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December 9, 1942

4 Naval Bombardments and all medium and heavy bombers flew

The DA at Rabaul went as well as I could expect

Ground combat at Rabaul (106,125)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32487 troops, 727 guns, 838 vehicles, Assault Value = 1094

Defending force 33492 troops, 195 guns, 108 vehicles, Assault Value = 642

Allied adjusted assault: 1495

Japanese adjusted defense: 447

Allied assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 5)

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 4

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
673 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 69 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 12 (2 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1131 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 103 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 47 disabled
Guns lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 39 (5 destroyed, 34 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
1st Marine Division
763rd Tank Battalion
192nd Tank Bn /11
37th Infantry Division
762nd Tank Battalion
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
1st USMC Tank Bn /1
I US Amphib Corps
226th FA Bn /1
249th FA Bn /1

Defending units:
41st Naval Guard Unit
4th Division
52nd Naval Guard Unit
36th JNAF AF Unit
2nd JAAF Base Force
22nd Special Base Force
35th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Base Force
7th Naval Construction Battalion
10th Special Base Force
37th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
11th Air Fleet /1

I will wait a turn and let my disabled troops a chance to rally and to let some of the disruption and fatigue to drop some.
I am still unloading troops and supplies into the hex. No naval bombardment this turn, save them for next turn

He is still flying night naval attacks with no results.

December 10, 1942

Not much. Ground troops rested a turn, AV up some, Fatigue and Disruption down some
Another DA attack tomorrow along with 4 Naval Bombardments.

Aerial bombing continues, not showing much in destroyed or disabled devices, but I hope the disruption stays up.

December 11, 1942

Rabaul is not going well for me at all. 4 Naval bombardments and weather limited air bombing
and a somewhat poor set of die rolls on the ground combat.

Ground combat at Rabaul (106,125)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 32973 troops, 738 guns, 921 vehicles, Assault Value = 1001

Defending force 32243 troops, 196 guns, 107 vehicles, Assault Value = 564

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Allied adjusted assault: 674

Japanese adjusted defense: 365

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 3

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), forts(+), disruption(-), preparation(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
664 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 14 (5 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
457 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 16 disabled
Guns lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 55 (2 destroyed, 53 disabled)

Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
Americal Infantry Division
37th Infantry Division
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
762nd Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
192nd Tank Bn /11
I US Amphib Corps
226th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
4th Division
41st Naval Guard Unit
52nd Naval Guard Unit
7th Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Base Force
22nd Special Base Force
36th JNAF AF Unit
37th JNAF AF Unit
2nd JAAF Base Force
10th Special Base Force
35th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
11th Air Fleet /1

I will persevere, but it is taking much too long and costing too much
I am about out of fuel in the Solomon Islands, which is going to hamper
things a bit. I have large amounts on the way, and I do have to rest my troops, more that one day this time.
I will just do a single naval bombardment mission per day to conserve fuel and try and keep his disruption up
I am surprised that he still does not have a supply negative yet.
I only landed supply that turn, no new troops, but I did load my APAs with a fourth Infantry Division, this was
prepping for Manus, I did not change prep, I will just land it and see what happens.

December 12, 1942

A good Naval bombardment of Rabaul

Night Naval bombardment of Rabaul at 106,125 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

5 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.

Allied Ships
CA Vincennes
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CA Minneapolis
CA New Orleans
DD Kortenaer
DD Arunta
DD Vampire
DD Voyager
DD Caldwell
DD Lardner, Shell hits 1
DD Lansdowne

Japanese ground losses:
316 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Vehicles lost 17 (6 destroyed, 11 disabled)

Airbase hits 20
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 59
Port hits 5
Port fuel hits 4
Port supply hits 2

SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Vincennes
CA Vincennes firing at 4th Division
CA Quincy firing at 4th Division
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA San Francisco
CA San Francisco firing at Rabaul
CA Minneapolis firing at Rabaul
CA New Orleans firing at Rabaul
DD Kortenaer firing at 22nd Special Base Force
22nd Special Base Force firing at DD Kortenaer
DD Arunta firing at 4th Division
DD Vampire firing at Rabaul
DD Voyager firing at Rabaul
DD Caldwell firing at Rabaul
DD Lardner firing at 22nd Special Base Force
22nd Special Base Force firing at DD Lardner
DD Lansdowne firing at 4th Division

the fourth division should land today, everyone else is resting another day

Air attacks on troops show no result, hopeful that disruption stays high.
the Heavies bombed the airfield, scoring a few airbase supply hits.

December 13, 1932

A Naval Bombardment did minimal damage. Both sides did land bombardment attacks.
Most aircraft flew, some damage to runway and airbase supply hits.

Another division landed, a lot of disablements, few actual destroyed devices.

Three Naval bombardments and a DA tomorrow. Hope we do better than last time

December 14, 1942

The nightmare is over, Rabaul is back in Allied control

Ground combat at Rabaul (106,125)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 41732 troops, 952 guns, 1146 vehicles, Assault Value = 1185

Defending force 30528 troops, 195 guns, 100 vehicles, Assault Value = 487

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 1404

Japanese adjusted defense: 321

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1 (fort level 2)

Allied forces CAPTURE Rabaul !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
10363 casualties reported
Squads: 154 destroyed, 59 disabled
Non Combat: 560 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 301 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 105 (94 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 70 (70 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 12
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
428 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
37th Infantry Division
1st Marine Division
43rd Infantry Division
763rd Tank Battalion
762nd Tank Battalion
34th Combat Engineer Regiment
Americal Infantry Division
1st USMC Tank Battalion
192nd Tank Bn /11
I US Amphib Corps
226th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
41st Naval Guard Unit
4th Division
52nd Naval Guard Unit
37th JNAF AF Unit
35th JNAF AF Unit
36th JNAF AF Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
2nd JAAF Base Force
10th Special Base Force
7th Naval Construction Battalion
22nd Special Base Force
2nd Base Force
11th Air Fleet /1

A pair of Naval bombardments and multiple air units attacking both troops and airfield
and we generated a good enough result. Now I can concentrate on taking PNG along with the other bases on New Britain
Manus and Kavieng. Rabaul gives me a size 7 port and a size 9 airfield( after repair and building ).

December 15, 1942

A quiet day, it would appear that weather grounded all flights in the Solomon Islands.

Xargun bombed my troops outside of Akyab, I do have some AA units there, so not much damage.

December 16, 1942

Interesting day.

Xargun sent Ki-44-IIc sweepers over Rabaul at 31,000 feet. I had F4F-4s on board my CVEs, 3 units on day shift and 1 unit on night shift.
I expected to lose a lot of aircraft for no gain, but I was wrong.

Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 41 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 67

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 75

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 6 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
31 x Ki-44-IIc Tojo sweeping at 31000 feet *

CAP engaged:
VMF-211/A with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 20 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
VMF-211/C with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 20 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 30000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
VMF-213 /A with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 20 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes



---------------------------------------------

Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 79 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 21 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7

Allied aircraft
F4F-4 Wildcat x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

CAP engaged:
VMF-211/C with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
15 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 18000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
VMF-213 /A with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
16 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 21000 and 32000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes
VMF-211/A with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
11 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 19000 and 32270.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes

The tally shows he lost 24 Tojos ( 23 air-2-air and 1 ops ) and I lost 17 Wildcats ( 14 air-2-air and 3 ops )

He also lost a few Helen bombers bombing my troops outside Akyab.

December 17, 1942

Not sure why he does this and why he thinks it is a good idea. He evacuated almost all of the forces at Gasmata
allowing me to take the base with a para unit. It doesn't say it, but the fragment was destroyed.

Ground combat at Gasmata (103,127)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 522 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 28

Defending force 17 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Allied adjusted assault: 24

Japanese adjusted defense: 1

Allied assault odds: 24 to 1 (fort level 0)

Allied forces CAPTURE Gasmata !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
17 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Assaulting units:
3rd USMC Parachute Bn /1

Defending units:
I./33rd Inf Regt /1

It looks like he has/is evacuating other units from the area. This will allow me to consolidate PNG, New Britain, Bismarck Archipelago, and the Admiralty Islands
with minimal effort.

December 19, 1942

A three turn window on air coverage at Rabaul bite me in the butt a bit.
One turn later and I would have had 90 F4F-4s and 30 F6F-3s up on CAP in addition to the Corsairs.
I had to move my CV Escort TF to a base where I could refuel and rearm it and also I needed to refuel and rearm the DS.
So the CV Escort was moving back to Rabaul and was two hexes away and the DS just ported at Shortlands. Xargun got a bit
lucky or good, not sure which, and hit my TFs at Rabaul.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rabaul at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 119 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 44 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 99
B5N2 Kate x 95
D3A1 Val x 85

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 18

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 17 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 9 destroyed by flak
D3A1 Val: 4 destroyed, 12 damaged
D3A1 Val: 2 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL St. Louis
BB New Mexico, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
xAP Kota Tjandi, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
xAP Neptuna, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
AGP Jamestown, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
AS Zuiderkruis, Bomb hits 2, on fire
DD McColley
BB Idaho, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Marblehead
SC-699
xAP Wahine, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Malaita
AD Black Hawk, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
AKE Corrales
SC-743
DD Gilmer, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
DD Bamback
CL Helena, Bomb hits 1, on fire
xAP Kota Inten
xAP Kota Agoeng
AD Markab
CL Trenton
DD Lockard
SC-703
CL Honolulu, Bomb hits 1
AKE Donald McKay, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AKE Makua
DD Lawrence

Allied ground losses:
1374 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 41 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 45 destroyed, 30 disabled
Vehicles lost 37 (17 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
25 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 17000 feet
13 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
12 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
19 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
19 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
18 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
16 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
23 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 17000 feet
15 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VMF-221 with F4U-1 Corsair (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AGP Jamestown
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Gilmer
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAP Wahine

While it was a bit costly, it was not a really bad result.
The bombs hitting the BBs were 250kg and did little to no damage.
I lost an AD, AGP and a AKE, not game changing. I also lost three xAPs with engineers and engineering
vehicles on them, but I do have lots and lots of them in the pools, it will just take a bit to get them replaced.
While I hate to lose any ship, things happen and this is not to bad at all.
I only had 18 Corsairs available for CAP, but they shot down 12 Zeros, a Kate, and 5 Vals while losing 2
of their own. flak also downed 19 Kate and 4 Val bombers. there were also some ops losses for all three
aircraft types

The real problem now is the DS has just refueled and rearmed and can only move 1 hex at full speed.
I am unsure how far it will travel in the second naval movement phase, I forget for now. I am setting a
patrol hex that is 10 hexes away, right next to where KB is now in the Bismarck Sea.
I suspect that he will just do a hit and run. That is the way he has operated in the past.
I expect him to retire back towards Truk. I am prepared to follow up to a point.
Naval Search is showing KB with 291 fighters and 201 bombers. I have many more than that on the DS
and a few of the fighters are Hellcats. In total he lost 14 fighters, 21 TBs and 13 DBs, adding them in shows he started
with about 315 fighters and 325 TB/DB bombers. I know he tends to use his CVLs with 50 fighters and no bombers.
So I am somewhat unsure exactly what he has available in this version of KB, but I am willing to find out.
At this point even a 1 for 1 exchange would be to my benefit. In the next 6 months I get 1 more British Indefatigable
CV, and 7 more Essex CVs. So 1 for 1 exchanges are good as far as I am concerned and if I can do better, then that is great.

I took Talasea and Arawe today. I now control all the bases on the island of New Britain.

December 20, 1942

Well, it looks like he finally got a good night bombing run. Xargun has been complaining that his night bombers do nothing, but they did get some
airfield and port hits. I lost 3 Corsairs and 2 SBDs on the ground and had a number of ships hit. Most were hit by small 60kg bombs, but a few took
some 250kb bombs. Only one ship, an AKE, has any serious damage, it has 33 fires. No other ships have any fires burning, so just damage to fix

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 113 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 22

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 13 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground
SB2U-3 Vindicator: 6 damaged

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

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 10

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
14 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 114 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 42 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 6

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AKE Corrales, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 7

Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 6 damaged
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed on ground
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 damaged
SBD-3 Dauntless: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 3
Runway hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Airfield Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 45 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 9

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
ACM YP-250, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
AD Hamul, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AKE Corrales, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD McColley, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AD Markab, Bomb hits 1
DD Gilmer, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 2

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb



---------------------------------------------

Night Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 27 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M3 Nell x 5

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AKE Manukai, Bomb hits 1
AS Platypus, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Port hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x G3M3 Nell bombing from 12000 feet
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

Unfortunately this is one of those things the Allies have to endure, the long range on the Nells and Bettys
are a problem and there is not always anything that can be done. I have no night fighters at this time and
so I have to live with it.

At this point I do not have much in the way of flak unloaded at Rabaul.

KB has disappeared, I am wondering if he went to Truk or Babeldaob. And since I did not spot KB did he leave at full speed?
I am very unsure what to do, the DS is just North of Rabaul right now.

December 21, 1942

Xargun tried a repeat of night port attacks and a squadron of Corsairs flying at night persuaded them that it was not a good idea.
The Corsairs shot down 6 Nells and another Nell was lost to ops. Not port hits or ship hit reported.

Sadly, the AKE Corrales which had 33 fires yesterday burnt up and sank in Rabaul Harbor.

I am done posting for now. I am tired of waiting for 3-5 minutes to go from page to page

Or to get a bad gateway error message. this forum has gone to the trash

Third try to post t his

Sorry to hear about your posting troubles. I hope that gets sorted. I would love to see this continue.

One thing I've noticed is even having a third of a day fighter squadron on night CAP helps quite a bit against Japanese bombers. You won't get any kills, but it does reduce the damage. Maybe it upsets their aim or something. I'd give it a shot.

Cheers,
CB

Dec 22, 1942 to Jan 4, 1943

We will try one more time. I am not sure why I had so much trouble posting, but it was very irratating.

Not really a lot has happened since I last posted
the game shows I sank I-173 and I-174 and I lost the xAKL Pax off of Woodlark Island

I have moved into the hex where most of the units from Rabaul retreated to, some of them have
moved on, I am continuing to hit them with B-25s and DAs.
the last one

Ground combat at 106,126 (near Rabaul)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25104 troops, 499 guns, 341 vehicles, Assault Value = 765

Defending force 8483 troops, 15 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 25

Allied adjusted assault: 419

Japanese adjusted defense: 16

Allied assault odds: 26 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
782 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 67 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
35th Infantry Division

Defending units:
2nd Base Force
10th Special Base Force
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
2nd JAAF Base Force
22nd Special Base Force
7th Naval Construction Battalion
35th JNAF AF Unit /1

I have landed at Milne Bay and I am waiting to be able to move more troops in to increase my odds

This is the situation in the area now. This is the only place there is any action at this time

January 5, 1943

I have been sending fairly large Naval bombardment TFs to Kavieng over the last week or so

Night Naval bombardment of Kavieng at 106,122

Allied Ships
BB Washington
CA Cornwall
CA Canberra
CA Vincennes
CA Minneapolis
CA New Orleans
CA Salt Lake City
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CL Colombo
CL Capetown
CL Concord
DD Smithers
DD Winter
DD Wyrick

Japanese ground losses:
130 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 24
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 90
Port hits 20
Port supply hits 3

OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Washington
BB Washington firing at Kavieng
CA Cornwall firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CA Canberra firing at Kavieng
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Vincennes
CA Vincennes firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CA Minneapolis firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CA New Orleans firing at Kavieng
CA Salt Lake City firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CA Chicago firing at Kavieng
CA Louisville firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CL Colombo firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CL Capetown firing at Kavieng
CL Concord firing at Kavieng
DD Smithers firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Winter firing at Kavieng
DD Wyrick firing at Kavieng


---------------------------------------------

Night Naval bombardment of Kavieng at 106,122

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota
BB North Carolina
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CLAA San Juan
DD Copsy
DD Stewart
DD Chew
DD Parrott
DD Litchfield
DD Paul Jones
DD John D. Edwards
DD Edsall

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

Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 58
Port hits 16

BB South Dakota firing at Kavieng
BB North Carolina firing at Kavieng
CA Quincy firing at Kavieng
CA San Francisco firing at Kavieng
CLAA San Juan firing at Kavieng
DD Copsy firing at Kavieng
DD Stewart firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Chew firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Parrott firing at Kavieng
DD Litchfield firing at Kavieng
DD Paul Jones firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD John D. Edwards firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Edsall firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade

These were not as good as most, I hope in the future to get more damage done to the LCUs there.

Still attacking the LCUs outside of Rabaul, I am wearing them down and eliminated one unit today.

Ground combat at 106,126 (near Rabaul)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25092 troops, 499 guns, 341 vehicles, Assault Value = 764

Defending force 7649 troops, 11 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 8

Allied adjusted assault: 629

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 62 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1776 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 50 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (8 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

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

Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
35th Infantry Division

Defending units:
22nd Special Base Force
10th Special Base Force
2nd JAAF Base Force
7th Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Base Force
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
35th JNAF AF Unit /1

Both divisions are gaining some experience also.

I am also bombing them with B-25s
Minimal damage is done by the aircraft, but I hope the disruption stays up

Some observations about the slow periods on the forum:
- when the forum was transitioning to the new forum software, things got slow after midnight GMT, the time when most computer systems do updates and installs of new software.

- now that the board software is stable, the slow periods are around 6-9 PM GMT when British citizens have finished their supper and are on their computers. After 9 when the kids go to bed, things get a bit better.

- around 8-9 AM GMT when British businesses start up and millions of computers log in, things can be very slow again. This is not usually a problem here because it is the wee hours of the morning here.

In short, I don't see it as a board issue as much as an internet pipeline issue.

January 6, 1943

The problem I see is that the board slowdown is only this site, no others.

the LCUs outside of Rabaul are eliminated.

Ground combat at 106,126 (near Rabaul)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25092 troops, 499 guns, 341 vehicles, Assault Value = 764

Defending force 7649 troops, 11 guns, 24 vehicles, Assault Value = 8

Allied adjusted assault: 629

Japanese adjusted defense: 10

Allied assault odds: 62 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1776 casualties reported
Squads: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 75 destroyed, 53 disabled
Engineers: 50 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 10 (8 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

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

Assaulting units:
1st Marine Division
35th Infantry Division

Defending units:
22nd Special Base Force
10th Special Base Force
2nd JAAF Base Force
7th Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Base Force
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
35th JNAF AF Unit /1

My two divisions will move West and eliminate the other units there.

Landing more troops at Milne Bay.

B-26s bomb the units at Milne Bay.

Two more Naval bombardments of Kavieng, again they did not do much damage to the
units there, but the facilities are certainly mostly rubble.

Night Naval bombardment of Kavieng at 106,122

Allied Ships
BB Washington
CA Cornwall
CA Canberra
CA Vincennes
CA Minneapolis
CA New Orleans
CA Salt Lake City
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CL Colombo
CL Capetown
CL Concord
DD Smithers
DD Winter
DD Wyrick

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

Airbase hits 40
Airbase supply hits 12
Runway hits 121
Port hits 20
Port supply hits 4

OS2U-3 Kingfisher acting as spotter for BB Washington
BB Washington firing at Kavieng
CA Cornwall firing at Kavieng
CA Canberra firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
SOC-1 Seagull acting as spotter for CA Vincennes
CA Vincennes firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
CA Minneapolis firing at Kavieng
CA New Orleans firing at Kavieng
CA Salt Lake City firing at Kavieng
CA Chicago firing at Kavieng
CA Louisville firing at Kavieng
CL Colombo firing at Kavieng
CL Capetown firing at Kavieng
CL Concord firing at Kavieng
DD Smithers firing at Kavieng
DD Winter firing at Kavieng
DD Wyrick firing at Kavieng


---------------------------------------------

Night Naval bombardment of Kavieng at 106,122

Allied Ships
BB South Dakota
BB North Carolina
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CLAA San Juan
DD Copsy
DD Stewart
DD Chew
DD Parrott
DD Litchfield
DD Paul Jones
DD John D. Edwards
DD Edsall

Japanese ground losses:
35 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 18
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 24
Port hits 12
Port supply hits 4

BB South Dakota firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
BB North Carolina firing at Kavieng
CA Quincy firing at Kavieng
CA San Francisco firing at Kavieng
CLAA San Juan firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Copsy firing at Kavieng
DD Stewart firing at Kavieng
DD Chew firing at Kavieng
DD Parrott firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Litchfield firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Paul Jones firing at Kavieng
DD John D. Edwards firing at 15th GEACPS Brigade
DD Edsall firing at Kavieng

Hopefully the units will be out of supply when I land troops.

I need Kavieng since it is in normal range of Truk for B-17Es, and night bombing is on the menu
after he night bombed my port at Rabaul. I have 108 B-17Es ready to move and attack
once the base is taken and built up. It will be a while yet. The two divisions tasked
to take the base are still recovering at Rabaul and prepping. Plus I am waiting until late
March when I will have more APAs available. And some LSTs.

January 7, 1943

Not a lot happened today. I gave the naval bombardment TFs the day off at Rabaul, they will both visit Kavieng tomorrow.

B-26s bombed the airfield at Milne Bay, they got some supply hits, that is what I want. I have a small CA/DD Naval Bombardment
that will attack tonight, again, to see about raising disruption and destroying supply.

My two divisions marching on New Britain are moving at 3 miles per day, so it will be 16 days before they arrive. I used a small
amphibious TF to drop off supply to them, they are now will supplied.

Nomad: The problem I see is that the board slowdown is only this site, no others.

Not trying to pick a fight, but not sure you caught my drift. Unless you visit a lot of other sites in Britain you would not know whether the problem was the Matrix site specifically or the Internet connection to that country. It's an island, after all, and telecomm is only available through expensive satellite links or heavily used undersea cables. Even fiber optic cable has its limits in the switching and signal boosting equipment along the way. My suspicion is that much of Britain has these slowdowns at certain times of day. I experienced that in New Zealand when I toured there.