Well David, these are just comments so take them on the right way:
I disagree with most of the things you are doing so!. To my surprise I didn´t read any "big plan". I.e "avoid auto victory is the most important thing" or "save India" or whatever. [:-]. If PzB invade India and destroys Java, no matter what you do in Central Pacific, cos you won´t have time, PzB will get the auto victory.
Accepting the defeat in Java is one of the most annoying things of your strategy!. If you don´t take those bases in the island they will become easy points to unload troops and supplies.
I can imagine that the situation in Java is a disaster. I warned Wobbly to watch out for supplies and fuel. But even with this restriction you should try to defend Java, like US defended Guadalcanal so PzB will risk his naval resources=points to avoid auto victory.
BUT DO NOT leave JAVA!!!. Try to build a strong supply line (invade that island with jap troops on it) and maintain the supply TF heading to Australia and DO NOT send them to Central Pacific[:-]
Sending your TF out of Java while the KB is there is a MISTAKE. Ok, they are doing nothing in a port but at least they are protected with CAP and AAA fire. What a waste of good men [:(]
If I were you I would read wobbly´s AARs so you can learn about his plans (and mistakes)
Anyway, good luck
Canuck's Revenge - ADavidB vs PzB (Wobbly's game continued)
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
ORIGINAL: Central Blue
Do you hold Soerbaya? No malaria there if I remember correctly. DOn't know what you have to slow him down with, but it's nice to get the best unit there resting up while he's on his way.
If worst comes to worst... US subs make great troop transport during 1942...
Yes, I hold most of Java except for Batavia and Merak in the North and Malang in the South. I'm presently consolidating my positions. PzB is busy attacking the TFs of damaged ships that I've sailed out of port, which allows me to rebuild my air forces at the various bases and redistribute land forces. I am also engaging in a naval air war of attrition in the area.
I have no intention of trying to abandon Java - I want PzB to come in and fight for it. But I'm not going to throw away more good forces right now, because PzB totally has the upper hand in the theater. For example, he has three naval air TFs in the Southern Indian Ocean, hunting down the remnants of what Wobby sent home a game-week ago. I've got nothing in the region that can stop him - my own carriers are a week's steaming away and have no fuel and little in the way of supplies. And the closest fuel and supplies is a couple of week's steaming away.
So far I'm happy with what is happening. I will likely lose more ships in the Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea. But I am causing PzB grief and losses, and allowing myself the time to rebuild strength elsewhere.
I'll post more details in a little while.
Cheers -
Dave
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
BUT DO NOT leave JAVA!!!. Try to build a strong supply line (invade that island with jap troops on it) and maintain the supply TF heading to Australia and DO NOT send them to Central Pacific
I'm not abandoning Java, I'm setting up for the long haul there. Right now there is no way to supply it, nor get more troops to it. Neither do I want to chance taking troops out of it.
Ports are not safe havens, particularly when you don't really have control of the air. As soon as I sent my TFs out on July 8, PzB sent a huge air attack in and overwhelmed my air defenses easily. The air defense situation in Java is really bad - there are only understrength air units there.
My strategy has also been to distract PzB with TFs of damaged ships - the ones that won't survive anyway. My better ships are going off away from the action. Sure enough, PzB's air forces are going after my damaged ships and not noticing my good ships. This allows me the time to rebuild my air bases in Java and to give my air groups there some possibility to regroup. Remember, if you can only put a half dozen fighters in the air at a time, you aren't going to stop much of anything.
The real issue with a supply line is that there isn't any. You have to realize that 90% of the Allied transports are on the West of Australia or in the Indian Ocean. Unless I can get some of them to the Pacific and start them on the long, long, looooong trek across to the West Coast, there will be no way to move any supplies anywhere.
This was my reality on July 8, 1942 when I took over the game: there were a total of THREE, yes, read that carefully again, THREE 4500 ton AKs on the West Coast of North American. Now, think about that.
So "long term plans" and what not are not part of my vocabulary right now. I'm strictly in "survival" mode. The Java operation is working well because it has done what Wobbly intended it to do - it has caused PzB to pull significant forces away from India and the Central Pacific to deal with this operation. It just so happens that the entire operation has ended up to be a fairly big disaster, but that's how things go. Now I am going to try to make PzB pay dearly for recoving Java. Every ship he loses, every plane I shoot down, every invader who gets lost at sea or blasted at land is costing PzB points and time. And time is on my side.
Cheers, and thanks for your comments -
Dave Baranyi
-
Central Blue
- Posts: 695
- Joined: Fri Aug 20, 2004 5:31 pm
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
I was going to say too bad about Malang... He closed the back door. Smart guy you're playing.
Then I read this: "You have to realize that 90% of the Allied transports are on the West of Australia or in the Indian Ocean." and realized you have real problems to worry about.
Forget the beer. Send Canadian Club.
Then I read this: "You have to realize that 90% of the Allied transports are on the West of Australia or in the Indian Ocean." and realized you have real problems to worry about.
Forget the beer. Send Canadian Club.
USS St. Louis firing on Guam, July 1944. The Cardinals and Browns faced each other in the World Series that year
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
A battle of attrition is, I suppose, what you want to force. Allied production is much trumpeted after all, I know in my game i decided I dont mind losing CVs so long as he loses CVs as well.
But!
Just how much punishment can the Allies take and still be the winner is the question. I figure 1 for 1 losses are excellent for the Alllies, but 2 to 1, 4 to 1? I'm honestly curious how much the Allied industrial advantage counts for.
If your clock is totally cleaned in Java is it really worth it. Sounds like a bit of a bigger battle of attrition than Guadalcanal was here. [;)]
But!
Just how much punishment can the Allies take and still be the winner is the question. I figure 1 for 1 losses are excellent for the Alllies, but 2 to 1, 4 to 1? I'm honestly curious how much the Allied industrial advantage counts for.
If your clock is totally cleaned in Java is it really worth it. Sounds like a bit of a bigger battle of attrition than Guadalcanal was here. [;)]
-
Tom Hunter
- Posts: 2194
- Joined: Tue Dec 14, 2004 1:57 am
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
I think your question is right on target EUBanana but I don't think ADavidB has a choice. His force is where it is and its going to be 3 months before he can get it more supply. That is a long time to wait while under attack.
Race against Time
Okay, so I had sent everything that would fly in India on July 8 off on airfield attacks on Bombay and surprised PzB pretty well. So this turn, since I could see that he had pulled his bombers back from Bombay and put in lots of fighters, I set all of my bombers on "Naval Attack" and got the following pleasing results:
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 16
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 5
Beaufort V-IX x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 7 destroyed, 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Fukko Maru
AP Zukai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Terukuni Maru
A6M2 Zero x 5
A6M3 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 37
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Zukai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Yasukuni Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tatsutake Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Yamura Maru
AP Terukuni Maru
AP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AP Nichiryo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 15
Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort I: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
Sure, I took some damage, and bombs don't do much to BBs, but I've caused grief in his transport fleets and given notice that he doesn't "own the seas" around Bombay.
Now, PzB also got in shots against my ships that were fleeing Java:
Day Air attack on TF at 16,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
G4M1 Betty x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Allied Ships
MSW Grebe
AK West Shipper, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Lahaina, Torpedo hits 1
But those ships were badly damaged anyway! My ploy worked - PzB sent his planes after my damaged ships and didn't bomb my airbases in Java. This allowed my engineers to start to do badly needed repairs to the bases, as well as start to repair my planes - I have very few operational planes in Java right now. My air force in Java is very much a "paper tiger".
In the meanwhile, as I had expected, PzB had split the KB into three forces that straddled the Southwest Indian Ocean and finally found the ships that Wobbly had sent West then South a couple of game-weeks ago:
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
D3A Val x 23
B5N Kate x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Nordhval, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 2,82
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
A6M3 Zero x 13
D3A Val x 25
B5N Kate x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Ernest Meyer, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AK Maine
AK Mormacsul, Torpedo hits 1
AK Olopana, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Mauna Loa, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Mormachawk, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Halstead, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
AK Mormacgull, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 3,78
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
D3A Val x 20
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
TK Empire Amethyst, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 1,85
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
A6M3 Zero x 12
D3A Val x 18
B5N Kate x 2
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Empire Strength, Bomb hits 3
AK Empire Glade, Bomb hits 1, on fire
As you can see, there was no place for these ships to "hide" - they were right against the map edge.
The KB also finally caught the Enterprise, which had been limping along at a couple of knots with system and fire both above 50:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
D3A Val x 22
B5N Kate x 36
E13A1 Jake x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Van Nes, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 19
B5N Kate x 73
E13A1 Jake x 2
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Bomb hits 1
PzB later wrote that he was surprised at the speed with which the Big sank. He hadn't realized how bad things were.
Now my big problem will be if PzB sends some or all of the KB to the South towards Perth. For example, Formidable is limping south with No Fuel a couple of days north of Perth. But Perth does not mean safety, because there is No Fuel there either. The only reason that I am having the Formidable go to Perth is because I am hoping that I can do a "fuel at sea" there and give Formidable enough "juice" to get to Adelaide.
With all this I have stopped the southwards travel of the remainder of Wobbly's pitiful remnants and am hoping to hide them until the KB goes back for supplies. In order to entice Wobbly to leave the map edge, I have diverted my TF full of "cripples" out of Java due south along the DEI in hopes of getting the KB to chase after them.
BTW - here is a very odd bit of surface action - one of PzB's air patrol TFs ran into the remains of the Enterprise's escorts:
Day Time Surface Combat at 3,75
Japanese Ships
CS Mizuho
DD Inazuma, Shell hits 5, on fire
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
As far as India goes, PzB is still getting "0 to 1" combat results at Ahmadabad. We're both losing troops and I'm losing more than he is, but he still hasn't taken Ahmadabad. Right now I am in a "race against time" - My forces in Karachi consist of two base forces, as do my forces in Malir. So once PzB takes Ahmadabad, there is nothing to keep him from taking Karachi.
However, the first Chindits group will arrive in 5 days, followed by the second in two weeks. So if I can hold Ahmadabad for another week I will get some decent troops to send to Malir. If I can hold for two weeks, I'll have some decent troops in both Karachi and Malir.
Will the Chindits alone save Karachi for me? I doubt it, but if I can hold for two more weeks I should be able to start to cause even greater losses for PzB.
To be continued….
Dave Baranyi
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 16
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 5
Beaufort V-IX x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 7 destroyed, 4 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 1
AP Fukko Maru
AP Zukai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Terukuni Maru
A6M2 Zero x 5
A6M3 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 37
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 2 destroyed, 9 damaged
Japanese Ships
AP Zukai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Yasukuni Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tatsutake Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Yamura Maru
AP Terukuni Maru
AP Atsuta Maru, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AP Nichiryo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
A6M3 Zero x 7
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 15
Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort I: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
Sure, I took some damage, and bombs don't do much to BBs, but I've caused grief in his transport fleets and given notice that he doesn't "own the seas" around Bombay.
Now, PzB also got in shots against my ships that were fleeing Java:
Day Air attack on TF at 16,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
G4M1 Betty x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Allied Ships
MSW Grebe
AK West Shipper, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Lahaina, Torpedo hits 1
But those ships were badly damaged anyway! My ploy worked - PzB sent his planes after my damaged ships and didn't bomb my airbases in Java. This allowed my engineers to start to do badly needed repairs to the bases, as well as start to repair my planes - I have very few operational planes in Java right now. My air force in Java is very much a "paper tiger".
In the meanwhile, as I had expected, PzB had split the KB into three forces that straddled the Southwest Indian Ocean and finally found the ships that Wobbly had sent West then South a couple of game-weeks ago:
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
D3A Val x 23
B5N Kate x 9
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Nordhval, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 2,82
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
A6M3 Zero x 13
D3A Val x 25
B5N Kate x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Ernest Meyer, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AK Maine
AK Mormacsul, Torpedo hits 1
AK Olopana, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Mauna Loa, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Mormachawk, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AK Admiral Halstead, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
AK Mormacgull, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 3,78
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
D3A Val x 20
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
TK Empire Amethyst, Bomb hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 1,85
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
A6M3 Zero x 12
D3A Val x 18
B5N Kate x 2
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Empire Strength, Bomb hits 3
AK Empire Glade, Bomb hits 1, on fire
As you can see, there was no place for these ships to "hide" - they were right against the map edge.
The KB also finally caught the Enterprise, which had been limping along at a couple of knots with system and fire both above 50:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
D3A Val x 22
B5N Kate x 36
E13A1 Jake x 4
Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
CV Enterprise, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Van Nes, Bomb hits 2, on fire
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 19
B5N Kate x 73
E13A1 Jake x 2
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Bomb hits 1
PzB later wrote that he was surprised at the speed with which the Big sank. He hadn't realized how bad things were.
Now my big problem will be if PzB sends some or all of the KB to the South towards Perth. For example, Formidable is limping south with No Fuel a couple of days north of Perth. But Perth does not mean safety, because there is No Fuel there either. The only reason that I am having the Formidable go to Perth is because I am hoping that I can do a "fuel at sea" there and give Formidable enough "juice" to get to Adelaide.
With all this I have stopped the southwards travel of the remainder of Wobbly's pitiful remnants and am hoping to hide them until the KB goes back for supplies. In order to entice Wobbly to leave the map edge, I have diverted my TF full of "cripples" out of Java due south along the DEI in hopes of getting the KB to chase after them.
BTW - here is a very odd bit of surface action - one of PzB's air patrol TFs ran into the remains of the Enterprise's escorts:
Day Time Surface Combat at 3,75
Japanese Ships
CS Mizuho
DD Inazuma, Shell hits 5, on fire
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Van Nes, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
As far as India goes, PzB is still getting "0 to 1" combat results at Ahmadabad. We're both losing troops and I'm losing more than he is, but he still hasn't taken Ahmadabad. Right now I am in a "race against time" - My forces in Karachi consist of two base forces, as do my forces in Malir. So once PzB takes Ahmadabad, there is nothing to keep him from taking Karachi.
However, the first Chindits group will arrive in 5 days, followed by the second in two weeks. So if I can hold Ahmadabad for another week I will get some decent troops to send to Malir. If I can hold for two weeks, I'll have some decent troops in both Karachi and Malir.
Will the Chindits alone save Karachi for me? I doubt it, but if I can hold for two more weeks I should be able to start to cause even greater losses for PzB.
To be continued….
Dave Baranyi
RE: Japanese ship losses - as of July 9
ORIGINAL: EUBanana
A battle of attrition is, I suppose, what you want to force. Allied production is much trumpeted after all, I know in my game i decided I dont mind losing CVs so long as he loses CVs as well.
But!
Just how much punishment can the Allies take and still be the winner is the question. I figure 1 for 1 losses are excellent for the Alllies, but 2 to 1, 4 to 1? I'm honestly curious how much the Allied industrial advantage counts for.
If your clock is totally cleaned in Java is it really worth it. Sounds like a bit of a bigger battle of attrition than Guadalcanal was here. [;)]
You are very right. If I lose everything in Java I will be in real trouble and unlikely to be able to avoid a Japanese auto-victory. That is why I am "battening down the hatches" right now in Java and waiting. I need time as much as I need supplies, because I need time to get supplies to be able to not only defend but to also re-start any attacks in the theater.
I would have never taken the Java gambit. I would have gone after the Kuriles which are a lot closer to home and a lot farther away from India. Take Sakahin Island and you have bases for heavy bombers in easy range of Hokkaido. PzB would have definately had to respond with everything to that.
But that is hindsight, and I've agreed to take on Wobbly's approach and see what I can do with it.
In the meanwhile, I continue to surprise PzB. [;)]
Thanks for the comments -
Dave Baranyi
July 10 - Death From the Skies
Well, that was very strange - PzB's battle force sitting off of Karachi didn't go in. Was it a bombardment force that detected planes and held off or what? In any event, I'm happy for all such "blessings" and my planes did get a shot at the force:
Day Air attack on TF at 19,6
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Swordfish x 16
Blenheim IV x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged
Swordfish: 10 destroyed, 8 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 1
I'll take those losses any day. After all, it's either "use them or lose them". And I did get one torpedo into a BB. I've also started to flood the area between Bombay and Karachi with subs on the prowl. That always makes me feel good - subs do like cripples. <g>
In the meanwhile, the rest of my LBA hit Bombay again with nice results:
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 17
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 8
Hudson I x 7
Beaufort I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 11 destroyed
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Beaufort I: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
158 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11
apanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 45
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 10 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 14 destroyed, 14 damaged
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 5 destroyed, 9 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
287 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 49
Again, I'll take those losses anytime for such nice results.
PzB has taken his bombers out again, so I've put my LBA back on "naval attack" for this turn. Not only that, but I've been able to rebuild my air bases and am resting a good portion of my LBA.
I've also gotten a number of troops into Delhi. This is important to me because I like to be able to do air attacks from several locations. So far PzB hasn't sent any troops into Delhi proper, so he hasn't been able to stop my stragglers from coming in and reporting for duty. In fact, I now have so many troops in Delhi that I've been able to send an air support unit off to Lahore. Soon I will have yet another base from which to send off air strikes.
The battle continues in Ahmadabad:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 137024 troops, 635 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 89684 troops, 367 guns, 793 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese ground losses:
2690 casualties reported
Guns lost 67
Allied ground losses:
3211 casualties reported
Guns lost 56
Vehicles lost 26
The losses are getting closer and PzB isn't reducing the fortification levels. I may get my "5 day wish" (now 4 days.)
PzB has also chased my forces in the Indian/Burmese border back to where I want them to be. I've started to send out those Chinese troops from Mandalay to stir up trouble wherever they can. PzB is bombing me at will in that region, but I don't want to waste planes in there because I don't have enough supply to keep the planes airborne.
In the meanwhile, the big news to the East is that I am finally getting some transport task forces to bases where I have supply and fuel, so I can now start to send off supply and fuel to where it is needed. What is still frustrating is that there is a big tanker fleet off of Australia with lots of fuel in its tanks, but it can't refuel itself and it is almost out of fuel. So I will need to dock it in Rockhampton (the closest base) and refuel it there before I send it along the southern route to meet up with my ships that are slowly limping to safety. So with any luck I'll be able to get some fuel to Perth in a month instead of three. But with so many thirsty ships to the West of Australia, I'll probably drain that tanker fleet in one sitting.
BTW - the KB is still finding remnants of Wobbly's once proud invasion fleet:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
A6M3 Zero x 13
D3A Val x 11
B5N Kate x 12
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Van Nes, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Maury, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
D3A Val x 43
B5N Kate x 78
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
But PzB is also keeping one of his cruiser fleets a bit too close to shore:
Day Air attack on TF at 15,64
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 9
A-20B Boston x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 20
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai, Bomb hits 1
CA Myoko
CL Naka
DD Kuroshio, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Arashi, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Once again, I like those sort of results.
It appears that PzB has sent at least part of the KB back towards Java to try to catch my cripples there. So I've sent one set of cripples back towards Java, another one southwards, and my better ships are quietly sneaking away to a rendezvous location that I hope allows them to replenish themselves.
BTW 2 - I got those troops back over the mountain to Colombo, and there are lots of supplies there, so I'm building up the fortifications and preparing to do mischief.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on TF at 19,6
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Swordfish x 16
Blenheim IV x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 7
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged
Swordfish: 10 destroyed, 8 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 1
I'll take those losses any day. After all, it's either "use them or lose them". And I did get one torpedo into a BB. I've also started to flood the area between Bombay and Karachi with subs on the prowl. That always makes me feel good - subs do like cripples. <g>
In the meanwhile, the rest of my LBA hit Bombay again with nice results:
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 17
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 8
Hudson I x 7
Beaufort I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 17
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 11 destroyed, 7 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 11 destroyed
Hudson I: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Beaufort I: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
158 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11
apanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 45
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 10 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 14 destroyed, 14 damaged
H8K Emily: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 5 destroyed, 9 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
287 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 49
Again, I'll take those losses anytime for such nice results.
PzB has taken his bombers out again, so I've put my LBA back on "naval attack" for this turn. Not only that, but I've been able to rebuild my air bases and am resting a good portion of my LBA.
I've also gotten a number of troops into Delhi. This is important to me because I like to be able to do air attacks from several locations. So far PzB hasn't sent any troops into Delhi proper, so he hasn't been able to stop my stragglers from coming in and reporting for duty. In fact, I now have so many troops in Delhi that I've been able to send an air support unit off to Lahore. Soon I will have yet another base from which to send off air strikes.
The battle continues in Ahmadabad:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 137024 troops, 635 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 89684 troops, 367 guns, 793 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)
Japanese ground losses:
2690 casualties reported
Guns lost 67
Allied ground losses:
3211 casualties reported
Guns lost 56
Vehicles lost 26
The losses are getting closer and PzB isn't reducing the fortification levels. I may get my "5 day wish" (now 4 days.)
PzB has also chased my forces in the Indian/Burmese border back to where I want them to be. I've started to send out those Chinese troops from Mandalay to stir up trouble wherever they can. PzB is bombing me at will in that region, but I don't want to waste planes in there because I don't have enough supply to keep the planes airborne.
In the meanwhile, the big news to the East is that I am finally getting some transport task forces to bases where I have supply and fuel, so I can now start to send off supply and fuel to where it is needed. What is still frustrating is that there is a big tanker fleet off of Australia with lots of fuel in its tanks, but it can't refuel itself and it is almost out of fuel. So I will need to dock it in Rockhampton (the closest base) and refuel it there before I send it along the southern route to meet up with my ships that are slowly limping to safety. So with any luck I'll be able to get some fuel to Perth in a month instead of three. But with so many thirsty ships to the West of Australia, I'll probably drain that tanker fleet in one sitting.
BTW - the KB is still finding remnants of Wobbly's once proud invasion fleet:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
A6M3 Zero x 13
D3A Val x 11
B5N Kate x 12
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Van Nes, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Maury, on fire, heavy damage
Day Air attack on TF at 3,75
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
D3A Val x 43
B5N Kate x 78
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
DD Maury, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
But PzB is also keeping one of his cruiser fleets a bit too close to shore:
Day Air attack on TF at 15,64
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 9
A-20B Boston x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 20
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Chokai, Bomb hits 1
CA Myoko
CL Naka
DD Kuroshio, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Arashi, Bomb hits 1, on fire
Once again, I like those sort of results.
It appears that PzB has sent at least part of the KB back towards Java to try to catch my cripples there. So I've sent one set of cripples back towards Java, another one southwards, and my better ships are quietly sneaking away to a rendezvous location that I hope allows them to replenish themselves.
BTW 2 - I got those troops back over the mountain to Colombo, and there are lots of supplies there, so I'm building up the fortifications and preparing to do mischief.
Dave Baranyi
RE: July 10 - Death From the Skies
Hmm reading it like this I neglected far too much.
A new view does bring a better if different view on things. I will flit all over the place a bit but you may gain some usefull info.
Supply - yes, big problem. Main reason behind that was of course the use of AKs to carry troops. Initially the whole invasion force was to attack Kwajalein, then that got changed to Rabaul and then that got changed to Java. It all took time that the AKs could have been using to move supplies - lets say things were a little pressing shall we [:D]
All of that was because he threw me such an impressive curve ball in India - headless chicken stuff. But that is why they weren't running backwards and forwards from the West Coast. I'd be interested to know if you usually set up a supply TF to Pearl and then others from there onwards - as you say - having the Gilberts at least makes this easier.
Now this is memory serving: Darwin had about 40K supplies and 50K fuel; Perth just got sucked dry but should have about 50K supplies; Townsville was the target of that large fuel TF you talked about - and that was a large Tf - 500K of fuel; 200K in Brisbane, 40K in PM; 100K in Sydney; 100K in Noumea; 90K in Auckland; 10K in Lunga with 7 on its way there; 40K in Tarawa; 400K in Pearl. This is not alot for continued Heavy bomber activity I'll admit, but it is hardly bones of your arse stuff.
Mid Pacific refueling can be done at Pago-Pago, Tarawa and Canton. Not at impressive amounts yet but enough to allow your surface force TFs to do their thing.
I also disagree with your retreat in Java - however you know the situation and play these things differently. I wouldn't want him having a free location to land troops - especially with a port the size of Batavia. I estimate you have 3 divisions to two of his guard units and sundires. All of his BBs except the Yamato and one other are against India if I count correctly - both of those BBs are in the yards due to air activity. Maybe the Hiei over in the Pacific. You don't have too much in the way of devastating Bombardments to put up with trying to take Batavia.
You have about 100000 supplies in total in Java. That is riches indeed when compaired to what the Japs take places with. However, you are worried about a supply problem yet you aren't continuing on the road to Batavia to take it's supply source????
The Jap troops holding Malang have been forced to retreat twice now. A bit of a rest and you will have them too.
I understand your retreat of the ships from Tjilitap but couldn't bring myself to do it - I felt certain they would all die too easily if his carriers were further out West. Now I put them in there in the first place so I cannot at all be critical. But I at least wanted to make them have to come through Tjilitap air first.
You also scoff at the fighters based there. Truthfully, even with the small numbers there they were doing very well. His zeros took an absolute battering and they all had to make a long trip to get there - unless they had to fly from Batavia!!
OK, fuel and supply to Perth. There is a fuel TF in the sea between Melbourne and Perth, it should be able to help you out a bit - only 27K but beter than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Moving shipping up through the straits between New Guinea and Northern Oz is dangerous but was getting much needed supplies and fuel through. He had appeared to have halted scouting from the east of Timor and Lae. I had suppressed them pretty heavily for this reason.
There is the Oklahoma - North Carolina battlegroup on its way to Noumea - you may have missed that one.
China - all the troops on the trail towards Sian were rescuing the troops moving south through the jungles after being forced out of the North. He tried to cut them off with units along the trails. The Chinese forces are that bad at attacking I went for overkill. I didn't want those units cut off. A heads up: there are units Heading towards the Eastern cities in China. He has removed the units he had there. I wanted to keep pricking him like you intend to do with the airforce. You may want to move those ground forces back, hell the whole place only has about 50K supplies - you may have to surrender it with that little [;)]! Be ready for him to bomb the airfields you are flying out of in China - he does that often!
Mandalay has two army HQs, one was the chinese NCA one that just returned from down by Rangoon. The other two are air HQs that couldn't escape. Move them how you like but you have very little in the way of airfoces in Burma.
The troops in Ceylon were not in Columbo because he kept hammering them from Trimcommalee with Bombardment forces. Where they are they can stop a foray over the island and they will get back into town fast enough to defend the place if he invades - but agian, your choice.
The subs were taking a portion of the Southeast Asian HQ to Karachi to help bolster the fighting men at Ahlamabad. Why????
I thought I had blinded about the subs enough but I shall raise it again ALLIED SUB DOCTRINE IS ON!!!! THat's right, it got turned on by the game when we went from patch 2 to 3. Your subs are worthless for attacking! I have hit 2 ships in the entire game.
I'll just reiterate the situation I was in. He had me totally whacked with the Indian attack and I thought I would loose the game through the loss of India. This was the thinking behind the Java invasion. In truth the Java invasion reaped massive numbers of ships and ACs in better than 1-1 odds. I still don't know if those gains will be enough but I felt something drastic had to be done. You aren't up against the KB and his whole airforce in India because of it. I still think it is lost but you may manage to exact a certian measure of revenge because of this.
I hate quiting, it has left a seriously bad taste in my mouth. But I will say it is nice to see the luck turn. On your first turn getting 3 enemy magazine explosions, the bombers to fly against Bombay (they just wouldn't go for me - thought there were too many fighters defending) and Ahlamabad holding without losing a level of fortification. It appears the forces are under new management and enjoying it.
Good luck! I will read with great interest how you get out of my horrible mess up! [&o][&o]
A new view does bring a better if different view on things. I will flit all over the place a bit but you may gain some usefull info.
Supply - yes, big problem. Main reason behind that was of course the use of AKs to carry troops. Initially the whole invasion force was to attack Kwajalein, then that got changed to Rabaul and then that got changed to Java. It all took time that the AKs could have been using to move supplies - lets say things were a little pressing shall we [:D]
All of that was because he threw me such an impressive curve ball in India - headless chicken stuff. But that is why they weren't running backwards and forwards from the West Coast. I'd be interested to know if you usually set up a supply TF to Pearl and then others from there onwards - as you say - having the Gilberts at least makes this easier.
Now this is memory serving: Darwin had about 40K supplies and 50K fuel; Perth just got sucked dry but should have about 50K supplies; Townsville was the target of that large fuel TF you talked about - and that was a large Tf - 500K of fuel; 200K in Brisbane, 40K in PM; 100K in Sydney; 100K in Noumea; 90K in Auckland; 10K in Lunga with 7 on its way there; 40K in Tarawa; 400K in Pearl. This is not alot for continued Heavy bomber activity I'll admit, but it is hardly bones of your arse stuff.
Mid Pacific refueling can be done at Pago-Pago, Tarawa and Canton. Not at impressive amounts yet but enough to allow your surface force TFs to do their thing.
I also disagree with your retreat in Java - however you know the situation and play these things differently. I wouldn't want him having a free location to land troops - especially with a port the size of Batavia. I estimate you have 3 divisions to two of his guard units and sundires. All of his BBs except the Yamato and one other are against India if I count correctly - both of those BBs are in the yards due to air activity. Maybe the Hiei over in the Pacific. You don't have too much in the way of devastating Bombardments to put up with trying to take Batavia.
You have about 100000 supplies in total in Java. That is riches indeed when compaired to what the Japs take places with. However, you are worried about a supply problem yet you aren't continuing on the road to Batavia to take it's supply source????
The Jap troops holding Malang have been forced to retreat twice now. A bit of a rest and you will have them too.
I understand your retreat of the ships from Tjilitap but couldn't bring myself to do it - I felt certain they would all die too easily if his carriers were further out West. Now I put them in there in the first place so I cannot at all be critical. But I at least wanted to make them have to come through Tjilitap air first.
You also scoff at the fighters based there. Truthfully, even with the small numbers there they were doing very well. His zeros took an absolute battering and they all had to make a long trip to get there - unless they had to fly from Batavia!!
OK, fuel and supply to Perth. There is a fuel TF in the sea between Melbourne and Perth, it should be able to help you out a bit - only 27K but beter than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
Moving shipping up through the straits between New Guinea and Northern Oz is dangerous but was getting much needed supplies and fuel through. He had appeared to have halted scouting from the east of Timor and Lae. I had suppressed them pretty heavily for this reason.
There is the Oklahoma - North Carolina battlegroup on its way to Noumea - you may have missed that one.
China - all the troops on the trail towards Sian were rescuing the troops moving south through the jungles after being forced out of the North. He tried to cut them off with units along the trails. The Chinese forces are that bad at attacking I went for overkill. I didn't want those units cut off. A heads up: there are units Heading towards the Eastern cities in China. He has removed the units he had there. I wanted to keep pricking him like you intend to do with the airforce. You may want to move those ground forces back, hell the whole place only has about 50K supplies - you may have to surrender it with that little [;)]! Be ready for him to bomb the airfields you are flying out of in China - he does that often!
Mandalay has two army HQs, one was the chinese NCA one that just returned from down by Rangoon. The other two are air HQs that couldn't escape. Move them how you like but you have very little in the way of airfoces in Burma.
The troops in Ceylon were not in Columbo because he kept hammering them from Trimcommalee with Bombardment forces. Where they are they can stop a foray over the island and they will get back into town fast enough to defend the place if he invades - but agian, your choice.
The subs were taking a portion of the Southeast Asian HQ to Karachi to help bolster the fighting men at Ahlamabad. Why????
I thought I had blinded about the subs enough but I shall raise it again ALLIED SUB DOCTRINE IS ON!!!! THat's right, it got turned on by the game when we went from patch 2 to 3. Your subs are worthless for attacking! I have hit 2 ships in the entire game.
I'll just reiterate the situation I was in. He had me totally whacked with the Indian attack and I thought I would loose the game through the loss of India. This was the thinking behind the Java invasion. In truth the Java invasion reaped massive numbers of ships and ACs in better than 1-1 odds. I still don't know if those gains will be enough but I felt something drastic had to be done. You aren't up against the KB and his whole airforce in India because of it. I still think it is lost but you may manage to exact a certian measure of revenge because of this.
I hate quiting, it has left a seriously bad taste in my mouth. But I will say it is nice to see the luck turn. On your first turn getting 3 enemy magazine explosions, the bombers to fly against Bombay (they just wouldn't go for me - thought there were too many fighters defending) and Ahlamabad holding without losing a level of fortification. It appears the forces are under new management and enjoying it.
Good luck! I will read with great interest how you get out of my horrible mess up! [&o][&o]
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RE: July 10 - Death From the Skies
Hi Wobbly, nice to hear from you.
I have a very specific approach to supply management in this game - I deliberately set up fuel and supplies in quantities sufficient to sustain extended campaigns in any given theater, both naval and air. A decent sized air combat TF matched with a decent sized surface combat TF will use up fuel in no time. And I like to be in a position to run continuous operations by multiple task forces. This means that I will be sucking 7-10K worth of fuel out of a base every time I send a pair of my fleets in. Thus I always try to maintain at least 25K of fuel at any base along my main Hawaii to Australia travel base and much more at forward operating bases. You have fuel in key locations but not in enough key locations to sustain full-speed travel between fueling stops and sustain operations at the end. BTW - your TFs will always operate more efficiently, which means fight better, if they have refueled and rested before going into an operation. This means that a TF that fights at the "outer green ring" isn't quite as effective as the one that has been sitting around and traveling less. The translates into "rewards" for the side that can set up "traps" rather than for the side that rushes everywhere.
I also find that my bombers will fly more regularly if I keep more than 20K with of supplies at a given base. Sure, they will fly with less, but they will do it less frequently and frequency is what I want in a bombing campaign. I also don't generally like to use my bombers against ground troops - I don't get as much bang-for-the-buck against ground troops as I do against airports, port and ships. When I'm bombing airports and ports my opponent's engineers are wasting their time and supplies repairing things rather than sending the supplies "up the road". And every hit on a ship slows the ship and there is always a chance for serious damage. The absolutely critical thing about Karachi is that it effectively provides me with infinite supply, so therefore I want to be able to use that supply for all that it is worth. And that means raining death upon the juiciest targets that PzB provides. <g>
As far as naval fights go - torpedoes are the biggest weapon in the game, so I try to make certain that my DDs and torpedo-equipped Brit ships get into battle. And the game mechanics are such that smaller surface combat TFs have a better chance of doing damage than one big TF. Also, one thing that I learned way-back-when in playing Pacwar that has continued to work through UV and now WitP is that multiple TFs defend a port better than one TF. This is particularly important in WitP because the TF that "loses" the battle teleports out of the hex most of the time and often doesn't stick around again to fight some more, even if it only has minor losses. So by having multiple combat TFs if one gets hammered and leaves there are more to fight the next round. And remember, the attacker is using up ammunition and preparation points with each fight. Therefore the attacker has less to fight with each round. The basic lesson here is that not only should you defend with multiple TFs; you should also attack with multiple TFs.
As far as Java goes - things are going the way that I want and as best as could be asked for. You wanted to distract PzB and you have. But I don't have to fight the remaining Japanese troops on Java to achieve the objective there. The real point was not to conquer Java but to force PzB to bring serious forces to that area and away from India. That has worked really well. I just don't want to waste any of my troops fighting Japanese troops that I don't have to fight. The game mechanics favor Japanese troops too much on the defensive. So I'll let them be because I much prefer to save those supply points to maintain a vigorous air attack on his ships. I've already started to hit his transports and cruiser forces in the region. He can't bring them in with impunity now. And if he brings in the KB I'll happily fight it with LBA - he can't be everywhere at once.
It will be interesting to see what PzB does. Will he try to be "everything, everywhere" and lose his opportunity for maximization of force, or will he gamble everything in one theater and allow me to set up to attack elsewhere with impunity? (I'm always the optimist. <g>)
Hey, I haven't "won" the war yet, but I'm having fun and I'm glad that I had a chance to get in here.
Thanks -
Dave Baranyi
I have a very specific approach to supply management in this game - I deliberately set up fuel and supplies in quantities sufficient to sustain extended campaigns in any given theater, both naval and air. A decent sized air combat TF matched with a decent sized surface combat TF will use up fuel in no time. And I like to be in a position to run continuous operations by multiple task forces. This means that I will be sucking 7-10K worth of fuel out of a base every time I send a pair of my fleets in. Thus I always try to maintain at least 25K of fuel at any base along my main Hawaii to Australia travel base and much more at forward operating bases. You have fuel in key locations but not in enough key locations to sustain full-speed travel between fueling stops and sustain operations at the end. BTW - your TFs will always operate more efficiently, which means fight better, if they have refueled and rested before going into an operation. This means that a TF that fights at the "outer green ring" isn't quite as effective as the one that has been sitting around and traveling less. The translates into "rewards" for the side that can set up "traps" rather than for the side that rushes everywhere.
I also find that my bombers will fly more regularly if I keep more than 20K with of supplies at a given base. Sure, they will fly with less, but they will do it less frequently and frequency is what I want in a bombing campaign. I also don't generally like to use my bombers against ground troops - I don't get as much bang-for-the-buck against ground troops as I do against airports, port and ships. When I'm bombing airports and ports my opponent's engineers are wasting their time and supplies repairing things rather than sending the supplies "up the road". And every hit on a ship slows the ship and there is always a chance for serious damage. The absolutely critical thing about Karachi is that it effectively provides me with infinite supply, so therefore I want to be able to use that supply for all that it is worth. And that means raining death upon the juiciest targets that PzB provides. <g>
As far as naval fights go - torpedoes are the biggest weapon in the game, so I try to make certain that my DDs and torpedo-equipped Brit ships get into battle. And the game mechanics are such that smaller surface combat TFs have a better chance of doing damage than one big TF. Also, one thing that I learned way-back-when in playing Pacwar that has continued to work through UV and now WitP is that multiple TFs defend a port better than one TF. This is particularly important in WitP because the TF that "loses" the battle teleports out of the hex most of the time and often doesn't stick around again to fight some more, even if it only has minor losses. So by having multiple combat TFs if one gets hammered and leaves there are more to fight the next round. And remember, the attacker is using up ammunition and preparation points with each fight. Therefore the attacker has less to fight with each round. The basic lesson here is that not only should you defend with multiple TFs; you should also attack with multiple TFs.
As far as Java goes - things are going the way that I want and as best as could be asked for. You wanted to distract PzB and you have. But I don't have to fight the remaining Japanese troops on Java to achieve the objective there. The real point was not to conquer Java but to force PzB to bring serious forces to that area and away from India. That has worked really well. I just don't want to waste any of my troops fighting Japanese troops that I don't have to fight. The game mechanics favor Japanese troops too much on the defensive. So I'll let them be because I much prefer to save those supply points to maintain a vigorous air attack on his ships. I've already started to hit his transports and cruiser forces in the region. He can't bring them in with impunity now. And if he brings in the KB I'll happily fight it with LBA - he can't be everywhere at once.
It will be interesting to see what PzB does. Will he try to be "everything, everywhere" and lose his opportunity for maximization of force, or will he gamble everything in one theater and allow me to set up to attack elsewhere with impunity? (I'm always the optimist. <g>)
Hey, I haven't "won" the war yet, but I'm having fun and I'm glad that I had a chance to get in here.
Thanks -
Dave Baranyi
RE: July 10 - Death From the Skies
It will be interesting to see what PzB does. Will he try to be "everything, everywhere" and lose his opportunity for maximization of force, or will he gamble everything in one theater and allow me to set up to attack elsewhere with impunity? (I'm always the optimist. <g>)
I still think you are fighting without knowing what´s going on...
PzB has a one-heading-strategy: finish India and isolate Java so he can then invade and destroy your forces in that doomed island. This means auto-victory. I don´t know what you´re going to do to avoid this.
Attack elsewhere???. With what?. Where?? Your forces are committed in Java, Lunga or Tarawa. It is still 1942 so you don´t have a pletora of CVs and your surface forces are still quite weak against his betties. What are your plans for the offensive? Invade Kwajalein?...Come on!
I think (correct me wobbly if I´m wrong) that the point of invading Java was to distract Jap forces but ALSO to get a base to bomb Jap. oil and supply sources in DEI and Borneo...
Remember that these are only comments!!![;)]
July 11 - Fuel!
Well, PzB is starting to get a little more cautious about my capabilities to inflict damage on his forces and is responding appropriately. This means that while I was able to bomb more of his ships, the toll has increased dramatically for me:
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 6
Beaufort V-IX x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 7 destroyed, 10 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 15
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 36
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 25 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 7
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 3
Beaufort I x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
After all that, I'll have to rest more of my bomber forces. This turn I will still send other bombers in to hit the airfield at Bombay. I'm also reorganizing my air groups as well as fixing up air leaders. In too many cases I have lousy leaders or mis-applied leaders (transport leaders heading fighter squadrons, etc.) Fortunately, I have plenty of political points to spend on leader changes. Here's hoping that the leaders stay the way that I set them.
The most worrying thing about this turn was the attack on Ahmadabad:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 138791 troops, 539 guns, 1 vehicles
Defending force 86762 troops, 291 guns, 773 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
1974 casualties reported
Guns lost 37
Allied ground losses:
3102 casualties reported
Guns lost 72
Vehicles lost 16
PzB did reduce the fortification levels this time. I've pulled out a couple more "spent" units and sent them on various roads in order to "clear" the roads from Japanese "control". I want to be in control of my retreat directions. PzB has also finally moved a unit into Delhi, which restrains my ability to move my other troops into it. Oh well, just a few more days until my next major land unit arrives in Karachi.
Things calmed down a lot around Java. I am consolidating gains and repairing bases. My best bases have significant damage and I need to get them repaired if I am going to be able to use them to their fullest potential. One of the reasons to pull back the ground troops into the bases is that the ground troops also have engineers and every engineer helps when it comes to repairing bases.
PzB had his ships retreat out of my bomber range, but his LBA did hit some more of my cripples offshore:
Day Air attack on TF at 18,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G3M Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 9 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Portland, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Leander, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Sands, heavy damage
It also appears that at least one of PzB's carrier groups is heading towards Java, so I've redirected the various cripple TFs back towards port - I'm hoping to be able to engage PzBs carriers with LBA and I need some means to "entice" him.
In the meanwhile, I am slowly getting transports to bases that contain fuel and supplies, so I have started the long process of trying to redistribute fuel and supplies to where they are needed. In the meanwhile, PzB is doing nothing in the South and Central Pacific other than Recon my bases, so that is allowing me to restock and reorganize. I am hoping that sooner rather than later I can start to let PzB "enjoy" the effect of my long range bombers darkening the sky over his bases.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 6
Beaufort V-IX x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Hudson I: 2 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 7 destroyed, 10 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 1
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 15
Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 36
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 2 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 25 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 7
CA Mikuma, Bomb hits 1
Day Air attack on TF, near Bombay at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 30
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 3
Beaufort I x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Beaufort I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
After all that, I'll have to rest more of my bomber forces. This turn I will still send other bombers in to hit the airfield at Bombay. I'm also reorganizing my air groups as well as fixing up air leaders. In too many cases I have lousy leaders or mis-applied leaders (transport leaders heading fighter squadrons, etc.) Fortunately, I have plenty of political points to spend on leader changes. Here's hoping that the leaders stay the way that I set them.
The most worrying thing about this turn was the attack on Ahmadabad:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 138791 troops, 539 guns, 1 vehicles
Defending force 86762 troops, 291 guns, 773 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
1974 casualties reported
Guns lost 37
Allied ground losses:
3102 casualties reported
Guns lost 72
Vehicles lost 16
PzB did reduce the fortification levels this time. I've pulled out a couple more "spent" units and sent them on various roads in order to "clear" the roads from Japanese "control". I want to be in control of my retreat directions. PzB has also finally moved a unit into Delhi, which restrains my ability to move my other troops into it. Oh well, just a few more days until my next major land unit arrives in Karachi.
Things calmed down a lot around Java. I am consolidating gains and repairing bases. My best bases have significant damage and I need to get them repaired if I am going to be able to use them to their fullest potential. One of the reasons to pull back the ground troops into the bases is that the ground troops also have engineers and every engineer helps when it comes to repairing bases.
PzB had his ships retreat out of my bomber range, but his LBA did hit some more of my cripples offshore:
Day Air attack on TF at 18,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
G3M Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 9 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Portland, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Leander, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Sands, heavy damage
It also appears that at least one of PzB's carrier groups is heading towards Java, so I've redirected the various cripple TFs back towards port - I'm hoping to be able to engage PzBs carriers with LBA and I need some means to "entice" him.
In the meanwhile, I am slowly getting transports to bases that contain fuel and supplies, so I have started the long process of trying to redistribute fuel and supplies to where they are needed. In the meanwhile, PzB is doing nothing in the South and Central Pacific other than Recon my bases, so that is allowing me to restock and reorganize. I am hoping that sooner rather than later I can start to let PzB "enjoy" the effect of my long range bombers darkening the sky over his bases.
Dave Baranyi
RE: July 10 - Death From the Skies
I think (correct me wobbly if I´m wrong) that the point of invading Java was to distract Jap forces but ALSO to get a base to bomb Jap. oil and supply sources in DEI and Borneo...
True, and if PzB doesn't give me naval targets to hit I'll be more than happy to bomb his airfields, ports, industries and so on. So if he attacks he has to take losses, and if he doesn't attack I attack him. Simple stuff...[;)]
Thanks -
Dave Baranyi
July 12 - Air war
Things are settling down further now as the initial shock that I gave PzB wears off and we get down to "brute force and ignorance", at least on my part. <L> PzB is being more careful with his naval forces so the main action continues to be the air war. My attack on Bombay's air fields was hard and bloody. I put more escorts in place and attacked with tactical bombers in order to give my longer range bombers more rest:
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 16
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 6
Beaufort I x 5
Beaufort V-IX x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 4 destroyed
H8K Emily: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 7 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 5 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 10 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
162 casualties reported
Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 9
I'll rest this crowd up this turn and send my "heavies" back in for the first time in a while. PzB is sending a number of his ships out of Bombay harbor - will he go north or south? I'm gradually flooding the region with subs - I don't care if the subs shoot or not as long as they help my air patrols find out what is going on.
In the meanwhile, PzB's LBA couldn't resist going after my cripples that were crawling towards Tjilitjap:
Day Air attack on TF, near Tjilitjap at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 19
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Kittyhawk I x 7
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 32 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Allen, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Humphreys, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
I'll trade wrecks for that kind of result any time.
PzB has pulled his ships out of range, so my LBA went to the alternate attack:
Day Air attack on Batavia , at 19,59
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 10
Beaufort V-IX x 20
A-20B Boston x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 7
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 23
Unopposed attacks are "fun" - the boys get practice without anyone shooting back, and this starts to make Batavia less useful and more costly for PzB to hold. My problem is that my airbases on Java are still either damaged, small or both. But as long as PzB sends his bombers after my wrecks and cripples I will continue to get the time to rebuild the airports and repair my planes.
In the meanwhile, PzB continues to bomb my troops in China and the India/Burma border. He even did a small paradrop today. I'll start to cause him headaches in that region soon too.
In Ahmadabad PzB's daily attack reduced the fortification level again, but he continues to take losses, and this time more than me:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 136213 troops, 476 guns, 2 vehicles
Defending force 83709 troops, 224 guns, 767 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
2994 casualties reported
Guns lost 33
Vehicles lost 2
Allied ground losses:
2804 casualties reported
Guns lost 62
Vehicles lost 9
We are both trying to do some maneuvering around each other's positions. With the land movement "mysteries" of this game that is always a chancy thing. But I'm getting closer to getting the Chindits - 2 days to go!
BTW - the Formidable finally made it to port. Unfortunately, the port only had a few "drops" of fuel. But I was able to disband that TF and create a new one, followed by a "sharing of the wine" as I did a "refuel at sea". But I disbanded the TF again. There is only one plane on the Formidable, and I'm hoping that there is some way to get more on it. I certainly can't go off and find them wherever they happen to be on Java, India or Shangra-La.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 16
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 6
Beaufort I x 5
Beaufort V-IX x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 11
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 6 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 4 destroyed
H8K Emily: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 7 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 5 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 10 destroyed, 2 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
162 casualties reported
Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 9
I'll rest this crowd up this turn and send my "heavies" back in for the first time in a while. PzB is sending a number of his ships out of Bombay harbor - will he go north or south? I'm gradually flooding the region with subs - I don't care if the subs shoot or not as long as they help my air patrols find out what is going on.
In the meanwhile, PzB's LBA couldn't resist going after my cripples that were crawling towards Tjilitjap:
Day Air attack on TF, near Tjilitjap at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 19
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Kittyhawk I x 7
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 32 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
Allied Ships
DD Allen, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Humphreys, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
I'll trade wrecks for that kind of result any time.
PzB has pulled his ships out of range, so my LBA went to the alternate attack:
Day Air attack on Batavia , at 19,59
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 10
Beaufort V-IX x 20
A-20B Boston x 12
B-25C Mitchell x 7
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
6 casualties reported
Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 23
Unopposed attacks are "fun" - the boys get practice without anyone shooting back, and this starts to make Batavia less useful and more costly for PzB to hold. My problem is that my airbases on Java are still either damaged, small or both. But as long as PzB sends his bombers after my wrecks and cripples I will continue to get the time to rebuild the airports and repair my planes.
In the meanwhile, PzB continues to bomb my troops in China and the India/Burma border. He even did a small paradrop today. I'll start to cause him headaches in that region soon too.
In Ahmadabad PzB's daily attack reduced the fortification level again, but he continues to take losses, and this time more than me:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 136213 troops, 476 guns, 2 vehicles
Defending force 83709 troops, 224 guns, 767 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)
Japanese ground losses:
2994 casualties reported
Guns lost 33
Vehicles lost 2
Allied ground losses:
2804 casualties reported
Guns lost 62
Vehicles lost 9
We are both trying to do some maneuvering around each other's positions. With the land movement "mysteries" of this game that is always a chancy thing. But I'm getting closer to getting the Chindits - 2 days to go!
BTW - the Formidable finally made it to port. Unfortunately, the port only had a few "drops" of fuel. But I was able to disband that TF and create a new one, followed by a "sharing of the wine" as I did a "refuel at sea". But I disbanded the TF again. There is only one plane on the Formidable, and I'm hoping that there is some way to get more on it. I certainly can't go off and find them wherever they happen to be on Java, India or Shangra-La.
Dave Baranyi
Painful lesson...
BTW - here is a good example of why I don't like sending unsupported troops around. Two groups of Allied troops - one combat group and one base force fragment were left on Memboro for some reason. They had no supply and were in generally bad shape. There was no way for them to try to capture the other base on the island. I was hoping to sneak a couple of transports in to take the troops out of there.
Well, before I could PzB, being somewhat of a "compleatist", sent a task force in to land and re-capture the base. Of course, without any supplies, my troops were in a hopeless situation:
Ground combat at Memboro
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2961 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 676 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 96 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Memboro base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
1019 casualties reported
Ouch. That's not how I want to "distract" PzB...
Meanwhile, in other locals, I continue with my plan to make certain that everyone and everything is well supplied, well supported and not isolated.
Dave Baranyi
Well, before I could PzB, being somewhat of a "compleatist", sent a task force in to land and re-capture the base. Of course, without any supplies, my troops were in a hopeless situation:
Ground combat at Memboro
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2961 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 676 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 96 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Memboro base !!!
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Allied ground losses:
1019 casualties reported
Ouch. That's not how I want to "distract" PzB...
Meanwhile, in other locals, I continue with my plan to make certain that everyone and everything is well supplied, well supported and not isolated.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Painful lesson...
They were the remains of the units that took the island base south of them. They were used as a stepping stone to get short legged ACs to Java.
it is lost points but remnants of both untis were saved. The airbase unit went to java and the Oz Sparrow force still resides in Derby.
it is lost points but remnants of both untis were saved. The airbase unit went to java and the Oz Sparrow force still resides in Derby.
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ugly, ugly, ugly...
What can I say but, "ugly, ugly, ugly"…
PzB caught my ships that had met at the edge of the map to refuel. Because I had no fuel I had to rendezvous with some transports that Wobbly had sent down the map edge from India. PzB didn't get fooled by my cripples and sent two carrier TFs to the map edge while placing the third to the south of Java to cut off any escape in that direction. Thus this result:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44
D3A Val x 46
B5N Kate x 77
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
B5N Kate: 5 destroyed, 23 damaged
Allied Ships
DD Voyager, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Helm
CA Vincennes, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mahan
CL Sumatra, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Blue, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Litchfield, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Drayton
DD Porter, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dale, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Along with this result:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Vincennes, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
and this one:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
A6M3 Zero x 3
D3A Val x 21
B5N Kate x 49
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 damaged
B5N Kate: 7 destroyed, 38 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Pensacola, heavy damage
BB Mississippi, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
Here's another:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10
B5N Kate x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
And more:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Chester
And there's room for this too:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
D3A Val x 19
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Benkoelen
AK Elout, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Princess of Negros, Bomb hits 3, on fire
Now, for all of those kind folks who told me that I should have left my ships in port, take a look at this attack:
Day Air attack on Madioen , at 21,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 37
A6M3 Zero x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 68
Ki-49 Helen x 22
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 8 destroyed, 7 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 29
My planes aren't flying because there aren't enough engineers to fix the runways, and that's even more true now.
Fundamentally, what this shows is why you do not go off on a "suicide" attack far from your supply lines - particularly if you don't have an overwhelming force advantage.
BTW - do you care to guess what sort of "reinforcements" I have nearby in Oz - assuming that I had ships to put them on, and could sail those ships past the various carrier groups in the Indian Ocean? Leftovers from the DEI - the same Dutch and British and Australian garbage planes that can't hold back the Japanese in the first place.
The Java operation was a deathtrap from the moment that Wobbly decided not to take Timor first. The only good thing is that PzB didn't send his carriers south - this way I did get out my remaining three carriers and three 20-knot BBs. BTW - Those ships are STILL a couple of days away from any fuel.
On the other hand, the airforce in India is still doing a good job under tough conditions:
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 21
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 6 destroyed, 7 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
301 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 9
But Ahmadabad continues to weaken:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 133480 troops, 425 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 81178 troops, 165 guns, 761 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
2020 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
Allied ground losses:
2014 casualties reported
Guns lost 22
Vehicles lost 9
I've been slowly pulling back my better planes and weaker troops. Finally this turn the Chindits showed up in Karachi as did another engineering group. But my defense in the Northeast is struggling as Japanese units continue to pop up out of the "woodwork" despite the fact that I appear to control the roads (using the "w" key).
As I wrote to PzB when I sent back my response to this turn - he will never catch me without fuel and supplies again.
Dave Baranyi
PzB caught my ships that had met at the edge of the map to refuel. Because I had no fuel I had to rendezvous with some transports that Wobbly had sent down the map edge from India. PzB didn't get fooled by my cripples and sent two carrier TFs to the map edge while placing the third to the south of Java to cut off any escape in that direction. Thus this result:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44
D3A Val x 46
B5N Kate x 77
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
B5N Kate: 5 destroyed, 23 damaged
Allied Ships
DD Voyager, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Helm
CA Vincennes, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Mahan
CL Sumatra, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Blue, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Litchfield, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Drayton
DD Porter, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Dale, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Along with this result:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
E13A1 Jake x 3
Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Vincennes, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x E13A1 Jake attacking at 100 feet
and this one:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 15
A6M3 Zero x 3
D3A Val x 21
B5N Kate x 49
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 damaged
B5N Kate: 7 destroyed, 38 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Pensacola, heavy damage
BB Mississippi, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
BB New Mexico, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL St. Louis
BB Tennessee, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1
Here's another:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10
B5N Kate x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
BB Mississippi, on fire, heavy damage
Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
And more:
Day Air attack on TF at 3,66
Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 1
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CA Chester
And there's room for this too:
Day Air attack on TF at 1,68
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
D3A Val x 19
No Japanese losses
Allied Ships
AK Benkoelen
AK Elout, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Princess of Negros, Bomb hits 3, on fire
Now, for all of those kind folks who told me that I should have left my ships in port, take a look at this attack:
Day Air attack on Madioen , at 21,64
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 37
A6M3 Zero x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 68
Ki-49 Helen x 22
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 8 destroyed, 7 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 4 destroyed, 5 damaged
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied ground losses:
21 casualties reported
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 29
My planes aren't flying because there aren't enough engineers to fix the runways, and that's even more true now.
Fundamentally, what this shows is why you do not go off on a "suicide" attack far from your supply lines - particularly if you don't have an overwhelming force advantage.
BTW - do you care to guess what sort of "reinforcements" I have nearby in Oz - assuming that I had ships to put them on, and could sail those ships past the various carrier groups in the Indian Ocean? Leftovers from the DEI - the same Dutch and British and Australian garbage planes that can't hold back the Japanese in the first place.
The Java operation was a deathtrap from the moment that Wobbly decided not to take Timor first. The only good thing is that PzB didn't send his carriers south - this way I did get out my remaining three carriers and three 20-knot BBs. BTW - Those ships are STILL a couple of days away from any fuel.
On the other hand, the airforce in India is still doing a good job under tough conditions:
Day Air attack on Bombay , at 20,10
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 21
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 6 destroyed, 7 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
301 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 9
But Ahmadabad continues to weaken:
Ground combat at Ahmadabad
Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 133480 troops, 425 guns, 0 vehicles
Defending force 81178 troops, 165 guns, 761 vehicles
Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 1
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese ground losses:
2020 casualties reported
Guns lost 12
Allied ground losses:
2014 casualties reported
Guns lost 22
Vehicles lost 9
I've been slowly pulling back my better planes and weaker troops. Finally this turn the Chindits showed up in Karachi as did another engineering group. But my defense in the Northeast is struggling as Japanese units continue to pop up out of the "woodwork" despite the fact that I appear to control the roads (using the "w" key).
As I wrote to PzB when I sent back my response to this turn - he will never catch me without fuel and supplies again.
Dave Baranyi
RE: ugly, ugly, ugly...
I have no words to describe the disaster. [:(][:(] It is painful. I dont want to be the stupid-smart guy but it was obvious that this had to happen. SENDING your TF out of your Java CAP was a MISTAKE and you paid for that.
I´m not saying that keeping them there (in Java) had been their salvation but they would have been more protected, and they would have a chance to escape AFTER the KB had retreated.
Just look what your CAP did to his fighters and bombers just two turns ago!.
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 19
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Kittyhawk I x 7
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 32 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
I ask you, I beg you to take care of your ships and troops!!! Or you will be court-matialed[;)]. Roosvelt is very dissapointed with your command!...Noth America needs victories, they need a Midway!
P.S: It is important to retake Memboro so Java can receive air replacements. Please take those bases at Java before PzB reinforce the garrisons there: this would be the end of the Java adventure.
Now these are not comments but letters from the navy/army men that are dying everyday [:)]
I´m not saying that keeping them there (in Java) had been their salvation but they would have been more protected, and they would have a chance to escape AFTER the KB had retreated.
Just look what your CAP did to his fighters and bombers just two turns ago!.
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
G3M Nell x 3
G4M1 Betty x 19
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 4
Kittyhawk I x 7
P-40B Tomahawk x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 32 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 6 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed
P-40B Tomahawk: 4 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
I ask you, I beg you to take care of your ships and troops!!! Or you will be court-matialed[;)]. Roosvelt is very dissapointed with your command!...Noth America needs victories, they need a Midway!
P.S: It is important to retake Memboro so Java can receive air replacements. Please take those bases at Java before PzB reinforce the garrisons there: this would be the end of the Java adventure.
Now these are not comments but letters from the navy/army men that are dying everyday [:)]
RE: ugly, ugly, ugly...
what's the current VP tally?