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27/6/42: continued ...

I have now combined my two ACTF's into one, hoping for better protection, lucky I have two more CV's, rushed from India, and at enormous cost to sys damage and fuel supplies along the way ...

Day 2: can I nab another CV ? or wreck his transport fleet ? I'm hoping for the CV ... of course, with the sys damage to my first ACTF, maybe they will bear the brunt of another attack and find a few more Japanese Carriers accompanying the Enterprise.



India: Sending a suicide mission of AP's, with one DIV, which were attacked today to Bombay ... recon indicates not too many troops and this is the only way I know to keep him thinking, I also would like to air base, might help stop some reinforcements flowing from Aden, I can't keep the 2 CV's and 2 CVL's on station for much longer.

28/6/42: American forces flee ...

Guess after the loss of the Enterprise, he decided to split his losses and flee with his tail between his legs ... Caught about 5-6 APD's carrying troops, and they were all sunk, but CV ??? got away.

I could chase, but short of fuel, I'll make my way back to Noumea and Pago Pago for refueling... with many badly damaged CVE/L's off to the Home Islands for repair.

Indian excursion is and has always been costly, but I'm hoping to give him some hot spicy curry in the next two turns, his airforce though is killing me ... damn my pilot losses!

1/7/42: A disastrous day off the Indian coast, 2 CA's sunk (Mikuma,Maya) with CA Tone, likely heading for a similar fate.
I guess this is why I'm peeved...
1. If the A2A was better in the beginning, and I had been able to continuously attack enemy airfields / air grps, then maybe now the allies would be a little vulnerable in the skies. And I could protect my valuable assets better ... But no, I have hardly ever used my planes in anger, and now he has such superiority I can no longer use them... hence, everything is vulnerable ...
2. If he really wanted to he could roll across the map in about 2-3 months and I couldn't do much about it & it's only 7/42.

Monthly wrap up ... check the terrible numbers of ships lost ...

2/7 ~ 3/7 : Plans afoot...

India: Since my abortive attempt to take Bombay, and the loss of 6 AP's and 2 AK's, and almost a whole Div, I think it's time to re-evaluate and think about my priorities in this theatre. I CANNOT CONQUER INDIA. It's too early to withdraw, and my forces in Southern India make sure he doesn't combine arms and head south toward Singapore. I have ordered, my ACTF with 2 CV's and 2 CVL's to patrol, and sink all inbound supplies / troops.

Fiji: I have 2 Divisions preparing and ready to go for Suva, they are stationed about 15 hexes away and will be accompanied by 6 BB's,3CA's which will hopefully suppress the guns and the planes. Since I sank the Enterprise, I'm sure he is moving more CV's into position, or is about to move again on Fiji shortly. I'm hoping I can take Fiji before, he returns in greater numbers...

I have 3 workable CV's in the area, but they will be no match for his superior forces, with their upgrades. All the rest will be in drydock for months, the cost of sinking the "BIG E" was high ... So for the first time in the game I'm not looking for a fight, I'm looking to run.

8/7/42: Wasp sunk!

Despite what I said in my last entry, I scrapped together 3 CV's, Hiryu, Soryu and Kaga, and took off from Pago Pago on a fishing expedition ... travelling South, I positioned near Rarotonga.

I launched a Bombardment of Suva on the 7/7/42, and was hoping to draw out some response from either a surface fleet or CV's. I had hoped not to confront the whole American fleet ... today I got lucky ,sometimes a plan comes together beautifully ...

My forces launched and got him by surprise at maximum range, he couldn't respond as the weather turned bad in the afternoon & my TF was moving away from his ... it seems like the planets aligned and the Jupiter Effect became real ...
Here's the numbers ... NOTE THE HUGE AIR LOSSES I TAKE EACH TIME !!!

Day Air attack on TF at 105,129

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
D3A Val x 56
B5N Kate x 62

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 49

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 16 destroyed
D3A Val: 19 destroyed, 18 damaged
B5N Kate: 20 destroyed, 22 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 5 destroyed, 10 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Wasp, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 7, on fire, heavy damage & SINKS
CL Helena
CLAA Atlanta, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Quincy, Bomb hits 1
CA Vincennes, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

I do wonder though, he must have 5-6 CV's where are they and why do I just encounter one here and one there? Are they upgrading, near India or racing toward Fiji ?

Gun photo's of the demise of CV Wasp ... via "Pacific Storm" ...

11/7/42: The Suva Landings

Time to reveal what I had been planning all along, even with this AAR, I keep some critical information back, it's not that I don't trust my opponent, actually its more about revealing what I want when I want to keep the suspense....

The 3 Days of Bombardment of Suva, the fishing expedition, the long range Betty attacks ... all led to ...

A large TTF with 2 Divisions steaming into Suva Bay ... this is maybe the last roll of the dice before the Allies get too strong, and lets face it, I only have 3 serviceable CV's in the whole Pacific. I've been lucky so far, but that won't last forever.

Ok, so last time was a botched affair, put together hastily and not given much thought ... coastal guns sank most of my fleet...

This time I decided on using the MUST READ THREAD cookbook to get the perfect blend,
1. 5 BB's including the Yamato pounding Suva for 3 days (Yamato, hit by torp)
2. Betty's hit the airport from Savaii and Luganville.
3. Landed with little overcrowding for my swabbies.
4. MSW & DD's for anti-mine and anti-sub.


THEN ...NEWSFLASH...
2633 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. (morning)
1711 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. (afternoon)...
turned the soufflé to SH***...

OK, so I didn't have enough CA's to protect my lads and their steel coffins ... but I'm about to lose 1/3 to a 1/2 of my fleet again !!

Below, aerial shot of Yamato, giving Suva a touch up ... (BTW I don't play Pacific Storm much, because of its inadequacies, but it's nice to replay a battle in 3D occasionally)

13/7/42: Manila finally falls & Prepping for first Suva ground attack

Philippines: Finally after 7 months of attacking, retreating, rearming, attacking, etc ... Manila has fallen! Seeing as I still have to take Bataan, I'm not all that thrilled having taken this long to conquer what really happened by April 42.

Anyway, at least this will free up some Eng, Art & inf units soon, for more game time after they're rested again.

Fiji: My bombardment force is 6 hexes away, ready to steam back into Suva Bay, full guns blazing, the 53rd and 20th Inf Div have been given orders to co-ordinate their attacks after this ... I hoping for maximum disruption and the 9 level fort to wither away, in a few turns ...

I also have another incoming TT which will supply Eng troops, supplies and base forces ... come on lads, before the nasty Imperialists knock on our door ...

Subs are detecting a lot of activity near Rarotonga etc ... not sure if I should roll the dice again and see if I can bag another CV ...

14/7/42: Fire mission successful

Co-ordinating my attacks has been something I'm not very good at, I think that I'm not patient enough sometimes, especially as I can always hear the ticking of that clock that tells me to get on with it...Unfortunately, this has resulted in less than spectacular ground advances, I think I've learned from Manila, that patience is needed, reinforce and make a push when all the elements are going to give you the best odds ...

Suva:
Naval bombardment of Suva, at 83,117 by

CL Abukuma
CL Nagara, Shell hits 4
CA Kako
CA Nachi
CA Myoko
CA Chokai
BB Ise, Shell hits 2
BB Mutsu
BB Kirishima

P-36A Mohawk: 1 destroyed
1229 casualties reported
Guns lost 22
Vehicles lost 12

Ground Phase
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 41863 troops, 355 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 997
Defending force 11340 troops, 78 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 134

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 8

Japanese max assault: 868 - adjusted assault: 707

Allied max defense: 74 - adjusted defense: 143

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 8

NB*** future attacks will be shock...maybe Suva can be mine in a few turns, supply is enough for now, however a long campaign could be disastrous ...

15/7/42: Bombardment & Shock attack at Suva

Morning operations: As the Bombardment TF slipped into Suva Bay, one of the myriad of Allied SS's put two fish into BB Kirishima, inflicting heavy damage (43sys/31flt/2fire). One might imagine the grin on the captain's face of SS S-36, as he saw the two large explosions rip into the steel superstructure, turn to panic, as 5 ASW DD's gave chase.

Unperturbed, BB Ise, BB Mutsu and escorts lay waste to the shoreline ... as Kirishima is escorted away from the danger zone.

Afternoon operations: Japanese troops storm the 8 levels of fortifications and as dusk rolls in, they have suppressed any Allied defences remaining. Tomorrow should see the end of US imperialist rule over Suva ...

Game Note: Just noticed that I got an half month early Upgrade on my Tonies, I thought this was calculated at the end of the month, but it seems to be at the 100 point threshold ... hence any R&D make sure it gets to the 100 points

16/7/42: Suva Falls

What a historic day ... could the Japanese have ever dreamt such visions of conquest ... I have no idea what to do now ... I have to capture Nandi, but after that, what to do ?

Baatan hopefully will fall quickly, and then do I turn back to India .. or await the American onslaught ?

Just a quick World view ... "When Alexander saw the breadth of his domain, he wept for there were no more worlds to conquer." ... not quite yet ... but this must be dark days for the Allies!

17~18/7/42: Bataan falls quickly, troops moving to Nandi

2 days of relatively light action, saw the fall of Bataan, they really put up no resistance, which means I'm free to move all those lovely Divisions to other places ...

Nandi has 1 NZ Div & 1 US Div, so it should be a good contest to take, especially as I think the allies have tried to withdraw some troops.

A side issue which I haven't mentioned is the air war over Umnak (Alaska), for the past 10 or so days I've been doing fighter sweeps and winning some, losing some ... I am going to try to close it down shortly using 200+ Betty's, this base is just getting too big and is too near for comfort... more on this later.

19~20/7/42: Lexington SUNK!!!

Out of nowhere the Americans emerged, I had caught sight of a TT a few days before, but a number of large TF's appeared near Suva overnight. Of which, at least two have CV's, and I suspect that there might be more lurking in the mist and rain.

**(numbers in brackets are kills)
US Strike 1:
The day started with a 11(6) F4F-4,36(22) SBD & 18(8) TBF engaging TF50, which consists of CV Hiryu, BB Kongo, CV Kaga, CV Soryu & assorted escorts. At the time it was on routine duty covering 2 TT's unloading troops at Suva ... suffice to say very few planes got through the 58(2) plane screen .

IJN Strike 1:
Spotted by H8K's on Suva, orders were quickly radioed through to TF50 and a strike of 12 Zero,14 D3A & 41 B5N took off to intercept the nearest fleet. 25 F4F-4 Wildcat's engaged and 7 D3A Val's were destroyed, 20 damaged & 13 B5N Kate's were destroyed with 15 damaged. The Americans lost 6 Wildcats ...

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CA Salt Lake City, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA Louisville, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD McCall

IJN Strike 2:
Not content to leave the Lex smoldering, the second wave came in on top of the first and finished her off ...
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5 (2)
D3A Val x 19 (1)
B5N Kate x 19 (1)

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9 (5)

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CA Louisville, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

US Strike 2:(different TF)
Obviously the co-ordinates of TF50 had been radioed through to other TF's in the vicinity, and another wave of American planes tried to break down the ring of fire.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53 (0)

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11 (6)
SBD Dauntless x 36 (19)
TBF Avenger x 15 (8)

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu, Bomb hits 1
CA Haguro
BB Haruna
CV Kaga
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2

IJN Strike 3:
Hours before dusk the last flight took off, the Japanese pilots obviously tired and hurting from the loss of so many comrades, failed to deliver the knock out blow to the Americans ...

A6M2 Zero x 15 (3)
D3A Val x 21 (13)
B5N Kate x 26 (17)

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 56 (4)

Allied Ships
CA Quincy
CV Saratoga
CL Concord

Total losses for the day:
A6M2 Zero x 7 destroyed
D3A Val x 21 destroyed
B5N Kate x 31 destroyed

F4F-4 Wildcat: 37 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 27 destroyed
TBF Avenger: 16 destroyed
Lexington & CA Louisville sunk.

The American's were up against my best exp fighter pilots, I prevailed for this reason. I have no pilots to replace my losses and the deficit of 60 pilots (although I'm not sure about the real numbers at the time of writing this) .. will be huge. I've ordered 2 CV's guarding the approaches from Aden, to make their way to the Sth Pacific, they should arrive in 15-20 days.