Always with them negative waves... Aaffins/Cheesesteak v. RADM Yamaguchi

[aaffins]

March 21, 1942

We had fallen a bit behind on our AAR updates, but now we need to get caught up because things are heating up fast and ole VAC wants the advice of his forum friends.

IJA hammers our retreated units South of Sian, they're not one hex away. About 1,600 AV there.

3rd Carabiniers Regt arrives at Akyab and their attack is...disappointing. He's flown in some engineers and AV support. Now have fighters operating from the airstrip. We move a couple of Hurricane squadrons up to Chittagong to sweep the area.

Ground combat at Akyab (54,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 572 troops, 0 guns, 84 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Defending force 1593 troops, 19 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 32

Allied adjusted assault: 11

Japanese adjusted defense: 71

Allied assault odds: 1 to 6 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment

Defending units:
Yokosuka 1st SNLF
20th Ind. Engr Rgt /15
15th JAAF AF Bn /1

[aaffins]

March 22, 1942

The Hurricanes do alright over Akyab. Opponent is the 11th Sentai flying Oscar Ic's. Combat reports look better than intel report - we lost 12 Hurricanes vs. 16 Oscars reported downed. Most of the losses were the model I's vs. the IIb's.

Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 41

Allied aircraft
Hurricane I Trop x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane I Trop: 2 destroyed

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 28 on standby, 0 scrambling)
13 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 31

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 2 destroyed

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (3 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
22 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes

I find this mind boggling...he's committed almost 1,500 UNRESTRICTED AV to China. To me, this indicates he's not going to for any major. It's wasting one of the huge advantages of Scen 2.

round combat at Nanning (72,55)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45828 troops, 448 guns, 157 vehicles, Assault Value = 1610

Defending force 25091 troops, 175 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 727

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1

Japanese adjusted assault: 575

Allied adjusted defense: 515

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1515 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 128 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 32 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1458 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 160 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled

Assaulting units:
5th Guards Cav Regiment
4th Guards Division
5th Guards Engineer Regiment
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
6th Guards Division
16th Guards Regiment
17th Indpt Guards Regiment
5th Amphibious Brigade
14th Guards Regiment
2nd Militia Regiment

Defending units:
64th Chinese Corps
31st Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
35th Group Army
9th Chinese Base Force

[aaffins]

March 23, 1942

Air search picks up two enemy TFs, apparently light amphibs inbound for Canton I. We've been expecting this so have couple Wickes-class DDs on station. CL Honolulu and her escorts are about 15 hexes away, they head in. CV Hornet has her air group upgraded and was moving to the SoPac to join up with our other CVs. She's 31 hexes away and will move closer, but we obviously have to be careful of an ambush so won't deploy without being careful.

In Buma/India the Hurricane I's are pulled out and we move in a squadron of USAAF P-39s (II Fighter Command, sent them to India early in the game). They do well against the Oscars over Akyab, although that may have do with the Hurricane taking the brunt of the battle going in first. Recon suggests the enemy is down to a dozen or Oscars.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 22

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 15

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x P-39D Airacobra sweeping at 20000 feet

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 22

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Akyab , at 54,45

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 15

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x P-39D Airacobra sweeping at 20000 feet

CAP engaged:
11th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes

At Nanning, he rests his Guards units and sends his engineers into the grinder...they take our forts back down, but play a heavy price:

Japanese ground losses:
165 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled

The 3rd Carabiniers continue their tradition of being bad:

Ground combat at Akyab (54,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 572 troops, 0 guns, 84 vehicles, Assault Value = 53

Defending force 1662 troops, 21 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 36

Allied adjusted assault: 10

Japanese adjusted defense: 47

Allied assault odds: 1 to 4 (fort level 0)

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

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

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment

Defending units:
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF
15th JAAF AF Bn /1

[aaffins]

March 24, 1942

We've seen some enemy activity around Lord Howe Island the last few days, so we sent some DDs to investigate. Certainly did not expect this prize, no idea what the plan was with this:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Lord Howe Island at 103,175, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
AV Sanuki Maru, Shell hits 19, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Henley
DD Jarvis
DD Craven
DD Gridley

90th Inf Regt is halfway Townsville, we harass away with LBA

Under the assumption that our sweeps would fly against the depleted Oscars, we launched a horde of RAF Blenheims against Akyab. Unfortunately, sweeps do not fly and we lose 12 Blenheims. However those that make it through do a lot of damage:

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 27

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

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged

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

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 25

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 9

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 10

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Blenheim IV bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Blenheim IV bombing from 6000 feet
Airfield Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

Recon shows 33 damage to the AF now.

The enemy TFs we thought were coming to Canton diverted to Baker I., we send the DDs after them.

The PoW gets her Sys Damage into the 30's so we send her from Perth to Capetown.

[aaffins]

March 25, 1942

The DDs hit home at Baker, taking out a couple loaded PBs. The accompanying TF appears to be APDs, which are too much for old Wickes-class cans to handle:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Baker Island at 146,139, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Aso Maru #3, Shell hits 1
PB Busho Maru, Shell hits 2
PB Chitose Maru
PB Choko Maru #2
PB Eifuku Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
PB Eiko Maru
PB Fukui Maru
PB Kenkon Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Dent
DD Kennison

Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Day Time Surface Combat, near Baker Island at 147,140, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD Sawakaze
APD Yakaze
APD Yukaze
APD Hokaze
APD Shimakaze
APD Nadakaze

Allied Ships
DD Dent, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Kennison, Shell hits 1, on fire

Day Time Surface Combat, near Baker Island at 148,138, Range 17,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
APD Sawakaze
APD Yakaze, Shell hits 2
APD Yukaze
APD Hokaze
APD Shimakaze
APD Nadakaze

Allied Ships
DD Dent, on fire
DD Kennison, Shell hits 3, heavy fires

Japanese ground losses:
19 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Happily, a USMC DB squadron flying from Canton hits the APDs, likely taking out 3-4:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Baker Island at 148,137

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 2 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 14

Allied aircraft losses
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 2 damaged
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
APD Yakaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Yukaze
APD Hokaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires

Japanese ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring APD Yakaze
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring APD Hokaze

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Baker Island at 148,137

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 9 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Nadakaze
APD Hokaze, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
APD Sawakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
398 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (6 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring APD Hokaze
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring APD Sawakaze



Over Akyab the sweeps clear the remaining Oscars and the Blenheims get an unfettered shot. AF is now showing 52% damage on recon. The British 7th Hussars have also arrived and the BB Royal Sovereign closes for a bombardment.

In China, the IJA takes back Loyang from a Chinese unit (most of our forces moved across the river to Tsiatoso), but they used 3 divisions. To me pulling those forces away from an attack on Sian or Sinyang is a big win and helps delay him.

Broome falls to a couple SNLF companies.

5 IJN TFs, including a carrier TF, show up in NE Oz. SigInt says the 38th ID is not inbound to Cairns...almost assuredly we have a major landing on our hands.

[aaffins]

March 26, 1942

Our opponent pulls the Oscars out of Akyab, replacing them with Nicks. The P-39s handle them easily.
Blenheims take the damage up to 70% (we have that Mitchell PRU active now out of Calcutta, so 9/10 recon, think that's pretty reliable).
Royal Sovereign apparently isn't interested and doesn't make it, next turn perhaps?
The ground attack gets 1:1 odds with us taking minimal casualties. Suspect we'll be able to dislodge him, he only has light forces and we have M3 tanks.

Ground combat at Akyab (54,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1830 troops, 13 guns, 196 vehicles, Assault Value = 125

Defending force 1652 troops, 21 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 37

Allied adjusted assault: 74

Japanese adjusted defense: 59

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
157 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 15 disabled

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
7th Hussars Regiment

Defending units:
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF
15th JAAF AF Bn /1

All those Guards units at Nanning go 1:2 against us:

Ground combat at Nanning (72,55)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32714 troops, 338 guns, 302 vehicles, Assault Value = 1472

Defending force 24004 troops, 175 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 595

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 630

Allied adjusted defense: 1115

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
1002 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 161 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 51 disabled
Guns lost 19 (1 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1269 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 163 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 45 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)

Assaulting units:
16th Guards Regiment
14th Guards Regiment
5th Guards Engineer Regiment
5th Amphibious Brigade
4th Guards Division
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
17th Indpt Guards Regiment
5th Guards Cav Regiment
6th Guards Division
2nd Militia Regiment

Defending units:
64th Chinese Corps
31st Chinese Corps
74th Chinese Corps
35th Group Army
9th Chinese Base Force

He tries to cut off our retreat near Prome by dropping Paras on us on the trail. I'm guessing he didn't realize our divisions had moved up one hex:

Ground combat at 54,49 (near Prome)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 899 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 77




Defending force 10975 troops, 127 guns, 19 vehicles, Assault Value = 435

Japanese adjusted assault: 0

Allied adjusted defense: 754

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), op mode(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
632 casualties reported
Squads: 36 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled


Engineers: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd Raiding Regiment
Yokosuka Assault SNLF /1

Defending units:
1st Burma Division
17th Indian Division
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
3rd Burma Rifles Battalion


In NE Oz the TFs move in, but no combat. Deployment is consistent with landing units (38th ID we think) under carrier cover.

[aaffins]

March 27, 1942

Our boys push the enemy out of Akyab:

Ground combat at Akyab (54,45)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1804 troops, 13 guns, 196 vehicles, Assault Value = 123

Defending force 1525 troops, 21 guns, 8 vehicles, Assault Value = 33

Allied adjusted assault: 35

Japanese adjusted defense: 13

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Akyab !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

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

Japanese ground losses:
722 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 45 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

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

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
7th Hussars Regiment

Defending units:
20th Ind. Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF
15th JAAF AF Bn /1

An intrepid Wirraway commander decides to attack Cairns. He loses most of his planes but let's us know the IJA 38th ID is ashore. Also that the covering units are Hosho-1 and Tainan Ku S-1. So I guess we probably have 2-3 small carriers in action here.

[CaptBeefheart]

I was going to chime in that your Carabiniers could do a shock attack and not be damaged based on those previous results, and then I saw you took Akyab anyway.

EDIT: As an FYI, just because the AV ratio is bad (say 1:4), doesn't mean you aren't winning the battle. Assault value is purely a measure of number of infantry squads, tanks, etc., and has nothing to do with the actual combat power of those devices. Your Carabiniers must have some tanks (I don't recall the TOE of that unit) and the anti-armor numbers in his devices were probably very low.

It's great to see P-39s doing sweeps, but those II Fighter Command fighters would come in useful in NE Oz right now. How is your air superiority in that region?

Cheers,
CB

[aaffins]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

I was going to chime in that your Carabiniers could do a shock attack and not be damaged based on those previous results, and then I saw you took Akyab anyway.

EDIT: As an FYI, just because the AV ratio is bad (say 1:4), doesn't mean you aren't winning the battle. Assault value is purely a measure of number of infantry squads, tanks, etc., and has nothing to do with the actual combat power of those devices. Your Carabiniers must have some tanks (I don't recall the TOE of that unit) and the anti-armor numbers in his devices were probably very low.

It's great to see P-39s doing sweeps, but those II Fighter Command fighters would come in useful in NE Oz right now. How is your air superiority in that region?

Cheers,
CB

Not great in NE Oz. That call on sending II Fighter Command to India was made early on, before we had much of a feel for where he would push.

Our saving grace right now is that Cairns is such a small AF we're able to maintain air superiority, but we're in trouble if he's able to build it up. We only have 1 USAAF squadron and two USMC squadron to supplement the RAAF at present.

[CaptBeefheart]

The lack of fighters early on in Oz is scary. You'd think the Aussies would have kept some fighters at home in real life.

Cheers,
CB

[jdsrae]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

The lack of fighters early on in Oz is scary. You'd think the Aussies would have kept some fighters at home in real life.

Cheers,
CB

Here’s a link to a book on that topic:
https://books.google.com.au/books/about ... edir_esc=y

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

The lack of fighters early on in Oz is scary. You'd think the Aussies would have kept some fighters at home in real life.

Cheers,
CB

This why I advocate transferring the PI fighters to Oz, even though the PP cost will spent for a temporary utilization since they withdraw in the summer. The period leading up to summer can be critical.

[aaffins]

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

The lack of fighters early on in Oz is scary. You'd think the Aussies would have kept some fighters at home in real life.

Cheers,
CB

This why I advocate transferring the PI fighters to Oz, even though the PP cost will spent for a temporary utilization since they withdraw in the summer. The period leading up to summer can be critical.

The USAAF squadron we have there is an amalgamation of the surviving fighters from the PI, upgraded to P40Es.

We have two 13th AF squadrons in NZ being loaded for transit and a third already en route.

[Cheesesteak]

ORIGINAL: CaptBeefheart

I was going to chime in that your Carabiniers could do a shock attack and not be damaged based on those previous results, and then I saw you took Akyab anyway.

EDIT: As an FYI, just because the AV ratio is bad (say 1:4), doesn't mean you aren't winning the battle. Assault value is purely a measure of number of infantry squads, tanks, etc., and has nothing to do with the actual combat power of those devices. Your Carabiniers must have some tanks (I don't recall the TOE of that unit) and the anti-armor numbers in his devices were probably very low.

It's great to see P-39s doing sweeps, but those II Fighter Command fighters would come in useful in NE Oz right now. How is your air superiority in that region?

Cheers,
CB

I'm pretty mad at whoever insisted on sending II Fighter Command to India. I probably made the argument to diversify the types of fighters in our theaters. What an idiot. I bet he even created a forum tag based on his favorite hometown food.

[aaffins]

March 28, 1942

Fairly quiet turn.

Our B-17s are being frustratingly disrupted by Rufes he has deployed at Lord Howe and Raoul Islands. The range from Auckland to Raoul was such we weren't doing a lot anyway, but Lord Howe we had pretty well glassed. At this point I suspect the ground units are probably largely recovered. BB Colorado will bombard Lord Howe next turn. Hopefully that'll knock out enough Rufes we can keep them suppressed. We weren't doing a whole lot to Raoul because of the range anyway, so that's less of an issue for now.

In Burma our retreating units move one hex clear of the IJA paras. Enemy has some units moving west from Magwe, presumably trying to cut off our retreat.

[aaffins]

March 29, 1942

As promised, Colorado hits Lord Howe, only one Rufe flys CAP.

Night Naval bombardment of Lord Howe Island at 100,169

Allied Ships
BB Colorado
DD Cushing
DD Shaw
DD Ellet
DD Benham

Japanese ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Port hits 7
Port supply hits 1

OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Colorado

The Bandasan SNLF appears to be the main enemy combat unit at Lord Howe...it's more company sized if I recall correctly.

Nicks on LRCAP surprise us near Akyab and we lose half a dozen Blenheim I's

[aaffins]

March 30, 1942

We counter the Nicks LR CAPing near Akyab and our P-39s take down 3-4.

Enemy uses LRCAP over the 90th Inf Regt one hex outside of Townsville and Zeros take down 15 RAAF aircraft, mix of Hudsons, Wirraways and Kittyhawks. Frustrating because we had been sweeping but decided it wasn't worth it since he wasn't flying CAP. We'll see how Kittyhawks fare against Zero LRCAP next turn...with the penalties for LRCAP I think the should do ok.

Only one Rufe flys from Lord Howe, but our B-17s still get significant damage...I guess that's from AA? Bit disappointing with how long they take to repair. BBs New Mexico and Warspite are up for bombardment tonight

We can safely continue the bombardments because what appears to be the KB has popped up near Canton I. apparently covering an invasion force. We had some minor surface assets and a USMC DB squadron in the area last week so he must have thought he needed the KB. We haven't actually reinforced the island, obviously we evac our aircraft and CL Honolulu makes tracks.

With the KB sighted and enemy light carriers retiring from Cairns we decide the time is right to launch invasions of Lord Howe and Raoul Islands. TFs begin loading at Sydney and Auckland. We have about 100 AV for each. Lord Howe gets a battalion of USMC paratroops, 49th Aus Bn (evaced by seaplane after PM fell) and 4 companies of Aus commandos. Raoul gets 2 USMC raider battalions and the Kiwi N Force Detachment.

Tjilatjap falls, our last base on Java.

[aaffins]

March 31, 1942

A P-39 successfully sweeps Magwe, knocking down 5+ Oscars for just 2 Aircobras. I'm really surprised he hasn't deployed some Zeroes in Burma and is letting us get away with this.

Our Kittyhawks try a sweep near Townsville, but despite the Zeroes flying LRCAP 3 hexes from their base and 10,000 feet below, they handle us easily, we lose several planes.

As predicted, two naval guard units land at Canton I. and easily capture the base (we had not reinforced the small garrison). We are not positive the KB is operating here, but air search certainly looks like it is.

Warspite and Mississippi hit Lord Howe but don't appear to do a great deal of damage...they're not expending that much of their ammo. We'll try a more skilled and aggressive commander.

In the North Pacific there is a TF at Adak, the BBs Tennessee and Arizona are in the neighborhood, they will close and possibly engage.

[Anachro]

Regarding your post about sharing intel/plans, I think the benefits of posting up-to-date info and plans outweigh the risks: you get good and timely advice from the forums and, unless your opponent is reading this thread, Opsec risk is pretty low, especially since many posters usually only read one side or the other. Would it be possible to get large pictures of certain important theaters and their situation?

[Cheesesteak]

ORIGINAL: Anachro

Regarding your post about sharing intel/plans, I think the benefits of posting up-to-date info and plans outweigh the risks: you get good and timely advice from the forums and, unless your opponent is reading this thread, Opsec risk is pretty low, especially since many posters usually only read one side or the other. Would it be possible to get large pictures of certain important theaters and their situation?

Happy to, though fair warning I am visiting in-laws and don't have access to screenshots