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Turn 47, 21st September 1942


The second bombardment run comes in with full ammo (others had 5/14 ammo on the CAs so neither produced sigificant results):


***
Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 damaged

22 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
CA Takao
CL Yura, Shell hits 1
CL Nagara
DD Mutsuki
DD Samidare
DD Isokaze
DD Akigumo
DD Yugumo

Allied ground losses:
108 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 13
Port hits 22
Port supply hits 3
***

More of my troops are moving into Lunga. An HQ will arrive within the week. I now have fairly equal numbers:

***
Ground combat at Lunga (114,138)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8480 troops, 162 guns, 46 vehicles, Assault Value = 433

Defending force 12341 troops, 121 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 439

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

Assaulting units:
Am'Cal/132nd Inf Regiment
1st Marine Regiment
Am'Cal/164th Inf Regiment
5th Marine Regiment
III/11th Field Artillery Battalion
3rd Bn Naval Construction Battalion
1st MarDiv HQ
11th/42nd Base Sqdn
38th/69th Base Sqdn
MAG-23 RE
6th Bn Naval Construction Battalion
131st Aviation Engineer Battalion
1st Marine Pioneer Battalion
II/11th Field Artillery Battalion
3rd USMC Defense Battalion
Americal Div HQ
V/11th Field Artillery Battalion
1st AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
67th Ftr Base Sqdn
1st SW Field AA Battalion
III/10th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
Yokosuka 5th SNLF
28th (Sep) Inf Regiment
81st Naval Guard Unit
Kure 3rd SNLF
Kure 5th SNLF
35th IB/124th Inf Regiment
61st Naval Guard Unit
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Hy Field Artillery Battalion

***

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

In case you have not been clued in yet, I will mention that the damaged aircraft part of your bombardments does not mean 10 F4F-4 and 19 P-40E aircraft were damaged - it means there were 10 bits of shell damage on F4F type aircraft and 19 bits of shell damage on P-40s. Multiple hits on the same aircraft means you cannot say how many aircraft were actually damaged.

Well that puts a downer on it! What is the rationale behind reporting things that way?

The game engine cannot handle keeping track of individual hits on individual aircraft. Squadron level numbers are as low as it can go in keeping track of aircraft. It is a strategic level game rather than a tactical one.

Fair enough!

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

In case you have not been clued in yet, I will mention that the damaged aircraft part of your bombardments does not mean 10 F4F-4 and 19 P-40E aircraft were damaged - it means there were 10 bits of shell damage on F4F type aircraft and 19 bits of shell damage on P-40s. Multiple hits on the same aircraft means you cannot say how many aircraft were actually damaged.

Well that puts a downer on it! What is the rationale behind reporting things that way?

The game engine cannot handle keeping track of individual hits on individual aircraft. Squadron level numbers are as low as it can go in keeping track of aircraft. It is a strategic level game rather than a tactical one.

Combat reports of "damaged" aircraft mean nothing, as far as I'm concerned. It would be significant if he has no aviation support and can't repair the aircraft, but he has 3 base squadrons there (that I can see from the combat report), so most of those damaged aircraft will be able to fly tomorrow. A night bombardment will put the damaged aircraft out of action for today; an afternoon bombardment occurs after all air actions, so has little to no impact.

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13




Well that puts a downer on it! What is the rationale behind reporting things that way?

The game engine cannot handle keeping track of individual hits on individual aircraft. Squadron level numbers are as low as it can go in keeping track of aircraft. It is a strategic level game rather than a tactical one.

Combat reports of "damaged" aircraft mean nothing, as far as I'm concerned. It would be significant if he has no aviation support and can't repair the aircraft, but he has 3 base squadrons there (that I can see from the combat report), so most of those damaged aircraft will be able to fly tomorrow. A night bombardment will put the damaged aircraft out of action for today; an afternoon bombardment occurs after all air actions, so has little to no impact.

Not sure that ALL of them will be repaired, so there is the chance that a consecutive bombardment will add enough dings to destroy an aircraft or two more, sort of like disabled squads are much more likely to become destroyed squads.

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy



The game engine cannot handle keeping track of individual hits on individual aircraft. Squadron level numbers are as low as it can go in keeping track of aircraft. It is a strategic level game rather than a tactical one.

Combat reports of "damaged" aircraft mean nothing, as far as I'm concerned. It would be significant if he has no aviation support and can't repair the aircraft, but he has 3 base squadrons there (that I can see from the combat report), so most of those damaged aircraft will be able to fly tomorrow. A night bombardment will put the damaged aircraft out of action for today; an afternoon bombardment occurs after all air actions, so has little to no impact.

Not sure that ALL of them will be repaired, so there is the chance that a consecutive bombardment will add enough dings to destroy an aircraft or two more, sort of like disabled squads are much more likely to become destroyed squads.

Thanks both of you for contributing to this. Can I bring it back to strategy then and ask that, within the context of my finite fuel resource, how sensible are these bombardment runs? Should I Just keep these to the day or two either side of a transport run?

Nothing much happened on the past turn but I can provide a CV update:

Shokaku 22 days to repair
Zuikaku 18 days to repair
Junyo 16 days to arrival
Soryu 16 days to arrival

CVL Zuiho and my CVE are fully operational.

You have to keep GC damaged, so it will not expand fortifications. And Naval Bombardments can really weaken Land Units. Plus, it destroys supply. I remember, that during my play, US wasn't even able to muster 100 AV, after month of daily bombardment.
It seems, there is larger-than-average number of destroyed squads, so it is possible already half of US units is disabled.

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13

Nothing much happened on the past turn but I can provide a CV update:

Shokaku 22 days to repair
Zuikaku 18 days to repair
Junyo 16 days to arrival
Soryu 16 days to arrival

CVL Zuiho and my CVE are fully operational.

Surprisingly short times. Keep eye on any weird symbols, after number of estimated days in repair. That means, that not all damage can be repaired under current configuration.
Zuikaku will repair only SYS damage, but it seems, it will be barely able to launch planes.

Above all, you must protect your own reinforcement and supply convoy when it goes in, so keep enough fuel and air assets to coordinate with the transports when they run in. That would be a good time to include a bombardment run. Another good time would be the night phase before your troops attack.

You will have to assess your fuel usage vs availability and decide on the frequency of bombardments otherwise.

Also try and estimate how long it will take the US carriers that stung Mutsu and company to go back to Noumea and return. That is when you need to worry about your bombardment TF getting caught.

25th September 1942
My troops have finished their march into Lunga, finally giving me a degree of superiority in numbers over the US forces. Tassafaragona is left undefended but a heavily escorted supply convoy is due to start unloading 200ish AV there tonight.
Protecting them I have LRCAP from Buin and Shortlands, a flapjack mix of Zeros and Rufes.
I have my first CA group ready to run into Lunga tonight to hit the airfield and hopefully help these transports complete their mission at Tassafaragona unhindered. I have a second group which will go in tomorrow and if I need a third Kirishima, currently escorting the transports, will sail down the coast and open fire.
The question I have is now the time to press the assault at Lunga? Here is the result of the allies' latest bombardment attack:


***
Ground combat at Lunga (114,138)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8532 troops, 162 guns, 46 vehicles, Assault Value = 464

Defending force 20508 troops, 171 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 714

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

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

Assaulting units:
Am'Cal/132nd Inf Regiment
Am'Cal/164th Inf Regiment
1st Marine Regiment
5th Marine Regiment
38th/69th Base Sqdn
V/11th Field Artillery Battalion
1st Marine Pioneer Battalion
1st SW Field AA Battalion
131st Aviation Engineer Battalion
MAG-23 RE
1st MarDiv HQ
Americal Div HQ
3rd USMC Defense Battalion
III/11th Field Artillery Battalion
11th/42nd Base Sqdn
67th Ftr Base Sqdn
II/11th Field Artillery Battalion
1st AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
6th Bn Naval Construction Battalion
3rd Bn Naval Construction Battalion
III/10th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
35th IB/124th Inf Regiment
2nd ID/16th Inf Regiment
Kure 3rd SNLF
28th (Sep) Inf Regiment
2nd ID/29th Inf Regiment
81st Naval Guard Unit
Yokosuka 5th SNLF
Kure 5th SNLF
61st Naval Guard Unit
35th Inf Brigade HQ
2nd Inf Div HQ
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Hy Field Artillery Battalion

***

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13
The question I have is now the time to press the assault at Lunga? Here is the result of the allies' latest bombardment attack:

Judging from available LCUs your best course of action might be trying to deplete his supply through bombardments both LCU/Naval and bombing, threaten the assault when supply is depleted and thus provoke him into trying to bring more reinforcements. You have dealt with the previous reinf wave quite satisfactorily [:)]

So far you don't have nearly enough attack power to capture the base while he has supply, not only in AV terms but even more in artillery terms. Looks like Allies brought all the artillery on the map here? What's left for PM defence then?

ORIGINAL: GetAssista

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13
The question I have is now the time to press the assault at Lunga? Here is the result of the allies' latest bombardment attack:

Judging from available LCUs your best course of action might be trying to deplete his supply through bombardments both LCU/Naval and bombing, threaten the assault when supply is depleted and thus provoke him into trying to bring more reinforcements. You have dealt with the previous reinf wave quite satisfactorily [:)]

So far you don't have nearly enough attack power to capture the base while he has supply, not only in AV terms but even more in artillery terms. Looks like Allies brought all the artillery on the map here? What's left for PM defence then?

Thanks GetAssista. I'm loading up a bunch of artillery at Truk now, which I will bring down in a fast transport group to reinforce the island. I aim to fast transport these directly into lunga to balance the artillery balance as soon as possible. I don't know what was meant to be in the scenario so I've no idea what he has at PM. I have about 300AV around Kokoda though so I could just march in and find out - if I lose it won't change much, certainly not on the Guadalcanal front...

26-28th September 1942

My rather disjointed assault on Lunga continues. The next wave of reinforcements has been unloading in Tassafaragona for the past few days so was always going to attract attention. my successful bombardments of Henderson field kept his planes at bay until 28th, when all hell broke loose!

***
26th September 1942, Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

6 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Aoba
DD Yugiri
DD Shirayuki
DD Shirakumo

Allied ground losses:
75 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 10
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 2

E7K2 Alf acting as spotter for CA Furutaka
***
27th September 1942, Night Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Aoba
DD Shirakumo

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

Runway hits 2
Port hits 1
***

I had noticed some ships at Milne Bay so I sent a prospective taskforce out to determine if there was any threat from that port while I am focusing on GC, but looks like my oppo is focusing solely on GC too. Always nice to sink a couple though...

***
27th September 1942, Night Time Surface Combat, near Milne Bay at 101,133, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CL Yubari
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio
DD Hayashio
DD Hagikaze

Allied Ships
AM Bunbury, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
xAKL Parigi, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
xAKL Sipora, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
***


An outbound bombardment taskforce also gives a US sub a bloody nose


***
27th September 1942, Sub attack near Ontong Java at 116,133

Japanese Ships
DD Harusame
CA Chokai
DD Umikaze
DD Kawakaze

Allied Ships
SS Grenadier, hits 4, heavy damage
***


Then My oppo sends in a heavy cruiser division to see to my reinforcements - and its a slogging match.

***
28th September 1942, Night Time Surface Combat, near Tassafaronga at 113,137, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 2
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Kashima, Shell hits 2, on fire
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Makigumo
DD Kagero
DD Suzukaze
DD Yugure
DD Ariake
DD Fubuki
DD Oite
AK Sado Maru
AK Sakito Maru
AK Sasako Maru
xAK Brisbane Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
xAK Kinugasa Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
xAK Nako Maru, Shell hits 2
xAK Africa Maru
xAK Matsukawa Maru
xAK Daifuku Maru

Allied Ships
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 1
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA San Francisco
CA Vincennes
DD Fletcher
DD Gridley
DD Maury
DD Stack, Shell hits 1
DD Selfridge
DD Balch
***


Fortunately 95% or more of the troops made it ashore before my commander orders a return to Truk. The bloodied Allied taskforce does, however, stumble into my (delayed?) next bombardment group and prevent them from completing their mission - meaning the planes fly from Hendersonfield in the morning... [:(]

***
28th September 1942, Day Time Surface Combat, near Lunga at 114,138, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Atago, Shell hits 1
CA Chokai, Shell hits 8, heavy fires
DD Harusame, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Kawakaze, Shell hits 3
DD Umikaze, Shell hits 18, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA New Orleans, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 7, on fire
CA Vincennes, Shell hits 14, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Fletcher
DD Gridley, Shell hits 1
DD Maury
DD Stack, Shell hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Selfridge, Shell hits 2, heavy fires
***

Morning Air attack on TF, near Auki at 116,134

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 16
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
SBD-3 Dauntless x 15

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
AK Sakito Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Kinugasa Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Nako Maru
***
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Auki at 116,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 16
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
SBD-3 Dauntless x 12

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Nako Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
BB Kirishima
CA Chikuma

Japanese ground losses:
87 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

***

Not a great turn for the Japanese... My transport group retreats north, as does the remnants of my bombardment group. I have a couple more cruiser divisions inbound to hit whatever is hanging around, assuming his heavy cruisers have had enough.
My artillery is loading at Truk and I will attempt a fast transport run to get them into Lunga once they're all loaded up.
My 2 new CVs are 10 days out while my other carriers are 13-18 days from completing their repairs. Upon recovery I may be able to field a semi functional fleet of 4x CVs, 1x CVL and 1x CVE [8D]

29th September - 2nd October 1942

The US carriers are acting on suspiciously accurate intelligence and moved into perfect striking distance to the staging ground for my Bombardment group and Transport groups. My reinforcements have been delayed and I am not planning to make a further attempt at reinforcement until my carriers are ready because his carriers are now fully operational and will have soaring confidence after the past few days. My two new CVs will arrive in 6 days and my repairs on Shokaku and Zuikaku will be complete in 11 and 13 days. A long time for his carriers to have free roam.
The upside from this is that the telling signs of his reinforcement run were bomber strikes on buin and Shortlands and I spotted the reinforcements coming in thanks to my subs south of GC. Unfortunately my bombardment runs into Lunga were too early and thus I was not in position to strike at his landing forces until day 3. when his carriers struck...

29th September 1942
The air attacks on Buin and Shortlands begin...
***
Morning Air attack on Buin , at 109,131

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
A6M3 Zero x 1

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed by flak

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

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 4
***
Morning Air attack on Buin , at 109,131

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
A6M3 Zero x 1

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

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

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 2
***

Then we exchange naval strikes, with his materially more successful, given his Carriers were LRCAP over the landing sites - I should've known.

***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
G4M1 Betty x 11

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 7
F4F-4 Wildcat x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CA Canberra
CL Hobart
***
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Tulagi at 116,137

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 13
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
SBD-3 Dauntless x 16

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Shirayuki
CA Furutaka, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
CA Aoba
***

Then last allied bombardment attack prior to their reinforcements shows my numerical superiority for just one more day...

***
Ground combat at Lunga (114,138)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 8515 troops, 164 guns, 46 vehicles, Assault Value = 485

Defending force 20990 troops, 205 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 722

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

1st October 1942
So a bunch of my sub attacks at lunga on his landing forces fail and an attack on my 'Slot' ASW force reveals his aircraft carriers' position...

I have been told many times that I had insufficient troops to attack but I haven't tried... so as this is my trial game I need to find out myself. The results are as horrific as I had been warned...

The Air attacks on Buin and Shortlands continue - Question: Is there anyway to stop B17Es? If I CAP then my zeros get eaten, if I don't they get destroyed on the ground. Pretty frustrating!
***
Morning Air attack on Buin , at 109,131
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M3 Zero x 1
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 4 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 2
***
Morning Air attack on Buin , at 109,131
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1
***
His carriers launch their first strike and sink some SCs (they sink the third in the PM strikes)
***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Rekata Bay at 112,135
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
No Allied losses
Japanese Ships
SC Ch 18
SC Ch 17, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
SC Ch 16, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
***


Then the attack goes in, the rationale of attacking now is that maybe there is some organisational confusion while his troops are still in strat mode and on the beaches?, either way, its brutal [:(]

***
Ground combat at Lunga (114,138)
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20943 troops, 205 guns, 17 vehicles, Assault Value = 719
Defending force 21516 troops, 340 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 625

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 165
Allied adjusted defense: 2705
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 16 (fort level 2)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
5193 casualties reported
Squads: 69 destroyed, 435 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 88 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 26 disabled
Guns lost 46 (4 destroyed, 42 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
441 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
35th IB/124th Inf Regiment
2nd ID/16th Inf Regiment
81st Naval Guard Unit
2nd ID/29th Inf Regiment
Kure 3rd SNLF
28th (Sep) Inf Regiment
Kure 5th SNLF
Yokosuka 5th SNLF
61st Naval Guard Unit
I/2nd Field Artillery Battalion
6th Rapid Fire Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
35th Inf Brigade HQ
2nd Inf Div HQ
3rd Hy Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
Am'Cal/132nd Inf Regiment
5th Marine Regiment
Am'Cal/164th Inf Regiment
1st Marine Regiment
7th Marine Rgt /1
11th/42nd Base Sqdn
Americal Div HQ
1st MarDiv HQ
III/11th Field Artillery Battalion
131st Aviation Engineer Battalion
1st SW Field AA Battalion
V/11th Field Artillery Battalion
1st AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
67th Ftr Base Sqdn
Am'Cal/221st FA Bn /1
38th/69th Base Sqdn
3rd Bn Naval Construction Battalion
II/11th Field Artillery Battalion
6th Bn Naval Construction Battalion
3rd USMC Defense Battalion
1st Marine Pioneer Battalion
MAG-23 RE
Am'Cal/245th FA Bn /1
III/10th Field Artillery Battalion
Am'Cal/247th FA Bn /1
Am'Cal/246th FA Bn /1
***

2nd October 1942

His cruisers and destroyers corner one of my inbound subs and its not pretty:
***
Submarine attack near Stewart Island at 116,138
Japanese Ships
SS I-10, hits 20, and is sunk
Allied Ships
CLAA San Juan
CLAA Juneau
DD Aaron Ward
DD Arunta
DD Welles
DD Barton
DD Farenholt
***

Another attack on Lunga's beaches fails. Does Japan (or the US for that matter) ever get any decent long range naval attack aircraft? i.e. without carriers is there anything I can or should do when I know he has ships at the beaches?

***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Lunga at 114,138

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G4M1 Betty x 13
Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 5
F4F-4 Wildcat x 22
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed
No Allied losses
Allied Ships
CA Portland
BB South Dakota
***

His carriers then launch a huge attack on my cruiser force which was had just finished merging and was due to hit the beaches tomorrow...

***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 115,132
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 60
SBD-3 Dauntless x 74
Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 13 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires
CL Yubari, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Aoba
DD Kuroshio
DD Akigumo, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
CL Kitakami, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Hayashio
DD Sazanami
DD Oyashio, Bomb hits 1
DD Akebono
DD Hagikaze, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage

Magazine explodes on CL Kitakami
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CA Suzuya

***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 115,132

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 13

Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Suzuya, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Oi, Torpedo hits 1
***
Morning Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 115,132

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Kuroshio
DD Oyashio, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Hayashio
***
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ontong Java at 117,131

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CL Tatsuta, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Nagara, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CL Tatsuta
Massive explosion on CL Nagara

***

The US now is now well positioned in Lunga:

Defending force 22004 troops, 369 guns, 235 vehicles, Assault Value = 574


I won't be able to mount any further reinforcements or attacks until my carriers are inbound in just over 2 weeks. So expect some quiet turns from me, but a lot of US activity...

Question: Is there anyway to stop B17Es?

In short - no.

One way is to capture the airfield where they are based. But, unless most of them are damaged they'll just fly away. A one-for-one trade of Zeroes for B-17s is about as good as you'll get.

Then the attack goes in, the rationale of attacking now is that maybe there is some organisational confusion while his troops are still in strat mode and on the beaches?

Why would his troops be in strat mode? An amphibious TF loads the troops in combat mode. A transport TF loads the troops in strategic mode, but they are not ready to fight as they disembark.

Does Japan (or the US for that matter) ever get any decent long range naval attack aircraft?

Nells and Betties are very good long range torpedo bombers, but they are not very effective against a well-CAP-ed CV TF. They'll do great against cargo ships, if there is no CAP, or if they are escorted.

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

Question: Is there anyway to stop B17Es?

In short - no.

One way is to capture the airfield where they are based. But, unless most of them are damaged they'll just fly away. A one-for-one trade of Zeroes for B-17s is about as good as you'll get.

Gotcha, thanks.

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

Then the attack goes in, the rationale of attacking now is that maybe there is some organisational confusion while his troops are still in strat mode and on the beaches?

Why would his troops be in strat mode? An amphibious TF loads the troops in combat mode. A transport TF loads the troops in strategic mode, but they are not ready to fight as they disembark.

I thought perhaps because it was 'his' hex he would have to transport them in. But I guess I am thinking in the rationale of a basic game, rather than this simulation. Dropping your troops on the beaches ready to fight makes sense!

ORIGINAL: Uncivil Engineer

Does Japan (or the US for that matter) ever get any decent long range naval attack aircraft?

Nells and Betties are very good long range torpedo bombers, but they are not very effective against a well-CAP-ed CV TF. They'll do great against cargo ships, if there is no CAP, or if they are escorted.

Gotcha. I guess I just don't have enouoght fighters to escort them at this point.


Thanks for your thoughts and advice!

Question
Group Withdrawals:
8 overdue (144 Daily PP, 1584 Accumulated PP)

What does this mean from my operations report?
I have noticed some airgroups have said overdue withdrawal. Is it my responsibility to 'disband' them??

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13

Question
Group Withdrawals:
8 overdue (144 Daily PP, 1584 Accumulated PP)

What does this mean from my operations report?
I have noticed some airgroups have said overdue withdrawal. Is it my responsibility to 'disband' them??

Oh oh. Yes. You need to disband those groups. Preferably someplace (not some size 1 AF) where you can have the pilots and planes go back into your pools.

ORIGINAL: Chickenboy

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13

Question
Group Withdrawals:
8 overdue (144 Daily PP, 1584 Accumulated PP)

What does this mean from my operations report?
I have noticed some airgroups have said overdue withdrawal. Is it my responsibility to 'disband' them??

Oh oh. Yes. You need to disband those groups. Preferably someplace (not some size 1 AF) where you can have the pilots and planes go back into your pools.

Great thank you Chickenboy I will get to that asap.
So what is the penalty for not doing it? Lost PPs? I have seen PPs used to change commanders. What else are they used for in this scenario (an GC more broadly)?

ORIGINAL: Derfflinger13
Then the attack goes in, the rationale of attacking now is that maybe there is some organisational confusion while his troops are still in strat mode and on the beaches?, either way, its brutal

Alas, that was to be expected, and earlier I described why. Now your chances of taking Lunga are practically zero and you need to plan accordingly: retreat in combat mode, dig in Tassafaronga, let him run in reinforcements to Lunga and pray for a lucky carrier battle when you have yours out of docks.

Caveat: I do not know what kind of land forces are available in this mod. E.g. US apparently had hordes of unrestricted units especially artillery that piled into Lunga early on. Stock GC scenario has very limited amount of unrestricted LCUs for Allies and constant need for more PPs, which are first and foremost used on unlocking tanks and infantry, and only then arty.
Maybe Japan has more free LCUs in this mod too.