, flying at maximum range from Calcutta. Light to moderate damage. No CAP. One Betty destroyed on the ground, probably there for search coverage.

Bettys with Zeros hit Milne Bay's airfield, doing moderate to heavy damage. No fighters there.

The Bettys and Zeros are back hitting the Australians near Wyndham. Another 88 casualties. I'll continue to advance to Wyndham and hope that I can bomb enemy troops more effectively than they can bomb mine. Too far to LRCAP.

OPilot shuffles his targets in China. Little for me to do here. Both P-40 squadrons have been pulled out of China to support efforts in Burma.

3 B-17 squadrons bomb Kusaie Island's airfield, and do moderate damage. I will now cycle them, with one squadron resting, one hitting the airfield, and the other hitting troops. No CAP here.

The anticipation for this operation is killing me! It's been several months, real-time and in-game, in the making.

I struck gold in the SigInt messages today. See the map.

I started loading for Kusaie Island at Luganville today. I may or may not go through with it, considering the SigInt information.

[jwolf]

Can you translate "washing machine Charlie" into plain text? Never heard that phrase!

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: jwolf

Can you translate "washing machine Charlie" into plain text? Never heard that phrase!

Washing Machine Charlie was a float plane that flew over Guadalcanal at night, dropping flares and the occasional small bomb to harass the Marines and disturb their sleep. It didn't cause much damage but was a persistent nuisance.
M*A*S*H did an episode that played on that, with the North Koreans sending a dilapidated old plane to hit a supply dump - ineffectively:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otsQxq2b7a4

[Lowpe]

Probably not too hard for Japan to figure out Port Blair is a target...but the threat of an invasion at Tavoy will throw Japan until a full out panic. So many bases vulnerable to air drop and fast transport invasions.

With so many task forces spotted, you can bet most of the IJN will be on the way.

Can you post a world map?

Anyhow, unless I miss my guess Japan will cede Port Blair -- you most likely only have to worry about air strikes.

Great theater so far! Good work.[:)]

[Bif1961]

Literally that ship has sailed and now the die is cast and your fortunes rest with your prep and his reaction for such a contingency.

[apbarog]

Actually, 80% of the task forces haven't been spotted. Today one carrier task force was 1/6 D/L and a big transport force was 2/2. A few of the smaller trailing task forces were spotted. On no day was both carrier task forces spotted. Only British fighters have been seen, and today a British destroyer task force is going to Port Blair. It's quite possible that this looks like a Port Blair invasion and nothing more. That will change very soon.

There's been no movement by any enemy ground units in Burma, so far.

[Lowpe]

That map is looking really good. Lots and lots of opportunities to inflict harm on Japan.

Do you still have a few dot bases in the SRA? Looks it.

[apbarog]

Yes, some Allied dot bases still here and there. I have a nasty plan where I will move some Coronado's to a dot base a bit beyond the front, and use them to bomb some important port. Very long range, lots of bombs. Just have to hit a target far enough behind the front to probably avoid any CAP.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Yes, some Allied dot bases still here and there. I have a nasty plan where I will move some Coronado's to a dot base a bit beyond the front, and use them to bomb some important port. Very long range, lots of bombs. Just have to hit a target far enough behind the front to probably avoid any CAP.

That is a good choice, another would be to use narrow search arcs and your ever improving subs. If you use night search you might get away with it longer.

You might be able to hit ports from some of your Chinese runways with careful use of troop placement and resupply, or run naval search from China as well and coordinate with subs.

Naval attacks at 1000 feet with patrols and or float planes can be devastating too.

Lots of options.[:)]

[apbarog]

Received this email message:

"I am still working on my turn. You have given me much to think about."

I think the alarm bells are ringing. I'm closely watching the enemy troops on the northern front of Burma. When I see them starting to move south, then I'll know that OPilot realizes the scale of what is about to happen.

[apbarog]

16 Jan 43

I-162 fired 2 torpedoes at destroyer Bailey near Little Andaman but missed. Most of a carrier TF, minus the carriers, were spotted. Brit destroyers moved into Port Blair.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Blair at 46,58, Range 5,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
MTB G-7, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB G-1, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB G-2
MTB G-3, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
MTB G-4
MTB G-5, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Arrow
DD Decoy
DD Electra
DD Encounter
DD Express
DD Fortune
DD Hotspur

Sturgeon fired 4 torpedoes at big transport xAP Baikal Maru near Sorong, but missed.

Another round of bombing of the Aussies in clear terrain near Wyndham, Australia. I return the favor, hitting troops in Wyndham with multiple bomber groups, including heavies. When the Aussies arrive in Wyndham, their disruption will be very high. Around 90 now. I hope to disrupt the defenders just as badly, and maybe win the base if the enemy is out of supply.

Enemy naval strike sent to the armada of ships near Little Andaman, including the carriers.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Little Andaman at 45,60

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
G4M1 Betty x 4

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 110

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses

Then a strike, apparently from Port Blair itself, with enemy fighters on CAP there, went after the British destroyers. The Nicks did well against the Martlets.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Blair at 46,58

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 5 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G4M1 Betty x 4
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 4
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 29

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
DD Arrow

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

Losses were 20 A6M2 Zeros, 4 Oscars and 4 Bettys, for the cost of 16 Martlets and 6 F4F-4s. I sent a USMC F4F-4 squadron from Colombo to Illustrious to replace the lost Martlets.

Heavy bombers from Calcutta attack Port Blair's airfield.

Morning Air attack on Port Blair , at 46,58

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 9
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 25

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 2
B-24D Liberator x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 damaged
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 8

5 Liberators were downed.

Gunnel was attacked by 3 E boats in the shallow water near Victoria Point. Gunnel was hit by one depth charge. I feared the worst, with the attackers diligently going after the sub. I've become a bit invested with the fact that I've lost zero US fleet subs in the war, and want to keep that record going, but I thought Gunnel was going to be the first. But it survived with SYS 13/FLOT 39-28/ENG 0/FIRE 0 and is ordered back to Colombo.

Yorktown has finally finished repairs at Sydney! It was hit by two sub torpedoes long ago, on 27 Jul 42, near Funafuti, incurring damage of SYS 12/FLOT 58-47/ENG 1/FIRE 0. It went to Funafuti for emergency repairs, then to Vava'u where it met ARD Dewey for some FLOT repairs. I wasn't happy with the speed of repairs, so I sent it to Sydney after awhile. I should have just sent it to the West Coast, or at least Pearl Harbor. Repairs at Sydney were slow, and Sydney became busy with other ships from time to time. But at last it is repaired.

Here's the situation around the Andamans. For today, I planned a more daring move with the invasion armada, instead of staying next to Port Blair and giving it complete protection with all of the carriers.