Moses(AL)Jwilkerson(IJ)
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
RE: 17-19 Feb
Well, if you want to get him squealing about something, set the 39's to 100 ft altitude; the surviving sweep fighters will then attempt to strafe the AF, where I hope you have some significant AAA. His losses to that might make him rethink the sweep PM manuever and go back to merely escorting the bombers. The other fighters can continue to sit up high, though I have the opinion that being too high makes you more vulnerable to low level raids, as the engagement window seems smaller.
Sing to the tune of "Man on the Flying Trapeze"
..Oh! We fly o'er the treetops with inches to spare,
There's smoke in the cockpit and gray in my hair.
The tracers look fine as a strafin' we go.
But, brother, we're TOO God damn low...
..Oh! We fly o'er the treetops with inches to spare,
There's smoke in the cockpit and gray in my hair.
The tracers look fine as a strafin' we go.
But, brother, we're TOO God damn low...
22-27 Feb
22-27 Feb:
China: All is stable and I have cleared the road from Lanchow to Homan retreating a Jap Bde in the process. I also moved a big 16 Corps stack into Wuhan to see what was there. Over a thousand of my guns fired killling all of 10 enemy so I think I'll just pull out and head for Nanching.
I did get a nice air battle at Changsa which he was bombing without escort. I killed 18 heavy bombers and 5 Kates without loss to my I-16's. I pulled them out the next turn which was good because the next day over 150 Nates came to visit.
Japan has either given up in China or is redeploying. I expect he will eventually show up at Homan and I am preparing to meet this threat.
Java: His troops are now in Soergaba (sp) and an invasion of Palembang is now finally underway. Strangly I continue to load tankers in Java and he has not interfered. More AK's are in route to take off the remaining air group remnents.
PM: He continues to bomb PM each day but my engineers are keeping up and he cannot close it. I now have 72 ready P-40's, and 100 P-39's ready to shift to PM. My two F4F groups are also getting ready. I will wait for 1 March at the earliest and then shift in for another crack at his zero's. Surely 72 P-40's supported by 54 F4F's has to be capable of some good effect.
China: All is stable and I have cleared the road from Lanchow to Homan retreating a Jap Bde in the process. I also moved a big 16 Corps stack into Wuhan to see what was there. Over a thousand of my guns fired killling all of 10 enemy so I think I'll just pull out and head for Nanching.
I did get a nice air battle at Changsa which he was bombing without escort. I killed 18 heavy bombers and 5 Kates without loss to my I-16's. I pulled them out the next turn which was good because the next day over 150 Nates came to visit.
Japan has either given up in China or is redeploying. I expect he will eventually show up at Homan and I am preparing to meet this threat.
Java: His troops are now in Soergaba (sp) and an invasion of Palembang is now finally underway. Strangly I continue to load tankers in Java and he has not interfered. More AK's are in route to take off the remaining air group remnents.
PM: He continues to bomb PM each day but my engineers are keeping up and he cannot close it. I now have 72 ready P-40's, and 100 P-39's ready to shift to PM. My two F4F groups are also getting ready. I will wait for 1 March at the earliest and then shift in for another crack at his zero's. Surely 72 P-40's supported by 54 F4F's has to be capable of some good effect.
28Feb-2Mar
28Feb-2Mar:
PM: Well I shifted all my P-40's and F4F's into PMand 60 P39's to bomb Lae and nothing happened.[&:] Japan took the day off and my P39 got only 4 runway hits. The next turn I thought a bombardment force was coming and I didn't want all my guys blown up on the ground. Plus I've had enough experience with Jwilkerson now to know he would probably have a million zero's coming. I was right about the zero's but they found nothing but open skies. The good news is that I've had three days in a row of no bombardments and so I finally may get my level 4 airbase. Perhaps he has given up bombing PM.
PI: Clark Field, Manila, and Batan are still mine. Clark field is still producing supply and so I'm not starving yet.
Java: Palenbang fell easily but he lost over half the industry which had to be disappointing for him. Soergeba also fell with much less damage. I loaded 8 airgroups on AK's on the 1st of March and I still have 4 AK's to take off everything else of importance. I have managed to get virtually my entire air force onto ships and en route to India. In addition two small Dutch units are in India to help defend the beaches.
Burma: He has troops in Akyab and I expect it to fall fairly soon. I have made Dacca my main bomber base and my B17's and LB30's operate against Mandaly, Rangoon and Moulmain at a leisurly rate. Soon Dacca will become a level 6 base and I will have an RAF HQ in place. At that point I will feel historically justified to begin strategic bombing against targets in Burma.
PM: Well I shifted all my P-40's and F4F's into PMand 60 P39's to bomb Lae and nothing happened.[&:] Japan took the day off and my P39 got only 4 runway hits. The next turn I thought a bombardment force was coming and I didn't want all my guys blown up on the ground. Plus I've had enough experience with Jwilkerson now to know he would probably have a million zero's coming. I was right about the zero's but they found nothing but open skies. The good news is that I've had three days in a row of no bombardments and so I finally may get my level 4 airbase. Perhaps he has given up bombing PM.
PI: Clark Field, Manila, and Batan are still mine. Clark field is still producing supply and so I'm not starving yet.
Java: Palenbang fell easily but he lost over half the industry which had to be disappointing for him. Soergeba also fell with much less damage. I loaded 8 airgroups on AK's on the 1st of March and I still have 4 AK's to take off everything else of importance. I have managed to get virtually my entire air force onto ships and en route to India. In addition two small Dutch units are in India to help defend the beaches.
Burma: He has troops in Akyab and I expect it to fall fairly soon. I have made Dacca my main bomber base and my B17's and LB30's operate against Mandaly, Rangoon and Moulmain at a leisurly rate. Soon Dacca will become a level 6 base and I will have an RAF HQ in place. At that point I will feel historically justified to begin strategic bombing against targets in Burma.
3-6 Mar
3-5 Mar:
PM: 138 zero's do sweeps over PM on the 6th and that is before the two big bomber raids during the PM phase (escorted by about 40 zero's) I guess I will concede the skies here for a while at least. He took some heavy ops loses(6 zeros, and 3 betties) so maybe he will get tired of this.
Java: My air evac is complete and I will have no significant air squadrens stranded in Java. I even took off a couple of the crapy Dutch recon as I can later upgrade to better planes. He is grinding his way toward Batvia and there is no way to stop him. I will fight a delay toward Batvia while I burn as much supply as possible and hope the conquest of that city will result in a lot of industry damage. The end wil surely come within the next two weeks.
Burma/India: He has taken Akyab but it is heavily damaged and I hit it the day after the conquest with over 100 bombers. He has pulled most of his air force out of Burma but I still watch carefully for him to shift in and try to destroy my main base at Daca.
General: Now the question is what will he do next?
----India will only be an option for another month or so as my second British division arrives in under a month and soon my Burma forces will begin to fall back into line and be repaired. KB will be needed long term if he goes here as I have tons of aircraft. Most of my surface fleet is gone but he does not know that.
----PM will also require KB and at least two divisions if he wants to dig out my marines. I suppose he could take the slow route and land a couple divisions at Buna and try and go overland. But that would take forever and may not ever arrive as I could march my para unit into the mountains and he would have to attack and lose all his movement.
----Austrialia: This has to be crazy but an attack at Perth is not out of the question. I've sent an additional Division and a BDE in that direction just in case.
----Pacific Chain: He has done nothing here all game. It would take a while to shift troops this way and all my islands are now defended. He could kill my units one by one but each battle would be bloody. Its hard to see how this would be attractive.
-----Numea: The Americal division is almost there and I will have two NZ Brigades there shortly. Lots of base force and engineers/CD's are there also. By the time he can get here with significant force I will have lots of aircraft here and he will be fighting with carrier air alone.
PM: 138 zero's do sweeps over PM on the 6th and that is before the two big bomber raids during the PM phase (escorted by about 40 zero's) I guess I will concede the skies here for a while at least. He took some heavy ops loses(6 zeros, and 3 betties) so maybe he will get tired of this.
Java: My air evac is complete and I will have no significant air squadrens stranded in Java. I even took off a couple of the crapy Dutch recon as I can later upgrade to better planes. He is grinding his way toward Batvia and there is no way to stop him. I will fight a delay toward Batvia while I burn as much supply as possible and hope the conquest of that city will result in a lot of industry damage. The end wil surely come within the next two weeks.
Burma/India: He has taken Akyab but it is heavily damaged and I hit it the day after the conquest with over 100 bombers. He has pulled most of his air force out of Burma but I still watch carefully for him to shift in and try to destroy my main base at Daca.
General: Now the question is what will he do next?
----India will only be an option for another month or so as my second British division arrives in under a month and soon my Burma forces will begin to fall back into line and be repaired. KB will be needed long term if he goes here as I have tons of aircraft. Most of my surface fleet is gone but he does not know that.
----PM will also require KB and at least two divisions if he wants to dig out my marines. I suppose he could take the slow route and land a couple divisions at Buna and try and go overland. But that would take forever and may not ever arrive as I could march my para unit into the mountains and he would have to attack and lose all his movement.
----Austrialia: This has to be crazy but an attack at Perth is not out of the question. I've sent an additional Division and a BDE in that direction just in case.
----Pacific Chain: He has done nothing here all game. It would take a while to shift troops this way and all my islands are now defended. He could kill my units one by one but each battle would be bloody. Its hard to see how this would be attractive.
-----Numea: The Americal division is almost there and I will have two NZ Brigades there shortly. Lots of base force and engineers/CD's are there also. By the time he can get here with significant force I will have lots of aircraft here and he will be fighting with carrier air alone.
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 3-6 Mar
General: Now the question is what will he do next?
----India will only be an option for another month or so as my second British division arrives in under a month and soon my Burma forces will begin to fall back into line and be repaired. KB will be needed long term if he goes here as I have tons of aircraft. Most of my surface fleet is gone but he does not know that.
----PM will also require KB and at least two divisions if he wants to dig out my marines. I suppose he could take the slow route and land a couple divisions at Buna and try and go overland. But that would take forever and may not ever arrive as I could march my para unit into the mountains and he would have to attack and lose all his movement.
----Australia: This has to be crazy but an attack at Perth is not out of the question. I've sent an additional Division and a BDE in that direction just in case.
----Pacific Chain: He has done nothing here all game. It would take a while to shift troops this way and all my islands are now defended. He could kill my units one by one but each battle would be bloody. Its hard to see how this would be attractive.
-----Numea: The Americal division is almost there and I will have two NZ Brigades there shortly. Lots of base force and engineers/CD's are there also. By the time he can get here with significant force I will have lots of aircraft here and he will be fighting with carrier air alone.
Joe seems to be playing a very historical style game and not trying to go beyond historical gains...for now!![:D] I could see him finishing of the PI first while moving into the SoPac with possible eyes on taking PM. I feel that taking Gili Gili and building up the base to support Nell/Betty would shut off PM from almost any naval support to either reinforce or evacuate.
I have never played the Japanese, but the CV's start their first upgrade in 5/42 (I think), so he has about 2 months before that happens and his time for the invasion bonus is about to expire.
If I was him, I would ensure enough forces were allotted to finish off PI and then start to take the Pacific Islands to ensure that only Hawaii is left intact. Invasion of the Hawaiian Islands is possible, but isolation of them ensures that only CV backed invasion can take place in '43 and beyond. Has any forces been sighted up in the Aleutians??
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castor troy
- Posts: 14331
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:17 am
- Location: Austria
RE: 3-6 Mar
ORIGINAL: ny59giants
If I was him, I would ensure enough forces were allotted to finish off PI and then start to take the Pacific Islands to ensure that only Hawaii is left intact. Invasion of the Hawaiian Islands is possible, but isolation of them ensures that only CV backed invasion can take place in '43 and beyond. Has any forces been sighted up in the Aleutians??
take the Pacific Islands except Hawai? How should he do that? It´s already March and I hope moses has brought some forces to those islands. If so then perhaps one or two are lost for extreme losses in Japanese shipping. I doubt this will serve jwilkerson much. Put 400 av on an atoll with one or two of those US coast defense units (would mean 72 155mm field guns!!!!! [X(]) and I would always welcome a Japanese invasion. I might lose the island but the losses to me won´t do much to me. Safe a fragment, rebuild the division in half a year. For that you will probably sink or damage up to 100 ships and wreck three or four divisions that will need rest for a couple of months to attack the next island. So he won´t come that far I think...
It´s no problem to lose nearly empty bases as the Allied early on as you can´t have troops everywhere but time is running out for the Japanese very quickly, especially he decides to take one of the defended targets! [:)]
RE: 3-6 Mar
I should note that I have been watching SIGINT carefully and have yet to get a single message indicating him prepping for any of my bases. Early in the game with the Japanese invasion bonus players do this to aviod giving away surprise. But invading an atoll with zero prep after the invasion bonus is gone seems very bad. When does this expire?????
I think the odds are on him invading PM. He has already taken Gili Gili and Lunga and has large air forces at Rabaul. Lai, and Admiralty Islands. His carriers were last seen two days ago moving WEST around Java. But this is very unreliable as my recon is now nearly non-existant in that area.
At PM I have the very good Marine Division, the PM BDE, a para unit, a CD and large base forces. They are nearing 100 prep points each for PM. Assuming his units are not preped (And eventually I would get some report if their were multiple units) How many Jap divisions do you think he will need to bring?
If it takes him two months to collect the required divisions, and take this base then I think it may be worth the sacrifice of that fine division.
As for the Pacific Islands they are mostly all well defended. At least a RCT and arty/CD unit at every key island. In most cases I have not built up the airbases but have focused on the fortifications. From Midway to Canton I have layed heavy minefields. My troops are all prepped and his apparently not.
Canton has a full division and another en-route. (If he goes to India with KB I intend to be ready to invade Tarawa and the nearby islands. It would be really funny if 15 days from now he tries to invade Canton!!![:D][:D][:D]
I think the odds are on him invading PM. He has already taken Gili Gili and Lunga and has large air forces at Rabaul. Lai, and Admiralty Islands. His carriers were last seen two days ago moving WEST around Java. But this is very unreliable as my recon is now nearly non-existant in that area.
At PM I have the very good Marine Division, the PM BDE, a para unit, a CD and large base forces. They are nearing 100 prep points each for PM. Assuming his units are not preped (And eventually I would get some report if their were multiple units) How many Jap divisions do you think he will need to bring?
If it takes him two months to collect the required divisions, and take this base then I think it may be worth the sacrifice of that fine division.
As for the Pacific Islands they are mostly all well defended. At least a RCT and arty/CD unit at every key island. In most cases I have not built up the airbases but have focused on the fortifications. From Midway to Canton I have layed heavy minefields. My troops are all prepped and his apparently not.
Canton has a full division and another en-route. (If he goes to India with KB I intend to be ready to invade Tarawa and the nearby islands. It would be really funny if 15 days from now he tries to invade Canton!!![:D][:D][:D]
Mar 6
Mar 6: A very very quite day. Japan halts all bombing and it does not appear to be due to weather. Not a Betty or Sally to be seen. Maybe op losses or supply are becoming a problem.
Jap landing bonus lasts for 24 more days!!!
I send my last Dutch air recon to Sinkap Island (near Singapore) to try and see if KB is around or gain any intell of which direction things are going.
The poor bastards will likely be the only air group to have to surrender. Everything else is in India or well en route.
Jap landing bonus lasts for 24 more days!!!
I send my last Dutch air recon to Sinkap Island (near Singapore) to try and see if KB is around or gain any intell of which direction things are going.
The poor bastards will likely be the only air group to have to surrender. Everything else is in India or well en route.
Mar 7-8
March 7-8:
More quiet. I have recon watching the straight around Malaysia but nothing much seems to be happening around Singapore. I have still have no intell which might indicate where he is going. The only action is the rolling up of Java which I estimate will be over by the 15th.
PM:He sent over two small fighter sweeps and a dozen Nells to bomb PM for the first time in 3 days. I am preparing a new operation to force in an engineer unit(with heavy engineer vehicles) and an anti-aircraft unit. If these two units can be brought in successfully It will be very hard for him to close PM on a permanent bases. With my current engineers he was unable to close it using around a hundred bombers day after day.
So the plan is to bring a large tranport force to 3 hexes off PM with my three carriers for air cover. On that same turn I will shift my big B26 group into PM and try and hit Lae. On the next turn I will shift massive numbers of fighters into PM. 72 P40, 27 F4F, 27 F3F, 16 Kittyhawk, and some 40-50 P39's to fly at low altitude and get the bombers. Then the transports unload??
I assume he will see the transports coming and shift tons of zero's into the attack. But they will be flying quite a distance from Admiralty Islands and Rabaul and will come up against good fighters in large numbers.
I may suffer another disaster as it is possible he will shift in 200 zero's and a couple hundred bombers. But how many can he really fly out of Rabaul (level 4 base) and Admiralty (level 3). Can he really just slaughter all my good fighters and then the bombers have a field day. Or maybe his carriers beat me to PM.
But it could also be a great victory. His airstrikes come in 3 or 4 packets of a couple dozen zero's each. Or maybe one of his airfields get bad weather. I can imagine 100 betties coming in and lossing 40-50 planes before morale breaks and they fly home with torppedoes still attached.
This operation is still about a week out.
More quiet. I have recon watching the straight around Malaysia but nothing much seems to be happening around Singapore. I have still have no intell which might indicate where he is going. The only action is the rolling up of Java which I estimate will be over by the 15th.
PM:He sent over two small fighter sweeps and a dozen Nells to bomb PM for the first time in 3 days. I am preparing a new operation to force in an engineer unit(with heavy engineer vehicles) and an anti-aircraft unit. If these two units can be brought in successfully It will be very hard for him to close PM on a permanent bases. With my current engineers he was unable to close it using around a hundred bombers day after day.
So the plan is to bring a large tranport force to 3 hexes off PM with my three carriers for air cover. On that same turn I will shift my big B26 group into PM and try and hit Lae. On the next turn I will shift massive numbers of fighters into PM. 72 P40, 27 F4F, 27 F3F, 16 Kittyhawk, and some 40-50 P39's to fly at low altitude and get the bombers. Then the transports unload??
I assume he will see the transports coming and shift tons of zero's into the attack. But they will be flying quite a distance from Admiralty Islands and Rabaul and will come up against good fighters in large numbers.
I may suffer another disaster as it is possible he will shift in 200 zero's and a couple hundred bombers. But how many can he really fly out of Rabaul (level 4 base) and Admiralty (level 3). Can he really just slaughter all my good fighters and then the bombers have a field day. Or maybe his carriers beat me to PM.
But it could also be a great victory. His airstrikes come in 3 or 4 packets of a couple dozen zero's each. Or maybe one of his airfields get bad weather. I can imagine 100 betties coming in and lossing 40-50 planes before morale breaks and they fly home with torppedoes still attached.
This operation is still about a week out.
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castor troy
- Posts: 14331
- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2004 10:17 am
- Location: Austria
RE: Mar 7-8
do you have any stacking limits regarding number of planes on xy airfield size?
RE: Mar 7-8
No stacking limits agreed to. Of course there are game penalties for stacking beyond a certain level as well as the effect of limited aviation support units.
9-10 Mar
9-10 Mar:
The march across Java continues and he is now adjacent to Batvia. His three armor units are just rampaging, driving me back one hex every single turn. His infantry is far behind so it is possible that if Batvia holds it may take him another week to come up and finish me off. Otherwise Batvia will fall on the 12th.
I still have no intell on his carriers but 6 BB's were sighted at Palenbang. I'm not sure what that means. 1 CV sighted at Singapore which tells me little. ---20 days until the invasion bonus expires.
The march across Java continues and he is now adjacent to Batvia. His three armor units are just rampaging, driving me back one hex every single turn. His infantry is far behind so it is possible that if Batvia holds it may take him another week to come up and finish me off. Otherwise Batvia will fall on the 12th.
I still have no intell on his carriers but 6 BB's were sighted at Palenbang. I'm not sure what that means. 1 CV sighted at Singapore which tells me little. ---20 days until the invasion bonus expires.
11-12 Mar:
11-12 Mar:
The battle at PM will begin on the 13th. My three carriers, a heavy surface force and a large transport force will stage 3 hexes off PM on the 13th. I sent my B25's to PM from where they will bomb LAE. On the 14th my transports go to PM to unload the engineers and AA guns. I will have over 150 good fighters to fight the air battle. I also have over 100 P39's for low level work and to help tip the balance if needed.
Thunderstorms are predicted so anything could happen the first day. The best outcome would be for my bombers to hit Lae in the AM phase and for Lae to then send a weakened strike at my carriers during the PM phase which gets obliterated. Worst case is Jwilkerson shifts 200 betties and 200 zero's into Lae and they all fly in one mass towards my carriers.[&:] I'm not too worried about the Rabaul Betties as my carriers will be outside their zero range.
I've also sighted??? one CV and one BB at Truk. There are also 19 ships reported in that port. Previous turns have shown 1 or 2 ships at that port. Who knows how accurate those reports are. (They come from passing curser over the report and I have no actual recon assets looking at those locations).
Japan has begun using full 27 plane zero groups which indicates that he probably has finally taken on replacements. Preciously I was seeing lots of depleted squadrens. So hopefully the coming fight will oppose at least some green zero pilots.
The objective for the operation is first to get the added assets to PM which should make the base very difficult to close unless KB wants to sit on it for days on end. Currently Japan has not gotten close to closing it even with 100 betties bombing it several days in a row. With another big ENG unit plus good AA guns for the first time I should have a very strong base.
The second objective is to get into another big air attrition battle which kills a lot of his pilots. I really hope my B25's hit Lae this turn because that would tip the odds heavily in my favor. Without Lae his planes will be going into battle from long range which means lower effectivness and many more op losses.
The battle at PM will begin on the 13th. My three carriers, a heavy surface force and a large transport force will stage 3 hexes off PM on the 13th. I sent my B25's to PM from where they will bomb LAE. On the 14th my transports go to PM to unload the engineers and AA guns. I will have over 150 good fighters to fight the air battle. I also have over 100 P39's for low level work and to help tip the balance if needed.
Thunderstorms are predicted so anything could happen the first day. The best outcome would be for my bombers to hit Lae in the AM phase and for Lae to then send a weakened strike at my carriers during the PM phase which gets obliterated. Worst case is Jwilkerson shifts 200 betties and 200 zero's into Lae and they all fly in one mass towards my carriers.[&:] I'm not too worried about the Rabaul Betties as my carriers will be outside their zero range.
I've also sighted??? one CV and one BB at Truk. There are also 19 ships reported in that port. Previous turns have shown 1 or 2 ships at that port. Who knows how accurate those reports are. (They come from passing curser over the report and I have no actual recon assets looking at those locations).
Japan has begun using full 27 plane zero groups which indicates that he probably has finally taken on replacements. Preciously I was seeing lots of depleted squadrens. So hopefully the coming fight will oppose at least some green zero pilots.
The objective for the operation is first to get the added assets to PM which should make the base very difficult to close unless KB wants to sit on it for days on end. Currently Japan has not gotten close to closing it even with 100 betties bombing it several days in a row. With another big ENG unit plus good AA guns for the first time I should have a very strong base.
The second objective is to get into another big air attrition battle which kills a lot of his pilots. I really hope my B25's hit Lae this turn because that would tip the odds heavily in my favor. Without Lae his planes will be going into battle from long range which means lower effectivness and many more op losses.
PM
13 Mar:
The battle begins and its not starting off well. My B25's did not fly at all. And then:
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 51
No Japanese losses These guys flew in from the Admiralties and found air.
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
No Japanese losses Likewise these guys from Lae.
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Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 52
G3M Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 179
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 9 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 106
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 9000 feet.... But 200 bombers!!!!! All from Rabaul. I should note that he still has not managed to close the airfield. I have near 50 airfield service damage and only about 20 runway damage. Still he nailed my B25.
Day Air attack on TF at 51,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 51
G3M Nell x 13
G4M1 Betty x 18
Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 24
F4F-4 Wildcat x 42
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 17 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 14 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 25 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CV Hornet
CA Portland
BB Nevada
BB Colorado--And this hurts. Yorktown may make it home but it will join my other two damaged carriers in drydock for some time.
So what now. Well I will just send the transports in anyway. My carriers are of course running for home. I have around 150 fighters in PM now and they will fight as best they can and success will depend upon many things. It's still bad weather and the Jap planes must be a little tired and their airfields must be overworked. Plus any bombers that attack the transports are at least not attacking my carriers. Maybe the raids will split leaving me with some good fighter battles. I'm thinking that even in the worst case my troops will reach land. After that I will just grimly defend PM for as long as possible.
I have to believe that this massive air effort indicates that PM will be the Jap main effort. Although it could be that he saw my fleet heading in and so tranfered everything in range to try for a quick kill. But I'm still also seeing heavy ships in Truk
The battle begins and its not starting off well. My B25's did not fly at all. And then:
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 51
No Japanese losses These guys flew in from the Admiralties and found air.
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24
No Japanese losses Likewise these guys from Lae.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 52
G3M Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 179
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 9 destroyed
PBY Catalina: 2 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 106
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 9000 feet.... But 200 bombers!!!!! All from Rabaul. I should note that he still has not managed to close the airfield. I have near 50 airfield service damage and only about 20 runway damage. Still he nailed my B25.
Day Air attack on TF at 51,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 51
G3M Nell x 13
G4M1 Betty x 18
Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 24
F4F-4 Wildcat x 42
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 15 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 17 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 14 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 25 destroyed
Allied Ships
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CV Hornet
CA Portland
BB Nevada
BB Colorado--And this hurts. Yorktown may make it home but it will join my other two damaged carriers in drydock for some time.
So what now. Well I will just send the transports in anyway. My carriers are of course running for home. I have around 150 fighters in PM now and they will fight as best they can and success will depend upon many things. It's still bad weather and the Jap planes must be a little tired and their airfields must be overworked. Plus any bombers that attack the transports are at least not attacking my carriers. Maybe the raids will split leaving me with some good fighter battles. I'm thinking that even in the worst case my troops will reach land. After that I will just grimly defend PM for as long as possible.
I have to believe that this massive air effort indicates that PM will be the Jap main effort. Although it could be that he saw my fleet heading in and so tranfered everything in range to try for a quick kill. But I'm still also seeing heavy ships in Truk
PM
Well the PM battle is over and it was a joke. 200 zero's and 200 Betties fly 600 miles from Rabaul and just decimate my entire air force. It's a 10-1 loss ratio over PM with me losing over 260 planes and him losing 26 zero's and a half dozen Betties. Finally some more Betties and Nell's find and sink the Yorktown.
The only good news is that my transport fleet was unmolested and my troops will make it ashore in good order. But my illusions (and obviously now they were illusions) of being able to obtain any air control at all over the area are gone. So do my forces have any chance of survival.
I now see large navel forces at Truk and a ton of AP's appear to now be a Palau. So I should expect the invasion fleet in the next two weeks which would just make the 30 March deadline for the invasion bonus.
The only realistic hope is that he may not know how much force is at PM and so may not have planed to bring enough. But all things considered I face a grim outlook. I really need some beers.
In other events Batvia falls with all its resourse centers intact.
The only good news is that my transport fleet was unmolested and my troops will make it ashore in good order. But my illusions (and obviously now they were illusions) of being able to obtain any air control at all over the area are gone. So do my forces have any chance of survival.
I now see large navel forces at Truk and a ton of AP's appear to now be a Palau. So I should expect the invasion fleet in the next two weeks which would just make the 30 March deadline for the invasion bonus.
The only realistic hope is that he may not know how much force is at PM and so may not have planed to bring enough. But all things considered I face a grim outlook. I really need some beers.
In other events Batvia falls with all its resourse centers intact.
19 Mar
19 Mar:
All my fighters are out of PM and he has begun to bomb the port each day with 200 Sally/Betty/Nells. My troops are doing their job!! 20 bombers were damaged with 4 lost and I only have 20 port damage to my base. Hitting the port is another indicator he is coming this way.
There is still a huge concentration of transports at Palau. This sure looks like his staging area but is it possible his main force is still there?? He is running out of time to get to PM before the invasion bonus runs out. I have subs along the route from Palau and at the choke points as he rounds Gili Gili. Maybe I can disrupt his ops a little.
Or it could be a diversion. I've noted a large concentration of heavy ships at Singapore (but no CV's sighted). I still have recon aircraft covering the Malaysian straights so I'm pretty sure nothing big has headed toward India. I should no if he heads that way but its strange that he hasn't eliminated my small airfields in that area.
PI: Yes I still have an army in the PI and Jwilkerson has finally made his move and advanced 12 units into Clark field. He has two divisions in Manila which are effectively neutralised. Earlier in the war his northern force consisted of one division, an inf Bde and a couple armor units. These guys suffered two painful retreats from Clark field and I will try to shock attack them out again tommorrow.
I don't know if he has brought another division or two to help so I have no idea what will happen. But he may believe that because he has been bombing me every day for the last three months that my forces are in bad shape. In fact many are at 0 disruption, very low fatigue (some at 3 or 4 points!!) and experience and morale are in good shape. Supply is getting a little tight. But I still have 7000 free supply at Clark and all units are fully loaded.
All my fighters are out of PM and he has begun to bomb the port each day with 200 Sally/Betty/Nells. My troops are doing their job!! 20 bombers were damaged with 4 lost and I only have 20 port damage to my base. Hitting the port is another indicator he is coming this way.
There is still a huge concentration of transports at Palau. This sure looks like his staging area but is it possible his main force is still there?? He is running out of time to get to PM before the invasion bonus runs out. I have subs along the route from Palau and at the choke points as he rounds Gili Gili. Maybe I can disrupt his ops a little.
Or it could be a diversion. I've noted a large concentration of heavy ships at Singapore (but no CV's sighted). I still have recon aircraft covering the Malaysian straights so I'm pretty sure nothing big has headed toward India. I should no if he heads that way but its strange that he hasn't eliminated my small airfields in that area.
PI: Yes I still have an army in the PI and Jwilkerson has finally made his move and advanced 12 units into Clark field. He has two divisions in Manila which are effectively neutralised. Earlier in the war his northern force consisted of one division, an inf Bde and a couple armor units. These guys suffered two painful retreats from Clark field and I will try to shock attack them out again tommorrow.
I don't know if he has brought another division or two to help so I have no idea what will happen. But he may believe that because he has been bombing me every day for the last three months that my forces are in bad shape. In fact many are at 0 disruption, very low fatigue (some at 3 or 4 points!!) and experience and morale are in good shape. Supply is getting a little tight. But I still have 7000 free supply at Clark and all units are fully loaded.
20 Mar
20Mar: Victory at Clark field!!!!!!! My troops drive two jap divisions, an inf Bde and a couple armor units back across the river with heavy loss. This must be very frustrating to Japan.
It was a close thing as I got 2-1 odds by a narrow margin. Supply is now becoming an issue as the shock attack burned off quite a bit. He will rest and recover but I suspect if he comes back in a week I will be unable to drive him out. I will try of course.
It was a close thing as I got 2-1 odds by a narrow margin. Supply is now becoming an issue as the shock attack burned off quite a bit. He will rest and recover but I suspect if he comes back in a week I will be unable to drive him out. I will try of course.
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 20 Mar
Since I am always fearful of the Japanese taking the east pacific islands (Midway south to Sava), could you please list what you have defending each islands?? I feel that may be an option for him now that your CV force has been hit again. [8|]
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[/center]RE: 20 Mar
Well Midway/Johnson/Palmyra all have an RCT and at least one CD/arty unit plus base forces. All are mined (1000+ each) and have been working exclusively on fortifications all game.
Canton has a full division with another full division to arrive in about a week. It also has artillery and engineers and over 1000 mines.
Pago Pago has a couple small ground forces para units/raider bn etc, and artillery.
Suva is the most lightly held with only the original NZ BDE and base forces. Arty units are en route but maybe 10 days out.
Numea is held by an RCT and the units retreated from rebaul which hold the 2 bases north of Numea. The Americal division is offloaded in a day with lots of added artillery and engineers.
Effete and Lugenville each have a Inf Bde. I have not built up these airfields so even if he takes them I will pound them from Numea.
Bassically there is nothing left on the west coast other then west coast command units.
He has done nothing in these areas all game. A few subs show up now and then but I doubt he has much of a sence of where my weaknesses are. I don't think taking one or two of these locations would hurt me much and to take a great chunk of these islands would be costly.
Canton has a full division with another full division to arrive in about a week. It also has artillery and engineers and over 1000 mines.
Pago Pago has a couple small ground forces para units/raider bn etc, and artillery.
Suva is the most lightly held with only the original NZ BDE and base forces. Arty units are en route but maybe 10 days out.
Numea is held by an RCT and the units retreated from rebaul which hold the 2 bases north of Numea. The Americal division is offloaded in a day with lots of added artillery and engineers.
Effete and Lugenville each have a Inf Bde. I have not built up these airfields so even if he takes them I will pound them from Numea.
Bassically there is nothing left on the west coast other then west coast command units.
He has done nothing in these areas all game. A few subs show up now and then but I doubt he has much of a sence of where my weaknesses are. I don't think taking one or two of these locations would hurt me much and to take a great chunk of these islands would be costly.
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ny59giants
- Posts: 9888
- Joined: Mon Jan 10, 2005 12:02 pm
RE: 20 Mar
My concern is that with your weak CV force as of now, any counter attack would need to be supported by you with LBA and "IF" he was to take that defensive line it would push back your timetable to start across the Central Pacific and make it more hazardous to supply/build-up Nz/Oz.
Taking that line should be SOP IMO for the Japanese. [&o]
I have never played the Japanese, but "if" and when I get a newer computer (mine now doesn't like WitP and crashes too much to play [:(][:(]), I feel that taking that line and holding each with just a brigade or so of troops would delay the counter-offensive of the Allies (or make it more time consuming). I wonder if he is going to go much beyond historical advances. [&:]
Taking that line should be SOP IMO for the Japanese. [&o]
I have never played the Japanese, but "if" and when I get a newer computer (mine now doesn't like WitP and crashes too much to play [:(][:(]), I feel that taking that line and holding each with just a brigade or so of troops would delay the counter-offensive of the Allies (or make it more time consuming). I wonder if he is going to go much beyond historical advances. [&:]
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