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AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 08, 43
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ASW attack near Cox's Bazar at 53,43

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 1

Allied Ships
DD Foxhound
DD Isis
DD Inconstant



SS I-154 is sighted by escort
I-154 diving deep ....
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Inconstant fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

some British DDs tangle with a sub in the shipping lane from Diamond Harbour to Akyab which is our supply hub for Burma. Isis used up all her depth charges for a near miss...

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Sub attack near San Clemente Island at 224,80

Japanese Ships
SS I-24

Allied Ships
YP-73



Captain of SS I-24 elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
I-24 diving deep ....
Escort abandons search for sub

we could have caught another salvo of this sub, perhaps it would run out of torps soon then...

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Sub attack near Portland Roads at 93,133

Japanese Ships
SS I-173, hits 13, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Farragut
DD Electra
DD Decoy



SS I-173 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Farragut
DD Electra fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy attacking submerged sub ....
DD Decoy is out of ASW ammo
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

I-173 takes a beating, wonder if the sub will make it... the TF has been ordered back to replenish...

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ASW attack near Horn Island at 93,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-172, hits 6

Allied Ships
DD Fortune
DD Nepal



SS I-172 is located by DD Fortune
DD Nepal fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
DD Fortune cannot reach attack position over SS I-172
DD Fortune loses contact with SS I-172
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

the second British ASW TF attacks another sub in this area, Fortune dropped all her DCs for halve a dozen near misses... also this TF will head home to replenish...

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ASW attack near Horn Island at 93,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-172

Allied Ships
DD Nepal



SS I-172 is located by DD Nepal
I-172 diving deep ....
DD Nepal fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nepal fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nepal fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nepal fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nepal attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

Nepal dropped some more DCs for no result...

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Sub attack near Moppo at 99,54

Japanese Ships
xAK Liverpool Maru
PB Nichiro Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sealion



SS Sealion launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Liverpool Maru
Sealion bottoming out ....
PB Nichiro Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nichiro Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nichiro Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nichiro Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nichiro Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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ASW attack near Toyohara at 124,48

Japanese Ships
xAK Denmark Maru
PB Tokihime Maru

Allied Ships
SS O19



SS O19 is sighted by escort
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 20 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38F Lightning x 22


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
22 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet



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Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 16


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

sweeping the empty base... bombers should follow...

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Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes


Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 16
B-17E Fortress x 35


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged

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



Airbase hits 11
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 79

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

there they are...

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Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 11


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 21

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 6
Spitfire Vc Trop x 6
B-26 Marauder x 16
P-40K Warhawk x 9


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 25

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 54


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 17
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 25

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

keeping the base damaged, bad weather prevented us from really hitting the base though...

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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 7

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 2 damaged



Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Airfield Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 29
P-40E Warhawk x 12


No Allied losses

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



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 47

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Lae , at 99,126

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 15
P-400 Airacobra x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged



Runway hits 20

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Munda , at 111,134

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 25


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38E Lightning x 2
P-38F Lightning x 3


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x P-38F Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
2 x P-38E Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

and here´s the usual third part of a two squadron sweep...

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Sub attack near Wakkanai at 122,47

Japanese Ships
xAK Tatuha Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Nitiren Maru
PB Yachiyo Maru

Allied Ships
SS Flying Fish



SS Flying Fish launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Tatuha Maru
Flying Fish diving deep ....
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Yachiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

that one is sunk for sure...

5 Dauntless from my fleet carriers and 2 Catalinas were victims from flying nav search today... it stays the most dangerous duty right after flying a P-40 while being bounced by a Tojo... the SBDs were on 20% search 10000ft and the Cats are on the usual 70 or 80% search 6000ft rest and using search arcs...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 09, 43
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Sub attack near Truk at 111,109

Japanese Ships
PB Sonan Maru #5
PB Shuko Maru #5

Allied Ships
SS Gurnard



Captain of SS Gurnard elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Gurnard diving deep ....
PB Shuko Maru #5 fails to find sub and abandons search
PB Sonan Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sonan Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sonan Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sonan Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sonan Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

now that our torps kind of work it would be great if the subs actually would attack...

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ASW attack near Burnie at 82,174

Japanese Ships
SS I-3, hits 2

Allied Ships
DM Tracy
AKV Kittyhawk
AKV Hammondsport
xAK Examiner
xAK T. A. Johnson
xAK Rodman Coleman
DM Sicard
DM Pruitt



SS I-3 is sighted by escort
DM Sicard fails to find sub and abandons search
DM Pruitt fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Pruitt attacking submerged sub ....
DM Pruitt fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Pruitt fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Pruitt attacking submerged sub ....
DM Pruitt is out of ASW ammo
DM Pruitt is out of ASW ammo
DM Pruitt is out of ASW ammo
Escort abandons search for sub

have brought some British dive bombers (Vengeance) and fighter (Hurricane) squadrons to Australia as they will be needed on the New Guinean front... doubt that there will be much anti shipping attacks on the Burmese front and the Vengeance have a nice replacement rate so they could be very usefull on New Guinea. Range is only 6 (with two 500lb bombs) but that should be sufficient, considering that most of our fighters only got 5 hexes range... and the Hurricanes can be useful against Zero sweeps as the Hurricane can go higher than the Zero (not as high as the Oscars or Tojos though)...

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ASW attack near Flinders Island at 83,174

Japanese Ships
SS I-3

Allied Ships
DM Tracy
AKV Kittyhawk
AKV Hammondsport
xAK Examiner
xAK T. A. Johnson
xAK Rodman Coleman
DM Sicard



SS I-3 launches 4 torpedoes at DM Tracy
DM Sicard fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Sicard fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Sicard fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Sicard fails to find sub, continues to search...
DM Sicard fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

the sub obviously followed the convoy...

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ASW attack near Hobart at 82,181

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
PC Kimball
SC-706



SS I-10 is sighted by escort
I-10 diving deep ....
PC Kimball fails to find sub and abandons search
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
xAK Koyu Maru
PB Konei Maru

Allied Ships
SS Trigger



SS Trigger is sighted by escort
Trigger diving deep ....
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Konei Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Sub attack near Hobart at 82,181

Japanese Ships
SS I-10

Allied Ships
SC-704
PC Kimball
SC-706



SS I-10 launches 6 torpedoes at SC-704
PC Kimball fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-10 eludes SC-706 by diving deep
PC Kimball fails to find sub and abandons search
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC-706 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Morning Air attack on Green Island , at 108,127

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 14 NM, estimated altitude 40,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 24


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
23 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

all three Tojos were damaged but none shot down...

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Morning Air attack on Lihir , at 108,124

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 3



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
23 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
13th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIa Nick (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 18000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 4 minutes

we get some Niks though...



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Sub attack near Toyohara at 126,46

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 28
xAK Kyokuzan Maru

Allied Ships
SS Snook



Captain of SS Snook elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Snook diving deep ....
SC Ch 28 attacking submerged sub ....
SC Ch 28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 28 attacking submerged sub ....
SC Ch 28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 28 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

cmon...

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Ground combat at Lae (99,126)
Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 10695 troops, 211 guns, 287 vehicles, Assault Value = 750

Defending force 20014 troops, 186 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 599


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


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
19th Naval Guard Unit
12th Division
89th Naval Guard Unit
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
38th Field AA Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit


our divisions finally reached Lae... the enemy is reported marching East, don´t know if it´s one unit or all of them... ordered this bombardment only to see what the enemy has got there and the bombardment result is the usual result... oh boy, could I have WITP bombardment back? [:D]


our armada that is going to bombard Rabaul took position 2 hexes East of Milne Bay today and was NOT spotted at all... we´ve got over a hundred ships there but none were spotted... it´s obvious that the Japanese naval search is nothing better than mine, you could also keep those aircraft grounded, at least then I wouldn´t lose the couple of search aircraft per day...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 10, 43
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Submarine attack near Fukue-jima at 100,59

Japanese Ships
E Kamo
E Kiji
E Hato

Allied Ships
SS Shark, hits 6, on fire, heavy damage



SS Shark is located by E Kamo
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji attacking submerged sub ....
SS Shark forced to surface!
E Kiji firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kamo firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kamo firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kiji firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kamo firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kiji firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kamo firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kiji firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kamo firing on surfaced sub ....
E Kiji firing on surfaced sub ....
E Hato firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves

bad day for Shark, after taking two direct depth charge hits the sub was forced to surfaced... she was then easily finished...

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Sub attack near Horn Island at 93,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-169, hits 2

Allied Ships
DD Farragut
DD Electra
DD Decoy



SS I-169 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Farragut
I-169 diving deep ....
DD Electra fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy attacking submerged sub ....
DD Decoy is out of ASW ammo
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

our British destroyers will take revenge for SS Shark... in this case, they achieve nothing but using up their DCs...

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Sub attack near Horn Island at 93,130

Japanese Ships
SS I-169, hits 21, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Hull
DD Nepal
DD Fortune
DD Express



SS I-169 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Hull
DD Nepal fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
SS I-169 forced to surface!
DD Fortune firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Express firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Nepal firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Express firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Nepal firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Express firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Nepal firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Fortune firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Express firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Nepal firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Fortune firing on surfaced sub ....
DD Express firing on surfaced sub ....
Sub slips beneath the waves

the second British ASW TF sinks an enemy sub just a couple of hours after SS Shark was sunk... numerous depth charge hits should have sealed the sub´s faith already but she managed to surface... after being pounded with 4.7 inch gunfire the sub sunk...

that was the movement phase and you can imagine I was on my toes because of the Rabaul operation... we moved in and found no enemy surface combat TFs which was good and we also didn´t hit any of the reported mines at Rabaul...



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and there we go...
Naval bombardment of Rabaul at 106,125

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 14 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-IIIb Dinah: 5 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 10 destroyed on ground
H6K5 Mavis: 6 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 21 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 10 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 26 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIb Nick: 5 destroyed on ground
G3M3 Nell: 19 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
ACM Tama Maru, Shell hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
LB-133, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-104, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-105, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-106, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-110, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-109, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-107, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-108, Shell hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
LB-102, Shell hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Pensacola
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CA Chester
CA Houston
CA Northampton
CA Indianapolis
CA Portland
CL Nashville
CL Phoenix
CL St. Louis

Japanese ground losses:
605 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 10 destroyed, 96 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 26 (1 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (0 destroyed, 6 disabled)



Airbase hits 90
Airbase supply hits 27
Runway hits 970
Port hits 1
Port supply hits 1

CA Pensacola firing at Rabaul
CA Chicago firing at Rabaul
CA Louisville firing at Rabaul
CA Chester firing at Rabaul
CA Houston firing at Rabaul
CA Northampton firing at Maizuru 1st SNLF
CA Indianapolis firing at Rabaul
CA Portland firing at Rabaul
CL Nashville firing at Rabaul
CL Phoenix firing at Rabaul
CL St. Louis firing at Rabaul

what can I say? I guess I´ve said enough about the naval bombardment routine in the past and my oppinion on it hasn´t changed. You can imagine that Rainer wasn´t amused about it either, he replied without words on my turn... I was sure to nuke the base, knowing how to do it and having dozens of cruisers for this task took out the base with the first bombardment... it works for both sides and after having suffered those bombardments from the Japanese, it´s payback time now... the day we´ve seen this turn was the day with the next patch announcement that "tweaked naval bombardments"... can only hope for a big tweak IMO...

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Naval bombardment of Rabaul at 106,125

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 12 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 6 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 3 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIb Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 10 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 3 destroyed on ground
G3M3 Nell: 2 destroyed on ground
Ki-46-IIIb Dinah: 1 destroyed on ground
H6K5 Mavis: 1 destroyed on ground

Japanese Ships
LB-128, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-101, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-135, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-132, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-129, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-103, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-125, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-130, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-131, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-501, Shell hits 1, heavy damage
LB-134, Shell hits 1, heavy damage

Allied Ships
CA Hawkins
CA Canberra
CA Australia
CA Vincennes
CA Quincy
CA San Francisco
CA New Orleans
CA Salt Lake City
CL Columbia
CL Honolulu
CL Boise
CL Mauritius

Japanese ground losses:
379 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 59 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Guns lost 9 (0 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (0 destroyed, 2 disabled)



Airbase hits 61
Airbase supply hits 18
Runway hits 1033
Port hits 1

CA Hawkins firing at Rabaul
CA Canberra firing at Rabaul
CA Australia firing at Rabaul
CA Vincennes firing at Rabaul
CA Quincy firing at Rabaul
CA San Francisco firing at Rabaul
CA New Orleans firing at Rabaul
CA Salt Lake City firing at 4th Division
CL Columbia firing at Rabaul
CL Honolulu firing at Rabaul
CL Boise firing at Rabaul
CL Mauritius firing at Rabaul

not that I would only send in one cruiser task force, no, I´ve got plenty of cruisers available... the first one already took out the base and the second one finished off everything that has been left... needless to say that Rabaul has been neutralized, that means we´re going to have complete air superiority in this area now and can think about moving forward... the Solomons are undefendable for the enemy without having a strong airforce at Rabaul and my heavies will take care of Rabaul in future to keep it closed... Rabaul, the Solomons and the bases in the Lae area can only be supplied by fast transport TFs and that´s going to be a high risk task in future... the bases in the Solomons aren´t my primary targets though, Munda, Shortlands and Lunga have reported 15-25000 troops each and those bases can be suppressed by my LBA, they are a torn in my flank though... and we can also destroy a nice number of troops on those bases so as soon as my primary objectives are under siege, the enemy bases in the Solomons will move up on the target list...

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ASW attack near Rabaul at 106,125

Japanese Ships
SSX Ha-17, hits 2, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Gansevoort
BC Repulse
DD Meade
DD O'Brien
DD Sims



SSX Ha-17 launches 2 torpedoes at DD Gansevoort
Ha-17 bottoming out ....
DD O'Brien fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Sims attacking submerged sub ....
Debris floats to surface in area of attack!
Escort abandons search for sub

my recon spotted an enemy sub at Rabaul daily and now I know what it was... a midget sub was defending the port, attacking one of the escorts of my fast BB surface combat TF that should have cleared the path of any potential IJN threat... the torps missed and the midget was sent to the bottom with a couple of depth charges...

so far it´s been a perfectly working operation...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Fukue-jima at 99,57

Japanese Ships
DD Okikaze
SC CHa-41
PB Muroran Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sealion



SS Sealion launches 4 torpedoes at DD Okikaze
Sealion diving deep ....
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Okikaze cannot reach attack position over SS Sealion
PB Muroran Maru fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Okikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
SS Sealion eludes ASW attack from DD Okikaze
DD Okikaze loses contact with SS Sealion
DD Okikaze loses contact with SS Sealion
DD Okikaze cannot reach attack position over SS Sealion
DD Okikaze cannot reach attack position over SS Sealion
DD Okikaze cannot establish contact with SS Sealion
DD Okikaze attacking submerged sub ....
SS Sealion eludes DD Okikaze by diving deep
DD Okikaze cannot reach attack position over SS Sealion
SS Sealion eludes ASW attack from DD Okikaze
DD Okikaze cannot reach attack position over SS Sealion
SS Sealion eludes ASW attack from DD Okikaze
Escort abandons search for sub

got working torps now but we still hit important targets with duds too often (in any case with more than the 50% dud rate)...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 102,63

Japanese Ships
xAK Hikosan Maru, Torpedo hits 1
PB Senyu Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon, hits 1



SS Sturgeon launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Hikosan Maru
PB Senyu Maru #2 attacking submerged sub ....
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Senyu Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

the next torp worked but the freighter wasn´t really impressed...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Torishima at 106,68

Japanese Ships
TK Kiyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
PB Sozan Maru

Allied Ships
SS Tunny



SS Tunny launches 6 torpedoes at TK Kiyo Maru
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Sozan Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Tunny gets a precious tanker for sure so not a day to complain...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 27 NM, estimated altitude 39,600 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Hurricane IIc Trop sweeping at 35600 feet

the Hurries missed the bombers...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 18
B-25C Mitchell x 28
B-26 Marauder x 14
P-40E Warhawk x 6
P-40K Warhawk x 18
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 12


Allied aircraft losses
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...

but else it works just fine to keep the fighters at their Cap alt (mostly as high as possible) and having the bombers at 10000ft... we have to fly massed ground attacks against the troops at Lae, it´s a jungle/rough hex so defense will be stiff I guess... hopefully our bombers will be able to rack up disruption on the enemy division...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 6
Spitfire Vc Trop x 8
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 42
B-25C Mitchell x 24
B-26 Marauder x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 19th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 16
B-26 Marauder x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...

I doubt that we will ever find air opposition here again anyway so it´s not that important if there are escorts or not...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 3 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 39 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12


No Allied losses

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



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 26th Air Flotilla , at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 8


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Fergusson Island at 102,132

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 3



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 1
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1
F4F-4 Wildcat x 2


No Japanese losses

No Allied losses



CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes

wow, enemy patrols picked up one of the two bombardment TFs heading back to Milne Bay (but not my carriers the hex next to this one) and Munda sends some unescorted bombers... while no biggy, it was kind of a shock to see Munda launching bombers because all those bombers there should at least be damaged, the airfield is reported still being 50% damaged and the base should have been 100% damaged since our nav bombardment all long time ago as it should never got repaired... nevertheless we see bombers coming from that base... phew, they had very low morale though and turned back immedietely after the first one was damaged by the meager leaking Cap... I don´t like leaking Cap but I have to admit, in this case it´s to my advantage...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Fergusson Island at 102,132

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 28 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 2



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 1
F4F-3 Wildcat x 1
F4F-4 Wildcat x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 1 damaged


Allied Ships
CA Salt Lake City



Aircraft Attacking:
2 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes

same in the afternoon, another two bombers came from Munda and managed to get passed my leaking Cap... I was more than surprised to see them dropping bombs and not torps, which makes them not much of a threat... and that´s been it, the Rabaul operation was a full success, we´ve destroyed over 300 enemy aircraft on the ground (the base was fully loaded with aircraft it seems, so my recon about that was quite correct), I was totally surprised that there were that many Niks and fewer Tojos than expected... there were also fewer naval bombers than expected so even if the enemy would have been able to fly a nav strike, the threat would have been minimal. It looks like Rainer thinks about the Niks the same as I do, they are the main threat to my heavy bombers and I guess that´s the reason he had so many of them in this area...

an interesting side note is how far my two bombardment and the SC TF moved during the day... the manual states that a TF can never move further than 9 hexes, but one of the bombardment TFs (cruisers and DDs) made it back to Milne Bay in one movement phase, but the range between Rabaul and Milne Bay is TEN hexes! [X(] Also my fast BB SC TF made it to the hex next to Milne Bay (same location as the other cruiser TF) but the BBs shouldn´t move more than 8 hexes on full speed, they moved 9 though...

with no enemy airstrike against our carriers, we´ve only suffered some op losses within our SBDs on nav search and some op losses within the land based fighters on LRCAP at Milne Bay, probably not more than a dozen aircraft in the last three days, so this was a really important tactical victory in this area... I doubt the enemy in this area will recover from such an attack and can only respond with KB to any of my moves in this region... fielding 600 carrier based aircraft and having LBA support it could be quite dangerous for KB in any case though, the only thing I really fear is the uncontrolled reaction of my carrier TFs as I would expect the three carrier TFs to be completely separated in the end and at least one being picked off by one massed KB strike... but I also would expect the big number of my bombers scoring hits on the enemy...



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

Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 21339 troops, 404 guns, 574 vehicles, Assault Value = 749

Defending force 19962 troops, 186 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 596

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



Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
12th Division
19th Naval Guard Unit
89th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
38th Field AA Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit

forgot to set my two divs on defend...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 11, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Bengkalis at 48,80

Japanese Ships
DD Maikaze
DD Yukikaze
DD Hagikaze

Allied Ships
SS Plunger, hits 1



SS Plunger launches 4 torpedoes at DD Maikaze
DD Hagikaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

got better torps now but we´re still not really effective in taking on enemy escorts...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 105,68

Japanese Ships
xAK Kozui Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Yamakaze Maru
PB Kinsyo Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Tunny



SS Tunny launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Kozui Maru
PB Kinsyo Maru #2 attacking submerged sub ....
PB Kinsyo Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kinsyo Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kinsyo Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kinsyo Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

this freighter should be finished though...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Kanoya at 105,67

Japanese Ships
xAK Daigen Maru
PB Kiko Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel



SS Pickerel launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Daigen Maru
Pickerel diving deep ....
PB Kiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 15
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 40
B-25C Mitchell x 48
B-26 Marauder x 43
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-40E Warhawk x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 9
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 11


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
44 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
11 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...

we keep flying massed ground attacks, no idea about the real effects... should fire up a head to head test game to see if these ground attacks got any effects on disruption or not... unfortunetely I´ve never seen anyone on the forum saying his units suffer disruption from such attacks or not... [:(]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 19th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 25
P-40E Warhawk x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 2 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
11 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 16
P-40K Warhawk x 9


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 49 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7
B-24D Liberator x 15
B-26 Marauder x 14


No Allied losses

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 8


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near San Luis Obispo at 220,74

Japanese Ships
SS I-6

Allied Ships
xAK John Bartram, Torpedo hits 1



xAK John Bartram is sighted by SS I-6
SS I-6 launches 4 torpedoes

one hex off the coast, this damned sub still waits for targets between SF and LA... the freighter will surely make it, got only 38 flt damage... will be patched up at Alameida...

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

Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 21365 troops, 404 guns, 574 vehicles, Assault Value = 750

Defending force 19864 troops, 186 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 592

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


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


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
12th Division
19th Naval Guard Unit
89th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
38th Field AA Battalion
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit


still bombarding... shouldn´t forget to set my units on defend... at least the enemy is now taking "more" losses than we do...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 12, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Vigan at 78,73

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-20
SC CHa-23

Allied Ships
SS Pollack



SS Pollack is located by SC CHa-20
Pollack diving deep ....
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tokara Retto at 100,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-38
SC CHa-39

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon



Captain of SS Sturgeon elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

after attacking on the surface, that´s what I hate the most... [:D]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 105,68

Japanese Ships
PB Ryuto Maru

Allied Ships
SS Halibut, hits 1



SS Halibut launches 6 torpedoes at PB Ryuto Maru
Halibut diving deep ....
PB Ryuto Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Ryuto Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ryuto Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ryuto Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ryuto Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

amazingly enough, for what reason ever, the enemy ASW forces achieve quite a lot of hits now... not sinking my sub but a single direct hit is easily enough to send my subs home...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Cooktown at 94,137

Japanese Ships
SS RO-65, hits 4

Allied Ships
DD Blue
BB North Carolina
CLAA Juneau
CLAA Atlanta
DD Jarvis
DD Patterson
DD Henley
DD Ralph Talbot



SS RO-65 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Blue
DD Jarvis fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Patterson fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Henley fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Ralph Talbot fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Patterson attacking submerged sub ....
DD Ralph Talbot fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Patterson fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

as long as my escorts are attacked, there´s not much danger... the more subs the IJN sends into the Cooktown - Townsville - PM area, the more I will send out ASW forces to hunt them down... with the British DDs, this should be more dangerous to the enemy subs than to our surface forces...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 17
B-25C Mitchell x 42
B-26 Marauder x 27
P-39D Airacobra x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...

a hundred bombers, not a single casualty... still not sure these attacks do any good...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8
Kittyhawk IA x 8
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 32
B-25C Mitchell x 11
B-26 Marauder x 29


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 3 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 7 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 9


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 14


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 5 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 14


No Allied losses

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 14


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 7


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Taihoku at 88,62

Japanese Ships
SC Ch 38
TK Amato Maru
PB Choko Maru #5

Allied Ships
SS Finback



SS Finback launches 6 torpedoes at SC Ch 38
Finback diving deep ....
PB Choko Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choko Maru #5 attacking submerged sub ....
PB Choko Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choko Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Choko Maru #5 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

wrong target and duds...

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

Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 21397 troops, 404 guns, 574 vehicles, Assault Value = 756

Defending force 19804 troops, 186 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 588

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Allied adjusted assault: 782

Japanese adjusted defense: 1999 [X(]

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
343 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 53 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
843 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 67 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 79 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Vehicles lost 41 (2 destroyed, 39 disabled)


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
19th Naval Guard Unit
12th Division
89th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
38th Field AA Battalion
26th Air Flotilla
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit

with the enemy´s av nearly quadruppled I doubt that my air attack caused any disruption on the enemy division... at least our engineers took down a fort level... with losses being nearly equal it will be a hard fight and I´m not sure the two fully prepped divs will be able to do the job...

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

Ground combat at Katherine (76,128)

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59433 troops, 908 guns, 1691 vehicles, Assault Value = 2674

Defending force 59462 troops, 526 guns, 567 vehicles, Assault Value = 2054

Japanese ground losses:
144 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
139 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 16 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Assaulting units:
4th Australian Division
5th Australian Division
754th Tank Battalion
2/7th Armoured Regiment
1st USMC Tank Battalion
3rd Army Tank Brigade
2/11th Armoured Car Battalion
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion
2/8th Armoured Regiment
2/10th Armoured Regiment
2nd Australian Division
2/6th Armoured Regiment
193rd Tank Battalion
3rd Motor Brigade
763rd Tank Battalion
3rd Australian Division
632nd Tank Destroyer Battalion
2/4th Armoured Regiment
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
1st Australian Division
762nd Tank Battalion
4th Armoured Brigade
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
1st Motor Brigade
1st Australian Army
198th Field Artillery Battalion
183rd Field Artillery Regiment
94th Coast AA Regiment
10th RAAF Base Force
I Australian Corps
197th Coast AA Regiment
96th Coast AA Regiment
III Australian Corps
223rd Field Artillery Battalion
2nd RAAF M/W Sqn
114th USAAF Base Force
40th Field Artillery Regiment
1st USMC Field Artillery Battalion
188th Field Artillery Regiment
181st Field Artillery Regiment
1st RAN Base Force
97th Field Artillery Battalion
148th Field Artillery Battalion
154th FA Bn
134th Field Artillery Battalion
2nd USMC Field Artillery Battalion
205th Field Artillery Battalion
503rd Coast AA Regiment
226th Field Artillery Battalion
30th Field Artillery Regiment
198th Coast AA Regiment
4th Field Artillery Battalion
249th Field Artillery Battalion
70th Coast AA Regiment
2nd Australian Army
16th RAAF Base Force
209th Field Artillery Battalion
168th Field Artillery Regiment
216th Coast AA Regiment
II Australian Corps
21/22 Field Regiment
2nd RAN Base Force
13th Australian Hvy AA Regiment

Defending units:
54th Division
5th Division
18th Division
8th Tank Regiment
16th Division
3rd Tank Regiment
14th Tank Regiment
16th Army
16th AA Regiment

when looking at all the artillery I´ve got there and the fact that we take more losses than the enemy then I can only once again shake my head... but that´s a known issue anyway and the only reason I´ve ordered this bombardment was to get to know what enemy units are still there as the enemy has moved some of his units North, probably picking them up from Darwin to bolster his defenses East of Timor...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 13, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Toyohara at 125,47

Japanese Ships
xAK Kaisyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
PB Tamo Maru #7

Allied Ships
SS Flying Fish, hits 1



SS Flying Fish launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Kaisyo Maru
PB Tamo Maru #7 attacking submerged sub ....
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tamo Maru #7 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

sunk and Flying Fish got away unharmed...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Misool at 81,108

Japanese Ships
PB Showa Maru #3

Allied Ships
SS Skipjack



SS Skipjack is sighted by escort
PB Showa Maru #3 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Showa Maru #3 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Showa Maru #3 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Showa Maru #3 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Showa Maru #3 attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Hengchun at 84,68

Japanese Ships
E Otori
E Kari
E Hayabusa

Allied Ships
SS Haddo



SS Haddo launches 6 torpedoes at E Otori
Haddo diving deep ....
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

so far, the enemy ASW TFs have been plain lucky in 43... either we miss or still fire duds at them... funny enough that the nearly 95% hit rate pre 43 seems not to be existing anymore... strange kind of good/bad luck or something else I don´t know about?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 102,63

Japanese Ships
xAK Toyokawa Maru
xAK Kurohime Maru
xAK Kosin Maru
xAK Misaki Maru
xAK Siraha Maru
E Tomozuru

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon



SS Sturgeon launches 4 torpedoes at xAK Toyokawa Maru
Sturgeon diving deep ....
E Tomozuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tomozuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tomozuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tomozuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Tomozuru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

miss...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Hengchun at 84,68

Japanese Ships
E Kari
E Otori
E Hayabusa

Allied Ships
SS Haddo, hits 3



SS Haddo launches 6 torpedoes at E Kari
E Kari attacking submerged sub ....
E Hayabusa fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Hayabusa fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kari fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

and another miss... [&:]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Cox's Bazar at 53,43

Japanese Ships
SS I-154

Allied Ships
DD Isis
DD Foxhound
DD Inconstant



SS I-154 is located by DD Isis
I-154 diving deep ....
DD Isis fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

single sub in the shipping lane where my convoys are pumping supplies into Burma...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Bathurst Island at 77,122

Japanese Ships
xAK Hokuan Maru
PB Kiso Maru

Allied Ships
SS Scamp, hits 1



SS Scamp launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Hokuan Maru
Scamp bottoming out ....
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiso Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Kiso Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

and a dud... great turn for my subs...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 16
B-17E Fortress x 24


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 2 damaged



Airbase hits 5
Runway hits 69

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Chiang Mai is closed... the enemy has massed his Tojos at Moulmein... together with over a hundred bombers... and I can do nothing about it as it would be suicide to send in my 400 available fighters one by one on a sweep... give me a working strike coordination in this game and I could do something... with the BS as it is (each squadron going in alone - at best - even the squadrons can split up) the base is untouchable... could send one of the unrealistic nuclear bombardments though...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 26th Air Flotilla , at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 24
B-26 Marauder x 27
P-40K Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 4 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 26th Air Flotilla ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...

we keep doing no damage...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 18



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 46


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 1 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-57-II Topsy: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 3 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 17 damaged

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



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 73

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
252 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (18 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(18 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
18 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

the base has been 100% damaged before that attack and I´m pretty sure the Zeroes are coming from the level 1 airfield one hex East... the Zeroes aren´t a threat to 4E bombers, we lose two to ops though... flying naval search would be more dangerous... some remaining damaged ac were destroyed on the ground...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 3



Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
C5M2 Babs: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 4 damaged



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
252 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 24
P-40K Warhawk x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 13
B-24D Liberator x 14


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 5 damaged

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



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 38

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
252 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 16
B-26 Marauder x 15
P-39D Airacobra x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 4 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 44 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 8
B-26 Marauder x 14


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12


No Allied losses



Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 31

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Chiang Mai , at 58,53

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 27

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-17E Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

it´s piece meal day again... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
no flights


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 3 damaged



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 22

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 102,63

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-38
SC CHa-39

Allied Ships
SS Sturgeon



Captain of SS Sturgeon elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-39 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

like I´ve said, not the day of my subs...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tsushima at 102,56

Japanese Ships
E Kamo
E Kiji

Allied Ships
SS Scorpion, hits 1



SS Scorpion is sighted by escort
E Kamo fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji attacking submerged sub ....
E Kamo fails to find sub and abandons search
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
E Kiji fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

again a direct hit... [:(]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Cox's Bazar at 53,43

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 3

Allied Ships
DD Isis
DD Foxhound
DD Inconstant



SS I-154 is located by DD Isis
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
DD Isis is out of ASW ammo
Escort abandons search for sub

three near misses...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Sangi at 77,96

Japanese Ships
TK Kozui Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Karukaya

Allied Ships
SS O20



SS O20 launches 4 torpedoes at TK Kozui Maru
O20 diving deep ....
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

this Dutch sub makes up for the rest of my sub fleet today... the tanker was full of oil and I guess the ship will go down...

but 3 subs have been damaged from direct hits today and that´s getting really severe... I guess I´ve had more subs damaged in the last two weeks than in the last three months of 42... one was sunk right after new year´s eve... while Mk-14 dud rate changes in 1/43, this game seems to also see Mk-14 hit rate change dramatically (going down of course - had far over 90% hits during the months of my statistics) as well as enemy ASW TFs achieving direct hits nearly daily now... so what´s the reason? Bad luck? hmmm...

Here´s the current strategic situation. As you can see, Burma was liberated by Commonwealth troops and the American/Australian troops jumped back onto New Guinea and we established a big sub staging base on Adak Island to support our subs operating around Japan. All three steps were important, Burma feeds China with supplies (major important as the Chinese were more or less starving to death - there was no strategic bombing!), New Guinea is the closest way into the SRA to cripple the Japanese industrial potential and having my subs based close to Japan is also aiming towards wrecking the Japanese industry.

The Pacific atolls are more or less useless IMO, there´s no real need to go through the Pacific at all, the fact that my shipping takes two weeks longer going back and forth from the West Coast to Sydney doesn´t matter at all to me. I´ve got enough shipping that a week longer one way is of no importance and when looking at what I´ve got left on the West Coast, there´s nothing else than fuel or supplies, the couple of LCUs appearing now and then are easily moved forward. A major goal would be to take Darwin back, but doing this with my ground units seems to be impossible, 2000 enemy av blocking me at Katherine behind surely level 4+ forts means I´ve got no chance to break through here. That means I have to increase the pressure on the front around Darwin but there are no bases I could jump onto from Merauke. Merauke is just like a dead end.

The goals now are to further advance from Burma, the enemy has massed probably something like 4-5000 av in the Moulmein area with us having nearly 6000. That means we face another draw with no chance to break through the front door, forts jungle terrain and having to cross the river will make it impossible to break through frontally. Means we will have to bypass again, going through those jungle hexes usually takes 15 days on average, so that will be a loooong fight. Breaking through the enemy lines in the open hexes near Mandalay was no problem but kicking the Japanese out of jungle/rough hexes when they sit behind level 4+ forts is impossible with a more or less equal force. I probably would need 10000 av for a frontal assault and even then the losses would not be what I would like. Once breaking through, the Japanese would be on the run though, with no chance to stop us. That´s only hypothetical though as we don´t have 10000 av anyway. Can´t use my airforce due to the Tojo threat at Moulmein and air to ground attacks against those stacks of 20+ units are 100% useless anyway.

Next goal is to further move North on New Guinea, not sure how to do that. The only chance I see would be Rainer abandoning Darwin but why should he do that? We can´t do anything against the five divs at Katherine and we also can´t advance North from Merauke, that would probably end in a disaster with all those bases further North, KB and us not having any LBA support. So the only chance we have is to open another front to draw Japanese reinforcements and destroy them as quickly as possible to finally force the enemy to pick up his divisions from Australia to bolster his defenses. Leaves me with my secondary goal of cleaning up the three major bases in the Solomons where we could destroy some 50-60000 enemy troops, mostly second line I guess, I don´t expect any divisions there. Rabaul has been neutralized and we have to keep the airfield closed, this more or less gives us some freedom in the Solomons and West of Rabaul.

We now get 30 Corsairs a month, means my SBDs and nav attack bombers got escorts (limited number though) out to 8 hexes. I doubt the Corsair can do any better than the Lightning though and while the Lightning is a killer when sent in at 39.000 ft against a meager Cap (best is to outnumber it at least 2:1) it´s also a dog on the escort of bombers when the enemy Cap is of course flying higher in such a case. So I won´t expect a lot from my Corsairs if they are on escort and meet two dozen + fighters on Cap above them, this can rob you of a monthly replacement quite quickly. What really will make us stronger are the 48 B-24 a month from 2/43 on, that means we don´t have to really care about heavy bomber losses and we will also be able to fill up lots of empty bomber squadrons on the map over time.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 14, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Taihoku at 87,62

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-27
SC CHa-21
SC CHa-37
SC CHa-29

Allied Ships
SS Sunfish



Captain of SS Sunfish elects not to launch torpedoes at this target
Sunfish diving deep ....
SC CHa-37 fails to find sub and abandons search
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-29 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

[8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Talaud-eilanden at 81,96

Japanese Ships
DD Asagao
DD Karukaya

Allied Ships
SS Tautog



SS Tautog launches 6 torpedoes at DD Asagao
Tautog diving deep ....
DD Karukaya attacking submerged sub ....
SS Tautog eludes ASW attack from DD Karukaya
SS Tautog eludes ASW attack from DD Karukaya
DD Karukaya cannot reach attack position over SS Tautog
SS Tautog eludes ASW attack from DD Karukaya
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Karukaya fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

miss again... there are two chances: either miss, or duds...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Pescadores at 85,62

Japanese Ships
xAKL Ryua Maru
PB Nigitsu Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sunfish



SS Sunfish launches 6 torpedoes at xAKL Ryua Maru
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Nigitsu Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Milne Bay at 99,138

Japanese Ships
SS RO-67, hits 9, heavy damage

Allied Ships
DD Farragut
DD Electra
DD Decoy



SS RO-67 is sighted by escort
RO-67 diving deep ....
DD Electra fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Decoy attacking submerged sub ....
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Decoy fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

hitting enemy subs is the only bright side at the moment... but if you don´t sink the buggers immedietely, they usually survive, just like mine...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Kavieng , at 106,122

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 43,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 1



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 25


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 1 destroyed




Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
252 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(1 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Raid is overhead

a single Zero is helpless...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Namatanai , at 107,125

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 23 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3 Zero x 34



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 24


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3 Zero: 7 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
252 Ku S-1 with A6M3 Zero (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 21 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 12000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 36250.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes

in this case we engage 34 of them, which was quite a shock at the first moment but we had the dive for quite a long time and we took out over a dozen for not even a single damaged Lightning... when the dive ended, the Zeroes achieved at least a 1:1 when you add the four Lightnings that crashed on their way back home... taking down 20 Zeroes for 5 Lightnings lost sounds like a good exchange and is surely also a realistic outcome in the end but it´s something very hard to afford as we just lost a weekly replacement rate of our best long range fighter (besides the Beaufighter, it´s the only long range fighter anyway)...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 36
B-26 Marauder x 15
P-40K Warhawk x 24


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 5 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...

we keep pounding the enemy LCUs at Lae... effect unknown...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 27
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-40K Warhawk x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 7 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 28


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 38th JNAF AF Unit , at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 14
P-39D Airacobra x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb




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

Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20707 troops, 404 guns, 573 vehicles, Assault Value = 707

Defending force 18305 troops, 185 guns, 48 vehicles, Assault Value = 552

Allied adjusted assault: 784

Japanese adjusted defense: 1363

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
461 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 56 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 66 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
348 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 47 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (0 destroyed, 12 disabled)


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
12th Division
19th Naval Guard Unit
89th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
38th Field AA Battalion
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit

semi succesful deliberate attack... no forts dropped but at least the enemy lost more combat squad than we did...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 15, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Vigan at 79,73

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-23
SC CHa-20

Allied Ships
SS Pollack



SS Pollack launches 4 torpedoes at SC CHa-23
Pollack diving deep ....
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-23 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Pollack decided to attack a subchaser but missed... 1/43 saw a reduction of our 94% hit rate by at least 15-20%...[&:]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Wakkanai at 122,47

Japanese Ships
xAK Kamitu Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Sumiyoshi Maru
xAK Kirisima Maru
PB Uruboko Maru

Allied Ships
SS Flying Fish



SS Flying Fish launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Kamitu Maru
Flying Fish diving deep ....
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Uruboko Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

close to major ports, this freighter probably won´t sink...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Aogashima at 113,66

Japanese Ships
xAK Saiho Maru, Torpedo hits 1
SC Ch 27

Allied Ships
SS Pompon



SS Pompon launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Saiho Maru
SC Ch 27 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 27 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 27 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 27 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC Ch 27 attacking submerged sub ....
Escort abandons search for sub

same goes for this one...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 47
B-26 Marauder x 39
P-40E Warhawk x 9
P-40K Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 6 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 14
B-24D Liberator x 15


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 10
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 56

Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 9


No Allied losses

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



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

would I know what damage my ground attacks actually do, I could reconsider if it´s worth or not to fly them...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 11 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 55
F4F-3P Wildcat x 1


No Allied losses

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



Airbase hits 14
Airbase supply hits 3
Runway hits 89

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

it really seems like that my heavy bomber crews are so highly skilled now that they achieve really great hit rates on land targets, no matter what weather... good recon is needed anyway...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 10 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 20

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 15
P-40K Warhawk x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 6 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
B-25C Mitchell x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 46 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 7


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Shortlands , at 109,131

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 7


No Allied losses



Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 13

Aircraft Attacking:
7 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Laoag at 80,72

Japanese Ships
SC CHa-23, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
SC CHa-20

Allied Ships
SS Tunny



SS Tunny launches 4 torpedoes at SC CHa-23
Tunny diving deep ....
SC CHa-20 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-20 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-20 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-20 fails to find sub, continues to search...
SC CHa-20 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

to end the turn positive, Tunny obliberates a subchaser...

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 16, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Bengkalis at 48,81

Japanese Ships
DD Yukikaze
DD Hagikaze
DD Maikaze

Allied Ships
SS Snapper, hits 14



SS Snapper is located by DD Yukikaze
Snapper bottoming out ....
DD Hagikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Hagikaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Maikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Maikaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Maikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Maikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Maikaze is out of ASW ammo
DD Maikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Malaya strait is far too dangerous for our subs and once again reflects the dramatically increased performance of enemy ASW forces in the last two weeks... they suddenly perform very well, I got two dozen subs being crippled or heading home with moderate damage after taking at least one direct depth charge hit...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Fukue-jima at 100,58

Japanese Ships
AMC Bankok Maru
PB Uchide Maru
PB Nanei Maru
xAP Ussuri Maru
xAP Keihuku Maru
xAP Taizan Maru
xAP Tsingtao Maru
xAP Mizuho Maru
E Tobui
PB America Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sealion



SS Sealion launches 4 torpedoes at AMC Bankok Maru
Sealion diving deep ....
E Tobui fails to find sub and abandons search
PB America Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB America Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB America Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB America Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB America Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

looks like a troop transport´s leaving Japan...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Mussau Island at 105,115

Japanese Ships
DD Kawakaze
DD Hayate
DD Oite

Allied Ships
SS Perch



SS Perch is sighted by escort
Perch diving deep ....
DD Hayate fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Oite fails to find sub and abandons search
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Naha at 96,66

Japanese Ships
PB Tonon Maru

Allied Ships
SS Pickerel, hits 1



SS Pickerel is sighted by escort
PB Tonon Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tonon Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

also here, the sub takes one direct hit and is forced to retire... don´t get it... [&:]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Namatanai , at 107,125

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 13 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 15


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

the air routine and it´s coordination BS is so stupid, it must hurt every sane man every time he thinks about it... example: I set one P-38 squadron at PM to attack target A and the other squadron to attack target B. Result: one squadron attacks with all it´s aircraft in one strike target A, the other one attacks with all it´s aircraft in one strike target B. If I set both of them to target A, like in this case to Namatanai, then what happens? The stupid feature that is called a coordination routine (it´s a broken piece of crap having nothing to do with real life and nothing else) then sends halve of the first squadron in this first strike, followed by more BS later in this turn.

sweep one... [8|] it´s just mega stupid and there was not a single example in WITP that was as stupid as this "air coordination thing"...

mind you, PM is a level 9 airfield... the biggest airfield you could build in AE...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 15
B-24D Liberator x 50
B-25C Mitchell x 41
B-26 Marauder x 27
P-40E Warhawk x 15
P-40K Warhawk x 18


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 3 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
47 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 16
B-24D Liberator x 8
B-25C Mitchell x 12
P-39D Airacobra x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-25C Mitchell: 1 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes


Allied aircraft
Spitfire Vc Trop x 8
B-24D Liberator x 15
B-26 Marauder x 14


Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 2 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 3 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 19th Naval Guard Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 38th Field AA Battalion, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 12
B-26 Marauder x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 6 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 16


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Namatanai , at 107,125

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 44,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 9


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
4 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

and here comes sweep two... clearly can be seen that this "strike (stupid) pack" is made up of fighters from both squadrons, that´s why you see 5 and 4 Ligthnings sweep...

stupid sweep two... [8|]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Namatanai , at 107,125

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 10 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes


Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 18


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
18 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

and here is the main part of squadron number two... so setting one squadron to sweep (like I´ve done dozens of times from PM already) results more or less all the time in one squadron attacking as a whole (not true for the Japanese though with their bigger units), if I set the two squadrons to attack the same target, I end up with three piece meal strikes, of which all could be shred to pieces if the enemy just puts up a meager Cap of perhaps two and a halve dozen fighters... this then ends in losing a monthly replacement rate... stupidity par excellence... and there´s no excuse for it... forget 95% of the coordination BS... having the same aircraft type... blah blah... having them at the same altitude... blah blah... air HQs... blah blah... support... blah blah... airfield size... blah blah... PM would be the perfect example of hitting all conditions, would mean coordinating in 9 out of 10 cases but with the BS as it is, it´s not possible to see those two squadrons fly together and the same was true over a hundred times in this PBEM already with the Lightnings in Burma for example... it´s all just stupid blah blah and I have yet to see an AAR that shows me combat reports proving all the coordination blah blah... people actually should play the game and open their eyes instead of putting out myths that not even parts of the dev team can recreate in their PBEMs... but hey, the other part of the dev team seems not to play the game at all anymore (if they ever have)...

In fact, my problem isn´t as much as how broken it really is, it´s the ignorance of people actually admitting that it´s crap... perhaps it´s not working as designed but hey, I´m not god that I would admit that... reminds me about all the bitching about pre flak and how often we were told oh how great it works and how well it is designed and that it´s working as designed, just to find out in the latest patch that it is not. You can only appreciate jwilkerson and michaelm who seem to be the main responsible for bug busting and tweaking things now as this seems to really bring the game forward (sorry if I left out anyone who´s still working on improving things). But those deliberetely ignoring things and making them look "right" just because their ego is laughing out of their ass and they can say "hey I´m a dev and I tell you it´s right" have long lost all their reputation IMO. Especially when you then read they don´t even play the game. [8|] Kudos to the beta tester that had the nuts saying that the air modell is one of the borked routines (with all the potential it has).

Noone is asking for thousand bomber strikes but it surely should be possible to launch 50 fighters from the biggest airfield complex you can build to fly to the same target, especially when you still meet the same number of fighters on Cap as ever before (in my Allied case, we´re usually talking about all available fighters in the air - and the Japanese don´t seem to be different). Splitting two squadrons (or what ever number) into bits and pieces while they would still meet the full Cap is just stupid.

sorry for my harsh words on repeat mode, but this is really pissing me off and I´m not the only one...




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

Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 20336 troops, 404 guns, 573 vehicles, Assault Value = 679

Defending force 17486 troops, 183 guns, 47 vehicles, Assault Value = 507

Allied engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Allied adjusted assault: 559

Japanese adjusted defense: 634

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
321 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled


Allied ground losses:
457 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 47 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 33 (3 destroyed, 30 disabled)


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
19th Naval Guard Unit
12th Division
89th Naval Guard Unit
38th Field AA Battalion
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit


we take down another fort but suffer more losses in combat squads than the enemy... one of my divs is down to 80/100 now, the other one still is at 90/100. While both are still combat worthy troops, if we´re going to be able to take the base in the end - and that´s not sure yet - I guess those two divs will be pretty much wrecked. We now got HQ as positive multiplier but that doesn´t mean our adjusted av would be any better than before... at least the enemy doesn´t get his 2000 adjusted av anymore...

Castor, wrt to your heavies being "damaged and in maintenance" to easily....... do you ever check the "plane fatigue" from the "planes" button on the airgroup screen?

Was wondering if you were being active in keeping the plane (not pilot) fatigue down.  I've found that by keeping the planes fatigue down, they get damaged far less.  I like to put 30%rest on my bombers to try and keep that fatigue down, and it seems to allow me to fly my bomber groups more often than if I did "full strikes" everytime I wanted to.

Just a question that's been rolling in my head lately.

ORIGINAL: AcePylut

Castor, wrt to your heavies being "damaged and in maintenance" to easily....... do you ever check the "plane fatigue" from the "planes" button on the airgroup screen?

Was wondering if you were being active in keeping the plane (not pilot) fatigue down.  I've found that by keeping the planes fatigue down, they get damaged far less.  I like to put 30%rest on my bombers to try and keep that fatigue down, and it seems to allow me to fly my bomber groups more often than if I did "full strikes" everytime I wanted to.

Just a question that's been rolling in my head lately.

Usually I use my heavies every second day, setting none of them to rest. With an attack not being launched from time to time, it can happen that they rest two days sometimes. Keeping my heavy bomber squadrons operational isn´t a problem at all, usually I´ve got them above 80% operational even though we run into enemy fighters from time to time. So far, bomber maintenance hasn´t been a problem at all for me, I´m only using them from really big airbases with plenty of av support though.

Same goes for my Lightnings, even with their bad service rating, they are usually repaired in no time. Found out that the "estimated repair time" in the "planes" screen is far from correct most often. Upgrading a squadron to Lightnings showed estimted time 9 days to get everything operational, but on the third day all 25 Lightnings were ready to go. Don´t know if it´s related to av support or whatever.

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 17, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Tandjoengbalai at 48,78

Japanese Ships
DD Michishio
DD Kuroshio
DD Oshio

Allied Ships
SS KVII, hits 7, heavy damage



SS KVII launches 2 torpedoes at DD Michishio
KVII bottoming out ....
DD Michishio attacking submerged sub ....
DD Oshio fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Michishio fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Michishio fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Michishio fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Michishio fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Malaya strait stays a death trap, the four enemy DDs operating there are nothing worse than my British DDs it seems... that´s the next sub in sinking condition... if it´s not happening by a strange accident then there must be a trigger that considerable increases IJN ASW in 1/43... seems like I´m in the process of losing more subs in 1/43 than in the whole year of 42...[&:] enemy ASW has been 100% useless in 42, now that it´s 1/43 I´ve already got a dozen subs being severly damaged...

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


!!! D I S A S T E R !!!


Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 84,128

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 109 [X(]
A6M3a Zero x 30 [X(]
B5N1 Kate x 24 [X(]
B5N2 Kate x 189 [X(]
D3A1 Val x 94 [X(]
D3A2 Val x 59 [X(]



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 22 [8|]
F4F-3 Wildcat x 22 [8|]
F4F-4 Wildcat x 200 [8|]


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed [8|]
A6M3a Zero: 2 destroyed [8|]
B5N1 Kate: 5 destroyed, 7 damaged [8|]
B5N2 Kate: 36 destroyed, 76 damaged [8|]
D3A1 Val: 22 destroyed, 48 damaged [8|]
D3A2 Val: 15 destroyed, 27 damaged [8|]

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3A Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 13 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB New Mexico, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Sangamon, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
BB Mississippi, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 2, on fire
CVE Copahee, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CVE Altamaha, Torpedo hits 6, and is sunk
BB Warspite, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CV Enterprise, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
BB North Carolina, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
CV Yorktown, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires
CV Lexington, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
DD Lansdowne, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CA Portland, Torpedo hits 5, and is sunk
CVE Nassau, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
CVE Prince William
CA Minneapolis, Bomb hits 1
CLAA Juneau
CL Columbia
CA Northampton
CLAA Atlanta, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires
DD Farenholt
CL Honolulu, Torpedo hits 1
DD Patterson
CVE Chenango, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
DD Bagley
CA Indianapolis
DD Dunlap
CA Chicago, Bomb hits 1
DD Ralph Talbot
DD Helm
DD Blue, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CA New Orleans



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
17 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
16 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
15 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
17 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
7 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
11 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
6 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
1 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
1 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
23 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
14 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
10 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
7 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D3A2 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (0 airborne, 15 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (0 airborne, 15 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 15 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 7 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (3 airborne, 15 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
VF-35 with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
VF-37 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 50 minutes
VRF-1F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 53 minutes
VRF-2F with F4F-4 Wildcat (4 airborne, 12 on standby, 11 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 3000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 12 on standby, 11 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
VRF-5F with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 12 on standby, 11 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Yorktown
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Lexington
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CLAA Atlanta
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVE Sangamon



Nearly the whole USN was covering a big troop transport going to Groete Island, dot base West of Horn Island, a potential threat to Darwin.

I was shocked and suprised when I first got Val destroyed by Cap, Val destroyed by Cap, Val destroyed by Cap, Val destroyed by Cap,... as this meant KB would be near my carriers when it was my nav search time and got SBD destroyed by Cap, SBD destroyed by Cap, SBD destroyed by Cap, SBD destroyed by Cap, ... Seagull destroyed by Cap, Seagull destroyed by Cap, ... and I saw my carriers reacting... what a great feature, the carriers were set to follow the BBs North of Groete Eylandt and set to 0 react but that of course doesn´t help. It never helped in WITP, why should it help in AE? If you want to see something positive, at least all three TFs reacted to the same hex. If that was an advantage, well, more about that later on.

Now following is the history of my thoughts... Still during the search phase, "well, I´ve got 600 carrier based aircraft and a lot of bombers at Merauke (all set to nav attack), so what should go wrong?". This was my first thought and I guess that´s what you could think about such an engagement. I´m obviously facing the same number of enemy carrier based aircraft, with us having about 100-150 more fighters, due to our CVEs being loaded up with Wildcats (every of my pilots is skill 70 or better). Not just can we rely on at least 100 fighters more than the enemy, our fighters got a harder punch and all our aircraft are sturdier than the enemy ones. We´ve got a couple of times better flak (the CV TFs got flak values of around 11.000!) and we´ve for sure got far more ships in the area so the damage should be dispersed more than within the enemy´s TFs. Add in the fact that KB obviously moved at least two hexes too far to the East, now also being in range of my bombers (Mitchells on low nav and torp carrying Beaufort VIII, all set to eight hexes) and you should have a situation that is definetely not nice for KB. With that conditions to start the fight, the shock quickly changed into a confident feeling of having the upper hand, slightly being concernced of seeing a strike of no less than 505 aircraft. [8|] At the same time I noticed the 244 Allied fighters on Cap being tasked to meet the enemy though. Thinking about the 244 fighters, I expected to take out something like 250 enemy aircraft before they reach my ships, if I would be lucky, this number could go up to 300. While being sure that it would be 100% impossible to stop them all, I was of course prepared to take a punch, probably losing some ships. The next moment I looked at the combat animation window, seeing only 22 Wildcats there, facing the 505 enemy aircraft. That was kind of concerning but not worth panicking as I´ve thought a minute later I would see the 220 missing fighters engaging the enemy...

so this was the history of my thoughts during the first 20 seconds...

now the reality that followed: I got messages of my fighters scrambling in bits and pieces and my fighters were reinforced over time by groups of a couple of fighters, never more than 4 joining the fight. We had the dive right from the beginning but the Wildcats performed awfully and for every Zero shot down, we suffered at least three Wildcats being either damaged or turning back due to technical defects (note, once again, not a single IJN fighter turned back due to defects, only damage sent them home - which is one of those strange happenings again). I got impatiently because the maximum number of fighters we reached was around 70-80 when my fighters suddenly started attacking the enemy bombers. Knowing how the AE airbattles turn out, I now was really shocked, as I was sure that we wouldn´t see more of our fighters engaging the enemy! [X(][X(][X(] So while we´ve got reported 244 fighters being on Cap, all we´ve get is some 80 (in the best case) engaging the incoming strike of 505 (in words: fivehundredandfive !) enemy aircraft. I guess the people knowing my and my temperament can imagine to what colour my face changed... [:@]

our couple of dozen fighters engaging the enemy bombers nevertheless took out a good number of bombers (considering the low number of fighters engaging them) but no less than 266 enemy bombers engaged our ships. This means that our fighters and flak took out exactly 100 enemy bombers before they could drop their load, which is roughly 1/4 of the incoming bombers. And this of course means it will more or less whipe out most of our carriers, that was clear to me when the first bomber screamed down on our first carrier (the first Val attack already scored a hit on Enterprise)... I was screaming and spitting blood in front of my PC and it was just yet another moment when my girl friend thought I must have gone totally nuts. It´s no surprise to me that 266 bombers attacking my ships would cause immense damage to my fleet, that´s a no brainer. What totally made me insane was the fact that I field some 330 fighters in total, 244 are on Cap and only some 80 engage the incoming super strike. The fact alone that the enemy Zeroes shot down more of our Cap than they lost escort pretty much says all about our Cap I guess. We had the dive but that didn´t help. These pilots have been the creme de la creme of Allied aviation on the map but that means nothing. Shot out of the sky by the enemy on escort, being tactically disadvantaged and being the replacements of the the original cadre of KB´s air wings.

So what to say? The conclusion for me is going into the same direction as it usually goes. They´ve changed land based strike "coordination" to something that is plain wrong, not realistic, not historic correct and )§/%"/§. They´ve also changed the way Cap works, which I agree to some extend. What they haven´t changed in the process is the fact that carriers obviously still can do a mega strike (or what else would you call a 505 aircraft strike?). Changing Cap and changing land based strikes perhaps goes together, but keeping carrier based strikes untouched is something I don´t understand. The biggest airfields on the map can´t launch 50 fighters together on one sweep, but a mixed force of Japanese carriers can launch a strike of 505 aircraft that all arrive over the target at the same time? Sorry, but how ridicoulos is this? Then such a mega strike is met by 1/3 of the available Cap because of the new Cap model, that isn´t able to adequately engage such a mega strike when the strike is detected 1 hour before the enemy reaches our ships. Sorry, but that has long passed the state of being funny...

at this point, I saw me losing my complete fleet to one single strike from a Japanese carrier task force that couldn´t be resembled in the 21st century... if you think about the all out effort of the PH strike and count up the total Japanese aircraft in TWO waves and see 505 Japanese aircraft in one strike in the morning phase, what does this have to do with reality, or historical correctness? Sorry, that´s just plain stupid. It´s not the point of asking for the enemy strike being obliberated by my fighters, it´s the point of saying: yes, changing how the Cap works is a good idea. Yes, how Cap behaves is surely more realistic than in WITP. But then seeing a 505 aircraft strike coming in is just plain stupid. If you think about those numbers being split up in two strikes in the morning phase, being both times met by the more realistic Cap model would also bring up a more realistic outcome.

After having more or less sunk my fleet, the enemy strike then was engaged by the majority of my fighters in the post air attack phase, losing more bombers in the post air attack phase to my fighters than before they engaged my fleet. And all this, when I´ve got 244 fighters on Cap and an hour pre warning time. If you go the way of making one aspect more realistic, then it´s just a shame to 100% forget about the corresponding aspect.

How many Japanese aircraft were in the PH attack? 350-360? And those had to attack in two waves, with over an hour in between the two waves. And here we see 505 aircraft attacking in one wave (no problem to launch two or three waves in the whole morining phase) from a reinforced KB which is totally unrealistic while they are met by around 80 Wildcats (out of some 330 fighters in total) from a more realistic Cap model. That this leads to a complete whipeout isn´t surprising then. The conclusion of this attack is that this is nothing but a Command & Conquer style result, with one major problem... I miss the factory to click on and order 5 new carriers that pop up on the map 3 minutes later.

Repeat mode: trying to make land based strikes and Cap (for land bases and carriers) more realistic but forgetting about what carriers can and can not is off IMO.

This strike ends all my real offensive capabilities for at least the next 7-8 months.


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

and here comes the USN answer:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 82,126

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

the enemy´s pre warning seems to be not really worse to the US one...

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 74
A6M3a Zero x 21
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 2



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 14
F4F-3 Wildcat x 14
F4F-4 Wildcat x 56
SBD-3 Dauntless x 144
TBF-1 Avenger x 87


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3A Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F4F-3 Wildcat: 3 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 9 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 17 destroyed, 35 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 19 destroyed, 39 damaged

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima, Bomb hits 4, on fire
CV Shokaku, Bomb hits 2
CVL Ryujo, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires
BB Hiei, Bomb hits 4
CV Junyo, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Hiyo, Bomb hits 5, Torpedo hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
CV Kaga, Bomb hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CL Agano
CLAA Tenryu
DD Murasame
DD Shigure
DD Hatsuharu
CV Zuikaku
DD Nenohi, Bomb hits 1
DD Makinami
DD Samidare, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Yamakaze

[&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o][&o]

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
7 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
11 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
10 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
17 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
14 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
13 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
9 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
11 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
3 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
4 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo

CAP engaged:
253 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
251 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
202 Ku S-1 Det A with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 2 minutes
Akagi-1 with A6M3a Zero (3 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
Kaga-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 48 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
Soryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 47 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 12000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 37 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters to 6000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 16000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 6000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
5th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 38500
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CVL Ryujo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Junyo
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring CV Kaga
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring DD Samidare

and here´s my "return nuke"...

we launch a near complete strike of 305 aircraft (one TBF squadron got lost) from 5 CVs plus 6 CVEs. Now the funny thing about this strike is that it is met by the full enemy Cap. While I only got 80 out of 240 of my Cap fighters engaging the incoming strike, the Japanese managed to engage my strike with their full Cap. Having 150 fighters less, a shorter pre warning time, they still manage to get the same (or even slightly higher) number of fighters than us to engage the incoming strike. Same as us, the Japanese having the dive. Unlike us, the Japanese got an endless number of shooting from behind, taking out aircraft after aircraft, finally managing to get to our bombers, also shooting them up. The fact that the enemy got "partial cloud" and we got "moderate rain" only makes the disaster complete. When you look at the aircraft loss list later on, you will also notice that while the enemy got fewer fighters with less punch and more or less paper aircraft (compared to the Allied ones), the Japanese never the less shot down more or less the same number of aircraft A2A than we did.

Not one enemy ship is reported sunk during the combat replay (we suffered 2 BB, 1 CV, 2 CVE and 1 CA outright sunk during the replay). We´ve got more ships sinking right after the attack or being scuttled during the next order´s phase. When looking at the hits on the enemy carriers, I expect CV Hiyo to be sunk, with Junyo being in trouble. Kaga and Shokaku will both spend some time in the shipyard, while Shokaku seems not to be impressed by two 1000lb bomb hits at all. My stupid SBDs kept attacking two of the enemy BBs, both hitting with 4x1000lb bombs, which does no damage at all, but could have put down another two carriers. This leaves the Japanese with Akagi, Zuikaku, Hiryu, Soryu, and two or three CVLs. We can "counter" this with Hornet, Wasp, Saratoga, a CVE and a British CV (with 30 capacity) that is available in the next weeks. Having at least parity in carriers until today, the enemy now has a clear superiority again (while I just have to accept that 1:1 means total superiority for the Japanese anyway). The enemy can easily field 400 carrier based ac while we field some 300. As it was in WITP already, compared to the Kate, the Avenger is just a wet fart, I would give three Avengers for 1 torp carrying Kate, the SBD clearly is superior to the Val IMO, due to it´s bigger bomb and harder to down.

This battle was lost hard due to two main reasons: my Cap was 100% useless (while having 150 fighters more than the enemy) and the second reason probably was the weather. And an old truth shows itselve: no matter what you field, you can not go with KB one on one because if you go one on one you will lose hard.

Date is 1/43 and five months ago, I whiped out 3/4 of KB´s air arm over Sydney. So much about how hard it is for the Japanese to replace losses, definetely not nearly as hard as to replace a dozen SBDs if you lose them from flying nav search over two weeks. And this also makes the IMO stupid comments about the Japanese "inabilities" totally obsolete. I´m a Japanese fanboy and I sure am glad how it is as soon as I can motivate myselve to play the "transport tycoon of the Pacific" side, but that doesn´t make it better when you really think about it. KB in real life never suffered what KB suffered over Sydney in one day in this game but KB in real life more or less all of the time was going around with an incomplete air arm, let alone thinking about the decrease of experienced pilots. In this game, Rainer proves that it´s a) no a problem to replace 3/4 of KB´s air arm in a couple of months and b) also replace all the pilots with perfectly skilled pilots.

While I find these things pretty much borderlined I have to admit that it´s good for the game. Would Rainer have shown up with an incomplete air arm and inexperienced pilots (as he would have to in real life due to the complete slaughter over Sydney a couple of months ago) and would he more or less be unable to whipe out my carriers but his would get trashed in return, it would mean that the game would be over in max 12 months because without carriers, the Japanese are toast. In this case, he sinks a dozen capitol ships for the loss of probably only one carrier, he can easily repair the other ones with the ability to expand shipyards (something the Allied miss too, therefore they can´t repair BBs and more or less none of the carriers in Sydney) also outside of Japan (Singapore got room for two of them for example) and I bet the enemy will show up with a brand new force of fighters and bombers, all piloted by excellent pilots the next time the enemy carriers show up.

All in all, it was a disastrous attack, but that´s only the morning phase... [8|]


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 34
B-26 Marauder x 43
P-39D Airacobra x 9
P-40E Warhawk x 19
P-40K Warhawk x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 38th Field AA Battalion ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 21
B-26 Marauder x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 1 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 2nd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 19th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 15 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
B-25C Mitchell x 9


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 2 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 82,126

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 17 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 45
A6M3a Zero x 12
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 1



Allied aircraft
TBF-1 Avenger x 18


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
TBF-1 Avenger: 7 destroyed



CAP engaged:
253 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Raid is overhead
251 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Raid is overhead
Akagi-1 with A6M3a Zero (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
Kaga-1 with A6M3a Zero (7 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750
Raid is overhead
Soryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (9 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
9 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead
Hiyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000
Raid is overhead
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (6 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (5 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Raid is overhead
5th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38500
Raid is overhead
Junyo-1 with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 16000
Raid is overhead

that´s the rest of the Avengers attacking KB, all were shot down... all of them...

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

here comes the afternoon strike... [>:]

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Gove at 84,128

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 60 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 83
A6M3a Zero x 29
B5N1 Kate x 5
B5N2 Kate x 77
D3A1 Val x 37
D3A2 Val x 19



Allied aircraft
F4F-3A Wildcat x 3
F4F-3 Wildcat x 18
F4F-4 Wildcat x 55


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 5 destroyed
A6M3a Zero: 1 destroyed
B5N1 Kate: 2 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 10 destroyed, 32 damaged
D3A1 Val: 6 destroyed, 25 damaged
D3A2 Val: 7 destroyed, 6 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 3 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Indiana
BB South Dakota, Torpedo hits 2
CV Wasp
CV Hornet, Bomb hits 1
CA Vincennes
CV Lexington, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
CL Leander
BB New Mexico, heavy damage
CLAA Juneau, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CVE Sangamon, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CV Yorktown, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage



Aircraft Attacking:
8 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
11 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg GP Bomb
11 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x D3A2 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
12 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
8 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
15 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
4 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
5 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
6 x D3A2 Val releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
4 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
VF-2 with F4F-3A Wildcat (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 12000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 25 minutes
VF-35 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 44 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-37 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-6 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes
VRF-1F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 23 minutes
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 1 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters to 8000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 58 minutes
VRF-3F with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Raid is overhead
VRF-5F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
VF-42 with F4F-3 Wildcat (2 airborne, 12 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 54 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-8 with F4F-4 Wildcat (1 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 11000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
VF-71 with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 9 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
4 planes vectored on to bombers
VRF-2F with F4F-4 Wildcat (0 airborne, 10 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 5 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 55 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers

there´s nothing left I could call Cap, it was of course even worse than in the morning... only very few enemy aircraft were shot down, the only thing that "saved" us were thunderstorms... but that only means we don´t have all carriers sunk immedietely, even with thunderstorms, the uber Kates achieve crippling hits...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Gove at 82,126

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 57
A6M3a Zero x 18
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 2



Allied aircraft
F4F-3 Wildcat x 12
F4F-4 Wildcat x 29
SBD-3 Dauntless x 62
TBF-1 Avenger x 25


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F4F-4 Wildcat: 4 destroyed
SBD-3 Dauntless: 17 destroyed, 10 damaged
TBF-1 Avenger: 4 destroyed, 16 damaged

Japanese Ships
CV Zuikaku
CVL Ryujo, on fire
BB Kirishima
CV Shokaku
BB Hiei



Aircraft Attacking:
6 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
10 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
6 x TBF-1 Avenger launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 22in Mk 13 Torpedo
4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
2 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb GP Bomb
1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb

CAP engaged:
253 Ku S-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 32810
Raid is overhead
251 Ku S-1 Det B with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
202 Ku S-1 Det A with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
Akagi-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
Kaga-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Soryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
Hiryu-1 with A6M2 Zero (3 airborne, 6 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Shokaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 7000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 22 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
Zuikaku-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
Ryujo-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers
Shoho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 41 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
Zuiho-1 with A6M2 Zero (0 airborne, 5 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
5th Sentai with Ki-43-Ic Oscar (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 38500
Raid is overhead

and here is our return strike... and that´s what I will call stupid on and on and on... why on Earth are the Japanese always coming out better than the Japanese in such carrier engagements... yeah, we had thunderstorms too... and that´s the reason we don´t score a single hit? And the Japanese got "all weather paper fliers" or what? The result from the morning attack was ridicoulos enough, it´s getting even "better" with the afternoon strike...

while we scratch the paint on the enemy´s fleet, our fleet was whiped out... it was a 1 one 1, both sides spotted each other... that´s not a Midway reversed, both sides were out for a naval engagement, not one side attacking a land target... the result is one of those stupid one sided results that are just off...

but hey, once again all I can say is that it´s good for the game... in real life, such a force and both sides launching full strikes at each other that all find their target would have been disastrous... disastrous for BOTH sides, not the one sided BS you see all the time in this game... the JFB playing the Allied... it´s as off as String´s encounter with Andy Mac´s carriers and many more of those examples. For what reason ever, if you go one on one with KB you lose in 8 out of 10 times and usually you lose hard. Something is wrong here, the "decisive carrier battle" of real life could not be expected for sure to be a Japanese win, especially not when the Japanese fly paper fliers and the Allied fly tanks, with the Japanese having pop guns on their ships and the Allied having floating flak bunkers...

at the end of the turn, I was completely pissed off, but that´s not something I´ve got to mention I guess... I probably was more pissed off with myself than with the game... why? Because would the question come up on the forum if you would engage KB one on one in early 43 then I would answer: "hell, no!" Exactly due to the fact that I would expect to see the Allied running into a disaster, even if they in total have the better odds. They would have it in real life and they´ve got it theoretically in the game. But it usually plays out totally different.

I did not know where KB was, I knew it wasn´t at Truk. I wanted to reinforce Grote Eyland and I not really would have thought about KB engaging in range or Merauke´s airfield (that didn´t launch anything of course), nor attacking all my carriers put into one basket directly. I was sure that Rainer also sees the path from Darwin into the SRA as the main threat so I was sure he would have strongly reacted if I would go North from Merauke, but I didn´t expect KB to react onto my operation actually South of Merauke.

The end result of this battle is totally off to me, it doesn´t change the fact that it was an excellent move by my opponent. He could have made it an even bigger victory if five dozen Betties would have launched with some Zeroes from Darwin, but thank god they didn´t. Kudos to my opponent, he really smacked us hadr here.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Groote Eylandt at 82,130

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N1 Kate x 12



Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 6 damaged

Allied Ships
xAP Maori, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
xAK Aroona
xAP Changte, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DE Chew


Allied ground losses:
36 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled


Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B5N1 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

and a small strike even attacked our transports...

Here are the air losses. Can be seen clearly, that having 150 fighters more than the enemy didn´t help at all as the A2A losses were nearly identical. I can only once more critisize the fact that making Cap "more realistic" but keeping carrier based strikes at the same unrealistic level of what it was in WITP is just off. In WITP you had the unrealistic Cap model with the unrealistic strike model. Now the unrealistic strike model (carrier based in this case) meets the more realistic Cap model, when you get only 80 out of 240+ fighters engaging a 505!! aircraft strike. Flak shot down more enemy aircraft BEFORE they released their loads than our Cap managed to down... heck, there were only 244 fighters on Cap... [8|] The land based strike model as it is needs tweaking. They tried to improve it from WITP but failed to some extend (when you eg think about a level 9 airfield not being able to have two fighter squadrons launch together), they tried to improve the Cap model and I think they did a good job. They haven´t even touched the carrier based strike model, which is totally off in conjunction with the rest. Not to talk about real life. Don´t have to mention the real life PH strike again I guess. A single 505 aircraft strike in one wave whiped out my fleet. CDI vs NOD in the Pacific...

Here´s a screen that further documents the disaster we suffered. To the capitol ships that already went down during the replay we´re going to lose more. BB New Mexico is sunk for sure, same goes for CVE Sangamon. Doubt that CVE Copahee will make it (those CVEs are just like AKs, once they´re hit, they go down). Lexington got a chance, Yorktown got a very small chance. BBs South Dakota and Mississippi aren´t in danger of sinking. All our ships are ordered to head to Horn Island (port size 4, 100+ nav support) to conduct emergency repairs.

You can also see CV Saratoga in this screen but she didn´t take part in the carrier engagement and is close to Sydney as she´s coming in from repairs at Cape Town together with POW.

This also shows the tragedy. Enterprise, 3 CVEs, BBs North Carolina and Warspite and CA Portland are already confirmed sunk. Add in the two heavily damaged CVs, two CVEs and the BB that is sunk for sure then it´s a clear Japanese victory. We´ve probably sunk one small CV (Hiyo) for sure with her sister Junyo perhaps in trouble. The others all were just damaged. All this with a 1:1 in aircraft and the rest saw us clearly superior to the enemy. A disaster, nothing but a disaster...

we did of course not unload at our target btw...

what is still afloat from our carrier TFs is limping towards Horn Island... the enemy has been spotted slowly moving North, probably due to damage on one of the carriers (only reported 2 hexes movement), I guess Hiyo still is afloat and therefore the enemy moved only a hex each phase... great, that would mean Hiyo absorbed more damage than Enterprise as she went down like a stone after taking only one 250kg bomb and three torpedoes... Hiyo took 5 1000lb bombs and three torps, she must be gone... perhaps the TFs are so slow due to Junyo... got lots of subs in the area, I don´t bet on them as I don´t believe in my luck anyway...


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 18, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Tanegashima at 105,68

Japanese Ships
DD Yukaze
TK Hofuku Maru

Allied Ships
SS Gunnel



SS Gunnel launches 6 torpedoes at DD Yukaze
Gunnel diving deep ....
DD Yukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yukaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Yukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Yukaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

wrong target and yet another dud salvo...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Keijo at 101,50

Japanese Ships
PB Ichiyo Maru

Allied Ships
SS Sealion, hits 2



SS Sealion is sighted by escort
Sealion bottoming out ....
PB Ichiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ichiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ichiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Ichiyo Maru attacking submerged sub ....
PB Ichiyo Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Dadjangas at 77,94

Japanese Ships
xAK Midori Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Iwaki Maru
xAK Mikasa Maru
PB Chitose Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Gar



SS Gar launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Midori Maru
Gar diving deep ....
PB Chitose Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Chitose Maru #2 fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

Gar probably killed a freighter...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 33 NM, estimated altitude 39,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 7


No Allied losses



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x Hurricane IIb Trop sweeping at 36000 feet *



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 85,128

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 21 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 6000 feet

KB is still in range of some of my crippled ships... the Zeroes lost contact to the bombers... hahaha [8|] but my full fleet had to suffer a 505 aircraft strike...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 25
B-26 Marauder x 55
P-40E Warhawk x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 12


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 3 damaged
B-26 Marauder: 11 damaged

Japanese ground losses:
33 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
14 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...
Also attacking 3rd Naval Construction Battalion ...
Also attacking 12th Division ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 89th Naval Guard Unit, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 24


Allied aircraft losses
B-25C Mitchell: 5 damaged



Aircraft Attacking:
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...
Also attacking 89th Naval Guard Unit ...
Also attacking 38th JNAF AF Unit ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-25C Mitchell x 15


No Allied losses

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-25C Mitchell bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 85,128

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 45 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 5
A6M3a Zero x 11
B5N2 Kate x 8



Allied aircraft
no flights

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

Allied Ships
CVE Copahee, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
DD Blue, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk



Aircraft Attacking:
5 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
3 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo

8 of the uber Kates then arrive over the crippled CVE and her escort, sinking not just the already dead CVE (four CVEs lost now) but also the agile DD easily... Kates and torpedo attacks... [8|]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Gove at 85,128

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 34 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 12
B5N2 Kate x 3



No Japanese losses



Aircraft Attacking:
3 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo


isn´t it funny when you suffer from a 505 aircraft strike the day before to look at a mini strike being dispersed into three pieces? The CVE and the DD were already sunk...

doing these follow up turns didn´t take me long, as you can imagine I haven´t been in quite a good mood after such a result... therefore I probably didn´t pay as much attention to the turns as I probably should have...


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Jan 19, 43
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Bathurst Island at 77,121

Japanese Ships
DD Nenohi

Allied Ships
SS O23



SS O23 is sighted by escort
O23 diving deep ....
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Cox's Bazar at 53,43

Japanese Ships
SS I-154, hits 9

Allied Ships
DD Foxhound
DD Isis
DD Inconstant



SS I-154 is sighted by escort
I-154 diving deep ....
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Inconstant fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Isis attacking submerged sub ....
DD Isis fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

9 near misses but the sub should be chased out of my India-Burma supply lane...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Bathurst Island at 80,123

Japanese Ships
BB Kirishima
BB Hiei
CLAA Tenryu
DD Urakaze
DD Tanikaze
DD Nowaki
DD Hamakaze

Allied Ships
SS Guardfish, hits 5, heavy damage

SS Guardfish is sighted by escort
Guardfish bottoming out ....
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nowaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hamakaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Tanikaze fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Nowaki fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hamakaze attacking submerged sub ....
DD Nowaki fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Hamakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hamakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Hamakaze fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

and that´s what I was talking about in the turn before... I don´t bet on my subs... not only don´t we get a shot at any of the damaged ships, it´s the other way around... the DDs spot our sub and one of the DDs was enough to put the sub into sinking condition... gotta love it... the enemy was reported to move faster this turn, so either Junyo sunk or split off... or she´s able to move faster and Rainer just didn´t order his TF to move further North the days before...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 35 encounters mine field at Namatanai (107,125)

Japanese Ships
DD Akigumo

1 mine cleared

I´ve used four DM to mine some of the bases around Rabaul to make it a bit more dangerous for the fast transport missions... Finshhaven, Namatanai (East of Rabaul) and Kavieng have been mined... even though I nearly didn´t use any mines in the past year, you run out of them in no time so there won´t be many more mine missions... same goes for air dropped mines, got the ability to do so now but haven´t as I would run out of mines quickly anyway... which mine is used as load for my heavy bombers?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Selaroe at 77,120

Japanese Ships
DD Nenohi

Allied Ships
SS Nautilus



SS Nautilus launches 4 torpedoes at DD Nenohi
Nautilus diving deep ....
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Nenohi fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

a miss...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near Port Moresby at 96,134

Japanese Ships
SS RO-60, hits 5

Allied Ships
DD Nepal
DD Fortune



SS RO-60 is located by DD Nepal
RO-60 diving deep ....
DD Nepal attacking submerged sub ....
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
DD Nepal fails to find sub and abandons search
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune attacking submerged sub ....
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune is out of ASW ammo
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Fortune fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

the Brits are back in action... lots of DCs dropped for five near misses... DDs ordered to replenish...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 10
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 40


Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 18[8|]


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 3 destroyed



CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 12 scrambling)
10 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 8 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 12 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters to 22000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
265th Sentai with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (1 airborne, 2 on standby, 7 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters to 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes

now that is great... Rabaul´s base must still be 100% damaged because even the runway still shows 50% damage and we´re doing recon daily... doesn´t matter, the enemy sends up 50 fighters that have been sent to the base (they don´t need a working base, do they?). That not enough, we not only suffer from the mega stupid strike coordination, no, we can top it today. Two P-38 squadrons were set to sweep at 39.000ft. Note that this one is coming in at 10000ft and that of course means the Lightnings are shot to pieces by the diving Tojos... This squadron got shred... applied the beta patch in this turn so I can only see that as the reason for this bug... clearly a bug because I´ve checked the squadron after the replay and it was set to 39000ft just like the other squadron... level 9 airfield, two squadrons, here we go with the stupid coordination BS again...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 42,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 2 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 8
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 33



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 2 destroyed



CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (4 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(9 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 11000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 38 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
(10 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 22000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
265th Sentai with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 4 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes

here comes the second sweep [8|], this time at 39000ft, diving on the enemy but that doesn´t help you long when you are totally outnumbered due to a stupid strike coordination... dive ended, the result reversed... dive not important? coordination working? don´t make me sick please...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 41 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes


Allied aircraft
Kittyhawk IA x 7
B-26 Marauder x 26
P-40E Warhawk x 13


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 4 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 43 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIa Oscar x 4
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 25



Allied aircraft
B-17F Fortress x 31
B-24D Liberator x 69


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 damaged
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 2 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 1 destroyed on ground
C5M2 Babs: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-17F Fortress: 1 damaged
B-24D Liberator: 8 damaged

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



Airbase hits 21
Airbase supply hits 6
Runway hits 163

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-17F Fortress bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
15 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
265th Sentai with Ki-43-IIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 36750 , scrambling fighters between 17000 and 27000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 126 minutes

then the bombers from PM show up... once again, the only advise you can give, keep your squadrons on single squadron stratosphere sweep and don´t even think about sending two from the same base to the same target... with the non working or failed by design routine, you would be better off sending two different aircraft types on a sweep to the same target when the two squadrons are based at two different airfields 800 miles from each other with a different range to target... that´s how it is...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on 3rd Naval Construction Battalion, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes


Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIb Trop x 5
B-26 Marauder x 13
P-40K Warhawk x 8


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 2 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
13 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on 12th Division, at 99,126 (Lae)

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 16 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes


Allied aircraft
B-26 Marauder x 15


Allied aircraft losses
B-26 Marauder: 5 damaged

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



Aircraft Attacking:
15 x B-26 Marauder bombing from 10000 feet
Ground Attack: 6 x 500 lb GP Bomb



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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 21 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 18



Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 16


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIa Oscar: 1 destroyed on ground

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 damaged



Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
16 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 36 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 62 minutes



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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 24 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 17



Allied aircraft
B-24D Liberator x 9


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

Allied aircraft losses
B-24D Liberator: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

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



Airbase hits 2
Runway hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x B-24D Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
Airfield Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 23000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
59th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 8 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 22000 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 25000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes



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Morning Air attack on Rabaul , at 106,125

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 41,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 3 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 2



Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 11


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




Aircraft Attacking:
6 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet
4 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 39000 feet

CAP engaged:
1st Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 10000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 77 minutes

not only did I check the squadrons during the turn and can´t confirm that both were set to 39000ft, this also is the prove for it... with the stupid coordination routine, the usual happened... first sweep, main part of the first squadron, second sweep, main part of the second squadron, third sweep, the remainders of both squadrons in the same strike... and there you can see that the remainders of both squadrons attacked at 39000ft... so another idiotic bug in this case cost me at least halve a dozen Lightnings (20 per month replacement) because the whatever routine sent them in at 10000ft even though they were set to 39000ft...

what the carrier engagement was to my fleet, this day nearly was the same for my Lightning squadrons... nearly a full month of replacements lost... well done... sweep one, sweep two, sweep three... idiotic...[>:]

what people seem to most often miss in such examples is the fact what kind of victory that is for the Japanese... talking about the effect, it would be the same as taking down 100 Tojos for the loss of 4 Lightnings... granted, I get other (totally useless fighters) but also the Japanese are producing some 250+ fighters more each month beside the Tojo... this is not WITP, this is AE...





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Sub attack near Toyohara at 124,48

Japanese Ships
xAK Nitiho Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Hokkai Maru
xAK Sekiho Maru
PB Tokihime Maru

Allied Ships
SS Snook



SS Snook launches 6 torpedoes at xAK Nitiho Maru
Snook diving deep ....
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
PB Tokihime Maru fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub


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Ground combat at Lae (99,126)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 19978 troops, 404 guns, 572 vehicles, Assault Value = 658

Defending force 17098 troops, 176 guns, 47 vehicles, Assault Value = 482

Allied adjusted assault: 381

Japanese adjusted defense: 487

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker: fatigue(-)

Japanese ground losses:
290 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 34 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 33 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Allied ground losses:
302 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 24 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled


Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
40th Infantry Division
I US Amphib Corps

Defending units:
19th Naval Guard Unit
12th Division
89th Naval Guard Unit
2nd Naval Construction Battalion
3rd Naval Construction Battalion
38th Field AA Battalion
38th JNAF AF Unit

looks like we´re stuck...

ORIGINAL: castor troy

Here are the air losses. Can be seen clearly, that having 150 fighters more than the enemy didn´t help at all as the A2A losses were nearly identical. I can only once more critisize the fact that making Cap "more realistic" but keeping carrier based strikes at the same unrealistic level of what it was in WITP is just off. In WITP you had the unrealistic Cap model with the unrealistic strike model. Now the unrealistic strike model (carrier based in this case) meets the more realistic Cap model, when you get only 80 out of 240+ fighters engaging a 505!! aircraft strike. Flak shot down more enemy aircraft BEFORE they released their loads than our Cap managed to down... heck, there were only 244 fighters on Cap... [8|] The land based strike model as it is needs tweaking. They tried to improve it from WITP but failed to some extend (when you eg think about a level 9 airfield not being able to have two fighter squadrons launch together), they tried to improve the Cap model and I think they did a good job. They haven´t even touched the carrier based strike model, which is totally off in conjunction with the rest. Not to talk about real life. Don´t have to mention the real life PH strike again I guess. A single 505 aircraft strike in one wave whiped out my fleet. CDI vs NOD in the Pacific...

You cant really say you had 150 more CAP as they were not in the fight . What were your CAP settings and who was your overall commander. It looks like you got one of those bad cap roles ( eg when CAP changes , or is caught out of position etc) .. How many TF were your CVs in ?

Also regarding the Sydney losses these are meaningless in scenario 2 , scenario 2 has so many pilots in training it almost kills the Japanese economy its like fighting 3 japans in terms of pilots.

Regarding PH you cant compare teh strike size as he has additional CVs and CVEs here ( just like you)

Try to cheer up your Essexes will be there soon with the Uber Hellcats .

ORIGINAL: bklooste

ORIGINAL: castor troy

Here are the air losses. Can be seen clearly, that having 150 fighters more than the enemy didn´t help at all as the A2A losses were nearly identical. I can only once more critisize the fact that making Cap "more realistic" but keeping carrier based strikes at the same unrealistic level of what it was in WITP is just off. In WITP you had the unrealistic Cap model with the unrealistic strike model. Now the unrealistic strike model (carrier based in this case) meets the more realistic Cap model, when you get only 80 out of 240+ fighters engaging a 505!! aircraft strike. Flak shot down more enemy aircraft BEFORE they released their loads than our Cap managed to down... heck, there were only 244 fighters on Cap... [8|] The land based strike model as it is needs tweaking. They tried to improve it from WITP but failed to some extend (when you eg think about a level 9 airfield not being able to have two fighter squadrons launch together), they tried to improve the Cap model and I think they did a good job. They haven´t even touched the carrier based strike model, which is totally off in conjunction with the rest. Not to talk about real life. Don´t have to mention the real life PH strike again I guess. A single 505 aircraft strike in one wave whiped out my fleet. CDI vs NOD in the Pacific...

You cant really say you had 150 more CAP as they were not in the fight . What were your CAP settings and who was your overall commander. It looks like you got one of those bad cap roles ( eg when CAP changes , or is caught out of position etc) .. How many TF were your CVs in ?

Also regarding the Sydney losses these are meaningless in scenario 2 , scenario 2 has so many pilots in training it almost kills the Japanese economy its like fighting 3 japans in terms of pilots.

Regarding PH you cant compare teh strike size as he has additional CVs and CVEs here ( just like you)

Try to cheer up your Essexes will be there soon with the Uber Hellcats .

The Japanese had not even 100 fighters on Cap and something like 90 of them actually engaged my incoming strike. I had 240 Wildcats on Cap and something like 80 engaged the incoming strike.

It´s obviously definetely meaningless in scenario 2, not only in regards to pilot losses, but also to plane losses. It´s harder for me to replace the SBD losses than for the Japanese to replace Zeroes, Kates or Vals it seems. None of my SBD squadrons in the whole war has suffered any real losses (got three USMC squadrons equipped with SBDs and the USN of course) and the pool is now dried up. No fights for them for 12 months, one engagement, empty.

Of course I can compare it with the PH strike, just like I can compare it with any other CV strike of real life or hypothetical ones. No CV force could do what the CVs can do in the game. Or are we now talking about CVs having 100% of their strike aircraft armed on deck to launch alltogether. It´s not a Japanese thing or an Allied thing, that´s why I´ve said, carrier based strikes.

I stand by what I´ve said. Trying to make Cap more realistic is a good way, trying to make land based strikes more realistic is good too (no matter what I think about the outcome) but not touching CV based strikes in conjunction with changing the other two things is false IMO. Or do you really think that the 505 aircraft in the Japanese strike or the 325 aircraft in the Allied strike would be realistic? In WITP we were always told the reason why we see such huge strikes is because it´s for the whole AM or PM phase and this "single" strike represents a series of strikes. Now that shouldn´t be true in AE anymore (as can be seen with the land based "(un)coordination".