Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

August 15, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw the Silent Service Slip Up again, as USS Sturgeon hit an LSD with a dud torpedo south of Truk. The LSD was part of a very big Troop Transport TF. To add Injury to Insult, Sturgeon was whacked twice by the Escorts in the TF and is now limping home.

Daylight brought the usual mix of Bad Weather and Bombs, as Allied Air Missions flew in their usual random sort of manner.

- DBs and 2Es hit Japanese Troops at Bhamo

- P-39s hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab

- The Bigger Hammer hit the Air Base at Port Blair, with 66 B-24D1s and 11 B-17Es blasting through a CAP consisting of 31 Nick Ics and 12 Oscar IIbs. Lots of Nicks were destroyed and damaged on the Ground, and several Enemy Fighters were also shot down by the 4Es.

- 4Es in Oz hit the Air Base at Port Moresby, destroying Tojos and A6M3as on the Ground. No Enemy CAP was present.

The End-of-Day Air Combat Results below are quiet satisfying, not only because of the Japanese planes that were destroyed, but also because of the Heavy Damage to Enemy Bases that aren't connected via Rail Roads anywhere. This means that I can go back later to destroy more planes on the Ground, or else my opponent can Bite-the-Bullet and Disband or Withdraw the damaged planes on the Ground.

Finally, a Japanese sub attacked but missed a USN DD near Arorae in the South Pacific. The USN Escorts chased off the Sub but didn't hit it.

[ADB123]

August 16, 1943 –

The USN Submarine Service continued its daily level of consistency this turn as USS Barb fired off 6 torpedoes at a PB off of Sabang, and missed. At least Barb got away without damage.

Daylight brought somewhat better weather, and most key Allied Air missions flew:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville

- DBs hit the Japanese Troops at Bhamo, but the 2Es missed

- 134 P-39s attacked the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab, but missed

- The Bigger Hammer hit the Air Base at Port Blair again – this time there was no CAP so the 4Es got lots of practice destroying and damaging Japanese planes on the Ground.

- USAAF Libs hit the Air Base at Buna, and again in the absence of Japanese CAP had a good time destroying the base and more Japanese planes on the Ground

- A couple of USAAF B-17 squadrons that are scheduled to be withdrawn in the near future finally flew and attacked the Air Base at Madang. There was one Tony there on CAP, but it couldn't do anything to keep the Flying Forts from hitting their Target.

All-in-all, it was a good day in the Air, with good results on the Japanese planes still on the Ground in the already damaged bases:

Ground Losses:

Nick IIc – 8, A6M3a – 3, Tony – 1, Oscar IIB – 1, H6K5 Mavis – 1
And Best of All – no 4E losses!

And as a nice by-product of the Bombing Campaign – my Forces continue to move into position for their next objectives with no interference by Japanese Forces.

[ADB123]

August 17, 1943 –

The USN Submarine Service avoided failure this turn by avoiding any encounters with the Enemy during a return to a Night Phase with no action.

Daylight brought lots of Glen spotting in the South-Central Pacific, but no Japanese Subs were spotted in return. That will change as I bring more Air Capability into that region.

The Weather allowed a fair number of Allied Air Attacks:

- The USN PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF unit at Luganville again

- The Air Base at Lae was hammered by 98 USAAF Liberators, but no Enemy Planes were caught on the Ground. It appears that the IJAAF has moved to the safety of Rabaul.

- The Air Base at Malang was hit again by B-17s. They caused a reasonable amount of damage, but the comparison with Lae demonstrated clearly how the Game Engine rewards overkill.

- Off in Burma, once again the DBs hit the Japanese Troops at Bhamo while the 2Es missed.

- The 4Es in Burma didn't fly

I started the Next Advance in Burma – ordering Troops to start to move towards Prome and Toungoo. The First Stop on the way to Prome will be the crossroads just to the east of Ramree Island where a stack of Japanese Troops has been holed up. I've already ordered Bombers to start to Soften Up that stack prior to the arrival of the Allied Troops.

And off in the South and South-Central Pacific I continue to send out Troop Transport TFs on a Daily basis as the Build Up continues.

[ADB123]

August 18, 1943 –

The Night Phase started out as if the USN would finally break out of its slump, as USS Snapper snapped the scoreless streak of the USN subs by actually hitting IJN Mine Layer Tokiwa with a live torpedo near Bikini Island. It didn’t appear that Tokiwa went down, but it certainly felt good for a few moments to see at least 1 torpedo do its job.

Then everything went down the drain in a BIG way as a Japanese sub put not one but TWO torpedoes into USS Enterprise near Arorae. The USN DD Escorts hammered the Japanese sub with depth charges, and likely put it down for good since there was the report of a Glen lost on the “Ground” later on in the Air Losses Report. But that was way, way too late. The Big E is now trying to limp to Canton Island with Sys – 34, Flt – 67, & Eng – 28 damage.

The Night Phase finished with USS Tarpon missing a Japanese DD escort in a Support TF near Ebadon. The Japanese TF had a couple of AKEs in it, and during the day it showed up near Kwajalein, so my opponent is likely equipping Kwajalein with Support Ships in order to re-arm Surface Combat TFs that will attack my outposts to the south.

Daylight brought the usual mix of successful and unsuccessful Allied Air Missions:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville

- USAAF Liberators hit the Air Base at Port Moresby, destroying several Tojos on the Ground

- The B-17s didn’t fly against Malang

- DBs hit Japanese Troops at Bhamo, but 2Es missed

- 2Es hit the Japanese Troops at the crossroads northwest of Prome

- P-39s flew but missed their target

- The Burma 4Es didn’t fly

[ADB123]

August 19, 1943 –

One of the Game's many little mystery functions popped up this turn during an otherwise quiet Night Phase – there was a brief message about an AMc sweeping a mine somewhere. Now, maybe it's my fault because I have the Message Timing set fairly fast, but I also don't want to spend hours watching a Combat Replay. In any event, I assumed that I would find the message in one of the various Reports that appear after the Combat Replay is run and the Turn is loaded.

So once I had the Turn loaded I looked through the Combat Report and SIGINT Report, and found nothing. I then tabbed out of the game and checked the Combat Events Reports, and the other versions of the Combat Report and SIGINT Report. I couldn't find anything. I then scanned over the bases where I have AMcs sitting, and I didn't see any Enemy Mine markers.

So what was that little flash of a report? I haven't left any mines in any Enemy Ports for ages, so I don't think that it was a report of a Japanese AMc at work. Did some Japanese sub drop off 1 mine that was immediately swept by an AMc? This is a very strange Game at times.

Daylight brought plenty of Japanese Recon Flights over various Allied Bases, including Irvings over Tabiteuea. I continue to be surprised that I'm not seeing any Netties showing up.

Most of the usual Allied Bombing Missions flew:

- PB4Y-1s hitting the SNLF at Luganville

- DBs and 2Es attacking Japanese Troops at Bhamo, but all of them missing today

- 2Es attacking the Japanese Troops at the crossroads northwest of Prome, but most of them missing

- P-39s attacking the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab, but all of them missing

- USAAF 4Es hitting the Air Base at Rangoon

None of the USAAF 4Es in Oz flew.

SIGINT, Recon and Search reported Japanese TF movement in many locations, so my opponent appears to be back in action again. Recon Flights also reported that the number of Japanese Fighters at Rabaul has gone up to the 90s.

As far as the Big E goes – I continue to shake my head at the Game Mechanics, as the Game continues to insist to try to sink the Enterprise by once again splitting off all escort ships except for 1 DD, resetting the TF back to "Escort", and increasing the speed back to "Mission" instead of "Cruise". I fail to see why this Game Behavior can't be changed, since Every Player has complained about it since the beginning of WitP.

[ADB123]

August 20, 1943 –

My opponent was Sailing the past few days, so he only had time to send the Combat Reply this evening.

During the Night Phase, USS Thresher survived an encounter near Bering Island with a Japanese sub through pure dumb luck as the Japanese sub missed the USN sub. The skipper of the Thresher probably never knew how lucky he was.

Daylight brought reports of Rain and Wash-outs all over the map, although a few Allied Air Missions flew:

- The PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville

- DBs hit the Japanese troops at Bhamo, while 2Es missed

- 132 P-39s attacked the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab and found their target, but only caused a handful of casualties

- The 4Es and Long Range 2Es in Burma did not fly to attack the Japanese troops at the crossroads to the northwest of Prome

I had the 4Es in Oz sitting out deliberately since there weren’t any interesting Targets readily available.

And the Big E reported Floatation Failures, with the Planned Escort TF being broken apart by the Game once again.

SIGINT reports Heavy Radio Traffic at 114,116 but I won’t be able to check that out until I get the Turn tomorrow.

[DanielAnsell]

ORIGINAL: ADB123

August 20, 1943 –


And the Big E reported Floatation Failures, with the Planned Escort TF being broken apart by the Game once again.

Can you split up the rest of the ships in a Surface Combat Task Force, and one or more ASW task forces, and have them follow the Big E 'Escort' at 0 hexes? Not as good a defense, but its something.

[ADB123]

ORIGINAL: Carny

ORIGINAL: ADB123

August 20, 1943 –


And the Big E reported Floatation Failures, with the Planned Escort TF being broken apart by the Game once again.

Can you split up the rest of the ships in a Surface Combat Task Force, and one or more ASW task forces, and have them follow the Big E 'Escort' at 0 hexes? Not as good a defense, but its something.

Ah, that sounds worth trying! Thanks for the suggestion!

ADB

[ADB123]

August 20, 1943 – Final Report –

Okay, I’ve had a chance to do the Turn. One highlight for me this turn was that I finally got under the “magic” 10K points difference level. Earlier, when I got past the 2:1 points ratio level I set a 10K points difference as my next target. Of course, if the Big E goes down the Board Is Wiped Clean, so to speak, but I’m working as hard as I can to prevent it.

Simultaneously, the Game is working as hard as it can to try to get the Big E to sink. So, for example, this turn the Game not only once again disbanded the large Escort TF that I formed, but it then spun off the Big E into its own single-ship Escort TF! Yes, an Escort TF without even 1 DD escort, despite there being a half dozen DDs there that the Game could have chosen from.

I stand amazed…

So this time I took a different approach. First I created an ASW TF and as per Carny’s suggestion and sent it to Follow the Big E at a 0 distance. But I also created a Single-DD Escort TF and ordered it to meet the Big E and merge with it. It will be interesting to see what the Game does with things this time.

In the meanwhile, I’ve ordered various Support ships, including an AR, to sail to Canton Island, and I have the Engineers at Canton working diligently to increase the Port size from 2 to 3. Enterprise is only doing 1 hex per turn, so if it does reach Canton, the Port may be at L3 by then and the Support ships may be there too. And being an Unjustified Optimist, I’ve also ordered three Transport TFs to head to Canton to provide xAKs in order to carry away the Air Groups if and when Enterprise arrives, assuming that the Game actually allows me to transfer the Air Groups to Port once the Ship is in Port.

In another unusual bit of News, for the first time in a Long Time, Japanese Air Ops losses were twice the Allied losses. Considering how I abuse my Air Groups, that is rather amazing to me. My opponent must be moving Planes around like crazy.

In another irritatingly incomprehensible situation, I noticed that the 3 Japanese-held Dot Bases that are sitting 1 hex from Tabiteuea are still refusing to be auto-occupied by the ever-increasing number of Allied Forces piling up on Tabiteuea. I have to assume that I am continuing to Not Get the Dice Roll.

And in other news, the Japanese Infantry Regiment that has been attacked daily by 100+ P-39s at Tree-top level has finally moved back onto the road southeast of Akyab. I have been expecting this, so I ordered out another Allied LCU towards the road a while back, and it ought to confront the Japanese Troops within three or four days. In the meanwhile, my troops to the south will just have to wait for their Supply Line to be re-opened.

[ADB123]

August 21, 1943 –

The Night Phase brought more submarine futility for the Allies. First off, USS Sculpin hit an E-Class Escort with a dud torpedo off of Balikpapan. Sculpin got away, but so did the reasonably large Japanese Transport TF.

Next, a USN DD spotted and chased a Japanese sub near Arorea, but couldn’t catch the sub to attack it.

Finally Trident spotted a Japanese PB near Sabang, but the Trident’s captain decided not to take a shot at the little Escort.

Daylight brought lots of Rain all over again, but most Allied Air Missions flew, albeit in a scattered and delayed manner:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville, achieving diminishing returns

- Some 2Es hit the Japanese Infantry Troops southeast of Akyab, but 135 P-39s missed

- DBs and 2Es attacked Japanese Troops at Bhamo, but missed

- The Burma 4Es finally flew and hit the Japanese Troops at the Prome Crossroads fairly well. They were followed later on by 2Es.

And to finish off the Day, Kiwi Paratroops dropped on and captured the empty dot base called Aoba Island that is due east of Luganville. That’s a potential Level 5 Air Base so I don’t want to waste time later waiting for the chance to get it via auto-occupation.

Things didn’t get worse for the Big E this turn. The Escort DD I sent to merge with the crippled CV actually did merge and stayed with the Enterprise. And the ASW TF did follow the Escort TF and stick at Zero Distance. However, the Big E was back up at Mission Speed, so I re-set it to Cruise and we will see what happens next turn.

Finally, it appears that the Japanese CVs that sailed into the Bay of Bengal are now cruising along the northern shore of Borneo. My opponent is starting to get a bit anxious about the South-Central Pacific, so maybe those CVs are on their way there.

[ADB123]

August 22, 1943 –

There was no Night Action.

Daylight brought the usual Allied Bombing Runs:

- PB4Y-1s hitting the SNLF at Luganville

- 2Es hitting the Japanese Infantry Regiment near Akyab

- P-39s missing the Japanese Infantry Regiment near Akyab

- 4Es and later 2Es hammering the Japanese Troops at the Prome crossroads

The end of the turn brought something that I've never seen before – two end-of-turn Naval Bombardments. I had sent out a couple of RN Bombardment TFs from Akyab and Cox's Bazaar to hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment that is southeast of Akyab. The RN TFs arrived at the hex at night, and the Floatplanes on the TFs flew Recon over the Japanese Troops in both the Night and Day phase. But there was no attack until the very end of the turn. Both Bombardments caused nice levels of casualties, so I don't want to complain, but I still found it strange that the Bombardments were held up until the end of the turn.

In comparison, the Paratroop drop on Lakatoro went according to schedule and now the Allies have two high-potential Air Base Sites near Luganville.

And Finally, there was a report of a Floatation Failure on the Big E, but it is still crawling along towards Canton Island, its Escort DD is still in place, the Follow-on ASW TF is still following, and the Enterprise is still sailing at Cruise speed.

And, yes, there was one more First Time Sighting in this turn – a Negative Air Loss… take a look at the Intel Screen below:

[ADB123]

August 23, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw a dot base in the Philippines called Sangi get automatically occupied by the Japanese. I still can’t figure out why Japanese dot bases won’t automatically get occupied by the Allies.

Then a relatively large USN Cruiser/DD TF hammered Luganville with a night naval bombardment. I’m now guessing that the Bombardment along the Burmese coast went at the end of the day because the ships were too close to come in at night. In any event, the USN ships wrecked the Base Facilities at Luganville very nicely, but didn’t hit the SNLF unit. (And yes, I had Floatplanes on Night and Day Recon.)

Daylight brought map-wide Rain-Outs and the only Air Attacks were 2Es and P-39s trying to hit the Japanese Troops southeast of Akyab. Only the last 2E squadron actually found the target.

At the end of the day USS Sunfish spotted an SC in a BIG Transport TF near Olga. The skipper of the Sunfish decided not to fire and ran away instead, leaving relieved crews on all of the Japanese ships.

The Good News of the Day was that nothing happened to Enterprise, and it continued to limp at 4 knots towards Canton Island.

The Interesting News was that four Allied Assault Columns were in position and had Supplies in the Black in Burma, so I ordered Deliberate Attacks at each position and gave fresh Orders to my Air Units to try to fly and hit all of the Enemy Position next turn. It will be interesting to see what happenes.

[ADB123]

August 24, 1943 –

There was no Night Action. So once again, the RN Bombardment TFs were not going to hit their target in the dark.

Daylight brought reports of Weather Wash-outs all over the Map, which didn't bode well for my planned Air Support of the Assaults in Burma. But then, that's S.O.P. in this game.

Some Air Missions did fly:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville again
- 4Es hit the Air Base at Port Moresby, destroying 3 Tojos and 1 A6M3a on the Ground

In Burma:

- DBs hit Bhamo and caused a few casualties
- 2Es hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab, also causing a few casualties
- P-39s attacked the Japanese Troops at the Prome Crossroads, but missed their target
- Then the 4Es hit the Japanese Troops on the road between Toungoo and Miektila, causing a fair number of casualties

However, the Long Range 2Es didn't attack the Japanese Troops on the road between Toungoo and Magwe, leaving one of the Assaults totally unsupported.

Sure enough, after the Air Bombardments, the RN Naval Bombardments attacked the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab. One TF missed its target, the other one hit, causing reasonable casualties. This was now the time for the Allied Land Assaults.

The first assault was at the Prome Crossroads:

Ground combat at 54,49 (near Prome)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25516 troops, 289 guns, 656 vehicles, Assault Value = 1168

Defending force 4824 troops, 73 guns, 152 vehicles, Assault Value = 178

Allied adjusted assault: 706

Japanese adjusted defense: 256

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1854 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 57 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 40 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 35 (17 destroyed, 18 disabled)
Vehicles lost 77 (32 destroyed, 45 disabled)
Units retreated 7

Allied ground losses:
267 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Vehicles lost 32 (6 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
43rd Cavalry Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
20th Indian Division
14th British Brigade
17th Indian Division
3rd (Special Force) Division

Defending units:
3rd Tank Regiment
113th Infantry Regiment
7th Field AF Construction Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
54th Const Co
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
8th RF Gun Battalion

That worked out quite well. I was surprised that my opponent had two Construction Units in the hex – they weren't going to help the defense much and they would have been of more use back at Prome building Fortifications.

The next assault was on the Toungoo-Meitkila Road:

Ground combat at 57,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27885 troops, 696 guns, 1048 vehicles, Assault Value = 1053

Defending force 8943 troops, 77 guns, 21 vehicles, Assault Value = 293

Allied adjusted assault: 515

Japanese adjusted defense: 437

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1216 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 97 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 45 disabled
Guns lost 22 (1 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
194 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 45 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 10 disabled

Assaulting units:
255th Armoured Brigade
2nd British Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
5th Indian Division
21st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th/B Division

That Assault did a pretty good job even though the Japanese Troops weren't pushed back. My troops are in Good Shape and have plenty of Supplies, so I've ordered them to attack again next turn.

The next assault was on the Toungoo-Magwe Road:

Ground combat at 56,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 10094 troops, 140 guns, 441 vehicles, Assault Value = 496

Defending force 13367 troops, 156 guns, 69 vehicles, Assault Value = 482

Allied adjusted assault: 245

Japanese adjusted defense: 1011

Allied assault odds: 1 to 4

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
499 casualties reported
Squads: 3 destroyed, 42 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Guns lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1211 casualties reported
Squads: 14 destroyed, 147 disabled
Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 42 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 11 disabled
Guns lost 20 (1 destroyed, 19 disabled)
Vehicles lost 55 (4 destroyed, 51 disabled)

Assaulting units:
50th Tank Brigade
268th Motorised Brigade
77th Chindit Brigade
29th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Defending units:
14th Division
5th Field Artillery Regiment

Ah, so my opponent brought in a big, good Infantry Division, and the missing Bomber Attack probably added to the problems. Oh well, I'm still happy to tie-up a good Japanese Division off in the Jungle rather than have to face it in a Base.

Then I was very surprised to find that there was no 4th Assault! I was certain that I had ordered the Troops southeast of Akyab to Attack this turn, so I don't know what happened. Oh well, I ordered them to Attack again next turn, and I checked my orders a couple of times.

The other News of Note was that there was another report of a Temporary Floatation Failure aboard the USS Enterprise. But the ship is still crawling towards Canton Island and may make it in a couple of days.

[ADB123]

August 25, 1943 –

The Night Phase brought something of a revival for the USN Submarine Corp as USS Sculpin hit a PC with a live torpedo off of Balikpapan, after first hitting the ship with a dud. The PC went down; however Sculpin was hit by the E-Class Escorts in the TF and is now limping home.

Then USS Saury hit an xAK with two torpedoes and a dud off of Kavieng. The Freighter went down and Saury got away from the Escorts in the Transport TF.

Daylight brought Lousy Weather most everywhere, but some Allied Missions were able to fly.

In the South Pacific:

- PB4Y-1s attacked the SNLF at Luganville again, but most of the Navy Bombers missed in the Rain
- USAAF Liberators hit the Air Base at Buna, destroying 2 A6M2s and 1 Tony on the Ground

In Burma:

- DBs hit some of the Japanese Troops in Bhamo
- 2Es hit the Japanese Troops on the Toungoo-Meiktila Road
- P-39s hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment southwest of Akyab
- The 4Es didn’t fly

The Day’s Assaults then began. First was on the Toungoo-Meiktila Road:

Ground combat at 57,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 27572 troops, 696 guns, 1048 vehicles, Assault Value = 1004

Defending force 7919 troops, 77 guns, 21 vehicles, Assault Value = 206

Allied adjusted assault: 638

Japanese adjusted defense: 261

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
1602 casualties reported
Squads: 76 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 40 destroyed, 11 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 9 (7 destroyed, 2 disabled)
Vehicles lost 2 (2 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Allied ground losses:
57 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
255th Armoured Brigade
2nd British Division
5th Indian Division
21st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th/B Division

Despite the 2:1 result, one of the Japanese units – likely the partial Infantry Division, didn’t retreat, so I will have my LCUs attack again next turn.

The next attack was an even bigger surprise:

Ground combat at 55,46 (near Akyab)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12277 troops, 276 guns, 159 vehicles, Assault Value = 378

Defending force 2831 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 96

Allied adjusted assault: 160

Japanese adjusted defense: 139

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
201 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 6 (2 destroyed, 4 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
91 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 4 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled

Assaulting units:
11th (East African) Division
1st USN Naval Construction Regiment
2nd USN Naval Construction Regiment

Defending units:
114th Infantry Regiment

I don’t understand why the Fatigue was supposed to be in a (-) condition – it looked fine afterwards. I also don’t understand why those two Engineering units participated – they weren’t supposed to get involved. In any event, I’ll try again and see what happens.

And the Good News of the Turn was that the Big E reached Port at Canton Island safely, and I was able to remove its Air Units and load them onto Transport ships for a short trip to a bigger base. Now, as long as Canton Island isn’t attacked the Enterprise can sit and slowly repair.

[ADB123]

August 26, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw Green Island get auto-occupied by the Japanese. There was no other Night Action.

Daylight started out with all sorts of Weather Warnings across the Map, which told me in advance not to expect much from my Air Forces.

Things started out okay as the PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF unit at Luganville again, but the weather broke up the attack into multiple attacks instead of one larger attack.

The action then moved to Burma and everything went into rat-feces-mode as my Fighter CAP bases were totally socked-in, my Brit 2Es flew to attack the Japanese Troops northeast of Toungoo, and sure enough, my opponent sent Tojos and Oscar IIbs on LR CAP over those troops and caught my 2Es unescorted. Of course, because my Bomber Pilots are well-experienced now they didn't turn back, so they were hammered by the Japanese Fighters. Two more waves of 2Es flew in and also had to fight their way past the Japanese LR CAP. Only the final attack, done by the always-tough B-25s, got through without losses.

So I lost 21 Brit 2Es to Bad Weather Luck and good play by my opponent. Never-the-less, the Bombers did find their mark and hit the Japanese Troops on the Ground.

None of the other Allied flights flew – including the 4Es in Burma. I get really tired at times of this Bad-Weather-Across-the-Entire-Globe design of WitP AE.

The RN then did their End-of-Day Naval Bombardments of the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab. It's too bad that my opponent's LBA isn't trying to get at the RN Bombardment TFs. But, on the other hand, the local CAP probably wouldn't have flown anyway, so maybe it's for the best.

So we got to the Land Combat stage. First up was the Re-Attack on the Japanese Troops northeast of Toungoo, who shouldn't have been there anyway after the retreat of the other Japanese Troops last turn:

Ground combat at 57,49 (near Toungoo)

Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 27493 troops, 696 guns, 1048 vehicles, Assault Value = 991

Defending force 4043 troops, 48 guns, 13 vehicles, Assault Value = 144

Allied adjusted assault: 704

Japanese adjusted defense: 167

Allied assault odds: 4 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1332 casualties reported
Squads: 33 destroyed, 77 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 5 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 16 (5 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (2 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
2nd British Division
255th Armoured Brigade
5th Indian Division
21st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
20th/B Division

So that Japanese unit got kicked out like it should have been last time. (My opponent actually sniveled a bit about "relative losses", but I was not in the mood to commiserate…)

Then the African Troops attacked the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab again:

Ground combat at 55,46 (near Akyab)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12211 troops, 276 guns, 159 vehicles, Assault Value = 372

Defending force 2646 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 79

Allied adjusted assault: 80

Japanese adjusted defense: 53

Allied assault odds: 1 to 1

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

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

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

Assaulting units:
11th (East African) Division
1st USN Naval Construction Regiment
2nd USN Naval Construction Regiment

Defending units:
114th Infantry Regiment

Considering that this Japanese unit has already been kicked off of the trail once before, and that it has no access to Supply, and that it has received Air Attacks regularly for weeks, it is more than a bit frustrating that it is still sitting there. Oh well, I've ordered another RN Naval Bombardment and more Planes to attack it. Eventually I will kick the last survivors off of the Road.

And I still don't know why those Engineering Units are participating. Maybe I need to put them on Reserve.

Oh, BTW – to add to my Frame of Mind, when I was going through the Turn I noticed that the Air Base at Canton Island was Overloaded. I checked it, and to my total surprise and irritation, the Enterprise Air Units were back on the base after I had loaded them onto Transport Ships last turn and ordered the TF to Sail Away. The TF that they were in was sitting there empty. So I disbanded the TF, re-loaded the Transport Ships with the Air Units, re-assembled the Transport TF, and ordered it away again. It will be interesting to see if it does what it is told this time.

This can be an extraordinarily frustrating Game to play at times…

[ADB123]

August 27, 1943 –

There was no Night Action.

Daylight brought the now regular reports of Bad Weather Everywhere. Never-the-less, some Air Missions did fly:

In the South Pacific:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville again, and for the first time, and for no particular reason, some Corsairs flew Escort. Those Corsairs have been sitting nearby for weeks and they never flew before. I guess that it was Just another of the Wonders of the Game.

- The 4Es in Oz stayed home again. I guess that the Ground Crews are too busy cleaning off rust from the planes to put them into the air.

In Burma:

- 2Es and P-39s flew together to hit the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab. For once they actually caused a fair number of casualties. Subsequent 2E and P-39 attacks missed the same target.

- The 4Es finally flew and hammered the Air Base at Prome. I just want to slow down Fort-building for a bit.

- Air Recon suggests that the IJAAF is trying to hide in Rahaeng, so I ordered the 4Es to go there next turn. If they fly they might have a good time, because Rahaeng is not on the Rail Line and any planes left on the Ground there are Captive Targets for future Air Raids.

At the end of the day an RN CL/DD Bombardment TF emptied their magazines at the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab, but didn’t hit anything other than trees.

The Land Combat Phase started with an unplanned event, as a couple of Allied Armoured LCUs jumped the gun and crossed the River to Prome ahead of the rest of the Troops:

Ground combat at Prome (55,50)

Allied Shock attack

Attacking force 3370 troops, 18 guns, 360 vehicles, Assault Value = 240

Defending force 6616 troops, 86 guns, 176 vehicles, Assault Value = 158

Allied adjusted assault: 60

Japanese adjusted defense: 119

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

Combat modifiers
Defender: preparation(-)
Attacker: shock(+), fatigue(-), supply(-)

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

Allied ground losses:
163 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Vehicles lost 67 (5 destroyed, 62 disabled)

Assaulting units:
43rd Cavalry Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade

Defending units:
3rd Tank Regiment
113th Infantry Regiment
1st INA Subhas Regiment
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
54th Const Co
7th Field AF Construction Battalion
17th Army
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
8th RF Gun Battalion

I had set those two LCUs to Combat mode rather than Move mode, but it didn’t make any difference and they went across alone. It’s a good thing that bulk of the Japanese units at Prome were already pretty beat up otherwise my Armoured units might have been thrown back across the River. I still don’t like the Auto-Shock River Crossing Rule, and I probably never will. It has always given me headaches in all of my pbems.

Up near Akyab, things finally went the way I had been expecting for the previous couple of turns:

Ground combat at 55,46 (near Akyab)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 12220 troops, 276 guns, 159 vehicles, Assault Value = 371

Defending force 2316 troops, 24 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 52

Allied adjusted assault: 182

Japanese adjusted defense: 3

Allied assault odds: 60 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
1102 casualties reported
Squads: 39 destroyed, 21 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 8 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 11 (11 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Allied ground losses:
34 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
11th (East African) Division
1st USN Naval Construction Regiment
2nd USN Naval Construction Regiment

I have no idea why that Japanese unit suddenly collapsed totally, but I’m glad that it is out of the way for now. However, my opponent has ordered it to head back towards the road to Prome, so I will need to kick it off again sometime in the future.

BTW – in some Good News, an Air Support Unit made it safely to Tabiteuea this turn and now with over 100 Air Support at the Level 2 Air Field I have flown in Fighters and some Dive Bombers. The waters around Tabiteuea have suddenly become a little more dangerous for the Japanese.

[ADB123]

August 28, 1943 –

There was no Night Action this turn.

Daylight brought Report of Bad Weather most everywhere again. One interesting report that did come through was that a USN sub halfway between Truk and Eniwetok was shadowed by a Jill. Hmmm – land-based or ship-based?

Some of the Air War went ahead despite the weather -

In the South Pacific:

- 2Es hit the SNLF at Luganville while the PB4Y-1s sat things out

- USAAF 4Es hit the Air Base at Lae again, destroying 1 A6M3a on the Ground

In Burma:

- DBs hit the Japanese Troops at Bhamo

- 2Es hit the Japanese Troops just to the east of Mandalay

- 4Es went after Rahaeng where 11 Tojos and 4 Oscar IIbs faced 81 B-24D1s and 9 B-17Es. The 4Es blasted past the CAP like normal and then proceeded to rain bombs through the Rain Clouds. The Air Base was hammered hard despite the weather, but only 1 Dinah was destroyed on the Ground and 1 Tojo shot down in the Air. Either my opponent pulled back most of his Fighters or they are hiding somewhere else.

There was no Ground Action. The rest of my Assault Column crossed the River to Prome without instigating another Shock Attack. I have no idea why they didn't, but then, my observations of River Crossings suggest that there is a bigger Random factor than in most things in this game, so I shouldn't have been too surprised.

In an interesting and rare case of SIGINT being both accurate and useful, USN Patrol planes in the south-central Pacific reported a Japanese TF at Nauru Island. A couple of turns ago, SIGINT reported that an IJN Guards unit was being moved to Nauru.

In another example of Incomprehensible Game Mechanics, a USMC Air Unit showed up at San Francisco this turn, with only 17 days left until it needed to be withdrawn. The unit had no planes, and I am certain that I disbanded it not too long ago. So I disbanded it again and received a message that the unit was being "automatically re-formed". If it is supposed to be removed from the Theater, why would the Game re-form it not just once, but twice?

[ADB123]

April 29, 1943 –

The Night Phase saw USN CAs and DDs sail in and Bombard Luganville. They made a nice mess of all of the Facilities, but they didn’t hit the SNLF unit. There were both Night and Day Recon missions set for the Scout Planes in the TF.

Daylight brought the usual Reports of End-of-the-World Weather over the Map, but as usual some Air Missions did fly.

In the South Pacific:

- PB4Y-1s and B-25s hit the SNLF on Luganville

- The USAAF 4Es in Oz didn’t fly they Port Mining Mission

In Burma:

- DBs found the Target at Bhamo

- 2Es hammered the Japanese Troops at Prome

- P-39s found their target with the Japanese Infantry Regiment southeast of Akyab

- 4Es hammered the Air Base at Port Blair, just to keep things honest

It appears that Japanese planes have moved to Pisanuloke, so I ordered the 4Es to hit that Air Base next turn.

USN subs near Kavieng reported being buzzed by Peter, Vals and Kates, which strongly suggests the presence of Japanese CVs near by. I’m looking forward to seeing how Summer 1943 IJN planes do against Corsairs, P-38s, and P-47s.

[ADB123]

August 30, 1943 –

There was no Night Action this turn.

Daylight brought fairly limited Air Action:

In the South Pacific:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF unit at Luganville, but the Mitchell Attacks missed

- USSAF 4Es dropped mines at Lae

In Burma:

- DBs hit Japanese Troops at Bhamo

- 2Es hit Japanese Troops east of Taung Gyi

- USAAF 4Es hit Pisanuloke and found Tojos and Oscar IIbs on CAP. The Bombers blasted through, shooting down one Tojo, and hitting the Air Base hard. But they didn’t catch any Japanese planes on the Ground.

Afterwards, Recon reported a fair number of Japanese Fighters back at Pegu, so I ordered the USAAF 4Es to hit that base. But I also ordered P-47s and P-38Hs to Sweep Pegu too, just in case I can catch the Japanese Fighters in a vice.

My guess is that my opponent is assuming that I will send my Bombers to hit the Japanese Troops at Prome or Toungoo. So I ordered my 2Es to stand down for a turn until the Big Boys and their Friends have a shot at the Japanese Fighters first.

I’ve also set the Mitchells in the South Pacific to Naval Attack/Naval Search/ASW because I have a suspicion that my opponent might try sneaking some TFs down towards Luganville and vicinity.

And finally, I ordered my Troops at Prome and Toungoo to attack, just to test the waters.

[ADB123]

August 31, 1943 –

There was a Minor Miracle during the Night Phase as the Japanese-controlled atoll Onotoa, south of Tabiteuea, was automatically occupied by the Allies. Otherwise there was no Night Action.

Daylight brought Bad Weather all over the place, but Recon and Search Flights did fly for the most part. The most interesting Reports sent back by the Allied Air Searches showed that Japanese TFs were on the move around much of the South Pacific – near New Britain, north of the Solomons, in the northern Gilberts, and so on. It appears that my opponent is manoeuvring to try to contain my advances in the Region.

Some Air Missions did fly.

In the South Pacific:

- PB4Y-1s hit the SNLF at Luganville

- USAAF 4Es dropped mines at Milne Bay.

Now Milne Bay, Buna and Lae are mined, and the 4Es have been ordered to mine Finschafen next. It appears that an AMc TF is heading towards PNG – I have ordered some Air Surprises for it – we’ll see what happens.

In Burma:

- The DBs hit the Japanese Troops at Bhamo without any Japanese Air interference

- The 4Es and Fighter Sweeps over Pegu were Rained Out.

It appears that my opponent may have left his Fighters in Pegu for a second day. With any luck that may end up being costly for him.

The Ground Forces then Went on the Attack at Prome and Toungoo:

Ground combat at Prome (55,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 25233 troops, 289 guns, 645 vehicles, Assault Value = 1130

Defending force 10674 troops, 138 guns, 189 vehicles, Assault Value = 284

Allied adjusted assault: 1316

Japanese adjusted defense: 129

Allied assault odds: 10 to 1 (fort level 3)

Allied forces CAPTURE Prome !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
3748 casualties reported
Squads: 136 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 234 destroyed, 26 disabled
Engineers: 28 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 78 (69 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 154 (151 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Units retreated 9

Allied ground losses:
334 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 64 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Vehicles lost 20 (2 destroyed, 18 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
20th Indian Division
43rd Cavalry Regiment
254th Armoured Brigade
14th British Brigade
17th Indian Division
3rd (Special Force) Division

Defending units:
113th Infantry Regiment
1st INA Subhas Regiment
3rd Tank Regiment
20th/C Division
17th Army
54th Const Co
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
8th RF Gun Battalion

So my opponent was not able to get any fresh reinforcements into Prome. I’m letting most of my Force rest up and build up the Fortifications at Prome, except for the Brit Brigade which I’ve ordered to march to Bassein.

Toungoo was tougher:

Ground combat at Toungoo (57,50)

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 37242 troops, 824 guns, 1184 vehicles, Assault Value = 1420

Defending force 7289 troops, 73 guns, 63 vehicles, Assault Value = 122

Allied adjusted assault: 668

Japanese adjusted defense: 169

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

Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1022 casualties reported
Squads: 52 destroyed, 2 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 23 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Guns lost 9 (5 destroyed, 4 disabled)
Vehicles lost 36 (8 destroyed, 28 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
284 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
26th Indian Division
3rd Carabiniers Regiment
2nd British Division
255th Armoured Brigade
5th Indian Division
21st Indian Mountain Gun Regiment
85th British AT Gun Regiment
8th Medium Regiment

Defending units:
22nd Recon Regiment
1st Formosa Inf. Regiment
15th Ind. Engineer Regiment
20th/B Division
55th Const Co
37th Const Co
53rd Const Co
10th JAAF AF Coy

That’s okay. Those Japanese Troops can’t stand those sorts of losses for long. I’m resting my troops for the next turn so that they can top-off their Supply levels again. Also, if my 4Es and Fighter Sweeps fly over Pegu next turn I will be able to send out my 2Es against the Japanese troops at Toungoo to help with the battle.

Below is the INTEL Screen for September 1, 1943. On subsequent pages I’ll paste map screens.