Canuck's Revenge - ADavidB vs PzB (Wobbly's game continued)
Moderators: wdolson, Don Bowen, mogami
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Oliver Heindorf
- Posts: 1911
- Joined: Wed May 01, 2002 2:49 am
- Location: Hamburg/Deutschland
RE: Into the Marshalls...
iirc PzB stated that he is willing to continue. but it is some time ago. I hope he still continues to play 
RE: Into the Marshalls...
Well that is excellent. I am looking forward to seeing more. I found your post, and your naval forces do look quite limited. Do you think you should be able to reverse the situation within a year or do you think that only some grave error on PzB's part will aid you in your fight, as it seems to me his naval power remains a powerful deterrant for forseeable future.
RE: Into the Marshalls...
ORIGINAL: marovici
Well that is excellent. I am looking forward to seeing more. I found your post, and your naval forces do look quite limited. Do you think you should be able to reverse the situation within a year or do you think that only some grave error on PzB's part will aid you in your fight, as it seems to me his naval power remains a powerful deterrant for forseeable future.
What I am trying to do is to get PzB to commit his naval forces in a "constrained" area where I have both sufficient naval forces and sufficient air forces. The Marshalls/Gilberts meet that requirement, as do the Eastern PNG/Solomons. I want to slug it out at "1 to 1" because Pzb can't replace his ships but I can replace mine. Also, in both fronts I can mass lots of fighters, dive bombers, torpedo bombers and tactical bombers, all of which have the potential to nulify his naval air. If he commits, then we fight it out and find out who really has the better forces. If he doesn't commit then I continue to "nibble" on bases, build them up and put more force in place.
What is going to slow me down significantly now is that I can no longer nullify his long range naval air by doing my own long range bombing campaigns against his bases. So I have to depend upon trying to defeat his Bettys and Nells over my ships rather than on his tarmacs. I always prefer to take the battle to the enemy rather than letting the enemy bring the battle to me, but the current game design doesn't allow the Allies to do that in 1942/1943.
Thanks for the comments -
Dave Baranyi
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cookie monster
- Posts: 1690
- Joined: Sun May 22, 2005 10:09 am
- Location: Birmingham,England
RE: Into the Marshalls...
Great read. Keep up the good work.[:)]
RE: Into the Marshalls...
ORIGINAL: cookie monster
Great read. Keep up the good work.[:)]
Thanks for the support - I sincerely appreciate the comments and feedback. [:)]
Dave Baranyi
Bettys come to play...
PzB decided to do something about my latest movements on December 13, and since he has lots of land-based tac bombers around, he sent them off after my task forces in the PNG/Solomons front as well as the Marshalls. First off, my move into Goodenough was a big risk because it is a size "0" air base right now. But since it had automatically switched over to me, I decided that I ought to put some troops into it anyway. But I'm not a big fan of long-range CAP, and the following results show why:
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough island at 56,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G4M1 Betty x 19
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AP Empire Chivalry, Shell hits 12
AP St. Mihel, Shell hits 4, Bomb hits 2
AP Empire Tamar, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pirie
Allied ground losses:
187 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
and their second "kick at the can":
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough island at 56,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G4M1 Betty x 8
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP Empire Chivalry
AP Empire Tamar, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pirie, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP St. Mihel
AP Thomas Jefferson
What really surprised me was that he had his Helens strafing my transports! Too bad this isn't later in the War when my ships have better AA. Of course, the real damage comes from the Bettys and their torpedoes. What did please me was that my P-38s did take on and shoot down a few of PzB's Zeros.
PzB also sent out a good squadron of Bettys at Mili that got threw most of my CAP:
Day Air attack on TF, near Mili at 84,85
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Florence D., Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eridanus, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eldorado, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
MSW Canso, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
So, I've put more CAP there in the hopes that PzB sends those bombers back. But I've got lots of TFs there, so his planes are only picking on one TF at a time.
I also sent a tanker TF to Gili-Gili for two reasons: because I want to establish some fuel in that area, and because tankers are usually real "magnets" for Japanese torpedo bombers. Sure enough, some Nells came in from far away:
Day Air attack on TF, near Gili Gili at 56,94
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 4
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
TK Brandywine
In this case my fighters were able to break up the attack although they weren't successful at shooting any planes down.
I'm going to try an experiment next turn to see if I can "distract" the escorts that would otherwise go along with PzB's anti-shipping air strikes by sending heavy bombers at high altitude against Kwajalein and Rabaul again. If the game model make any sense at all I ought to either see PzB's fighters escorting his bombers or attacking my bombers, but not both. (Actually, I have a pretty good idea of what I will see, but I want to try this anyway - what do I have to lose?)
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough island at 56,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G4M1 Betty x 19
Ki-49 Helen x 20
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 15
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed, 6 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AP Empire Chivalry, Shell hits 12
AP St. Mihel, Shell hits 4, Bomb hits 2
AP Empire Tamar, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pirie
Allied ground losses:
187 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
and their second "kick at the can":
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough island at 56,93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
G4M1 Betty x 8
Ki-49 Helen x 12
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed, 4 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP Empire Chivalry
AP Empire Tamar, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Pirie, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AP St. Mihel
AP Thomas Jefferson
What really surprised me was that he had his Helens strafing my transports! Too bad this isn't later in the War when my ships have better AA. Of course, the real damage comes from the Bettys and their torpedoes. What did please me was that my P-38s did take on and shoot down a few of PzB's Zeros.
PzB also sent out a good squadron of Bettys at Mili that got threw most of my CAP:
Day Air attack on TF, near Mili at 84,85
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Florence D., Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eridanus, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
AK Eldorado, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
MSW Canso, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
So, I've put more CAP there in the hopes that PzB sends those bombers back. But I've got lots of TFs there, so his planes are only picking on one TF at a time.
I also sent a tanker TF to Gili-Gili for two reasons: because I want to establish some fuel in that area, and because tankers are usually real "magnets" for Japanese torpedo bombers. Sure enough, some Nells came in from far away:
Day Air attack on TF, near Gili Gili at 56,94
Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 4
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 10
Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
TK Brandywine
In this case my fighters were able to break up the attack although they weren't successful at shooting any planes down.
I'm going to try an experiment next turn to see if I can "distract" the escorts that would otherwise go along with PzB's anti-shipping air strikes by sending heavy bombers at high altitude against Kwajalein and Rabaul again. If the game model make any sense at all I ought to either see PzB's fighters escorting his bombers or attacking my bombers, but not both. (Actually, I have a pretty good idea of what I will see, but I want to try this anyway - what do I have to lose?)
Dave Baranyi
The Japanese bombing effort...
I haven't been posting these attacks regularly since PzB does them almost every day, but I thought that you might like to see how much air power the Japanese player can put into the air on a regular and frequent basis. This was December 13. It is quite typical of what PzB does as part of his training regime for his planes:
Day Air attack on Tjilitjap , at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
A6M3 Zero x 12
Ki-21 Sally x 46
Ki-48 Lily x 50
Ki-49 Helen x 27
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 71
Day Air attack on Tjilitjap , at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 12
Ki-21 Sally x 108
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Port hits 2
Day Air attack on 49th Chinese Division, at 33,26
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 78
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-51 Sonia x 21
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Day Air attack on 55th Chinese Corps, at 43,37
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 54
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 32
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Day Air attack on 30th Chinese/B Corps, at 46,32
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
D3A Val x 8
B5N Kate x 8
Ki-27 Nate x 23
No Japanese losses
Day Air attack on 30th Chinese/B Corps, at 46,32
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 20
No Japanese losses
And, of course, you saw all the other attacks in the previous post. So remember, the Japanese player can also launch un-historically big air attacks on a near daily basis.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on Tjilitjap , at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 14
A6M3 Zero x 12
Ki-21 Sally x 46
Ki-48 Lily x 50
Ki-49 Helen x 27
Ki-46-II Dinah x 3
Allied aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-49 Helen: 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
22 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 5
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 71
Day Air attack on Tjilitjap , at 19,62
Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 12
Ki-21 Sally x 108
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Port hits 2
Day Air attack on 49th Chinese Division, at 33,26
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 78
Ki-30 Ann x 24
Ki-51 Sonia x 21
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Day Air attack on 55th Chinese Corps, at 43,37
Japanese aircraft
Ki-27 Nate x 54
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 32
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
27 casualties reported
Day Air attack on 30th Chinese/B Corps, at 46,32
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 39
D3A Val x 8
B5N Kate x 8
Ki-27 Nate x 23
No Japanese losses
Day Air attack on 30th Chinese/B Corps, at 46,32
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 20
No Japanese losses
And, of course, you saw all the other attacks in the previous post. So remember, the Japanese player can also launch un-historically big air attacks on a near daily basis.
Dave Baranyi
RE: The Japanese bombing effort...
Dec 14 saw my higher altitude aerial bombardments still run into plenty of trouble. But the number of attacks on my ships did go down, as did their effectiveness, other than this one rather tough outing for both sides:
Day Air attack on TF, near Mili at 84,85
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
G4M1 Betty x 11
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 21
P-38G Lightning x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 8 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AP Talthibius
AP President Coolidge, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
PzB's folks tried another unescorted attack against the tankers in Gili-Gili too:
Day Air attack on TF, near Gili Gili at 56,94
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
TK Brandywine
I probably need to send more tankers out...[;)]
One of my long planned nuisance raids finally occured:
Naval bombardment of Paramushiro Jima, at 82,34 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
3 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
BB Arizona
BB Nevada, Shell hits 1
Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
I'm surprised that only three guns fired back at my BBs. I wonder if PzB has pulled some of the CDs out of there, or maybe they were low on supplies or slightly out of range.
Now that PzB has taken all of Java he is now hinting at his next moves. He is still several hundred points short of the auto-victory and I still think that he wants to achieve that on January 1, 1943. I'm not sure where he will go next, but the easiest place for him to invade would be Northern Australia - it is close to where he has so many of his troops, ships and planes. I've actually pulled out a lot of my weaker forces from Northern Oz - Darwin is the only non-malarial base, so it is key from my p.o.v. . Again, he might still try to be "cute" and go down to Perth, but fundamentally, who cares? Right now I'll essentially let PzB do whatever he wants on my Left Wing as long as I get to continue to hold the Center and move on the Right.
So, will the KB finally come out "to play"? I'm in the midst of setting up my own "KB" for the first time since I took over this game. It won't be too shabby, and with the air forces that I can bring to play in the Central Pacific it ought to hold its own.
Now, as long as the game doesn't deal me any more "surprises" as far as things like land movement go, I ought to be in good shape to start to force the issue with PzB in early 1942. PzB prides himself on not "reacting", but then, so do I.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on TF, near Mili at 84,85
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 33
G4M1 Betty x 11
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 11
P-40E Warhawk x 21
P-38G Lightning x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 9 destroyed, 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 8 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AP Talthibius
AP President Coolidge, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
PzB's folks tried another unescorted attack against the tankers in Gili-Gili too:
Day Air attack on TF, near Gili Gili at 56,94
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 6
Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk I x 14
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 4 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
Kittyhawk I: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
TK Brandywine
I probably need to send more tankers out...[;)]
One of my long planned nuisance raids finally occured:
Naval bombardment of Paramushiro Jima, at 82,34 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
3 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
BB Arizona
BB Nevada, Shell hits 1
Japanese ground losses:
70 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
I'm surprised that only three guns fired back at my BBs. I wonder if PzB has pulled some of the CDs out of there, or maybe they were low on supplies or slightly out of range.
Now that PzB has taken all of Java he is now hinting at his next moves. He is still several hundred points short of the auto-victory and I still think that he wants to achieve that on January 1, 1943. I'm not sure where he will go next, but the easiest place for him to invade would be Northern Australia - it is close to where he has so many of his troops, ships and planes. I've actually pulled out a lot of my weaker forces from Northern Oz - Darwin is the only non-malarial base, so it is key from my p.o.v. . Again, he might still try to be "cute" and go down to Perth, but fundamentally, who cares? Right now I'll essentially let PzB do whatever he wants on my Left Wing as long as I get to continue to hold the Center and move on the Right.
So, will the KB finally come out "to play"? I'm in the midst of setting up my own "KB" for the first time since I took over this game. It won't be too shabby, and with the air forces that I can bring to play in the Central Pacific it ought to hold its own.
Now, as long as the game doesn't deal me any more "surprises" as far as things like land movement go, I ought to be in good shape to start to force the issue with PzB in early 1942. PzB prides himself on not "reacting", but then, so do I.
Dave Baranyi
RE: The Japanese bombing effort...
I'm surprised that only three guns fired back at my BBs. I wonder if PzB has pulled some of the CDs out of there, or maybe they were low on supplies or slightly out of range.
Paramushiro starts with excellent CD guns (including 240mm mortars) as standard, so I think that may be likely. Of course your BBs could simply be firing out of range of the CDs.
If I was you I'd do a quick recon of the place - if it's mostly ungarrisoned, you may be able to stir up more trouble in the North later, if you feel like it..
RE: The Japanese bombing effort...
ORIGINAL: Alikchi
I'm surprised that only three guns fired back at my BBs. I wonder if PzB has pulled some of the CDs out of there, or maybe they were low on supplies or slightly out of range.
Paramushiro starts with excellent CD guns (including 240mm mortars) as standard, so I think that may be likely. Of course your BBs could simply be firing out of range of the CDs.
If I was you I'd do a quick recon of the place - if it's mostly ungarrisoned, you may be able to stir up more trouble in the North later, if you feel like it..
The weather right now is miserable for air recon - that's why I sent that bombardment force to check things out. Come Springtime if I see that PzB is tied down some where far away I may well do some "real estate speculation" in the Kuriles. On the other hand, if my very "special" sneaky plan works I might get some well-needed "help" in that region in a little while. (But then, when has the Game done something screwy in my favor yet...? [;)])
Thanks for the comments -
Dave Baranyi
Into the Marshalls, continued...
I'm going to put down one of the sorts of reports that I don't normally mention in detail - a failed sub attack by one of my subs in the Marshalls on December 15:
Sub attack at 81, 80
Japanese Ships
DD Yuzuki
APD APD-39
APD APD-36
APD APD-2
DD Matsukaze
DD Harukaze
DD Satsuki
DD Yayoi
DD Wakaba
Allied Ships
SS Haddo, hits 3, on fire
It's not important that the sub's torpedoes were duds or that the escorts got some good hits in on the Haddo. What is important is the makeup of that TF and where it ended up. The TF has some APDs in it, it didn't appear to be on a routine ASW mission, and it ended up a couple of hexes away from Maloelap - a Japanese base that contains troops, has a level 4 airfield and a place that I have been bombing fairly regularly:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 36
B-24D Liberator x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 28
Port hits 2
But the TF's reported movement direction is "SE" instead of "E" towards Maloelap.
So, what is that TF doing? …
a) - Is it bringing supplies and/or troops to Maloelap?
b) - Is it bringing troops to Majuro - the next base south in the Marshalls which is between Maloelap and Mili and which is currently unoccupied by the Japanese?
c) - Is it actually a combat TF that is heading down to Mili to try to intercept my transport TFs, or attack my PT TF that is on guard, or maybe even bombard my base?
PzB does like to do "c" and it is potentially the "biggest bang for the buck" if he catches me "asleep" at Mili. He also loves to use attack with TFs that are full of DDs so that he can get the full advantage of their Long Lances. So "just in case", I've ordered my "serious" surface combat TF to Mili, along with a couple of more PT TFs. I've also sent a small PT TF to Majuro, just in case PzB is trying to drop some troops in there to keep me from "waltzing in" at my leisure. And finally, the AC TF that I've had prowling around has been ordered to go a little further north, just in case it can either catch the incoming TF, or scare it off just by its mere presence. (Fast Transport and Bombardment TFs tend to stand off if they detect carrier TFs.)
In the meanwhile I am still pouring tons of engineers and 'dozers into Mili and building it like crazy. I want to get the air field up to "2" so that I can move Dauntlesses and/or Avengers in to really mess up PzB's shipping in the Marshalls. And yes, I do intend to take Majuro, although as a 0(1) airfield it will be more of a pain to build up. (I can't bring in fighters right off the bat). But it will still be a real thorn in PzB's side. Why don't I just go for Maloelap directly, you might ask, since it is already a level 4 base? Well, I know that he has mined it heavily and he has also put a number of land units in there. I'd prefer to crush it from the air at my leisure rather than tie down a big landing force at this time.
In the meanwhile, back off the eastern tip of PNG, Kiriwina changed over to the Allied side, thanks to the presence of my troops on Goodenough Island. So at some point I will put some engineers and a base force in Kiriwina too, but not for now. Right now I am more than happy to mine the entire region between Buna and Gili-Gili while I move in more troops by fast transport as well as normal transport. I've got my bombers at PM hitting Buna regularly and now I will turn the attention of some of them back to Lae just to keep PzB from getting any "ideas" there.
BTW - I haven't forgotten about Timor - the three bases there are still receiving regular "attention" from my bombers in Northern Australia. It's a safe way for my bomber and escort crews to regain morale and experience while keeping those air bases and ports unusable for the Japanese.
BTW II - my Chinese bombers continue to be the hands-down leaders on a "kill-per-trip" basis amongst all of my air groups:
Day Air attack on 15th Tank Regiment, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
SB-2c x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
Of course, given all the troops that PzB has in China, it's not as if I am going to wipe them all out in this manner…<L>
Dave Baranyi
Sub attack at 81, 80
Japanese Ships
DD Yuzuki
APD APD-39
APD APD-36
APD APD-2
DD Matsukaze
DD Harukaze
DD Satsuki
DD Yayoi
DD Wakaba
Allied Ships
SS Haddo, hits 3, on fire
It's not important that the sub's torpedoes were duds or that the escorts got some good hits in on the Haddo. What is important is the makeup of that TF and where it ended up. The TF has some APDs in it, it didn't appear to be on a routine ASW mission, and it ended up a couple of hexes away from Maloelap - a Japanese base that contains troops, has a level 4 airfield and a place that I have been bombing fairly regularly:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 36
B-24D Liberator x 28
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
5 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 28
Port hits 2
But the TF's reported movement direction is "SE" instead of "E" towards Maloelap.
So, what is that TF doing? …
a) - Is it bringing supplies and/or troops to Maloelap?
b) - Is it bringing troops to Majuro - the next base south in the Marshalls which is between Maloelap and Mili and which is currently unoccupied by the Japanese?
c) - Is it actually a combat TF that is heading down to Mili to try to intercept my transport TFs, or attack my PT TF that is on guard, or maybe even bombard my base?
PzB does like to do "c" and it is potentially the "biggest bang for the buck" if he catches me "asleep" at Mili. He also loves to use attack with TFs that are full of DDs so that he can get the full advantage of their Long Lances. So "just in case", I've ordered my "serious" surface combat TF to Mili, along with a couple of more PT TFs. I've also sent a small PT TF to Majuro, just in case PzB is trying to drop some troops in there to keep me from "waltzing in" at my leisure. And finally, the AC TF that I've had prowling around has been ordered to go a little further north, just in case it can either catch the incoming TF, or scare it off just by its mere presence. (Fast Transport and Bombardment TFs tend to stand off if they detect carrier TFs.)
In the meanwhile I am still pouring tons of engineers and 'dozers into Mili and building it like crazy. I want to get the air field up to "2" so that I can move Dauntlesses and/or Avengers in to really mess up PzB's shipping in the Marshalls. And yes, I do intend to take Majuro, although as a 0(1) airfield it will be more of a pain to build up. (I can't bring in fighters right off the bat). But it will still be a real thorn in PzB's side. Why don't I just go for Maloelap directly, you might ask, since it is already a level 4 base? Well, I know that he has mined it heavily and he has also put a number of land units in there. I'd prefer to crush it from the air at my leisure rather than tie down a big landing force at this time.
In the meanwhile, back off the eastern tip of PNG, Kiriwina changed over to the Allied side, thanks to the presence of my troops on Goodenough Island. So at some point I will put some engineers and a base force in Kiriwina too, but not for now. Right now I am more than happy to mine the entire region between Buna and Gili-Gili while I move in more troops by fast transport as well as normal transport. I've got my bombers at PM hitting Buna regularly and now I will turn the attention of some of them back to Lae just to keep PzB from getting any "ideas" there.
BTW - I haven't forgotten about Timor - the three bases there are still receiving regular "attention" from my bombers in Northern Australia. It's a safe way for my bomber and escort crews to regain morale and experience while keeping those air bases and ports unusable for the Japanese.
BTW II - my Chinese bombers continue to be the hands-down leaders on a "kill-per-trip" basis amongst all of my air groups:
Day Air attack on 15th Tank Regiment, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
SB-2c x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
Of course, given all the troops that PzB has in China, it's not as if I am going to wipe them all out in this manner…<L>
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
Well, as PzB wrote in his email to me, December 16 brought a little bit of everything. First off, I essentially "ran over" one of PzB's subs that was sitting between Mili and Makin with a small TF consisting of and AVD and two SCDs that I had sitting in Mili to provide support for the Catalinas that I based there:
Sub attack at 85, 86
Japanese Ships
SS RO-60, hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
AVD Mackinac
SC SC-707
I had sent the AVD TF back to Tarawa just in case PzB was intending to attack Mili. They dumped everything but the kitchen sink on the sub and it sank immediately afterwards.
Then I found out the answer to my question about PzB's TF that was heading SE in the Marshalls - it was attempting to drop off troops in Majuro:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Majuro at 83, 83
Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CL Yubari, Shell hits 1
DD Wakaba, Torpedo hits 1
DD Yayoi, Shell hits 1
DD Satsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Yuzuki
DD Harukaze
DD Matsukaze
APD APD-2
APD APD-36
APD APD-39
Allied Ships
PT PT-154
PT PT-156
PT PT-157, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
PT PT-158, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
PT PT-159, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
I had a good commander in that PT TF and he got them to 2000 yards and even got a torpedo hit in before the exchange was over. This was good enough to send the Japanese Fast Transport on its way back home without the TF being able to drop off any troops at Majuro. PzB tends to be very "persistent" in these things, so I've ordered a couple more TFs back to Majuro "just in case" he comes back despite the damage to his TF.
Unfortunately, that Fast Transport TF was able to hide in a storm on the way back to Kwajalein, so none of the many bomber groups that I had in the area got a shot at it. My Fast TF on the way to Dobodura wasn't so lucky:
Day Air attack on TF, near Dobodura at 55, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 26
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed, 16 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Nashville, Torpedo hits 1
DD Nicholas, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Aaron Ward
DD Hughes
Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
This was totally my fault and I was very lucky that there was any CAP for the TF at all. I had expected that this FT TF would take an extra day to get to Dobodura and the "hot zone" so I hadn't set any LR CAP. But the TF got there a day sooner than I had expected and it was only saved by the intercession of the P-38s who were on CAP at PM. Of course, this turn I've set the entire P-38 group to LR CAP over Dobodura - watch now; they won't do a thing…[8|]
Otherwise, I bombed over all the nearby bases at Timor and PNG. PzB was relatively "quiet" - I expect that he is moving his Japanese Army bombers forward to wherever he intends to attack next. I wonder how much of a fight he intends to put up in the Marshalls? My forces are increasing there daily and I will soon be in a position to do some very serious damage to him.
Dave Baranyi
Sub attack at 85, 86
Japanese Ships
SS RO-60, hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
Allied Ships
AVD Mackinac
SC SC-707
I had sent the AVD TF back to Tarawa just in case PzB was intending to attack Mili. They dumped everything but the kitchen sink on the sub and it sank immediately afterwards.
Then I found out the answer to my question about PzB's TF that was heading SE in the Marshalls - it was attempting to drop off troops in Majuro:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Majuro at 83, 83
Japanese Ships
CA Atago
CL Yubari, Shell hits 1
DD Wakaba, Torpedo hits 1
DD Yayoi, Shell hits 1
DD Satsuki, Shell hits 1
DD Yuzuki
DD Harukaze
DD Matsukaze
APD APD-2
APD APD-36
APD APD-39
Allied Ships
PT PT-154
PT PT-156
PT PT-157, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
PT PT-158, Shell hits 3, and is sunk
PT PT-159, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
I had a good commander in that PT TF and he got them to 2000 yards and even got a torpedo hit in before the exchange was over. This was good enough to send the Japanese Fast Transport on its way back home without the TF being able to drop off any troops at Majuro. PzB tends to be very "persistent" in these things, so I've ordered a couple more TFs back to Majuro "just in case" he comes back despite the damage to his TF.
Unfortunately, that Fast Transport TF was able to hide in a storm on the way back to Kwajalein, so none of the many bomber groups that I had in the area got a shot at it. My Fast TF on the way to Dobodura wasn't so lucky:
Day Air attack on TF, near Dobodura at 55, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 26
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 7
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 5 destroyed, 16 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Nashville, Torpedo hits 1
DD Nicholas, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Aaron Ward
DD Hughes
Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
This was totally my fault and I was very lucky that there was any CAP for the TF at all. I had expected that this FT TF would take an extra day to get to Dobodura and the "hot zone" so I hadn't set any LR CAP. But the TF got there a day sooner than I had expected and it was only saved by the intercession of the P-38s who were on CAP at PM. Of course, this turn I've set the entire P-38 group to LR CAP over Dobodura - watch now; they won't do a thing…[8|]
Otherwise, I bombed over all the nearby bases at Timor and PNG. PzB was relatively "quiet" - I expect that he is moving his Japanese Army bombers forward to wherever he intends to attack next. I wonder how much of a fight he intends to put up in the Marshalls? My forces are increasing there daily and I will soon be in a position to do some very serious damage to him.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
December 17, 1942 was a bit odd. PzB used a "sacrifice" to engage my surface forces at Majuro:
Night Time Surface Combat, near Majuro at 83,83
Japanese Ships
PG Choko Maru #2, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
Allied Ships
PT PT-118
PT PT-119
PT PT-120
PT PT-121
PT PT-122
PT PT-123
But the way PzB wrote in his email it sounded as if he was successful at landing some troops. But I didn't notice any other TFs there, nor could I spot any troops on the island the next day. It did appear that he put more troops into Maloelap. So I'm confused, but my answer to "confusion" is to just to send in a lot of TFs this coming turn since PzB still has one TF standing halfway between Kwajalein and Majuro, as well as another TF in Kwajalein.
Meanwhile, back at Eastern PNG PzB either rested his planes or they were rained in so my TFs got a break for a day. I'm sending more troops into Goodenough next turn so I expect PzB to challange my LR CAP again.
All the while, I continue to get more forces (and more interesting forces) in the Gilberts/Marshalls.
Dave Baranyi
Night Time Surface Combat, near Majuro at 83,83
Japanese Ships
PG Choko Maru #2, Shell hits 14, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
Allied Ships
PT PT-118
PT PT-119
PT PT-120
PT PT-121
PT PT-122
PT PT-123
But the way PzB wrote in his email it sounded as if he was successful at landing some troops. But I didn't notice any other TFs there, nor could I spot any troops on the island the next day. It did appear that he put more troops into Maloelap. So I'm confused, but my answer to "confusion" is to just to send in a lot of TFs this coming turn since PzB still has one TF standing halfway between Kwajalein and Majuro, as well as another TF in Kwajalein.
Meanwhile, back at Eastern PNG PzB either rested his planes or they were rained in so my TFs got a break for a day. I'm sending more troops into Goodenough next turn so I expect PzB to challange my LR CAP again.
All the while, I continue to get more forces (and more interesting forces) in the Gilberts/Marshalls.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
December 18, 1942 saw PzB attempt to send one of his "ubiquitous" CA/DD fast TFs in to the Eastern PNG area for some "nefarious" reason. However, just as the TF got started it ran into an old creaky S-Boat:
Sub attack at 61, 90
Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Wakatake
DD Uzuki
DD Shigure
DD Yamagumo
DD Oshio
DD Kuroshio
Allied Ships
SS S-18
The DDs got a couple of depth changes onto S-18 afterwards but it was too late - the "Tokyo Express" had already been derailed for the night and I now have my forces on Alert.
At the same time, PzB decided to use some of his "surplus" Zeros in Burma to try to take out my good Chinese fighter group:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 5 destroyed
And:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 43
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 7 destroyed
All things considered, I'd have to say that those Chinese pilots in those obsolete open pit cockpits did fairly well for themselves. Gee - I wonder how they would do if they had P-38s?
Otherwise, things were reasonably quiet. PzB didn't try anything in the Marshalls; however he does have a lot of ships in Kwajalein that look ready to do something. He has also put a lot of troops into Maloelap. That's okay, I'd rather have them there where I can isolate and hammer them then to have them some place else where I couldn't keep them in line:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 3
B-24D Liberator x 33
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 21
PzB is keeping his fighters and bombers at Kwajalein. As long as he doesn't send them out, I'll ignore them too. In the meanwhile I continue to pour troops, ships, planes, supplies and fuel into the Gilberts and southern Marshalls. I'm also reallocating forces in to North-eastern Oz and the Solomons in support of my activities in Eastern PNG and the Coral Sea.
BTW - one oddity happened. I sent a lone transport up to a lone "dot" island off of Sumatra where I had stranded a couple of patrol groups. These groups had been in Colombo and I had flown them out to that "dot" en route to safety in Australia. There were a couple of damaged planes left on the "dot" and I thought that I would go and pick them up. But I couldn't get the transport to load them. I tried twice and while the selection screen would tell me that the planes were "loading", they didn't show up on the ship. After the second try PzB finally noticed the ship and sent some LBA after it which promptly pounded the ship into scrap metal (albeit still floating scrap metal). I have no idea why I couldn't load those planes - I load planes onto AKs everywhere else - but I guess that is just another "undocumented feature"…
Dave Baranyi
Sub attack at 61, 90
Japanese Ships
CA Haguro, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Wakatake
DD Uzuki
DD Shigure
DD Yamagumo
DD Oshio
DD Kuroshio
Allied Ships
SS S-18
The DDs got a couple of depth changes onto S-18 afterwards but it was too late - the "Tokyo Express" had already been derailed for the night and I now have my forces on Alert.
At the same time, PzB decided to use some of his "surplus" Zeros in Burma to try to take out my good Chinese fighter group:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 18
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 5 destroyed
And:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 43
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 7 destroyed
All things considered, I'd have to say that those Chinese pilots in those obsolete open pit cockpits did fairly well for themselves. Gee - I wonder how they would do if they had P-38s?
Otherwise, things were reasonably quiet. PzB didn't try anything in the Marshalls; however he does have a lot of ships in Kwajalein that look ready to do something. He has also put a lot of troops into Maloelap. That's okay, I'd rather have them there where I can isolate and hammer them then to have them some place else where I couldn't keep them in line:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
F-5A Lightning x 3
B-24D Liberator x 33
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 21
PzB is keeping his fighters and bombers at Kwajalein. As long as he doesn't send them out, I'll ignore them too. In the meanwhile I continue to pour troops, ships, planes, supplies and fuel into the Gilberts and southern Marshalls. I'm also reallocating forces in to North-eastern Oz and the Solomons in support of my activities in Eastern PNG and the Coral Sea.
BTW - one oddity happened. I sent a lone transport up to a lone "dot" island off of Sumatra where I had stranded a couple of patrol groups. These groups had been in Colombo and I had flown them out to that "dot" en route to safety in Australia. There were a couple of damaged planes left on the "dot" and I thought that I would go and pick them up. But I couldn't get the transport to load them. I tried twice and while the selection screen would tell me that the planes were "loading", they didn't show up on the ship. After the second try PzB finally noticed the ship and sent some LBA after it which promptly pounded the ship into scrap metal (albeit still floating scrap metal). I have no idea why I couldn't load those planes - I load planes onto AKs everywhere else - but I guess that is just another "undocumented feature"…
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
December 19, 1942 was reasonably quiet again. I didn't send my heavy bombers against PzB's heavily defended main bases and PzB didn't send his Bettys out against my transports. It turns out that PzB did get a TF-load of troops into Majura - somehow they got past the three Surface Combat TFs, the Air Combat TF and the various land-based bombers that I sent there at the same time. There is probably some explanation for this, but it doesn't matter anymore. (Maybe a "sacrificial" TF not only distracts the TF that encounters it, but all the other TFs in and near to the hex too?) Oh well, I'll just add Majura to my list of bomber targets while I continue my build-up in the region.
It appears that PzB has decided to use his excess bombers against my long-neglected forces in Burma, and against Mandalay in particular:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 38
Ki-21 Sally x 107
Ki-48 Lily x 34
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 6 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 43
And:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 5
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 1 destroyed
There is no way that my Chinese air groups can stand up to those sorts of numbers, regardless of past experience. (The basic rule of air contests remains "he who has the most fighters wins".)
In other places in China where PzB continues to ignore my air units I continue to have a modicum of success:
Day Air attack on Kure 2nd SNLF, at 31, 31
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 4
Wellington III x 8
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
And:
Day Air attack on 37th Division, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
SB-2c x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
And:
Day Air attack on 10th Mortar Battalion, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6
SB-2c x 15
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
And:
Day Air attack on 13th/A Division, at 43, 37
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 10
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
But these sorts of mosquito bites will only last until PzB deigns to acknowledge my forces by shutting down my remaining air fields - I just don't have sufficient fighters in China to be able to defend any base from a serious air campaign.
Elsewhere, PzB put out of misery that AK that failed to remove those patrol planes from the coast of Sumatra. Hey, it was worth a try and it might make PzB keep a few planes in the region just to keep an eye out for other Allied ships.
Dave Baranyi
It appears that PzB has decided to use his excess bombers against my long-neglected forces in Burma, and against Mandalay in particular:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 38
Ki-21 Sally x 107
Ki-48 Lily x 34
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 9
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 6 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
30 casualties reported
Airbase hits 9
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 43
And:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 21
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1
Allied aircraft
I-16c x 5
No Japanese losses
Allied aircraft losses
I-16c: 1 destroyed
There is no way that my Chinese air groups can stand up to those sorts of numbers, regardless of past experience. (The basic rule of air contests remains "he who has the most fighters wins".)
In other places in China where PzB continues to ignore my air units I continue to have a modicum of success:
Day Air attack on Kure 2nd SNLF, at 31, 31
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 4
Wellington III x 8
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
32 casualties reported
And:
Day Air attack on 37th Division, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 3
SB-2c x 6
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
25 casualties reported
Vehicles lost 1
And:
Day Air attack on 10th Mortar Battalion, at 45, 34
Allied aircraft
IL-4c x 6
SB-2c x 15
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
9 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
And:
Day Air attack on 13th/A Division, at 43, 37
Allied aircraft
Hudson I x 10
No Allied losses
Japanese ground losses:
12 casualties reported
Guns lost 1
But these sorts of mosquito bites will only last until PzB deigns to acknowledge my forces by shutting down my remaining air fields - I just don't have sufficient fighters in China to be able to defend any base from a serious air campaign.
Elsewhere, PzB put out of misery that AK that failed to remove those patrol planes from the coast of Sumatra. Hey, it was worth a try and it might make PzB keep a few planes in the region just to keep an eye out for other Allied ships.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
December 20, 1942 was another fairly mundane day, other than the fact that PzB obviously has gotten serious about Mandalay and sent in another overwhelming air attack:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 56
Ki-21 Sally x 114
Ki-48 Lily x 35
Allied aircraft
I-153c x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 18 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 39
As you can see, all I had this time to try to stop PzB was a squadron of Chinese bi-planes. I flew the two survivors out - there is nothing left for me to do at Mandalay. However, I am hoping to cause some mischief elsewhere in the Far East by sending some of my remaining bombers on "City" attacks. I haven't been successful at this in the past, but these bomber groups have had a chance to build up experience for a while, so who knows - as the old saying goes, "Even a blind squirrel occasionally find a nut".
Elsewhere, PzB continues to hold back his naval bombers, therefore I am continuing to move transports around. PzB does have a couple of TFs on the loose in the Eastern PNG area so I've sent out some PT TFs and added a few more bomber groups to the region. Getting my bombers to go after PzB's TFs is a seemingly near-zero-probability event unless there is some big, well-protected TF with BBs in it to eat up my air planes. My bombers all have lots of experience, lots of supply and lots of escorts. I can only assume that PzB has lots of LR CAP on his TFs and in the "bigger scheme of things" that counts for more.
Otherwise, my tactical bombing program continues as planned and I continue to accumulate the forces that I want where I want them. PzB continues to play carefully with that 4:1 win "so close" that he can almost "taste it".
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 56
Ki-21 Sally x 114
Ki-48 Lily x 35
Allied aircraft
I-153c x 21
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged
Ki-48 Lily: 1 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
I-153c: 18 destroyed
Allied ground losses:
54 casualties reported
Airbase hits 12
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 39
As you can see, all I had this time to try to stop PzB was a squadron of Chinese bi-planes. I flew the two survivors out - there is nothing left for me to do at Mandalay. However, I am hoping to cause some mischief elsewhere in the Far East by sending some of my remaining bombers on "City" attacks. I haven't been successful at this in the past, but these bomber groups have had a chance to build up experience for a while, so who knows - as the old saying goes, "Even a blind squirrel occasionally find a nut".
Elsewhere, PzB continues to hold back his naval bombers, therefore I am continuing to move transports around. PzB does have a couple of TFs on the loose in the Eastern PNG area so I've sent out some PT TFs and added a few more bomber groups to the region. Getting my bombers to go after PzB's TFs is a seemingly near-zero-probability event unless there is some big, well-protected TF with BBs in it to eat up my air planes. My bombers all have lots of experience, lots of supply and lots of escorts. I can only assume that PzB has lots of LR CAP on his TFs and in the "bigger scheme of things" that counts for more.
Otherwise, my tactical bombing program continues as planned and I continue to accumulate the forces that I want where I want them. PzB continues to play carefully with that 4:1 win "so close" that he can almost "taste it".
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
Well, I certainly got a pleasant (albeit trivial) surprise on December 21, 1942 - my Chinese-based bombers actually did do a "City" attack and did a bit of damage:
Day Air attack on Hanoi, at 36, 37
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9
Wellington III x 11
Hudson I x 6
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
Heavy Industry hits 6
As expected, PzB moved some fighters into Hanoi, so I've re-set the City Attack targets for those bombers to other cities that don't currently have any fighters. But my pitiful little raid pales in comparison with what PzB can throw up on any given day:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 62
Ki-48 Lily x 15
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 38
I was able to pull out another Chinese fighter out of Mandalay - that makes 3 survivors now. Of course there were lots of other bomber attacks in mainland Asia, but those aren't important; the following is much more critical:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 51
Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 9 damaged
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 2
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 1
DD Yamagumo
DD Kuroshio, Bomb hits 1, on fire
This is a combat TF and not a FT TF because it sent one of my transport TFs fleeing away. So PzB is still trying to counteract me in eastern PNG. My forces sent out more attacks, but bombers are not very good against combat ships and my torpedo bombers couldn't make it though the flak:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
Avenger I x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 9
Allied aircraft losses
Avenger I: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CA Myoko
And:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 26
Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 2
DD Shigure
CL Kuma
CL Yura, Bomb hits 1
Will PzB continue on? My intelligence says that the TF is heading SW - towards either Goodenough or Gili-Gili. But my patrols have spotted the most unlikely seeming TF I've ever seen in a report from "General Magoo's Airforce" - 2 subs and 3 AKs are in the hex of Gili-Gili??? That seems really unlikely since I had three PT TFs in that hex, along with a sub and lots of mines. But I've seen stranger things from this game, so I set two of the PT TFs to stay and react in Gili-Gili, pulled a lightly damaged cruiser out of port and set it as a combat TF, sent the third PT TF to Goodenough, and set my "serious" surface combat TF out from PM. I also brought lots of other air power in the area, as well as sending out a supply TF and a mine TF to avoid any incoming combat TF.
So what is PzB doing? Is he trying to land at Gili-Gili, Goodenough or Kiriwana? Is he just trying to be a nuisance? Is he trying to catch some of my transport TFs sleeping? I guess that we will see next time.
In the meanwhile, PzB has had enough of my unimpeded bombing of the Eastern Marshalls and has brought some fighters in despite high runway damage from continuous attacks such as these:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 11
PzB thinks that I am now "shell shocked" because of his advantage in Japanese fighters versus Allied heavy bombers. So I'm sending in a bunch of heavy bombers to Maloelap at maximum altitude, just to see if I can hit anything and to help tire out his fighters.
But more importantly, the airfields at Mili are already up to level 2, so I put a dive bomber squadron in there "for fun" and my hundreds of engineers with their hundreds of 'dozers are continuing to build. It won't be long before I will be able to put a lot of tac bombers and fighters there to really challenge PzB at Maloelap. BTW - I'm not forgetting about the naval situation - I am continuing to send PT TFs into Maloelap too, just in case PzB tries to sneak some more forces or supplies in.
Oh yes, before I forget - PzB let his Bettys loose this turn too:
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough Island at 56, 93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Juan Cabrillo, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK John Adams
AK Edwin Markham, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
As usual, LR CAP is never as effective as one would like, but they still put some "hurt" on the incoming attack. PzB's Bettys also attacked outside of escort range:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 2
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP Arthur Middleton
And:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 1
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
And one with some escorts:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
G4M1 Betty x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP President Hayes
That’s the kind of practice that my fighter jockeys need.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on Hanoi, at 36, 37
Allied aircraft
Blenheim IV x 9
Wellington III x 11
Hudson I x 6
Allied aircraft losses
Blenheim IV: 3 damaged
Heavy Industry hits 6
As expected, PzB moved some fighters into Hanoi, so I've re-set the City Attack targets for those bombers to other cities that don't currently have any fighters. But my pitiful little raid pales in comparison with what PzB can throw up on any given day:
Day Air attack on Mandalay, at 33, 30
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 62
Ki-48 Lily x 15
No Japanese losses
Allied ground losses:
32 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 38
I was able to pull out another Chinese fighter out of Mandalay - that makes 3 survivors now. Of course there were lots of other bomber attacks in mainland Asia, but those aren't important; the following is much more critical:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 51
Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 9 damaged
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CL Kuma, Bomb hits 2
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 1
DD Yamagumo
DD Kuroshio, Bomb hits 1, on fire
This is a combat TF and not a FT TF because it sent one of my transport TFs fleeing away. So PzB is still trying to counteract me in eastern PNG. My forces sent out more attacks, but bombers are not very good against combat ships and my torpedo bombers couldn't make it though the flak:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
Avenger I x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 9
Allied aircraft losses
Avenger I: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CL Yura
CA Myoko
And:
Day Air attack on TF at 60, 92
Allied aircraft
B-26B Marauder x 26
Allied aircraft losses
B-26B Marauder: 5 damaged
Japanese Ships
CA Myoko, Bomb hits 2
DD Shigure
CL Kuma
CL Yura, Bomb hits 1
Will PzB continue on? My intelligence says that the TF is heading SW - towards either Goodenough or Gili-Gili. But my patrols have spotted the most unlikely seeming TF I've ever seen in a report from "General Magoo's Airforce" - 2 subs and 3 AKs are in the hex of Gili-Gili??? That seems really unlikely since I had three PT TFs in that hex, along with a sub and lots of mines. But I've seen stranger things from this game, so I set two of the PT TFs to stay and react in Gili-Gili, pulled a lightly damaged cruiser out of port and set it as a combat TF, sent the third PT TF to Goodenough, and set my "serious" surface combat TF out from PM. I also brought lots of other air power in the area, as well as sending out a supply TF and a mine TF to avoid any incoming combat TF.
So what is PzB doing? Is he trying to land at Gili-Gili, Goodenough or Kiriwana? Is he just trying to be a nuisance? Is he trying to catch some of my transport TFs sleeping? I guess that we will see next time.
In the meanwhile, PzB has had enough of my unimpeded bombing of the Eastern Marshalls and has brought some fighters in despite high runway damage from continuous attacks such as these:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 16
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 11
PzB thinks that I am now "shell shocked" because of his advantage in Japanese fighters versus Allied heavy bombers. So I'm sending in a bunch of heavy bombers to Maloelap at maximum altitude, just to see if I can hit anything and to help tire out his fighters.
But more importantly, the airfields at Mili are already up to level 2, so I put a dive bomber squadron in there "for fun" and my hundreds of engineers with their hundreds of 'dozers are continuing to build. It won't be long before I will be able to put a lot of tac bombers and fighters there to really challenge PzB at Maloelap. BTW - I'm not forgetting about the naval situation - I am continuing to send PT TFs into Maloelap too, just in case PzB tries to sneak some more forces or supplies in.
Oh yes, before I forget - PzB let his Bettys loose this turn too:
Day Air attack on TF, near Goodenough Island at 56, 93
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 16
G4M1 Betty x 15
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 13
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Allied Ships
AK Juan Cabrillo, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK John Adams
AK Edwin Markham, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
As usual, LR CAP is never as effective as one would like, but they still put some "hurt" on the incoming attack. PzB's Bettys also attacked outside of escort range:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 2
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP Arthur Middleton
And:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 1
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 6
Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
And one with some escorts:
Day Air attack on TF, near Port Moresby at 53, 91
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
G4M1 Betty x 3
Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 8
Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed
Allied Ships
AP President Hayes
That’s the kind of practice that my fighter jockeys need.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
I didn't intend to send a heavy bomber attack at any of PzB's well-defended bases on December 22, 1942 but I had a bunch of B-24s at Lunga and PzB had that damaged combat TF halfway between Shortlands and Gili-Gili as well as that other nonsensical TF at Gili-Gili, so I set the B-24s to "naval attack", but forgot to adjust the range. So what does the group do? Of course:
Day Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 61,88
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 52
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 20
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged
Oh well, it will keep PzB "honest" and make him keep some fighters at those big bases. The problem is that PzB has SO many fighter groups that he can put 50 to 100 fighters at all of his bases at the front lines all at once and still use more back in Burma and China.
Otherwise, there were most of the usual air bombardments from both sides. PzB's naval attack planes were quiet again. Goodenough Island reached a level 1 air base so I put its own fighter squadron in place and set the P-38s at PM back to their more usual tasks instead of LR CAP.
PzB's task forces - both real and nonsensical - disappeared in the darkness, leaving my airmen disappointed at the lack of a chance but my transport sailors much happier.
I'm trying a few other things right now - we'll see which, if any, work. Already one of my low-probability plans has come up empty. It was a move that I figured wouldn't work, but decided to try anyway after reading some comments about it in another thread.Sure enough it didn't work after all. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Dave Baranyi
Day Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 61,88
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 52
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 20
Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 24
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed, 5 damaged
Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 3 destroyed, 9 damaged
Oh well, it will keep PzB "honest" and make him keep some fighters at those big bases. The problem is that PzB has SO many fighter groups that he can put 50 to 100 fighters at all of his bases at the front lines all at once and still use more back in Burma and China.
Otherwise, there were most of the usual air bombardments from both sides. PzB's naval attack planes were quiet again. Goodenough Island reached a level 1 air base so I put its own fighter squadron in place and set the P-38s at PM back to their more usual tasks instead of LR CAP.
PzB's task forces - both real and nonsensical - disappeared in the darkness, leaving my airmen disappointed at the lack of a chance but my transport sailors much happier.
I'm trying a few other things right now - we'll see which, if any, work. Already one of my low-probability plans has come up empty. It was a move that I figured wouldn't work, but decided to try anyway after reading some comments about it in another thread.Sure enough it didn't work after all. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
I received two surprises on the December 23, 1942 turn.
First, I had thought that carriers weren't able to operate in winter in the northern regions. I found out that I was wrong in a fairly costly manner as PzB surprised a bombardment TF of mine off of the Eastern Kuriles:
Day Air attack on TF at 86, 34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 30
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 destroyed, 22 damaged
Allied Ships
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
And:
Day Air attack on TF at 86, 34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
I also found out that Tonys will operate at 36,600 feet:
Day Air attack on Wotje, at 82, 79
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 24
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 83
B-24D Liberator x 26
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 4 destroyed, 11 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 4
I learn new things every day from this game.
Dave Baranyi
First, I had thought that carriers weren't able to operate in winter in the northern regions. I found out that I was wrong in a fairly costly manner as PzB surprised a bombardment TF of mine off of the Eastern Kuriles:
Day Air attack on TF at 86, 34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 30
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 4 destroyed, 22 damaged
Allied Ships
BB Arizona, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
BB Nevada, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
And:
Day Air attack on TF at 86, 34
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
B5N Kate x 12
Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 8 damaged
Allied Ships
CL Detroit, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
I also found out that Tonys will operate at 36,600 feet:
Day Air attack on Wotje, at 82, 79
Japanese aircraft
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 24
Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 83
B-24D Liberator x 26
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed, 7 damaged
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 4 destroyed, 11 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 destroyed, 5 damaged
Japanese ground losses:
39 casualties reported
Guns lost 3
Airbase hits 2
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 4
I learn new things every day from this game.
Dave Baranyi
RE: Into the Marshalls, continued...
I learned another thing during the December 24, 1942 game turn: that my battleships won't do much airfield damage during a bombardment:
Naval bombardment of Maloelap, at 82, 81 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed
5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Quincy
BB Indiana
BB North Carolina, Shell hits 1
Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Port supply hits 1
I had also ordered a tactical bomber attack on Maloelap under the assumption that since the air fields were at 50% damage last turn and I was sending in a bombardment TF that PzB wouldn't be able to mount much CAP. I learned yet another thing:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 22
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 15
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 16
B-25C Mitchell x 60
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 8 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 9 destroyed, 33 damaged
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 18
Unfortunately, after all that the airfields are still open.
So essentially I have no weapons at my disposal right now with which to close Japanese air bases. To give you an idea of PzB's resources - this turn he has 133 fighters stationed at Kwajalein and another 50 or so at Wotje, along with whatever he has at Maloelap. And he is still hammering Burma and China from the air.
I also lost a DD to a mine on that bombardment attack. I did have three DMS ships along, but PzB has mined his bases very heavily. PzB also left some submarine mines at Gili-Gili which took out one of my transports. I've been having problems getting some of my transport TFs to move out of Gili-Gili so I've been forced to create new TFs with new leaders to get around "won't move" glitches.
Otherwise, there is no particularly interesting news to report. Sure, I can bomb uncontested bases, but that isn't changing the strategic situation in any manner. And PzB is doing quite well by sitting back and waiting for me to move, and then hammering my moves with his strength as he has done in the Arctic. There is no longer any uncontested room for me to move to and I am unable to establish a local superiority in arms because all of my air units are inferior in capabilities to his air units.
So I'm faced with effectively being unable to successfully attack PzB anywhere until I get better air units - and this means in particular much better and longer ranged fighter aircraft. I start to get Corsairs in a couple of months and Hellcats later in 1943. But what that means is that I can't go on the offensive until 1944. My only hope is to pull back, wait for PzB to move, and hope that he makes a mistake that will allow me to overcome his advantages in aircraft.
This is the real effect of the design decision to weaken the Allied 4 engine bombers - there is now no way to wage an air war of attrition against the Japanese. The Japanese fighters clearly out-class the Allied fighters and the Allied bombers can't shut down the Japanese air fields. Japanese torpedo bombers are also significantly more dangerous to ships than the Allied level bombers are. Add to this the combat advantages that Japanese land units have and I'm at a loss as to how to proactively contain PzB, let alone regain the momentum.
Essentially, even if I chose to take the purely defensive option, I will have extreme difficulty stopping PzB anywhere he wants to go if he is willing to take losses. And I don't have sufficient naval forces to prevent him from landing everywhere, nor can I protect my naval forces in most locations - again because of the inadequacy of my air units. PzB knows that he has little to fear from my LBA and fighters - thus far he has only been constrained in his actions by his desire to achieve the January 1, 1943 4:1 victory - effectively he has been attempting to minimize his losses in order to achieve that point goal.
So in the absence of anything else available I continue to try to "bluff" PzB. For example, I've started to send my recon planes over PzB's big bases so that he reacts to the potential of an attack. One result, for example, was the 133 Japanese fighters at Kwajalein. But bluffing only goes so far. If I don't send bombers against PzB's major bases then he has a free hand with his forces while threatening mine.
Dave Baranyi
Naval bombardment of Maloelap, at 82, 81 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!
Japanese aircraft
no flights
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 1 destroyed
5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Quincy
BB Indiana
BB North Carolina, Shell hits 1
Japanese ground losses:
172 casualties reported
Guns lost 8
Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Port supply hits 1
I had also ordered a tactical bomber attack on Maloelap under the assumption that since the air fields were at 50% damage last turn and I was sending in a bombardment TF that PzB wouldn't be able to mount much CAP. I learned yet another thing:
Day Air attack on Maloelap, at 82, 81
Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIb Tojo x 22
Ki-61 KAIc Tony x 15
Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 16
B-25C Mitchell x 60
Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIb Tojo: 3 destroyed, 5 damaged
Ki-61 KAIc Tony: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-30 Ann: 1 destroyed
Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 8 destroyed
B-25C Mitchell: 9 destroyed, 33 damaged
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 18
Unfortunately, after all that the airfields are still open.
So essentially I have no weapons at my disposal right now with which to close Japanese air bases. To give you an idea of PzB's resources - this turn he has 133 fighters stationed at Kwajalein and another 50 or so at Wotje, along with whatever he has at Maloelap. And he is still hammering Burma and China from the air.
I also lost a DD to a mine on that bombardment attack. I did have three DMS ships along, but PzB has mined his bases very heavily. PzB also left some submarine mines at Gili-Gili which took out one of my transports. I've been having problems getting some of my transport TFs to move out of Gili-Gili so I've been forced to create new TFs with new leaders to get around "won't move" glitches.
Otherwise, there is no particularly interesting news to report. Sure, I can bomb uncontested bases, but that isn't changing the strategic situation in any manner. And PzB is doing quite well by sitting back and waiting for me to move, and then hammering my moves with his strength as he has done in the Arctic. There is no longer any uncontested room for me to move to and I am unable to establish a local superiority in arms because all of my air units are inferior in capabilities to his air units.
So I'm faced with effectively being unable to successfully attack PzB anywhere until I get better air units - and this means in particular much better and longer ranged fighter aircraft. I start to get Corsairs in a couple of months and Hellcats later in 1943. But what that means is that I can't go on the offensive until 1944. My only hope is to pull back, wait for PzB to move, and hope that he makes a mistake that will allow me to overcome his advantages in aircraft.
This is the real effect of the design decision to weaken the Allied 4 engine bombers - there is now no way to wage an air war of attrition against the Japanese. The Japanese fighters clearly out-class the Allied fighters and the Allied bombers can't shut down the Japanese air fields. Japanese torpedo bombers are also significantly more dangerous to ships than the Allied level bombers are. Add to this the combat advantages that Japanese land units have and I'm at a loss as to how to proactively contain PzB, let alone regain the momentum.
Essentially, even if I chose to take the purely defensive option, I will have extreme difficulty stopping PzB anywhere he wants to go if he is willing to take losses. And I don't have sufficient naval forces to prevent him from landing everywhere, nor can I protect my naval forces in most locations - again because of the inadequacy of my air units. PzB knows that he has little to fear from my LBA and fighters - thus far he has only been constrained in his actions by his desire to achieve the January 1, 1943 4:1 victory - effectively he has been attempting to minimize his losses in order to achieve that point goal.
So in the absence of anything else available I continue to try to "bluff" PzB. For example, I've started to send my recon planes over PzB's big bases so that he reacts to the potential of an attack. One result, for example, was the 133 Japanese fighters at Kwajalein. But bluffing only goes so far. If I don't send bombers against PzB's major bases then he has a free hand with his forces while threatening mine.
Dave Baranyi