(RA) IJN refloated Soulsilver (J)vs Deaniks (A)

[soulsilver]

April 11th

uncontested air strikes against the cut off troops in India do some good damage.

Afternoon Air attack on 23rd Indian Division, at 58,34 (Rangpur)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 44
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 11
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 5 damaged
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied ground losses:
98 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

The main event of the turn is the 23rd Indian divisions attempt to break out of the pocket.

Ground combat at Rangpur (58,34)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10824 troops, 137 guns, 315 vehicles, Assault Value = 325

Defending force 1920 troops, 0 guns, 379 vehicles, Assault Value = 224

Allied adjusted assault: 28

Japanese adjusted defense: 109

Allied assault odds: 1 to 3 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker: disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 4 (2 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
794 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 107 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Vehicles lost 35 (9 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Assaulting units:
2nd Assam Rifles Battalion
7th Armoured Brigade
45th Indian Brigade
23rd Indian Division

Defending units:
5th Tank Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
7th Tank Regiment

Im currently moving a bunch of units around in the SW pacific so ill post a picture of the new strategic situation next turn.

I am gonna move the 48th Division from bataan, and the 14th Division from Manchuria to India. I plan to attack with 9 Divisions in northwest India, and 4 in southern India.

[soulsilver]

April 12th

Carrier Division 2 launched 2 air attacks (morning and afternoon) against the BC cruiser TF I had spotted a few turns earlier near Cochin in south India and achieved 3 bomb hits.........

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 36,24

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet. (the 2nd attack)
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 37
B5N2 Kate x 33
D3A1 Val x 41

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 2
Hurricane IIb Trop x 4
P-39D Airacobra x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 11 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Bomb hits 1
CA Dorsetshire
DD Griffin

Carrier Division 2 will move to the north east incase the TF makes a run for Karachi, and then retire to the south. I'm very disappointed in my airmen. 70 torpedo planes didn't score a single hit, and lost 9 vals and 6 zeros for my trouble for 5 hurricanes and 2 p-39s.... Most of my torpedo ammunition is also expended making sinking the Renown an unlikely prospect. Maybe I'll get lucky and he will attempt to flee north.

The good news today was ground combat in north india. The 3 divisions caught up to the cut off indian troops and gave them a good thrashing.

Ground combat at Rangpur (58,34)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2280 troops, 28 guns, 379 vehicles, Assault Value = 1486

Defending force 10360 troops, 131 guns, 299 vehicles, Assault Value = 188

Japanese adjusted assault: 95

Allied adjusted defense: 23

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Allied ground losses:
4351 casualties reported
Squads: 210 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 216 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 35 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 38 (30 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 105 (105 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 4

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2nd Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
21st Division
5th Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
4th Tank Regiment
18th Division
7th Tank Regiment
Southern Army
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
7th Armoured Brigade
2nd Assam Rifles Battalion
45th Indian Brigade
23rd Indian Division

[soulsilver]

I mentioned the SW pacific and that I'd post an updated picture of the area.

[soulsilver]

April 13th

Air strike from Carrier Division actually do something this turn. I catch some cargo and transport ships near Karachi and launch an uncontested air strike.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 40,8

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 76 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
B5N2 Kate x 29
D3A1 Val x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 8 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Caledon
xAK Historian, Bomb hits 1
TK Thorshavn, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL Mauritius
CL Boise
DD Rathburne
xAK San Alvaro, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
TK British Fortitude
DD Le Hardi
DD Banckert
TK British Chemist, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Peary
xAK Scottish Chief, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Thanet

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 40,8

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 58 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N2 Kate x 30
D3A1 Val x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
xAP Maetsuycker
xAK Scottish Chief, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Marella
DD King
xAP Limerick, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
xAK Historian, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Mauritius
CL Boise
DD Le Casque
xAK San Alvaro, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Caledon
xAP Raranga
xAP Diomed

My guess this is the convoy that i saw leaving Australia earlier. The convoy must have taken the Cape town to Karachi off map route. Unfortunately it already unloaded its troops when I got there as I saw American troops at Karachi. Likely at least 2 Divisions possibly 3 can be expected In northern India soon ....

[soulsilver]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Split up the Rufes and set them at dot bases to knock down Cats. Or put them on your CS for low CAP against TB and search aircraft.

*edit: When split up, they can even be loaded on cruisers for a little CAP as well. When the enemy gets the word that a search plane was shot down . . .

Hmm some ruffes on either Mogami class CAs or AMC raiders might be nice.

[soulsilver]

April 15th

The last few days Shokaku and Zuikaku have been attacking ships off Karachi uncontested by any fighters. Its seems a little odd that Dean has not reinforced the area with fighters even after I've stayed here a few days. Im not completely sure exactly what ive killed but Ive gotten a few big APs, some large tankers (10k capacity) and sunk a few DDs.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 40,8

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
D3A1 Val x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Tucker
xAK Olopana, Bomb hits 2, on fire
xAK Unicoi, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Manulani, Bomb hits 2, on fire
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 34,7

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
B5N2 Kate x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAKL De Klerk, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Lematang, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
xAKL De Haan, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAKL Meroendoeng, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage


These are todays air strikes which didn't net any big ticket items but I notice he has disbanded his APs and a CL in Port so I'll order a port strike tomorrow. A sub also sunk a large tanker off karachi today.

Submarine attack near Karachi at 38,5

Japanese Ships
SS I-164

Allied Ships
TK British Fortitude, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

In China my spear head has recovered faster than I anticipated so i decided to launch a renewed offensive to the west of Chikiang with around 4 Divisions, and a healthy amount of tanks and artillery. I was able to push a Chinese corps back trading reasonably. Ill post a picture of China next turn.

Ground combat at 77,50 (near Chihkiang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41237 troops, 485 guns, 628 vehicles, Assault Value = 1643

Defending force 9726 troops, 102 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 343

Japanese adjusted assault: 928

Allied adjusted defense: 292

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
851 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 113 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 12 (4 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (3 destroyed, 33 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
2871 casualties reported
Squads: 86 destroyed, 75 disabled
Non Combat: 89 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 24 (7 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
13th Tank Regiment
39th Division
22nd Division
12th Tank Regiment
19th Division
8th Armored Car Co
3rd Tank Regiment
17th Division
9th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
4th Mortar Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
9th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion
2nd Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
95th Chinese Corps

Also on a side note Ive bought out 2 more heavy artillery units from manchuria. I intend to eventually buy all of the heavy artillery in Manchuria and move them to China, and then probably India.

[soulsilver]

April 16th.

Carrier Division 3's air strikes were canceled today due to bad weather, so im going to stick around for one more day before retiring south. The rest of the carrier including Hiyo and Junyo which will form Carrier Division 4 are sitting at Singapore repairing accumulated systems damage and acting as a Fleet in Being until I decide what I want to do with them. I'm currently considering a Raids either Perth, Sydney, or a repeat of what I've been doing with Shokaku and Zuikaku except with the whole Japanese carrier force. Today first attack on Colombo went in and barely didn't achieve a 2:1. I'm gonna rest up my troops for around 3-4 days before attempting another attack.

Ground combat at Colombo (29,48)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 46723 troops, 379 guns, 102 vehicles, Assault Value = 1409

Defending force 19798 troops, 277 guns, 324 vehicles, Assault Value = 260

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 754

Allied adjusted defense: 398

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2135 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 214 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1616 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 65 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 41 disabled
Guns lost 74 (14 destroyed, 60 disabled)

Assaulting units:
53rd Division
41st Infantry Regiment
20th Division
2nd Division

Defending units:
Colombo Fortress
100th Indian Brigade
98th Indian Brigade
22nd Light AA Regiment
1/3 Ceylon Base Force
2nd Ceylon H AA Regiment
17th Australian Brigade
222 Group RAF
Ceylon Command
23rd AA Bde
1st RM Heavy AA Regiment
1/2 Ceylon Base Force
1/1 Ceylon Base Force
16th Australian Bde /1

The 7th Australian and 23rd Indian Division was clapped again by the 21st Division. I had intended to attack with 2 Divisions but the Imperial guards were a single mile slower. In the end it didnt really matter as the 21st Division was more than sufficient given how beat up the two allied Divisions were.

Ground combat at 59,34 (near Rangpur)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12673 troops, 126 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 384

Defending force 9629 troops, 219 guns, 240 vehicles, Assault Value = 207

Japanese adjusted assault: 432

Allied adjusted defense: 62

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
868 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 62 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1908 casualties reported
Squads: 211 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 268 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 38 (38 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 111 (110 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 4
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
21st Division
3rd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
45th Indian Brigade
7th Armoured Brigade
2nd Assam Rifles Battalion
7th Australian Division
23rd Indian Division

[soulsilver]

Current situation in India. I should note that HQs, engineers and artillery support units were not listed and I have around 3 engineers and a few artillery units right beside the tanks. Southern army and 25 army are also present in this theater. Also the 4th and 38th Divisions are a few days out from Akyab where I will ship them to Chittagong.

edit: included info about my HQs.

[soulsilver]

Situation map of China. Artillery and engineer units in the spear heads were not shown via Nato symbols.

[RangerJoe]

Do you have HQs for Columbo?

[soulsilver]

I have 15th Army for Colombo, and I have southern army and 25th Army for northern India.

[soulsilver]

April 17th

An American sub hit a cargoship with a Dud near Tokyo. Dean only really has subs in the SW pacific near Truk and Port Moresby and a handful near Tokyo. I havent seen any subs in the SRA or in the south china sea since Java was invaded.

Sub attack near Hamamatsu at 111,62

Japanese Ships
xAK Ayato Maru
xAK Heian Maru
xAK Yamayuri Maru
CM Itsukushima

Allied Ships
SS Grayback

Sweeps in India were met with zero resistance so I've begun bombing the air fields in the Triangle of hex's north west of Calcutta to slow down any fort construction.

Morning Air attack on Jamshedpur , at 51,34

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 45
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 10 damaged

Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 32

intensive air strikes against dean's offensive in southern China were met with zero resistance.

Morning Air attack on 18th Chinese Corps, at 76,57 (Wuchow)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 47

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
150 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

[soulsilver]

April 18th

Some sub action on both sides today that ultimately did no damage.

Sub attack near Vangunu at 111,136

Japanese Ships
PB Taiko Maru

Allied Ships
SS KIX
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Lanai at 181,110

Japanese Ships
SS I-6

Allied Ships
xAK Hoegh Merchant

The main event of the turn was a second strike on bombay. sweeps went in first and cleared out a good amount of the allied fighters.

Morning Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 9
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 3 destroyed
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

The air attack consisted of B5N2s dropping 800KG bombs which should do some actual damage to the BC renown.

Afternoon Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
B5N2 Kate x 50

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 4
Hurricane IIb Trop x 4
P-39D Airacobra x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Bomb hits 3

The 7th Aussie and 23rd Indian Divisions get smashed once again. the two Divisions along with the 2 brigades only have 4k troops between them after this battle......

Ground combat at 58,33 (near Darjeeling)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14488 troops, 124 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 464

Defending force 6292 troops, 186 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 136

Japanese adjusted assault: 402

Allied adjusted defense: 19

Japanese assault odds: 21 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: disruption(-), morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
138 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2200 casualties reported
Squads: 64 destroyed, 29 disabled
Non Combat: 131 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 8 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 71 (49 destroyed, 22 disabled)
Vehicles lost 41 (40 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 4

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
18th Division

Defending units:
7th Australian Division
7th Armoured Brigade
23rd Indian Division
2nd Assam Rifles Battalion

In china the offensive towards Kweiyan continues.

Ground combat at 76,50 (near Kweiyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 55712 troops, 621 guns, 666 vehicles, Assault Value = 1610

Defending force 7258 troops, 96 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 214

Japanese adjusted assault: 1179

Allied adjusted defense: 205

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
677 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 107 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 24 (5 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3168 casualties reported
Squads: 86 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 72 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 34 (13 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Units retreated 1

[soulsilver]

April 19th

Carrier Division 3 made another attack on Bombay which was more successful than the last due to the Kates bombing at a lower altitude. 5 800kg bomb hits were scored on the Renown along with several heavy Cruisers being hit. Dean really should have made a run for it when I was up by Karachi.

Afternoon Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
B5N2 Kate x 43

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 damaged

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CL Newcastle, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAK Nirvana, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Exeter, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Northampton, Bomb hits 1, on fire

The sweep before hand cleaned up most of the fighters. It also seems that Dean redirected some fighters to karachi, which finally got there just when I was heading south again. Bad luck for him I guess! [8D]

Afternoon Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 2
P-39D Airacobra x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed

Dean also launched an ineffective air raid last turn that I forgot to mention. around 14 Wildebeests/swordfish were shot down before even getting a chance to attack. Three wildebeests suffered a similar fate today as well.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 34,24

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet. (having radar sure helps)
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
Vildebeest III x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest III: 2 destroyed

[Bif1961]

Sounds like bomb-bay is living up to it's name.

[soulsilver]

April 20th

Sweeps at Bombay dont do their job today. No fighters are lost on either side in this engagement.

Morning Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 36 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 4
Hurricane IIb Trop x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 5

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

The failure of the sweep results in a single Fulmar getting in the midst of the Kates and downing 4 probably making the pilot an ace. Nonetheless the Kates do their job and score 3 more 800kg hits on Renown leaving her a burning wreck.

Afternoon Air attack on Bombay , at 36,24

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
B5N2 Kate x 43

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BC Renown, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Northampton, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Exeter, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Chester, Bomb hits 1, on fire

One mores strike should sink her. Carrier Division 2 is also on its way to replace Shokaku and Zuikaku, as they are almost out of Ammo. I'm not gonna miss this opportunity to sink all the CAs in port, those bad boys will be sorely missed by dean in 43.

Otherwise the only action was the normal milk runs in China, India, and Philippines.

[soulsilver]

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

Sounds like bomb-bay is living up to it's name.

No kidding. [:D]

[RangerJoe]

He should put them in a TF and run at full speed away. He also should have had them at Karachi or off map.

[soulsilver]

April 22nd

Sweeps did their job on the 21st and another 4 hits were scored on Renown and the CA's in port for no loss. The main event of the past few turns was a sortie by the less damaged ships in Bombay harbour. 2 CAs, 1 CLs and 4 DDs sortied on the 21st and Missed KB-3 by a single tile. Even though I had my vals and kates set to naval/port strike no attacks were launched on his sortie on the 21st. On the 22nd he engaged my TF in a night battle and was able to score a few hits on my carriers which did not cause serious damage.

Japanese Ships
CV Shokaku
CV Zuikaku, Shell hits 4, on fire
CVL Shoho, Shell hits 2
CS Chiyoda, Shell hits 1
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima
CL Yahagi
DD Akizuki
DD Teruzuki
DD Susuzuki
DD Hatsuzuki
DD Yugumo
DD Akigumo
DD Kazegumo, Shell hits 1
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 3, on fire
CA Cornwall
CL Leander
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 7, heavy fires (Dunlap is doomed)
DD Fanning
DD Tenedos
DD Decoy

Afer the battle my carriers retreated south (where I was planning to head anyways) and his TF retreated to port. In revenge Carrier Division 3 launched two air strikes.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 36,24

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 68 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 25
D3A1 Val x 24

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 1
Hurricane IIb Trop x 2
P-39D Airacobra x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 1 damaged
D3A1 Val: 13 damaged
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Bomb hits 3, on fire
CL Leander, Bomb hits 2
CA Dorsetshire, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD Tenedos
DD Fanning
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 32,25

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
B5N2 Kate x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Decoy, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage (decoy sure lives up to her name)
DD Dunlap, heavy fires, heavy damage


Final losses for the day for me was 7 vals, 2 kates, 1 zero, and 17 systems damage, 6 engine, and 3 float damage on Zuikaku (cant say what her damage was before hand), 9 systems damage on Shokaku, and 12 systems, 8 float, 4 engine damage on Shoho. Severe damage is quite minimal with highest number being 4 float on Zuikaku. I have used almost the entirety of my carriers ammo reserves during this operation as Zuikaku has 55 ammo left out of 561. [:D] Overall pilot losses have been highest among my val pilots almost exclusively to AA fire, while my Kate pilots have been almost untouched sans that one damned Fulmar.

In return 2 DDs are goners, and 3 cruisers are damaged. he also lost 2 p-39s and 1 Hurricane. Carrier Division 2 plus Akagi are just of ceylon to hopefully, pick off any ships trying to limp north or to off map bases. After that I'm gonna sit my ships in port for a while and go dark.

In India the 7th Aussie and 23rd Indian get smashed once again. I'm starting to sound like a broken record here.


Ground combat at Darjeeling (59,32)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 14449 troops, 124 guns, 40 vehicles, Assault Value = 459

Defending force 4290 troops, 141 guns, 63 vehicles, Assault Value = 86

Japanese adjusted assault: 278

Allied adjusted defense: 37

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Darjeeling !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-)
morale(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
203 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1611 casualties reported
Squads: 59 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 107 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 29 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 63 (55 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 54 (54 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
18th Division

Defending units:
7th Australian Division
23rd Indian Division
2nd Assam Rifles Battalion

Also I forgot to mention that Colombo fell on the 21st. gonna let 2/3rd of the troops rest a few days before being transported to southern India. One division with pursue the survivors to the last British base in the south.

[soulsilver]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

He should put them in a TF and run at full speed away. He also should have had them at Karachi or off map.

I believe that his decision to hunker down in port was heavily based on my initial attack around a week and a half ago where I scored a grand total of 3 250kg bomb hits on his ships... he likely under estimated/didnt know about the 800KG bombs which now that my torpedo armament was expended was my only serious way to hurt renown.