Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post descriptions of your brilliant victories and unfortunate defeats here.

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apbarog
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

Good to see you zuluhour.

I was like you, always playing PDU ON to have the most options as a player. But once I tried PDU OFF, I really prefer it off. PDU ON results in "your best" versus "my best" all the time. With PDU OFF, there's a wide variety of engagements. It's just more interesting, to me, and presents more of a challenge to handle the variety.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

14 Apr 42

Saumlaki in invaded. We have no defenders here.

Just off the coast of Vietnam, S-36 is patrolling. The sub has been based at Manila, getting fuel as needed. Today it spots a big xAK task force, fires 2 torpedoes at a patrol boat, and gets a hit. It later reattacks, and hits patrol boat Tatebu Maru again, undoubtedly sinking the small ship. S-36 still has some torps left. When it is out, it will refuel at Manila and head for Australia, as there is no torpedo support in the Philippines.

Same old enemy port attack at Manila. Nothing left in port. Zeros continue to escort.

Same Betty attack at Noumea, splitting the bombs between the airfield and the troops. Almost no damage in thunderstorms.

High detection levels still around Tulagi, and Ndeni. Nothing definitive as far as KB goes. It has been missing awhile. Got SigInt of the 42nd Naval Guard moving to Kwajalein. Could be a defensive move, could be an offensive move.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

I haven't talked about future plans much after postponing the Marshalls invasions. Don't worry. We're in the calm before the storm. Lots of pieces are on the move. When the event is imminent, I'll spill the beans and we'll see what happens.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

15 Apr 42

Sub Tambor spots a well-escorted AK convoy due NW of Koumac, probably inbound. 2 torpedoes are fired at AK Hirokawa Maru, and one hits...but is a dud. SigInt today says that 9 Tank Rgt is planning for Noumea. This isn't the first armor unit planning Noumea. There's a decent chance that there's tanks on those AKs. Too bad.

Still the same 5 enemy units at Noumea. 2 infantry divisions and 3 artillery units. La Foa is now up to 6 units.

Pingsiang gets a lot of enemy bomber attention today in China. A Chinese corp is withdrawing from here, but gets booted out in combat.

And we got another piece of SigInt about NE Australia. Now 1 Recon is planning for Townsville. So far, 2 regiments and 1 armor planning for bases in NE Australia. Not overwhelming or convincing evidence, but defences are weak in the area. I'm not deploying great strength in the NE, which would invite a landing a bit further south. I'd rather see a landing on far NE Australia.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

16 Apr 42

Clark AF is bombed. The airfield has been damaged and hasn't had aircraft in months. Manila's port is bombed again. Nothing here.

Tennant Creek's base force is bombed by Nells. A few days of bombing in the clear terrain there and the unit may be eliminated. It's the only Australian unit there. I have fighters at the next base south, at Alice Springs, but Tennant Creek is too difficult to keep supplied. I did get SigInt recently of the 1st Formosa unit at Katherine, which is a new bit of intel. Maybe an offensive coming here? Or just a stronger defense.

A Chinese corp in clear terrain near Changsha gets pounded. The usual treatment.

Bettys bomb Noumea's troops and airfield, but do almost nothing in the rain. The number of units at adjacent La Foa continues to increase, with 9 units there now. The reduction of Noumea is bound to begin soon.

2 enemy tank regiments continue to advance in Burma, knocking back the 6th Burma Rifles Battalion.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

Wouldn't it be nice to stalemate the Japanese at Noumea? Make it our Guadalcanal? It's already Guadalcanal on steroids, with 2 enemy divisions plus there now. Remember, it's still early. It's only April 1942. The Marines landed on Guadalcanal in August 1942, and did it on a shoestring. To stalemate the Japanese anywhere, in force, in April, is a real challenge.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by zuluhour »

It's been almost two weeks since the last bombardment you noted on Noumea, any chance forts are repairing/building? Supply ok?
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

No enemy cruiser bombardments since then. Noumea has become torpedo junction for the Japanese. I think the bombardments will return when the ground attacks start at Noumea.

No chance of fort building. Bettys bomb every day from Koumac, with 45 Zero escorts. The runway is usable, but the airbase service damage is very high. I could move a bunch of fighters in, and have a decent day in the air, for one day, but get a lot of planes damaged that wouldn't get repaired. This move will only be worth it in conjunction with a bigger move, which may or may not be coming.

Supply peaked around 18,000. It's down to 8,000 now. Lots of Catalinas are flying in supply, which is helping, but totals are still decreasing slowly.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

17 Apr 42

A couple of Brit DDs are sub hunting around Ceylon. Today they found I-154, and DD Hotspur got a good depth charge hit on it.

North of Tulagi, sub Grayling spotted an xAK with a patrol boat, fired 2 torpedoes at PB America Maru, and got a hit, but it was a dud.

Noumea was swept by 35 Zeros. This is notable because it was the first time the Zeros came from Luganville instead of Koumac.

Clark and Manila bombed, for whatever reasons.

Bombings in China, mostly on units in clear terrain.

A fragment of a Burma unit was bombed at Bassein, adjacent to Rangoon. The fragment has been isolated and just waiting to be destroyed. 30 Sallys did just that (clear terrain). The rest of the unit had been airlifted to India and will now start rebuilding.

Lashio is lost to a sizable enemy stack. I moved some short range recon into the nearby Chinese base to watch this stack. It will probably use the rails to move north, but it could go east into China.

Ground combat at Lashio (62,46)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 29217 troops, 403 guns, 124 vehicles, Assault Value = 884

Defending force 369 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2

Japanese adjusted assault: 824

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 824 to 1 (fort level 0)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Lashio !!!

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

Allied ground losses:
413 casualties reported
Squads: 31 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 34 destroyed, 0 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units destroyed 2

Assaulting units:
21st Division
5th Division
3rd Medium Field Artillery Regiment
2nd Mortar Battalion
55th Mountain Gun Regiment
10th Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
20th Ind. Mtn Gun Battalion
18th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
21st Medium Field Artillery Battalion

Defending units:
BFF Brigade (was just a fragment left)
102nd RAF Base Force /1


There are 3 enemy infantry divisions in Burma. 2 are here at Lashio. The other is near Magwe and is showing movement to the northwest into the jungle, pointing toward Chittagong. I'm watching these 3 closely.

A couple of notes: 65 Brig is said to be on ships moving to/at Bengkalis. Pretty sure it is getting picked up here with an unknown destination. Singapore showed a few more units than recently shown, and I see movement north on the rails. 1 RF Gun is planning an attack at Cox Bazaar.

I got a good recon of La Foa today. There are 9 units, but the strength is lower than expected: 7540 men, 21 guns, 46 vehicles. There had been an armor unit in the enemy's initial push to Noumea. After it got there, and saw what I had there, the armor retreated north. The numbers make me think it isn't at La Foa, and that there isn't another enemy infantry division at La Foa either. I do, however, see a big AK task force at Koumac now. It is undoubtedly the one spotted to the NW of Koumac a couple of days ago. Who knows what it is doing. Anyhow, an immediate enemy attack at Noumea now looks less likely.

With KB gone for awhile, I'm getting that feeling that Aurorus is up to something. There is an enemy sub poking around New Zealand now. It's NW of Auckland, on the oth side of the island to intercept anything. It's on a search/recon mission. I send a couple of destroyers over to its area. The important fact is that Aurorus is looking at the Auckland area now.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

18 Apr 42

Enemy artillery bombards Noumea, as usual, but it is noted that the 56th Engineer Regiment has arrived, supplementing the 2 enemy infantry divisions and 3 artillery regiments. SigInt says that the 11 Tank is at Koumac and the 16th Army HQ is at LaFoa.

Other SigInt says that the 65th Brigade is loaded and on the way to Butuan. Butuan is on Mindanao, so this unit will move to the inland mountain holdout to try to capture it. If the SigInt isn't a ruse.

Another piece of SigInt says that 5 Tank is planning for an attack at Bataan. I've been seeing a slow increase in preparation for Luzon, and also for NE Australia. Again, if they aren't part of a ruse.

There's an enemy sub poking around near San Diego. I have to be careful with the reinforcements coming in from Panama now.

Lots of stuff on the move. Things are happening, just not combat. Not yet.

Aurorus stated some concern about destroying my unit in Burma yesterday, using bombers in clear terrain. I've voiced concern here in the forum also. In previous games for me, both sides voluntarily showed restraint. Aurorus didn't intend on destroying the unit. He didn't know that it was just a fragment, but he knew about my previous thoughts on the matter.

In this game, though, it is allowed. And using 4 engine bombers on ground troops is allowed. In clear terrain also. He's allowed to do it, and so am I. He's been very effective hitting clear terrain in China, Java, and Burma. And I'm ok with that. I don't like getting hit so hard in a manner that I'm not used to, but that's ok. I adapt. And let's face it, the Allies can't respond in kind to a great degree right now, but the time is coming when enemy movements in clear terrain will mean death. It's part of the game, and I accept that. I appreciate that Aurorus noted my previous concerns and guessed that I may not be happy. I'm ok. It's a game, and the rules work both ways.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

19 Apr 42

Allied surface group spotted by a sub near Norfolk Island. This group is headed east past Norfolk, but another group is at Norfolk.

Japanese Ships
SS I-174

Allied Ships
DD Piet Hein
CA Houston
CL Achilles
CL Leander
DD Evertsen
DD Kortenaer
DD Van Ghent
DD Banckert
DD Witte de With

SS I-174 launches 4 torpedoes at DD Piet Hein


Dobo is invaded by the 66th Naval Guard.

Some enemy sweeps and bombing at Changsha. Just one weak Chinese corp here. The rest have headed for the hills.

8 B-17s bomb enemy troops at Lashio. There are 2 infantry divisions here. I see movement both eastbound and westbound there today. Need to watch those divisions.

The daily artillery attacks at Bandoeng and Noumea.

SE of Chittagong, the enemy 18th Division and 15th Army HQ knocks back the 1st Gloucestershire Battalion, which has been heading north.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

20 Apr 42

NE of Auckland, I-26 spots a big empty xAK convoy headed back to the West Coast. 2 torpedoes hit xAK Tjikandi, but one is a dud. The cargo ship is seriously damaged, with heavy flooding and a bit of fire. The ship will try to get back to Auckland, unescorted for a day, moving just one hex a day. Odds are it won't make it.

SW of Vava'u, I-21 is spotted by KV Dundas. The sub takes minor damage. Enemy subs are showing up all over the place now. There's some off the east coast of Australia, but little Allied activity looking for them. Now a sub by Auckland. SW of Vava'u is well SE of Suva and well SW of Pago Pago. Aurorus hasn't gotten a lot of sub hits lately. He's more dispersed now, looking for Allied shipping. Other subs have been spotted near San Diego and near Midway.

Zeros from Luganville sweep Noumea, and Bettys and Zeros from Koumac hit Noumea's troops and airfield in the afternoon. Minimal runway damage.

Changsha was bombed heavily, and then attacked and lost to the enemy. Most Chinese had already left, not wanting to be eventually encircled.

Ground combat at Changsha (82,52)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 44698 troops, 294 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1480

Defending force 5510 troops, 63 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 171

Japanese engineers reduce fortifications to 3

Japanese adjusted assault: 1022

Allied adjusted defense: 41

Japanese assault odds: 24 to 1 (fort level 3)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Changsha !!!

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

Japanese ground losses:
266 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 17 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1988 casualties reported
Squads: 37 destroyed, 55 disabled
Non Combat: 22 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 34 destroyed, 2 disabled
Guns lost 30 (20 destroyed, 10 disabled)
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
70th Division
60th Division
Kyuko Naval Guard Unit
58th Division
63rd Division

Defending units:
3rd New Chinese Corps
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by CaptBeefheart »

All you need is Quinton McHale leading a PT TF and you'll be set.

Cheers,
CC
Beer, because barley makes lousy bread.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

21 Apr 42

Just west of Tavoy, sub Seawolf is spotted by an enemy combat task force. Cruisers Mikuma and Mogami, with 3 destroyers.

Moving along the north edge of the Solomons slot, Dutch sub O23 is spotted by a big task force with at least 4 APDs and 3 xAKs. No hits.

Sub Drum moved to Makin to investigate shipping spotted there by Catalinas. 2 torpedoes are launched at xAK Rakuto Maru but miss.

29 Nells bomb Tennant Creek's airfield, doing major damage.

Manila is bombed.

Noumea is swept by Zeros from Luganville. 2 Bettys strikes follow, each escorted by Zeros from Noumea. Afternoon attacks. Bettys could be on naval strike as a primary mission.

Sonias escorted by Nates bomb Chinese troops south of Kweilin. 2 Hurricane squadrons fly in from Ledo and will LRCAP the hex tomorrow. We're due for a good ambush.

SigInt says that 124 Infantry Regiment is moving to Port Blair. Also, 65th Brigade is again reported to be loaded on ships and headed to Butuan. A sub is now patrolling Butuan and the adjacent hex to the west.

No sign of KB, and no indication of more troops moving to Noumea from the north. Lots of units at La Foa, but not big units. I believe that the enemy is working on building up the airfield there. It's still a 0. An airfield at La Foa will help isolate Noumea even more.

As any AE player knows, it takes a long time to put together a major operation. We're getting closer, day by day.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

22 Apr 42

Very heavy bombing of Chinese troops at Siangtan, adjacent to Changsha. The Chinese are fleeing but won't get away with the constant bombing.

Today over 40 Oscars swept Tennant Creek. Enemy bombers had been hitting the base. Aurorus was guessing that I'd move in fighters to hit the unesorted bombers, but I did not. The airfield is already too damaged, and Tennant Creek has very little supply.

Next to Kweilin, my LRCAP ambush was successful. 45 Sonias were escorted by 30 Nates, and 10 Hurri Is and 13 Hurri IIa's intercepted. 4 Nates and 15 Sonias were shot down. One Hurri was an ops loss. The Chinese troops were spared a day of bombing damage. Watching the replay, it was noticable that the Hurri Is weren't very good, even against escorting Nates. The IIs did better. I'm sending the Is back out of China to upgrade in India, and will move more IIs into China soon.

More enemy showed up at Noumea: 2 tank regiments. Does Aurorus think he has enough to attack now? And does he? We shall see.

Ground combat at Noumea (115,160)

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 29050 troops, 314 guns, 97 vehicles, Assault Value = 1010

Defending force 12714 troops, 205 guns, 167 vehicles, Assault Value = 382

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

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 2 (1 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
9th Tank Regiment
16th Division
4th Division
56th Engineer Regiment
11th Tank Regiment
8th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
1st Medium Field Artillery Regiment
56th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
8th Marine Regiment
2nd Marine Regiment
193rd Tank Battalion
2nd Marine Defense Battalion
131st Field Artillery Battalion
223 Group RAF
Noumea Base Force
70th Coast AA Regiment
45th Base Group /1


I am going to rush in a part of a Marine regiment to Noumea, using fast transport. But it will be a number of days until they can arrive. The numbers won't be huge, using about 10 APDs, but it may throw off the numbers just enough to hold Noumea a little while longer. The incoming Marine regiment is the third regiment of the 2nd Marine Division. The two Marine regiments already at Noumea are the rest of that division.

Note that La Foa has 8 units now, with 6520 men, 14 guns, and 69 vehicles.
Koumac is way up to 18 units now, with 7060 men, 69 guns, and 10 vehicles.
My recon of both bases was decent, but not excellent. I trust the number of units, but the details may be low.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

23 Apr 42

8 LB-30s from Brisbane and 8 B-17Es from Suva bomb enemy troops at Noumea. It is raining, and no damage is done.

Toboali is invaded by the 91st Naval Guard. Cleanup behind the lines.

3 enemy divisions attack a weak Chinese corp at Siangtan, next to Changsha. The Chinese corp is almost eliminated, losing every combat squad (147), every engineer squad (14), and every gun (61). 94 non-combat squads are destroyed, with just 44 non-combat squads surviving.

Bandoeng gets the daily huge artillery bombardment. Movement is now seen at the coastal base adjacent, with units headed to Bandoeng. This is where an infantry division and armor moved to when an early attack at Bandoeng failed. I'd read a post by Aurorus (not his game thread) where he mentioned my fortress Bandoeng like it was a "fortress Palembang". It has to be frustrating to not be able to clear out the Dutch, but there's one thing in his post that was not true. He said that the Dutch did not have any "real supply". He doesn't know that when the retreat to Bandoeng began in the north, I pulled as much supply to there as possible. Soerabaja was being moved on, and most of the supply there, went north. Bandoeng had over 35,000 supply at the start if I remember correctly. It still have over 20,000. I've even been allowing Dutch replacements to arrive in units.

I would have dealt with Bandoeng differently. I would have moved one infantry regiment into the base hex, with small units moving around it and then closing off every hexside. This would have taken quite awhile, with the terrain to the SW, but the base could have been isolated. The small surrounding units could then move out of the hex and be used elsewhere, and the only indefinite commitment is one infantry regiment. Then use the Dutch as training for new bomber pilots.

As it is, the units below are still tied up there, and others are adjacent, which were another infantry division and some armor units. And it's the end of April, and the end of Bandoeng is not in sight. Not without more attacks that would be painful for the attackers.

Assaulting units:
33rd Division
9th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
15th Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion
1st Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
7th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
Botanko Hvy Gun Regiment
Tonei Hvy Gun Regiment
6th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
4th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
5th Ind.Hvy.Art Battalion
3rd Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
8th Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
1st Ind.Hvy.Art. Battalion
2nd Hvy.Artillery Regiment
2nd Ind.Art.Mortar Battalion


Bandoeng is no Palembang. Bandoeng itself means nothing. Isolate it and let it rot. Palembang is (obviously) and important base. Taking it means something. They are different.

I did not post in the mentioned thread because the battle is ongoing and I didn't want to disclose the true supply situation there. As an aside, there's still supply at the mountain holdout on Mindanao too, although less than 10,000. I spotted the convoy at Butuan today. SigInt repeatedly told me that the 65th Brigade was going there. An S sub was patrolling, but no engagement occurred. The sub will try again today. The 65th will undoubtedly be going to the mountainous hex to help capture it.

As for Noumea, see the map for the plan for today.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

24 Apr 42

S-36 is at Butuan, and is spotted by the xAK task force there. Patrol boats attack, but get no hits. I'm a bit disappointed to have gotten such good SigInt about this task force, and S-36 not getting an attack in. I generally have good luck with my subs, but not in this case.

The big event for today was at Noumea. An Allied cruiser TF was supposed to run in at night and bombard enemy troops, and run back south. Instead, the ships arrived during the daylight and stayed to bombard. The bombardment did minimal damage to the enemy troops, but before that, the Bettys arrived. When I saw my ships still there during the daylight part of the turn, I knew that this was going to go very badly.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160

Weather in hex: Overcast

Raid detected at 111 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 45
G4M1 Betty x 44

Japanese aircraft losses
G4M1 Betty: 6 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Houston
CL Achilles
DD Kortenaer
DD Evertsen
CL Perth

Aircraft Attacking:
23 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
9 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp
12 x G4M1 Betty bombing from 14000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb, 4 x 60 kg GP Bomb


Instead, no torpedoes or bombs hit a ship. Lots of torpedoes went for cruisers too, and they just missed. An incredible piece of good luck after the bad luck of the ships still being there. The ships had just refueled at Norfolk Island, so fuel shouldn't have been a problem. I will check the TF settings when I get the turn from Aurorus.

It's also interesting that not all of the Bettys had torpedoes. I didn't notice if all of the planes came from Koumac. Bettys could have joined in from Luganville. I'll have to count hexes and see if that would have limited torpedo use. Or it's just that Koumac didn't have enough torpedoes.

A big Allied xAK TF south of Vava'u is spotted by I-17. The sub attacks AM Tern but misses.

Myitkyina is lost to the enemy. That was the last Allied inland base in Burma. Akyab and Cox Bazar is still Allied, but the enemy is marching through the jungle towards Akyab now. Akyab has a small Allied unit. Cox Bazar is empty. The line is forming south of Chittagong, so these two bases will be lost.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

I was very careful with the bombardment TF settings. And I left it on Remain on Station. It may not explain why the bombardment didn't occur at night, but the TF was going to stay there regardless, due to my mistake. I was fortunate not to lose a bunch of ships.
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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

25 Apr 42

I-28 is spotted again by the same xAK TF south of Vava'u. The sub seems to be tracking these ships, having found them 3 days in a row. I've been encouraging this, as the sub is being drawn away from Vava'u, and that is in my best interests at the moment.

Noumea's airbase is completely repaired. Zeros reappear to sweep, but I didn't move any fighters in. Yet.

Near Kweilin in China, the enemy barely gets a 2 to 1 attack:

Ground combat at 76,55 (near Kweilin)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30777 troops, 347 guns, 253 vehicles, Assault Value = 983

Defending force 7592 troops, 43 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 227

Japanese adjusted assault: 408

Allied adjusted defense: 199

Japanese assault odds: 2 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
354 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 78 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 7 disabled

Allied ground losses:
3168 casualties reported
Squads: 76 destroyed, 32 disabled
Non Combat: 60 destroyed, 51 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 8 (2 destroyed, 6 disabled)
Units retreated 2

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
15th Division
13th Tank Regiment
12th Tank Regiment
17th Division
1st Mortar Battalion
51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
21st Mortar Battalion

Defending units:
62nd Chinese Corps
16th Group Army


Another Chinese corp wrecked in the attempted withdrawal.

Enemy cruisers possibly sighted near Tulagi.

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RE: Wedge Donovan Wins the War: Apbarog(A) vs Aurorus(J) DBB-B

Post by apbarog »

26 Apr 42

An active day for small Allied escort ships. I-171 fires 2 torpedoes at xAKL Caledon south of Norfolk Island. Both miss, and escort AM Mildura does some damage to the sub.

I-28 is sighted by the big xAK task force near Pago Pago. AM Tern once again goes after I-28 but doesn't get any hits. Aurorus commented about AM Tern and the diligent attacks going on for the past four days. He thought that Tern should be out of depth charges, but it is not. SW of Vava'u, AM Cessnock does some damage to I-17.

Near Tulagi, sub Grayling spots a CS and some DDs, fires 4 torpedoes at DD Yayashio, but misses. No guarantee that there are CVs with the CS, but there's a higher chance of them being here now with this spotting.

Dutch sub KIX torpedoes and sinks tiny AMc Misago Maru near Milne Bay.

East of Vava'u, I-28 fires 2 torpedoes at APD Sands but misses. The APDs get 2 good depth charge hits on the sub. The APDs are moving to Vava'u to be available if needed.

Noumea is swept by about 35 Zeros from Luganville. No Allied CAP here.

Bombings in China supporting the Japanese offensive in the south. Most bombing is meant to slow the Chinese movement in the woods in the pocket. Some Allied fighters set up to LRCAP here tomorrow.

Hengyang, near Changsha, is lost.

The enemy order of battle at Bandoeng has switched back to an attacking formation, with most of the heavy artillery moving out to the coast. We've seen this switch before. Now there's 2 infantry divisions, 3 tank regiments, and 2 artillery units.
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