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

[apbarog]

2 May 43 - Burma

[apbarog]

3 May 43

A few troops and lots of supply continued to unload at Broome. No interference.

Midget sub Ha-7 hit a mine at Pearl Harbor.

There have been enemy subs off of the Australian coast, but too far away from land for planes to bother them. Allied convoys have moved up the coast in safety for a long time. But I've been routing convoys from Luganville to Darwin using a more mid-ocean route, between New Guinea and Australia. RO-61 found one such convoy, one bring supply to Darwin from the West Coast directly. 4 torpedoes were fired at xAK James B. McPherson. One hit, and the cargo ship is one of those that can carry some fuel also, so it burned. It sank soon after combat. It's been awhile since I lost a cargo ship to a sub. I'll probably take a more coastal route in the future.

Cruiser New Orleans and destroyer Balch bombarded Broome again, but with little ammo, they did nothing. They retire towards Darwin.

Searaven hit big tanker Kinmon Maru southeast of Mindanao. I believe that this big tanker convoy came from Japan, using a new route east of the Philippines. I've had subs waiting for this possibility. One torpedo of two fired hit the tanker. No fuel loaded, and no damage noted.

The big fight for Roi-Namur. It's been a prolonged struggle, with 1/3 of a US infantry division landing there long ago, having all of its squads disabled immediately, but slowly recovering over time, with no enemy counter-attack. 4 US cruisers and 7 destroyers bombarded, causing 470 casualties. Then more troops landed: a USMC regiment and a USMC tank battalion. It was time for the Marines to save the Army troops. Using APAs and LSTs, landing was accomplished in a day. SBDs and B-25s from nearby bases bombed. Heavy bombers from Tarawa were cancelled due to weather. An SBD was shot down by flak, indicating that the defenders still had supply. The obligatory enemy bombardment caused another 302 casualties to themselves. Then the attack we've been waiting for. How will overstacking do?

Ground combat at Roi-Namur (132,114)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 8925 troops, 104 guns, 172 vehicles, Assault Value = 340

Defending force 5519 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 58

Allied adjusted assault: 175

Japanese adjusted defense: 12

Allied assault odds: 14 to 1 (fort level 5)

Allied forces CAPTURE Roi-Namur !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
5709 casualties reported
Squads: 103 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 263 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 47 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 57 (57 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Allied ground losses:
624 casualties reported
Squads: 32 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 13 (2 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 53 (22 destroyed, 31 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st USMC Tank Battalion
22nd Marine Regiment
24th Infantry/A Division

Defending units:
43rd Naval Guard Unit
6th Base Force
41st JNAF AF Unit
53rd JNAF AF Unit

The Marines finish the fight. It was bloody. Don't know what caused the disruption and fatigue modifiers. The Marines came from the Marshalls, so they didn't travel far. And the Army unit had been resting for weeks on the island, with supply. Regardless, the island with a size 4 airfield is finally taken. The remaining enemy units disappeared due to attrition after the fight. Troops will be reloaded as fast as possible, while more supply will continue to unload. Lesson learned: bring extra troops, bring armor, and bring lots of extra supply for island shock-attack battles. Bomb it repeatedly leading up to the invasion, and bombard it. Basically, throw the kitchen sink at it and some overstacking is ok, with enough supply.

OPilot is traveling this week, but with a laptop to continue the game. Turns will be a bit more sporadic. I have until tomorrow night to do this turn, so I haven't started plotting yet. One thing to note: the audio for "Enemy carriers spotted" was heard during the replay, but I couldn't tell where it was referencing. I hope to have that figured out when I load the turn. If not, I'll have to re-watch the replay.

[apbarog]

The enemy carriers spotted were at Sorong. It was a poor recon. Just 2 carriers were seen and nothing else. Probably more than 2 carriers. Positioned at Sorong, Timor and even Darwin are at risk. One high speed run towards Darwin is within striking range. There have been many, many Allied ships in port at Darwin. A tempting target. There are still many, but many ships are still hiding one hex away, in task forces, at Bathurst Island. If KB did arrive, the US carrier CAP would be penalized for being in a base hex. I'm having fighters at Darwin do a range 1 CAP, to help cover the ships at Bathurst, just in case.

I don't expect OPilot to do a high risk, high speed run to Darwin. Not his normal method of operations. But I have to be prepared as it could happen.

From Sorong, he's also close enough to Truk to intervene with an Allied landing there. Of course, now that I've seen him at Sorong, he won't be there tomorrow. I think that my feeling that something big was lurking up by Ternate was correct.

The invasion of Ambon is next, to kick off when Wasp and CVEs get to the Darwin area, in a few days.

[apbarog]

4 May 43

All of the Australian brigade finishes unloading at Broome. Extra supply will unload at nearby Derby. 5 US light cruisers bombarded Broome, causing 422 casualties and light base damage. Bombers hit Japanese troops at Broome.

Enemy bombers hit Tavoy. Tojos swept there. No CAP. The airbase is heavily damaged. Sonias hit troops just north of Tavoy, and without escort. Today two Corsair squadrons will LRCAP that hex from Rangoon.

[apbarog]

5 May 43

4 US destroyers had been patrolling just off of Broome, protecting transports landing troops there. The transports left yesterday, so the destroyers were ordered to bombard Broome and then head to Darwin. Before they could do so, 3 enemy destroyers appeared. In poor visibility and 0% moonlight, the fight didn't start until the range was just 1,000 yards.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Broome at 62,127, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio
DD Hayashio

Allied Ships
DD Bagley
DD Blue
DD Jarvis
DD Gridley, Shell hits 3

The fight was inconclusive and short. The enemy fled quickly and escaped in the bad weather. Gridley has FLOT 9 and had a radar and small gun damaged. I suspect that the enemy was bringing supply into Broome, but didn't get there. US destroyers are ordered to Darwin. The US light cruiser force that bombarded Broome a few days ago has rearmed at Darwin and is heading back towards Broome.

US cruisers bombarded Mili effectively. Mili Naval Fortress did fire on the ships.

Japanese ground losses:
460 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 24 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 27 (16 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 25
Port hits 15
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 5

Mili isn't the next target. Jaluit probably is. I'm mixing up the bombardments in order to not telegraph my intentions.

Sub Pollack hit YO J-3829 with a torpedo and sank the small ship near Tandjoengselor. Sub Trout hit medium tanker Shinetsu Maru near southeast of Davao with two torpedoes, sinking the ship bases on audio. Neither targets had fuel loaded.

Sub Snapper spotted a cargo convoy in the shallows near Hong Kong, but didn't get a shot. Snapper took minor damage from near misses.

The enemy swept and bombed Tavoy. The Sonias joined in at Tavoy instead of hitting the hex to the north, which they did yesterday by themselves. So my Corsair LRCAP didn't find them. I suspect that the Sonias had been targeting an armor unit that I had just moved north out of Tavoy, and the Sonias continued targeting it. Then OPilot realized this and ordered them back to hit Tavoy to join with the others.

Wasp and CVEs moved west of Port Moresby and were not spotted. They'll continue on to Bathurst Island to join the armada. OPilot has subs between New Guinea and Australia, but they are midway to closer to Australia, not near New Guinea. His Glens spot everything headed to Darwin that isn't right on the Australian coast. Or passing close to Port Moresby.

[apbarog]

A big enemy carrier task force was once again spotted at Sorong. I've seen it there 3 days in a row. I also spotted what looks like a big battleship task force, and a small ASW task force. This is a normal grouping for OPilot, and could mean a lot of things. An offensive operation could be in the works. Or it is defensive, with being based in a location that can go either west or east to react.

The odd thing to me is that I've seen it 3 days in a row. OPilot knows his carriers have been seen. And yet they are still there. Could be baiting me into attacking?

If he'd seen all of my ships at Bathurst, I would have surely moved them away. I don't know what his intentions are yet. His carriers are too close for me to go to Ambon right now. I still have a few days until Wasp and the CVEs get to the area. Then I'll have to decide.

I won't do Kendari until after Ambon. I could start my western advance towards Java, but troop unit preparation isn't far enough along. Three main targets, and several minor landings, between Timor and Java, are being prepared for. All should be ready about the same time, so things will proceed quickly in that area when it comes time.

I have a destroyer group on the way to Wake Island from Pearl Harbor. I'd like it to be seen at Wake. That might cause a reaction away from Ambon. If not seen, they'll go on a raid north of Truk or south of the Mariannas.

[apbarog]

6 May 43

Dutch sub KXIV fired 4 torpedoes at an E-boat just east of Sorong but missed. W-16 hit the sub with a depth charge. KXIV will retire to Darwin, taking a wide course around Sorong to avoid enemy carriers, battleships and escorts.

US cruisers bombarded Jaluit. Rapid replenishment at Tarawa is allowing bombardments almost every day.

Heavy enemy air over Tavoy again.

B-24s from Gove hit Hollandia's airfield for the first time, just because. Light damage in severe storms. No CAP.

The question is: What is going on at Sorong? And should I try to take advantage of enemy carriers at a base hex, with no fighters based at the airfield? I know they've been there for 4 days. OPilot knows that I know. Wasp and multiple CVEs will join the armada at Bathurst very soon.

I'll keep doing recon there and see if fighters show up tomorrow.

[apbarog]

7 May 43

5 US light cruisers bombarded Broome to good effect. 733 casualties and light base damage. Wearing down the enemy, and reducing supply, to help the outnumbered Australians that landed at Broome.

The usual enemy bombing in random places in China and near Tavoy.

A big carrier battle may be coming. I commit to moving towards the enemy. Not in range today, unless the enemy carriers leave Sorong. Fighters at Taberfane will help cover the fleet. 2 P-38 squadrons moved to Dobo to rest today and be prepared to sweep Sorong tomorrow. They could help reduce the protection over the carriers, and maybe clear things up for a big strike.

But the question remains: why is KB sitting at Sorong, for 5 days straight and while being spotted every day? Attempt at a trap? Gathering forces for something offensive? Is it just an oversight that there's no land based fighter protection there? I just don't know.

[BBfanboy]

The only 2 reasons I can think of for those carriers to sit there is waiting for reinforcements to come in from Japan, or there is not enough fuel at Sorong yet for them to set out on a mission.

[apbarog]

8 May 43

Pickerel was patrolling north of Ternate. It spotted AKE Kiso Maru and a patrol boat escort. Two torpedoes were fired at the AKE. One hit. It may have sunk. Odds are that the ship was moving south to Ternate. A possible clue to the enemy's intentions in the area.

It is noticeable that the supply situation in China has gotten worse instead of better. I may have ordered too many Chinese units to take on replacements. I cancel those orders and will monitor the situation.

[apbarog]

9 May 43

Heavy enemy air over Tavoy. The airfield hasn't been operational since its capture from the Japanese. More AA and engineers are headed to Tavoy to at least try to repair the damage.

Enemy land based fighters have finally appeared at Sorong, but the carriers and combat task forces have left. Wasp and the CVEs near Taberfane must have spooked them. All carriers are now at Darwin and were spotted. More Wildcats upgraded to Hellcats. APAs that have been hiding at Bathurst Island will now return to Darwin. The invasion of Ambon is now on. All troops for Ambon, including many base support units, are 100% prepped for the target, so everything will go in with the first wave, using as many APAs as possible. Get in and get out. Adjacent Namlea, which is up to a size 2 airfield, will be invaded also, using troops from Taberfane and Dobo. APAs and LSTs are headed there for pickup.

No idea which direction the enemy carriers went. Heavy bombers have moved from Darwin to Koepang and will bomb Kendari a bit before concentrating on Ambon. P-38s are planned to sweep Kendari when that starts in a couple of days.

CV Victorious has been at San Diego, working on a massive refit that has taken months. It will be ready to go within a week. And CV Essex is coming, within 3 weeks.

[BBfanboy]

That sounds like a "bait and switch" scam at Sorong- get you to use your CV aircraft to attack Sorong but have a plan to bug out his CVs and fly in LBA fighters to try and decimate your carrier aircraft.

[apbarog]

10 May 43

Pollack missed E Otori with 2 torpedoes east of Samarinda, Borneo. An AO is spotted with multiple E-boats. This is notable because the encounter occurred in the coastal hex in the strait east of Samarinda. Confirmation that OPilot is taking the time to plot routes using the shallows. And notable that the Allies are willing to go into the shallows. Sometimes.

Speaking of which, Pogy has success near China (see graphic). Pogy had a few near misses and has SYS 14 FLOT 4, and will return to Darwin.

Enemy air goes after Tavoy, Lanchow, Tienshui and Hengyang, and near Kukong. Allied fighters will try for an ambush over Lanchow, basing from the north and south. Low supply may prevent the fighters from getting off the ground, but we'll try. Another ambush will be attempted just north of Wuchow. If OPilot sticks to a pattern, he'll move the Sonias from the attack near Kukong to just north of Wuchow, just to the west. I've failed at this attempt before, so he doesn't do this every time, but he's done it often.

A poor recon of Truk shows what may be KB and the big battleship group that was at Sorong. Troops for the invasion of Ambon are now loading at Darwin and Taberfane. Other ships have left Darwin and wait at Bathurst Island, the place to disappear in plain sight, while remaining in task forces. Heavy bombers and P-38s will hit Kendari from Koepang.

[apbarog]

11 May 43

More enemy air activity over Tavoy.

Big enemy strike on Portland Roads. This area has been quiet for a long time. I had fighter protection here for months but pulled them out, with the emphasis around Timor. But I forgot what I had in port there. Recent Allied shipping in the area, spotted by Glens, brought OPilot's attention to Portland Roads, and he evidently got a good idea that there were targets in port there. Bravo to him. I am reminded how close Lae and Buna are to Australia.

Morning Air attack on Portland Roads , at 91,132

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 29
G4M1 Betty x 62

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
AVP Fazant, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AKE Mobile City, Bomb hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage
AKE San Bernadino, Bomb hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
AG Albatros, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
ARD Tandjong Kv-2, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 21
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 2

All ships sank after combat, clearing the port completely of ships. The ARD was a small Dutch one. It's always bad to lose valuable AKEs. These had been somewhat forgotten behind the lines.

My surge of air activity in China did not pay off. The hex north of Wuchow was not attacked, and my air units were spotted, and are ordered back to the capital. In the far north, Lanchow was not attacked, and the Allied fighters were not spotted nearby. They stay. In the south, Allied search planes did spot shipping south of China, but not the big tanker convoy, seeing just a small ship at a base on Hainan Island. The search itself may cause some concern for the enemy. Naval bombers, which didn't fly, were spotted at their bases and are ordered back to Ledo.

Lots of US heavy bombers from Koepang hit Kendari's port and airfield, finding 42 Tonys and 36 Oscars at the start. Unfortunately, the two squadrons of P-38s at Koepang did not fly to Kendari at all. This certainly increased the bomber losses. Total losses for the US were 6 B-24s and 4 B-17s. Enemy losses were 12 Oscars and 9 Tonys in the air, and 5 Bettys, 4 Lilys and 3 transport Helens on the ground. An ACM was destroyed in the port. Most of the bombers need to recover, which is bad for the upcoming invasion of Ambon. The P-38s are once again ordered to go to Kendari.

Sub Paddle hit xAK Sinko Maru with a torpedo near Tanegashima, south of mainland Japan.

Enemy destroyers are spotted west of Timor, southbound towards Broome. Naval bombers at Koepang, within range, didn't fly due to weather.

Invasion shipping for Ambon will leave Darwin and Taberfane and head towards Babar, to rendezvous with the carriers, battleships and escort shipping. Ambon has been showing 6 enemy units, and less than 10,000 men. The US 2nd Marine Division should be able to handle it. A Marine tank battalion, 2 artillery units, and a AA unit, as well as base support and engineers, will all land at once. In a few days.

Carriers and battleships at Truk are not seen today. 3 Fletcher class destroyers, having refueled at Wake Island, are on a raid and will pass close to and southwest of Marcus Island. Marcus is just a size 1 airfield. Odds are, the ships will be spotted. But if not, they'll patrol between Marcus and the Mariannas.

[apbarog]

12 May 43

Gar fired 4 torpedoes at TK Noshiro Maru south of Balikpapan. All missed. Albacore fired 2 torpedoes at AO Iro south of Mindanao, but both missed. Pogy spotted an AR being escorted by a patrol boat in the South China Sea west of Luzon, but didn't get a shot.

It was a big day in the air. Corsairs, P-38s and P-40Ks swept Rahaeng and found 119 Oscars to begin with. The Corsairs went in first and did well, as did the P-38Gs. The Warhawks didn't do as well but did ok. I have over 200 P-40Ks in the pool, so I'm willing to use them in less than ideal circumstances, in an effort to eliminate good enemy pilots.

2 P-38 squadrons from Koepang swept Kendari and found 30 Zeros, 5 Oscars and 4 Tonys at start. The P-38s did pretty well. Major F.L. Lawlor got his 16th kill and leads the league now. He was flying a P-38G out of Koepang.

Lilys tried to attack Little Andaman, but found 16 Hurricane IIc Trop's there, and the Lilys didn't have an escort or a sweep to help. Every Lily was shot down.

The enemy came back to Lanchow, finally, and fighters were waiting. 25 Sallys and 25 Lilys came unescorted and found 8 P-43s and 11 P-40Ks on LRCAP with range 2. Many bombers were downed.

Total air losses for the day:

62 Oscars at Rahaeng
48 Lilys at Little Andaman and Lanchow
12 A6M5 Zeros at Kendari
9 Sallys at Lanchow

14 F4Us at Rahaeng
14 P-40Ks at Rahaeng
9 P-38Gs at Rahaeng and Kendari

6 Allied pilots were KIA.

3 Fletcher class destroyers were spotted southwest of Marcus Island. They will move to the northeast of Marcus, on the way back to Midway. Surprise is lost, but maybe they'll cause some reactions.

Most of the Allied carriers were spotted north of Darwin. The armada will come together 4 hexes to the southwest of Ambon.

[BBfanboy]

What is the shipping at Kendari and Sorong? Does he have you bracketed by SCTFs when you move on Ambon?

[apbarog]

Nothing major at either port. I bombed Kendari's port. Ships in port left after that. Only patrol craft spotted near Kendari. Same for Ambon, but it had KB and battleships just a week ago. I think they went to Truk for a day, and disappeared after that. Search north of Ambon is poor though, so anything could happen.

[BBfanboy]

.

[apbarog]

13 May 43

A dozen or so P-38s swept Rahaeng and tangled with 68 Oscars. Heavy bombers then hit the base, with other heavies and B-25s hitting adjacent Pisanuloke and Uttaradit. Overall losses were 16 Oscars for 6 P-38s, and about 6 heavy bombers lost.

7 hexes west of Koepang, 3 enemy destroyers are once again spotted, on a southerly course towards contested Broome. 18 TBFs attacked first, carrying bombs, but could hit nothing from 10,000 feet. The pilots, unfortunately, weren't trained in bombing, only in torpedo attacks. 16 Beaufighter VIc's then attacked on the deck. Kuroshio was hit by cannon 16 times, and Hayashio was hit 2 times. No bomb hits, and no damage reported. 18 SBDs then attacked. Oyashio was hit with a 1000 pound bomb and reported heavy fires. Kuroshio was hit by a 1000 pound bomb and no damage noted. If the destroyers keep making runs to Broome, they probably will stay further west next time.

About half of the Ambon armada is spotted. Since there are so many ships here, enough was seen to know that this is a big invasion armada. The ships are 4 hexes southwest of Ambon. Ambon will be invaded, as will adjacent Namlea. Carriers will support from one hex to the southwest.

Nothing spotted in the area to be concerned with. The concern is what isn't being spotted. Once taken, Ambon will become the enemy's point of focus. But the main planned axis of advance after Ambon is towards Java. A jump to Denpassar and Mataram and Banjoewangi is possible, with backfilling after that.

[jwolf]

The concern is what isn't being spotted.

That sounds a little ominous ...

But you are making really great progress, especially at a relatively early point in the war.