Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[Bif1961]

It must have been 500 pound bags of flour that was dropped on it. According to Captain Hara B-17Ds caught a CVL, escorting CAs, CLs and DDs along with an amphibious TF in Davao harbor early in the war and missed everything. However many Japanese officers had to change their pants.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Yes, Yorktown can repair at Sydney. It would be over 100 days in the shipyard though, for SYS 10 and FLOT 42. I do have a Dutch ARD there with a 20,000 ton capacity, so I'll use that to bring the FLOT level down. It is working on Hermes now. Once Yorktown's SYS is repaired, I'll move Hermes out and move Yorktown in. Or just use Sydney's shipyard. Depends what other ships are repairing in what mode.

Yorktown is ~25,000 tons. It will not fit in a 20,000 capacity ARD.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

For the first raid that works out to about 50% hits 124 out of a possible 260 dropped, which would make it the greatest 4 engine bombing accuracy in history. Given that the raids were at approximately 10,000 feet and the historic inaccuracy of heavy bombers at that altitude it was a miracle raid.

The key thing is that it was a port attack, which means the ships were all disbanded -and unmoving- in port. Many of us think the accuracy of bombing disbanded ships is too high, but maybe the developers intend it as a deterrent for players disbanding ships to keep them from being detected by Naval Search and attacked by Naval Attack (which the AI decides to carry out or not).

[apbarog]

There's some abstraction in the game. Think about the status of the US ships at Pearl Harbor on December 7th. They aren't in task forces, they are in the port. Most are truly docked. Battleship row wasn't literally docked, but they were parked side by side. Should this be considered docked for the game? Or in port?

There's a big difference between a bunch of ships in Truk's harbor and a bunch of ships at Pearl Harbor. But the game has to consider the ships either docked or in port. And docking has docking limits, with all that goes with that, so they have to be mostly in port.

I try not to worry about every little thing like how many bomb hits should a level bomber get on a ship disbanded in port. I just take it as it comes. I'm aware that if I disband ships in port, they are vulnerable.

[apbarog]

Yorktown is 19,875 tonnage. It was using the 20,000 ton capable drydock ARD Dewey at Vava'u and is now at Sydney, where there is a 20,000 ton capable Dutch drydock.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: apbarog

Yorktown is 19,875 tonnage. It was using the 20,000 ton capable drydock ARD Dewey at Vava'u and is now at Sydney, where there is a 20,000 ton capable Dutch drydock.

OK, I must have been thinking of the Essex class, although those are supposed to be 27,000 tons Standard. Perhaps the figure I saw for the Yorktown class was their full load displacement, not standard displacement.

[apbarog]

11 Sep 42

Dolphin missed destroyer Hakaze with 2 torpedoes near Kavieng. Amberjack missed patrol boat Yamahagi Maru #3 in the Marshalls.

B-17s finally flew to Port Moresby to hit the airfield and port. Weather wasn't great with moderate rain, so damage to the airfield was light. One Babs was destroyed. Several squadrons hit the port, causing minor damage. One squadron did better though.

Afternoon Air attack on Port Moresby , at 98,130

Weather in hex: Moderate rain

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 11 minutes

Allied aircraft
B-17E Fortress x 7

Allied aircraft losses
B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged

Japanese Ships
AG Heijo Maru, Bomb hits 3, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAP Montevideo Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
AKE Nagisan Maru, Bomb hits 1, on fire

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

Port fuel hits 2

No enemy CAP at Port Moresby. The airfield is still damaged but probably not enough to prevent flight operations.

Both infantry divisions were loaded up at Lunga on the nice APs in one day. They'll head to Australia now. An Australian brigade arrived and is unloading to garrision the base.

On the trail just south of Chittagong, OPilot has noticed the buildup of Allied forces in the contested hex, and probably the Australian brigade showing movement to the coast to threaten a flank of the hex. He's pulling back towards Cox's Bazar. Allied artillery will bombard today to get a sense of what is still there.

[apbarog]

12 Sep 42

Dolphin spots battleship Hiei and escorts northeast of Kavieng. Don't know which way it is heading, and whether or not carriers are with it.

Enemy cruisers bombard Normanton for the first time. They retire towards Darwin. The bombardment is weak, damaging 4 B-26s and causing minimal base damage and only 27 casualties. I suspect this was a raid to go after the B-26s that have been hitting enemy troops from Coen to Portland Roads.

Another strong cruiser force is spotted at Darwin. A B-24 squadron discovers that Darwin's airfield is indeed operational and 4 are lost trying to hit the airfield.

Lilys and Helens hit Chinese forces near Tienshui, and the enemy makes a shock attack across the river. The Chinese do well, and would have done even better had they had supply. If OPilot didn't know that supply is critical for the Chinese, he does now.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 29963 troops, 250 guns, 137 vehicles, Assault Value = 936

Defending force 34005 troops, 147 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1057

Japanese adjusted assault: 577

Allied adjusted defense: 1387

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
3419 casualties reported
Squads: 64 destroyed, 522 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 57 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 30 disabled
Guns lost 35 (2 destroyed, 33 disabled)
Vehicles lost 27 (2 destroyed, 25 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1710 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 58 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 24 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Assaulting units:
110th Division
15th Tank Regiment
8th Division

Defending units:
23rd Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
13th Group Army
18th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

Enemy unit(s) are seen starting to retreat back across the river.

Allied units bombard in the contested hex south of Chittagong. In the jungle, it will be tough, but we're attacking today. Here's the opposing forces:

Assaulting units:
14th Indian Division
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
18th Australian Brigade
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion
Waziristan Division
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
209th Field Artillery Battalion
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
IV Indian Corps
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
12th Engineer Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

My plan is to weaken the enemy severely if not win the hex, then replace the troops with other divisions at Chittagong and nearby. Then on to Cox's Bazar and to Akyab.

[apbarog]

13 Sep 42

I-166 fired at KV Genista outside of Bombay. 2 torpedoes missed. OPilot hasn't stationed any subs outside of Bombay so far. I've been sending convoys from Capetown to Bombay and none have been spotted to date. I-166 could be going or coming from the Karachi area.

Perch fired 2 torpedoes at patrol boat Sensan Maru near Fergusson Island. One hit but was a dud. This is the second dud hit for Perch on a patrol boat in this area in 3 days, and the second time Sensan Maru has been hit by a dud. It was previously hit by Plunger in this area at the end of May.

Hurricanes swept the contested hex south of Chittagong. No enemy planes. Many Allied bombers were assigned to bomb the enemy here but none flew. The Allies make the first attempt to pushing the enemy back into Burma.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 40684 troops, 665 guns, 500 vehicles, Assault Value = 1260

Defending force 14140 troops, 241 guns, 181 vehicles, Assault Value = 518

Allied adjusted assault: 665

Japanese adjusted defense: 915

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
631 casualties reported
Squads: 7 destroyed, 74 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 51 disabled
Guns lost 64 (9 destroyed, 55 disabled)
Vehicles lost 67 (7 destroyed, 60 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
752 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 65 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 39 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Guns lost 61 (27 destroyed, 34 disabled)
Vehicles lost 12 (4 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Assaulting units:
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion
18th British Division
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
14th Indian Division
18th Australian Brigade
Waziristan Division
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
IV Indian Corps
209th Field Artillery Battalion
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
Imperial Guards Division
1st Tank Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

All in all, not bad. The enemy showed low supply even with no activity leading up to this attack. That's a good sign. And the enemy shows movement out of this hex towards Cox's Bazar. We rest today, doing just an artillery attack, and then deliberately attack again. The 641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion took most of the casualties. It will retreat back to Chittagong and recover. Air units will again try to bomb the hex.

To the east a bit, Allied units start to advance south in the jungle. This will be seen by OPilot. It could trigger a bigger retreat or a bigger reinforcement. Either way, the big push is along the coast towards Cox's Bazar and Akyab.

The US 1st Marine Division at Nauru Island starts to prep for Buna.

[apbarog]

14 Sep 42

S-28 is spotted by a mixed force with CL Naka, some DDs, and an APD, headed from Horn Island to Portland Roads. The sub isn't hit in the shallow water, and the task force then finds the minefield along the coast on the way to Portland Roads. Unfortunately, they sweep a few mines along the way and don't hit any. There's still a few there though.

Dolphin fired 2 torpedoes at heavily damaged xAK Totori Maru but missed. There's another heavily damaged ship in this task force. These ships were damaged in the heavy bomber raid of Kavieng recently. The ships are headed to Truk.

Perch got hit by a depth charge from destroyer Akikaze near Milne Bay. The mouseover shows this task force with several carriers, but this is questionable. The sub attacked showed 4 destroyers.

O21 fired 2 torpedoes at a tiny AMc leaving Koepang headed to Darwin. SigInt confirmed this movement.

There was an enemy cruiser force west of Kusaie Island yesterday, well within bombardment movement range. I risked leaving my P-40 squadron there and it paid off. Enemy aircraft arrived and the ships did not. They moved closer to the island, 3 hexes to the west.

Morning Air attack on Kusaie Island , at 125,118

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 11,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 6 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 36
G4M1 Betty x 21

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 4 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 8 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
PBY-5 Catalina: 1 destroyed on ground

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 11

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

CAP engaged:
18th FG/19th FS with P-40E Warhawk (4 airborne, 10 on standby, 10 scrambling)
4 plane(s) intercepting now.
Group patrol altitude is 12000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 35 minutes

More Warhawks intercepted after the bombing than before, but lots of kills in both phases. Actual losses were 20 Bettys and 10 A6M2 Zeros. No P-40s were lost. I decided to move the fighters to Nauru today, expecting a revenge bombardment.

Allied bombers hit Cox's Bazar's port, doing light damage but hitting some supply. Others hit the Imperial Guard Division in the contested hex, doing minor troop damage. Enemy troops are still showing movement south out of the contested hex, but others to the south are showing movement north into the hex. Today we do another deliberate attack.

Southwest of Akyab, an enemy task force is spotted. This looks like the one with 2 CS's in it. This task force has previously protected shipping coming into Akyab, as well as bombardment forces about to hit Chittagong. There's a heavy fighter presence at Akyab as well as Magwe, so I choose not to hit shipping at Akyab should it appear there. I removed the fighters from Chittagong also.

[apbarog]

15 Sep 42

I-28 hit xAK Chickasaw City between Nauru and Ocean Islands. I was moving it and two other cargo ships from Nauru to Ocean to finish unloading supply and to be a little less vulnerable with enemy combat ships prowling to the north. Chickasaw City did sink.

Battleships Hyugo, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso bombarded Kusaie Island, along with 8 destroyers. I guessed correctly that this was coming, although it wasn't difficult, with ships spotted three hexes to the west. 582 casualties and moderate base damage. Most importantly, however, supply was reduced from around 2,600 to 575. SSTs are unloading more now and the APD shuttle continues from Nauru.

I like to give my opponent a place to focus on. A place of my choosing, and a bit further than my primary goal. I took Nauru and wanted to build it up, and saw an opportunity to take an undefended Kusaie. Kusaie is a bit out on a limb, but it would take a major effort for OPilot to reconquer it. He's focused on Kusaie, and all the while, Nauru is building. At some point, focus will shift elsewhere and I'll get the rest of the unit fragments to Kusaie and jump to Ponape next. I thought the focus would shift with the Guadalcanal landings, but they went without interference. So for now, Kusaie gets bombarded once in awhile. We'll see if the focus shifts when I go to Port Moresby and Horn Island.

O23 did fire 2 torpedoes at destroyer Satsuki, part of the big battleship task force, but missed.

My minefield along the Australian coast finally pays off. It appears that APD Nadakaze swept the very last mine the old fashioned way.

TF 250 encounters mine field at 91,130

Japanese Ships
APD Shimakaze
APD Nokaze
DD Maikaze
APD Nadakaze, Mine hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

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

4 mines cleared

Enemy troops are being ferried out of Portland Roads to Horn Island. Later in the day, S-28 fired 2 torpedoes at APD Shimakaze and got one hit. It's a probable sinking. S-28 was taking a risk in the shallow water and got away unscathed.

And I guessed correctly that Chittagong may get a bombardment. 4 cruisers and 6 destroyers arrived at night, causing 470 casualties, starting some fires, but doing minimal base damage.

58 Oscars then swept Chittagong but found that the CAP had left.

Nearby in the contested hex, the Allies attacked again.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39685 troops, 628 guns, 497 vehicles, Assault Value = 1205

Defending force 13116 troops, 232 guns, 175 vehicles, Assault Value = 412

Allied adjusted assault: 637

Japanese adjusted defense: 799

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
524 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 33 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Guns lost 31 (3 destroyed, 28 disabled)
Vehicles lost 73 (71 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Allied ground losses:
697 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 20 (3 destroyed, 17 disabled)
Vehicles lost 24 (4 destroyed, 20 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th British Division
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
641st Towed Tank Destroyer Battalion
18th Australian Brigade
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
134th Field Artillery Battalion
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
209th Field Artillery Battalion
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
IV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
1st Tank Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
12th Engineer Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

Not as good a result as the first attack, but acceptable. Lots of enemy vehicles destroyed. This is a battle of attrition. I plan on exhausting my restricted Indian divisions and then replacing them with unrestricted Chinese, British and American units. We bombard today while the infantry rests a day. Still seeing low supply for the enemy, and that helps.

[apbarog]

16 Sep 42

The four enemy battleships that bombarded Kusaie Island yesterday returned again today, probably with low ammo. 107 casualties today and no base damage. OPilot has done this kind of repeat bombardment before. He's never done three in a row, but he spotted my APDs south of Kusaie, and he knows that I've been ferrying in supply with them. On the chance that he goes for three, I move the APDs a bit west in hopes of disappearing for a day and going to Kusaie afterwards.

S-32 spotted the battleships on the way out and fired 4 torpedoes at BB Hyuga, but missed. Too bad, working torpedoes and all.

In a bit of a surprise, Bettys hit Kusaie from Roi Namur (with Zeros) and from Truk unescorted. The airbase is pretty badly damaged, so that probably factored into the choice to strike. Moderate airbase damage resulted.

Some enemy bombing, with the biggest being the contested hex northwest of Sian where the river crossing attack was a few days ago. I've had Warhawks at Chungking, just being seen and defending the capital. Today I move them near the contested hex and will LRCAP it from range 1. One of the big enemy strikes in this turn had 42 Tojos and 36 Oscars escorting, so it could be a big fight.

I can see that the enemy troop count at Portland Roads has dropped from 18,000 to 12,000. Unfortunately for the enemy, not all of them made it to Horn Island.

Morning Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 65 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 29 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 20

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Nokaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
APD Numakaze

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

and

Morning Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Light rain

Raid detected at 54 NM, estimated altitude 8,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 13 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 13

Allied aircraft losses
Beaufighter Ic: 1 damaged
Beaufighter Ic: 1 destroyed by flak

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire
APD Nokaze, Bomb hits 7, and is sunk
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 4

Japanese ground losses:
487 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 22 (8 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Beaufighter Ic bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 22 NM, estimated altitude 10,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Nowaki
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1
DD Maikaze

Japanese ground losses:
38 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid spotted at 18 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes

Allied aircraft
SB2U-3 Vindicator x 18

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
APD Numakaze, and is sunk
CL Naka, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires
DD Nowaki
DD Maikaze, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
571 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 17 (14 destroyed, 3 disabled)

and

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Portland Roads at 91,132

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 38 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
Beaufighter Ic x 11

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
DD Nowaki, Bomb hits 1, on fire
CL Naka, Bomb hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage
DD Maikaze, Shell hits 5, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Japanese ground losses:
308 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 13 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Aircraft Attacking:
11 x Beaufighter Ic bombing from 100 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 lb SAP Bomb

The Beaufighter pilots had trained for months in low naval attack and strafing, and it paid off.

Hudsons also attacked but missed everything. A good day in the air over Portland Roads. I knew that there were enemy fighters at Horn Island, and figured that they could be doing LRCAP of Portland Roads or CAP of Horn Island, but probably not both. I sent some heavies to Horn Island and found that the CAP was there. 5 B-17Ds and 3 B-24s were lost.

Allied troops will attack again south of Chittagong. I expect heavy enemy air activity there, so I'm range capping from Chittagong and doing LRCAP from Comilla. Lots of bombers will hit the enemy troops, with some escort. Fighters will also sweep from Comilla.

[apbarog]

17 Sep 42

Snapper fired 2 torpedoes at xAK Yamayuri Maru near Koepang. One hit but was a dud. The cargo ships are running between Koepang and Darwin. This is Snapper's fourth dud torpedo hit with no working torpedo hits.

A strong Allied cruiser task force bombarded Milne Bay, damaging and destroying Petes there. Moderate damage to the port and considerable damage to the size 1 airfield.

The enemy lands at Wyndham, west of Darwin. The base has some squads of a base force but every squad is disabled from heavy bombing.

With Kusaie's airfield damaged, it appears that Bettys are going to continue bombing every day. More damage but light to the airfield in thunderstorms.

Yesterday a big enemy raid hit Chinese troops near Tienshui, in a critical contested hex. Today, either by accident or by design, the enemy fighters did not show up to escort the bombers. P-40s were moved to Tienshui and intercepted. It was a good day, and another ace was made.

Morning Air attack on 91st Chinese Corps, at 81,39 , near Tienshui

Weather in hex: Clear sky

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 5 minutes

Japanese aircraft
Ki-30 Ann x 3
Ki-48-IIa Lily x 25
Ki-49-Ia Helen x 25

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-30 Ann: 2 destroyed
Ki-48-IIa Lily: 9 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-49-Ia Helen: 7 destroyed, 1 damaged

No Allied losses

Actual losses were 16 Helens, 12 Lilys and 3 Anns. One P-40E was an ops loss, either here or somewhere else on the map.

One of the surviving Philippine divisions was dug out of the jungle in northern Luzon.

Allied bombers hit the contested hex south of Chittagong but couldn't hit the troops in heavy rain. The Allies then attacked.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 39243 troops, 628 guns, 498 vehicles, Assault Value = 1133

Defending force 12534 troops, 228 guns, 109 vehicles, Assault Value = 364

Allied adjusted assault: 590

Japanese adjusted defense: 563

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1029 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 116 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 13 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 21 disabled
Vehicles lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
704 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 83 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Vehicles lost 17 (4 destroyed, 13 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
209th Field Artillery Battalion
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
IV Indian Corps
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
Imperial Guards Division
12th Engineer Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
51st Field AA Battalion
3rd Mortar Battalion
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

A good result. Today they'll rest and then go again. Enemy troops are moving in from the south, but it doesn't look like strong forces. We'll continue to wear them down and, when needed, replace our frontline troops with unrestricted ones to continue on into Burma.

[apbarog]

18 Sep 42

Destroyers Worden and Benham raced to Portland Roads but didn't find any shipping. Worden hit a mine there and is gravely damaged. It should be scuttled but I will try to save the ship. Benham will continue escorting, putting herself in harm's way with Worden barely able to move. RO-63 took a shot at Benham today but missed.

US APDs hit I-33 with a depth charge at Kusaie Island. The APDs successfully unloaded supply.

There was a big enemy air effort directed at Calcutta, which hasn't happened in a long while. A big Oscar squadron swept high and found just Hurricane IIb's and IIc's on CAP. Despite there being more defenders, the Oscars had a field day downing Hurris. Then Sallys and Oscars arrived, finding a more limited CAP. A total of 54 Sallys bombed the port. Besides minor damage to the facilities, all of the ships in port were destroyed.

Allied Ships
TK Lady Myrtle, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
TK Sabari, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk
AM Oudh, Bomb hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
ML No. 432, Bomb hits 1, and is sunk

This was probably satisfying for OPilot after enduring my successful port strikes on Kwajalein and Kavieng. But these ships were left there while anything valuable left long ago. The tankers were very small ones, with very limited range. Little was lost, really.

The enemy also went after Ledo with a big Oscar sweep, also finding Hurricane IIb's and IIc's. But the result was different there, with the Allied fighters dominating. No bombers attacked Ledo.

Total air losses for the day were 46 Oscars and 6 Sallys, for the cost of 21 Hurricane IIc's and 11 Hurricane IIb's. Only 6 Allied pilots were KIA. The Hurricane pools are in good shape, so this result was fine. Hopefully a bunch of those ace Oscar pilots were downed.

SBDs and F4F-3s from Lunga hit small shipping at Shortlands. An ACM was sunk and a patrol boat was probably sunk. No CAP.

Wyndham, west of Darwin, was lost to the Kure 2nd SNLF.

An Allied bombardment attack in the contested hex south of Chittagong showed that two infantry regiments have reinforced the Imperial Guard Division. We deliberately attack today anyway. The losses will be higher but we'll continue with the plan. A fresh restricted British division will move to Chittagong and then replace infantry units as needed in the hex. When it is depleted, another unrestricted British division and a fresh US infantry division will move into the line and push south. Given what I can see of enemy troop strength in this part of Burma, the plan will work. Imperial Guard Division appeared to be at about half strength.

2 US carriers will be coming out of 40 plus day refits at Pearl Harbor this week. I am going to commit to a Wake invasion immediately after they are available. I was going to try to hit Wake a bit before a move to Port Moresby, but US troops won't be prepped enough for that anytime soon. Horn Island troops will be ready sooner, but I don't want to go to Horn until Port Moresby is neutralized.

4 US carriers will go into a 21 day refit at Sydney at the beginning of October. 5 heavy cruisers and 5 light cruisers will do a 21 day refit at Sydney at the same time. After these refits, the troops should be ready enough for Port Moresby.

The 2 US carriers at Pearl that will support Wake will refit after the Wake actions.

Other invasions will follow very closely after Port Moresby, including Horn Island and the islands east of Milne Bay.

[apbarog]

19 Sep 42

Northwest of Kwajalein, Amberjack fired 2 torpedoes at patrol boat Yamahagi Maru #3. One hit but it was a dud. A bit later, Amberjack fired 2 torpedoes at already heavily damaged patrol boat Chitose Maru. One hit, but again, it was a dud.

British sub Trusty spotted an xAKL task force headed to Akyab.

Troops at Broome were heavily bombed. Probably the next target for invasion on the northern Australian coast.

B-17s and B-26s hit the airfield and troops at Portland Roads.

This is the order of battle in the highlighted hex south of and closest to Sian. All of the Chinese are out of or low on supply here.

Ground combat at 84,42 (near Sian)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 69548 troops, 533 guns, 131 vehicles, Assault Value = 2208

Defending force 55842 troops, 229 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1691

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

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

Assaulting units:
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
36th Division
69th Division
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
41st Division
37th Division
3rd Ind.Mixed Brigade
9th Ind Engineer Regiment
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
84th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
13th Chinese Corps
66th Chinese Corps
31st Group Army
34th Group Army
1st Artillery Regiment
4th Group Army
5th War Area
18th Artillery Regiment

Here's the order of battle in the critical hex near Tienshui. About half of the Chinese units are low on supply.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 59242 troops, 509 guns, 162 vehicles, Assault Value = 1838

Defending force 31568 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 956

Japanese ground losses:
84 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
26th Division
9th Division
8th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
29th Chinese Corps
56th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
18th Group Army
13th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

Allied troops attacked south of Chittagong and wrecked one of the enemy infantry regiments that just arrived in the hex. This result was very good. The Australian Brigade took the worst of this battle and will move to Chittagong to recover. It will be replaced by a nice armored unit.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 38926 troops, 623 guns, 497 vehicles, Assault Value = 1085

Defending force 23350 troops, 327 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 538

Allied adjusted assault: 681

Japanese adjusted defense: 977

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
2086 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 180 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 50 (1 destroyed, 49 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
575 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 112 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 19 disabled
Guns lost 20 (2 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 18 (1 destroyed, 17 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
IV Indian Corps
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
209th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
56th Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
114th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
25th Army
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
51st Field AA Battalion
9th RF Gun Battalion

Destroyer Worden is now SYS 33(+1) and FLOT 90(-2). It moved just one hex. Odds are low for saving the ship but we press on.

The Chinese front is now at a critical stage. The enemy is now aligned for attacks, with the stack near Tienshui just one hex from completely cutting off northern China. P-40s move back to Tienshui today to LRCAP the critical hex.

[edit: Note that the enemy is overstacking in some of these critical hexes]

[apbarog]

20 Sep 42

A sad loss. British sub Truant had just refueled at Tabiteuea and was heading west from the base when it was found by I-175, which fired two torpedoes, and one hit, sinking Truant. This is the first British sub lost. It is also only the fourth Allied sub lost in the war, with two others also getting torpedoed by enemy subs. The fourth was sunk in Manila's port. No Allied sub has been sunk due to ship or air anti-sub efforts. Truant did not have any successful torpedo attacks.

East of Townsville, destroyer Express found RO-65 and hit the sub with one or two depth charges. The sub was reported to be on fire and with heavy damage.

I-174 fired 4 torpedoes at APD Whipple as it headed southeast from Ocean Island. All missed.

The story of badly damaged destroyer Worden continues. Its FLOT damage went down 2 to 88. With it moving a predictable one hex per day, it's easy to position subs in its path. RO-61 fired 2 torpedoes at Worden and fortunately missed. Escorting destroyer Benham went after the sub but got no depth charge hits. In another attack, RO-61 went after Benham but missed with 2 torpedoes. Again Benham couldn't get the sub, and all depth charges were expended. 3 destroyers are ordered north from Townsville at full speed to escort Worden. The ships will be 3 hexes from the nearest base, so some LRCAP will be provided.

A squadron of B-26s bombed the Imperial Guard Division in Burma, but Oscars appeared, and shot down 8 of the bombers.

The enemy continues to hunt down the two remaining Philippine divisions on Luzon. They've been chased out of the jungle and their end is near. They've occupied the enemy for longer than I could have hoped, though.

No enemy ground attacks in China, just a couple of artillery bombardments.

Much planning was done. I've made the earliest plans for a push past Horn Island, with units now prepping for places like Darwin, Taberfane, Dobo and Gove. I think that a quick thrust towards Darwin and Taberfane will be possible. Timor's bases are building, however, including the eastern bases. How well defended they are remains to be seen. Those troops that took Java will be going somewhere, and I have no indication where that is or will be.

Tentative plans are invading Wake Island next with 2 big carriers and 2 CVEs. I may or may not wait for battleship Washington to come out of refit at Pearl Harbor. It would add another week to the wait for going for Wake.

[apbarog]

21 Sep 42

The enemy battleship force approached Kusaie Island from the west and was spotted by Dutch sub O23. 4 torpedoes were fired at destroyer Hatsukaze but all missed. Eventually I'm going to catch one of those battleships. Hyuga, Ise, Yamashiro and Fuso then bombarded the island effectively, causing 676 casualties and moderate damage to the facilities. Most importantly, to me, every bit of supply was destroyed.

Destroyers Banckert and Van Ghent are patrolling southeast of Guadalcanal, near Kirakira. They were spotted by I-34 which fired 6 torpedoes at Banckert but missed. The destroyer then hit the sub with a depth charge.

O16 then spotted the battleship task force nearing Ponape on the way home. 4 torpedoes were fired at destroyer Satsuki but all missed.

Broome was bombed heavily again. Not much left of the Australian base force there. No supply.

A mix of US bombers hit Portland Roads airfield and port, and the enemy troops there. A decent effort.

6 B-24s, flying all the way from Ledo, hit enemy troops near Tienshui, causing 185 casualties in the wooded terrain. I expected an enemy deliberate attack but there was none.

Another Allied attack near Chittagong, and the enemy continues to be worn down. A fresh Allied armored unit arrived in the hex but too late to contribute to this attack. I'll continue the pattern of deliberately attacking every other day.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 34835 troops, 545 guns, 438 vehicles, Assault Value = 1124

Defending force 22327 troops, 330 guns, 187 vehicles, Assault Value = 442

Allied adjusted assault: 399

Japanese adjusted defense: 531

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
884 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 15 (2 destroyed, 13 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
696 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 85 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Vehicles lost 49 (3 destroyed, 46 disabled)

Assaulting units:
18th Australian Brigade
1st Patiala Lancers Regiment
18th British Division
7th Armoured Brigade
14th Indian Division
Waziristan Division
209th Field Artillery Battalion
IV Indian Corps
2/11th Fld RAA Regiment
134th Field Artillery Battalion
23rd Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
24th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment

Defending units:
56th Infantry Regiment
Imperial Guards Division
114th Infantry Regiment
12th Engineer Regiment
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Mortar Battalion
25th Army
51st Field AA Battalion
18th Mountain Gun Regiment
9th RF Gun Battalion

The armored unit with just Humbers took the brunt of the losses today. They will move back to Chittagong to recover.

To the east, near Ledo, I see that the 33rd Infantry Division has started to move south. It had made it to one hex south of the rail line west of Ledo.

[CaptBeefheart]

Just did my post-holiday catch up of this AAR. Good slaughter at Kavieng. In future decades that'll be a great wreck diving spot.

Your "Kusaie as tar baby" strategy seems to be doing well. It's attracting a lot of attention while you make moves in the greater Coral Sea area.

Cheers,
CB

[apbarog]

Kusaie is working out that way. I like to advance a step a bit too far and let the enemy go after the leading edge, while everything behind builds and supports. Of course, if Kusaie had been ignored, I would have landed all of the unit fragments and gone for Ponape already.

That's the thing, though. The Japanese are in a bad spot no matter what. Get them to pay attention in one area, hit them in another. Get them to jump back and forth if possible. Pay attention to Kusaie? I'm coming for Shortlands and Buin and Port Moresby. The Allies don't absolutely have to have the final plan of advance to Japan figured out all along. Attack in multiple areas and the enemy's defense will show the best approach. Because the Japanese cannot defend everything.

22 Sep 42

RO-61 is hunting badly damaged destroyer Worden near Cooktown. The sub spotted DD Nizam, which just took over escort duty for Worden. 6 torpedoes missed Nizam. Worden's FLOT damage went down 1 to 87 and its ENG went up 1 to 21. It is moving one hex a day.

S-28 fired 2 torpedoes at PB Kaiun Maru which was patrolling southeast of Rabaul. Fire and heavy damage are reported but no sinking audio.

In the Slot near Munda, I-19 fired 2 torpedoes at S-18 and missed.

34 Oscars swept Chittagong and found 15 Hurricane IIc's. 2 Hurris were lost and 1 Oscar was downed.

Broome was bombed and invaded by a small force, the Yokosuka 4th SNLF. Plenty to take the base though. I'll continue to invite an advance in Northern Australia, as I have plans to rush past Horn Island and counter-invade the north.

Various enemy bombings in China.

One of the two last two Philippine divisions on Luzon was wrecked but retreated back inland into the jungle. There's only a shell of a unit left, and no supply, but the enemy will have to take even more time to go back in and finish them off.

Big battle finally in the contested hex near Tienshui, one hex from cutting off all of Northern China.

Ground combat at 81,39 (near Tienshui)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 59538 troops, 508 guns, 233 vehicles, Assault Value = 1832

Defending force 31641 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 962

Japanese adjusted assault: 756

Allied adjusted defense: 1375

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
2488 casualties reported
Squads: 48 destroyed, 197 disabled
Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 37 disabled
Engineers: 3 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 21 (1 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 53 (15 destroyed, 38 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1711 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 131 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 50 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 13 (1 destroyed, 12 disabled)

Assaulting units:
15th Tank Regiment
8th Division
26th Division
9th Division
14th Division

Defending units:
56th Chinese Corps
29th Chinese Corps
91st Chinese Corps
18th Group Army
13th Group Army
20th Artillery Regiment

A relatively fresh Chinese division will start to move into this hex and replace a unit there. I'll overstack briefly. I don't want to show a retreat out of the hex. I want OPilot to do a retreat of his own. All of China depends on this battle. I seriously considered flanking this hex from the south and northeast. The enemy has 2 units east of the contested hex, and his big stack there has only that hex to move to. I could move in about 1000 AV from the south, and they have supply for one attack, but it is a river crossing and into rough terrain. In the north, I have a good road into that hex, where a few more corp could join.

But, for now, I decided not to try it. For one, OPilot would see me on the move, and can react faster than my units can move without a road. And two, even if they all got there, if they didn't win the hex, he would just retreat some units from the western hex and overwhelm the Chinese. Not to mention, rough terrain doesn't do much against airpower. And he'd commit everything.

No, I think the best offense is a good defense. Well, a defense in forest terrain but without much supply and almost no air support. As good as it gets.

[apbarog]

23 Sep 42

Chittagong is bombarded by 4 cruisers with 6 destroyers. Damage is light. 153 casualties and no base damage. A big Oscar group swept the base, finding about 20 P-40Es and 12 Chinese I-15s. The Warhawk pilots were good but not great. They had had great success in China. The Chinese pilots were decent, but the best I expected was that the Chinese would pull some sweepers low. The plan failed. The Oscars here are great pilots, and it showed. Total losses were 11 Warhawks and 10 I-15s. No Oscars were downed. Win some, lose some.

Sallys and then more Sallys with more Oscars hit the airfield, but damage was light and all repaired by the end of the day.

Badly damaged destroyer Worden moved to just one hex from Cooktown. And RO-68 spotted the barely moving ship, and fired 6 torpedoes. You know the rest of the story.

But no! All torpedoes missed! Escorting destroyer Nizam did some minor damage to the sub. Worden's FLOT damage went up 2 to 89, and ENG damage went up 1 to 22. But Worden should make it to Cooktown tomorrow! I'll need to keep a decent CAP there, since it is obvious where Worden will be for awhile. I'll move it south as soon as possible.

Broome was bombed heavily again today. It was a bit humorous, with the Australian base force being eliminated by bombers. Then the enemy finally attacked with 3 infantry units, and took the unoccupied base. The three units are all SNLF units. I expect one to stay at Broome, and the other two to move inland to occupy the two nearby bases.

Allied bombers hit the port at Cox's Bazar. Some supply hits. The enemy's supply from Akyab flows through here to the front. B-26s hit the 22nd Recon Regiment there, doing almost no damage. The regiment had retreated from the front after being mauled in battle.

The almost daily bombing of Portland Roads ran into a LRCAP of A6M3 Zeros from Horn Island. 3 B-26s and 3 B-17s were lost.

Finally! I had just spoken about my lack of success with subs near Kusaie and Ponape Islands.

Sub attack near Ponape at 117,112

Japanese Ships
BB Fuso, Torpedo hits 1
BB Hyuga
BB Yamashiro
DD Hatakaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Harukaze
DD Asakaze

Allied Ships
SS O19

SS O19 launches 4 torpedoes at BB Fuso

Most torpedo hits on battleships, if real, mean extended stays at far away repair yards.

The Allied attack today near Chittagong didn't go as well as the previous ones.

Ground combat at 56,42 (near Chittagong)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 36318 troops, 574 guns, 569 vehicles, Assault Value = 1049

Defending force 22147 troops, 331 guns, 186 vehicles, Assault Value = 422

Allied adjusted assault: 330

Japanese adjusted defense: 927

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
477 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 70 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 18 disabled
Guns lost 21 (2 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
907 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 31 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 13 disabled
Guns lost 10 (1 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 61 (6 destroyed, 55 disabled)

I'll rest a day, then go again, despite the losses. The restricted Allied infantry units there can contribute one more time, I think, before being replaced. I've started moving a fresh British restricted division south into this hex. We'll get the most out of it, then replace with an unrestricted US infantry division and an unrestricted British division. And don't forget, we have a huge Chinese corp almost completely filled out and waiting in the area too.

And since I found a unit that could upgrade to P-38Fs, and it was in Calcutta, we'll be sweeping Akyab in about a week. We'll get those ace Oscar pilots.