Matrix Games Forums

Nemo, Kereguelen......thanx for your comments. Im still exploring different approaches to stratgeic bombing. It seems that you can inflict some pretty amazing damage from firebombing MP if you have BOTH enough critical mass and can apply it for a sustained duration...and the duration seems to be more important than the mass. I remember the threads from stock WitP and there was quite a debate about the ineffectiveness of fission bombs. In RL, both US fission bombs were dropped on relatively small citiies.....Hiroshima and Nagasaki both have less than 12 MP and a few hundred HI/Li and if I remember correctly the in game fission bombs caused maybe 50% damage to MP/HI/LI.

My most effective city attack in this game has been against Osaka.....Japan's #2 city with some 130 MP and over 2000 HI/2000 LI. Two seperate 6 day bombing attacks ......12 days in total......and over 2/3rds of MP/HI/LI was damaged....I would have to characterize that as more of a thermonuclear result than a fission bomb result. I havent been able to damage Tokyo the same way......yet. StoneAge has massed the majority of his flak at Tokyo PLUS the weather always seems to be horrible there.

MP firebombing attacks seemed to work best against nearly intact very large cities. There are a lot of easy points when you begin a stratgeic bombing campaign against Japan but after all the main cities have taken damage its difficult to get a large fire going again....so I may be targeting more individual industries from here on as opposed to firebombing MP......ie precision bombing vs area bombing.



10/6-10/7/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


Evidently, not all of the Allied carrier bombersa got the message to switch targets from Yokohama to Kobe. The precision bombing attacks by about half the carrier bombers against Kobe went well as did the B-24 precision attacks against Nagoya. Unfortunately about half of the carrier bombers attacked Yokohama......not only did the massed flak maul the carrier bombers at Yokohama but my fighter escort was split also and Jap CAP simply overwhelmed them. Over 200 Allied AC were lost over Japan last turn. In A2A it was an Allied loss of 138 AC vs 53 Japanese AC.
For individual AC, the major A2A losses were 15 A6M5bs, 10 Franks, 35 TBM-1c Avengers, 27 TBF-1 Avengers, 24 F6F-3 Hellcats, 13 P-38Ls, 4 FM-2 Wildcats and 10 RN Avengers. 70 Avengers sounds like alot of AC until you look at the 70 plus Allied carriers and realize that its not quite 1 Avenger per flight deck.

Japanese CAP seems to be much better following the last patch....must be due to the radar improvements in the patch. Allied Hellcats and P-38Ls are merely average against late war Japanese fighters....especially when the P-38Ls are flying at extended range with drop tanks. The P-47D25s still seem to outperform anything else when sweeping at high altitude(37,000') even when they are flying at extended range with drop tanks.



BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT


I was pretty happy with the reults of the precision bombing against specific industries this turn......some 550 strategic loss points were inflicted for a total strategic loss of 19,250 points. Thats the best result Ive seen in weeks. At Kobe, the carrier bombers damaged HI from 115(166) to 90(191) and LI from 219(222) to 174(267). At Nagoya, the B-24s damaged HI from 214(107) to 126(195) and LI from 353(148) to 273(228).

The weather forecast for tomorrow is clear over Yokohama and Kobe so all the 4Es including the B-29s from Tinian will area bomb MP at Yokohama while the carrier bombers precision bomb LI at Kobe. Im sending out a_LOT_ more high altitude sweepers over Yokohama. Even though the airfield there is 100% damaged StoneAge is LRCAPing Yokohama from Tokyo. Im sending out a couple more P-47D25 squadrons from Tanegashima to sweep Yokohama as well as Top Gun Hellcats from my 4 pre-war carriers...Enterprise, Sara, Lex and Yorktown....these Hellcat drivers all have experience in the mid to hi 70's.

10/8-10/9/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


The carrier bombers target LI at Kobe while all the B-24s/Liberators/B-29s area bomb MP at Yokohama. Even with all the P-47D25s and Top Gun Hellcat pilots flying high altitude sweeps over Yokohama Allied fighter losses are horrendous. The Allies lose 53 AC in A2A combat this turn vs 48 Japanese AC. For USAAF fighters, Ive been flying the P-47s on sweeps while the P-38Ls escort the bombers and this turn the P-38Ls are shredded. Individual plane losses in A2A combat this turn include 46 P-38Ls, 9 Hellcats, 22 Oscars, 16 A6M5bs, 8 Franks and 4 Jacks. Most of my P-38 squadrons are now understrength as production is not keeping up with losses. The next time I stand down the strategic bombing forces I will need to reorganize the fighter groups....I will probably convert several of the P-38L groups over to P-47D25s.



BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT


The results from area bombing are less than spectacular at Yokohama.....MP goes from 29(4) to 27(6), HI goes from 211(70) to 182(99) and LI from 296(145) to 254(187). At Kobe the carrier bombers hit the LI and increase damage from 174(267) to 159(282). Only 200 strategic loss points are scored this turn for a total of 19,464.

Im a bit discouraged by the recent results of the area bombing campaign.....I cant seem to get the 500,000 plus fires started any longer. I will probably attempt one more all out blitz on area bombing Tokyo down the road when the weather is good(and my P-38L squadrons are rebuilt) but for now I will probably stick to precision bombing specific industries.

The weather forecast for central Japan next turn is mostly poor except for heavily bombed out Osaka. All of the 4Es and carrier bombers will target HI and LI at Osaka next turn.

Im still exploring different approaches to stratgeic bombing.

Hi, Couple of questions on Strategic bombing.
Have you ever gotten a "firestorm" message? If not how do you tell you have started one? Whats the highest number of fires you have seen? What altitude do you prefer to bomb from? If you knocked MP down to zero what that city be able to produce anything?
thanks

JohnDillworth....i will attempt to answer your questions in order.

1)I have never received an in game message that a firestorm has been started.
2)I have made the assumption several times that I HAVE started a firestorm as after a sustained multi-day bombing campaign against an single city I suddenly see industrial damage ramp up...especially on the 5th and 6th days of continuous bombing(when many fewer bombers are striking the target compared to the first couple days of the assault) and then even more damage occurs in the first couple days after the bombing stops.
3)The highest fire level I have seen is 1.6 million.
4)I strategic bomb at 10,000 feet
5)I dont think that MP damage affects industrial production.



10/10-10/11/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN



The weather forecast was wrong for Osaka this last turn.......bad weather grounded the 4Es on 10/11 and then they bombed on 10/12 in thunderstorms. The carrier bombers targeted LI at Osaka while the 4Es hit HI.The Japanese home defense air force seems to be getting stronger. I wasnt anticipating much CAP over Osaka......I thought that StoneAge would be massing his fighters over Tokyo/Yokohama. An air battle did break out in the rainstorms over Osaka and the Allies lost 37 AC in A2A combat vs 29 Japanese AC.

The 5 P-38L squadrons at Tanegashima have all suffered 50% plus losses. I stood down 3 of the squadrons and converted them to P-47D25s.



BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT


The fires continue to burn at Yokohama 2 days after the bombing.....MP damage increases from 27(6) to 25(8), and HI damage increases from 182(99) to 173(108).

At Osaka, HI damage increases from 668(1283) to 466(1485) and LI damage increases from 685(1216 to 670(1231).

Between Osaka and Yokohama the Allies score over 500 more strategic loss points for a total of 19,976 strategic loss points.

The weather forecast for next turn indicates good weather over Osaka so the 4Es will again target HI there while the carrier bombers target LI.

ORIGINAL: AdmSpruance

Even with all the P-47D25s and Top Gun Hellcat pilots flying high altitude sweeps over Yokohama Allied fighter losses are horrendous. The Allies lose 53 AC in A2A combat this turn vs 48 Japanese AC. For USAAF fighters, Ive been flying the P-47s on sweeps while the P-38Ls escort the bombers and this turn the P-38Ls are shredded. Individual plane losses in A2A combat this turn include 46 P-38Ls, 9 Hellcats, 22 Oscars, 16 A6M5bs, 8 Franks and 4 Jacks.

I've looked at the stats from a few of the late war Japanese fighters. I think maneuver is much more heavily weighted in combat compared to vanilla WITP. Generally, in comparisson, Japanese fighters are slower than Allied fighters. But, some of them are double or triple the maneuver rating. And, their climb rating can be astronomical. 3,500 climb compared to less than 3k. 30 maneuver compared to 13 or so.

You can't fight a war of attrition with your pilots. He's getting mostly rescued and wounded results. You're getting mostly MIA results. He's probably putting up better experienced pilots. Combine that with the good stats of the planes, and there isn't much you can do.

In my game vs the AI, I'm having a very hard time killing Oscars. I'm seeing 3-5 hits on my planes for every hit on an enemy plane. (Japanese planes usually get destroyed with a hit, Allied usually get damaged.) That's with 80+ skilled pilots on my side. I'm playing the AI, so I think they get an exp boost. The Oscar IIb has a maneuver of something like 49. It takes forever to see a hit. Usually, I just see 30 seconds of the Oscar shooting and my 80+ P-38g pilots doing nothing but getting damaged. Even if the kill ratio is still in my favor, the Japanese bombers get through, or the Oscars wear out my fighters and get some kills on my bombers.

I think it's way too easy to train pilots (especially Japan), and some of the plane stats are either inflated, or weighted in a way that isn't very historical.

ORIGINAL: AdmSpruance
4)I strategic bomb at 10,000 feet

Isn't 10k feet a bit low for strategic bombing? I was under the impression that the most typical altitude for bomber raids in Europe was 20-25k feet, and I would expect the same range was most typically chosen in the Asian theater?

Isn't 10k feet a bit low for strategic bombing? I was under the impression that the most typical altitude for bomber raids in Europe was 20-25k feet, and I would expect the same range was most typically chosen in the Asian theater?

I'm playing Downfall and lit up Osaka with a ton of bombers at 5,000 feet. 2,100,000 fires. I guess it's a balancing act. The higher up, the less damage, but less losses. I don't know how Japanese AA compares to German AA, but my guess would be Japanese would be somewhat less effective. Fighters get you at 5k or 10k. I sometimes bomb at 33k and get decent results and almost no losses.

Bradley7735.......I think that you are correct.....I think that Im probably losing the pilot attrition war over Japan now.

janh.....the B-29 was originally intending for high altitude precision bombing over Japan. Curtis LeMay tried that for awhile but found that the B-29s failed miserably in that role....they couldnt hit anything. It seems as the USAAF meteorologists(or the rest of the world scientific community at that time) didnt understand why the bombers were being buffeted by 150+mph winds over central Japan that were throwing off their aim.....no one understood the concept of the "jetstream" at that time. LeMay....almost out of desperation.....switched from high altitude daylight precision bombing to night low altitude(5-6000') area bombing with incendiaries...and quickly discovered that he had found a war winner. I found in game that night bombing at low altitude caused a lot more losses to ops....especially for B-29s flying at long range from Tinian. Also, supposedly in stock WitP the Norden bomb sight worked best at 10,000' or higher.

I agree with the comments of JohnDillworth....you can bomb at lower altitudes like 5-6000' and cause more damage but you suffer more losses to AA. You can bomb higher at 10,000-20,000-30,000 feet and cause less damage but also suffer fewer losses. Its up to the player whatever altitude he wants to fly at......for me 10,000' seems to be a good compromise.



10/12-10/13/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


All of the 4Es and the carrier bombers conduct precision bombing attacks against HI and LI at Osaka. The Allies lose 23 AC in A2A combat this turn over Osaka vs 33 Japanese AC. Following the airstrikes on 10/13, all of the 4Es are stood down and the carriers return to port to rearm and take on AC replacements.



BOMB DAMAGE ASSESSMENT


At Osaka, HI damage increases from 466(1485) to 365(1586) and LI damaged increased from 670(1231) to 649(1252). The Allies cause another 240 strategic loss points for a total of 20,218 strategic points.

Ive attached a screenshot of the B-29 squadrons at Tinian. Only 139 B-29s out of 278 are available for flight ops.....about 50%. The other thing to notice is that 4 of the B-29s squadrons were supposed to have been withdrawn already. Well I say nuts to that.....Ive got thousands of unused PPs so Im going to ignore the withdrawal command and keep all the B-29s out on the line.

10/16-10/17/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


The Allied strategic bombing campaign seems to be imploding now.....a combination of bad weather, very good Japanese interceptors and heavily damaged cities that dont readily suffer from fire bombing any longer.


Bad weather on 10/16 over Osaka grounds all the Allied 4Es and then on 10/17 everything goes FUBAR:


We have thunderstorms again over Osaka and the strategic bombers go in before the fighter sweeps:


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 17, 44

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Osaka/Kyoto , at 109,59

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 13
A6M5c Zero x 7
J2M3 Jack x 17
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 4
Ki-84a Frank x 16



Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 3
Liberator GR.III x 16
Liberator GR.VI x 23
B-24D1 Liberator x 40
B-24J Liberator x 161
P-38L Lightning x 20
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 43
PB4Y-1 Liberator x 23


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator GR.VI: 1 damaged
B-24J Liberator: 1 damaged
P-38L Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 11 destroyed
PB4Y-1 Liberator: 1 damaged



Light Industry hits 5
Heavy Industry hits 12

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x PB4Y-1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x Liberator GR.III bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
9 x Liberator GR.VI bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
7 x Liberator GR.VI bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
7 x Liberator GR.VI bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
7 x Liberator GR.III bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 250 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
6 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
12 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
11 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
8 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24D1 Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
10 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
9 x B-24J Liberator bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 10 x 500 lb GP Bomb
3 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
332 Ku S-1 with J2M3 Jack (3 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 4 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
332 Ku S-1 Det with A6M5c Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(7 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 5 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 38500
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
352 Ku S-1 with A6M5b Zero (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(14 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 8 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 21000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
13th Sentai with Ki-43-IIIa Oscar (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(4 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 2 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 39 minutes
22nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(6 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 34440
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 42 minutes
381 Ku S-1/B with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 2 on standby, 3 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37450 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 13000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes
1 planes vectored on to bombers
381 Ku S-1/C with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 2 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 2 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37450 , scrambling fighters to 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 17 minutes
52nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (3 airborne, 7 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 19000 , scrambling fighters between 9000 and 19000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 21 minutes



Morning Air attack on Osaka/Kyoto , at 109,59

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 7
A6M5c Zero x 5
J2M3 Jack x 11
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 5
Ki-84a Frank x 15



Allied aircraft
Liberator II x 6
P-38L Lightning x 16
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 2


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Liberator II: 2 destroyed, 3 damaged
P-38L Lightning: 2 destroyed
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
4 x Liberator II bombing from 10000 feet
City Attack: 8 x 500 lb GP Bomb

CAP engaged:
22nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(5 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 34440 , scrambling fighters between 8000 and 34440.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes
6 planes vectored on to bombers
13th Sentai with Ki-43-IIIa Oscar (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(3 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 3 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 13000 and 20000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 43 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
381 Ku S-1/B with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37450 , scrambling fighters between 10000 and 14000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 46 minutes
2 planes vectored on to bombers
381 Ku S-1/C with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
3 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37450 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes
332 Ku S-1 with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters between 14000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
5 planes vectored on to bombers
332 Ku S-1 Det with A6M5c Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
5 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 38500 , scrambling fighters between 6000 and 17000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 34 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
52nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
7 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 19000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 18000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 32 minutes
3 planes vectored on to bombers
352 Ku S-1 with A6M5b Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
6 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 21000 , scrambling fighters between 2000 and 16000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 33 minutes
7 planes vectored on to bombers






Then the fighter sweeps go in a day late and a dollar short:


Morning Air attack on Osaka/Kyoto , at 109,59

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 38,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 4
A6M5c Zero x 1
J2M3 Jack x 9
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 3
Ki-84a Frank x 7



Allied aircraft
P-38L Lightning x 12
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 33


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 1 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 3 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 2 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-38L Lightning: 1 destroyed



Aircraft Attacking:
14 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 37000 feet
7 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 37000 feet
9 x P-47D25 Thunderbolt sweeping at 37000 feet

CAP engaged:
381 Ku S-1/C with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 37450 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 19 minutes
332 Ku S-1 with J2M3 Jack (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 3 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
13th Sentai with Ki-43-IIIa Oscar (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 20000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 40 minutes
22nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (2 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
2 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 34440 , scrambling fighters between 5000 and 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 10 minutes
381 Ku S-1/B with J2M3 Jack (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 37450
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
332 Ku S-1 Det with A6M5c Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 38500 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 13 minutes
352 Ku S-1 with A6M5b Zero (1 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) intercepting now.
2 plane(s) not yet engaged, 1 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 21000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 16 minutes
52nd Sentai with Ki-84a Frank (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
1 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 19000 , scrambling fighters to 10000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 49 minutes



The "invinceable" P-47D25s are merely ordinary when escorting at 15,000' and get decimated. The Allies lose 31 AC in A2A combat this turn vs 24 Japanese AC. Even worse.....the Japanese CAP severely disrupts the Allied bomber formations and a mere 30 strategic bombing points are scored.

Its very difficult to strategic bomb central Japan.....its all about defeating Jap CAP to get the bombers thru. The carriers can only remain on station and conduct fighter ops for about a week or so and the land based fighters at Tanegashima are flying at max range with fuel tanks and have trouble suppressing the amazingly robust Japanese late war fighters.

We need a new solution.


Admiral Hill begins to load his amphib transports at Babeldaob for an assault on Miyake-jima....we can build a level 5 AF on this small island and base another 300 fighters for short range air superiority ops over central Japan.


Meanwhile...the CVEs depart Tanegashima and the fast carriers shove off from Okinawa to again assemble off the coast of central Japan. As usual....the weather forecast is poor over almost every major city save Nagoya....all of the B-24s/Liberators and the B-29s from Tinian are ordered to precision bomb LI and HI at Nagoya next turn. The CVEs will hit shipping in port at Nagoya and try to clear out Jap CAP over the city.

10/18-10/19/44



CENTRAL PACIFIC



Admiral Hill completes assault loading of 77th Division at Babeldaob and shoves off to rendezvous with 5th Fleet off the coast of central Japan.

The CVEs reach station off the coast of Japan and conduct air superiority missons in addition to bombing IJN shipping in port at Nagoya:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Nagoya , at 111,60

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 76 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 2
A6M5b Zero x 4
A6M5c Zero x 3
J2M3 Jack x 4
N1K1-J George x 17
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 5
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7
Ki-84a Frank x 6



Allied aircraft
Avenger I x 16
Avenger II x 32
Corsair II x 6
Hellcat I x 4
P-38L Lightning x 5
P-47D25 Thunderbolt x 14
FM-2 Wildcat x 3
F4U-1D Corsair x 2
F6F-3 Hellcat x 56
TBF-1 Avenger x 97
TBM-1C Avenger x 219


No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
Avenger I: 1 damaged
Avenger II: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged
Corsair II: 1 destroyed
Hellcat I: 1 destroyed
P-38L Lightning: 1 destroyed
P-47D25 Thunderbolt: 1 destroyed
FM-2 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
F6F-3 Hellcat: 6 destroyed
TBF-1 Avenger: 21 damaged
TBM-1C Avenger: 29 damaged

Japanese Ships
DD Kaya, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
TK Tenshin Maru, Bomb hits 5, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Dosei Maru, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
TK Seiyo Maru, Bomb hits 4, and is sunk
TK Enoshima Maru, Bomb hits 9, and is sunk
ACM Mejima Maru, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AMc Wa 6, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

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



Port hits 7
Port supply hits 4


The Allied strategic bomers again have to deal with bad weather....its thunderstorms over Nagoya on 10/17 and then severe storms on 10/18. Still, the 4Es hit LI and HI at Nagoya and Japan suffers another 300 points of strategic damage. The total of strategic losses now stands at 20,562.

In the swirling air battles over Nagoya Japan again gets the best of the Allied fighters......the Allies lose 52 AC in A2A combat vs 26 Japanese AC. Individual plane losses include 41 Hellcats, 4 P-38Ls, 7 Oscars, 2 Tojos, 4 A6M5cs, 6 Georges and 3 Franks.


My sweepers do just fine in A2A combat but the escorts get chewed up every turn.

The fleet carriers will join the CVEs off the Japanese coast next turn and then I will send out my Top Gun pilots in fighter sweeps. The target next turn for the 4Es will be Osaka LI and HI......the weather forcast for next turn is good but we will see how that turns out.

10/20-10/21/44



CENTPAC


Admiral Hill's Amphibious TF 254 crosses the Philippine SEa on the way to rendezvous with 5th Fleet off Miyake Jima. Not only will Miyake Jima give the Allies a major airfield within normal range of P-38Ls and P-47D25s......it will allow us to beging using other plane types in the battle.....most notably the VMF squadrons with virtually inexhaustable pools of Corsairs and highly trained Marine pilots. As of now, Im having trouble keeping up my pools of highly trained Navy and Army pilots.....and Ive exhausted my pool of P-38Ls and am starting to run short of the P-47D25s.




STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


The B-29s from Tinian and all the B-24s/Liberators from Tanegashima, Amami Oshima and Okinawa hit LI and HI at Osaka. The weather forecast is wrong ....as usual.....and the bombers fly first in severe stroms and then in moderate rain. Fortunately, the sweeps go in 1st this time and take down Japanese CAP before the bombers and their escorts arrive. The Allies lose 27 AC in A2A vs 25 Japanese AC. Individual plane losses include 11 Hellcats, 9 A6M5cs, 5 Jacks, 4 Oscars and 4 A6M5bs.

The Allied 4Es inflict another 200 strategic point losses on Japan for a total of 20,782 strategic points.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is.......surprise.....bad weather over most of central Japan. Weather is forecast to be best over Osaka so we will hit HI and LI there again.

10/22-10/23/44




CENTPAC.......HONSHU TURKEY SHOOT


StoneAge musters up a large portion of the Japanese Home Island air forces and throws it against impudent 5th Fleet who continues to loiter off the coast of central japan:


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 51 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B5N2 Kate x 6
J2M3 Jack x 2



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 28
Hellcat I x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 86
F4U-1D Corsair x 29
F6F-3 Hellcat x 575
F6F-5 Hellcat x 154
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
E8N2 Dave x 18



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 27
Hellcat I x 18
FM-2 Wildcat x 84
F4U-1D Corsair x 28
F6F-3 Hellcat x 594
F6F-5 Hellcat x 157
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
E8N2 Dave: 9 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 33,810 feet.
Estimated time to target is 66 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Sen Baku x 4
A6M5c Zero x 3
J2M3 Jack x 11
N1K1-J George x 9
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 25
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7
Ki-84a Frank x 8



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 23
Hellcat I x 17
FM-2 Wildcat x 90
F4U-1D Corsair x 28
F6F-3 Hellcat x 583
F6F-5 Hellcat x 147
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Sen Baku: 2 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
FM-2 Wildcat: 1 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 7
Ki-30 Ann x 27
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 5
Ki-51 Sonia x 12



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 23
Hellcat I x 16
FM-2 Wildcat x 88
F4U-1D Corsair x 28
F6F-3 Hellcat x 567
F6F-5 Hellcat x 138
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 4 destroyed
Ki-30 Ann: 14 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 9 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 4,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5b Zero x 5
E7K2 Alf x 6



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 22
Hellcat I x 16
FM-2 Wildcat x 85
F4U-1D Corsair x 27
F6F-3 Hellcat x 597
F6F-5 Hellcat x 151
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 2 destroyed
E7K2 Alf: 3 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 39,130 feet.
Estimated time to target is 59 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIc Lily x 27



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 22
Hellcat I x 16
FM-2 Wildcat x 76
F4U-1D Corsair x 22
F6F-3 Hellcat x 576
F6F-5 Hellcat x 133
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 15 destroyed


Allied Ships
CV Yorktown II


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 39,450 feet.
Estimated time to target is 49 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-46-III Dinah x 3



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 23
Hellcat I x 16
FM-2 Wildcat x 78
F4U-1D Corsair x 17
F6F-3 Hellcat x 534
F6F-5 Hellcat x 130
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 39,450 feet.
Estimated time to target is 49 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-46-III Dinah x 2
Ki-84a Frank x 3



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 22
Hellcat I x 16
FM-2 Wildcat x 75
F4U-1D Corsair x 16
F6F-3 Hellcat x 528
F6F-5 Hellcat x 123
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-III Dinah: 1 destroyed
Ki-84a Frank: 1 destroyed


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 29 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 4



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 27
Hellcat I x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 77
F4U-1D Corsair x 31
F6F-3 Hellcat x 562
F6F-5 Hellcat x 153
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 2 destroyed



Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 11
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 21



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 25
Hellcat I x 11
FM-2 Wildcat x 89
F4U-1D Corsair x 30
F6F-3 Hellcat x 608
F6F-5 Hellcat x 144
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
FM-2 Wildcat: 1 destroyed


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
B6N2 Jill x 7
G4M1 Betty x 4
J2M3 Jack x 7
N1K1 Rex x 5
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 7



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 23
Hellcat I x 11
FM-2 Wildcat x 82
F4U-1D Corsair x 30
F6F-3 Hellcat x 563
F6F-5 Hellcat x 132
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
B6N2 Jill: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 3 destroyed
N1K1 Rex: 4 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 6
E14Y1 Glen x 2
E8N2 Dave x 12
J2M3 Jack x 1
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 11
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Ki-84a Frank x 2



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 25
Hellcat I x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 66
F4U-1D Corsair x 23
F6F-3 Hellcat x 484
F6F-5 Hellcat x 148
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 2 destroyed
E14Y1 Glen: 1 destroyed
E8N2 Dave: 4 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 41 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-45 KAIc Nick x 2
Ki-51 Sonia x 10



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 24
Hellcat I x 13
FM-2 Wildcat x 64
F4U-1D Corsair x 34
F6F-3 Hellcat x 485
F6F-5 Hellcat x 151
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-45 KAIc Nick: 1 destroyed
Ki-51 Sonia: 7 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Nagoya at 110,62

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 9



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 22
Hellcat I x 12
FM-2 Wildcat x 61
F4U-1D Corsair x 27
F6F-3 Hellcat x 512
F6F-5 Hellcat x 155
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed





The establishment of a Fighter Direction School on Oahu in 1942 pays off dividends as Allied carrier CAP is successful in fighting off waves of attacking japanese AC over a 2 day period. Japan loses 236 AC vs 5 Allied AC in a great naval air battle that was dubbed the "Honshu Turkey Shoot".


I was lucky as I had almost half of the Allied carrier fighters set on training and sweep missions. Now that it is evident that Japan's air force still has the capability to inflict grievous damage on 5th Fleet, I cant afford to have Allied carriers float off the Japanese coast for weeks at a time to provide fighter escorts.....its evident that we need to secure another airfield much closer to Japan for land based fighters.

Admiral Hill's Amphibious TF 254 closes in on Miyake-jima and 77th Division should storm ashore after a brief naval bombardment next turn.



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


Almost overlooked in the massive naval air battles off Japan is the continued strategic bombing campaign on Honshu. The B-24s/Liberators and the B-29s again hit LI and HI at Osaka. With all of Japan's fighters massed against 5th Fleet the strategic bombers finally get a "milk run".

The bombers inflict another 170 strategic point losses on Japan for a total of 20,954 strategic loss points. Next turn, the B-29s will be grounded for maintenance but the B-24s/Liberators will _again_ hit Osaka LI/HI.....for some reason its the only city in central Japan with decent weather forecast.

I don't know if you're even considering it - but could you push an amphibious strike at Korea, perhaps? The terrain in the south is excellent for armor and could give you additional airbases in range of Central Japan.

paullus99....excellent point. Korea would provide a plethora of exceptional airfields that would help in the strategic bombing of Japan. However, If I was to launch any more massive invasions it would be against the Japanese Home Islands themselves.....not a peripheral target. Here, Im trying to win/end the war with airpower and not incur tens of thousands of additional ground unit casualties.....something I think Allied war planners were focused on in RL at the end of the war.



CENTPAC


Even though recon showed Miyake -jima to be virtually deserted, 5th Fleet oders a brief pre-invasion bombardment:


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Oct 24, 44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night Naval bombardment of Miyake-jima at 112,63

Japanese Ships
AV Kamoi, Shell hits 2, on fire

Allied Ships
BC Repulse
CA Chicago II
CL Houston II
CL Vincennes II



Port hits 29
Port supply hits 3

BC Repulse firing at Miyake-jima
CA Chicago II firing at Miyake-jima
CL Houston II firing at Miyake-jima
CL Vincennes II firing at Miyake-jima


Then 77th Division wades ashore unopposed:


Amphibious Assault at Miyake-jima

TF 254 troops unloading over beach at Miyake-jima, 112,63


Allied ground losses:
1110 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 180 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 332 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 132 (1 destroyed, 131 disabled)
Vehicles lost 157 (2 destroyed, 155 disabled)


105mm M2 Howitzer dropped into water during unload of 77th Infantry Div /2
Motorized Support dropped into water during unload of 77th Infantry Div /5
10 Support troops lost overboard during unload of 36th USN SeaBees
Motorized Support damaged beyond repair during unload of 36th USN SeaBees
Engineer Vehicle lost overboard during unload of 36th USN SeaBees
10 Support troops lost from landing craft during unload of 113th RN Base Force /2


Japanese naval bombers launch a couple of attacks on 5th Fleet carriers:


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on TF, near Shimizu at 112,62

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 106 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 7
A6M5b Zero x 1
A6M5c Zero x 3
E14Y1 Glen x 11
E8N2 Dave x 9
J2M3 Jack x 4



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 43
Hellcat I x 21
FM-2 Wildcat x 58
F4U-1D Corsair x 15
F6F-3 Hellcat x 608
F6F-5 Hellcat x 183
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 1 destroyed
A6M5c Zero: 2 destroyed
E14Y1 Glen: 6 destroyed
E8N2 Dave: 6 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 1 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Shimizu at 112,62

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 59 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 8
Ki-44-IIc Tojo x 1
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 11
Ki-84a Frank x 1



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 42
Hellcat I x 20
FM-2 Wildcat x 57
F4U-1D Corsair x 14
F6F-3 Hellcat x 583
F6F-5 Hellcat x 169


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 5 destroyed
Ki-44-IIc Tojo: 1 destroyed
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 8 destroyed


Allied Ships
CVE Admiralty Island


Morning Air attack on TF, near Shimizu at 112,62

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 19,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
D4Y3 Judy x 34



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 40
Hellcat I x 19
FM-2 Wildcat x 51
F4U-1D Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 519
F6F-5 Hellcat x 152


Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 9 destroyed









The majority of Japanese naval air attacks taget the invasion force at Miyake-jima:


Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 53 minutes

Japanese aircraft
J1N1-S Irving x 6
N1K1-J George x 3



Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 24
F4U-1D Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 54
F6F-5 Hellcat x 5
F4U-2 Corsair x 1


Japanese aircraft losses
J1N1-S Irving: 3 destroyed
N1K1-J George: 1 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 36,130 feet.
Estimated time to target is 59 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIc Lily x 5



Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 18
F4U-1D Corsair x 11
F6F-3 Hellcat x 59
F6F-5 Hellcat x 6


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIc Lily: 4 destroyed




Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 6,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 31 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 8



Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 17
F4U-1D Corsair x 9
F6F-3 Hellcat x 55
F6F-5 Hellcat x 4


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed



Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 200 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 132 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5 Zero x 7
A6M5c Zero x 1
E14Y1 Glen x 2
E8N2 Dave x 4
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 2



Allied aircraft
FM-2 Wildcat x 23
F4U-1D Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 74
F6F-5 Hellcat x 15


Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5 Zero: 3 destroyed
A6M5c Zero: 1 destroyed
E14Y1 Glen: 1 destroyed
E8N2 Dave: 3 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-5 Hellcat: 1 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 160 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 63 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 7
J2M3 Jack x 5
Ki-43-IIb Oscar x 1
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 2
Ki-84a Frank x 1



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 4
FM-2 Wildcat x 20
F4U-1D Corsair x 12
F6F-3 Hellcat x 83
F6F-5 Hellcat x 12


Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed
J2M3 Jack: 2 destroyed
Ki-43-IIb Oscar: 1 destroyed
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar: 1 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
F6F-3 Hellcat: 1 destroyed


Morning Air attack on TF, near Miyake-jima at 112,63

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 2



Allied aircraft
Corsair II x 8
Hellcat I x 3
FM-2 Wildcat x 19
F4U-1D Corsair x 10
F6F-3 Hellcat x 64
F6F-5 Hellcat x 9


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 1 destroyed




Japan loses 100 AC in A2A combat this turn vs zero Allied AC. The Allies OTOH lose 59 AC to ops....I put over 1000 naval bombers on search and maybe 60-70 drop bombs on naval targets but no IJN ships were reported as sinking.....at least it didnt use up any carrier ops.



77th Division is ordered to secure Miyake-jima next turn and then the base forces, seabees and aviation engineers will be offloaded.



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


Im not really sure why I even read the weather forecasts.....they are invariably wrong. The weather is again thunderstorms over Osaka on 10/24 and NO strategic bombers fly. The weather improves marginally over Osaka on 10/25 and the B-24s/Liberators again hit LI/HI.

A mere 60 strategic bombing points are scored for a total of 21,004 strategic loss points. The weather forecast for next turn is bad virtually everywhere over central Japan.....Im going to ground all the 4Es for some R&R until meteorological conditions improve.

The tempo of the strategic bombing campaign is slowing down. Im going to halt bombing raids on Nagoya/Yokohama/Tokyo until the airfield on Miyake-jima is up and running. I will try to focus on more lightly defended targets in southern Japan that the carrier bombers can also hit without getting decimated.

CENTPAC: INVASION MIYAKE-JIMA



The US Army 77th Division secures Miyake-jima. Next turn, thousands of seabees, base forces and aviation engineers will begin to unload. I forgot to include an air HQ so Im sending an AKA to Tinian to pick up AirSoPAC HQ to land on Miyake Jima.

StoneAge sends more naval bombers against 5th Fleet and loses 30 AC in A2A combat vs 4 Allied AC.

CV Franklin.....which sufffered over 40 FLT damage 3 months ago from sub launched torpedoes......has been in drydock at Ulithi for the last 3 months. If I had sent her back to Pearl she would have been basically out of the rest of the war. Instead....she goes into an ARD at Ulithi with 8 ARs and she is put on "critical" ship repair and voila.....she is as good as new again in less than 3 months......very impressive.

The weather forecast for next turn again sucks all over central Japan save Yokohama. I know that I just posted last turn that I wouldnt attack Yokohama again until we had a level 5 AF up and running on Miyake-jima....but StoneAge has wasted all his fighters on naval attacks the last 3 turns and Yokohama now is basically defenseless. All of the B-24s/Liberators....... and the B-29s at Tinian....... will precision bomb industries at Yokohama next turn.

AdmSpruance - how are the figures looking for ending the war with airpower alone ? Especially as you loose points for aircaft shot down or lost operationally ?

Also have you effectively shut down ops elsewhere like Singapore ?

nicwb......excellent point regarding plane losses. about 6 weeks ago, Japan had 30,000 points and the Allies had 80,000 points....so I figured that I would need another 10,000 points from strategic bombing to win the game. Now.....I finally scored another 10,000 points.....the current score is 33.419 for Japan and 91,426 for the Allies.....so the point differential really hasnt changed at all. I have to score 3:1 points just to keep the current point differential.....I need to score 5:1 or 6:1 to close the gap and I cant. Ive sunk every Jap carrier and BB so I dont really think its possible to achieve 3:1 odds for the autovictory in 1944..... so I think this game will end in an autovictory on 1/1/45. Im losing so many AC over Japan that Im not scoring enough points from strategic bombing to make up the difference.

However....once I get the airfield up and running at Miyake-jima I will launch a firebombing attack on Tokyo that the world has never before seen... so Im stiil optimistic that I can achieve a 3:1 autovictory in 1944 but we will see.

As for Singapore....I captured it several months ago.



10/28-10/29/44



STRATEGIC BOMBING OF JAPAN


Well I was right about precision bombing Yokohama.....StoneAge squandered all of his fighters in naval attacks and my aerial assault on Yokohama was unopposed.....in bomber's parlance it was a "milk run". The B-29s from Tinian and the B-24s/Liberators precision bomb refineries/HI/LI at Yokohama....over 500 strategic loss points are scored for a total of 21,530 strategic points.

Next turn I will begin moving all the CVs/CVLs/CVEs back to base....and all the carrier air will help the 4Es area bomb Kobe...I dont think StoneAge has much in the way of air defenses there any longer.

I have a sneaking suspicion that you really have to put "boots on the ground" - that in itself is an expensive proposition for the Home Islands. Even in real life the Strategic air war looked like giving way to invasion until they came up with the nuclear option.

Damn - missed the fall of Singapore !

If the peanut gallery has any influence, I'd love to see Olympic vs. a human. It could be a titanic struggle. Alas, the AI doesn't react much with ground units on the Home Islands.

Cheers,
CC

nicwb and Commander Cody......thanx for your comments. At one time I was considering Operation Olympic.....the invasion of Japan.....but its already 11/44 and by the time I could finally get 30-40 divisions ashore the game would be ending with the 1/1/45 autovictory. I think I finally decided to cancel the Home island invasion when vaned talked me into starting a new campaign game....Babes light.....and now in that game its 1/42 and I'm fighting for Allied survival in Singapore and the DEI. Vaned is a very good player and Im finding the new Babes Light game to be exceedingly challenging. There's only so many hours available for 2 games and an AAR....so I think that I will keep exploring the limits of strategic bombing in this game until we reach the autovictory.



10/30-10/31/44



CENTPAC


My replenishment TF....with 2 replenishment CVEs gets left out in the cold as all the other carriers head back to port. I think that it must have used up too many op points with the fuel and AC replenishment and was left hor's de combat to Japanese naval bombers:

Morning Air attack on TF, near Tsu at 108,63

Weather in hex: Light cloud

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
P1Y1 Frances x 7



No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
CVE Takanis Bay, Torpedo hits 1



Aircraft Attacking:
7 x P1Y1 Frances launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo



The damage to CVE Takanis Bay was not catastrophic.....15 SYS 8 FLT and 11 ENG.....she will have to make port in Okinawa for repairs though.


Even worse than that, my AK supply TF to resupply Miyake-jima was routed to where all my carriers had been standing on station off the coast of Japan.....by the time they got there though the carriers had begun their return to port and the result wasnt pretty:


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Shimizu at 112,62

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M5c Zero x 2
D4Y3 Judy x 27
Ki-43-IIIa Oscar x 4
Ki-84a Frank x 3



Japanese aircraft losses
D4Y3 Judy: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Alkes
AK Gainsar
AK Menkar, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Arided, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Matar, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
AK Caelum, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
APD Fox
AK Serpens, Bomb hits 2, on fire



Aircraft Attacking:
11 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 2000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 3000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb
8 x D4Y3 Judy releasing from 1000'
Naval Attack: 1 x 500 kg SAP Bomb

Carrier support unable to supply air cover..
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AK Menkar


I have 5 pretty banged up AKs now that also need to head back to port for repairs.


On a better note, the seabees on Miyake-jima have enlarged the airfield from level zero to level 2 in just 2 days. The Marines now join the air battle off Japan as 4 squadrons of VMF's with Corsairs are staged in. Now I can add the entire pool of Marine pilots as well as the pool of Corsairs to the Battle of Japan. A squadron of Black Widows was also staged into Miyake -jima just in case StoneAge tries any night attacks.


All of the carrier bombers and 4Es area bomb Kobe this turn. On 10/30 we had clear weather for once and we started a level 982,000 fire but on 10/31 the severe storms returned and we could only achieve a level 323,000 fire. A mere 75 strategic loss points were scored over Kobe last turn.
The weather forecast for next turn is clear over Kobe so all the carrier bombers and 4Es are ordered to firebomb the city again.



Over at the Panama Canal, BB Missouri departs Balboa and begins its journey across the Pacific to join 5th Fleet.