Speedy vs Swift - Jap perspective. Fight to the death

[Speedysteve]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Well, if you were in a life and death struggle with a guy, and you had longer arms than him, would you move closer so he could hit you? [8|]

For 129 heavy bombers he only got a few hits due to the high altitude. I know it's frustrating but they're not exactly laser guided nukes. If you can't hit the planes when they attack you how about hitting them when they're on the ground? Can you bomb his launching airfield effectively?


EDIT: I had failed to take notice of the ships hit in port. A pretty decent raid for that altitude.

I'm not disputing the fact he is doing it just that are the results a little OTT. Bombing from 36000 feet?!? I can't recall that ever happening in RL. He tagged 4 out of 12 ships in port. I've decided i'll move ALL shipping docked in port back to Truk.

As you say very light results for over 100 Forts but still frustrating I can't intercept them. IIRC the Tojo can reach that height though and i'll upgrade some Oscar's as soon as I can to them to give me a chance of getting him [:)]

At present I do NOT want to risk bombing Noumea. He can field upto 100-150 fighters as CAP (F4F's, P39's, P40's). I can field over 100 Zero's but pilot qualty is mixed (average 60-70).

My approach is that I plan to shell he place to bits and then when sufficiently damaged I will bomb the place continuosly to KEEP it surpressed....then we can in due course invade.

The BB's are immune to his bombers and my CAP from Luganville will protect them on their deadly missions.

At present I have 2 x 2 BB TF's down there but a further 2 BB's will be arriving at Luganville within 7-10 days.

Thanks for your thoughts [:)]

Steven

[Rob Brennan UK]

Yeah heavy surface BB bombardment will really hurt the b17's thier much vaunted toughness and armour aint going to be much use against 16inch shells [:D][:D].. i would expect heavy CD though so dont forget to set the escorts off .. ( grangma and eggs i know).

[Speedysteve]

Escorts are off Rob......i'm not a newbie you know [;)][:'(]

Thanks for the reminder though. As a human being mistakes are made from time to time.

[Rob Brennan UK]

I know you know [;)].. i sometimes forget in the heat of a busy turn ( very in-frequently) .. and it doen't hurt to remind people .. the number of times i have seen

"F$%&^%%$ H$%^^ all my DD;s blew up"

even from experienced players ( Pzb did it once iirc) ..

good luck ..

[Speedysteve]

Quite right Rob [8D]

Thanks for your thoughts as per norm [:)]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Today was a relatively peaceful day with no air raids in the South Pacific and only minor bombing raids by the Chinese on my men at Kunming.

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KB has still found nothing of value and is moving 1 last days worth nearer to Christmas Island before retiring to Kwajalein and then home for R & R.

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The main success for Werner today was that SS Grunion patrolling near Nendo in the South Pacific found a convoy carrying men back friom Efate to Truk. She hit and sank the AK Tamagawa Maru which was carrying elements of the 15th Engineer Regiment [:@]

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Ise/Hyuga & Co are leaving Luganville tomorrow bound for shelling Noumea. Zero's will be providing CAP. Good luck boys.


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Also noticed something weird today. I was checking Akagi (which is nearing Japan for repairs after being hit by a sub torp in the South Pacific) and her Zero airgroup is stuck at a size of 11! WTF?!? Any ideas guys why this is? Screenie below.

[Mike Solli]

Odd. Is there a fragment somewhere?

[Rob Brennan UK]

yes fragment is all i can think of too

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Today saw a HUGE air battle in the south Pacific. The kitchen sink was thrown at Ise/Hyuga & Co who were on their way to bombard Noumea. In the morning 58 x Zero's were flying CAP. The pilot quality is a complete mish mash - siome vets and many rookies. They peformed well overall. Air losses were 3:1 in my favour for the day:

Day Air attack on TF at 71,110

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 45
A6M3 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 13
SBD Dauntless x 13
Kittyhawk I x 8
P-400 Airacobra x 8
P-39D Airacobra x 76
P-40E Warhawk x 28
A-20B Boston x 6
B-25C Mitchell x 9
B-26B Marauder x 8
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 30 destroyed
A6M3 Zero: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 11 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 8 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 4 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 8 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 59 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 16 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed, 4 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Ise
CA Ashigara, Bomb hits 1
CL Kiso
BB Hyuga
CA Furutaka

In total I lost 40 planes against his 130 for the day (70 P39's [X(])

Most of my Zero Daitai at Luganville are now severely depleted though and contain no more than 5-7 veterans each.

As such I have flown in 2 more experienced Zero Daitai and 3 more are on the way from Japan.

I'll then rotate the gutted one's back to Truk for retraining.

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Other good news:

Kungchang:

Ground combat at Kungchang

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 181989 troops, 1702 guns, 138 vehicles

Defending force 61167 troops, 327 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 3


Japanese ground losses:
3614 casualties reported
Guns lost 139
Vehicles lost 11

Allied ground losses:
1506 casualties reported
Guns lost 52

[Rob Brennan UK]

I'll then rotate the gutted one's back to Truk for retraining.

you could disband them into the new groups to keep the experts flying and improve the overal quality of the units. just an idea

range 5 was it ? looks to be .. beware range 4 however.. must have beauforts there or he's mad !

i have my fingers crossed for a HUGE bombardment .. and the p39 losses are good .. dont think they have the range to withdraw anywhere so they stay with crap morale and replacing all them crates will eat a nice bit of supply too.

[Speedysteve]

Hi Rob,

Disbanding is an option. Rather thn the Mog method I generally tend to just rotate units and train the knackered one's. I'll look at the pilots though and keep it in mind. Thanks [8D]

Think it's range 4! I haven't see any torp carrying aircraft so far (fingers crossed) They're the only one's that can stop my Battlewagons for now.

Yup I too want a HUGE bombardment. Once the place is closed he'll find it hard to get it open again. I just need to close it! [;)]

Thanks for your thoughts as per norm (forgot to check on the Akagi fragment thing!)

Steven

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Ise/Hyuga & Co didn't bombard Noumea as ordered! Ukita is gonna get an arse kicking IF he returns to Luganville.

The Allies attempted to bomb them again during the day but the strike was much much smaller today:

Day Air attack on TF at 70,112

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
A6M3 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
SBD Dauntless x 10
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 10
B-26B Marauder x 11
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
A6M3 Zero: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 6 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 2 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 7 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 7 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga, Bomb hits 1
BB Ise

In total 26 enemy planes were lost today to my 11 [8D]

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Burma:

At last my battlegroup has emerged fronm the dense jungles around Akyab to clearer plains and transport methods! The rail to Dacca is ahead of them. Scouts report 6 enemy units 60 miles ahead of them. Banzai!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Noumea is bugging me.

The constant air attacks on my bombardment TF's mean that when they get to Noumea to shell it they have little ordanace to throw at it. Today for example:

TF 55 encounters mine field at Noumea (68,113)

Japanese Ships
DD Shiokaze, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Tomozuru, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Noumea, at 68,113


Allied aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
CL Kiso
CL Tama
CA Furutaka
CA Kinugasa
CA Ashigara
BB Hyuga
BB Ise


Allied ground losses:
121 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Runway hits 2
Port fuel hits 1

Both Tomozuru and Shiokaze sank too............

I have decided to try something else...maybe.

I always recon Noumea but we'll see what they find today. If no more than 30ish fighters are on CAP i'm going to try bombing the bloody place with Zero escoerted Betties from Luganville.

If worst come to worst i'll use KB's Kates boming from high altitude....

I will get Noumea and AV! [8D]

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More heavy combatt over the retreating Ise/Hyuga:

Day Air attack on TF at 71,110

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41
A6M3 Zero x 11

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
SBD Dauntless x 4
Kittyhawk I x 3
Beaufort V-IX x 5
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 15
P-40E Warhawk x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 6
B-26B Marauder x 29
B-24D Liberator x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed
A6M3 Zero: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Kittyhawk I: 2 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-400 Airacobra: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-39D Airacobra: 5 destroyed, 5 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 5 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
B-26B Marauder: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
CA Ashigara
CA Kinugasa

Todays losses:

Japanese: 24
Allied: 41

[Rob Brennan UK]

Bombardment shouldnt be low on ammo after fighting off air attacks ! .. unless you have started using 16 inch guns in an AA role , although tracking targets might prove problematical[;)]

maybe its a function of ops points ? thats more likely i'd think. does japan have any fast 25+ speed msw ?

either way his a/f must be in the morale toilet by now. im suprised 2 DD's hit mines ?? must be way off shore and/or a hell of a lot of them there. and yeppers get KB to hit with kates from 20k. do they use the 800kg monsters from range 4 ? or just the usual 250kg ones ? and no torp bombers in PM ???? humm maybe they dont have the range for brisbane - PM ?? but if i was him id change them to hudsons fly some in (lots) then swap back to beauforts .. but he probably hasnt thought of it yet [:D]

can you arrange a rolling BB convoy systen to PM ? .. ie 3 groups, one retiring one approaching and one resupplying ? would make his a/f work hard but LRCAP would be a problem. anyway just a thought. also would putting some of the BB and CA float planes to recon help ?

just my 2p

[Speedysteve]

Hi All,

Rob - Could well be ops points. Either way at present i'm not happy with the results and the risks - bombers, PT's, mines.

BB rotation - I have thought of that but as you say the big problem would be CAP. I don't want to leave my ships without CAP and I couldn't CAP 2/3 TF's at once. Recon wise I have been reconning the place for a mnth now every day with Emily's. The problem in using the FP's is that they are vulnerable to enemy fighters. Emily's are much more resitant.

As per norm though thanks for your thoughts. I may try an air strike from Luganville for a change in the next ccouple of days.

Either way looking at the big picture my troops are recovering at Truk ready for the final Noumea operation in months to come [8D]

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The big news of the day was that Ss I-29 found a Us bound convoy well east of PH and put 4 fish into AK William Dawes which quickly sank. Unfortunately the escorts gang-banged I-29 to death in return....at least she took something with her.

Tomorrow my Burma force should reach the Allied defenders on the rail. I really wonder if Werner has noticed me coming????

Hmm, guys there is no Akagi fragment anywhere on the map. No ideas on this one i'm gonna post it in the tech forum.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Kungchang in China is on the verge of falling now:

Ground combat at Kungchang

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 175398 troops, 1459 guns, 128 vehicles

Defending force 59288 troops, 257 guns, 0 vehicles

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

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 2


Japanese ground losses:
2479 casualties reported
Guns lost 111
Vehicles lost 3

Allied ground losses:
1463 casualties reported
Guns lost 41

My men will rest for a few more days and then assault again............

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DD Nagatsuki hit a mine whilst searching for a suspected enemy Submarine at Iwo Jima...little git[:@]

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In Burma my men have reached the enemy lines on the rail to Dacca. Tomorrow the mortars and artillry pieces will shell the enemy men. The battle for India begins! [8D]

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At Luganville the Nell and Betty pilots were given orders to bomb the airfields at Noumea on 12th August. 3 x Daitai will bomb the place escorted by 6 x Zero Daitai

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A momentous day this was!!

3 key events occured throughout the day.

Firstly in the South Pacific. My first air attack on Noumea went in and I think it surprised Werner:

Day Air attack on Noumea , at 68,113

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 120
A6M3 Zero x 49
G3M Nell x 27
G4M1 Betty x 52
H8K Emily x 4

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
Kittyhawk I x 3
P-400 Airacobra x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 3 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 4 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 4 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 1 destroyed

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 3

Unfortunately not much damage was caused but nevermind it will make him think. I will rest for a day or 2 and then attack again dependsing on his CAP level. The good news is that recon only indicated about 70 fighters at Noumea + 300 bombers [X(]

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At the same time Over 170 B17's [X(][X(][X(][X(] attacked Luganville........

Day Air attack on Luganville , at 72,107

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 10
A6M3 Zero x 4
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 25

Allied aircraft
PBY Catalina x 6
B-17E Fortress x 174

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 6 destroyed, 14 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY Catalina: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
B-17E Fortress: 26 damaged

Japanese Ships
AE Soya, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
235 casualties reported
Guns lost 1

Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 14
Port hits 2
Port supply hits 1

Aircraft Attacking at 36600 feet

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The other GREAT news I think was in Burma. My India invasion army bombarded the enemy postions and sent out scouts. The good news is that only 2 Indian divisions were located + ARM Rgt + ART and HQ. Excellent. Tomorrow the FIRST IJA land bombing in Burma goes in at his troops and Zero's and Tony's are CAPPING my men from Akyab. My men attack tomorrow!:

Ground combat at 31,25

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 65815 troops, 835 guns, 7 vehicles

Defending force 21105 troops, 290 guns, 106 vehicles


Japanese ground losses:
78 casualties reported
Guns lost 7

Allied ground losses:
52 casualties reported
Guns lost 2

35th Brigade is 20% transported to Akyab from Rangoon.

Here's Noumea:

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Oh the annoyance! After marching through 100's of miles of jungle my men after resting and readying themselves threw themselves at the enemy line in Burma today. Despite outnumbering the enemy and with the support of the IJA the enemy stubbornly resisted and casualties were high on our side. The 2nd Tank Rgt has 35 miles of jungle to navigate and it will be there to assist. Time to rethink and hit them hard from the air:

Ground combat at 31,25

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 70601 troops, 814 guns, 6 vehicles

Defending force 25737 troops, 340 guns, 106 vehicles

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1


Japanese ground losses:
1767 casualties reported
Guns lost 58
Vehicles lost 4

Allied ground losses:
319 casualties reported
Guns lost 18
Vehicles lost 1

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In the Pacific the Forts from Noumea returned. I can't wait to squash these bugs!

Recon revelaed no more than 30 enemy fighters on CAP over Noumea. I think he is suffering with fighter numbers. LBA from Luganville is ordered to hit Noumea again tomorrow.

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In China Kungchang again refuased to fall despite being outnumbered and battered! B*stards:

Ground combat at Kungchang

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 172911 troops, 1354 guns, 125 vehicles

Defending force 58361 troops, 211 guns, 0 vehicles

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


Japanese ground losses:
3707 casualties reported
Guns lost 68
Vehicles lost 11

Allied ground losses:
2259 casualties reported
Guns lost 45

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I have set a little trap for Werner tomorrow. He is sending his LBA in China to bomb my troops at Kunming daily without fighter proteftion. 2 x Zero Daitai were flown into Kweiyang to provide CAP over Kunming tomorrow [8D]

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

I have set a little trap for Werner tomorrow. He is sending his LBA in China to bomb my troops at Kunming daily without fighter proteftion. 2 x Zero Daitai were flown into Kweiyang to provide CAP over Kunming tomorrow [8D]

Ouchie, ouchie.[:D] Those little traps are always fun. I'd move them after they trash the bombers.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

My little trap over China didn't work since Werner's bombers never took off. Ah well back to Shanghai for training.

SS I-3 attacked a Tanker amongst a large convoy 1/2 way between WC and PH. The torps missed but surprisngly the DC's from 2 DD's also missed [X(]

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The best news from the day was over Noumea. My fighters cleared the skies and several enemy planes were destroyed on the ground. In total 64 enemy planes were lost today to my 11:

Day Air attack on Noumea , at 68,113

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 127
A6M3 Zero x 39
G3M Nell x 20
G4M1 Betty x 50
H8K Emily x 5

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 3
Kittyhawk I x 7
P-400 Airacobra x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 13
P-40E Warhawk x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 5 destroyed
Kittyhawk I: 7 destroyed
P-400 Airacobra: 8 destroyed
P-39D Airacobra: 6 destroyed, 1 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 7 destroyed
P-36A Mohawk: 4 destroyed
B-26B Marauder: 1 destroyed
Beaufort V-IX: 3 destroyed
B-17E Fortress: 1 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 3 destroyed
SBD Dauntless: 1 destroyed
A-20B Boston: 1 destroyed


Allied ground losses:
9 casualties reported

Airbase hits 8
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12