Matrix Games Forums

7 Sep 42 - really quiet turn.

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Ted was happy bombing my troops in several locations and the airfield at Tulagi. He totaled 58x 2E and 99x 4E sorties. I think that going after troops is not the efficient use of his air power. (I'm not going to tell him that though.) Tulagi's airfield is still open for business but I'm preparing (sending some AS) to Buna as a back-up for the Dinahs at Tulagi.

SRA

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Burma

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China

Bombing and maneuvering.

Other Stuff

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8 Sep 42 - More quiet.

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Same targets as yesterday. I relocated the Dinahs to Buin. (I may have mistakenly said Buna yesterday.) Tulagi's airfield is finally in sad shape. The total Allied sorties were 58x 2E (same as yesterday) and 110x 4E.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

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China

Same ole bombing and maneuvering.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
58 JNAF AF Unit - going to an island south of Mindanao to set up seaplane naval search in the area.

9 Sep 42 - Even more quiet.

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Today's Allied bombing hit the same targets, this time using 58x 2E bombers (same number 3 days in a row) and 102x 4E bombers. I'm driving Ted nuts over Salamaua, Lae and Finschafen. I'll drop a small slice of paratroopers to take the base and then pull them out and replace them with some NG troops. He keeps bombing the troops and I keep doing sending them. It's costing me few troops and costing him precious time. I'm still looking for opportunities to ambush his bombers when I see him sending only a few unescorted bombers to a location. He's also losing bombers to op losses. Today, for example, he lost 2 B-17s and a B-26B to op losses.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

Tojos tangled with some Hurricanes and Warhawks over the front line. Three Tojos were lost (1 KIA, 2 WIA) vs. a Hurricane and 3 P-40Es shot down. The IJA trained fighter pool is very strong. I'll gladly accept those losses.

China

More bombing and maneuvering. Getting close to attacking Kunming. Just waiting for 33 Division to arrive.

Other Stuff

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10 Sep 42

Sub War

The I-23, providing aerial intel, was caught and hit twice by depth charges. Surprisingly, her damage wasn't too severe: 21-27(10)-1-0. She'll head to Truk for repairs.

5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Same targets again today. Today, Ted sent 57x 2E and 97x 4E bombers.

SRA

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Burma

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China

Ted moved some P-66 Vanguard fighters to Chungking and they some Helens, shooting down one. The dozen Oscars escorting them just watched.

Other Stuff

The Ki-44-IIc R&D advanced to 1/44 and is expected to become operational in mid-December 42. Can't wait!

11 Sep 42 - Some action today!

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

I set up an ambush over Salamaua with 32 Zeros. The first enemy wave was 6 B26s escorted by 7 Kittyhawks. For no loss, they shot down 5 Kittyhawks and 2 B26s. Nice!

The second wave was 9 B25Cs escorted by 11 Kittyhawks. After losing a Zero (KIA) to a Kittyhawk (embarrassing), they burned through and shot down a B25C.

By the third wave, there were only 2 Zeros remaining. They came across 21 various 2E bombers. They couldn't shoot any down, but they did damage a bunch.

I also had 8 Zeros and 9 Nicks at Merauke. They encountered 24x 4E bombers. At a cost of a single Nick (WIA) they managed to down a B-24D. The second wave of 26x 4E bombers managed to shrug off the 4 remaining fighters and drop their bomb loads.

Intel reported that 4 more 2E and a B-24D were lost to op losses.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

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China

The P-66s tangled with the escorting Oscars over Chungking and shot down an Oscar. At least the Helens made it this time.

Other Stuff

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12 Sep 42 - Back to quiet...

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Bombing of my troops and a few already damaged airfields totaled 62x 2E and 83x 4E bombers today.

SRA

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Burma

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China

The P-66s didn't shoot down anything but they did throw off the Helen's aim. They caused little damage to the airfield.

Other Stuff

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13 Sep 42 - more quiet.

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Here's a better breakdown of how Ted used his bombers today:

53x 2E and 35x 4E against Madang's airfield.
27x 4E against Gasmata's troops (ineffective).
23x 4E against Lunga's troops (ineffective).

Intel said there were no enemy 2 or 4E op losses. I need new intel guys.

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

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China

Today, 4 Vanguards got past a dozen Oscars to shoot down 2 Helens. In retaliation, the surviving Helens destroyed a Vanguard on the ground. I've had enough of these IJAAF clowns. I brought in some Zeros to sweep the skies of Chungking.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
1 RGC Capital Division - at Nanking, will move to Shanghai to allow the release of the 35 Division to head to Kweiyang.

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 11:50 pm I've had enough of these IJAAF clowns. I brought in some Zeros to sweep the skies of Chungking.

They are pretty bad aren't they!

sfatula wrote: Thu Apr 30, 2026 12:58 am

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 11:50 pm I've had enough of these IJAAF clowns. I brought in some Zeros to sweep the skies of Chungking.

They are pretty bad aren't they!

Yes they are. The only saving grace for the IJAAF is that there are a lot of training sentai and I currently have >100 70+/70+ pilots in the pool and every pilot on the front line is 70+/70+.

14 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Today, Madang's airfield was the target of a total of 58x 2E and 57x 4E bombers. The remaining 28x 4E bombers went after Lunga's troops. That's a net win for me. Madang's port and airfield are both out of commission (and no planes are there) so extra bombing doesn't matter and Lunga has a NG.

SRA

I have a daitai of Nells stationed at Saumlaki that scout the area and provide any needed naval attack capability. I've noticed that Darwin and Katherine have no fighters. I guess they all got sucked into PNG. I hit the port of Darwin doing some lasting damage and sinking an AM and xAKL in port. There are mines there and I thought they might be ACMs. No matter. Two fewer ships for Ted to be concerned with. I'm sure he has plenty. Oh yeah, he's attempting to expand the port. It's currently at 4(3) and the airfield is at 7(7).

Burma

A sentai of Tojos met a squadron of Hurricanes over the front line shooting down 4 Hurricanes for a loss of 2 Tojos (no pilot loss!).

China

Twenty-three Zeros swept Chungking meeting 4 P-66 Vanguards and shooting down 3. That's more like it!

The normal bombing of the 4 Chinese bases were targeted again. At Kunming, 33 Division is only 30 miles out. Then I'll start the attack on that base.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
CMc Ma-4, To'su, converting to a 12 kt PB.

15 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Most of Teds bombers rested today. 29 B-17s hit Lunga's troops and 23 B-17s hit Gasmata's troops. Both were ineffective. Gasmata's air service is at 98 damage with no planes there and is repairing nicely. More wasted sorties. I'll take it. My fighters and FBs are resting nicely in preparation for the next ambush.

SRA

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Burma

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China

The Zeros met 2 P-66s and drove them off so the bombers could later bomb safely.

The 4 bases were all bombed again today. What I do is bomb the airfield until its damage is in the 90s, then I switch to troops until the airfield recovers to the 20s or so. All my extra bombers are hitting the troops at Kunming to prepare them for the attack. The 33 Division is a mile out of Kunming, will arrive tomorrow and the attack will go in the day after.

Other Stuff

The A6M5 R&D advanced to 11/42 and will become operational 10/42. I will produce this model along with the A6M3a.

16 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Today, the Allied bomber force hit Madang's airfield (32x 2E & 35x 4E), Salamaua's troops (22x 4E) and Lunga's troops (31x 4E).

SRA

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Burma

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China

My Zeros caught 3 P-66s today and shot down 2. I'm not sure why Ted is doing this. It's nice experience for the Zeros, which is a training unit. They are training that much faster. Right now I see no fighters at Chungking but there are 22 at Chengtu. He either is using LRCAP or flying them to Chungking. Not sure which, but either way, it's to my advantage.

I'm bombing all 4 bases again and doing a deliberate assault on Kunming. Here are the forces:

25 Army HQ
1 Tank Division
33 Division
14 Tank Regiment

The enemy has 15 units totaling 46k troops. The combat troops are pretty beat up. Let's see what happens.

One nice thing happened today. I have 3 sentai of Sallies stationed at Haiphong used as ground bombers, focusing on Kunming right now. They will switch to Kweiyang once Kunming is liberated. Haiphong's airfield finally reached level 4 today, so the combat power of those 82 Sallies just doubled!

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
DD Niizuki, Akitzuki class, KB escort.

17 Sep 42

Sub War

The S-23 hit a mine at Tulagi. She's reported to have sunk but that's not true. No sinking sounds and the intel screen, which give true information, did not reflect an Allied sinking today. That's ok. She's head home. Maybe she'll sink on the way.

Remember RO-33? She's the ship that was depth charged off the Aleutians, forced to the surface, torpedoed and sank a TK, duked it out against a DD, slipped beneath the waves, and made it back to Yokohama a month later to be repaired. She just got back on her old station and took 2 DC hits heavily damaging her: 23-64(42)-1-0. She's about a 3 weeks out of Yokohama and is making her way back. As of the end of the month, making good headway and is slowly repairing her damage enroute. Guess she had lots of practice.

5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Today's enemy bombing missions:

Madang: (2E/4E) 60/37, airfield again
Salamaua: 0/23, troops
Lunga: 0/30, troops

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

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China

The Zeros encountered 6 P-66s over Chungking and shot down 3 today.

The same 4 bases were bombed again.

Kunming's deliberate assault was pretty nice. Had they not had forts, it would be over. The assault netted 3:1 odds against level 4 forts, which were reduced to level 3. I took 2 squads destroyed vs. 81 destroyed Chinese squads. I'm attacking again tomorrow.

Other Stuff

Reinforcement
13 Field Construction Battalion, 2 Area Army (which is in Burma), headed to Burma

The Ki-44-IIc R&D advanced to 12/43 and is expected to become operational 12/42. That'll be the best IJAAF fighter until I receive the Frank, hopefully in mid-1943. I've had really good luck with the Tojo given good pilots, which I have in abundance.

18 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Ted tried to sweep Rabaul with 18 P-38Fs vs. 72 Oscars. Should have been a blow out, right? They're Oscars. The end result was 2 Oscars shot down (1 KIA) to 1 P-38 shot down. I converted one of the Oscar sentai to the Tojo. I have 0 faith in the Oscar.

Enemy bombing:

Finschafen troops: (2E/4E) 62/68
Lunga troops: 0/28

SRA

Nothing to report.

Burma

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China

Today's exchange between 24 Zeros and 8 P-66s over Chungking netted half of the Vanguards. Keep 'em coming!

Kunming deliberate attack: 2:1 vs. fort level 3 reduced to 2. I lost 2 squads to 74 Chinese squads destroyed. My troops will rest tomorrow hoping more supply arrives so they can continue the attack.

Earlier, I noticed that Ankang (2 hexes SW of Sian) was defended by a single unit. I sent 1 Army HQ, 69 Division and 6 Medium FA Regiment to investigate. They attacked today getting 27:1 odds and chewing up the single Chinese Corps there. The resources were captured intact at 20(0).

Other Stuff

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19 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Allied bombing:

Lae's troops: 50/0
Lunga's troops: 0/29

Looks like most of the 4E bombers rested.

SRA

A dozen Nells snuck into Darwin (easy to do with no enemy fighters present) and caused some lasting damage to the airfield.

Burma

Nothing to report.

China

Chungking's bombing run (a whopping 8 Helens escorted by 12 Oscars (the bane of my existence)) managed to find Chungking before the sweeping Zeros and were met by 7 P-66s. The Helens got through at a cost of 2 Oscars (2 MIA). At least the bombers did (barely) find the airfield.

When the Zeros did arrive, the P-66s were long gone. I guess the Oscars managed to damage them or force them to use all of their fuel and/or ammo.

Other Stuff

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20 Sep 42

Sub War

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5 Fleet

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4 Fleet

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SE Fleet

Allied bombing:

Finschafen troops: 0/28
Lunga troops: 0/27

Resting bombers. What is he planning?

So, I missed a lot yesterday and almost missed it today. I had gotten some sort of crud from one of my grandsons (they're cesspools, I tell ya!). This map has a LOT of dot bases all over the place. There were ~7 or so in and around the Solomons that I was too lazy to take. Ted had noticed me cleaning up the SRA and decided to try something sneaky. He dropped some paratroopers at Munda that I never noticed yesterday (He also dropped troops at Woodlark Island that built up the port and airfield and I didn't see that either. ) Anyway, I noticed the troops at Munda and decided to fast transport the 83 NG from Rabaul (8 Ansyu PBs). It'll take them 2 days to get there. I set 99 IJN and 27 IJA 2E bombers to bomb the troops there tomorrow, as a welcome call. I also had 42 transports drop most of the 2 Raiding Regiment on Munda. I was still feeling pretty crappy and didn't do anything else. I figured the bombers would soften up the enemy, the paratrooper would chew them up some more and the NG would arrive the next day and finish the job.

SRA

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Burma

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China

Deliberate assault of Kunming: 1:1, fort level 2 reduced to 1. One Japanese to 31 Chinese squads destroyed and the Chinese 1 Construction Regiment was also destroyed. Resting again tomorrow while more supply moves up.

Other Stuff

Nothing to report.

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:07 pm
Yes, initiative is most definitely true and I have been reacting. I'm over 3 weeks behind on this AAR, just so you know. A LOT has happened.

We know, we've been patiently DYING here waiting for updates!!!!

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:07 pm The George is still in R&D. Of the 18 factories, one reached 30 just 2 days ago and the next day, the Ha-45 pool exceeded 500 (currently at 515 and increasing ~15 a day). The remaining 17 factories average 19.2 with a the top 4 at 29, 28 and 26x2 and the remainder at 23, 21, 20, 19x3, 18, 17, 16x3, 15 and 8. The N1K1-J is still showing 7/43 to become operational. No idea what the final date will be, but the engines will accelerate it a LOT. The Ha-45 engine factories are currently at 490(80). One is finished at 120, one is at 82(8) and the last 4 are at 72(18). When finished in 18 days, they'll pump out 19 engines a day. That should be plenty to cover the George 1 & 2 R&D along with the Frank and Grace.

My guess based upon my experience with 15-18 factories on N1K from the start: you look like Jan with luck otherwise Feb43. My range has been Dec42 - Mar43. It all depends upon that first factory getting fully repaired. That first one is what accelerates those next 4 to repair. Do those repair in 1 month or 2 is the question, because once you have +4 repaired all the others repair REALLY fast. The engine bonus is just AMAZING during this time. Be sure to keep expanding your Ha-45 to your end goal because you will want the engine bonus for as long as you can get it. You will burn through an astounding number of engines ...

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:07 pm Raiding his 4E bases: I did some research on where his bombers were coming from and was able to determine whether they were coming at normal or extended range. It turns out his 4E bombers are most likely coming from Pt. Moresby. There could be some stationed at Milne Bay as well. I know that both of those bases have mines, so I'm reluctant to send in ships to bombard. I'll have to think about that.

So, your bombardment TF's would have to use some of your precious DMS's to keep pace. Tough call there, you don't have many and you get only a few replacements. I know that DD's are supposed to work in the role as well, but honestly, they've never been as good at it as the DMS for me. Anyway, I put some in the bombardment TF and then tag another TF set to Minesweeping along side. I've had good success with this in NOT losing BB's to mines, OTOH sometimes it seems that the minesweeping TF impedes the progress of the bombardment TF ... so, be sure you have good LRCAP on these TF's.

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:07 pm I need to think about how to go about hitting the bombers on the ground. He has well over 100 fighters in that area. I keep whittling them down but he seems to have an endless supply of planes.

Which is surprising, but what it means to me is 2 things:

- opportunity for you to whittle faster and more.
- he is willing to risk his fighter forces here as well as his bomber forces. This isn't a bluff, or if it is, call him on it. You can beat his numbers game. Rotate your units frequently, change your sweep altitudes randomly and your aircraft mix and keep increasing the pressure (meaning keep adding units, again you can do that, he can't yet) are keys. Be the bully.

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:07 pm I just spent some time looking at US Army 4E, 2E and fighter replacement aircraft. (I'm not considering all the aircraft that arrive as reinforcements.)

Fighters:
P40E (35/month) phases out at the end of 10/42, so 35 more replacements. I see a few in Burma and a few in PNG. As of 28 Sep 42, 462 have been lost from all causes. So far, he's gotten 350 replacements plus 353 reinforcements for a total of 703-462=241 +35 in October for 276 available. Still a lot of them. I wonder if he's using some for training because I don't see many of them. The P40K is just coming online to replace them.

P40K (65/month) (just saw them for the first time ~27 Sep) until 7/43. They're not much better than the P40E but there are a lot of them. He'll get 725 over the course of 11 months. Interestingly, he gets no reinforcement squadrons with them, so that 725 is a hard number.

P38 series - He gets a smattering of 3 different varieties totaling 104 through 9/42 with an additional 160 between 10/42 and 5/43. I find that they don't really do that well. They do extend fighter coverage to the bombers though. There never seem to be large enough numbers to really make a difference. So far 24 have been lost leaving 80 available right now.

2E Bombers:
B25C (20/month), 8/42-1/43 + 49 reinforcements. 89 through 9/42 with 30 losses leaving 59 aircraft with 80 replacements over the next 4 months.

B26 series (15/month), B26 delivers 3/42-5/42 and the B26B delivers 5/42-6/42 for a total of 75 and 6 replacement aircraft with 51 losses so far. That leaves 30 remaining aircraft. They're almost gone.

The 2E bombers just can't survive without serious fighter cover. I catch them over and over and chew them up. I'm not worried about them.

4E Bombers:
B17E (15/month), delivered 1/42-6/42 with 90 replacement aircraft, 77 reinforcement aircraft and 45 starting the game for a total of 212. With 62 destroyed to date, there are 150 remaining.

B17F (24/month), delivered 8/42-9/42 for a total of 48 bombers. Only 2 have been destroyed so far, but they haven't com across much resistance where they are (Luganville or its environs).

B24D (15/month), delivered 7/42-1/43 with a total of 45 delivered so far and 40 reinforcement aircraft for a total of 85. Seven have been destroyed leaving 78 remaining.

So all that blather tells me some important info. There are some 275 4E bombers remaining (a lot!) but the replacements for the next few months is only 15 per month. And that's assuming all are in operational unit and none in training units.

Things look better with the 2E bombers. There are about 90 remaining with 80 reinforcements through 1/43.

So, if I can kill over 15 heavies and 20 mediums, I'll cut into that force. I'm going to keep track starting next month.

P40 types: Ki44/A6M are a match, N1K/Ki84 will eat them up. BUT, never overlook numbers. When sweeping I always try for at least 2:1 ... and I never complain about more. More always means less loss for me (excepting op's losses which means I'm not rotating often enough).
P38 types: Numbers are your only tool here; you simply need to overwhelm them. 3:1 min, I like 4:1, but I'm greedy.
4E's: you already know that you need Nick for these until the N1K's arrive. Then either will work. Fighting over your bases so your pilot losses will be minimal, you can afford the airframes.
2E's: Ki44/A6M/Nick/N1K any of them will eat them up pretty well.

Again, his big numbers are great if he will commit them and it looks like he will.

In my overarching airwar strategy I have two things I really focus on:
- pilot losses as opposed to AC losses. I hardly look at my AC losses, but scrutinize my pilot losses ever so carefully and manage my groups accordingly. AC I can replace easily, but pilots take far more time. And as the game moves into '44 and beyond, that time no longer exists ...
- AC ops losses. I want these well under 1% of my total sorties. My last game I was running 0.29%, so I was feeling ok. To put this into perspective against reality, the US total AC losses in WWII were over 65000 AC, operational losses (non-combat, so approximately agrees with the game although the game has some additional ones that we know of) they had about 42000 operational losses, 65%. I was running 36%. So, significantly better than the historical marker.

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:32 pm 7 Sep 42 - really quiet turn.
SE Fleet

Ted was happy bombing my troops in several locations and the airfield at Tulagi. He totaled 58x 2E and 99x 4E sorties.

This is a serious commitment on his part of his air force ... it's been ongoing now for how many months?

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 10:56 pm 9 Sep 42 - Even more quiet.
Burma

Tojos tangled with some Hurricanes and Warhawks over the front line. Three Tojos were lost (1 KIA, 2 WIA) vs. a Hurricane and 3 P-40Es shot down. The IJA trained fighter pool is very strong. I'll gladly accept those losses.

over your base or his? how many pilots did you lose?

Mike Solli wrote: Wed Apr 29, 2026 11:28 pm 11 Sep 42 - Some action today!
SE Fleet

I set up an ambush over Salamaua with 32 Zeros. The first enemy wave was 6 B26s escorted by 7 Kittyhawks. For no loss, they shot down 5 Kittyhawks and 2 B26s. Nice!

The second wave was 9 B25Cs escorted by 11 Kittyhawks. After losing a Zero (KIA) to a Kittyhawk (embarrassing), they burned through and shot down a B25C.

By the third wave, there were only 2 Zeros remaining. They came across 21 various 2E bombers. They couldn't shoot any down, but they did damage a bunch.

I also had 8 Zeros and 9 Nicks at Merauke. They encountered 24x 4E bombers. At a cost of a single Nick (WIA) they managed to down a B-24D. The second wave of 26x 4E bombers managed to shrug off the 4 remaining fighters and drop their bomb loads.

Intel reported that 4 more 2E and a B-24D were lost to op losses.

Against these numbers, you need to get more fighter groups in theatre. I suspect you will also have to ramp up fighter production to support this as you do not want to steal them from other theatres and leave an opening for him to exploit ....