A family affair - Speedy vs El Padre

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Just to provide a situation of my delaying forces present in SoPac (note I also occupy New Caledonia with token forces of SNLF and BF's). Buna and Lae are often closed by 4E from Aus.

KB is just south of Rossel Island with invasion troops to re-take PM (both PM and Terapo are kept closed by LBA from Rabaul):

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

SoPac:

The Allies devastated Koumac overnight when a Bombardment TF arrived offshore:

Night Naval bombardment of Koumac at 113,156

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H6K5 Mavis: 15 damaged
H6K5 Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-III Dinah: 15 damaged
Ki-46-III Dinah: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 26 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 3 destroyed on ground

Allied Ships
BB Indiana
BB South Dakota
CA Chester
CA Indianapolis
CL Concord
CL Trenton

Japanese ground losses:
298 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 10 (7 destroyed, 3 disabled)



Airbase hits 20
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 45
Port hits 1

DD Saufley reported hitting one of my mine's there and was reported sunk[8D]

I think it may be time to pull my air units out of New Caledonia now. Noumea is constantly closed and with strong enemy forces on Luganville, Ndeni, Efate and Tanna Koumac can easily be closed at will with the addition of BB's to the mix. I see little point in losing my planes for the odd chance of shooting down a few enemy planes.

I'll begin to move my planes out (if and when they've repaired). I'll then fly out my base forces and leave SNLF forces as token defenders.

Nick's intercepted enemy 4E over Buna shooting down 9 of them for the loss of 4 friendlies.

KB and Co are awaiting supply bearing AK's from Truk which are nearing Rabaul now before pressing onto PM.

-------------------

Burma:

A series of air battles erupted around Taung Gyi with both sides providing CAP and bombing raids on enemy positions. Losses were looking good for me until 1/2 of my bombers flew from Rangoon un-escorted losing 15 of them[8|].

Total air losses are attached below.

38th Division and 2 x AA Rgt are now at Taung Gyi.

31st Division will finish dis-embarking at Rangoon tomorrow.

------------------

Other stuff:

Ki-84a Facs have advanced start date to 3/44.

Will hold off increasing my other engine production until some of the currently expanded plane and engine facs have finished repairing.

[obvert]

It's hard when you feel something is lost for no reason, but nearly even VPs is always a win for Japan. [:)]

[Speedysteve]

ORIGINAL: obvert

It's hard when you feel something is lost for no reason, but nearly even VPs is always a win for Japan. [:)]

Agreed I'd just have preferred to gain even more though[;)]

By the way on my above Q - Kami training. Is Low Naval the only skill that counts for successful Kami's?

Thanks

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

A quieter day overall with less air combat over Taung Gyi (a sweep by by Oscar IIa's and an ineffectual bombing raid by Vengeance's on my troops around Taung Gyi).

In SoPac, with Koumac's runways closed, Allied LBA from Efate and Luganville hit the airfields destroying 3 planes and wrecking the place. It's definitely time to bug out of New Caledonia. It's likely I'll lose about 17 planes at Koumac with the biggest loss being 8 x H65 Mavis.

Total planes losses for the day were reported as 9 Allied for 8 Japanese.

-----------------

Other Stuff:

A good day under the sea for me.

SS RO-35 had a field day west of Perth locating a convoy. She reporting sinking AK Empire Plover and AK Jacalope whilst she missed AK Clan Macindoe.

Off India SS I-36 left AMC Worcestershire heavily damaged with a torpedo off Cochin.

Continuing my visual summary below shows the sparse area of Northern Australia which is held only in name.

I've a Rgt and BF at Darwin, a BF further south.

The TF's at Port Hedland are loading up the final resources I'll be taking from here (before these ships move back to Japan for good - as part of my convoy re-org following Pax's advice and I've also loaded up the Rgt there which will head to Timor. The Escort TF to the west amazingly still contains the damaged DD Akikaze limping back from Carnarvon (she's still at about the same damage levels as after the battle).

The first main defensive barrier is being built around the Southern SRA, through Java and into Sumatra

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

ORIGINAL: obvert

It's hard when you feel something is lost for no reason, but nearly even VPs is always a win for Japan. [:)]

Agreed I'd just have preferred to gain even more though[;)]

By the way on my above Q - Kami training. Is Low Naval the only skill that counts for successful Kami's?

Thanks

Yes, just low naval.

I train everybody not in a fighter in low naval if I can. So all IJAAF bomber groups, when they're not working, they're training low naval. All FP groups, low naval. Any time I can. [:)]

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: Speedy

ORIGINAL: obvert

It's hard when you feel something is lost for no reason, but nearly even VPs is always a win for Japan. [:)]

Agreed I'd just have preferred to gain even more though[;)]

By the way on my above Q - Kami training. Is Low Naval the only skill that counts for successful Kami's?

Thanks

Yes, just low naval.

I train everybody not in a fighter in low naval if I can. So all IJAAF bomber groups, when they're not working, they're training low naval. All FP groups, low naval. Any time I can. [:)]

Well, I think experience and defense helps with kamikazes too. But you have to be careful as an experienced squadron won't convert to kamikaze status. But you really need lots of kamikaze pilots!

Don't discount NavB for Army pilots too, especially if you go Lilly IIb and IIc.

Naval Search is good for Army squadrons too. Peggy can search a good distance for example.

I find it is easy to over train for ASW, i.e have too many ASW pilots floating around.

I also like to train low Ground for Army fighters for use in China, along with strafe.

And finally, you can train Recon and use Sonia at close ranges to beef up your DL since they have cameras.

Last but not least, you might want to use some of those LowN trained pilots in Nicks or Oscars.

So much to train for, and so easily lost.

[Speedysteve]

Hmm thanks guys. As you say Lowpe so much to train for but not enough time! I've many Sqn's training on GRDB, on CAP, Recon, Search, NavalB/T, several bomber Sqn's on ASW missions etc. NEed to tweak to remove many on GRDB to Naval and low Naval

[PaxMondo]

Just remember that kami pilots MUST be low exp ... they can be high skill, but low exp. can't remember if the cap is 40 or 50. not higher though ...

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Just remember that kami pilots MUST be low exp ... they can be high skill, but low exp. can't remember if the cap is 40 or 50. not higher though ...

Not exactly. They have to be below 50exp for the group to be changed to kami, but you can add pilots to the group afterward of any exp.

[Lowpe]

ORIGINAL: obvert

ORIGINAL: PaxMondo

Just remember that kami pilots MUST be low exp ... they can be high skill, but low exp. can't remember if the cap is 40 or 50. not higher though ...

Not exactly. They have to be below 50exp for the group to be changed to kami, but you can add pilots to the group afterward of any exp.

Correct. I have many high experience kamikazes in squadrons once formed.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Ok thanks guys. Sounds fairly easy to 'fix' then. I just load up a Sqn with replacement pilots, convert to Kami status, remove rookie pilots and replace with seasoned suicide drivers.

----------------

SoPac:

The Allies continue to pound New Caledonia. The remaining planes at Koumac are either destroyed or dis-assembled.

Tina and Emily Transports are starting to evac BF units from Koumac.

KB and the supply transports have met at the RV and will be passing Milne Bay tomorrow en en-route to PM.

---------------

Burma:

My Fighters swept and Capped Taung Gyi on the 2nd and Mandalay on the 3rd.

Results were better on the 2nd as my 27 x George shot down 14 enemy Vengeance, P40K and Hurri IIc for 0 loss. On the 3rd I lost 11 Ki-43 IIa and Tojo IIa vs 6 enemy P40K/Hurri IIc over Mandalay.

The Allies, surprisingly, attack my forces outside of Mandalay on the 3rd but failed to make any noticeable gains (good):

Ground combat at Mandalay (59,46)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 86962 troops, 1207 guns, 1424 vehicles, Assault Value = 3031

Defending force 68590 troops, 806 guns, 823 vehicles, Assault Value = 2263

Allied adjusted assault: 1710

Japanese adjusted defense: 1528

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2121 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 358 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 65 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 51 disabled
Guns lost 105 (12 destroyed, 93 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
5124 casualties reported
Squads: 158 destroyed, 330 disabled
Non Combat: 51 destroyed, 189 disabled
Engineers: 15 destroyed, 180 disabled
Guns lost 125 (52 destroyed, 73 disabled)
Vehicles lost 45 (4 destroyed, 41 disabled)
Units destroyed 2


Assaulting units:
14th British Brigade
75th Indian Brigade
5th Burma Battalion
23rd Indian Division
1st Gloucestershire Battalion
2nd Burma Battalion
20th Indian Division
Mandalay BMP Battalion
1st Burma Battalion
16th British Brigade
I Aus Corps Engineer Battalion
84th Indian Brigade
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
6th Australian Division
19th Indian Division
22nd (East African) Brigade
7th Australian Division
39th Indian Division
BFF Brigade
23rd British Brigade
221 Group RAF
56th Heavy AA Regiment
106th RAF Base Force
17th Indian Light AA Regiment
2nd Indian Heavy AA Regiment
100th RAF Base Force
1st Burma Auxiliary AA Regiment
107th RAF Base Force
1st Indian Light AA Regiment
108th RAF Base Force
8th Belfast Heavy AA Regiment
103rd RN Base Force
78th Light AA Regiment

Defending units:
4th Division
21st Division
33rd Division
12th Division
3rd Tank Division
55th Division
5th Mortar Battalion
15th Army
14th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
35th Field AA Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

The bad guys also moved west near to Taung Gyi as well. This presents me with an opportunity of cutting off the Allies in Taung Gyi. 31st Division is beginning to move from Rangoon and will head overland east of Toungoo before heading north then west to hopefully cut off the Allies. I have c.1100AV in Taung Gyi and I'm quite confident of rebuffing the c.800 Allied AV.

---------------

Other Stuff:

SS RO-35 continued her fun few days by sinking AK Vancouver City in the same convoy west of Perth.

It seems DD Saufley didn't sink when hit by my mine off Koumac. SS I-124 located her with a DD escort east of Efate on the 3rd and reportedly sank her with a torpedo. In return the escorting DD hit my sub with a DC. She's limping back to Truk with 60 FLT damage.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

A couple of quick Q's regarding future stuff (for planning purposes): Do Okha's now work in stock (believe originally they weren't being produced)? Secondly, are any of the late war IJN vessels worth producing such as MTB's or the Matsu class DD's.

Thanks.

----------------

SoPac:

Transports continue to fly out forces from Koumac. Other than Searchlights and the Type 2 Radar the 50th IJNAF BF is out and most of the 53rd IJNAF BF is out too. I was hoping my Emily Transports would have enough capacity to lift out the searchlights or radar but it was wishful thinking [;)].

KB and Co near PM and will be 1 hex away tomorrow. Annoyingly a dinky little PG/AM TF was spotted near Portland Roads and a small raid was vectored in which cost me 5 x Zero and 5 x Val for shooting down 3 x F4F and sinking a WW1 Gunboat.....not cool:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 92,133

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 23
D3A1 Val x 13



Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
D3A1 Val: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
PG Swan, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AM Townsville
PG Moresby, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk

We anchor 1 hex out tomorrow with all Bombers aiming for enemy troops and a higher % (60) of fighters on CAP. This in due to the fact PM is closed = no enemy fighters and Horn Island and Portland Roads are both level 4 enemy AF's with 70ish planes located at each.

Nick's were in action again shooting down 3 x 4E for the loss of 3 x Nick over Buna.

----------------

Burma:

Disappointingly Dad didn't attack on the ground over Taung Gyi. I was hoping he would!

In the air it was a bit of a disappointment. My George's were on CAP over Taung Gyi and mauled a morning bombing raids shooting down 12 enemy planes for no loss. The disappointment came in the PM when a raid of 16 x Wellington was escorted by 12 x P40K. I lost 7 x George in this engagement. I assume some could have been due to enemy LRCAP as I lost 11 over the day.

I've just upgraded my Zero Ku in Rangoon to George's. This give's me 2 x George Ku, 1 x Tojo IIa Sentai, 1 x Oscar IIb and 1 x Oscar IIa Sentai in Burma. One of the Oscar Sentai's will be at Rangoon as escort for 72 x Helen/Sally when they venture out.

34 Friendly losses vs 31 enemy for the day overall.

-----------------

Other Stuff:

A6M5C R&D brings them forward to 12/43.

DD Akikaze's long fight looks like it's almost over. She's 92 miles out from Port Hedland but today flooding increased to 93. A shame.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

A couple of quick Q's regarding future stuff (for planning purposes): Do Okha's now work in stock (believe originally they weren't being produced)? Secondly, are any of the late war IJN vessels worth producing such as MTB's or the Matsu class DD's?

--------------

SoPac:

KB and Co are now off PM with the skies strangely quiet. Bad weather socked in KB from attacking PM and no Allied planes were overhead. A BB TF will bombard PM overnight and the troops go ashore tomorrow.

An Allied BB TF bombarded Koumac overnight which sank my ACM based there. No planes were present as they've all either been destroyed or flown out. No Allied ships hit my mines but I-31 at least dented the armour on a BB[8D]:

Sub attack near Koumac at 113,155

Japanese Ships
SS I-31, hits 1

Allied Ships
BB Indiana, Torpedo hits 1
CA Chester
CL Concord
DD Perkins
DD Cushing
DD Fanning
DD Carmick

-------------------

Burma:

No attack on the ground but Allied LBA closed Magwe today destroying 6 x Tojo IIa on the ground.

40 x Oscar IIa swept over Mandalay claiming 6 x enemy Hurri and P40K for the loss of 2 friendlies.

--------------------

Other Stuff:

DD Akikaze disappointingly lost here battle 1 hex from Port Hedland. Grrr.

I expanded my Ha-45 facs by a further 100 and my Ha-32 facs by a further 50.

[Lowpe]

MTBs are very good; Matsu are great AA platforms, ASW, weak in surface combat, but what isn't compared to a Fletcher, but you never have enough of them.

[obvert]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Hi All,

A couple of quick Q's regarding future stuff (for planning purposes): Do Okha's now work in stock (believe originally they weren't being produced)? Secondly, are any of the late war IJN vessels worth producing such as MTB's or the Matsu class DD's?

--------------

Not sure about the Okhas. I know they did not work in my game. I've seen one in some game going on now though, maybe the Wargmr vs njp72 game?

Many late IJN vessels are useful.

E - All of the E are great at killing off Allied subs. At a time when VPs are hard to come by and all shipments are critical, these ships do the job. If they attack the Allied sub is almost always done for. [8D]

LST - These are fantastic for quick reinforcements and are cheap, quick enough, and unload fast.

DD - Build any of them and all of them. Still useful for escort (which you'll be largely running out of for CV and surface ships) and decent for quick run-ins against transports.

In the endgame you're looking to take a tithe, pick off points where you can, and minimize losses of big stuff. So small and quick is best.

[Lowpe]

Okha's do work, but you don't have control over them. They work a lot like 800 kg bombs the Kates use on bombing ports. The squadron has to pass some sort of checks prior to their use.

I have seen them used once at night, too. They missed.

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Thanks guys. Very helpful. Interesting to note that Okha's now work in stock.....

--------------

SoPac:

The troops go ashore at PM. Several troops are disrupted but all goes ok. After 2 days most of them are ashore but many vehicles of 2nd Tnk Division are still to be unloaded. Once my men are less disrupted I'll start to attack. Here's what I'm up against and I'm not worried in the slightest:

Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 11575 troops, 104 guns, 121 vehicles, Assault Value = 454

Defending force 16763 troops, 134 guns, 182 vehicles, Assault Value = 940

Japanese ground losses:
598 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled



Assaulting units:
1st Australian Division
30th Australian Brigade
C Coy/NG Rifles
D Coy/NG Rifles
Port Moresby Brigade
2nd RAAF Base Force
5th RAAF Base Force
12th RAAF Base Force
15th RAAF Base Force

Defending units:
10th Div /2
Guards Mixed Bde /6
2nd Tank Div /3

The Allies continue to keep New Caledonia closed. Tina's and Emily's continue to evac BF men from Koumac to Lunga.

On the 6th the allies launched a couple of raids on my transports off PM. Firstly, interestingly, at night 6 x TBF bombed without effect. During the day a raid of 15 x A24's escorted by 10 x F4F attacked. My Zero's shot down 3 x F4F and 9 x A24 for no loss. No ships were hit. No air raids on the 7th.

-----------------

Burma:

A good day on the 6th when 40 x Oscar IIa were patrolling over Mandalay. They intercepted a bombing raid shooting down 12 x bombers and P40K's for the loss of 5 friendlies.

The 7th was very quiet. No air combat.

George's will patrol over Magwe tomorrow and Oscar IIa's will sweep over Mandalay.

-----------------

Other Stuff:

On the 6th SS I-27 sank xAK West Ivis in a convoy and later on heavily damaged the large AP U.S Grant with a torpedo in between PH and the WC. In return the escorts left her heavily damaged (34/67/0). It's doubtful she'll make Kwajalein but will try.

[PaxMondo]

Ummm, use your editor to check your scenario. They have always worked, the issue was that several stock scenarios did not have production for them (device production was zero and user production not enabled). Not sure that was ever fixed. DBB scenarios, Ironman, John III's mods etc all have it fixed.

I haven't played a stock GC scenario through to Ohka's in a long time, so not sure about this. Lowpe said they were working in his, but I don't know if he is playing the same scenario as you are ... just double check on it ... easy to see.

[PaxMondo]

ok, just pulled up my scen 1. Okha looks good.