More Variants - The Allies ride again - No xargun please

[Nomad]

June 14, 1942

I lost a 4800 size xAK with supply aboard off of Noumea. It is a sad fact that I can not escort all my
TFs at this time, I just do not have enough escorts.

Cebu holds for another turn.

Xargun tried night bombing the airfield at Kirakira, 2 hits, I had some night CAP up

Bombing of my troops continues in China

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[Nomad]

June 15, 1942

After my DS spent 3 days of patiently waiting off of Munda, finally something showed up.
Really bad weather seems to have kept my DS unseen.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Buka at 110,128

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
Albacore I x 15
Martlet II x 26
F4F-3A Wildcat x 15
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Yae Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAK Tempei Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Mitu Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Heiei Maru #7, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
PB Ikuta Maru, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk

Japanese ground losses:
581 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 49 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 19 (15 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
15 x Albacore I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Mk XII Torpedo
9 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Tempei Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Mitu Maru

I am not sure what was aboard, but the TF icon does not show up anymore.
It looks like it might have been a base force, hard to tell exactly.

Not that many aircraft flew, so maybe he will think I only have a couple of CVs there.


Troops landed at Pamekasan near Soerabaja.

Not much else of interest.

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[Nomad]

June 16, 1942

Pamekasan and Cebu both fell today

More bombing of my troops in China.

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[Nomad]

June 17, 1942

A quiet day, bombing in China. I have set some P-40Bs to LRCAP over the units in China, I will see if I can bag some bombers.
He is using a lot of Betty and Nell bombers, I am always happy to down some Naval aircraft and hopefully their pilots.

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[Nomad]

June 18, 1942

Good turn for the Allies.

Over my troops in China, I bagged 55 Nell bombers and 17 Betty Bombers.

I am nut sure why Xargun thought it safe to send a transport TF into the Coral Sea, but he did.
Bad weather seems to have limited my air strikes
A lot of messages of bombers turning back due to weather.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Woodlark Island at 104,132

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 15
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Tyoko Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hakusika Maru
xAK Mansei Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
393 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 16 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 11 disabled

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
1 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Massive explosion on xAK Tyoko Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Tyoko Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Mansei Maru

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

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Woodlark Island at 104,132

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 30
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Hakusika Maru, Bomb hits 8, and is sunk
PB Choko Maru #2, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
1014 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 32 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 10 (8 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
9 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Hakusika Maru
Massive explosion on xAK Hakusika Maru

He did land some troops at Tagula Island, there was a message that a FT TF unloaded.

A long bombardment at Changsha by Japan
There are 63 Japanese units at Changsha now.

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10927 troops, 762 guns, 631 vehicles, Assault Value = 4247

Defending force 156295 troops, 938 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 5023

Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (2 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 19 (5 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
228 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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[Nomad]

June 19, 1942

Not much today. Xargun swept Hengyang where my fighters flew from last turn, but they were all gone.

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[Nomad]

June 20, 1942

Not much happening now.

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[Nomad]

June 21, 1942

Nothing to report.

[Nomad]

June 22, 1942

Another really quiet day.

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[Nomad]

June 23, 1942

The only exciting thing today was I-173 firing 4 torpedoes at CV Formidable, luckily they all missed.

Japanese landings on Denpasar and Mataram.

Rabaul had been reconed a few turns and it has shown about 30 +/- fighters there.
So, since there seem to be some TFs there, the DS will advance and attack. I have
Two fighter squadrons ordered to sweep and all the TB bombers have Naval attack primary
and port attack as secondary target. There are ship in port shown.
All of the DBs are set for a secondary target of airfield, maybe I can destroy some of the bombers there.

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[Nomad]

June 24, 1942

While not a great result, it was still very good
First my SB-2s flew to max range and hit a merchant TF at Kavieng
None are listed as sunk as of now, but they are damaged

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Kavieng at 106,122

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 15
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Eizan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
xAK Taian Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Rasin Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Unyo Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Choun Maru #8

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 lb SAP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Eizan Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Taian Maru
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Unyo Maru

Then attacks on Rabaul

Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Martlet II: 4 destroyed

CAP engaged:
13th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 13 on standby, 8 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 8000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes



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

Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15

Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x F4F-3 Wildcat sweeping at 23000 feet

CAP engaged:
13th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
15 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 8000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 9000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes



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

Afternoon Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
Avenger I x 15
Martlet II x 52
F4F-3A Wildcat x 30
F4F-3 Wildcat x 15
SBD-3 Dauntless x 66

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed on ground
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed on ground
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 34
Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
19 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
15 x Avenger I bombing from 13000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x F4F-3 Wildcat sweeping at 13000 feet
13 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x F4F-3A Wildcat sweeping at 13000 feet
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x Martlet II sweeping at 13000 feet
4 x Martlet II sweeping at 13000 feet
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Airfield Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
13th Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 8000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 27 minutes

The air losses tally from Tracker

420625 air losses.png (211.41 KiB) Viewed 529 times

Mataram and Denspar both fell today

I am moving my DS two hexes East of Kavieng and setting my TBs to 5000 feet.
There are still ships showing in port at Rabaul, and also Kavieng, I will send some of
my DBs to strike Kavieng port.

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[CaptBeefheart]

June 14, 1942

I lost a 4800 size xAK with supply aboard off of Noumea. It is a sad fact that I can not escort all my
TFs at this time, I just do not have enough escorts.

Next time it might not be a bad idea to use some variant points to accelerate SCs, PFs or KVs. I usually add a handful of RCN KVs to the start when playing against Ironman 3 or 4.

I'm surprised to see all of those un-CAP'ed TFs cruising around the Bismarcks and Solomons.

Cheers,
CB

[Nomad]

I did change 20 xAKLs to PFs, I still do not have enough to escort every TF I have.

[Nomad]

June 25, 1942

At Kavieng we found ships in port

Afternoon Air attack on Kavieng , at 106,122

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 18
F4F-3A Wildcat x 30
F4F-3 Wildcat x 30
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
ACM Heijo Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
ACM Choan Maru #2, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Eizan Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Rasin Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Kosin Maru #3, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Unyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

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

Port hits 4
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
12 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
1 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
14 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

No ships in port at Rabaul.

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[Nomad]

June 26, 1942

Only two ships left in Kavieng port. Time to retire the DS and refuel, rearm, and get some replacement aircraft.

Afternoon Air attack on Kavieng , at 106,122

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes

Allied aircraft
Martlet II x 46
F4F-3 Wildcat x 30
SBD-2 Dauntless x 17
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PB Kosin Maru #3, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
ACM Katsuragisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Port hits 6

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
19 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
9 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-2 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Port Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb

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[BBfanboy]

Did you hear any of those subs you hit in port sink? Could he have moved them to Rabaul or Truk?

[Nomad]

On the June 25 turn there was a lot of sinking sounds later in the turn, so I think some of the ships hit sunk.
The only one on the sunk ship list is the xAK Unyo Maru.

The I-1, I-20, and I-22 are all listed as sunk before they reached port.

They are the only non midget subs I have sunk so far.

4 midget subs have been sunk, 3 at Pearl Harbor on Dec 7, and one at Noumea.

[Nomad]

June 27, 1942

Since I could not make it to a suitable port in one turn I decided to stop short and
hit the ports of Kavieng and Rabaul again. Only one PB sunk at Rabaul. It is noteworthy
that my bomber pilots are not well trained on ground attack as of now. They will be in the
future, but it is early in the game and right now naval attack training is more important.

A bombardment attack at Changsha
He has 59 units in Changsha, it appears that either all or a large portion of his ART is there.
I only have 28 units there and of course not much ART is really available.

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10941 troops, 762 guns, 631 vehicles, Assault Value = 4060

Defending force 182617 troops, 1077 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6009

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 22 (2 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 21 (8 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
354 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

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[Nomad]

June 28, 1942

It was probably bound to happen. SS I-18 put a torpedo into CV Illustrious.
She is damaged but not severely. I think she will be out of action for about 3 months.
I-18 took one direct hit and 2 damage hits.

Another bombardment attack at Changsha.

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10893 troops, 762 guns, 627 vehicles, Assault Value = 4064

Defending force 182648 troops, 1076 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6000

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 27 (4 destroyed, 23 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
87 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled

He bombed Hengyang, both at night and day. A little damage, but not much

He also swept my LRCAP over his units at 80,54, one hex SW of Hengyang.
In total he lost 7 Zeros, 2 Nells and a Lilly while I lost one P-40B.
I am sad to inform everyone that my first double ACE, 2lt Tapner of the AVG/2nd squadron, died today in combat. He will be missed.

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[Nomad]

June 29, 1942

Interesting result from Xarguns bombardment of Changsha
It looks like I got a good die roll for once

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10901 troops, 762 guns, 628 vehicles, Assault Value = 4066

Defending force 182973 troops, 1078 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6006

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 32 (15 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 62 (39 destroyed, 23 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
223 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Nothing else happened

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