Never Thought I'd Start Another One - tc464 (A) vs. Mike (J)

[Mike Solli]

11 Feb 43
The deliberate assault was 1 point shy of 1:1. The forts remain at level 5.

Crap. Crap. Crap.

The N1K2-J George R&D advanced to 8/43 and is expected to become operational 3/2/43.
The A6M5b Zero R&D became operational. All 6 R&D factories were upgraded to the A6M5c, which is expected to become operational 7/43.

I know that the A6M5c is the best you can get at this point on your CV's, but compared to the N1K you are going to be disappointed when you use it .....

I'm shooting for the A6M5c for the armor. I know it's a second rate fighter until I get the Sam.

The Sam R&D is still pretty pathetic:

19, 18, 4x15, 14, 2x13, 3x12, 3x11, 10, 2x9

[Mike Solli]

I do resize some of my air groups. My issue is that most of the groups I'm using for training either can't become unrestricted ...

I think that a restricted air group can be flown onto a CV and then becomes independent. But, I just got out of the ER (again) and the pharmacy involved may be influencing my memory and typing ...


EDIT: and if you resize, then note that 3 x 27 = 81 ... one air group resized on Akagi will then cover all 3 carriers ...

EDIT Again: then I see that RJ already mentioned that above ... sorry, I blame the ER ....

Not necessarily flown but loaded onto the CV.

Yeah, I'm going to have to do that. I have always shied away from resizing a unit to 81. I've also been wanting to dedicate a fighter unit to training defense on elite pilots. It's surprising how many of them have crappy defense skills.

[RangerJoe]

I think that a restricted air group can be flown onto a CV and then becomes independent. But, I just got out of the ER (again) and the pharmacy involved may be influencing my memory and typing ...


EDIT: and if you resize, then note that 3 x 27 = 81 ... one air group resized on Akagi will then cover all 3 carriers ...

EDIT Again: then I see that RJ already mentioned that above ... sorry, I blame the ER ....

Not necessarily flown but loaded onto the CV.

Yeah, I'm going to have to do that. I have always shied away from resizing a unit to 81. I've also been wanting to dedicate a fighter unit to training defense on elite pilots. It's surprising how many of them have crappy defense skills.

Offense is the best defense.

If you shoot down the enemy first then you don't have to evade him!

[Mike Solli]

Offense is the best defense.

If you shoot down the enemy first then you don't have to evade him!

Working on that, Joe! See my next couple of posts.

[Mike Solli]

12 Feb 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

An Ansyu PB on a fast transport mission to Tulagi ran into two DEs there. In the exchange, she took 10x 3" shells which didn't do too much damage to her tough hide. She managed to hit DE King 4 times leaving her heavily burning. She also left her supply at Tulagi before retiring to Rabaul where she'll get some repairs. I really like the Ansyu PBs! They are tough, carry 1000 supply (or 500 fuel) and are less than 3k tons so 2 can fit into a level 1 port. Those guys are steaming all over the Pacific dropping off supply.

The 3 (reduced squadrons) of 6 Kittyhawks and 2 and 7 Spitfires swept Madang. I think I'll give them a warm welcome tomorrow with my Georges.

Well, well, well. A US carrier TF (3 CVs, I suspect) are a hex south of Lunga. They hit Tulagi with Avengers and Lunga with Dauntlesses. I'm moving subs that were stationed north of Noumea to just south of the carriers hoping to flood the hex later and get some shots off.

Then, unexpectedly (kind of), he invaded Russell Island with a slice of 2 Marine Parachute Battalion and 11 Marine Defense Battalion, shock attacked, and took it. It was undefended. There are so many dot bases in the area that it is impossible for me to guard all of them.

Russell Island.jpg (122.61 KiB) Viewed 388 times

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Well, somehow I turned off the bombard order of all the artillery in Chungking. It had to happen the turn after an attack when there would be a larger than normal number of disabled squads. Figures. Anyway, I don't have any info, but I turned the bombardment back on for tomorrow.

Other Stuff

The Ki-84a Frank R&D advanced to 12/43. I currently have 5 of the 18 R&D factories fully repaired with 1745 Ha-45 engines in the pool. That gives me 10% a day. If no other R&D factories complete repairs, I'll get the Frank 5/43. So, that's the latest I'll get it. I'm getting really excited about it!

Reinforcement
CM Yurijima - I have a lot of mines in the pools. I'm going to start dropping them at my important bases that Ted is likely to invade. Every little bit helps the defense...

[Mike Solli]

13 Feb 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I can't understand why Ted keeps sweeping with the Spitfires and Kittyhawks day after day. He's not really gaining anything and losing a lot of airframes and pilots over my territory. Anyway, he swept again over Madang and 25 Georges were there to meet them. First came 6 Kittyhawk IIIs, and 4 were shot down for no loss to me. Next came 3 Spitfire Vcs, which I damaged and drove away. Finally, there were 11 Spitfires to 20 Georges. Only 8 were there to start and Ted had the Spitfires come from pretty high, getting the dive on me. He shot down 4 (2 WIA) for no loss to him. Then the remaining 12 Georges arrived and dove on the Spitfires that were low after their dive. It was a massacre. I got 7 Spits for no additional loss to me. I ended up losing 4 more as op losses, where 1 pilot died in a crash. I'll LRCAP Madang again tomorrow, but I really don't expect to see what's left of them. I'm not at all concerned about the plane losses. I am not producing any more N1K1s and have 52 in the pool and the N1K2 will become operational 3/2/43.

So, over the past few days, 62 Georges have shot down 35 enemy planes for a loss of a single pilot and 4 WIA. I can live with that.

The US carrier TF is still hanging out 1 hex SW of Lunga. From the numbers, it looks like it's 3 carriers. If I had all of KB at Truk, I'd go after them, but half of KB is still guarding the Aleutians. My subs are still moving up from the south. I have a Glen sub in range to keep an eye on things, along with land-based Emilies and Dinahs. He can't hide.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

The bombardment/bombing today destroyed 49 squads

The stats below are changes from 2 days ago and include the losses from the assault.

Raw AV:
Japan: 3093 (-1472)
China: 1432 (-367)
Enemy strength: 261k (-4k)
Enemy units: 88 units (+1 from yesterday)
Guns: 387 (+20)

The deliberate attack destroyed 6 enemy units and an additional unit was destroyed yesterday. I was a bit concerned that it was a lot of infantry that would return in a month at 1/3 strength:

16 Group Army
24 Group Army
5 Construction Regiment
7 Construction Regiment
13 Construction Regiment
83 Chinese Corps
89 Chinese Corps

The HQ and engineers aren't a concern. Fortunately, only 2 infantry units were destroyed.

I'm really pleased with the raw Chinese AV. Mine will come back. There's a LOT of supply in China, which is good for recovery. I lost 262 squads destroyed, but there are 2 full strength division that are 160 miles south of Chungking on the road totaling 894 AV. I'm planning on attacking again when they arrive. There are two more divisions totaling 600 AV behind them. Another 2 divisions totaling 840 AV are behind them. It's only a matter of time.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
I-38, Glen sub, assigned to Kwajalein and is one of 4 Glen subs with the US west coast mission.
58 Field AA Battalion, 8 Area Army, will go to the Marianas
59 Field AA Battalion, 17 Army, will go to the Marianas
3 IJN Special Coastal Gun Battalion, combined with Yokosuka 6 SNLF to form the 3 Special Base Force, with 18 CD and DP guns, headed to Tinian
Detachment, 3 Special Base Force, small unit with 4 DP guns, some AAA, a company of Marines, a company of engineers and a few tanks, not sure where it'll go yet

[PaxMondo]

12 Feb 43
The Ki-84a Frank R&D advanced to 12/43. I currently have 5 of the 18 R&D factories fully repaired with 1745 Ha-45 engines in the pool. That gives me 10% a day. If no other R&D factories complete repairs, I'll get the Frank 5/43. So, that's the latest I'll get it. I'm getting really excited about it!

3 months max before Frank arrives, that's good. More importantly, more likely it will be in April43 AND you will have a lot of factories so that you will be able to upgrade your air groups quickly. Ted is not going to have a good '43 ....

[Mike Solli]

12 Feb 43
The Ki-84a Frank R&D advanced to 12/43. I currently have 5 of the 18 R&D factories fully repaired with 1745 Ha-45 engines in the pool. That gives me 10% a day. If no other R&D factories complete repairs, I'll get the Frank 5/43. So, that's the latest I'll get it. I'm getting really excited about it!

3 months max before Frank arrives, that's good. More importantly, more likely it will be in April43 AND you will have a lot of factories so that you will be able to upgrade your air groups quickly. Ted is not going to have a good '43 ....

Yeah, the new question is, how many of the 18 factories are operational 84a and how many are R&D 84r?

[Mike Solli]

Here's the final tally of the losses the carriers inflicted:

KB2

5 AK
10 xAK

They were all Liberty ships or EC2, which appears to be identical. Eleven VPs per ship plus the supply and fuel they were carrying.

MKB1 & MKB2

5 DD - Old ones but DDs nonetheless.
1 PG
1 SS - S-45
1 TK
3 xAP
3 xAK
4 xAKL
1 ACM

All that for about half a dozen Vals and Kates and their pilots. At this point, I have plenty of bomber pilots in the pool. I haven't had much in the way of losses for either.

It's interesting that Ted was hauling resources from Pt. Hedland. He mentioned that.

[Mike Solli]

14 Feb 43

Sub War

Some SCs found I-19 off the US west coast damaging her with some near misses. The damage isn't severe, but it's enough to send her home.

5 Fleet

The BB bombardment TF hit Adak again. When they replenish at Attu, I'm going to have them move to a hex or two from Adak and then go in the next day. I'll attack that day. This is getting old. The Grouper took a couple more shells in the bombardment leaving her heavily damaged and burning. I don't see any ships in port. I'm pretty sure she went down.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted is attacking a variety of bases in the Solomons by air. The 1E bombers are coming from Rennell Island and the 4Es are coming from down south. Luganville, I think.

This is an opportunity for an ambush. Here's what he sent and where:

3 Kittyhawks, 12 F4F4s, 17 SBD-3s to Lunga (port)
18 Avengers to Munda (port) - I moved 18 Georges to Buin and will LRCAP Munda tomorrow. I hope he returns.
11 SBD-3s to Lunga (port)
8 B-17Es,6 B-24Ds, 9 F4F4 to Tulagi (airfield) - The Wildcats came from Rennell Island.
6 B-17F to Tulagi (airfield)
6 B-17F to Tulagi (airfield)

As you can see, he wants Tulagi's airfield out of commission so I can't easily counter his air power. The other bases are all port attacks so I can't easily resupply them. I really hopes he sends the Avengers back to Munda so I can maul them.

The two daitai of Georges performed an LRCAP mission to Madang again today but the enemy fighters (what's left of them) didn't show. I'm not surprised. A few days ago, there were 39 fighters sweeping. That last attack yesterday saw only a handful go home. There were 35 confirmed kills for the loss of a single pilot KIA and 4 WIA. I'm not worried about plane losses. I like those odds.

I sent the Georges to Truk for a few days of R&R to get their morale up and their fatigue down. I have a total of 2x 31 plane and 4x 9 plane George units. I'd like to get another one down here but have to figure out where it's coming from. Most likely, I'm going to expand a 36 plane training unit to 81 and then divide it into 3x 27 plane units. One will be assigned to MKB for fighter cover (A6M5), one will remain as a training unit (A5M), and the third will transfer to this AO (George).

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Two more Cats attempted to attack a supply convoy at Cox's Bazaar, but they were damaged and driven off by the defending Tojos.

China

Today's bombing/bombardment destroyed 27 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 3216 (+123)
China: 1813 (+341) - He got another infantry corps.
Enemy strength: 281k (+20k)
Enemy units: 89 units (+1)
Guns: 405 (+18)

Two new units that appeared yesterday:

14 Construction Regiment
97 Chinese Corps

I'll find out the new unit that appeared today after the next turn.

My tired troops are recovering nicely, and I have 2 fresh divisions 131 miles south of Chungking which have almost 900 AV to add to the army.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements
934 Ku S-1 (9 Rufe), 3 Fleet, drew trained pilots (70+/70+/70+) from training units and will head to SE Fleet AO.
109 Sentai (27 transports), 51 Air Division, training and moving units in Japan.
AMc Wa-11, 12 and 13, To'su class, will convert to AMC.
DMS W-23, will convert to E and then ASW/escort.

[PaxMondo]

14 Feb 43
AMc Wa-11, 12 and 13, To'su class, will convert to AMC.

Mike, I want your game. In my games, my To'su will only convert to ACM's, you get AMC's!!!!!!

[Mike Solli]

14 Feb 43
AMc Wa-11, 12 and 13, To'su class, will convert to AMC.

Mike, I want your game. In my games, my To'su will only convert to ACM's, you get AMC's!!!!!!

I was testing you! You passed!

[Mike Solli]

15 Feb 43

Sub War

The RO-66 was on patrol south of Tulagi and was prosecuted by an ASW TF and hit once. Her damage isn't too bad but she's headed back to Truk for repairs.

5 Fleet

Nothing to report.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Twenty-seven 4E bombers trashed Tulagi's port. Now the port and airfield are pretty useless.

Then, 17 and 11 Dauntlesses hit Lunga's troops. The AAA guns I moved there did nothing other than damaging a few planes, again.

Finally, 18 Avengers arrived at Munda to attack again today. What was different was that there were 10 Georges waiting for them. Two Avengers and 10 Georges made it home. Let's just say that Ted was less than pleased. I hope the pilots spent a lot of time training naval attack with torpedoes.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted managed to sneak 4 MGBs into Cox's Bazaar, missed the mines there, missed the surface ships there, sank a midget sub guarding the base and snuck back out.

China

Today's bombing/bombardment destroyed 43 squads.

Raw AV:
Japan: 3268 (+52)
China: 1787 (-26)
Enemy strength: 275k (-5k)
Enemy units: 89 units (no change)
Guns: 406 (+1)

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
xAP Teiritsu Maru

[Mike Solli]

16 Feb 43 - Probably the slowest day of the game so far.

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Tomorrow, the bombardment fleet will hit followed by a ground assault.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Thirty-eight 4E bombers hit Tulagi's port. It's pretty much demolished, so it really doesn't do much.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

So, I screwed up royally. When I sent the battered infantry divisions to Neikiang for some R&R, I accidentally set the artillery to move there too. They were in combat mode so I didn't notice. Also, they apparently can be set to move in combat mode and still barrage. I never knew that. Anyway, they're all now 1 hex west of Chungking and marching back to Chungking. Stupid!

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

17 Feb 43

Sub War

The I-35 torpedoed and sank LST-450 just east of Hawaii. She was headed to Pearl Harbor but unfortunately, she was empty.

5 Fleet

The BB bombardment TF hit. Now comes the deliberate assault.

The deliberate assault got (barely) 1:1 and finally reduced the fort to level 0. When the bombardment TF returns, I'll decide whether the attack is a DA or shock attack. I'm leaning toward a shock attack. The Allied forces at Adak are definitely running out of time.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I've been spotting a little TF of 4 SCs (probably ASW) that would appear regularly a couple hexes SW of Gasmata. I sent the 4 Aobas escorted by a couple of DDs to try and catch them and they did today. All 4 SCs went down for exactly 1x 3" hit on Kinugasa, which scratched the paint. It's not much, but that's four fewer ASW platforms my subs have to worry about. Every little bit helps.

Twenty-nine 4Es hit Tulagi's port again.

Thirty Dauntlesses hit Lunga's port for a point and, again, the AAA did nothing.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Bombers flew today. The artillery should return to Chungking tomorrow and resume the bombardment the day after.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

18 Feb 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Another PT boat appeared at Adak. I have 4 DDs there on an ASW mission and they easily took the PT boat out. I think Adak's demise is imminent. I think Ted spent the supply on it hoping it would hit something in the bombardment TF (which isn't there yet).

The bombardment TF replenished at Attu and will move to a point 2 hexes NW of Adak tomorrow. They'll go in the day after along with the ground attack (probably shock, but still not decided).

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

So, I decided to try a little operation. I have 2 and 4 Raiding Regiments in SE Fleet AO located (mostly) at Rabaul. I gathered all my transport in the area (69) and dropped them on Munda to try and take the base. It was a pretty major (for my in early 43) operation. I sent some Nicks and Georges on LRCAP and more Georges as escort for the transports. Some Sallies were involved too. Here's what happened:

First, 8 (out of a whole sentai of 42!) met 15 Corsairs and came out the worst of it, but did their job admirably. I lost 3 plus some more op losses (2 KIA, 4 WIA) but drove off most of the Corsairs.

Then, 8 Georges escorted 21 Sallies on a bombing run and met 2 remaining Corsairs. One George was lost (MIA) but they shot down a Corsair. The bombers did little damage to the troops.

The transports landed most of the paratroopers losing 4 with a handful damaged. The defenders 2 Marine Parachute Battalion, 11 Marine Defense Battalion and a slice of the 41 US Naval Construction Battalion (SeaBees!).

The shock attack did little to either side. I lost a squad. Tomorrow, I'll land the rest of the paratroopers and some supply.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

The artillery finally marched back into Chungking and is set to bombard. I'll get a report tomorrow.

Two more fresh divisions will arrive in Chungking in the next day or two. I have 5 divisions in Chungking and 11 more resting at Neikiang. Overall disruption and fatigue are decreasing nicely. They are averaging 11 and 26 respectively. The AV has increased 800 from the attack with another 900 due to be added when the 2 divisions arrive. After they arrive, the raw AV will be around 3800. I'm going to let the divisions in Neikiang rest 2 more days and then move them back to Chungking to attack again.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
19 Field Construction Battalion, 2 Area Army, will head to Burma Theater.

I am getting a nice little pile of ships over the next month:

CL Oyodo - This "little" CL is 10,252 tons. She's a biggun for a Japanese CL.
3 DD - all Yugumos
1 SS - Glen
2 E - converted DMS
9 SC
5 TK
3 xAK - Std-B that will convert to TK
1 CM
1 AM
1 AMc

Ted would laugh at that but that's a lot of ships for me.