March of the Penguins: Onime vs. Fabertong

[Onime No Kyo]

Faber was lamenting the rapid approach of Spring in private correspondnce.

2/28/42

47 Warhawrks now over Mandalay. The funny part is that when the Philippine refugees jouned up, I ended up with 91 pilots [X(] but only ~50 planes. Still no Zeros for them to fight. They must all be at PM.

To paraphrase my favorite Ron White routine, I dont know how many Zeros it would have taken to kick my ass, but I know how many Faber used. About a week of 90 Zero raids have reduced the Illustrious 49th to 11 operable planes, half the original pilots are either dead or wounded. With the AV TF now on final approach, I will need some planes to at least put up an appearence of CAP while it unloads. To this end, I've stood everything down and reinforced the 49th with about 20 planes. I know that its pathetic for an Allied player to say so, but I dont have any more fighters. [X(] All I heve at my disposal is the as yet unloaded squadron of Marine F4Fs. The 49th is shot. The Australian Hurri squadrons would need to be shipped in manually. And the Throwaways....you know. Same for the Aircobras. And still more than 6 months for anything with a twin tail boom.

Fabers attack on PM destroyed 2 Warhawks on the ground.

The Battling Bastards of Bataan have held off their first Japanese attack. Faber lost 700 for my 1100+.

The Bastards of Soerabaja did not do so well. Although the fors stay at 3, I lost over 2550 men for only 500 of Fabers.

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

I know that its pathetic for an Allied player to say so, but I dont have any more fighters. [X(]

Nah - that's not at all unusual in early '42. Lamentable, maybe, but not unusual.

BTW, P-39s & Wirraways aren't completely useless:

P-39s: good at ground attack & naval attack. They're also not a bad escort under 10K feet at which point their altitude-penalty kicks in. Flying escort on bombers at 6K feet they do ok. They mostly are useless at CAP but set at 5-6K feet they'll do ok against dive-bombers & torpedo-bombers. (A higher-altitude, escorted-strike will likely shred them, though.)

Wirraways: Also good at ground attack & naval attack. They suck at just about everything else but if you want to push a bomber-strike through CAP they can be used & are easily replaced. (I once put a few bombs into 2 CVLs of Baby KB using nothing but Wirraways as escort.)

Still enjoying the AAR, BTW. [:)]

[Onime No Kyo]

Thank you. [:)]
 
But I still need to figure out what to use to keep Faber off of PM.

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: Onime No Kyo

But I still need to figure out what to use to keep Faber off of PM.

Prayers to ancient Indian Gods, maybe? [;)] Lucky rabbit's feet, four-leaf clovers...

To be honest I think you're in trouble if he invades there in the next month or two. Personally I'd withdraw your air right now to re-build and hope he doesn't keep PM permanently closed. Maybe keep a squadron or two for naval search. I would send the planes back in as soon as I detected an invasion coming.

If you do lose PM it hurts future counter-offensives but it doesn't hurt you much defensively.

Whatever you do, good luck!

[Onime No Kyo]

Yep, already done.
 
I'm not bringing the bombers back until I can ensure some decent CAP.

[Onime No Kyo]

The last allied forces on the main Philippine island of Luzon have surrendered. Almost 31, 000 American and Philippine servicemen have gone into Japanese captivity, ending an epic 3-month battle some newspapers have taken to calling The Passchendaele of the Pacific. Almost 100, 000 men in Allied uniform began the glorious defense of the American airbase called Clark field. For three long months, they repulsed attack after attack by crazed Japanese infantry by day and ruinous artillery bombardments by night. Many thousands of defenders were killed or wounded at Clark, but many, many more Japanese invaders have rotted in the killing fields before allied positions.

Finally, only after exhausting all supplies, ammunition and strength, but beyond all expectations, the ragged, exhausted Allied servicemen retreated into the mountain jungles on the Bataan peninsula. There, with no food, water, ammunition, prepared poritions or hope, they were hunted down and rounded up like animals by roving bands of Japanese. The last pocket of resistance was based around the headquarters of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. A ragtag band of 4th Marines leathernecks, dismounted Army tankers, Philippine Scouts and AAC ground crews held off the last Japanese charge for over 3 hours. Only after the headquarters dugout itself began to receive direct mortar fire, did Gen. MacArthur order his remaining diehards to lay down their arms and marched into captivity in their lead.

3/1/42

12 B-17Es of the 7th BG raid Kendari. They are met by 18 Raisins and 21 Oscars. The 7th loses 2 bombers but destroys one Oscar and damages 4 more as well as 6 Zeros.

The 42nd BG, flying B-26 Marauders joins Darwin Air. Its 32 planes along with 43 Bostons of the 41st BG and 9 Mitchells of the 90th BS bomb Lautem. The casualties are ridiculously light, only 18 penguins killed. I've killed more people with a fifth of this force. [8|]

Faber now has a squadron of Zeros flying LRCAP over his forces in the Chunking area. 7 of them met my strike of 4 Il-4s and 13 SB-2s escorted by 5 I-16s. I lost 4 Is and 2 SB-2s for 2 Raisins damaged.

Due to my stupidity I had only managed to evac the PS Engineers and the cardes of a Philippine ID. I had two mor subs standing by to pick up the 4th Marines and Asiatic Fleet but I never realized that Dutch subs have no cargo capacity. At least they dont have enough to load anything. The sub stats say 12, but I tried to repeatedly load something and nothing would be loaded. Stupid me.

[Onime No Kyo]

For some odd reason, volunteers to joing the USAAC have been drying up. I wonder why. [&:]

3/2/42

A horrible, horrible day for Allied airforces. Did I mention horrible yet?

It started off with the sweep by the 24th FG over Mandalay. I have finally found the enemy and he had a can of whoop@ss and an opener. My 51 Warhawks were met by 39 Zeros (2 squadrons?). Warhawks were falling out of the sky like rain. By the end of it, I had lost 36 planes and most of the pilots. The 24th, which had started the day with about 60 planes and 90-odd pilots, has been reduced to 15 aircraft and 60-odd pilots. The only bright spot of the whole episode is that Lt. Gies, my Philippine fighter hotshot, has scored his 6th kill, breaking the tie for top ace.

The day of debacles continued. I then lost 2 Blen IFs, 9 B-17Es and 2 Wellingtons (the other 11 of which turned back....p@ssies [8|]).

There was a whole separate debacle over Lautem. A raid of 27 Bostons, 20 Marauders, 11 Forts and 3 Mitchells lost 2 Bostons, a Mitchell and a Fort to 10 Zeroes, of which 8 were damaged.

Over China, my usual raid from Chunking, now also joined by a rather threadbare detachment of the Tigers, ran into a cap of 10 Zeros. I lost a Tomahawk, 2 I-16s and 2-Il-4s for only one Raisin.

PM is a separate story. Faber launched a raid of 37 bombers which destroyed 3 Warhawks and an Aircobra on the ground. Where did the Aircobra come from, you may ask? That belongs to the 35th FG, which had unloaded overnight in full strength. While the Aircobras are about as useful as a bj to a dead man, there are better news. Along with the Planes, I have also unloaded the really important part of the 51st AV Regiment. As it stands, 198 units of AV support belonging to the regiment are already ashore. This is in addition to 59 more units belonging to the 51st Base Force. What this obviously means is that my AV crisis at Port Moresby is over. While Faber will probably bomb the daylights out of the remaining transports tomorow, and will likely sink some or all, the really important work is done. I am considering this a medium-sized victory for myself. If PM falls, it will not be for lack of AV support. [:)]

All this, of cource is all good and well, except that I still have not found a way to keep Fabers bombers out of my bloody airspace. It is painfully obvious that no amount of Warhawks can stand up to 90 Zeroes at this juncture in the war, and I only have the sad remnants of one FG. It is no less painfully obvious that Aussie Hurricanes are not much help either. VMF-221 is currently reassembling in Brisbane. On its roster are some of the most legendary names in Marine aviation...Marion Carl, James Swett, Harold Segal and William Snyder, all RL aces...all in the 90s XP....but thats only 4 out of 24. The rest of the pilots are green as grass. Even with these 4, Faber's pilots are no slouches either, plus the never to be sufficiently damned Zero bonus. And besides that, the Wildcat is not superior to the Zero. Fiddle sticks and poopsicles.

Another attck on Soerabaja has brought the forts down to 2. The Dutch casualties are horrendous. It cost them almost 1600 guys to beat this one back. Faber lost only 500. Assault odds are still 0:1, however.

Deffinitely not a good day. [:(] At this rate, I should hope to survive to the glorious day when I get Lightnings.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/3/42

The S-40 was sunk by an ASW TF off Java. Japanese performace was straggeringly good. The sub was found and damaged early in the morning but managed to slip away. Several hours later, however, she was reaquired and sunk. Oddly enough, the attackers were all PC craft, not APDs.

I scrambled all the CAP I could find over PM. It didnt help. During the day's fighting I lost 2 Hurricane, 7 Aircobras and 7 Warhawks. Japanese losses were 2 Zeros and 2 Oscars. In addition to bombing the airfield, there was also a strike at my shipping. AK San Gabriel took 2 torps, AP Henderson 1m AP Zeilin took 2 bombs and AP Ruth Alexander 1. DD Hughes suffered 2 bomb hits. Luckily nothing sank although the hughes and the Henderson are very badly damaged. Evem more luckily, however, there were virtually no troops left aboard. Only the Zeilin had the last members of the 51st BF aboard and 22 of them were killed in the explosion. But most of the troops and equipment are safely ashore and even the Zeilin should complete offload by tomorow. This is a very good thing.

Faber took Woodlark Is.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/4/42

A rather strange day overall.

My subs off Japan, the dud wagons, scored nort one but 2 hits today. First the USS Pollack eveded an ASW sweep shortly after midnight and then, biding its time, set up a shot and scored a hit on the troop-loaded Malta Maru in the second part of the day.

Almost simultaneously, 100 miles south, the USS Gudgeon put a torpedo into the loaded AO Notoro, setting the ship on fire stem to stern. Escorts were entirely uncucessful in both cases.

A scratch CAP over PM took more losses.

I lost 9 Aircobras and 4 Warhawks for 2 Zeros.

Faber made a last effort at my shipping in PM, scoring a torpedo hit on the now empty President Hayes. Now that everyhing but sundry supplies have been safely unloaded, all ships have been disbanded and CAP stood down entirely. I have also brought some bombers back to disabuse Faber of the sad notion that he can start sending convoys willy-nilly around the place.

Soerabaja, which had gotten its forts back up to 3 has withstood another attack. Forts are down to 2 again. I lost a staggering 1900 men to Fabers loss of only 700.

The Marines are reassembling at Brisbane, now up to 9 operational planes. I have also recently received 2 RAAF squadrons of Dakotas, which I am in a hurry to transfer to India before I lose all my stopover points.

[Onime No Kyo]

3/5/42 (Taken from Faber's email....have not seen the turn).

With no CAP over PM, Faber's bombers had a milk run day. 41 Bombers hit the airfield, destroying 3 P-39s, a Hud, an SBD and a Warhawk. My bombers did not launch at anything. Maybe the recon was bad, maybe they were still reorganizing after transfer. Either way, seems like a mistake.

The usual bombings in Java and over Khota Bharu (which I think Faber is just attcking for kicks since he doesnt look like hes planning to send any LCUs there.

In india I now have my Blens bombing Mytkina. One one the things I keep neglecting to mention (largely because nothing goes on there) is that I have moved all the SE Asia Chinese units from Yunan towards Mytkina. They are now located one hex south of there. Having actual roads and inside lines Faber quickly moved 2 divisions there to augment the one he had there originally. Obviously I will not attack something that dangerous. Especially considering that the only supplied these Chinese troops are getting are via air and my lift capacity has thus far been limited to 2 Dutch squadrons with outdated planes and one RAF and on USMC Dakota squadrons. An RAAF unit had also arrived yesterday and 3/5 would have been its first mission. I also have another RAAF unit on the way as well as 3 former WC units which are still aboard ship somehere around Pago. In any case, I hope the Blens give Faber some false impressions.

Faber is landing at Bankha. It sure looks like my chain of transshipping points for SE Asia has been closed.

Faber launched his second consecutive attack at Soerabaja. Forts are down to 1 but the losses were actually in my favor (here is some good evidence for what a few days of rest will do for the attcker). I lost 530 Faber lost 660.

[Yava]

Geez Dad... I spent so much time on reading this whole AAR, or at least the part that I have missed, that Mr Sandman almost paid me a visit...[;)]

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: Yava

Geez Dad... I spent so much time on reading this whole AAR, or at least the part that I have missed, that Mr Sandman almost paid me a visit...[;)]

Its a little short on Hollywood-like action, I admit, but both of us are in it for the long haul so.....

[Yava]

It's ok. [:)]

[Onime No Kyo]

ORIGINAL: Yava

It's ok. [:)]

Pshhh....I dont need your permission, ungrateful child.

[Yava]

Oh yes you do...

[Onime No Kyo]

No I dont. [:'(]
 
Keep mouthing off and you'll have to deal with Faber.

[Yava]

Bite me...[8D]

[Onime No Kyo]

Thats it. You'll be sorry when the evil flightless fowl comes to beat yo @ss. [:-]

[Onime No Kyo]

Another threefer today. RL has been eating up my time and I have had the chance to be as aserious about WitP as I should be. I hate to think what I miss as I rush through turns.

3/6/42

Faber is unloading at Bankha. This would be the last transshipping point for aircraft between OZ and India. For at least a little while I'll still have the PI to China route (for the more leggy aircraft), but after that, its going to all go the hard way.

S-23 struck a troop laden AP off N. Borneo. A Whole truckload of ASW vessels spent hours depthcharging the sub and hurt her badly. Hope I hit something important.

Haruna and Nagato bombarded khota Bharu. I guess Faber has nothing better to do with them now.

Hyuga and Yamashiro came a-calling at PM. Not a single patrol contact. 2 squardons of Cats and not one report. And its not like these guys are newbies either. The XP is high 70s.

The bombardment sank the DD Hughes and an AK as well as causing damage to many other ships in port.

The usual air activity in Burma and China. My Huds from PM struck out at a few transport TFs, scoring a smattering of bomb hits. This was all good and well in the earlier stages of the war. But now I want to sink stuff and this Hudson nickel and dime mode of operation is just not doing it for me anymore. Their only saving grace is the range.

I also scored 3 hits on the Yamashiro (2 500 lbers and 1 250) and 1 on the Mikuma (a 250lber). Probably no damage to speak of.

Saddest of all, Soerabaja fell. I have two subs standing by to evac the 2 DAF AV units, but there is nothing else that is really worth saving.

Sad, sad, sad part of the war. [:(]

[Onime No Kyo]

3/7/42

A heavy bomber raid destroyed several planes on the PM airstrip. Still no CAP flying as there is no point to it. Another 250lber hit on the Yamashiro merrily bounced off.

I designated 4 AK from one of my WC supply convoys to PM. They arrived yesterday and got badly spanked today. Faber has a squadron of Vals (Home Defence guys, I'd wager) flying out of Lae. They are showing all sign of just being able to close PM harbor. I'm thinking about transferring a couple of BGs (Mitchells, Bostons) to PM and giving my best shot to closing that damned airfield. The bombing of Lautem is not doing much anyway.

The guys at Bankha held off an attack by Faber's penguins. Nothing decicive in the greater scope of the war, but good to see.