AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/04/42
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TF 21 encounters mine field at Bataan (42,51)
Japanese Ships
MSW Fuji Maru
MSW Fukeui Maru #7
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Rokko Maru
MSW Toshi Maru #2
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Day Air attack on Kaifeng , at 51,32
Allied aircraft
SB-2c x 10
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB-2c bombing at 15000 feet
the obsolete Chinese bombers starting a bombing campaign... not a single shot was fired by the dozens of flak guns there [&:]
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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 67
Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 13
Blenheim I x 25
Blenheim IV x 31
Curtis H81-3A x 2
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 15 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 7 destroyed
Blenheim I: 13 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 10 destroyed, 11 damaged
Curtis H81-3A: 1 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
156 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Runway hits 3
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim I bombing at 12000 feet
start of a serious of attacks this turn... out of 108 Zeroes with CAP 90% 67 scramble. As a Japanese player it seems you never get more than 60% of your fighters to scramble even if set to 90 or 100% CAP
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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 28
IL-4c x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 9 destroyed, 5 damaged
IL-4c: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Blenheim IV bombing at 17000 feet
those medium bombers suffer if not escorted... those Blenheims are already obsolete
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Day Air attack on Rangoon , at 29,34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 63
Allied aircraft
LB-30 Liberator x 20
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 12 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
LB-30 Liberator: 4 destroyed, 12 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
856 casualties reported
Guns lost 23
Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 14
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x LB-30 Liberator bombing at 16000 feet
then there are the 4Es... they can´t be stopped at all and take down the Zeroes... and hit them on the ground...[:(]
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Day Air attack on Soerabaja , at 22,65
Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 105
Allied aircraft
Hawk 75A x 9
CW-21B Demon x 2
Brewster 339D x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 19 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hawk 75A: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Brewster 339D: 1 destroyed
CW-22 Falcon: 2 destroyed
F.K.51: 2 destroyed
T.IVa: 2 destroyed
Martin 139: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
71 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1
Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 42
Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
my escort stayed home but the Dutch pilots are low on morale and turn back after some counterfire from the bombers
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Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 20
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 24
B-17D Fortress x 3
B-17E Fortress x 65
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 20 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 3 destroyed, 8 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 29 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
772 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 33
Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 14000 feet
last turn I moved in the fighters where they damaged some Hudsons... this is alerting my opponent and immediately he sends in the 4Es... they can´t be shot down... they can fly every day... they carry a lot of bombs... they don´t need escorts... fighters destroyed in the air and on the ground... frustrating that there´s nothing you can do about this already in March 42!!!!!!!!!!!!!
53 out of 90 fighters scramble (90% Cap was set) and those 53 fighters manage to take down 1 B17!
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Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
Ki-21 Sally x 168
Ki-49 Helen x 53
Ki-15 Babs x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
274 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 92
Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 12000 feet
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Day Air attack on Guam , at 62,66
Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 74
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 20
Aircraft Attacking:
24 x B5N Kate bombing at 20000 feet
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Day Air attack on Lark Force Battalion, at 60,89
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 76
D3A Val x 15
B5N Kate x 15
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
94 casualties reported
Aircraft Attacking:
25 x A6M2 Zero bombing at 2000 feet
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Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
Ki-21 Sally x 107
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 69
Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
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Ground combat at Manila
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 92875 troops, 1203 guns, 39 vehicles, Assault Value = 2585
Defending force 100218 troops, 776 guns, 362 vehicles, Assault Value = 2263
Allied ground losses:
86 casualties reported
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Ground combat at Samarinda
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 3226 troops, 18 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 93
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1
Japanese max assault: 73 - adjusted assault: 19
Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 19 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Samarinda base !!!
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
that´s nice also... the LCU didn´t vanish... it now sits in the North of Balikpapan...[8|]
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Ground combat at 48,37
Japanese Bombardment attack
Attacking force 189575 troops, 2531 guns, 51 vehicles, Assault Value = 4923
Defending force 71490 troops, 184 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1762
Allied ground losses:
1511 casualties reported
Guns lost 42
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Ground combat at Kragen
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 6445 troops, 74 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 135
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0
Japanese max assault: 120 - adjusted assault: 117
Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 117 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Kragen base !!!
Here are the air losses for today... While the Allied suffered more losses it´s a clear sign for me that there´s nothing I can do, even against unescorted bombers. The obsolete British prewar bombers will soon be swapped out to Wellingtons and will be twice as hard to take down than the Blens.
Something for Brian:
But what frustrates me the most so far are the US 4Es. I´m not complaining that it is unrealistic that they are really hard to down with a Zero, not to talk about an Oscar but what is unrealistic is that they are ready for action 95% all the time and can fly the next day when 30% were damaged. From mid 42 on there will be 100+ 4Es more every month that are always combat ready. Until the end of 43 they are compoletely immune to fighters, then the first fighter with a higher gun value is available.
What we have now is a more or less realistic A2A of Japanese early war fighters against Allied bombers, but a complete out of the whack availability of Allied 4E bombers. Just read half of the article Denisohn posted today and there it is stated that the 5th AF had only a couple of 4Es available for strike missions!! [X(][X(][X(] In 43!!! [8|][8|][X(][X(] They were hard to maintain and very valuable. I´m in March 42 now and face 70+ 4E bombers every day (if my opponent wishes to do so).
I really fear that there´s a huge disproportion coming towards me the longer the game will go and what would be the most depressing is the fact that I don´t know how this will effect the game in, let´s say 6 months. The disproportion just lies in the realistic kill rate with the completely unrealistic availability of the bombers. With a flak that is completely useless, no matter at what altitude.
This turn really opened my eyes once again... [8|]
Considering that nearly all Japanese fighters were lost to 4E bomber raids my opponent would have come better off if he would have only sent his 4Es. Then I would have lost the 35 planes I have actually lost but he would have only suffered 6 losses from his raids. [8|]
Have a look:
