Deja Vu All Over Again - apbarog(J) vs OPilot(A)

[apbarog]

21 Mar 42

The DMS's at Singapore kicked into gear today, and started sweeping mines. They had returned to Singapore, with Singapore as the home base, and they got a good start on the mines. Hopefully they continue.

At Port Moresby, patrol boats Hirotama Maru and Chokai Maru have been patrolling, both at the base and just outside of it. They occasionally spot an enemy sub but haven't had much luck hitting one. Today, S-36 spotted them just outside of Port Moresby. 2 torpedoes were fired at Hirotama Maru, with a hit, sinking the patrol boat. Chokai Maru then hit S-36 with a depth charge. Not enough to sink it. Later in the day, S-36 attacked again, firing 2 torpedoes at Chokai Maru. Again, one hit and the patrol boat was sunk. No more patrol around Port Moresby. Quite a performance by the S-boat. I'm not tracking, but these were probably not its first kills of the war near Port Moresby.

45 Zeros from Balikpapan swept Soerabaja, finding 12 B-339Ds and 12 Hurricane IIb Trops. 8 of the Dutch planes were shot down, as well as 4 Hurricanes. 4 Zeros were lost. The cruiser force at Soerabaja is no longer there, nor is the one that had been at Batavia.

Grenadier spotted cargo ships at Ocean Island. I had a few there and at nearby Nauru Island picking up resources before heading back to Japan. Not a big priority, but it was nearby, and every little bit helps. With the spotting, it's not worth staying though.

Chinese troops were bombed at Kukong and then it was attacked. Most of the enemy had slipped out of town to the west, making the capture of the town certain.

Ground combat at Kukong (79,57)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 58813 troops, 505 guns, 319 vehicles, Assault Value = 1726

Defending force 10791 troops, 65 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 224

Japanese adjusted assault: 1374

Allied adjusted defense: 71

Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Kukong !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
595 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 30 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Allied ground losses:
7877 casualties reported
Squads: 243 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 150 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 39 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 59 (55 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Units retreated 3
Units destroyed 1

A division at Tarakan will start loading for Java.

[apbarog]

22 Mar 42

Enemy mines are finally completely swept at Singapore. Enemy subs are nearby, waiting for the inevitable transports to show up for the next invasions. But they aren't coming soon. Sumatra will wait. Java comes first.

DMS W-10 had hit a mine at Balikpapan. It made minor repairs there, then moved out to go to Hong Kong for complete repairs. Dutch sub KXIV spotted it near Balabac and hit it with 2 torpedoes, sinking the minesweeper.

Enemy heavy bombers show up. Approximately 4 LB-30s tried to hit the oil at Balikpapan. 21 Zeros intercepted. 4 bombers were shot down, while 2 Zeros were lost. Also, 7 B-17Es from Suva bombed Tanna's port, doing very minor damage. Nothing to hit there.

Tabiteuea was invaded and taken by a tiny Japanese infantry company. It was just an undefended dot base, but it can be built up and house more troops than any other island in the Marshalls.

[apbarog]

23 Mar 42

The scourge of the Allied subs continues.

Sub attack near Jolo at 73,91

Japanese Ships
CVE Taiyo, Torpedo hits 1
BB Yamashiro
BB Mutsu
CA Kako
CL Tama
CL Nagara
DD Yamakaze
DD Umikaze
DD Kawakaze

Allied Ships
SS Sealion

SS Sealion launches 4 torpedoes at CVE Taiyo

No duds. The US subs have over-achieved with working torpedoes, particularly against bigger, high value targets. Taiyo is not badly damaged. It is SYS 13/FLOT 17-9/ENG 23-30/FIRE 0. It will take an indirect path to Manila for repairs. The Zeros on it are flown to Samarinda to support the Java landing.

OPilot has increased hit commitment in fighters in China. Chungking now shows 54 fighters, and Kweilin now shows 51. Most if not all of the Flying Tigers is now in China, I believe.

11 Oscars got lucky and ran into approximately 3 Chinese A-29s bombing troops near Hengyang. Clear terrain. Minor troops damage and 3 Hudsons shot down.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

20 Mar 42


and ordered them to patrol

DMS won't sweep mines if set to patrol.

[apbarog]

I tried the patrol setting when other attempts, like a normal destination didn't work. Then I tried a normal destination without a remain on station. They wouldn't sweep in any of the cases. I sent them to another base. Then I sent them back, with the original settings of a destination of Singapore and a home base of Singapore. And they swept. Same setting that I started with. Can't explain why it doesn't work sometimes.

I haven't had the issues with a local minesweeping task force though.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

I tried the patrol setting when other attempts, like a normal destination didn't work. Then I tried a normal destination without a remain on station. They wouldn't sweep in any of the cases. I sent them to another base. Then I sent them back, with the original settings of a destination of Singapore and a home base of Singapore. And they swept. Same setting that I started with. Can't explain why it doesn't work sometimes.

I haven't had the issues with a local minesweeping task force though.

The minesweepers must first detect the minefield. If it is a small sub-laid minefield that can take a while. It's all about probabilities and die rolls.

[apbarog]

I mentioned the minesweeping issue because it's a rarity for me. My sweepers generally find and sweep the mines. That is what makes it more noticed when they don't. In this case, when I captured Singapore, the enemy mines were spotted. It's possible that this "spotting" is not equivalent in the code to the minesweepers finding the mines. Don't know. But on several attempts, moving into and out of Singapore, they didn't sweep any mines. Finally, they did.

Not a big deal to me. It doesn't happen often. Just something I noticed and did not have an explanation for.

[apbarog]

24 Mar 42

B-17s from Suva bombed Efate's port, doing minor damage. A sign of what is to come.

Did a big 2 squadron Oscar sweep of Mandalay in Burma, but no enemy fighters found. The Flying Tigers are suspected to all be in China.

Bettys with Zeros from Noumea bombed Norfolk Island, doing minor damage.

The gathering armada for invading Java is passing through the straits between Borneo and Celebes. It is a dangerous area, with many enemy subs. The ships will gather near Samarinda and then continue on to Java, with the invasion to occur in about 4 days. 3 divisions will land initially. Another is slowly loading at Samarinda.

[apbarog]

25 Mar 42

Java invasion armada is near Balikpapan and headed for to Tjepoe. A couple of sub encounters, but enemy torpedoes missed Japanese destroyers.

LB-30s in the Aleutians bombed Adak's port, doing very minor damage. I only have search planes in the western Aleutians. Enemy LCTs were spotted at Dutch Harbor.

Gorontalo, on Celebes, was invaded, in order to cut off some Dutch units that were kicked out of Manado. The Dutch will be attacked at Sidate today, and hopefully be eliminated.

[apbarog]

26 Mar 42

Destroyer Hatsuharu spotted a new minefield at Luganville. A sweeper is dispatched from Tulagi. The last one at Luganville was sunk there.

42 Zeros from Balikpapan swept Soerabaja and did well against 10 P-40Es and 22 B-339Ds. 19 B-339Ds and 7 Warhawks were shot down. No loss for the Japanese.

6 B-25s attacked invasion transports headed to Java. With the carriers not in the ordered position, there was no CAP. But all bombs missed.

Gorontalo in the Celebes was captured. Sidate was then captured and the Dutch had nowhere to retreat to.

Ground combat at Sidate (75,100)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1830 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Defending force 1747 troops, 15 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 47

Japanese adjusted assault: 54

Allied adjusted defense: 13

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Sidate !!!

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

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

Allied ground losses:
2253 casualties reported
Squads: 75 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 20 (20 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
43rd Naval Guard Unit

Defending units:
Manado RK Cdo
Manado Mil'ie Cdo

[EDIT: Graphic should say NE of Soerabaja, not NW.]

[apbarog]

27 Mar 42

Makassar was invaded. The 42nd Naval Guard Unit won't be enough to take it, as there are 2 Dutch units there with slightly higher strength. The infantry division that was slow to load at Samarinda is now completely loaded. It was originally to go to Makassar. I changed plans and was going to send it to reinforce Java. Now it's going to Makassar after all. As long as it lands before the end of the month, when the amphibious bonus runs out, it isn't a problem.

Doing some dot base cleanup behind the lines. A unit landed at Batan Island, north of Luzon.

DMS W-16 swept a few enemy mines at Luganville and cleared the harbor.

Zeros from Balikpapan again swept Soerabaja, and found no enemy CAP. The armada, including what I'll call mini-KB, is 2 hexes NE of Soerabaja. Many ships were spotted at Soerabaja, but almost all were patrol craft. 12 Kates launched to attack CM Krakatau and DD Alden. All torpedoes missed. A big cruiser force was spotted at Batavia. Carriers will have bombers range-limited so as to not go to Batavia, where there are 60+ enemy fighters. We land at Tjepoe today.

[apbarog]

28 Mar 42

Seadragon spotted the xAP task force at Manado, but didn't get a shot. Destroyer Kuri attacked and did minor damage to the sub. Kuri ran out of depth charges quickly. Seadragon then was spotted by a patrol boat but wasn't hit. Seadragon then fired 2 torpedoes at Kuri and missed. No depth charges left so no attack on the sub. Not done yet, Seadragon fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Somedono Maru at Manado. Both hit. Both were not duds. The cargo ship was sunk. Busy day for Seadragon.

Light cruiser Natori and 7 destroyers bombarded Makassar, doing minor damage and not hitting the enemy troops.

Tjepoe was invaded. Zeros swept Soerabaja, finding no CAP. The enemy launched many attacks on Japanese shipping at and near Tjepoe. Mostly Dutch aircraft.

12 139WH-3s attacked xAKs but ran into 16 Zeros. Bombers downed and no bomb hits at 3000 feet.
9 CW-22s and 6 DB-7s with 6 Hurricane IIb Trops attacked xAKs at Tjepoe, running into 57 Zeros. Many enemy shot down but 9 bombers got through, hitting 2 xAKs with a bomb each.
9 CW-22s attacked a sub chaser but ran into 44 Zeros that couldn't find the bombers. Bombs missed at 1000 feet.
6 L-212s and 4 B-25Cs attacked cruiser Maya, running into 8 Zeros. 4 Mitchells dropped bombs but all missed. L-212s downed.
12 Vildebeests with 8 Hurricane IIa Trops attacked invasion transports, running into 41 Zeros. Many Vildebeests downed and some Hurricanes. 3 torpedoes missed LSD Shinshu Maru.
9 B-25Cs with 4 P-40Es attacked an xAK and sub chasers, running into 32 Zeros. One bomb hit on an xAK, as all bombers got through at 6000 feet.
3 L-212s got past 30 Zeros but missed an xAK, bombing at 6000 feet.

Note that the Japanese Zero pilots are not elite. Some are average, some below average. They are from the CVEs and CVLs, not the big carriers. Some of the smaller carriers took on fresh, untrained pilots, at the beginning of the war, sending their experienced pilots to the reserve for use by KB. So some of these pilots have barely adequate air-to-air training, and little experience or defense skills. Not ideal but that's what I have at the moment. They did ok, running into mostly Dutch aircraft. I'll do more extensive training after the invasion push is over. I did note that many gained a good experience boost from combat and from getting kills.

Total air losses were:
12 Vildebeests
8 L-212s
7 139 WA-3s
5 CW-22s
5 Hurricane IIa Trops
3 DB-7s
3 Hurricane IIb Trops

4 Zeros lost

[apbarog]

29 Mar 42

Japanese patrol boat hit British sub Trusty south of Bangkok. 2 depth charge hits. Trusty hasn't found any shipping there, but it's been there, just taking an indirect route. I'm doing a lot of that all over the map. May add a day or two to the routings, but it's worth not losing more ships.

Destroyers Nenohi, Hatsushima and Wakaba were patrolling just outside of Tjepoe. I expected PT boat attacks and I was right. The destroyers engaged 8 TMs first, damaging one. They engaged again, sinking a TM. And another engagement, still at night, sinking another TM.

Zeros from a CVE strafed PT boats at Denpassar, hitting 3 of them with shells. 9 Kates and 7 Vals attacked 5 HDMLs near Soerabaja, sinking 4 of them. 4 more Kates sank 2 more HDMLs. 12 Kates sank CM Krakatau and badly damaged destroyer Alden at Banjoewangi. The Kates did better with bombs than the previous Kate attack on these ships a few days ago, which was with torpedoes. 17 Zeros then attacked AVP Fazant near Denpassar, sinking the ship with 8 bomb hits.

Namlea and Kendari were invaded. Makassar was attacked again. About 100 casualties for each side in the 1 to 2 attack.

[apbarog]

30 Mar 42

Cruiser battle at Norfolk Island.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Norfolk Island at 113,170, Range 10,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Shell hits 2
CA Nachi, Shell hits 1
CA Aoba
DD Natsushio
DD Hayashio
DD Amatsukaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Murasame
DD Harusame

Allied Ships
CL Achilles, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Trenton
CL Helena, Shell hits 1
DD John D. Ford
DD Litchfield
DD Peary
DD Humphreys
DD Sands
DD King, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Lawrence, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

The 2 US destroyers were hit by torpedoes fired by Japanese destroyers. Then a second engagement at Norfolk.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Norfolk Island at 113,170, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
CA Aoba
DD Natsushio
DD Hayashio
DD Amatsukaze
DD Tokitsukaze
DD Murasame
DD Harusame

Allied Ships
APD Manley, Shell hits 2, on fire
APD Colhoun, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
APD Gregory, Shell hits 3, on fire
APD Little, Shell hits 2
APD McKean, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

If there were troops on the APDs, they had unloaded by the time of the battle. Could have been a supply run. I've been bombing Norfolk occasionally. The Japanese then did bombard Norfolk, doing minor damage to the base.

I mentioned the risk that I took landing at Kendari, landing a division on nice xAPs with no real escort. Kendari was successful, as the landing occurred in one day and the ships were ordered out immediately. I did the same type of operation at Namlea, but wasn't happy that little supply had unloaded in one day, although all of the troops had unloaded. At Namlea, I used just big xAPs and no xAKs with just supply. Mistake one. I rushed the invasion to beat the end of the amphibious bonus. So the task force lingered an extra day. Mistake two.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Namlea at 76,108, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kuri
xAP Argentina Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAP Hakozaki Maru
xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 1
xAP Suwa Maru
xAP Kanzyu Maru, Shell hits 1
xAP Hoten Maru, Shell hits 16, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Houston
CL Marblehead
CL Boise
DD Barker, Shell hits 1
DD Edsall
DD Stewart
DD Paul Jones
DD Whipple
DD Parrott
DD Pillsbury
DD Pope

The Japanese task force moved out of Namlea, and would have escaped for the most part, but its setting ordered it back to the base, where the burning transports were engaged again. Mistake three.

DD Kuri, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
xAP Argentina Maru, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Hakozaki Maru, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 7, on fire
xAP Suwa Maru, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Kanzyu Maru, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
xAP Tsingtao Maru, Shell hits 10, and is sunk

Another battle finished off xAP Katori Maru.

xAP Katori Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk

Lesson learned, again. If you are going to invade with little protection, have surprise and don't linger longer than one day. Land and run. Kudos to OPilot for keeping the US combat ships near the front, despite Japanese carriers being in the approximate area.

6 of the 7 xAPs were sunk. The last is xAP Suwa Maru, and it is SYS 78/FLOT 42-7/ENG 38-0/FIRE 69, disbanded in the size one port of Namlea. It will burn up today. Incredibly, destroyer Kuri may survive. It is SYS 51/FLOT 14-1/ENG 19-1/FIRE 4, and is also in Namlea's port.

The Allies swept Tjepoe and bombed the airfield. They did well against the 43 Zeros with elite pilots at Tjepoe. The airfield's minor damage was patched up by the end of the day, but 20 Zeros were shot down. The Allies lost 14 139WH-3s, 12 Hurricanes and 2 B-25s. P-40s swept late and had an easier time with the tired Zeros. Japanese shipping with supply and more airbase support had moved back to Tjepoe to continue to unload, and weren't attacked.

Kendari was captured, as was Namlea. Another attack at Makassar lowered the forts to 0 and was a 1 to 1 attack, with heavier Dutch losses. Makassar should fall very soon. Madang was captured on New Guinea.

[apbarog]

31 Mar 42

Dutch bombers attempted to hit Tjepoe's airfield again, but came in first and without escort. They were fortunate to find just 13 Zeros on CAP, with many more damaged from the previous days of fighting. 5 L-212s, 4 CW-22s, 2 B-25s and 2 139 WH-3s were shot down. Minor base damage. P-40s and Hurricanes swept late, but found no Zeros still flying.

5 LB-30s hit Namlea's port. xAP Suwa Maru was hit by 2 500 pound bombs. It actually may have survived had it not been hit today. The fires were cut in half despite the bomb hits. But it was now SYS 99/FLOT 54/ENG 39/FIRE 34 and was scuttled. Destroyer Kuri left Namlea, moderately damaged but without enough fuel to make it to the nearest base, Kendari. It was attempt to escape regardless. No chance staying at Namlea.

Another attack at Makassar comes off at 1 to 2 odds, but with 172 Dutch casualties and only 9 Japanese. The attack will continue.

Most of the Java armada will make it to Singapore today. Loading has begun for Palembang. The division will be about 50 prep for Palembang, which now will matter, with the amphibious bonus ending.

[IdahoNYer]

Apbarog - have been following closely! Now that you've reached the end of the Amphib bonus, can you show an overview map?

Are you on track to your plan?

[apbarog]

ORIGINAL: IdahoNYer

Apbarog - have been following closely! Now that you've reached the end of the Amphib bonus, can you show an overview map?

Are you on track to your plan?

You read my mind! I was just working on a summary!

[apbarog]

1 April 42

Destroyer Le Triomphant was spotted by RO-67 southwest of Ocean Island, and headed southwest. Torpedoes couldn't hit the very fast destroyer.

Bettys heavily damaged Soerabaja's runway. Japanese troops are moving in. Enemy bombers again attacked Tjepoe, but this time, they went after the oil and refinery, and did a very good job destroying both. Just 13 Zeros on CAP. The B-25s did a particularly good job hitting the targets, and they chewed up a few Zeros also. 23 oil and 20 refineries were hit. I will rebuild the oil after the air threat is gone, but I won't rebuild the refineries. Another Zero squadron is moved into Tjepoe. 10 Zeros were lost. 5 P-40Es, 4 B-25s, 3 139WH-3s and 1 B339s were downed.

Makassar is attacked again, and is getting closer to falling, with a 1 to 1 attack and 49 Dutch casualties. No Japanese lost.

With the amphibious bonus now gone, here's a region by region graphical summary.

[apbarog]

2 Apr 42 - Aleutians

[apbarog]

2 Apr 42 - Burma