Did You Know I Used to Drive a Rollercoaster?: Apbarog(A) vs OPilot(J)

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Bif1961

So why do you think the BBs stopped so short of Akyab, making themselves more vulnerable? What was the TF's setting for danger set at?

With the air threat at Akyab able to reach all the way to Diamond Harbour, the BBs were set to start their run from a point that would enable them to get into Akyab (4 hexes), bombard and retreat all the way back to DH (7 hexes). I think their max range at full speed is only 12 to 14 hexes. I find bombardment TFs rarely set themselves to use ALL of their max movement for a bombardment and retreat. Whether it is ops points used during bombardment or keeping a reserve of movement, the game engine calculation seems to hold some back.

If any waypoints were set that could hinder movement too.

[apbarog]

Their maximum speed was 6 hexes per phase. The distance between Diamond Harbour and Akyab is 7 hexes. I didn't think they'd go all the way and bombard but I didn't rule it out either. I thought they may move hex, to set up a run of 6 hexes for the next day. They moved 3 hexes instead. 3 hexes is the cruise speed for the task force. It's possible that the game moves a task force the cruise speed towards the bombardment hex when it starts too far away to do the bombardment run. We know that this is the case when starting further away. The manual says that it moves at normal speed and then high speed for the actual run in to bombard. The question is what happens when you are too far for the bombardment run, but closer to the run-in point than a normal movement.

Maybe we have the answer. Normal speed until distance is <= maximum run-in distance.

It's all good though. I considered just moving one or two hexes out of Diamond Harbour, then setting it for a bombardment run. I just didn't think they'd stay hidden. I should have taken the mostly tried-and-proven approach.

[apbarog]

I believe that the task force was set to Absolute threat tolerance, but I'd need to check.

[jwolf]

Don't those British battleships need to withdraw pretty soon? Whether yes or no, you'll need to extricate them from the Bay of Bengal and that looks like it will be really tough to do.

[apbarog]

These battleships are good for awhile. Here's the withdrawal dates:
Revenge 43/09/16
Royal Sovereign 44/01/15
Ramillies 43/12/22
Resolution 43/10/07

Yes, OPilot can make it very difficult to get these battleships to Colombo and off-map for repairs. We'll have to see what he does. I'm making preparations with air support to bases along the coast to support fighters if and when the battleships make a run along the coast to Madras. Right now, we'll just worry about saving them at Diamond Harbour.

[apbarog]

29 May 42

Two areas of concern today. First, the British battleships and cruisers make it to port safely at Diamond Harbour and Calcutta. Calcutta got its daily enemy recon, so OPilot sees ships there. No recon at Diamond Harbour today, but OPilot must know that the battleships can't go up the river to Calcutta. There was some minor increases in damage due to the high speed runs. But for now, the ships won't sink in the ports. CAP remains very high and is being increased with other squadrons, including Chinese ones that are somewhat trained now. Diamond Harbour is just a size 1 port, but I've started increasing that. There's over 100 engineers there and more on the way. I may have to build the port around the battleships. More AA guns are moving to Diamond Harbour also, and subs from Colombo will start mining the port approaches.

The enemy CVL task force moved at least 3 hexes due west during the night from where it was just south of Akyab. It probably moved the full normal speed distance west. Subs have detection levels out there. So OPilot is interested in cutting off the battleships' escapes, or at least looking out for that on the first day.

The battleships may just stay at Diamond Harbour as bait. My CAP will remain very strong. He could bombard there. If I see something coming, I'll pull out cruisers from Calcutta and sit them on Diamond Harbour. I may do that off an on anyhow, just in case. I usually don't see his bombardments coming.

If KB shows up, though, I may have to settle for shooting down as many planes as I can, and probably resign myself to losing the battleships.

The other area of concern is in the Coral Sea.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Rossel Island at 106,139

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid detected at 77 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 20
G4M1 Betty x 25

Allied aircraft
Fulmar II x 20

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
G4M1 Betty: 4 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Fulmar II: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CVL Hermes, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Durban

Aircraft Attacking:
25 x G4M1 Betty launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

CAP engaged:
No.800 Sqn FAA with Fulmar II (0 airborne, 8 on standby, 8 scrambling)
4 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 0 out of immediate contact.
Group patrol altitude is 13000 , scrambling fighters between 4000 and 15000.
Time for all group planes to reach interception is 28 minutes

Fuel storage explosion on CVL Hermes

The enemy flew from Port Moresby at a 13 hex range, I believe. Hermes is somehow still afloat, with SYS 42/FLOT 73-47/ENG 9/FIRE 1. It may be beyond the threshold of containing its flooding and fire. We'll see tomorrow. I wonder if the number of torpedo hits is accurate, or the fuel storage explosion. The ship should be already gone, I'd think. One worry I have is about a sync bug today. 9 P-40Es were reported lost in air-to-air combat today but I saw no P-40 combat in the replay or in the report. I asked OPilot about that so we'll see.

All 20 Fulmars were lost as they had nowhere to land. 6 Zeros were downed. The map below shows the plan for today.

[apbarog]

30 May 42

S-44 spots an xAP and a destroyer one hex west of Tarawa, and probably headed to Tarawa. No depth charges hit the sub. During the day, a big task force of cruisers and destroyers is spotted at Tarawa. OPilot likes to use fast transport with his destroyers, so I can't be sure if this is a combat TF or a fast transport TF. It looks like he is rushing reinforcements to Tarawa, alarmed by my forces at nearby Tabiteuea, and that I've already built the port and airfield to size 1, while Tarawa is still an airfield size 0.

Sub Thresher spots unescorted AV Kamoi north of Tulagi. Looks like it fled north when my many ships were spotted south of Shortlands. 4 torpedoes were fired. At least 2 hit and were duds. Could have been 3 duds. It's impossible to tell in the replay how many dud hits there are when there are multiple consecutive dud hits. The dud hit message just stays displayed longer than if there was just one dud.

The cruiser force that was with BC Repulse bombards Lunga. No planes hit on the ground.

Night Naval bombardment of Lunga at 114,138

Allied Ships
CA Exeter
CA Chicago
CA Louisville
CL Phoenix
CL Honolulu
DD Perkins
DD Shaw
DD Conyngham
DD Lamson
DD Patterson
DD Henley

Japanese ground losses:
254 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 18 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled

Airbase hits 4
Airbase supply hits 5
Runway hits 18
Port hits 10
Port supply hits 5

ML No. 432 pokes out of Diamond Harbour one hex into the Indian Ocean, and sure enough finds a sub there waiting for ships to flee west. The sub elects not to fire torpedoes, and the ML doesn't hit the sub. ML No. 432 comes from a long line of fine ML's, with perfection achieved with number 432. Presumably. 2 Brit destroyers will check out that hex tonight.

Beafort is invaded by the enemy. There are the bigger parts of 2 British base forces here, waiting to be destroyed so that their evacuated fragments can be rebuilt far away at Sydney. About time OPilot cleans them up for me. Jolo was lost today finally also.

An interesting encounter today.

Morning Air attack on Tabiteuea , at 137,134

Weather in hex: Heavy cloud

Raid detected at 72 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 26 minutes

Japanese aircraft
H8K1 Emily x 2

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 14

Japanese aircraft losses
H8K1 Emily: 1 destroyed (both actually destroyed)

Tabiteuea just became an airfield size 1, and I moved Warhawks there immediately. First time to see Emily's bombing. Maybe the last for OPilot too. In an interesting twist, a squadron of Catalinas moved to Tabiteuea today, and the pilots are trained in torpedo attacks. Base forces there can support this. They are set to naval strike today, so if the enemy ships at Tarawa don't have carrier support, they may get some hits there today.

Bandoeng has been getting ground down. I noticed that there are about 45,000 enemy troops there now, with a stacking limit of 30,000. Looks like OPilot is loading up despite overstacking in an effort to finish off the mountain fortress once and for all.

And what about Hermes? It moved 2 hexes to the southeast today, and was spotted but with just 1/3 detection level. It's FLOT damage went down from 73 to 72, and the FIRE went from 1 to 0. Just getting my hopes up, I know. It will head south today, and it now looks like it can reliably move 1 hex in each phase.

[apbarog]

OPilot is involved with disaster recovery support in the Carolinas, so our reliable daily turns back and forth will be sporadic for a bit.

[apbarog]

31 May 42 - The 1st Air Battle of Diamond Harbour

First the other events. Plunger spots several xAKLs and a patrol boat near Buna. OPilot has been moving similar task forces west from Rabaul along the coast, then southwest towards Buna, then hugging the coast all the way around New Guinea to Port Moresby. I've dropped mines in a shallow hex between Milne Bay and Port Moresby but no hits. The xAKL hit today had fuel loaded. The ship burns and sinks. Plunger then immediately reattacked and hit PB Sensan Maru with a torpedoe but it was a dud.

At Luganville, 2 US fast xAPs were unloading the final part of an airbase unit. I-24 spotted xAP Maori and hit it with a torpedo, and the ship sank after combat. One non-combat squad hadn't unloaded, so the ground unit had unloaded almost everthing. Maori was a nice faster than average transport. It had been safe moving without escort, but wasn't safe sitting at port unloading.

Then the big battle over Diamond Harbour began with an Oscar sweep. 2 Flying Tiger squadrons and a smaller Dutch P-40 squadron were based at Diamond Harbour. Other units contributed from Calcutta, but most air units at Calcutta were protecting only Calcutta.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 27

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 12
P-39D Airacobra x 6
P-40E Warhawk x 67

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Then the bombers arrived with a huge fighter escort. The bombers were targeting the port in hopes of hitting the damaged battleships.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 31
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 83

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 9
P-39D Airacobra x 2
P-40E Warhawk x 57

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 12 destroyed, 2 damaged
Ki-43-Ic Oscar: 5 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
BB Resolution, Bomb hits 1, heavy damage (did not penetrate)

The Warhawks fought through the first 30 or so Oscars, then got through to the Sallys while there were still about 50 Oscars in the area. Resolution's damage was an additional scratch.

Then more Sallys arrived, without any escort, and none survived the approach to target.

Japanese aircraft
Ki-21-IIa Sally x 23

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-39D Airacobra x 1
P-40E Warhawk x 41

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-21-IIa Sally: 12 destroyed

I had moved a couple of cruisers and destroyers from Calcutta to Diamond Harbour to possibly draw an air attack into heavy CAP, and to interdict a naval bombardment if one came. Enemy CVLs moved to within 7 hexes of Diamond Harbour and Kates went after the cruisers.

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 29
B5N2 Kate x 35

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 7
P-40E Warhawk x 38

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 16 destroyed, 5 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed by flak

Allied aircraft losses
P-40E Warhawk: 1 destroyed

Allied Ships
CL Emerald
CA Devonshire, Bomb hits 2
DD Isis

Some Kates had torpedoes, some had bombs. Devonshire took moderate damage: SYS 38/FLOT 10-6/ENG 8-4/FIRE 0. It will move to Calcutta to patch up. OPilot was lucky that the carrier raid came last. He lost most of the Kates but few of the Zeros.

Total air losses for the day were 63 Sallys, 29 Kates, 24 Oscars and 4 Zeros. Allied losses were 12 P-40Es. Just 2 Allied pilots were KIA.

Captain E.F. Rector became an "Ace in a Day" and got 7 kills total, rocketing him up to a tie at the top of the Kill leaderboard. 4 other pilots became an ace today. A massive fight over Diamond Harbour and a big win for the Allies. Many excellent Japanese pilots had to have been lost today, and that is far more important than the airframes.

[apbarog]

1 Jun 42

Lots of upgrades this month. A few battleships. Mostly support ships and some transports. TOE upgrades for Australian infantry.

Near Kwajalein, sub Silversides spots a couple of xAPs, but misses a shot at xAP Ussuri Maru with 2 torpedoes.

Manila and Bataan still bombed every day. Supply on Luzon now critical. Red exclamation points everywhere. Bataan doesn't fire flak anymore. I'm sure this has been noticed. Manila is still firing, but not for long. Enemy troops still sit south of Manila.

I-25 slipped into the port of Christmas Island. It spotted xAK Don Isidro but couldn't get a shot. From the "sub escapes detection" message, I thought the cargo ship must be without escort. But when I looked, I saw that it has a PG with it, but the PG has no ASW capability. And most importantly, it is with ARD Dewey! The ships stopped at Christmas Island to refuel on the way to Vava'u. That was a close call. I can't lose Dewey.

[DOCUP]

Keep up the great work. I enjoy reading your AAR.

[apbarog]

2 Jun 42

Allied ML No. 432 spotted I-156 sitting at the exit from Diamond Harbour but couldn't hit it. The 2 Brit cruisers and a destroyer made it most of the way to Madras today unobserved. I was going to send 3 of the damaged battleships and a destroyer west from Diamond Harbour, with the expectations of moving 6 hexes at full speed, but I miss-clicked and refueled the ships when forming the task force, limiting their projected movement even further. So they'll probably run tomorrow. Still spotting an enemy xAKL west of Akyab. CVLs have to be there. A sub about 3 hexes away had a 2/2 DL today. If there's xAKLs there, I don't know what they are doing. The spotting is close to the one yesterday.

I moved a squadron of Catalinas to Tabiteuea recently. The pilots are trained in torpedo attacks. Another side effect of having so many Catalinas with no enemy Pearl Harbor attack.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ocean Island at 130,130

Weather in hex: Thunderstorms

Raid spotted at 17 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 9 minutes

Allied aircraft
PBY-5 Catalina x 10

No Allied losses

Japanese Ships
xAK Daihachikyo Maru, Torpedo hits 2, heavy fires, heavy damage
xAK Hohuku Maru

Aircraft Attacking:
10 x PBY-5 Catalina launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 22.4in Mk 13 Torp.

Massive explosion on xAK Daihachikyo Maru

There were 3 dud hits on a second cargo ship. It was interesting the ship was loaded with fuel. For an unknown reason, OPilot is moving fuel to Ocean Island. Ocean Island still doesn't have an airfield, nor does Nauru Island, or Tarawa. Tabiteuea is a size 1 airfield and building quickly.

OPilot gives it another go at Bandoeng. The odds were better for him, with all of the effective daily artillery bombardments, but the attack still hurt the Japanese. Again.

Ground combat at Bandoeng (50,100)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 30369 troops, 478 guns, 307 vehicles, Assault Value = 775

Defending force 22273 troops, 212 guns, 54 vehicles, Assault Value = 352

Japanese adjusted assault: 632

Allied adjusted defense: 1021

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

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

Japanese ground losses:
2075 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 105 disabled
Non Combat: 7 destroyed, 17 disabled
Engineers: 21 destroyed, 27 disabled
Guns lost 21 (2 destroyed, 19 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
932 casualties reported
Squads: 11 destroyed, 63 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 20 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 11 (4 destroyed, 7 disabled)
Vehicles lost 3 (1 destroyed, 2 disabled)

On the Burma-India border, the enemy shock attacks across a river and finds a weak Burma unit defending in the jungle. Reinforcements move to the area. This is southwest of Ledo and threatens the road to Imphal.

Ground combat at 63,40 (near Warazup)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 4726 troops, 42 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 132

Defending force 648 troops, 3 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 30

Japanese adjusted assault: 152

Allied adjusted defense: 10

Japanese assault odds: 15 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
156 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 31 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Allied ground losses:
270 casualties reported
Squads: 5 destroyed, 9 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Units retreated 1

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
144th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
13th Burma Rifles Battalion

Carrier Wasp will appear in Panama in 4 days.

[apbarog]

3 Jun 42

Perch spots 2 light cruisers and 2 destroyers near Ponape, heading unknown.

It's a more active day for enemy bombers in China. Nothing special to note. There isn't a single Allied fighter in China right now, and just 6 Chinese bombers.

Mixing things up, LB-30s from Charter Towers bombs Lae's airbase, causing minor damage. I noted that Lae's airfield was up to size 3 but probably didn't have any CAP. Target of opportunity for a nuisance raid. In another, B-17s from Townsville hit Buna's port, causing minor damage and destroying some fuel and supply. xAKLs were unloading fuel here yesterday.

Nick's make their first appearance, bombing an RAF base unit fleeing in Burma.

AM Latrobe hit I-16 at Luganville. The sub sank a transport yesterday or the day before there.

Just south of Milne Bay, on the way to/from Port Moresby, Dutch sub KXIII torpedoed xAK Yamahuku Maru twice, sinking the ship.

Near Imphal (see map), the enemy shock attacks across a river:

Ground combat at 60,41 (near Imphal)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3807 troops, 20 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Defending force 4042 troops, 25 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 151

Japanese adjusted assault: 124

Allied adjusted defense: 283

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
467 casualties reported
Squads: 4 destroyed, 40 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
148th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
6th Chinese/C Corps

And near Jorhat, another river crossing, this time by a division:

Ground combat at 63,39 (near Jorhat)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12342 troops, 98 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 388

Defending force 4399 troops, 12 guns, 74 vehicles, Assault Value = 190

Japanese adjusted assault: 364

Allied adjusted defense: 118

Japanese assault odds: 3 to 1

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

Japanese ground losses:
562 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 44 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 3 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 7 (1 destroyed, 6 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
1432 casualties reported
Squads: 68 destroyed, 22 disabled
Non Combat: 38 destroyed, 21 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 1 disabled
Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Vehicles lost 34 (13 destroyed, 21 disabled)
Units retreated 3

Defeated Allied Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
33rd Division

Defending units:
B Sqn 3rd Hussars Regiment
13th Burma Rifles Battalion
9th Burma Rifles Battalion
75th Indian Brigade

I didn't see either of these attacks coming. Recon has been keeping an eye on these enemy units but didn't show movement recently. It's a bit of a panic now between Imphal and Ledo. Reinforcements are ordered from far and wide. I will not abandon Ledo quickly. I hope to counter the 33rd Division with a British infantry division. This area is much easier for the Allies to supply their troops than the enemy, so fighting here isn't all bad. As long as it doesn't become a rout. The loss of Ledo won't help China any.

Hermes continues to move toward Koumac. It is now 4 hexes northwest of Balep Island. Balep is a size 1 port, and Hermes will disband there if it makes it that far. Today it increased 1 SYS and 5 FLOT damage, and decreased ENG by 1. That's 10 FLOT damage in the last 2 days. It is now 46/82-47/9-0/0. A cruiser and 2 destroyers have joined Hermes and a DD for the final approach to Balep. All we can do is hope. It's either going to be a fantastic save or a heartbreaking loss. Much like losing the battleship Idaho in another AAR universe long ago for me. Remember the Idaho! Save the Hermes!

[zuluhour]

You are in monsoon season and I believe he will have to resort to air drops as his units cross into
India. Thats a lot of jungle to push supply through. I would consider a small but steady air campaign
on anything near Imphal and Ledo, just to force him to use supply. I assume without checking he
has AA built in to his divisions. I think Chittagong is the key to holding him at bay for now.

[apbarog]

4 Jun 42

Swordfish fired 2 torpedoes at PB Tsuneshima Maru between Buna and Rabaul. One torpedo hit and it worked. The patrol boat was sunk.

AM Latrobe again finds I-16 sitting at Luganville. Many minor hits are achieved but no direct depth charge hits. Latrobe is out of depth charges and has to go to Noumea to rearm.

Some minor bombing by British aircraft against Japanese troops in the jungle in Burma. B-26s join in.

Enemy CVLs again move north, in range of Diamond Harbour and Calcutta. CLAA Van Heemskerck was about to make a dash to safety to the west, but I think I forgot to pair it up with a destroyer and make the run. It was by itself, in a task force, at Calcutta. It was accidentally bait.

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Calcutta at 52,37

Weather in hex: Partial cloud

Raid detected at 75 NM, estimated altitude 7,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 32 minutes

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 26
B5N2 Kate x 23

Allied aircraft
I-16-III x 10
I-15-III x 7
Hurricane IIb Trop x 17
P-40E Warhawk x 50

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 7 destroyed
B5N2 Kate: 13 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
I-16-III: 1 destroyed
Hurricane IIb Trop: 1 destroyed
P-40E Warhawk: 2 destroyed

Allied Ships
CLAA Van Heemskerck, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x B5N2 Kate bombing from 5000 feet
Naval Attack: 2 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
2 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Naval Attack: 1 x 45cm Type 91 Torp

The cruiser now requires repair at Calcutta. It is SYS 70/FLOT 17-13/ENG 17-4/FIRE 27. Total air losses were 22 Kates and 17 Zeros for 5 P-40Es, 3 Hurri IIb's and 3 I-16s. 3 Chinese pilots got kills today. SBD's with some escort are moved to Jessore just east of Calcutta, and may get a chance to fly if the CVLs stay as close as they were today.

1LT W.E.Dyess, with 8 kills, was transferred to the 51st Fighter Group/25th Fighter Squadron at Brisbane. The unit is the first to be filled out with P-38Es. Now it is filling out with the best of the best US Army pilots.

Hermes moved one hex closer to safety, and is now 3 hexes northwest of Balep Island by Koumac. It is SYS 47/FLOT 79-47/ENG 7-0/FIRE 0. SYS went up 1. FLOT went down 1 and ENG went down 2. I'm still hopeful.

[apbarog]

5 Jun 42

A US sub just dropped some mines near Babo in northern New Guinea. I'd hoped to get a tanker. An enemy subchaser immediately spotted the mines. This area is highly patrolled and mining here just isn't working. I've done enough mining to make OPilot react and take precautions.

Chittagong is bombarded my cruisers, but the effects are lighter this time.

Night Naval bombardment of Chittagong at 55,41 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
CA Kumano
CA Mikuma
CA Mogami
CL Kashii

Allied ground losses:
188 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 25 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled

Airbase supply hits 1
Runway hits 5
Port hits 3

It didn't appear that he used any spotting planes this time.

There was a bit of a change to the enemy recon activity in China. Chungking got recon for the first time, as did Loyang in the north. A couple of unimportant spots in the line were bombed, probably for recon. I think OPilot may be looking for a different spot for an offensive. I may have stemmed the tide in the north, for now.

In Burma, some Allied bombers hit enemy troops in the jungle. It's a hit and run thing; can't run into enemy fighters. B-17s hit Myitkyina's airfield for almost no effect in severe storms.

Hermes is now just one hex from Balep Island. It gained 1 SYS and 2 ENG damage today, and lost 1 FLOT. It will go into the tiny port to repair minor FLOT damage. Koumac is just a size 2, so it will stop at Balep. Noumea is too far away to risk at this point. After some of the FLOT damage is repaired, Hermes will move to Noumea. ARD Dewey is headed to Vava'u Island, and Hermes may eventually go there.

Damaged British battleships made it to Cocanada unspotted. Resolution's damage went from SYS 26 to 30 and FLOT 47 to 50. The task force can still move 6 hexes a day at full speed, and will do so today, moving towards Madras. They will probably repair all minor damage there before moving around Ceylon.

[apbarog]

6 Jun 42

At Tabiteuea, 3 xAKs arrive to unload supply. KV Chilliwack is escorting and finds RO-67 there. 2 torpedoes missed xAK Unicoi and the KV did some minor damage to the sub.

It finally arrived. Enemy battleships bombard Diamond Harbour, undoubtedly hoping to hit the damaged battleships. Just one battleship remains in port, and it wasn't hit.

Night Naval bombardment of Diamond Harbour at 52,38 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese Ships
BB Hyuga
BB Ise
BB Yamashiro
BB Fuso
CL Natori

Allied ground losses:
497 casualties reported
Squads: 1 destroyed, 3 disabled
Non Combat: 8 destroyed, 44 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 16 (7 destroyed, 9 disabled)

Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Hyuga
BB Hyuga firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
BB Ise firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Ise
BB Yamashiro firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at BB Yamashiro
2nd Indian Coastal Artillery Regiment firing at BB Fuso
BB Fuso firing at 2nd Indian Coastal Artillery Regiment
CL Natori firing at Diamond Harbour Fortress
Diamond Harbour Fortress firing at CL Natori

The coastal guns took a pounding but did fire at the enemy. They just didn't hit, and it wouldn't have mattered with 6 inch guns hitting a battleship. I'm moving the one coastal gun unit to Chittagong now. Cruisers show up regularly there. I did have 115 recently laid sub mines at Diamond Harbour, but none were hit. Typical for a bombardment.

Near Jorhat, southwest of Ledo, the enemy division eliminates the small armored unit. OPilot waited a few days after his last attack, even though I had very little strength there. I suspect he was waiting for supply for his unit. That has to be an issue for him in the jungle there. This contested hex is just one hex south of the rail line to Ledo. He can cut the rail line if he gets there first. I'm moving so he won't get there first, but he could get there with the most. Going to be a big fight here. The Brits are on the way.

Ground combat at 63,39 (near Jorhat)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 12055 troops, 97 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 359

Defending force 138 troops, 0 guns, 25 vehicles, Assault Value = 8

Japanese adjusted assault: 319

Allied adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 319 to 1

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

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

Allied ground losses:
Vehicles lost 27 (27 destroyed, 0 disabled)
Units destroyed 1

Assaulting units:
33rd Division

Defending units:
B Sqn 3rd Hussars Regiment

Today SigInt says that the 301 Ind Inf Regiment is planning an attack at Shemya Island. This is adjacent and just east of Attu Island in the Aleutians. This is the first indication of any activity in the Aleutians. I have some units at Prince Rupert prepping for Umnak, but the shipping for them will have to come from San Francisco and Pearl Harbor, mostly. Have an infantry regiment, a base force, and some engineers. But I'm not sending anything to the western Aleutians. At this point, I don't have anything for Adak for that matter. I don't really want to fight up there, but I'll hold what I have. Umnak is to support Dutch Harbor nearby. I ordered a sub from Pearl Harbor to mine Shemya and another sub will patrol just to the west. I still have Catalinas covering the western Aleutians, but nothing else.

The 3 damaged Brit battleships will get to Madras today. They weren't spotted again. I'll have them repair minor damage there. They did slow from 6 hexes a day to 4 due to damage incurred while traveling.

I pulled over 20,000 supply to Cocanada, the base that I made into a US base yesterday. With that much supply, I was able to create 12 PT boats. They'll head to Diamond Harbour and Chittagong.

CV Wasp arrived in Panama. A few destroyers and a CLAA were there to escort. They'll go to Pago Pago from Panama.

[apbarog]

7 Jun 42

RO-67 is still at Tabiteuea. It spots xAKL Atlantic and DMS Chandler, but doesn't get a shot. Chandler can't find the sub. 60 vehicles from the already landed infantry division are about to arrive there on 2 transports.

The enemy attempts to cut the road southwest of Imphal. They do get across the river, but find a decent tank brigade there and get hurt. Allies will counterattack today.

Ground combat at 59,41 (near Imphal)

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 3882 troops, 26 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 127

Defending force 2636 troops, 40 guns, 123 vehicles, Assault Value = 150

Japanese adjusted assault: 12

Allied adjusted defense: 253

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 21

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

Japanese ground losses:
999 casualties reported
Squads: 9 destroyed, 90 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 10 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled

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

Assaulting units:
11th Infantry Regiment

Defending units:
7/12 Frontier Force Battalion
50th Tank Brigade
25th Indian Mountain Gun Regiment

Troops on Luzon start to starve. Bataan is completely empty of supply. I assume that the coastal guns won't fire when that unit's supply is gone.

A third carrier TBD squadron has converted to TBFs at Auckland. When the planes are operational, they'll join the carriers east of Suva.

The 3 damaged slow British battleships are now safely at Madras. They'll stay there for awhile, repairing minor damage. They were not spotted getting there from Diamond Harbour.

I need to dig into the editor. I'm looking at the Indian Punjab Division, at least the 3 component that make up the Punjab Division. 2 of the components are static at Lahore (I think Lahore), and one component is not static. I wonder if the full division, if combined, is static or not. I need all the troops I can muster, so it's worth a check.

[apbarog]

8 Jun 42

The usual enemy bombings: Bandoeng, Manila, Kukong, Bataan, Darwin.
B-26s again hit troops southwest of Ledo. I switch the targets each day to keep OPilot guessing. Today they get Hurricane escorts. I've done LRCAP over enemy units in the jungle, suspecting supply drops, but I haven't found one yet.

Near Imphal, the Allies counterattack against the infantry regiment that failed badly in its shock attack river crossing yesterday. Results aren't as overwhelming as I had hoped but they are acceptable. Got 1 to 2 odds but did much better on the casualty count. We attack again today. We can get supply here much easier than the enemy.

The enemy 33rd Infantry Division sits just south of the road leading west from Ledo. Today it shows movement to the east, into a jungle hex just southwest of Ledo. Could be a real move, could be a fake move. There's clear terrain to its northeast, where a weak Indian division just arrived. The B-26s already mentioned will hit it today.

I've had a huge Chinese corp at Calcutta, training and building. It has been my strategic reserve. I split the corp today, and 2/3 of it will go between Imphal and Ledo. I was prepared for an enemy landing on the eastern coast of India, or at Diamond Harbour. Now I'm not. The units are needed near Burma now. If this is part of OPilot's strategy, hat's off to him. I'm aware of the possibility but I have to deal with the real threat now as opposed to the possible threat then.

Tabiteuea built it's airfield to size 2 today. A long range recon unit was sent there to take a look at Kwajalein. Hopefully that gets OPilot a little bit nervous. I will move some B-26s to the base soon, and start hitting Tarawa, Ocean and Nauru Islands. None of those have an airfield yet.

[apbarog]

9 Jun 42

4 enemy DMS sweep the few mines left west of Babo on New Guinea. Interesting that there are 4 valuable fast minesweepers in this area, which is not active. If the enemy comes for Darwin, they'll be used. That could have happened a long time ago though. I do see a big enemy task force at Kendari, and activity on the north Timor coast. But I've seen this before.

West of Ponape, on a southwest diagonal from Truk, sub Perch spots a carrier task force. Kaga is lined up and 4 torpedoes were fired. One hits. And it is a dud. Enemy carriers now northeast of the Solomons. May be headed to Nauru or Ocean Island. May be going to hit Tabiteuea. I've had cargo ships there and they've been seen. They leave today. I pull out the recon and the Catalinas from Tabiteuea, and leave a squadron of P-40s. The Allied carriers are east of Pago Pago at a dot base waiting. Tankers will arrive tomorrow to top off the tanks. I decided not to react to the enemy carriers right now. I will use them in the Tarawa invasion, which is still about 2 weeks away. Units prepping at Christmas Island.

Heavy enemy bombing with heavy escort and sweepers of a contested hex in rough terrain east of Sian. It's on the road, and not in the woods like most of the defenders. Over 200 casualties to the bombers. This is concerning. I move some P-40s from Ledo to Sian and CAP Sian today, guessing OPilot's next move. They will LRCAP this contested hex soon. And the enemy attacks at this hex.

Ground combat at 86,41 (near Loyang)

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 45437 troops, 381 guns, 76 vehicles, Assault Value = 1412

Defending force 45661 troops, 214 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1259

Japanese adjusted assault: 806

Allied adjusted defense: 1521

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

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

Japanese ground losses:
1456 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 331 disabled
Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 19 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 24 disabled

Allied ground losses:
1098 casualties reported
Squads: 6 destroyed, 98 disabled
Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 14 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
41st Division
35th Division
27th Division
9th Ind.Mixed Brigade
6th Medium Field Artillery Regiment
3rd Hvy.Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
1st Chinese Corps
93rd Chinese Corps
61st Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
98th Chinese Corps
8th Group Army
14th Group Army

The Chinese hold. They'll do ok if the enemy doesn't rotate fresh units in. OPilot is sending at least one unit out of the hex to the east. Enemy air is a problem. I have an AA unit way up north at Lanchow, from when I expected the northern offensive further north. I start it moving toward Sian and eventually this contested hex.

Blens and Wellingtons bomb Cox's Bazar's port. It isn't defended by fighters and is on the supply line to the contested hex south of Chittagong. B-26s bomb the 33rd Division southwest of Ledo.

2 Dutch destroyers hit I-25 with a depth charge east of Christmas Island.