Scenario 19, Allies strike Truk

[toraq]

This day saw a major attempt to strike the invasion force...Because my combat replay is different from his combat replay (which I don´t like at all), I have partial information of what happened to his ships.
Anyway, my opponets acted (or was forced due to the weather) very strange. Things that shocked me were:
a) No CAP present over GG: maybe they were LCAP another convoy)
b) PM was not attacked from Rabaul (weather?)
c) No LCAP over one convoy...maybe this convoy was unable to follow one of the leading TFs and thus was caught unescorted

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/23/42

Weather: Overcast

Weather covered the main invasion force so my planes attacked another TF which was without CAP. It was severely damaged

STEP 1: Heavy bombers bring the hell to GG
No CAP present and thus my B17 destroyed some planes on the ground. Why no CAP??. Who knows...

Japanese aircraft
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 23 ***I wanted them to escort the naval strikes from Cooktown but I guess I can´t avoid this***
B-17E Fortress x 64
B-24D Liberator x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 5 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 2 damaged ***5 lost, quite unfair. My crews were with high morale and no fatigue****

Japanese Ships
AG 2063, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***B24 attack port***

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 1946
Guns lost 5

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 73 ***Not many hits***
Port hits 2

STEP 2: B25 attack ships anchored in GG
No CAP so my B25 went there. Various strikes no big success. All attacking at 1000 feet.

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIC x 21
B-25D Mitchell x 13
B-25D Mitchell x 12
B-25D Mitchell x 3
B-25D Mitchell x 3

TK Toa Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

STEP 3: B26 ride alone
This time main Tf group is attacked. B26 proved to be hard to shoot down. But my pilots also proved to be quite bad aiming his bombs!. All attacking at 1000 feet

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 81

Allied aircraft ***various attacks***
B-26B Marauder x 12
B-26B Marauder x 10
B-26B Marauder x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder x 1 destroyed x 14 damaged ***maily due to AA fire***


Japanese Ships
BB Hiei
CA Chikuma
Japanese Ships
AP Hinko Maru
CL Natori
AP Arizona Maru

STEP 4: FIRST ATTACK: KILL THEM ALL!!!!!!!!
Weather force my planes to attack this unescorted TF. Even the AA fire was very poor!

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 59
SBD Dauntless x 78
TBF Avenger x 24
Beaufort x 6
P-39D Airacobra x 20
P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 36
A-20B Havoc x 13


Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger x 1 damaged

Japanese Ships [8D]
AP Tama Maru #2, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Jintsu, Shell hits 24, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***sinks***
DD Kazegumo, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Tatsuho Maru
AP Horaisan Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AP Sado Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Sakido Maru
AP Hokuriku Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Otori Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Hokkai Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Aiyo Maru
AP Shozan Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses: ***no many men lost***
Men lost 234
Guns lost 3
Due to my different combat report, I can´t say which APs later sunk[&:]

B26 join the party

Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 10

Japanese Ships
AP Sakido Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AP Yamura Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 20

STEP 5: HOKA HEY!!! A GOOD DAY TO DIE
Finally, what everyone was expecting...a really bloodbath between my poor fighters. Look at F4F losses

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 80

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 34
SBD Dauntless x 41
Beaufort x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 7
A-20B Havoc x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 4 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 16 destroyed x 2 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 8 destroyed x 19 damaged
Beaufort x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
P-40E Warhawk x 6 destroyed x 1 damaged
A-20B Havoc x 2 damaged

PO2 N.Hamano of BII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 4
LTJG R. Hoyle of VF-2 is KILLED

Japanese Ships ***Didn´t attack the CVs[:@]***
DD Hayashio
CA Mogami, Bomb hits 1
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2, on fire ***It is a shame that I could not see this***
CA Maya
DD Tokitsukaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Air attack on TF at 10,41
Again my pilots avoided CVs!!!!! and went for the BBs. Stupid!

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36 ***Not really, same CAP as above***

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 67
SBD Dauntless x 12
TBF Avenger x 17
Beaufort x 4
P-39D Airacobra x 17
P-40E Kittyhawk x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 43
A-20B Havoc x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 8 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33 destroyed x 14 damaged [:(][:(]
SBD Dauntless x 4 damaged
TBF Avenger x 1 destroyed x 6 damaged
Beaufort x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
P-39D Airacobra x 1 destroyed
P-40E Kittyhawk x 9 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk x 19 destroyed x 5 damaged [:(]
A-20B Havoc x 1 destroyed x 6 damaged

CPO H.Matsuki of BII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 8
SLDR S.Abbott of No. 75 Sqn RAAF is KILLED

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Shell hits 4, Bomb hits 1
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CS Chitose, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 2, on fire ***What kind of bombs???***
CA Mogami
CL Yura
DD Arashi

Minor strikes with major success

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 68

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 3
TBF Avenger x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 3 destroyed
TBF Avenger x 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVL Ryujo
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 68

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 17
TBF Avenger x 6

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 8 destroyed x 11 damaged
TBF Avenger x 3 destroyed x 3 damaged

PO1 R.Minegishi of EII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 7

Japanese Ships
CV Akagi, Bomb hits 1 [&:][&:]
CV Zuikaku, on fire
CVL Ryujo

Final losses Horrible...100 planes lost due to air combats. Total losses 139 vs 28[:(]

F4F 54 ***25% of my F4F forces***
P40 23 ***Got replacements for them***
SBD 23 ***Well it could be worse***
P40E 8 ***No replacements for these kittyhawks***
B26 8 ***Well done***
TBF 8 ***Many damaged***
B17 5

A6M2 13 ***proved to be untouchable***
Oscar 5
Topsy 3
Betty 2

While my fighters have been mauled, my bombers are still fresh and with enough morale to repeat the attack. Next turn, weather is clear so I´m attacking again!

[toraq]

Hard days...very hard days for the allies
My enemy devastated PM with night bombardments which destroyed and damaged lots of aircraft. Later on, his Betties and Nells attacked proving that my F4F had nothing to do against Zero...Nothing, well not absolutely nothing as you may see in this combat report.
It seems that PM was closed because no offensive missions were launched, only CAP [&:].
One AP sunk with some troops of the 13 Rgt.

Naval bombardment of Port Moresby
A total of 4 today, three at night one in the afternoon.

1st one
Surely was performed by the TF with the Kongo (now with only CAs)
Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra x 1 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra x 5 damaged

Japanese Ships ***very poor cosidering that I have 2 CD units with no less than 15 155mm guns and 6 or 7 5 inch guns***
CA Nachi, Shell hits 1
DD Isonami, Shell hits 1, on fire
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 53

Airbase hits 4
Runway hits 35

2nd one
This hurts guys, hurts a lot. This devastating attack performed by no less than 2 (maybe 3 BB). I complain: not only my CD units didn´t shoot but also the results are soooo good for him. If I had this result in my Timtom game.... Anyway quite impressive

Allied aircraft losses ***23 losses***
P-40E Warhawk x 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk x 1 damaged
A-20B Boston x 8 destroyed
A-20B Boston x 8 damaged
Beaufort x 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat x 5 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat x 4 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 8 destroyed
SBD Dauntless x 40 damaged***[X(][X(] See why I complain...***

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 109
Guns lost 1
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 33
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 157

3rd assault
CD units didn´t fire. Performed by CAs?? and DD???
Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 1 destroyed
SBD Dauntless x 1 damaged
P-39D Airacobra x 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
Men lost 4

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 3

Air attack on PM
For a very strange reason they didn´t manage to hit the airport facilities. Only few men died. Air losses quite high.
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 97
A6M3 Zero x 50
G3M Nell x 38
G4M1 Betty x 74
Ki-46 Dinah x 6

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50
P-40E Kittyhawk x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 9 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 7 destroyed
G3M Nell x 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 31 destroyed x 9 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 10 destroyed x 4 damaged
P-40E Warhawk x 4 destroyed x 2 damaged

CPO V.Matsunaga of F2/2nd Daitai is credited with kill number 8
LCDR C. Shands of VF-71 is KILLED [:(]

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 66

His naval bombers attack a MSW which was fleeing from PM´s port
Two strikes, first one a draw, second one a clear Allied victory [:)][:)]

Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 48
D3A Val x 26
B5N Kate x 33

Allied aircraft ***Usually few aircraft do a better job than massive CAPs***
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9
P-40E Kittyhawk x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 7 destroyed
P-40E Kittyhawk x 2 destroyed

CPO E.Murakami of CII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 7
1LT W. Lamoreaux of VMF-224 is KILLED
Allied Ships
MSW Ballarat, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage

Afternoon strike
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 50
D3A Val x 37
B5N Kate x 34

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 40
P-40E Kittyhawk x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 23 destroyed [8D][:)]
D3A Val x 2 destroyed
B5N Kate x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 4 destroyed x 1 damaged ***good against Zeroes***
P-40E Kittyhawk x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged ***performed excellently***
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed ***did nothing***

ENS R.Edmonds of VF-71 is credited with kill number 4

Allied Ships
MSW Ballarat, on fire, heavy damage

Heavies visit GG again
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 9

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIC x 17
P-38G Lightning x 22
B-17E Fortress x 55
B-24D Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 6 destroyed x 5 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 1 damaged ***no loses***

Japanese Ships
AG 362, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PC Ch 17, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 1080
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 54
Port hits 2
Port fuel hits 1

B26 flying from Cooktown attack invasion force
Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3
A6M2 Zero x 43
A6M3 Zero x 9

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIC x 17
P-38G Lightning x 20
B-26B Marauder x 15
B-25D Mitchell x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe x 4 destroyed
A6M2 Zero x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter VIC x 5 destroyed x 4 damaged ***suffered a lot today***
P-38G Lightning x 1 destroyed ***1st P38 lost, they are absolutely tired and with no morale***
B-26B Marauder x 1 destroyed 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, on fire
CV Akagi ***no damage***

Total losses Allied 94 vs 63 lost by IJ player. Air to air 63 vs 53
39 F4F
13 Kittyhawk
11 SBD
7 Warhawk
7 Beaufighter
6 Boston
3 Marauder
2 P38
2 P39
2 Catalina

Japanese
32 A6M2
10 A6M3
7 Betty
3 Val
2 Kate
3 Rufe

Forces at PM:

F4F: 49 ready (25 damaged)
SBD: 38 (63)
Warhawk: 2 (20)
Kittyhawk: 12 (6)
P39: 82 (14)
Beaufort: 12 (4)
Havoc: 10 (28)
B26: 16 ***recently arrived***
TBF: 26 (29)
No less than 247 serviceable aircraft, but 190 still damaged!!!

[toraq]

PM SITUATION

[toraq]

Again a hard day but I surprised some APs unloading troops in Buna. No CAP so my naval bombers venged the last air losses.
My enemy is moving his entire fleet and my recon planes are unable to spot so many ships rightly. This is important because my next movements are based in the information available.
As no Tokyo Express visited PM and strangely his bombers did not damage the airport, PM is almost repaired.

Level bombers attack PM from Rabaul
For a strange reason, his level bombers do not damage the runway or the airfield service.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 108
A6M3 Zero x 40
G3M Nell x 35
G4M1 Betty x 59
Ki-46 Dinah x 5

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 23
P-40E Kittyhawk x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9 destroyed x 3 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged

LTJG U.Katsuma of F2/1st Daitai is credited with kill number 6
FLT L.Goodwin of No. 76 Sqn RAAF is KILLED

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 32

All attacking at 6000 feet

And now a second strike from Naval Bombers
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46
D3A Val x 69
B5N Kate x 63

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 33
P-40E Kittyhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 9 destroyed [:)]
D3A Val x 2 destroyed
D3A Val x 2 damaged
B5N Kate x 6 destroyed [:)]

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

PO1 R.Minegishi of EII-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 8
PO2 N.Hamano of BII-1 Daitai bails out and is CAPTURED

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 33

Heavies attack GG
Not much damaged and some Betties took off today to attack one of my DDs

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 25
P-38G Lightning x 18
B-25D Mitchell x 14
B-17E Fortress x 43
B-24D Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged


Japanese Ships
PC Takunan Maru #10, Bomb hits 2, on fire
AG 2064, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 363, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 2063, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 1337
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 56
Port hits 3

Transport TF surprised in Buna
I guess my enemy is trying to ferry some troops to Buna, now that PM is heavily attacked. Also a infantry unit has been spotted coming to PM.
Well done guys, well done[:'(] (only one mission)

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 25
SBD Dauntless x 40
TBF Avenger x 6
Beaufort x 4
P-39D Airacobra x 54
P-40E Kittyhawk x 10
B-26B Marauder x 6
A-20B Havoc x 5

Allied aircraft losses
TBF Avenger x 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Teia Maru
AP Yamakisan Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Batavia Maru, Shell hits 36, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
APD 2
AP Sangetsu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Meiten Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
DD Shiokaze, Shell hits 8
DD Yugiri, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Manju Maru
APD 38, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
APD 35, Shell hits 12, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Kinryu Maru, Torpedo hits 1
AP Kiyozumi Maru
AP Kirishima Maru
DD Yunagi
AP Montevideo Maru

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 447
Guns lost 5
Vehicles lost 1

Losses
Allied Total 28 (allied) vs 30 (jap).
10 F4F
Beaufighters 4
B25 3
P38 3
Kittyhawks 3
Marauder, SBD and PBY 2 each

Japanese
A6M2 14
Kate 5
Val 3
And some others

Aircraft available at PM

F4F 28 ready (26 damaged)
SBD 47 ready (74 damaged)
TBF: 26 (29)
Wirraways 60 (2) ***recently arrived***
PBY 12 (1)
Warhawk 0 (20)
Kitty 4 (6)
P39 81 (15)
Marauder 16 (0)
Beufort 11 (5)
Havoc 9 (28)

[toraq]

This first incursion met some success. [;)] Ships at GG were surprised and severely damaged or sunk.
On the other hand, my bombers were able to took off but attacked the Buna invasion and not the PM one!!![:@].
His LB carpet bombed PM but again with little success.

IJ ships surprised at GG
One of my DD struck a mine (US one!!) and it is on fire but they still managed to attack unescorted ships.

Japanese Ships
AP Hino Maru #3
AP Taimei Maru, Shell hits 17, on fire, heavy damage
AP Unkai Maru #6, Shell hits 1, on fire
AP Zukai Maru, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Patterson
DD Wilson, Shell hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Conyngham
DD Fanning

Enemy attacks on PM

Night bombardement
Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway x 2 destroyed
Wirraway x 5 damaged
A-20B Boston x 1 destroyed
A-20B Boston x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 6

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 7

Day attack
It seems weather force his LB to launch the bombs in the wrong place

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 85
A6M3 Zero x 40
G3M Nell x 33
G4M1 Betty x 45
Ki-46 Dinah x 5

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell x 1 damaged
Ki-46 Dinah x 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 12
Runway hits 1

Naval bombers

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 28
D3A Val x 64

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val x 9 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk x 1 destroyed

LTJG K.Oda of AI-1 Daitai is credited with kill number 3

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 25

Now 3 Rgt have been seen in PM together with engineers, 1 ART unit and HQ...Looks bad!

And now time for venge this dead men!
Well as I said before I don not understand why they attacked the Buna invasion instead of the PM one. Both had CAP so now there´s no reason to attack Buna ships!!. Anyway, good results[:)].

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3
A6M2 Zero x 14
A6M3 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD Dauntless x 9
TBF Avenger x 6
Beaufort x 3
Wirraway x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 41
P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
B-26B Marauder x 3
A-20B Havoc x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2 destroyed x 5 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 2 damaged
TBF Avenger x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
P-39D Airacobra x 2 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 2 destroyed

LTJG O.Nomura of F2/253rd Daitai is credited with kill number 2

Japanese Ships
AP Kinryu Maru, Shell hits 8, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Teia Maru
APD 2
AP Gosei Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AP Montevideo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Shiokaze
DD Yugiri, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Batavia Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AP Yamakisan Maru, Shell hits 8, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 7

Next movements
Due to the last movements there are a lot of ships closing to PM or retreating to GG. Since I have many DDs near, I decided to send some of them in little groups to surprise unescorted APs. Look at the map to see these complicate movemnts

[toraq]

Well good and very bad news!!!!!!!!!!![:@]
i forgot to change the "patrol/react" of one of my TF and of course reacted against what???? BB Hiei and his fellowships. The worst thing is that the TF which reacted was the one with 1 CA and 2 CL[:@][:@]. As I said once: "Me han puesto el culo como la bandera del Japón". And everyship was subsequently sunk. 6 CAs already sunk in this scen....too many...and CL, 4 sunk!!!
The good news are that most of my DD TF surprised enemy APs, sinking some of them.

A nightmare....I could not watch it
I guess my TF was surprised because they only fired 6 shots vs 109 fired by the IJ. I won´t complain but...it seems quite unfair, don´t you think??????
Two times my TF was attacked

Japanese Ships
BB Hiei, Shell hits 1
CA Chikuma, Shell hits 1
CA Atago, Shell hits 3
CA Haguro
DD Amatsukaze
DD Nowaki, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Shiratsuyu
DD Samidare
DD Kawakaze
DD Fubuki

Allied Ships ***none of the ships survived***
CA Canberra, Shell hits 34, and is sunk
CL Leander, Shell hits 18, on fire, and is sunk
CL Hobart, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Gwin Shell hits 9, and is sunk
DD Morris, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
DD Bagley, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk

This disaster could be avoided. It was my fault!. I need to pay more attention but this turn was quite complicated!:

The good news
3 TF surprised...I´ve mixed the results

Japanese Ships
AP Hino Maru #3, Shell hits 7, on fire
AP Unkai Maru #6, Shell hits 24, and is sunk
AP Kyosei Maru, Shell hits 6, on fire
AP Jusan Maru
AP Kaika Maru
AP Kamishima Maru, Shell hits 28, and is sunk
AP Kamoi Maru
AP Shirogane Maru, Shell hits 18, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AP Tama Maru, Shell hits 5, on fire
AP Tenryu Maru
AP Yoshinogawa Maru, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

All these 3 TF were unescorted so my DD were not damaged at all

None of the ships were carrying troops (or at least the ones I damaged)

Submarine warfare
At last they found the treasure!!!

Japanese Ships
AP Nojima Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS S-46

Japanese Ships
AP Kaika Maru, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
SS Flying Fish, Shell hits 8

IJ tries the PM defenses
0:1 odd but he is close 477 vs 577...and I´m running out of supplies

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 38840 troops, 417 guns, 87 vehicles
Defending force 33838 troops, 317 guns, 23 vehicles
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 8)

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 985

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 176

Weather avoided air missions, but tomorrow is partly cloudy.

This are my forces in PM
F4F 31 ready (15 damaged)
SBD- 51 (58)
TBF-30 (11)
PBY- 13 (2)
Warhawk- 13 (17)
Kittyhawk 3 (15)
P39- 89 (14)
Wirraway- 57 (7)
Beaufort 10 (6)
Havoc- 9 (21)
B26 6 (10)

No less thann 450 aircraft but many of them daamged. Anyway, tomorrow we will see if we can attack his CVs and APs. Since his APs have almost unloaded the troops, I prefer the CVs. Only sinking some of them I can change the course of this war!

[toraq]

Again the mother of all battles!. The battle for PM reached its peak as two enemy CVs were damaged...Maybe the Zuikaku won´t make it!![:)]
However some US DDs were discovered by enemy TF and were mauled [:(]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/28/42

Weather: Partly Cloudy

USN DDs engage enemy BB
I was trying to surprise retreating APs but he came the samen way!

Night Time Surface Combat at 12,42

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Shell hits 2
CA Nachi, Shell hits 2
DD Shigure
DD Yayoi
DD Satsuki
DD Fumizuki, Shell hits 3, on fire
DD Harukaze, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Henley, Shell hits 1
DD Benham, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Ellet, Shell hits 11, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Lang

Air raid over Buna
I decided to hit the base because I thought there was no CAP and Zeroes flying LCAP over PM were based here. I was wrong! [:(]

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 5
A6M3 Zero x 20

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 15
B-25D Mitchell x 24
B-17E Fortress x 43

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 8 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson x 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 76

Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 47

PM attacked by LB from Rabaul
Weather and clouds caused most of his LB to drop their bombs before (again, I must admit that I was lucky) [:'(]. Since I don´t have enough fighters, I can´t CAP PM.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 46
A6M3 Zero x 21
G3M Nell x 31
G4M1 Betty x 63

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 17

Runway hits 2

SINK THE ZUIKAKU!!!!!
Yes, finally my PM bombers went for the enemy CVs.!!. Some of my planes goot through and put some bombs on two heavy CVs. My enemy keeps flying missions from coast hexes so his CAP is not very strong (but very deadly!)
AA fire is quite heavy but he must be running out of ammo. So in the future, I´ll have more oportunities to hit them!.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
A6M3 Zero x 2

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 30
SBD Dauntless x 27
TBF Avenger x 27
PBY Catalina x 6
Beaufort x 6
Wirraway x 27
P-400 Airacobra x 21
P-39D Airacobra x 34
P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 12
B-26B Marauder x 6
A-20B Havoc x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 5 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat x 9 destroyed x 2 damaged
SBD Dauntless x 2 destroyed x 2 damaged
TBF Avenger x 2 destroyed x 16 damaged
Beaufort x 2 destroyed x 3 damaged
Wirraway x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
P-400 Airacobra x 7 destroyed x 1 destroyed ***on escort mission, mauled by enemy CAP***
P-39D Airacobra x 1 damaged
P-40E Kittyhawk x 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed x 3 damaged
A-20B Havoc x 1 damaged

PO2 O.Kotani of F1/6th Daitai is credited with kill number 6
LCDR H. Fairbanks of VF-8 bails out and is RESCUED

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***1 250lb bomb from Wirraways, one 1000 lb bomb from SBD and 1 torp from TBF***
CVL Ryujo
CVL Zuiho
CV Akagi, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire ***bomb dud!!!, so only 1 torp.***
CA Myoko
CL Isuzu

Planes were diverted to GG which turned out to be awful!!!
Zuikaku should not make it because it has been damaged by 3 bombs and 1 torp. I need to sink this ship!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GG bombers and torpedo bombers sink some damaged US DDs
The kates and the vals diverted to GG proved its value and literally sank everyship they aimed. I have mixed the results

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
D3A Val x 40
B5N Kate x 22
G4M1 Betty x 6

Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18


Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
B5N Kate x 1 destroyed x 6 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied Ships
DD Patterson, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Conyngham, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Fanning, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage (sunk) ***by betties***
DM Montgomery
DM Tracy, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Ellet, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)

PM bombed by naval forces!!
Now even during day time!!!

Tomorrow is Thunderstorms and who knows what will happen then!. I decided to send my DDs and the rest of my fleet to port (Caims and Townsville) because I don´t want to lose more ships. The key is to change planes with ships!. Mainly CVs!!!

[toraq]

PM TURKEY SHOOT

Well good and bad news.Bad news: [:(] Enemy CVs have retreated and my subs could not attack them!. Moreover Zuikaku has moved at least 7 hexes in the last turn so it is possible that he will survive. Good news [:'(]: his CVs flee from combat=no CAP over invasion TF. Many enemy APs have been severly damage including some CLs. BUT...don´t be impressed by the things you gonna see. [:-]
---Most of the APs were 1000 cargo ships so little VP value. Every 1000 cargo AP is worth 5 VP!!![&:]. So I can sink 10 but it is amost the same as sinking one CA. None of the APs sunk had troops so the entire invasion forces were able to unload the troops...I think PM is lost already.

It is a very good strategy...It is better to lose 10 or 12 APs than lose 1 CV. And using
1000 cargo ship means that I need to sink everyone if I can cause severe casualities.
And 1000 cargo ships unload their troops in one turn!. I have to learn many things from
my enemy

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 10/29/42

Weather: Thunderstorms

Submarine warfare
Well they did not contact enemy subs but SS 39 was quite good against "easy shìps".

Although, I ordered my subs to follow the Zuikaku to sink it!. I need to sink that

SHIP!!!!!!!![:@]

Japanese Ships ***two attacks, one at night, one during afternoon***
CL Tatsuta, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
AP Ryuko Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
CA Furutaka

Allied Ships
SS S-39

GG attacked
I need to supress this base. I don´t want his ships to get fuel or supplies from here

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
A6M3 Zero x 4
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 18

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 20
P-38G Lightning x 24
B-25D Mitchell x 19
B-17E Fortress x 41
B-24D Liberator x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 2 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 2 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
B5N Kate x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
D3A Val x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D Mitchell x 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress x 1 damaged

2LT D. Hansen of 67th FS is credited with kill number 2

Japanese Ships
AG 2052, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 368, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PC Takunan Maru #10, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
PC Ch 17, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Taimei Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 827
Guns lost 2

Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 5 ***good***
Runway hits 44
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 2

PM TURKEY SHOOT
I have joined the results because many air raid were launched from PM. As I said before,

don´t be impressed[:-]. Some of my planes were damaged by flak but I won´t show it. Some

of the ships were at PM, some not..-

F4F-4 Wildcat x 37
TBF Avenger x 35
SBD Dauntless x 76
PBY Catalina x 6
Beaufort x 9
Wirraway x 41
P-39D Airacobra x 92
P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 9
A-20B Havoc x 9
B-26B Marauder x 59

CL Natori, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Otori Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Kenshin Maru, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
AP Naniwa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AP Marsue Maru, Bomb hits 11, on fire, heavy damage
AP Unkai Maru #3, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
AP Ryuosan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
AP Neikai Maru, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
AP Nagisan Maru, Bomb hits 3, on fire
AP Kimishima Maru, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
AP Miike Maru, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

SBD were quite good in putting 1000 lb bombs into the APs. But every single plane

cooperated!. Some APs already sunk.

Enemy engineers managed to reduce PM forts
This doesn´t look good

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41169 troops, 447 guns, 145 vehicles

Defending force 33731 troops, 316 guns, 23 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 6

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

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 464

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 222

[toraq]

See the map

[toraq]

A good day for the allies as my bombers sank BB Haruna [;)]. Other ships also damaged...I guess he was trying to bomb PM but he was caught in the middle of nowhere

Submarine warfare
Quite active but the SS that were pursuing CV Zuikaku spent thei last torp. so they´re now retreating to a save port.

Japanese Ships
AP Tama Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Shinano Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Ryuosan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS S-39
SS S-46
SS Grenadier

PM attacked by bombers from Rabaul
Some of them attacking the base, others attacking one RCT.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 95
A6M3 Zero x 48
G4M1 Betty x 62
G3M Nell x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 2damaged
G3M Nell x 1 damaged

SINK the HARUNA!!!!!!!!![sm=00000028.gif]
I´ve never seen so many bombs on a ship. Haruna was reduced to a steel wreckage before sinking. Some 14.1 inches guns were dismounted. No AA ammunition left when it sank. For me, this is my first real victory in this game. Haruna worths 135 VPs and it didn´t cost me one CV or BB...However, if one of my subs doesn´t attack, Zuikaku will reach Rabaul´s port[:(]. I´ve mixed the attacks...

P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 30
F4F-4 Wildcat x 28
SBD Dauntless x 136
TBF Avenger x 67
Wirraway x 25
P-400 Airacobra x 25
P-39D Airacobra x 53
P-40E Warhawk x 3
Beaufort x 9

Allied aircraft losses
SBD Dauntless x 1 destroyed x 5 damaged
Wirraway x 3 damaged
P-39D Airacobra x 2 damaged
TBF Avenger x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
Beaufort x 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna, Bomb hits 17, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
CA Nachi, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Satsuki, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Shigure, Bomb hits 1, on fire

6 of the bombs were 250 lb ones, so they could not penetrate the armour, one was a dud, but the others were 1000 lb bombs. 1 torp. from beu., the other from Avengers.
And surprise! the Nachi is only on fire!.

PM holds
Those engineers could drink poison!!!!

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40705 troops, 446 guns, 145 vehicles

Defending force 33473 troops, 316 guns, 23 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 4

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

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 509
Guns lost 2

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 275
Guns lost 1

Values: 324 vs 549, so still far from the deadly 1:1. Send some supplies (very needed) and elements of two Rgts. I need to hold it, at least until I repair the damaged aircrafts

[toraq]

Today I sent more DD on surface missions to intercept retreating APs. I got several success but I could not catch the Zuikaku yet! [:@]
On the other side, my FT TFs have started to reinforce PM with troops and supplies. Very dangerous, specially because my TF commanders think that PM is a save place and sails there in one turn (from Townsville) staying at PM during daylight[&:]. I don´t want that!. They have to unload and run!!!!

Night contacts
Near to GG where most of his damaged APs are retreating

Japanese Ships
ML Hoko, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
AP Tamashima Maru, Shell hits 10, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)

Allied Ships
DD Laffey
DD Henley
DD Cushing

Submarine warfare
Japanese Ships
AP Yamafuku Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SS S-40

Japanese Ships
AP Canberra Maru, Shell hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SS S-40, Shell hits 8, on fire ***this was the only sub close enough to attack Zuikaku***

GG attacked
I need to put GG out of action. If he base more LB here or even worse, Kates and BVals, my current FT TFs heading to PM will be attacked!

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 7

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 23
P-38G Lightning x 24
B-25D Mitchell x 29
B-17E Fortress x 55
B-24D Liberator x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 4 destroyed x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning x 1 damaged

1LT W. Shaw of 67th FS is credited with kill number 3

Japanese Ships ***All of them sunk***
AG 366, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Taimei Maru, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AG 361, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 2052, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
PC Ch 17, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 525
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 16
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 63
Port hits 3
Port fuel hits 1
Port supply hits 2

PM TURKEY SHOOT: CHAPTER 3
Less success as my opponent has put one ship TF and some TF are out of range

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 6
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 64
SBD Dauntless x 109
TBF Avenger x 64
Beaufort x 6
Wirraway x 14
P-400 Airacobra x 17
P-39D Airacobra x 15
P-40E Kittyhawk x 3
P-40E Warhawk x 36
A-20B Havoc x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe x 3 destroyed x 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AP Shoho Maru, Shell hits 16, Bomb hits 12, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Miike Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Over PM enemy CAP present
Just to avoid aerial reinforces

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
A6M3 Zero x 16

Allied aircraft
Wirraway x 17
P-39D Airacobra x 23

Allied aircraft losses
Wirraway x 5 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged

B26 support land combats in PM
Since enemy APs are out of range, I will move my B26 to PM to start hitting incoming troops. 3 Rgts coming from Buna...I need to pound them!. However this turn B26 still operated from Cooktown so 8 of them were lost...

Air attack on 45th Regiment, at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
A6M3 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 7

Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 67

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero x 1 destroyed
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder x 1 destroyed x 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 12

Enemy keeps his pressure agains PM facilities
This is very strange. His LB are now unable to close PM. Why???. Maybe the weather is bad when bombing or his crews are green....I´ll write more information about his LB soon.

Air attack on Port Moresby , at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 30
A6M3 Zero x 30
G4M1 Betty x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 22 ***No runaway hits***

Air attack on 162nd Regimental Combat Team, at 10,40

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 21
G4M1 Betty x 28

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell x 3 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 24

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40268 troops, 444 guns, 145 vehicles

Defending force 33239 troops, 315 guns, 23 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3 ***5 forts reduced in less than 5 days??***

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

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 547

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 283
Guns lost 2

[toraq]

More interceptions....My enemy is quite dissapointed because his lebel bobmers are unable to close PM airport. Now PM has become a thorn in Japanese defenses. I´m almost decided to stay there and resist despite that 2 Rgt are coming from Buna to reinforce the 5 Rgts already there.
I´m reinforcing PM and more engineers are there to increase the defenses and repair any posible damage. PM won´t fall easily!. No pasarán!


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 11/02/42

Weather: Partly Cloudy

Ships intercepted by Allied SS
AP Ryuosan Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Tama Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Ships intercepted by Allied DD
AP Tokai Maru, Shell hits 10, on fire, heavy damage
AP Shinano Maru, Shell hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AP China Maru, Shell hits 16, on fire, heavy damage

PM armour plated!!
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 87
A6M3 Zero x 39
G3M Nell x 36
G4M1 Betty x 44

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
A-20B Havoc x 1 destroyed

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 31

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1

[toraq]

More combats...my Subs are hunting damaged APs still. On the other hand my LB based at PM are visiting or will visit Buna, Lae or GG.

Submarine warfare

AP Hakozaki Maru, Shell hits 16, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP Miike Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

GG reduced to ashes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 6

Allied aircraft
Hudson x 29
B-25D Mitchell x 30
B-17E Fortress x 54
B-24D Liberator x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged
G4M1 Betty x 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Hudson x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress x 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 473

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 37
Port hits 4
Port supply hits 1


PM invasion forces paralized!
No way to overun my garrison there in the near future

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39804 troops, 444 guns, 145 vehicles

Defending force 36665 troops, 387 guns, 23 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 822
Guns lost 6

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 270

[toraq]

Well some turns already played so I´m going to put the important things mixed with a general overview because I consider that the 1st battle of PM has ended.

Enemy APs losses

Well after I raided GG with DDs, it was not a safe place anymore so my opponent decided to move the remaining APs to Shortland.
I ordered my subs to pursue and some more were sunk. Total Jap. AP losses are like 80!!!!. So about 35 were lost during the battle for PM. As I said before most of them were 1000 cargo APs but also some big fishes (2000 and 3000 cargo ships) are resting in the bottom of the ocean.

Enemy bases attacked

B26 based on PM have bombed Lae a couple of times, Buna and GG. Lae is closed and GG has been emptied of fighters and bombers. Buna is now level 2 and last time I visited it, 20 M3 were flying CAP (1 datai). The purpose is to avoid enemy reaction while I send supplies and troops to PM.

Enemy reinforces

At least two Rgts coming from Buna. I started to bomb them but bad weather landed my LB at PM a couple of times.

PM supplied

Two convoys have been sent, so supplies are now enough to feed the garrison and maintain my bombing offensive

Enemy subs around PM

Yes, they appeared at last!. And with some ships being severely damaged or sunk (1 APD). In a couple of days, I´ll form two or three TF with SC and DD to sink some of them.

OPERATION 31

Again I surprised my opponent. He disbanded his CVs in Rabaul´s port and put 100 fighters in CAP, including the new Ki 61. This unit is particulary dangerous (exp. 74). It was a temptation...But 100 fighters could beat my heavy bombers!. It was a trap, yes so I decided to change the expected and sent my heavies in a night raid. despite only 27 heavies attacked it was a clear success!

Japanese Ships
CV Hiryu, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage***one dud***
DD Isokaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage***yes!!!***
CA Nachi, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage ***no damage***

Now they are retreating to Truk, so a couple of subs have been sent to intercept. Cross the fingers...I need to sink at least one of them!!

The defense of PM

The 1st battle of PM ended as I wanted. With the possibility of isolating the enemy Rgts. there. So, I´m totally decided to stay there and try to defeat enemy ground units. These are my movements:

1) My rgts at PM have many disable squads. So I´m evacuating a couple of aussies Bdes with C47 while my FT TF (mainly DDs) are sending two fresh regiments. Thus, in a month or so I hope those disabled squads will be recovered.

2) My LB will bomb incoming reinforces...he is still dar from 1:1 odds but with the new reinforces who knows.

3) My BF and Sea bees units should prevent PM airport to be closed.

4) My fighters are avoiding incoming bombers. My F4F are still understrenght. I need two months or so to get enough replacements for them. SO no more opposition to incoming raids.

Future developments

I will hold PM at all cost, because I decided that this is going to be the turning point. While I can supply and send reinforces without much enemy opposition (for the moment) his Rgts there will run out supplies, with many squads disabled. Once he is weak enough I´ll send one Marine Division there, and finish them. I´m still 5000 points down...and I need to encircle enemy LCU!!!

Losses of the 1st battle of PM

Enemy lost many APs but his combined fleet is still entire. For my part, I´ve lost some warships so they are now quite scarce.

Japanese losses

Ships sunk
-Several APs...maybe 40!
-1 APD
-2 CL
-1 BB (Haruna)
-3 ML
-3 PC
-2-4 DD?
-1 Sub

Ships damaged
-CV Zuikaku, heavy damaged...at least 5 bombs and 1 T
-CV Akagi 1 T, on fire
-CV Hiryu, 4 Bombs, on fire, heavy damaged
-BB Kongo
-CA Nachi, heavy damaged
-1 CA
-1 CS
-Some DDs

Allied Losses

Ships sunk
-1 CA
-2 CL
-7 DD
-1 APD
-1 AK
-1 Sub

Damaged
-3 or 4 DD
-2 subs

Air losses.
I din´t count them but quite similar. I lost at least 100 F4F and 20 Kitty and 50? Warhawks...And he lost many Zeroes due to op. losses (he has been LCAP PM). What I do know it is the total losses. I´ll post them soon.

[marky]

NIIICE night raid on Rabaul

quite ballsy[:'(][:D][8D]

we all know the saying

"Fortune favors the ballsy(bold)"
[:D]

[toraq]

PM is now a japanese Stalingrad. He sends wave after wave of bombers but no damage is done to the runaway. 5 enemy Rgts are there but his assault values have been reduced to 1/3 of their original value.

Japanese LB unable to inflict damage
Well my opponent says that he is about to explote!. He doesn´t know why his LB can´t put PM out of action. Everytime he attacks this is more or less the result:

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
G3M Nell x 25
G4M1 Betty x 65

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty x 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator x 1 destroyed x 2 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 197

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 5

Reasons:
1) Very bad weather: we have had the worst possible weather. In the last ten days or so, only 1 clear day, the others thunderstorms and rain.
2) Poor pilot experience
3) Got A LOT of engineers in PM: two sea bees and many BF.
Anyway, this allow me to strike incoming reinforces and NG airbases.

B26 hit bases...
Lae out of action (Airbase 86 damage), GG still heavy damaged, and Buna heavy attacked. Tomorrow I´ll send my bombers again. It should be closed by now.

Air attack on Buna , at 12,38

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 4
A6M3 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 33 ***with XP 70 or so ***
B-26B Marauder x 104

Japanese aircraft losses ***air to air losses***
A6M2-N Rufe x 1 destroyed
A6M3 Zero x 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed x 1 damaged
B-26B Marauder x 4 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 189

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 41

...While my naval bombers attack jap reinforces
102 and 66 Rgts coming from Buna. By the time they arrive, they will have some disable squads.

Air attack on 102nd Regiment, at 10,39

Allied aircraft
TBF Avenger x 39
P-40E Warhawk x 15
A-20B Havoc x 20

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 36

ZUIKAKU HIT AGAIN!!!
He withdrew his CVs from Rabaul. My Subs were unable to locate them and one of them was sunk by betties[:@]. However Zuikaku was so severly damaged that he had to disband it in Kavieng´s port. Another night attack and one more bomb to add to the Zuikaku[:'(]. Will I sink it at last??????

Allied aircraft
B-25D Mitchell x 3
B-24D Liberator x 3

Allied aircraft losses
B-25D Mitchell x 1 destroyed x 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator x 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage ***how many bombs does this evil beast has inside?***


PM: NO PASARAN
(No pasarán= they won´t come in...it was the Madrid slogan during our Civil War when Madrid was sieged by Franco´s troops). Yes his power is being reduced day by day. Tomorrow two fresh regiments will replace the garrison there, which will be air transported to Cooktown to rest.
More forces are being sent to Townsville, in a couple of months, I´ll have enough strenght to attack the enemy forces at PM.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 37815 troops, 434 guns, 144 vehicles

Defending force 41437 troops, 395 guns, 43 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 457
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 319

[toraq]

Now it is November 16th...Things are more o less the same but three secret operations are underway and tomorrow it is expected that a naval bombardment TF will visit PM.

PM battle
Two aussies Bdes from the 6th division are now at PM ready to resist the new jap. reinforces: 66 and 102 Rgt. which have just arrived from Buna.
Due to the threatening TF, I ordered my B26 to move to Cooktown.

Buna airfield closed?
I hope so, because this time my B26 did a good job

Japanese aircraft
A6M2-N Rufe x 3

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 24
B-26B Marauder x 105

Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 345

Airbase hits 13
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 100

I think now Buna, GG and Lae are all closed!. This won´t last forever but it is important to keep our air supremacy. On the ohter hand, some enemy FT TF have been spotted near Buna...probably carrying supplies. Too far from my SDBs...

Submarine warfare
Three subs are being repaired now that there is a pause in the war. I´m only operating 4, (6 already lost), 2 near Kavieng (waiting the Zuikaku) 2 near GG (sent to intercept bombardment TF)

SECRET OPERATIONS [8D]

1st Operation Snake
In front of his nose, my Sea bees are building forts at Irau. As soon as they get level 8 or so, I´ll start building a base.

2nd Operation Tungsten
I want the Zuikaku and that beast, responsible of sinking two US CVs, is in Kavieng´s port, with some aircover and 4 DD as AA protection
2 B17 sqds, 2 B24 sqds and 2 B25 sqds plus 1 P38 sqd are ordered to launch a day air attack to Kavieng´s port. I think he doesn´t expect P38 (my only P38 sqd...until tomorrow)...Do I finally sink that CV?

3rd Operation Morgan´s hook
This op. is sooo secret that I can´t say a word yet. Not ready for this operation, it could be called off afterwards...We will see that soon!

[toraq]

A little bit disappointed but nothing that could not done in some time. Today another P39 sqd was converted to P38. Now I have two sqd!. Unfortunately, the computer has chosen two low experienced sqd. with poor leaders[:(]

Enemy naval bombardment
They didn´t hit a mine (160 mines in PM) so they did a lot of damaged, specially in the supply depots.

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk x 2 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk x 1 damaged
B-25D Mitchell x 1 destroyed
B-25D Mitchell x 3 damaged

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 167
Vehicles lost 1

Airbase hits 17
Airbase supply hits 4***ouch***
Runway hits 82***engineers did a excellent job and the runaway was not closed***

Operation Tungsten
Like the british against the Tirpitz, I put another two bombs inside the Zuikaku (one could not penetrate the belt armour) but nothing happened
Tomorow I´ll try at night and if that is not enough I´ll put all of my heavies in PM, and with P38 escort, we will finish with it!!!!

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 19
B-25D Mitchell x 12
B-17E Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 9

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero x 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress x 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage


Operation Snake
More troops and supplies there. Now HQ units and one EAB unit.

Operation Morgan´s hook
Tomorrow rainy so I have to wait...But with the good weather...

[toraq]

As expected my night attack did nothing against Kavieng
His CAs are ready for another run...I need to supply PM so a convoy is about to arrive...but with some BBs and CAs to cover them.

[toraq]

A bitter day...operation morgan´s hook has been called off. A big naval engagement in PM waters, with my BB being torpedoed...Another important US ship has sunk today CA Pensacola...

Enemy tries to repeat the raid to PM but finds my BBs
A total of three engagements with this final result

Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Shell hits 4 ***this ship hit a mine also***
CA Ashigara, Shell hits 2, on fire ***one 16.1 inch shot***
CA Furutaka, Shell hits 2
CL Nagara, Shell hits 3, on fire ***by 8 inch guns***
DD Takanami, Shell hits 12, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
DD Hatsukaze, Shell hits 8, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)

Allied Ships
BB Washington, Shell hits 3, Torpedo hits 1 ***17, 23, 1***
BB South Dakota, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1 ***17, 10, 3***
CA Pensacola, Shell hits 6, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage (sunk)
CA Astoria, Shell hits 3
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 2
CA San Francisco, Shell hits 1

This is a normal result for late 42 naval engagement. Jap. are superior in night battles. His CA launched torpedoes and they struck my beautiful BBs. They will be operative in a few days but reducing the 17 sys damage is going to take some weeks. However I won´t sent them to PH.

The allied TF you see here is the entire Allied fleet in the south pacific area. Yes, we can add DDs and two CL but that´s all. So, the loss of CA Pensacola is a painful thing.

Enemy lost 2 DD and the other ships are retreating to a safe port (Short.). So another naval defeat for the allies. But strategically Jap. player has realized how risky this kind of missions are so I guess he will stop visiting PM.

Submarine warfare
Timtom is not the only one that suffer from the lack of sub effectiveness...(two attacks)

Japanese Ships
CA Ashigara
CA Myoko

Allied Ships
SS Grayling

Operation Morgan´s hook
Yes, I did it again, my CVs sent to raid Jap. convoys in the Truk gap. But when they were about to reach the expected position they found a ML which was subsequently attacked and sunk.

Allied aircraft
SBD Dauntless x 34
TBF Avenger x 10

Japanese Ships
ML Okinoshima, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Beaufighters attacking barges
Not a important attack. Just to show that there are other fronts. Beau. based on PM

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter VIC x 24

AG 357
AG 354, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 358, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AG 373, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

NG jap. bases attacked
Just to prevent his bombers to attack allied damaged ships.

Lae attacked by B26, closed
Buna attacked by Havoc, closed
GG attacked by heavies, closed ***4 b17 lost[:@]***

PM ground combat
I don´t know why he keeps attacking. His AV are being reduced fast. 2 to 4 each day of deliberate attack

Ground combat at Port Moresby

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44686 troops, 514 guns, 144 vehicles

Defending force 44625 troops, 431 guns, 42 vehicles

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

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

LT D.Nagashima of P1/Toko Chutai bails out and is RESCUED
Japanese ground losses:
Men lost 210
Guns lost 1

Allied ground losses:
Men lost 204
Guns lost 1