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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/21/42

Surface Combat


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Night Time Surface Combat at 5,27

Japanese Ships - I tried to intercept a transport with my retreating bb, gave up and then they found one [:'(]
BB Ise (27 sys damage, heading back to Singapore)
DD Nagatsuki

Allied Ships
AK Nora Moller, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage - takes several 14" hits
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Sub/ASW Attacks

Sub attack at 16,4

Japanese Ships
SS I-153, hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Banckert
DD Napier
DD Witte de With
DD Kortenaer
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ASW attack at 63,80

Japanese Ships - annoying, put all my best ASW ships into this tf, of course they didn't even scratch the sub...
APD APD-37
APD APD-36
APD APD-34
APD APD-32
APD APD-2
APD APD-1

Allied Ships
SS Haddock
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Air Combat

Day Air attack on Diamond Harbor , at 28,23

Japanese aircraft - wanted to hit the bb's at Diamond Harbour again, they're money in the bank [:)]
G3M Nell x 26
G4M1 Betty x 51

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 8 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 14 damaged

Allied Ships
BB Ramilles, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
BB Revenge, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
BB Warspite, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

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

Port hits 8
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
All Betty and Nell dropping 800 kg bombs from 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft - finally got a regular bombing run going against Calcutta again!
A6M2 Zero x 30
Ki-21 Sally x 47
Ki-48 Lily x 23

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
85 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 20
Airbase supply hits 7
Runway hits 95

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Hyderabad , at 20,17 - my first major raid from Madras didn't find much to destroy here...

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
G3M Nell x 33
G4M1 Betty x 43
C5M Babs x 1

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged

Aircraft Attacking:
All Nell and G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 8
Ki-21 Sally x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 5 destroyed, 8 damaged - heavy flak!

Allied ground losses:
56 casualties reported
Guns lost 4

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Tarawa , at 85,91

Allied aircraft - the first strike of 'Operation Nighthawk' - according to Wobbly!
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16
SBD Dauntless x 99

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 5 destroyed, 29 damaged- 3 SBS's were lost

Japanese ground losses:
398 casualties reported - they claimed a lot of causalties
Guns lost 6

Port hits 3
Port supply hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
All SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
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Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 90349 troops, 512 guns, 426 vehicles

Defending force 58740 troops, 350 guns, 478 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6 - the forts have been rebuilt, and once more reduced [:'(]

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 6)

Japanese ground losses:
1029 casualties reported - a rather positive exchange of causalties though
Guns lost 21
Vehicles lost 5

Allied ground losses:
1323 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 7
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Ground combat at Lunga

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 6494 troops, 51 guns, 4 vehicles

Defending force 165 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 87 to 1

Japanese ground losses: - the last defenders of Lunga are wiped out!
267 casualties reported
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Situation Report

India

The cat and mouse game in the Indian Ocean continues, Al runs south with his surface ships this time. I'm running low on fuel [:(] Going to send the KB after them while the battleships hits Karachi and Bombay. Got a replenishment group enroute, will refuel my carriers and try to find the enemy transports if the carriers gets away.

The enemy ships are all in range of my Betties and Nells now, if they only could take to the air...

Enemy armoured unit has withdrawn from the railroad hex east of Calcutta. Going to move a regiment north towards Asansol - want to keep my lines of communictation open. Al should have kept it closes..difficult to get rid of 255 afv's with infantry only!

Ordered the 2 divs' that were resting to attack and will try to slowly get rid of the forts at Calcutta - then Allied casualties will become untolerable and we will finally be able to march on Asansol and Diamond Harbour.

Also moving bombers back to Chandpur - they will hit ground targets at Calcutta.

Central & South Pacific

The Yanks are finally on the move - Wobbly declared Op Nighthawk but not Op Rapier. Hm, this means that he got more
fun on the way... Tawawa - not unexpectedly - is the target. Almost a 100 SBD's hit the base and inflicted a lot of casualties. The enemy operation starts just as the last valiant defenders at Lunga succumbs to superior enemy numbers.

The defense of Tarawa is provided by:
1 AF Construction unit
3 Base Force Units (of the smaller type)
3 SNL Garrison units

All in all ca 10000 men - there are 2 forts (53% building) and 202 mines have been placed.
There are only 6 Jake search planes at the base and 2000 supplies.

I don't expect Tarawa to last long - it's an atoll and combat will be short and bloody. Hopefully Al still got a few lessons to learn regaring atoll invasions [;)] Wouldn't count on it though...

Several subs have been ordered to move towards Tarawa, if possible they will evacuate a few men from each of the units at the base so that they can be rebuilt.

Tarawa is outside the range of Kwajaleins Zeros - so it is not possible to strike back with since I'm not going to send my naval bombers in unescorted. The mine layers that were enroute to the base have been ordered to Kwajalein instead.

As already stated in earlier posts: there isn't much more I can do to protect Tarawa. The fleet will not sail without air cover.
The only reaction I have undertaken is to order the CVE Taiyo and CVL Zuiho + escorts to move from Shanghai to Tokyo.
Here they will reform the Mini KB. I want this force to be ready at Truk by the time Al moves on.

The question is: Were will he strike next? It's either the Marshalls or the Solomons!
It will be much easier to attack Shortland, Gili Gili and Buna and perhaps even Rabaul - since the enemy now got a size 4 af at Lunga to support them. Not to mention Port Moresby!

More than 100 Betties and Nells at Truk have been ordered to night bomb PM's airfields - the place is choked with enemy ac! With a little luck, I can slow Al's preparations down a bit.


Situation Map: Operation Nighthawk

Maybe my question could sound stupid, but why in May 42 Tarawa has only 2 forts and a 2 level AF? Have you considered it unkeepeble since the beginning or the Al just got u off guard here?

Hoepner - think I went into that in some detail in my last posts!?
Tarawa is simply an island and too far away from Truk and Kwajalein to be defended without comitting both sea and air forces. I actually stopped af construction - the forts came up too slowly as well. Should have used more engineers, but I really didn't have many available.

Bombardments killed 1/3 of the defenders today, so I'm simply going to try to delay Al as long as possible while I continue building the Solomon and Marshalls. Here it will be possible to defend in depth!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/22/42

Surface Combat

Bombardments

Naval bombardment of Tarawa, at 85,91

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Nashville
CL Phoenix
CA Vincennes
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
BB Tennessee

Japanese ground losses: - as expected, losses from bombardments are substantial!
1358 casualties reported
Guns lost 17

Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 51
Port hits 1
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Naval bombardment of Tarawa, at 85,91

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CL Nashville
CL Phoenix
CA Vincennes
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
BB Tennessee

Japanese ground losses:
772 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 39
Port hits 5
Port supply hits 8
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TF 1028 encounters mine field at Tarawa (85,91)

TF 1028 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 85,91

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
DMS Hopkins
DD Morris
DD Hughes
PG Niagara
DD Chew
CA Salt Lake City, Mine hits 1, on fire

Coastal Guns at Tarawa, 85,91, firing at TF 1028
3 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
DD Morris
DD Anderson

Allied ground losses:
563 casualties reported
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TF 1123 encounters mine field at Tarawa (85,91)

Allied Ships
AK Crown City, and is sunk
MSW Vireo
MSW Tern
DMS Elliot
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Air Combat

Night Air attack on Port Moresby , at 53,91

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 55
G4M1 Betty x 22

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses - rather realistic results
Wirraway: 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
T.IVa: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged - are these pests still around [:'(]

Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Runway hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
All Betty and G3M Nell bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Madras , at 18,21

Japanese aircraft - I got my Zeros on 60% CAP
A6M2 Zero x 25

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 10
Blenheim IV x 11
Wellington III x 46
B-17E Fortress x 32

Japanese aircraft losses - the bombers still gets through and smashes 30+ ac on the ground
A6M2 Zero: 11 destroyed, 9 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 12 destroyed, 23 damaged
H8K Emily: 2 destroyed
G3M Nell: 13 destroyed, 21 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 6 destroyed
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Wellington III: 11 destroyed, 11 damaged - the Zeros treats the Wellingtons rather roughly though!
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
367 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 54

Aircraft Attacking:
All aircraft bombing at 9000 feet
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Day Air attack on Tarawa , at 85,91

Allied aircraft - no way I'm getting close to this force without the KB!
F4F-4 Wildcat x 36
SBD Dauntless x 123
TBD Devastator x 75

No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
64 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 29
Port hits 3
Port supply hits 5

Aircraft Attacking:
All SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
All TBD Devastator bombing at 5000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese aircraft -a very long range attack from Madras
G3M Nell x 4
G4M1 Betty x 2

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
PG Cyclamen, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PG Hollyhock

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M Nell bombing at 6000 feet
2 x G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
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Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 61403 troops, 307 guns, 789 vehicles

Defending force 57183 troops, 328 guns, 432 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7) - argh, the forts are up again! Al must have all the engineers in India here!

Japanese ground losses: - going to try a different strategy, up to Asansol and then around on the flanks.
2069 casualties reported
Guns lost 43
Vehicles lost 14

Allied ground losses:
1141 casualties reported
Guns lost 17
Vehicles lost 7
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Ground combat at Tarawa

Allied Shock attack - guess the Allied troops will shock attack each day. Expecting a lot more troops to be landed by tomorrow!

Attacking force 2666 troops, 18 guns, 14 vehicles

Defending force 5827 troops, 21 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese ground losses:
152 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
231 casualties reported
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 1
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Ground combat at Trivandrum

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 365 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Trivandrum base !!!
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Situation Report

India

Al has skilfully moved his heavies back to Colombo and hit Madras in force - the Zeros claimed a stiff toll, but again I have to use supplies
to replace 30+ destroyed ac on the ground. In time we will close Colombo, but until then I'll just have to take it.

Tomorrow 7 bb's will hit Karachi and a small recon party will land - this will tell me how many men Al got at his captial city! Hopefully it will stress
him as well. I've given up the frontal attack against Calcutta, Al got A LOT of engineers here and build new forts daily despite of my efforts to stop him.
2 divisions, 3 tank regiments, arty and 3 engineer regiments are marching towards Asansol. This is a potential bomber base and the loss of this base will
open his flanks and force him to retreat.

In the meanwhile the army that landed at Madras is pressing north!

Central/South Pacific

The night bombing attack against PM destroyed a few enemy ac, but at least Al now knows that I can get to him.

The enemy attacks against Tarawa commenced in force and there now remains 6800 men of the defenders. Most of the combat
troops are still alive though. Of bigger concern: ALL of the 2000 supplies are gone, this is very unrealistic as they would have been buried
deep and out of range from allied bombs. Most of the troops got internal supplies though, and the defenders of Lunga showed that the Japanese soldier
can hold out for a long time even with a minimum of supplies.

The enemy hit a few mines and their first shock attack was stopped cold - but this was probably just the first wave.
Al says that he will use the base to bomb the Marshalls - well, he will have to hit em at extreme range and there will mostly be Zeros and ack ack guns at Kwajalein.
So let him come, we will be waiting for him! Regular bombardment raids consisting of ca's and even bb's will be hitting the enemy as soon as their fleet departs.

I'm not overly worried, this invasion was expected! Wake is another island that is in the same situation as Tarawa. Their isolated locations makes it impossible to defend them
without having air supremacy - something which is not possible without the KB.

Situation Map: Struggle for India

If you take Asansol quickly, is it possible for wobbly to retreat back to Lucknow before your troops get there? If not, where is his next line of defense?

How many political points do you have? The lack of engineers are killing you. Look to Manchuria for the answer. Hopefully it is not too late.

Looking good. I agree that Tarawa shouldn't be defended too heavily. Once his fleet leaves, you can bombard as you said, plus any resupply is going to have to be heavily escorted by his fleet - meaning you've tied down major units.

Keep it up!

Hi, Maloelap is a size 4 airfield. Jaloit a size 3. Betty/Nell at Maloelap are in normal range of Tarawa. A6M2 at Jaloit are in normal range of Tarawa. Of course this requires Japan to defend these bases as well. The marshall Islands are an interlocking defensive network if used correctly.

Roberto: If Asansol falls Al will have a problem. Take a look at the map I posted yesterday! It's obvious that I will be able to reach Lucknow faster than he can retreat back from Calcutta, so I'm hoping to force him out of the deep hole he's dug there [;)] I'm going to try to cut him off by diverting 1-2 divisions from the Madras landing south towards Jamshedpur.

Reliable recon today reveals only a single brigade and 6000 men at Karachi!!

You're right WitP Dude, I need more engineers - I've already released 2 from Burma, another 2 from China and one regiment from Japan. 4 of these are going to India. Should be there within 2-3 weeks. Still got 300 polit points, and I'm marching more engineers down from Kwantung.

That's a good point Madflava! He's already started to wear down his men, ships and spending a lot of fuel and supplies.
In the meantime we're preparing for the real stand off when the situation suits us [8D]

Good point Mogami - I've got support for 60 ac at Maloelap and another 300 at Kwajalein. Jaloit only got support for 33, but I got more base units on their way from Japan. Moved some ac and now got 54 Zeros and 63 naval bombers on Kwajalein, another 27/27 at Maloelap. Many bombers are only allowed to attack targets within 11 hexes, but a sizeable portion has been allowed to attack targets within normal range.

Wobbly got his carriers 2 hexes NW of Tarawa today (hex coordinates 84,89) - perhaps I can engage them and put a few torps into them. My hope is that he isn't LR CAP'ing Tarawa, and then the ships there will be in for it.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/23/42

Surface Combat

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3 - only one of my bombardment tf's reached Karachi today!

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Kirishima
BB Nagato
CA Kumano
CL Kitakami
DD Usugumo
DD Shirakumo
DD Isonami

Allied Ships - they found this little tf - the Kitakami puts 3 torpedoes into the Genista...!
PG Hollyhock
PG Fritillary, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
PG Genista, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
PG Thyme, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
MSW Poole
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Naval bombardment of Karachi, at 21,3 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Allied aircraft - then they bombard!
no flights


Allied aircraft losses - but doesn't find that many ac on the ground
Mohawk IV: 5 destroyed, 10 damaged - still got these old crates around?
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
Wellington III: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

30 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CL Kitakami
CA Kumano, Shell hits 6
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied Ships
AK Empire Rani, Shell hits 1
AK Delawarean, Shell hits 1
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 5, on fire, heavy damage - now hullo, nice to hit you again! [;)]
AK Empire Rennie, Shell hits 1
AK Empire Homer, Shell hits 1
AK Empire Barracuda, Shell hits 1
DD Witte de With, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Nizam, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied ground losses:
224 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 9
Port hits 2
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Naval bombardment of Tarawa, at 85,91

Allied Ships
CLAA Atlanta
CL Leander
CA Astoria
BB Idaho
BB Colorado
BB Maryland

Japanese ground losses: - another heavy blow, but I still count 6300 men at Tarawa, so not all of these reports are correct!
574 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 11
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

Invasions

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Coastal Guns at Karachi, 21,3, firing at TF 9 - a sub lands a small recon unit at Karachi!

TF 9 troops unloading over beach at Karachi, 21,3
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Air Combat

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Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
Ki-21 Sally x 40
Ki-48 Lily x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 19
Airbase supply hits 9
Runway hits 79

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Madras , at 18,21 - did Al forget to stay this sqd down?

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 19

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 10 destroyed, 5 damaged - they pay a stiff price!

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Blenheim IV bombing at 9000 feet
1 x Blenheim IV bombing at 9000 feet
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Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 13

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed
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Day Air attack on 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, at 85,91

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 35
TBD Devastator x 74 - hm, he still got the useless Devastators aboard his cv's - good to know!

Allied aircraft losses
TBD Devastator: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
All TBD Devastator bombing at 5000 feet
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Day Air attack on TF, near Panaji at 17,14

Japanese aircraft - these ac sorties from Bangalore, a smaller sized af!
Ki-21 Sally x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
MSW Baroda, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
4 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft - todays strikes against Colombo didn't go in together
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9
Ki-21 Sally x 12

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 5 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied ground losses:
17 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
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Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft - this is the bigger raid!
A6M2 Zero x 19
G3M Nell x 15
G4M1 Betty x 14
Ki-21 Sally x 15

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 11

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 11 damaged

Allied aircraft losses - we do destroy quite a few Kittyhawks and the damaged heavies will be difficult to repair!
Kittyhawk I: 11 destroyed, 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 2 destroyed, 10 damaged
Wellington III: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 28

Aircraft Attacking:
All Betty, Nell and Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
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Day Air attack on Tarawa , at 85,91

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 32
SBD Dauntless x 141 - here comes the SBD's!

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 43
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
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Ground Combat

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Ground combat at Karachi

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 4997 troops, 58 guns, 0 vehicles - interesting...

Defending force 13 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese ground losses:
7 casualties reported
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Situation Report

India

The troops at Calcutta refused to march out of the city and back onto the railroad - tried ordering them to march towards Dacca today.
If this doesn't work, I'm stuck here...these zones of controll really makes life as army commander impossible at times.

Progress towards Panaji and Bombay is rapid! One division will move into off the railroad and towards the first objective, while another + an engineer regiment continues towards Bombay. The fleet will soon pay a visit here as well.

I'm going to keep up bombing Colombo, the ac have been ordered to hit naval targets primarily and the air bases at Colombo as seconday objecitves.
As I mentioned initially, several eng. regiments are now heading towards India. Didn't think I would need more than 3 in each major battle. Guess one have to learn the hard way...
Could also discuss whether I should have marched directly towards Asansol, probably I should - put I hoped to take Calcutta by storm but the forts were already up.

10 ca's? were spotted at Karachi today, so the BB force that bombardet the base yesterday has been ordered to turn back and engage them. The other bombardment group will go on with their initial mission. A few ships, including a cv? has been reported at Panaji? This may be a false report, but the KB will move closer and investiage before meeting with the replenishment group. A little worried that Al might continue south and hit it - but the British cv's doesn't carrier that much of a punch and I've ordered the ships to move within range of my naval bombers.

China

Tomorrow the main body of the army heading into the last Chinese base in the north will reach their objectives and capture the place.
Most of the army in northern China has now been gathered in Sian. 11 Chinese units were spotted just NW of one of my bases in the center - can't remember its name - moving 4 divisions and support here immediately though.

Central/South Pacific

The long range Mavis transport unit that I moved to Maloelap can actually pick up troops from Tarawa - this could be helpful. Flying in supplies with 6 ac would be futile though.
As mentioned initially, several Daitais have been moved to Kwajalein and Maloelap - hopefully I can catch a few fish without wrecking these highly experienced units.

There are a lot of targets, and Al told me he that he hadn't expected to find larger naval garrison units at Tarawa - in adition his troops are unloading of larger transports and this takes more time than he appreciates.

A strategic overview of the defenses in the South Pacific:

The Marianas are being built and got a lot of garrison and base force units in place. Several Daitais including search, dive, level and torpedo bombers are in place.

Truk is the main artery and most of my supplies, fuel and other reinforcements are moved here. Currently the base is a size 9/8/9 (port, af and forts) It also holds
300 as (aviation support), 48k troops and 72 level bombers + an array of transports and search plane. In the port we got the following first line warhips:
1 Kongo class BB
18 light/heavy cruisers
47 destroyers
1 cve (Hosho)

In 1 week the 2nd Carrier Fleet will sail from Japan towards Truk. This force will include the CV Junyo (58 ac), CVL Zuiho (30 ac) and 2 cve's (60 ac). The Yamato, Mutsu, 1 cs, 3 cruisers and 8 destroyers will also accompany the carriers. All in all 150 ac - but the fleet will also move in 2 new Zero Daitais. (Will put one A6M3 Zero Daitai on the new cve and a 27 ac Kate Daitai on the other)

Kwajalein, now a size 3/4/8 base, holds 259 av and 45k troops. Today there are 54 Zeros and 63 naval bombers. (Also got 54 Helens and Sallys here)
Maloelap, a size 1/4/6 base holds 60 av and 7k troops. There are now 27 Zeros and 27 Nells at this base + 6 Mavis long range float transports.

Lae is a size 3/4/2 base, holding 14k troops and 113 av. There are only 27 Zeros here now.
In adition Wewak, Hollandia, the Admirality Islands, Kavieng, Shortland, Eniwetok and Jaloit are all being prepared for both offensive and defensive operations.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/24/42

Surface Combat

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna, Shell hits 10
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 4
BB Nagato, Shell hits 6
CA Kumano, Shell hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Kitakami, Shell hits 5, on fire
DD Usugumo, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Shirakumo, Shell hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Isonami

Allied Ships
CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 2
CA Devonshire, Shell hits 3
CA Cornwall, Shell hits 9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk - magazine explodes!
CA Exeter, Shell hits 3, on fire
CL Danae
CL Dauntless
CL Birmingham
CL Newcastle, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Bulmer, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Whipple, Shell hits 2
DD Stewart
DD Isis
DD Paladin
DD Panther, Shell hits 1
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Night Time Surface Combat, near Karachi at 21,3

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Shell hits 4
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire - bloody Brit torpedoes carries a punch!! 40+ sys damage..grr
BB Hyuga
CA Mikuma
DD Yukikaze
DD Kasumi, Shell hits 46, and is sunk
DD Shinonome, Shell hits 1
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
CA Dorsetshire, Shell hits 25, and is sunk - magazine blows
CA Devonshire, Shell hits 3
CA Exeter, on fire
CL Danae, Shell hits 36, on fire, heavy damage - magazine blows, sinks
CL Dauntless, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
CL Birmingham, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Newcastle, Shell hits 13, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
DD Bulmer, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Whipple, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Stewart
DD Isis
DD Paladin
DD Panther

Invasions
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1028 encounters mine field at Tarawa (85,91)

TF 1028 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 85,91

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
DMS Hopkins
PG Niagara
DD Hatfield
DD Chew
DD Morris
AK John C. Fremont, Mine hits 1
DD Benham
AK Harry Luckenbach, Mine hits 1

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Tarawa, 85,91, firing at TF 1028
28 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
AK John C. Fremont
AK Laida, Shell hits 1
DD Hughes

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
384 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1028 encounters mine field at Tarawa (85,91)

TF 1028 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 85,91

Allied Ships
DMS Zane
DMS Hopkins
DD Anderson

Coastal Guns at Tarawa, 85,91, firing at TF 1028
12 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CL Tromp, Shell hits 1
AP W.A. Holbrook

Allied ground losses:
579 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat


Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 42
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9
Ki-21 Sally x 94
Ki-48 Lily x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
79 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 23
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 126

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 11 destroyed, 1 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Diamond Harbor at 28,23

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 6

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships - these 3 small ml's mined Diamond Harbour and the Beauforts got em all...
ML Katoku, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
ML Kurokami, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Diamond Harbor at 28,23

Allied aircraft
Beaufort I x 7

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
ML Ento, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x Beaufort I launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9
Ki-21 Sally x 8

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed

Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
4 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
G3M Nell x 6
G4M1 Betty x 10
Ki-21 Sally x 10

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 13 destroyed, 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed, 7 damaged
Blenheim IV: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 9

Aircraft Attacking:
All Betty and Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Tarawa at 85,91

Japanese aircraft - todays great disaster...the naval bombers at Kwajalein set to range 12 all killed themselves [:(]
G3M Nell x 11
G4M1 Betty x 22

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 22 destroyed, 5 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 23 destroyed, 15 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AP Chaumont
CA Salt Lake City, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage - if this buggers would sink....
PG Niagara

Aircraft Attacking:
All Nell and G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Tarawa at 85,91

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 17

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 25

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 37 destroyed, 3 damaged - all in all I lost 39 Betties and Nells in these 2 attacks, plain horrible!

Allied Ships
MSW Vireo

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Tarawa

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 7659 troops, 83 guns, 29 vehicles

Defending force 4824 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 2) - Tarawa will hold out for another day!

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Japanese ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Allied ground losses:
124 casualties reported
Guns lost 11
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

The battlefleets engage the enemy cruiser squadron off Karachi! (See picture)
All in all I have to say that I'm happy with the results, 2 Japanese destroyers were sunk while a heavy cruiser and a battleship suffered moderate damage.
(A few other dd's and cl's also suffered light to moderate losses) The old Yamashiro wasn't very happy for the torpedo hit and suffered 42 sys damage and 10 fires. She'll
be fine if enemy ac doesn't find here.

The enemy ships are still proned to blow up - no less than 3 cruiers exploded, one even blew up twice! All in all 5 enemy cruisers and 1 or 2 destroyers were sunk.
The battleships will now bombard Bombay on their way south - the plan is that they will use Panaji as forward base (One of the IJA Divisions will enter this base in 1 or 2 days, and only 2300 troops are reported to defend it) Then they will sail up and down the coast hammering Colombo, Bombay and Karachi at will!

The KB will pick up the 3000 units of fuel at Trivandrum tomorrow and then head out to meet the replenishment tf - perhaps sweeping the airfields at Colombo as they go by.
The carriers got a full complement of 350 ac now, their stop at Trimcomalee enabled them to get pilots and ac. I'm a little surprised cause the pilots are mostly trained [8D]
I'm considering to divide the KB into 3 tf's and sweep the entire ocean east-west and north from Ceylon. Then I have to find what Allied ships that are trying to evade me!

The remaining bases in India are worth in excess of 3000 points - I need to expand my lead by 4200 over the next 6 months to win. There are also 5 bb's at Diamond Harbor that should bag quite a few points, and there are hundreds of ships at Karachi - these can not escape or evacuate any troops if I keep the KB in the area. Since Bombay and Karachi got their backs to the sea, all Allied troops defending these bases will be destroyed. I can't really see that this can be accomplished without the KB around to provide aircover for my troops and bombardment tf's.

I know my decision might seem controversial, but this is the reason for keeping the KB in India! Another 11 dd's and a cruiser have left Singapore for Trimcomalee.
These ships will reinforce the 6 remaining operational battleships in the area.

The march towards Hyderabad, Panji and Bombay continues at high speed and I hope to march towards both Jamshedpur, Dehli and Karachi in 10 days or so.
I managed to disengage troops at Calcutta, and 70000 troops will march on Asansol! A regiment has also been dispatched towards Dimapur - the Allied troops retreating from
Burma can't be that far away..can they!?

China

One of the 11 Chinese units that were observed outside one of my bases a little south of central China has now entered the base. I only got 2 regiments and a construction unit here, but several division are now on their way and the AF has moved south. A deliberate attack has also been ordered against the last enemy base in the northern territory.
Afterwards there will only be 5 enemy bases left - I have to come up with a plan to divert and destroy the Chinese. This will make it possible to bag another few thousand points....

Central/South Pacific

I'm not very happy about the loss of 39 naval bombers from Kwajalein - I ordered 2 Daitais to strike at 12 hexes, hoped that the Zeros at Maloelap would escort them. Of course this base was shrouded in clouds while the enemy carriers enjoyed bright sunshine [:(] Well, I had more pilots than ac for these units and replacements have already arrived. They have all been ordered to rest, Tarawa is just to expensive to defend.

I will consider moving naval bombers from Burma and India to reinforce the South Pacific - I really don't need them there anyway. The KB and Army bombers can handle the situation quite well - it seems all but impossible to make them hit the enemy surface fleet in the Indian Ocean anyway.

Situation Map: Surface action outside Karachi

Seems like I've lost the combat report for the 25 of May...that must be one of the first for this AAR [:'(]
Been a busy New Years weekend, but here's the latest turn!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/26/42


Surface Combat

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Panaji at 17,14 - after bombarding Bombay the battlefleet sails south to Panaji

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Haruna
BB Kirishima
BB Nagato
DD Isonami

Allied Ships
PT PT-36, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bombardments

Naval bombardment of Panaji, at 17,14 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

33 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
BB Hyuga, Shell hits 5
BB Fuso, Shell hits 4

Allied Ships
MSW Baroda, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Runway hits 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Panaji, at 17,14

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied Ships
MSW Baroda, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

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

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 7
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 3
Port supply hits 5


Invasions - Yesterday the Allied troops at Tarawa only achieved a 0-1 assault odds, and I hoped they were running out of steam!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Tarawa, 85,91, firing at TF 1028
TF 1028 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 85,91 - more troops unloaded on the 26th!

29 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
DD Benham
AK Latouche
DD Hughes
AK Kailua
DD Chew
CL Tromp

Allied ground losses:
273 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Tarawa, 85,91, firing at TF 1028
TF 1028 troops unloading over beach at Tarawa, 85,91

21 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
AK Harry Luckenbach, Shell hits 1
DD Chew
AK Laida
AK Kailua, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hatfield

Allied ground losses:
148 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub/ASW Attacks

Sub attack at 60,87

Japanese Ships
ML Enoshima, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage - the mine layers have had a rough time lately
ML Ma 1
PG Toyotsu Maru
MSW Chitose Maru

Allied Ships
SS S-18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24 - this is a KB sweep

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 128th IJN Base Force, at 85,91

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 45
SBD Dauntless x 32
TBD Devastator x 74

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
55 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All SBD Dauntless bombing at 2000 feet
All TBD Devastator bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 6,22

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Honolulan, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage - another lone transport is sunk by the KB!

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 6,22

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 18

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Honolulan, Bomb hits 12, on fire, heavy damage *sinks*

Aircraft Attacking:
All D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at 20,18

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 6541 troops, 57 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 628 troops, 6 guns, 1 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 286 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported

Allied ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tarawa

Allied Shock attack - the Allied reinforcements at Tarawa secures the capture of the island.

Attacking force 12488 troops, 91 guns, 56 vehicles

Defending force 4464 troops, 8 guns, 0 vehicles

Allied assault odds: 5 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Tarawa base !!!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed

Japanese ground losses:
135 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
304 casualties reported
Guns lost 18
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

The battleships will reform into a single powerful tf at Panaji and wait for the arrival of 12 escorts that will shortly arrive at Trimcomalee from Singapore.
I hope to capture Panaji shortly, and if I find enough fuel here the bombardment tf can travel up and down the coast under the cover of land and sea based air CAP.
A division is currently only miles away and on the railway north a division and engineer regiment are making good progress towards Bomay.

Troops are also about to cut of Asansol from the west, south and east - if this is achieved, the only retreat option will be north over the wide river and into the jungle.
An enemy unit again moved sout onto the railroad - a regiment has been ordered to attack - the assault divisions are only a few miles from the city now.

I did an important decision yesterday: the KB has been split into 2 carrier divisions. The Akagi, Kaga and a cvl will remain in the Indian Ocean and hunt for enemy tf's and support the bombardment groups operations against Bombay and Karachi. Their 200 crack air crews should be sufficient.

The Shokaku, Zuikaku and a cvl have been ordered to Truk - here they will join the 3rd Carrier Division in approximately 14 days. This will provide me with a carrier force that will operate 350 ac! This force will operate only within cover of LBA and provide aditional protection against further Allied expansion in the area. The idea is to use this force as a secret reserve that I can throw into the battle at the most favourable moment. Between 60 and 70% of the fleet is now enroute or already present in the Central/South Pacific.

Does this sound like a reasonable move?

China

More Chinese units are entering (argh, forgot to check the name of the base again) the base in south/central China, but several reinforcement units will arrive tomorrow.
Only got 3 forts here, but it should suffice - I hope. Large amounts of troops are now being moved from Sian and towards Central China - soon new offensive operations will commence.

Central/South Pacific

The fall of Tarawa did not come as a surprise, and I'm pretty sure that more troops couldn't have staved this off - the firepower of the enemy is too powerful!
Submarines will evacuate small cadres of the ground units that will fight to the last at Tarawa.

2 large tf's have been observed heading towards Lunga - one is actually observed to be heading north west. I will be following this movement carefully - Al did a good job around Tarawa, and he may want to continue his advance up the Solomons! Got almost 1000 mines at Shortland now, and I'm expecting the enemy to hit Rabaul with heavies from PM, so the 76 Zeros have been put on 60% CAP!

There are now 9 forts at Kwajalein, and I'm going to move some of the engineers to Maloelap and Rabaul. Kavieng is almost a size 2 af and Wewak is almost ready to operate level bombers.

The cvl Zuiho and a cve have entered Tokyo and will only wait for a new cve that will arrive in 4 days before the 3rd Carrier Division will set sail for Truk! The Yamato and Mutsu + 10 destroyers will make up the escort.

I'm a little uncertain about the air groups aboard the Zuiho - currently I got 3 size 9 Zero, Val and Kate Daitais aboard. Should I replace this with a full size A6M3 Daitai and put a 27 ac Kate Daitai aboard the new cve?

I would operate full 27 plane units off the CVE's. If you have 2 of them in play, a 27 plane Zero and 27 plane Kate is what I would use.

That is probably as good as it gets 2ndACR...! 2 more days and another cve arrives - then the Mini KB will reform and set sail for Truk. Cvl Zuiho down to 17 sys damage, but the cve still got 20.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/27/42


Surface Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 1096 encounters mine field at Lunga (67,97)

Allied Ships
DMS Trevor
APD Stringham, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage - subs placed these mines
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bombardments

Naval bombardment of Panaji, at 17,14 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

33 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. - continued bombardments while we await the troops
Japanese Ships
BB Fuso
CA Mikuma, Shell hits 3
BB Hyuga
BB Nagato, Shell hits 3
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 3
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 10
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 2
Port supply hits 4
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23 - fewer enemy units are now reported to be at Calcutta and af damage isn't being repaired as quickly as before

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41
Ki-21 Sally x 53
Ki-48 Lily x 45

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
49 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 87

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 38th Chinese Division, at 30,33

Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 6
Ki-51 Sonia x 18

Allied aircraft
Lysander I x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Lysander I: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged - even Nates can shoot down Lysanders

Aircraft Attacking:
18 x Ki-51 Sonia bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 17
Ki-21 Sally x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
7 casualties reported

Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Colombo , at 14,24

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
G3M Nell x 7
G4M1 Betty x 23

Allied aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 18 damaged

Allied aircraft losses - seems like we caught the birds on the ground today [8D]
B-17E Fortress: 3 destroyed, 3 damaged
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged
Beaufort V-IX: 4 destroyed, 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged
Blenheim IV: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
35 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
All Nell and G4M1 Betty bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Kweilin - the Chinese troops will have a rought time here

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 34573 troops, 274 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 43761 troops, 439 guns, 2 vehicles
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Calcutta

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 14983 troops, 136 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 56944 troops, 279 guns, 144 vehicles - I've left a sizeable force here while moving around on the flanks

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at 31,22

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 8382 troops, 120 guns, 1 vehicles

Defending force 6388 troops, 59 guns, 0 vehicles - 2 Burmese brigades were chased of the railroad south of Asansol today!

Japanese assault odds: 6 to 1

Japanese ground losses:
105 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
152 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tarawa

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 1430 troops, 0 guns, 75 vehicles

Defending force 4153 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles - I think Al forgot to stand this unit down

Allied assault odds: 0 to 1

Allied ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

There seems to be a lot of movement around Calcutta - several of my tank regiments are trying to flank the enemy positions while 2 divisions are marching towards Asansol. Enemy troops have been seen to leave Calcutta and it is possible that this major city will be abandoned soon.

The air attack against Colombo destroyed a lot of different ac types - hopefully we prevented the heavies from hitting Madras or Trimcomalee again.

The 1st Carrier division is heading NE 6 hexes west of India and will isolate Karachi and Bombay completely while the battleships await fuel, escorts and the fall of Panaji.

Central/South Pacific

As can be seen on the map, several enemy tf's are heading towards Lunga and westwards. This indicates that further action is imminent! Mining operations will now be concentrated on Shortland and Rabaul.

Situation Map: Situation in the Solomons

Todays 2nd update [:)]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/28/42

Surface Combat

Sub/ASW Attacks

ASW attack at 15,2 - a bad day for IJN subs. Nothing new though [:'(]

Japanese Ships
SS I-122, hits 3, on fire, heavy damage *sinks*

Allied Ships - this asw group operates west of Karachi
MSW Burnie
MSW Romney
MSW Poole
MSW Cromer
PG Hollyhock
MSW Cairns
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tarawa at 85,91

Japanese Ships
SS I-16, hits 4, on fire, heavy damage *sinks*

Allied Ships - the bb is targetted, but it is the hunter that is finally hunted down...
BB Maryland
DMS Dorsey
DD Phelps
DD Perkins
DD Walke
DD O'Brien
DD Monssen
DD Grayson
CL Leander
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bombardments

Naval bombardment of Panaji, at 17,14 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

25 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
BB Hyuga
BB Fuso
BB Nagato
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 2
BB Haruna, Shell hits 3
BB Kongo, Shell hits 1

Allied ground losses:
29 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Tarawa, at 85,91

Allied Ships
CLAA Atlanta
CL Leander
CA Astoria
BB Idaho
BB Colorado
BB Maryland

Japanese ground losses:
103 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 47
Ki-21 Sally x 53
Ki-48 Lily x 35

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
4 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 88

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 4
B-17E Fortress x 29

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged - these ac were destroyed on the ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 8 damaged - 1 lost to Zeros

Japanese Ships - damaged ships repairing in the harbour
PG Hashidate, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tempei Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
37 casualties reported

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 7
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17E Fortress bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft - tomorrow this force will attack Asansol
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 40

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
11 casualties reported

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 20

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Tarawa at 85,91

Japanese aircraft - a very meagre strike
A6M2 Zero x 2
G3M Nell x 4

Allied aircraft - just as well since Tarawa now got its own CAP
P-40B Tomahawk x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40B Tomahawk: 1 damaged
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Kweilin

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 34542 troops, 263 guns, 0 vehicles

Defending force 51943 troops, 527 guns, 2 vehicles - I've moved reinforcements in and the enemy will not get anywhere!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

Todays second situation map gives a detailed overview of the operations in India!
It's now clear that the enemy is moving troops out of Calcutta - but a tank regiment today moved in west of the city to cut it of from the railroad. Asansol is also almost surrounded and shock troops will enter the city tomorrow.
The same is the case with Hyderabad and Panaji!

I'm having some problems with 'de-railed' units that have left the railroad and is stuck in the wildernes until they can get back onto track again [:'(] From what Al is telling me, he's having similar problems.

Central/South Pacific

It's now pretty clear that the enemy is moving his assets west towards Lunga and PM - I'm anticipating another invasion in the Solomons shortly. There are now 2000 mines at Rabaul and 600 at Shortland. Naval bombers at Kwajalein have been moved to Truk and I've airlifted a larger base force to Gasmata. Tomorrow Kavieng will be a size 2 af with support for 90 ac.

There are a lot of enemy targets for my subs, but I don't dare using them cause they sink at first contact [:(]
Have to save them until there are damaged enemy ships to hit...

I got 100 Betties at Rangoon and Singapore, and this reserve will move to Truk as soon as an enemy threat materialises.
An A6M3 Daitai has also been moved from Japan to the Marianas and will reach Rabaul tomorrow.

Situation Map: India

Todays 3rd update - we're making up for lost ground this week!

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/29/42

Surface Combat

Bombardments

Naval bombardment of Panaji, at 17,14 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

56 Coastal gun shots fired in defense. - tomorrow we capture this base...I hope!
Japanese Ships
CA Mikuma
BB Hyuga
BB Fuso, Shell hits 8
BB Nagato, Shell hits 5
BB Kirishima, Shell hits 4
BB Haruna
BB Kongo

Allied ground losses:
13 casualties reported
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 40
Ki-21 Sally x 50
Ki-48 Lily x 27

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
26 casualties reported

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 75

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Koepang , at 28,77 - these 'traininig' attacks are common place

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 16
B-25C Mitchell x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 2 destroyed - destroyed 2 search planes on the ground today


Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
All Hudson and B-25C Mitchell bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 14
P-40E Warhawk x 3
B-17E Fortress x 76 - Wow! Look at this, 76 Forts! Something's definetly up...

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed, 7 damaged - 1 was destroyed by the Forts, the rest on the ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 7 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
155 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

Airbase hits 7
Runway hits 46 - the base remains open, there are 75 engineers at Lae!
Port supply hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17E Fortress bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 47402 troops, 263 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 22818 troops, 118 guns, 1 vehicles - tomorrow we attack, Calcutta should fall within days now as the enemy is leaving!

Allied ground losses:
64 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

The 1st Carrier Division remains hidden in the Indian Ocean while the 2nd continues towards Singapore and Truk.
A full division has reached Panaji and will capture the base tomorrow! A powerful assault has been ordered against Asansol as well
as Calcutta. As soon as the forts have been reduced, we can pursuit the enemy towards Delhi. Except from Colombo and Bombay, which are extremely
vulnerable to naval bombardment - Dehli is the only size 4 af base left to the enemy in India as soon as the south has been captured.

It seems to me that Sallys and Lilys can perform the air bombardment role well enough in India, so the 200 or so Betties and Nells in the area will
all prepare to move to Wewak and Truk.

Central/South Pacific

The heavy raid on Lae was undoubtedly an attempt to close it down, but it is not as easy as it was in UV!
There are no less than 10 heavy cruisers at Truk now, the big type with powerful torpedo batteries - I'm really itching to throw them at the Allies, but we
have to be patient... Tomorrow the Mini KB will sortie, escorted by the mightiest battleship in the World - the Yamato!

For now I'm only planning to defend in the South Pacific - if India falls, Burma falls! If Burma falls, China falls...if China falls, Russia falls -> Game over! [8D]

It looks like the allies are getting on the move in the Pacific. You have to force a decision in India soon now as defensive operations in the Pacific are going to suck up more and more forces and you have many soft points to cover. Each loss you suffer there will require you to net additional VPs in India........

If you get bogged down in India I think you're toast anyway, so you have to keep your focus there and try to dodge his bullets in the Pacific as long as you can. Don't let yourself get pulled into a war of attrition. You can afford to lose a few forward bases as long as you keep moving in India and you do not have enough resources to fight in both areas.

I think this campaign will reach a climax in the next few weeks.

Hi Arstavidios! Al has to try to take advantage of my adventure in India, but I'm still having a formidable force in the Central/South Pacific.
I don't think I'm bogging down in India - the campaign has been a swift one, and my troops continue their advance. Al has to come up with some mighty
mojo to stop them [;)]

Capturing India doesn't only mean a lot of VP's - it means that I've managed to knock the British out of the war! This will enable me to concentrate
forces in the South Pacific. Even though the British is the poor relative compared to the Yanks, they become stronger and stronger as the war progresses.
I would feel a lot more comfortable fighting on one front only.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 05/30/42

Air Combat

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Calcutta , at 29,23

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
Ki-21 Sally x 49
Ki-48 Lily x 34

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 134 - 83% af damage now - attacks will be diverted elsewere

Aircraft Attacking:
All Sally and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Lae , at 54,87

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft - another heavy strike closes Lae down!
Kittyhawk I x 15
P-40E Warhawk x 27
B-17E Fortress x 60

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed, 4 damaged - Again all losses are caused on the ground
E13A1 Jake: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
PG Hashidate, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 37
Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All B-17E Fortress bombing at 8000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 84th Chinese Corps, at 44,38

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 22
Ki-48 Lily x 28
Ki-49 Helen x 16
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
86 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Aircraft Attacking:
All Helen and Ki-48 Lily bombing at 5000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 1st Malaya Brigade, at 31,21

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 31

No Japanese losses

Allied ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Aircraft Attacking:
All Ki-21 Sally bombing at 6000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 14,6 - todays first surprise!

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30

Allied aircraft - British ac attacks Car Div 1 at long range!
Fulmar x 16
Swordfish x 19

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses - Zeros shoot down most of the attackers
Fulmar: 18 destroyed, 2 damaged
Swordfish: 20 destroyed, 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Hatsuyuki
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba, Bomb hits 1

Aircraft Attacking: - the Swordfish attack at extreme range and SKIP BOMB my ships!! [X(]
1 x Swordfish attacking at 100 feet
3 x Swordfish attacking at 100 feet
4 x Swordfish attacking at 100 feet
4 x Swordfish attacking at 100 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,10

Japanese aircraft - again my bombers fly unescorted
B5N Kate x 15

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 10 destroyed, 6 damaged - they suffer damage

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1, on fire - but hit their prey
CV Formidable

Aircraft Attacking:
All B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,10

Japanese aircraft - a second and larger strike, AGAIN unescorted! [:@]
D3A Val x 22
B5N Kate x 22

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 23 destroyed, 4 damaged - I loose 29 bombers to flak and air to air combat today
B5N Kate: 14 destroyed, 15 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Formidable, Bomb hits 1 - 250kg bombs simply bounce of the British carriers flight decks!
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage - the torpedoes are fortunately more effective

Aircraft Attacking:
All D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
All B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,10

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 18 - another unescorted strike [:(]
Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 11 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Formidable, Bomb hits 2 - again the bombs bounce

Aircraft Attacking:
All D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,10

Japanese aircraft
B5N Kate x 11- and another one, I've almost given up now, why is this happening ALL the time?

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 13

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged

Allied Ships
CV Formidable
CV Illustrious, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage - this was the death blow and the Illustrious sinks! [8D]

Aircraft Attacking:
All B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 15,10

Japanese aircraft - a small strike from Madras
A6M2 Zero x 4
G4M1 Betty x 8

Allied aircraft
Fulmar x 15

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Illustrious, on fire, heavy damage - but their target has already been sunk!

Aircraft Attacking:
All G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Calcutta

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 52896 troops, 266 guns, 144 vehicles

Defending force 22972 troops, 128 guns, 1 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 7) - these forts have to be reduced before the city falls, engineers have gone to Asansol.

Japanese ground losses:
530 casualties reported
Guns lost 7
Vehicles lost 1

Allied ground losses:
223 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Hyderabad

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 73427 troops, 803 guns, 27 vehicles

Defending force 12772 troops, 162 guns, 5 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Hyderabad base !!!

Japanese ground losses:
299 casualties reported
Guns lost 9
Vehicles lost 2

Allied ground losses:
386 casualties reported
Guns lost 28
Vehicles lost 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Asansol

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 42696 troops, 255 guns, 2 vehicles

Defending force 14262 troops, 64 guns, 0 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 5 - the enemy is already moving out of Asansol

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 5

Japanese ground losses:
337 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Allied ground losses:
292 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Panaji

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20550 troops, 204 guns, 4 vehicles

Defending force 2698 troops, 29 guns, 1 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 45 to 1 (fort level 5)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Panaji base !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar: 7 destroyed - the remainding ac from the Illustrious?

Japanese ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Report

India

I was really surprised when a lot of Allied ships suddenly popped up all around my carriers in the Indian Ocean!!
Wobbly probably wanted to strike my bombardment tf at Panaji - as it happened he found himself caught between this force and Car Div 1.
Attacking at extreme range Zeros cut both Fulmars and Swordfish torpedo bombers to pieces. The ones that got through skip bombed my ships
and actually hit a cruiser with a bomb that bounced.

The old ghost - unescorted carrier strikes - haunted me again! 3-4 raids went in without a single escort. This is not an isolated incident, and I'm quite
mad about it all. I really don't trust my carrier force anymore, in this game my small 2-3 cv tf's commanded by my best commanders repeatedly dispatch
my crack naval pilots without escorts.

Well, the HMS Illustrious was hit by several torpedos and sank, cashing in 191 vp's. The HMS Formidable was hit by several bombs, but somewhat surprisingly
all the 250kg bombs bounced!? These cv's didn't have THAT thick armor on their flight decks, did they...

Flak and CAP accounted for 14 Kates and 15 Vals - I guess I should be happy with this since I sank an enemy carrier and got away with it.
I now had a very difficult decision to make: There are several transport tf's to the north - and these could be carrying troops for Karachi! I assume that these ships
are the same that scattered when I first ran into the British carriers.

This is what I did: The Kaga and 4 escorts will head north and intercept the transports - she got 52 ac: 28 Zeros, 18 Vals & 8 Kates.
The Akagi and the cvl got more intact airgroups and will attempt to sink the HMS Formidable. This group is sent almost due south and will meet with the replenishment
tf that has been trailing the 1st Car Div. Al can't move towards land, my lba will get to him - so I think he will try to make a high speed dash to the south east!
If the God of War smiles to me, the set course will intercept just such an attempt!

My battleships have been refueled at Panaji, the 11k of fuel captured here came in handy. The force will move north to hit Bombay!

Central/Southern Pacific

The Mini KB was formed today and is now heading towards Truk: It carries 140 ac + 2 Daitais for Truk.
The Zero Daitai at Lae was moved back to Truk - it has received a rough treatment lately!

Situation Map: Carrier Battle in the Indian Ocean

You had all your carrier strikes unescorted.......
Did you set an objective to your fighter group on the previous days?
If so your fighters won't escort other raids even if the original target is not attacked. You have to reset the objective of the mission before they start flying again.

This might be an explanation.........[&:]

Unescorted carrier strikes:-

I have seen this happen where the CAP level is set to 50%. Also when the range of the Zeros is set to something other than maximum. You can safely leave it at 11 since the actual range is determined by that of the torp/dive bombers.

Thx for the reply guys, appreciate it! [:)]

I don't think my Zeros got any other set missions, but it is possible that they both got a lower range setting as well as being set to 50% CAP.

Can anyone else confirm that such settings may s€rew up the fighter escort for cv strikes? If so it sounds more like a bug to me, but any solution at this point would be welcome since my unescorted raids are costing me a lot of good pilots!