Matrix Games Forums

I´m stupid, stupid, stupid!!! [:(]
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/03/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 24

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 8
Beaufighter VIC x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 4 damaged
Beaufighter VIC: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 1
 
As usual. Every nigh 2-3 planes are torched on ground..
 
 
My sub is still sitting in Thursday Is and another ship is finished:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Thursday Island  at 49,90

Japanese Ships
SS I-175, hits 2

Allied Ships
AK Carolinian, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
MSW Bellechasse
AK Empire Ranger
AK Ernest Meyer
AK Peter Kerr
AK Mexican
AK American
MSW Tamworth
DM Preble
DM Gamble

Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

But now the sub is out of torps and is heading to Rabaul to rearm. Also most of the wolfpack which operated near Brisbane is on its way to Rabaul to rearm. Only 2 I-boats left there..

 
And here it comes! I guessed right. New wave of attacks against Gili Gili and PM came:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Gili Gili , at 56,94

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 70

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 58
 

I nearly started to celebrate when I saw this coming! But in a second I noticed there are no japanese fighters defending the base.. [:@][:(]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91


Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 24
Liberator VI x 64
F-5A Lightning x 6
B-17E Fortress x 219
LB-30 Liberator x 43
PB4Y Liberator x 80
B-24D Liberator x 503


Allied aircraft losses
Liberator VI: 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 1 damaged
PB4Y Liberator: 1 destroyed
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
248 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Port hits 70
Port supply hits 66

Guess what? I clicked the wrong mision button!!! Instead of "LRCAP" I choosed "AF attack"![:@][:-] And so this unescorted juicy raid arrived unpunished as 450 fighters were sitting on the ground in Lae doing NOTHING. [:(] PjH doesn´t even know how lucky he was. And this time I can´t even blame the game..[;)]

Turns are calm now. We both are preparing for 2nd round.
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/04/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 18

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 16
Beaufighter VIC x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed
J2M Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 1

Hmmm.. My night fighter sentai has already 4 kills.. He is still destroying more planes on the ground then he is loosing in the air, but I´m enjoying this small war celebrating every kill achieved by Ki-45 KAIa Nick.

 
Allied CVs are still loitering near Cooktown:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 49,99

Japanese Ships
SS I-35

Allied Ships
DD Case
DD Edwards
DD Pringle
CVE Prince William
CVE Altamaha
 
My sub was chased away from CVEs, but a few minutes later found new target:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 49,99

Japanese Ships
SS I-35

Allied Ships
DM Sicard, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
DM Pruitt

Fast minelayer went down afternoon..
 
 
Only Gili Gili attack today. That´s pity, because today I HAD fighters LRCAPing Port Moresby. Catalina spotted them, so the surprise is lost and tommorrow they will guard their home base - Lae.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Gili Gili , at 56,94

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 53

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 7 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 87

 
Only two regions are considered as "critical":
 
India:
PjH is massing his army north of Ahmadabad, while I´m massing my army east and north-east from it. His troops are under constant daily attacks and are loosing about 500men a day. Their disruption/fatigue and supply consumption must be pretty high. I hope I can hold my ground.
 
Darwin-Amboina:
I´m transporting reinforcements here as fast as possible. One division just finished loading and left Vladivostock, while another division and 4 artillery rgts were released from China Army and in 2 weeks should arrive in Vladivostock from where will be transported to this area too. Besides that the 21st division will be soon released from its garrison duty in Gilberts (substituted by amphibious bdes) and will be transported to Amboina also. Meanwhile some base forces garrisoned Babo/Sorong/etc. In Wyndham 2 Eng rgts finished loading and will join those base forces to help them with building forts. Small islands north of Darwin are garrisoned by Kure SNLFs. Also air force presence in stronger every day and more can be transported quickly from NG/Solomons. But the real defence here is still the Navy. KB is resting in Darwin and in 10 days will be joined by another Carrier divison build around Taiho/Unryu/Amagi because their air groups just finished training. The complication is that Darwin is unprepared to support such a huge fleet so more fuel and supply is on the way from Japan. 
So in one month I will have 4 divisions + many other additional units here, enough fuel and supply, bases covered by minefields, KB and LBA.. The question in: Will I get this month? [;)]
 

Well, nothing serious happened, so I will post full CR to show you all standard missions I´m usually deleting.
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/05/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 13

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 9
Beaufighter VIC x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Runway hits 5
grrrrr...[:@]
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Sarmi , at 48,78

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 27
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 35

No Japanese losses

Port supply hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Gili Gili , at 56,94

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 8 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 15
 
Irkutsk is bombed daily, but usually I´m loosing much more planes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Irkutsk , at 59,6

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 62
Ki-21 Sally x 188
Ki-49 Helen x 153
Ki-46-III Dinah x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 4 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 9 damaged
 
Allied ground losses:
119 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Runway hits 39
 

Training missions:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 313th Rifle Division, at 63,19

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 48
Ki-27 Nate x 32

No Japanese losses
 
Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st New Chinese Corps, at 41,37

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
D3A Val x 8
A6M3a Zero x 27
B5N Kate x 33
 
Allied ground losses:
159 casualties reported
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 35th Chinese Corps, at 44,34

Japanese aircraft
A5M4 Claude x 31
A6M2 Zero x 24
Ki-27 Nate x 32

No Japanese losses
 
Allied ground losses:
58 casualties reported
 

Air attacks on army flanking Ahmadabad (India):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 20th Indian Division, at 24,7

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 9
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 19
Ki-49 Helen x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 3 damaged
 
Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 23rd Indian Division, at 24,7

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 6
Ki-21 Sally x 9
Ki-49 Helen x 42

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49 Helen: 2 damaged
 
Allied ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 26th Indian Division, at 24,7

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 20

No Japanese losses
 
Allied ground losses:
14 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
 

Situation on Irkustk:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Irkutsk

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9875 troops, 275 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 9251

Defending force 269166 troops, 2114 guns, 147 vehicles, Assault Value = 4175
 
Allied ground losses:
248 casualties reported
 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Irkutsk

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 13217 troops, 453 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4175

Defending force 521897 troops, 4620 guns, 306 vehicles, Assault Value = 9251


Japanese ground losses:
93 casualties reported
 

That was a "boring" turn. Nothing happened, but the management was exhausting. I checked every base, every factory, every TF etc.. I´m trying to scratch as much LCUs and planes for Amboina-Darwin as I can, but I can´t took them from 1st line bases and I have only small reserves elsewhere. I checked every port to see what ships are there and why also as I´m a bit short on APs in Japan. I keep huge fleet of transports in Diamond Harbor and Darwin/Derby in case I would need to evacuate my army from there. This ties up a significant portion of my AP fleet (about 30%). Today I have found not less then 50 APs in ports all around my empire doing nothing at absolutely unimportant places and they were immediatly despatched towards Japan and Korea (some of them damaged though..). They are welcomed boost. Also some AKs joined them on their way.

Today the allied air offensive against Ahmadabad was launched so before posting AAR I will do a summary of IJAAF and IJNAF in this theatre:
 
IJAAF is represented by 3rd Air Division which is mainly divided between Bombay, Ahmadabad and Delphi. It has 10 fighter sentais, 7 bomber sentais, 5 transport sentais/chutais and some recon units. Total strenght is 666 planes [;)]. From this number 360 planes are fighters (Ki-44 and Ki-61) positioned as follows:
 
- Delphi
2 sentai of Ki-61 (72 AC)
 
-Bombay
2 sentai of Ki-61 (72 AC)
 
-Ahmadabad
2 sentai of Ki-61 (72 AC)
4 sentai of Ki-44 (144 AC)
 
Their experience is 75-90!
 
 
Also IJNAF has strong contingent in this area. It is represented by 22nd Air Flotilla deployed also mainly in Bombay, Ahmadabad and Delphi. It has 6 fighter daitai (+1 chutai), 4 bomber daitai (+2 chutai) and some recons. Total strenght is 342 planes. From this number 171 planes are fighters (J2M and A6M3) positioned as follows:
 
-Bombay
3 daitai of J2M (81 AC)
1 daitai of A6M3 (27 AC) 
 
-Ahmadabad
2 daitai + 1 chutai of J2M (63 AC)
 
Their experience is 85-90!
 
 
In total I have 1008 planes of all types in India including 531 fighters. With this forces I will try to stop RAF and USAAF as it is vital to keep my airfields operational so the bomber force can support my army. WITHOUT air support I doubt I can hold. WITH air support I might have chance. No matter how this will end I´m going to enjoy it!

And here we go:

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/06/43

At first arrived sweep from Malir:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 35
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 76
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 36

Allied aircraft
Corsair IV x 9
P-40B Tomahawk x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 61

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 9 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Corsair IV: 9 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 12 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 57 destroyed

I don´t know why he used only these "obsolete" planes instead of P-38G which would have probably better performance. Maybe he saves them for 2nd round..
 
When all allied fighters were shot down or chased away, 250 4E from Karachi arrived to meet what remained from my CAP:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 21
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 33
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 13

Allied aircraft
Catalina I x 6
Sunderland x 2
Liberator VI x 132
Beaufort I x 16
B-24D Liberator x 121

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 9 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 21 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Catalina I: 3 destroyed
Liberator VI: 40 destroyed, 52 damaged
Beaufort I: 7 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 30 destroyed, 53 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
123 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Airbase hits 28
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 185

Also I don´t understand why so few fighters remained after the 1st battle. Originaly I had 147 fighters in the air. It is 52% of all availible fighters in Ahmadabad set on CAP 80. In the 1st battle I have lost 17 planes and 4 other were damaged. I should have 130 fighters left to meet the bombers, but I had only 63 instead.[&:] Both battles were fought in a.m. phase.. Nevertheless those 63 fighters inflicted heavy losses to RAF and I´m happy with their performance.





This was bloody encounter. Especially for PjH. Most of my losses are planes destroyed on ground. In the air I have lost only 25 planes to his 167! Unfortunately 4E are unstopable and despite terrific losses they managed to get through and torched 83 planes on ground. AF is damaged 54/64. One more such strike and AF is closed.. [:(]
 
This how my units fought:
 
1st sentai (Ki-61) shot down 7 enemies and lost 2 pilots 
204th sentai (Ki-44) shot down 24 enemies and lost 2 pilots
64th sentai (Ki-61) shot down 15 enemies and lost 6 pilots
47th sentai (Ki-44) shot down 25 enemies and lost 2 pilots
33rd sentai (Ki-44) shot down 13 enemies and lost 3 pilots
50th sentai (Ki-44) shot down 30 enemies and lost 1 pilot
F1/3rd daitai (J2M) shot down 17 enemies and lost 1 pilot
F2/3rd daitai (J2M) shot down 29 enemies and lost 0 pilots
F3/3rd chutai (J2M) shot down 7 enemies and lost 0 pilots
 
The truth is that tommorrow will show if it was a victory or not. It can´t be said now. All fighter units were hit hard loosing most of their planes on ground. They need new planes and time to repair them and it can´t be done in Ahmadabad. I had to withdraw them and scatter them all around. All were divided into A,B,C parts so they will be repaired 3 times faster, bust still it will take at least 2-3 days until they can be thrown into the battle again. Instead of these shattered units I have flown in all remaining fighter units from Bombay and Delphi so now I have 5 sentai of Ki-61 (180AC), 3 daitai of J2M (81 AC) and 1 daitai of A6M3 (27 AC) in Ahmadabad. Bombay and Delphi are left without fighter cover. Recon planes will report it to PjH next turn. Allied capacities are unknown to me. I don´t know if he has enough planes to keep the pressure or nor. The best scenario is that he will send second wave tommorrow against Ahmadabad again without proper fighter escort/sweep and will meet my fresh fighters. And he could be exhausted then as I certainly will be. I doubt I will have enough operational fighters for 3rd round..
 
 
After a long time of doing nothing (despite many targets in range and beautiful weather) small part of my bombers in Lae decided to launch and attack:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Thursday Island at 49,90

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
G4M1 Betty x 19
G4M2 Betty x 3

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 12
Spitfire Vb x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
G4M2 Betty: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vb: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Empire Ranger
MLE Manini, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage

It is interesting that PjH has withdraw Corsairs and placed only Spitfires there [&:]. MLE is probably goner..

Surprisingly calm turn. PjH said in his e-mail that he switched the target from Ahmadabad to Bombay. It would be disaster as I have 100 bombers there + 70 fighters, but all fighters (except 1 chutai) are training on 0 CAP and they would be sitting ducks. Fortunately bad weather saves me. Just for the record the only active chutai in Bombay (9 planes on CAP 90) put in the air 4 planes..
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/07/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 12
Beaufighter VIC x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 4
 
Hmm, this is strange. During this raid both Karachi and Ahamadabad were clouded. At night. From clouded base to clouded base at night! And still they are comming.. [:@][:@][:@] Oh, yes and torched a few planes again. [8|]
 
 
I have 3 subs sitting between Noumea and Brisbane (and another 5 on the way) waiting for new convoys, but surprisingly I scored near Thursday Is where I have only single sub:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 48,95

Japanese Ships
SS I-35, hits 6

Allied Ships
AK John Muir, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
AK John Drake Sloat
LCI LCI-218
LCI LCI-216
LST LST-34
LST LST-26
LST LST-19
LST LST-16
AK Ascella
AK Venus
MSW Sage
MSW Revenge
MSW Requisite
AGP Oyster Bay
AGP Niagara
AS Orion
APD Dickerson
DD Frazier
DD Foote
DD Converse
 
Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Well, I had a single sub. I-35 is moderately damaged and is heading back to Rabaul..

 
A few allied subs pop up near Darwin. I have 2 ASW TF there and both were immedietly despatched to deal with them. Hunter became hunted and MSW went down:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 38,82

Japanese Ships
MSW W.7, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
PC Ch 10
MSW W.14
MSW W.4
MSW W.1
PC Matsuwa
PC Sado
PC Oki

Allied Ships
SS Cabrilla, hits 13 - unknown damage
 
But he can´t stay in these waters anyway. I have 2 crack army bomber sentai on naval search..
 
 
Now I´m full of expactations of tommorrow. I wonder If PjH will try to send his heavies to Bombay again. I doubt it as he has to expect some counter measure from my side. The truth is that the only change I made is, that I put all fighters there on CAP 50. No big deal as I have less then 30 operational fighters there. But he can´t know it. The balance numbers will show him 80 fighters, but not their status. He could send his bombers to Delphi instead. There is the same situation as in Bombay. A lot of bombers and fighters, but only few of them are operational. I have no other option. I have enough operational fighters to hold only 1 base now and keeping Ahmadabad operational is vital, while Bombay and Delphi are not. Hard decision, but neccessary. It is always good to remember: "He who defends everything - defends nothing"


 
 
 

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/08/43

I nearly got heart attack, when I start the replay and saw explosions in Babo´s minefields. An invasion??? Here??? How could he get here unnoticed? The base is not ready!!![X(][X(][X(]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1090 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)

Allied Ships
DD Van Ghent, Mine hits 1,  on fire
DD Pope, Mine hits 1,  on fire
DD Philip, Mine hits 1
 
Allied ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
 
Fortunatelly soon it was clear, this is just a raid:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Babo, 42,77, firing at TF 1090
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1090 encounters mine field at Babo (42,77)

TF 1090 troops unloading over beach at Babo, 42,77


115 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
DD Express, Shell hits 2,  on fire
DD Van Ghent, Shell hits 3,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Pope, Shell hits 3,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Beale
DD Ammen, Shell hits 1
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
384 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Fast transports unloaded parts of 9th australian division. Not enough to take the base and now I´m warned. At this point it seems as wasting. 3 DDs were hit by mines (2 are heavily damaged) and I expect them to be finished by LBA tommorrow.
 
The remaining allied DDs are running home, but Betty daitai from Darwin located them:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 42,79

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 8
G4M1 Betty x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 10 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Henley, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage - sinks!
DD Abbot
DD Maury, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage - sinks!


And again my ASW TF was on the receiving end.:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 41,81

Japanese Ships
MSW W.18, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
PC Ch 32
PC Ch 23
PC Ch 22
PC Ch 7
PC Ch 1
MSW W.19
MSW W.11

Allied Ships
SS Pompano

Still it is better when his subs are sinking my ASW vessels then other ships.
 
 
The troop convoy heading from Cairns to Thursday is was hit again, but surprisingly not by sub. My bombers from Lae decided to attack with 20% of the availible planes:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 50,92

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
G4M1 Betty x 12
G4M2 Betty x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
G4M2 Betty: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Zealandia
CL Richmond, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire
CL Portland, Torpedo hits 1
AK Peter H. Burnett, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported
 
All three ships will live, but they will need some time in dry docks. BTW the AK hit yesterday by sub went down today with parts of 43th USA div aboard. Good! I like it!

 
I badly misscalculated in India. Didn´t expect PjH to leave the same orders when he told me in advance about the strike. Not that I could do anything about that, but still it surprises me:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 10

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 7
Sunderland x 1
Wellington III x 2
Liberator VI x 75
B-24D Liberator x 64

Japanese aircraft losses
J2M Jack: 15 destroyed
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 9 destroyed
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 7 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Sunderland: 1 destroyed
Liberator VI: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 5 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 8
Runway hits 129

Ouch! I lost many planes on ground, but fortunately not a single pilot. All fighters and nearly all bombers were evacuated to the rear and the port was emptied (except 3 barges). Some of my sentais and daitais, hit 2 days ago, are 50% operational again and so in 2-3 days I will have fighter force in good shape again..
 
And here is the current situation:
 

 
The threat to Babo is serious and I have to respond even if it is just a fake. The KB sortied from Darwin and LBA reinforced Amboina, Darwin and Sarmi. It makes Babo very dangerous place for any allied ships. Fortunately I have a strong surface fleet in Amboina, which was now divided and CA/CL/DDs will move towards Babo (to prevent reinforcing) and BBs will go to Bulla. Bulla is empty and it is vital to stop any allied TF BEFORE it unloads. Both my best commander (Nishimura and Tanaka) are in charge of these two TF.
KB has 800 planes aboard and is formed in 4 divisions again. It is my best defence now. Truly I don´t expect any other allied move here. I think he is just testing my defence but i will rather overreact then underestimate. Shunzan Nav Guard and IJN BF in Babo will shock attack tommorrow. I want to destroy this australian contingent asap! Besides that the division in Darwin was divided into A,B,C regiments and will be used to garrison Babo, Bulla and Amboina. Babo already being reinforced by air..

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/09/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 12
Beaufighter VIC x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed
J2M Jack: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 6
 
Well, these attacks are unstoppable. AA makes nothing and night fighters are worthless. Bombing from 2000ft means I´m loosing 5-10 planes every nigh..[:@]
 
 
Hmm, Bombay is closed now:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10

Japanese aircraft
J2M Jack x 4

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 5
Sunderland x 1
Wellington III x 7
Liberator VI x 81
P-40N Warhawk x 3
B-25J Mitchell x 5
B-24D Liberator x 65

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 4 destroyed
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged
Liberator VI: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
229 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 187

I can´t do anything about it[:(]
 
 
 
Also Gili Gili was targeted today:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Gili Gili , at 56,94
 
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 38
 
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 15 damaged

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 20

Some ships were spotted near Gili Gili. I don´t know if it is a raiding party or subs..
 
 
Two damaged DDs which brought the raiding party to Babo were finished by bombers from Amboina:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 43,81

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
G4M1 Betty x 19

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
DD Van Ghent, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Pope, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
 
And the poor aussies were pushed out of the base easily right into jungle:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Babo

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 5623 troops, 29 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 157

Defending force 1523 troops, 39 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Japanese max assault: 260 - adjusted assault: 112

Allied max defense: 44 - adjusted defense: 15

Japanese assault odds: 7 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
215 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Allied ground losses:
61 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
 
Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
I would say about 3000 troops have been unloaded. They are now hiding near Babo without the supplies which means they are sentenced to death. 9th australian division lost good part of its combat power in this raid. Fortunately there were no more fast transport raids today. PjH lost 4 DDs and 3000 men in this operation in 2 days. It should show him, he will need to come back in strenght and really fight for it. It means he will have to muster the army and navy and it means I will have more time.
Or he will switch to another target and will try to advance via East coast of NG/Solomons. My search planes reports 2 DDs 120miles SW of Gili Gili. It migh be another raiding party..
Today the 5th KB division (Taiho, Unryu and Amagi) left Japan and is heading to Amboina. It has 200 planes and once it will join KB, I will have 1000 planes! Now I can just hope they will fly.. [8|]
 

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/10/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 50,92

Japanese Ships
SS I-124

Allied Ships
AP Zeilin, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Cushing
DD Conyngham
DD Blue
DD Bagley
DD Hughes

I got another one. I love to sink APs! Allies might have enough AKs, but they are short on APs.. 


Hmm, much more subs appeared today between Darwin and Babo. I was lucky, but KBs position is revealed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 40,81

Japanese Ships
AO Shiriya
DD Inazuma
DD Ikazuchi
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
CL Katori

Allied Ships
SS O24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 40,81

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
DD Makigumo
DD Kazegumo
DD Akigumo
DD Wakazuki
DD Niizuki
DD Teruzuki
CVE Taiyo

Allied Ships
SS O24

It seems like PjH was lazy to check his sub commanders as otherwise I don´t understand to such a poor perfomance of his subs so far. At this date they should start to be a real menace.. Well, I wasn´t lazy and japanese subs under the command of highly aggressive and skilled commanders are taking their toll.
Neverthless I have to deal with them somehow. 2 ASW TF are running all around like mad, backed with 3 sentai of Ki-21/Ki-49 places in Darwin, Babo and Amboina. I could move in much more army bombers, but I want to keep some balance here as PjH was somewhat displeased when his subs were massacred by my carrier based navy bombers and I don´t know how he would react if I made the same with army bombers.
 
I´m thankfull for every day of inactivity here. I´m slowly turning these undefended bases into defended bases, but they will never become real fortresses. Forts are mostly between lvl 1-2 and I doubt I will have enough time to build them higher then Lvl 4-5. The problem is lack of construction battalions. And it is not just about forts. AF and Ports facilities are also undeveloped and it means my troops suffer badly from malaria and I can not dump satisfying amount of supplies and fuel there. Once the allied attack will start, the resupplying of these bases will be nearly impossible. Having a division in good shelters behind lvl 9 forts sitting on the pile of supplies is one thing. Having a division camping in the muddy trenches full of poison spiders, always low on supplies, well, that is far away from perfection.. Oh, and I don´t have that division there either. Yet..
I don´t know exactly how many construction units I have, but I could easily use three times that amount. It is immediate dark side of my "russian adventure". I have 10-15 construction battalions there (building forts and bases) + 15 combat engineer units (sieging Irkutsk) which I would desperately need in SRA now!

ORIGINAL: jumper

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/10/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 50,92

Japanese Ships
SS I-124

Allied Ships
AP Zeilin, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Cushing
DD Conyngham
DD Blue
DD Bagley
DD Hughes

I got another one. I love to sink APs! Allies might have enough AKs, but they are short on APs.. 


Hmm, much more subs appeared today between Darwin and Babo. I was lucky, but KBs position is revealed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 40,81

Japanese Ships
AO Shiriya
DD Inazuma
DD Ikazuchi
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
CL Katori

Allied Ships
SS O24
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 40,81

Japanese Ships
CA Atago
DD Makigumo
DD Kazegumo
DD Akigumo
DD Wakazuki
DD Niizuki
DD Teruzuki
CVE Taiyo

Allied Ships
SS O24

It seems like PjH was lazy to check his sub commanders as otherwise I don´t understand to such a poor perfomance of his subs so far. At this date they should start to be a real menace.. Well, I wasn´t lazy and japanese subs under the command of highly aggressive and skilled commanders are taking their toll.
Neverthless I have to deal with them somehow. 2 ASW TF are running all around like mad, backed with 3 sentai of Ki-21/Ki-49 places in Darwin, Babo and Amboina. I could move in much more army bombers, but I want to keep some balance here as PjH was somewhat displeased when his subs were massacred by my carrier based navy bombers and I don´t know how he would react if I made the same with army bombers.
 
I´m thankfull for every day of inactivity here. I´m slowly turning these undefended bases into defended bases, but they will never become real fortresses. Forts are mostly between lvl 1-2 and I doubt I will have enough time to build them higher then Lvl 4-5. The problem is lack of construction battalions. And it is not just about forts. AF and Ports facilities are also undeveloped and it means my troops suffer badly from malaria and I can not dump satisfying amount of supplies and fuel there. Once the allied attack will start, the resupplying of these bases will be nearly impossible. Having a division in good shelters behind lvl 9 forts sitting on the pile of supplies is one thing. Having a division camping in the muddy trenches full of poison spiders, always low on supplies, well, that is far away from perfection.. Oh, and I don´t have that division there either. Yet..
I don´t know exactly how many construction units I have, but I could easily use three times that amount. It is immediate dark side of my "russian adventure". I have 10-15 construction battalions there (building forts and bases) + 15 combat engineer units (sieging Irkutsk) which I would desperately need in SRA now!

you can definetely use the Army bombers for ASW duty as this is something he also does in our game. Every day one of my subs is hit by a Helen. If there´s a day when there was no hit, then two are hit the next day... [8|]

guess he wouldn´t complain if you did the same, while I´m sure he wouldn´t like it...

no turn yet.. [:(] PjH is somewhat busy so I got only 2 turns in the last 5-6 days. Good that I have other games going to fill the gap..

Castor: I will give a chance to my ASW TF to deal with his subs at first. If they will disappoint me, I can allways bring more IJA bombers. But frankly said I don´t see a big difference between using KB on ASW duty and using several hundred IJA bombers in the same role. KB on ASW duty drived PjH crazy, what is understandable given the results it brought. And because I can expect the same results from my crack LBA...
The problem is that PjH has the nasty habit to operate huge wolfpacks on very small areas and therefore the spot/hit rate is unbelievable high. I´m worried he will now fill every hex in the Darwin-Lautem-Babo triangle with a few subs and then will be surprised once my bombers start hitting them at the same rate as KB did. But maybe I´m wrong. We shall see..

ORIGINAL: jumper

no turn yet.. [:(] PjH is somewhat busy so I got only 2 turns in the last 5-6 days. Good that I have other games going to fill the gap..

Castor: I will give a chance to my ASW TF to deal with his subs at first. If they will disappoint me, I can allways bring more IJA bombers. But frankly said I don´t see a big difference between using KB on ASW duty and using several hundred IJA bombers in the same role. KB on ASW duty drived PjH crazy, what is understandable given the results it brought. And because I can expect the same results from my crack LBA...
The problem is that PjH has the nasty habit to operate huge wolfpacks on very small areas and therefore the spot/hit rate is unbelievable high. I´m worried he will now fill every hex in the Darwin-Lautem-Babo triangle with a few subs and then will be surprised once my bombers start hitting them at the same rate as KB did. But maybe I´m wrong. We shall see..

of course you don´t see any difference between using all KB bombers or all Army bombers on ASW. I don´t see one either, both things are unreasonable and gamey to me. But not for Hortlund! He told me it´s perfectly reasonable and realisticalyy to use ALL his Army bombers on ASW so why should he complain if you do it. He hits one sub every turn in my PBEM.

I would do it! Use 300 Army bombers in this area and watch the results! He can´t complain about a tactic he uses himself! [;)]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

of course you don´t see any difference between using all KB bombers or all Army bombers on ASW. I don´t see one either, both things are unreasonable and gamey to me. But not for Hortlund! He told me it´s perfectly reasonable and realisticalyy to use ALL his Army bombers on ASW so why should he complain if you do it. He hits one sub every turn in my PBEM.

I would do it! Use 300 Army bombers in this area and watch the results! He can´t complain about a tactic he uses himself! [;)]

Maybe I will do it at the end. I want to see how many subs he will deploy at first. I will not send 300 bombers against 5-10 subs. But if he will deploy the same insane number as before.. Neverthless this time I will ask him if he is alright with it BEFORE I will do it.[;)] Actualy when I think about it I will raise this issue in our next e-mail exchange.

PjH is extremely busy these days so nearly no turns can be expected for a while (about 1-2/week). So I will fill the "empty days" with a few theatre summaries. The first one is India:
 

 
 
As you may see, the situation is not good. I´m holding my line (red), but still don´t know where will come the main strike (28 unit stack). I have no reserves. On the south I have only 3 mixed bdes as garrison (Ceylon, Madras, Panaji and Trivandrum) but they are so far away, that they can not affect upcoming battles. I have 9 divisions, 1 tank division and 4 tank regiments to face at least three times more of enemies (good part of chinese army is here). The terrain is not on our side. Mostly plains. Only SW of Ahmadabad are swamps and I hope a single division with bonus for this hard terrain can hold its ground against 10 enemy units (chinese corps + HQs). My only strong point is Ahmadabad with lvl 9 forts and 300 crack fighters. Leaking CAP served me very well in this area. There are no enemy strikes against my units, while allies under constant attacks..

Australia:

 
I still have significant forces tied up in this area. 14th and 16th Army with with 7 divisions, 1 tank division and 5 tank  rgts. It is lot of troops, but I believe that holding northern Australia is worth of it. Otherwise I would have to use even more troops to garrison all bases in SRA..
As I expect PjH will be trying to advance towards Babo/Amboina, the LBA presence Darwin (21st air flotilla and 6th air division) is slowly growing. Currently there are 2 daitai + 1 chutai of G4M, 1 sentai of Ki-21 and 1 sentai of Ki-44-II. It is not much, but one week ago, there was only 9 recon planes. More planes are on the way from Manchuria and China..

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/11/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Air attack on Ahmadabad , at 24,8

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIC x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed


Runway hits 1

Usual story. AA fire is doing nothing and 2 planes were torched on ground again.. I have moved back my night fighters just for the feeling I´m defending myself.. [:@][:(]
 
 
Hmm, allied sub pop up in Saipan port and immedietly sink empty AK:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Saipan  at 63,64

Japanese Ships
AK Samarang Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Runner

Recon planes reports this sub is part of huge TF of at least 10 boats heading west. I wonder what he is up to. Nearly all subs in Amboina-Darwin-Lautem triangle disappeared. Only 3 boats remained and one was hit by Ki-21 Sally on naval search today..
 
It is heating up in India. Enemy unit entered hex with our tank group:
 

 
 All planes in the area are ordered to attack this unit (including G4M from Madras), while LCU are ordered to shock attack. It is probably just a recon unit which will reveal the exact strenght and composition to PJH, but I can´t do anything about that..
 

Ahhh.. Finally it seems we are back on the track..! I really missed this game..
 
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/12/43

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Hansa, at 53,83

Japanese Ships
DD Kasumi
DD Arare
DD Natsugumo
DD Asashio
CL Tama
CA Kako
CA Kinugasa
BB Hyuga
BB Yamashiro


Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Another fruitless bombardment. And PjH is not reinforcing this base either.. [:(] I will wait one more week and then will take this base back.
 

In USSR the situation is stable too. Daily bomber raids keeps russion engineers busy, while my own combat engineers rests outside the city. In 1-2 week they will be ready to attack again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Irkutsk , at 59,6

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 64
Ki-21 Sally x 97
Ki-49 Helen x 96
Ki-46-III Dinah x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 10 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 12 damaged


Allied ground losses:
191 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 45
 
Meanwhile IJA will bleed here..

 
In India all bases were clauded a.m and all were clear p.m. So it means that not a single strike was launched against enemy.. I really don´t understand why missions against ordered ground target can fly only during a.m. phase (except sweep), while naval attack are being launched in both phases.  Fortunatelly it wasn´t problem here as my enemy was only lonely Indian tank brigade:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 25,7

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 58500 troops, 521 guns, 1237 vehicles, Assault Value = 1419

Defending force 9254 troops, 39 guns, 480 vehicles, Assault Value = 269

Japanese max assault: 2734 - adjusted assault: 3726

Allied max defense: 275 - adjusted defense: 16

Japanese assault odds: 232 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
426 casualties reported
Guns lost 13
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
1333 casualties reported
Guns lost 29
Vehicles lost 72


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
 
Poor indian tankists were decimated by superior japanese tank force and chased away. This unit is out of combat for a few days (maybe weeks!) now. Good!

One of those "calm" turns..
 
AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 08/13/43

Only training runs today and nothing to post.  This is how Irkuts siege looks like:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Irkutsk

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9803 troops, 297 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 9836

Defending force 281884 troops, 2477 guns, 149 vehicles, Assault Value = 4819
 
Allied ground losses:
266 casualties reported
 

As I said there was no action today, but still something cought my eyes. I have  AV Kamikawa Maru sitting about 720 miles SW of Colombo and its Jake reports some unknown TF of at least 10 ships (AK/AP) spotted about 900 miles directly on south from Colombo heading NORTHEAST! So what is that? Lost convoy? Invasion fleet? What is its target? If the spotted course is correct it is heading towards Trincomalae or Madras. Or even Diamond Harbour! But where are covering CVs then? Fortunately Kamikawa Maru was running out of fuel and Kimikawa Maru just arrived to replace her. They shared the fuel (both are "in green" now) and I have ordered their Jakes (2x16 planes) to naval attack. Lets see what they can get tommorrow. Either I will get some transport ships or 200 helldivers will come down from the skies to torch my tenders and I will know it is a REAL danger.. For now I have rebased all availble G4M on Ceylon and Madras together with some fighters (J2M/A6M3). Also my local battlefleet (build around BB Fuso) left Colombo and will stay in Trincomalae. I feel a bit paranoid now.. [;)]

Using AVs for mid ocean air attacks with float planes seems a bit gamey to me. It´s strange enough if you see those CS launching two dozen float planes twice a day to attack shipping in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but AVs seems even more over the top. The were used to operate float planes at bases...

Actualy Kamikawa Maru class operated commonly its planes on open seas. Early in the war they were used to provide CAP over invasion fleets and later were used for scouting with possibility of light bombing. Unfortunately they never get to any light bombing mission and were commonly stripped of their planes, but it was not caused by doctrine but by simple lack of availible float planes.
 
You can find their history here: http://www.combinedfleet.com/Suijoki-Bokan!.htm
 
I don´t think it is gamey. They were capable to do it. And the damage they can cause in the game is more just PITA then anything else..