PzB vs Wobbly - Clash of Steel

[PzB74]

We're using V1.5 Mynok! Reverted after V1.6 was buggy and sent 2 of my div's to the land of shadows....

[Tom Hunter]

Did you recon Nauru before bombarding?

Also I would send more ships to bombard, and send them multiple times. You were trying to do the same kind of operation that the US Navy started to do against Japan in late 1943, assualt on a heavily fortified island that knows your coming, but you tried to do it quickly where the US would do it for days. I think you got a bad die roll, and more persistanc would have paid off.

Then it did not work.


I think bombarding again might have made sense, also if you set things up right your bombarding TFs will leave and head back into the same hex as your CV TFs, which is a nice trick if you plan it right.

I am not sure its worth trying to dig 40,000 US troops out of the place, but I am sure that it would be worth bombarding until you got a "nuclear" result, which is kind of justified if 6 BBs pound an atoll for more than a day or two.

One of the things I have learned from my high attrition games is that there are times when winning is not just a question of pilot quality. I think this could have been one of those times. A successful attack could cost the Allies so many fighters that their offensive operations would be crippled, for example if you destroyed 40-60 Corsairs, which is possible in a battle like this, it does not matter that he has great Corsair pilots becaues he would not have the planes, and it would take him 30-60 days to get Corsiars back into action.

That kind of attrition can create cascading effects, once he lacks the fighters to contest the airspace then you can bombard at will and it becomes possible to kill the ground troops. It might not be worth it, but maybe it is. At the very least its nice to have the option. Also his timetables get knocked off track, which has value of its own.

There are some merits to breaking off the attack as well, but I think you should have expected this kind of loss and a lot more as a price of success, and either planned accordingly or not launched at all. Being the bloody minded follower of US Grant that I am, I would have pounded him.

As an aside I have shot down as many of Blackwatch's planes from December to June 42 as the Allies have of your planes from December to Feb 43. Kind of interesting.

[CapAndGown]

Grant had a big friggin army that he could afford to bloody. [;)]

[String]

What Tom Hunter said. Nauru is an isolated island, atleast for the allies, which means that if you shut it down you don't have to worry about other bases bombing you. It's another matter whether you would accept the losses for such a remote base as Nauru..

It should be in range of your sally bombers

[PzB74]

Thx for the comments Tom! They're valid ones, but I came to a different conclusion that you did - mostly based on the following facts:

I did recon Nauru for 3 months - every day. Didn'thelp, and we all know that bombardment tf's can only hit targets twice with any effect before they
have to go back to port in order to resupply. That's the results I'm used to anyway, first a great result than a mediocre one. So I sincerely doubt the results would improve if they stayed.

The use of 6 battleships is a heavy bomardent force, if the guns of the Musashi doesn't work - I'm afraid nothing will.
Can save the turn and try it all again when the game is over. I wanted a quick campaign - not another Guadalcanal as Cap and Gown mentioned.

My Sally's are out of reach from Nauru - the closest Jap place is a size 0 seaplane base.
The Zero's I sent in on a sweep had to fly 11 hexes!

I'm not afraid of blood letting my army, but I would have to bring 6 divisions and 4 eng regiments in order to succeed at Nauru.
That means using a lot of 3000 size ap's. It's still possible, but I'm not sure it's worth it as I'll loose a shitload of ships and ac.
If my carriers loose too many fighters, which will happen if they stay outside Nauru for more than a week - the US carriers would have been
able to knock my teeth out [:'(]

Exchanging another 30 Corsairs for 100 KB Zero's would make the KB vulnerable - and I don't wish that. Got other plans for it [;)]
Nauru is unfortunately a little too close to both Lunga and the Gilberts as both medium and heavy bombers could reach my ships. All Ken needed
to do was to put a lot of fighters on Nauru - and a lot of engineers that could repair damage resulting from the bombardments. I also think he used
Dakota's to fly in reinforcements, he lost 3-4 in op losses during the last few turns. So the number of allied troops would most likely increase each
day. The US now got more troops than I thought and will only get more. I got a bad memory from a UV game when I tried to capture Noumea. I almost made it...but it cost me an army!-p)

I should perhaps have anticipated these things, but I wanted to give it a try! Now I have, and Ken has lost 15 days worth of Corsair production and 2 Sea Bee units.
Beside of that we both lost ca 220 ac - but most of my air losses were LBA. I wanted to hit him hard at PM in order to water out his forces as much as possible.
At least the bb Maryland is out of action for another year or so, will be difficult for Ken to gather a really strong bombardment force for another year. So while the operation wasn't a success, it did't cost me the kitchen sink either!-) I still got my fleet in one piece and can come back for him another time and place.

This is the results that really buckled my motivation:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Nauru Island, at 79,91 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

85 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai, Shell hits 6
CL Naka
BB Fuso, Shell hits 11
BB Ise
BB Hyuga

Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Nauru Island, at 79,91 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

38 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CL Oi
CA Haguro
BB Musashi
BB Mutsu
BB Haruna

Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Nauru Island

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 39375 troops, 504 guns, 70 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The big question is: what next!

I'll be back [;)]

[Bradley7735]

ORIGINAL: PzB

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Nauru Island, at 79,91 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

85 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai, Shell hits 6
CL Naka
BB Fuso, Shell hits 11
BB Ise
BB Hyuga

Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Guns lost 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Nauru Island, at 79,91 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

38 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CL Oi
CA Haguro
BB Musashi
BB Mutsu
BB Haruna

Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Nauru Island

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 39375 troops, 504 guns, 70 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 9)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The fort level is the reason why you don't see a "nuclear" bombardment result. From my experience, high fort levels will make it extremely tough to get large numbers of troops disabled. If he only had 2 or 3 fort levels, you'd have seen disablements in the 1,000's.

remember that for when he comes at you in 44. all your bases should have fort level's of 9. It'll make it much more costly and time consuming for him to advance.

[PzB74]

That's not entirely so Bradley! I hit Colombo with 8 forts and inflicted crushing casualties. In fact I'm very confused when it comes to bombardments.
Sometimes it works brilliantly and sometimes not at all. Terrain, troop quality, recon etc should have something to say but I've not managed to identify the factors
pr target as of yet.... [&:]

[String]

ORIGINAL: PzB

That's not entirely so Bradley! I hit Colombo with 8 forts and inflicted crushing casualties. In fact I'm very confused when it comes to bombardments.
Sometimes it works brilliantly and sometimes not at all. Terrain, troop quality, recon etc should have something to say but I've not managed to identify the factors
pr target as of yet.... [&:]

Luck?

[Tom Hunter]

I am a strong proponet of luck as well, bombardment results seem to vary a lot.

It was an interesting attempt, and its good to see new life coming into this game, things had bogged down there for a while.

[AmiralLaurent]

Another explanation is that Nauru may be held mostly by LCU and ther should be few base force type units. The former are almost immune to naval bombardment while the latter suffer usually a lot.

But I think luck is a really important factor. In my last PBEM I bombarded PH with 5 BBs 4 times while I reconned and bombed it for planes daily. Each time the BBs refueled and restored ammo stocks before returning to bombard. The 1st, 3rd and 4th time I scored some hundred of casualties, the 2nd I hit more than 8000 men... An explanation is that I duelled with the CDs on the 1st run, they were no more a threat on the 2nd and I pulverized the base forces and then the raid 3 and 4 again fought the CDs that had been restored.

[PzB74]

When my bombardment TF's hit Java or any other targets early in the war they always inflicted heavy
casualties. Always! At Nauru there were 4 inf regiments, 1 defense bat, 1 large base force and 2 Sea Bee Units.
Should provide quite a few'soft targets'!?

I guess it's more random later on, but I'd like to experiment more with this aspect of the game.

Anyway, it's not easy to take the offensive to the Americans well into 1943! There are too many ground units
and LBA around to make it worthwhile. It's not long until the storm breaks loose on the Japanese perimeter defenses,
so we have to prepare.

As you can see the game still got lots of life even after India fell and I almost won an 4-1 auto victory [8D] I'm really
looking forward to the next few years, will be loads of fun to attempt to thwart Ken's plans! He has played me several times
before and knows how I do things. Will I be able to survive into 1946?

This turn saw 150 rookie pilots being shipped to China - they will soon start their training in a less..harmful environment than
what the South Pacific provides. Many cargo TF's have also been dispatched - it's very important to stack my forward bases
with supplies before the enemy advances into range and make resupply missions difficult.

The Marshalls, Solomons and South Guinea will be under attack by the Allies by late 43-44, but hopefully we can delay Ken for a while
here. The Marianas is my main line of defense - all the bases here: Guam, Saipan, Tinian, Pagan as well as Yap, Tinian and Ulithi
have 9 forts and 5-20k troops already. I plan to bring another full division to each of these places and stack them with
supplies and coastal defences. Over the next year a lot of large LCU's will arrive in Japan, these are more suited to static defense
than my 6 elite divisions. 3 of these will be used as a quick reaction force while the rest will be assigned to the most important defemsove bases.

I also have to reinforce the defenses in Java, Sulawi, Borneo and Northern Guinea. There are already lots of construction units in place -
and Java and Kendari have powerful garrisons. The only question is whether we should defend Timor or not!? It's a very difficult task, but
if I back it up with the KB it's possible. We all saw how Wobbly lunged at me in this area - the weakest link in the chain.

In the Philippines a dozen important bases already have construction units and should be ready if needed.

Bonin Island and Iwo Jima also have strong forts and garrisons. A flanking attack from Wake and Marcus Island is another option so these
bases have also been prepared.

In India we have improved most bases and built strong forts. 5-6 full divisions together with many enginer and support units will make it
very costly for Ken to invade.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/25/43

Sub ASW Attacks

The narrow straight near Takao is a sub magnet..the Wahoo got a foot in the hiney today!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 47,46

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 30
PC Ch 15
PC Ch 9
PC Ch 7
PC Takunan Maru #5
PC Takuna Maru #7

Allied Ships
SS Wahoo, hits 1, on fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Kunming , at 39,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 46
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 1 destroyed

Resources hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 80,86 - the Yamagumo tried to reach friendly ports but didn't make it!

Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 4
P-38G Lightning x 3

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Yamagumo, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage *sinks*

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x TBF Avenger bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Strange, from 5-1 to 0-1 in attack odds!? Guess we have to rest and bring in more troops!

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 58805 troops, 638 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 17514 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles

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

Japanese ground losses:
119 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
303 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 34,27 - Chinese remnant div was destroyed not far from Myitikina.
The India and Burma armies have now linked up!

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 6912 troops, 82 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 155 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 256 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
271 casualties reported
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/26/43

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Kunming , at 39,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 44
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Resources hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 71,87 - heavies from Lunga keeps coming after me...but to no avail!

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 5
A6M2 Zero x 187
A6M5 Zeke x 18

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 10 destroyed, 4 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 48872 troops, 637 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 16989 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
76 casualties reported

[PzB74]

Relatively quiet - the fleet is heading back to Truk.

Ken tells me that he has received 1 Essex class carrier and 1 cvl. Another 6 Essex's
and 8 cvl's will arrive before the year ends. Perhaps I should try to provoke a carrier
battle and reduce his numbers before they all arrive?

In 40 days the first 2 Amagi class carriers arrive - modernized Hiry class carriers
with 64 ac aboard.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/27/43

Surface Combat

Ken is cleansing mines at Shortland. The base is without supplies, the barges
are usually intercepted and it's very expensive to use 50 transports to fly in
supplies each turn. So what do I do - evacuate or hold on for as long as I can?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1166 encounters mine field at Shortlands (63,93)

Allied Ships
MSW Stawell
MSW Lismore
MSW Wallaroo
MSW Shepparton
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Yunan , at 38,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 36
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 4 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 100
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 9 damaged

Resources hits 32

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chengtu , at 41,29

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 37
Ki-21 Sally x 27
Ki-49 Helen x 52

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell: 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
All bombers bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

A tank regiment may actually be able to cut of Myitikyina - it made great
progress today - so let's try!

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 48967 troops, 644 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 16808 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
103 casualties reported
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Upgrade path?

Look at the upgrade path for this A6M2 unit - Sonias [&:]
Another bug?

[Speedysteve]

I would have thought so. I don't recall any Tainan Daitai upgrading to Sonia's. Looks like a divided unit. Could you have divided it and that has corrupted it?

Regards,

Steven

[DuckofTindalos]

Sounds like it... That's why I never EVER divide units; too many silly things can happen.[8|]

[Tom Hunter]

Perhaps I should try to provoke a carrier
battle and reduce his numbers before they all arrive?

-PzB

Eventually Nomad will be wanting to provoke carrier battles. You want to put that day off as long as possible.

[ADavidB]

I also have to reinforce the defenses in Java, Sulawi, Borneo and Northern Guinea. There are already lots of construction units in place -
and Java and Kendari have powerful garrisons. The only question is whether we should defend Timor or not!? It's a very difficult task, but
if I back it up with the KB it's possible. We all saw how Wobbly lunged at me in this area - the weakest link in the chain.

John -

That thought that kept on nagging at me during your Nauru attempt was that it didn't appear that you had any real strategic reason to attack there - you seemed only interested in trying to "surprise" Ken, and it didn't work. Previously you did have good strategic reasons for your advances and they paid off.

I highlighted what you wrote above because I believe that there is one more strategically significant advance that you can make: take Northern Australia. That relieves the pressure on the DEI and prevents Ken from longrange bombing of your resources. It also means that he has a fairly difficult area to recover.

I just think that it might be worth considering this before you attempt to batten down the hatches and wait for the bombs to start to fall.

Cheers -

Dave Baranyi

[PzB74]

With the earlier versions of WitP I experienced some Daitais that wouldn't come back together after dividing them.
Not experienced any problems at all over the last few months, so I think the Zero upgrade path shown in the previous post is a fluke.

That is a question it is difficult to answer Tom! If I manage to surprise and sink some of Ken's carriers in 43 and continue to pick at them
it will delay his offensive operations - much more than what attacking his Corsairs would [;)] I will look for opportunities....

Hi David, nice to hear from you! You're right I didn't have any strategic objective with Nauru. From my point of view I've achieved all my
strategic objectives and Naru was a strictly tactical operation. The goal was to eliminate enemy LCU's and reduce Ken's offensive abilities.
I've considered Northern Oz before, but decided against it. I need my entire strategic reserve and Darwin is probably defended by 50k troops or
more + 9 forts. I will be hit by hundreds of fighters and bombers and it will cost me the shirt just to gain a foothold. So I'll go for another option,
defend Timor with moderate forces, improve the defenses of Northern Guinea, Java, Borneo and Sulawi.

Most of the Combined Fleet will remain at Truk - but a large number of transports will move a counter attack force to Balikpapan.
There are too many bases in the area, so it'll be impossible to defend them all with adequate forces - so mobile reserves are essential.
I'm NOT letting anyone too close to my oil again [;)]


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/28/43

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kunming , at 39,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 45
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 7 damaged

Resources hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 8
Ki-21 Sally x 26
Ki-48 Lily x 74
Ki-49 Helen x 47

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 3 damaged

Heavy Industry hits 47 [8D]

Aircraft Attacking:
All bombers bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 75
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Resources hits 19

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kungchang , at 46,26 - got tired of the nuisance raids!

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 22

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell: 5 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-25J Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 49001 troops, 648 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 16535 troops, 0 guns, 1 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/01/43

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Kunming , at 39,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 29
Ki-21 Sally x 26
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
I-153c x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 3 destroyed

Resources hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32 - we've reduced heavy industry output by 75% now!

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 24
Ki-21 Sally x 26
Ki-48 Lily x 73
Ki-49 Helen x 51

Allied aircraft
I-16c x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 2 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged

Heavy Industry hits 24

Aircraft Attacking:
All bombers bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Chungking , at 43,32

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 99
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged

Resources hits 25

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kungchang , at 46,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 23

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell: 4 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 82,81 - sent a supply convoy and it attracts enemy bombers like honey attract bees!

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 17
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 15

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AK Taketoyo Maru
PG Aso Maru
AP Hasuna Maru, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Buka , at 63,90

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 10

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 1
P-38G Lightning x 4
B-26B Marauder x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 2 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
42 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 82,81

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 16
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 21

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 5
SBD Dauntless x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses - my fighters still hold and edge!
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AP Hayo Maru
AP Hanakawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 49034 troops, 653 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 16405 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
137 casualties reported

[PzB74]

Today I released the last regiment of the 110 division from China. It already got 100 prep points for Kusaie Island and will soon be on its way.

Most of the invasion fleet was disbanded at Truk today and I noticed that the elite KB squadrons had taken few casualties. The new Taiho didn't
loose a single ac.

I've decided to undertake a few tactical operations in the following month: a large supply/troop convoy to Lae/Finschafen. Shortland will also be reinforced
before the 'door is closed'. The KB will support these op's to make sure they succeed. My aim is to delay Ken as long as possible - beginning at Shortland
and Lae. The Marshalls can take care of their own - so for now it's the Solomons, New Guinea and the Southern DEI that got priority.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/02/43

Air Combat

Gained some easy kills today as Ken's bombers tried to hit my shipping!

Day Air attack on TF at 62,90

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 13

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 21

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
AG AG-120
AG AG-5049, Shell hits 4
AG AG-5050, Shell hits 4
AG AG-115, Shell hits 4
AG AG-5032

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Buka , at 63,90

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 9

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 1
P-38G Lightning x 6
B-26B Marauder x 39

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16

Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 10000 feet
26 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 62,90

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 11
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 6

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 15
P-40B Tomahawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 9 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 12 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 82,81

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 22
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 15

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 5
SBD Dauntless x 8
P-40E Warhawk x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
PG Aso Maru
AP Hanakawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 62,91

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AG AG-2066, Shell hits 4
AG AG-2063, Shell hits 12
AG AG-2061, Shell hits 12
AG AG-2083

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
4 x P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 49078 troops, 654 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 16148 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
127 casualties reported
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Losses: A good day - I'll try to pick points werever I can from from now on!

[PzB74]

Today I could observe how Tony's and Tojo's performed against Corsairs!
They held their own better than the A6M2. For 1944 I have to upgrade as many ac as possible to
Franks and Georges and keep training them until they got at least 80 exp. When Ken's first amph landings
take place I will try to wear his carrier air groups down with these crack fighters before sending in my LBA
and perhaps the KB.

The 2 clashes over the Marhsalls saw the following losses today:

7 Tojo's
3 Tony's
3 Zero's

8 Wildcats
7 Warhawks
2 Corsairs
3 Dauntless

So we're still holding our own and then some, it will become very difficult to retain a heavy CAP over these
bases when more Corsairs come into play!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/03/43

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Kungchang , at 46,26

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 23

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87 - a heavy air strike closes Lae down again!


Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 14
Boomerang II x 2
Kittyhawk I x 10
Hudson I x 12
B-17E Fortress x 47
B-24D Liberator x 48

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
97 casualties reported

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 79

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Hudson I bombing at 15000 feet
18 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
27 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 11000 feet
16 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Hudson I bombing at 15000 feet
4 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 11000 feet
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 11000 feet
3 x Hudson I bombing at 15000 feet
7 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 11000 feet
2 x B-24D Liberator bombing at 11000 feet
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Torokina at 63,92

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 16

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AG AG-5032, Shell hits 4
AG AG-5050, Shell hits 8
AG AG-120, Shell hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
All P-40E Warhawk attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 82,81

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 23
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 21

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 10
SBD Dauntless x 4
P-40E Warhawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
PG Aso Maru, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Maloelap at 82,81

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 19
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 31

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
F4U-1 Corsair x 5
SBD Dauntless x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 8 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed

Japanese Ships
AP Hayo Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Myitkyina

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 49087 troops, 656 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 15895 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied ground losses:
151 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

More and more Corsairs...

[Speedysteve]

Hi John,

Will be interesting to see if you can maintain a high experience level amongst your pilots. I think having a free testing ground in China will help immensely.

Zeta did a great job in this regard against Freeboy.

I have to hope I can do the same against swift come 43!