Matrix Games Forums

Following Crackace's suggestion, I've increased the supply request to 15k for my bases in India (Ledo, Dimapur, Imphal) on 20th. I've not seen any supplies flow in yet.

May 22, 23, 24:
Air battle over Esperance as I surge forward air units.

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs:

ASW attack near Carnarvon at 47,135

Japanese Ships
BB Yamato
BB Mutsu
BB Nagato
CL Oi
CL Kitakami
DD Ishikaze
DD Susukaze
DD Hikokaze

Allied Ships
SS Grenadier, hits 1
This sighting on the 22nd gives me pause about bring back any planes to Esperance.

Runner sinks a CM north of Manus.
Gar sinks an AMc off Exmouth.
S-38 is hit once by 3 DDs off Milne Bay.
Swordfish gets a TT hit on an xAK to west of Tulagi.

CVs:
Mine are mostly at Melbourne repairing.
Japan's are ......

India/Burma:
Shwebo - 84 Tojos sweep followed by 30 Oscars & 54 Helens.
1 West Shwebo - 42 Tojo sweep with 36 Oscars and 57 Helens follow.

China:
Sian - AF is attacked by up to 14 Sonia daily.

Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with around 110 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Daily ground bb attacks.

Australia:
Horn Island -
22nd - 5 Kitt escort in 48 B-24s & 12 B-17s to keep the AF closed.
23rd - 24 P-38s sweep. 2 of 3 APDs are sunk with the third heavily damaged by 24 Vengeance DBs based at Portland Roads. Nick laments his shipping losses for little gain. The usual 11 B-17s & 47 B-24s use the AF as target practice.
24th _ I had sent 2 AM & 2 SC to get rid of his subs here. He gets 7 of 9 Judys past only 2 Kitt on LRCAP. An AM is sunk.

Esperance -
22nd - 36 Oscar with 88 Helen attack the defenseless AF. I lose another 3 planes. 53 Nells attack the port. Somehow none of the 800kg AP bombs hit PoW. Wow!! [X(] Then, the 26 George sweep (better late than never).
23rd - Another 6 DDs vs 6 PT Boats when nobody can hit anything. 2 more midget subs hit and are sunk by mines.
24th -

Morning Air attack on Esperance , at 56,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 32,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 27

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 20
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 20
F4U-1 Corsair x 51
F6F-3 Hellcat x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 8 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Spitfire Vc Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 4 destroyed This airframe is getting too old for front line duty
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed

Morning Air attack on Esperance , at 56,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 85 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 36 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 30

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 15
F4U-1 Corsair x 47
F6F-3 Hellcat x 15

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 9 destroyed
Nick wrote that he doesn't know why so many bomber groups continue to do this. I explain the different qualities of an air group leader, especially NOT having your bomber pilots with Aggression skill over 60. At least not until they are kamikaze.

Morning Air attack on Esperance , at 56,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 98 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D4Y1 Judy x 33

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 11
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 13
F4U-1 Corsair x 44
F6F-3 Hellcat x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y1 Judy: 9 destroyed
More sheep to the slaughter. Baa, Baa!!

Things don't get better in the afternoon. [:D]

Afternoon Air attack on Esperance , at 56,153

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 34
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 49
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 31

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 10
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 30
F4U-1 Corsair x 49
F6F-3 Hellcat x 30

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 27 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 12 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
P-47D2 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed on ground
PV-1 Ventura: 4 destroyed on ground
A-29 Hudson: 1 destroyed on ground
TBF-1 Avenger: 1 destroyed on ground

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

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 10

My LBs are here to do a night port attack on Perth which did not happen.

Afternoon Air attack on Esperance , at 56,153

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 25 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 22

Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 10
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 19
F4U-1 Corsair x 34
F6F-3 Hellcat x 27

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 9 destroyed

Kalgoorlie -
Another successful attack on the retreating troops (147:18) two hexes south of base on 23rd. Tank units have spread out to approach the base from 4 directions. Plans are to encircle this base and force Nick to withdraw or die in place.

Albany - on 24th

Morning Air attack on TF, near Albany at 51,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 63 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Allied aircraft
F6F-3 Hellcat x 16
SBD-3 Dauntless x 20

Allied aircraft losses
SBD-3 Dauntless: 4 damaged

Japanese Ships
CA Takao
CA Atago
CL Isuzu, Bomb hits 1
CL Yura, Bomb hits 1
DD Amatsukaze

Morning Air attack on TF, near Albany at 51,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 35 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Ushio
DD Shirakumo
DD Akebono
DD Yugiri, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
Leave the nimble DDs for the DBs and go after the 4 CL/CAs!!

Morning Air attack on TF, near Albany at 51,153

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes

Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
AM Wa 104, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
AM Wa 103, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
I'm yelling at my monitor by this time. [:@]

36 PB4Y-1 Liberators with drop tanks make the long trip from Ceduna to visit the ships in the port. 2 of 3 already damaged subs are sunk along with an AGP. An AG is hit twice. Why Nick continues to place ships in a port so close to a potentially active base time after time is a mystery to me?!? [&:]

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea: [>:]

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Buldir AF7; Oodnadatta AF5; Brisbane P7; Portland Roads P3 & F2; Esperance F3; Mili F3; Mornington Island AF1;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
Esperance - Fighters strength is now 3 groups of Corsairs (54), 1 F6F Hellcats (36), 2 groups of P-47s (50), and 2 groups of P-40Ks (50). Prince of Wales will be available to be moved next turn. She will leave with my SC to the east, hopefully.

Air Losses for 24th were 193 J vs 26 A. [:)]

Following Crackace's suggestion, I've increased the supply request to 15k for my bases in India (Ledo, Dimapur, Imphal) on 20th. I've not seen any supplies flow in yet.

If I can go on record Imphal was yellow I believe now doing OK .. .. and Katha Mytikina, Lashio are both supplied .. so supplies are moving [;)] ..but you want supplies to specfically flow to Swebo .. which will happen .... but the game algorithum is completely befuddling .. I did find building up excess supply at forward bases and then releasing them to be an effective means for forcing supply forward. At least it seemed that way but once this happens once .. the stuff flows like water ..

May 25, 26, 27:
Armor drives towards Kalgoorlie.
BB Prince of Wales runs for safety..or not

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs:

ASW attack near Perth at 49,146 (1 NW on 25th)

Japanese Ships
BB Haruna
BB Kongo
CA Kumano
CS Nisshin
DD Kiyonami
DD Naganami
DD Hagikaze
DD Urakaze
DD Maikaze
DD Kuroshio

Allied Ships
SS KXV, hits 1

Gar sinks her second AMc off Carnarvon.

ASW attack near Esperance at 61,154 (5 East on 26th)

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 3, heavy damage SUNK!!
SC-700
SC-702

SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes at BB Prince of Wales

Plunger sinks a PB off Albany.

ASW attack near Denpasar at 56,110 (On 27th)

Japanese Ships
DD Yugumo
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CLAA Tatsuta
CLAA Tenryu
CS Chiyoda
CS Chitose
DD Akizuki
DD Onami
DD Takanami
DD Makinami
DD Kazegumo

Allied Ships
SS Salmon, hits 1

CVs:
Mine are mostly at Melbourne repairing.
Japan's are ......

India/Burma:
Shwebo - Up to 84 Tojos sweep followed by 30 Oscars & 57 Helens.
1 West Shwebo - Up to 42 Tojo sweep with 36 Oscars and 49 Helens follow.

China:
Sian - AF is attacked by up to 14 Sonia daily.

Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with around 110 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Daily ground bb attacks.

Australia:
Horn Island - Up to 46 B-24s & 6 B-17s attack the AF for two more days before resting. 25 P-38s sweep the skies daily.

Albany - 9 Rufes are on CAP as 8 F6F with 14 TBFs sink I-4 in port.

Kalgoorlie - Another deliberate attack on 26th pushed his troops back into base. I now have 4 tank units SW of base. They will wait for the big boys to arrive.

Esperance -
25th - 29(5) Tojo sweep vs 16(1) P-40Ks, 19 P-47s, 23(1) Corsairs, 15(1) F6Fs; A second group of 36 Tojo sweep vs 11(1) P-40Ks, 16 P-47s, 20(1) Corsairs, 10(1) F6Fs;

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea: [>:]

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering:Ailinglaplap F6 (base is maxed out); Attu P4 & AF4; Cooktown AF9; Portland Roads AF6 & F3; Townsville F4; Warazup AF6; Cairns P5; Loed Howe Island AF4;

Recon/Intel:
Kalgoorlie has 17 LCUs - 38740/312/234 - 12 F, 5 Aux

Notes:
The loss of PoW hurts. She is my 5th BB sunk. Nicks focus has been to use his subs in wolfpacks when he knows an invasion is about to happen or is underway. He has not gone after merchants off the West coast since the war started.

Kalgoorlie - the encirclement is underway. Three divisions are marching towards this base.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I wrote it down, but forgot to include it in my posting. Air Losses were 171 Japan vs 53 Allies. He's lost 400 planes to my slightly less than 100 for the last few days since the invasion. Thankfully, most of mine are naval air fighter pilots and airframes which I have extras in.

Are you using one of the later betas or the official patch? CAP seems quite effective

We are using the next to latest Beta (1123g). I mentioned to him about having some of his bomber groups with aggressive leaders and that is what he wants. So that increased the number of planes lost.

Shame to lose the PoW. A very useful ship!

May 28, 29, 30, 31:
Armor clash outside of Kalgoorlie.
Sweeps with multiple air groups from the same base CAN happen. [X(]

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs: Paper cuts, just more paper cuts. [:D]
Grampus is to west of Albany and get 3 TT hits on DD Yuguri. [:)]
Haddo is in transit to south of Japan and get an xAK with 2 TT hits.
KXIV is near Moulmein and gets an PB with 2 TT hits.
S-40 is sunk at Terapo trying to get to his CAs there.
KXVI off Victoria Point sinks PB.
KXV is hit once off Perth.
I-10 is hit once by DC to west of Adelaide.
Herring sinks PB off Ponape.

CVs:
Mine are mostly at Melbourne repairing.
Japan's have some moving back from Perth to Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area - Up to 84 Tojos sweep or escort with 66 Oscars followed by over 110 Helens hit the AF and troops one hex to west daily.

China:
Sian - AF is attacked by up to 14 Sonia daily. 14 fighters ambush them on 31st and get 3.

Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with around 130 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Almost daily ground bb attacks.

Australia:
Kalgoorlie -
28th - Two groups of P-47s sweep the base vs 54 Tojos. I lose 4 to his 8.
29th - The reduced numbers from two P-47 groups lose 2 to 6 when facing 27 Tojo. As usual, the first group breaks about even, and the second groups doesn't lose any. What looks like his tank division ends the turn with my 4 tank rgt/bde 1 hex to SW. What Nick doesn't know is 1st Marine Division has moved 44 of 46 miles towards this hex. [:-]
30th - My tanks to the SW are attacked by 64 Helens & 53 Nells with 21 Oscars & 36 Zero as escort. I lose 7 vehicles (tanks). Nick goes with a shock attack....

Ground combat at 56,148 (near Kalgoorlie)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 7455 troops, 112 guns, 408 vehicles, Assault Value = 362

Defending force 16391 troops, 286 guns, 591 vehicles, Assault Value = 618

Japanese adjusted assault: 11

Allied adjusted defense: 1090

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 99

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+), leaders(+), disruption(-), supply(-)

Japanese ground losses:
925 casualties reported
Squads: 51 destroyed, 93 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 58 disabled
Engineers: 18 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 27 (2 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 137 (51 destroyed, 86 disabled)

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

Assaulting units:
Guards Tank Division

Defending units:
1st Marine Division
762nd Tank Battalion
193rd Tank Battalion
2/6th Armoured Regiment
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn
70th Coast AA Regiment

31st - Three groups of P-40Ks come in to sweep. They come in reduced numbers of only 13 each vs 22 Tojo. We each lose 3. My lone tank rgt 2 hexes to west on road is subject to attack by 60 Helens & 44 Nells. Half of unit is disabled and may have trouble retreating to a safer position. Afterwards, my heavies from Ceduna hit the AF that has only 4 Tojo left on CAP. 48 B-24s & 36 PB4Y-1s hit the AF.

Horn Island -
28th - 22 P-38s sweep the empty skies.
31st - Nick has moved back in his fighters. Before sending in the bombers, I want to sweep for a few days. The 'impossible' happens again...

Morning Air attack on Horn Island , at 91,128

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 35,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 28
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 23

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 74

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 6 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
19 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *
15 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *
20 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *

CAP engaged:
582 Ku S-1 with N1K1-J George (0 airborne, 11 on standby, 12 scrambling)
11 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters between 27000 and 34000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
85th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (4 airborne, 16 on standby, 0 scrambling)
20 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters between 30000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes

Three air groups sweep together. [&o] This is the second time I've had it happen in less than two weeks. I'm going to expect this to happen now. [:D]

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Merauke - 4 Beaufort VIIIs get 3 TT hits on a troop carrying xAK to the west of base on 28th. 21 B-24s get by the 42 Zeros and get 3 bomb hits on an AV carrying troops in the port.

Terapo - I see his CAs here again. So on the 28th, I send in 16 Hellcats with 13 SBD. I find 37 Tojo on CAP and I lose 8 to his 1. Of course the CAs are not hit. [:(] 10 B-25D1s come in next at 1000' with 25 P-38s as escort. I do better as I lose 4 to his 3. Two xAKs are hit with 4 bombs each. 3 of 15 SBDs face a reduced CAP and get two bomb hits on an xAK.

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Cairns F3; Ceduna AF9; Normanton AF6; Howrah F2; Kwajalein F4; Adak F5; Buldir P3

Recon/Intel:
Kalgoorlie has 17 LCUs - 38740/312/234 - 12 F, 5 Aux (for 26th).
25 LCUs - 79,020/732/849 - (for 28th)

Notes:
Kalgoorlie - I had to drive 6 hours Friday after seeing new recon on the base (28th) with the significant increases which gave me time to think. Plans were put in motion when I got back home to send the two divisions prepping and resting at Sydney plus any non-restrictive troops prepped for western Australia to head for transports at Melbourne. Preps were not changed, but I need to add more combat power here.

Looking forward:
My carrier fleet: 6 American CVs (Essex just came on map last turn from Panama, Enterprise, Yorktown, Lexington, Hornet, Wasp), CV Victorious, CVL Hermes, 10 CVEs. CV Saratoga is pier side at Melbourne for another month (needs to go back to Pearl for full repairs afterwards) & 1 CVE is at Sydney for just over month for repairs. In the next 60 days, I get more 2 Essex Class CVs, 3 Independence CVLs, and 2 CVEs.

Large warships: 5 fast BBs (spd 28), 10 old BBs, 5 old BBs in shipyards; 23 CAs.

Large warships ships sunk to date: CVE, 5 BBs (2 fast, 3 slow), 3 CAs, & 0 CLs.

Troops: 37 ID is at San Fran awaiting the "C" to get her 57mm AT guns. When I upgraded the infantry squads by dividing the division, the "A" upgraded her AT guns, she will recombine and is already 100% prepped for Koumac. 4th Marine Div in 12 days & 1 (Spec) Cav Div in 23 days. Then, 33 Inf Div in 36 days. Now, what to prep these three divisions for??

With your excellent position in CENTPAC I would try and exploit that. And why bother with Caledonia at all? If he still has a lot troops there just leave them be. If not use a RGT or something and not waste a whole division?

With 4 divisions available you could outflank the whole Caledonia/Salomons and land either further up the chain or simply bypass the whole lot? Or prep them for a quick jump into the DEI once Northen OZ is secured. [:)]

EDIT: The 1st Cavalry has really turned into a favorite unit of mine. [:)]

With your excellent position in CENTPAC I would try and exploit that. And why bother with Caledonia at all? If he still has a lot troops there just leave them be. If not use a RGT or something and not waste a whole division?

With 4 divisions available you could outflank the whole Caledonia/Solomons and land either further up the chain or simply bypass the whole lot? Or prep them for a quick jump into the DEI once Northern OZ is secured. [:)]

Right now, I have very few places that I can use most of my fighters (range 6 or less even with drop tanks). IMO, I cannot rely just on those few fighters with greater range. I have Esperance in western Australia and the NE corner of Australia (Portland Roads & Coen). That's it for bases I can get into a knife fight with using my fighters. Going into the greater Luganville area and then start the climb up the Solomons is where I'm going.

As you know, the Allies start to get a stronger CV fleet in the second half of '43, but I need to keep all of it (CV, CVL, CVE) together as a floating "Death Star" (using my Star Wars movie reference) until the clash of CVs actually happens. I still haven't gotten all my Wildcats off my carriers and gotten those dreaded Hellcats on them.

ORIGINAL: ny59giants
Right now, I have very few places that I can use most of my fighters (range 6 or less even with drop tanks). IMO, I cannot rely just on those few fighters with greater range. I have Esperance in western Australia and the NE corner of Australia (Portland Roads & Coen). That's it for bases I can get into a knife fight with using my fighters. Going into the greater Luganville area and then start the climb up the Solomons is where I'm going.

As you know, the Allies start to get a stronger CV fleet in the second half of '43, but I need to keep all of it (CV, CVL, CVE) together as a floating "Death Star" (using my Star Wars movie reference) until the clash of CVs actually happens. I still haven't gotten all my Wildcats off my carriers and gotten those dreaded Hellcats on them.

Well, Horn Island --> Terapo is just 6 hexes. Same as Ndeni --> Kirakira. Doing the first one saves you about 6-12 months of time. [:)]

I think doing the Solomons route as the Allies is a good idea in 42 as its relatively risk free and can be done without CVs. If he manages to fight a good delaying action it might take you a very long time to slowly crawl up the chain. With 4 divisions you will have to do a minimum of two prepps. Thats 200 days alone. Worst case scenario you might not get to Truk until mid 44.

Personally I would bypass it. For the allies it holds no value and serves no purpose in 43. At least that is my opinion. [:)] If you were playing the Japanese. Wouldn´t you love having the allies slowly crawling up the Solomons in 43?

Horn Island was built up quickly as I drove from the southern part of Australia. Remember, I lost all Australia above the 'trigger line' and when I took the bases back, I had to do what most Allied player have done long ago, expand some of those bases. Places like Cooktown, Coen, and Portland Roads were like Dec 7th '41. These three bases are close to max now after a few months of conquest and moving in large amounts of engineers. I kept resetting my prep for some troops as Nick ran up the east coast too fast for me to give battle. I then had to assign the 2nd Marine Division to Horn Island (along with 4th Aussie Div). Both these divisions are now headed for Melbourne to help with the Kalgoorlie battle (not changing their prep). I have multiple Aussie divisions at Port Augusta ready to take the RR to western Australia and prepped for Perth. Kalgoorlie is priority #1.

Meanwhile, as soon as my CVs escort the reinforcement convoys bound for Esperance, they will head for NZ and beyond. I hope to invade the greater Luganville area around mid to late June. Screenshot shows lots of dot bases here. I hope to take a look at what my para and raider units are prepped for next turn and use them for quick grabs.

Yeah, Kalgoorlie is really important. Its the key to Western OZ imo! If you think Caledonia is worth the time go for it. If he has abandoned the whole place it should be quick work. Try not to get bogged down! [:)]

AA units - looking at what is happening in western Australia after the morning's turn, I see one big omission to my planning. Not enough AA units. [:(] Looking around the map I find 4 AA units in "eastern" Aleutians, 5 at Pearl, 2 at Christmas Island, 2 at Pago Pago. Places that are highly unlikely to be attacked in the near future. Note to self and a warning to other Allied players, don't overlook where you are keeping all these units. [:-]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

AA units - looking at what is happening in western Australia after the morning's turn, I see one big omission to my planning. Not enough AA units. [:(] Looking around the map I find 4 AA units in "eastern" Aleutians, 5 at Pearl, 2 at Christmas Island, 2 at Pago Pago. Places that are highly unlikely to be attacked in the near future. Note to self and a warning to other Allied players, don't overlook where you are keeping all these units. [:-]

I have problems with this in my DBB game too. You are so used not bothering with AA in stock its hard to start paying attention to it! [:D]

June 1, 2, 3:
Battle for Kalgoorlie continues.

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs:
I-27 is hit once about 4 hexes west of Ceduna.
Hoe gets a TT hit on an xAK off the NE corner of Formosa. My first patrol is this part of the Japanese Empire.
O21 gets a hit on an xAK off the NW coast of Malaya.

CVs:
Mine are mostly at Melbourne repairing.
Japan's have some at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 83 Tojos sweep or escort with 30 Oscars followed by over 100 Helens hit the AF and troops daily.

Taung Gyi - My Chinese Corp to the east of this base is attacked by 36 Oscars with 19 Helens.

China:
Sian -

Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with around 130 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Almost daily ground bb attacks.

Australia:
Kalgoorlie -
1st - 7 Zero, 12 George escort in 32 Helens to attack my stack of troops one hex to SW without success. A second wave with 19 Oscars and 17 Helens go for my Marines. 4 George & 6 Zero are on LRCAP as 20 F6F escort in 12 PV-1. Losses are 2:6 with me losing 4 F6F out of the 6.

Ground combat at 54,147 (near Kalgoorlie) (3 hexes due west)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15000 troops, 110 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 501

Defending force 246 troops, 6 guns, 81 vehicles, Assault Value = 22

Japanese adjusted assault: 440

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 440 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
74 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 98 (98 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
16th Engineer Regiment
2nd Guards Division
9th Base Force
48th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
192nd Tank Battalion


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

Ground combat at 56,148 (near Kalgoorlie) (1 hex SW)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14764 troops, 289 guns, 319 vehicles, Assault Value = 963

Defending force 5490 troops, 110 guns, 366 vehicles, Assault Value = 61

Allied adjusted assault: 395

Japanese adjusted defense: 19

Allied assault odds: 20 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1286 casualties reported
Squads: 54 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 80 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 28 (20 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Vehicles lost 101 (101 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
32nd Infantry Division
193rd Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
762nd Tank Battalion
2/6th Armoured Regiment
181st Field Artillery Battalion
70th Coast AA Regiment
1st Medium Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
2nd Medium Regiment

Defending units:
Guards Tank Division

The Guards Tank Division will need some time to recover from its failed shock attack and now the Allied deliberate attack against it.

2nd - My lone NZ tank unit two hexes to SW is attacked by three waves of 72 Helens with 32 Oscars. Half the unit is disabled.
3rd - 16 and then 38 Corsairs sweep the empty skies over the base. I'm getting periodical coordinated sweeps with more than one air group involved. Meanwhile, 32 Oscars escort 64 Helens to hit my Marine Division. I had placed the whole stack into "Move Mode" and the casualties were 327 with disruption over 70. Lesson learned. [:-] 36 PB4Y-1 & 48 B-24s hit the AF from Ceduna (AF9). Thankfully, the radio was not destroyed in the attacks yesterday on the NZ tank unit and they were able to contact HQ. Today, 3 F6F & 9 P-40Ks feast on 30 unescorted Nells. The combat report shows 11 Nells destroyed, but the Air Losses show it was actually 20.

Horn Island -
1st - 8 PT Boats vs 12 barges, 2 E, AMc do nothing. 36 P-38s find 10 Nicks on CAP. They only destroy one.
2nd - 34 B-24s & 24 B-17s hit the AF without opposition.
3rd - same as the 3rd.

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:


Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Portland Roads AF7; Mornington AF2; Cooktown P5; Amchitka P3;

Recon/Intel:
Sceenshot shows forces at Albany. There are also about 80 bombers.
In the greater Kalgoorlie area, there are 32 Japanese LCUs.

Notes:
June brings the big upgrade for certain ships. Lots of transport upgrade their AA. Some AKs become AKA, radar for SC and most PT boats. Over 600 ships will be shuttling into shipyards across the map.

India/Burma - I decrease the supply request at Ledo, Dimapur, and Imphal while increasing the supply request for Katha and Wararup on the 3rd. Can I get some of the 130k supplies to move across the jungle??

Albany - I have an Inf Rgt, Cmbt Eng, and 3 tank approaching the base. Plans are to attack it heavily from the sea. The first group of transports have loaded at Melbourne and moved off to the west. The rest with CVs and significant surface forces. Once the transports unload at Esperance, carrier air, LBA, and SC TF will hit the base hard. The troops should be at the base very soon. In hindsight, I should have targeted this base for invasion and capture the same time as I landed at Esperance. The learning in AE never ends.

all the best for the capture of Kalgoorlie - although the situation doesn't seem to be very favourable atm...

always a great read!

June 4, 5, 6:
Battle for western Australia continues.
Did I mention how much I LOVE my Corsairs?!?
The saga of SS Sargo is worth reading.

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs:
Another midget sub sunk at Horn Island.
Saury is hit trying to penetrate the harbor at Geraldton.
RO-64 is sunk with two DC hit SE of Horn Island.
I-5 is hit twice west of Adelaide.

ASW attack near Geraldton at 49,141

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
CL Jintsu
DD Tatsuyuke
DD Yudachi
DD Arare
DD Suresushio
DD Uruyuke

Allied Ships
SS Sargo, hits 7 (Two of them are direct hits.)

Submarine attack near Geraldton at 49,141

Japanese Ships
PB Seikyo Maru
xAK Dakar Maru, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Maebasi Maru, Shell hits 1
xAK Mikasa Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Rakuto Maru, Shell hits 1, on fire

Allied Ships
SS Sargo, hits 4, heavy damage

SS Sargo is sighted by escort
PB Seikyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Seikyo Maru attacking submerged sub ....
SS Sargo forced to surface!
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Mikasa Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Mikasa Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Mikasa Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Mikasa Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
PB Seikyo Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Dakar Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
PB Seikyo Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Maebasi Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
xAK Rakuto Maru firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves
She put up a good fight once forced to surface!! [&o][&o] It was fun to watch the replay as she kept shooting will taking hits.

Sub attack near Iwo-jima at 98,81

Japanese Ships
CV Shinano [:@][:@]
DD Mutsuki
DD Arashio

Allied Ships
SS Gato
I was surprised to see her completed this soon.

I-5 is sunk by escorts of the warships headed for Esperance south of Ceduna.

CVs:
Mine are headed for Esperance with 3 Transport TFs with reinforcements.
Mini-KB is at Geraldton. KBs location is unknown.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 84 Tojos sweep or escort with 30 Oscars followed by over 100 Helens hit the AF and troops daily.

Taung Gyi - My Chinese Corp and /or Indian Division to the east of this base is attacked by 36 Oscars with 23 Helens.

China:
Sian - [>:]

Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with up to 130 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Almost daily ground bb attacks.

Ground combat at Lanchow (81,34)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 31499 troops, 364 guns, 834 vehicles, Assault Value = 1280

Defending force 47955 troops, 312 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1124

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

Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
1st Tank Division
2nd Tank Division
5th Guards Division
North China Area Army
15th AA Regiment

Defending units:
99th Chinese Corps
100th Chinese Corps
9th Separate Brigade
71st Chinese Corps
34th Separate Brigade
3rd Chinese Corps
12th Construction Regiment
10th Construction Regiment
19th Chinese Base Force
57th AT Gun Regiment
1st War Area
56th AT Gun Regiment
3rd Heavy Mortar Regiment
4th Heavy Mortar Regiment
8th War Area
21st Chinese Base Force

Australia:
Kalgoorlie -
4th - Corsairs rule!! [8D]

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 32
N1K1-J George x 13
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 31

Allied aircraft
F4U-1 Corsair x 12

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4U-1 Corsair: 1 destroyed

6 more Corsairs face off against 53 of these fighters and comes out ahead 3:1. 48 B-24s & 36 PB4Y-1s push past the 45 fighters left on CAP to hit the AF. 12 more Corsairs sweep the now empty skies.
5th - 24 Corsairs & 45 P-47s now find the skies empty. 57 PV-1s hit the AF as the 4e bombers are rested.
6th - Corsairs and P-47s still find the skies empty as they sweep. 57 PV-1s hit the AF.

Horn Island -
4th - 9 P-40s escort in 63 B-25s to hit the AF. This is followed by 35 B-24s. The 22 P-38s were late risers this morning as they come in AFTER the bombers. [:(] 2 NW of base find barges with 25(1) Zero on LRCAP as 18(3) with 7 SBDs sink 3 barges and an "E". A second group of 15(5) SBDs go after the SC and sink 2 of them.
5th - 2 DDs are targeted by 9 Judy with 7 tojo and 4 Nicks as escort. Only 4 hellcats make it over as LRCAP. I lose 2 to his 1 Judy, but my nimble DDs are not hit. 63 B-25s hit the AF.
6th - 8 PT boats take on 6 PB at night and sink a PB. 47 B-25s hit the AF.

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Merauke - 22 P-38s sweep the skies on 5th, but find 38 A6M5 Zeros on CAP. No P-38s are lost, but 4 Zeros are shot down. [:)]

Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 69 NM, estimated altitude 33,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 54

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet
24 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet
3 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet
Another example of me getting these occasional coordinated sweeps from multiple air groups.

The skies are clear on the 6th as the P-38s return.

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Savusavu F6; Esperance F4;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
My transports approach Esperance with this player worried that I will get more ships damaged and/or sunk just to bring in two more divisions, 3 tank, inf rgt, and more support troops.

June 7, 8:
Battle around Esperance begins again.
9th will be separate posting as it is long with first CV vs CV battle.

Key: TT = Torpedo; bb = ground bombardment; c = casualties; b = base hits; s = supply hits; r = runway hits; p = port hits; f = fuel hits; AV = Assault Value; DC = Depth Charged; (*) = destroyed aircraft; If odds are underlined, they are the Allies; BG = Bomber Group of 48 planes (4 x 12 bomber squadrons); group = 25 fighter planes if American

Subs:
S-35 become a minesweeper once at Perth.
I-166 is 8 east of Esperance and hits CVE Chenango with 1 TT [14-39(32)-2]
S-37 is sunk at Geraldton.
Cisco is hit once off northern Hokkaido.
I-1 sink DD Sims with 1 TT hit 4 ESE of Esperance.

CVs:
Mine are headed for Esperance with 3 Transport TFs with reinforcements.
Mini-KB is at 45, 149 (5 SW of Perth) - 183F, 109B, 36 Aux on 8th. KBs location is unknown.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 84 Tojos sweep or escort with 51 Oscars followed by over 100 Helens hit the AF and troops daily.

Taung Gyi - My Chinese Corp and /or Indian Division to the east of this base is attacked by 36 Oscars with 23 Helens.

China:
Lanchow - Up to 25 Oscars with up to 130 Sally/Helen attack AF along with the troops daily. The Oscars are now assigned strafing missions. Almost daily ground bb attacks.

Australia:
Kalgoorlie -
8th - 24(3) George are on CAP vs 15(1) P-47s sweeping. Another George is lost when 15 P-47s sweep in.

Albany -
7th - 43 Corsairs sweep the empty skies. 40 Judy & 12 Helens attack the troops one hex NE of the base.
8th - 145 Wildcats/Hellcats with 131 SBDs & 99 TBFs hit the AF. The results are poor (need more training in Gnd). A Special BF and Inf Rgt are identified. 30 PV-1 attack the Special BF.

Cooktown -
7th - Two groups (23 & 13) of Helens come in at 1000' to attempt to hit my 3 DDs. They are able to avoid.

Esperance -
8th - 35(1) Tojo sweep vs 10(1) P-40 & 7(2) Spitfires on CAP.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Esperance at 56,154 (1 SW)

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 16
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 35
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 13
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 13

Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 3
F4F-4 Wildcat x 62
F6F-3 Hellcat x 85

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 4 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 1 destroyed by flak
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 4 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-4 Wildcat: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 1 [22-4-1-0]
CL Perth
BB Idaho

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Ki-49-IIb Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x Ki-49-IIa Helen bombing from 1000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

Only 4 Helens make it through, but one does get the hit.
All damage is minor and repairable pier side.

18(5) Nell without escort don't get through CAP. This is followed by 14(5) Helens.

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Luganville -
7th - A total of 60 B-24s & 36 B-17s hit the AF. While mouseover shows fighters there, none are on CAP.

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Funafuti AF2; Alice Springs F6; Ceduna P4; Esperance AF7;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
Air Losses on 8th were 19 Allied vs 94 Japan.

Two SC TF are 4 NW of Albany which will be 9 hexes to Esperance. I expect a Full Speed run in to hit the shipping there and/or at my CVs.