Spanking Lowpe (NJP72 vs Lowpe (A))

[Lowpe]

Port Moresby invasion....triggers and Orphan Annie spiel.

First invasion with APAs....simply amazing!

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[Lowpe]

Just keep grinding those Japanese plane losses:

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Upgraded my first Hellcat squadron yesterday.

[Lowpe]

April 12, 1943

Port Moresby falls to the first attack...as Japan moved the other 10+ units out overland where they are out of supply and bombed daily.

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[Lowpe]

Burma and China....

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[Lowpe]

April 13, 1943

Dogfights in Burma today...do well.

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[BBfanboy]

The only Allied fighter on that losses list is the Kittyhawk 1A! Are you using your B-17s as sweepers again?

[Lowpe]

Here you go :

Morning Air attack on 48th Engineer Regiment, at 58,49 , near Taung Gyi

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 22 NM, estimated altitude 23,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 24
A6M5b Zero x 13

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 2
P-38G Lightning x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M3a Zero: 5 destroyed
A6M5b Zero: 6 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
582 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 24 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 30 minutes
202 Ku S-1 with A6M5b Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
13 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 45 minutes



Morning Air attack on 48th Engineer Regiment, at 58,49 , near Taung Gyi

Weather in hex: Severe storms

Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 22,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 4 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M3a Zero x 24
A6M5b Zero x 24

Allied aircraft
Hurricane IIc Trop x 3
Kittyhawk IA x 5
P-38G Lightning x 3
P-39D Airacobra x 6

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M5b Zero: 3 destroyed

No Allied losses

CAP engaged:
582 Ku S-1 with A6M3a Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(24 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 24 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 5000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 5000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 31 minutes
202 Ku S-1 with A6M5b Zero (0 airborne, 0 on standby, 0 scrambling)
(24 plane(s) diverted to support CAP in hex.)
0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 24 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 6000 , scrambling fighters between 0 and 6000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 1 minutes

[BBfanboy]

That just deepens the mystery for me - the Japanese came in at 22-23 K and 4 minutes warning. Your fighters were patrolling at 5-6 K and would take 30-45 minutes to reach the Zeros.
The weather was severe storms. So the Japanese could not detect the allied fighters and just hung around like LRCAP until they were low on fuel? Or the Zeros lowered their altitude (because launching Allied fighters were sent to 5-6K feet).

Most of the discussion around the air model gives the high altitude sweep the advantage over lower altitude CAP so this reversal is confounding! The only factor I can imagine giving that result is pilot skill and leadership, and some excellent die rolls for the Allies.

[Capt. Harlock]

That just deepens the mystery for me - the Japanese came in at 22-23 K and 4 minutes warning. Your fighters were patrolling at 5-6 K and would take 30-45 minutes to reach the Zeros.
The weather was severe storms. So the Japanese could not detect the allied fighters and just hung around like LRCAP until they were low on fuel? Or the Zeros lowered their altitude (because launching Allied fighters were sent to 5-6K feet).

Most of the discussion around the air model gives the high altitude sweep the advantage over lower altitude CAP so this reversal is confounding! The only factor I can imagine giving that result is pilot skill and leadership, and some excellent die rolls for the Allies.

And on top of that, Airacobras are engaging Zeroes with inferior Allied numbers, and suffering no losses! I think we are seeing a decline in the Japanese pilot corps.

[DesertWolf101]

The Allies were coming in at ~20,000 feet, not the Japanese.

[BBfanboy]

I'll say it first ... D'OH!

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[Lowpe]

Middle of the Month, April of 1943

Kind of boring set of turns...

Japan is cleaning up the bypassed Chinese units...primarily using their tank divisions. They have started bombing Chungking heavily.

Over in New Guinea, Japan have disappeared and all their bases from Vanimo/Hollandia and east are getting bombarded and bombed daily. They have no functional runways so just need to look out for Rufes...

A CVE took a torpedo off Cairns, Australia and returned to port...

Moving something like 60 ships around Japanese held Ceylon, and they haven't been spotted...from R class Battleships to coastal minesweepers and everything in between...

Trying to ramp up fuel delivery to New Guinea, supply delivery to India/Burma.

Deathstar is in Pearl upgrading wildcats to hellcats, repairing sys damage, etc., etc.

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[Lowpe]

That just deepens the mystery for me - the Japanese came in at 22-23 K and 4 minutes warning. Your fighters were patrolling at 5-6 K and would take 30-45 minutes to reach the Zeros.
The weather was severe storms. So the Japanese could not detect the allied fighters and just hung around like LRCAP until they were low on fuel? Or the Zeros lowered their altitude (because launching Allied fighters were sent to 5-6K feet).

Most of the discussion around the air model gives the high altitude sweep the advantage over lower altitude CAP so this reversal is confounding! The only factor I can imagine giving that result is pilot skill and leadership, and some excellent die rolls for the Allies.

And on top of that, Airacobras are engaging Zeroes with inferior Allied numbers, and suffering no losses! I think we are seeing a decline in the Japanese pilot corps.

I have had very good success using Airacobras in a dogfighting role this game. Hint: only the P38s or Hurricanes swept.

the other very important factor was Japan was using LRCAP...and it is exceptionally difficult to pull off a LRCAP against sweepers, especially without radars in the nonbase hex. This probably trumps all other factors.

[CaptBeefheart]

That just deepens the mystery for me - the Japanese came in at 22-23 K and 4 minutes warning. Your fighters were patrolling at 5-6 K and would take 30-45 minutes to reach the Zeros.
The weather was severe storms. So the Japanese could not detect the allied fighters and just hung around like LRCAP until they were low on fuel? Or the Zeros lowered their altitude (because launching Allied fighters were sent to 5-6K feet).

Most of the discussion around the air model gives the high altitude sweep the advantage over lower altitude CAP so this reversal is confounding! The only factor I can imagine giving that result is pilot skill and leadership, and some excellent die rolls for the Allies.

And on top of that, Airacobras are engaging Zeroes with inferior Allied numbers, and suffering no losses! I think we are seeing a decline in the Japanese pilot corps.

I have had very good success using Airacobras in a dogfighting role this game. Hint: only the P38s or Hurricanes swept.

the other very important factor was Japan was using LRCAP...and it is exceptionally difficult to pull off a LRCAP against sweepers, especially without radars in the nonbase hex. This probably trumps all other factors.

I consider the P-39 and P-400 to be better than the P-40E. Not the P-40K, though, which does yeoman work until the Jug comes along.

Cheers,
CB

[Lowpe]

500 turns today.

Nail some ships in port...Rabaul has the Wake CD guns and plentiful mines.

looking to invade Ceylon, Kavieng, and keep pushing up the New Guinea coastline next...

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[Lowpe]

April 24th, 1943

Belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone...sorry for the lack of updates.

The war progresses....I am just plodding along suffering from Allied unit over abundance. And to think the real reinforcements haven't even started yet.

I am still trying to figure out an overall tempo...

Landed at Jaffna in Ceylon....Japan seems to have abandoned the base with only 1 unit or so in each of the bases. Although my aerial recon hasn't been great since I have been able to move ships around Ceylon to Madras with no Japanese DL....definitely a backwater currently, but will Japan reinforce given my initial invasion is only a Brigade. I hope so.

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[Lowpe]

Burma and China

Pretty stagnant overall...I am more interested in getting supplies into China and simply attracting Japanese troops into Burma. The move down the Chaing Mai road was a moderate failure as movement is funky but it is stretching the Japanese defensive lines and is still too early for a final judgement.

Not really attacking, fighting by maneuver pretty much in Burma.

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[Lowpe]

I have so many fragments down here....a leftover from advancing before sufficient shipping. Drives me nuts.

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[Lowpe]

Will shortly knock the Japanese victory level down to Draw.

Deathstar is pretty much cooling their planes at Pearl while we upgrade to Hellcats.

Darwin is sieged, but supplies irregular. No plans on taking the Marshalls at present, but they are weakly held by Japan, Kusaie Island is being slowly expanded by Allied engineers.

Need to plan our next major breach of Japanese perimeter, but more important the 2nd and 3rd thrust thru...I think I have the shipping for troops, but getting enough fuel forward to support such a large offensive is always tough. Only using a few battleships...mostly they hang out disbanded in bases.

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[RangerJoe]

Burma and China

Pretty stagnant overall...I am more interested in getting supplies into China and simply attracting Japanese troops into Burma. The move down the Chaing Mai road was a moderate failure as movement is funky but it is stretching the Japanese defensive lines and is still too early for a final judgement.

Not really attacking, fighting by maneuver pretty much in Burma.

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I would not call it a moderate failure if you are stretching the Japanese defenders. It may not have yet accomplished what you wanted but it still is holding the enemy by the nose. Now, either an air, sea, and/or a combined invasion at Pegu to Moulmein area will unlock his defenses. The Moulmein area might be better since then you have access into Thailand with the units around Chaing Mai possibly interfering with the retreat of the Japanese units in that area much better than air strikes alone. Then you could have a larger victory than you had planned on and it would open up the SEAC area for further exploitation through Thailand or invading the DEI, not to mention feeding China with lots of supplies.