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Just got done reading this.  Very well written AAR.  I would recommend anyone who wants some in depth detail about the workings of the game as well as strategy to read this.  Lots of small details included.

Youve got to slow them down seriously.  Not going to help much with the supply bug in Cairns. [:@]

BlackSunshine,

Thanks and welcome to the thread, glad you enjoyed the read.

11 Apr. 42

At Rabaul, US sub SS Tautog makes several runs on convoys in port, but either misses or is forced under by escorts. With its ammo almost depleted I’ve ordered it to return to Pearl.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Rabaul at 62,90

Japanese Ships
DD Hibiki
DD Murakumo
DD Oboro
DD Minazuki
DD Mikazuki

Allied Ships
SS Tautog
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Rabaul at 62,90

Japanese Ships
TK San Diego Maru
PG Unkai Maru #1
PG Tosho Maru
PG Taiko Maru
PG Shosei Maru

Allied Ships
SS Tautog
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Rabaul at 62,90

Japanese Ships
AP Maruse Maru
AP Konron Maru
DD Hibiki
DD Murakumo
DD Oboro
DD Minazuki
DD Mikazuki

Allied Ships
SS Tautog
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Chinese make another run at Hanoi without effect. I’ve stood the group down for rest. Once they recover their fatigue, I think I’ll try one or two more high altitude attacks and then set them to 6,000 feet to see how they do.

Another big allied air raid hits Cooktown today and another 9 Japanese zeroes are destroyed. This raid finally convinced my opponent to withdraw from Cooktown I think, as recon doesn’t report any fighters at the base.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Cooktown , at 48,100

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 13
Hudson I x 58
B-17E Fortress x 23
LB-30 Liberator x 9
F-4 Lightning x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged
Hudson I: 3 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 3 damaged
F-4 Lightning: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
40 casualties reported

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 61

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing at 15000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With three more Japanese fleets headed towards Cooktown or Cairns, I’ve set all my medium bombers on naval attack missions. The heavies will continue to pound the airfields, though they no longer have Cooktown selected as a primary target. I’ll let the local commander choose which base to hit.

My B-25’s at Townsville were still assigned naval attack missions and made a run on a Japanese CS and DD, though no hits were scored.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 49,99


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 9


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
CS Nisshin
AK Nichiyo Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 1000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 49,98


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 3


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Ootori

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 1000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Manila and several ground units at Manila get hit from the air today. Japan then launches a deliberate attack and achieves a 1-1. Supplies at the base are all but gone, so I assume this was a battle after the 75% AV reduction. Or perhaps one or two units fought at regular AV and the rest were only 25% of normal, either way I was very surprised the base held out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 129815 troops, 632 guns, 189 vehicles, Assault Value = 2198

Defending force 38377 troops, 26 guns, 185 vehicles, Assault Value = 870

Japanese max assault: 2067 - adjusted assault: 1811

Allied max defense: 678 - adjusted defense: 1141

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0


Japanese ground losses:
2697 casualties reported
Guns lost 64
Vehicles lost 6

Allied ground losses:
1495 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Casualties are high and a lot of my troops are disrupted, so I doubt they’ll be able to withstand many more attacks, but who knows.

Here’s a screenshot of the base and the supply state of the remaining units. As you can see only a couple units have any supply on hand at all.



At Noumea the US armor battalion and Australian independent company have arrived at La Foa with the South Seas det. The Americal Division should arrive this turn. I’ll then conduct a land bombardment attack to weigh our two AV’s.

Allied air units should be at the base in less than a week. The first baseforce unit will arrive and begin unloading tomorrow, so I’ve already rebased a float plane group in to begin naval searches to try and see if KB or a rescue fleet may be lurking nearby.

Jim

I'm not sure the supply thing is a bug.&nbsp; Iv'e always found that HQ's dont' actually pull suppplies,&nbsp;they just&nbsp;hold onto supplies at thier base, beyond it's official requirement,&nbsp;once they are there.&nbsp; If there were never 25k of supplies at the base then they don't do anything to get it there in my experience.&nbsp; This went for stock as well as CHS.

ORIGINAL: Yakface

I'm not sure the supply thing is a bug.  Iv'e always found that HQ's dont' actually pull suppplies, they just hold onto supplies at thier base, beyond it's official requirement, once they are there.  If there were never 25k of supplies at the base then they don't do anything to get it there in my experience.  This went for stock as well as CHS.

Nope the command HQ's are supposed to try and pull 25,000 supply to their base. A good example would be what happened at Java when I moved the ABDA HQ to Madioen. It pulled 32,000 supplies to the base initially and kept it above 25,000 the entire time it was there. Command HQ's need 20,000+ supplies at their base for replacements to work for their land and air units, that's why they pull supplies.

Jim

You're absolutely right about what should happen, but I think it was always a bit dodgy.  For example in stock I needed to get supplies to land-locked Gumma to allow it to expand factories, so, having read the manual, I moved the Home commmand HQ there.  It never pulled any sensible amount of supplies and in the end I had to move a load of divisions/base units in to raise the organic requirement of the base.

ORIGINAL: Yakface

You're absolutely right about what should happen, but I think it was always a bit dodgy.  For example in stock I needed to get supplies to land-locked Gumma to allow it to expand factories, so, having read the manual, I moved the Home commmand HQ there.  It never pulled any sensible amount of supplies and in the end I had to move a load of divisions/base units in to raise the organic requirement of the base.

I guess it’s possible that the Home HQ has always suffered from the same problem/bug as the SWPac and SEAsia HQ’s are suffering from in my game and no one’s noticed or cared much as most games never get to invading the home islands. But it is definitely a bug and not working as designed if command HQ’s fail to pull supplies.

Jim

P.S. My opponent thinks his north china command HQ is suffering from the same problems. I'll ask him to check the Home HQ as well.

Hi Jim, what's the overall score so far?
&nbsp;

Hi G.H.,

Take a look at today’s screenshot, I’ve attached the Intel screen for you.

12 Apr. 42

US sub SS Tautog tries a couple more attack runs at Rabaul and gets hammered for its efforts. With float damage at 87 I doubt she’ll make port.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Rabaul at 62,90

Japanese Ships
AP Nichiro Maru
DD Hibiki
DD Murakumo
DD Oboro
DD Minazuki

Allied Ships
SS Tautog, hits 4, on fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Rabaul at 62,90

Japanese Ships
AP Kansan Maru
AP Kofuku Maru
AP Sasago Maru
DD Hibiki
DD Murakumo
DD Minazuki
DD Mikazuki
CL Jintsu

Allied Ships
SS Tautog, hits 1, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For the past couple of turns Japan has been bombing Thursday Island, but it wasn’t having any effect so I didn’t report on it. Today Japan begins unloading troops over the beach and the coastal batteries open up and cause some decent damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Thursday Island, 49,91, firing at TF 80
TF 80 troops unloading over beach at Thursday Island, 49,91


85 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
AP Murasaki Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire
AP Sumire Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
PG Kaikei Maru, Shell hits 3

Japanese ground losses:
176 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Allied Hudson’s from Townsville hit Cairns today and cause surprisingly little damage for the number of bombers that flew. Also with the fact the raid wasn’t intercepted, you’d thing the bombardiers could guide a few more bombs to their targets.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Cairns , at 48,102


Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 6
Hudson I x 47


Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 26

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Hudson I bombing at 6000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The big news for the turn is Japan launches a shock attack at Manila and the base holds, causing massive casualties to Japan. There are still 900+ points of supply left at Manila, so I think the allies were penalized for being out of supply. If so it’s going to be a real slugfest for Japan to try and pry the starving garrison out.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Manila

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 123665 troops, 547 guns, 182 vehicles, Assault Value = 1878

Defending force 36176 troops, 13 guns, 180 vehicles, Assault Value = 777

Japanese max assault: 2636 - adjusted assault: 1276

Allied max defense: 569 - adjusted defense: 1021

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0


Japanese ground losses:
6818 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 6

Allied ground losses:
967 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 5
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disablements are no longer being repaired, so Japan will eventually take the base, but the fact my current adjusted AV is over 1,000, means Japan may be stuck trying to take Manila until well past May if this keeps up.

I had fully expected the base to fall on this attack, so this was a great day for the allies. Of course it could just be a really bad die roll and I’ll be blown away next time, but for now this has to be very irritating to my opponent.

At Cagayan Japan launches a deliberate attack and reduces the fort level by 1 while achieving a 1-1. I doubt the base will hold much longer here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Cagayan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15319 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 366

Defending force 7013 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 192

Japanese max assault: 299 - adjusted assault: 156

Allied max defense: 138 - adjusted defense: 94

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 1


Japanese ground losses:
375 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Noumea my first baseforce unit has begun to land, and just in the nick of time. Allied recon spots an apparent rescue taskforce 720 miles to the northwest.

I’ve rebased four 16 plane squadrons of A-29 Hudson’s to Noumea (now at level 4 AF) from Auckland. You have to love the range of those A-29’s, I’ve set them to not fly further than their normal range of 11 hexes with naval attack as their primary mission. They should be a nasty surprise for Japan this turn.

Noumea now has four A-29 squadrons, one P-38 recon squadron and one PBY squadron active. This coming turn or the next turn after, the fighters and the rest of the bombers should arrive.



If KB doesn’t appear out of the blue in the next 2 turns, I’m very confident I’ll be able to hold Noumea now. I’ll also probably be able to destroy the South Seas Det. in detail. I’ve ordered a land bombardment this turn to see what its AV is.

Jim

Barely 2-1....Let's say that the auto-victory at 1.1.43 is already a vain dream for Yubari[:)]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

Barely 2-1....Let's say that the auto-victory at 1.1.43 is already a vain dream for Yubari[:)]

Don't forget I lose about 1600 VP when Manila falls, that puts him pretty close to 3-1.

Jim

13 Apr. 42

Manila gets hit from the air today.

Allied bombers from Imphal fly a large raid and hit Japanese paratroopers along the trail one hex from Taung Gyi. You know this had to hurt that small unit.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 2nd Parachute Regiment, at 33,32


Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 43
B-25C Mitchell x 26


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Hudson’s and B-25’s fly another strike mission on Cairns airfield and cause moderate damage.

Japan launches another deliberate attack at Cagayan and fails to achieve a 1-1. The level 1 forts hold.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Cagayan

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14741 troops, 70 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 330

Defending force 6841 troops, 58 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 189

Japanese max assault: 32 - adjusted assault: 31

Allied max defense: 144 - adjusted defense: 109

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


Japanese ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At La Foa my land bombardment goes in and it appears I easily outmatch the Japanese. I’ve ordered a deliberate attack this turn.

The Japanese transport task force is 4 hexes closer this turn, but my bombers fail to fly. I wonder if KB is nearby undetected flying LRCAP over the fleet.

I have a large transport fleet currently unloading at Noumea, I may withdraw it to the south next turn if my bombers again fail to fly against the approaching fleet. The air groups aboard the fleet should unload this turn, but it will be a week or more before all the squadrons are in any condition to fly missions. For now all I have to defend Noumea with is the 4 squadrons of A-29’s.



I just had another thought as I typed this, what if the advancing task force is an invasion force headed to Noumea with a full division aboard? What if KB is present to cover the landings? I’m wide open at Noumea right now, with just the intrinsic French garrison unit there to defend. I better order my units back to Noumea next turn to play it safe. I’m not even sure they have time to make it back.

I do have the Australian navy (a few cruisers and destroyers) on route to Noumea, but I don’t know if they can beat the invasion force if that’s where it is headed. I think I may have made a blunder assuming this is an evacuation force.

Jim

A thrilling situation Jim....[:)]

ORIGINAL: Gen.Hoepner

A thrilling situation Jim....[:)]

A shame too, if you have to pullback. South Seas detachment is badly outgunned and would surrender in a few turns.

14 Apr. 42

Well my spidey senses tingling last turn as I wrote the AAR were right, KB is with the transport group and it looks like there are at least two transport groups, perhaps three.

It’s too bad I didn’t spend more time pondering things while plotting my move instead of waiting to ponder things while writing the AAR. Perhaps this turn wouldn’t have been so bad had I done so.

The turn starts off with US sub SS S-45 making a couple runs on the CV Soryu. The first run the torpedoes hit but fail to detonate. The second my sub was driven away by the escorts. Damage to the sub overall was light, and with KB around I decided to keep her at sea in hopes I get another shot at a CV.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 63,111

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu
DD Shinonome
DD Akatsuki
DD Umikaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Yamakaze
DD Shigure
DD Kasumi
DD Arare

Allied Ships
SS S-45, hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 63,111

Japanese Ships
CV Soryu
DD Shinonome
DD Akatsuki
DD Umikaze
DD Kawakaze
DD Yamakaze
DD Shigure
DD Kasumi
DD Arare

Allied Ships
SS S-45, hits 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Near Sumatra British sub SS Trusty cruises into the port hex of Bankha and slams two fish into a Japanese AP that was unloading troops at the base. Unfortunately it looks like it was able to finish unloading its cargo as no casualties were reported.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Bankha at 20,47

Japanese Ships
AP Giyu Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PG Kogyoku Maru
PG Hirotama Maru
PG Eifuku Maru

Allied Ships
SS Trusty
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soerabaja and Manila along with several land units at each base get hit from the air today. My bombers hit the Japanese para regiment near Taung Gyi again.

Near Noumea my A-29 bombers launch two ineffectual strikes at the task forces northwest of Koumac, With 97 zeroes over the fleets, my boys didn’t stand a chance and most bombers were shot down. The few that made it through the CAP failed to score any hits.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 64,112

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 97

Allied aircraft
A-29 Hudson x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
A-29 Hudson: 6 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Yudachi

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 1000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 64,112

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 97

Allied aircraft
A-29 Hudson x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
A-29 Hudson: 22 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai
DD Hatakaze
AP Toko Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 1000 feet
2 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 1000 feet
3 x A-29 Hudson bombing at 1000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

KB then launches a strike against my large transport fleet at Noumea. Lots of ships are damaged and 3 sink before the turn ends. Luckily all air groups had unloaded before the strike, so none are lost, but some casualties are caused, so some ships carrying troops were hit and perhaps sunk.

Again a large allied fleet in good shape is attacked and no real AAA damage is caused to the attackers. The attack was too long to watch in the replay, but I’m assuming the one damaged Val was caused by a warship.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53
D3A2 Val x 66
B5N2 Kate x 100

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK American Press, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kwangtung, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Empire Liberty, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
DD Crosby, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
DD Crane
AK Harry Luckenbach
DD Kilty
AK Puerto Rican
AK Empire Rainbow
AK Exmoor, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Mormacstar, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK American, Bomb hits 12, on fire, heavy damage
AK Empire Hartebeeste
AK Empire Ortolan, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Nevadan, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kansan, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Georgian, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
TK S.C.T. Todd, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Exceller, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Mormachawk, Bomb hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
AK Irenee Du Pont, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Kohala
AK Excelsior, Bomb hits 2, on fire
TK Montebello, Bomb hits 4, on fire
AK Californian, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Sarpedon, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Julia Luckenbach, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Sagadahoc, Bomb hits 1, on fire


Allied ground losses:
243 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



This large fleet was formed a long time ago before I decided to only create small 15 ship task forces. With KB about I should have divided it up sooner, but there weren’t enough escorts with the fleet to give good sub protection, and until last turn I wasn’t thinking about KB as the main threat so much as I was subs.

With 97 zeroes over the fleet and another 53 on escort, I’m assuming the Zuikaku is back with KB. My opponent revealed to me it hadn’t been sunk a week or so ago game time and I forgot to mention it here.

With KB so close and within easy intercept range of my fleet at Noumea, I’ve decided to simply stay at port and continue unloading. There is about 55,000 supplies and 30,000 fuel left on the fleet and I may as well get as much unloaded as I can. KB will be able to destroy the fleet if it goes to sea before it can reach any other ports, so I may as well stick it out and hope the P-39’s are repaired fast to give the fleet at least some CAP.

I’ve divided the fleet into 5 smaller task forces in hopes some are not spotted. There are less than 10 P-39’s operational, but perhaps they’ll interfere with KB’s search planes enough to allow some of the task forces to remain undetected.

Japanese Nell’s hit Thursday Island again today and damage at the base is light. Allied Hudson’s hit Cairns today and cause light damage to the base.

On Sumatra Japan launches an attack at Bankha and captures the base sending the small Dutch garrison reeling.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Bankha

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 3535 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 54

Defending force 1479 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 17

Japanese max assault: 52 - adjusted assault: 42

Allied max defense: 13 - adjusted defense: 5

Japanese assault odds: 8 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Bankha base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
58 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
77 casualties reported


Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My deliberate attack goes in at La Foa and my guys get a 3-1. Not bad, but not great either. I retake the base but fail to expel the S.S.D. unit. Since Japan appears to be set to land at Koumac, I’ve decided to stick around and have ordered another attack this turn.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at La Foa

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18034 troops, 203 guns, 176 vehicles, Assault Value = 413

Defending force 8262 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 120

Allied max assault: 357 - adjusted assault: 255

Japanese max defense: 103 - adjusted defense: 83

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE La Foa base !!!


Japanese ground losses:
168 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
204 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’m really worried about how much strength Japan is about to land. I think I can maintain air superiority now that I’ve got close to 80 bulldozers ashore. I doubt Japan can cause enough damage to my airbase to close it now with so much engineer power ashore.

So once KB leaves the area I’ll begin pounding his troops and base and hopefully will be able to wear down whatever troops he is going to land.

I don’t know, can 100 or so allied medium bombers cause enough damage to division sized units to keep them from capturing Noumea should he land one or two divisions?

Jim

ORIGINAL: Jim D Burns

AK Mormacstar, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Exceller, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Excelsior, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AK Sarpedon, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Try to save these ships, if you can. They are fast AKs that should be used as high speed transports. Either use them to transport planes, or pair them up with APs and let them carry important units.

ORIGINAL: VSWG
Try to save these ships, if you can.

Hi VSWG,

I think the only chance any of these ships have of surviving is for me to build up to a level 3 port ASAP so I can stuff them in port. Running is too dangerous because Japan will probably move to be within torpedo range this turn and anything that tries to flee will get caught in the open like the fleet that got hammered in the Tasman Sea.

I’ve switched the engineers over to port building only, but it may take 2 or 3 days or perhaps even longer to get to level 3. Once it hits 3 I’ll put all the damaged ships inside and try to run with the non-damaged ships if KB is still to the north. By then of course there probably won’t be any non-damaged ships.

I wish I had spent more time the turn before last thinking about the task force that was heading south. I had simply assumed it was an evacuation force and didn’t give it much thought, but when my bombers failed to launch I should have focused my attention on it and realized it had air cover.

Perhaps it was late and I was tired, I don’t know. Whatever the reason I’m going to lose a lot of shipping because of my bonehead mistake. I’m just glad all my air units made it ashore. Had Japan arrived one turn sooner…

Jim

15 Apr. 42

Japan starts the turn off with a naval bombardment at Townsville. Damage to the base is light and 2 aircraft are destroyed on the ground. Allied recon never spotted this task force and didn’t spot it after this attack either.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Townsville, at 46,105


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 1 destroyed
Hudson I: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
CA Ashigara
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Maya
CA Takao

Allied Ships
AVD William B. Preston, Shell hits 1


Allied ground losses:
543 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I may have to base all my planes at Charter Towers if his navy can get this close and then escape without ever being seen.

The Chinese airforce finally hits something at Hanoi. I accidently set them to attack the manpower centers instead of the heavy industry, and 75 fires were started. I’ve ordered an attack on the HI to see if they can do some damage down at 6,000 feet.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Hanoi , at 36,37


Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 9


Allied aircraft losses
IL-4c: 1 damaged

Manpower hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
3 x IL-4c bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Soerabaja and Manila along with several land units at each base get hit from the air today.

Allied Hudson’s hit Cairns today and cause moderate damage to the base.

It turns out it was a mistake not to flee from Noumea. I figured my opponent would move his CV’s south of Noumea in an attempt to cut off any retreat from the base, but instead he remained to the northeast. Had I ran away last turn my fleets would have gotten out of air range for the most part.

As things turned out, damage was massive. In all KB flew 6 airstrikes and another 15 allied ships sank this turn. Even if Japan doesn’t attack a single ship more, I expect to lose at least another 10-15 ships due to massive damage.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
B5N2 Kate x 38
E13A1 Jake x 3

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged


Allied Ships
DD Dent
AK Boreas
AK Coldbrook
AK Kailua
AK Exceller, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Liberty Glo, Torpedo hits 1
AK Kohala
AK Yukon

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46
D3A2 Val x 84
B5N2 Kate x 87

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-400 Airacobra: 2 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
TK Richmond, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK West Shipper, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Prusa, Bomb hits 1
AK Harry Luckenbach
DD Kilty, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Challenger, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DMS Boggs, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Empire Rainbow, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Autolycus, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Mobile City, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Willimoto, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
TK Larry Doheny, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Empire Selwyn, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
AK Missourian, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Explorer, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
B5N2 Kate x 1

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 1
P-39D Airacobra x 2

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AK Mormacgull

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 1
D3A2 Val x 17

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 1 damaged


Allied Ships
MSW Kingfisher, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pelican, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Robin, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
D3A2 Val x 13

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-400 Airacobra: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
AK American Press, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Nevadan, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Empire Ortolan, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A2 Val bombing at 2000 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 66,117

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
D3A2 Val x 43
B5N2 Kate x 84

Allied aircraft
P-400 Airacobra x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 1 damaged


Allied Ships
AK Sagadahoc, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Mormacland, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Californian, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dent, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Empire Heath, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boreas, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Puerto Rican, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AK Kailua, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Exceller, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Liberty Glo, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Yukon, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kohala
AK Port Montreal, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Dakotan, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Coldbrook, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
<snip>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I divided the remaining ships up into 4 task forces based on max speed and ordered them all to flee south. I’ll be lucky if I can save 10 ships total, once he sees me flee, he can easily pursue, but what choice do I have? Damage to the fleets from all KB’s air strikes is simply too massive to remain at Noumea.

The Japanese transport group seen with KB these past few turns has moved northeast. Has he given up on trying to land more troops?

One bright spot for the allies this turn, my deliberate attack goes in at La Foa and the allies achieve 29-1 odds! Looks like supplies are dried up for the South Seas Det.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at La Foa

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17651 troops, 195 guns, 173 vehicles, Assault Value = 390

Defending force 7880 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 108

Allied max assault: 305 - adjusted assault: 437

Japanese max defense: 87 - adjusted defense: 15

Allied assault odds: 29 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
242 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
101 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ll continue to conduct deliberate attacks on this unit to smash it I hope. I know Japanese troops never surrender, so I don’t want to launch shock attacks as that won’t really speed up its demise and will just cause my guys more disruptions.

Jim

16 Apr. 42

Manila and several units at Manila get hit from the air today. Allied bombers hit Cairns and Cooktown. Damage to Cairns is light, but Cooktown gets hammered and 2 zeroes are destroyed on the ground.

At Thursday Island my opponents small invasion force launches a deliberate attack and is repulsed. Looks like my opponent needs to adjust his expectations of his unit’s abilities now that his invasion bonus is gone.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Thursday Island

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 927 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 30

Defending force 1862 troops, 6 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 23

Japanese max assault: 25 - adjusted assault: 10

Allied max defense: 23 - adjusted defense: 97

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)


Japanese ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Another deliberate attack at La Foa goes in and the allies only achieve a 16-1 today. The odds are going in the wrong direction.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at La Foa

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17491 troops, 192 guns, 170 vehicles, Assault Value = 383

Defending force 7556 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 89

Allied max assault: 324 - adjusted assault: 286

Japanese max defense: 64 - adjusted defense: 17

Allied assault odds: 16 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
209 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
62 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A quick inspection of my units shows the independent company is almost totally disabled and the Americal Division needs some rest as well. I’ve ordered both units to return to Noumea to rest under its non-malarial umbrella. The armored battalion shall remain in hex to hold the La Foa base hex, since it’s still in decent shape.

Wouldn’t you know it, the turn I move my task forces away from Noumea the level 3 port gets finished and is now 34% of the way to completing level 4. You’ve got to love those bulldozers. I’ve ordered the two fleets with the heaviest damage to return to Noumea to enter port and try to repair their massive flooding damage.

The other two task forces shall continue on to Auckland. 3 more ships sank this turn due to previous damage. KB moved further north and ended the turn 7 hexes north of Noumea, so no new attacks were launched on my ships since they were all at least 2 hexes south of Noumea.

The Japanese transport task force continues to move away to the north, but allied recon spotted a new transport task force near Rossel Island heading southeast. Hopefully my air units will be fully repaired by the time this task force nears Noumea and I can actually do some damage this time.

With KB avoiding getting close to the base due I’m sure to his Intel showing almost 200 planes there, I’d like these planes to actually have some teeth. With over 300 air support at the base, I have no idea why repairs are agonizingly slow. All three fighter squadrons still had less than 10 fighters repaired each and most bomber squadrons have less than half their planes ready.

Jim

Not much going on over on the western front (India, etc). What sort of force strength are you amassing there? By now you should have a sizeable amount of reinforcements trickling in.

Any thoughts to applying pressure in that area?

ORIGINAL: BlackSunshine
Any thoughts to applying pressure in that area?

Hi BlackSunshine,

The Japanese Singapore campaign just ended, so I assume he’ll either come overland into Burma or he’ll mount an offensive against Ceylon or India. With his invasion bonus gone, I assume he’ll come overland, but until he commits himself in strength, I don’t want to get myself tied to an offensive move just yet. Especially since it’s so hard to extricate yourself from Burma should he outflank the offensive by landing in India.

I do have a nice British Corps assembled with 2 infantry divisions and an armor brigade in southern India I could use for an offensive move. But for now they’re set to react to any landings that may materialize.

Japan has the four divisions from Singapore and soon the forces from Java and Manila he can bring to the party. Until he shows his hand I don’t want to get caught out of position if landings commence in southern India.

I have already sent the 7th AIF division to Australia and the 6th AIF will go as soon as there is sufficient fast transports available. With 500 AV in Townsville now and a full division scheduled to arrive there within a few weeks, I think I’ve stopped him from driving further south along the coast for now.

I hold total air superiority in northeastern Australia and with 64 B-26’s arriving in a week or so, I’ll then be able to keep his airfields closed down for good. Soon Rockhampton, Brisbane, and Sydney will all have full divisions defending them as well, so I’m pretty confident Australia can hold.

Unless he brings everything from Manila and Java that is. Then I’ll have to bring more troops from India and the US, or launch a large offensive as you suggest. I just think it’s still a bit soon, I need to see where he’s going with all that land power of his first.

The one positive side effect of his moves into New Caledonia is it pretty much ties KB to that theatre for the foreseeable future. Once my bombers are up and flying, I can easily close Luganville and prevent any construction there. So any supply fleet he wants to bring in will require KB be on station for air cover.

If he keeps KB at sea for several months, I imagine his system damage will be pretty high. I may just seek out a CV battle in July if I can keep KB busy until then without a refit period. I should have all my CV’s together by then and they’ll be in good shape with their new radars as well. Heck I may even catch him trying to rotate a few of KB’s more damaged carriers back for refits and get an even fight if I’m lucky.

Jim