BACK IN BUSINESS - PzB goes East again(st) Andy Mac

[inqistor]

An interesting discovery:
Hurricanes, up to IIb are armed only with .303 MGs, and we all know, that 7mm can not shot anything armoured. If Allies still use substantial number of those, it could be interesting to challenge them with purely armoured fighter force.
Also, Nick model C have 2 points of armour. Is it bulletproof against .50?

ORIGINAL: PzB

A question for you; as you may remember I first learned about deploying night spotters for bombardment TFs after we hit the enemy carriers in Sydney.
- When I deploy spotters I set them to range 0, altitude 1000 feet.
The result is that the first ship in the TF always deploy spotters but not the rest.

AFAIK altitude not matter for recon. I am setting them on 15k (above most flaks), with maximum normal range (actually, according to manual, range setting is at least range to target, if you set target), and one unit for whole bombardment group seems enough. I have only once seen two planes as spotters, and quite common no planes (probably because of weather). With no planes, results still seems good.
At what altitude your EMILYs at PH fly? I see extremely rare shooting down recon by flak. CAP catch them often.

In the meanwhile I'm trying to come up with an Uber-scheme to inflict a crushing defeat on the Allies.
If you got a good idea (not suicidal or including massive amph invasion) I'd like to hear them.
A low-to medium risk operations with potentially high gains against enemy supply trains or fleets would be to prefer.
Alternatively we need to look at how to achieve similar results in defense.

Lightning seems currently to be powerhorse of Allies. Reduce their number.
Looks, like your only option is still Australia [:D]
Actually, you could catch some of those islands, between map edge, and India. You could then bag around two convoys, if you have hunting ships ready. All British CVs are probably in PH, so around 3 CVLs should be enough to cover operation. But it is so remote, I do not think it is worth investing forces.

[PzB74]

Sounds reasonable, just never read anything in the manual regarding night spotters for bombardment TFs.
When ordering recon at day or night recon at many hexes or high altitude I've often experienced that no recons have been flown at all.
So this is a bit confusing still.

Suicidal missions start when situation becomes critical; Desperate situations require desperate measures [;)]

Yes, you may be right Pat; increased enemy activity now. Andy's best bet would lie to invade the SRA from Northern Oz, but then he would need to defeat the Combined Fleet first.
Until he has established _strong_ air bases and LBA in the area and feels more confident towards achieving sea-air supremacy there will not be any major amph invasions here. We will prepare for the eventuality though. Strong LBA and ground units plus the Singapore Fleet is being directed deeper into the SRA.

Some Hurries in Burma, but they only fly as escorts to keep our fighters away from the vulnerable medium bombers me thinks.
The Nick isn't bulletproof even against pea-shooters. They may not be shot down right away but battle damage cause operational losses to soar when fighting over enemy turf.

The PH recon Emily's fly at 29k feet but I do have some Johnston Island recons that have been flying at 6k feet. Probably this unit that has taken flak losses; increased altitude to 20k feet this turn.
Will indeed be action over Oz soon, but we don't have strong air bases on this continent anymore - most Air HQs have already been pulled back. Got air support for some 140 ac left.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 20, 43

Heavy enemy air strikes on Magwe again and Andy is moving in Northern Oz.

Northern Australia

[hawker]

Great AAR PzB.[:)]

[SoliInvictus202]

ORIGINAL: hawker

Great AAR PzB.[:)]

+1

[PzB74]

Thx guys, great to hear that you enjoy the journey! [:)]

Got a little goody for you tonight.
Andy has bombed Magwe 5-6 times already but he's usually been careful, either sending in powerful sweeps or alternating his attack runs.
So I've kept a low profile, lulling him into a feeling of false security as we prepped our 500 fighters in Rangoon.

Last turn when Allied bombers hit Magwe again I noticed that weather forecast said Thunderstorms for the next day.
Usually this would mean no attacks, but I got a feeling that Andy would choose this moment to perform a double attack to finish off the oil industry in Magwe.
- Lots of work to set up all those bombers, escorts and sweepers each day.

So I went to work![8D]
I didn't want to transfer the fighters to the different bases in the basin, this is easy to spot and cost lots of op losses.
Our Tonys don't have the legs to LRCAP Magwe from Rangoon so it was the Tojos, Nicks, Oscars and Zeros that would have to do the job.
LRCAP isn't truly efficient from 6 hexes but numbers help.

Over 140 fighters were alerted by radar when the first P-38 sweep came in; it was shredded and 14 Lightnings were reported lost this day.
No further sweeps came in, I feared a heavy sweep by Thunderbolts. Instead a huge formation of medium and heavy bombers came in escorted by Warhawks, Hurries and Beaufighters.
Again we did short process of the escorts and shot down a sizeable number of bombers.

Our fighter strength dwindled as the enemy raiders kept coming but a while unescorted formation of Wellingtons were shot down in the process.
In all 50 enemy fighters and 41 bombers were reported lost today; these numbers may be a bit high but much higher than our 27 fighters (most crashed on RTB).
We lost 12 pilots KIA and 3 WIA today. Not bad!

We still don't have a good interceptor that can take on the 4Es; the heavy bombers damaged and shot down most of the fighters we lost.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 21, 43

Sub Attacks

The day didn't start well; a 27 point tanker loaded with oil is hit by 2 torps (1 dud) and bursts into flames and sinks.
A mid ocean intercept SSE of Mindanao.

Sub attack near Siargao at 90,88

Japanese Ships
TK Mirii Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PB Kaiun Maru
SC Ch 31
AO Ayayuki Maru
E W-28
E Saga
PB Toko Maru #4

Allied Ships
SS Mingo

SS Mingo launches 6 torpedoes at TK Mirii Maru
E W-28 fails to find sub and abandons search
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Toko Maru #4 fails to find sub and abandons search
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Saga fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Perhaps our last LBA attack launched from mainland Oz!

Morning Air attack on 10th Light Horse Battalion, at 76,132
Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 5,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 17 (3 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 2000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 kg GP Bomb
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 22
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 37
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 64
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 8
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 11

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 5 destroyed

CAP engaged:
5th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (11 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 11 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
21st Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
50th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 21 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 10 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 11 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
77th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 11 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
203rd Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 16 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
248th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 11 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
282 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 22 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
260th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (10 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 64 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 16
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 36
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 58
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 8
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 8

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIf x 8
Beaufighter VIc x 16
Blenheim IV x 12
Blenheim VD x 3
Hudson IIIa x 15
Liberator II x 27
Liberator GR.III x 11
Wellington Ic x 26
Wellington GR.VIII x 15
Wellington B.X x 3
Ventura GR.V x 12
B-24D1 Liberator x 9
P-40K Warhawk x 23

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter VIf: 2 destroyed
Beaufighter VIc: 4 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
Blenheim VD: 1 destroyed
Hudson IIIa: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Liberator II: 5 damaged
Liberator GR.III: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
Wellington Ic: 2 destroyed, 13 damaged
Wellington GR.VIII: 1 damaged
Wellington B.X: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ventura GR.V: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged
P-40K Warhawk: 3 destroyed

Refinery hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Ventura GR.V bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x Liberator II bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x Wellington Ic bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x Liberator II bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x Liberator II bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x Wellington GR.VIII bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 250 lb GP Bomb
14 x Wellington Ic bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
1 x Wellington B.X bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x Hudson IIIa bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
9 x Blenheim IV bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
10 x Liberator GR.III bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x Blenheim VD bombing from 12000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
5th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
21st Sentai with Ki-44-IIb Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
50th Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
21 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 7 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 59 minutes
64th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (8 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
77th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters to 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
203rd Sentai with Ki-43-IIb Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
15 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters to 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
248th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
282 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 16 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
260th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 10 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 7
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 20
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 34
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 4

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8
Liberator II x 8
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D1 Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
Liberator II: 2 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D1 Liberator: 6 damaged

Oil hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Liberator II bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 30 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 3
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 11
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 21

Allied aircraft
Wellington B.X x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington B.X: 5 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 7
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 12

Allied aircraft
Blenheim VD x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 26

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim VD: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 4 damaged

Refinery hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x Blenheim VD bombing from 12000 feet *
City Attack: 2 x 250 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 4
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-25C Mitchell x 6
B-25D1 Mitchell x 27
P-40K Warhawk x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 1 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged
P-40K Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Oil hits 10
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 1

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 3
B-25D1 Mitchell x 9
P-38G Lightning x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 3 damaged

Oil hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 22 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 2 damaged

Oil hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25D1 Mitchell x 6

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D1 Mitchell: 1 damaged

Oil hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25D1 Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Magwe , at 57,47
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 6

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 12000 feet
City Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Much as anticipated a huge enemy armored force captures Daly Waters.
We only have a token garrison to defend against paras.

An armored Bde also captures Carnarvon..without resistance.

Ground combat at Daly Waters (76,131)
Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 17848 troops, 170 guns, 1555 vehicles, Assault Value = 1403
Defending force 811 troops, 31 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 11

Allied adjusted assault: 1027
Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 342 to 1 (fort level 4)
Allied forces CAPTURE Daly Waters !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: forts(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
1184 casualties reported
Squads: 13 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 61 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 12 (12 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Units pursuing 3

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Motor Brigade
2/8th Armoured Regiment
2/7th Armoured Regiment
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
2/6th Armoured Regiment
1st Motor Brigade
3rd Army Tank Brigade
1st Army Tank Regiment
194th Tank Battalion
2/4th Armoured Regiment
2/5th Armoured Regiment
754th Tank Battalion
4th Armoured Brigade
7th Armoured Brigade
810th Engineer Aviation Battalion
2nd RAAF Base Force

Defending units:
3rd JNAF AF Unit
1st RF Gun Bn /2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Carnarvon (49,133)
Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 2856 troops, 18 guns, 282 vehicles, Assault Value = 209
Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 126
Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 126 to 1 (fort level 4)
Allied forces CAPTURE Carnarvon !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: op mode(-), leaders(+)

Assaulting units:
255th Armoured Brigade
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Ambush over Magwe

[PzB74]

Northern Australia

[bbbf]

FLT Kershaw & CPT Bond are an interesting pair!

[Xxzard]

That's Bond, Isoroku Bond. I have my sake shaken, not stirred.

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: inqistor

An interesting discovery:
Also, Nick model C have 2 points of armour. Is it bulletproof against .50?

no, there are no immune aircraft

[beppi]

Concerning you situation in northern Australia, i am not sure if you should bug out to soon.

I know some people tend to say northern OZ can lead to a large prison camp for the Japanese army but some points speak for a stiff defense of northern Australia.

1.) The supply situation sucks for the allies there too. To get a good ground supply situation for a assault on Darwin he needs Daly Waters at lvl 8 or lvl 9.

2.) If you defend the Island line north of Australia (Koepang and so on) it will mainly be a battle to control the sea. Right now in your game (+-/30 days) the allies will receive as far as i remember 3 carriers and 6 CVL which will improve the allied carrier for quite a lot.

3.) With fast transport you can rescue quite a lot of units from northern Australia it it is quite hard to interdict these operations. You need Katherine and the Base north of it to interdict fast transports to/from Darwin efficient with dbs and tbs. Yes he can use his attack bombers to interdict further away but attack bombers can be killed.

4.) Yes as soon as daly waters is lvl 9 he can close all bases in northern Australia with 4E. But 4E cant really kill ground forces. (At least if you have height restrictions). And that 2E can be killed quite nice you saw in Burma last turn.

5.) A good defensive rule is forcing the enemy to prepare. Preparation takes quite a lot of time and you have to force the allies to prepare for as many bases as possible.

6.) Defensive shore bombardments are quite strong. I currently have 80k Japanese troops sitting in Darwin an i see no way to kick them out until i can move my carriers there. If the enemy sends his battle wagons to hit my ground units that really really hurts.
And as northern OZ is close to the oil centers and their fuel it is a good place to fight with the heavy units there.

I think you can at least get 3 to 4 months if you do a good defense out of northern Australia.
Derby is hard to interdict supply and fast transports and a pita to capture.
Wyndham is not the best to assault as allied if there is some considerable defense force (Out of daily supply drain range).
Darwin needs full development of daly waters for a good assault.

In you screenshots i see a strong armored push, but he needs a lot of base support and engis to develop the bases up there in the northern Australia. That will give you some time to defend and to pull your troops out if the time is right. If the allies control the north of Australia its a short step to the SRA and the oil there and i do not think that you can defend the islands up there against a lvl 9 Darwin + CVs for a long time.

[janh]

Nice job done over Magwe.  And surely a right decision for OZ.  I am surprised that Andy still uses Beaufighters as escorts -- I usually tried to detach them to other jobs when playing as allies, but neither for sweep or escort roles they work well.  I don't even recall that I was ever impressed by them as a Netty and Betty scare.  They weren't bad for NavSearch and ASW, though.

[PzB74]

Yeah, Allied ace pilots in training or reserve command still shows up on the Jap ace list, sacrilege! [:-]

Funny, just read up on Cap & Gowns AAR and there was a...discussion about all fighter carriers there almost simultanously as on this thread.

That's a great analysis Beppi! I've gone through that thought process many times. No turning back now as I don't have time to reverse my actions, so here is the reasoning behind my decision:

1. If I wanted to hold on to the greater Darwin area for another few months I would have to use at least 3 divisions worth of troops and 50k supplies.
This is the strategic reserve I currently have on Java; if I burn up this force now it will take months to rebuild it. A large fast transport TF loads ca 2750 troops and less than a 1000 cargo.
It takes a lot of fast transports to carry an entire division.

2. If I keep an Army around Darwin I also need the support units; base force units etc.
More to supply and more to evacuate.

3. I'm still leaving a rearguard in Darwin and if the enemy infests the city he will suffer strong air and sea bombardments.

4. If Andy got supply problems it will still be difficult for him to capture Darwin.

So I'm playing safe on this one; this turn a large Air Fleet arrived fully filled out. Going to race this down to the tip of Northern New Guinea to fill in a hole in the lines.
I'm really going to fight hard to keep the Allies out of the SRA, Andy will have to use his fleets to achieve this and currently he doesn't have a fleet in this area - nor fuel.
- We spotted both carriers and battleships at PH the last few days, so we got em tagged.

I'm in the progress of putting in place Army and Navy Air Fleets; these are composed like this:
Army: 2x36 Oscar IIbs + 2x36 Helen IIs (The Helens are trained in both ground and naval attack)
Navy: 2x36 Zero A6M3 + 48 Betties

These Air Fleet will operate indepentently or join forces when required and have been placed deep within the SRA out of enemy LBA range in Australia.
The idea is to use sweepers from one fleet to pave the way for the other fleets bombers if heavy resistance is expected.
Supporting bases nearer to the front will field shorter range fighters and interceptors as well as SBDs and TBDs.

It's very important to build up these forces and keep them in readiness, that's the only way to strike hard and fast when required.
Then we can move in reinforcements from other fronts as required without missing out on our golden opportunities.

No more 60 ac strikes, I want 2-300 ac strikes when it counts!

Another plan I have is to withdraw a dozen subs and prepare them for special missions; defensive or offensive.
Need to place them both wisely and timely if we want to achieve something this late in the war as Allied ASW is getting good.
- The SRA is a very good place to have both a sub and minelayer fleet on standby, e.g. in Kendari.

We're also going to receive MTBs soon, everything helps!

With all this in place, Burma secured and the line in the Central Pacific well manned and watched over by the Combined Fleet we should be well prepared.
I still got a cunning plan in my sleeve if Andy leaves the initiative to us for another month or two! [8D]

[Cribtop]

What about prepping a force to seize Johnston Island and unleashing it when Andy commits his CVs elsewhere? Your main forces could be committed to defense or counterattack as normal but you may throw the enemy off psychologically given the headaches and relative importance of the Line Islands region in this particular game.

Not a major offensive plan, just a counterpunch with minimal risk, IMHO.

[inqistor]

So, how many planes does TOJO IIb shot down?

ORIGINAL: PzB

Yeah, Allied ace pilots in training or reserve command still shows up on the Jap ace list, sacrilege! [:-]

Maybe it is intelligence work? So you know who to hunt (or avoid)?

Another plan I have is to withdraw a dozen subs and prepare them for special missions; defensive or offensive.
Need to place them both wisely and timely if we want to achieve something this late in the war as Allied ASW is getting good.

Allies actually lose ASW bonus in 1944, I wonder if this counterbalance better DC.

We're also going to receive MTBs soon, everything helps!

They are not producing in current patch, but it supposed to be repaired in beta.

Sounds reasonable, just never read anything in the manual regarding night spotters for bombardment TFs.
When ordering recon at day or night recon at many hexes or high altitude I've often experienced that no recons have been flown at all.

I think it was added in some patch, so no reference in manual.
In WITP you had to have "free" planes, for them to fly recon. So if you have all set to search, no planes fly. With small ship groups (2 planes) one can get damage, so the other will fly normal search at 50% search set. I could get 6-9 IDAs at target in China, when unit was set to 0% search, and recon.

ORIGINAL: Cribtop
What about prepping a force to seize Johnston Island and unleashing it when Andy commits his CVs elsewhere?

Its like one day sail from Palmyra, and Tiny 6k island, so not much to gain from it.

[castor troy]

I don´t know what Andy really is up to but in regards to Darwin, this is quite a similarity to my PBEM as the Japanese also held Darwin and I wanted it back. Until I didn´t have Darwin, I couldn´t do anything else in the area and it was this area where I wanted to advance as it was the fastest way to deny the enemy of precious oil/fuel. So first I´ve sent up an Army of some 3000 av that was easily stalled by the Japanese at Darwin (behind level 8 forts). Then it took me months to actually build up the islands South East of Darwin (and I had lost a carrier battle in that process). I was already planning on landing West of Darwin (going all the way round Australia) when we finally were able to move more troops to Darwin and due to the enemy finally starting to evac troops we were able to take it with a hell a lot of troops. This was around 4-6 months later than I wanted to do it. Darwin fell and it opened the door into the SRA, now my troops are sitting on Mindanao already with halve of Borneo´s oil/fuel denied to the Japanese.

I then realized how important Darwin was because with Darwin built up and in Japanese hands my axis of advance was stalled as going up New Guinea with Darwin on the Western flank and KB still afloat would mean I would have to send all my carriers with every convoy in the area which just isn´t doable. Right after Darwin the enemy heavily garrisoned Timor but Timor was easy prey with Darwin in Allied hands and a dozen divisions storming the bases on Timor. Halve of what was at Timor would have been sufficient to hold Darwin a couple of months longer and worn down divs could have been swapped for fresh ones before they would take too much damage. So depending on what you think Andy would really be up to, if he wants to go the same way as I do, then Darwin is what he really needs and defending Darwin is easier than defending Timor and all the bases East of it as they can be picked off one by one.

I don´t give a damn about the central Pacific and all those islands far away of anything, the Allied get so many ships, it doesn´t matter if it takes them a week longer to get to Australia and raiders can be picked up easily if the enemy sends them and if you want to do something about them. And full KB somewhere in the Pacific means a freebee invasion somewhere near the SRA. [:D] I know Andy is different here and I don´t want to speak about his logistic genius when I see how his convoys look like or what he is doing with them (he´s the AI programmer after all so perhaps he took over some AI habits)[;)] but in AE I don´t see the central Pacific having any value at all. Why fight for a small island 400 hexes East of the next Japanese refinery when you can fight for the base the refinery is at the same time? We´re in mid 44 now and if the Japanese would decide to conquer Hawaii now, heck go ahead and send the needed 8 divisions, I don´t care about Hawaii but would be glad to have 8 divs less to engage in my assault on the SRA.

[janh]

Castor Troy might have a good point -- Darwin is a bottle neck for SRA.  However, it could also be a death trap for the Japanese.  If SRA is not the main line of Andy's advance, and KB will be bound else were in CENTPAC or Sumatra AO for defense, Andy might be able to isolate any garrison in Darwin and render it useless (or tedious and dangerous to extract by air and transport).

How about prepring 1-2 division of your fast-counterassault reserve on Java for Darwin -- in case Andy comes up with a huge army, you could load and transfer it probably as quickly as he might approach from Daily Waters? 

Also, what other reserves did you have stationed elsewhere?  Rather than forming big garrisons on anywhere else but on other bottle neck points, I would also think they would be best employed as a counter-invasion force, say against Line Islands, or so once Andy comes for his next round (this starts to look like a good boxing fight...).  I am somehow not convinced by the Japanese strategy to garrison every spot -- particularly in the SRA, as Castor described, it looks rather pointless as the allies can project force selectively on one spot whereas the Japanese are spread out, and besides the allies can bypass and surpress most islands...

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: inqistor

Allies actually lose ASW bonus in 1944, I wonder if this counterbalance better DC.

Really? [&:] Where did you get this info? Was it from a developer?

[PaxMondo]

 
I haven't got a clue here as to which is the best strategy, but I am an avid reader!
 
Cheers!
 

[Cribtop]

Just FYI, I agree Johnston Is is worthless as an objective. The thought was to try to distract Andy once he makes a move without having to use large forces. I thought of Johnston b/c of all the previous fighting in the area in this game, but the same idea could be applied anywhere Andy isn't.

[PzB74]

Great discusssion guys [:)]

Cribtop; I got a reinforced Bde fully prepped for Johnston Island just for such an occasion you mention.
Thought about invading it after taking Midway but the Allies ability to counterattack or reinforce by air from PH made me change my mind.

Darwin will indeed become potent in 44, but that's 8-12 months away so I don't feel that I have that much to gain by potentially sacrificing a whole Army to deny
the place to Andy for another 3-6 months. Remember that we have to fight the enemy's units that are restricted to Oz with our non-restricted units. This is a big advantage for Andy.
- Fighting for Darwin also means leaving supplies there when we are finally defeated or forced to perform a hasty retreat. As it is now Andy won't get anything.

Again, it's to late to reverse our decision and ferry in reinforcements and supplies. The enemy will be upon us much before that.
So I'm continuing to implement the described plans. I've also decided to base the KB in the Marianas; this way it can react to the enemy both in the SRA and the Central Pacific.
- LBA has been tasked with closing the enemy's sea lanes to Darwin; strong Air Fleets supported by fleets have been given this task and I'm really looking forward to bomarding Darwin [;)]

If it turns out that abandoning Darwin was a bad idea I will fight for it in the game I have against Al [;)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jul 23, 43

A few sub encounters today, lost a PB and sank a lone freighter in return.

Sub Attacks

Submarine attack near Colombo at 28,48

Japanese Ships
SS I-25

Allied Ships
xAK Trevilley, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

xAK Trevilley is sighted by SS I-25
SS I-25 launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Trevilley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Groot Natoena at 60,84

Japanese Ships
PB Akitsui Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
PB Hinode Maru #20
TK Tennan Maru
PB Kyo Maru #11
PB Koei Maru

Allied Ships
SS O20

SS O20 launches 4 torpedoes at PB Akitsui Maru
O20 diving deep ....
PB Kyo Maru #11 fails to find sub and abandons search
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Koei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Sent Tojos to sweep Chungking and found Lightnings there; 4 ac lost on both sides.
Quite an interesting name for the P-38 unit, X Squadron?? Anyone know anything about this?

Morning Air attack on Chungking , at 76,45
Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 33 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 41

Allied aircraft
I-16-III x 1
P-38H Lightning x 21

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

Allied aircraft losses
P-38H Lightning: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
30 x Ki-44-IIa Tojo sweeping at 30000 feet *

CAP engaged:
11th FG/42nd FS CAF with I-16-III (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
X Sqn with P-38H Lightning (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 13 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 28000 and 35000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Katherine , at 76,128
Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 27
B-24D1 Liberator x 33

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D1 Liberator: 1 damaged

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 25
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

I had a recon regiment south of Katherine, it was ruthlessly crushed by the enemy tank battalion.
Even with supplies the assault value was reduced from 56 to 1, that's the worst I've ever seen.
The negative modifiers we have were caused by the 2 small fragments being forced back from Daily Waters.
No way these should affect our rested recon reg?

Ground combat at 76,129
Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 757 troops, 3 guns, 113 vehicles, Assault Value = 63
Defending force 1175 troops, 16 guns, 68 vehicles, Assault Value = 56

Allied adjusted assault: 15

Japanese adjusted defense: 1
Allied assault odds: 15 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), disruption(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), leaders(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
341 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 23 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (4 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 62 (28 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
194th Tank Battalion

Defending units:
8th Recon Regiment
3rd JNAF AF Unit /1
1st RF Gun Bn /2
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northern Australia