Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[apbarog]

25 Feb 42

An enemy xAP with a DD shows up at Puerto Princesa, landing more troops (Sasebo 1st SNLF) to better the odds. 2 US subs are patrolling just off the coast, but don't spot the ships. One is assigned to enter the base hex today.

Koepang Timor is swept by Zeros. No planes here. No ground support. Barely any troops. This will be the next target for the gathering at Kendari.

Heavy enemy bombing of the woods next to Changsha. I had LRCAP assigned several hexes away, but they flew here, and I'm happy about that. 5 Lilys and 33 Sonias are escorted by 30 Nates, and go up against 22 P-40Es. The Nates do a good job tying up the Warhawks, and the bombers get through. In a following raid, 20 Lilys arrive unescorted. 8 Warhawks intercept after the bomb runs. Total losses are 8 Nates and 7 Lilys for the loss of 1 P-40E.

Kukong is bombed. Another P-40 squadron is moved here.

I sent out AM Quatsino from Pearl Harbor to look for subs. It found I-25 north of the base, and hit it with 2 depth charges. That can be enough to sink a sub, especially so far from home. The sub doesn't surface during the replay, and no audio of a sinking so far.

In Burma, the enemy 33rd Division has moved up the coastal road from Rangoon to Prome. A shock attack eliminates the small RM Viper Force here. The 1st Burma Division could be in danger of being flanked, so it is moving north to Toungoo. It won't be long until there's a general withdrawal through and past the clear terrain of central Burma.

SigInt says that the enemy 38th Infantry Division is on xAPs and moving to Naga. So the Luzon campaign will be restarting.

Sub Grayback is adjacent to Kwajalein, and it got 9/9 detection level. KB is probably here. Wake got enemy recon for the first time in awhile. 3 US subs continue to ferry supply from Midway to Wake. Supply is good now, but a big bombardment or two could change that.

As for the question about Luganville, it has an Aussie brigade now, at about 70% strength, and a small base force. Not a huge defense, but more than Tulagi. My fortress is at Noumea. Americal Division is there, with lots of engineers and base support. And armor and artillery. 2/3 of the US 2nd Marine Divison is moving up to Koumac, with engineers. An Aussie brigade is on the way to Noumea to man La Foa. New Caledonia will be a tough fight if the enemy comes this way. It would take a bunch of divisions to take it from me.

Suva is less defended, mostly with New Zealand troops. Pago is not defended well. Lots of artillery but not enough troops. These 2 bases are next for reinforcements, but reinforcements are slow in coming. Vava'u will be built up to support these 2 bases if needed.

[BBfanboy]

Are Warspite & Co. still moving to Tulagi or did you decide it was too risky?

[apbarog]

I decided it was too risky. Now it looks like KB may be up by Kwajalein, but I didn't know that yesterday, and moved Warspite back to the south. The slow speed makes it more risky too.

With Tulagi lost, a bombardment wouldn't do so much. It does look like there are task forces between Tulagi and Shortlands now. Maybe base support inbound to Tulagi, or troops for something else.

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Aleutians

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Borneo and Philippines

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Burma

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Diego Garcia and Ceylon

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Gilberts

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Java to Northern New Guinea

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Northern China

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Solomons

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: South Pacific

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Southern China

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Sumatra and Malaya

[apbarog]

Region by Region Update: Wake Island and the Marshalls

[apbarog]

26 Feb 42

Destroyer Akebono finds and sweeps 2 mines at Ebadon, which is northwest of Kwajalein. Those were the last 2 mines apparently. Akebono could be with KB, as it was suspected to be in the area.

Sub Gar spots 3 APDs near Kavieng, but no engagement.

I-175 spots a big task force of slow ships that just left Pago Pago for Auckland. The sub fires 2 torpedoes at tiny YO-78. One hits and sinks the ship. It had fuel on it, but the ship sank so quickly it couldn't even burn. The task force contains YOs, ACMs, and AMc's for the front.

Zeros sweep Koepang again. No sign of an invasion, yet. Allied subs patrol the area.

Oscars sweep above the 1st Burma Divison near Toungoo. No CAP.

Sallys bomb Zamboanga.

Sallys with Oscars bomb Hengyang, near Changsha, damaging a dozen P-40Es on the ground. This was a good lucky hit for OPilot. I had LRCAP flying from here instead of Changsha, despite having no base support here. A base unit is on the rails coming from the west now. I leave the unit here and fly the dozen or so planes still operational. Changsha now has its own CAP now, as does Kukong.

Some enemy bombing of Batangas, the inland mountain base on northern Java. There are 11 enemy units here, but far more troops are needed to take this base. The defenses are strong, with forts, with supply, and in the mountains. It will be interesting to see what approach OPilot takes. So far, he has mostly surrounded the base but not done more than an artillery attack. His options are to throw everything he can at it or surround and hold with minimal forces. With lots of bombings for either choice. This is tying up lots of enemy units, which is my plan.

Some Allied bombing in China. A-29s hit a division near Loyang, in clear terrain. 50 casualties. 3 squadrons of B-17Ds hit Nanyang's airfield, doing moderate damage. No aircraft there at the moment. This is the closest enemy airfield to Sian and his troop concentrations nearby.

7 Wirraways tried to hit the 33rd Division as it is leaving Prome, trying to slow it down some. Oscars were on CAP, and 3 Wirraways were lost.

Puerto Princesa is lost.

A Catalina on a search mission hit a tanker at Boela. A US sub is patrolling from Boela to Babo.

Enemy ships are spotted at Lunga, no doubt dropping off troops to build a base.

[apbarog]

27 Feb 42

AM Ipswitch is patrolling near Brisbane, and finds I-168 just east of Brisbane. The sub fires 2 torpedoes at the ship, but misses. The sub takes minor damage from a near miss.

21 Oscars sweep Changsha, and find the AVG squadron flying H81s. The Flying Tigers are torn apart by the enemy sweeping from high above. 7 H81s are lost, and only one Oscar is shot down. This squadron has good pilots. Not great, but better than what I have elsewhere. The H81s leave something to be desired. But it was obvious that the enemy pilots are very good. The US planes were at 20,000 feet, but the enemy came in higher. They were diving in for the entire battle.

Bettys bomb Horn Island, doing minor damage to the airfield.

At Milne Bay, sub S-28 is passing through, heading back to Townsville for fuel. It finds an AG escorted by a patrol boat. 2 torpedoes are fired at AG Kongosan Maru. One hits and sinks the support ship.

There's a combat TF at Lunga, with some xAKs. And there's an AS reported at Buin. No sign of KB today. Wake Island continues to get recon from Kwajalein. It's a daily recon now, and isn't very effective. Probably Bettys.

[apbarog]

28 Feb 42

Near Kavieng, sub Gar fires 4 torpedoes at AV Kunikawa Maru, escorted by DD Tanikaze. 2 torpedoes hit the AV, but both are duds.

29 Sallys bomb Zamboanga troops.
31 Anns bomb Baybay troops.
33 Sonias bomb Changsha's airfield, doing moderate damage. Escorts were 28 Nates and 22 Oscars, as OPilot upped the ante here. My fighters pulled back to the capital.
17 Sonias bomb Manila troops.
9 Sonias bomb troops near Nanyang. 12 Nate escorts.
39 Bettys bomb Madioen troops.
24 Nells with 9 Zeros bomb Koepang's airfield, doing moderately heavy damage.
32 Lilys bomb Bandoeng's airfield.

Enemy attack near Nanyang, southeast of Sian.

Ground combat at 85,43 (near Nanyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45456 troops, 338 guns, 236 vehicles, Assault Value = 1505

Defending force 32245 troops, 91 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 878

Japanese adjusted assault: 1178

Allied adjusted defense: 1327

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2590 casualties reported
Squads: 23 destroyed, 211 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 46 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 88 (16 destroyed, 72 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
555 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 103 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd Tank Regiment
27th Division
37th Division
36th Division
12th Tank Regiment
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade

Defending units:
9th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
4th Group Army

A good result for the Chinese. The Chinese here are near the stacking limit, so the enemy can't bring too many extra men here. I see movement out of this hex now. The enemy's only hope here is to rotate fresh troops in. I hope there aren't many here for this. There aren't for the Chinese.

SigInt says that the 20th Infantry Division is planning for Changsha. This is the first intel about Changsha.

[apbarog]

1 Mar 42

Finally the F4F-4s start to get produced. Only 45 a month, so it'll take awhile to replace all of the fighters on the carriers. But things are moving along, in the right direction.

Just east of Christmas Island, I-23 spots big and fast transport xAP Mariposa leaving port. 2 torpedoes are fired at the ship but miss. Mariposa has a fast cruising speed and is a nice ship. It's moving unescorted, relying on speed, and luckily, for today, that was enough.

Oscars sweep Hengyang again. 20 enemy versus 13 P-40Es. 5 more Warhawks are lost, and 2 Oscars are downed. The dozen or so working Warhawks will remain here on CAP, and a fresh P-40E squadron is moved in to augment the defense.

I've had a few P-26As left in the Philippines, so I trained them on low naval attack, figuring that they'd eventually get a shot at unprotected ships. The flaw in the plan, however, is that there are no search planes left in the Philippines, so nothing is being spotted. Yesterday Manila got recon, and the planes were seen. I put them on CAP today but that was pointless, as Oscars arrived and destroyed 3 of the remaining 5.

Usual enemy bombing on Sumatra, Java, Philippines, in China, nothing worth noting.

Zamboanga is invaded. Defense is very weak and will be destroyed.

A hex near Tjilatjap, Java is cleared by the enemy. 4 Dutch units are destroyed.

An enemy task force is spotted south of Akyab in Burma. Looks like an invasion coming. I'd hoped to move naval strike aircraft into range. Akyab is 8 hexes from Calcutta, and some torpedo bombers have that range. But I'd moved my torpedo squadrons to Ceylon to guard against a carrier raid, and they don't have the range to get back to Calcutta in one day. Not much else of use in the area. Near combat ships are at Cochin, India. I cleared out Colombo when the enemy carriers were in the Indian Ocean northwest of Port Blair. Akyab is not defended. A small unit is just east of Akyab, moving west into Akyab, but needs a few days to get there, and it won't make it in time.

Cooktown, Australia got enemy recon for the first time today. So did Dutch Harbor, Alaska from a Glen sub.

Yesterday a US sub dropped some mines in the Solomons between Shortlands and Tulagi. An enemy destroyer Tsuta is reported to have been hit, is on fire and heavily damaged. A sinking audio was heard later, which could be Tsuta or something from recent activities. I've done a little mining here and there. My plan is to hoard most of my mines for later, and use just enough of them now to keep OPilot concerned about them.

About a week ago, 2 CVEs were spotted passing by Formosa. Previous sightings make me think that the ships were headed back to Japan. My gut is telling me that some activity in the Aleutians could be coming. It's been completely dead so far, for both sides. I don't want to spend much time in the Aleutians, and for now defend what I started with, the westernmost of which is Dutch Harbor.

Carriers Lexington and Saratoga go into upgrade at Auckland for a few weeks. The anti-aircraft upgrades are significant and worth doing.

[BBfanboy]

Go Dewey!

The complete lack of Japanese interest in the Aleutians (other than the recon by Glen FP) makes me suspicious. If he just wanted to be sure nothing big was coming from that quarter he should have sent a CL/DD TF to poke around a little. But if he has something planned he might think it necessary to avoid all TF activity (except subs) for fear you will reinforce. The old "I think that you think that he thinks that you think ..." conundrum! [:)]