Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

[apbarog]

1 Feb 42

4 enemy destroyers move to Tandjoengpinang, adjacent to Singapore. A tiny HDML was here, having escaped temporarily from Singapore, but being so short-legged it had nowhere to go. The small ship is sunk quickly.

I-24 fires 2 torpedoes at xAK Alaskan, and spots other xAKs in the task force. Torpedoes miss. This task force is several hexes west of Christmas Island.

Bandoeng, the remaining mountain holdout on Java, is swept by 42 Oscars and bombed. No point in commiting the dozen Dutch fighters here. They continue to rest at Batavia. They will be used when well rested. They are not well trained, having recently arrived on the map as a reinforcement.

East of Malang, the units that retreated from Malang are bombed heavily in the clear terrain.

Wenchow, China is swept and bombed.

Kuching on Borneo is lost.

With a new month, some upgrades are started. Some destroyers, mostly cargo ships. Cruiser Houston, damaged badly long ago in a surface fight, repaired completely at Sydney, and has now started its upgrade at Melbourne. I wanted to be a bit further away from KB for this, and it shouldn't affect return time much, if any.

KB stays by Koumac. There are now 4 enemy units there, when there was just 1, an infantry regiment. Should I have tried to defend Noumea? I don't know. You have to commit to defending somewhere as the Allies. The line has to be drawn. As the Japanese, you like nothing better than eliminating big Allied ground units early. It's still early. February 1942. The Japanese can go anywhere they want to, with as much as they want to commit. Aurorus hasn't done recon on Noumea, but he is preparing as if he knows there's defenses there. No matter what I put there, at this point, he can overwhelm it. Just a matter of bringing enough to the party.

If I lose Noumea, and the 2 US Marine regiments there, so be it. They will fight to the last and defend as long as possible. I will be trying to bring in supply and reinforcements, but I have little hope of that being successful. KB is right there. I have subs working hard to put a dent there, though.

Suva is being built up more quickly, and is similarly defended. It has support ships to rearm my cruisers. Norfolk Island will become a support base for Noumea. I'll fly in supply from there if I have to, and that may be soon.

Delay and defend. All that can be done. I don't think my 3 undamaged US carriers would make much difference here. I'd like to be doing something bold against KB, but I can't come up with something that isn't foolish. As they say, time is on my side.

I did get SigInt that the 10 Special Base Force unit is headed to Paramushiro Jima, in the Kuriles. This is the first indication of a buildup there.

[apbarog]

2 Feb 42

Enemy bombers hit Bandoeng, followed by 42 Oscars sweeping. Batavia is reconned, so Aurorus probably spotted the dozen Dutch fighters there. I move them to Bandoeng and CAP. Use them and lose them before I lose them anyway.

The retreated gaggle from Malang gets bombed heavily in the clear terrain again, then attacked and pushed to the east. Kuantan and Wenchow are both bombed again.

I tried to sneak a single xAKL into Noumea with supply. I didn't expect it to work, with KB nearby, and it didn't. KB moved from west to east of Koumac, but still within range of Noumea. 18 P-39s and 13 Buffalos intercepted 15 Vals and 50 Zeros. Despite terrible pilots, 8 Vals and 3 Zeros are shot down, for the loss of one P-39 and one Buffalo. All of the kills went to P-39 pilots. xAKL Capitaine Illiaquer is hit with 6 bombs and sunk after unloading a small amount of supply.

This air fight was a fluke, and Aurorus will not allow this to happen again. He'll undoubtedly sweep Noumea today, and maybe bomb also. I move the fighters out to Suva.

A small Dutch unit that had retreated from Djambi is attacked again and eliminated.

Near Daly Waters, the enemy armor continues to move south. The 48th Recon Regiment attacks the 2/2nd Ind Coy and causes four times the casualties.

At Kokoda, north of Port Moresby, the enemy 5th Indpt SNLF Coy attacks the remnants of the NG Vol Rifles Battalion. The attack goes at 1 to 1 odds, and there are no casualties on either side.

Madjene on Celebes is lost.

Lots of shipping spotted in the Solomons. Some of it has to be headed to Koumac. Today I'm sending a single Dutch destroyer to the French base just NW of Koumac. There's been 4 DMS here. The destroyer is the one that split off from Prince of Wales earlier due to its short legs. The enemy battleship task force is not seen. Could be interesting if the destroyer finds just the minesweepers. Less interesting if it finds anything else.

Allied cruisers and destroyers have all made it back to Suva and rearmed, but there's no fuel. Tankers are inbound. The combat ships will move a bit to the southeast and rendezvous with a tanker convoy at a dot base. I don't mind moving a bit away from Suva. With KB's move to east of Koumac, Suva is now within a full speed move. Improbable but possible.

Reinforcements for Noumea, and supply, is south of Noumea, moving closer, but I really don't think I'll get the chance to force them in. Included is the rest of the two Marine regiments, and an armor unit. Would be really nice to get them into Noumea. Maybe I can distract KB with something.

[apbarog]

3 Feb 42 - The Battle of Belep Islands

Very interesting encounter north of Koumac. Dutch destroyer Tenedos steamed in at full speed looking for a DMS task force at Belep Island. It found something else:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Belep Islands at 112,155, Range 7,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CV Kaga
CV Akagi
CVL Ryujo
CVL Zuiho
CS Chitose
BB Hiei
BB Kirishima
DD Yugumo
DD Akatsuki
DD Hibiki
DD Shikinami
DD Asagiri
DD Sagiri
DD Akebono
DD Ushio

Allied Ships
DD Tenedos

Improved night sighting under 85% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Overcast Conditions and 85% moonlight: 8,000 yards
Range closes to 7,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 7,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 7,000 yards
DD Tenedos engages CV Akagi at 7,000 yards (WITH TORPEDOES....BUT THEY MISS!)
Range closes to 5,000 yards
DD Tenedos engages DD Hibiki at 5,000 yards
DD Tenedos engages CV Akagi at 5,000 yards (AND MISSES WITH GUNS TOO)
DD Tenedos engages DD Hibiki at 5,000 yards
Range closes to 4,000 yards
DD Tenedos engages DD Hibiki at 4,000 yards
DD Ushio engages DD Tenedos at 4,000 yards
DD Tenedos engages DD Shikinami at 4,000 yards
Range increases to 7,000 yards
CV Akagi , CV Kaga screened from combat
- escorted by DD Ushio
DD Hibiki engages DD Tenedos at 7,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
CV Akagi , CV Kaga , CVL Zuiho ,
CVL Ryujo screened from combat
BB Kirishima engages DD Tenedos at 9,000 yards
Japanese Task Force Manages to Escape
Task forces break off...

Tenedos then started to move back towards Australia, and ran into a battleship task force with Kongo and Haruna. The destroyer was hit four times, but survived with SYS 46/FLOT 22-8/END 14/FIRE 0. However, the ship has run completely out of fuel. It has hoisted a sail and is floating to the west while a rescue ship has been dispatched.

[apbarog]

3 Feb 42 - continued

As predicted, a revenge sweep of Zeroes swept Noumea, but didn't find any CAP.

Medan's troops was bombed heavily. Invasion imminent, I think. Poor terrain to defend in. Just to the north, sub Sturgeon spotted two tiny minesweepers headed toward Sabang. The sub did not engage. There's been activiy at Singapore, and a clear drop in the number of units there. Units are headed somewhere.

I'm just not sure what to do about Noumea. I've committed 2/3 of a US Marine division there, without most of its guns and vehicles. I'm building the airfield, which is size 2, but supply is low, with less than 5,000 supply there. There's no hope of sneaking in supply or reinforcements. Many enemy carriers have been stationed to the north since Koumac was invaded, and not left. I knew that this could happen, but I just couldn't leave Noumea undefended.

I will build Norfolk Island and defend it. I may be able to fly in some supply until discovered. I think that Noumea will not be our Guadalcanal, but just a speed bump. Delay and defend, about all I can do. I will try to use the cruisers I have at Suva, maybe a fast run in and out. I just don't see a good outcome here.

One comment on KB. Tenedos spotted 2 big carriers and 2 CVLs in a task force. There's another carrier task force here. I'm not convinced that all of the big carriers are here. I think there may be a couple elsewhere. Maybe heading into the Indian Ocean. Could be anywhere. Just not sure that everything is here.

Preparations continue at Pearl Harbor for the Marshalls, but that would be at least a month away. When Yorktown is repaired, I may send the fleet back to the South Pacific.

[apbarog]

4 Feb 42

Sub S-38 spots an AO task force NE of Koumac, fires 2 torpedoes at DD Tsuga, and misses. There's no doubt that the 2 AOs spotted are here to keep the carrier's fuel tanks topped off. The carriers are here to stay.

South of Kwajalein, sub Trout spots an xAP and a DD, and fires on the DD Hayate, and misses. The transport, if heading south, could be heading to Tarawa, which is the next logical easy target in the area. My cruiser task force had been stationed at Tarawa, but went south to refuel. They've done so, meeting up with some AOs, and are now heading back to Tarawa.

Enemy troops have advanced closer to Yenan in China. Bombers, escorted by Oscars, hit the troops in the woods SE of Yenan, on the road. Aurorus has 2 strong units here. I have one decent Chinese corp. Another Chinese unit is west and inbound to support. I moved a P-40 unit to Yenan and will range CAP today. Aurorus could hit that hex again, or an adjacent one to the north. I'll cover both. This P-40 unit originally came from the Philippines and has mediocre pilots.

Sallys with Oscars hit Bandoeng. 8 Dutch B-339Ds fly CAP. 4 Sallys and 1 Oscar are downed, for the loss of 2 Dutch fighters. The Dutch redeploy to Batavia.

Medan is heavily bombed.

B-17s from Australia make their first strike on Port Moresby. Just 9 bombers fly, half hitting the airfield and the other half hitting the port. There is no CAP. Structure damage is very minimal. 1 Zero is destroyed on the ground. AG Muko Maru is hit in port. A nuisance raid.

Near Daly Waters, Australia, the enemy's 48th Recon Regiment eliminates the 2/2nd Ind Coy. The armor has decided not to proceed further south, and shows movement back to the north. Alice Springs is not quite to a size 2 airfield. If this armor is still in range, it will be pounded with bombers when the airfield expands.

Near New Caledonia, we now know there are AOs supporting the enemy carriers. Something significant jumped to the west, probably hunting the Dutch destroyer they engaged yesterday. Bad weather prevented it from being seen, along with the cargo ship sent out to rescue it, as it is out of fuel. The enemy task force showed all BBs, which isn't correct of course. It could be a carrier division, or a surface group. Carriers are definitely spotted north of Koumac. Another task force, showing cruisers, is east of Koumac. Transports are NE.

My thoughts on Noumea are still to defend and delay. Reinforcement is not a real option. The armor unit that was loaded at Auckland and sent toward Noumea is now back at Auckland. New Zealand is more important that Noumea, and losing a precious tank unit on sinking ships is not an option. Defend Suva.

I got SigInt of the 22 Air Flotilla on an xAK and headed to Port Blair. That's the second support unit headed there. 2 Brit CLs are taking up patrol position south of Port Blair. CVL Hermes and its Swordfish are west of the base. If mini-KB is escorting ships to the Andamans, Hermes is at risk. Maybe the Swordfish can pick off something inbound.

Aurorus has shown absolutely no interest in Burma so far. Not even a recon of Rangoon, even after accidentally losing some Bettys over the base. He's waiting. Maybe thinking I'll reinforce heavily. I don't know. I do know that he has a significant number of units at nearby bases in Thailand. There's 7 units at Chiang Mai, and 15 units at Rahaeng. A raiding regiment is at Rahaeng. Paratroopers. He has plans here. What they are is unknown. I have minimum manning in Burma.

Also, I've extracted the parts of the two Chinese corp that could be purchased. Some are in India already, building up. Other parts are slogging through the jungle near the Burma/India border. I used the Chinese transports to fly out the parts of one of the corp. The other had to walk. In India, these corp will rest and build for quite awhile. Once at full size and trained, they are monsters compared to the typical unfilled corps in China.

Other small but interesting notes: xAKL Cetus was the last Allied ship in the Philippines. It loaded up fuel and left Legaspi about a week ago, hoping to escape. It is now passing Ulithi, still unseen. It will then move SE and pass to the north of Truk, headed east to Wake Island. It has exactly enough range to make it to Wake. Speaking of Wake, I've ignored it until recently. Aurorus never attacked it. I have an xAK there now unloading supply, slowly. Not spotted.

I've gone through scenarios in my head about sending a mega-convoy and carriers from Pearl Harbor to the Philippines. The Philippine rescue that never came in real life. Could it do any good? What if it made it all the way there unspotted? A couple hundred supply and some reinforcements would help make Luzon a tough nut to crack when the enemy finally does come. Keeping carriers there, or any ships for that matter, would be foolish. It would be a dump-and-run. But would it make a significant difference? With lots of supply, air units could be flown back in from China. But the bombers would just be a nuisance to shipping. One surprise strike and then the enemy would just go around. It would be so interesting to try it out. But if the ships were spotted inbound, it could be a disaster. Even if spotted after arriving, the egress routes are limited and predictable. Could result in losing carriers. A fun exercise to think about, but I can't do it.

[apbarog]

4 Feb 42 - Situation around New Caledonia

[apbarog]

5 Feb 42

This was an interesting turn.

Near Port Hedland, RO-33 spots the Dutch surface group that was patrolling near Broome, but is now on the way to Carnavon for fuel. There are now several enemy subs off the north coast. Aurorus is showing more interest here. The invasion that the Dutch were waiting for is probably on the way, but with surprise gone, they won't stick around. By the way, RO-33 missed destroyer Kortenaer with 2 torpedoes.

Off the southern California coast, I-2 launches 2 torpedoes at fast big xAP Rangatire, which is moving unescorted to the South Pacific with a Marine Raider unit. Torpedoes miss.

Near Koumac, sub Thresher spots part of KB, fires 4 torpedoes at Kaga, but all miss. I checked the Thresher captain afterwards, and he's good. Bad luck.

Jackpot in the Andaman Islands. Thanks to previously mentioned SigInt, Brit light cruisers Enterprise and Glasgow had just started to patrol near Port Blair, just to the southeast. Port Blair is just an airfield size 1, so there's some safety from air. The cruisers intercept troop-carrying ships.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Port Blair at 47,60, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Eiko Maru, Shell hits 22, and is sunk
PB Nako Maru #2, Shell hits 23, and is sunk
PB Yodozo Maru, Shell hits 24, and is sunk
xAK Manko Maru, Shell hits 19, and is sunk
xAK Kasuga Maru #2, Shell hits 17, and is sunk
xAK Tasmania Maru, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
PB Konsan Maru, Shell hits 30, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CL Enterprise
CL Glasgow

Japanese ground losses:
3363 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 191 destroyed, 129 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 8 (4 destroyed, 4 disabled)

SigInt had said just yesterday that the 22 Air Flotilla was on an xAK and headed to Port Blair. My guess is that this unit no longer exists.

Zeros from KB then swept Noumea. No CAP. Then 109 Kates with 52 Zeros bomb Noumea's airfield, doing light damage. 25 Kates then bomb the port, doing almost no damage.

Oscars sweep near Yenan, finding a few P-40Es on ranged CAP from Yenan. The Oscars get the best of the P-40s, downing 4 for no loss. Then 21 Lilys arrive, unescorted. A few P-40s intercept late, and with little to engage, shoot down none. 18 Sonias arrive, with 12 Nates. 10 P-40Es intercept, downing 5 Sonias and 2 Nates for no loss.

Makin is invaded. I'm seeing DDs and a CL, but who knows. A big US cruiser task force was 3 hexes away at Tarawa, patrolling, with a reaction range of 2. 1 short. They move to patrol at Makin today, hoping to catch the ships. Makin is lost to the 53 Naval Guard.

Wenchow is deliberately attacked. Here's an example of the devices making a huge difference:

Ground combat at Wenchow (89,58)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 28837 troops, 365 guns, 244 vehicles, Assault Value = 943

Defending force 12160 troops, 38 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 349

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 686

Allied adjusted defense: 787

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
146 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 14 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 35 (1 destroyed, 34 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1305 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 107 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 27 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
12th Tank Regiment
15th Tank Regiment
6th Division
13th Tank Regiment
36th Division
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
1st Mortar Battalion
13th Army
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
100th Chinese Corps
25th Group Army

On the trail south of Yenan, the enemy attacks at 1 to 2 odds. 460 casualties for the enemy and 283 for the Chinese. A reinforcing unit is a couple of days to the west. Aurorus spotted it, and bombed it today to slow it down.

Malaybalay, the mountainous hex on Mindanao, is attacked. It goes poorly for the Japanese, with a 1 to 2 attack against level 2 forts. In the mountains. 456 enemy casualties and 179 for the Allies.

[apbarog]

4 Feb 42 - A Look at Northern China

[apbarog]

Important Aircraft Build Rates till mid 1942

Now in February, we're getting the F4F-3s, but only 8 a month. Can't replace much with that. Here's what's coming per month, with start and stop months:

F4F-3 8 now 42/2 (so just this month)
F4F-4 45 42/3 43/4 (that's when squadrons really start getting upgraded)
TBF-1 35 42/5 43/10
C47 28 42/5
P38E 24 42/5 42/5

[apbarog]

6 Feb 42

Night Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 136,125, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
DD Kamikaze
DD Oite
DD Hayate
xAP Rakuyo Maru, Shell hits 18, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Atsuta Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CA Northampton, Shell hits 3
CA Chester, Shell hits 1
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
CL Raleigh
DD Craven, Shell hits 3
DD McCall

The US ships then found another task force during the day.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 136,124, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kamikaze
DD Oite, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hayate, Shell hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Chester
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 1
DD Craven, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD McCall

There were 2 sinking sounds later in the turn. xAP Rakuyo Maru is almost surely sunk. xAP Atsuta Maru may have sunk. DD Hayate is another possibility, as is CL Yubari. The 2 transports were very big, but the troops had already unloaded at Makin. Destroyer Craven is badly damaged and will try to make it to Tarawa, which is only a size 1 port with no troops. I fear that it is going to sink, but I'll give it a chance. Craven is SYS 73/FLOT 26-6/ENG 29-1/FIRE 43. The other US ships will return to Pearl Harbor. Northampton, Chester, and the destroyers are due for upgrades.

Oscars swept near Yenan, and P-40Es intercepted. 4 of each went down. Lilys bombed troops but the P-40s were exhausted and did not respond.

Bettys from Rabaul bombed Steward Island's port. This is southeast of Tulagi. The enemy knows that there is a searchplane base somewhere in the Solomons, as the Catalinas are spotting enemy ships. Aurorus will find the right base eventually.

Wenchow is heavily bombed, like every day, whether I report it or not.

Bombers hit Sabang's troops.

9 Marys hit Dutch remnants in the jungle near Oosthaven. They been doing so for a number of days. Today Dutch fighters at Batavia did LRCAP over the units, and shot down 5 Marys. Batavia itself was swept by many Oscars, but the Dutch fighters were elsewhere.

12 B-17s from Calcutta bombed the airfield at Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is a forward base for the eventual enemy move into Burma. Unfortunate that the bombers flew before the sweepers. 4 bombers were lost running up against 27 Oscars. Almost no damage to the airfield.

6 B-17s from Townsville bomb the port at Horn Island. No CAP. 1 port hit, and no ships hit. I'd suspected that a damaged light cruiser was here. It may be.

Enemy carriers moved a bit further east of Koumac, and send more big Kate strikes against Noumea. No CAP. A couple of Catalinas were damaged. Moderate damage to the airfield. Other carriers remain at Koumac.

On Java, the enemy pushes the remnants of the defenders of Malang to the eastern tip of the island. Their end is near.

6 C47s arrive at Norfolk Island, and will start ferrying in supply to Noumea. There's only 6 of them, and reinforcements are many weeks away. But the C47 unit has more transport capacity than larger units with less capable planes in Australia, such as the Dutch transports.

Allied cruiser task force will move east of Luganville. Once Koumac's airfield can support enemy fighters, KB won't be tied to the area. Suva is at immediate risk. A big convoy of supply just unloaded there: over 50,000 supply.

The Dutch destroyer Tenedos is leading a charmed life. After its encounter with KB, and surviving a battleship task force, it made it to Brisbane with the help of bad weather, and will now be repaired. And it will only take a week in the shipyard for complete repairs.

[Zecke]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

I'm certainly anxious about the next turn. This is my first big opportunity to inflict some meaningful damage on the enemy. If I can catch a big invasion task force, and destroy some significant ground units, I could disrupt the New Caledonia landings, and maybe save the Marines at Noumea. Can I accomplish something significant without risking the US carriers? We shall see.

I'm wishing for another turn tonight, but it will probably be tomorrow.

is the game maked from billings-rutins and his staff thats we have to apologise why one of the best part of the game is WATING THE TURN; and as the real war; me as a general we are worried about hao can they make such a great game.

[Zecke]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

6 Feb 42

Night Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 136,125, Range 6,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari, Shell hits 6, heavy fires
DD Kamikaze
DD Oite
DD Hayate
xAP Rakuyo Maru, Shell hits 18, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Atsuta Maru, Shell hits 5, heavy fires

Allied Ships
CA Northampton, Shell hits 3
CA Chester, Shell hits 1
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
CL Raleigh
DD Craven, Shell hits 3
DD McCall

The US ships then found another task force during the day.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Makin at 136,124, Range 15,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Kamikaze
DD Oite, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Hayate, Shell hits 4, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Northampton
CA Chester
CL Concord, Shell hits 1
CL Raleigh, Shell hits 1
DD Craven, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD McCall

There were 2 sinking sounds later in the turn. xAP Rakuyo Maru is almost surely sunk. xAP Atsuta Maru may have sunk. DD Hayate is another possibility, as is CL Yubari. The 2 transports were very big, but the troops had already unloaded at Makin. Destroyer Craven is badly damaged and will try to make it to Tarawa, which is only a size 1 port with no troops. I fear that it is going to sink, but I'll give it a chance. Craven is SYS 73/FLOT 26-6/ENG 29-1/FIRE 43. The other US ships will return to Pearl Harbor. Northampton, Chester, and the destroyers are due for upgrades.

Oscars swept near Yenan, and P-40Es intercepted. 4 of each went down. Lilys bombed troops but the P-40s were exhausted and did not respond.

Bettys from Rabaul bombed Steward Island's port. This is southeast of Tulagi. The enemy knows that there is a searchplane base somewhere in the Solomons, as the Catalinas are spotting enemy ships. Aurorus will find the right base eventually.

Wenchow is heavily bombed, like every day, whether I report it or not.

Bombers hit Sabang's troops.

9 Marys hit Dutch remnants in the jungle near Oosthaven. They been doing so for a number of days. Today Dutch fighters at Batavia did LRCAP over the units, and shot down 5 Marys. Batavia itself was swept by many Oscars, but the Dutch fighters were elsewhere.

12 B-17s from Calcutta bombed the airfield at Chiang Mai, Thailand. This is a forward base for the eventual enemy move into Burma. Unfortunate that the bombers flew before the sweepers. 4 bombers were lost running up against 27 Oscars. Almost no damage to the airfield.

6 B-17s from Townsville bomb the port at Horn Island. No CAP. 1 port hit, and no ships hit. I'd suspected that a damaged light cruiser was here. It may be.

Enemy carriers moved a bit further east of Koumac, and send more big Kate strikes against Noumea. No CAP. A couple of Catalinas were damaged. Moderate damage to the airfield. Other carriers remain at Koumac.

On Java, the enemy pushes the remnants of the defenders of Malang to the eastern tip of the island. Their end is near.

6 C47s arrive at Norfolk Island, and will start ferrying in supply to Noumea. There's only 6 of them, and reinforcements are many weeks away. But the C47 unit has more transport capacity than larger units with less capable planes in Australia, such as the Dutch transports.

Allied cruiser task force will move east of Luganville. Once Koumac's airfield can support enemy fighters, KB won't be tied to the area. Suva is at immediate risk. A big convoy of supply just unloaded there: over 50,000 supply.

The Dutch destroyer Tenedos is leading a charmed life. After its encounter with KB, and surviving a battleship task force, it made it to Brisbane with the help of bad weather, and will now be repaired. And it will only take a week in the shipyard for complete repairs.

didnt know this trik (put some APs in a surface combat)..makes interesting but for me to losse a merchant is not at all worthy..but i will try. Thx apbarog.

[Zecke]

dont Know in ADMIRALs if you build American first carriers sink later on; in WITP (yes)..BUT IF I HAVE TO LOSSE NOUMEA I WILL LOSSE FIRTS MY CARRIERS just trust in the damage control fire of the USA-CVs.... put all planes at cero CAP; your carriers may not stop the landing but you will hit some japan CVs and then retake noumea earlier, if japan makes a base at KOUMAC to lay his bettys is all lost

[apbarog]

The xAPs unloaded enemy troops at Makin before I intercepted them. The enemy light cruiser and destroyers were escorting the transports.

I did consider keeping my carriers near Noumea to stop an invasion. But Yorktown was hit by a sub torpedo, so not only was surprise lost, but I only had 3 good carriers left. That's not enough to fight all of the Japanese carriers. Especially not when I still have Buffalo fighters on them, and my pilots are poorly trained. And I have TBD torpedo bombers which, in my experience, are not very useful in torpedo attack. I chose to send my carriers far away and defend with cruisers and destroyers. My choice may be a poor one. I may lose Noumea. My thinking is that the war will not be lost with the fate of Noumea, but it could be lost foolishly losing the US carriers for little or no gain.

[apbarog]

7 Feb 42

Dutch sub O19 sinks tiny minesweeper AMc Keijin Maru near Balikpapan. It's good to sink a ship, but now O19 is low on torpedoes, and the nearest port that can equip the sub is far away. I decide to redeploy the sub to the east coast of Australia.

4 enemy destroyers are spotted SE of Truk by sub Searaven. They appear to be headed SE.

Wenchow is heavily bombed, deliberately attacked, and lost. It was costly. I chose to delay the enemy by staying rather than fleeing from the first. The 100th Chinese Corps was a good one.

Allied ground losses:
16142 casualties reported
Squads: 481 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 602 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 35 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 44 (44 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Kuantan is the holdout base in Malaysia, and continues to be bombed. It has lots of supply, as I pulled most of the supply out of Singapore before it was cut off. Kuantan will hold for awhile unless more enemy shows up.

A hex near Yenan is swept by Oscars again, but the P-40s have pulled back from the front to recover. Lilys bomb the 3rd Chinese Cavalry Corps, which then moves into the disputed hex near Yenan, in the woods. The hex should hold now.

Sabang's troops are bombed again.

Over 100 Kates bomb Noumea again.

See the map for details in the South Pacific.

[apbarog]

I forgot to mention the composition of the task force SW of Koumac, about to make its run into the base. It has heavy cruisers Australia and Canberra, light cruiser Perth, and destroyers Stuart, Electra, and Express. Not nearly as strong a force compared to the one headed into the Solomons.

Have to try and disrupt the Koumac landings. Defend and delay, and make the cost as high as possible for the enemy.

[Zecke]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

The xAPs unloaded enemy troops at Makin before I intercepted them. The enemy light cruiser and destroyers were escorting the transports.

I did consider keeping my carriers near Noumea to stop an invasion. But Yorktown was hit by a sub torpedo, so not only was surprise lost, but I only had 3 good carriers left. That's not enough to fight all of the Japanese carriers. Especially not when I still have Buffalo fighters on them, and my pilots are poorly trained. And I have TBD torpedo bombers which, in my experience, are not very useful in torpedo attack. I chose to send my carriers far away and defend with cruisers and destroyers. My choice may be a poor one. I may lose Noumea. My thinking is that the war will not be lost with the fate of Noumea, but it could be lost foolishly losing the US carriers for little or no gain.

good..so let them stak in that island..at least you know where there are..just try too know how many soldiers are for easier path to the marines¡..kawaljen has artillery staking, lunga an airfield and noumea the port if i where you as escipin did take short island

[apbarog]

8 Feb 42

An action-packed day.

Near Ndeni, CL Kiso and escorts finds Dutch sub KXIV and gets a good depth charge hit on it. KXIV is now headed to Suva with moderately severe damage, and is questionalbe whether it will survive.

Australian ships speed into Koumac from the west. The only task force found is a surface group led by Kongo and Haruna. The battleship shells devastate the cruisers.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna, Shell hits 3
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Oi, Shell hits 2
DD Akigumo, Shell hits 1
DD Yukikaze, Shell hits 3
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Tokitsukaze

Allied Ships
CA Australia, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Canberra, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Perth, Shell hits 1
DD Stuart, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
DD Electra, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Express, Shell hits 3

The Allied task force fragments into damaged parts. The enemy reengages.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Koumac at 113,156, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna, Shell hits 1
CL Kitakami
CL Oi
DD Akigumo
DD Yukikaze
DD Maikaze
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Tokitsukaze

Allied Ships
CL Perth
DD Express, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Up north during the day, the big US cruiser force patrols through Ndeni, and finds CL Kiso and friends. The IJN destroyers do well against the US destroyers, even when badly damaged. This is true in all of the battles that follow.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 119,142, Range 22,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Kiso, Shell hits 23, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Shiratsuyu, Shell hits 1
DD Shigure, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Murasame, Shell hits 1
DD Samidare, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Louisville, Shell hits 2
CA Pensacola
CA New Orleans
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 1
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 2
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1
CL Helena
DD Conyngham, Shell hits 1
DD Shaw, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
DD Flusser, Shell hits 1
DD Downes
DD Cassin, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Reid, Shell hits 1, on fire

The enemy begins to withdraw to the NW, but the US task force is patrolling in that direction, and reengages. The Japanese really take a pounding here, but the enemy still gets a few damaging hits on US destroyers.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Kirakira at 118,141, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Kiso, Shell hits 37, and is sunk
DD Shiratsuyu, Shell hits 12, and is sunk
DD Shigure, Shell hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Murasame, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Samidare, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
DD Suzukaze, Shell hits 11, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola
CA New Orleans
CA Minneapolis
CA San Francisco, on fire
CL St. Louis
CL Helena, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Conyngham
DD Flusser, Shell hits 1, heavy fires
DD Downes, Shell hits 1
DD Cassin, heavy fires

What's left of the IJN force is reengaged again.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Kirakira at 118,141, Range 22,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure, and is sunk
DD Murasame, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola
CA New Orleans
CA Minneapolis
CL St. Louis
CL Helena, on fire
DD Conyngham, Shell hits 1, on fire

A clear Japanese victory at Koumac, and a clear US victory against the Kiso force near Ndeni. And then enemy carrier planes are spotted...

CARRIER ATTACK #1
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ndeni at 119,142

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 43
B5N1 Kate x 28
B5N2 Kate x 78
D3A1 Val x 49

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 8 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
DD Reid, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
CA Minneapolis
DD Shaw, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
CA Pensacola, Bomb hits 2, on fire
CA New Orleans, Torpedo hits 1

CARRIER ATTACK #2
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kirakira at 118,140

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

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

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N2 Kate x 34
D3A1 Val x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CA San Francisco, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Downes, Bomb hits 1
DD Flusser, heavy fires
DD Cassin, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

CARRIER ATTACK #3
Morning Air attack on TF, near Kirakira at 117,141

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 4 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
D3A1 Val x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Conyngham, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Painful to watch, but after sleeping on it, not as devastating as it could have been. US losses are 1 heavy cruiser and about 5 destroyers. Australian losses are 1 heavy cruiser, with another heavy cruiser about to sink. IJN losses are a light cruiser and 4 or 5 destroyers.

KB moved north, leaving Koumac for a day, just at the right time for an intercept. Maybe the US ships were spotted. Maybe Aurorus just had a feeling that another flanking raid was in the works. Or maybe KB moved north to escort something big south, or is leaving to rearm. I don't know. But kudos to my opponent on a nice carrier strike.

Here's the damage done to the surviving Allied ships:

CA Pensacola SYS 7, FLOT 9-4, ENG 4-4, FIRE 0
CA New Orleans SYS 8, FLOT 20-10, ENG 1-1, FIRE 0
CA Canberra SYS 60, FLOT 84-34, ENG 14-2, FIRE 0
CL St. Louis SYS 8, FLOT 0, ENG 4-1, FIRE 0
CL Helena SYS 47, FLOT 21-8, ENG 29-2, FIRE 12
DD Flusser SYS 62, FLOT 31-4, ENG 36-1, FIRE 56
DD Downes SYS 21, FLOT 12-3, ENG 3-0, FIRE 0
DD Electra SYS 30, FLOT 21-8, ENG 7-1, FIRE 0
DD Express SYS 53, FLOT 9-3, ENG 10-1, FIRE 0

Sub KXIV SYS 28, FLOT 63-46, ENG 7-3, FIRE 0
DD Craven SYS 99, FLOT 76-11, ENG 47-1, FIRE 82 (in port at Tarawa, scuttled)

Bettys from Rabaul bombed Lunga's port. Nothing there. Several Solomon island bases got recon, and the AVP and Catalinas at Rennel Island were spotted. The AVP will flee to the west. The Cats went to Milne Bay, where there is already and AVP, and will fly search from there for awhile.

Some bombardment attacks in China, at Kuantan, on Mindanao. The usual stuff.

With KB having moved north a bit, I start to load some xAKLs with supply for Noumea. Of course, KB can be back at Koumac in one day, and I expect that to happen, but I have to try to force supply in. Today, Catalinas and C-47s flew in enough supply to break even for the day. This is only true when Noumea isn't bombed, and today it wasn't.

Important SigInt today: Yoko 1st SNLF is planning an attack at Prome. Prome is north of Rangoon. This would be a paradrop to isolate Rangoon. I'd already gotten SigInt for a different paratroop raiding regiment located at Raheng, near the Burma border. More confirmation of what could be coming to Burma soon. Burma is minimally manned. Prome is undefended. I start to move a small unit from Rangoon to Prome to repulse a paradrop.

Now to see what Allied ships get away, and what KB will do next.

[apbarog]

9 Feb 42

Despite having what's left of my cruiser force set to Full Speed, and heading NE away from the enemy, a new enemy cruiser force intercepts. US cruisers are aleady low on ammunition.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 119,142, Range 11,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CA Maya
CA Chokai, Shell hits 2
DD Kagero
DD Amatsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Tanikaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 7, heavy fires
CA Minneapolis, Shell

After this fight, I get a message that my task force is retiring to the base that I had set for its home base. A dot base south of the Marshalls. Unfortunately, this apparently negated the waypoints that I had set and the task force steamed directly toward the home base, not far to the NE, then E, then SE, like I had plotted. It was on Absolute setting too, if that matters.

The bottom line is that the enemy cruiser task force reengaged twice after the first fight. This may not have happened if they had gone NE as plotted.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 119,143, Range 11,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Atago, Shell hits 2
CA Maya
CA Chokai, Shell hits 1
DD Kagero
DD Amatsukaze
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Tanikaze, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 7, heavy fires
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 27, and is sunk
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL St. Louis, Shell hits 1

And again...
Night Time Surface Combat, near Ndeni at 120,143, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CA Maya
CA Chokai
DD Kagero
DD Amatsukaze, Shell hits 1
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Tanikaze, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Louisville
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 9, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL St. Louis, on fire

Both Pensacola and Minneapolis sank. With New Orleans sinking, that makes 3 more heavy cruisers lost. Louisville and St. Louis will move ENE at full speed and hope to rendezvous with a couple of AOs, then head east to Pearl Harbor.

I moved a second part of the AVG to Rangoon, and 2 units swept Chiang Mai. They found over 40 Oscars. Total losses were 27 Oscars for the cost of 8 H81s. AVG will upgrade to P40Es when India gets a size 7 airfield.

The last Dutch on the southern part of Java are eliminated.

With my Catalinas forced to leave Rennel Island, I lost search coverage over the Solomons. The whole area went dark. I don't see KB or the enemy surface groups now.

I got SigInt today that the 56th Recon Rgt is loaded on an xAP and is headed to Koumac. Plus, I was told that it is prepping for Noumea. KB may be up north escorting more ships to Koumac. It could also jump toward Suva and hit that base.

If armor is heading to Koumac, Noumea isn't going to last long. I thought about trying to force in a US armor unit that is at Auckland. But it wouldn't unload in a day, and the ships would be sitting ducks. I'll continue to fly in supply, and maybe force in an xAKL or two, but the tanks will remain in New Zealand. They may end up defending there for all I know.

CA Canberra, very badly damaged, moved a couple of hexes away from Koumac, down the west coast, heading for Noumea. It was spotted but not attacked. I'm sure that KB will return and finish it off, whether it makes it to Noumea or not.

A regiment is going from Melbourne to Auckland to help reinforce. New Zealand is woefully underdefended. It has lots of fuel and supply, just not a lot of men yet. Another convoy is about to arrive, with a couple of fighter squadrons. Much needed.

[BBfanboy]

Ouch! [:(]