Toraq´s AAR: Defending the Empire

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/04/43

Weather: Thunderstorms

Submarine warfare
[:(]

Japanese Ships
PC Ch 22, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Amberjack

Every plane grounded due to the weather.

GENERAL SITUATION
Things are not going well. The gap between my points and his, is smaller day by day. I´m only up 600 point or so. So I lost half of my advantage in 20 days. [:(].
The reasons are mainly that my bases are under-supplied (less points) and Timtom base construction is faster than mine. Most of my bases are still under construction...

Solutions´
1) Soon my fleet will be entire and I´ll start some big FT operations to my foward bases

2) Maybe my fleet has to play a more active role...soon.[;)]

3) I´ll keep my ASW efforts

4) Limited air offensives over NG, to menace air Timtom´s air supperiority

5) Operations "Stonewall" will keep on. I need to close the slot

6) Retire engineers from foward bases and build new ones in the Admiralty Islands (more base points)

There is not much that I can do. Retiring some APs I got a HIGH level in the number of ships available. My combined fleet need to play a major role. Nagumo, I need your help...

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/05/43

Weather: Rain

YESSSSSSSSSSSSS, I surprised Timtom with my old tactic!!!. [:D][:D][:D]

Operation "Greenwave" went reasonably well and some allied ships were surprised in Nevea and in the middle of the Ocean. My CVs managed to sneak the allied naval search and appeared near Nevea, damaging some transports. (see map)
Bad news...weather avoided a second attack so success was not complete.

The Plan
It was planned since the beginning. I said I have some offensive surprises and this was one of them. Attack allied shipping in the gap between Luganville and Lunga.

The execution
I needed a complete surprise because if detected, Timtom could retire his ships under the umbrella of the F4U.
Some days ago I received my CVs: Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo and Ryujo. then they started a long trip until a point near Nevea. I waited until thunderstorms: the moment to close to the target undetected.

The opportunity
I detected ships in Nevea. How?....well a weather symbol appeared over that place, indicating a TF or troops there, so I decided to attack with a surface TF and see what happen. And then, move my CVs to the attack position

The results
I sent a surface force with little power. But I expected one or two ships. Far from that. A complete TF, well protected was there!!!.

Night surface combat
The surface combat resulted in a draw...japanese crossing the T but suffering some hits. COmbat resovled at 7000-9000 yards.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Nevea at 50,43

Japanese Ships
CL Sendai, Shell hits 5 ***5 inch hits and resisted***
DD Kazegumo, Shell hits 5, on fire ***50 sys damage***
DD Makinami, Shell hits 2, on fire ***24 sys damage***
DD Onami, Shell hits 2, on fire ***10 sys damage***
DD Hayanami, Shell hits 1
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships ***see how huge was the TF***
DD DeHaven, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Pringle
DD Stack, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage***sunk***
DD Sterett, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
PG Kiwi, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***sunk***
DMS Hovey, Shell hits 1, on fire
SC 637
SC 641
AP Crescent City
AP John Penn
AP Leonard Wood
AP Calvert
AP Harry Lee
AP Arthur Middleton
AP Harris
AP J. Franklin Bell
AP President Monroe
AP Leedstown

Nagumo´s pilots attack the allied shipping
Various strikes to the same TF...But only the morning attack. Afternoon´s attack was aborted due to weather[:@].
AA fire was fierce. Even attacking APs my naval bombers suffer the losses of 10 aircraft.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
D3A Val x 61
B5N Kate x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val x 3 destroyed x 13 damaged ***6 lost***
B5N Kate x 2 destroyed x 22 damaged***4 lost***

Allied Ships
AP J. Franklin Bell, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DMS Hovey, Torpedo hits 1, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD DeHaven, Torpedo hits 1, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Crescent City, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Harry Lee, Bomb hits 3, on fire
DD Pringle
AP Leonard Wood, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Leedstown, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Sterett, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD DeHaven, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Calvert, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP President Monroe, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Most of them are huge transports which can resist a lot of damage. But I hope 2 of them maybe will sink, together with one DD and the DMS. Subs have been directed to that area.

Submarine warfare

Sub attack at 53,66

Japanese Ships
SS I-16, Shell hits 2

Allied Ships
PG Tui

[toraq]

I lost the last combat report. My CVs are withdrawing to Truk. Meanwhile, Nevea gets airfield level 1. Only the DMS Hovey sinks...the rest is quite probable that will survive. On the other hand, Rabaul´s attacked by a lot of planes...
I lost like 10 Zeroes, while he lost 5 P38 and 5 heavies. P-38 are deadly
SS Stingray, sunk by a ASW patrol near Truk[:)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/07/43

Weather: Thunderstorms

Rabaul´s situation
Today nothing happened. But my losses over Rabaul are becoming a problem. Maybe I´ll put up a huge CAP to try to get a morale victory. Runaway with moderate damage (50)Supplies needed urgently. 25000 coming soon.
I´m thinking about some other things to solve this little problem. But for me it is still OK. Rabaul is easy to defend, strong, has AA fire (increasing with the new AA units from Gasmata), engineers and is easy to supply.

Salamaua attacked
Two enemy rgts attacked but my defences are strong there. 5 forts and 1 full regiment (with some casualities). I think I can resist some days here.

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10515 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 7048 troops, 86 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 190
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 64

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/08/43

Weather: Rain

Another hard day for Rabaul. Dobadura shelled with little result. A FT mission to Munda hit a mine. I can´t understand it very well. Surely there is only one or two mines there and I have to hit one!![:@].

Naval bombardment of Dobadura
Just to relieve the attack to Rabaul. I thought Timtom would put his BB in GG or close, just to defend Dobadura. No sign of them. His BB are at Lunga (2 of them) and the another four, probably in Noumea.

Naval bombardment of Dobadura, at 13,38

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 191
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 30
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 159

PM night attack
Air attack on Port Moresby , at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 10
H8K Emily x 5

Allied aircraft losses
P-70A Havoc x 1 destroyed
B-25J Mitchell x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 7

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 6

Submarine warfare
A little success, one more enemy SS damaged.

Sub attack at 19,27

Japanese Ships
DD Shigure

Allied Ships
SS Silversides, Shell hits 1, on fire
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 21,30

Japanese Ships
AP Nojima Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SS Greenling
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 19,32

Japanese Ships
DD Minazuki

Allied Ships
SS Grouper

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/10/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

A big raid over Buka. Two planes lost and Airport closed. Nowadays, I´m not thinking about defending it. 25000 supplies unloading at Rabaul, and also the CVs coming soon. The second part of my strategy is coming soon.

Night attack over PM

Little by little...[;)]

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 17
H8K Emily x 5

Allied aircraft
P-70A Havoc x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K Emily x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-70A Havoc x 1 damaged
B-25J Mitchell x 2 destroyed x 5 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 4

Airbase hits 8
Runway hits 12

Buka closed

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 21 ***they were LCAP a TK that is unloading over there***

Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 4
B-17E Fortress x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 4 damaged
A6M2 Zero x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 60

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 34***runaway 80!!!***[:o]

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/11/43

Weather: Clear

A big air battle over Rabaulñs skies. Weather was clear so Timtom sent all his P38. The kind of battle that I wanted. In my terrain. Many planes shot down, but with 18 P38 down, Timtom will have to think twice if he wants to repeat. My subs showed their teeth...Tomorrow is a complicate day.

Submarine warfare
This enemy MSW was surely going to clean my close minefields. Fortunately, it sank before that task was even started![;)]

Sub attack near Gili Gili at 17,42

Japanese Ships
SS RO-107

Allied Ships
MSW Ipswich, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage***sinks***
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 53,66

Japanese Ships
SS I-16

Allied Ships
AK Cetus, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***close to Noumea***

Rabaul´s air battle
Timtom is being quite aggresive here...and in other areas, nothing. He could have started Vila or Munda but he didn´t try it a single time [&:].
In Rabaul, I used naval fighters to increase my CAP and it worked quite well. I withdrew one datai of Zeroes cos the pilots were quite poor. Now the A6M2 datais have 70 XP, while the A6M3 datais have 60 or so.
I consider the results as a victory. 18 P38 shot down and 4 B17 destroyed. He only receives 40 P38 a moth so in one day he lost half of his moth replacements. Also this losses represent 25% of the number of P38 available in the SWPAC area.
Because this battle was fighted over Rabaul, I hope he lost the same number of pilots[8D]

I lost 11 A6M2, 3 A6M3, 3 Oscar and my replacement rate is 65,35 and 40. So important losses but not a disaster. Rabaul only lightly damaged.

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 76
A6M3 Zero x 19
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 3

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 71 ***Many, from GG, Dobadura & PM***
B-17E Fortress x 36

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 11 destroyed x 1 damaged ***including one 99 XP pilot[:@]***
A6M3 Zero x 3 destroyed x 1 damaged
G3M Nell x 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 3 destroyed x 5 damaged ***on the ground***

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning x 10 destroyed x 5 damaged
B-17E Fortress x 13 damaged ***half of them by fighters, half by AA units***

FO T. Dabney of 35th FS is credited with kill number 3

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 156

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 31

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/12/43

Weather: Thunderstorms

Making use of the weather, I started operation Stonewall 3, the mining of GG-Dobadura line. I also want to confuse my enemy and to threaten the PM supply line. See map for more details.

Submarine warfare
Sub attack near Gili Gili at 17,42

Japanese Ships
SS RO-107

Allied Ships
AK Diomed, Torpedo hits 1***later on, reported hit by a Val on naval search***

Rabaul´s express
It seems that Timtom wants to reduce Rabaul to ashes, no matter the price. Again not very worried. See how many B24 were damaged by flak...my 75 mm guns are becoming quite accurate.

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14

Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator x 1 destroyed x 13 damaged***most of them by AA fire***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 89

Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 15

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/13/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

The worst day for the empire. Three ships damaged, two will sink. Causes, mines and subs.
My bombardment parties scored poor results, and in the process one DD and CA Aoba hit a mine in GG. I didn´t have spotted any DM in GG, so I though it was clean of mines. No, man, I was wrong. After that a sub called SS Triton, torpedoed Aoba and BB Haruna, making the turn painful to watch.

Submarine warfare
Luck is not by my side. Two attacks by the same sub and these results.

Sub attack at 23,38

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Torpedo hits 2, on fire ***I think I can save him and sent it to Truk***
BB Kongo

Allied Ships
SS Triton
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 23,38

Japanese Ships
CA Aoba, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage***float 89, will sink next turn***

Allied Ships
SS Triton

Yes, submarine warfare is a disaster. I never saw a submarine being hit three times and survive, but SS Growler survived. SS Silversade, was hit by a depth charge and again by a Val, but survived. Again SS 44 hit by a Val a survives. . I can´t help getting angry. And my subs can´t attack, even when they are in the same hex than his ships. (example, AK Diomed, previously damaged, and now in the same hex of one sub).

Naval bombardments

Naval bombardment of Gili Gili, at 17,42***by BBs, CAs and DDs***

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufort x 3 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 30

Airbase hits 25
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 81
Port hits 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Dobadura, at 13,38 ***by CAs and DD***

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 13

Airbase hits 8
Runway hits 26***this is a sh1t, a very big and brown sh1t***

Operation stonewall 3
Tomorrow, my ML will mine the places but after that, they´ll have no air cover. Maybe I´m doing wrong but my CVs are going back to Rabaul. I hope his beauforts and so will attack my damaged DD and CA.

Rabaul´s express
The only good thing of the day, 4 B-24 destroyed and 2 B17.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 6
B-24D Liberator x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 5 destroyed x 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator x 2 destroyed x 5 damaged ***all of them due to flak, attacking at 10.000 feet is too dangerous***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 19

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 14

Enemy landings
Timtom disembarked 2300 men near Vila (FT, no APs detected) . Two hexes from it. I can´t react right now, my forces are disperse, and I´m a bit demoralized. Two SC detected. One with 2 BBs, one with 2 CLs. But he´s got an army of SBDs and TBFs which will destroy any damaged ship. What to do???[&:]

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/14/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Even in my most optimistic dream, I could imagine this result. I´ve ordered a massive air raid to Port Moresby, just to revenge the loss of the Aoba (scuttled) and damage to the Haruna. The big air raid took place and in a remarkable dogfight my pilots managed to SHOOT DOWN 63 aircraft for the loss of 16!!!![8D]

I can´t explain it...but I show you the combat reports of thius epic battle



The situation before the attack
HQ have been recon. PM several times, detecting about 20 P39 and 40 P40. I knew that some of them were tired because of the last missions and probably their morale was low. So I decided to send some sweeps first (from my foward bases at Lae and Finch.), and then launch an attack with all my bombers, with heavy escort.

Enemy detects my planes and sweeps Gasmata and Fich.
Timtom found nothing...But later on he attacked Lae, closing the airfield

Air attack on Gasmata , at 17,32

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13

no losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Finschhafen , at 11,33

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13
P-39D Airacobra x 22

no losses

Then my sweep to PM starts
My pilots were rested and their XP was about 60 to 70. First, I encounter more CAP than expected. Even the devils...the P-38. I was atonished and thought I was going to be creamed. But far from that....[:'(]

Air attack on Port Moresby , at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 49 ***my planes attacked the enemy over and over again, with soo much valor***
J1N1-R Irving x 1

Allied aircraft ***didn´t expect lightings and quite less kittis and warhawks***
P-39D Airacobra x 30
P-40E Kittyhawk x 40
P-40E Warhawk x 29
P-38G Lightning x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses ***incredible, some of them flee from combat but Kittys stayed***
P-39D Airacobra x 9 destroyed x 1 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 10 destroyed x 6 damaged
P-40E Warhawk x 8 destroyed x 2 damaged
P-38G Lightning x 2 destroyed x 3 damaged

PO1 C.Chiyoshima of F2/204th Daitai is credited with kill number 6
LCDR O.Kumagaya of F2/204th Daitai bails out and is CAPTURED

Then my big air raid comes....

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 75
A6M3 Zero x 44
G3M Nell x 27
G4M1 Betty x 84 ***from a total of 110 or so***

Allied aircraft
P-40E Kittyhawk x 19
P-40E Warhawk x 8
P-38G Lightning x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 12 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged***AA fire***

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Kittyhawk x 9 destroyed x 1 damaged***they stayed until the end***
P-40E Warhawk x 5 destroyed ***turning back***
P-38G Lightning x 7 destroyed x 4 damaged ***only 4 of them left to go for the bombers***
B-25J Mitchell x 3 destroyed x 5 damaged ***on the ground***

2LT D. Furgason of 80th FS is credited with kill number 3
LCDR L.Koizumi of F2/251st Daitai is KILLED ***a good pilot***

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 104

Airbase hits 17
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 69 ***not bad***

And finally the second sweep

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 31
J1N1-R Irving x 1

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 18
P-40E Kittyhawk x 19
P-40E Warhawk x 20
P-38G Lightning x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra x 3 destroyed
P-40E Kittyhawk x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed
P-38G Lightning x 3 destroyed x 1 damaged

PO2 G.Ichimura of F1/253rd Daitai is credited with kill number 4
CPT F. Dubisher of 41st FS bails out and is RESCUED

TOTAL LOSSES
Yes, an outstanding victory, but I also suffered some losses, more than I can permit. I receive 2 A6M2 and 1 A6M3 a day. The good thing is that I get 50 points, P-38 losses are very heavy, and PM is not save any more.

Japanese
A6M2 11
A6M3 11---some of them op. losses---
Betty 1

Allied
P38: 11 --------replacement rate 40, total losses in the campaign. 60 or so---
Kittyhawk: 25-----replacement rate 20, total losses of 31----
Warhawk: 15-------replacement rate 20, total losses of ???
P 39: 11

So in a week or so Timtom will replace his losses, except the P-38 which are a bit of a problem over NG. I´ve calculated that only 40 left in that area.

I put a picture of one of the datais which took part in the sweep mission from Lae. This particular datai got 14 victories today.[&o]



Operation Stonewall 3
A complete success. My MLs dropped the mines without any of them being attacked. Good. Now GG- Dobadura line is heavily mined.

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/15/43

Weather: Thunderstorms

After the revenge of the empire, weather prevented most operations. Timtom has write to me that he´s quite upset and demorilized. I like that. Being pounded day after day, ships sunk or damaged with any big success is quite frustrating. It´s curious how morale is important in this game also.

Should I take some advantage??
Mmmm. I was lucky, no doubt about that. I´ll try to attack some of his bases again, but I´m not going to start a big air offensive over NG. As I said before, I also suffered losses and need replacements. For example, A6M3 datais have 18 planes...far from 27.
We´ll see anyway, but don´t confuse luck with strategy. I can´t plan an offensive based on luck only.[:-]

Submarine warfare
Today Vals and Jakes (from my CVs and CS) did a good job attacking SS near Rabaul. I think submarine warfare success is going to change...

Sub attack at 25,33

Japanese Ships
DD Shikinami
DD Wakazuki

Allied Ships
SS S-45, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 22,32

Japanese Ships
DD Shirakumo, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage***damaged by a mine and sank***

Allied Ships
SS Triton ***I want to kill this little bastard***[:@]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 34,37

Japanese Ships***Near Lambati, the new base of Timtom, close to Vila and Munda***
SS I-2

Allied Ships
DM Preble, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***5 of them mining Lambati?***

Rabaul´s express
I can´t understand why Timtom attacks Rabaul at 6000 feet. Maybe he is desperately and wants to cause enoguh damage to close Rabaul. This is impossible, as I have now 170 engineers and 45 coming soon.
My AA gunners aimed well and 3 B17 went down

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 25 ***could not attack***

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 3 damaged
Ki-57-I Topsy x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 13 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 39

Airbase hits 8 ***most of the damage is repaired now***
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 36

Salamaua attacked
Odds are favouring Timtom, day by day. I won´t resist much. Two or three days, depending on the weather.

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10356 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 6420 troops, 82 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 110
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 72

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/16/43

Weather: Thunderstorms

This time weather could not avoid a new raid to Lae, so my two crack datais are trapped there for a time. Mmmm. Also I could not recon. PM, to see how strong is the CAP now.

Submarine warfare

Japanese Ships
ML Hoko, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage ***1st ML lost***

Allied Ships
SS Triton ***this little bastard has sunk CA Aoba, ML Hoko, one DD and responsible to put two torpedoes in the Haruna***

Lae attacked

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 32
B-25J Mitchell x 80

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 2 destroyed ***one on the ground***

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk x 1 destroyed
B-25J Mitchell x 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 29

Airbase hits 13
Runway hits 45

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/17/43

Weather: Overcast

I-2 had the BB North Carolina in his hands but failed to hit the ship. On the other hand, one enemy AK was sunk, and 6 B-17 were lost over the skies of Rabaul. Tomorrow my betties will support the battered ground units at Salamaua.

Submarine warfare
Sub attack at 34,37

Japanese Ships
SS I-2

Allied Ships
BB Washington
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 10,61

Japanese Ships
SS I-24

Allied Ships
AK Mercury, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 20,32

Japanese Ships
AP Taimei Maru

Allied Ships
SS Triton ***you know that I want ot sink this sub[:@]***

Rabaul´s express

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
A6M3 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 38
B-24D Liberator x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 4 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 24 damaged***6 lost, some due to ATA, some due to flak***
B-24D Liberator x 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 61

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17***damage was minimal, new engineers made a good work***

Salamaua needs help
That´s why I´m sending my betties there...

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10301 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 6286 troops, 81 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 89

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 83

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/18/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Allied base at Lambati is now the base for F4U. Enemy is coming closer and closer. I had little options in this area, due to the F4U reign. But if I don´t want to see F4U over Rabaul. I´ll have to show my teeth. Mines can slow down the advance but they can´t stop it. I´m thinking much about the strategy here.
Fortunately, Tokyo has deigned to send me more warships, including the Yamato & Musashi. [:'(]. That´s a beginning...

Submarine warfare
Finally my subs are being more aggresive. Maybe the Titania is not going to make it.

Sub attack at 52,65

Japanese Ships
SS I-27

Allied Ships
AK Titania, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Lae again attacked
Like in our last game, Timtom has closed Lae, and two datais are trapped there indefinately. And they´re my best datais. Damned![:@]

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40E Kittyhawk x 26
A-20G Havoc x 27
A-20G Boston x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Kittyhawk x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
A-20G Havoc x 1 destroyed x 5 damaged
A-20G Boston x 2 damaged

PO2 O.Takagi of F2/204th Daitai is credited with kill number 2

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 40

Airbase hits 10
Runway hits 37

Salamaua troops supported by betties
My demoralized batallions waved his hands with the view of Imperial Bombers. Yes, despite only 48 betties managed to take off, they left the 17 Aus Bde with 0 combat force. 0:1 Odds. On the other hand, Nazbad (base near to Lae was occupied by allied forces).

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G4M1 Betty x 48

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 63

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10154 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 6157 troops, 80 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 14

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 49

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/19/43

Weather: Overcast

Another air battle over Rabaul. This time, Timtom sent Hudsons also but they were shot up badly, almost and entire sqd lost (9). However, they were quite accurate, and I lost 6 planes, including 5 precious Topsy (transport planes), together with 2 Ki-61.
Topsy are very needed, and I´m using them to ferry troops to Lae. But only a handful of them left.
Ki-61 are almost useless. Pilots are poor, I receive no replacements and in air to air combat are worse than Zeroes. I think UV underestimate the value of this plane. Only 8 or 9 left...

Submarine warfare
Timtom has some ASW patrols. One of them located and attacked one of my subs, which resulted badly damaged. I doubt about its destiny[&:]. Too much success for Timtom in this area. On the other hand, SS Albacore was hit by a betty. I got 40% on ASW patrols, and it has cost me 3 operational losses. [:@]

Sub attack at 52,65

Japanese Ships
SS I-27, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SC 637

Rabaul´s express

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 11
B-17E Fortress x 12
B-24D Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 1 destroyed ***by a Hudson, never seen this before [:@]***
A6M2 Zero x 3 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 2 destroyed x 2 damaged ***on the ground***
Ki-57-I Topsy x 4 destroyed x 3 damaged ***on the ground***

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson x 8 destroyed x 3 damaged ***9 lost***
B-17E Fortress x 3 damaged
B-24D Liberator x 3 damaged

WO R.Kanda of F2/1st Daitai is credited with kill number 3

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 44

Airbase hits 9
Runway hits 29 ***some damage done***

Lae´s express
Despite i have 2 AA units, only some B25 are damaged when they attack. Again Lae is destroyed from corner to corner.

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 43
B-25J Mitchell x 73

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell x 2 damaged

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/20/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Being japanese is a pain. I said before. Today saw some little action in the air and in the process I lost 13 planes due to op. losses. Some of them were Vals and Kates that were flying ASW missions.
I´ve lost 20 Vals so far, 14 of them due to op. losses, 6 by flak. Vals have only conducted very limited offensive missions (2 I think) and even so, I´ve lost as many as my replacement number for a month. This shows how costly are operations for the Imperial Air Force.

Betties attack GG
It cost me a couple of betties (op. losses) and a couple of A6M3. I decided to attack GG to drain/destroy some supplies. No many engineers nor AA units present so maybe I´ll reduce it to ashes.

Air attack on Gili Gili , at 17,42

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
A6M3 Zero x 34
G4M1 Betty x 81

no losses

Airbase hits 15
Runway hits 45

A ML destroyed while retiring from Vila
I decided to increase mines in Vila. I thought that sending only one ship could avoid naval search. Nop, that´s why I´ll conduct op. Stonewall 3 soon.
It also saw the first engament between Zeros and F4U. One of the first lost.

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft ***they came from Russel (b25) and Lambeti (SBDs and TBFs)
F4U-1 Corsair x 44
P-38G Lightning x 46
B-25J Mitchell x 22
SBD Dauntless x 15
TBF Avenger x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
ML Nuwashima, 1 Torpedo hits, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage***sunk***

Salamaua ground battle
My division iis almost destroyed, but they keep resisting.

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10115 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 6030 troops, 79 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 4)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 107

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 35

NEW GEORGIA STRATEGY
I´ve thinking and thinking and my conclusion is that Timtom is trying to isolate Vila and Munda, and maybe occupy Short or Vella Lavella. Because I want to slow down his advance here, I´m sending more troops to this area ASAP (when thunderstorms come)

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/21/43

Weather: Overcast

No many air operations, except the Rabaul´s express. Tomorrow is overcast and I decided to start operation Night Storm, the reinforcement of Vella Lavella and the mining of Vila-Munda-Vella Lavella triangle.
The entire japanese fleet has been attached to this operation. 3 CVs, 1 CVL, 3 BB, 8 CAs, 2 CL and envery DDs, including 2 ASW patrols and the MLs. Datais have been ordered to LCAP FT groups. The betties are ordered to raid GG again.

Why now?

1) I didn´t detect (in the last couple of turns) subs around Rabaul. Maybe Tom is reorganizing his sub forces. Time to capitalize this little truce.
2) I´ve attacked and I´m going to attack GG again. If I do it at the same time that I send my CVs in the middle of the Solomon Sea, Timtom will think that I´m trying to threaten PM-Cooktown supply line. I´ve also detected some ships near PM.
3) If he expects that I´m going to the GG area, I´m free to send my FT missions to Vila-Munda-Lavella triangle without being disturbed by his fleet. Air power is another thing
4) If I´m lucky, the day after tomorrow will be thunderstorms, thus keeping his air power on the ground (so my MLs can retire save)

Anyway, again I´ve to send all my forces to send a Rgt and deploy some mines.

Rabaul´s express
Poor results today despite the number of my Zeros flying. Many damaged, but no losses.

Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 81

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 25
B-24D Liberator x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 11 damaged***some datais turning back***

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 8 damaged ***half by AA fire, one lost***
B-24D Liberator x 2 damaged***1 lost***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 107

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 27

Salamaua about to fall

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10095 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 5943 troops, 79 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 4)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2***bad, very bad***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 81
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 21

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/22/43

Weather: Overcast

Operation night storm in course. Some surprises came suddenly. Many SS spotted and many ships at Russel Island. I think Timtom is about to do something in the area, because his DM are also in the area. Probably he wants to invade and then place some mines...[:o]
On the other hand, I could retire my trapped Zeroes at Lae, just before a big air offensive that started yesterday. Lae, Madang, Gasmata and Finschafen attacked, some of them heavily. Also many planes on CAP over PM, even some F4U, while 2 TF spotted there...unloading supplies?....troops???

Air attack on Gasmata , at 17,32

Allied aircraft
B-25D Mitchell x 29
B-24D Liberator x 7

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D Mitchell x 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 25

Airbase hits 8
Runway hits 36
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Madang , at 7,30

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 27
B-17E Fortress x 15

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell x 4 damaged
B-17E Fortress x 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 61

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Lae , at 9,33

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 26

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell x 8 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 29

Airbase hits 6
Runway hits 27
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Air attack on Finschhafen , at 11,33

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 28

no losses

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 27

Gili Gili attacked
Again with the cost of 2 Betty and 2 A6M2.

Air attack on Gili Gili , at 17,42

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
G4M1 Betty x 68

no losses

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 44

Last days of Salamaua

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10074 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 5842 troops, 77 guns, 32 vehicles

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 171

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 165

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/23/43

Weather: Clear

Operation night storm went reasonable well. I was expecting a disaster but Timtom decided to retire and SS were not very effective. However, a Catalina put a bomb on a CL, a B25 bombed a DD (moderate damage) and two MLs were sunk by naval bombers from Lambeti [:(]. In the last week I´ve lost 3 MLs, a total of 4 (40% of my ML force).
The good news is that enemy lost some aircraft and almost the entire 228 Rgt is at Vella Lavella.

Night attack on Lambeti
I had to do something about this base...
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13

Allied aircraft

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair x 1 destroyed x 3 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 23

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 4

Submarine warfare
Sub attack at 27,34
Japanese Ships
CS Chiyoda***this one was attacked***
CV Zuikaku
DD Yugumo

Allied Ships
SS Grouper, Shell hits 1, on fire

Rabaul´s express
Air attack on Rabaul , at 21,28

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 53

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 9
B-24D Liberator x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 1 destroyed x 5 damaged ***two lost***
B-24D Liberator x 1 destroyed x 8 damaged***three lost***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 9

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 10

MLs sunk
Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft **two attacks***
F4U-1 Corsair x 39
SBD Dauntless x 43
TBF Avenger x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed

FO M.Neal of VMF-223 is credited with kill number 2

Japanese Ships
ML Ishizaki, Torpedo hits 2, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
ML Niizaki, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

B-25 attack one of the FT TFs
At a high cost (8 B25 lost), B25 scored 1 bomb hit on a DD. It´s OK

Allied aircraft
B-25J Mitchell x 24

Allied aircraft losses
B-25J Mitchell x 15 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuyuki
DD Arashio
DD Uranami
DD Uzuki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Isuzu ***later on, hit by a Catalina/Liberator? (naval search plane)***
CL Sendai


Salamaua fell in allied hands
My forces performed very well at a high cost. The rgt is almost destroyed, but I won time: 5 weeks. Lae won´t be that easy...More forces are present (4 Rgts) and 8 fort levels.

Ground combat at Salamaua

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9906 troops, 80 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 5542 troops, 76 guns, 32 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Salamaua base !!!

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 101

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 19

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/24/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Finally a quiet day. The rest of the ships of Operation Night Storm arrived save to port. My planes at Rabaul didn´t receive any visit and I could stop and think again about my next step.
Now I need to send supplies to my foward base, especially Lae. Again a dangerous mission for the IJN. Also I want to redeploy some HQ and AA units. The good news are that 35.000 supplies arrived at Rabaul and now are being unloaded. Good![:)]

One thing that worries me is the little success of my Subs. I´m quite angry about them. No many contacts. Maybe I´ll redeploy them to New Georgia area.

Air attack on Lambeti , at 33,37 ***night attack***

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 9

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 5

Runway hits 1

[toraq]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/25/43

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Another quiet day but I lost 3 betty in the night attack. Suprisingly, all were lost due to ATA. [:@][:@]. I´ve never seen this before....
Tomorrow is overcast. But I need thunderstorms, just to think about reinforcing/supplying NG. Meanwhile, just a handful of Topsys are sending what is left of the 66 Rgt to Lae. I know that Timtom is sending supplies(troops by C-47 and I´m thinking about LCAP some allied base just to shoot down some of them.
I´ve moved my BBs to Buka. This means that they can be attacked by B25. But only two sqds in the New Georgia area and some were lost recently. However, I sent 2 Zero datais to LCAP the base.
His two BB are now at Russel. Don´t like that at all....[:-]

Air attack on Lambeti , at 33,37

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 20

Allied aircraft
P-70A Havoc x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 3 destroyed x 1 damaged ***I´ll try to forget this...***

Allied aircraft losses
P-70A Havoc x 1 damaged
Avenger x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 32

Runway hits 7