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On a side note, considering how he has fled eastern Australia pretty successfully- is it likely he'll evacuate Luganville and that area quickly too? Or that he may already have?

June 19, 20, 21:
Battle around Albany continues.

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

Subs:
Pickerel is hit twice near Albany. She will try to limp to safety.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Perth.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 82 Tojos sweep or escort with 60 Oscars followed by over 100 Helens hit the AF and troops daily.

Taung Gyi - My Indian Division one hexes to the east of this base is attacked by 27 Helens and 21 Sallys. My light AA is moving here from Lashio.

China:
Kungchang - base is 2 hexes due south of Lanchow.
19th - 9 Oscars with 15 Sally hit the troops between Lanchow and this base. The hex is overstacked as it contains the survivors from Lanchow.
20th - 21 Oscars sweep followed by 33 Sally.
21st - 25 Oscars sweep one NE of base and then is followed by 11 Oscars with 12 Sally. 21 Sally hit the base.

Sian -
21st - 9 Sonia visit

Urumchi -
19th - ground attack results are 58:73

Australia:
Horn Island -
19th - [>:]
20th - just more paper cuts [:D] (death of his merchant fleet is slow, but steady).

Night Time Surface Combat, near Horn Island at 91,128, Range 12,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
PB Nishho Maru, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
PB Muroran Maru, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
PB Tama Maru, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
PB Lushan Maru, Shell hits 16, and is sunk
PB Taikei Maru, Shell hits 14, and is sunk

Allied Ships
DD Nizam
DD Tjerk Hiddes
DD Jupiter

Improved night sighting under 92% moonlight

21st - 3 APDs vs 8 PT Boats ends up as nothing.

Albany -
19th - Heavy air battles in this area. 27 Hellcats shoot down the Rufe over his tanks two hexes due north. A second group of Hellcats find the skies empty. At the base itself, 6 F6F & 4 P-47s more than hold their own vs 67 Zero, 16 Tojo, & 24 Judy as I shoot down 6 for no losses. I'm down to 3(1) F6F & 2(1) P-47s vs the next strike of 27 Zeros, 14 Tojo, 11 George, & 10(1) Judy. 9 Kates cannot hit anything, but 78 Helens can. 6(1) F6Fs take on 25(2) Zeros 1 to NW. There is still 17(2) Zeros outside the base as 70(5) P-40s escort in 17 TBFs & 28 PV-1 as they attack Guards Tank/B Division. I lose 5 of the 13 TBF & 15 PV-1s as they fly without escort and find a larger LRCAP.
20th - 4 SC vs 8 PT Boats is a draw, no blood drawn. My fighters are stood down for R & R. 25 Judys with escorts = 1 vehicles & 8 disabled. This is followed by 9 Kates and 83 Helens = 8 more vehicles destroyed. To the north, 15(1) P-47s sweep the hex vs 4(1) Tojo & 31(7) Zero (Zeros are from Mini-KB - Ryujo, Hiyo, Zuiho). 37 P-40s escort in 11 TBF & 15 PV-1 vs 4(2) George & 3(1) Tojo to attack 20th Inf Rgt. A second strike of 17(3) P-40, 27(3) F6F, and 16 PV-1 vs 3(1) Rufe, 5(1) George, & 28(4) Tojo. Then another 13 P-47s come in for target practice vs 16(5) Zero, 4 George, 2(1) Tojo.
21st - I knew this was going to happen, but I wonder why it took so long.

Night Naval bombardment of Albany at 51,153

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

Allied ground losses:
307 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Night Naval bombardment of Albany at 51,153

Japanese Ships
CL Yura
DD Ushio
DD Akebono
DD Murakumo

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

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Merauke -
19th - Despite the severe storms and it being at night, 30 B-24s find the base but cannot hit anything. [:(]

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Pago Pago F6; Normanton AF7; Mili F4; Amchitka P4; Ceduna F4; Chungking AF9; Esperance AF8; Townsville F5; Kalemyo F4

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
The battle for Albany continues with higher air losses for Japan, but as Allies I cannot afford the rate as some airframes have low replacements rates.

June 22, 23, 24:
The capture of Albany will NOT happen.

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

Subs:
Gurnard hits an xAKL NE of Horn Island.
Permit sinks an xAK west of Merauke.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep. Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - My Indian Division 1 hexes due east ais hit again by Helens.

China:
Lanchow - My troops due SE of this now Japanese base see Sally with Oscar as escort.
On the 24th, he tries to attack with a huge force that significantly overstacks the hex. Ouch!!

Ground combat at 81,35 (near Lanchow)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 67078 troops, 649 guns, 171 vehicles, Assault Value = 2049

Defending force 28650 troops, 74 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 933

Japanese adjusted assault: 826

Allied adjusted defense: 1306

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
4586 casualties reported
Squads: 295 destroyed, 362 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 28 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 55 (21 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Vehicles lost 27 (12 destroyed, 15 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
612 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 68 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Assaulting units:
27th Division
15th Division
15th Tank Regiment
110th Division
3rd Division
34th/A Division
34th/C Division
North China Area Army
11th Army
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
14th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
52nd Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion

Defending units:
42nd Chinese Corps
40th Chinese Corps
84th Chinese Corps

Kungchang - Oscars sweep the base before Sallys hit troops trying to retreat through this base back towards Chungking to recover from losses at Lanchow.

Sian - The Chutai of 9 Sonia is now joined by a small group of Helens.

Urumchi - Another attack by Nick and we still hold. [:)]

Australia:
Horn Island -
22nd - More dancing between 3 APDs and my 8 PT Boats.
23rd - These guys like each other! [;)]

Morning Air attack on Horn Island , at 91,128

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 36 NM, estimated altitude 31,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 74

No Allied losses

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *
24 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *
25 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet *

My 4e bombers hit the AF and I think I will need to rotate in the 2e bombers to keep this closed once and for all.

Kalgoorlie - due west of base on 24th,

Ground combat at 55,147 (near Kalgoorlie)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 16035 troops, 226 guns, 630 vehicles, Assault Value = 692

Defending force 16239 troops, 182 guns, 191 vehicles, Assault Value = 525

Allied adjusted assault: 331

Japanese adjusted defense: 546

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender:
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2575 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 33 disabled
Non Combat: 42 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 32 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 30 (5 destroyed, 25 disabled)
Vehicles lost 51 (6 destroyed, 45 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
200 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 76 (12 destroyed, 64 disabled)

Assaulting units:
762nd Tank Battalion
754th Tank Battalion
763rd Tank Battalion
1st Marine Division
193rd Tank Battalion
3rd NZ Armoured Sqn
97th Coast AA Regiment

Defending units:
16th Engineer Regiment
2nd Guards/B Division
3rd Tank Regiment
2nd Guards/A Division
2nd Guards/C Division
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
19th Field AA Machinecannon Company

Albany -
22nd - Heavily escorted bombers (mainly Helens) continue to pound on my now defenseless troops. I focus on his reinforcement trying to gain control over all hexsides. F6Fs vs Zero are a win for me. When George and Tojo are added, then the odds even up in losses. My P-40s continue to escort in Avengers and PV-1 to hit the troops and tanks. 9 Corsairs sweep the base with 43 Zero, Tojo, and George on CAP. I lose only 1 for 3 of his. Two more small groups of Corsairs sweep in and destroy three more planes for no losses. Nick voices how much he hates this plane. [:D]
23rd - F6Fs sweep the hex NE of base to allow bombers to attack his tanks in the AM phase. However, no escort for bombers in afternoon. [:(] While the base has a stronger CAP with more Tojo and less Zero. The first wave of Corsairs lose 2 to 1, but when joined by P-47s in the second wave shoot down 8:1.

Ground combat at Albany (51,153)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18868 troops, 216 guns, 271 vehicles, Assault Value = 535

Defending force 5041 troops, 59 guns, 351 vehicles, Assault Value = 202

Japanese adjusted assault: 254

Allied adjusted defense: 80

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1698 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 132 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Vehicles lost 13 (7 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
59 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 35 (7 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Assaulting units:
9th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF
20th Infantry Regiment
Guards Tank/A Division
Guards Tank/B Division
21th JNAF AF Unit
31st Fld AA Gun Co
21st Special Base Force
23rd JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
1st USMC Tank Battalion
50th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion

24th - Despite being outnumber 64 to 16, my P-47s sweep the base and lose only 1 to his 5. [:D] [&o] Then, almost a 100 Helens pound on my troops who know their days are numbered. My other group of 17 P-47s get results just as good, 6:1.

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

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Tezpur AF2; Mornington Island AF4;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
Western Australia - I'm getting somewhat frustrated here as I see things I should have done. I now have troops marching across the desert from Port Augusta since I see this battle going a lot longer than planned.

June 25, 26, 27:
Everything happening is in Australia still.

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

Subs: [>:]

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in.

China:
Lanchow - My troops due SE of this now Japanese base see Sally with Oscar as escort.

Kungchang - Oscars sweep the base before Sallys hit troops trying to retreat through this base back towards Chungking to recover from losses at Lanchow.

Sian - The 12 Sonia continue to hit the AF. Oscars sweep with Sallys hitting the AF on 27th.

Urumchi - [>:]

Australia:
Horn Island -
25th - Two more midget subs are sunk. Then, my 2 CLs, 6 DDs sink his 3 APDs there.

Night Naval bombardment of Horn Island at 91,128

Japanese aircraft
no flights

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

Allied Ships
CL Columbia
CL Denver
CL Cleveland
DD Waller
DD Taylor
DD Saufley
DD Radford
DD LaVallette
DD Cony
DD Chevalier
DD Abbot

Japanese ground losses:
250 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 22 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)

Airbase hits 7
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 16
Port hits 16
Port supply hits 1

About 100 B-25/26s hit the AF while the B-17s sink the ACM in port so I can get the minefield to decrease. Over 70 B-24s hit the AF before the P-38s sweep.
26th -

Night Time Surface Combat, near Horn Island at 91,128, Range 1,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya, Shell hits 10
CA Chokai, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 2
DD Natsushio
DD Yukikaze
DD Fubuki
DD Usugumo
DD Shirayuki
DD Amagiri
DD Oboro, Shell hits 3

Allied Ships
PT-116
PT-118
PT-120
PT-126
PT-127, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-143
PT-144
PT-145, Shell hits 9, and is sunk
PT-154, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-155, Shell hits 1

Reduced sighting due to 25% moonlight
Three PT boats are lost to get a TT hit on a CA. It was worth the price.

B-25, B-26, B-17s, and B-24s continue to pile up hits on the AF.
27th - My 3 P-38 groups rotate who sweeps the base. The 16 P-40s assigned LRCAP over 2 AMs to sweep the mines don't slow down the 9 Judys from sink them. Thankfully, I have plenty of minesweepers. The 4e bombers are stood down while the 2e bombers continue to make the large rocks even smaller.

Kalgoorlie -
25th - The 1st Marine Div is 1 hex due west of base and is first swept by Zeros. Then, the Helens attack the troops. Not many casualties inflicted, but disruption is over 50. Meanwhile, the Americal Div is on the trail 1 hex SW of the base and a smaller group of Helens hit them.
26th - I now get some LRCAP to show up over the 1st Marine Div. 5 F6F & 6 Corsairs get 5 Zero & Oscars, but flak only shoots down 2 of 49 Helens. 5 of 15 Helens are lost when they show up without any escorts. [:)] Nick has moved the 5th ID to join the 2nd Guards in the hex with my Marines. 70 Avengers/PV-1s inflict over 400 casualties on the Guards.
27th - My LRCAP is only 5 F6F & 9 P-47s one hex to west, but they are more than enough for his 20 Zero and 10 Tojo. He losses another 8 planes to none for me. [8D] My 2e bombers continue to hit both divisions which I hope will prevent an attack.

Albany -
26th - After a day without any attacks, only 25 Helens hit the troops.
27th - One of Nick's DDs finds the minefield the hard. My three old subs placed them there yesterday. A small number of Nell & Betty join the Judy & Kates that hit the troops before the big strike of Helens arrive.

Naval bombardment of Albany at 51,153

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
CL Jintsu
CL Naka
DD Suresushio
DD Uruyuke
DD Tatsuyuke
DD Arare

Allied ground losses:
300 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 38 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 30 (8 destroyed, 22 disabled)

Ground combat at Albany (51,153)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 15876 troops, 244 guns, 422 vehicles, Assault Value = 572

Defending force 4245 troops, 59 guns, 335 vehicles, Assault Value = 117

Japanese adjusted assault: 396

Allied adjusted defense: 32

Japanese assault odds: 12 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
415 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 41 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
373 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 55 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 5 (4 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 11 (6 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Assaulting units:
Yokosuka 2nd SNLF
9th Infantry Regiment
20th Infantry Regiment
Guards Tank Division
21th JNAF AF Unit
31st Fld AA Gun Co
19th Army
21st Special Base Force
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
21st Air Flotilla
23rd JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
50th Cmbt Engineer Regiment
1st USMC Tank Battalion
2nd USMC Tank Battalion
147th(Sep) Infantry Regiment
627th Tank Destroyer Battalion

The relief column with the 2nd Marine Div will not get here in time.

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

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering:Warazup AF7; Roi-Namur F6; Wotje F5; Penrhyn F5; Corvallis F5; Shemya F2;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
The islands I have developed around Suva to Pago Pago are at or near capacity for troops. NZ now is getting the troops from Australia back for the South Pacific invasions.

June 28, 29, 30:
My Albany troops surrender.

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

Subs:
Plunger is hit once by escort of the BB TF that just hit Albany.
S-41 uses 3 TTs to sink a PB just to west of Albany.
S-4 is hit once by 3 SCs between Perth and Albany.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in.

China:
Sian - Oscars sweep with Sallys and Sonia hitting the AF.

Urumchi - Another successful defense 61:55

Australia:
Horn Island -
28th - [>:]
29th - One group of P-38s sweep before 60 B-25/26s hit the AF.
30th - I continue to rotate my P-38s as another sweeps before the 2e bombers go in.

Kalgoorlie -
28th - 10 Corsairs & 9 P-47s tangle with 19 Zero and 7 Tojo one hex to west. I shoot down 8 for no losses.
29th - 2 hexes to SW...

Ground combat at 55,148 (near Kalgoorlie)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14109 troops, 213 guns, 231 vehicles, Assault Value = 462

Defending force 7959 troops, 33 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 253

Allied adjusted assault: 246

Japanese adjusted defense: 126

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+), fatigue(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1442 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 148 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled

Allied ground losses:
318 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled

Assaulting units:
102nd Cmbt Engineer Regiment
Americal Infantry Division
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
98th Coast AA Regiment

Defending units:
65th Brigade

30th - 2 hexes SW has only 3 P-40s show up as LRCAP. I lose 1 to 19 Tojo from Kalgoorlie. 42 Judy, 19 Nells, and 101 Helens hit the troops. I later find out that i had my LRCAP over the wrong hex. [X(] [:@] 48 B-24s hit the AF.

Albany -
28th - BB Ise & Hyuga hit my troops again. The bombers come in heavy as 29 Betty, 44 Nell, 44 Judy, 18 Kates, and 90 Helens hit the troops. Another attack with 268:12 odds eliminates another tank unit.
29th - Minesweepers are busy at work. 2 PT Boat TFs don't hit the small AMc. The bomber groups are back and then the final attack gets 607:2 odds and eliminates my troops. [:(]

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

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Buldir F6; Katha AF9; Hilo P5; Christchurch AF9; Tezpur AF4; Ledo F6; Portland Roads AF9; Waipapakauri AF8 (northern tip of NZ); Shemya AF1;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
I had sent out one small Transport TF with an AA unit from Melbourne towards Esperance, but pull it back. Will make a second TF and reload the first with more transports. They will get my CVE TF to escort and then I will LRCAP from Esperance to get them in and hopefully avoid any Nell/Betty and Judy reaching out to hit them. If successful, I will do it again as I have another 5 AA headed for Melbourne from NZ. Need to get these 7 AA units in as it will allow me to use my fighters with bombers in western Australia more offensively.

IJ definitely trying to keep Albany (looks like reinforced by inf regt, Gds tank div, and two art) - do you have the land based AV committed to retake this area? Are you content to hold his major forces here while pushing on Horn IS and SO Pac, or do you want to reopen Perth to supply an eventual SW PAC advance into Timor or use Ceylon to drive on Java? Trying to get an understanding of your big picture plan for advancing on Japan.

Where are your fuel and supplies coming from - mainly WC to NZ?

Map and AV numbers in Aus would be nice.

July 1, 2, 3:
New month...new toys. I get the P-47 to start producing and the P-40s go to the "N" models.

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

Subs:
S-45 gets a TT hit on an AD near Merauke.
Snook get 2 TT hits on an xAK off Japan sinking her.
Tambor gets 1 of 4 TT to hit CA Aoba 5 hexes east of Darwin.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in.

China:
Sian - Oscars sweep with 48 Sally/Sonia hitting the AF.

Urumchi - [>:]

Australia:
Horn Island -
1st - A 8 PT Boat TF had engaged prior to report below.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Horn Island at 91,128, Range 4,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
CA Maya
CA Aoba
CA Kinugasa
DD Natsushio
DD Yukikaze, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage
DD Usugumo
DD Shirayuki
DD Amagiri
DD Oboro

Allied Ships
PT-79
PT-144
PT-151, Shell hits 1
PT-152
PT-153, Shell hits 1, and is sunk
PT-155, Shell hits 2, and is sunk
PT-156
PT-157, Shell hits 1, and is sunk

Three groups of P-38s sweep the empty skies. 74 2e bombers hit the AF.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Horn Island at 91,127

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 5 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 1 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vengeance I x 10
P-40K Warhawk x 22

Allied aircraft losses
Vengeance I: 3 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Amagiri, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Yukikaze, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Oboro, Bomb hits 1
DD Oboro is sunk by SS Grunard with a TT hit.
All three DDs are sunk. I'm not getting any CLs or larger, but his smaller ships keep sinking.

2nd - 2x 22 P-38s sweep. 73 B-25/26 continue to pound on his AF.
3rd - weather intervenes.

Kalgoorlie -
1st - 9 P-47s sweep over the Americal Div 2 SW of base. 94 TBF/PV-1 attack the 65th Brigade. 19 Tojo sweep the empty skies now. [;)]
2nd - 24 Tojo sweep over 2 hexes to SW. 48 B-24s hit the AF from Ceduna.
3rd - 48 PB4Ys hit the AF today.

Albany -
1st - 6 PT Boats are unable to hit the 3 AMc. 37 Tojo sweep over the 2nd Marine Div two hexes due north. My LRCAP of 6 F6F & 6 Corsairs down two. 27 George come in next and we each lose one. Then, the bombers arrive. 41 Nell, 28 Betty, 9 Judy arrive without escort. My 5 remaining fighters down 8 along with flak. 6 of 9 Judys are then lost to 4 fighters. The 18 Kates get by the lone F6F left. 21 Oscars come in with 93 Helens in multiple waves...not good. [:-]
2nd - My troops are 5 hexes away from Esperance and 2 hexes due NE of Albany in clear terrain. A massive effort from almost all my fighters are sent to provide LRCAP over the now very vulnerable 2nd Marine (92 disruption). Results are better today.

Morning Air attack on 12th Port Advn Base Force, at 52,151 , near Albany

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid detected at 128 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 40 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 21
Ki-45 KAIa Nick x 6
Ki-49-IIa Helen x 22
Ki-49-IIb Helen x 26

Allied aircraft
P-40K Warhawk x 12
P-47D2 Thunderbolt x 7
F4U-1 Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 11 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIa Nick: 2 destroyed
Ki-49-IIa Helen: 5 destroyed, 10 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 2 destroyed, 8 damaged
Ki-49-IIb Helen: 1 destroyed by flak

No Allied losses

Allied ground losses:
42 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 5 (1 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Nine air groups were assigned LRCAP missions - 60%.

More Helens come in without escorts. 13 of 28 are shot down.

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

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Cairns F5; Ceduna F5; Cooktown F5; Tezpur AF5; Normanton P4; Maloelap F5;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
Air losses:
1st - 12 Allies vs 57 Japan.
2nd - 6 Allied vs 68 Japan with 44 Helens. [:)]

I'm either doing something wrong or I cannot get troops out over 5 hexes away and expect LRCAP to get there in sufficient numbers to provide adequate protection. Another reason to get more AA to western Australia as the 2nd Marines end up with 92 disruption after attacks on 1st. YIKES!! [X(]

Watch out with the LRCAP. If Nick is smart he will start massive sweeps shortly knocking down your fatigued LRCAP. I almost never bother with LRCAP unless its very short range (1-2 hexes) as this opens you up to counter sweeps.

ORIGINAL: JocMeister

Watch out with the LRCAP. If Nick is smart he will start massive sweeps shortly knocking down your fatigued LRCAP. I almost never bother with LRCAP unless its very short range (1-2 hexes) as this opens you up to counter sweeps.

That's not true! Jocke has been very successful using LR CAP in various places, especially North New Guinea, even over distances as far as 5-7 hexes (or however far Sarmi is from Biak or Dagua is from Sarmi).

The key to good LR CAP is of course numbers. Plan for 25-30% of your groups to appear in combat. If it's distant LR CAP use 70% LR CAP and 30% rest with fuel tanks (even if distance doesn't require fuel tanks). It might last two turns depending on combat, but usually no more before pilot fatigue is up above 20%.

You won't stop everything but you'll contest it. Looks like you're doing well already though from the losses he's taken.

I'm learning more and more about LRCAP. I have my air units set for 60 or 70% with 20 to 30% Rest. I'm rotating them once they get fatigue into the 20s. One of the reasons to bring in more and more of those AA units.

Next issue to get resolved and getting supplies into northern Bumra go I can clear the Irrawaddy Valley. [8|]

July 4, 5, 6:
Awaiting more CVs.

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

Subs:
Swordfish sink a PB NW of Merauke with 2 TT hits in two rounds of combat.
Tambor is hit once after hitting an xAK with a TT hit to east of Darwin.
Salmon hits an AO north of Exmouth.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is back at Geraldton.

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in. Over 35 bombers involved, but my light AA unit with 35x 40mm Bofors has arrived.

China:
Sian - Oscars sweep with 48 Sally/Sonia hitting the AF.

Siangtan -
4th - 21 P-66s on LRCAP from Changsha vs 6 Sally (4 shot down). Nick had attacked my troops here for a few days, so I send the fighters down from Chungking.

Urumchi - [>:]

Australia:
Horn Island -
4th - 69 B-25/26s hit the AF.
5th - same 4th
6th - My 2 AMs are here to sweep mines, but are hit by the CD guns from the Special BF stationed here. They do manage to sweep over 30 mines. Only 42 bombers come in today as I rest some. This time my LRCAP arrives and engages the 9 Judys. I shoot down 6.

Kalgoorlie -
4th - Dualing sweeps of 18 Tojo and then my 10 P-47s. Then my P-40s escort in 94 TBF/PV-1 to soften up the 65th Brigade before the deliberate attack. 48 PB4Ys hit the AF.

Ground combat at 55,148 (near Kalgoorlie)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 13748 troops, 213 guns, 231 vehicles, Assault Value = 437

Defending force 5958 troops, 33 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 85

Allied adjusted assault: 230

Japanese adjusted defense: 9

Allied assault odds: 25 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
3203 casualties reported
Squads: 109 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 53 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (3 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
95 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
Americal Infantry Division
102nd Cmbt Engineer Regiment
637th Tank Destroyer Battalion
98th Coast AA Regiment

Defending units:
65th Brigade

5th - 84 TBF/PV-1 start to work over the two division one hex to west of base.
6th - 13 Tojo are over the troops one hex to west as my 25 P-40s escort in 18 TBFs. I lose 5:1. I lose another bomber in follow up waves of 66 TBF/PV-1s.

Albany - The highly disrupted 2nd Marine with everybody else following is moving 8 miles to east back towards relative safety. Nick has the Guards Tank Division on the road to the west, but is not moving towards the stack and has not launched any air attacks. I have most of my fighters on LRCAP missions over this stack.

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

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Nadi P4; Oonadatta AF6; Coal Harbor AF4; Esperance AF9;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
The AF at Esperance going to level 9 will help out immensely. [&o] Plans here are to keep the fighters over the 2nd Marine until it move the one hex east. Then, to be the LRCAP for the 2 AA units being shipped in. Some brief resting and the rotating in of long legged bombers from the rest of Australia for some fighters. Goal will to hit the 60 ships at Perth at night this moon cycle on multiple nights.

IJ definitely trying to keep Albany (looks like reinforced by inf regt, Gds tank div, and two art) - do you have the land based AV committed to retake this area? Are you content to hold his major forces here while pushing on Horn IS and SO Pac, or do you want to reopen Perth to supply an eventual SW PAC advance into Timor or use Ceylon to drive on Java? Trying to get an understanding of your big picture plan for advancing on Japan.

Where are your fuel and supplies coming from - mainly WC to NZ?

Map and AV numbers in Aus would be nice.

Some info and map for ya.

Screenshot shows western Australia with Mini-KB at Geraldton.
2 hexes NE of Albany has 2nd Marine with 3x Tank = 600 AV
At Kalgoorlie, 32 ID, 6 Aussie ID, 7x FA, 3x Tank, AA, 2x Cmbt Eng, HQ = 1008 AV. SW Pacific Command HQ at Esperance prepping for this base which will help with combat results.
1 due west of Kalgoorlie, 1 Marine, 5x Tank, AA = 690 AV with 4th Aussie ID (373 AV) marching towards it.
2 SW of Kalgoorlie is Americal ID, Cmbt Eng, Tk, AA = 429 AV.

Now, over to the NE corner of Australia. Since I had to recapture this area, the expansion of the bases is near completion. Portland Roads, Cooktown, Cairns, Townsville, Normanton have maxed out and now forts are being built. Got to do something with all those engineers. [:D] Coen is at 83% towards AF9. Mornington Island off the coast near Normanton is up to AF4 and expanding.

Screenshot shows that Nick heavily reinforced Horn Island. Plans are to invade eventually, but the two divisions assigned and 100% prepped are in western Australia. [:(] 1st & 5th Aussie ID are at Townsville. Nick has over 150 fighters at Merauke.

6 CLs (Brooklyns & Helena) along with 14 Fletcher DDs (finishing up 8 day upgrades that add more 40mm Bofors) are at Townsville and Brisbane. There are another 8 older American and Aussie DDs in this area.

Logistics for Australia comes mainly from USA with an occasion TF from Cape Town right now. If, and when, I capture western Australia more will come from CT. I use those xAK with a liquid capacity to haul fuel. That has changed now that I am getting all those slow (12 knot) Liberty ships. They haul supplies with a little bit of fuel. My main logistic centers are NZ and Vava'u (Port 6).

Thanks for maps and info.

July 7, 8, 9:
Tempo in western Australia slackens.

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

Subs: [>:] [>:]

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB has moved back to Perth. Why??

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in. Over 35 bombers involved.

China:
Sian - Oscars sweep with up to 48 Sally/Sonia hitting the AF.

Urumchi - [>:]

Australia:
Horn Island -
7th - Only 42 B-25/26s hit the AF.
9th - 22 P-40s sweep while my Aussie Kitty provide escort for 125 TBF/B-25/B-26s. I had the TBFs attack the ground units and find out the 62 Inf Grp Bde is there.

Kalgoorlie -
7th - 67 B-24/PB4Ys hit the AF.
8th - 68 bombers make the trip.

Albany - The highly disrupted 2nd Marine with everybody else following has completed the move one hex to east and the disruption is gone. My NZ AA Bde is still headed there.

South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Terapo - 75 P-38s sweep the empty skies on the 8th.

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Jorhat AF3; Portland Roads P4; Esperance P4; Kwajalein F5; Waipapakauri P2; Shemya AF2; Cox's Bazar F6; Mornington AF5; Savaii; P5;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
The 2 Transport TFs with an AA unit each successfully unloaded at Esperance and will leave on the 10th. Two more AA units are aboard two more Transport TFs that are three days out of Esperance in faster transports. CVEs are still providing LRCAP and have yet to be spotted about 12 hexes to SE of Esperance. These first two AA units will march up towards Kalgoorlie.

Screenshot shows what I'm waiting for before operations in SoPac commence.

These updated maps and info are great. Its much easier for me to understand the ongoing campaign. Quite an epic battle for Australia!

The discussion in GreyJoy's and Q-Ball's AARs about air groups sizing has me thinking about my own naval air groups. Once my CVEs are done escorting and providing LRCAP to transports bringing AA units to Esperance, I will be doing some re-sizing of my own. Most of my CVEs will now become just fighter platforms and the TB groups will re-size to 28 or 31 planes and fill out with Avengers. I will have to use Wildcats until I get enough Hellcats. Back to my basic premise of trying to ensure survivability of my carriers. The American CVLs coming out now are more heavily TB vs fighters numbers until Nov '43 when they re-size.

July 10, 11, 12:
Nick has made the trip home to Greece from London over the last few days. Now we can get back to our own private war.

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

Subs:

Sub attack near Ceduna at 63,160 (10 WSW)

Japanese Ships
SS I-165, hits 4

Allied Ships
CVE Altamaha, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage [X(][:@][:@]
BB Pennsylvania
BB Arizona
CA Wichita
CL Achilles
CL Leander
CLAA Prince Robert
CLAA Van Heemskerck
DD Dewey
DD MacDonough
DD Worden

Ammo storage explosion on CVE Altamaha 37-70(45)-2-0
I have 26 of my still precious Hellcats on her, so I need her to make port. She breaks away from the TF WITHOUT any DDs as escort!! See SE corner of screenshot.

CVs:
Mine are at Melbourne.
Mini-KB is where??

India/Burma:
Shwebo area (base and 1 hex to west) - Up to 2 large Sendai of Tojos sweep (one over each hex). Then, Oscars escorts in over 100 Helens to hit the AF and/or troops daily.

Taung Gyi - 3rd New Chinese Corp is 1 hexes due east. It is hit again by Helens with the occasional Sally group thrown in. Over 35 bombers involved.

China:
Sian - 27 Oscars sweep again...and again.

Urumchi - [>:]

Australia:
Horn Island -
9th - 22 P-40s sweep while my P-38s rest and recover. 60 B-25s hit the AF keeping it closed.
10th - same as 9th.
11th - Nick sets a LRCAP trap over the base as a small TF (PB, PG, xAKL) is probably bringing in supplies. 22(5) P-40Ks sweep in to find 15(1) George, 38(1) Tojo, & 15 Nicks on LRCAP. Thankfully, I have some escorts for the bombers. 32(5) Kittyhawk IIIs (Aussie) come in with 28(7) Avengers vs 32(3) Tojo, 14 George, & 9(1) Nicks. I barely hit the AF. The third wave finds the LRCAP weakening. 12 P-40s with 24(2) B-25s vs 18(1) Tojo, 6(1) George, & 4(1) Nicks. I get some AF hits. 12 B-25D1s with their nasty forward facing guns (8x .50 cal MGs) shoot down 2 of 5 remaining LRCAP fighters before hitting the AF. I still have another 24 P-40s to come in with 21 more B-25s.

Kalgoorlie -
11th - My troops in the area are on their own as my fighters are ALL assigned LRCAP over the two Transport TFs with 2 AA units at Esperance which arrived this turn. The small stack with Americal ID, two hexes to WWS are hit hard. [:(] 45 George sweep the skies and probably bring a smile to Nick's face when they don't encounter anything. This is followed up by 45 Zero, 6 Oscars, 6 Nick with 82 Helens. Two more bomber groups with 41 Helens and a few Oscars as escort hit the troops. Then, another 22 George sweep. My ID is now at 70 disruption.


South Pacific, Solomons, & New Guinea:
Merauke - the 10th is a good day here. [8D]

Morning Air attack on Merauke , at 89,124

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 68 NM, estimated altitude 34,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
N1K1-J George x 12
Ki-44-IIa Tojo x 42
Ki-45 KAIc Nick x 36

Allied aircraft
P-38G Lightning x 75

Japanese aircraft losses
N1K1-J George: 2 destroyed
Ki-44-IIa Tojo: 5 destroyed
Ki-45 KAIc Nick: 4 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38G Lightning: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
23 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet
9 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet
9 x P-38G Lightning sweeping at 30000 feet

CAP engaged:
66th Sentai with Ki-45 KAIc Nick (0 airborne, 6 on standby, 28 scrambling)
6 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 33000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 26 minutes
85th Sentai with Ki-44-IIa Tojo (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 30 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters between 25000 and 36000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 20 minutes
286 Ku S-1 with N1K1-J George (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 0 scrambling)
8 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 4 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 30000 , scrambling fighters between 29000 and 30000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
Actual losses here are 4 P-38s (2 from A2A & 2 from Ops) vs 14 Tojo, 10 Nicks, 6 George.

Central Pacific: [>:]

North Pacific: [>:]

Engineering: Jorhat AF4; Lord Howe Island AF5; Sian F5; Tezpur AF6; Coen AF9 & F2; Urumchi F2; Shemya AF3;

Recon/Intel:

Notes:
Air losses for 12th were 49 Allies vs 45 Japan. Most of mine are Avengers, P-40Ks, & Kittyhawk IIIs which I have enough of. The tough replacements will be the Aussie fighter pilots.

We have reached 85% moonlight, so I have set up a series of Port attacks at night for the next few days. Per the screenshot, Perth has 44 ships there. [:)] 200 bombers are at Esperance to pay a visit (SBD-5, Mitchell, PV-1, PB4Y, etc.). I'm using 700 of the 913 Aviation Support at this size 9 AF. Regional weather forecast is Overcast for this area. [&:] So, that will play a part. But, I plan to keep attacking the base for at least the next few days.

Meanwhile, recon (PB4Y-1P) from Nauru Island will identify what is at Rabaul. At Cooktown, I have 100 B-24s that will visit on the 14th. Weather in this region is clear. Nick continues to leave ships too close to the front lines, so I will continue to try to make him pay.

OZ fighter pilots,

In the vanilla game some of the OZ bomber squadrons can switch to the Beaufighter. I think I had to pay some PPs for it though but its well worth it. I used the squadrons for training and its needed. The RAAF is REALLY useful once they start getting Spits VII in 10/43. Despite doing this and only fighting defensively with the RAAF I still only have about 200 OZ fighter pilots in the reserve. Despite switching the bomber squadrons I have over 600 fully trained bomber pilots. So if you can I suggest you switch them! [:)]