Matrix Games Forums

Dec 24, 1942

Solomon Is / Coral Sea / Papua

More Allied landings at Milne Bay as well as Vangunu, with various Allied TFs nosing around Tagula, Rossel Island etc. An effective tactic as my opponent clearly realises that I can't react everywhere at once.

The Allied carriers move closer to support the landings at Milne Bay.

Musings on carrier warfare in this game to date

A word about how my opponent uses his carriers. I have seen this throughout the recent Solomons campaign and now call it 'kitchen-sinking' his carriers. As far as I can tell from naval search, every single available carrier including the Brits always seems to be present in two main TFs. These TFs are well supported with BBs, CLAAs and DDs with powerful ASW capabilities. In the same hex there are also additional TFs - sometimes up to 8 more in total. The rationale as I see it is to protect his carriers, not only with a massive ASW concentration, but also by presenting multiple targets that could dilute any KB or LBA attack. (Although the game engine will tend to seek out the carriers, there's no guarantee of this afaik).

Why have I not been using the KB more aggressively in the Solomons? Well, point 1 is that even in Dec '42 I don't think I can quite match the scale of the formation that Apbarog has assembled as described above without LBA helping to tip the balance. The KB may have parity in terms of aircraft right now, but is clearly inferior in terms of numbers of ships deployed locally, and especially AAA as I found from the last inconclusive carrier battles we fought. Put simply, in a carrier battle, more of my bombers are going to get shot down than his so I need a numerical advantage to make a carrier battle worthwhile.

Point 2 is that, although I have been referring to the KB generically of late, nearly half of it has been under repair as a result of previous battle damage suffered. At the moment, Zuikaku still has 41 days until it is repaired, while Soryu, Zuiho, Shoho and Ryujo have only just departed Hiroshima and Kobe after their repairs.

So, lately I have been obliged to avoid a direct carrier battle unless within range of LBA support and have been looking for opportunities to counter-attack on the rebound. All credit to Apbarog as he is so thorough in his build-up that such chances are few indeed. I thought I saw just such an opportunity on Dec 25, 1942 and I will deal with the outcome in my next post...

Why have I not been using the KB more aggressively in the Solomons? Well, point 1 is that even in Dec '42 I don't think I can quite match the scale of the formation that Apbarog has assembled as described above without LBA helping to tip the balance. The KB may have parity in terms of aircraft right now, but is clearly inferior in terms of numbers of ships deployed locally, and especially AAA as I found from the last inconclusive carrier battles we fought. Put simply, in a carrier battle, more of my bombers are going to get shot down than his so I need a numerical advantage to make a carrier battle worthwhile.

I agree. It seems to me that the power of allied carrier taskforces from late 1942 is sometimes underestimated, The allied can afford to engage in carrier attrition. The Japanese cannot.

As allied I would like if I could draw out the KB to engage my carriers on my half of the field. The Allied fleet carriers can take a lot of punishment and still survive.
If in addition they have bases close by their survival rate is much better than for Japanese carriers.

Once the KB is broken then Japanese demise is certain.

Dec 25, 1942

Japanese Plan

The Allies have moved 70-plus fighters to Milne Bay with the carriers close by. Two crack Zero groups will sweep the base today to degrade the defences and hopefully allow my bombers to attack the following day.

Meanwhile, I will land elements of a division at Munda to contest the island after Vangunu falls (with recent Allied reinforcements this is expected to happen today). The landings will be supported by sizeable SCTFs plus additional CAP flown in to Buin and Shortlands. KB will move to the East of Buin to attack enemy shipping close to Munda assuming it has not fled overnight as is often the case with Apbarog's landings.

Air battle over Milne Bay

The Zeroes go in and encounter about 50 Allied fighters - Kittyhawk IA, Spitfire Vc Trop, P-40K Warhawk and F4F-4 Wildcats. The Zero groups fly in separate waves and a couple of planes arrive late as well blunting the overall impact of the attack, but at least the losses are roughly even at about 12 on each side.

Air battles over the Solomons and Rossel Island

The Allied carriers have moved closer to Rossel overnight and something unplanned takes place as a unit of Jakes which was set to naval attack goes in escorted by many KB fighters. I had checked that all navy bombers were set at a range of 7 but thought the floatplanes were set to navsearch or ASW, so this is an example of not checking every possible eventuality before ending the turn. As it happens, the Zeroes don't perform badly but this was not the sort of error I needed at this critical juncture!

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 107,138

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 97
E13A1 Jake x 8

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 27
F4F-4 Wildcat x 107

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed
E13A1 Jake: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 3 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed

Allied LBA then attacks my SCTF near Munda and, apart from a couple of hits on Kongo, the CAP works pretty much as planned...

Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 13
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 34
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 19

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 16
SBD-3 Dauntless x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 3 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 8 destroyed, 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Arare
BB Kongo

Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 2,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 17
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 31
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 16

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 25

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 2
BB Yamato

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 3 x 500 lb SAP Bomb
Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 14
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 35
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 15

Allied aircraft
Albacore I x 11
SBD-2 Dauntless x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Albacore I: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged
SBD-2 Dauntless: 8 destroyed

Japanese Ships
DD Kuri
xAK Sinsyu Maru
orning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 3,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 11
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 20
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 12

Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed, 9 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
DD Nokaze
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
DD Sawakaze

If that had been the end of the day's activities we would have been pretty satisfied, however the Allied carriers' overnight movement brings them in range of Munda...

Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 5
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 19
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 6

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 90
TBF-1 Avenger x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 2 destroyed, 15 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed by flak
TBF-1 Avenger: 5 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Bomb hits 1
BB Yamato, Bomb hits 7, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Kasagi Maru, Bomb hits 7, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Teika Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Ansyu Maru
PB Okiyu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Sinsyu Maru, Bomb hits 5, and is sunk
DD Yuzuki
PB Aso Maru #7, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
CL Sendai, Bomb hits 2, on fire
PB Ronsan Maru

Japanese ground losses:
2343 casualties reported
Squads: 48 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 56 destroyed, 82 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 5 disabled

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Munda at 111,134

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 4
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 15
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 5

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 18
SBD-3 Dauntless x 18
TBF-1 Avenger x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 3 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 6 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Kuri
xAP Teika Maru, Bomb hits 2, and is sunk
DD Kiku
DD Nokaze
xAK Kasagi Maru, and is sunk
PB Ansyu Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Sawakaze
PB Aso Maru #7, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Ronsan Maru
PB Okiyu Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
Japanese ground losses:
5006 casualties reported
Squads: 72 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 100 destroyed, 140 disabled
Engineers: 16 destroyed, 8 disabled
Guns lost 12 (7 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Then the blasted Jakes attack the Allied carriers again in the afternoon and more Zeroes and Jakes are lost. As a tiny consolation, KB Kates manage to sink one APD out of a TF of seven near Tassafaronga.

To cap a brilliant day, the Allied overnight reinforcements attack and capture Vangunu.

Summary

In terms of plane losses we held up reasonably well - 106 Allied to 96 of our own. It would have been even better without the two Jake suicide missions.

Yamato and Kongo have moderate damage and will be fine as long as they do not run into Allied subs when withdrawing.

KB is still intact but will need to withdraw to take fighter replacements.

The most pain inflicted was in losing the infantry squads when the transports went down at Munda. This means I only managed to land an additional 40 AV ashore to contest the inevitable Allied push north from Vangunu.

And worst of all, my opponent still has the initiative as a result of today's multiple setbacks for Japanese arms. No doubt the Allies will especially enjoy tucking into their Christmas dinner[8|].

Ouch, ouch, ouch! [:(] Some breaks for each side there, but the really big ones went to the Allies in that turn. I'm wondering about the inadvertent Jake raids which went badly. Aside from the loss of planes in those missions, did they also pull Zeroes away from possible CAP duties in those critical Allied strikes against your transports?

Kongo presumably (?) isn't seriously damaged, but I would guess Yamato will need some yard time after the fish hit it? Fires are out?

Its a long war, and you you seemed to have realized the Jake mistake. Escorts can be funky like that.[:(]

Deep six those Oscar Ic's. They are seriously no good. Well, you can use them for training, and I guess if you have to escorts, but it is Dec 42 your front lines should not include those dogs.

1943 is when things start to slide away from Japan. How does your next generation of fighters look: Jack, George and Frank A? It is also not too late to look at the fighter bombers -- they are important to fly CAP over rear area bases that could be raided, or hit by the increasingly long legged bombers.

Also, now is the time to think about BB conversions to BB/CS -- not a bad trade as they can add some serious AA and 20 float fighters each. Worth looking at.

There are also the CS/CV conversions. I normally do the fast ships here...but it is a long conversion and I am not sure they are worth it.

ORIGINAL: Skygge

I agree. It seems to me that the power of allied carrier taskforces from late 1942 is sometimes underestimated, The allied can afford to engage in carrier attrition. The Japanese cannot.

As allied I would like if I could draw out the KB to engage my carriers on my half of the field. The Allied fleet carriers can take a lot of punishment and still survive.
If in addition they have bases close by their survival rate is much better than for Japanese carriers.

Once the KB is broken then Japanese demise is certain.

Skygge, Thanks for the feedback, and agreed. To me the most important thing right now is to preserve the KB as a deterrent even when, as my opponent sometimes jokingly reminds me, the Essex class and the Hellcat enter the war.

I managed to preserve all of my carriers through two previous carrier actions, although a number suffered damage and I haven't been able to field the full KB since June '42.

If I see a better opportunity I will attack in strength, but only if the risk seems worthwhile.

ORIGINAL: jwolf

Ouch, ouch, ouch! [:(] Some breaks for each side there, but the really big ones went to the Allies in that turn. I'm wondering about the inadvertent Jake raids which went badly. Aside from the loss of planes in those missions, did they also pull Zeroes away from possible CAP duties in those critical Allied strikes against your transports?

Thanks, I'm not sure they pulled too much CAP away but I didn't want that sort of strike going out in the first place. I had enough CAP to deal with my opponent's LBA but not enough to go up against the full Allied carrier force so you could argue that this was a miscalculation on my part, assuming that the Allied carriers would stay to support Milne Bay rather than heading back to Munda immediately. If my CVs had been closer to Munda then we would likely have had a carrier battle instead, but we never came within the 7 or 8 hexes that would have triggered this. Unfortunately the Jakes were set to a full search range of 10.

Kongo presumably (?) isn't seriously damaged, but I would guess Yamato will need some yard time after the fish hit it? Fires are out?

Light damage to Kongo and no fires on either battleship. Yamato is a tough beast but will be spending time in the yard as you guessed.

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

Its a long war, and you you seemed to have realized the Jake mistake. Escorts can be funky like that.[:(]

Deep six those Oscar Ic's. They are seriously no good. Well, you can use them for training, and I guess if you have to escorts, but it is Dec 42 your front lines should not include those dogs.

1943 is when things start to slide away from Japan. How does your next generation of fighters look: Jack, George and Frank A? It is also not too late to look at the fighter bombers -- they are important to fly CAP over rear area bases that could be raided, or hit by the increasingly long legged bombers.

Also, now is the time to think about BB conversions to BB/CS -- not a bad trade as they can add some serious AA and 20 float fighters each. Worth looking at.

There are also the CS/CV conversions. I normally do the fast ships here...but it is a long conversion and I am not sure they are worth it.

Thanks, as always, for the comments and ideas. I'll certainly look at the conversions.

Oscar 1c is being replaced on the front line but as this is a PDU-off game I have to watch the upgrade path and can't simply overproduce my strongest models as not all units will upgrade.

Jack = 5/43, George = 7/43 and Frank A = 1/44. I know its possible to accelerate these and have built more factories so think they will come in a bit earlier than this.

The Oscar Ic is a safe plane to remove from production I believe. There is only one small squadron I think that doesn't upgrade from the Ic and that squadron comes on very late in the game.

Good date on the Jack, but I don't think there are any squadrons that can actually fly the plane until 10/43.[:(]

The George suffers too, from lack of squadrons capable of flying the version 1.[:(]

Frank A however has I think 7 squadrons that can upgrade to it...more if you get the Oscar IV and Tojo IIc first.

PDU off is an adventure![:)]

ORIGINAL: Lowpe

The Oscar Ic is a safe plane to remove from production I believe. There is only one small squadron I think that doesn't upgrade from the Ic and that squadron comes on very late in the game.

Good date on the Jack, but I don't think there are any squadrons that can actually fly the plane until 10/43.[:(]

The George suffers too, from lack of squadrons capable of flying the version 1.[:(]

Frank A however has I think 7 squadrons that can upgrade to it...more if you get the Oscar IV and Tojo IIc first.

PDU off is an adventure![:)]

PDU off certainly is an adventure - you really need to model your production and play differently.

Some Oscar squadrons seem to upgrade directly to the IIb which means I am stuck with the Ic until 2/43. I also don't want to deplete my IIa pools too much as this is required for some units until well into '43.

You may be right about the units taking the Jack and George - at least I will have plenty in the pools by then

Dec 26, 1942

Allied subs active east of Rabaul, getting a few contacts with the Yamato battle group as it withdraws but hitting nothing. SS I-18 manages to put a torpedo into an Allied AKL near Milne Bay but takes a hit from the single DD escort. My subs are having to fight superior Allied ASW every step of the way. A number of my DDs can upgrade to 4 ASW points from the current 2 on 1/43 (assuming I can spare them long enough from front line duties). IIRC DBB has cut Japanese ASW strength quite a bit compared to stock. Possibly Allied ASW is reduced as well but I haven't looked into this.

Anyway, there is a rare success for my own ASW near Rabaul...

Allied Ships
SS KIX, hits 2, on fire

SS KIX launches 4 torpedoes at DD Makigumo
DD Shirayuki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Usugumo fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Fubuki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Makigumo attacking submerged sub ....
DD Makigumo loses contact with SS KIX
Massive explosion on SS KIX
Escort abandons search for sub

Meanwhile, Allied subs have mined Talasea and Torokina. Fortunately my minesweepers find the deadly fruit first and start clearing.

Allied cruisers then sweep into my backyard to bombard Torokina at night. Bloody cheek!

Night Naval bombardment of Torokina at 109,130

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 62 damaged
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed on ground
G3M2 Nell: 1 damaged
H8K1 Emily: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Canberra
CA San Francisco
CA Minneapolis
DD Barton
DD Grayson
DD Gwin
DD Meredith

Japanese ground losses:
682 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 35 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 9 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Airbase hits 44
Airbase supply hits 16
Runway hits 90

B-17s then bomb Torokina while B-24s bomb Buin. My CAP does pretty well and there is not a lot of additional damage to either base, although the cruisers have already put Torokina almost out of action by themselves. I set a SCTF to run as far as Buin tomorrow in case the Allies try a rerun of this tomorrow (although I expect they will wait a day or two before returning).

Allied infantry attacks my remaining fragment at Vangunu which is trying to withdraw through the jungle to Munda. Not a great day overall, but nothing too catastrophic either.

ORIGINAL: Walker84

Some Oscar squadrons seem to upgrade directly to the IIb which means I am stuck with the Ic until 2/43. I also don't want to deplete my IIa pools too much as this is required for some units until well into '43.

No IIb till 2/43. Ouch. There is only 4 squadrons that upgrade to the IIa, but there are tons that upgrade to the IIb.

But, there you go, unbeknownst to me you had your reasons.[:)]

Just be careful, you don't want to be short of fighter planes. Fighter losses ramp up as the game goes along, but also your squadrons ramp up significantly too. The huge IJAAF expansion in early 44 can really catch you by surprise...especially in a pdu off game.

Thanks Lowpe,

Apbarog and I wanted to try something different from stock and this is...different [8|]. Stacking limits also makes a great difference - not as easy to bludgeon your way through enemy units dug in in x3 terrain for sure. I'll take a look at the '44 requirements and make what changes I can to anticipate this.

Dec 27, 1942

SS I-173 was sitting in Torokina harbour with 98 float damage... no longer as B-17s arrive and pound the sub into the mud.

B-26s also bomb II/84th Naval Guard Unit at Vangunu but attack in three separate waves, some of which lose their F4F escorts making for quite a good day in the air for Japan...especially as I had moved 36 Nicks forward to help take on the bombers.

Today's losses are 13 x B-26, 6 x F4F, 1 x B-17E vs 2 x Oscar Ic.

Dec 28, 1942

My SCTF heading for Shortlands is spotted by an Allied sub but no Allied TFs turn up to bombard any of the Solomons bases today. Instead, a bunch of APDs fast transport an as yet undetermined Allied unit to Woodlark Island where I have a small Naval guard unit defending the dot base. One small positive is the 159 casualties reported among the troops unloading over beach. Woodlark is also within easy bombardment range of Rabaul, with the round trip possible in a single day reducing the risk to the units involved.

I can't put CAP up everywhere as B-25Cs bomb Port Moresby, B-26s Horn Island and B-17s Torokina. An Allied deliberate attack takes out the remnant of my ground unit at Vangunu.

As the year draws to a close, it looks like my opponent is going to keep coming forward wherever my bases are lightly defended. He's getting closer to Port Moresby, Rabaul and Shortlands all the time and I need to focus on keeping these airbases open. The first two have a division plus ancilliary units defending them. Shortlands has 200+ AV. I'm also expecting him to return to the Marshalls at some point as I saw more recon of Tarawa today, plus he tried to take Tabiteau previously, and lost two old battleships to Long Lance torpedoes in the process. I have been keeping a surface reaction force in the vicinity since an Allied TF showed up south of Tarawa a week ago before disappearing. KB is at Rabaul temporarily and can react either east or west depending on whether Apbarog tries anything major. For now he seems happy to be doing things in small, incremental bites as his APDs can escape before I can hit them from the air.

Oh, and the sigint...
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Colombo. Mustn't lose focus on this theatre.
Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Pago Pago. Could be a supply convoy but on the other hand its due south of the Marshalls.

Since it is the end of the year, can you post the victory screen?

Thanks.

Sure, here's the latest screen. I don't think we will be doing a further turn until Friday as both Apbarog and I have commitments over the next few days.

Dec 29, 1942

Solomons, Coral Sea, New Britain

Some inconclusive sub versus escort skirmishes for both sides, then a TF led by Mogami and Agano bombards the 102nd Cmbt Engineer Regiment, the newly arrived Allied unit on Woodlark Island. The engineers have 115 casualties reported.

Then, something quite interesting: a raid on Rabaul by 30 plus B-24Ds. I guess this was planned to test out my defences but, unfortunately for the Liberators, the KB is close by and puts up a good CAP to augment the fighters at the base. The intelligence report indicated that about 24 bombers were shot down for 3 Zeroes, partly FOW I guess but still a good deterrent against such incursions into my backyard. The attack was on the port as well as the airfield but there was only about a point of damage scored on each, with one Sally destroyed on the ground.

Despite my extensive search efforts there is still no sign of any Allied carriers or capital ships, which makes me think that my opponent is either refitting minor damage and taking on more planes, or else planning something new and nefarious. I guess we will find out soon.
Having been spotted at Rabaul, I'd like KB to disappear again. I have also moved a rapid reaction TF over towards the Marshall Islands, although my opponent could equally decide to go in the opposite direction and hit Horn Island again.

Philippines

I post this one mainly for fun. The reconquest of the Philippines has clearly begun!

Ground combat at Surigao (81,88)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 719 troops, 1 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 3

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Allied adjusted assault: 2

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

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

Allied forces CAPTURE Surigao !!!

Combat modifiers
Attacker: leaders(+), leaders(-), supply(-)

Assaulting units:
3rd Constabulary Regiment

Love the supply.[&o]

Please double check your vehicle production. It looks very low to me.

A good opening, especially in the air.[:)]

Thanks for looking at this; I've increased vehicle production a bit - one of the benefits of having plenty of supply.

Dec 30, 1942

Solomons

SS Haddo launches 4 torpedoes at CA Maya near Kusaie Island so now my opponent knows that I have some capability in the area. Might help to keep him honest at least.

New Britain/ Papua / Horn Island

Overnight, Apbarog confirms in our email exchange that the B-24 losses at Rabaul were painful, without giving any numbers of course.

Today, Allied fighters sweep Buna from Milne Bay - Kittyhawks and P-40Ks. I have no planes based there, but CAP leaks from Lae and the Allies get the better of the exchange, shooting down about 7 for 4.

B-26s have been bombing Horn Island's airfield almost daily, and now Beaufighters join in, sweeping the troops there. Looks like softening up for a second invasion attempt. There's also the following sigint: Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Townsville (92,144). Meanwhile, Merauke, the base on the southern coast of New Guinea, is reconned for the first time. I am building it up to support Horn Island and have a fighter unit based there. Most importantly, perhaps, I have a full division in the DEI 75% prep'd for Horn Island if this becomes necessary...

KB has moved south of Rabaul now as I want to launch a big raid tomorrow which carrier planes will support. I won't reveal the location yet - like to keep the fans guessing[:D]


Andaman Islands

I am reinforcing the Andamans at the moment as they are a tempting target for any Allied player planning to interdict the naval passage to Burma. Allied subs are also active and as I move TFs around a small xAK is torpedoed and sunk at Port Blair.

Mindanao

The Allied 'counter-invasion' of the Philippines is repulsed with heavy losses. We will force their surrender in a few days time at Surigao.

Ground combat at Butuan (80,89)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 11863 troops, 102 guns, 14 vehicles, Assault Value = 321

Defending force 1892 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 31

Japanese adjusted assault: 307

Allied adjusted defense: 17

Japanese assault odds: 18 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Butuan !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(+)

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

Allied ground losses:
705 casualties reported
Squads: 37 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 30 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
4th Division

Defending units:
102nd PA Infantry Regiment
103rd PA Infantry Regiment

Dec 31 1942

New Britain/ Papua / Coral Sea

No Allied bombing attacks today but the following sigint is received: Heavy Volume of Radio transmissions detected at Brisbane (96,160). Still no sign of anything big on the move however.

I decided to throw all the bombers I had at Milne Bay today, preceded by two big fighter sweeps. Shutting down this airfield temporarily would at least allow me some more options in the vicinity of Buna and the islands that have been taken to the south and east of Papua. Unfortunately, the bombers and their escorts go in first, with the sweeps arriving late, when there are few Allied fighters left to engage. I lose about 60 planes versus 17 Allied fighters. Airfield damage is 32. I kept the KB in reserve during this operation and will decide what, if anything, to do today by way of follow-up.

Andaman Islands

My forces get ashore at Little Andaman then a transport is torpedoed and, finally, the satisfaction of a definite sub kill...

Sub attack near Little Andaman at 44,59

Japanese Ships
xAK Gozan Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DMS W-13
xAK Samarang Maru
xAK Kyokusei Maru
E Hiyodori
E Otori
DMS W-15

Allied Ships
SS KXII, hits 13, and is sunk

SS KXII launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Gozan Maru
KXII bottoming out ....
E Hiyodori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hiyodori fails to find sub and abandons search
E Otori fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Otori attacking submerged sub ....
E Otori attacking submerged sub ....
E Otori is out of ASW ammo
SS KXII forced to surface!
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hiyodori firing on surfaced sub ....
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hiyodori firing on surfaced sub ....
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hiyodori firing on surfaced sub ....
E Otori firing on surfaced sub ....
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hiyodori firing on surfaced sub ....
E Otori firing on surfaced sub ....
DMS W-15 firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves

Jan 1 1943

We celebrate the new year with a night bombardment of Milne Bay led by BBs Hiei
and Kirishima. Not a lot of additional airfield damage caused unfortunately but at least a PT boat is sunk on the way in [:(].

Allied destroyers and APDs land a Marine force at Ontong Java which is strong enough to take the base by shock attack this time round. The 2nd and 4th Marine Raider Battalions and 33rd Port Maint Engr Bn are now in residence. I had only left a depleted Naval Guard unit there as the atoll terrain meant any larger force was going to be decimated by B-24 raids.

Meanwhile, we launch a series of air attacks on Deboyne Islands. Once again the bombers jump the gun and take losses before the sweep arrives. KB then hits the base in the afternoon, causing a reasonable amount of damage and destroying a number of SBDs and Kittyhawks on the ground.

B-17s bomb Buna, which I had reoccupied temporarily for yesterday's ill-starred attack on Milne Bay while B-25s hit Port Moresby.

More Allied DDs are spotted at sea north-west of Luganville. Possibly escorting reinforcements for Ontong Java. I will decide when and where to react with my heavier forces once I know where the Allied carriers are.