Variants - Empire Side - Game over

[Xargun]

One of my subs had a nice clear shot on an allied AKE and missed it completely

Sub attack near Mataram at 60,112

Japanese Ships
SS I-11

Allied Ships
AKE Mormacstar
SC-707


The pounding on Makassar continues with allied bombers hitting the airfield and troops there.

We are now all caught up.. I have a turn waiting for me to process, so we will see. I have noticed one thing I am severely hampered by lack of Naval Pilots. I am dipping into the training pool heavily and will probably wipe out the 9-12 month group soon. Not sure if I am doing something grossly wrong or if this is typical.

Xargun

[Xargun]

The turn starts off with some allied sub action...

ASW attack near Morotai at 79,99

Japanese Ships
DD Hayanami
BB Kirishima
CA Chokai
DD Akigumo
DD Tachekaze
DD Oboro
DD Kasumi
DD Tanikaze

Allied Ships
SS Tarpon
===
ASW attack near Talaud-eilanden at 78,99

Japanese Ships
DD Isokaze
BB Kirishima
CA Chokai
DD Akigumo
DD Tachekaze
DD Oboro
DD Kasumi
DD Tanikaze

Allied Ships
SS Shark, hits 4


Then some allied DDs slip into Soerabaja harbor and wreck havoc. The enemy DDs appeared out of nowhere and sunk most of my fleet before they even fired back.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Soerabaja at 56,104, Range 2,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Nokaze, Shell hits 21, and is sunk
LSD Shinshu Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
xAP Brazil Maru, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Hakone Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk
xAP Hakusan Maru, Shell hits 12, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Urukaze, Shell hits 32, and is sunk
DD Kyukaze, Shell hits 26, and is sunk
DD Tawakaze, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Dunlap
DD Nepal
DD Le Triomphant

Japanese ground losses:
Vehicles lost 20 (11 destroyed, 9 disabled)


I was very upset at the very low performance of my ships and that 4 enemy DD could slip through my minefield without hitting any. Apparently they hit the minefield on their way out - wished it would have been on the way in.

TF 379 encounters mine field at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Ships
DD Le Triomphant, Mine hits 1
DD Nepal, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
DD Dunlap, Mine hits 1, heavy damage
DD Ralph Talbot, Mine hits 1, heavy damage

I would think the mines would blow a DD in half, but apparently not.


The night continued with my Nells from Soerabaja attacking the allied CVEs at Mataram.

Night Air attack on TF, near Mataram at 59,109

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 10 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CVE Chenango
CVE Altamaha
CVE Suwannee

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

Once more my Nells come away with no hits. The report says they were using torps, but the combat animations showed them dropping bombs. So not sure what is going on here (not the first time this has happened). Looks like torpedoes were used from the Air Fleet there, but not completely sure they used them. You would think I would get at least one hit. I have launched over 60 torpedoes at these CVEs in the past couple weeks and scored no hits. Very frustrating...


Then to finish off the night phase some close calls that really just made me madder...
Sub attack near Talaud-eilanden at 78,99

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku
BB Hiei
CA Takao
DD Wakazuki
DD Akizuki
DD Shinonome
DD Kagero
DD Suzunami
DD Makigumo

Allied Ships
SS Shark

SS Shark launches 6 torpedoes at CV Zuikaku
===
Sub attack near Siaoe at 77,99

Japanese Ships
CV Katsuragi
BB Hyuga
DD Yukikaze
DD Kuroshio
DD Shimakaze
DD Hibiki
DD Akatsuki
DD Hayashio

Allied Ships
SS Perch

SS Perch launches 6 torpedoes at CV Katsuragi


Not sure why this made me mad, but I guess just getting tired of running into allied subs everywhere my CVs go. Not sure if Nomad is simply luckier than I am or I am outclassed strategically? I do admit I have no experience in mid-43 and later and I am probably rushing my turns a bit. But I need to settle down and get my head on straight or this game will be over in 44. Though if I cannot stop his advance into my southern lands he will capture the oil fields and that will end the game as well.

The turn ended with more air attacks on Makassar - both airfields and the troops there. My troops are taking a beating here as their are little to no forts. I spent most of my engineering strength on Truk, Babel and the Mariannas and wish he would attack that way.

I am still moving units into the SRA including more base forces to support a larger commitment of air power. The 1st was a good turn in that I got 9 new air units. Unfortunately only 2 were fighter groups and none of them came with pilots or aircraft - which will make my shortage of Naval Pilots even worse. I am down to 40 pilots in the 10-12 month group and 400ish in the 7-9 group. The two earlier groups are near 1500 each. So eventually I will get more, but the next 6 months will be difficult.

By my estimates Nomad has over 200 Hellcats on his CVEs - not sure if his production is that high or if he spent some Variant points on more planes / factories. I am regretting several of my point purchases and have been keeping notes on changes I will make if I run another Variant game. Nothing huge at this point, but some changes that might make huge combat differences -- ie instead of buying some zero AGs, purchase a couple Frank or Sam AGs if possible. While I wouldn't have replacements, some timely appearance of those top of the line fighters could definately turn the tide of a battle or two and make him think I have more of them than I do.

Xargun

[Xargun]

A slow turn. Other than air raids on Makassar no combat happened this turn. Recon spots allied CVs moving north near Ambon - I believe this is the actual allied Death Star and not CVEs. My carriers in the area are moving away to avoid a confrontation with his superior Hellcats. I need to get all my carriers together to support each other to have a shot at wrecking the allied Death Star.

Currently I have 10 CVs, 4 CVLs and 6 CVEs at sea with another 2 CVs in repair yards fixing submarine damage - then they will need their 4/43 upgrades - so 2-3 months in total for them.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Air attacks on Makassar continue with allied bombers hitting the facilities and troops. My ground troops there are starting to take losses now.

Afternoon Air attack on Makassar , at 65,106

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9
B-24D1 Liberator x 16

No Allied losses

Runway hits 6
Port hits 2
===
Afternoon Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 12

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese ground losses:
157 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Afternoon Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 10

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Afternoon Air attack on 18th JNAF AF Unit , at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 24

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 7 damaged

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


Xargun

[Xargun]

My Nells got another crack at some allied ships, but it was disappointing. For some unknown reason they did not use torpedoes and make bombing runs instead.

Night Air attack on TF, near Mataram at 59,109

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 143 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 56 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 17

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 8 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Lyemun
xAP President Fillmore

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 16000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb


Some US Naval planes swept Soerabaja as well.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 33 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 29
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 26

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 3 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 3 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 19
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 13

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 2

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses


More bombings at Makassar.

Morning Air attack on 18th JNAF AF Unit , at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11
B-24D1 Liberator x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
234 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

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

I am airlifting troops out of Makassar with some Mavis but it is slow going. I am trying to get some relief there as well but it is several days away.


Xargun

[Xargun]

And my Nells made another fruitless night attack, but at least this time the ground crews loaded the correct ordnance - though the combat animations still showed them bombing.

Night Air attack on TF, near Mataram at 59,109

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 4

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
xAP Van Diemen

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo


The abuse at Makassar continued.

Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 5
B-24D1 Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
67 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 34 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D1 Liberator x 5

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
93 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 18th JNAF AF Unit , at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 26 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

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

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 36

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 7 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
334 casualties reported
Squads: 10 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 48th Naval Guard Unit, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 12

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
90 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied bombers continue hitting Makassar and plastering the troops. I have some relief 2 days away, but I think Nomad is getting ready to invade it so I need to be careful that my relief doesn't get caught up in the possible invasion force.

Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 65,106 (Makassar)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

No Allied losses

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


More allied sweeps over Soerabaja are wearing my fighters down. I have a feeling he will begin bombing Soerabaja soon. I am scrambling to find more fighters, but all I can find are naval fighters and they just can't take the same abuse and I am short on all naval pilots.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 24
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 23

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 27,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 24
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 17

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 6 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed

The Ki-84a Frank will be in production on August 1st and I will be producing some of them to help tide me over to the Ki-84r version is ready (should be Sept / Oct). I am hoping these fighters will turn the air war against the allied fighters. Also, by end of July I will be producing the N1K5-J Georges which should be a huge jump up for my land-based navy fighters. Not sure how the George will compete against Hellcats and current allied fighters, but they should definitely increase my defense against the medium / heavy bombers.

I have reinforcements arriving at Batavia and railing down to Soerabaja and other locations on Java including tanks, infantry and base forces. Some of them will rail to Soerabaja and then be airlifted to their final locations - moving ships in the area is hazardous at best right now.

Xargun

[Xargun]

The night phase started with some sub action near Peleliu. My ASW is still weak and I only managed to scratch the paint on the enemy sub.

ASW attack near Peleliu at 88,100

Japanese Ships
DD Urakaze
BB Kirishima
CA Chokai
DD Hayanami
DD Akigumo
DD Tachekaze
DD Oboro
DD Kasumi
DD Tanikaze

Allied Ships
SS Drum, hits 1


Then allied troops waded ashore at Taberfane where I have a piece of a Naval Guard. It was about half a guard unit but I have been airlifting it out bit by bit til only a small piece remains. Enough to hold the base against a para-assault, but not enough to hold it against any real invasion.

Pre-Invasion action off Taberfane (82,117)

2 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
SC Dash
xAP Mungana

Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Amphibious Assault at Taberfane (82,117)

TF 25 troops unloading over beach at Taberfane, 82,117

Allied ground losses:
46 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Invasion Support action off Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Ships
SC Dash
xAP Mungana

Japanese ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Invasion Support action off Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Ships
SC Dash
xAP Mungana

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


Enemy P-47s sweep Soerabaja again but this time they find no fighters in the air as I set them all to stand down and rest/repair. I am hoping he thinks he has destroyed / damaged them all so they cannot fly and will send in his bombers next turn. All 3 units of fighters have been set to 80% cap with 2 groups of Tojos at low coverage and the 1 group of Zeros at high coverage. I am hoping he sends in his bombers and I can beat them up some. I also have another surprise here, but am not sure how it will work so I will save that for next turn.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 10 NM, estimated altitude 47,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 25

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 26,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 20

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 22000 feet


The allies caught I-160 off the coast of Mili and heavily damaged her. She is limping back to Truk for repairs.

ASW attack near Mili at 137,122

Japanese Ships
SS I-160, hits 9, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DE Talbot
DE Kennison


Only 1 ground combat - with an Aussie division chasing down the remnants of a Base Force.

Ground combat at 68,104 (near Kolaka)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8239 troops, 94 guns, 89 vehicles, Assault Value = 442

Defending force 816 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 164

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 16 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
214 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
Units pursuing 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
9th Australian/B Division
9th Australian/A Division
9th Australian/C Division

Defending units:
3rd Base Force /1



Xargun

[Xargun]

More allied troops come ashore at Taberfane throughout the night with an attack during the combat phase. The base falls to the invading troops as expected.

Invasion Support action off Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Ships
SC Dash
xAP Mungana

Japanese ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Invasion Support action off Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Ships
xAP Chungking
xAP Jalajaran
xAP Kota Inten
xAP Mungana

Japanese ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Invasion Support action off Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Ships
xAP Chungking
xAP Jalajaran
xAP Kota Inten

Japanese ground losses:
107 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
===
Ground combat at Taberfane (82,117)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1438 troops, 13 guns, 12 vehicles, Assault Value = 86

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

Allied adjusted assault: 44

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 44 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Taberfane !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(+), disruption(-)

Assaulting units:
1st Australian/B Div /1


Then as dawn came so did the expected allied sweeps and bombing runs on Soerabaja. As the turn unfolded I was both excited to see if my cap trap worked and worried at the same time. Pretty typical I would expect. So here is how it played out.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 113
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 37

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 3 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x P-47D2 Thunderbolt sweeping at 22000 feet
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 47,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 100
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 30

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 9 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 42000 feet
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 77
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 24

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 27
B-24D Liberator x 11
B-24D1 Liberator x 33
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 17
F6F-3 Hellcat x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
H6K4-L Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground
G3M2 Nell: 4 destroyed on ground
H8K1 Emily: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 3 destroyed, 6 damaged
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 2 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
ACM Tatibana Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk

Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 66
Port hits 7
Port fuel hits 5
Port supply hits 2
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 49 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 53
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 14

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 2
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 39
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 13

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged

Repair Shipyard hits 1
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 25,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 28
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 13

Allied aircraft
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 72 NM, estimated altitude 45,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 26
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 11

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed


Lots of strikes and overall I think my cap trap worked quite well. I only lost 9 pilots killed and 20 wounded. But the Intel screen shows the real damage...


So I lost 38 fighters from the action but killed 16 enemy fighters and 22 enemy bombers. Another 14 enemy aircraft reported as lost due to ops. So overall I lost 43 single engine fighters in exchange for 52 enemy aircraft. A positive kill ratio - haven't had many of these lately. This does not show the numbers of damaged enemy aircraft that will need several days for repair.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied ships are beginning to clear my mines at Makassar and not a whole lot I can do about it. One of my midget subs there tried to get in a strike but was sunk for its efforts.

Sub attack near Makassar at 65,106

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-10, hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DMS Long

SSX Ha-10 launches 2 torpedoes at DMS Long


Allied fighters sweep Soerabaja and meet little resistance. Losses were 11 of mine for 5 of his in all, but my CAP elsewhere shot down a bunch of SBD scouts.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 15
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 6

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 24,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 6
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 2

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 15 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 4
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 2

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 30,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 17

No Allied losses


Some medium bombers hit Balikpapan striking at the port and sinking the ACM there.

Morning Air attack on Balikpapan , at 64,97

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 64

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 10 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
ACM Kaika Maru, Shell hits 59, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk

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

Port hits 42
Port fuel hits 20
Port supply hits 7


In a surprise move, an allied CV TF moved into the Java Sea, 3 hexes north of Soerabaja. They located my minelayers and hammered the fleet.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjepoe at 55,102

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 90
SBD-3 Dauntless x 66

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Shiokaze
DD Yukaze
CM Okinoshima, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sawakaze
CM Tokiwa, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Flooding claimed Okinoshima later in the turn.


Speaking with Nomad I have learned that he 'bought' the Hellcats forward from 4/43 to 12/42 and he is getting 130 of them a month. While on paper my current Zero and Tojo appear to be close to them, with he difference in weapons the Hellcats are overpowering my fighters - tearing right through them. He has at least 900+ Hellcats, which means all of CVEs and CVs have them on board - his CVs are unstoppable Only thing I can do is not give him targets, but with that overwhelming CAP he can go anywhere and land anywhere. Soon the Frank A will be here to compete with ground units, but the Sam is still a year away. Doing the 'purchases' again I have many things I would do differently.

If he continues his press of my southern area I do not see me stopping him until he reaches SIngapore or the Philippines. And even then I'm not sure I'll stop him - probably just slow him down. From a war that seemed to be heading into 1946, I'll be lucky to survive to reach 1945 now.

But I am learning a lot. My economy is in good shape, but it could be better and some of Nomad's attacks have shown that to me. Also learning a lot of which bases are important and which are secondary. Overall I will fight to the end, but I am viewing this no longer as a chance for victory, but as a huge learning experience.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied ships (DMS and AM) worked on removing the mine fields at Makassar while my midget subs played peek-a-boo with allied AMs. Neither side fired a weapon but they were definitely playing tag.

The allied CV Death Star move further north into the Java Sea chasing my CVEs but luckily he did not catch them. I ordered them to flank speed and they fled. His bombers did find some DDs north of Batavia and the damaged CM limping its way into Soerabaja harbor.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Oosthaven at 47,97

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
Martlet IV x 22
F6F-3 Hellcat x 66
SBD-3 Dauntless x 99
TBF-1 Avenger x 18

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
DD Murakumo
DD Yukaze, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Sawakaze
DD Isonami
DD Fubuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Shiokaze
DD Shirayuki
===
Morning Air attack on TF, near Soerabaja at 56,104

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 54
SBD-3 Dauntless x 33

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CM Tokiwa, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
===
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Oosthaven at 47,97

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
Martlet IV x 22
F6F-3 Hellcat x 184
SBD-3 Dauntless x 225
SBD-5 Dauntless x 32
TBF-1 Avenger x 29

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 7 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Murakumo, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shiokaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Sawakaze
DD Isonami, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Yukaze, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
DD Fubuki, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shirayuki


In all 2 DDs were sunk and I scuttled the Shiokaze. The rest escaped.


Near Palopo the Aussie Rgt beat up my fleeing base force some more.

Ground combat at 68,103 (near Palopo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3306 troops, 28 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Defending force 648 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1

Allied adjusted assault: 53

Japanese adjusted defense: 7

Allied assault odds: 7 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
227 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 20 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Australian/A Division

Defending units:
3rd Base Force /1



Xargun

[Xargun]

The invasion of Makassar is upon us - the 8th Australia Division comes ashore along with other units.

ASW attack near Makassar at 65,106

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-7, hits 5, heavy damage (Sunk)

Allied Ships
CL Honolulu
DD Nicholas
DD Taylor
===
Sub attack near Makassar at 65,106

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-8

Allied Ships
AM Ipswich
AM Jan van Amstel
AM Kapunda

SSX Ha-8 launches 2 torpedoes at AM Ipswich
===
Night Naval bombardment of Makassar at 65,106

Allied Ships
BB West Virginia
BB Colorado
BB Maryland

Japanese ground losses:
227 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 18 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Resources hits 4
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 5
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 1
===
Pre-Invasion action off Makassar (65,106)

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico
BB Idaho
DD Monaghan
DD Dale
LST-24
LST-25

Japanese ground losses:
456 casualties reported
Squads: 27 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 12 (1 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
===
Amphibious Assault at Makassar (65,106)

TF 176 troops unloading over beach at Makassar, 65,106

Allied ground losses:
264 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 53 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 41 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (0 destroyed, 14 disabled)
Vehicles lost 73 (0 destroyed, 73 disabled)

12 Support troops lost in surf during unload of 8th Australian Div
11 troops of a AIF Inf Section 43 lost in surf during unload of 8th Australian Div /6
===
Pre-Invasion action off Makassar (65,106)
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

12 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
DE Edward C. Daly
DE Austin
LST-467
LST-474
LST-450
AKA Castor
LST-23

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
===
Invasion Support action off Makassar (65,106)

7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico
BB Idaho
DD Monaghan
LST-24
LST-26
LST-454
LST-25

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

Allied ground losses:
16 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Invasion Support action off Makassar (65,106)
Defensive Guns engage approaching landing force

8 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
DE Edward C. Daly
DE Austin
LST-450
LST-467

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Sub attack near Makassar at 65,106

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-9, hits 8, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AKE Admiral Day, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DE Hatfield

SSX Ha-9 launches 2 torpedoes at AKE Admiral Day



Allied fighters then arrived in the skies above Soerabaja engaging the minimal fighters I had up on CAP.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 18
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 20

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 28,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 6
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 8

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 25

No Allied losses


Xargun

[Xargun]

More allied troops come ashore at Makassar as I popped out a few Torpedo Boats to see what they could do.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Makassar at 65,106, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
MTB A-5
MTB A-6
MTB A-7, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
MTB A-8, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
BB Idaho
BB New Mexico
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA Leonard Wood
APA President Jackson, Shell hits 1
APA President Adams, Shell hits 4
APA President Hayes, Shell hits 1
APA Crescent City
APA Warren
AKA Fomalhaut
AKA Betelgeuse, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
LST-24
LST-25
LST-26
LST-27
LST-454
LST-465
===
Night Time Surface Combat, near Makassar at 65,106, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
MTB A-1
MTB A-2
MTB A-3
MTB A-4

Allied Ships
BB Idaho
BB New Mexico, Shell hits 1
DD Dale
DD Monaghan
APA Zeilin
APA Henry T. Allen
APA Leonard Wood
APA President Jackson
APA President Adams
APA President Hayes
APA Crescent City, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
APA Warren, Shell hits 1
AKA Fomalhaut
AKA Betelgeuse, on fire, heavy damage
LST-24
LST-25
LST-26
LST-27
LST-454, Shell hits 1
LST-465


Looks like my MTBs hit a pair of amphibs with torpedoes and damaged a couple more with machine gun fire before they all fled. I had 3 groups of 4 and the third group simply fled before engaging any enemy ships. Not sure if their XP was just horrible or what the case for the poor performance. Overall most of the MTBs didn't even fire their torpedoes despite being at 2000 yards in each encounter.

Then the Australians attacked Makassar with tank support and took the base.

Ground combat at Makassar (65,106)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14109 troops, 176 guns, 342 vehicles, Assault Value = 570

Defending force 1603 troops, 43 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 14

Allied adjusted assault: 263

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 263 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Makassar !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
2196 casualties reported
Squads: 142 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 107 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 20 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 45 (45 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 17 (17 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
2/5th Armoured Regiment
2/4th Armoured Regiment
8th Australian Division

Defending units:
5th Amphibious Brigade
48th Naval Guard Unit



Just to try to get him reacting to me I paradropped into Saumlaki and captured it.

Ground combat at Saumlaki (78,117)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 33 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 4

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

Japanese adjusted assault: 5

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Saumlaki !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(-)

Assaulting units:
4th Raiding Rgt /1


Xargun

[Xargun]

Sorry for the lack of posts - work and real life have been keeping me very busy that I only have time to execute and turn and send it back to Nomad and not much else. But its freeing up some now and I want to get back at it. I'm not going to go back and post for the days I missed but will simply start with the current turn, Aug 1st.

Allied bombers continue to hit Soerabaja to keep the airfield useless and to prevent the building of more defenses. My fighters are still recovering from the earlier defense of the Soerabaja airspace but now have no airfields to return to and protect.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12
B-24D Liberator x 9
B-24D1 Liberator x 15

No Allied losses

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

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 9
===
Morning Air attack on 5th Amphibious Brigade, at 56,104 (Soerabaja)

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D1 Liberator x 12

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D1 Liberator x 12

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

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

Runway hits 11
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 7
===
Afternoon Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

No Allied losses


The air war in Burma is starting back up as allied bombers start making runs and I spot a few chinese units moving south in the jungle.

Afternoon Air attack on 70th Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 40
P-38H Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
===
Afternoon Air attack on Shwebo , at 59,45

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 22

No Allied losses


With only 2.5 months left of monsoon I expect a full push in mid october against all of Burma. He should have enough British, Indian and Chinese units to make a large push across the whole area, or a very heavy push in select areas.


The land war in the south had pushed onto the large island of Java, with the allies taking the bases along the southern tip of the island. I am unable to bring my air force to bear, due to the large amount of naval fighters (based on carriers) in the area so he is slowly pushing ashore with multiple divisions.

This past turn his tanks pushed my wrecked regiments further north.

Ground combat at Probolinggo (56,105)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3352 troops, 16 guns, 348 vehicles, Assault Value = 367

Defending force 3234 troops, 46 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 57

Allied adjusted assault: 89

Japanese adjusted defense: 13

Allied assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Probolinggo !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
499 casualties reported
Squads: 49 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 66 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 14 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 24 (23 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 22 (22 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

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

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2/9th Armoured Regiment
2/8th Armoured Regiment
4th Armoured Brigade

Defending units:
6th Guards/A Division
6th Guards/C Division
4th Raiding Rgt /1
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion

All three units are combat ineffective at this point and have retreated to Malang closely followed by allied tanks in pursuit mode. I have a full division sitting sitting behind level 2 forts (99% to lvl 3) that I hope will at least hold the tanks off until the allied infantry catches up. If they can hold at Malang for a week I will be in a much better position.

I am continuing to pull resources out of Java - via Batavia instead of Soerabaja now and am trying to draw oil / fuel to Batavia to haul away as well. But Batavia is only a size 6 port and I am prioritizing inbound troop ships over outgoing cargo ships. I have fighters and Nells at Batavia but they are not useful against the overwhelming US naval fighter strength so I am biding my time.

August 1st, 1943 is a good day for the Empire. Despite being pushed back steadily in the south, the engineers of the empire have come to us with two new aircraft designs - one of which is being rushed into production. The Ki-84r Frank is now in full production, with approx 18 size 30 factories starting to churn out 1 fighter each per day. The stockpile of nearly 2000 Ha-45 engines will support this for a while so I can build up a stockpile and begin replacing the Tojo IIc. While the Frank is a much more difficult plane to keep flying it should be quite an improvement over the Tojo in terms of dealing with the allied fighters and bombers both. At current production I should be able to replace 2 squadrons a week with Franks and have some left over for replacements. I will start with the fighters in the south facing the allied invasion of Java. If I can compete in the skies there, then I can move my Helens down there and start pounding his ground forces.

The K5 George is also in production but at a much slower rate and I am upgrading a few choice land-based Zero units to help against the allied bomber offensives.

My CVs are retiring somewhere safe until we can replace all the planes on board with newer models. I am thinking of keeping the CVs out of harms way until I can put Sams on them - but that is 6 months away. I may just need to move air groups off the carriers and get the air groups into combat while keeping the carriers themselves safe.

I will try to post some economic data later this weekend to give you a view of where the empire stands economically and how long we hope to continue the fight.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied YMS are clearing mines from Soerabaja harbor under cover of darkness - not that it would matter since the airfield there is useless. But some Nells did sortie from Batavia and attacked.


TF 432 encounters mine field at Soerabaja (56,104)

Allied Ships
YMS-136
YMS-135

13 mines cleared
===
Night Air attack on TF, near Soerabaja at 56,104

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
YMS-135, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
YMS-136


My Helens continue to hit some Chinese troops in Burma - as long as he isn't protecting them I might as well build more experience.

Morning Air attack on 3rd New Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 61

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
97 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 20

No Japanese losses

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



Allied bombers from northern Burma attacked Lashio and swept the skies over Shwebo.

Morning Air attack on 3rd Tank Division, at 62,46 (Lashio)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10
P-38H Lightning x 25

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
===
Morning Air attack on Shwebo , at 59,45

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 24

No Allied losses


I was trying to sneak a combat TF down the far side of Java, but they were spotted at Tjilatjap. They had orders to auto-disband but when they reached port they just sat there exposed.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjilatjap at 51,102

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 59 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 19 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufort VIII x 14
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6
P-38G Lightning x 22
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort VIII: 1 damaged
Beaufort VIII: 1 destroyed by flak
B-25D1 Mitchell: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
DD Uranami
CA Suzuya, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shikinami
DD Shimakaze
===
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tjilatjap at 51,102

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 73 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6
P-38G Lightning x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsushima
CA Kumano, Bomb hits 1
DD Wakaba


CA Suzuya took a solid hit from that torp and has 70 flotation damage. Her an 1 DD will disband in port while the rest of the fleet scurry north and back to Batavia.


Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied fighter sweeps over Shwebo and Soerabaja start the morning off, but no opposition was found at either location.

As the day dragged on, Helens and Anns bombed the Chinese units again.

Morning Air attack on 3rd New Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 64

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 12th Chinese Corps, at 62,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 16

No Japanese losses
===
Morning Air attack on 3rd New Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 25 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 20

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 61,44 , near Katha

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 20

No Japanese losses

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


Allied bombers then showed up over Soerabaja hitting troops and base facilities.

Morning Air attack on 38th Division, at 56,104 (Soerabaja)

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 18
SB2C-1C Helldiver x 16

Allied aircraft losses
SB2C-1C Helldiver: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 23
B-24D Liberator x 9
B-24D1 Liberator x 3
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

No Allied losses

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

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 48
Port hits 3


More allied bombers struck at my troops at Malang blocking the road to Soerabaja - where the retreating troops pulled back to. There is a full division there dug in with level 3 forts. It looks like the allied armor pulled back as well.

Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 55,105 (Malang)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 9 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 13
P-38G Lightning x 22

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 10 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
18 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 55,105 (Malang)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 13

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 5 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak
===
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 55,105 (Malang)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 18

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on 39th Division, at 55,105 (Malang)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 16

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 10 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak



More bombers attacked Shwebo inflicting minor losses on the units there.

Morning Air attack on 70th/A Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 20
P-38H Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/C Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/C Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 6 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Allied losses

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


Some of the allied bombers attempt to hit my fleets at Batavia but I don't think he meant for them to strike that far north - or at least not at a base with fighters. It was a good day for the IJAAF - 2 Tojos lost for a dozen B-25s.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Batavia at 49,98

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 57

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 9
P-38G Lightning x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 5 destroyed
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed
===
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Batavia at 49,98

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 11 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 55

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 4
P-38G Lightning x 8
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 destroyed
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed by flak


Xargun

[Xargun]

During the night phase my Nells had a chance to score a serious blow against the invasion ability of Nomad but we came up short.

Night Air attack on TF, near Loemadjang at 56,106

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 74 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 20

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB Idaho
BB New Mexico

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x G3M2 Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo


The night cap was ineffective thought perhaps they affected my pilot's accuracy. Moonlight was very low. It would have been great if I could have score a hit or two on those BBs - he would have had to pull them back. May not have affected his invasions in the Java area, but it would have been something at least.

My Nells in Burma targeted the airfields at Ramree Island for some punishment. While not a giant success, I count mission where I don't lose any planes / pilots and have a good chance to gain xp as a success at this point.

Morning Air attack on Ramree Island , at 54,48

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 52 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 35

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 10
===
Morning Air attack on Ramree Island , at 54,48

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 26

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 5
===
Morning Air attack on Ramree Island , at 54,48

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 20

No Japanese losses

Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 6
===
Morning Air attack on Ramree Island , at 54,48

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 23

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 8



Heavy allied bombers filled the skies over Soerabaja again plastering the facilities and some ground troops.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 14
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 3

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
24 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 15
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 9
Port hits 1
Port fuel hits 1


British aircraft attacked Shwebo again inflicting minor casualties.

Morning Air attack on 70th/B Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 20
P-38H Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/B Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 3 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 0 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/A Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Allied losses

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


That was the entire turn - pretty slow overall.

Xargun

[Xargun]

Allied subs take some shots at my tankers / oilers scoring once. I did some decent damage to one allied sub, but probably not enough to send him home.

Sub attack near Tandjoengbalai at 47,79

Japanese Ships
TK Eiyo Maru
SC CHa-22

Allied Ships
SS O21, hits 7
===
Sub attack near Peleliu at 89,98

Japanese Ships
AO Shiretoko, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Nikkai Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel

AO Shiretoko sank at the end of the turn. I can't complain as I have lost very few cargo ships in general to allied subs and nearly no tankers / oilers. Shiretoko was a medium oiler (8k tons).


More British air attacks on Shwebo. Not sure what happened but this time through the B-25s really did some damage. They came in at 4k so maybe thats what it was.


Morning Air attack on Shwebo , at 59,45

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 24

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/C Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 40
P-38H Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
377 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 28 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Moving my bombers around trying to keep Nomad from popping CAP over some targets, we struck the Chinese troops again this turn.

Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 60,45 , near Shwebo

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 3
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 35

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 60,45 , near Shwebo

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 3
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 26

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
23 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 75th Chinese Corps, at 60,45 , near Shwebo

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 10



US Heavy bombers hit Soerabaja again. I am trying to figure out a way to put some effective LRCAP over the base to just take some shots at the heavies, but so far no idea seems reasonable.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 3
B-24D1 Liberator x 5

No Allied losses

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

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 16
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Port hits 5
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 25

No Allied losses



Xargun

[Xargun]

The turn starts off with my Nells getting another crack at the US BBs near Loemadjang. Unfortunately they missed again. Not sure, but I don't remember night torpedo attacks being this inaccurate.

Night Air attack on TF, near Loemadjang at 56,106

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 19 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota



As morning came the air attacks over Shwebo and Soerabaja started.

Morning Air attack on Shwebo , at 59,45

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 24

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/A Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 30
P-38H Lightning x 25

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
212 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/C Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
65 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled



Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 25

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D1 Liberator x 5

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

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

Runway hits 6
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 9
===
Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

Runway hits 4
===
Afternoon Air attack on 6th Guards/C Division, at 56,104 (Soerabaja)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 8 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 18
TBF-1 Avenger x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
65 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Overall a slow turn.

Xargun

[Xargun]

My Nells tried their luck against some allied APAs but results were the same.

Night Air attack on TF, near Loemadjang at 56,106

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 116 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 46 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 11

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M3 Nell: 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
APA Custer
APA Doyen
APA Du Page
===
Night Air attack on TF, near Loemadjang at 56,106

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
APA Cambria
APA Du Page
===
Night Air attack on TF, near Loemadjang at 56,106

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 31 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 9

Allied aircraft
P-70 Havoc x 3

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
APA Custer
APA Cambria
SC Direct



Then a light day of air attacks at Shwebo...

Morning Air attack on Shwebo , at 59,45

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 23

No Allied losses
===
Morning Air attack on 70th/B Division, at 59,45 (Shwebo)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 40

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
82 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled


Some British aircraft entered the Rangoon defense zone and were met with some fighters.

Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 68

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed
===
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 20,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 49

Allied aircraft
P-38H Lightning x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 1 destroyed


Losses were much higher than reported - unfortunately I lost 21 total Tojos to his 8 Lightnings.


A light day of bombing at Soerabaja as well. Either all the bombing is adding up on his aircraft, or he is resting for a major push.

Morning Air attack on Soerabaja , at 56,104

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 27
B-24D Liberator x 9
B-24D1 Liberator x 6

No Allied losses

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

Runway hits 3
Port hits 1



I just filled out my 2nd unit of Franks, but they repair very slow. Don't have much experience with SR 3 aircraft.


Xargun