Jorge's(A) crusade to the fabled kingdom of PresterJohn(J) DBB-C --- Allied AAR

[Jorge_Stanbury]

One last update; Pt Moresby; I think I will kill 2 Japanese LCUs! [:)]
look the message about Japanese troops surrounded... I hope this means the end is near

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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4763 troops, 73 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 147

Defending force 2786 troops, 26 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 43

Allied adjusted assault: 122

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 40 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
288 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
89 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
2/1st Ind Coy
NG Vol Rifles Battalion
Lark Force
30th Australian Brigade
Papuan Inf Battalion
21st MAG
13th Fld RAA Regiment
Moresby RAN Stn Base Force
4th Aus Lt AA Regiment

Defending units:
84th Naval Guard Unit
Maizuru 2nd SNLF


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Japanese Unit(s) surrounded at Port Moresby

[BBfanboy]

The "surrounded message" means one, and possibly more than one, unit has been eliminated. Good show!
Just keep the pressure on if the other one is still present. It cannot be far from collapse as well (supply and disruption problems).

[Jorge_Stanbury]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

The "surrounded message" means one, and possibly more than one, unit has been eliminated. Good show!
Just keep the pressure on if the other one is still present. It cannot be far from collapse as well (supply and disruption problems).

Yes, thanks again!
84th Naval guards were wiped out last turn. And now I got a message of elements of Maizuru SNLF doing "banzai" followed by "wiped out by attrition"
So that is the end of PMoresby's 1st chapter. I am sure there will be some vengence later on, but that will be a different story.

On not so good news, my carriers didn't launch yesterday; likely weather didn't play.
Time to withdraw, as detection is now 10/10... At least it will keep him guessing and/ or spending KB's fuel



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Ground combat at Port Moresby (98,130)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 4714 troops, 73 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Defending force 1370 troops, 14 guns, 1 vehicles, Assault Value = 16

Allied adjusted assault: 202

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 202 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(-), disruption(-), supply(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
290 casualties reported
Squads: 40 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (7 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
50 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
NG Vol Rifles Battalion
2/1st Ind Coy
Lark Force
30th Australian Brigade
Papuan Inf Battalion
Moresby RAN Stn Base Force
13th Fld RAA Regiment
21st MAG
4th Aus Lt AA Regiment

Defending units:
Maizuru 2nd SNLF

Maizuru 2nd SNLF Wiped Out at Port Moresby by attrition!!!

[Jorge_Stanbury]

More on the cancelled carrier raid; notice the heavy radio transmissions on both Kwaja and Truk :

Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Kwajalein Island (132,115).
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Truk (112,108).

KB could be as close as Kwaja, and the objective was only to give him something to worry about while he has a split KB.
This being achieved, it is time to get out.

Another option for the heavy radio ss that maybe he will soon start offensive operations on the Coral Sea

[Jorge_Stanbury]

I still don't have the turn, only the combat replay. It started very well, with 2 xAKs sunk by submarines; in both cases, unescorted freighters gave plenty of chances to faulty Mark 14 to work after several hits.

But then, lets go back to the main topic. There are 2 strong CV TFs on the Indian ocean, I would say 6 carriers at least. The one spotted 2 turns ago near Colombo was the bait. the hidden one near Diego Garcia was waiting to ambush.
And although I didn't setup any TF to withdraw in that direction; a Battleship TF was just arriving from Mombasa [:(]

Long story short, BB Ramillies is sunk, BB Resolution got 2 torpedoes.
A pitty of course, although it is not so terrible loss, as Ramillies was scheduled to leave in `43 which is just the time in which old, slow Allied BBs becomes useful offensive (bombardment) platforms
And of course, I have lost only 2 BBs (Repulse being the other), thus still plenty to play with. I still don't know how badly damaged is Resolution or the rest of the fleet. We will see

Shokaku and Hiryu reported on the combat replay... Shokaku torpedo bombers were really nasty [:(]



Combat reports:


Morning Air attack on TF, near Addu at 9,50

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 65 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 44
B5N2 Kate x 22
D3A1 Val x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 4 damaged
D3A1 Val: 3 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
CL Capetown, Bomb hits 1
BB Ramillies
BB Resolution, Torpedo hits 2
CL Marblehead

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
13 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
Morning Air attack on TF, near Addu at 9,50

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D3A1 Val x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A1 Val: 6 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Ramillies, Bomb hits 3
CLAA Van Heemskerck

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000' *
Naval Attack: 2 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Addu at 9,50

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 66 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 43
B5N2 Kate x 61

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 8 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied Ships
BB Ramillies, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
CL Capetown, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CLAA Van Heemskerck
CL Marblehead

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
18 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
25 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp


and the submarine results [:)]

Submarine attack near Saishu To at 100,56

Japanese Ships
xAK Taiko Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Grenadier

xAK Taiko Maru is sighted by SS Grenadier
SS Grenadier attacking xAK Taiko Maru on the surface

Submarine attack near Saishu To at 97,55

Japanese Ships
xAK Kikukawa Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS Grayling

xAK Kikukawa Maru is sighted by SS Grayling
SS Grayling launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Kikukawa Maru

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Morning: 44 Zeroes, 22 Kates, 18 Vals
Afternoon: 43 Zeroes, 61 Kates

Shokaku-3, Soryu-3, Hiryu-2 and Hiryu-3 reported


Assuming no resizing or rebasing of land based squadrons; we have :

Raiding close to Addu:
Hiryu: 18Z, 18V, 18K
Soryu: 18Z, 18V, 18K
Shokaku: 18Z, 27V, 27K
Total: 54Z, 63V, 63K

Numbers are consistent with what I saw, assuming obviously that some planes were devoted to CAP, search and ASW

Potential Pacific reserves
Akagi: 18Z, 18V, 27K
Kaga: 18Z, 27V, 27K
Zuikaku: 18Z, 27V, 27K
Ryujo: 30Z, 18K (potential if max resize)
Zuiho: 21Z, 9K (potential if max resize)
Hosho: 14Z, 6K (potential if max resize)
Shoho: 21Z, 9K (potential if max resize)

Last time I saw Akagi and Kaga, they were in the Indian ocean, no reason to believe they moved out

March 5th: intel on carriers spotted near Colombo said 7 ships: CVL, CVL, CA, CA, CA, CS + 78 fighters, 91 bombers, 31 auxiliary. Notice these plane numbers are too numerous for only CVLs,

March 6th: 7 ships: CV, CV, CV, CS, CS, CS, CS + 72 fighters, 103 bombers, 20 auxiliary
I bet it is Akagi, Kaga, Ryujo, Zuiho and a CS

Zuikaku was last seen (a long time ago) in the Pacific, it makes sense if it is still there; maybe supported by Hosho and Shoho

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Well I got the turn, and it is clear now that both BB Resolution and CL Capetown are doomed.
It is not that their damage is horrendous, but their speed was significantly compromised; I have ordered all to a full speed withdraw to Mombasa, but even at full speed their speed is only 9 knots [:(])
They won't leave the map before they got a second naval strike... unless of course I get lucky with the weather and planes are grounded.

What next?
of course nothing to do in the Indian ocean; all other TFs are far away and out of risk. I have some TF coming from Mombasa or Cape Town, but most are either heading to Perth or Calcutta... which means their starting point will be far away from the enemy.

The carriers are still close to Wake. They were going back to Midway; but I decided instead to re-base all Marine squadrons that were guarding Midway into the carriers; I now have 3 of the four carriers at the full 90-plane complement. These marines squadrons are not top notch, of course; moreover some are flying old planes; 1 squadron is flying Buffalos, another one Vindicators. Still better to have older planes that can do search or escort than no planes/ empy space.
The carriers will go south in direction to Canton island. They will avoid going directly into a Japanese base, but otherwise they will not avoid Japanese waters. If the IJN comes, so be it; I am willing to fight whatever carriers are still in the Pacific. They will start offensive operations on the SW pacific; I am not sure about the final objective; but it will be on the outskirts of the empire; maybe Ndeni or Tulagi

Originally I was planning an operation on the Aleutians, the idea was to do the carrier raid on Wake two turns ago, then disappear, to later on re-appear on Architka as support to the invasion.
The invasion will continue, but it won't include carriers anymore; still battleships and cruisers should be enough. It is hard to belive he will be in a position to come with carriers so far north while most KB is in the Indian ocean and my carriers are pushing SW.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

New turn,

Enemy carriers left the area to focus on Colombo; the invasion will start tomorrow and there is very little I can do about it.

the good news is that BB Resolution and CL Capetown might survive; assuming of course they can get into Mombabasa without sinking due to flooding
we will see

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Last turn PresterJohn invaded Ceylon; and this turn he easily got Jaffna (garrison surrendered).

As predicted, he used some of his Calcutta LCUs to do it; thus, this means he will limit his conquests to the south east + Ceylon
he might go Madras, Hyderabad, but I can't see him doing a push north. we will see

There is very little in Ceylon, as I evacuated most troops long time ago... I have one AA LCU that I wish to withdraw, nothing else is "unrestricted"
Also, the 16th and 17th Australian brigades will be coming as reinforcements in 4 days. It is a pitty they came too late. They will die defending Colombo.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

In the Coral Sea, I spotted 2 carriers; this confirms my estimation of 2 carriers in the Pacific, all the rest in the Indian ocean

P Moresby haven't been attacked in the last 3 turns; supply and small LCUS are unloading uneventfully

[BBfanboy]

Two things:
- Hosho is really small and slow - rated as a CVE I think. It would be a mistake to team it with Zuikaku which can do 34 knots - would really negate her speed advantage. Hiryu is a more likely candidate, or Shokaku. sister ship to Zuikaku, if you don't have her location pegged.

- Nav Search is notoriously poor at identifying ship classes until pilots get well over 50 skill. It is possible the "CVs" reported are something else.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Sorry I meant Shoho, the one that comes online early 1942

I am making wild guesses here, I just know that 2 turns ago, almost the entire Japanese carrier fleet was in the Indian ocean, but I didn't see Zuikaku. My "bet" was that it was covering the Pacific, with maybe some additional carrier; Shoho being the ideal candidate as it is a shorter trip from Japan instead of moving something from Singapore. Can't be Shokaku, Hiryu or Soryu as they were involved in the sinking of BB Ramilies near Addu 3 turns ago

And I agree it might be a case of misindentification; but still I need to be ready for the most worrisome option. My own carriers and 4 or 5 days away to Canton Isl. They will need to refuel, and then they will get into position to support a couple raids

[Jorge_Stanbury]

And global map update:

The Pacific and Australia are in good shape: Pt Moresby is a torn in the side for Japan. I don't see any serious invasion possible before the end of the early war Japanese advantage

Aleutians: Armchitka island in Japanese hands, no activity there.

China: There are many paths in China for an Allied player to follow, but they all end with total collapse sometime in 1943. so not a lot to worry about [:)]

Luzon: Daily bombings and ART bombardment to kill supply. At least I am holding around 1.5 divisions.

Java: Bandoeng, Soerabaja and Batavia under siege and bombarment. I can't see enough troop concentration to storm any of them yet

India: I think he already reached his desired defense perimeter near Calcutta. Ceylon invasion in progress

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Highlights of Mar 11th:

- Japanese bombers tried to strike my unloading TFs at Port Moresby. There was a strong CAP and no escorts [X(] [:D] [:-]
3 waves for a total of: 18 Nells + 1 Betty; all destroyed [:D]

- Then another disaster in China [:(]: Nanyang fell after a long siege. All troops destroyed. I guess that is not so bad news as they will come back to Chungking

- Makassar also captured; all troops surrendered, and this puts an end to the Celebes campaign


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Morning Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 98,130

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 16

Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 13
P-39D Airacobra x 30
P-40E Warhawk x 19

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 9 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
49th PG/7th PS with P-40E Warhawk (6 airborne, 13 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
51st PG/25th PS with P-38E Lightning (4 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
35th PG/39th PS with P-39D Airacobra (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 29 minutes
35th PG/41st PS with P-39D Airacobra (6 airborne, 13 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 14000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes


Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 61934 troops, 646 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 1562

Defending force 51340 troops, 208 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 599

Japanese adjusted assault: 1052

Allied adjusted defense: 223

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

Japanese forces CAPTURE Nanyang !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), experience(-), supply(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
562 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 46 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
63148 casualties reported [X(]
Squads: 2381 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3442 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 170 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 245 (245 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 13

Assaulting units:
36th Division
3rd Division
70th Division
110th Division
15th Tank Regiment
17th Division
14th RGC Temp. Division
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
12th Army
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
11th Army
China Expeditionary Army
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
1st Mortar Battalion
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
85th Chinese Corps
77th Chinese Corps
30th Chinese Corps
90th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps
51st Chinese Corps
2nd Group Army
7th New Chinese Corps
5th War Area
22nd Group Army
55th Chinese Corps
4th Construction Regiment

[Jorge_Stanbury]

More on the Coral Sea.

A couple turns ago I spotted carriers on Buna. This time I sent my F-4 recon planes to take a look, and once again, carrier

The way I read this:
- He has most of his carriers in the Indian Ocean. Zuikaku was missing
- He saw my carriers moving south.
- He is likely building a defensive position at Buin; covering the Coral Sea, and well positioned to counter strike if I land at Guadalcanal.
- Near Buin he has the advantage, as he can have the support of land based bombers and fighters as to negate my short term advantage in carrier #s

I am working on some raid missions, but I am not sure what I will do. At the very least I will keep reinforcing P Moresby.
I might use one of the Marine Raider LCUs; Ndeni should be easy to achieve, I don't thing I can go any further north.
Problem is I just started to get very low on fuel at Australia [:(], and although I have tankers/ fuel in transit. their arrival will take some time

[IdahoNYer]

Always nice to chew on unescorted Netties! Having Moresby secure is nice to see in Mar 42! It will take a major effort to move you out!

Position in the Pacific looks good - especially as he's got his CVs in the IO. You sure that's Zuikaku? Showing the Aux a/c it could be Chitose type CS..

Where's Argonaut? Could send her to mine Buin - its probably under developed and vulnerable as a major anchorage. As you said a CV raid is risky as it would be in range of Rabaul air. He's exposed at Amchitka - good place to isolate and take back. Won't need CVs if you have air at Adak. What's he got in the lower Solomons? CVs can raid there and see how he responds. Not much going on in the Central Pacific - you building up Canton?

Feel your pain in China! And with the push in NE India, he's going to further isolate China.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

I am not sure it is the Zuikaku; but it is the only "Pearl Harbor" carrier I have not seen in the Indian Ocean... of course if he is good at deception; he might have swapped his carrier; in which case it will not end pretty

Argonaut was sunk months ago, I sent it to mine Kwajalein... but it hit a mine [8|]

I am not building Canton, other than plenty of supply and support troops; I have been focusing on Suva and Australia. Do you think I should reinforce it?

In the Salomons, he got everything except P Moresby. He also got Ndeni in the St. Cruz islands ... this is the most likely target for my raid. far from any developed Japanese base. so it is just carrier vs carrier if he wants to react.

[Jorge_Stanbury]

Happy holidays!
These have been quiet days, both in real life and in the game, as both Steve and I were busy during xmas days.

Mar 15th has just ended and there are a few highlights to mention:

- Ceylon: His invasion went completely unopposed; he owns now Jaffna and Dambulla, Trincomale will come next. His carriers left already.
I did a mini Dunkerque in the last two turns: most of the 16th and 17th Australian Brigades were evacuated from Colombo, only the motorized support is left.
Some elements of the 23rd AA brigade also left. I will try to continue to evacuate as many troops as possible; although last turn he spotted the transports and therefore surprise is lost.

- India: he just got Vizagapatnam... I wonder how far west is he planning to go

- Java/ Luzon: he keeps bombing, I am still holding. nothing new

- Australia: serious fuel shortage is hindering my operations here. tankers are coming.. but slowly.

- New Guinea: He raided Pt Moresby with great results, sinking a transport (carrying ART), 2 APDs, many AKLs... his raid went spotless; my cruiser TF sent at full speed didn't catch it.

- SW Pacific: I am almost ready to launch my Ndeni raid. Problem is he also knows I am ready. My detections levels are perfect, but that enemy TF at Ndeni (look map) means he is expecting something there
We will see



- Central Pacific, Aleutians, China: update coming tomorrow

[Jorge_Stanbury]

The enemy ship at Ndeni ended being a single AKL, likely in a dual task of picket duty and supply transport. It was S-35 who found it and likely destroyed it as it disappeared after deck gun action.

Submarine attack near Ndeni at 120,143
Japanese Ships xAKL Toyotsu Maru, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
Allied Ships SS S-35

This is great as he didn't spot directly the cruiser and destroyers now guarding Ndeni... he is probably in guessing mode; is this a naval raid or an invasion? the 4 ships with detection 2/3 can be either

Also, the lone DMS didn't find any mine.. good news



The plan for tomorrow:
- Exeter TF will merge with the invasion force at Utupua, landing of the 2nd Marine Raider at Ndeni will start at nightime; cruiser FPs are in recon mode
- 2nd USMC Para is at Noumea; loaded in a 6-APD Fast transport TF. They will arrive the turn after.
- Carriers will start ground bombing, of course as a secondary mission to naval. EDIT: No I changed my mind.. better to keep them undetected for at least another turn
- 2 cruiser TFs: one to Ndeni, the other one to Reef Island
- a minesweeper TF will arrive tomorrow, just in case
- patrol search patterns from AVs/dot bases are all set; hopefully he will send some cruisers to investigate and het caught by the carriers

[BBfanboy]

If he has a good DL 5+ on the DMS, that is an indicator of an invasion. Not many reasons to sweep mines unless you are going to put other ships in the hex.
Hopefully he has not replaced those Netties you swatted down recently.