BACK IN BUSINESS - PzB goes East again(st) Andy Mac

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: PzB

A warning:

It seems like I have misunderstood how the supply requirement (+) functionality works.
I thought I could safely set supply requirements for most bases between 1 and 20000.

However this approach seems to be causing havoc; I suddenly had a lot of starving bases with 1 supply and even though a base had 50k+ of supplies it refused to send any surplus to its starving neighbour base.

I have now turned of most of the supply requirements and hope to see an improvement soon.

the supply draw feature isn´t working at all, it seems to be broken since the release of the game. As soon as you toggle to draw more supplies than there are at the base it just keeps drawing supplies on and on, no matter if you have set it to 300, 3000, 30000, etc. it just doesn´t work. [8|]

[PzB74]

Great...that's just the thing I would have liked to know before starting [8|]

Also seems like I forgot to turn of the "Unit withdrawal" function.
Wasn't aware of it and just left it at default.

Guess both me and Andy will have to live with the consequences.
Andy tells me that I get to keep the Thai Army... WOHO! [:D]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: PzB

A warning:

It seems like I have misunderstood how the supply requirement (+) functionality works.
I thought I could safely set supply requirements for most bases between 1 and 20000.

However this approach seems to be causing havoc; I suddenly had a lot of starving bases with 1 supply and even though a base had 50k+ of supplies it refused to send any surplus to its starving neighbour base.

I have now turned of most of the supply requirements and hope to see an improvement soon.

the supply draw feature isn´t working at all, it seems to be broken since the release of the game. As soon as you toggle to draw more supplies than there are at the base it just keeps drawing supplies on and on, no matter if you have set it to 300, 3000, 30000, etc. it just doesn´t work. [8|]

[castor troy]

ORIGINAL: PzB

Great...that's just the thing I would have liked to know before starting [8|]

Also seems like I forgot to turn of the "Unit withdrawal" function.
Wasn't aware of it and just left it at default.

Guess both me and Andy will have to live with the consequences.
Andy tells me that I get to keep the Thai Army... WOHO! [:D]

ORIGINAL: castor troy

ORIGINAL: PzB

A warning:

It seems like I have misunderstood how the supply requirement (+) functionality works.
I thought I could safely set supply requirements for most bases between 1 and 20000.

However this approach seems to be causing havoc; I suddenly had a lot of starving bases with 1 supply and even though a base had 50k+ of supplies it refused to send any surplus to its starving neighbour base.

I have now turned of most of the supply requirements and hope to see an improvement soon.

the supply draw feature isn´t working at all, it seems to be broken since the release of the game. As soon as you toggle to draw more supplies than there are at the base it just keeps drawing supplies on and on, no matter if you have set it to 300, 3000, 30000, etc. it just doesn´t work. [8|]

not turning off unit withdrawels is more an advantage for the Allied, but on the other hand, replacements of all stuff is so low that it not having to withdraw doesn´t help anyway as you can´t fill out anything. [:(] Saying this as an Allied player at the moment... you can´t imagine how depressing it is when you look at the replacements of aircraft or stuff for your ground troops. It´s feeling like Hitler must have felt in 45... only ships will come in as you´re used to...

[Wirraway_Ace]

ORIGINAL: PzB

It's interesting to see that Noumea is completely undefended - just a small garrison unit.
I'm tempted to keep some carriers in the area, this will keep Andy on edge and prevent him from bringing in reinforcements. If we also can raid the sealanes from the US to Australia we can prevent an enemy buildup and sink some valuable cargo ships. If the enemy carriers come out to play this is a bonus.

As long as we have carriers in the area it is completely safe to capture Rabaul, Kavieng, Shortlands and maybe also Port Moresby. A tempting thought: An early invasion of Noumea - keep the KB around together with subs and bring in supplies and LBA.

What do you think, to ambitious or doable?
- The DEI / Malaya / Phillipine operations will trudge along on their own anyway.

The Mini KB with some reinforcements will support these operations and should be able to handle at least 2 enemy carriers.

PzB,

my thoughts:

It is easy to take Noumea, but it doesn't interdict his lines of communication a great deal. His transports to OZ will run to NZ then to Sydney (adding 2-3 days travel time). You are short patrol aircraft so it is hard to establish much effective coverage in the South Pacific and without an Air HQs, your Nells and Betty's have a lot less bite.

I found supporting Noumea a millstone to other operations. It tied up a significant portion of the IJN a long way from other theaters--removing the advantage of interior lines. Additionally, OZ can be supported from Cape Town, so if you really want to make a Noumea strategy effective, you need to combine it with taking Perth (or heavily interdicting it).

[PzB74]

Always good to hear about Allied woes [;)]

Yes, you may be right Wirraway - a right hook into Christmas Islands coupled with an Air HQ, subs and raiders can pose more of a threat throughout 42. It's possible to just leave these exposed islands when the enemy gains local sea / air superiority as the war goes into 43.

Supply problems are dissappearing now as I've turned of the supply draw [:)]


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 24, 41

Sea

Sub attack near Lahaina at 191,101

Japanese Ships
SS I-19, hits 1

Allied Ships
AP Harris, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
TK William H. Berg
xAP President Fillmore
xAK Ohioan
AVD Williamson

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Lahaina at 191,102

Japanese Ships
SS I-25

Allied Ships
AP Harris, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
Guns lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

AP Harris is sighted by SS I-25
SS I-25 launches 6 torpedoes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground

Our first attack on Mersing achieves 1-1 and reduces forts to 0.
Seems like the defenders got of worst in regards to casualties!


Ground combat at Mersing (51,82)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10958 troops, 72 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 326
Defending force 6437 troops, 122 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 227

Japanese adjusted assault: 115
Allied adjusted defense: 75

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
314 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 11 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled

Allied ground losses:
573 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 43 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 83 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Vehicles lost 14 (1 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
41st Infantry Regiment
55th Infantry Regiment
91st Naval Guard Unit
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF /1
84th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
22nd Australian Brigade
5/14th Punjab Battalion
3rd Cavalry Regiment
12th Indian Brigade
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Malaya - Mersing

[PzB74]

A funny note; the Bloemfontein recently sunk has an intriguing history!


M. V. Bloemfontein
Troop Transport for VMD-154
The Bloemfontein was a Dutch motor vessel that was used by the Allies as a freighter in the South Pacific during WWII. Built in 1934 in Amsterdam, Holland, this ship measured 488 feet in length and could achieve a speed of 16 knots. She could carry 2,334 passengers and could hold 146,000 cubic feet of cargo. With such a capacity, the Bloemfontein was a natural choice for troop and supply transport during the war.

On December 3, 1942, the Bloemfontein embarked from San Diego with the main body of USMC Squadron VMD-154. The voyage was less than memorable, and at least one member of the squadron nicknamed the ship "The Miserable Bloemfontein." Listed below are commentaries on the Bloemfontein written by VMD-154 squadron members.

Embarked 2 Dec 42, sailed from San Diego, Calif. 3 Dec 42 via M. V. Bloemfontein.
Arrived at Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides on 31 Dec 42 and disembarked 31 Dec 42.

Service Record Book
William Earl Bauer

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While Christmas of 1942 has never been my favorite Christmas, it's the one I remember most vividly - as undoubtedly do many of the nearly 4,000 Marines who were aboard the troop ship Bloemfontein that Christmas Eve 44 years ago.

After 31 days at sea, the ship, a converted Dutch icebreaker, had dropped anchor in Noumea Harbor in the coastal waters of New Caledonia, an island in the southern hemisphere halfway around the world from the USA. Using an icebreaker to carry troops to the tepid waters of the South Pacific didn't seem to make much sense, but then, during wartime, what did?

Earlier in the day, I had been designated as the O.D. and directed by Major Gay Thrash, operations officer on board, to stand the gangway watch. He went ashore to pick up orders - orders that would send us northward into the active war zone.

It was summertime south of the equator. The weather was seasonally hot and traditionally humid. In the cargo holds below, bunks for the troops had been stacked four and five high, resembling steel shelving in a hardware store. With the ship not moving, there was not a breath of air stirring below the decks.

Somewhere out on deck in that layer of partially khaki-clad human protoplasm was a guy with a harmonica. I didn't know his name, but I could hear his buddies call him "Polack." He player a lot of tunes including "The Marine's Hymn" and "Beer Barrel Polka."

After the troops had belted out several choruses of the lively polka, there fell upon the ship a hush. Loud by comparison to the sudden silence aboard ship was the sound of the gentle splash of the calm harbor waters against the steel plates of the hull.

Then from somewhere out in the nearly solid blanket of Marines lying mustly on their backs, their eyes focused on the big, perfectly round and brilliantly glowing moon, a Marine called out: "Hey, Polack. Can you play "White Christmas?"

written by the late Jack O. Baldwin
"VMD-154 Newsletter" April 24, 1987

Note from S. Monaghan: It is believed that the Marine who played the harmonica was Lucian Tuszynski. His talent with the harmonica has been recalled by several squadron members.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I recall the trip on the "Luxury Liner" Bloemfontein, I was seasick about three weeks of the month going over. I think that I must have fed a lot of the fish out there because I had it timed just about right so I could make it from the galley, up the ladder to the rail and get rid of all the delicious food that the cooks had slaved so hard over the hot stoves to prepare.

I remember Christmas Eve of 1942 quite vividly. I was assigned guard duty on deck from 20:00 hours to 24:00 with orders that there were to be no lights on deck (no smoking) and that no one was supposed to be on the roof of the heads. The heads were long wooden sheds built along the railing, the outflow of which went to feed the fish. Many of the men used to climb up on the roof to sunbath during the day and enjoy the cool ocean breezes at night.The reason for keeping them off the roof was the fear of someone falling asleep and rolling off into the water.

When I took my post with my trusty M-1 (no ammunition) that night, I was so seasick I could hardly stand up, and I didn't care if someone did roll off the roof into the ocean. (Poor attitude for a Marine). After a short while, I sat down on the deck with my back against the bulkhead. I heard someone walking along the deck. He went past me for a ways, and then I heard him coming back. I figured he must be the Sgt. of the Guard checking the Post. He nudged one of the guys sleeping nearby and asked him if he had seen the Sentry. The answer from that man wasn't too nice, x#*7%. I spoke up and said, "Here I am, Sarge". He said, "What in hell are you doing down there?" I told him that I was too sick to stand on my feet. He told me to stand up and lean against the bulkhead until he could get a relief for me. He came back in a short while with another unhappy Marine to take my place. And because I was on the guard roster that night I was given permission to go ashore on Christmas Day.

I recall that on Christmas Day '42 some of us were permitted to go ashore in Noumea for a few hours, and as we walked along the street, we came upon a Service Canteen serving various cold drinks. I had taken French as a language in high school, so I decided to ask for a glass of water (using my best French), but the girl behind the counter kept saying "non." I tried again and received the same answer "non," so then I said, "A glass of water." She replied "mais qui" and gave us the water. She understood my "Anglaise" better than my "Francaise."

written by Ernest G. Haff
November 1, 2003

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The war began - after a fashion - for me when I shipped out of San Francisco at 11 a.m., Wednesday, December 3, 1942 on the Dutch icebreaker Bloemfontein. I don't know how many Marines - plus our VMD-154 contingent - were on board, but it was really crowded. Food was also lousy. Generally, oatmeal and an orange for breakfast and hot dogs or cold cuts for dinner - lunch was not included. We arrived at Noumea, New Caledonia, half starved, bedraggled and thoroughly pissed, on the 21st of December. I managed to join a shore party on Christmas day, so joined some other Marines in begging bread. No luck. The Red Cross gave me two chocolate bars - Christmas dinner! We left Noumea (without regret) on the 29th, and arrived at Espiritu Santo on the 31st. We all disembarked on January 1, 1943. Two Army pilots celebrating the new year in a B-17 crashed. One dead, one injured. We settled down to building Camp Elrod.

written by J. Reid Clark
"VMD-154 Newsletter" April 2000

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There were some remembrances of the harbor at Noumea. We had a patient from another outfit with meningitis who was completely out of it. The night we arrived (after our morning arrival), we had to take him off the Bloemfontein for transfer to the Naval Hospital. It was fun being on the low end of a Stokes stretcher and making it down the ladder on the side of the ship. We also had a few other patients, but they were ambulatory. The meningitis patient recovered and visited us at Camp Elrod later.

Jack Parsons and I went to town Christmas Day. We spent about an hour in town and 3 hours trying to get back to the ship. We found a little stand in town that advertised milk shakes. What imagination. We did have entertainment. A drunk Melanesian couple was having a high time in the town square. As I recall it was some kind of hot day. Think we both got sunburned and hungry.

written by Raymond Walker
"VMD-154 Newsletter" July 2000

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There's not a Christmas that my thoughts don't go back to Xmas of '42 on the Bloemfontein. I was five months out of high school and scared to death. I could shave just before any inspection and no one could tell the difference. I actually grew almost 2 inches.

written by Merl A. Baxter
"VMD-154 Newsletter" January 2002

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Powers made a warm and lasting impression on me. He played a red piano constantly for us on Bloemfontein luxury liner. He could play many requests. He was always a smiling man no matter where you saw him - except in his office - there he was and always will be "The Top Sarge" and meant business.

written by Wayne Shaffer
"VMD-154 Newsletter" November 2002

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Ed Klimes reports - the Bloemfontein was sold for scrap to Hong Kong in 1959. This report was from the Netherlands Ministry of Traffic and Waterways. NO TEARS PLEASE!"

"VMD-154 Newsletter" April 9, 1990

[PzB74]

Went through most bases, industry and settings tonight...Zzzz major effort.
Adjusted airframe / engine production and converted dozens of AKL's to PB.
Need more escorts for our convoys as the sub threat will only increase.

Had a few sub encounters near the Home Islands and only faulty torpedoes saved the ships.
The plan is to carfully place ASW and patrol units along the convoy routes and send out ASW groups on regular patrols.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 25, 41

Air Combat

Seems like air to ground attacks are very efficient - maybe to efficient.
We continue our offensives, the aim is to put both Manila and Singapore out of action.

Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 23 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 21
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 10

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 5 damaged

Allied Ships
SS S-39, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
MTB 26, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

Port fuel hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
21 x Ki-21-IIa Sally bombing from 15000 feet *
Port Attack: 2 x 250 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mini KB entered the fray again in the DEI; it now consists of the CV Soryu, 2 CVL and 2 CVE and fields some 130 ac.
7 ships were attacked and probably sunk today.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Endeh at 66,114

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 32 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 27
B5N1 Kate x 8
D3A1 Val x 8

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 2 damaged
D3A1 Val: 1 damaged

Allied Ships
xAK Woolgar, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk
TK Talang Akar, Bomb hits 6, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAKL Sipora, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Endeh at 66,114

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 13 NM, estimated altitude 13,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 22
B5N1 Kate x 15
B5N2 Kate x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N1 Kate: 4 damaged

Allied Ships
xAKL Parigi, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
xAP Boschfontein, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
xAKL Prominent, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
xAP Pijnacker Hordijk, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Cleaning out some Chinese....

Ground combat at 88,45
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12240 troops, 147 guns, 30 vehicles, Assault Value = 1225
Defending force 1479 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 50

Japanese adjusted assault: 411

Allied adjusted defense: 1
Japanese assault odds: 411 to 1

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

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

Allied ground losses:
1819 casualties reported
Squads: 106 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
6th Ind.Mixed Brigade
110th Division
5th Armored Car Co
37th Division
36th/C Division
4th Mortar Battalion
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion

Defending units:
8th New Chinese Corps
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy brought reinforcements to Mersing, maybe we should do the same.
Got another couple of regiments - if we can tie down the bulk of the enemy troops....

Ground combat at Mersing (51,82)
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10776 troops, 72 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 315
Defending force 12584 troops, 184 guns, 143 vehicles, Assault Value = 501

Japanese adjusted assault: 75
Allied adjusted defense: 199
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), disruption(-), preparation(-), morale(-)
experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
745 casualties reported
Squads: 8 destroyed, 35 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 34 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Vehicles lost 4 (1 destroyed, 3 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
602 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 56 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Vehicles lost 23 (6 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Assaulting units:
4th Ind. Engineer Regiment
91st Naval Guard Unit
41st Infantry Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
55th Infantry Regiment
Yokosuka 1st SNLF /1
84th JAAF AF Bn

Defending units:
11th Indian Division
5/14th Punjab Battalion
3rd Cavalry Regiment
22nd Australian Brigade
12th Indian Brigade
1st HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
22nd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2nd HK&S Heavy AA Regiment
272/273rd Bty 80th AT Gun Regiment
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another invasion, top left base in Northern Borneo:

Ground combat at Singkawang (56,88)

Japanese Deliberate attack
Attacking force 2629 troops, 14 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 99
Defending force 1075 troops, 10 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 36
Japanese adjusted assault: 42
Allied adjusted defense: 13

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Singkawang !!!

Allied aircraft
no flights

Allied aircraft losses
No Allied losses

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

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

Allied ground losses:
458 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Assaulting units:
II./124th Infantry Battalion
III./124th Infantry Battalion

Defending units:
West Borneo KNIL Battalion
Singkawang Base Force
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mini KB

[PzB74]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 26, 41

Sea Combat

We're invading Rabaul - pretty sure Allied carriers are at Pearl and hiding somewhere in Oz.

Naval bombardment of Rabaul at 106,125

Japanese Ships
CA Kinugasa
CA Aoba
CL Tenryu

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

Runway hits 4

CA Kinugasa firing at Rabaul
CA Aoba firing at Lark Battalion
CL Tenryu firing at Lark Battalion
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our sub received a few nasty scratches!

Sub attack near Kangean at 59,103

Japanese Ships
SS I-122, hits 3

Allied Ships
DD Parrott
CL Tromp
DD Bulmer
DD Barker
DD Paul Jones

SS I-122 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Parrott
I-122 bottoming out ....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We're not leaving the "Chikuma" convoy alone!

Sub attack near Hilo at 187,116

Japanese Ships
SS I-23

Allied Ships
AP Wharton, Torpedo hits 1
AP William Ward Burrows
TK Gulfking
xAK Examiner
xAK Liberty
AVD Williamson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

Todays drama; Air combat over Rangoon!
Ordered 80 fighters to sweep and then another 20 fighters were to escort some naval bombers.
Of course this got to complicated and sweeps - bombers and escorts went in head over heels :-\

The first sweep went in as planned and downed quite a few fighters.
Dunno why they have botched the kill reports, it's always wrong and way too low.

Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ia Oscar x 21
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 34

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 49

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-43-Ia Oscar sweeping at 15000 feet
5 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 15000 feet

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Another 6 lone Zeroes trailed behind....

Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53
Weather in hex: Light rain

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

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 28

No Japanese losses
No Allied losses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...then a few bombers without an escort [:o]

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 120 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 47 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 4
G4M1 Betty x 6

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 22

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
....even more unescorted bombers

Morning Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G4M1 Betty x 13

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 16

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 2 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Then more fighters on sweep mission, AARGGH someone will get shot for this incompetence!

Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 46 NM, estimated altitude 21,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 15 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 12

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
17 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sweep fighters in the afternoon;


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 23 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 11

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 7

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 1 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
8 x Ki-43-Ib Oscar sweeping at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the afternoon some unescorted Nells attacked enemy ships, only 1 were lost fortunately.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes

Japanese aircraft
G3M2 Nell x 6

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M2 Nell: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CL Dauntless

Aircraft Attacking:
5 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 15000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mini KB finished the small convoy SE of Java


Morning Air attack on TF, near Waingapoe at 61,115

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 45 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 16 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 13
B5N2 Kate x 3

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Schouten, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Waingapoe at 61,115

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 35 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 6
D3A1 Val x 11

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
xAKL Soerabaja, Bomb hits 6, and is sunk
xAKL Sipirok, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The reaction from Java...a single B-17 that dropped a string of bombs at the CVL Zuiho!

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Endeh at 66,114

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 40 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 18
F1M2 Pete x 5

Allied aircraft
B-17D Fortress x 1

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
B-17D Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
CVL Zuiho

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x B-17D Fortress bombing from 10000 feet *
Naval Attack: 4 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

Ground combat at Lingayen (79,75)
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 9505 troops, 120 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 705
Defending force 450 troops, 8 guns, 6 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 251
Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 251 to 1 (fort level 1)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Lingayen !!!

Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), disruption(-), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

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

Allied ground losses:
538 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 59 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 8 (8 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (6 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1
Units destroyed 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
48th Engineer Regiment
47th Infantry Regiment
4th Tank Regiment
2nd Tank Regiment
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
48th Recon Regiment
65th Brigade
7th Tank Regiment
48th Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
South Luzon Force
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sidate (75,100)
Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 1458 troops, 12 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 61
Defending force 493 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 7

Japanese adjusted assault: 54
Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 54 to 1 (fort level 0)
Japanese forces CAPTURE Sidate !!!

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

Allied ground losses:
201 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 12 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Rabaul (106,125)
Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 582 troops, 8 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 16
Defending force 2477 troops, 22 guns, 2 vehicles, Assault Value = 100

Assaulting units:
Lark Battalion
Rabaul Det. Base Force

Defending units:
Maizuru 1st SNLF /1
II/81st Nav Gd /1
2nd Indpt SNLF Coy /1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situation Map: Philippines

[PzB74]

A quick look at air losses;



We shot down 14 AVG fighters but lost 19 of our own, some 12 of these were Betty / Nell bombers.
Have to avoid such incidents, can ill afford them in the long run.

The challenge is that sweeps / bombers & escort missions are incredible difficult to coordinate.
Strikes usually go in at rather random intervals. Today I saw that some of the unescorted bombers turned around, that's a good feature.

What I want is an option that orders bombers to turn around if the escort doesn't show up!

[ny59giants]

Don't forget to occasionally hit the "P" key and turn off hex side details. Then, hit the "W" key to check on ZOC and hex side control. This will help you understand the new land combat and rules for advance and retreat as control of a particular hex side is now key. Look at both Luzon and Malaya and you may see opportunities to push Andy in a specific direction. 

[PzB74]

Will do that, think I've forgotten to use those keys altogether! [:)]

Still, Andy is the master of land combat - expect him to retreat in an orderly fashion towards Singapore / Manila - Bataan. He said he was surprised about the 1-1 at Mersing, going to follow up on this and land another couple of regiments. Wearing down enemy LCU outside major cities like Singapore is a good thing.

With 4 fresh elite divisions ready to march into Singers I hope to make short process and then turn 2 divisions north towards Rangoon.

Here is an overview of some major LCU's:

[Mynok]

ORIGINAL: PzB

A quick look at air losses;



We shot down 14 AVG fighters but lost 19 of our own, some 12 of these were Betty / Nell bombers.
Have to avoid such incidents, can ill afford them in the long run.

The challenge is that sweeps / bombers & escort missions are incredible difficult to coordinate.
Strikes usually go in at rather random intervals. Today I saw that some of the unescorted bombers turned around, that's a good feature.

What I want is an option that orders bombers to turn around if the escort doesn't show up!

I sweep until the resistance is negligible, then set my bomber attacks and set escorts to the same altitude as the bombers. One of the devs made the important point that altitude is the critical key for coordination.

[Q-Ball]

Looks to me like he is standing at Clark; all those units there, plus the "Arrow" for the troops at Manila. I bet he leaves Manila an open city.

[PzB74]

Yeah, that's ideal Mynok - but what about the times when Andy has large and valuable convoys and warships under his CAP umbrealla! Shoot down the CAP and they will be gonners, the only chance to get at them would be to suppress the CAP and send in the bombers and their little friends. I don't feel confident doing this right now but later in the war I'll only get one shot at such high-pri targets so I better learn! [;)]

Very possible Q-Ball, hope he leaves behind some of his supplies.
I've started bombing Bataan to slow down the fort building rate.

Guess we'll have to start bombing the defendes 24/7 for a month and then gather as many LCU's as possible before assaulting.
Currently we got 1 division, 1 bde, 2 regiments as well as many smaller detachments, arty and engineer units on Luzon.
Not much more than 2.5 full divisions worth of troops - does anyone know how much more hardware we will need for this job?

[Mynok]

Defensive air warfare is definitely a different animal. [:D]

The critical component that I was missing was the altitude issue. Your fighters were all set to different altitudes than your bombers. That's why they didn't have escorts.

[khyberbill]

Japanese seem to escort their bombers more often than Allied strikes. Probably due to higher exp lvl. I have frequent unescorted strikes. One strike with Navy Torpedo bombers was totally wiped out (18 if I recall). The 36 F4f-4 escorts were from the same CV and set to escort at 11k. They were no shows. One of the developers noted that escorts should be 1-2k above the bombers.

[Rob Brennan UK]

What I want is an option that orders bombers to turn around if the escort doesn't show up!

You can try and put less aggressive commanders in the squadrons, i find that helps enormously.

[PzB74]

Hm, I will experiment more with how escorts work. The logical approach would be that all fighters assigned as escorts accompanied bombers - especially when a target base is set.

Looks like Andy is marching into Bataan - Manila has been abandoned!
Things are moving along in Malaya as well.

There's a big discussion in Imperial Headquarters about what to do after the "clean up" operations have been completed.
The Army is proposing a plan to invade Burma and India while the Navy wants to fight a "decisive battle" with the US fleet and propose and invasion of a few key US bases in the Central Pacific to provoke such a battle.


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 27, 41

Submarine Attacks

I think Andy must be getting a bit frustrated because our subs are blowing lots of ships out of the water! [8D]

Submarine attack near Hilo at 187,116

Japanese Ships
SS I-4

Allied Ships
AP Wharton, Shell hits 2, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

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

AP Wharton is sighted by SS I-4
SS I-4 attacking on the surface
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Pearl Harbor at 184,100

Japanese Ships
SS I-6

Allied Ships
xAKL Coloradan, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

xAKL Coloradan is sighted by SS I-6
SS I-6 launches 2 torpedoes at xAKL Coloradan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Pearl Harbor at 183,101

Japanese Ships
SS I-9

Allied Ships
xAKL Mexican, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

xAKL Mexican is sighted by SS I-9
SS I-9 launches 6 torpedoes at xAKL Mexican
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

More sweeps to clear the polluted airways over Rangoon.
Today we loose 11 Oscars but claim 11 Buffalos and 11 AVG fighters.

Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 25 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 8 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 25

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 21
Buffalo I x 17


Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ib Oscar: 6 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 80 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 27 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ib Oscar x 3

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 11
Buffalo I x 8

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 80 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 3

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 9
Buffalo I x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 1 destroyed
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Morning Air attack on Rangoon , at 54,53

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 37 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
H81-A3 x 6
Buffalo I x 7

No Japanese losses

Allied aircraft losses
H81-A3: 2 destroyed
Buffalo I: 2 destroyed

Aircraft Attacking:
22 x A6M2 Zero sweeping at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ground Combat

We capture Tandjoengselor, Rabaul, Kudat and Itbayat Island

Sub Menace

[PzB74]

We have won air superiority over Rangoon, Malaya and Luzon and it's difficult to find enemies except those huddling in their foxholes. Just need to be patient now....


AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR Dec 28, 41

Submarine Attacks

Submarine attack near Pearl Harbor at 181,106

Japanese Ships
SS I-175

Allied Ships
xAKL Mauna Ala, Torpedo hits 1, heavy damage

xAKL Mauna Ala is sighted by SS I-175
SS I-175 launches 2 torpedoes at xAKL Mauna Ala
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Pearl Harbor at 181,106

Japanese Ships
SS I-7

Allied Ships
xAKL Pacific, Shell hits 25, heavy fires, heavy damage

xAKL Pacific is sighted by SS I-7
SS I-7 attacking xAKL Pacific on the surface
SS I-7 low on gun ammo, Fujita G. breaks off surface engagement and submerges
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Submarine attack near Bandjermasin at 61,102

Japanese Ships
SS I-157

Allied Ships
AVP Bellatrix, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

AVP Bellatrix is sighted by SS I-157
SS I-157 launches 8 torpedoes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Air Combat

As we upgraded the local CAP on Jolo from Claude's to Zero's 3 tiny biplanes dropped by and hit 2 ships.
Talk about opportunists! Must be based in a small hideout near Davao.


Morning Air attack on TF, near Jolo at 74,90

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vildebeest III x 3

Allied aircraft losses
Vildebeest III: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
xAK Kasagi Maru, Bomb hits 4, heavy fires, heavy damage *sinks*
Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Vildebeest III bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb

Heavy smoke from fires obscuring xAK Kasagi Maru
Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid spotted at 19 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No more CAP over Rangoon but only a few bombers take to the air and only hit this empty tanker.


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rangoon at 54,53

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 4
G3M2 Nell x 4

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
TK Inge Maersk, Bomb hits 2, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
4 x G3M2 Nell bombing from 10000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Jolo at 74,90

Weather in hex: Heavy rain

Raid spotted at 37 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 24 minutes

Allied aircraft
Vildebeest III x 3

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
PB Tonon Maru, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Vildebeest III bombing from 6000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 500 lb GP Bomb
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[ny59giants]

Vildebeest are an Allied players best friend early in the war. [&o]

They seem to hit shipping better than any other Allied bomber for the first few months before they are all killed off.