Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

[apbarog]

6 Jun 42

Just south of Munda, S-45 fires 4 torpedoes at APD Wakatake, and misses. The sub spots 3 xAPs, 2 APDs, 2 DMS, and CL Isuzu. Looks like an invasion task force to me.

In the Ellice Islands, south of Tabiteuea, the enemy invades both islands: Vaitupu and Funafuti, landing small Indpt SNLF Companies at each base. Vaitupu had no defenders, and it is lost. An AVP in port doesn't scuttle, and will try to escape today. A few Catalinas based there are lost. At Funafuti, 2 engineer units defend the island:

Ground combat at Funafuti (138,147)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 283 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Defending force 1911 troops, 6 guns, 26 vehicles, Assault Value = 14

Assault collapses, attacking force wiped out

Japanese ground losses:
305 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 14 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
3rd Indpt SNLF Coy

Defending units:
23rd Port Maint Engineer Battalion
5th US Naval Construction Battalion

The commander of the 5th US Naval Construction Battalion radios Wedge Donovan at Noumea, with the message "Send us more Japs, more bulldozers, and more nurses!"

Paoshan gets the regular treatment, with over 100 fighters sweeping and then bombers arriving. Little damage.

A small unit at Iba on Luzon is bombed by Nells, probably just to see what is there. Sallys then bomb the small 24th Aviation Sup unit.

The hex near Hengyang gets the daily air treatment also.

This was an interesting turn, highlighted with a SigInt message that 8/24 Infantry Regiment is planning to attack Nadi. Nadi is adjacent to Suva. This is the first intel about any attacks in this area. It certainly is possible, with KB just to the north, and transport task forces spotted on the move in the Solomons.

Nadi is barely defended at the moment, but Suva has 2 USMC regiments and 2 good-sized NZ units. About 500 combat value. I decide to send a USMC regiment to Nadi, along with some armored engineers. I'm going to send some small units to an unoccupied island 2 hexes south of Nadi/Suva, just in case. A regiment at Auckland begins to load, and will go to Sava'u. It isn't defended strong enough at the moment.

KB's current position is 15 hexes from Suva and 15 hexes from Pago Pago. Aurorus likes to strike bases from 7 hexes, limiting what the Allied response can be. I load up Suva with SBDs, and it has an F4F-3 unit that can escort to 7 hexes. Maybe I can get lucky with some bombers if he comes that way. Shipping is leaving the Suva and Vava'u area. Even Vava'u is threatened, if KB makes a high speed run south today. My building of Vava'u has made it obvious that it is a major support base. Can't lose the important support ships that were there.

West of Koumac, an Allied task force with 2 NZ light cruisers and 2 US light cruisers, along with 6 US destroyers, is ordered to make a high speed run into Koumac. An enemy combat task force arrived there today. It could be there to ferry out men on destroyers, or it could be there to bombard Noumea. I'm taking the chance it will still be there today. The Allied task force will arrive during the daylight, and probably still be there at the end of the turn. Besides the enemy task force, there are enemy PT boats, but they should be of less concern during the day. 3 fighters squadrons at Noumea are ordered to LRCAP the ships going to Koumac, wherever they end up.

B-17s at Suva will bomb Vaitupu's port. Probably a seaplane tender there now.

Will the enemy failure at Funafuti force a change of plans? I doubt it. I was certainly more tense doing this turn, so things are heating up in the South Pacific. Should I have left my carriers in the area? We shall see. I still think no, for several reasons. I'm still not quite ready to risk them against KB. I'm getting TBFs now, but haven't upgraded any units yet. That will happen very soon. Getting a couple of CLAAs into the task forces will help. Wasp is leaving Panama now, headed into the Pacific.

KB isn't my concern at the moment. Stopping any enemy invasions is my concern. And proceeding with my own upcoming operation.

[apbarog]

7 Jun 42

Enemy cruisers bombard Tabiteuea, and stay. They do good work, hitting the 148th Regiment hard, causing 287 casualties, with some destroyed and plenty of disablements. No help from the terrain here. The port takes 13 hits, and port supply takes 4 hits. By the end of the day, however, everything is repaired, and the port and airfield both build to level 1. The limiting factors to the defense here is having nothing bigger than the infantry regiment, and supply.

Lingayen on Luzon is invaded by a SNLF unit. Nothing big spotted on Luzon yet. Busuanga, the decent island port several hexes SW of Manila, is invaded. No defenders there.

North of Ndeni, sub Stingray spots a huge transport, xAP Huso Maru, fires 2 torpedoes, and one hits. But it is a dud. This task force is of great interest to me. It is passing to the north of Ndeni, but is south of a line at Tabiteuea. Sigint today listed the 17th infantry regiment planning for Nadi. Yesterday, the 24th infantry regiment was listed for Nadi. I'm guessing that this TF has one or both of those. There is a direct path to the SE from the current position to Nadi (see map). A bunch of Allied subs are taking up patrols on this path.

Usual massive air activity over Paoshan and near Hengyang in China.

Nells and Sallys bombed troops at Manila, no doubt to see what unit(s) are there.

Most importantly, KB moves SE and sets up 8 hexes NW of Pago Pago. Odd that is moved to range 8. Aurorus always moves to range 7. This is a first for a range 8 strike. Coincedentally, I have SBDs with escort set up at Suva to hit at range 7. They remain ready to go. I think KB is coming that way next.

Anyhow, 150 Vals with 27 Zeros escorting bomb the Samao Battalion on Savaii, northwest of Pago Pago. Casualties are very light, but this unit is small and has absolutely no combat value. Probing attack? Or misdirection?

Then 117 Kates with 55 Zeros escorting hit Pago Pago's port. In heavy rain, they don't hit the port at all, nor the lone ship still there, an ACM. 18 F4F-4s intercept. Another strike of 57 Kates and 18 Zeros follows, and they hit nothing.5 US fighters intercept. Finally, a fragmented strike of 18 Kates with no escort arrives, and a couple of Wildcats intercept, downing some Kates. The enemy got 1 port hit this time.

10 F4F-4s total are lost, and 7 Zeros and 5 Kates are downed. The US fighter squadron is wrecked though.

2 B-17 squadrons from Suva bomb the just take port at Vaitupu, doing minor damage to the port, but finding no ships. The bombers will be a little extra enticement for KB to come to Suva. (which I think they will anyhow) The bombers leave for New Zealand.

So the question is, what is real and what is not. Will Nadi really be invaded? Or is KB on a run to and maybe past Pago Pago? I didn't get any SigInt on Nadi until yesterday, and now I got messages of 2 regiments planning for Nadi. Aurorus has shown a willingness to use unprepared or underprepared units in assaults that he expects to find no or little opposition. Nadi will have 2 USMC regiments if he arrives. If he surprises me, and drops a couple of divisons directly on Suva, then the New Zealand units will have to do their best, and I'd tip my cap to my opponent.

[apbarog]

Forgot to mention one thing. My cruiser force that was supposed to raid Koumac did not. Moved a few hexes and stopped. Was set at full speed, with a destination of Koumac and a home port of Noumea. Fuel shouldn't have been an issue. The task force was set to Normal threat tolerance, though, not Absolute. There was no message about it avoiding the threat though. The ships weren't seen today, though, so I have them trying again. With Absolute threat tolerance this time. The surface group that was my target at Koumac did stay. Now all I can hope is that it is still there tomorrow.

[edit: And it was not a bombardment mission. Also, I checked the strikes coming from KB, and all were in the afternoon. There were a total of 110 Zeros escorting, and 150 Vals and 192 Kates bombing. That's a lot. More than I can match or defend against right now. I still have to be very careful with the carriers. If I could augment some land-based CAP, then maybe we go toe-to-toe. For my upcoming operation, I should be ok as long as KB is somewhere else.]

[apbarog]

8 Jun 42

Sub Halibut fires 4 torpedoes at xAP Huso Maro, near Ndeni. One torpedo hits, but it is a dud. This same transport was hit yesterday by another dud torpedo. At least according to my combat replay. I told Aurorus about his luck with that ship, and he said that his combat replay showed torpedo misses, no duds, for either day. I haven't noticed anything to make me think that we have the sync bug. Does anyone know if torpedo dud reports are always accurate? And seen by both sides? Aurorus thought that they were. I, at least, thought that we'd both see the same result during the combat replay, but I could be wrong.

My cruiser TF follows orders today and moves to Koumac. On the way in, at Balep Island, it sank AMc Rumoneo Maru easily, during the night. It then moved to Koumac, didn't find any ships, but engaged 6 MTBs that were at Koumac one hex to the east of Koumac, during the day. The Allied ships were unusually efficient in sinking all 6 patrol boats, with very few shells missing and very few shells being used. The Allied ships retired to Noumea safely. They'll go to Norfolk Island for fuel and ammo now.

Nells and Sallys moved their target in Luzon to Cabanatuan today. Small unit there, in the clear.

West of Tabiteuea, near Ocean Island, British sub Trusty fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Kamikaze Maru, and got one hit. The 2 Brit subs, Trusty and Truant, have done good work in the South Pacific. At least 2 other ships sunk so far, one being an AV.

One of the 3 hexes in the southern China pocket was cleared by the enemy today, eliminating the 49th Chinese Corps. The other 2 hexes have more than one corps in them.

Madang is lost, Aitape is invaded, Busuanga is lost, and Lingayen is lost to part of the 14th Naval Guard. I'm moving a Philippine infantry division to try and take it back. It's a clear hex, so they'll get bombed, but I want to show an active defense on Luzon, and also not have too many men at Clark. Bataan is close to its stacking limit, and I can't have too many men forced back to there.

The map tells the story in the South Pacific today.

[Macclan5]

Following silently - cheers.

Suva has to be a ruse.

More for another shot at Noumea ?

Or Tanna ..? What do you have there ?

I might gamble that he is after Tanna especially if its well scouted already and if its not too expensive vis a vis Noumea in his opinion

His left shoulder - your right shoulder - so to speak.

Could he be looking to park some more Betties or Vals to interdict any coming to Noumea from the east ? Further with long legs it really drives you south of Norfolk Island for shipping..

Follow up : Incoming Carriers.

You mentioned the fleet - I cannot find the post - but you are all Carrier intact in Pearl as I recall ?

The Sangamon CVE's (3) which usually arrive the same day (for you approx 10 day spread) are just slower CVLs. They have great range being former oilers / tankers, and hold enough torps for a series of sorties.

I know I have oft repeated this in the forums but depending upon need a Carrier is a Carrier is a Carrier.

They should be able to give you forward 'defense' and make the IJN pause in the South Pacific if you choose to deploy them there.

[apbarog]

Tanna is still weakly held. I did have a regiment prepping for it, but it is moving from Auckland to Vava'u. Vava'u is my major base in the area, and I cannot lose it. So Tanna is vulnerable.

The first CVE is on the map and moving to Pearl Harbor now. The US carriers, and 2 Brit carriers, are at Pearl Harbor, along with most of the fleet. They need about a week to repair minor damage, in preparation for future operations. Yorktown has been at Sydney, working on its repairs, but I'm getting nervous about KB. When the enemy finds out that the carriers are not in the South Pacific, KB may get adventurous, because it can, and go hunting. Yorktown, therefore, will be leaving Sydney and making the long trip to the West Coast. It can now move 3 hexes per phase, so movement won't be too bad.

I have big plans, but it'll be about a week until the next operation kicks off. In the meantime, the South Pacific has to defend with what it has. I'm hoping for a big KB strike on Suva today, where I've loaded up lots of fighters. It would be nice to reduce KB's attack strength.

[apbarog]

9 Jun 42

Sub Halibut spots a huge transport task force, well north of Nadi but probably on the way. CL Isuzu, 3 DDs, 2 DMS, 4 APDs, an AK, and 5 xAPs. No hits on the sub.

Near Jaluit, sub Haddock fires 2 torpedoes at I-168 but misses.

Tabiteuea is bombarded.

Night Naval bombardment of Tabiteuea at 137,134

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 2 damaged
OS2U-3 Kingfisher: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
CA Furutaka
CA Aoba
CA Maya

Allied ground losses:
485 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (5 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 8
Port hits 10

Lots of damage to the troops in the clear terrain. The enemy ships retire to the southeast instead of going back to Tarawa. I draw the conclusion that they will rearm at Luganville to participate in the upcoming action near Suva, and that Tabiteuea is of lesser importance to Aurorus.

Boac on Luzon is bombarded by a couple of enemy cruisers, hitting the small 4th Constabulary Regiment there. The unit is already isolated. I placed it there just to slow a move up from the south.

Hollandia is invaded by the enemy, and Aitape is lost.

Hoorn Islands, NE of Suva and NW of Pago Pago, is invaded by the enemy, by the 85th Naval Guard. It took some disablements on landing, so it probably isn't well-prepped. The base was not defended. Allied bombers did not attack ships here during the day because none was seen.

The usual enemy air activity at Paoshan and near Hengyang in China. A little extra south of Tuyun. B-26s from Kunming hit troops south of Tuyun but did little in the bad terrain. The units were on the move and undoubtedly in movement mode, so worth a try.

Enemy artillery attack near Yenan in NE China. The defense here will hold.

At Cabanatuan on Luzon, enemy paras drop in and destroy the aviation support unit there. I'll counter by moving a Philippine unit in and see what happens.

SigInt shows that the enemy 9th Division is planning to attack Cox Bazaar. This is new info.

In summary, the enemy does seem to be coming to Nadi/Suva. In the Philippines, activity is picking up but still no major enemy units. And in China, I'm getting very concerned that the front south of the capital is not going to hold.

[apbarog]

9 Jun 42 - Philippines

[apbarog]

9 Jun 42 - China

[apbarog]

10 Jun 42

Sub Tambor spots part of the enemy armada. CS Nisshin, cruisers and destroyers. Tambor escapes without damage.

At Lingayen, I had moved a Philippine division to contest the lightly held invasion hex. I suspected the worst for them, knowing that enemy air would pound them in the air. I was correct, but I underestimated the reaction they would get. Battleships Hyuga, Ise, Yamashiro, and Fuso bombarded tehm, causing 356 casualties and untold disruption. The airpower then joined in later, including a small group of Kates and Vals from a small carrier nearby. The Philippine unit was set to attack, but never got the chance. The enemy attacked first, and instead of just 2 small units that were spotted, there was a bit more there.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18713 troops, 158 guns, 56 vehicles, Assault Value = 605

Defending force 4366 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 143

Japanese adjusted assault: 508

Allied adjusted defense: 2

Japanese assault odds: 254 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
69 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Allied ground losses:
2986 casualties reported
Squads: 89 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 45 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 22 (13 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
18th Naval Guard Unit
14th Division
Kure 5th SNLF
14th Naval Guard Unit
17th Port Unit
17th Army
18th Port Unit

Defending units:
21st PA Infantry Division

Half of the 21st PA Infantry Division does not exist any longer. The other half is disrupted, and fell back to Clark.

In the far north of Japan, sub Flying Fish spots a tanker convoy, fires 2 torpedoes at small tanker Yamazuru Maru, one hits, but it is another dud.

East of Tulagi, sub Perch spots a big replenishment TF, fires 4 torpedoes at AO Kokuyo Maru, and misses. This is a KB support TF.

45 Bettys from Port Moresby bombed the airfield at Cooktown, causing heavy damage. I consider this a forward base, vulnerable to invasion, and have it weakly defended and not expanding.

Hoorn Islands is lost to the 85th Naval Guard. Bombers were set to hit ships there today, but there was bad weather. They will try again tomorrow, with a backup plan of hitting the port there. It is a size 1 port and size 0 airfield.

Hollandia on New Guinea is lost.

See the map for upcoming action in the South Pacific.

[apbarog]

11 Jun 42

Near Norfolk Island, I-7 spots the Allied light cruiser TF moving into position to run into Nadi. 2 torpedoes are fired at DD Helm but miss.

Near Nadi, sub Pompano spots battleships Mutsu and Nagato on the way in to bombarding Suva. 4 torpedoes miss DD Mikazuki.

Similarly, sub Pollack spots 3 heavy cruisers and 6 destroyers, fires 2 torpedoes at DD Yukikaze, but miss.

Suva is bombarded by 2 BBs and 3 CAs. Pompano and Pollack may have seen the same TF, just different ships spotted. The bombardment is very effective.

Night Naval bombardment of Suva at 132,160

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 28 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed on ground
P-39D Airacobra: 27 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 2 destroyed on ground
Vildebeest IV: 2 damaged
Vildebeest IV: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-3 Dauntless: 9 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 7 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 2 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Chokai
CA Atago
CA Takao

Allied ground losses:
251 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 14 (3 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 25
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

This really messes up Allied air effectiveness later in the day.

Near Nadi, sub Pompano spots CS Nisshin and a few DDs, fires 4 torpedoes at the seaplane carrier, but misses. Bad luck for the silent service today.

Usual bombing in the Philippines and China today.

Allied planes launch from Suva.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Suva at 131,159

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
A6M2-N Rufe x 9

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 29
SBD-3 Dauntless x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVL Shoho
CVL Zuiho

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

******************************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Suva at 131,159

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 24 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
A6M2-N Rufe x 4

Allied aircraft
SBD-3 Dauntless x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed

*******************************
Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
A6M2-N Rufe x 3

Allied aircraft
P-39D Airacobra x 7
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 10

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-39D Airacobra: 3 destroyed
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x SB2U-3 Vindicator releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

Morning Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid spotted at 12 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 35
A6M2-N Rufe x 3

Allied aircraft
Vildebeest IV x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest IV: 4 destroyed
**************************************

In the afternoon, another small strike was attempted, with the same result:

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nadi at 131,160

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 32
A6M2-N Rufe x 6

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
SBD-3 Dauntless x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2-N Rufe: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 destroyed
**************************

The battleship bombardment severely reduced the number of fighters and bombers sent out. The enemy took a real chance covering the landing with just CVLs. If I had gotten full participation and full coordination, I would have had 3 fighter squadrons escorting 3 divebomber squadrons and 1 torpedo squadron. More bombers would have gotten through. As it was, just 8 divebombers got through, and all bombs missed hitting CVLs. Yesterday I contemplated what setup I should use today: all fighters covering Suva, maximum bombers on naval strike, or evacuate Suva. I think I picked the right one. There was no enemy airstrike on Suva. The battleships ruined the plan. I could have evacuated, avoiding air losses, but you can't strike back if you don't try.

Total air losses for today were 15 SBD-3s, 14 P-40Es, 19 P-39Ds, 8 Vildebeests, and 7 SB2U-3s. 3 Rufes were downed.

On New Caledonia, none of the many fighter squadrons at Noumea flew. They were supposed to sweep Koumac. All of the heavy bombers flew from Australia, and surprisingly, there was no CAP at all over Koumac today. The bombers flew high, 19000 feet today, to avoid the tremendous flak at Koumac. They did minimal damage to the airfield and destroyed a couple of Bettys. The port attack was a bit more effective, hitting a few ships.

AG Natsukawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
SS RO-67, Bomb hits 2, heavy damage
AV Sanyo Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

AG Natsukawa Maru, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage (hit again)

Nadi was then invaded. The transport TF was confirmed to be the one tracked by SigInt and attacked multiple times by subs on the way, with multiple dud hits on big xAPs. Too bad. Parts of 2 infantry regiments land, just as SigInt had warned.

Here's the current order of battle at Nadi:

Ground combat at Nadi (131,160)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9321 troops, 96 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 348

Defending force 3100 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 105

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

Assaulting units:
5th Marine Regiment
7th Marine Regiment
2nd Fiji Battalion
2nd AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
37th RNZA Bty

Defending units:
17th Infantry Regiment
24th Infantry Rgt /5

The enemy cannot take Nadi as is. I could have ordered the Marines to counterattack today. I decided not to. I expect Aurorus to see the threat to his troops and have a naval bombardment hit the Marines, possibly combined with a big KB strike on the troops. With this prediction, I think another bombardment of Suva is unlikely today. I move all of the bombers out of Suva, and move many fighters in from Noumea. They will CAP Suva with a range of 1, covering Nadi.

Fun times. These high pressure turns are why we endure the many quiet turns. Aurorus is undoubtedly looking for the Allied carriers. The whole Nadi invasion may be to provoke me to respond with the carriers. If they were here, maybe I would have responded. But they are preparing for something else.

Will the Allies hold Nadi and Suva? Aurorus' landing was just 2 regiments. He can't be thinking that would be enough for Suva. Maybe enough for Nadi, but not Suva. I fear divisions coming to Suva. I can hope that they didn't prep for Suva, to stay off of SigInt, and that Aurorus needs Nadi to land them first. Must hold Nadi.

Delay and defend. Same story for me, for now.

[zuluhour]

All in all, good for you I glean.

[apbarog]

Good for the moment, but more enemy troops are inbound.

12 Jun 42

More of the 2 enemy regiments land at Nadi. Sub S-46 braves the shallows but doesn't get a shot off, nor does it take damage.

Sub Triton fires 2 torpedoes at DMS W-1 near Suva and miss. The enemy minesweepers are taking a look at Suva. This is telling, as there's a lot of enemy xAPs approaching from the NW, and their troops may not be prepped for Nadi.

In an interesting small naval battle, PT boats engage the minesweepers and do an amazing job, during the day, in a fight that started at 22,000 yards. Unusual.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Suva at 131,161, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
DMS W-1, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DMS W-4
DMS W-9, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk

Allied Ships
PT-22
PT-32
PT-33
PT-34
PT-35
PT-36

Near Ponape, sub Tuna spots small tanker Akatuki Maru, unescorted. I don't remember that last task force that wasn't escorted. Tuna gets into a surface fight, firing torpedo after torpedo at the tanker. A torpedo hits and probably sinks the tanker, after 4 dud hits.

China and Philippines, same old.

An Allied light cruiser and destroyers moves to Hoorn Islands, trying to engage the patrol boats and at least one xAK there. The ships were set to move Full speed, absolute movement. Good leader. They moved there, and I got the message:

Allied Ships Reported to be Approaching!
Japanese TF suspends unloading operations and begins to get underway

And then nothing happened. No engagement. This is the same thing that happened a couple of days ago at Hoorn Island when my PT boats passed through. I don't have an explanation of why there wasn't a fight. I can always say maybe weather, maybe luck, I don't know. The enemy couldn't have outrun the Allied combat TF. Oh well.

Instead some B-25s fly from Vava'u and bomb xAK Hokuroku Maru at Hoorn Islands. They get one bomb hit, flying at 1000 feet.

The highlight of the day:

Sub attack near Yasawa Islands at 130,158

Japanese Ships
CVL Shoho, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Sagiri
DD Shirakumo
DD Fubuki

Allied Ships
SS Grenadier

Ammo storage explosion on CVL Shoho
SS Grenadier launches 4 torpedoes at CVL Shoho

Sure, it's just the Shoho, but I'll take it.

As the map shows, lots of enemy ships NW of Nadi, including a newly spotted big task force with many transports in it. Has to be going to Suva. I flew some transports into Noumea, ferrying them to Vava'u tomorrow. I have 2 Marine regiments at Nadi. The third one of that division just arrived at Sava'u, and I want to fly it into Suva if possible. Aurorus is very meticulous, and very good at the mathematics with combat values, and what is needed to win a battle. The best way to disrupt that is to change the numbers.

[apbarog]

13 Jun 42

Battleships Mutsu and Nagato return to Suva, and do decent damage.

Night Naval bombardment of Suva at 132,160

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 30 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed on ground (actual loss is 8)
P-400 Airacobra: 4 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed on ground (actual loss is 1)
C-33: 2 damaged
C-33: 2 destroyed on ground (actual loss is 4)
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 damaged
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground (actual loss is 1)
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground (actual loss is 2)

Japanese Ships
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
CA Ashigara
CA Nachi

Allied ground losses:
160 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 11 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (3 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 17
Port hits 6

The airfield is now moderately damaged.

Light cruiser Java and 4 DDs bombard Hoorn Islands. They don't find any ships still there, other than the burning xAK Hokuroku Maru in port, which is hit with a single shell. The port is lightly damaged. The 85th Naval Guard unit is the only defender.

Paoshan get the usual, with a sweep of 45 Zeros and then bombers with Oscar escorts. 3 good fighter squadrons are moved in to try and down some planes.

Kingfisher float planes sortie from Tanna, targeting an AK and a CL. 2 Zeros are on a ranged CAP. A couple of Kingfishers are downed, 9 drop bombs, but all miss. They try again in the afternoon, find 10 Zeros there but unable to intercept, and 6 Kingfishers again miss with bombs. I move the floatplane unit out as surprise is lost here.

Increasing enemy bombing on Luzon, as well as in western China, where the Chinese are trying to form a line that can hold and also not be flanked. Not looking good.

As you see on the map, the enemy armada is approaching Nadi/Suva.

[apbarog]

14 Jun 42

Lots and lots of US sub action today, but little to show for it.

S-42 torpedoes xAK Sinkyo Maru with one torpedo near Ocean Island. It does not sinkyo.
Tambor fires 4 torpedoes at DD Ikazuchi near Efate, but miss.
Truant is spotted by DD Harukaze near Nadi, but not hit.
Thresher fires 2 torpedoes at DD Yamakaze near Nadi but miss.
S-46 is spotted by a huge transport force near Nadi, but not hit.
Cachalot fires 4 torpedoes at CA Aoba near Nadi, but miss.
Cuttlefish is spotted by a transport force near Nadi, but not hit.
S-46 is spotted by the earlier mention huge transport force near Nadi, but not hit.
S-46 fires 4 torpedoes at APD Shimakaze in that huge task force, but misses.
Truant is spotted by 2 DDs near Nadi but not hit. Then the same thing happens again. Then Truant is spotted by a transport TF with AKs in it, but not hit.
Pompano fires 4 torpedoes at DD Hatakaze, but miss.

3 Philippine PT boats move to San Fernando and engage 4 TBs. The PT boats fire one torpedo before a PT boat is hit and destroyed.

Enemy bombing in China and on Luzon.

4 Hudson IIIs fly from Noumea and hit CM Naryu at Belep Islands with one bomb. The ship is badly hurt. The rest of the Hudson unit decides to fly to Luganville, and every bomber is destroyed there. 63 Oscars on CAP.

Let's see how my CAP trap worked at Paoshan:

Afternoon Air attack on Paoshan , at 65,45

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 42 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 45

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 16
P-40E Warhawk x 32

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 3 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 9 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 18000 feet

and then:

Afternoon Air attack on Paoshan , at 65,45

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 10 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 20
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 30

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 5
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 10 destroyed, 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 1

The Zero sweep really hurt, despite having 3 fighter squadrons, 2 of which are AVG and have the best pilots. But the bomber raid was badly hurt.

Total air losses are:
28 Sallys
12 Zeros

19 P40Es
8 H81s

More enemy troops land at Nadi, but appear to be poorly prepped based on the losses:

Japanese ground losses:
198 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Japanese ground losses:
382 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 15 (0 destroyed, 15 disabled)
Vehicles lost 20 (0 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Here's what is at Nadi now:

Ground combat at Nadi (131,160)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9314 troops, 96 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 348

Defending force 10130 troops, 107 guns, 182 vehicles, Assault Value = 314

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

Assaulting units:
7th Marine Regiment
5th Marine Regiment
2nd Fiji Battalion
2nd AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
37th RNZA Bty

Defending units:
10th Tank Rgt /1
2nd Recon Rgt /1
17th Infantry Regiment
4th Tank Rgt /1
8th Recon Rgt /2
24th Infantry Regiment
8th Engr Rgt /1
4th Bde /3
8th Mtn Gun Rgt /2

[apbarog]

15 Jun 42

In a series of four separate engagments, 6 PT boats engage battleships Kongo and Haruna, cruisers Takao, Atago, and Chokai, and 8 destroyers. All of engagements were at night, and at close range, with just 3% moonlight. All PT boats eventually launched their torpedoes, mostly at destroyers, but one at a cruiser, but all missed. 1 PT boats was sunk. It was a brave night of action for those PT crews.

Cruisers Furutaka, Aoba, and Maya bombard Suva, doing minor damage, but enough damage to the airfield to keep C-47s from delivering troops later in the day.

More enemy troops land at Nadi. The Allied troops are now outnumbered and outgunned. The enemy has lots of armor too.

Lots of Allied sub action again.
S-27 fires 4 torpedoes at DD Maikaze near Suva, but miss. S-27 is hit by a depth charge and heads to port.
S-29 fires 2 torpedoes at DD Oite near Nadi, but miss.
Cachalot fires 4 torpedoes at CL Sendai near Suva, and one hits, but it is a dud.
Grenadier fires 4 torpedoes at DD Yamakaze but miss.

Far away, just west of Batavia, Sculpin elects not to fire torpedoes at 2 AMCs and 2 PBs. Sculpin later decides to attack, and fires 2 torpedoes at PB Kinsyo Maru #2, but miss. I'm guessing they are heading to Christmas Island (IO), and order Sculpin to there.

Thresher fires 4 torpedoes at CA Furutaka, and miss.
S-46 is hit with a depth charge and minor hits near Nadi. S-46 is badly damaged and will head to Suva for immediate repairs before heading to a rear base, if it survives that long.

Near Isle of Pines, south of Noumea, 13 Bettys with 22 Zeros hit 2 xAKLs with a bomb each, sinking both small ships. I was trying to sneak in some supply to the island, but it didn't work. The small escort was not hit and will return to Norfolk Island.

Southeast of Suva, 13 Kates from KB find the 4 retiring PT boats from Suva, headed to Vava'u. One torpedo amazingly hits a PT boat and sinks her.

Here's the updated order of battle at Nadi. The enemy has a lot here now. A lot of tanks too, although a great number were disrupted on landing, presumably due to lack of preparation. I'm moving one of the two New Zealand units from Suva to reinforce. If there is a followup landing at Suva now, I'm in trouble, with most of the forces at Nadi. Only so much to go around. I tried flying in some Marines today, but the airfield at Suva was too damaged. APDs at Vava'u are loading part of that Marine regiment, and hope to sneak them in some upcoming night phase.

Ground combat at Nadi (131,160)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 9300 troops, 96 guns, 36 vehicles, Assault Value = 347

Defending force 17002 troops, 133 guns, 227 vehicles, Assault Value = 518

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

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

Assaulting units:
7th Marine Regiment
5th Marine Regiment
2nd Fiji Battalion
2nd AmphTrac Engineer Battalion
37th RNZA Bty

Defending units:
2nd Engineer Regiment
4th Infantry Rgt /1
17th Infantry Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
8th Recon Regiment
2nd Recon Regiment
8th Engineer Regiment
24th Infantry Regiment
10th Tank Regiment
4th Bde /3
8th Mountain Gun Regiment

[apbarog]

16 Jun 42

The enemy continues to unload troops and supply at Nadi. Appears that most is unloaded now.

Dutch sub KVIII fired 2 torpedoes at APD Shimakaze near Nadi, but missed.
S-31 was hit by a depth charge at Nadi. Should survive.
Way over in the Indian Ocean, I was correct to move Sculpin toward Christmas Island (IO). It reacquires the AMC task force, and fires 4 torpedoes at AMC Bankok Maru, but misses.
At Nadi, Grenadier fires 4 torpedoes at big transport xAP Montevideo Maru at Nadi, and gets a hit. And it's not a dud! Heavy damage reported, but all of the troops have already landed.

The excitement for the day was between Luganville and Nadi, where my light cruiser task force was set up to patrol for a day.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Ambrym at 126,152, Range 20,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Nagara, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Oite, Shell hits 4, on fire
DD Hayate, Shell hits 2
APD Shimakaze
AK Hirokawa Maru, Shell hits 3, on fire
AK Kinka Maru, Shell hits 8, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Kyushu Maru, Shell hits 8, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CL Leander
CL Achilles, Shell hits 1
CL Trenton
CL Marblehead
DD Helm
DD Henley
DD Patterson, Shell hits 1
DD Jarvis
DD Benham
DD Ellet

A very successful intercept. A lot of luck involved. They ran into a task force they could handle. With battleships shuffling between Luganville and Nadi, it could have been something else. Nice to hit real AKs instead of xAKs too. Not a lot of them. After the battle, the Allied ships are not spotted at all, possibly due to weather. KB was 9 hexes away, and Luganville was just 8 hexes away. They will now retire full speed to the south and go to Sydney for repairs. This mixed force has done a good job twice now. Tempted to leave them together for awhile. Not a tough choice really, for now, as most of the fleet is not in the area.

Enemy air activity in China and Luzon, per normal.

Tonight 12 APDs will try to fast transport in part of a Marine regiment to Suva. KB and lots of other ships are very close. It certainly would be nice to boost the defenses some, and this is the only way to do it right now. KB, just one hex away from Suva on the north coast, is certainly covering the base with ranged CAP, so now isn't the time to start using air transport into Suva. Suva's airfield did repair some, and is now operational, but not by much.

I've made the decision to commit the US 40th Infantry Division to Suva. It has been at Sydney, and has been prepping for Koumac. I'm starting to load it as fast as possible, and will send out fragments towards Norfolk Island, where they will wait for an opportunity to go to Suva. This opportunity may not happen at all, but we'll see. It all depends on where KB goes.

[jwolf]

Hi apbarog, I just got caught up on your great game and AAR. A while back you described Aurorus as "strategically bold but tactically careful" and that certainly appears to be correct here. Basically he completely overturned the historical Japanese political strategy and proved -- in game at least -- that the Japanese didn't actually have to attack much, if any, American territory in order to achieve their immediate goals in SE Asia.

At this point he is still very aggressive; just after you held at Noumea, he came right after Suva. All this while Luzon is barely invaded (!!) and little has been done in the Central Pacific. Rather amazing.

At Koumac, I am very surprised he was able to build that up so quickly as I don't think it has much potential. I am also surprised that he is able to have good supply for such an intensive campaign far from his main hub at Truk. The repeated bombings and bombardments he conducts should eat through supply very quickly, but he doesn't seem to have any problems with supply, at least not yet.

Good luck as you continue!

[Macclan5]

Indeed this is very interesting.

I was clearly wrong about Suva. I imagined as less bold move to Tanna or to shore up.

I wonder what the Aurorus's overall aim is ?

Jwolf you raise interesting questions.

Apbarog : Have you drawn any conclusions ?

1) complete interdiction of supplies and troops to Australia and New Zealand ?

2) Does that infer a deeper push into islands even further south ? Does it infer landings in New Zealand?

3) How to keep those supplies fed into to deep Southern Pacific ... in 1942 not so much an issue ... in 1943 it will be.

4) Yet again another recent example of Japanese players 'playing the long game in the Philippines' / Luzon - essentially under invading and waiting and waiting patiently for Allied supply to run out - gambling the Allied player is unwilling or unable to get supplies there.

-

The thing is one landing in Espirtu / Lugganville in early 1943 - a quick base / airfield and SBDs invalidate too deep into the South Pacific.

Further you cannot close supply to Australia if you don't close Perth / Capetown.

Further all those allocated troops make the Gilberts and Marshalls easier ..or Wake and the route to the Mariana's

I am no expert on Japanese aims / OOB / Tactics but I have never understood the south pacific gambit.

[Lowpe]

You aren't really posting too much about China, but I think given Japans focus elsewhere an attempt to hold out longer there might make sense....can you still fly supplies in from India?

You may want to consider using your bomber force there to do so. Flying in 1-2K supplies daily is doable, and usually fairly simple to relocate the bombers for a quick raid on Magwe or Rangoon. Holding out longer in China is a good thing.

You might want to consider a port strike of Hong Kong depending up on supplies and bases.

Given the thrust in the Pacific, look to attrit Japan's oil and fuel at every chance. As long as you are safe from AV, then that thrust makes for a good POW base later.