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Hi, The only problem with covering transports with CV is weather. If your CV or the hex where the enemy meets your transports is cloudy......same problem exists when defending a base via air.
Transports and bases still need surface combat TF and the surface combat TF need air for when the weather is clear.

I think you might be sending enough to India to secure it. Not sure you've left enough in the Pacific. As Allies in this circumstance I would be actiely searching for a weak point.
(airfield in range of fast bombardment TF's with a garrision I could defeat with a max effort landing so as to get it over before any reaction occured. I would be watching the weather over the target base)

Today's turn was marred by a serious but which prevented Japanese air attacks being in any way as decisive as they really should have been. With that said since the end result was inconclusive as opposed to massively detrimental I am happy enough to let the current situation stand. I don't want Trey to think I want to replay the turn to correct my error and take advantage of knowing where his ships were going.

What happened was that I had set my Kates to have the primary mission of naval attack but a secondary mission of airfield attack at 6000 feet. When every bloody ship in the Royal navy came steaming around both sides of Ceylon what did my Kates do? Yup, they flew out, engaged the British carrier TF and one surface TF and proceeded to drop all their torpedoes at 6000 feet. Needless to say out of 71 sorties only a single torpedo hit is scored... On the bright side the British CAP is butchered.

So I'll have to put this into my lessons learned column. It seems a fairly massive bug to have remained unfixed for this long as it really handicaps carriers in close proximity to both enemy naval forces and an enemy land base.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/27/42

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Naval bombardment of Trimcomalee, at 15,25

Looks like I didn't forget to set the naval bombardment after all... This is what you get when you stay up LATE ( or early depending on how you view it) cause an exciting carrier battle is looming.

Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 8 destroyed Actually 16 were destroyed.
Wellington III: 2 destroyed
Wirraway: 2 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
BB Haruna
BB Kongo


Allied ground losses:
265 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 96

And the airbase is closed. The naval guns were also bombarded into submission as I suffered less than 2,000 casualties in putting over 20,000 men ashore on the first day. About half of the two divisions still remain to be landed.
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ASW attack at 115,60

Japanese Ships
SS RO-61, hits 4

Allied Ships
DD Blue
DD Russell
DD Hughes
DD Sims

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Coastal Guns at Trimcomalee, 15,25, firing at TF 67
TF 67 troops unloading over beach at Trimcomalee, 15,25


293 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
DD Asagao, Shell hits 9
MSW W.14
AP Yasukuni Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
952 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
2 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

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Coastal Guns at Trimcomalee, 15,25, firing at TF 67
TF 67 troops unloading over beach at Trimcomalee, 15,25


331 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
DD Fuyo
AP Yamura Maru, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage
AP Teizui Maru
MSW W.14, Shell hits 3
DD Asagao

Japanese ground losses:
703 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Not bad for a landing in the face of large, dedicated Coastal Defence guns. The troops who landed are still massively disrupted and very low on supplies ( most of the 10,000 tons of supplies I intended to land haven't been offloaded yet) but it appears about 400 AV got ashore. Given a couple of days to rest and recuperate and reinforcement by the rest of the two divisions and I'm confident Trimcomalee will fall quite handily.

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Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 303
Ki-49 Helen x 3
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 16 damaged


Allied ground losses:
101 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 133

I think the FlAK over Singapore has been getting a bit lighter recently... I wonder if it is real or just my imagination. Every time I think this I end up losing 5 or 6 bombers the next day .

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Day Air attack on Canton Island , at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 24
G4M1 Betty x 38

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
31 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Port hits 4
Port supply hits 10

The Brigade is actually in the same hex as Canton and ready to unload at the end of today. I consider the situation and in view of the fact that the American bombardments are continuing without letup I decide to land the Brigade elsewhere, bring a BB and my CVL-KB down from Tokyo and pound Canton until even the dust begs me to stop. Then I'll jam the 100% prep Brigade down the defenders' throats and force them to surrender.

After the landing at Trimcomalee going so well I realise that it must simply become a rule that no landing will ever be attempted except following at least one, major, naval bombardment.

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Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Jalatarang, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x G3M Nell attacking at 100 feet
4 x G3M Nell attacking at 100 feet
4 x G3M Nell attacking at 100 feet
4 x G3M Nell attacking at 100 feet

These Nells were flying out of a sub-4 airfield so couldn't carry torpedoes. Deciding to make a virtue of necessity I set them to 100 feet so they would skip-bomb. This proved succesful.

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Day Air attack on TF at 12,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
B5N Kate x 45

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 11
Fulmar x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed
B5N Kate: 5 destroyed, 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Gladiator: 8 destroyed
Fulmar: 19 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable
CVL Hermes
CL Emerald

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet

Sigh. Bombing at 6000 feet. Bombing with torpedoes [8|]. On the bright side, as you can see if you read the next few reports as well, the Allied CAP is pretty much destroyed. These carriers' ability to stop incoming raids or escort outgoing raids has been nullified. This should necessitate their withdrawal from the area.
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Day Air attack on TF at 12,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
B5N Kate x 9

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 2
Fulmar x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Gladiator: 1 destroyed
Fulmar: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Emerald
CLAA Caledon, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 12,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 7

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 1
Fulmar x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Gladiator: 2 destroyed
Fulmar: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable
CVL Hermes

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
1 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Canton Island at 98,99


Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 3


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Zukai Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B-26B Marauder bombing at 5000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 13,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 31
B5N Kate x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
CLAA Capetown
CA Cornwall
CL Danae
DD Vendetta
CL Durban
CL Dragon

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
2 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
1 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 13,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
B5N Kate x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Glasgow

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 12,21

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
B5N Kate x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AP Dardanus, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet

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Ground combat at 45,50

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16985 troops, 157 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 375

Defending force 2088 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 29

Japanese max assault: 342 - adjusted assault: 265

Allied max defense: 18 - adjusted defense: 4

Japanese assault odds: 66 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
51 casualties reported


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Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10439 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 3252 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 4

Japanese max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 46

Allied max defense: 2 - adjusted defense: 16

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1



Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported


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Ground combat at Canton Island

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6753 troops, 134 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 9

Defending force 940 troops, 5 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 11


Japanese ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Hi, what was the range for your kates? at 4 torps at 5 bombs. Based on the fact the allies did not launch.... (did I miss their strike?)
Your really lucky that
1. Allied CV where not in range
2. weather over their CV caused your Kates to strike airfield in AM
3. weather cleared in PM

multi tasking can lead to disaster with CV

Mogami,

Range was 3 so completely within torpedo range.

If you look at the following it proves the bug completely:

Day Air attack on TF at 12,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
B5N Kate x 9

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 2
Fulmar x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Sea Gladiator: 1 destroyed
Fulmar: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Emerald
CLAA Caledon, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet
4 x B5N Kate bombing at 6000 feet



7 Kates BOMBED at 6000 feet and hit with ONE TORPEDO... So absolutely not a case of them using bombs and my misinterpreting it. I remembering hearing this bug mentioned on the forum once before so it is my own fault for not taking it into account..... You can bet secondary missions will not be used from now on for torpedo bombers though....

Hi, Oh that bug is groups assigned a secondary mission but flying naval strike report the altitude they to flew to target at (but they do drop to 200 or you would not use torpdeos)(I missed the torpedo hit)
The Allied CV did not counter strike? (If they were set to range 4 naval attack that might be a bug)

Your really lucky that
1. Allied CV where not in range
2. weather over their CV caused your Kates to strike airfield in AM
3. weather cleared in PM

Hmm.
1. They were at a range of 3 hexes ( CVL Hermes and CV Indomitable) and 4 hexes ( Illustrious (from memory so I may have the name wrong) ) so I think the first two were surely in range.

2. There was clear weather in am and pm phases. the first large strike was in the am, the 2nd large strike was in the pm.

3. There was no airfield strike by my planes.


4. I have over 100 Zeroes on CAP... I wouldn't mind seeing 30 or 40 Swordfish coming in with almost no fighter escort.... [:D]


No, I think the Allies didn't launch because they had sprinted into position and used up most of their ops points.


As to the torpedo/bomb altitude thing.... Well I remember it being clearly said on the forum that this was a bug and that the "to hit %" was as though the torpedoes were dropped at 6000 feet. I find that much more believable than your recollection because we are looking at about a 1.5% hit rate and the FlAK wasn't even really that intense. Allied fighter cover was mostly non-existent...

Sorry Mogami but are you absolutely, 100%, sure that when this is shown the only bug is a text bug and the planes really do go down to 200 feet? The reason I ask is that my losses to FlAK were low compared to what I should have had at 200 feet and my accuracy was abysmal compared to what I would normally have at 200 feet.

I'm too tired to give the full details now. I'm going to catch a nap and write it up later when I can better account for what happened and why but I'll give you a quick precis.

Where to begin?

I ordered most of my shipping to scatter to get away from the converging pincers of the allied fleet. In the picture below YELLOW represents the Allied pincer movements, red arrows show my directions of flight/scatter and green shows where I wanted KB to end up and rendezvous with oilers... Its fuel levels were in the red. In the end it didn't even make it to the rendezvous before running out of fuel and thus ended up within range of Allied carrier-borne torpedo bombers.

British BBs, BCs, CAs, CLs and DDs race into Trimcomalee harbour and eliminate Japanese shipping there. 2 APs trying to escape north to Manargudni (sic) , which I captured by air assault today in order to try to give the troops on these APs an easy landing, get sunk by allied land-based air.

There's a carrier battle just to the south of Ceylon in which Allied LBA achieves far more than Allied naval airpower. Wellingtons break through my CAP and bombs rain down. 2 carriers are hit multiple times. One sinks immediately, the other is, I feel, sure to sink in the next day or two. A battleship, a CA and a couple of CLs are also hit to various degrees. The battleship is on fire and is heavily damaged.


The British missed my main convoys and seem to be pulling back now so I believe I can still push them onto the three landing sites chosen for them but naval losses over the next few turns are going to be absolutely horrendous. I think that the navy's ability to achieve parity of forces in the Indian theatre has been lost.

All in all, depending on how aggressively today's results are exploited these results spell disaster...

- KB in the red with fuel -too far too fast -any india coastal action is always risky

Looks like the Brits have teeth after all . what was the carriers sunk/damaged ?

I think this shows one golden rule wiht WITP :

- When you stay up way to late because you sense a big battle is going to happen next turn or the next one, you make mistake that cost you dearly...[:-][;)]

I was just having a bit of fun... You'll note I never specifically said which side's ships received the damage. It was late and I have a twisted sense of humour at the best of times so it struck me as funny to imply the opposite of what actually happened.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 02/28/42

Just in case Trey decided to sprint into range for a series of night surface engagements at Trimcomalee I've pulled all but three of my APs about 240 miles south-east of Trimcomalee where they are being covered by about 5 CLs and 30+ DDs. I have set a couple of Betty Daitais to naval attack at 100 feet. I don't think they'll do much against the Allies but it will complicate Trey's threat envelope and that's worth losing a few planes. In addition I am moving my 4 carriers to a point 240 miles south-westward of Trimcomalee but only 120 miles from the egress routes I expect Trey's CVs and CA-heavy surface strike groups to take. The Battleline will retreat around the northern portion of Trimcomalee and while I could have made sure my entire kate force could launch against the battleline I think trying to destroy the battleline and the British CVs would be a bit too much for one day. I'll take the CVs today, the damaged BBs tomorrow and then run the survivors down later on. That's the plan at least. In running the survivors down I will :
a) sink important enemy surface combatants and
b) more importantly,keep them away from the amphibious landings.

I have decided that I don't like my chances at Madras and that I can accept a 1 week slowing of the invasion in return for very safe landings at Mannargudi (sic)... I'm dropping some paratroops there today and will begin landing the 6 infantry divisions and 3rd Provisional Tank Division there on the 2nd March. I should be able to quickly exploit northwards and eastwards, securing a defensible perimeter with a daily production of some 900 tons of supply. I've brought 50,000 tons of supply with me but war is won by logistics and one of my main aims in the initial phase of the amphibious landings is to secure a sound logistical base for the maintenance of my 350,000-strong invasion forces.

Once I have secured my initial perimeter in two weeks time I will be well enough established to post my Invasion Plan. I'd appreciate input when it is posted as I can already see a few areas where I made incorrect assumptions and errors which I am using to revise my plans for invading Australia in 3 months time.


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Coastal Guns at Trimcomalee, 15,25, firing at TF 29
TF 29 troops unloading over beach at Trimcomalee, 15,25

Looks like the guns at Trimcomalee are out of order.

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TF 1005 encounters mine field at Lahaina (113,69)

Allied Ships
APD McKean
APD Little
APD Gregory
APD Manley
DD Flusser
DD Preston

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ASW attack at 16,26

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Oboro
DD Asagumo

Allied Ships
SS KXII

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Trimcomalee at 15,25

Japanese Ships
AP Yamura Maru, Shell hits 32, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall
CL Tromp
CL Danae
CL Dragon
CL Durban
CLAA Capetown
DD Vampire
DD Vendetta
DD Stronghold
DD Tenedos
DD Electra
DD Express

A light surface TF catches the very heavily damaged Yamura Maru at Trimcomalee. It could make only 2 knots, had massive fire and flotation damage and was almost finished unloading so I decided to let it finish unloading and give the crew orders to jump ship the instant british ships were sighted. It seems to have worked as all the troops unloaded without loss before the British surface fleet showed up.

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Day Air attack on 62nd Chinese Corps, at 45,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 15
Ki-30 Ann x 6
Ki-51 Sonia x 16
Ki-49 Helen x 4
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
19 casualties reported

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Day Air attack on 6th Chinese Cavalry Corps, at 45,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 43
Ki-30 Ann x 18
Ki-51 Sonia x 49
Ki-49 Helen x 11
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
24 casualties reported

I'm slowly but surely converting some of these divebombers to Helens in preparation for the coming attacks on Chungking. I'll need the extra bombload of level bombers for that operation.

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Day Air attack on TF at 14,29

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 74

Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Swordfish: 22 destroyed

I slaughtered all the Allied fighters during yesterday's strikes and so, today, when the British carriers were within 120 miles of my four fleet carriers 22 Swordfish torpedo bombers took off to their dooms. Not a single torpedo bomber turned around as one after another they exploded and fluttered into the ocean below.

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Day Air attack on TF at 16,25

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 5 destroyed, 18 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Cornwall, Torpedo hits 1
CL Dragon
CL Danae
CLAA Capetown, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Tromp, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

A strike from one of my carriers goes after the light surface task force. Damage is minor but should suffice to slow these ships down enough for my carriers to take care of them tomorrow. In effect, at present, every cripple is but tomorrow's victim and even those which make it to Colombo will not be safe from my army and naval bombers operating out of Trimcomalee. I am surprised that the British fleet was based at Colombo. In my analysis at the beginning of the game I decided that Colombo would completely untenable once Trimcomalee fell and therefore wouldn't have based my fleet at it.

Trey now has a choice between running his surface fleet to Bombay or Karachi right now with 4 fleet carriers and 100 Kates snapping at his heels or running to Colombo and trying to sneak out in small or single ship TFs before my Port Attacks can finish him. It is an unenviable choice.

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Day Air attack on TF at 13,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
B5N Kate x 38

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 3
Fulmar x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 destroyed, 23 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Indomitable, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
CVL Hermes, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

I learn later in the day that Indomitable has sunk. I expect CVL Hermes to follow it shortly.

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Day Air attack on TF at 13,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
B5N Kate x 17

Allied aircraft
Sea Gladiator x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVL Hermes, on fire, heavy damage

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Day Air attack on TF at 16,25

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied Ships
BC Repulse
BB Ramilles, Torpedo hits 2, on fire

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Day Air attack on TF, near Sydney Island at 100,102


Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 3


Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Kunimitsu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

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Day Air attack on TF at 17,24


Allied aircraft
Vildebeest IV x 10


Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Rakuyo Maru, heavy damage
AP Nichibi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported

These are the two Japanese APs trying to make for Mannargudi. They were already at 80+ sys damage from the coastal guns etc and today's strikes send them to the bottom. Quite a few infantry go with them and it would appear I should simply have left them at Trimcomalee to unload. Ah well, live and learn.
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Day Air attack on TF at 17,24


Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 8
Beaufort V-IX x 11


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Nichibi Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Rakuyo Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
26 casualties reported

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Day Air attack on TF at 14,29

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 69

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 26
Martin 139 x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed, 14 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 15 destroyed
Martin 139: 5 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
CA Haguro
BB Yamashiro
BB Haruna

These are the four-engined bombers I was talking about. They suffer heavily but manage to break through my CAP and attack my battleline. They fail to hit anything and should be too demoralised to launch heavy attacks tomorrow. I am banking on this as I plan to aggressively close on Colombo and the retreating British battleline.

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Day Air attack on TF at 13,27

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19
B5N Kate x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
CVL Hermes, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet

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Ground combat at 45,50

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 17053 troops, 158 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 375

Defending force 2004 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 25

Japanese max assault: 346 - adjusted assault: 588

Allied max defense: 16 - adjusted defense: 4

Japanese assault odds: 147 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
13 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
3011 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

More hold-outs are wiped out in order to secure my lines of communication.

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Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10456 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 3190 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2

Japanese max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 46

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1


Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported

The engineer regiment committed to this battle has managed to increase its experience by over 30%. Its training for the invasion of Pearl will continue.


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Ground combat at Canton Island

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6877 troops, 137 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 10

Defending force 978 troops, 4 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 11

Japanese ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

The total strength of my forces here is beginning to drop quickly. The Brigade will unload at the dot island about 120 miles south of Canton before moving to Canton Island and picking up the survivors from that debacle. They will be brought to Midway and rebuild there.

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Ground combat at Mannargudi

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 403 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 9

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 8 - adjusted assault: 10

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Mannargudi base !!!


Two Zero Daitai and an experienced betty Daitai fly in. The Bettys will skip bomb while the Zeroes will provide CAP. Tinas will drop more troops on Yanam... which is now downgraded to a diversionary effort... while also flying an aviation regiment into Mannargudi. This will help to provide non-CV CAP for my transports as they unload.

The picture below shows the situation in the Indian Ocean. My carriers and battleline will exploit north-eastward while my transports storm Trimcomalee and Mannargudi. No more tactical jockeying for position will be allowed to slow the invasion. Still, my use of the invasion transports at Trimcomalee worked as a lure and helped significantly attrit the Royal Navy in the area. This tasking was the reason why the landings at Madras/Mannargudi were phased to occur several days after Trimcomalee.

sick bastard !!! [:D]

No offense but you do have a twisted sense of humour... Well as a jap fanboy ( note that you AAR gets the honor og my official coming out, I had never publicly stated my fanboyism before although it was pretty obvious from my posts ) I am glad war isn't finished yet.

Keep it up !

British Fleet Strength

I've been playing around with Bodhi's utility after seeing it mentioned here a few times. An excellent tool. I've used it to write this precis of the state of the British fleet:

Carriers:
CV Indomitable - 5 torpedo hits and sunk
CVL Hermes - 4 torpedo hits... should sink soon.

Battleline:
BB Prince of Wales - took two torpedoes in the first couple of days. I haven't seen it at all since so I presume it is still in port getting repaired.
BB Revenge - 1 torpedo hit on the 26th February. Minor damage only.
BB Royal Sovereign - 1 torpedo hit on 26th February. Minor damage + fires.
BB Ramilles - 2 torpedo hits on 28th February. Moderate damage + fires.
BB Resolution - 3 torpedo hits on 26th February. Heavy damage + fires.
BC Repulse - 1 torpedo hit. Minor damage.


Cruisers:
1 x CA, 1 x CL and 1 x CLAA have taken torpedo hits. Damage is only minor but if it slows them a little they should be finished off easily enough.

So, overall, I'd say it is looking very bad for the Royal Navy battleline. If my carriers can survive the Beaufort strikes I should be able to damage the battleline sufficiently to force it to hole up at Karachi. 1st and 2nd Naval Bomber Divisions and 2nd Land Bomber Army will then close off the escape routes to India.

Oh and if anyone wonders what's up with the names etc... To simplify my command and control task I've been organising my ground and air units along Soviet lines into Divisions, Armies and Fronts. It allows me to deal with only 1/3rd or 1/4 of the current level of units by thinking at the Bomber and Fighter Division level instead of always thinking of individual Daitais/Sentais plus it also allows me to allocate my resources in a more doctrinal manner.

The sense of humour comes with the job . No offence taken.


And now for the monthly update:

As you can see the score is basically 18000 to 5000. Of course, again, that's illusory since Singapore is pretty much bombed out of existence and just waiting for me to get around to swinging the axe.


Aircraft losses continue to be heavy BUT many of these losses are occurring in my transport and recon squadrons. Transport and recon ( not including Mavis or Emilys) squadrons account for at least 300 of my losses with land bombers of all types accounting for another 200. My losses in aerial combat come to about 250 army fighters and 150 Zeroes. Bettys and Nells account for another 200 losses to all causes. The rest of the losses are occurring in the dive-bombers, floatplanes etc.

So, basically, while my pilot pool has been empty since the middle of February my policy of sending any trained pilots to fighter units while completely raw pilots ( experience 20+) fill out the bomber wings seems to be working well. My front-line Oscar Sentais are at full strength and I have several fully trained Sentai in reserve. My naval fighter reserve comprises over 200 trained pilots ( training in Claudes and Zeroes in the home Islands) and my carriers are either carrying a full complement of fighters ( those in the Indian Ocean) or between 50 to 100% more fighters than their pre-war loadouts ( those operating in the Pacific). I am running a bit low on trained pilots for my Betty and Nell squadrons but losses in these units have, in the last month, fallen significantly as I've learnt to transfer them from theatre to theatre by means of smaller hops and the number of Allied ships running around within range has fallen.

All in all I think I should be able to meet my fighter pilot needs for the forseeable future and should be able to get a fair reserve of experienced Betty and Nell pilots built up. The bombing at Singapore is training up the army bomber pilots nicely and even the pilots in China aren't doing too badly.


Allied shipping losses are fairly high but should be as nothing if my plan for the next two months works out. If it does then I would expect Allied shipping losses at the beginning of May to be in the region of 500 ships with mine being slightly more than 100. The importance of annihilating the British shipping in India lies in preventing them running to Australia and greatly increasing Trey's ability to mount spoiling attacks from there ( by amphibiously invading weakly held portions of the DEI). At present Australian sealift capability is extremely limited and I want to keep it that way.

Japanese Army losses for this point in the game are on the high side BUT it has to be borne in mind that the fighting in China is responsible for much of these losses and that that fighting has achieved decisive strategic advantages at a rapid pace. In any case I remain confident that accepting this higher rate of casualties over a short time will result in far greater reserves being available 6 months down the road when it becomes necessary to engage the Americans in attritional combat around the Hawaiian Islands.

In my next post I will deal with the logistical situation.

Logistics:

Well, I'm down from 2.010 million tons of supply to 1.946 million tons of supply. That's a drop of 64,000 tons over the course of the last month.

In that same time period I have expanded my means of production and resource extraction as follows:
Manpower: 2 repaired.
HI: 41 repaired.
Resources: approximately 60 repaired. What resource-generating areas were captured this month were all almost completely destroyed.
Oil: 56 repaired.
Naval Shipyards: Expanded by 124 points.
Shipyard Repair: Expanded by 45 points.
Armaments: Expanded by 35.
Vehicles: Expanded by 1.
Aircraft Engines: Expanded by 32.
Aircraft Assembly: Expanded by 50.
R&D expanded by 17.

The total cost in terms of supply for these repairs and expansions: 463,000 tons.

So, essentially, if one takes away the cost of my industrial expansion I am actually running a 400,000 ton supply surplus. This is a significant improvement on last month.


Manpower levels have risen by 30% this month, reserves of resources have risen by almost 100,000 tons, oil reserves are up by 45,000 tons while fuel reserves have risen by about 180,000. My HI is my weak point now with HI reserves having fallen by over 7,000 in the past month. They would have fallen by 12,000 if I hadn't stopped Mitsubishi production when I had an excess of 1,000 engines.

I haven't been expanding HI production in the home islands as I've been gambling that with the capture of India, China and Singapore I will gain access to an additional 3500 HI. Sure, some will be damaged but I can repair that at less cost than building new HI in Japan itself AND any HI in India and China will be more secure from allied bomber offensives in the later war years. That 3500 HI will, once brought fully on-stream, allow that 12000 HI monthly deficit I'm currently running to be turned completely around.


With 3300 Oil Resources available on-map with the capture of everything except Australia and CONUSA I should be able to run a war economy comprising some 20,000 HI. This is my goal for the end of 1942.

My current plan for expending these 600,000 HI per month is as follows:

1. Naval Shipyards: 202,500 per month
I will build these to 2,250 points per day. I should reach this level by mid-42 and this should give me the ability to accelerate all my naval shipping. Already I'm at the point where I can accelerate all carriers except Shinano and the two closest CVs ( which while not being accelerated are all still being built).


2. Merchant Shipyard: 90,000 per month.


3. Armaments: 162,000 per month.
I'll probably expand this to about 900 just to be safe.


4. Vehicles: 45,000 per month
I'll be expanding this to 250 per day.


5. Engines: 45,000 per month.
I have to plan to expand my engine production to at least 2,500 engines per month over the course of the year.


6. Airframe Assembly: 27,000 per month.
I am planning to produce about 1500 airframes per month by the end of the year.


In total that would give me a HI usage of some 571,500 per month. I know many people would feel that it would be important to save more than 30,000 HI per month but I disagree. I think production of consumables is more important at this stage of things and even later on I would prefer to produce consumables than stockpile a large proportion of HI. I can't see myself trying to save more than 20 to 25% of HI per month no matter how well things are going. Explanations below...

In mid-43 when my naval shipbuilding programme would begin to wind down the massive HI savings involved would be used to further expand engine, airframe, armaments and vehicle production in order to:
a) build up a massive reserve for use as kamikazes,
b) to build up a massive armaments and vehicle reserve and
c) to a lesser extent build up a HI pool.

Why not concentrate on building up a HI pool at the expense of armaments and vehicles? Simple, when it is time for the Allies to invade Japan they will bomb my HI and if I'm relying on ongoing production to fill out my ground units I'm going to get a major surprise. If, on the other hand, I've been building up armaments and vehicle reserves it is my understanding that these are impervious to American strategic bombing and will give my ground units much more "staying power" in combat irrespective of how badly the air war is going.


Overall I would say that, apart from being about 2 weeks behind schedule outside of China ( within China I'm about 1 month behind schedule due to the fact that I was unaware of the delays hold-outs would cause) things are proceeding quite well. I've got 3 or 4 convoys shuttling around the DEI dedicated to bringing 21 to 28,000 tons of supply to bases with a lot of damaged resources so that my repairs will accelerate and, in China, I've got two HQs dedicated to bringing Sining and Sian back to full production ASAP. It is eating supply like crazy to do this but my forces in China have a glut of supply at the moment so I'm quite prepared to pay this cost.


So, supplies and HI fall a bit but this was foreseen and they should begin rising again once the major repair operations underway at present finish. I'm actually running a fairly massive surplus once you subtract these repair operations from the picture.

OOH ,, another invasion india , should be gripping nemo..

one question though ,, why fly the nells/betties at 100ft? .. some day they'll get slaughtered by flak when the AI decides to hit a well defended task force. Personally i'd place them at 6000 ft .. as they will get a bad morale hit flying lower than this.

with experienced pilots you will get respectable hits too.

I'm also not 100% sure Japan can skip bomb? maybe someone can clarify this but i was under the impression that is was an american only tactic and the bombers had to be above 70 experience.

I thought American only too..

But one can do at a lower experience than 70...[X(]
But then expect to be the punished rather than the punisher...[:-]

Rob,

Ah, I had just assumed that the skip bombing was available to everyone... I'd be interested to know the answer to this.


As to why I am risking the Bettys this way. Well I was under the impression that skip bombing would be more effective and I'm interested in creating a lot of cripples for KB to hunt down...


March 1st was a really perverse turn. Bad weather covered KB for the entire day so not a single Japanese strike flew. In the meantime Trey has obviously decided on a "do or die" tasking for his cruisers and destroyers and the day ends up with 2 transport TFs and their escorts 60 miles from Trimcomalee, the Japanese battleline at Mannargudi ( I thought I could replenish there. This looks as though it was an incorrect assumption), Japanese carriers 60 miles south-east of Mannargudi with about 200,000 Japanese troops 240 miles south-east of KB.

Where are the British? Well, their battleships seem to have retreated past Mannargudi towards Colombo and Karachi BUT 5 large surface combat TFs ( close to 50 ships) are IN BETWEEN KB and the oncoming main invasion. I've decided that the best thing to do is to create a defensive huddle mid-ocean and, once again, I'm pulling away from the invasion beaches to a point east of Trimcomalee from which I hope to be able to gut the British Surface Combat TFs with airstrikes tomorrow.

Trey is showing an aggressiveness here I haven't seen before... He also seems a little stunned by his battleline and CV losses.

Why amn't I pushing onto the invasion beaches? Simple, I am sure I can defend the transports against Allied surface combat TFs but I don't want to lose the DDs in surface combat. I can replace planes and retrain pilots more quickly than I can make good losses of DDs and CLs so I plan to continue to dance around the Indian Ocean until the British surface strike capability is largely eliminated.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/01/42

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Trimcomalee, at 15,25 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway: 2 destroyed
Hurricane II: 4 destroyed
Wellington III: 2 destroyed

21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
DD Karukaya
DD Kagero
DD Akigumo
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CA Nachi, Shell hits 6
CA Haguro
CA Chokai
CA Maya
CA Atago
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato


Allied ground losses:
174 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 2

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 46
Port hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Mannargudi, at 16,23

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign
BB Revenge

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Mannargudi, at 16,23

Allied Ships
BB Ramilles, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Mannargudi, at 16,23

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CLAA Capetown, on fire

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 4

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 312
Ki-49 Helen x 11
Ki-46-II Dinah x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 9 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
111 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 90

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton Island , at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 21
G4M1 Betty x 54

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged


Allied ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 60

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Sydney Island at 100,102


Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 2


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AK Usa Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Sydney Island at 100,102


Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 3


Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
PG Unkai Maru #1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Mannargudi at 16,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 21
Martin 139 x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged
Martin 139: 3 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato, Bomb hits 2
BB Hyuga


This was cover provided by Zeroes flying LRCAP from Andaman Island. I forgot to set the Daitai I'd flown in to provide CAP over Mannargudi.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 16,26


Allied aircraft
Beaufort V-IX x 2


No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AP Yawata Maru

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,27


Allied aircraft
Vildebeest IV x 9
Wellington III x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 7


Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Yakaze
DD Arashio
CL Nagara
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 16,26

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hiyodori

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 16,26

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 18,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 2 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 116,62

Japanese Ships
SS I-3, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Case
DD Ellet
DD Maury

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 116,62

Japanese Ships
SS I-3, hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
AK Manulani
AK Honomu
DD Balch
DD Phelps
DD Porter

And I-3 sinks.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10439 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 3190 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2

Japanese max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 78

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
14 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
44 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Canton Island

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6845 troops, 135 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 11

Defending force 884 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 12


Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1966 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1209

Defending force 82672 troops, 687 guns, 278 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1448

Allied max assault: 64 - adjusted assault: 0

Japanese max defense: 1476 - adjusted defense: 2223

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

Allied ground losses:
396 casualties reported
Guns lost 1


I will have some more troops online there tomorrow and will Shock Attack the day after. Then I will pursue with the Tank Regiments and move the bulk of the infantry into the fight at Chungking. I have slightly more than 3500 AV due at Chungking within the week and an additional 1,000 AV from here will help immeasurably. All of these units have been prepping for Chungking for most of the last month and so are at between 60 and 100 prep, as are the Army HQs and North China HQ. I think I have a reasonable chance of taking Chungking before most of respawns can gain any real strength back.



The fighting around Ceylon could still go either way. Trey's absolutely rabid surface attacks are forcing me to dance around in an effort to avoid surface combat... since I don't want to pay the price in sunk DDs and CLs that would entail... If combat comes I am fairly sure I should win but the price would be too high.... I don't have replacements for these DDs and so we'll dance for however long it takes for his DDs and CLs to run out of fuel and be forced to retire.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/02/42

More jockeying for position and dodging of surface TFs by the Japanese invasion fleets. Unfortunately 2 of my TFs react towards enemy shipping and end up out of position. Each battle goes well but it leaves them vulnerable to allied bomber strikes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat at 15,27

Japanese Ships
CL Naka
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 5
CL Nagara, Shell hits 7
DD Arashio, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Hibiki
DD Murakumo
DD Shikinami, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kisaragi
DD Yayoi
DD Fumizuki
DD Kikuzuki
DD Nagatsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Mikazuki, Shell hits 1
DD Asanagi
DD Yunagi
DD Yakaze
DD Kasasagi, Shell hits 1
DD Kamo

Allied Ships
CL Glasgow, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Isis, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Napier, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Nizam, Shell hits 8, on fire

It looks like I will lose two of these destroyers but Isis and Napier are confirmed sunk and Nizam and Glasgow look like they'll join them.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 13,23

Japanese Ships
SS I-158, hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius
DD Griffin
DD Foxhound
DD Fortune
DD Decoy
DD Tjerk Hiddes

British ASW is lethal. DD Decoy is attacked by I-158, responds with a single DC which has direct skin-skin contact when it explodes. I-158 is unlikely to survive.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Singapore , at 23,50

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21 Sally x 305
Ki-49 Helen x 14
Ki-46-II Dinah x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 13 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 damaged


Allied ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Guns lost 4
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 6
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 159


My losses to Singaporean AAA definitely seem to be dropping off. I think I can safely transfer several of my Sally Daitai out once bases in India open up.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Canton Island , at 98,99

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 21
G4M1 Betty x 52

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 3 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses


Allied ground losses:
76 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 61

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 62nd Chinese Corps, at 45,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 42
Ki-51 Sonia x 49
Ki-49 Helen x 11
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 39th Chinese Corps, at 45,35

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 15
Ki-51 Sonia x 16
Ki-49 Helen x 6
Ki-15 Babs x 1

No Japanese losses


Allied ground losses:
41 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
B5N Kate x 51

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N Kate: 6 destroyed, 11 damaged


Allied Ships
CL Durban, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Dragon, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Danae
DD Stronghold, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Express

An excellent result.... Mogami, something occurred to me here as re: the torpedoing from 6000 feet. When the Kates were dropping torpedoes from 6000 feet I was hearing the sound of bomb's dropping ( instead of splashes of torpedoes) but when a hit was scored I got the "fountain" of a torpedo hit. In addition the hit rate of 1.4 per 100 sorties was far too low for level bombing at that altitude AND far too low for a torpedo strike. In this strike I'm getting a torpedo hit rate of 12% per 100 sorties.

So I think the bug here goes far beyond just a text readout. It involves sound, graphics and to hit %es from what I can see.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 26

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 damaged


Allied Ships
CL Dragon, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae
DD Vampire

Later in the day I receive confirmation that Dragon and Durban have both sunk to the bottom of the Ceylon Strait.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 17,25

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 68

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 3 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Trimcomalee at 15,25

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 9

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 6 damaged


Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Torpedo hits 2

And again torpedoes find Repulse... They don't seem to be doing much damage though, that looks like one hell of a durable ship... I don't think these were FOW hits as I got messages about post-hit damage.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 13,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
B5N Kate x 31

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 6 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius
CL Emerald, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Fortune
DD Decoy, Bomb hits 1, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 13,23

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Bomb hits 2
BB Revenge, Bomb hits 2

Worthless bomb hits on enemy BBs. Next turn I reduce the range of my Kates to 240 miles to avoid such inefficiency.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Colombo at 14,24

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
BB Mutsu
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
BB Hyuga
CA Atago
CA Maya
CA Chokai
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa
CA Furutaka
DD Akigumo
DD Karukaya

Allied Ships
MSW Rampur, Shell hits 17, and is sunk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Colombo, at 14,24 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 1 destroyed

195 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
DD Karukaya
DD Akigumo
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CA Kumano
CA Suzuya
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami, Shell hits 13
CA Nachi, Shell hits 1
CA Haguro, Shell hits 10
CA Chokai, Shell hits 3
CA Maya
CA Atago, Shell hits 14, on fire
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 11
BB Ise, Shell hits 12
BB Yamashiro
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 10
BB Nagato, Shell hits 9


Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Guns lost 6
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 2
Port supply hits 1

A very disappointing shore bombardment. This is definitely not going to stop Beauforts sortieing tomorrow. In response I am drafting another 50 Zeroes into the area for LRCAP of my battleline. It isn't much but it is the best I can do right now.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 109,61

Japanese Ships
SS RO-65, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD McCall
DD Gridley
DD Craven
DD Mugford


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10426 troops, 182 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 55

Defending force 3190 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2

Japanese max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 46

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1



Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Canton Island

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 6788 troops, 136 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 12

Defending force 1053 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 22


Japanese ground losses:
57 casualties reported


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Kweiyang

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1928 troops, 10 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1322

Defending force 106266 troops, 762 guns, 278 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 1548

Allied max assault: 46 - adjusted assault: 0

Japanese max defense: 1573 - adjusted defense: 3369

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


Allied ground losses:
346 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Trey obviously forgot to take one of his units off Shock Attack . Tomorrow my forces will Shock Attack. I have two tank regiments ready to Pursue once the Shock Attack succeeds and expect the road to Kunming to be cleared very quickly indeed.

In other news the 4000 AV I've dedicated to the attack at Chungking continues to close in. I figure it is about 10 days from reaching Chungking. I can't get there before enemy respawns occur but my hope is that these weak, inexperienced units will fall quickly before my guns. If not I should still have more than sufficient force on the Kunming axis to clear western China, isolate Nanning and join the siege at Chungking by the end of the month so all we're really playing for is whether or not it takes me 1 month to clear China or 2 months.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Yanam

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 11294 troops, 73 guns, 305 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 197

Defending force 1208 troops, 13 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 29

Allied max assault: 390 - adjusted assault: 182

Japanese max defense: 22 - adjusted defense: 8

Allied assault odds: 22 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
105 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Allied ground losses:
72 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

An allied tank brigade shows up at Yanam. Fair enough. It is another force which isn't at Madras at least. No further reinforcements will be flown into Yanam. My paratroops there are in Death Ground and as befits Sun Bin they will die in place.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Yanam

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 984 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 20

Defending force 11170 troops, 72 guns, 305 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 187

Japanese max assault: 20 - adjusted assault: 5

Allied max defense: 180 - adjusted defense: 80

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied ground losses:
20 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

This assault was ordered before I realised that the Tank brigade had arrived. It still manages to kill a few British troops at no cost.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Trimcomalee

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 27789 troops, 258 guns, 4 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 608

Defending force 9514 troops, 79 guns, 288 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 166

Japanese max assault: 896 - adjusted assault: 837

Allied max defense: 167 - adjusted defense: 154

Japanese assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 9)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 4


Japanese ground losses:
228 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
67 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 1

Ah, excellent. My forces manage to reduce the fortifications from 9 to 4. I'm going to take a chance and Shock Attack again tomorrow. If I can reduce the fortification levels further I will switch to deliberate attacks and continue them daily until Trimcomalee falls. The pity is that most of the Allied battleline will have withdrawn out of range before I can begin basing Bettys out of Trimcomalee.

I tried attaching a picture but even though it is only 50 Kb the server says it is too big. I'll try again tomorrow.

Varus, give me back my transports!


Well we had some VERY strange action today at Mannargudi. It would seem that several Royal Navy battleship TFs were able to sneak into range of my transports during the night and closely engage them. This is reasonable enough except that at no point in time did the multiple DDs and CLs in escort TFs in the same hex do anything and neither did the entire Japanese battleline. Only the DDs and PGs of the close escort ( incorporated into the transport TFs) actually fought the British battleships.

Given what they were facing they didn't actually do too badly but it has cost me a few transports and destroyers which I shouldn't have had to lose... Can anyone explain or point me to a thread which discusses the benefits of putting CLs and DDs into the transport TF vs assigning them as escorts vs assigning them as a Surface TF with "follow" orders?

Also, when the battleline entered the hex my transports fled east and west with the end result that come morning-time they were out of range of the 100 Zeroes I had flying CAP over Mannargudi and the RAF came in to blast them . It'd be funny if it wasn't just so frustrating to have reasonably-tasked ships act as though nothing was happening while 4 Royal Navy BBs prowl the ocean within a few miles of them. Ah well, such is life....Ours is but to adapt and overcome. 50,000+ men ashore with another 150,000 ordered back into the hex to unload tomorrow. From the look of Trimcomalee I think it might fall tomorrow and then I can add Bettys to the mix. Once that happens Allied shipping within 15 hexes of Colombo will vanish.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 03/04/42

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Mannargudi at 16,23

Japanese Ships
PG Hirotama Maru, Shell hits 13, and is sunk
AO Shiretoko, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
BB Revenge
BB Royal Sovereign
CLAA Capetown

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Mannargudi at 16,23

Japanese Ships
DD Minekaze, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Hakaze, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
DD Hokaze, Shell hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tachikaze
MSW W.11
AP Kozui Maru
AP Aikoku Maru
AP Argentina Maru
AP Arizona Maru
AP Asama Maru
AP Awa Maru
AP Awajisan Maru
AP Ayato Maru
AP Bokuyo Maru
AP Burisuben Maru
AP Buyo Maru
AP Chihaya Maru
AP Chowa Maru
AP Daifuku Maru
AP Daigen Maru
AP Ginyo Maru
AP Gokoku Maru
AP Haaburu Maru
AP Hakozake Maru
AP Hakozaki Maru
AP Hakusan Maru
AP Hakusika Maru
AP Hakuyo Maru
AP Heian Maru
AP Heiyo Maru
AP Higashiyama Maru
AP Hikawa Maru
AP Hokuriku Maru
AP Horai Maru
AP Husimi Maru
AP Izumo Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
AP Kamikaze Maru
AP Kamakura Maru
AP Kansan Maru
AP Kasima Maru
AP Kasui Maru
AP Keisho Maru
AP Keiyo Maru
AP Kenzan Maru
AP Kiko Maru
AP Kofuku Maru
AP Konzan Maru
AP Koyo Maru
AP Kumakawa Maru
AP Manila Maru
AP Matsukawa Maru
AP Meiko Maru
AP Miyadono Maru
AP Nagano Maru
AP Nichiran Maru
AP Nichiren Maru
AP Nissho Maru
AP Oigawa Maru
AP Oridono Maru
AP Oyo Maru

Allied Ships
BB Royal Sovereign, Shell hits 15, Torpedo hits 1
CLAA Capetown, Shell hits 10
BB Revenge, Shell hits 32, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
29 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

I have a massive escort TF covering this convoy. It comprises 3-4 CLs and something like 16 DDs... basically 4 of my DD flotillas ( I tend to make them 1 CL and 4 to 5 DDs in strength), They did NOTHING to protect this transport TF. Thankfully I'd assigned a few DDs to close escort "just in case". I hate to think what would have happened if I hadn't had any DDs present at all.

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Mannargudi at 16,23

Japanese Ships
PG Sozan Maru, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
AK Atlas Maru, Shell hits 1
AK Hoeisan Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire
AK Kamoi Maru
AK Kosei Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire
AK Kotoku Maru
AK Shinyubari Maru
AK Takao Maru
AK Zogen Maru
AK Kinko Maru
AK Shojin Maru
AK Fuki Maru
AK Misaki Maru

Allied Ships
BC Repulse, Shell hits 1
CL Tromp

Again the convoy escort TF did nothing. is the Escort TF just a waste of time?

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Coastal Guns at Trimcomalee, 15,25, firing at TF 67
TF 67 troops unloading over beach at Trimcomalee, 15,25


646 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
AP Tatsutake Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
MSW W.14, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AP Saipan Maru
AP Teia Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Fuyo, Shell hits 2
AP Miike Maru
DD Asagao, Shell hits 6
AP Kirishima Maru

Japanese ground losses:
701 casualties reported

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Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G3M Nell x 22
G4M1 Betty x 18

Allied aircraft
Hurricane II x 5
P-40B Tomahawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 5

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M Nell: 3 destroyed, 6 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane II: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 damaged


Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported

Port hits 1

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Day Air attack on Johnston Island , at 102,74


Allied aircraft
PB2Y Coronado x 2
B-17E Fortress x 63
LB-30 Liberator x 123


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed, 10 damaged
LB-30 Liberator: 10 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
208 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Port hits 6
Port supply hits 9

Ah, the four-engined bombers are back. 186 of them strike Johnston Island from Pearl. Ground losses are entirely within acceptable parameters. Attrition of the American four-engined bomber force continues to proceed assymetrically and according to plan. This strike costs the Allied 1 B17 and 4 LB-30s. Overall it looks like the Allies have lost 140 American four-engined bombers during the first 3 months of the war. I think only 2 or 3 of them have been shot down by my fighters ( during the testing conducted out of Koepang in December or January). The rest have been lost on the ground or to FlAK/ops. My rough rule of thumb is that the Allies get about 100 four-engined bombers a month until mid-42 at which it increased to about 150 per month with another 150 or so twin-engined bombers also joining the pot per month.

In any case the more attrition the less deep the American reserves will be in August/September 1942 and that's important to me.

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Day Air attack on TF at 17,23


Allied aircraft
Blenheim I x 6
Wellington III x 7
Beaufort V-IX x 3


Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Daifuku Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
AP Syoryu Maru
AP Husimi Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Kozui Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Keiyo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
136 casualties reported

These ships appear to have run eastward to escape the British battleships. In return they move out of range of my CAP and fall victim to the RAF.

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Day Air attack on TF at 17,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4

Allied aircraft
Wellington III x 6
Martin 139 x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Wellington III: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Tomozuru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Nowaki
DD Arashi

Same story here.

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Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied Ships
CLAA Columbo
DD Tjerk Hiddes
CL Mauritius

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
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Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
D3A Val x 21
B5N Kate x 46

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
B5N Kate: 3 destroyed, 21 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Mauritius, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
DD Vampire, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Griffin
CLAA Columbo
CA Exeter, Bomb hits 3
CL Emerald, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tjerk Hiddes

My losses in trained Kate crews have been extensive over the past few days. My carriers are down from close to 280 planes to just 200 at present. In response I've just flown another 28 planes in ( 7 Kates and 21 Vals). Another 45 or so Vals are on their way and should be able to mate up with the carriers in another 4 or 5 days.

In the meantime the current attack force does a good job. CLs Emerald and Danae and DD Vampire all sink.

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Day Air attack on TF at 15,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
B5N Kate x 26

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 16 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Emerald, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CA Exeter, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Danae, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Express
DD Tjerk Hiddes
CLAA Van Heemskerck

CA Exeter is heavily damaged and I am confident it will soon join its compatriots.

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Day Time Surface Combat, near Mannargudi at 16,23

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 2
BB Mutsu, Shell hits 1
BB Yamashiro
BB Ise
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 3
CA Maya
CA Haguro
CA Nachi
CA Mogami
CA Mikuma
CA Suzuya
CA Kumano
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa
CA Furutaka
DD Akigumo
DD Karukaya

Allied Ships
BB Ramilles, Shell hits 40, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Ramilles comes off much the worse in this exchange. Most of the shell hits were 5 and 6 inch shells as my battleships are running low on main gun ammunition. Still, enough of the hits were 14 and 16 inch shells to ensure the Ramilles' destruction.

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Ground combat at 23,47

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10398 troops, 183 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 54

Defending force 3180 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 2

Japanese max assault: 44 - adjusted assault: 82

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1



Allied ground losses:
74 casualties reported


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Ground combat at Canton Island

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 7030 troops, 144 guns, 6 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 13

Defending force 1042 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 19


Japanese ground losses:
105 casualties reported


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Ground combat at Yanam

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 11259 troops, 74 guns, 311 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 187

Defending force 906 troops, 7 guns, 0 vehicles, Beginning Assault Value = 13

Allied max assault: 32 - adjusted assault: 16

Japanese max defense: 10 - adjusted defense: 4

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
112 casualties reported
Guns lost 3


I have enough troops landed at Trimcomalee to try another attack now. It is 50/50 if the base falls with this attack but I should reduce the fortifications by a few more levels.

My carriers are ordered north-westward away from Colombo. The replenishment TF is ordered to link up with them. Together these two TFs will have the combat power AND staying power to be able to greatly attrit the Royal Navy's retreat from Colombo. I also think that they might be in range to hit the crippled Hermes tomorrow.

My ideal day tomorrow would comprise the capture of Trimcomalee so I can begin flying in the Oscars, Bettys and Zeroes which have been waiting to base out of Trimcomalee. I will also fly in Helens to begin port attacking Colombo. Trey will, undoubtedly, have divined this plan and will try to rush the Royal Navy northward before I have sufficient force in place to stop him. That is when the Bettys and carriers will have their field day and reap the rewards of the many days of hard fighting which have occurred over the last week.

In other news... I'm still waiting for the hammer to fall on Amchitka... I see lots of APs milling around up north and recon planes are flying over Amchitka. I'm doing my best to look innocuous but there's only so much you can do to make a division's worth of troops, CD guns and 6000 mines look like a Base Force and some boy scouts . My carriers and a replenishment fleet are lurking in the recon gap... I think that Trey will definitely cover his invasion with his carrier so I won't go head to head. I'll try to nibble around the edges when he invades.

In China some of the surrendered Chinese units begin to respawn in Chungking. Today the number of units in Chungking suddenly jumped from 7 to 12. Bugger!