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Having weathered the attack, and done a fair bit of damage to the enemy combat squads, the dogfaces blitz their Stuarts into the railroad station supported by the Australians in their Humbers. They overrun the Naval Guard squads as they try to recover from their reckless charge, and the tanks are into the railroad station, savaging trains loaded with enemy troopers....Japanese morale is at the breaking point...wavering....but they manage to hold just barely.

The Japanese Naval Guards and Marines are completely shattered, the Army troopers mauled...and Japanese have no forts, and their weapons aren't really adequate to stop tanks. Lt General Mackay orders an all out attack for the morrow hoping, against all hope, that the Japanese are stuck detraining and more enemy troops don't arrive.

Ground combat at Kalgoorlie (56,147)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 844 troops, 3 guns, 130 vehicles, Assault Value = 70

Defending force 4917 troops, 32 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 152

Allied adjusted assault: 52

Japanese adjusted defense: 31

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), preparation(-), fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
341 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
193rd Tank Battalion
2/11th Armoured Car Regiment

Defending units:
41st Infantry Regiment
I/81st Naval Guard Unit
2nd Sasebo SNLF Coy

Dec 10, 1942

Kalgoorlie holds....hopefully not for too much longer.

Dec 11, 1942

Dutch still fighting! Large concentration of enemy shipping at Akyab, along with 24 IJA units.

China...tanks all over the plains.

Dang! You needed a double-secret shock attack!

Dec 12, 1942

Daytime industry bombing...

Dec 13, 1942

Our war of maneuver seems to be working in Burma....goal has been liberation of Magwe and the oil and refineries there to fuel Chinese Industry...secondary goal would be to capture Ramree by paradrop to act as a forward supply base.

Fortress Lashio is such a great defensive AFB play...you can get a full HQ bonus, great terrain, air supply from India and prevents China from being invaded thru Paoshan. Tying up IJA troops here also weakens the IJ thrust on Ledo.

Dec 14, 1942

Two IJA Tank Divisions taking the long road from the Chungking plains thru the mountains....should be interesting and a very positive development I think.

Fighting is heating up in Burma....we broke into the Magwe plains a little too early, but it did draw a division west. I guess they will keep going west in an attempt to break out the 24 units under siege at Akyab. If they move across the river to the east they will run into 1 2/3rd dug in divisions.

Late to the party here...just now upgraded a Blenheim squadron to Vengeance DB....seems like that is the play since you 25 a month and only dribs and drabs of the Blenheims. I like Blennies in open terrain:

Morning Air attack on 24th Infantry Regiment, at 60,44 , near Shwebo

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 30
Hurricane IIb Trop x 8
Hurricane IIc Trop x 9

No Allied losses

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

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Blenheim IV bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb
15 x Blenheim IV bombing from 5000 feet
Ground Attack: 4 x 250 lb GP Bomb

Going in....with only the 8th NZ Bde....

Moving forward....

Marcus has CD guns once more, and minefields, and cats, and marines, and Wolverines and Stuarts, and it is one tough nut for Japan to Crack.

The Vengeance can come in handy against naval assets that get too close. Mine always seem to get shredded by CAP, though, so be careful using them.

Cheers,
CB

December 15th, 1942

So, the 99th Indian Bde is caught in the open northwest of Magwe by an IJA Division....I know there will be lots of enemy LRCAP to prevent my bombing of the IJA Divisions so I craftily decide to whittle down the IJ Airforce.

We set our sweeps to hit them both during the morning and the afternoon, using the less dogfighting capable planes in the afternoon, and the better aerial planes in the morning. I did this by setting the afternoon planes to naval attack primary, and sweep secondary to get that afternoon sweep. I wanted to maximize the number of enemy fighters we engaged, and also to get our weaker dogfighting planes against his fatigued planes and pilots in the afternoon.

I think it turned out well, and the 99th Indian got trashed, but retreated in an interesting position and the IJA division turned SW down the road also quite interesting.
First raid of the day...lots of enemy planes

Morning Air attack on 18th Division, at 57,45 , near Magwe

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 10
A6M5 Zero x 66
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 59
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 20
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 10
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 19

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hurricane IIc Trop: 2 destroyed

Fairly good results:

8th New Zealand ashore at Norfolk....36 fatigue, 2 disruption....do I attack today, bombard with the 25#ers, or simply wait two days and time my attack with the next scheduled bombardment. An American armor unit is also prepped, but I would like for them to head for Koumac instead of landing on a port 0 base....32nd Naval Garrison unit is the only unit ID...but their are 3 units and 4k troops present.
Two units identified:

Pre-Invasion action off Norfolk Island (113,170)

25 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
BB Mississippi
BB New Mexico
DD John D. Edwards
DD Dale
AMC Cap des Palmes
DD Gilmer

Japanese ground losses:
178 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

BB Mississippi firing at 32nd Nav Gsn Unit
BB New Mexico firing at 14th JAAF AF Bn
DD John D. Edwards firing at 32nd Nav Gsn Unit

Nauru Island bombarded, now that it is clear of mines. AKEs at Ocean island. Six enemy units present:

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
ACM Tama Maru, Shell hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Honolulu
CL Marblehead
DD Conyngham
DD Case
DD Cummings
DD Preston
DD Fanning
DD Dunlap

Japanese ground losses:
294 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 40 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Airbase hits 32
Airbase supply hits 18
Runway hits 50
Port hits 10
Port supply hits 1

CL Honolulu firing at Nauru Island

Night Naval bombardment of Nauru Island at 127,128

Japanese Ships
ACM Tama Maru #2, Shell hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Trenton
DD Aylwin
DD Clark
DD Patterson
DD Henley
DD Bagley

Japanese ground losses:
80 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 19
Port hits 4
Port supply hits 1

SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CL Trenton
CL Trenton firing at Maizuru 3rd SNLF

Noumea also nailed by a strong heavy cruiser force....3 units present:

Night Naval bombardment of Noumea at 115,160

Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis
CA New Orleans
CA Salt Lake City
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CA Houston
CL Nashville
DD Kane
DD Dewey
DD Downes
DD Shaw
DD Barton
DD Aaron Ward

Japanese ground losses:
100 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Resources hits 1
Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 17
Port hits 15
Port supply hits 1

SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Minneapolis
CA Minneapolis firing at Noumea
CA New Orleans firing at Kure 2nd SNLF

Was it worth losing 130+ fighters over two days to trash this brigade...since it had no disablements prior to the attack today the actual destroyed devices is very small and the important guns all survived.
PO Cochrane N. of No.258 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
PO Stevenson M. of No.258 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 4
PO Ellsworth G. of No.258 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 3
CPT Hampshire, J.F. of 23rd FG/76th FS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Lubner, M.W. of 23rd FG/76th FS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Harper P. of 23rd FG/76th FS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Johnson B. of 23rd FG/76th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Gold A. of 23rd FG/76th FS is credited with kill number 3
WO Barton, J. of No.14 Sqn RNZAF is credited with kill number 2
PO Farr, L.R. of No.14 Sqn RNZAF is credited with kill number 3
2LT Ingram N. of 343rd FG/11th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Browning M. of 343rd FG/11th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Jones N. of 343rd FG/11th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Jones N. of 343rd FG/11th FS attains ace status!!
1LT Flowers L. of 343rd FG/11th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Jones N. of 343rd FG/11th FS is credited with kill number 6
2LT Wilborn K. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT French N. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Conkling F. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 5
1LT Conkling F. of 35th FG/39th FS attains ace status!!
2LT Landry U. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 6
1LT Campbell S. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Peck B. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 10
1LT Conkling F. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 6
1LT Campbell S. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 4
2LT Bronson S. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Morrissey O. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 4
2LT Gates P. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 4
2LT Bong, R.I. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Kellogg J. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 5
1LT Kellogg J. of 35th FG/39th FS attains ace status!!
2LT Gates P. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Gates P. of 35th FG/39th FS attains ace status!!
MAJ Lynch, T.J. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Dionne F. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Morrissey O. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Morrissey O. of 35th FG/39th FS attains ace status!!
2LT Dionne F. of 35th FG/39th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Tapner F. of 35th FG/41st FS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Franklin R. of 35th FG/41st FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Conroy E. of 35th FG/41st FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Browning G. of 35th FG/41st FS is credited with kill number 2
1LT Brors L. of 35th FG/41st FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Brors C. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Finley E. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Morgan V. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 3
1LT Andrews U. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 3
2LT Daley O. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 2
2LT Koonce B. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 5
2LT Koonce B. of 23rd FG/74th FS attains ace status!!
MAJ Arnold A. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 4
1LT Morgan G. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 6
2LT Browning H. of 23rd FG/74th FS is credited with kill number 2
PO Campbell, J.A. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 5
PO Campbell, J.A. of No.136 Sqn RAF attains ace status!!
PO Doyle E. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
WO Evans D. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
PO Dobbins T. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 2
PO Dobbins T. of No.136 Sqn RAF is credited with kill number 3
FO Chun I. of 4th FG/21st FS CAF is credited with kill number 2
2LT Zhang R. of 4th FG/21st FS CAF is credited with kill number 2
2LT Jri-zbe N. of 4th FG/21st FS CAF is credited with kill number 2
FO Chong U. of 4th FG/21st FS CAF is credited with kill number 2
MAJ Ginn R. of 4th FG/21st FS CAF is credited with kill number 2

CaptBeefheart wrote: Wed May 25, 2022 5:05 am The Vengeance can come in handy against naval assets that get too close. Mine always seem to get shredded by CAP, though, so be careful using them.

Cheers,
CB

Isn't that true for every British bomber? I am fairly cautious with them, but looks like they will be going up against the IJA tank divisions on the mountain road. I converted three squadrons so far.

As a JFB Blennies, Wellingtons, Vengeance all fall from the sky in satisfying numbers...