The last charge: Toraq´s fight against Timtom

[toraq]

OPERATIONAL MAP

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/18/42

Weather: Clear

The power has been unleashed...
Operation Kentoku is underway, just as planned. No enemy reaction yet!. I don´t know if this is good or bad. I put everything to get this right but, Is there any real threat that my enemy hides beyond my spotting planes?

Tokio Express

Good results. Tanaka always does a good job.[:)]. But one sub contact has made the clokwise route quite dangerous.
Next turn I send 2 TF to bomb Lunga. If enemy decides to put his planes there he is going to meet a little surprise.

Naval bombardment of Lunga, at 38,40

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 83

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 102

Submarines warfare
Many contacts. Vals are doing a good job. SS-37 was reported hit and latter sunk. On the opposite side, ASW patrols are not as good sinking subs.
SS-40 was attacked several times and I guess it may has some fuel problems now.

Air attacks on Lunga
Fighter sweep meet some success against Lunga CAP. I guess it´s the height. It´s frustrating to see how they manage to take off even when heavily bombed the previous night. These americans are tough guys.
Vals and Kates bomb everything at Henderson. 1 reported lost due to CAP

Air attack on Lunga , at 38,40
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
D3A Val x 69
B5N Kate x 64

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val x 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 125
Airbase hits 11
Runway hits 58

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/19/42

Weather: Thunderstorms

Lunga
Yes!. My transports went through the line of enemy subs with no losses.[8D].
They didn´t unloaded any troops yet, but some elements of the 230th Rgt. were FT there and Tassafaroga troops arrived just at the expected moment. Enough troops to resist any attempt to overun Jap. position.
When all troops land at Lunga, I will have more than 600 assault points there. This should defeat the Marines. But unloading this troops will take its time. Same with the FT troops. Only 400 sent today. All my CL have been moved there to help in this task.
However, navigating across the slots is everything but save.

In case my troops are not enough to overun the Marines, some reinforces have just arrived in Truk and are now on its way to Short.

Submarine warfare
Many contacts today. This time one DD was heavily damaged.

Japanese Ships
ML Tsugaru
Allied Ships
SS Swordfish
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese Ships ***near Rabaul***
DD Urakaze
Allied Ships
SS Pickerel
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese Ships
TK Kokuyo Maru
Allied Ships
SS Snapper
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 38,37
Japanese Ships
ML Tsugaru
Allied Ships
SS Swordfish
Sub attack at 34,37
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Japanese Ships
DD Minekaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Haruna
CA Atago
Allied Ships
SS S-46

No enemy activity. It is good but my resources are getting tired. Sys damage is increasing in capital ships and some good pilots dead due to op. losses. However, my fleet is almost entire.
Today even the CA torpedoed some days ago joined his counterparts in another run to H. Field. Tanaka´s likes to visit Guadalcanal[8D]

[toraq]

Lunga invasion

Good news!. Most ground forces have already landed there. I got 500 assault points already and increasing.
Next turn I´ll probably attack the Marines to see how many forts he managed to build. I think his supplies have to be very low cos, since I blocked Lunga (3 days ago) no C-47 nor FT have been sent to Lunga.

Tokio express

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 59

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 35
Port hits 1
I guess I said before but yesterday two Tokio Express runs were made. Good results. H. Field definately closed.

Submarine warfare
One more CL torpedoed by allied subs. Severe damage. It seems that most contacts occur with small TF. IJN ASW capabilities are a sh*t but there´s no other way, man. Due to weather, no subs were spotted by my airplanes.[:(]
I´m thinking about increasing ASW TF to 20 or so ships. This may help, don´t you think?

Air warfare
I plan to start bombing his forces. Some have been already damaged, as Tokio Express stated in his after action reports, but disruption is everything in ground combat. Moreover, due to his lack of supplies disable units and disruption will be difficult to remove.

Rabaul
If he doesn´t send his bombers again, tomorrow the airport will be open again. Yes, guys, all these days Rabaul was closed, with no air activity and 100 planes trapped there[:-]

[toraq]

Well guys, I don´t know if my men are tired, but I´m almost broken. I´ve been playing against timtom the whole day and now I´m confusing orders and that kind of things.
But I´m sure my troops deserve this and more. BANZAI!!!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/21/42

Weather: Overcast

Buna
Bombed yesterday. Supplies below request number. Send more supplies using FT.

Air attack on Buna , at 12,38
Allied aircraft
A-20B Boston x 15
B-26B Marauder x 30
A-20B Havoc x 26

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder x 1 damaged
A-20B Havoc x 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 54
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 1

Lunga invasion
Like the Allies during the Normandy? landings, I expected enemy low attacks on shipping. But my Zeroes patrolled the skies and nothing was found. Nothing?
Yesterday, Tokio Express could not bomb Lunga and this was the result:

1st attack
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 3------Allied aircraft losses: SBD Dauntless x 2 destroyed
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima

2nd attack
Japanese aircraft ***CAP over invasion TF***
A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M3 Zero x 8
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 3----Allied aircraft losses: SBD Dauntless x 1 destroyed

3rd attack
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
A6M3 Zero x 7
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 3---Allied aircraft losses: SBD Dauntless x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
Japanese Ships
DD Kawakaze

No hits were scored but what would have happened if instead of 3 they had been 13 or 30, with some escorts???
I guess some hit would have been scored...

I think my enemy has lost the opportunity to hit me hard. I got 600 assault points there (and increasing) and I´ve ordered a deliberate attack. Let´s see what happens.

Rabaul
No man, I was wrong. Still closed 50, 50 or so. [:(]. Need those planes!!

[Fux]

I´m thinking about increasing ASW TF to 20 or so ships

Although the manual states (11.4) that TFs with more than 15 ships only negatively affects their ability to defend themselves against air and surface attacks (and not sub attacks) and that the effectivenes of the ASW is also determined by the number of ships (11.3) I personally think that using more than 15 ships is a waste of ships for the IJN ASW Task Forces. I think better results are achieved when you increase the number of aircrafts searching for those pesky American subs. ASW TFs are good to show your opponent that you are actively searching his subs and part of the "mind game" [;)] with your opponent but in my experience the IJN is forced to play a more defensive orientated ASW-game, more avoiding hot sub spots than chaseing the sleeping bear out of its cave. [>:]
Ah well, just some thoughts from a not so experienced player.

Fux

[toraq]

Thx Fux, I guessit is not a matter of number of ships but the quality of ASW instruments. My FT CL again were attacked but my ASW patrol did nothing.

Yesterday events

Yesterday I bombed Lunga with everything I got. Ships, Naval and Land based bombers. More FT ferried troops there. I got a 0:1 odd, about 500 men lost each one.

TODAY´S EVENTS

Much more action today. His CV appeared and caught my invasion TF almost with pant down. Althougth little damage was done.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/23/42

Weather: Clear

Enemy CV attack
My front line AV didn´t spot them. I guess that I planned it bad because I left one vast area of the map without being watched.

Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 38,40

Japanese aircraft ***CAP over invasion troops. Poor results*****
A6M2 Zero x 10
A6M3 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft **********2 enemy CV´s********
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16
SBD Dauntless x 54
TBF Avenger x 15

no losses

Allied aircraft losses*****close distance, 1000 lb dropped******
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 8 destroyed ******14 lost*******
SBD Dauntless x 26 damaged
TBF Avenger x 2 destroyed********1 lost*****
TBF Avenger x 14 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Shirayuki
BB Musashi, Bomb hits 1**Did nothing, isn´t it maravellous??? [:'(]. Who said BB era ended??
CA Chokai
CA Kinugasa
CL Jintsu, Bomb hits 1, on fire***moderate damage****
BB Nagato
DD Yugiri, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage*****he is not going to make it****

2nd strike
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10***Did nothing****
A6M3 Zero x 7

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 26
SBD Dauntless x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 8 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Akashisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage****he is not going to make it***

So, to sum up
1CL damaged
1 DD with severe damage
1 AP with severe damage

These two last ones won´t have any chances through the slots. But the resuilts have been quite poor. He risked his CV and he only got bombs on minor ships. I was lucky but also the AA fire was fierce and CAP did something to disturb the attackers.

Tokio express
Visited H. Field to keep the pressure on. 1 CL torpedoed after FT troops into Lunga

Lunga
Attacked with everything again. This time I got a promising 1:1 odd. and fort have being reduced to 1. I´m feeling optimistic[:)]. I ordered a shock attack for tomorrow.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41372 troops, 602 guns, 40 vehicles
Defending force 19926 troops, 152 guns, 118 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 315
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 364
Vehicles lost 1

Yesterday 37655 Jap troops attacked, so my FT are working well. I got 700 assault points, while Marines are around 200. This proportion should be enough to overrun them quickly. I can´t hold this huge effort for quite long.

[Shadow of the Condor]

Very good AARs from both yourself and your opponent. Enjoyable read and good information. [:)]

[toraq]

Thx Shadow of the Condor. I guess my opponent has a very good AAR. Or at least he has more hits than mine![;)]

Not very good results today for the IJN, but I have to be patient.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/24/42

Weather: Thunderstorms

Enemy carriers
Well I didn´t pursue him. If I had done it, I would have had some chances to reach them (with the react movement I guess). But there was no way. Reasons:
1) My Vals and Kates were tired (not exhausted, but tired) because my previous attacks to his ground forces
2) Weather was thrunderstorms and thus, the chances to occur a carrier battle were few
3) My CV were almost with no fuel. If I had moved them far from my bases I would have run out of fuel.
So no way to get an easy victory. Wether if I should keep my naval bombers only to destroy USN carriers instead of atttacking LCU, it´s a discussion topic and I´m open to opinions. But when they attack, one enemy Rgt. suffers 100% of disruption, as you can see in the picture I´ve attached later.

Lunga Shock attack
It failed. No way to do it quickly. My assault points are 644 after the attack. USN got 142 points in the information panel. Assault odds were:
Allied 303 modified to 507
Japanese 1528 modified to 554

IJN reinforces
More troops are being ferried to Lunga every turn. No more shock units, only remants of the main units there (support points, guns, etc). But in a day or two, 2 crack IJ Rgts will be unloaded in Short. and subsequently FT to Lunga as soon as possible.

Supplies and Fuel
Fuel is more scarce. Half of the IJN is paralized because the lack of fuel. But I was good planning this operation and some TK are now unloading it in Short and Rabaul. However I send most APs to Truk so they don´t drink the Short fuel.

Enemy counterstrike
Two actions detected already
1) B-17 carpet bombing: the 29th Rgt. automatically reached a disruption level of 100. He is taking off from Luganville, extended range. 3 lost today.
I´ll LCAP Lunga with Zeroes. They don´t shoot down B-17 but I´m sure they will increase operational losses ratio.

2) Air transporting troops: elements of 182 RCT already in Lunga. This is a very potential threat, both for me and for the allies. C-47 can transport a terrible amount of troops that could change the assault odds in a few days. But if supplies are scarce, more mouths need food and that´s good for the IJN[:D]
My CAP will have to deal with them also. I´m using three datais for this purpose and I plan to rotate them when tired. Fatigue and morale are also a problem now. But a maximun effort has to be done now if we want to overun Lunga.

3) Last turn I got a 1:1 which means he needs more troops and supplies. Troops are being air-lifted but supplies need to be carried by FT missions or transport TF.´If he feels he can loose Lunga I´m sure he will try a desperately attempt to ferry supplies or more troops.
I have to be very careful. If I do it right, I can smash his forces with a surprise attack. I got the he11 out of mines there and subs are around. But only if I manage to deploy my carriers close to Lunga, I can avoid further enemy actions there.

Submarine warfare
Many contacts. He scored one hit on a retreating AP. No IJN ASW contacts. I have no more faith: soon I´ll change my ASW DD to FT missions.

[toraq]

Well another turn and Lunga stays in US hands. Hiei torpedoed and I think he the war is over for him

Weather: Partly cloudy,
October, 26

Lunga
Again maximun Jap effort to change the history. Tokyo express put some shells over there: 6 Airbase hits, 2 Air supply hits and runway 66. New P-38 fighters detected there.
2 Air strikes, with a total of 21 Betties and 8 Nells killed some men of the 1st Marine Rgt. This is a poor number. I got more bombers but they don´t want to fly even though their morale is superior to 50.
Due to clouds my naval bombers were unable to take off.
A 28 Zero CAP protected the troops of the 16th Jap Rgt. (a crack unit) from the heavies (55 B-17 and 9 B-24). However it was not enough and disruption raised to 100 in that unit.

Combat in the jungle
US airlifted new troops. Two new units already detected there: 6th Marine Rgt (from the 2nd M. Division) and 182 RCT.
This were the results:
0:1 odd
Japanese: 42.740 troops, 604 guns and 63 vehicles---- Losses: 362
US: 24.000 troops, 226 guns and 123 vehicles----- Losses: 884
Well I lost the 1:1 odd of the last two turns[:(]

He transported 2000 troops today, and 30 guns vs. 1000 IJN troops FT. Still got more than 640 assault points but my values have been reduced due to the last B-17 attack.
Now I´m feeling pesimist [:(]

Air losses
Enemy paid a high price for his audacity and a total of 6 heavies were lost, 6 Dakotas and 3 B-26.
He is using the B-26 to send supplies to Lunga and I guess he´s got some success. because he sent his P-38 there. He wouldn´t have done that if the supplies were few.

Enemy CVs

Spotted near wunpunko. Just one day range from Lunga.

Enemy subs
Hundreds of contacts today but with no luck for the IJN. But Hiei got one torp. and won´t be able to act again. The only way to fight them is by making them to waste their torp. against my ships. [:(]

Next movements
My main objective is to keep on with the pressure against the troops there, despite the last enemy reinforcement effort. I could stop my offensive, wait until more fuel and troops were ready and restart again. But I won´t do that. If my enemy brings another 2 Rgt there and supplies, there will be no more opportunities to overun US garrison.
Due to the lack of fuel I have to do some strange movements with my ships. This could end in some big battles. Two strong TF have being formed around BBs and will continue the Tokyo Express raids. CVs around, some FT replenished today so this turn they will stay at Short.

No more turns until the first days of January. Peace has arrived to South Pacific

[toraq]

Miracles exist and I´m writting these lines in the middle of nowhere. No matter how far...our war continues!

Battle of San Cristobal

It had to happen sooner or later. A carrier battle took place and ended with two IJN carriers damaged, the Hornet badly hurt and Lexington on fire.

Chapter 1: Lunga naval battles

At night several allied ships tried to ferry troops and maybe supplies to the garrison sieged at Guadalcanal.
BB Washington hit a type 93 mine near Tulagi and eventually was not able to participate in the afterwards battle.
Tokyo Express, with 3 BB including battleship Yamato, discovered a TF with 4 CA and some DD trying to reach Lunga. The battle ended in a very disappointing allied minor victory.

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1 ****Unable to put some shells into allied CA********
BB Nagato
BB Yamato
2 CA Chikuma, Suzuya
8 DD, two of them resulted damaged during the battle.(both On Fire)


Allied Ships
CA Portland
CA Indianapolis
CA Pensacola
CA Australia
DD Fletcher, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD O'Bannon
DD Phelps, Shell hits 2
DD Balch, Shell hits 4, on fire

Tanaka was in charge of the Tokyo Express so it is difficult to explain this little defeat. Allied commander avoided a major engagement.


CHAPTER 2: A LITTLE SURPRISE
Tokio Express also found some DMS carrying troops to Lunga. This time, battleships put 2 DMS in flames in just a few minutes, killing some marines in the process.

Japanese Ships
Tokyo Express, same as above

Allied Ships
DMS Southard
DMS Hovey, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (and sunk)
DMS Zane
DMS Trevor, Shell hits 25, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 264

Unfortunately, the other DMS escaped undamaged!

CHAPTER 3: IJN PAYS A PRICE
Allied subs venge the last allied loss. The slots are a dangerous route!

DD Maikaze, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Shirayuki, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

CHAPTER 4: THE CARRIER BATTLE
React movement causes the gap reduction between both carrier TFs. Strikes are launched from 6 hexes.

1st strike: US. Tired Zero pilots are unable to avoid SBD attack. 13 of them passed and let the Junyo on fire with a 1000lb bomb

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
SBD Dauntless x 28

2nd strike: US. A bloodbath. Brave US pilots anhiquilated by Zeroes. No survivors

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66
Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 13

3rd strike: US. Another bloodbath, with no enemy SDB attacking IJN ships
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66
Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 18

4th strike: US. This time a few enemy planes get through IJ CAP and Shokaku takes some damage.
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 66
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
SBD Dauntless x 16
TBF Avenger x 15

Japanese Ships
CV Hiyo
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 1, on fire
BB Mutsu

5th strike: a coordinated attack by most of IJN forces. Kate put 5 torpedoes on Hornet´s belly, one of them didn´t explode

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
D3A Val x 58
B5N Kate x 56
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 47

Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1

6th strike: last IJN forces try to finish the job. One more torpedo in Hornet´s belly.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
D3A Val x 14
B5N Kate x 9
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33

Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA San Diego

Afternoon strikes increased aircraft losses (especially IJN ones) but some Vals finally got some success against the monster, the Enterprise, which was set on fire with a 250 Kg bomb.

CHAPTER 4: MORE AIR COMBATS
Allied bombers visited Shorland base, losing some of them during the raid.
Heavy bombers demoralized 229 Rgt troops. Despite the strong CAP, 47 of them were able to unleash their mortal load.
My betties were quite active against a supply convoy in PM. To my surprise they used bombs instead of torpedoes. Some AK are left on fire.

CHAPTER 5: LAND COMBATS
Again only a 0:1 odd was obtained in Lunga. Now elements of 6th and 8th Marine Rgts.have been discovered but fortunately they were not very active for the moment.

TODAY LOSSES
Allied
BB Washington damaged due to a Type 83 mine
CA Portland damaged due to a Type 88 mine
2 DMS sunk
1 DD on fire
1 DD heavy damaged
CV Hornet 6 torpedoes (one of them didn´t explode), on fire
CV Lexington 2 bombs (one 250kg, one 60 Kg), on fire
CA New Orleans, 1 torp. from Kates
28 SDB
17 TBF
17 F4F
9 Dakota
5 Hudson
3 Beaufighters
3 B-17

Japanese
1 DD heavy damaged
1 DD damaged
CV Junyo, one 1000lb bomb, on fire. Damage: 12,1,25
CV Shokaku one 1000lb bomb, on fire. Damage: 38,3,12
39 Kates
30 Vals
19 Zero
2 Betty

[toraq]

NEW MOVEMENTS

I took some time to squeeze every ship, LCU or aircraft in order to increase my committed forces around Lunga.

General Overview
It seems that my opponent was surprised by my offensive against Lunga. I can´t understand it unless he was planning or about to launch a big invasion against NG.
Finally he managed to deploy all his forces around Lunga. All his heavy bombers squadrons are now flying missions in the area. At least 7 C-47 and 3 B-26 sqds.are transporting troops and supplies to Lunga. And now his BB, CV and CA are just trying to ferry troops or supplies there.
Not counting that 3 infantry Rgts. have now been discovered as part of US garrison in Guadalcanal. Moreover, his P-38 are now based in Henderson Field and a new airport has been built in Irau, just close enough to fly effective LCAP over Guadalcanal.
Why did he refuse to reinforce Lunga before it was completely isolated?. Why Irau airport was not ready before? And some more questions are not answered yet. They´re a mystery. I´ll think I´ll find out when I read his AAR.

New movements have been ordered to increase my power and overrun enemy forces around Guadalcanal. 10 new objectives have been stated to get this mission.

Objective 1: Avoid Allied efforts to reinforce Lunga
Objective 2: Continue the pressure against Henderson Field, destroying supplies in the process
Objective 3: Reorganize IJN carrier force
Objective 4: Reinforce japanese troops in Lunga
Objective 5: Send support troops to Lunga
Objective 6: Transport fuel to front bases
Objective 7: Support land combats with air raids
Objective 8: Increase supply levels at Lunga
Objective 9: Destroy the allied base at Irau
Objective 10: Pursue damaged allied CVs with subs

Actions

1) 4 big surface TFs have been formed.

TF Irau: this has been formed with ships from Aircombat TF. Now there is only one Air combat TF with all the CVs. The rest (BB Mutsu, 2 CA and 5DD) will bomb Irau at night. Wether will they join CVs again or visit Irau again depends on enemy decision of base fighters there or not.
This is a target of opportunity. I don´t want to distract forces from the main objective. But due to their proximity to Irau (Mutsu and his escorts are 1 hex from Irau) makes it a perfect target for this TF.
It is possible that enemy is around. But with BB Washington damaged, Mutsu can perform very well in a night battle against US BB. And 5 DD have their dangerous Long Lance!
TF Alpha 1: with 3 BB (incl. Musashi) will stay in Lunga this turn to abort any enemy attempt to reach Lunga. Before leaving they will bomb Lunga at night
TF Alpha 2: 3 BB (incl. Yamato) will now replenish at Short. Later on they will replace TF Alpha 1
TF Hit and run: with 5 CA and 7 DD will bomb Lunga at night today and maybe tomorrow. It depends on the damaged they can incflict to H. Field.
With these 3 TFs I can maintain the pressure against Lunga with one TF patrolling Lunga itself to avoid allied supply convoys, one acting like a Tokyo Express and the other one, being replenished while the others are on guard.

2) IJN Carrier force is now retreating.
I lost many planes. But in 2 or three days they´ll be flying missions over Lunga again. 2 Val datais have received aircraft from Land based Datais. 2 Kates datais are waiting for the 12 replacements Kates that are in the pool. CV Shokaku and possibly Junyo will retire to Truk. Since their speed is low they are good targets for submarines. CVE Unyo (from the old fake carrier TF) will take their place.
With these actions I will have in 3 or 4 days 2 CV, 1 CVL and one CVE, more or less 180 A/C, including 90 Zeroes, 60 Vals and 30 Kates.Enough!

3) New forces to Lunga
2 Fast transport TF are sending troops from 102 Rgt. to Lunga
2 FT TF carry the last troops from 2 Rgts. already there.
I´ve noticed the lack of support troops in Lunga. There are 200 points deficit. This has caused (I think) many IJ squads to be disable. I think assault values have been reduced a 20% since the first deliberate attack. On the contrary, 1st Marine Division assault values are now at 50% from original ones.
With these 3 FT TF I will increase assault values with another 60 points and reduce the deficit to 125.
Emilys have been deployed in Rabaul to transport the 17 Army HQ to Tassafaroga and Lunga. So my troops will get some bonus while operating within their Army HQ command radius.
Also, some DD have been separated from transport TF and will go to Truk to FT elements of 51 Division HQ to Lunga.
A new TF has been ordered to Lunga directly instead of going to Short. first. This carries the 115 Rgt, 1 Recon Btll and 2 ENG Rgt. They should finally change the odds to a japanese favourable ones.

4) The lack of fuel is a big problem.
Most of my ships have less than 3000 endurance left. LAst Tokyo Express, fx, has all but 2 ships with red numbers, some of them with less than 1000 endurance left!
The only place that got fuel is Kavieng, 28000!!! Hurrah!!!. Short, Rabaul, Buka are empty.
In 1 day I get 1000 points of fuel (the last ones from Rabaul)
In 3 days another 5000 (a TK from Truk)
In 7 to 8 days more fuel from Kavieng and Truk (maybe another 20000)

5) Air raids
I got 70 Zeroes at Vella Lavella to provide LCAP to Lunga. This won´t finish his B-17 raids but I´m sure they will cause op. losses to increase. No less important is the interception of Dakotas flying to Lunga. They´ve caused the reduction of the number of C-47 sqd. employed in this task.(7 to 4).
Buin and Short airports were packed with more aircraft that available support points. I´ve fixed this with some of them being transfered to Rabaul.
More or less I got 60 bombers ready in Buin and Short to strike ground units in Lunga. This is enough power to disrupt one enemy Rgt.
I don´t know if they should bomb H. Field,(mainly to reduce supply levels) or troops. We will see. If no enemy CAP is found this would mean that supply levels are surely low so we can continue with our air raids against the Marines.
Raids against ground troops don´t cause many casualities but increases the level of disruption for that turn. Eventually this has caused that some enemy Rgt. were with no assault values during the land combat phase. This is very useful!!
One may wonder what I´m doing with Zero fighters. This is a brief summary of the Zero fighters and their missions

A6M3: 55 Ready, 10 damaged
A6M2: 105 Ready, 20 damaged
Plus 14 planes of Shokaku datai recently transferred to Vella Lavella

74 Zeroes, CAP over Lunga
16 Zeroes, plus 22 Oscar, Escort missions
84 Zeroes resting at Rabaul
This means that 50% are resting which is too much. But they´ve been flying during the last 25 days and their morale and fatigue levels are close to disaster levels. Example
F1/Tainan ------- Morale=39. Fatigue=10
253 Datai ------- Morale=43. Fatigue=24
3rd Datai ------- Morale=34. Fatigue=43
Thus, they need rest!!!

6) Submarine warfare
ASW patrols are useless. Almost no contact in the last turns. Anyway, I keep the two them with 15 ships. I´ve added 2 AP in one of them to see if they can attract allied subs. We´ll see.
70% of my float planes are flying ASW patrols.

7)Mine warfare
I got another 200 mines ready to block the main routes to Lunga(already mined). More victims should fall in this web!

8)Supply levels at Lunga are Ok but some units refuse to accept supplies, so they are in red numbers. This is a common problem that should be fixed soon.

9)Reinforces
50 Zeroes are about to come within a week period. New nells have arrived today and now are resting in Rabaul. Maybe I will build up a new bomber group that will fly missions from Buka.
Well I don´t know if I will overun the US forces in Lunga. But there´s no doubt that I´m doing as much as I can to fulfill this objective. Maybe I´m taking wrong decisions but, at least for me, all of them have been well planned, well executed and well coordinated. Some exceptions

1) Some troops (inluding crack Rgts.) refused to load into the transport troops. Although maybe I was not guilty of this, I think this has reduced the possibility to overun the Marines during the first days.
2) The lack of fuel. I knew this but I decided to continue anyway. The more time I had to wait the more time the enemy had to increase the forces in Guadalcanal.

[toraq]

I lost the last combat report. I´ll try to point out the big things.

1) Submarine warfare
Again many contacts (6 or 7) but fortunately all of them failed. My subs finally appeared and put one torpedo to a damaged DD which later sunk. Another one is damaged also.

Mine warfare
I´m afraid my mines have no enough explosive to damage BB. It seems that the previopusly damaged BB was still operational because it did another run to Lunga. Two DD hit mines (one later sunk)

Naval warfare
Irau express: fortunately they did not find any enemy BB around and during the run they discovered a lone DD which was inmediately sunk, However Irau damaged was light.
I found a CD unit there.
Tokyo express visited Lunga with great success. Many hits scored in the Airport runway and supply depots.
No more naval engagements

Air warfare
Only 15 IJ bombers were able to bomb Lunga. This is a S***. I don´t know why they don´t take off. Fly! Fly! one last effort pilots!
31 B.17 over Lunga today. My CAP did little to reduce their number.
1 Zero destroyed plus 8 damaged against 1 B-24 and 3 heavies damaged.

Ground combat
This time my enemy refused to transport troops or supplies to Lunga. My CAP didnt engage any enemy plane. Good! And my ground forces got a 1:1 odd. 50.000 IJ troops vs 25.000. Keep going guys, keep going!

Enemy movements
It seems to me that the BBs were carrying supplies. The DD sunk was carrying 250 supplies. You can see this in the ships sunk screen. It appears the cargo they were carrying when sunk (only supplies or fuel). But they didn´t manage to do it (I think). When a FT TF hits a mine it usually abort its mission.
These are good news. Now I have an entire TF with three BB around Lunga so that place is closed now.
No airlifts, seems that C-47 were damaged...And not many heavies over Guadalcanal today. Does this mean that they are damaged or maybe they were looking for my CVs??.
The Hornet didn´t sink yet[:@]. Maybe he will survive. I won´t permit this. My subs are around to finish it but if they fail, maybe my CVs will hit and run to send him to the bottom of the ocean!.

The Shokaku has no air capability now, but in the Junyo the fires have been controlled with little damaged to the rest of the ship. She will be able to fly air strikes again[8D]

[toraq]

Another day in the South Pacific Front

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/29/42

Weather: Thunderstorms

Weather prevented any major action.

Submarine warfare
It could be worse. Most of the turns, 4 or 5 sub. attacks are made. Usually only one got success. This time, a previouly damaged CL was torpedoed and is surely going to sunk tomorrow.
On the other hand, one of my subs sunk while attacking a DD TF. God bless you![;)]

Lunga ground battle
Again back to the 0:1 odd.
I attach the combat screen so you can see how is the battle going.
At least, Allied suffered 1000 casualities (IJ only 300). Maybe if I can keep on some time...His assault values are decreasing day by day. I again ordered a deliberate attack. One bad new, H. Field is now operative again and some figthers managed to take off.
In a couple of days one full fresh crack regiment will arrive at Lunga. Maybe this is the drop that will overflow the glass.

Enemy movements
Timtom retired his BB and some other ships to Luganville. I decided to rotate my surface TF in Lunga with the one with CA and DD. Except by air, Lunga is still closed.

Hunt for the Hornet
I spotted it. But my CV are far so they can´t not pursue it. I ordered 3 subs to hunt him and my two advanced AVs to attack with their float planes. They only carry 60 Kg bombs but they are the only thing I got now.

[toraq]

GENERAL OVERVIEW

[toraq]

A bad day for the IJN[:@]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/30/42

Weather: Overcast

Let´s see...

Port attack on Shortland Is.
Well, I knew it could happen and I was, in some way hoping to happen. If he sends his bombers against the port, the airfield, the important thing, is safe. But I was not expecting P-38 escorting the bombers!. This prevented the Rufe to attack the bombers in a good position so they failed to inflict heavy losses

Air attack on Shortland Island , at 29,34

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 10

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 10
Beaufighter VIC x 17
P-38G Lightning x 13
B-25D Mitchell x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson x 1 destroyed
Beaufighter VIC x 2 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 1 destroyed **2 lost**
B-25D Mitchell x 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
PG Heijo Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AV Sanyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire **moderate damage**
AV Akitsushima, Bomb hits 4, on fire **moderate damage**
AP Keisho Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Yamagiri Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

The bombs over AV were bad received!. The APs are almost useless now. I have enoguh for my intentions. But the worst was to come...

Surprise attack on the Kirishima
I´m not a newbie but sometimes I forget the little things that make you a veteran. I retired my BB TF from Lunga. They didn´t bomb H. Field and sail away so far that they were within GG bombers range.

Allied aircraft
Beaufort x 11

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort x 2 destroyed
Beaufort x 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
BB Musashi, Torpedo hits 2

I´m not a complainer, but 50% of the beauforts got hits [:@][:@][:@]. I have many doubts about the Kirishima. Don´t know if he will reach a port.
The Musashi is another thing, guys. He only suffered 1 sys damaged!!. And again I say "Who said the BB era was over?"

SBD over Lunga
And the last chapter of this particular nightmare...Irau got size 2 in this turn so my smart enemy put some bombers there and this was the result:

Japanese aircraft ********NO INTERCEPTIONS AT ALL*********
A6M2 Zero x 7
A6M3 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 13
TBF Avenger x 5

CA Haguro, Bomb hits 1, on fire ***43 sys. damage***

Why no interceptions?. The same happened with the heavies. They were unable to intercept those beasts. ANd only 19 Zeroes while I have more than 70s with LCAP orders!.

And now, the most beautiful strike of the day, despite its lack of real success

Floatplanes attack Hornet
No AA fire so my experienced pilots performed supremely. However, none of the 60Kg bombs penetrated the flight deck.[:(]

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 6
E13A1 Jake x 7
Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 7, heavy damage

Afternoon strike

Japanese aircraft
F1M2 Pete x 7
E13A1 Jake x 6
Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 7, heavy damage

Hornet continues his route to a save port. Now it is a matter of my subs. Good luck!

Lunga battle
This time some bombers took off. 164 RCT bombed lightly. But weather aborted the carrier attack against Lunga troops.

A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M3 Zero x 18
G3M Nell x 9
G4M1 Betty x 10
G3M Nell x 16
I need more up!!. More! More!

I regained the 1:1 odd. Dewspite I reduce the enemy assault values to 0 during the combat replay, I can´t overun them. [:(]

Ground combat at Lunga

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 52737 troops, 758 guns, 63 vehicles

Defending force 26483 troops, 268 guns, 122 vehicles ***2000 troops received today***

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 361
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 612

General overview
Too much attrition. I´m losing the battle. I´m 250 points behind. This is getting worse. In this turn my morale went down like a diving stuka. [:'(]
No way, the Marines resist and resist. When I unload my last troops I´ll reduce my pressure and send some aircrafts and ships for a long rest.
Good news however. No less than 8 B-17 lost today, 4 C-47, 4 Beau, 3 SBD...Many enmy planes lost today. And my transport TF reached Lunga without being discovered by his subs. Here goes my last chance!

[toraq]

Some pictures with information...
The damaged ships are a LOT. Some are heavily damaged, some moderate damaged and many are lightly damaged

[toraq]

Aircraft losses. Despite our last successes, heavy bombers casualities are not enough. They keep coming and any time they come they disrupt one Rgt. which takes some days to recover.
Zero datais are very tired and become more uneffective day by day.[:(]

[toraq]

A good day for the Imperial Japanese Navy!. This time luck was by my side[;)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/31/42

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Naval combat at Irau base
I sent the TF Irau to destroy base facilities and avoid air raids from here. But they found FT TF with some troops...
1st engagement
Night Time Surface Combat, near Irau at 42,43

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 1
CA Nachi
CA Kumano
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 1
DD Harusame, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Anderson, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Russell, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Morris, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Hull, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD MacDonough, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Monaghan
DD Aylwin, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 416

2nd engagement
A huge enemy TF again found. Allied ships surprised!

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu ****didn´t fire a single shot****
CA Nachi, Shell hits 9
CA Kumano
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Harusame, on fire
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships ***watch the power of only 2 CA and 3 DD****
CA Salt Lake City, Shell hits 1, on fire
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA San Diego, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Monssen
DD Aaron Ward, Shell hits 2
DD Duncan, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Lardner, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Farenholt, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Woodworth

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 285
Guns lost 6
Final numbers
Allied losses[:)]
Sunk-- 1 CLAA, 4 DD.
Heavy damaged -- 1 CA, 1 DD
Damaged--3 DD
Jap. losses[8D]
Heavy damaged--1 DD (surely he will sink)
Damaged--1 DD

GG naval bombardment
They were trying to prevent any air raid against the Kirishima. They got some success!
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson x 4 destroyed
Hudson x 3 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 1 destroyed
B-25D Mitchell x 5 damaged
OS2U-3 Kingfisher x 1 destroyed
And no flights from here for the rest of the day

HORNET SUNK
YES!. My subs finally got it. I-22 ended the days of this CV. Midway defeat venged!
Japanese Ships
SS I-22
Allied Ships
CV Hornet, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Air attacks to my transport TF in Lunga
My TF Irau has no ammunitions left so they were unable to close Irau base. Thus, enemy attacked my ships at Lunga. My CAP wiped out his F4F escort and, under my point of view, enemy escored poor results. I sum-up the results.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
A6M3 Zero x 19

Allied aircraft ***Two air strikes mixed. Similar number of planes***
F4F-3 Wildcat x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 72
SBD Dauntless x 48
TBF Avenger x 15
SOC-3 Seagull x 4 ***Never seen this attacking ships***

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses

F4F-3 Wildcat x 2 destroyed-- 1 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16 destroyed -- 4 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 2 destroyed--4 damaged
TBF Avenger x 3 damaged
SOC-3 Seagull x 2 destroyed--2 damaged

Japanese Ships
APD 39, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD 38, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Canberra Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Ships with moderate damage. But he lost 18 F4F and some naval bombers. Some men lost (100) but they´re unloading my last crack reg.
Marines pilots have no posibilities against my Zeroes[:'(]

Enemy disembarks troops at Taivu
Almost a battallion there. My subs catched one DD which later sunk.
I got 200 soldiers at Taivu, only 97 first line troops. I ordered my emilies to send some more and my naval bombers will visit the americans. Taivu must be held!

Beautiful attack by my floatplanes
The thorn in allied´s side[:'(]

Air attack on TF at 41,51
Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 6
Allied Ships
DD Grayson, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Lunga ground battle
We are close! 1:1 odd recovered...Betties and Nells did a great effort to supress 164 RCT assault values. Heavies attacked 29 Rgt (only 27)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 52982 troops, 755 guns, 63 vehicles

Defending force 25932 troops, 268 guns, 122 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 238
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 1009
Guns lost 1

[toraq]

An interesting turn...Kirishima sunk and his CV surprised one of my AV...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 11/01/42

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Tokyo Express
Very little damade. And they ran out of fuel as you can see in the attachment. So little was the damaged that F4F were able to fly missions from H. Field.[:-]

Submarine warfare
His subs have disappeared (fortunately). I´m not joking if I say that they may have no torpedoes left!
On the contrary, one of my subs was really aggresive against one of his AV which sank after 3 torpedoes hit his belly[:'(].

Enterprise surprise my AV
I´m stupid...I was playing with fire. One of my AV sank after being attacked by SDB and TBF. In a final strike he desperately launched his Jake but all were lost without any hits. Hirohito salutes you!

Taivu battle
A very interesting battle. My CV launched 71 Vals and 21 Kates against the Raider Btll. I guess my naval airforce has recovered his strength[;)]
He sent 28 SDB to bomb my men.
Later on, he shock attacked my forces...

Allies 590 troops
Japanese 484 troops, 2 guns (elements of 2 Grns units, one already there, the other one transported by Emily)
Results: Allies 17 men vs 8 japanese men dead
Reinforces: One Grn unit is about to arrive and emilies have been ordered to transport supplies.

Lunga battle
A total of 13 IJ level bombers attacked the US troops. very poor.
55 B-17 plus 6 B-24 disrupted the 13 Rgt. heavily. My CAP was active but not a single heavy bomber was written off this turn.
I´m close to the 2:1 odd. My assault points are more than 800. My attack points are around 650 while my enemy has 388 or so. I ordered a new deliberate attack!

Japanase: 62.570 troops, 827 guns, 94 vehicles--292 lost
Allies: 27.214 troops, 295 guns, 28 vehicles ---806 lost

No less than 7 C-47 sqds are sending troops or supplies to Lunga, plus 4 B-26 sqds transporting supplies.
Two things I´ve noticed[:(]
1) No matter how many B17 I damage they keep coming in great numbers: 55 B17s are a lot...His losses are about 20. From a total of 100, this is too much. Specially if we compare this figures with my level bomber ability to stay on the ground.
2) No matter how many C-47 I intercept with my CAP. In the last turn no less than 2000 men have reinforced Guadalcanal...