Great Tides that Ebb and Flow: Apbarog (A) vs Walker (J) DBB-B Scen 28

[Walker84]

April 22, 1942


Japanese cruisers Tone and Chikuma raid Diego Garcia. The only Allied ship present is AMc Medusa which takes 3 shell hits and sinks. The bombardment reveals that Hurricane I fighters, plus elements of 17th Indian Division are garrisoning the island.

Another night naval bombardment of Chittagong is mounted, and there are multiple contacts with Allied subs in the Bay of Bengal but fortunately no torpedoes hit home.

In a rare bit of action in the Aleutian Is, SS I-2 torpedoes an Allied xAK near Umnak Island, part of a small TF which may have unloaded at the island as there is no report of ground casualties.

Yokosuka 3rd SNLF is destroyed by another attack at Comilla leaving the way clear for Allied reinforcements to be railroaded to Chittagong.

[Walker84]

April 23, 1942

Warazup falls to the 14th Tank and 144th Infantry Regiments on the 23rd. Not enough forces to push on towards Ledo right now, although I might be tempted to make a show of strength here if I can assemble a slightly larger mobile force.

The Dutch fighters have disappeared so I have been bombing different airfields on Java in rotation, destroying a few transports and bombers on the ground. Every little bit helps...

[Walker84]

April 24, 1942


Air recon reveals that significant Allied reinforcements have arrived at Chittagong overnight. Probably equivalent to two divisions which I have insufficient forces to dislodge so I decide to divert my landing force to Cox's Bazar where I will build up and also backfill Akyab and repair the airfield there. It's annoying to have lost the race to Chittagong, however I am still exerting pressure on India across the Burmese frontier, not to mention the 'Calcutta salient'. I have also been reccing Viz, further along the coast, to keep Roger guessing as to where I might also land.

Two items on the bad news front today:

1) Hosho hits a mine at Cox's Bazaar taking float damage in the 30s.
2) An xAP carrying elements of 38th division is torpedoed and sunk off Victoria Point. Luckily, it was one of the smaller ones and a number of troops are rescued by other ships in the TF. As Chittagong is off the menu for amph assault, the unit will now debark at Rangoon instead.

My other worry is that the KB has been spending a lot of time in the Bay of Bengal providing CAP until I can build up my forward airfields and there are a lot of Allied subs out there. I have moved KB to Akyab to support the TF unloading at Cox's Bazar and have set multiple ASW TFs to patrol around the hex.

Approx Allied main dispositions are displayed in the picture attached.

[Walker84]

April 25, 1942

Before the day dawns, a further naval bombardment at Chittagong reveals the valuable intel that the 18th and 70th British Divisions are now in situ. Meanwhile my surviving DMS's clear away the minefield at Cox's Bazar that Hosho pranged herself on.

SS S-23 launches 2 torpedoes at DMS W-10 near Akyab, misses and sustains two hits. Several other Allied subs in the vicinity expend torpedoes at destroyer escorts to no effect.

[Walker84]

April 26, 1942

SS KXVII takes 4 hits attacking a large transport TF near Akyab but the day's main event is a sustained air attack on Diamond Harbour which my opponent would no doubt like to put out of action.


Air war over India

Kanoya Ku S-1 and 3rd Ku S-1 put 61 A6M2s in the air to meet the first wave of 25x P-40Es, shooting down 13 for no loss. The second wave comprises 23 P-40Es and the tally is 6 Warhawks destroyed for 1 Zero lost.

There are still 47 Zeros in the skies when a third wave of 17 x B-25C Mitchells arrives escorted by 25x P-39D Airacobras. The airfield sustains limited damage and a solitary C5M2 Babs is destroyed on the ground but tow of the attackers are reported shot down.

A fourth wave of 10x Blenheim I's arrives unescorted and at least 4 are destroyed.

The fifth wave comprising 25x P-400 Airacobras gets the better of the 37 remaining tired Zero pilots, shooting down 7 for a loss of 2.

Sixth wave: 25x P-39Ds take on 14 Zeros of which 4 are destroyed for no Allied loss.

Seventh wave (the only afternoon attack): 4x B-17Ds and 14x B-17Es vs 22 Zeroes. Result: 8 bombers damaged and only 2 airbase and 2 runway hits

Summary: At the end of the day, Diamond Harbour has survived - indeed the damage is all repaired by our tireless engineers during the day and the airfield continues to build towards size 3. I will need to replenish my units and bring in reserves but at the moment it appears that the Allies are sustaining a higher loss rate and will need to commit significantly more air power to be able to contest the war in the air over India.

Here is the intel on overall losses. Quite a few Zeroes were lost to Ops damage after the gruelling day's events but pilot losses remain light.

[Walker84]

Apr 27, 1942

More Allied air attacks on Diamond Harbour on the 27th but with fresh Oscar Ics of the 24th Sentai flown in the Zeroes hold their own, and several Hurricanes are shot down. A B-17 raid fails to damage the runway and there will be no further attacks for the next few days; it appears that my opponent is not up for an extended war of attrition at the moment.

The respite granted is used to continue building up the airbase and forts. Cox's Bazaar and Akyab are also being repaired, and the long term plan will be to support the gradual extrication of the forces that are stalemated at Calcutta. I have already been surreptitiously airlifting some units back to Magwe, although I am not going to lift the pressure on India altogether, its just that another way in needs to be found.

[Walker84]

Apr 28, 1942

Allied sub attacks on various convoys near Truk, Rabaul, Shikuka and Batangas: no hits scored but these guys certainly get around!

Night naval bombardment of Chittagong by a cruiser TF destroys several Hurricanes on the airfield and causes about 450 casualties. The two British divisions are still in situ. I have insufficient AV at Cox's Bazaar to think about pushing them out.

Bombardment attack at Bataan, the last Allied outpost on Luzon, reveals 2:1 odds in my favour. I plan to bring in a couple more units for the final assault just to make sure.

[Walker84]

Apr 29/30, 1942

DEI: Having been fought to a standstill in the mountain hex at Malang SW of Soerabaja, I have re-embarked various elements and invaded at Tjepoe on the north coast instead. Unescorted Dutch bombers attack my landing force without success and several 139WH-3s and L-212s are shot down.

Palembang expands airfield to size 5. A large fighter unit has been deployed there to protect against any recurrence of the Allied carrier 'tip and run' raid there a month or two ago. Netties and Mavis's are also in situ.

B-17Ds bomb Daly Waters on the 30th, causing 1 runway hit. Just to keep me honest, I guess. Tjepoe falls on the same day and I set an armoured and an infantry regiment to head across to capture Madioen, so that Java will be split in two.

[Walker84]

Java

[Walker84]

May 1, 1942

Bataan

Approaching the end game here finally. After several bombardments a DA is attempted with reasonable results. Remembering that this game has stacking limits I can't just pile everyone available into the hex so have to be a bit more patient.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 33817 troops, 421 guns, 314 vehicles, Assault Value = 979

Defending force 32631 troops, 360 guns, 61 vehicles, Assault Value = 457

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 303

Allied adjusted defense: 961

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
1764 casualties reported
Squads: 2 destroyed, 124 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 6 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 61 disabled
Vehicles lost 9 (1 destroyed, 8 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1050 casualties reported
Squads: 15 destroyed, 73 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 63 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 35 disabled
Guns lost 43 (5 destroyed, 38 disabled)
Vehicles lost 9 (3 destroyed, 6 disabled)

DMS W-4 is torpedoed and sinks in the Bay of Bengal. Considering the amount of Allied subs around my shipping has got off pretty lightly so far. Of course as soon as I say something like that...

[Walker84]

2 May, 1942

South Pacific

Apart from being a day of Allied sub attacks plus my own bombardment and bombing attacks on various targets, a small Allied TF containing APs is spotted near Luganville. The Pacific has been neglected as a result of the focus on India but I am rapidly building airbases at Buna and Buin to support Port Moresby and Shortlands respectively in case my opponent decides to attack early in the theatre. I may have to concede Lunga however as I have not yet started building here.

[Walker84]

May 3/4, 1942

DEI: Balikpapan expands airfield to size 5. Madioen is captured on the 4th. An attack on Sabang by 15th and 91st Naval Guard Units drops the forts to 0.

China: After a quiet couple of weeks, Wuchow falls in a new offensive and the habitual heavy losses are inflicted on the retreating Chinese forces.

Air production: G3M3 production starts. I really like the longer legs of this Nell version which has significantly better range than the Betty and will be deployed to augment my flying boats for naval search. The 5th Sentai becomes the first fighter unit to convert to the Ki-45 KAIa Nick.

India

No further Allied air attacks as Diamond Harbour expands airfield to size 3.

The picture shows how busy Allied subs are in the Andaman Sea...

[Walker84]

Allied APs spotted at Townsville

I'm pretty sure that they are not simply there for R&R. Its possible that they may have just offloaded some units but on the other hand my opponent might be feeling emboldened to attempt an early recapture of Port Moresby.

Having reached an impasse in India for the time being, I have been ramping up the deployment of forces to the South Pacific theatre as a matter of urgency. An infantry division is en route to Port Moresby right now, and I am sending the mini-KB in the hope that it will form a sufficient deterrent when backed up by the substantial land-based air assets that are already deployed in the region. One thing that puzzles me is that Roger has hardly been conducting any air reconnaisance of my bases. Either he has limited plans here, or wants to keep me lulled into a false sense of security. Either way, I can't afford to take any chances as we are still only 1/2 way through 1942.

[Walker84]

May 5, 1942

The 9th Burma Rifles Battalion which had been sitting on the rail line near Katha is attacked and surrenders.

Sabang is captured.

Bataan has become over-stacked so the offensive will have to delayed by a few more days.

[Walker84]

May 6, 1942

Preparations in New Guinea/New Britain/Solomon Is

Buin expands airfield to size 3. An air flotilla is already in position there. Buna (building to size 3) is about to receive the 5th Air Fleet, transferring from the Philippines. Rabaul and Port Moresby are both size 5 airbases and building. Engineers are on the way to Lae. Between them these locations are now defended by about 120 Zeroes and 90 Netties. If it stays quiet for a few more weeks, I will look at consolidating Lunga into the fortified box as well.

Am I being spooked unnecessarily by the presence of some CLs and APs at Townsville? Only time will tell. My opponent knows roughly how much I have tied up in India, Java and the DEI and, with the Japanese Army & Navy stretched pretty thin right now, as the Allied player I would be tempted to probe further in this corner of the map well away from interference from the KB.

India / Burma

More than 100 Allied fighters reported at Calcutta. I wonder when another sweep is coming? DH is now up to size 3 and I have about 60 Zeroes and 40 Oscars in position. Akyab and Cox’s Bazaar need to be repaired and built up as airfields so that I can properly support my forces at Calcutta – either offensively or if I decide to pull them out in a hurry. I’m now thinking of leaving a holding force to tie down the two British divisions at Chittagong and moving forward in the interior towards Imphal and Kohima. That’s a slow trail, however…

[Walker84]

May 7 - 15, 1942 - Strategic Summary

Although I haven't managed to post for a while, the game is still advancing. I'll write a summary first and move on to some highlights.

India

I am still bottled up in Calcutta and Diamond Harbour where neither of us seems to have sufficient ground strength to force the other back. Roger has not attacked in the air for a while and we both have approximately 80 - 90 fighters facing each other in a kind of phoney war. I have been quietly pulling some units out of DH by air to reinforce columns that are heading towards Imphal/Kohima and Ledo to flank the Allies hopefully and break the deadlock. I also hold Chittagong and Akyab, the latter a size three airfield, both of which will be key if I decide to extricate any units from DH.

Philippines

Bataan is ready to fall releasing more troops for other operations. A few isolated Allied units holding out on various islands.

DEI

Most of Sumatra taken, a few isolated Dutch units still being run to ground. I have a bridgehead in central Java but it will probably take another month to capture both Soerabaja and Batavia. Ambon still holds out - I have a beachhead but need to bring in more troops.

Australia / Solomons / SW Pacific

I hold northern Australia from Darwin to Port Hedland, however my opponent has a lot of activity going on along the Eastern seaboard. APs sighted in Townsville which also has about 40 fighters and 40 bombers in position. Possibly an early attempt to retake Port Moresby is being planned, although I have recently landed a division there as a deterrent.

Rabaul, Buna, Buin and Shortlands are all being built up to take the maximum number of Zeroes and Netties that I can deploy. The mini-KB has also been deployed to Rabaul so that it can operate in conjunction with the LBA.

I have failed to build up any defences at Tulago and Lunga which must now be considered vulnerable if my opponent decides to go on any sort of offensive rampage in the Solomons in 1942. Allied tankers have been spotted around Noumea which usually means the carriers are not far away. As my opponent has so far done little to develop any of the bases north of Fiji and Noumea he will need to rely a lot on naval air if he intends to take any of my lightly-held bases.

China

Very quiet at the moment and my opponent seems quite happy to sit back and wait to respond to my moves. I have a limited offensive going on in the south but more to straighten the line and set up my MLRs as I intend to buy various units out in order to bolster the defences in the SRA and the Pacific.

Aleutians

I have a base on one of the islands. Nothing else happening for now.

[Walker84]

I've just been through the combat reports for the past couple of weeks and there's really nothing too momentous to report. I lost a couple of AKs to Ambon's CD guns and my cruiser force was pretty chewed up by aforesaid guns so its headed to HK for shipyard time. The Dutch air force finally managed to sink an AK at Tjepoe but lost 10 planes to CAP when it came back for a second attempt. Bataan has been reduced daily and should hopefully fall when I get the turn back that was sent today.

The map shows the position along the India/Burma border. I'm hoping that Ledo and Kohima are only held lightly. If so, there might still be a backdoor open!

[Walker84]

May 16, 1942

One or two Mavis float planes based at Palembang have been lost recently to CAP based at Batavia so this turn Palembang's Ki-43-Ibs go in for a sweep, downing 3 or 4 Dutch Hurris for no loss. My Ki-43-Ibs as well as Ias have largely been relegated to second line duties but, with PDU off, they are likely to be in service for some time, along with many Nates!

Apart from various unopposed bomb runs, today's main event is the ground combat at Bataan. The fact that the place is still holding out in May '42 I put down to the effect of stacking limits rather than any mismanagement on my part[:D]

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30044 troops, 355 guns, 316 vehicles, Assault Value = 841

Defending force 27505 troops, 311 guns, 41 vehicles, Assault Value = 190

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 0

Japanese adjusted assault: 171

Allied adjusted defense: 243

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 0)

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

Japanese ground losses:
393 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 51 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 19 disabled
Vehicles lost 11 (1 destroyed, 10 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1735 casualties reported
Squads: 78 destroyed, 18 disabled
Non Combat: 13 destroyed, 84 disabled
Engineers: 7 destroyed, 4 disabled
Guns lost 40 (20 destroyed, 20 disabled)
Vehicles lost 7 (2 destroyed, 5 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

[Walker84]

May 17, 1942

Bataan holds out again [X(] so, having attacked on two consecutive turns, I am forced to rest my troops.

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29385 troops, 355 guns, 316 vehicles, Assault Value = 781

Defending force 25759 troops, 285 guns, 38 vehicles, Assault Value = 138

Japanese adjusted assault: 192

Allied adjusted defense: 157

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese Assault reduces fortifications to 0

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

Japanese ground losses:
269 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 4 destroyed, 6 disabled
Guns lost 5 (2 destroyed, 3 disabled)
Vehicles lost 6 (1 destroyed, 5 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1128 casualties reported
Squads: 149 destroyed, 16 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 88 disabled
Engineers: 17 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 33 (24 destroyed, 9 disabled)
Vehicles lost 5 (3 destroyed, 2 disabled)

Recon shows something very interesting/(worrying?) at Batavia, scene of yesterday's sweep. Suddenly there appear to be 41 bombers and 37 auxiliary aircraft there. I also know from today's recon that there are 21 bombers and 5 auxiliaries at Soerabaja, which all adds up to more airframes than the Dutch could possibly field given their losses to date, so what is going on?

Logic suggests that my opponent has flown in some long-legged aircraft from India or Oz, and the smart money would have to be on B-17s, especially given they have the range and have hardly been seen in action for the last fortnight. So what could the target be? If these are B-17D/Es, Palembang, Balikpapan and - yikes - Singapore are within normal range. Yikes, because I have Hosho and Zuikaku under repair there, the latter following a recent collision with a DD in the Bay of Bengal.

So, the plan will be to flood Singapore and the oil centres with all available CAP. I don't know how many B-17s are counted in those numbers, but it will take several days to get those carriers out of dry dock and I can't afford to take any chances. Looks like the Home Islands for repairs from now on, until I can sort out Java.

[Walker84]

Batavia - sudden influx of Allied bombers