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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 01, 45

Today's the day a lot of my Ohka groups upgraded from 36 to 108 plane groups.... I tried to take advantage of this before the Allies arrived by upgrading today but, unfortunately we ran into a bit of an incompatibility between the mod and the beta which required a database change. End result my ugprades were delayed by 3 days and the Allies when they do land will face far fewer Ohkas than they otherwise would.

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Morning Air attack on Hayashi Detachment , at 82,72 , near Aparri

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
Beaufighter 21 x 48


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
53 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Morning Air attack on Amami Oshima , at 98,64

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 246 NM, estimated altitude 42,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 71 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 66


No Allied losses

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Morning Air attack on Kume-jima , at 94,65

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-25J11 Mitchell x 51
P-47N Thunderbolt x 41
F4U-4 Corsair x 23


Japanese aircraft losses
Ka-1: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 40

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Morning Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 205 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 61 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
A-26C Invader x 63
B-25J11 Mitchell x 60
P-38L Lightning x 62
P-51H Mustang x 10


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
A-26C Invader: 2 damaged
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 13
Runway hits 147



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Afternoon Air attack on Hayashi Detachment , at 82,72 , near Aparri

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 1,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
Beaufighter 21 x 24


No Allied losses

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Ground combat at 82,72 (near Aparri)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8769 troops, 126 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 319

Defending force 2168 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 10

Allied adjusted assault: 213

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 213 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1480 casualties reported
Squads: 50 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1


Allied ground losses:
3 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
111th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
1st Filipino Inf Regiment

Defending units:
Hayashi Detachment
23rd Div Remnants


Another quiet day. I'm concentrating my recon in the waters between the Eastern Philippines and Saipan. I expect the USN CVs to show up there escorting ships which will come down western Luzon and then back up eastern Luzon in an effort to avoid my defences operating out of Formosa.

Have you noticed which are more effective?  Ohka or kamis?
 
Just curious...

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Today's the day a lot of my Ohka groups upgraded from 36 to 108 plane groups....

Did much of Japanese industry start out damaged? It would seem if you guys picked up the war sometime in 45 the damage to industry inflicted by the Allies should be modelled some at the start of the campaign.

Jeff,

No, not really since we've only been playing with the altitude bug fixed for a few days by this stage. What I will say is that I modelled Ohkas to be very difficult to intercept under the right circumstances BUT to be very poor at striking their targets once they get through. Oscar IIIs on the other hand have a much higher hit rate once they begin their attack run, although they are much more interceptable on the run in.

So, really, it isn't a case of better it is a case of the Ohkas and Oscars being very different kamikaze platforms with very different technical-tactical characteristics....

When you've got an amphibious TF covered by BBs sitting in your base Ohkas are supreme. When you've got anything else at all Oscars are far superior. The trick is that being able to strike an amphibious TF squatting in your hex landing troops irrespective of the airfield damage and to some extent the CAP is a capability well worth having. That makes the Ohkas useful. Also, when they hit a BB they cause damage so that's useful too. Oscars just bounce off. I tell you something which doesn't bounce off a BB - Ki-264 Angels. I am giving serious thought to using a small number of them as Kamikazes vs high-value targets. With the absolute best pilots and high value targets to go after I think they might actually achieve something worthwhile.


SuluSea,
Absolutely. The Japanese begin with about 9,000 HI production per day. I have been bombed down to 6,400 HI or so ( although I'm actively repairing HI ) per day and have reduced my production accordingly. At this stage though I mostly need to build planes, and planes are, relatively speaking, cheap. I'm investing very little in the navy or the army right now as the upgrades to the army are relatively cheap. Still, I'm operating off less than half the HI a Japanese player usually expands to, maybe 40% of what a good player can sustain.

I have given a lot of time and effort to bringing resources and OIL home and have literally sucked China dry. Many bases in China have red exclamation marks due to lack of supply and no base in China has ANY OIL left. I'm probably three weeks away from having sucked all the RESOURCES out also. If I can stabilise the front along the Formosa to Japan line then I'll begin looking at sending huge tanker and xAK convoys to Formosa to suck the OIL, RESOURCES and FUEL out of there also.

With a little luck and with my reduced HI production I can survive off quite low FUEL stocks, particularly since my tankers and xAKs won't have to make long trips to pick up the raw resources anymore - which saves yet more fuel. I also intend to expend the IJN BB and CA relatively early on in order to save fuel in the long term. I don't mind fueling DDs but a BB? No, I cannot afford that anymore. MY CVs are all docked and won't be going anywhere for quite some time. When they do sortie it'll most likely be a raid on the Allied supply lines and feature fuel efficiency as one of its guiding goals.

Thanks for getting back with me Nemo. Looking forward to seeing and learning how to defend with some of these toys you have.

Thanks Nemo.  I have never played as Japan.  I think when we finally get settled in on our move, and I can play the game in the evenings without any headaches, I will give Japan a try. 
 
Always look forward to you AARs.
 
Thanks.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 02, 45

Allied CVs are confirmed midway between Saipan and the Phillipines. So, we'll have an invasion within the week for sure.

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Night Air attack on Naha , at 95,66

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M3a Betty x 17



Allied aircraft
P-61C Black Widow x 10
F4U-1A Corsair x 11
F6F-5N Hellcat x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M3a Betty: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

No Allied losses


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Night Air attack on Naha , at 95,66

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-Ic Sally x 14
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 9
Ki-67-Ia Peggy x 5
Ki-67-Ib Peggy x 27



Allied aircraft
P-61C Black Widow x 7
F4U-1A Corsair x 8
F6F-5N Hellcat x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 5 damaged
Ki-21-Ic Sally: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged
Ki-67-Ia Peggy: 1 destroyed
Ki-67-Ib Peggy: 1 destroyed
Ki-67-Ib Peggy: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-61C Black Widow: 3 damaged
P-61C Black Widow: 1 destroyed on ground
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 destroyed on ground

Runway hits 2

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Sub attack near Shikotan at 126,53

Japanese Ships
LST T-158, Torpedo hits 2, heavy damage
LST T-174
LST T-152
LST T-144
LST T-139
E No.83

Allied Ships
SS Scabbardfish

Japanese ground losses:
15 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Aparri at 82,73

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 224 NM, estimated altitude 37,400 feet.
Estimated time to target is 56 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 24

The Zeroes kept the enemy off the Oscars but the Oscars wasted themselves against fast-moving PT boats and every single one missed. Still the proof of concept was important and I really wanted to test my plans for getting Ohkas through CV CAP if the CVs have a lot of planes on high CAP.



Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 15
F4U-1A Corsair x 8


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 14 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 14 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
PT-317
PT-315
PT-318
PT-319
PT-314
PT-316
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Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 126 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes


Allied aircraft
A-26C Invader x 59
B-25J11 Mitchell x 143
P-47N Thunderbolt x 29
F6F-5 Hellcat x 24


Allied aircraft losses
A-26C Invader: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 89

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Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 44


Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-5 Helldiver: 12 damaged



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8

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Morning Air attack on Kume-jima , at 94,65

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-25J11 Mitchell x 47
P-47N Thunderbolt x 36
F4U-4 Corsair x 23


Japanese aircraft losses
Ka-1: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 35

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Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25J11 Mitchell x 62
P-47N Thunderbolt x 29


Allied aircraft losses
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 47

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Morning Air attack on Ishigaki Brigade, at 90,66 (Ishigaki)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes


Allied aircraft
A-26C Invader x 63
P-51H Mustang x 37


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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Afternoon Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 58
F6F-5 Hellcat x 24
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 20

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 25

I'd be happier if he wasn't being so obvious. He's hitting Ishigaki so hard that it makes me think he is going to land in the Ishigaki chain. I doubt he'll land at Ishigaki itself though. Looks like the Miyaki (sic ) jima trap might work after all.

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Afternoon Air attack on Nago , at 95,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 174 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 75 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
F4U-4 Corsair x 23
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 14


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 24


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ASW attack near Wakayama at 108,62

Japanese Ships
E No.46
E No.150
E No.132
E No.76
E No.52

Allied Ships
SS Searaven, hits 1

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Ground combat at Naha (95,66)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 855 troops, 49 guns, 73 vehicles, Assault Value = 3881

Defending force 80272 troops, 559 guns, 1812 vehicles, Assault Value = 1562

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)


Assaulting units:
56th Infantry Brigade
Hirohito Armored Division
29th Ind. Engineer Regiment
4th Tank Division
21st Ind.Mixed Regiment
70th Infantry Brigade
5th Ind.Mixed Brigade
2nd Amphibious Brigade
8th SP Gun Battalion
355th Division
26th Tank Regiment
66th Ind.Mixed Brigade
Kamikaze Armored Division
5th Ind.Tank Brigade
107th Division
96th Ind.Mixed Brigade
77th Division
46th Division
11th Tank Regiment
3rd Guards Division
1st SP Gun Battalion
102nd Division
126th Ind.Mixed Brigade
109th Ind.Mixed Brigade
49th Ind.Mixed Brigade
17th Ind.Mixed Brigade
312th Division
303rd Division
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
103rd Division
4th Ind.Tank Brigade
30th Ind. Engineer Regiment
40th Army
56th Army
17th Hvy.Artillery Regiment
16th Area Army
54th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
28th Airborne Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
296th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
97th Infantry Division
541st Parachute Regiment
Tenth Army Combat Engineer Regiment
93rd Infantry Division
35th USN Naval Construction Regiment
36th Aviation Base Force
33rd Aviation Base Force
178th USAAF Base Force
6th USMC Air Wing Base Force
II US Corps
Tenth US Army
232nd USN Base Force
212th Coast AA Regiment
177th USAAF Base Force
148th USA Base Force
Southwest Pacific
54th TC Wing
230th USN Base Force
151st USA Base Force
229th USN Base Force
46th Construction Regiment
Tenth Army Engineer Aviation Battalion
165th Field Artillery Battalion
Fifth USAAF Eng Engineer Aviation Battalion
36th USN Naval Construction Regiment
14th Marine AA Battalion
77th Coast AA Regiment
462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion


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Ground combat at 82,72 (near Aparri)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8809 troops, 126 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 323

Defending force 1155 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6

Allied adjusted assault: 160

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 160 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+), fatigue(-), supply(-)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
143 casualties reported
Squads: 12 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Assaulting units:
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
111th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
1st Filipino Inf Regiment

Defending units:
23rd Div Remnants /1


In response to the presence of USN CVs nearing the Formosa/Okinawa line I am beginning to bring IJAAF and IJNAF fighters into south-wstern Japan with a view to providing CAP for surface fleet elements which will begin gathering around Okinawa/Amami Oshima in 2 days. Everything is ready except:
1. Ki-264s. The upgrade/downgrade in order to get the change from individual bombs to sticks of bombs has left them repairing at a rate of 2 Ki-264s a day, which means I'll need 2 months to repair them all. Crazy.

2. The Ohka upgrade bug we ran into won't be fixed until tomorrow's turn when I upgrade the database with the fix. I'm not sure I'll have enough time to repair all of the Ohkas before he lands.

Current time update: I summarise the next two days since nothing much happened in them and there's no point posting me "nothing's happening" text...
October 3rd and 4th literally nothing happened as I stood my bombers down to prep for the fight once he invades and he just kept hitting Ishigaki again and again with hundreds of bombers a day while his TFs crept closer and closer. I am counting over 20 CVs, what appear to be two-dozen BBs and literally hundreds of DDs and smaller craft. I see lots of LCI/LSTs etc. I wonder is he trying to invade with them instead of with APAs or AKAs? We'll find out soon enough

October 5th. The Allies are within 3 hexes of the Ishigaki chain and can land on any of them. My bet is Miyaki-jima ( sic). I tried to mount an ambush but I overlooked the fact that two of the squadrons involved had been left on 100% LRCAP so they were butchered by the Americans over Ishigaki due to excessive fatigue. Cost me 30 first-line pilots and 40+ Ki-94 IIs. Ah well, live and learn.

I think he'll invade tomorrow and have set the G9Ms to cover Ishigaki and the neighbouring islands. I have 300 Oscars within 8 hexes of the various TFs split between Formosa, the Ishigaki islands, Okinawa and Daito Shoto. I also have 200 Ohkas in the Ishigaki chain. I should have had about 600 but most haven't finished repairing from the delayed upgrades. Damn but that bug is going to prove expensive.

So, tomorrow we should see some serious action. Tomorrow's turn will bring us right up to date with the game. From now on out it'll play out in real time as we've played enough with interference from FatR that I'm now comfortable trying to play a real-time game free of that cheat. Obviously if he contacts my opponent then I'll stop posting up to date reports and analysis. We'll see how it goes.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 06, 45
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Sub attack near Kushiro at 122,54

Japanese Ships
LST T-159
LST T-174
LST T-156
LST T-147
LST T-142
LST T-137
E No.83
E No.81

Allied Ships
SS Finback, hits 13, and is sunk

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TF 119 encounters mine field at Fukuoka (103,57)

Japanese Ships
E Etoforu, Mine hits 1

My own mine.

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Sub attack near Amami Oshima at 97,64

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-37
SC CHa-6
ML G-609
LB-1010
LB-1008
LB-1003
SC CHa-38
SC CHa-10

Allied Ships
SS Springer


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Night Air attack on Daito Shoto , at 98,69

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
PB4Y-2 Privateer x 15


No Allied losses

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Night Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-29B Superfort x 35


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11

Well, Miyako Jima it is... He wouldn't be bombing with B-29s unless that was his target. Excellent, now to see if my troop delivery plans work out. If they do I'll win, if they don't he will.

NB each hit by a B-29 actually represents a "stick" of 4 bombs and thus the 11 runway hits do as much damage as 44 500lb hits normally do.

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Night Air attack on Nago , at 95,65

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 159 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 37 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-32 Dominator x 48


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5

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Night Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 44


No Allied losses

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Night Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 156 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 34
J1N1-Sa Irving x 5
Ki-46-III KAI Dinah x 13
Ki-102c Randy x 18

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 184


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 1 damaged

Manpower hits 4
Fires 11920

More firebombing.It does seem a bit overpowered to me still though.


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Night Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 26
J1N1-Sa Irving x 4
Ki-46-III KAI Dinah x 13
Ki-102c Randy x 18

Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 11


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

The 11 B29s managed to fight off the 61 night-fighters using concentrated defensive fire from flying in formation.... at night. *chuckle*


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ASW attack near Amami Oshima at 97,63

Japanese Ships
DD Tsubaki
DD Sugi
DD Take
DD Sumire
DD Shii
DD Kaki
DD Hagi

Allied Ships
SS Tench, hits 1

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Sub attack near Nago at 96,64

Japanese Ships
LB-5055
MGB G-467
LB-5064
LB-5059
LB-5054
LB-564
MGB G-468

Allied Ships
SS Haddo

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Sub attack near Ishigaki at 90,67

Japanese Ships
SS Ha-205, hits 11

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
BB Tennessee
BB California
CA San Francisco
DD Sigsbee
DD Helm
DD Bagley
DD Sampson
DD Swanson

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ASW attack near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Japanese Ships
SS Ha-208

Allied Ships
BB Arkansas
BB Nevada
DE Grady
AM Dynamic
APA Navarro
APA Leonard Wood
APA Harris
AKA Towner
xAP Cape Victory
xAP Golden Gate
xAP Golden Eagle
DD Crane
DD Crosby
DD Mustin
DD Anderson

Transports.

SS Ha-208 is sighted by escort
DD Crane fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Crosby fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Mustin fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Anderson fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Sub attack near Nago at 96,64

Japanese Ships
LB-202
LB-208
LB-203
LB-524
LB-519
SC CHa-5

Allied Ships
SS Haddo


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ASW attack near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Japanese Ships
SS Ha-208, hits 15

Allied Ships
DD Halford, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hailey
DD John Henley
DD Lewis Hancock
DD Paul Hamilton

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Morning Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 43,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 45
FM-1 Wildcat x 6
FM-2 Wildcat x 42
F4U-1D Corsair x 63
F4U-4 Corsair x 33
F6F-5 Hellcat x 139
F8F-1 Bearcat x 39

360ish USN and USAAF fighters sweeping the skies of Miyako-jima. Good thing I had no fighters there. He should have put these guys on LRCAP at low altitude. Later on he'll miss them.

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Morning Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 23 NM, estimated altitude 44,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 45
FM-1 Wildcat x 6
FM-2 Wildcat x 12
F4U-1D Corsair x 36
F4U-4 Corsair x 33
F6F-5 Hellcat x 97
F8F-1 Bearcat x 29

Another 250ish fighters. That brings us to 610 or so fighters sweeping Miyako-jima so far this morning.


No Allied losses

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Morning Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 43,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 33
FM-1 Wildcat x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 30
F4U-1D Corsair x 54
F4U-4 Corsair x 33
F6F-5 Hellcat x 137
F8F-1 Bearcat x 19

Ah and another 320. That makes 970 so far.

No Allied losses

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Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 6,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G9M Marlin x 12

Ah, the first G9Ms arrive. These are piloted by my absolute best pilots, have my best leaders and haven't flown a single combat mission so far in the campaign. I baby these guys soooooo much since I expect them to be decisive when committed. Let's see how they do.

Reasoning that the Allied would have massive aerial superiority I opted to send the G9Ms in at wavetop height to avoid radar. They went in at 100 feet with orders to pop up to 200 feet to launch their torpedoes. They were spotted only 6 minutes out. The lowest Allied CAP was at 7,000 feet and even diving 3000 feet per minute and positioned perfectly above the G9Ms that gives almost no time to intercept.

The vast majority of the 440 Allied fighters were out of position to intercept. In fact based on the altitudes in the CR I think only the 14 planes highlighted below the results of the strike were actually in a position to intercept.... 9 Hellcats and 5 FM1 Wildcats. Not nearly enough.



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 14
FM-2 Wildcat x 41
F4U-1D Corsair x 44
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 238
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
G9M Marlin: 12 damaged
G9M Marlin: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Arkansas, Torpedo hits 1
BB Idaho, Torpedo hits 1
BB Mississippi, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CA Tuscaloosa, Torpedo hits 1

I heard sinking sounds after this combat so I believe the Mississipi was actually sunk. Damage to the others would be minimal. 1 torpedo doesn't do much to a modern or even an old BB. Still, that was an awfully good hit rate - probably because they weren't meaningfully intercepted before the attack.


CAP engaged:
VC(F)-21 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-33 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VF-35 with F6F-5 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VF-37 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-41 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VF-60 with F6F-5 Hellcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-63 with FM-1 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 7000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-68 with FM-2 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-76 with FM-2 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-77 with FM-2 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-80 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-84 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-85 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-88 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-91 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VOC(F)-1 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-3 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-4 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-5 with FM-1 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 7000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-7 with F6F-5 Hellcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 35 NM, estimated altitude 4,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G9M Marlin x 9

Not quite the concentrated punch I was looking for. Still, 9 is better than 0. Again they benefit from the misallocated CAP.



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 14
FM-2 Wildcat x 55
F4U-1D Corsair x 43
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 280
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
G9M Marlin: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged
G9M Marlin: 1 destroyed by flak

4 out of 9 destroyed. Roughly 50% losses.

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Pennsylvania
BB Tennessee, Torpedo hits 1


CAP engaged:
VC(F)-20 with FM-2 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VF-26 with F6F-5 Hellcat (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-27 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(2 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-82 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-90 with FM-2 Wildcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-97 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-33 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VF-37 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-68 with FM-2 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-76 with FM-2 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-77 with FM-2 Wildcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-80 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-84 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-85 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-88 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VC(F)-91 with F6F-5 Hellcat (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 37300
Raid is overhead
VF-1 with F8F-1 Bearcat (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38700
Raid is overhead
VBF-1 with F4U-4 Corsair (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 41600
Raid is overhead
VF-7 with F8F-1 Bearcat (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38700
Raid is overhead
VBF-7 with F4U-4 Corsair (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 41600
Raid is overhead

Banzai! - Maeda B. in a G9M Marlin is willing to die for the Emperor

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 5,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Again they went in at 100 feet and again the CAP was out of place.

Japanese aircraft
Ohka Model 11 x 26



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 64
F4U-1D Corsair x 36
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 291
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
Ohka Model 11: 16 destroyed
Ohka Model 11: 2 destroyed by flak

Even with the CAP out of place 3 were downed by fighters and 2 by FlAK. Many more were damaged by FlAK and Ohkas are so flimsy that any damage means they miss.

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CA St. Paul, Kamikaze hits 1, on fire
CL Astoria II
AM Penguin
DD Braine
CA Pittsburgh
CL Atlanta II
CL Houston II
LCI-70
LCI-987, Kamikaze hits 1, and is sunk


Allied ground losses:
303 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 19 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Ohka Model 11 flying as kamikaze
Kamikaze: 1 x Ohka Bomb
13 x Ohka Model 11 flying as kamikaze
Kamikaze: 1 x Ohka Bomb

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 4,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ka-1 x 9



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 64
F4U-1D Corsair x 36
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 302
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
Ka-1: 4 destroyed

These are too slow to get in close even at 100 feet.

No Allied losses


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Hengchun , at 84,67

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 103 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 48 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4U-1A Corsair x 18
F6F-5 Hellcat x 9
TBM-3 Avenger x 96


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 108

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nago at 95,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 55 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A7M2 Sam x 28
N1K5-J George x 21
Ki-84a Frank x 10
Ki-84r Frank x 21
Ki-94-II x 23
Ki-100-II Tony x 13



Allied aircraft
F4U-4 Corsair x 1
TBM-3 Avenger x 42


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-100-II Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-4 Corsair: 1 destroyed
TBM-3 Avenger: 25 destroyed, 8 damaged
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 destroyed by flak

Ah the first tranche of my CAP protecting the fleet as it gathers and prepares to fight at Miyako-jima tonight.

Japanese Ships
DD Shinyo
DD Hagi
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo
DD Sumire
DD Shinyo
DD Shinyo
DD Keyaki

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 30 NM, estimated altitude 44,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 16
FM-1 Wildcat x 8
FM-2 Wildcat x 35
F4U-1D Corsair x 13
F4U-4 Corsair x 26
F6F-5 Hellcat x 165
F8F-1 Bearcat x 23


No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Iriomote , at 89,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
F4U-1D Corsair x 21


Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1D Corsair: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nago at 95,65

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 147 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 64 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A7M2 Sam x 25
N1K5-J George x 14
Ki-84a Frank x 10
Ki-84r Frank x 15
Ki-94-II x 22
Ki-100-II Tony x 12



Allied aircraft
F4U-4 Corsair x 18
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 19


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-100-II Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-4 Corsair: 1 destroyed
SB2C-5 Helldiver: 14 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 190 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 59 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 8
B-29-25 Superfort x 168
P-51H Mustang x 22


No Allied losses


Runway hits 5

The weather has really effected his aim. Bad luck for him, great news for me.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 30 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-47N Thunderbolt x 28
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 44


Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-5 Helldiver: 13 damaged



Runway hits 5

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Iriomote , at 89,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 29 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17G Fortress x 121
B-24J Liberator x 116


Allied aircraft losses
B-17G Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 127 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes


Allied aircraft
A-26C Invader x 60
B-25J11 Mitchell x 200


Allied aircraft losses
A-26C Invader: 4 damaged
B-25J11 Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled



Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 62

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Iriomote , at 89,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 79


Allied aircraft losses
B-24J Liberator: 1 destroyed by flak

Runway hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 28 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24J Liberator x 72


No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Iriomote , at 89,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17G Fortress x 79


Japanese aircraft losses
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Runway hits 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Takao , at 84,65

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 145 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-51D Mustang x 12
A-26C Invader x 42


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 37

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Iriomote , at 89,65

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17G Fortress x 27


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-94-II: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Ishigaki , at 90,66

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 29,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-29-25 Superfort x 30


Allied aircraft losses
B-29-25 Superfort: 1 damaged

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 5,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G9M Marlin x 22



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 10
FM-2 Wildcat x 34
F4U-1D Corsair x 44
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 237
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
G9M Marlin: 7 destroyed, 8 damaged
G9M Marlin: 1 destroyed by flak

The fighters got quite a few of them but in the long run this worked to my advantage as many of the G9M pilots decided their planes were too badly damaged to survive and decided to kamikaze into American BBs. I got reports that each of the 4 planes which kamikaze'd penetrated the belt or deck armour and exploded inside the bowels of the US BBs.

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Arkansas, Torpedo hits 1
BB Pennsylvania, Torpedo hits 1, Kamikaze hits 2, on fire
CA St. Paul, Torpedo hits 1
BB Tennessee, Torpedo hits 1, Kamikaze hits 2
CL Astoria II
CA Pittsburgh


Iizuka V. gives his life for the Emperor by ramming BB Tennessee
Juni I. gives his life for the Emperor by ramming BB Pennsylvania

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Miyako-jima at 91,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 1,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ohka Model 11 x 29



Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 43
FM-1 Wildcat x 14
FM-2 Wildcat x 44
F4U-1D Corsair x 42
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 256
F8F-1 Bearcat x 40


Japanese aircraft losses
Ohka Model 11: 19 destroyed
Ohka Model 11: 2 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Idaho
BB New Mexico
LCI-70
LCI(M)-1088
AM Penguin
LCI-992
LCI(R)-785

The CAP did better now, having pulled lower by the G9Ms and over half of the Ohkas comitted were destroyed before they saw the Allied fleet. The rest missed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ishigaki at 89,69

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 5,100 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 7



Allied aircraft
FM-1 Wildcat x 4
FM-2 Wildcat x 18
F4U-4 Corsair x 6
F6F-5 Hellcat x 53
F8F-1 Bearcat x 3


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nago at 95,65

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 117 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 54 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A7M2 Sam x 26
N1K5-J George x 19
Ki-84a Frank x 9
Ki-84r Frank x 21
Ki-94-II x 23
Ki-100-II Tony x 13



Allied aircraft
F4U-4 Corsair x 12
TBM-3 Avenger x 11


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-94-II: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-4 Corsair: 1 destroyed
TBM-3 Avenger: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nago at 95,65

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 118 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 51 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A7M2 Sam x 20
N1K5-J George x 15
Ki-84a Frank x 9
Ki-84r Frank x 10
Ki-94-II x 21
Ki-100-II Tony x 7



Allied aircraft
F4U-4 Corsair x 4
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 2


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-4 Corsair: 1 destroyed
SB2C-5 Helldiver: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
P-51H Mustang x 46
FM-1 Wildcat x 10
FM-2 Wildcat x 18
F4U-1D Corsair x 22
F4U-4 Corsair x 8
F6F-5 Hellcat x 122
F8F-1 Bearcat x 17
TBF-1 Avenger x 32
TBM-1C Avenger x 40
TBM-3 Avenger x 164


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-94-II: 7 destroyed on ground
Ka-1: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
TBM-3 Avenger: 11 damaged

Airbase hits 21
Airbase supply hits 17
Runway hits 202


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on Miyako-jima , at 91,66

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 28 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
Corsair IV x 38
Firefly F.I x 10
P-51H Mustang x 57
FM-1 Wildcat x 10
FM-2 Wildcat x 32
F4U-1D Corsair x 56
F4U-4 Corsair x 20
F6F-5 Hellcat x 164
F8F-1 Bearcat x 67
SB2C-5 Helldiver x 113


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-94-II: 1 destroyed on ground

No Allied losses



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 131

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Miyako-jima at 91,66 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

115 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 6
BB Idaho, Shell hits 1
CA Tuscaloosa, Shell hits 2
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 1
DD Dale, Shell hits 1
DD Dewey, Shell hits 1
DD Clark
DD Balch
DD Downes, Shell hits 1
DD Cassin
DD Flusser
DD Maury
DD McCall

Japanese ground losses:
638 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Miyako-jima at 91,66

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-94-II: 1 destroyed on ground
Ka-1: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB California
CA San Francisco
CA Minneapolis



Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 110
Port hits 27
Port supply hits 5

BB California firing at Miyako-jima
CA San Francisco firing at Miyako-jima
CA Minneapolis firing at Miyako-jima


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Miyako-jima (91,66)

76 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
LCI(R)-769, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
LCI(G)-467
LCI-70
LCI(G)-455
LCI-69
SC-645
SC-644
SC-642
LCI-68
LCI(M)-1089
LCI(M)-1088
LCI(M)-975
LCI(M)-952
LCI(M)-951
LCI(R)-785
LCI(R)-772
LCI(R)-771
LCI(R)-770
AM Penguin
LCI-798
LCI-797

Japanese ground losses:
182 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Looks like he went for a mix of AKAs/APAs and LCIs.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Miyako-jima (91,66)

TF 35 troops unloading over beach at Miyako-jima, 91,66


Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre-Invasion action off Miyako-jima (91,66) - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

407 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Nevada
CL Richmond, Shell hits 2
DD Crane, Shell hits 3
DD Crosby, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

This was hit by a Coastal Defence Shinyo PT Boat.
DD Anderson
DD Lansdowne
DD Charles Hughes, Shell hits 3
DD Hilary Jones, Shell hits 4
BB Arkansas
APA Mellette
DD Mustin

Japanese ground losses:
371 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amphibious Assault at Miyako-jima (91,66)

TF 162 troops unloading over beach at Miyako-jima, 91,66


Allied ground losses:
2521 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 367 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 280 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 111 (0 destroyed, 111 disabled)
Vehicles lost 168 (1 destroyed, 167 disabled)

OUCH!!!!

That's a division's worth of combat troops lost right there to disablement.


Motorized Support lost overboard during unload of 43rd Infantry Div /4
12 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 43rd Infantry Div /9
13 troops of a USA Rifle Squad lost in surf during unload of 43rd Infantry Div /10
10 troops of a US Cmbt Eng Sqd lost from landing craft during unload of XI Corps Combat Engr Rgt /2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground combat at Naha (95,66)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Since I knew he was going to attack at the Ishigaki Chain yesterday I wanted some insurance myself by ramping up the pressure at Naha. Attacks will be more frequent there now until I know if I can hold on to Miyako-jima.

Attacking force 130658 troops, 1254 guns, 2354 vehicles, Assault Value = 4127

Note how reinforcements are increasing my base AV in spite of horrific losses in the past few attacks.

Defending force 81149 troops, 569 guns, 1824 vehicles, Assault Value = 1579

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 2684

Allied adjusted defense: 8133

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), leaders(+), preparation(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
7305 casualties reported
Squads: 138 destroyed, 791 disabled
Non Combat: 48 destroyed, 336 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 82 disabled
Vehicles lost 192 (49 destroyed, 143 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

I lost a 12 SP Gun Company. No major loss.


Allied ground losses:
2696 casualties reported
Squads: 74 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 284 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 53 disabled
Vehicles lost 92 (13 destroyed, 79 disabled)

74 Combat Squads destroyed.... Hmm, I think another one of his defending regiments just bit the dust.


Assaulting units:
8th SP Gun Battalion
109th Ind.Mixed Brigade
46th Division
303rd Division
2nd Amphibious Brigade
66th Ind.Mixed Brigade
49th Ind.Mixed Brigade
4th Tank Division
56th Infantry Brigade
29th Ind. Engineer Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
21st Ind.Mixed Regiment
70th Infantry Brigade
5th Ind.Mixed Brigade
126th Ind.Mixed Brigade
102nd Division
312th Division
355th Division
4th Ind.Tank Brigade
1st SP Gun Battalion
17th Ind.Mixed Brigade
7th Ind.Tank Brigade
5th Ind.Tank Brigade
Kamikaze Armored Division
96th Ind.Mixed Brigade
103rd Division
26th Tank Regiment
3rd Guards Division
107th Division
77th Division
Hirohito Armored Division
30th Ind. Engineer Regiment
16th Area Army
56th Army
40th Army
17th Hvy.Artillery Regiment
54th Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
541st Parachute Regiment
193rd Tank Battalion
Tenth Army Combat Engineer Regiment
97th Infantry Division
28th Airborne Tank Battalion
296th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
93rd Infantry Division
46th Construction Regiment
35th USN Naval Construction Regiment
230th USN Base Force
178th USAAF Base Force
212th Coast AA Regiment
151st USA Base Force
148th USA Base Force
II US Corps
Southwest Pacific
54th TC Wing
14th Marine AA Battalion
6th USMC Air Wing Base Force
232nd USN Base Force
165th Field Artillery Battalion
Tenth Army Engineer Aviation Battalion
33rd Aviation Base Force
36th USN Naval Construction Regiment
36th Aviation Base Force
229th USN Base Force
77th Coast AA Regiment
Tenth US Army
Fifth USAAF Eng Engineer Aviation Battalion
177th USAAF Base Force
462nd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion


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Ground combat at Miyako-jima (91,66)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10932 troops, 128 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 258

Defending force 17701 troops, 285 guns, 339 vehicles, Assault Value = 648

Hmm, my troops are highly disabled by the enemy bombers and suchlike but a bare 2.5 : 1 advantage doesn't seem like it will be enough. The only thing which can make it easy for Miyako-jima to fall is the effect of disruption from enemy bomber and naval bombardment. By bringing in additional troops I can spread the disruption around multiple units and thus preserve adjusted AV.

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)



Assaulting units:
Miyako-jima Brigade
69th Infantry Bde /1

Defending units:
102nd Combat Engr Rgt /1
43rd Infantry Div /1
XI Corps Combat Engr Rgt /1
Americal Infantry Div /1
112th Cavalry Rgt /6

It is particularly important to note that his entire units have NOT unloaded. This means he'll have to stick around tonight to unload the rest of his troops.... that's it then, the IJN is comitted to its death-ride off the waters of Miyako-jima. All combat-capable IJN warships of DD size or larger are ordered to sprint from Okinawa ( where they've been hiding out for the past two days ) into the waters around Miyako-jima. DDs will, if they survive, refuel in Formosa while the BB/CA TF will make for Shanghai to refuel.


More of the Ohkas which have finished repairing at Nagasaki are repaired and by tomorrow morning some 300 Ohkas will be available at Ishigaki and Miyako-jima to fly kamikaze missions into the amphibious TFs at Miyako-jima.


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Ground combat at 82,72 (near Aparri)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 8951 troops, 126 guns, 135 vehicles, Assault Value = 335

Defending force 256 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 350

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 350 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
371 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 38 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1



Assaulting units:
111th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
24th (Sep) Infantry Regiment
1st Filipino Inf Regiment

Defending units:
23rd Div Remnants /1


So, tonight and tomorrow should be interesting.

At this point my opponent suffered a little morale failure. After pointing out to him that one bad day does not a war make I think he will continue. Personally though I only think I sank 1 to 2 BBs and only managed that because his CAP altitudes were too high. I think that, going forward, he has at least 30 more BBs to bring to bear and will learn the lesson about CAP altitude. I've offered to swap sides if he doesn't wish to continue and to play as the Allies if he'd prefer. We'll see what happens. I hope he'll choose to continue though. He's a good guy and relaxed to play against.

This game, and many of Nemo's games from the Japanese perspective in particular, remind me of a story (which I hope is illustrative of an important point).

Long ago (the 90's I belive, maybe earlier), there was a great strategic space game called "Master of Orion." You gathered resources, designed and researched ships, sent them into battle over systems, and then invaded and captured planets. Most of us built "American" empires, meaning that we chose to maximize resources spent on R&D to achieve a qualitative edge in starship design and swept the map of our enemies. This was very fun. The only boring part of the game was the planetary invasion phase. Basically if you had wiped out the enemy spacefaring navy, your navy wiped out their orbital defenses and you landed in decent order. Assuming you brought enough troops to the party, planetary conquest was a simple odds calculation and you took the planet.

My younger brother, always a serious kamikaze style player of all games before he even knew what kamikaze meant, chose a different approach. One of the races (some type of lizard people) reproduced at twice the rate of the others and were especially tough in ground combat but had few tech or shipborne advantages. Most of us avoided them like the plague 'cause building cool ships and winning space battles was "where it was at" in Master of Orion.

My brother observed and studied ground combat and concluded that while MANY of your troop transports were killed upon attack if there were enemy fleet units and orbital defenses still present in the system, a certain percentage got through. He then extrapolated the impact on his economy of committing all production to just three areas: 1) troops (assisted by the 2X reproduction rate); 2) transports; and 3) planetary defenses for conquered systems. He did NOT build a spacefaring navy.

He unleashed the horde against his enemies to our side-splitting laughter. The carnage for his unprotected transports was horrific, but about 25% got through. The survivors used their edge in ground combat... and still lost. Until the next wave of mass reproduced lizard warriors arrived the following day from a different system, and the next, and the next. By which time, the lizard system the first wave came from had reproduced back to full and attacked again. Rinse & repeat. Eventually, the enemy system fell. There was no real defense other than to attack his home worlds into the teeth of massive ground forces with combat advantages. The bloodletting, even though virtual, was sickening to watch. Hardened wargamers with adolescent male ignorance of suffering were literally horrified, which is quite a feat to pull off. But the lizard people won game after game after game.

Ok, why did I type all that? Because my brother analyzed the system and found a new way to win through looking at things in a fresh perspective, similar to Nemo (although far less sophisticated). But there is a deeper insight, IMHO, into the question "Why can Nemo even hold his own as Japan in a Downfall Scenario." Most AE players have either been a part of, or studied extensively, the Western way of war (specifically the synthesis of US Army and German doctrine often used by NATO). Nemo has told us repeatedly that he follows Soviet doctrine, but we don't listen. He is MUCH more willing to suffer losses and to study exchange rates than most of us. We don't want exchange rates, we want our superior brains to figure out ways of smashing the enemy without significant losses to our own forces. This aversion to casualties is inherent to the NATO way and I think we fail to see how influenced we are by this doctrine. We thus miss opportunities to win by favorable attrition that seem obvious to Nemo.

There, I'm done. Sorry for the bilblical length post, but I think many of us are fascinated by Nemo's seemingly alien play style and are trying to figure out what makes him tick. IMHO this is part of it. We hear him say "favorable attrition" and "acceptance of battle" but don't really follow through because we want to keep our shiny toys above the waterline. Be honest, how many of you would choose to intentionally seek to lose your last BB and your last CA in an attritional conflict because you realize you won't have the fuel to sail them much longer and now is the time to seek to extract value from their destruction (see Nemo's mention of just this in the last few posts).

Food for thought for us all.

A fascinating contribution. I'll add something I received from my opponent in the last couple of days since the landings at Miyako-jima. He stated that, historically, Japan couldn't have invaded Okinawa. I pointed out that I hadn't added any ships or new armour ( although I had amalgamated a few armoured regiments into armoured divisions but that was purely organisational ) and that landing at Nago had cost me 200 ships ( mostly tiny sub-1000 ton xAKLs and SCs. He also stated that he was "unable" to reinforce Naha because it would cost him ships. I pointed out that, just maybe, he needed to be willing to lose a dozen or two dozen DDs to force the passage.

Given the point you raised it seemed interesting to highlight this difference in approaches. It seemed to me that he had discounted the relief of Naha because it might cost him a few dozen ships lost to mines and kamis. That's just the price of doing business. In the long run losing Naha will cost him many multiples of the force it would take him to hold it.

I am, of course, paraphrasing what he said and so it is subject to my interpretation that he is quite casualty averse --- which is working well for me as it means a lot of bluster and show can get him to back off when just testing my line might actually break it.

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

The 11 B29s managed to fight off the 61 night-fighters using concentrated defensive fire from flying in formation.... at night. *chuckle*

Considering, that there is quite a lot "Fighter chased off by defensive fire" reports...

Have you thought, about actually REDUCING range, not accuracy, of bombers defensive MGs? As I understand, they are different Devices, from fighters MGs already. That way fighters will begin attack outside bombers defensive fire.

I thought of that but a few reasons made me choose to alter accuracy instead of range:

1. The programme already reduces accuracy as the range increases anyway so if I changed range but not accuracy you'd have a situation where bomber defensive fire was no threat out to, for example, a range fo 3 but then turned just as deadly as it ever was. This wasn't in keeping with what I understood of the historical record and yielded unbelievable results.

2. In terms of actual acceptability of the changes ( people tend to resist change, even if it is warranted ) reducing accuracy made more sense since it simply doesn't make sense that a hand-held 0.5cal HMG would have the same chance to hit, at a given range, as one of the wing-mounted 0.5cal HMGs in a P-51 or P-47.

Cmobining the two reasons I felt that accuracy was the thing which had to be changed first. I am holding a few tweaks to range in reserve if we still aren't getting believable results. I am holding a reduction in range from 5 to 3 of the defensive armaments in reserve should we need it... However, I'm hopeful the latest changes will yield good outcomes.

I've also been tweaking the ASW to make it less likely to hit ( but as damaging when it does hit ) and that seems to be functioning reasonably well also. I expect my opponent won't get a turn back to me until early next week. It'll probably take him a week ( from about Wednesday ) to reconsider the situation and make the necessary decisions so that gives me time to complete this additional round of revisions based on gameplay.

The guns on a B-29 (or at least most of them?) were not hand held. They were operated by a much improved remote system that freed the gunner from the effects of recoil and greatly improved accuracy.

Allowance is made for the different constructions of turrets... Whether they are merely hand-held on sponsons, partially stabilised or fully hydraulically stabilised ( such as on the B29 ). Each has different accuracy ratings to reflect the improvements in accuracy which come with various mountings.

Cool, didn't know you had that one under control.

No sweat, I realise I didn't post screenshots explaining it.

I'll remedy that while I wait for my opponent to make his next move.... I'll also finish off the revision of the mod and post it here for people to download, should they so wish.

Nah, don't bother. I just had come across the info about the gunnery systems on the B-29 being vastly improved and I knew you were trying to get results closer to historical capabilities. BTW, IIRC they said the A-26 models got that technology from the B-29. Not really sure if there were others.

Aye, there were... Many of the later-war bombers on all sides were designed with remote-controlled gun turrets. This had first really been trialled on the Me-410 in which some of the rear-firing armaments were remotely controlled using periscopic sights. Basically it came about due to a desire to streamline, save weight and/or as a result of the move to higher and higher altitudes necessitating pressurised crew quarters --- and it being much more weight-effective to have a small pressurised crew area + remote-controlled guns than it was to pressurise the entire length of the plane in order to accomodate gunners dotted throughout the airframe.

The B-29's control system allowed various gunners to control the gun at various times depending on where the fighter came in from. I believe the idea was to achieve concentration of fire. It appears this was too complex or some to manage. Some swore by it, others swore at it [8D].

Here's a good page showing the control station and also the division of turrets which could be selected based on gunner position etc etc.... B-29 Defensive Gunner Station

Overall, taking everything into acount, I decided that I would rate all hydraullically operated, remote-controlled, periscopically sighted defensive stations as being equal - whether they were on the B-29, A-26 or Ki-264. They are rated as, roughly, twice as effective as a manned hydraulic station and so the B-29 is much fiercer defensively than the B-17 or B-24.... Overall though I believe that the need to calibrate the sight for enemy airplane wingtip to wingtip size in order to generate accurate distance to target readings necessary to allow the trigonometry necessary to get the gun to align and fire at the 3-dimensional point in space which the sighting station was looking at ( the sighting station not being co-located and thus requiring the solving of this trigonetric puzzle in order to generate a hit ) was so complex as to be prone to huge failures in practice and greatly reduced the effectiveness of such stations to no better than manned stations. I've given them the benefit of the doubt though, just not as much benefit as some would. The non co-location of sight and gun necessitating accurate distance to target in order to generate hits is just a bit of a fatal flaw IMO. In the heat of battle who is going to have time to set the sights properly for different plane types in the midst of all the confusion and stress that goes on? Very few, I think.