AAR: Istfemer (A) vs zeke99 (J)

[Istfemer]

Situation on 3/8/42
---
The 8th of March - International Women's Day.
Hip hip hooray - We sank our first IJN sub today.

In less pleasant news, Lady Lexington was torpedoed by an IJN sub (probably not the one we later sank) not far away from Sydney.
The CV survived, but that was VERY inconvenient. [:@]
Saratoga and Lexington now sport equal damage levels - what a coincidence.
1 Allied MCS was also sunk by enemy subs.

CBI:
Air war and my naval bombardments continue. Japanese squadrons from Rangoon raid my Imphal&Khoma airfield.
I lost 36 fighters. Zeke lost 24 fighters and 7 bombers in total. Several Martin bombers of mine were destroyed on the ground.
Allied squadrons continue to heavily pound the Jap troops near Dacca and Mandalay. China was quiet this turn.

Australia and vicinity:
New Caledonia was captured by the Japanese. Not good at all, but what could I do?
Unfortunately, there were too few of my forces in the region, so I had to withdraw my troops and ships to the east.
3 big Japanese Bombardment TFs pound the empty base, then the South Seas Brigade lands.

Japanese squadrons from Cairns raid Rockhampton airfield with 80 fighters and 25 bombers.
Then 15 bombers from Townsville bomb my LCUs - my troops take no losses.
Later, Jap squadrons from Cairns (65 fighters and 20 bombers) bomb my supply depots.
Later yet, Jap squadrons from Townsville (75 fighters and 25 bombers) make one final raid on my depots.
My small air force at Rockhampton couldn't hold off such great enemy waves. Total losses: 18 Allied fighters and 2 a/c on the ground versus 5 Japanese fighters and 7 bombers.
Australian squadrons continue bombing enemy LCUs near Rockhampton and inflict decent losses on them.

That was it - a relatively uneventful turn.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 3/15/42
---
Beware the Ides of March!
Actually, not much exciting happened this week.

CBI:
Air war and my naval bombardments continue.
Zeke's ground forces near Dacca continue being cut down like grass under the British lawn mower.
17 enemy infantry squads and 16 enemy arty were destroyed in total.
75 Jap fighters and 25 Jap bombers bombed the supply depots of empty Imphal&Khoma.
China was quiet, still.

Australia:
Rockhampton was hit hard by Japanese air attacks.
First wave: 70 f. and 25 b. from Cairns. Losses: 13 f. and 17 b. for Japanese vs 13 f. for Allies + 7 a/c on the ground.
Second wave: 90 f. and 25 b. from Townsville. Losses: 24 f. for Japanese vs 47 f. for Allies + 4 a/c on the ground.
Third wave: 50 f. and 10 b. from Cairns. Losses: 5 f. for Japanese vs 11 f. for Allies. Supply depot sustained light damage.
Fourth wave: 55 f. and 25 b. from Townsville. Losses: 3 f. and 2 b. for Japanese vs 3 f. for Allies.
3 enemy infantry squads and 4 enemy arty were also destroyed near Rockhampton.

Elsewhere:
Japs bombarded Espiritu Santo and captured it. Wake was captured as well.
I keep fortifying my own defensive perimeter, from Midway to Fiji.

Allies and Japanese both lost 3 MCSs to submarines this week.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 3/22/42
---
What could have been... but fortunately didn't happen. Still was bad enough.

Zeke was planning a MAJOR invasion of Rockhampton. I think he was going to bring the whole Combined Fleet here.
However, since Zeke was short on fuel and preparation points, some of his ships did not make it to Rockhampton in time.
Still, 3 enemy Bombardment TFs got through and wreaked havoc on my forces.
The rest of Combined Fleet is now either stuck in the Coral Sea not far from Australia or floating around near the Cape Gloucester—Guadalcanal line.
A second invasion attempt is expected.

CBI:
Allies bomb Akyab airfield once more.
Losses: Allies - 13 fighters and 5 bombers vs. Japanese - 16 fighters and 17 a/c on the ground.
Japanese aircraft make a small strike on my British BBTF operating at Dacca:
1 MCS sunk, 10 Allied LBA fighters lost for 9 enemy fighters and 6 enemy bombers shot down.
The Japanese a/c also bomb Mandalay and inflict some losses on my unprotected LCUs stationed there.

Australia:
SURFACE COMBAT! And a mighty weird one, too! The story of it will be in the next post.

Rockhampton was bombed by Jap LBA and bombarded by 3 TFs:
Japanese air losses: 5 fighters and 20 bombers shot down in the air.
Allied air losses: 21 fighters shot down and 100 a/c lost on the ground.
Japanese LCU losses: Tiny. 2 squads and 2 arty.
Allied LCU losses: Very high, unfortunately. Many, many squads, 65 arty and 41 afvs.

My squadrons at Rockhampton also attacked a carrier task force parked 3 hexes away from the base.
Too few friendly planes were available for this raid, especially fighters. They were all shot down and Allies claimed only 3 Zeroes in return.
3 P-40s and 43 Mitchells were destroyed in two attacks. Not a single Allied bomb fell on Jap CVs. [:(]

Elsewhere:
Supply depots at Nauru are being bombed by enemy fighters for experience gain.

Allies and Japanese both lost 2 MCSs this turn.

[Istfemer]

This AAR hasn't been updated for nearly three months. Time to fill in the details. Here's the story I promised:
-----
Rockhampton. Night. Dense fog all over the sea.
A single Dutch 8000t cargo ship is slowly sailing back and forth along the coast, patrolling the Keppel Bay.

First Mate: Just what exactly are we trying to accomplish here sailing around like this, Captain? Are we actually expected to meet someone in this weather?
Captain: Well, Jansen, we sort of are. You see, we are charged with the task of meeting the incoming Japanese fleet and repulsing it, if we are able. Which means we're pretty much on a suicide mission here.
First Mate: Oh. I see. HQ must be putting great faith in us, our ship and our mission. Well, fine. At least in this fog it's easy enough to fail to locate targets, right?
Captain: Right indeed.

My 8000t cargo ship turns and starts heading south.

Meanwhile Japanese task force #4 {3 BBs, 2 CAs, 3 CLs, CLAA and 20 DDs} led by the cautious vice-admiral Nagumo is steaming toward the coast of Australia for the scheduled bombardment of Rockhampton, along with two other task forces led by Kondo and Kurita, respectively. Having met no Allied air resistance on their way to Rockhampton and detecting no Allied ships around their destination three Japanese task forces prepare to move into firing position.

Ships in Nagumo's TF are to shoot at Rockhampton first. Little do they know that my little cargo ship is sailing some 8000 yards away from them. Actually my little cargo ship doesn't know this either.

Soon enough an order to open fire is issued by Nagumo:
Vice Admiral Nagumo: Task Force #4, commence bombardment.
Sounds of heavy guns firing roll over the sea.
-----
Back on my cargo ship this of course hasn't gone unnoticed:

Lookout: Gunfire, Captain! Close. Multiple ships are firing.
Captain: Enemy fleet is here! They must be bombarding the town. But what's their exact bearing?
Lookout: Can't determine that, Captain. Must be somewhere astern of us. From the sound of it all I reckon there's at least a dozen cruisers there.
Captain: Then the enemy is too strong. Set course to home port. Full speed ahead. We're withdrawing, withdrawing but not before we put up a small resistance. Gunnery Officer?
Gunnery Officer: I'm here, Captain. What are the orders?
Captain: Man the aft gun. We'll take a lucky shot at them.
Gunnery Officer: A shot in the night this foggy? We'll definitely be shooting blind. Where should the gun be aimed at? And at what elevation?
Captain: Don't concern yourself with such details. Just aim for the sky.
Gunnery Officer: What?
Captain: I said: aim for the sky, Officer. And shoot for the stars. We are trying our luck tonight.
Gunnery Officer: ... Aye, aye, Captain. As you wish. Whatever.

And so my little cargo ship aims for the sky, shoots for the stars and... fails to hit anything but water. Japanese warships are preoccupied with the task of turning Rockhampton into rubble and of course do not notice anything.

Captain: Hmm. I wonder: did we actually hit anything? Besides water, I mean.
Gunnery Officer: We didn't hit the stars, that's for sure, Captain.
Captain: At least no one will ever say that we haven't tried.

The range to enemy TF keeps increasing as my Dutch cargo ship retires from battle. The lucky vessel will make it safely to port afterwards.

For discretion AND valour the ship and her crew demonstrated in this engagement I decided to not send them on any more suicide missions. [8D]

[Istfemer]

Situation on 3/29/42
---
Finally some good news. Very weird turn though.

CBI:
Calcutta. My long-range bombers make a night raid on Rangoon depots.
They are not very effective - supply depots sustain only light damage. Their experience probably was not high enough.

Dacca. Regular air bombings and naval bombardments directed at Japanese troops continue here.
These are somewhat hindered by the annoying air opposition regularly sortiing from Akyab. (sometimes from Rangoon and/or Bangkok too)
Air losses: 17 Allied fighters; 7 Japanese fighters and 8 Japanese bombers.
33rd Inf Div (JA) lost 11 squads and 9 arty.

Mandalay. A few squadrons of weakly escorted Jap bombers were met here by my hungry Wildcats.
Air losses: 4 Allied fighters; 9 Japanese fighters and 28 Japanese bombers. Yum!
1 Allied artillery piece was destroyed on the ground.

Nanning. 2 Allied artillery pieces were destroyed on the ground. Japanese bomber pilots just want more experience.

Australia:
FLASH: Amphibious invasion of Brisbane was successfully repelled by the brave and skillful commander Vandegrift.
Vandegrift now has a land rating of 9 and is yearning for more opportunities to bash Japanese skulls. I'm sure he will have a lot soon enough.

###
---Wave 1
South Sea Brigade lands - odds 0.
Lt. General Hyakutake assaults the forces of General Wavell.
Japs are the only ones that suffer losses here - 12 squads and 1 arty.

---Wave 2
48th Inf Div and 1st Para Bde join the fight - odds 0.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Lt. General Pownall.
Losses: 77 squads and 9 arty for Japanese; 44 squads, 1 arty, 1 afv for Allies.

---Wave 3
4th Inf Div comes to assist them - odds 0.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Maj. General Vandegrift.
Losses: 102 squads, 14 arty, 5 avfs for Japanese; 14 squads and 1 arty for Allies.

---Wave 4
The 2nd Guard Div and friends desperately try to overpower the Allies. Without success - odds still 0.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Maj. General Vandegrift once again.
Losses: 112 squads, 12 arty, 6 avfs for Japanese; 24 squads, 2 arty, 1 afv for Allies.

I won this battle. [8D] Brisbane is empty of Japanese LCUs at the moment.
Zeke apparently embarked their remains on transports. I have no idea where those are heading now.
###

Jap naval bombardments destroyed 13 squads, 30 arty, 34 afvs and 33 aircraft on the ground.

Another surface combat happened between my 8000t MCS (Australian one this time, with 2**s of damage already accumulated) and a Japanese fleet (AVs and APs mostly). My MCS achieved surprise this time and shot once but missed again.
Eh, at least it was able to retire to safety afterwards like the Dutch one. This foggy Australia. [:'(]

My air force shot down a very decent number of A5Ms and, bizarrely enough, Ki-27 Setsus. (where did THOSE come from??? From AVs?! I think yes and that's a bug.)
We also shot down several A6M2 Zeroes and Ki-43 Oscars. Lost a number of Mitchell bombers - they attacked without fighter cover.

One of my P-40 Warhawk squadrons from Brisbane spotted Nagumo's BBTF #4. (yes, the same one my Dutch MCS met at Rockhampton)
This BBTF was not in range of Japanese CV fighter cover and my P-40s managed a few good hits on its ships.

Among them:
CLAA Isuzu - 3***
Unknown CL - 3***
Unknown DD - 3***


At the same time Rockhampton was bombarded by light cruisers and hit by mighty air raids. Some weirdness ensued when Zeke's now-Allied Zeroes together with Wildcats out of nowhere intercepted my Allied Mitchells set to bomb those cruisers. Surreal. Rockhampton was empty. I evacuated everything. Those rogue Wildcats... Someone will be so sacked for this.

Elsewhere:
Japanese capture Tagula Island.
Air bombings of Nauru supply depots continue.

I noticed one interesting thing. My intelligence (not SIGINT) shows that Zeke has a carrier in every single Bombardment TF of his.
And yet, when they come to bombard my bases there's no CV to be found. What cunning trick is this?

Upd:
Apparently, my intel interprets Japanese CAs as CVs. Huh. Go figure.

---
|Ship losses|
Allies: 2 submarines and 1 cargo ship
Japanese: 8 cargo ships and 1 tanker

I lost that British cargo ship to an air attack, but this is not reflected in the sunk ships menu. The number of sunk MCSs is the same as it was last turn. What? Another bug? I thought the sunk ships menu was always accurate... [&:]
It could still be a simple miscalculation on my part though.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 4/5/42
---
CBI:
Lots of exciting air battles in India/Burma.
Japanese airstrikes hit Dacca and our fighter planes suffer casualties.
Total air losses: 11 Jap fighters, 7 Jap bombers vs 36 Allied fighters.
Allies launch a massive aerial counterattack on Akyab airfield. It's a moderate success but friendly losses are high.
Total air losses: 35 Allied fighters and 23 Allied bombers vs 40 Jap fighters and 26 a/c on the ground.
Air Combat task force led by Boyd (at Calcutta), which earlier participated in the bombing of Akyab, withstands a retaliatory strike.
Total air losses: 11 Jap fighters, 4 Jap bombers vs 17 Allied fighters. No damage to my ships.
Bombardment task force led by Phillips (at Dacca) defends against an air attack. P-40s assist.
Total air losses: 4 Jap fighters, 6 Jap bombers vs 6 Allied fighters. Minor damage to my ships.

Naval bombardments killed 10 Jap squads and 6 Jap arty.

Japanese captured Nanning, destroying one of my defending armies in the process. There are 2 more armies left stranded near Nanning - those are cut off and are expected to surrender soon. Japanese also conducted a few ineffective air raids on Kweilen.

Australia:
Japanese managed to capture Rockhampton. Sad. My engineer unit retreated. I lost 25 squads of engineers there.
Brisbane suffered many, many naval bombardments this week. Nagumo, Kongo, Kurita and also Shima (the commander of a light cruiser TF) were massacring my forces. I have to drive them off for good ASAP.

Elsewhere:
Fighter raids on Nauru and Rennell Island supply depots continue.
Zeke's National Oil Reserve still has not recovered. I shall do my best to make it so it never does.

Allies lost 1 MCS to enemy sub attack. A Fujisan tanker was claimed in return by our submarine.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 4/12/42
---
CBI:
Dacca was bombarded by Allied ships and pummelled by Allied air raids as usual.
Enemy losses: 7 squads, 3 arty.
The rest of India/Burma was quiet.

At Nanning, cut off KMT units were completely destroyed. Now all attention in the region will shift to Kweilen.

Australia:
Japanese aircraft attacked Brisbane from Rockhampton.
Air losses were in my favour: 50 Jap fighters, 19 Jap bombers vs. 40 Allied fighters.

Elsewhere:
Rennell Island was captured by the Japanese. Captured rather late, I might add.
Attu Island was bombarded by 2 Japanese destroyers to no effect, since Attu was empty.
Nauru and Efate supply depots were bombed by Japanese aircraft.

Zeke keeps bombing Nauru depots but refrains from capturing the base.
His strategy here is clear enough. Nauru, aside from being a safe target for Japanese aircraft experience training, is continuously resupplied by my routine convoys. On their way to Nauru Allied cargo ships enter the hunting grounds of Japanese submarines - waters south of Tarawa. And my cargo ships get themselves torpedoed there regularly. Oh, where's the option to forbid resupply to particular bases when you need it so?

We lost 3 MCSs this turn. The enemy lost 1.

[Capt. Harlock]

Zeke keeps bombing Nauru depots but refrains from capturing the base.
His strategy here is clear enough. Nauru, aside from being a safe target for Japanese aircraft experience training, is continuously resupplied by my routine convoys. On their way to Nauru Allied cargo ships enter the hunting grounds of Japanese submarines - waters south of Tarawa. And my cargo ships get themselves torpedoed there regularly. Oh, where's the option to forbid resupply to particular bases when you need it so?

Odd -- if the Japanese keep bombing it, Nauru should be an isolated base, and not supplied by regular convoys. Do you have an HQ set on computer control that is creating resupply TF's?

[Istfemer]

Odd -- if the Japanese keep bombing it, Nauru should be an isolated base, and not supplied by regular convoys. Do you have an HQ set on computer control that is creating resupply TF's?

No. Every HQ was and is on Human Control.
Zeke is bombing Nauru with a single squadron of fighters. (Zeroes)
They must be not flying enough sorties and not inflicting enough damage for Nauru to count as isolated.

It's either this or something more sinister is happening.

[Capt. Harlock]

Zeke is bombing Nauru with a single squadron of fighters. (Zeroes)
They must be not flying enough sorties and not inflicting enough damage for Nauru to count as isolated.

It's either this or something more sinister is happening.

Ahh -- clever of Zeke. Zeroes are pure fighters, rather than fighter-bombers. They don't create an AZOC (Air Zone Of Control), so Nauru doesn't get isolated, even though it's practically defenseless.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 4/19/42
---
CBI:
Calcutta-Dacca. My naval bombardment and carrier strikes destroy 10 enemy infantry squads and 5 arty.
Calcutta-Rangoon. My long-range bombers try a raid on Rangoon airfield but hit supply depots instead. Moderate damage. There was no air opposition.
China. Japanese aircraft bomb my supply depots at their leisure.

[angry rant]
My lazy LBA pilots refuse to fly bombing sorties. Supplies, fuel and pps are a plenty. All targets are correctly set. No isolation. What's the matter - motivation's too low? Or you just plain don't like bombing land targets?? You'll get your massive amphibious invasion soon enough - may as well earn some combat experience before it hits you in the face. When enemy carriers launch their hammer-throwing flying monsters at you and enemy battleships loose their anvils upon your airfields... we'll see how well you fare then. Get to work!

Mad, mad, mad. [:@]
[/angry rant]

Australia:
Vice Adm. Kondo's task force bombards Perth, which is empty.

Japanese aircraft attack Brisbane from Rockhampton again. Losses are in my favour again, too:
20 Jap fighters and 14 Jap bombers destroyed for 20 Allied fighters lost.

A few LCUs of mine hold positions near Rockhampton, blocking a possible Japanese advance. Some battles were fought here:

###
1st round losses --- 15 inf squads, 6 arty, 1 afv for Japanese vs 34 inf squads, 1 afv for Allies.
###
2nd round losses --- 40 inf squads, 5 arty for Japanese vs 40 inf squads, 1 arty, 1 afv for Allies.

Rear Adm. Shima's light cruiser task force also bombarded my troops here.

Brisbane-based Allied squadrons make a raid on Rockhampton airfield. About time, I say.
Allies lost 15 fighters and 2 bombers in the attack. Japanese lost 19 fighters and 4 a/c on the ground.

Elsewhere:
Nauru and Efate depots as usual.

Zeke lost 12 MCSs this turn. I lost 1 Gato-class submarine.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 4/26/42
---
CBI:
Andaman Island was captured this week. Intelligence reports that an invasion of mainland India is imminent.

Calcutta was struck by air raids. A6M2 Zeroes from Rangoon, Ki-43 Hayabusas and Ki-27 Setsus from Akyab bombed my airfield here. B-17 bombers were the target and I lost about 6 of them.
Those sneaky Japanese, bombing me where I have no fighter cover present.

Akyab. Allied bomber pilots find courage to bomb Akyab's airfield at last.
Total air losses: 20 Allied fighters and 9 Allied bombers vs 36 Jap fighters and 8 a/c on the ground.

Dacca. My Bombardment TF here withstands numerous air attacks.
Total air losses: 32 Allied fighters vs 23 Jap fighters and 27 Jap bombers.
1 Allied MCS was sunk, a few other ships suffered minor damage. Japanese lost 5 squads and 7 arty as a consequence of Allied naval bombardment.

China. My supply depots at Kunming and Kweiyang are being bombed every turn. Japanese planes harass my units at Kweilen too.

Australia:
Zeke captured Perth. Now Allies control only 4 bases in Australia: Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane.
These are well-reinforced however and Zeke will surely break his teeth if he tries to invade them. I'm not going to surrender any more.

My LCUs near Rockhampton withstand air raids and shore bombardments. P-40 Warhawks managed to destroy 5 enemy aircraft on the ground here.
At last my planes find courage to attack Japanese ships! Shima's cruiser task force lost 3 MCSs sunk plus one light cruiser was hit for 3*** of damage.
There was no land combat at Rockhampton this turn.

Elsewhere:
Nauru and Efate depots as usual.

---
|Ship losses|
Just a summary: Zeke lost 3 MCSs near Rockhampton. I lost 1 MCS near Dacca. All of them were sunk by air strikes.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 5/3/42
---
CBI:
After a furious debate and lots of name-calling, Lt. General Henry Pownall finally agreed to hand control of Calcutta and Vizagapatam to Lt. General Douglas MacArthur. MacArthur of SW Pacific HQ (or is it NE Indian now?) is still angry because of the loss of the Philippines. Having spent the last few months stuck in Burma overseeing the mostly uneventful defence of Mandalay (and that one of Dacca as well), MacArthur is very much yearning to reaffirm his worth as a commander. Now he has a chance. And now it's Pownall's turn to be stuck in Burma. Oh well. Pownall remarked that this is a temporary setback and promised to come through the predicament with his head held high. Pownall also said that he'll return to Calcutta with SEAC as soon as it would be feasible.

As our intelligence warns us that the enemy is about to storm the beaches of India, it is imperative for the Commonwealth and American forces to cooperate for the greater good of the Allies. India must not be lost, a stiff defence must be mounted, enemy must be stopped. That is all.
---

FLASH: Air Combat TF containing 5 CVs/CVLs is sighted 2 hexes southwest of Vizagapatam -- it must be covering other Japanese TFs bound for my base.
After a prolonged shore bombardment, which kills plenty of defenders, the Japanese storm Vizagapatam.

###
---Wave 1
48th Inf Div lands - odds 0.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Lt. General MacArthur.
Japs are the only ones who suffer losses here - 14 squads, 2 arty and 1 afv.

---Wave 2
4th Inf Div joins in - odds 0.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Lt. General MacArthur again.
Losses: 54 squads, 11 arty and 5 afvs for Japanese; 2 arty for Allies.

---Wave 3
4th and 48th Inf Divs make another try - odds 1 this time.
Lt. General Yamashita assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger.
Losses: 40 squads and 3 arty for Japanese; 10 squads for Allies.

The base holds and that's what is important. Malay brigades put up a good defence.
###

Akyab. Allies bomb Akyab airfield (they just like doing this) and achieve good results.
Total air losses: 7 Allied fighters and 3 Allied bombers vs 10 Jap fighters and 23 a/c on the ground.
There was no Allied naval bombardment of Dacca this turn. It was deemed too dangerous to send TFs there.

China as usual.

Australia:
Japanese launch a rather big air raid on Brisbane. Losses are in our favour.
Total air losses: 34 Jap fighters and 28 Jap bombers vs 24 Allied fighters and 5 a/c on the ground.

Japanese LCUs initiate land combat at Rockhampton:
[18th JA Inf Div + Sas SNLF Rgt + 56th Grp Rgt] attack my [11th Aus Inf Bde + Blckforce Rgt]
Japanese lose 25 squads and 4 arty in the attack; Allied defenders lose 19 squads, 3 arty and 1 afv.

Elsewhere:
First Allied carrier raid in many months. Hornet and Yorktown hit New Georgia and are hit in return by counterstrikes from New Georgia and Kwajalein.
Total air losses: 14 Allied fighters and 10 Allied bombers vs 18 Jap fighters, 27 Jap bombers and 17 a/c on the ground at New Georgia. No damage to my ships -- success!

Nauru and Efate depots as usual.

Zeke lost 1 submarine. I lost 1 MCS to a sub attack.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 5/10/42
---
CBI:
The epic struggle at Vizagapatam continues.

###
---Wave 1
38th Inf Div lands to help the previous guests - odds 0.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Lt. General MacArthur.
Japs are the only ones that suffer losses here - 18 squads and 2 arty.

---Wave 2
7th Inf Div lands to assist as well - odds 0.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger.
Losses: 28 squads, 3 arty and 1 afv for Japanese; 2 squads for Allies.

---Wave 3
56th Inf Div joins the party - odds 0.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger again.
Losses: 60 squads and 2 arty for Japanese; 5 squads for Allies.

---Wave 4
16th Inf Div is late for the party but wants to participate too - odds 2 this time.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger yet again.
Losses: 57 squads, 4 arty and 3 afvs for Japanese; 11 squads for Allies.

---Wave 5
6 Japanese divisions are partying really hard on the Indian coast but are still held off by 2 Malay brigades - odds 4!
Lt. General Mutaguchi desperately assaults the stalwart forces of Lt. General MacArthur.
Losses: 22 squads and 1 arty for Japanese; 21 squads for Allies.

Vizagapatam holds, yes, but it's getting harder to defend it. The Japanese are getting closer to their goal.
###

Air war didn't go well for me. Lots of Allied planes and some British ships (incl. Hermes) were lost when an exceptionally strong Jap LBA force raided the ports of Dacca and Calcutta.
Calcutta took the worst of it. Total air losses at Calcutta: 29 Jap fighters and 14 Jap bombers vs 79 Allied fighters shot down in the air.
Dacca was hit less severely. Total air losses at Dacca: 34 Jap fighters and 42 Jap bombers vs 36 Allied fighters shot down in the air.

China as usual.

Australia:
Allied planes raided Rockhampton airfield and destroyed a single Ki-32 bomber. A single enemy artillery piece was destroyed as well. Where do the Japs hide all their planes & artillery?

Elsewhere:
Nauru was not bombed this turn. Santa Cruz was. Efate depots as usual.

|Ship losses summary|
I lost CVL Hermes to a port air attack. 2 DDs and 4 DEs were sunk by enemy aircraft when these ships unwisely decided to leave port on their own and venture south, most likely to Jitra. (why were you so stupid??) Lastly, 1 Allied MCS fell prey to an enemy submarine. Zeke lost 22 MCSs -- after a brief hiatus my submariners reminded IJN about themselves. In addition to this, 3 Japanese submarines were sent to the bottom of the ocean, never to rise again.

I have a feeling that dark times are upon the British Eastern Fleet.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 5/17/42
Big surface battles in the Indian Ocean — and not all of them are complete disasters for the Allies, even!
---
CBI:
Major organizational changes were made in this theater. For instance, SEAC was transferred to Trincomalee. Lt. General Pownall greatly approves of this move, even if he would have wished to be back in Calcutta instead. At least Pownall won't be sitting in Burma anymore, being useless.
Under the house rules we play with, Colombo and Trincomalee can't be targets for Japanese amphibious invasions. So Pownall should be safe there.

All 4 British admirals expressed frustration at the fact that enemy planes continue to sink our valuable ships largely unimpeded and harshly criticized the inadequacy of land-based fighter cover in India. They also urged for action to be taken without hesitation regarding Vizagapatam. Right now, Combined Fleet is bombarding Vizagapatam at will while progressively more and more Japanese troops are being sent to capture it. If Vizagapatam falls, British Eastern Fleet will be permanently trapped in port and will eventually succumb to aircraft bombs. SEAC found their concerns to be valid enough and thus a decision was made: Eastern Fleet won't hide; Eastern Fleet will fight.
---

FLASH: Entire British Eastern Fleet (sans Prince of Wales and most cargo ships) sortied out to Vizagapatam and clashed with Japanese warships there. Results of surface battles will be in the next post.

Vizagapatam withstands another devastating shore bombardment and, as usual, waves of land battles follow it.

###
---Wave 1
2nd Guard Div lands and attacks alongside 5 other Japanese divisions --- odds 1.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger.
Losses: 21 squads, 2 arty and 2 afvs for Japanese; 14 squads for Allies.

---Wave 2
5th Inf Div lends some help to previous invaders --- odds 2.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger again.
Losses: 36 squads, 8 arty and 1 afv for Japanese; 20 squads for Allies.

---Wave 3
South Sea Bde and 1st Para Bde join the beach-lovers club --- odds 0.
Lt. General Mutaguchi assaults the forces of Maj. General Geiger once again.
Losses: 106 squads, 8 arty and 8 afvs for Japanese; 5 squads for Allies.

---Wave 4
7 Japanese divisions and 2 Japanese brigades make one final joint assault in hopes of overpowering my 3 weak brigades and nearly succeed --- odds 5, same as terrain!!!
Lt. General Mutaguchi keeps assaulting the tired forces of Maj. General Geiger.
Losses: 29 squads, 6 arty and 3 afvs for Japanese; 34 squads and 5 arty for Allies.

That was close.
###

Many Allied fighters were lost to enemy fighter sweeps over Calcutta and in hopeless attacks on Kido Butai.
Before killing themselves on KB my Martins and Blenheims attacked a Transport TF. They scored several hits on AV/APs but there was only a single 1*, made by a Blenheim bomber. Shame.
Other squadrons mostly assisted my LCUs in their defence of Vizagapatam by raining bombs on the invading hordes.
Japanese planes bombed Calcutta depots for Moderate damage.

China as usual.

Australia:
Allied planes killed 2 sqds, 4 arty, 6 afvs at Rockhampton. Enemy supply depot sustained light and moderate damage.

Elsewhere:
Santa Cruz depots as usual.

1 Allied MCS was sunk by a Japanese submarine.

[Istfemer]

++ 1st Surface Engagement ++
Round 1: British ships manage to get into position for the first strike. 13,000 yards.

BB Warspite opens the round but does not manage to inflict any critical hits on her opponent, a Fuso-class BB.
Luck shines on the flagship of Vice Admiral Phillips, BB Resolution, which manages to score a direct hit on the rear magazine of the second Fuso-class BB.
5***** - the magazine goes BOOM! and the Japanese battleship breaks in two. Hurray!
Axis paid for Hood's demise (partially at least), even though in this case the payer wasn't the German navy but the Japanese one.
BB Ramilles hits the third Fuso-class BB for 1* of damage.
BB Revenge hits the first Myoko-class CA for 2** of damage.
Hawkins-class CL hits a Sendai-class CL for 1* of damage.
The rest of my ships do only minor damage to the Japanese task force. So far so good.

Round 2: The British strike again and are hit in return. 6,000 yards.

BB Warspite continues shelling her opponent but the latter's armor is strangely impenetrable. Fuso-class BB responds and puts 1* and later another 1* into Warspite.
BB Resolution fires again and scores another 5***** hit, this time on a Kuma-class CL, which immediately explodes into fiery bits. Some good aim you have, Resolution.
BB Ramilles shoots at the third Fuso-class BB, no criticals this time. Third Fuso-class returns fire and Ramilles is hit for 1* of damage --- it's an equal exchange overall.
BB Revenge hits the wounded Myoko-class CA three more times, with the last one going below the waterline. 1*, 2** and 4**** --- the heavy cruiser cannot take this much punishment and rapidly goes under.
CA Dorsetshire fires her guns on the second Myoko-class CA, with little damage inflicted. Second Myoko-class retaliates with a Long Lance torpedo directed at Dorsetshire, which holes and mortally wounds my CA. 5*****. Poor Dorsetshire...
CLAA J.V.Heemskerk and the third Myoko-class CA exchange gunfire. J.V.Heemskerk suffers a 2** shell hit for little damage done to the enemy ship.
Hawkins-class CL keeps hitting the wounded Sendai-class and manages a 4**** hit on her. Commendable accuracy. Sendai-class is burning like a torch but will nevertheless survive the engagement.
Paladin-class DD fires a torpedo at a Tenryu-class CL and holes her. 5***** and down she goes. Nice.
Japanese Fubuki-class DD sinks one of my Echo-class DDs with super-accurate gunfire (5***** hit, ugh) + expends a Long Lance on the same target just to be certain.

Summary:
Zeke lost Fuso-class BB, Myoko-class CA, Tenryu-class and Kuma-class CLs.
I lost CA Dorsetshire and an Echo-class DD.
Five 5-asterisk hits were achieved in this battle (by both sides), 3 by main guns and 2 by torpedoes.


++ 2nd, 3rd and 4th Surface Engagements ++
These were not successful at all as I couldn't find enough powerful, durable, undamaged ships to fill my 3 other task forces. I hoped to catch one of those Japanese transport/supply TFs with my weaker task forces but had no luck — too many hostile bombardment TFs were sent to the area.

Summary:
Zeke lost nothing. Nagato-class BB, Kongo-class BB and a Mutsuki-class DD suffered minor critical hits.
I lost BB Royal Sovereign (already had 63 damage prior to engagement), CA Exeter (had 1*), all 3 Danae-class CLs (the 1st had 1*, the 2nd 2**, the 3rd none), 1 Echo-class DD, 2 Grimsby-class DEs and 9 8000t cargo ships.
A damaged Odinia-class tanker was later sunk by aircraft.

Surviving ships retired to Ceylon.

Despite the significant losses sustained by the Eastern Fleet I consider this whole operation to still be a success.
Had my ships not engaged the enemy bombardment TFs, Vizagapatam would probably have been captured this week.

[Capt. Harlock]

Surviving ships retired to Ceylon.

I am thoroughly impressed! Any chance of picking off Japanese stragglers with land-based air?

[Istfemer]

I am thoroughly impressed! Any chance of picking off Japanese stragglers with land-based air?

I wish my LBA went after stragglers at least semi-regularly, but my planes always seem to go after other targets for some reason.

Also, to be exact:
One Eastern Fleet TF made it to the hex immediately west of Colombo.
Three others stopped halfway between Trincomalee and Vizagapatam. Definitely not the best place to linger at the moment.

[Istfemer]

Situation on 5/24/42
---
CBI:
No land battles were fought at Vizagapatam or elsewhere. Air war and shore bombardments continued as before.

Rangoon-Calcutta.
A series of powerful Japanese airstrikes hits my LCUs and a/c on the ground. Fighter sweeps by Zeroes follow it. Later, a bombardment TF under Vice Adm Kondo comes and lays destruction upon Calcutta.
Allied aircraft losses: 45 fighters + 24 a/c on the ground / Japanese aircraft losses: 20 fighters
Allied LCU losses: 7 sqds, 27 arty, 18 afvs.

Akyab-Dacca.
A separate series of airstrikes hits my LCUs here. Ki-27 Setsus perform fighter sweeps. A bombardment TF under Rear Adm Ugaki also bombards the base.
Allied aircraft losses: 36 fighters + 6 a/c on the ground / Japanese aircraft losses: 28 fighters
Allied LCU losses: 2 sqds, 8 arty, 7 afvs.

I think Zeke wanted to test how many and which LCUs I had at these bases.

Remaining Allied planes tried hard to sink at least something in all those Japanese TFs that were sailing around. And my planes succeeded at their task!
Wellington bombers sank 2 Africa Maru APs in Hara's and Fukadome's TFs + 1 Kuma-class CL in Kondo's task force. Go, go, Wellingtons!
Furthermore, a DD in Ugaki's task force was hit for 3*** by a Wellington's 500lb bomb. A B-17 from Ranchi also lit up a Nagato-class BB with a well-placed 2000lb bomb.
Now Zeke has both Nagato-class battleships damaged.

Total aircraft losses taken during the attacks on Jap task forces at Vizagapatam, Calcutta, Dacca and open sea nearby:
Allies: 16 fighters, 42 bombers / Japanese: 11 fighters (CAP from AVs)

China as usual.

Australia:
Allied planes killed 4 sqds, 3 arty, 2 afvs at Rockhampton. Enemy supply depot sustained light and Moderate damage again.

Elsewhere:
Nauru and Santa Cruz depots as usual.

There were no friendly ship losses this week.

[Istfemer]

OK. Now I'm doing a bit of guessing here.
Zeke evidently wanted to intercept my escaping Eastern Fleet ships. So much, in fact, that he sent his Kido Butai after them.
2 ACTFs even. One with 5 carriers. The other with 6 carriers.
It looks like they both had their destinations set for Colombo. Fortunately, my ships were headed for Addu I. instead and somehow managed to slip past KB unnoticed.
Two of my TFs even passed right through the hex KB was sitting in! I cannot stop wondering how they did it. Must have been nighttime when they were crossing the strait -- hugging the Indian coast and all.
IRL, there's Adam's Bridge in this hex, a chain of islands the waters around which are very shallow. My large-draft vessels would have been in real danger of grounding themselves here even in broad daylight.
And yet in PACWAR they passed Adam's Bridge without any problems.

Eleven Japanese carriers failed to spot my task forces -- can you believe that?
Yamaguchi's planes were probably too busy searching around the northeastern approaches to Colombo/Trincomalee. Yamaguchi and whoever was in charge of 2nd ACTF definitely had not expected the Brits to slip behind the mighty KB like they did.
Phillips and Boyd both get a medal "For Audacity Which Ended Well" from me.
I'm not even sure whether I used SIGINT on KB to read its destination this time. I know I was positive there was only one Jap Air TF in the Andamans.
What could have been indeed. The pic is attached. It's a composite picture I made to show the details of this incredible escape.