Pacific War 3.0 (No Encircled please!)

[rader]

Here's the tally. I'm happy with the results considering it was over friendly territory (and some on the ground) so we saved many of the pilots. Out of 150 aircraft lost, only 35 KIA, 33 WIA, and 2 MIA.

[rader]

December 6, 1943.

Another series of three naval battles around Taberfane as 18 Us DDs in groups of 3 come in for night attacks.

The Japanese fleet under Raizo Tanaka does well at first but gradually gets worn down. Eventually, at the end of the day it's about 4 DDs lost on either side which is probably an Allied victory. Japan has lost a lot of destroyers!

[rader]

In the air, there are heavy battles over Taberfane/Dobo but also over Dili as waves of 4E bombers come in to plaster the airfield and squadrons of Helldivers come in to attack the Japanese ships. We got pretty lucky though and most of the Allied heavy sweepers (P-47s) came in after the bombers, so the defending CAP took quite a bite out of both the Helldivers (along with escorting Hellcats) and the 4Es. Definitely a Japanese victory here, though a fairly bloody one.

Here's the daily air tally:

[rader]

December 11, 1943.

Four months in to the battle of Taberfane, the Allied garrison has been stranded and blockaded without much supply coming in for over a month.

With daily bombardments and bombings, their numbers have dwindled from over 50K to now only 36K, and most of those can't be in great shape.

[rader]

Here's the perimeter of the Japanese Empire in December 1943.

The Allies hold upper Burma, but Japan Central and Southern Burma. Japan still holds one insignificant outpost on the continent of Australia but the Allies have taken two bases in the Arafura sea, which so far has been their main axis of attack.

The Allies have taken everything of value in the Marshall and Gilbert islands, though Japan still holds a few nearly empty bases.

The Allies hold Rabaul and have been half-heartedly working their way up the Northern New Guinea coast (so far as far as Hansa Bay).

Japan holds all of China.

The fact that the Allied push into the Arafura sea is largely contained, and the fact that the entire Japanese fleet is or has recently been committed there makes me wonder what new avenues of attack the Allies may open up late this year or early in 1944. It's hard to cover everything. He's now receiving major reinforcements in ships, planes, and land units, and (despite the loss of a number of his carriers), he soon should be able to build up a sizable carrier force.

Will the Allies stick to overland routes or routes supported by land-based air in Burma or Northern New Guinea, or will they try a leap across the ocean to mount a major invasion of somewhere else? The threat belt runs along the entire perimeter from the Kuriles, to Japan itself to the Marianas, to New Guinea, to the Dutch East Indies, and onto the Andaman Islands and Burma. I know he has some carriers in the Indian Ocean, but these seemed to be mostly British, which are perhaps not enough to support a major invasion on their own.

Where will they come? Time will tell.

[rader]

Major ships sunk so far, according to Japanese intelligence. Note how many were lost around Taberfane.

[rader]

In Burma, it's a face-off with most of the Japanese land army sitting peacefully across the Irrawaddy river from a huge stack of Allied units. Neither side has made any attempt to cross the river, and if/when they do, things are going to get bloody.

[rader]

Hmm, I'm upgrading one of my repair shipyards to try to help fix Ise faster, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the repair time estimate.

Or maybe there's no point of upgrading a repair shipyard? (That doesn't seem to make sense...)

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: rader

Hmm, I'm upgrading one of my repair shipyards to try to help fix Ise faster, but it doesn't seem to have any effect on the repair time estimate.

Or maybe there's no point of upgrading a repair shipyard? (That doesn't seem to make sense...)

If that damage is part of the conversion to hybrid carrier-battleship, I think the only way to accelerate the repair is to increase the priority - which you already have done.

[rader]

Well, part of it might but certainly not all and the conversion was an accident. I never told it to convert so not sure why it chose to automatically... didn't think the conversions were worth it.

[rader]

December 19, 1943.

The XXth naval battle of Taberfane (I'm losing count).

A fleet of Japanese battlewagons under Vice Admiral Shinichi moves in to bombard the Allied garrison but is intercepted by waves of Allied battleship, cruiser, and destroyer forces:

Night Time Surface Combat, near Taberfane at 82,117, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Hiei, Shell hits 2
BB Nagato
BB Fuso, Shell hits 5
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 2
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze, Shell hits 1
DD Natsugumo
DD Ayanami
DD Tatsuyuke, Shell hits 1

Allied Ships
BB North Carolina, Shell hits 5, on fire
BB Washington, Shell hits 3
BB Massachusetts
DD Monssen, Shell hits 1
DD Lardner
DD Kalk
DD Thompson, Shell hits 1
DD Lang, Shell hits 1

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Night Time Surface Combat, near Taberfane at 82,117, Range 8,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Hiei
BB Nagato
BB Fuso
BB Yamashiro
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze
DD Natsugumo
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 1
DD Tatsuyuke, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
DD Bennett, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Hoel
DD McKee
DD Schroeder
DD Sigsbee
DD Spence

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Taberfane at 82,117, Range 7,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SOC-1 Seagull: 3 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo
BB Hiei, Shell hits 3
BB Nagato, Shell hits 5
BB Fuso, Shell hits 10, heavy fires
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 11
DD Isokaze
DD Shiranui
DD Urakaze
DD Hamakaze, on fire
DD Natsugumo
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 1
DD Tatsuyuke, Shell hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Baltimore, Shell hits 2
CL Columbia, Shell hits 10, and is sunk
CL Denver
DD Wadsworth, Shell hits 1
DD Grayson
DD Aaron Ward
DD Farenholt, Shell hits 1
DD McCook, Shell hits 10, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Ralph Talbot

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Time Surface Combat, near Taberfane at 82,117, Range 7,000 Yards

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
Seagull V: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Kongo, Shell hits 2
BB Hiei, Shell hits 3
BB Nagato, Shell hits 5
BB Yamashiro, Shell hits 1
DD Isokaze, Shell hits 1
DD Shiranui, Shell hits 3
DD Urakaze
DD Ayanami, Shell hits 11, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City, Shell hits 1
CL Perth, Shell hits 5, and is sunk
CL Hobart, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
DD Frazier
DD Russell
DD Morris, Shell hits 2, on fire
DD Dunlap, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Fanning

=======================================

Admiral Shinichi did a fantastic job maintaining formation integrity through the series of attacks. Japan lost two destroyers and all battleships were peppered with some degree of damage, but luckily no torpedo hits or major penetrating shell damage. In exchange, we damaged several Allied ships and sent three light cruisers (Perth, Hobart, Columbia) and a possibly a few destroyers to settle in Ironbottom sound. Vice Admiral Shinichi earned the jūgun kishō medal of honor and is now a full admiral (I don't think there is anyway to actually promote in the game?).

[rader]

Surface warships listed as recently sunk.

[rader]

December 23, 1943

Taberfane is taken at last:

Ground combat at Taberfane (82,117)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19737 troops, 269 guns, 44 vehicles, Assault Value = 912

Defending force 2653 troops, 84 guns, 96 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 1291

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 1291 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Taberfane !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-5 Dauntless: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 4 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 2 destroyed

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

Allied ground losses:
1014 casualties reported
Squads: 221 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 333 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 11 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 88 (88 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 138 (138 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
51st Division
71st Infantry Brigade
22nd Div /1

Defending units:
37th Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division

[rader]

December 24, 1943.

Current scoring.

[rader]

We entered 1944. What will the new year hold? Where will the Allies strike next?

[rader]

He's making his way up New Guinea, and using a couple of divisions to crush the last major garrison in Papua at Lae. Lae has been isolated for a long time, but had a large stockpile of supplies.

[rader]

January 10, 1944.

Fairly quiet days to start 1944 but there is usually an air battle that is about even for both sides. Yesterday, we sent a big night air raid on Darwin that destroyed about 10 4E bombers but also cost around 50 Helens to heavy Flak. Probably about an even trade, or maybe slightly better for the allies, especially considering the loss in experienced IJA bomber pilots.

Today was a skirmish with some Corsairs over Timoeka after a skirmish yesterday with some Thunderbolts over the same base. Seems like both sides are able to replace their losses and this is straight up attrition.

In Eastern New Guinea, he's getting close to taking the last Japanese strongholds of Lae and Finshavn.

[rader]

We're now up to January 16 and not much has happened. It's a little too quiet. I'm wondering where he's going next... hard to plan for everything.

[rader]

January 21, 1944.

Very one-sided air losses today as Allied fighters sweep Bassein. This is something Richard does a lot and it seems highly exploitative to me.

A few days ago he bombed Pegu, killing ground troops which are super vulnerable in the clear terrain (another thing the game engine gets wrong - it's way too easy to destroy entire LCUs by air alone). So I responded by sending in fighters to Pegu and also to Rangoon to fly CAP at 1 hex. However, if I set range 1 CAP from Rangoon, even if I set their target as Pegu, some of my Rangoon CAP inevitably leaks over Bassein, an empty base on the other side of Rangoon. So Richard sweeps Bassein (an empty base) with tons of Spitfires (which wouldn't even have the range to reach Pegu) just to gobble up some of the CAP that I would rather not have flying over Bassein if I had any choice. Seems like he's kind of taking advantage of the fact that I can't tell my air units not to defend a silly empty base next to Rangoon. I definitely think it's a major exploit and it's come up a lot as it's one of his favorite tactics. On the other hand, I probably do some things that annoy him so I've decided to live with it. Opinions?

[CaptBeefheart]

Does LRCAPping of Pegu from Rangoon not work in that situation?

Cheers,
CB