I agree, at the moment we have 4 main areas
In DEI the japanese forces conquered Batavia on january 29. One division, two brigades and one enginers regiment are fightin in Java at the moment. The invasion of Java paid a tribute of some ships sunk, but was worth it. Japanese troops conquered also Makassar and Amboina and invaded Kendari that will fall soon. Most of DEI resources are in japanese hands now.
In Burma the japanese forces are advancing slowly and waiting for more troops from Malaysia. We have mostly air combats presently. In the last attack on Moulmein the allied had heavy losses of Hurricanes.
In South Pacific Rabaul is now the main base for the japanese offensive. Buna and Munda are growing fast and will make life hard for Port Moresby and Lunga.
The allied are trying to build up Gili, but there are no nough force to build another strong base there.
In China the railroad from Kuikang to Wuchow is free of Chinese units at last. Yenen is a stalemate position and will be a long siege.
PI are not a major target and the situation is quiet there.
Tom & Blackwatch Lessons from War
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
RE: Jan 28 & 29
6a - Bombers do little against ground troops, so unless there are no other "good" targets such as airfields or ports, don't bother going after foot soldiers.
Dave Baranyi
Disagree about ground attacks somewhat. If nothing presents itself or need to slow down advancing troops, increasing fatigue/disruption by air to ground attacks works wonders especially in the trails/roads of Burma, new guinea. I usually only do this when you have proper escort or don't expect CAP and added bonus also gives you experience.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: Jan 28 & 29
I am with Medicff on the bomber questions the disruption can really help your defenders defend and your retreaters escape. Also it can provide useful training for the bomber formations all of which need the experience.
Blackwatch is right about his AP losses in Java being worth it, you have to break eggs to make an omlette. My point is that a major battle is developing for Java and unlike Malaya and Philipines the Japanese are taking 9very justifiable) shipping casualties.
I am running my version of the combat phase now, see the support form titled Batavia Falls! or not? to see why I say its my version. The air battle calmed down over Rangoon due to bad weather and over Port Moresby because I did not have anything left to fly [:(].
Both sides have their CVs hidden now and the campaing is turning into a story of Japanese army advance and Allied counter attacks from the air except in China where we are both actively manuevering and fighting especially south of Changsha. If some one tells me how to take a screen shot I will post China on this thread, I could not find it in the manual.
Blackwatch is right about his AP losses in Java being worth it, you have to break eggs to make an omlette. My point is that a major battle is developing for Java and unlike Malaya and Philipines the Japanese are taking 9very justifiable) shipping casualties.
I am running my version of the combat phase now, see the support form titled Batavia Falls! or not? to see why I say its my version. The air battle calmed down over Rangoon due to bad weather and over Port Moresby because I did not have anything left to fly [:(].
Both sides have their CVs hidden now and the campaing is turning into a story of Japanese army advance and Allied counter attacks from the air except in China where we are both actively manuevering and fighting especially south of Changsha. If some one tells me how to take a screen shot I will post China on this thread, I could not find it in the manual.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: Jan 28 & 29
Good News for the Dutch.
This takes us from January 27-28 to Feb 1st. Batavia fell on the 30th and on the first of February the Japanese tried a paradrop across the Dutch line of retreat. Several transports were shot down maybe as many as 5. The Japanese also underestimated the speed of the Dutch retreat out of Batavia and this is the combat result:
Ground combat at Bandoeng
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 275 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 7921 troops, 26 guns, 5 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
175 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
There are still 400 men then but they are not going to capture much of anything without help.
The Java sea is mostly empty and the big Japanese infantry units that took Batavia are planning their next move.
91 Betties bombed Port Moresby on the 1st down from 121 two days before. Rabaul is now a level 6 air base but it looks like his operational losses are starting to climb. This is a good thing because he has really beat up the airbase, the only thing flying there is dirt from the latest round of bombs. There were no big battles in the area and no small ones either. Central Pacific is quiet as well.
Rangoon has 20k men inside and continues to be under siege but otherwise happy and untouched by the 40K Japanese outside we will see how long that lasts but the place has been under attack for nearly 3 weeks as allied defenses go this is a good one. The latest allied bombing attack on the big Japanese base at Moulmein was kind of a fizzle: Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 29,35
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
Ki-27 Nate x 33
Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 3
B-17E Fortress x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 4 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
The allies need to stop and rest. I looked at the loss statistics and found that fully half my B17 losses were operational I really don’t understand this I did not think they crashed that often but there it is.
In China both sides are maneuvering with the usual bombardment battles at Yenen, Wouchow and a few other hexes on the northern end of the RR.
This takes us from January 27-28 to Feb 1st. Batavia fell on the 30th and on the first of February the Japanese tried a paradrop across the Dutch line of retreat. Several transports were shot down maybe as many as 5. The Japanese also underestimated the speed of the Dutch retreat out of Batavia and this is the combat result:
Ground combat at Bandoeng
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 275 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 7921 troops, 26 guns, 5 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
175 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
There are still 400 men then but they are not going to capture much of anything without help.
The Java sea is mostly empty and the big Japanese infantry units that took Batavia are planning their next move.
91 Betties bombed Port Moresby on the 1st down from 121 two days before. Rabaul is now a level 6 air base but it looks like his operational losses are starting to climb. This is a good thing because he has really beat up the airbase, the only thing flying there is dirt from the latest round of bombs. There were no big battles in the area and no small ones either. Central Pacific is quiet as well.
Rangoon has 20k men inside and continues to be under siege but otherwise happy and untouched by the 40K Japanese outside we will see how long that lasts but the place has been under attack for nearly 3 weeks as allied defenses go this is a good one. The latest allied bombing attack on the big Japanese base at Moulmein was kind of a fizzle: Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 29,35
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
Ki-27 Nate x 33
Allied aircraft
B-17C Fortress x 3
B-17E Fortress x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-27 Nate: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-17C Fortress: 4 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
The allies need to stop and rest. I looked at the loss statistics and found that fully half my B17 losses were operational I really don’t understand this I did not think they crashed that often but there it is.
In China both sides are maneuvering with the usual bombardment battles at Yenen, Wouchow and a few other hexes on the northern end of the RR.
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
feb 1
Not Very Good News for the Dutch
Ground combat at Bandoeng
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1961 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 57 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 19 to 1
The Dutch forces were not able to erase the paratroopers from the map...
BTW Tom is right I should have dropped the paratroopers one day earlier.
Feb 1 news
DEI
Kendari was taken today.
The alied LBAs managed to damage several transports near Batavia, but they paied a severe cost.
PI
Fort level In Clark is reduced to 4.
South Pac
First attack of Kates based in Buna Against Allied ships.
More attack of Rabaul Betties on PM.
Quiet day in Burma and China.
Ground combat at Bandoeng
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 1961 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 57 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Allied assault odds: 19 to 1
The Dutch forces were not able to erase the paratroopers from the map...
BTW Tom is right I should have dropped the paratroopers one day earlier.
Feb 1 news
DEI
Kendari was taken today.
The alied LBAs managed to damage several transports near Batavia, but they paied a severe cost.
PI
Fort level In Clark is reduced to 4.
South Pac
First attack of Kates based in Buna Against Allied ships.
More attack of Rabaul Betties on PM.
Quiet day in Burma and China.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: feb 1
To Feb 6th 1942
The battle for Burma continues with little movement but much action. On Feb 2 the RN sent 2 R class BBs and supporting forces to bombard Tavoy. They got there undetected and found a fleet of mine sweepers escorting APs. They sunk one MSW and blew up 2 Nates on the ground leaving 8 or more ships and over 60 planes untouched. Sigh. Coordinated airstrikes designed to go in after the bombardment failed to coordinate and rain grounded the 60 fighter Hurricane sweep planned for the morning after the bombardment.
The Japanese finished unloading troops from their recent victory in Singapore including the Imperial Guards division and launched a shock attack with 60,000 troops on Feb 4th. They suffered ten two one losses nearly 3,000 casualties all told.
Still things look bad for Rangoon in the long term. The Japanese have switched to deliberate attacks and as you can see from the combat report below they are bringing the fortifications down: Ground combat at Rangoon
Feb 5th 1942 Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 81957 troops, 710 guns, 9 vehicles
Defending force 19864 troops, 145 guns, 4 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
870 casualties reported
Guns lost 21
Allied ground losses:
262 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
The forts started at a 4. Rangoon does have two brigades of infantry with high moral and 100% planning for the base and that is helping a lot I am sure. It’s the first location I have defended with 100% units and it makes a big difference. When the shoe is on the other foot in 1943 I am sure I will hate the 100% but right now it’s a godsend.
On Feb. 6th the Japanese Bombard its a nice breather but the writing is on the wall at Rangoon.
In Java the Japanese continue their advance though the Dutch have been surprisingly tough. Surprising to me anyway I wonder if Blackwatch feels the same way. Bandoeng held for several days after the failed paratroop attack (it seems that neither of us can launch a really well coordinated air plan) finally succumbing to over 70,000 veteran Japanese attackers. Not bad for 7000 Dutch with bad training, obsolete equipment and low moral.
In the air Zeros show up in Java for the first time and allied fighter and bomber casualties go way up. We are still hitting ships and the Japanese ship sunk count goes past 40. The allies have lost just over 200 ships but I have gotten a lot more careful and lately our loss rates are comparable to the Japanese. A Dutch sub gets sunk near Batavia and a Japanese sub goes down near Suva in a tit for tat exchange.
China is not quiet there is a constant rumbling from bombardment attacks in 4-6 locations from Yenan to Wuchow. There are 200,000 Japanese at Yenan facing 100,000 dug in Chinese and they shoot at each other every day. The Japanese fire at 10:40 am and the Chinese shoot back at 2pm. Since everyone knows its coming only a few recently arrived replacements get killed each turn.
Elsewhere in China there are recon reports of large armies on the move but neither side has made contact. It will be later in February or perhaps March before things start to move again in China, for now it’s a series of static battles on the rail line.
In the Coral sea the Japanese drive an AVD away from Gili Gili and then sink it. Japanese surface TFs bombard Lunga and sail unmolested in the Solomons. Allied ships slip into Port Moresby, drop off (deleted, classified) and then escape. On February 5h a larger convoy of 4 ships reaches PM. The Japanese launch a strike and here is the result:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
G3M Nell x 10
G4M1 Betty x 9
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 12
Wirraway x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 12 destroyed
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Brooks
AP President Monroe
DD Perkins
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
2 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Wildcats appear and though they get hit pretty hard by the fighters they save the shipping. A second strike comes in and puts a torpedo into one of the DDs but over all the results are not the sort of wipe out that the Japanese have achieved on occasions before.
KB appears in the Coral Sea on February 6th as well. I will map its progress for the next report.
The battle for Burma continues with little movement but much action. On Feb 2 the RN sent 2 R class BBs and supporting forces to bombard Tavoy. They got there undetected and found a fleet of mine sweepers escorting APs. They sunk one MSW and blew up 2 Nates on the ground leaving 8 or more ships and over 60 planes untouched. Sigh. Coordinated airstrikes designed to go in after the bombardment failed to coordinate and rain grounded the 60 fighter Hurricane sweep planned for the morning after the bombardment.
The Japanese finished unloading troops from their recent victory in Singapore including the Imperial Guards division and launched a shock attack with 60,000 troops on Feb 4th. They suffered ten two one losses nearly 3,000 casualties all told.
Still things look bad for Rangoon in the long term. The Japanese have switched to deliberate attacks and as you can see from the combat report below they are bringing the fortifications down: Ground combat at Rangoon
Feb 5th 1942 Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 81957 troops, 710 guns, 9 vehicles
Defending force 19864 troops, 145 guns, 4 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
870 casualties reported
Guns lost 21
Allied ground losses:
262 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
The forts started at a 4. Rangoon does have two brigades of infantry with high moral and 100% planning for the base and that is helping a lot I am sure. It’s the first location I have defended with 100% units and it makes a big difference. When the shoe is on the other foot in 1943 I am sure I will hate the 100% but right now it’s a godsend.
On Feb. 6th the Japanese Bombard its a nice breather but the writing is on the wall at Rangoon.
In Java the Japanese continue their advance though the Dutch have been surprisingly tough. Surprising to me anyway I wonder if Blackwatch feels the same way. Bandoeng held for several days after the failed paratroop attack (it seems that neither of us can launch a really well coordinated air plan) finally succumbing to over 70,000 veteran Japanese attackers. Not bad for 7000 Dutch with bad training, obsolete equipment and low moral.
In the air Zeros show up in Java for the first time and allied fighter and bomber casualties go way up. We are still hitting ships and the Japanese ship sunk count goes past 40. The allies have lost just over 200 ships but I have gotten a lot more careful and lately our loss rates are comparable to the Japanese. A Dutch sub gets sunk near Batavia and a Japanese sub goes down near Suva in a tit for tat exchange.
China is not quiet there is a constant rumbling from bombardment attacks in 4-6 locations from Yenan to Wuchow. There are 200,000 Japanese at Yenan facing 100,000 dug in Chinese and they shoot at each other every day. The Japanese fire at 10:40 am and the Chinese shoot back at 2pm. Since everyone knows its coming only a few recently arrived replacements get killed each turn.
Elsewhere in China there are recon reports of large armies on the move but neither side has made contact. It will be later in February or perhaps March before things start to move again in China, for now it’s a series of static battles on the rail line.
In the Coral sea the Japanese drive an AVD away from Gili Gili and then sink it. Japanese surface TFs bombard Lunga and sail unmolested in the Solomons. Allied ships slip into Port Moresby, drop off (deleted, classified) and then escape. On February 5h a larger convoy of 4 ships reaches PM. The Japanese launch a strike and here is the result:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
G3M Nell x 10
G4M1 Betty x 9
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 12
Wirraway x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 12 destroyed
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Brooks
AP President Monroe
DD Perkins
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
2 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
4 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Wildcats appear and though they get hit pretty hard by the fighters they save the shipping. A second strike comes in and puts a torpedo into one of the DDs but over all the results are not the sort of wipe out that the Japanese have achieved on occasions before.
KB appears in the Coral Sea on February 6th as well. I will map its progress for the next report.
- Attachments
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- Java to Feb 6th 42.jpg (43.85 KiB) Viewed 242 times
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
RE: feb 1
Feb 8th 1942
In Burma the air battle goes on with heavy losses fro both sides. The siege of Rangoon involves 4 japanese divisions now and the city will not last long.
In Jave the japanese are moving faster now: today Tjilitjap fell.
Ground combat at Tjilitjap
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 72024 troops, 695 guns, 1 vehicles
Defending force 6511 troops, 57 guns, 13 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tjilitjap base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
375 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Allied ground losses:
1887 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 1
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Good new from PI also: Clark fell today and the allies has no more resources source in Luzon. [8D]
Ground combat at Clark Field
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 93967 troops, 670 guns, 305 vehicles
Defending force 36639 troops, 181 guns, 150 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Clark Field base !!!
In South Pac PM is neutralized. Gili and Lunga can't build up as a danger for japanes bases.
No much new in China.
Allied aircraft
no flights
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
680 casualties reported
Guns lost 13
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
3384 casualties reported
Guns lost 77
Vehicles lost 13
In Burma the air battle goes on with heavy losses fro both sides. The siege of Rangoon involves 4 japanese divisions now and the city will not last long.
In Jave the japanese are moving faster now: today Tjilitjap fell.
Ground combat at Tjilitjap
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 72024 troops, 695 guns, 1 vehicles
Defending force 6511 troops, 57 guns, 13 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese assault odds: 13 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Tjilitjap base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
375 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Allied ground losses:
1887 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 1
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
Good new from PI also: Clark fell today and the allies has no more resources source in Luzon. [8D]
Ground combat at Clark Field
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 93967 troops, 670 guns, 305 vehicles
Defending force 36639 troops, 181 guns, 150 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0
Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Clark Field base !!!
In South Pac PM is neutralized. Gili and Lunga can't build up as a danger for japanes bases.
No much new in China.
Allied aircraft
no flights
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
680 casualties reported
Guns lost 13
Vehicles lost 1
Allied ground losses:
3384 casualties reported
Guns lost 77
Vehicles lost 13
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: feb 1
Burma Feb 7th –13h see regular airstrikes on the main Japanese airbase at Moulmein. I hti a few targets on the ground but mostly they consist of Zeros chewing up my LB30s and B17s. Feb 8th attack looked like this:
Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 29,35
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
Ki-27 Nate x 26
Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 10
LB-30 Liberator x 30
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-27 Nate: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 17 destroyed, 4 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 10 destroyed, 13 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 13
What is really going on is a minor Japanese victory in our battle of attrition over the airbase. I am losing more planes than he is and his DaiTai are getting better. However there is a plan in the works that will affect this dramatically read on.
While the air battle of Moulmein continues the Empire army in Rangoon has a problem. Moral is high, the fort is level 4 going on five and several of the Indian brigades have 100% planning and good experience. The Japanese are stuck outside launching ineffective bombardment attacks. But 4 more Jap divisions are on the way and when they get there things will turn ugly. Unknown to the Japanese the Brits gather a large fleet with most everything from CVs to PGs. The CVs are on overwatch, the PGs are in the rescue fleet and the big gun ships are about to go back into action for the first time since January.
On February 10 there is combat off Moulmein:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Moulmein at 29,35
Japanese Ships
MSW W.7, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
MSW W.10, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW W.15, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
MSW W.18, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW W.19, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
CL Glasgow
DD Pakenham
DD Paladin
DD Panther
Not a big victory though it does show the effect of those quick firing 6” guns on the Glasgow against light forces. Its important though because for a bombardment mission to go in they have to be left without interference. Last time the RN bombarded Moulmein they brought 2 BBs but ran into another force of mine sweepers. They sunk one of the 5 then bombarded and blew up 1 Nate out of the over 100 Japanese planes at the airfield.
On the 13h the big allied convoy arrives at Rangoon. Its critical that the Japanese not be able to strike at Rangoon. Blackwatch’s problem is that his base forces are all at Moulmein so if I can suppress it I can get the Rangoon garrison away. Our friends who rapes the MSWs last night come back to munch on some Zeros Feb 11:
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 19 destroyed, 9 damaged
Ki-27 Nate: 5 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Panther
DD Paladin
DD Pakenham
CL Glasgow
CA Cornwall
The next night 2 BBs show up and do it again. The Japanese attack the Rangoon TF from the air but its not a very strong attack with some hits on a CL and a PG. Rangoon has proven very tough resisting repeated Japanese attacks of all types. However it has to end some time and when it does I want the troops somewhere else.
More coming on the other thearters of war soon.
Day Air attack on Moulmein , at 29,35
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
Ki-27 Nate x 26
Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 10
LB-30 Liberator x 30
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-27 Nate: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 17 destroyed, 4 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 10 destroyed, 13 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
217 casualties reported
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 13
What is really going on is a minor Japanese victory in our battle of attrition over the airbase. I am losing more planes than he is and his DaiTai are getting better. However there is a plan in the works that will affect this dramatically read on.
While the air battle of Moulmein continues the Empire army in Rangoon has a problem. Moral is high, the fort is level 4 going on five and several of the Indian brigades have 100% planning and good experience. The Japanese are stuck outside launching ineffective bombardment attacks. But 4 more Jap divisions are on the way and when they get there things will turn ugly. Unknown to the Japanese the Brits gather a large fleet with most everything from CVs to PGs. The CVs are on overwatch, the PGs are in the rescue fleet and the big gun ships are about to go back into action for the first time since January.
On February 10 there is combat off Moulmein:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Moulmein at 29,35
Japanese Ships
MSW W.7, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
MSW W.10, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW W.15, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
MSW W.18, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
MSW W.19, Shell hits 6, and is sunk
Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 1
CL Glasgow
DD Pakenham
DD Paladin
DD Panther
Not a big victory though it does show the effect of those quick firing 6” guns on the Glasgow against light forces. Its important though because for a bombardment mission to go in they have to be left without interference. Last time the RN bombarded Moulmein they brought 2 BBs but ran into another force of mine sweepers. They sunk one of the 5 then bombarded and blew up 1 Nate out of the over 100 Japanese planes at the airfield.
On the 13h the big allied convoy arrives at Rangoon. Its critical that the Japanese not be able to strike at Rangoon. Blackwatch’s problem is that his base forces are all at Moulmein so if I can suppress it I can get the Rangoon garrison away. Our friends who rapes the MSWs last night come back to munch on some Zeros Feb 11:
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 19 destroyed, 9 damaged
Ki-27 Nate: 5 destroyed, 16 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Panther
DD Paladin
DD Pakenham
CL Glasgow
CA Cornwall
The next night 2 BBs show up and do it again. The Japanese attack the Rangoon TF from the air but its not a very strong attack with some hits on a CL and a PG. Rangoon has proven very tough resisting repeated Japanese attacks of all types. However it has to end some time and when it does I want the troops somewhere else.
More coming on the other thearters of war soon.
-
Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: feb 1
Java Feb 6-15 1942.
The Japanese continue their advance taking Tjiliap on the 11, Djoekarta falls to the first attack on the 14th a Valentine for the Emperor. The Dutch are down to 5,000 defenders and the Japanese are hitting them with 60-80,000 men so its just a matter of time. In the air the allied bomber force continues to pound the Japanese infantry but all it does is slow the advance a little bit. The Japanese have stopped running ships in the Java Sea because of the bomber concentration and this has reduced Blackwatch’s shipping losses in the area to zero.
The Japanese continue their advance taking Tjiliap on the 11, Djoekarta falls to the first attack on the 14th a Valentine for the Emperor. The Dutch are down to 5,000 defenders and the Japanese are hitting them with 60-80,000 men so its just a matter of time. In the air the allied bomber force continues to pound the Japanese infantry but all it does is slow the advance a little bit. The Japanese have stopped running ships in the Java Sea because of the bomber concentration and this has reduced Blackwatch’s shipping losses in the area to zero.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
Coral Sea and Cenpac to Feb 9th
In the Coral Sea the Japanese start pushing the pace.
Feb 8th: Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 49
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 158
Needless to say they bomb the crap out of Port Moresby. I have already pulled back all the aircraft from the base. Blackwatch is trying to make it unuseable so that he can take it in the near future. He already has troops on the way to Gili Gili and KB is continueing to head South towards Noumea. I have also put 3 more AA units into PM and you can see the effect of the operation losses and flak when you look at the number of Betties flying Feb 9th
A6M2 Zero x 50
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 114
Feb 10th
A6M2 Zero x 49
G3M Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 104
Feb 11th
No raid.
Feb 12 there are 99 Betties
Feb13
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53
G3M Nell x 20
G4M1 Betty x 91
So it appears that the flak is helping but he is still doing 60+ hits on the airfield every turn.
Feb 9th I lose track of KB on the 10th it shows up at Noumea where it turns out to be baby KB. Lots of Kates are launched. As it happens I have over 50 fighters flying CAP including F4Fs and they chew up the Kates pretty well destroying nearly 20 of them. Feb 10 sees 56 Japanese planes go down compared to 43 allied its one of the first days the casualties have gone my way since the war started. The allies launch small strikes by groups of Hudsons and B25s but fail to score hits. Baby KB stays near Noumea on the 11th but the fighting is not nearly as intense. I am going mad with frustration because I have a force of 43 B26s that won’t take off even though they have escort and are in range of baby KB. Instead the 3 airworthy B25s try again and miss.
Central Pacific heats up as grownup KB starts a raid in the Canton island area. The island has air including a bunch of fighters but KB is after merchant shipping in the area. He finds two convoys with 7 or so ships between them and starts pounding. Everything else that was even thinking of going near Canton Island runs off in another direction.
Feb 8th: Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 49
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 158
Needless to say they bomb the crap out of Port Moresby. I have already pulled back all the aircraft from the base. Blackwatch is trying to make it unuseable so that he can take it in the near future. He already has troops on the way to Gili Gili and KB is continueing to head South towards Noumea. I have also put 3 more AA units into PM and you can see the effect of the operation losses and flak when you look at the number of Betties flying Feb 9th
A6M2 Zero x 50
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 114
Feb 10th
A6M2 Zero x 49
G3M Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 104
Feb 11th
No raid.
Feb 12 there are 99 Betties
Feb13
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53
G3M Nell x 20
G4M1 Betty x 91
So it appears that the flak is helping but he is still doing 60+ hits on the airfield every turn.
Feb 9th I lose track of KB on the 10th it shows up at Noumea where it turns out to be baby KB. Lots of Kates are launched. As it happens I have over 50 fighters flying CAP including F4Fs and they chew up the Kates pretty well destroying nearly 20 of them. Feb 10 sees 56 Japanese planes go down compared to 43 allied its one of the first days the casualties have gone my way since the war started. The allies launch small strikes by groups of Hudsons and B25s but fail to score hits. Baby KB stays near Noumea on the 11th but the fighting is not nearly as intense. I am going mad with frustration because I have a force of 43 B26s that won’t take off even though they have escort and are in range of baby KB. Instead the 3 airworthy B25s try again and miss.
Central Pacific heats up as grownup KB starts a raid in the Canton island area. The island has air including a bunch of fighters but KB is after merchant shipping in the area. He finds two convoys with 7 or so ships between them and starts pounding. Everything else that was even thinking of going near Canton Island runs off in another direction.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: Coral Sea and Cenpac to Feb 9th
South Pacific Feb 13-15
Baby KB comes around to the East side of Noumea. He has burned up a lot of his attack planes and also lost some Zeros. I have positive ID on Akagi and Hiryu near Canton Island and my bombers claim to have attacked Zuiho, Taiyo and Shoho. I have two CVs and several BBs near Suva heading for Noumea, I decide to strike back for the first time in the war.
The CVs move into range on Feb 13th there are multiple waves of Dauntlesses with a small escort of Wildcats. I keep most of the Wildcats on Cap over my CVs. Over the day there are 4 strikes by US CVs on the Japanese group and 2 return strikes. A group of Hudsons also hits the Japanese but does not score any hits. I totaled all the damage for all 4 strikes on the Japanese the number in ( ) is the final total:
CVL Zuiho, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage (5)
CVL Shoho, Bomb hits 1 (1)
CVE Hosho, Bomb hits 1, +1, on fire, +1 on fire, heavy damage (3)
CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 2, on fire (2)
CVE Taiyo Bomb hits 2, (2)
CL Oi, Bomb hits 2, on fire (2)
And on the Americans:
Kates escorted attacked Yorktown
Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2 (2)
Zeros attacked the Saratoga
Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
I am not recording the air totals because they are bogus but both sides lost dozens of planes. Dauntless losses were highest because a group went in without escorts and even when escorted I kept most of my Wildcats over my CVs.
Feb 14th
I knew KB would still be out of range at the end of this turn so I moved to hit baby KB again. I also sent the BB group that happened to be in the area to where I hoped Baby KB would go. The BBs find Zuhio and a DD:
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho, Shell hits 15, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hatsushima, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Colorado
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 2
BB Mississippi
DD Anderson
DD Morris
DD McCall
The BB admirals love this I am sure, Zuiho will sink a day later.
AS mentioned above air combat losses have been high. I have a marine F4F unit based on Noumea and I find that Yorktown has space (yes if you do the math this means I lost an entire air group of planes off of Yorktown alone) so I fly them on. This allows me to put one Wildcat group on CAP and use the other for escorts which will help a the reduced attack plane forces get through. As day breaks the US CVs are in Devastator range of the 3 light carriers in the main baby KB force the US CVs launch their strikes:
Japanese Ships
CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 2 + Bomb hits 3, on fire, + Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (5 bomb 1 torp)
CVE Taiyo, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage (3)
CVL Shoho, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage (4)
Zeros attack Yortown but score no hits. My last strike was 15 Devastators the CAP was 1 Zero so the attack got through. Shoho sinks shortly after the morning attack goes in.
At this point KB is going to be in long range strike distance of my forces so I run them off in a secret direction on the 15th. I move LBA to the bases in the New Hebrides in the hopes of picking off a straggler or two. Blackwatch has a long trip from here to Raubal so maybe I will get something.
Analysis:
This is a pretty classic use of LBA, good search coverage and a well balanced naval force against a group that was a bit too weak to hang around this deep in enemy territory. In February 1942 I want to be very careful with my CVs. I lost Enterprise by accident in January and the loss of additional CVs this early would be crippling. I was only willing to make this attack because everything looked right before I made the move.
As the raid went on I was learning more and more about Blackwatches position but he was not learning about mine. By Feb 11th I knew the location of all of his major carrier groups they had hit me for several turns in a row, I had launched attacks on baby KB and seen ship names and my Catalinas were starting to give me CV names out of the KB forces as well. I have a system of interlocking Catalina search areas and Blackwatch had been steaming in them for over a week so my intel was starting to get very good.
Then I looked at the air battles over the 10-12. I had a lot of CAP and shot down a lot of Kates over Noumea. Blackwatch got a few transports but he lost over 35 Kates in air to air combat on Feb 11th. I knew he must be running low on strike aircraft so I thought my CVs would be at reduced risk if I went for it. As it turns out there are indications that Blackwatch had loaded up on Zeros perhaps to protect against my LBA on the Noumea raid. This also worked to my advantage since it weakened his ability to sink my CVs.
In the end this battle does not mark any kind of a turning point Blackwatch still has the ability to sink all my CVs in a standup fight and he is advancing everywhere. The sea bottom is littered with allied Cruisers, DDs and even BBs it feels really goog to know that some Japanese ships are down in Dave Jones Locker too.
Baby KB comes around to the East side of Noumea. He has burned up a lot of his attack planes and also lost some Zeros. I have positive ID on Akagi and Hiryu near Canton Island and my bombers claim to have attacked Zuiho, Taiyo and Shoho. I have two CVs and several BBs near Suva heading for Noumea, I decide to strike back for the first time in the war.
The CVs move into range on Feb 13th there are multiple waves of Dauntlesses with a small escort of Wildcats. I keep most of the Wildcats on Cap over my CVs. Over the day there are 4 strikes by US CVs on the Japanese group and 2 return strikes. A group of Hudsons also hits the Japanese but does not score any hits. I totaled all the damage for all 4 strikes on the Japanese the number in ( ) is the final total:
CVL Zuiho, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage (5)
CVL Shoho, Bomb hits 1 (1)
CVE Hosho, Bomb hits 1, +1, on fire, +1 on fire, heavy damage (3)
CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 2, on fire (2)
CVE Taiyo Bomb hits 2, (2)
CL Oi, Bomb hits 2, on fire (2)
And on the Americans:
Kates escorted attacked Yorktown
Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2 (2)
Zeros attacked the Saratoga
Allied Ships
CV Saratoga
I am not recording the air totals because they are bogus but both sides lost dozens of planes. Dauntless losses were highest because a group went in without escorts and even when escorted I kept most of my Wildcats over my CVs.
Feb 14th
I knew KB would still be out of range at the end of this turn so I moved to hit baby KB again. I also sent the BB group that happened to be in the area to where I hoped Baby KB would go. The BBs find Zuhio and a DD:
Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho, Shell hits 15, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hatsushima, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
Allied Ships
BB Colorado
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 2
BB Mississippi
DD Anderson
DD Morris
DD McCall
The BB admirals love this I am sure, Zuiho will sink a day later.
AS mentioned above air combat losses have been high. I have a marine F4F unit based on Noumea and I find that Yorktown has space (yes if you do the math this means I lost an entire air group of planes off of Yorktown alone) so I fly them on. This allows me to put one Wildcat group on CAP and use the other for escorts which will help a the reduced attack plane forces get through. As day breaks the US CVs are in Devastator range of the 3 light carriers in the main baby KB force the US CVs launch their strikes:
Japanese Ships
CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 2 + Bomb hits 3, on fire, + Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (5 bomb 1 torp)
CVE Taiyo, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage (3)
CVL Shoho, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage (4)
Zeros attack Yortown but score no hits. My last strike was 15 Devastators the CAP was 1 Zero so the attack got through. Shoho sinks shortly after the morning attack goes in.
At this point KB is going to be in long range strike distance of my forces so I run them off in a secret direction on the 15th. I move LBA to the bases in the New Hebrides in the hopes of picking off a straggler or two. Blackwatch has a long trip from here to Raubal so maybe I will get something.
Analysis:
This is a pretty classic use of LBA, good search coverage and a well balanced naval force against a group that was a bit too weak to hang around this deep in enemy territory. In February 1942 I want to be very careful with my CVs. I lost Enterprise by accident in January and the loss of additional CVs this early would be crippling. I was only willing to make this attack because everything looked right before I made the move.
As the raid went on I was learning more and more about Blackwatches position but he was not learning about mine. By Feb 11th I knew the location of all of his major carrier groups they had hit me for several turns in a row, I had launched attacks on baby KB and seen ship names and my Catalinas were starting to give me CV names out of the KB forces as well. I have a system of interlocking Catalina search areas and Blackwatch had been steaming in them for over a week so my intel was starting to get very good.
Then I looked at the air battles over the 10-12. I had a lot of CAP and shot down a lot of Kates over Noumea. Blackwatch got a few transports but he lost over 35 Kates in air to air combat on Feb 11th. I knew he must be running low on strike aircraft so I thought my CVs would be at reduced risk if I went for it. As it turns out there are indications that Blackwatch had loaded up on Zeros perhaps to protect against my LBA on the Noumea raid. This also worked to my advantage since it weakened his ability to sink my CVs.
In the end this battle does not mark any kind of a turning point Blackwatch still has the ability to sink all my CVs in a standup fight and he is advancing everywhere. The sea bottom is littered with allied Cruisers, DDs and even BBs it feels really goog to know that some Japanese ships are down in Dave Jones Locker too.
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
RE: Coral Sea and Cenpac to Feb 9th
Nothing more to say, wI'm getting ready for my seppuku...... [:(]
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
China to Feb 16
China Feb 6 to 16
China continues to resemble World War I with both sides entrenching. The Chinese win a battle at the rail junction between Kaifeng and Homan but pusuing the Japanese back to Kaifeng takes 3 days and the Japanese easily defeat the Chinese attacks on Kaifeng. In the South the Japanese push Chinese troops off the rail line near Canton.
I would like to hear from the audience about the effect of losing Burma on China. I read the Wobbly Vs. PzB AAR with interest and it did have some effect on my decisions about how to defend India. The question that I have is what happens to China if you let Burma go without a fight? Doesn’t China need the supplies? I would like to hear some opinions.
The map below shows China on Feb 14th 1942 the arrows show the main lines of advance or reinforcement efforts.
China continues to resemble World War I with both sides entrenching. The Chinese win a battle at the rail junction between Kaifeng and Homan but pusuing the Japanese back to Kaifeng takes 3 days and the Japanese easily defeat the Chinese attacks on Kaifeng. In the South the Japanese push Chinese troops off the rail line near Canton.
I would like to hear from the audience about the effect of losing Burma on China. I read the Wobbly Vs. PzB AAR with interest and it did have some effect on my decisions about how to defend India. The question that I have is what happens to China if you let Burma go without a fight? Doesn’t China need the supplies? I would like to hear some opinions.
The map below shows China on Feb 14th 1942 the arrows show the main lines of advance or reinforcement efforts.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
Overview to Feb 22
All areas to Feb 22
In Java the Japanese advance continues in the face of regular allied bombing raids. The Japanese are expected to start their attack on Soerbaja within a day or two. There are 87,000 Japanese troops on the way and just under a quarter of that number of Dutch prepairing to meet them. We know how this story ends its just a matter of time.
In China both sides continue to maneuver and pound on each other. The Chinese send a surprise raid that seizes the isolated base SW of Peking (pankow?) making China the first allied country to successfully take territory back from the Japanese. Strategically its just a nuisance but I will take what I can get.
In Burma Mandalay falls to another army of 70-80k Japanese. There were only 7,500 defenders though some reinforcements are on the way. We will see if anyone gets there in time. The Japanese have a fleet of BBs sitting in Moulmein making the RN nervous in the Bay on Bengal. On Feb 20th HMS Indominatable launched a Stringbag strike but for some reason (and inspite of the naval attack setting on the air groups) the planes bombed the airbase instead of torpedoing the BBs. Moulmein airfield is still suppressed by allied bombers but the Japanese have started basing planes elsewhere in the area.
Port Moresby sees 4 days of big air battles ending in defeat for the allies.
Feb 19th Vs Feb 22
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54 Goes up to 104 Feb 20th and down to A6M2 Zero x 91 Feb 22
G3M Nell x 18 G3M Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 171 G4M1 Betty x 69
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 15 None group shot down in 3 days
P-39D Airacobra x 3 P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 29 P-40E Warhawk x 7
Notice the huge numbers of Betties at the start. Blackwatch must have sent one of his best Zero Daitias (or maybe more than one) and he shot down about twice as many fighters as I did. Even though I fed planes in as fast as I could the allies could not hold the sky over the base though the Japanese did bleed some. On Feb 22 5700 Japanese troops came ashore at PM there is another convoy on the way and BB Mutsu is part of the covering force which made short work of the 3 PT boats defending the area. Port Moresby is in trouble but the battle is not over yet. I am searching the forums now trying to find out when the Zero bonus goes away.
KB is in the Solomons but not attacking much. I think the group is low on ammo and will likely return to base soon. Reports have come in that Taiyo and Ryioho sunk on their way back to base so the battle of Noumea may have wiped out baby KB. Even if those reports are false they will still be under repair for a while.
In the Philipines Battan falls on the 22nd. Allied troops try to take advantage of the split in Japanese troops by counter attacking Clark Field but the effort fails.
There have been several smaller battles in the last two weeks that I did not mention while covering major developments:
In the Solomons Japanese DDs wiped out the US PT boat forces based in the area in a 4 day operation that cost Japan 4 gallons of navy gray paint to repair scratches caused when their ships ran down the hapless Elco boats. About 8 PT boats were sunk.
Malacca fell to a Japanese invasion force Feb 18th or so. The force was spotted by 3 groups of Beauforts on the way in and several transports were bombed. Radio intercepts indicate that some may have sunk.
A Japanese seaplane raid on Timor was met by Beauforts as well. Japan sunk an AK and the Beauforts sunk a seaplane tender.
Wirraways based in Samarinda have been doing a daily raid on Balikpanan for a week or so. They have occasionally hit a transport or done minor damage to the port.
In Java the Japanese advance continues in the face of regular allied bombing raids. The Japanese are expected to start their attack on Soerbaja within a day or two. There are 87,000 Japanese troops on the way and just under a quarter of that number of Dutch prepairing to meet them. We know how this story ends its just a matter of time.
In China both sides continue to maneuver and pound on each other. The Chinese send a surprise raid that seizes the isolated base SW of Peking (pankow?) making China the first allied country to successfully take territory back from the Japanese. Strategically its just a nuisance but I will take what I can get.
In Burma Mandalay falls to another army of 70-80k Japanese. There were only 7,500 defenders though some reinforcements are on the way. We will see if anyone gets there in time. The Japanese have a fleet of BBs sitting in Moulmein making the RN nervous in the Bay on Bengal. On Feb 20th HMS Indominatable launched a Stringbag strike but for some reason (and inspite of the naval attack setting on the air groups) the planes bombed the airbase instead of torpedoing the BBs. Moulmein airfield is still suppressed by allied bombers but the Japanese have started basing planes elsewhere in the area.
Port Moresby sees 4 days of big air battles ending in defeat for the allies.
Feb 19th Vs Feb 22
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 54 Goes up to 104 Feb 20th and down to A6M2 Zero x 91 Feb 22
G3M Nell x 18 G3M Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 171 G4M1 Betty x 69
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 15 None group shot down in 3 days
P-39D Airacobra x 3 P-39D Airacobra x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 29 P-40E Warhawk x 7
Notice the huge numbers of Betties at the start. Blackwatch must have sent one of his best Zero Daitias (or maybe more than one) and he shot down about twice as many fighters as I did. Even though I fed planes in as fast as I could the allies could not hold the sky over the base though the Japanese did bleed some. On Feb 22 5700 Japanese troops came ashore at PM there is another convoy on the way and BB Mutsu is part of the covering force which made short work of the 3 PT boats defending the area. Port Moresby is in trouble but the battle is not over yet. I am searching the forums now trying to find out when the Zero bonus goes away.
KB is in the Solomons but not attacking much. I think the group is low on ammo and will likely return to base soon. Reports have come in that Taiyo and Ryioho sunk on their way back to base so the battle of Noumea may have wiped out baby KB. Even if those reports are false they will still be under repair for a while.
In the Philipines Battan falls on the 22nd. Allied troops try to take advantage of the split in Japanese troops by counter attacking Clark Field but the effort fails.
There have been several smaller battles in the last two weeks that I did not mention while covering major developments:
In the Solomons Japanese DDs wiped out the US PT boat forces based in the area in a 4 day operation that cost Japan 4 gallons of navy gray paint to repair scratches caused when their ships ran down the hapless Elco boats. About 8 PT boats were sunk.
Malacca fell to a Japanese invasion force Feb 18th or so. The force was spotted by 3 groups of Beauforts on the way in and several transports were bombed. Radio intercepts indicate that some may have sunk.
A Japanese seaplane raid on Timor was met by Beauforts as well. Japan sunk an AK and the Beauforts sunk a seaplane tender.
Wirraways based in Samarinda have been doing a daily raid on Balikpanan for a week or so. They have occasionally hit a transport or done minor damage to the port.
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AmiralLaurent
- Posts: 3351
- Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2003 8:53 pm
- Location: Near Paris, France
RE: Overview to Feb 22
Zero bonus is + 5 points manoeuverability in Dec 41 and then loses 1 point per month if I remember well, so +4 in Jan 42, + 3 in Feb and so on... In May there is no more bonus.
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
Feb 23-24
Two days of heavy air combats over Soerbaja. The airfileds isseverely damaged. Japan land units are approching the city.
In Burma Allid heavy bombers are still attacking Moulmein, but not many planes are based there. Air attacks agaist Pagan and Rangoon also with little results. A naval bombing agaist Akyab destroied several planes on the ground and caused damages and losses.
Naval bombardment of Akyab, at 30,29
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
Vildebeest IV: 7 destroyed, 8 damaged
Hurricane II: 15 destroyed, 22 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Takao
BB Hyuga
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
DD Kuretake
DD Wakatake
DD Yukaze
DD Yakaze
DD Amagiri
DD Yugiri
CL Kitakami
CA Kumano
BB Yamashiro
Allied ground losses:
813 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 5
Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 70
The bombing task force was while returning home by naval bombers, but the RN torpedoes seems not very dangerous.
Day Air attack on TF at 27,31
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 7
Swordfish x 20
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 13 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 1
BB Hyuga, Torpedo hits 1
BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 1
More than 40000 Japanese tropps are now in PM getting ready to attack.
In PI the Japanese troops are refitting for the siege of Manila.
In China the battle goes on with no substantial change.
Many new fleet carries are ready to take the place of the CVEs lost in the battle agaist the american CVs.
In Burma Allid heavy bombers are still attacking Moulmein, but not many planes are based there. Air attacks agaist Pagan and Rangoon also with little results. A naval bombing agaist Akyab destroied several planes on the ground and caused damages and losses.
Naval bombardment of Akyab, at 30,29
Allied aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
Vildebeest IV: 7 destroyed, 8 damaged
Hurricane II: 15 destroyed, 22 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Takao
BB Hyuga
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
DD Kuretake
DD Wakatake
DD Yukaze
DD Yakaze
DD Amagiri
DD Yugiri
CL Kitakami
CA Kumano
BB Yamashiro
Allied ground losses:
813 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 5
Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 70
The bombing task force was while returning home by naval bombers, but the RN torpedoes seems not very dangerous.
Day Air attack on TF at 27,31
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 7
Swordfish x 20
Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 13 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 1
BB Hyuga, Torpedo hits 1
BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 1
More than 40000 Japanese tropps are now in PM getting ready to attack.
In PI the Japanese troops are refitting for the siege of Manila.
In China the battle goes on with no substantial change.
Many new fleet carries are ready to take the place of the CVEs lost in the battle agaist the american CVs.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
Java to March 5th
The Japanese reach Soerbaja at the end of February and they finally hit a defense that does not roll over and die on the first attack.
Blackwatch has launched repeated air raids over the city and shot down most of the CAP available. Bombers from Malang were pounding the Japanese army with 60 plane raids for a while but a strike of 20 zeros and 40 lilies slowed that down on March 4th. The city is still holding well but there are 80,000 Japanese troops outside and no relief coming.
Elsewhere Blackwatch has sent troops after Sinkawang which is the last big allied base on the SE coast of Borneo. He sent abotu 1500 men to take the place apperently forgetting that 4 battalions of infantry and 3 base forces have retreated there in the last 2 months. Needless to say his 1500 guys did not force the several thousand Dutch troops to surrender. Since then he has put in more troops but the place continues to hold.
In the Philipines the US army has been pushed back to Manila, and Battan has fallen. The 2 Philipine divisions continue to hold Naga resisting all Japanese attacks. Its going to be a terrible shame when they finally get overwhelmed they have held of 20,000+ Japanese troops since December.
China continues to be a swamp. The Chinese force the Japanese out of Wuchow and push him around on the RR a little. In the North Paotong (near Peking) falls to a Japanese counter attack. Basically I keep trying to surround Blackwatch and he keeps breaking out and trying to surround me.
I am saving the Coral Sea and Burma for later, big battles there but I want to include some maps and I am on the road tonight without the game.
Blackwatch has launched repeated air raids over the city and shot down most of the CAP available. Bombers from Malang were pounding the Japanese army with 60 plane raids for a while but a strike of 20 zeros and 40 lilies slowed that down on March 4th. The city is still holding well but there are 80,000 Japanese troops outside and no relief coming.
Elsewhere Blackwatch has sent troops after Sinkawang which is the last big allied base on the SE coast of Borneo. He sent abotu 1500 men to take the place apperently forgetting that 4 battalions of infantry and 3 base forces have retreated there in the last 2 months. Needless to say his 1500 guys did not force the several thousand Dutch troops to surrender. Since then he has put in more troops but the place continues to hold.
In the Philipines the US army has been pushed back to Manila, and Battan has fallen. The 2 Philipine divisions continue to hold Naga resisting all Japanese attacks. Its going to be a terrible shame when they finally get overwhelmed they have held of 20,000+ Japanese troops since December.
China continues to be a swamp. The Chinese force the Japanese out of Wuchow and push him around on the RR a little. In the North Paotong (near Peking) falls to a Japanese counter attack. Basically I keep trying to surround Blackwatch and he keeps breaking out and trying to surround me.
I am saving the Coral Sea and Burma for later, big battles there but I want to include some maps and I am on the road tonight without the game.
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
RE: Java to March 5th
My main problem in Java is to keep Soerbaja attackers supplied. Anyway it's a problem that can be solved.
In Burma Lashio fell and imperial troops are now heading to Myitkyina. I leave to Tom the main actions in this area.
China is actually a mess with attacks and counterattacks. In the south my troops are pushed to Canton, in the north the chinese raid on Paotang is repulsed.
Japanese paratroops are attacking Kungchang, west of Yenen, in the attempt to end this endless siege.
In Burma Lashio fell and imperial troops are now heading to Myitkyina. I leave to Tom the main actions in this area.
China is actually a mess with attacks and counterattacks. In the south my troops are pushed to Canton, in the north the chinese raid on Paotang is repulsed.
Japanese paratroops are attacking Kungchang, west of Yenen, in the attempt to end this endless siege.
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Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: Java to March 5th
I agree that China is a complete mess. I gather that a war where neither side can seriously hurt the other is a form of victory for the Chinese but its still kind of dissatisfying.
I geuss I should be glad that Blackwatch has not driven me back into the Hymalayas but I am more and more of the opinion that China can do pretty well with a good pro-active defense.
I geuss I should be glad that Blackwatch has not driven me back into the Hymalayas but I am more and more of the opinion that China can do pretty well with a good pro-active defense.
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Blackwatch_it
- Posts: 247
- Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:10 pm
RE: Java to March 5th
China is not such an easy task for the Japanese IMO. The Chinese troops are low quality ones, but there is a lot of them and they are everywhere.