Once Again into the Breach - Mike (J) vs. tc464 (A)

[Lokasenna]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

If you get the Tony II mid 43 you will be very happy with them.

Durability 1, means they can go where George can't.

I am pretty happy with Tony I; seems better than Tojo IIc at knocking planes down at least for me.

I think having a mix of different frames makes a difference as you can fly the planes at their strengths, high cap, low cap, mid cap, escort, sweeps, etc., etc.

It's the CL cannons [;)].

[rustysi]

OK, since there seems like there'll be a break in the action here I'll chime in (and the crowd groans).[:)]

Well... climb 2730 on the -100-I vs 2460? That's not great. Anything less than 3000 and you're not building that fighter for climb, honestly, because that's what the Frank-r and J2M3 Jack have. They're your "climbers".

I know Mikes' all in on the Tony at this point, a decision made at the start of the game. Now he's stuck with this albatross[:D] (pun intended). The Tojo has a climb rate of 3800 or something like that and the OscarIV has 3000+. Not that the late Tony's are poor A/C, but do I really need to R&D the 'same' plane type again and again. They're comparable. So I wouldn't plan on using this model (of course PDU must be on).

[Mike Solli]

Happy Easter all! [:)] To be honest, I have no idea which fighter is really better than any other. We shall see.

3 Apr 43

Sub War

The I-173 had just finished fixing some minor damage and was heading south out of Truk when she found the Halibut and put 2 torpedoes into her. The Halibut showed up as sunk, but what was interesting was how she was reported as sunk. Not by torpedoes, but by a 250kg bomb! Apparently, the torpedoes didn’t do the job and a bomber flying out of Truk finished her off. No matter how her demise happened, that’s one less sub to worry about. Banzai!

About 24 hexes SW of San Francisco, the I-36 found an unescorted convoy and put down the xAK City of Agra. There are still Allied TFs out there without escort?! I’ll take it!

5 Fleet

MKB2 continues to wait to the west of Adak. I have the Kates set to use bombs to conserve torpedoes for the special ships (capital ships or an invasion fleet). No sign of either right now.

Current base damage:

Adak: 23-65-0
Amchitka: 87-44-17

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Not surprisingly, the US 22 Marine Regiment took Rossel Island, destroying the 7 SNLF Company and 52 Construction Company. Both are being rebuilt. The SNLF company makes a nice garrison for those little islands requiring one and the Japanese player can never have too many engineers.

Ted rested most of his bombers (very good for me), but not his fighters. It appears he is trying to wear out my fighters in this area. I keep a number of them stationed at high levels (>30k ft). This fatigues the pilots a lot but I mitigate that by giving each fighter unit extra pilots and usually having the unit fly only 50% CAP.

A squadron of P-38s swept Rabaul losing 2 for no Japanese loss and an squadron of P-40Ks swept Talasea losing about 4 for 3 Japanese planes.

The only bombers sent out were a squadron of B-25Cs escorted by a squadron of Wildcats at Lunga. Lunga? Ok. That’s another useless target for him to focus his attention on. Anyway, my Zeros stationed down there shot down 3 Wildcats for 1 Zero written off. The bombers did light damage to Lunga’s airfield that was easily repaired.

Current base damage:

Gasmata: 0-0-0, Fort at 5.98, only 2 more days to level 6!
Talasea: 0-32-0
Munda: 0-40-5

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I’ve been pumping a lot of supply into Burma and it shows. All of my bases there have adequate supply, and even my main army sitting on the road between Akyab and Cox’s Bazaar had supply. Because of that, I attacked. Even though it didn’t “look” good, I believe it was useful in wearing down the British army there. The 1:2 attack caused 751(53) Commonwealth (mainly Indian) casualties to 3840(12) Japanese casualties. Yeah, I took a lot of disabled squads, but they’re coming back pretty quickly. I keep track of the AV in this hex. Here’s how it looks:

Before the attack (British-Japanese): 872-2239 (Japanese:British: 2.57:1)
After the attack: 839-1889 (2.25:1)
4 April: 839-1907 (2.27:1)
5 April: 840-1938 (2.31:1)

You can see that my troops are coming back faster than Teds. He lost a fair number of squads too. I’ll hit him again when my supply is out of the red. I think I can wear him down. Then I’ll pull most of my troops out to replenish those that need it and keep the 2x tank divisions as a reserve.

I finally figured out what is in Akyab. He has an Aussie Division, 7 Tank Brigade and a HQ there. I think he would have done better to put some of the Indian troops there and kept the Aussies with the army. I would have been much more reluctant to attack them. They’re much better troops.

On to Ramree and the poor Chindits. I believe they are out of supply. If not, they’ve got to be low. I have MKB1 stationed 6 hexes to the SW, should he attempt to reinforce/resupply them.

I think I shot down the last of the Martlets that was sweeping Ramree because I came across a partial squadron of 12x P-40Ks today. At the end of the day, 4 of the Warhawks were shot down for no Japanese loss, and 62x Japanese 2E bomber sorties hit the Chindits. The 21 Division continues to move toward the attack point to take Ramree back.

I also have the 2 Division available to do a seaborne invasion. I haven’t decided whether or not to do this yet. I’m waiting for the 2x bombardment TFs to return from replenishing at Singapore. Everything will be in position in a few days and I’ll decide then. I’d rather do a land invasion, but I also may do both at the same time. We’ll see.

China

Not much happened here today other than the daily bombing of the airfields at Chengtu and Chungking. Ted can’t keep up with repairs at either base.

The 13 Army continues to move toward its jump off point for the invasion of the Chungking plateau (as I like to call it). The 3 Tank Division is heading south from Urumchi and will join the 13 Army.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:
26 Sentai – 36 Oscar IIb, was a part of 5 Air Division in SE Fleet AO. This unit was stationed at Gasmata a few months ago when Ted was doing a sustained air bombardment of that base. I disbanded the unit because it was slowly being destroyed on the ground. I just arrived and I gave it the new Oscar model. After they repair, it’ll island hop back into the fray down there. I’m glad it finally arrived because it’ll give me another fighter unit to use to swap out frontline units for rest. That’s important to do in order to keep my pilots fresh for the constant warfare.
xAK Jinju Maru – Std-B – will convert to a TK.

The B6N2 R&D advanced to 8/43. It will become operational in June 43, and the Kate factory will convert to this model. I still have 70+ B5N2s and 100+ B5N1s in the pool. My torpedo bomber losses have been next to nothing. There’s been no carrier duel so far. I’m very cautious with committing my precious carrier pilots. They rarely (if ever) hit bases. I want to use them against enemy shipping. That’s what they were made to do. I have a sneaky suspicion that they will be used quite a bit this year. Ted is now getting his vaunted Hellcats at 4.33 per day. His 6 pre-war carriers should have them outfitted by mid-May.

I’m considering sending 1 more carrier back for upgrades. If I do, it’ll be the Ryujo. She carries 30 Zeros and 18 Kates. I currently have (along with Ryujo), the Shokaku, Zuikaku, Soryu, Junyo and Hiyo available at Truk for operations. Akagi and Kaga are at Kobe refitting. If I send a carrier back to Japan now, she would be back at Truk by mid-May. I need to make a decision soon.

Finally, Shanghai and Medan’s forts reached level 6.

[Mike Solli]

4 April 43

Sub War

My ASW forces had a good day today. Just NW of Taihoku, the Ch-9 hit the Shark once with a DC. Hopefully, it’s enough damage to send her home.

Off Truk, the Fumuzuki hit the Gar with a DC.

SW of San Francisco, the I-15 put a torpedo into a large xAP, the Matsonia. She was empty and headed back to San Francisco, probably to pick up troops. Now she’s headed to San Francisco for repairs.

5 Fleet

MKB2 continues with its vigil west of Adak. All is quiet.

Current base damage:

Adak: 0-23-0
Amchitka: 87-44-0

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted went primarily for Gasmata today, a good choice for him. I believe he made a tactical error by going after some other bases instead on concentrating everything on Gasmata. It also didn’t help that his attacks were fragmented and usually went in piecemeal. Also, the weather was atrocious.

Gasmata:
11x SBD – no damage
13x SBD – no damage
18x Mitchell II – no damage
16x B-25D1 – no damage
35x various 4E – no damage
8x B-24D1 – no damage

Lunga:
15x B-25C – 4 shot down, no damage

Rabaul:
12x P-38G – 4 shot down, 4 Zeros shot down

Talasea:
10x P-40K – 5 shot down, 1 Tojo shot down

Madang – 5x B-25D1 – no damage

Current base damage:

Gasmata: 0-0-0, Fort level 5.99 (dodged a bullet, 1 more day!)
Talasea: 0-25-0
Munda: 0-25-0

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I had spotted the British bombardment TF disbanded in the port of Cox’s Bazaar a few days ago and set the Betties stationed at Pt. Blair to night port attack. They flew today, three attacks of 10, 5 and 6 Betties. They didn’t hit squat and lost 4 planes to flak. So much for that brilliant idea. I reset the Betties to day naval attack.

Ted put 9x P-40Ks over Ramree today. 6 were shot down for no loss. I had a total of 117x 2E bomber sorties hit the Chindits.

The land attack force continues to crawl toward it’s jump off point.

China

Chengtu was bombed today.

Other Stuff

The Ki-43-IIIa R&D advanced to 1/44.

The S-37 was confirmed to be sunk near Rabaul on 1/30/43. This is odd because she is still not showing up in the sunk ship list and I have no record of her being hit. Mine maybe? Rabaul has had mines for ages.

[Mike Solli]

5 Apr 43

Sub War

The Sargo took out a Daigen class xAKL SE of Wenchow.

5 Fleet

All quiet on the northern front.

Current base damage:

Adak: 0-0-0
Amchitka: 87-27-0, supply finally arrived, Judies are repairing. This is nice because the D4Y1 has a normal range of 6 and Adak is only 4 hexes away. Should a fleet come in range, they will experience 500kg bombs.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted rested his 2E & 4E bombers. Yay!

Gasmata’s fort achieved level 6 finally! [:D]

A couple squadrons of SBDs attacked Goodenough Island causing no damage. Other than the Solomon Island chain (Shortland, Munda, Lunga and Tulagi), this is the last Japanese controlled base south of New Britain. It’s another target. I hope he spends hundreds of 2 & 4E sorties and a few weeks focusing on this throwaway base. I have a small infantry force here as well as a couple of engineer vehicles I couldn’t pull out, sitting behind level 3 forts.

Two squadrons of Corsairs swept Madang and the Oscar IIb sentai there. I lost 4 Oscars (+2 op losses) to 2 Corsairs. It may be time to pull those Oscars out of there. They’re really serving no useful purpose.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted finally got lucky over Ramree. He had 8x P-40Ks over the base and my bombers showed up before my sweeping fighters. I had only a few Tojos escorting them. I lost 2 Tojos and 5 bombers for no Allied losses. Then, more unescorted bombers showed up and I lost 5 more. By the time my sweeping fighters showed up there were only 2x P-40s left and they shot down 1.

I decided to rest my bombers for a day to let my sweeping fighters whittle down the P-40s a bit more. Then I’ll rearrange my fighter missions and have more fighters escort the bombers. Dumb mistake. Fortunately, I have plenty of Helens in the pool (~100 with the factories off) and plenty of bomber pilots in the pool.

China

Bombing of Chengtu and Chungking again.

Other Stuff

It’s interesting to see that Ted’s aircraft losses are creeping up. I have slightly more losses from all causes than he does:

Japanese aircraft losses: 6003
Allied aircraft losses: 5938

I don’t have the breakdown in front of me, but he has still lost more planes in air-to-air combat than me. I’ll get those numbers for all to see tonight. Overall, I’m pleased with the air losses. I expect them to increase substantially (hopefully on both sides) over the remainder of 1943.

[Mike Solli]

6 Apr 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Nothing is going on here. Amchitka continues to repair damage so it can continue to build its airfield to level 2. The airfield is currently at 1.78. Engineers are enroute and there is >3k supply there. Current damage is 80-0-0. It is expected to be fully repaired in 6 days.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Ted is resting most of his bombers. 23 SBDs hit Gasmata and lost 2 to flak!

A total of 57x 2E sorties hit Goodenough Island, targeting the troops there. Little damage was done.

At Gasmata, the 11 Air Flotilla HQ was there. I pulled out just about all of it by air, but the motorized support and torpedoes are stuck there. I sent in an xAKL to try and get some of them out but she was hit and sunk by SBDs. I created barges at Gasmata, but they wouldn’t load it. So, I’m out of options to get them out. Maybe I’ll try another xAKL.

I sent another xAKL to Talasea to drop off some supply. They made it there and dropped off some of the supply then were hit by Avengers and sunk. I’m sending another xAKL tomorrow with Tojo LRCAP support. I’m hoping to kill off some of those Avengers.

I also set a Helen sentai at Rabaul to mine Woodlark Island. They won’t drop many mines, but hopefully, some Allied ships find them and eat a few. Just harassment really, but it is fun.

Current base damage:

Talasea: 0-4-0
Munda: 0-0-0, Fort at 5.26

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My bombers rested again today. A sentai of Tojos met 7x P-40Gs, shooting down a couple and the rest allegedly were op losses. My bomb runs will begin again tomorrow.

The 21 Division still marches toward its attack point for the assault on Ramree. I opted to land the 2 Division at Rangoon and will march them as well. They’ll be the backup should the 21 Division not succeed in eliminating the Chindits.

Today, I air dropped ~16 mines at Cox’s Bazaar. That’s the port where his bombardment fleet sits. I’m not sure if anything will hit them, but here’s hoping.

Since my attack on 3 April, the Allied AV has increased from 839 to 844 while the Japanese AV has increased from 1889 to 1994. The AVs before the attack were 872 and 2239.

China

The usual bombing of Chengtu and Chungking…

Other Stuff

Not much to talk about. A pilot was found.

[Mike Solli]

7 Apr 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

6 Zeros flew CAP over Tulagi in response to a sweep from 11 Wildcats. The Zeros were set at 15k feet to counter bombers and were hit from above losing 4 to no Allied losses. Back to flying high. *Sigh* [8|]

Gasmata was hit by a little bit of ineffectual bombing.

Current damage:

Talasea: 0-4-0
Munda: 0-0-0, fort is 5.26

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Preparations continue for the Ramree attack.

Cox’s Bazaar received some more aerial mines.

China

Air bombardment of Chengtu and Chungking again.

Other Stuff

A pilot was found.

Wow, that was an exciting turn

[Mike Solli]

8 Apr 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Today’s Allied target: Goodenough Island. There was a naval invasion there by the 503 Parachute Regiment and the 110 Engineer Battalion after the island was hit by 60 bomber sorties. The 1:2 shock attack against level 3 forts cost the defenders, but they held, for now. Losses were 120(12) Japanese to 54(1) Allies.

There were sweeps here and there too. Total losses were:

Zero: 3
Tojo: 10

Wildcat: 1
P-40K: 4
Kittyhawk III: 1
Dauntless: 11 [:D]
B-25D1: 2

The Dauntlesses were killed over Gasmata. Not sure what they were going after though. There were 2 separate squadron attacks. The first of 11 Dauntlesses was escorted by 7x P-40Ks. I (successfully) set up an ambush with a sentai of Tojos. 31 flew. They shot their way through the P-40s killing 4 for the loss of 3 Tojos and then hammered the SBD squadron, shooting them all down. The second squadron of 10x SBDs was escorted by 10x Kittyhawks was opposed by 12x Tojos. The Kittyhawks held off the Tojos losing 1 of their number to 2x Tojos. The Dauntlesses did no damage.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My bombers plastered the Chindits at Ramree again. The infantry divisions continue to plod toward their jump off point. Ted opposed this with a partial squadron of 9x P-40Ks, losing 7 to no Japanese losses. [:D]

China

Bombing of Chengtu and Chungking again.

Other Stuff

The AM Bellechase was confirmed sunk by Japanese DP guns at Adak on 21 Mar 43. Have I said lately that I love DP guns?!

[Mike Solli]

9 Apr 43

Sub War

Nothing to report. It’s been really quiet lately. A few attacks on both sides, but no hits.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The US paratroopers at Goodenough rested today. Fine with me.

There were sweeps over Tulagi resulting in 4 Wildcat losses to 3 Zero losses. I swept Woodlark losing 5 Tojos to a Wildcat. That didn’t go as planned.

A couple of Allied 2E bomber attacks on Goodenough resulted in light casualties to the defenders. They won’t last much longer.

Woodlark Island was mined, but they were successfully swept a couple days later. Oh well, the mines do no good in the pool.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Six of 8 P-40Ks were shot down over Ramree, but they did manage to shoot down 2x Helens.

China

Nothing to report.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

10 Apr 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Wildcats swept Lunga today. Only 5 of the 9 went home. No Japanese fighters were lost. I have 2x chutai of 18 planes here. I can do this all day. As they take losses and/or increased fatigue, I swap them out with the other 2 chutai I have in this AO. My pilot losses are minimal since they are fighting over friendly territory. They usually see 1 squadron of fighters or bombers at a time, so they are gaining good experience.

Goodenough was the recipient of 71x 1/2E bomber sorties before the Allied assault, which took the base. The 1 SNLF Company wasn’t destroyed in the attack, but later succumbed to attrition. It is being rebuilt.

Helens, flying out of Hollandia, hit the port of Merauke in a night attack, putting a bomb into the AM Bittern.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My bombers hit the Chindits again.

My main army on the road between Akyab and Cox’s Bazaar attacked the Commonwealth army pinned there today. I took a lot of disablements and a few losses to about the same for the Brits. Now I need to let my army build up its supply once again, a slow endeavor.

China

The Chinese army is hurting. They control exactly 6 bases in China. There are the 4 on the Chungking plateau, the one base (can’t remember the name) in south central China where there are ~120k Chinese surrounded and starving, and 1 base in western China on the road to Burma just over the border. I recently took Tsyung (the second base over from the Burma border) and hit the remnants along the road today. The 8:1 attack caused 1348(131) Chinese to 25(1) Japanese casualties and pushed the rabble closer to the border. The rabble is composed of a corps, HQ, base force and the China Air HQ, an American unit.

Other Stuff

The xAK George Livanos was confirmed sunk off Pearl Harbor on 20 Jan 43.

The Ki-100-II R&D advanced to 6/44.
The D4Y2 R&D advanced to 11/43. When this model hits 10/43 I will upgrade the R&D factories to the D4Y3. I’m doing this for several reasons. The D4Y1 &Y2 use the Aichi Ha-60 engine. The D4Y3 and Y4 use the Ha-33 engine. I currently have a total of 120 factories producing the Ha-60 engine with just over 500 engines in the pool. Once I upgrade to the Y3, I can shut off those factories (size 40 and 80). They’ll then be available for conversion to something else. I have 1 size 30 operational factory building the D4Y1. It’ll upgrade to the Y2 in 10/43 and build them out until the engines are gone. The D4Y1/2 will be Kamikazes. The Y3 will start building in 10/43 using one of a couple of excess operational factories I have available.

[Mike Solli]

11 Apr 43

Sub War

A few hexes SW of Babeldaob, the Gunnel put a torpedo into an xAK hauling resources. She made Babeldaob and will be repaired.

Near Truk, the Umikaze hit the Gar twice with depth charges. No report of her sinking….yet.

5 Fleet

Still quiet. MKB2 is hovering to the west of Adak and 2x 4 DD surface action groups are up there as well. One is at Etorofu and the second is at Amchitka. They have a small replenishment fleet supporting them.

Amchitka is fully repaired and working on level 2 of its airfield. Two additional engineer companies are a few days out.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

With the loss of Goodenough Island, things have quieted down here. A squadron of Mitchell II bombers hit Gasmata, for no result. A squadron of Wildcats hit Tulagi resulting in the loss of 5 Wildcats for 2 Zeros (+2 op losses).

A squadron of P-38Gs swept Shortland losing 3 Lightnings for 2 Tojos.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

The usual attacks on Ramree happened again today. The net result was the loss of 3x P-40Ks.

Helens mined Cox’s Bazaar. The Allied BB bombardment fleet is still sitting in port there.

I made a mistake. I forgot to stop the attack on the road between Akyab and Cox’s Bazaar. Oops. This time I took some losses, as did the Commonwealth. On the bright side, an Indian artillery regiment was destroyed. Banzai! Today I remembered to shut the attack off. My supply is pretty low here, but it should build up over the next few days. The 55 Division has most of its squads disabled so I’m marching them out of the hex in combat mode. I really doubt Ted will attack here, because I’m positive he’s in worse shape than I am.

China

Air attacks on Chengtu and Chungking as usual.

The 13 Army continues to plod toward the Chungking plateau. It’s about halfway there.

The 26 Division, in the mountains a couple hexes NW of Urumchi, attacked and destroyed the last Chinese rabble that was in the north. The 3 units were 2x infantry brigades and a base force. The north is now completely mine.

Other Stuff

Truk’s forts reached level 7. This is one of only a small handful of bases where I will build the forts this high. I suspect Ted will bypass Truk, but it’ll be really painful should he choose to attempt an invasion.

[Mike Solli]

12 Apr 43

Sub War

The I-36 sank the xAK Makena SW of San Francisco. It’s still a fertile hunting ground. Ted has 1 or 2 ASW TFs patrolling the area, but I can see them and avoid them. Glens are wonderful!

5 Fleet

All quiet. Amchitka’s airfield is up to 1.78.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Corsairs swept Rabaul, a first. They flew out of Woodlark Island. They lost 3 at a cost of 3 Japanese fighters (+3 op losses).

Eight P-38Gs swept Shortland shooting down 3 Tojos (+2 op losses) for the loss of only 1 Lightning. Not the kill ratio I like. [8|]

SRA

Helens flying out of Hollandia hit Merauke’s port today, putting a 250kg bomb into 2 different xAKLs. No report of them sinking.

Burma

Ted sent what seemed to be his entire 2/4E bomber fleet to hit my army between Akyab and Cox’s Bazaar. A total of 163(!) 2E and 37x 4E sorties hit my army doing basically no damage. Jungle is a wonderful thing. [:D]

China

Same ole bombing of Chungking and Chengtu.

[:D]

The N1K1-J R&D advanced to 6/43. It’ll become operational in 5/43. Looking forward to a new model.

Another pilot was found.

[Zorch]

Thanks, Mike. I needed an AAR fix. [:)]

How are your carrier refits coming?

[Mike Solli]

Hi Zorch. The Akagi and Kaga will complete their refits at the end of April. I looked at the other carriers that are due refits and saw that most were 21-30 days, but the Shokaku and Zuikaku are only 15 days. I may send 1 now and one in a week. I'm also considering sending both now. Scary if Ted tries something but worth it if he waits until he replaces all his carriers with Hellcats.

Right now I have Soryu, Ruyjo, Shokaku, Zuikaku, Junyo and Hiyo sitting at Truk. MKB1 is near Rangoon and MKB2 is west of Adak. Both of them are pretty weak, especially MKB1 with only 9 fighters.

[Mike Solli]

13 Apr 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

I set all of my fighters from Rabaul to LRCAP Gasmata. Bright idea? I thought so at the time. Ted had been sending bombers to hit Gasmata so I thought I'd nail a few (or more). Brilliant me decided to set them at 15k ft. Ted sent in a Corsair squadron then a P-40K squadron. Net result was a Corsair and 7x P-40s vs. 8 Japanese fighters lost. They had the bounce so they got their licks in first.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My 2E bombers blasted the Chindits again. The assault troops are still plodding along.

Ted's 2/4E bombers hit my army between Akyab and Cox's Bazaar again. He lost a few 2E bombers for his trouble.

China

My bombers got some more experience again.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

3 RGC Capital Division - RGC Army (China) - will relieve an Infantry brigade so it can combine with it's sister brigade to form a division. I've found that these divisions have little staying power in combat, but they can garrison too.
9 Mongol Cavalry Division - Mongol Garrison Army (China) - garrison unit. I've been thinking of forming a Cavalry Army as reserve force out of the cavalry divisions in this army. It would probably be next to useless, but it would be cool. [:D]
60 Field AA Battalion - 8 Area Army - Burma
61 Field AA Battalion - 8 Area Army - Burma
63Field AA Battalion - 8 Area Army - Burma

Kiamusze reached fort level 6.

[Mike Solli]

14 Apr 43

Sub War
5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Today was a big fighter scuffle over Gasmata. Ted had been sending unescorted bombers there so I thought I’d LRCAP my fighters from Rabaul to ambush his bombers. Of course, my fighters were set to 15k feet and he decided to send a bunch of fighters in. Funny how that happens. [8|]

Anyway, he sent six different partial squadrons and they all went in separately: 13x P-40k, 8x Corsair, 7x Corsair, 10x Kittyhawk III, 10x P-40K and 5x P-40K. Final loss results:

6x A6M2
2x A6M5
2x Ki-43-Ic
4x Ki-43-IIb
5x Tojo
6x Nick

8x Corsair
2x Kittyhawk III
5x P-40K

I took heaver losses (25 to 15) because his fighters all came in higher and dove on me. Ah well, such is war. I’ll make up for it later (keep reading). I lost the following pilots:

IJNAF:
4 WIA

IJAAF:
5 KIA
8 WIA

It could have been worse.

A bunch of Betties missed again. I’m going to try and change their armament to bombs to see if it makes any difference.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma


My bombers hit the Chindits again as the assault forces continue to crawl toward their jump off point.

China

Continued bombing of Chengtu and Chungking.

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

151 Ku T-1 – 18 Navy recon, arrives at Rabaul.
AM Wa-103
SC CHa-56 – ASW

[Mike Solli]

15 Apr 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Amchitka’s airfield finally hit level 2. That’s great! Now the Judy chutai there can fly offensive missions. Amchitka will now work on forts.

My Oscar sentai stationed at Adak flew a sweep mission over Unmak to wear down the Allied fighters a bit. At a cost of 1 Oscar shot down (+2 op losses, 1 MIA), I shot down a P-40E and 5x P-400s (state of the art Allied fighters here [:D]). My pilots gained some valuable experience.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

Things were very quiet here today compared with yesterday. Nine Corsairs swept Shortland Island shooting down 3 Tojos (+1 op loss) for 3 Corsairs lost.

My Betties didn’t fly, so I don’t know if bombs will work better than torpedoes. My thought on this is that they carry 2x 250kg bombs in place of 1 torpedo, so that’s twice the chance of a hit. The other side of my brain tells me that twice nothing is still nothing. [:D]

Helens flying out of Hollandia hit Merauke's port again. This time they put a 250kg bomb in to an AMc and 3x AMs. No reports of any sinkings. Not sure it’s really worth the supply expenditures. [8|]

I decided to send the Shokaku and Zuikaku back to Japan for upgrades. They should reach Japan in a week and complete their upgrade by the end of the first week in May. Akagi and Kaga will complete their upgrades at the end of April.

Now, I have my operational carriers allocated as follows:

KB: Soryu, Ryujo, Junyo & Hiyo at Truk (111 Z, 54 V, 54 K)
MKB1: Ryuho, Taiyo & Unyo near Rangoon (9 Z, 27 V, 21 K)
MKB2: Shoho, Zuiho & Hosho SW of Adak (54 Z, 24 K)

That’s a risk, but I think it is minimal because Ted is currently upgrading his carriers with Hellcat, to the tune of 4.33 per day. It’ll be awhile (mid-May?) before he completes their upgrade. I don’t think he will commit them until he upgrades them all. (That’s the risk.)

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

My bombers (114 sorties) hit the Chindits again.

Ted sent 149x 2E and 35x 4E bomber sorties against my main army. Little damage was done but only 3 Blenheims were shot down.

I did notice that the 18 British Division has showed up in the hex. [:(] Now the AV for each side is 1179 Brit to 1617 Japanese. Now it is a true stalemate. I’m still pulling out the 55 Division in combat mode since they have a lot of disablements that aren’t repairing very quickly.

China

Bombing of Chengtu and Chungking again.

Other Stuff

The A6M5c R&D advanced to 4/44.

Mukden’s fort reached level 6.

[Mike Solli]

16 Apr 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

Attu’s airfield is at level 1.31. Its goal is also level 2.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

A squadron of Wildcats swept Shortland Island losing 6 of their number to 4 Tojos. I love this because he’s losing experienced pilots at a greater rate than me since the fighting is over my bases.

Helen’s hit Merauke again, hitting the AM Finch again. (She was hit yesterday too.)

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

I have extra fighter sentai in this theater so I can rotate them to rest them and give them their replacements. This works well. I used a sentai each of Oscars and Tojos stationed at Magwe to LRCAP my main army hoping Ted would send his bombers in again. I was not disappointed.

There were 8 different attacks against my army. My fighters worked admirably, losing a single Tojo (+4 Tojo and 2 Oscar op losses) to a bunch of Allied losses. Here’s the breakdown:

22 Oscar – 2 op losses
30 Tojo – 1 + 4 op losses

15 B-24D – 2 losses
18 Liberator II – 1 loss
47 Blenheim IV – 8 loss
12 Hudson IIIa – 6 loss
22 Wellington Ic – 11 loss
9 Blenheim VD
12 Wellington GR VIII – 3 loss
19 B-25C
12 Beaufort V – 2 loss
1 P-40K
10 Hurricane IIc – 10 loss

That’s a 24% loss for the Allies [:D] compared to a 13% loss rate for the Japanese (only 2% loss rate if you don’t count the op losses). The Hurricanes showed up in the afternoon when the Japanese fighters were able replenish and were decimated to a plane. Only a single fighter escorted the bombers. The only thing that kept so many of his bombers alive was that they were able to damage a lot of Japanese fighters making them unavailable to defend against future morning raids. Ted’s comment was that they should all convert to Nells because his bombers were useless. [:D]

Fun day.

China

Japanese bombing…

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

[Mike Solli]

17 Apr 43

Sub War

Nothing to report.

5 Fleet

I had a 4 DD TF idling at Amchitka, waiting to ambush an Allied TF should one head west, but instead they were ambushed. An even dozen B-25Cs went after them. Fortunately, MKB2 was in the vicinity and 16x A6M3cs were vectored in to attack the bombers. Five of the 12 bombers were splashed for a loss of 1 Zero from the Shoho. The pilot was recovered wounded. In addition, a pilot from Shoho and Hosho each achieved elite status.

The bombers missed.

4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The remaining 6 Wildcats from yesterday’s attack flew against Shortland’s Tojos and got a little retribution, killing 4 Tojos for no loss. [:(]

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

113 Japanese bombers hit the Chindits.

23x 4E and 91x 2E, escorted by 21 fighters, hit my army. For a loss of a single Oscar, I downed 6x 2E, 1x 4E and 11x fighters. Allied losses were “only” 13% of the sorties. [:D] Mine were a measly 4% (1 of 27 fighters).

Nice.

China

Chengtu and Chungking were bombed today.

Other Stuff

The Ki-43-IIIa R&D advanced to 12/43.

The xAP Matsonia (a nice, big transport) was confirmed sunk on 6 Apr 43.

My first Frank R&D factory finally completed repairs! Woohoo!! Unfortunately, I have only 162 Ha-45 engines in the pool but am producing 12-13 a day. I estimate I’ll reach 500 ~9-10 May.

[Mike Solli]

18 Apr 43

Sub War

Japanese intel does give some decent info on occasion. I check it daily and keep an eye on where the heavy radio traffic is occurring. Lately, I saw that pretty frequently at Suva. I moved the I-11 there and she found a convoy, unescorted. She attacked an xAK on the surface hitting her with a shell and 4 torpedoes. Scratch one more cargo ship.

5 Fleet
4 Fleet

Nothing to report.

SE Fleet

The Corsairs swept Shortland again, killing 2 Tojos (+2 op losses, 1 KIA). I pulled the Tojos out and did not replace them for the time being. We'll see what happens tomorrow. If he sweeps and finds no fighters, I suspect he'll send bombers in the next day. I'll then replace them with a fresh sentai to tackle the bombers.

I did put a fresh, 42 plane Tojo sentai at Manus (Admiralty Islands). I've had a Helen sentai there night bombing Lae. Ted often sweeps the hex. I thought I'd give him a surprise.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Ted's bombers rested today (well, the survivors did). My bombers hit the Chindits again.

I've noticed that my intel of the Chindits shows their strength constantly decreasing, from a high of 5100 to the current 4300. I suspect the numbers aren't exact, but they do show a trend. Anyway, the 2 Division and 3x artillery regiments began movement to attack the Chindits. I suspect a week before they crawl through the jungle to get to them. I'll continue bombing and will hit them with some bombardment fleet on the day they are to actually cross the river and shock attack. Then, hopefully, bye-bye Chindits.

China

Bombing…

Other Stuff

Reinforcements:

xAK Katsukawa Maru - Std-D - 5 Fleet cargo ship
Kure 7 SNLF - This is one of the smaller (24 SNLF squads) SNLF, but it also has 24 DP guns! I'm sending this to Rota. Now, all four of the Marianas Islands have some DP guns and forts of at least 6.

The Ki-100-II R&D advanced to 5/44.