Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

IJNAF elite A6M2 Zero unit Chitose Ku S-1 or its detachments or division(s)

3 (42.9%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Indochina, to be used in China/East Indies(mostly)

1 (14.3%)

a IJAAF Ki-43 unit in Burma(at least initially)

3 (42.9%)

Total Members Voted: 7

Voting closed: May 04, 2014, 08:49:03 am

[Erkki]

I think that has more to do planes in general catching fire when they were shot down. Same thing in Europe and theres nothing in US or British planes that made them any less vulnerable than others. On the contrary, Spitfire and Hurricane even had small fuel tanks between engine and the cockpit... Same radiator vulnerabilities, gas for fuel, ammo on board and at best only cockpit armored, and not enough to stop a cannon AP shell.

Zero and Ki-43 sure were extra vulnerable as they were made as light as possible to get more range and lower wing loading.

Update coming in the hour, although I didnt take screenshots of the US attacks. I just skipped them. My opponent has been very lucky through the game, having lots of important ships just barely escape destruction.

[Anvilfolk]

Oh... I was hoping for good news from this next turn.

Will you be able to force the battle to continue by continuing to push southwards from there? I guess you'd need to get more troops from somewhere else for the rest of the push, and that would take a couple of weeks?

Could you bluff by having an empty transport TF head towards Efate?

[Erkki]

Oh... I was hoping for good news from this next turn.

Will you be able to force the battle to continue by continuing to push southwards from there? I guess you'd need to get more troops from somewhere else for the rest of the push, and that would take a couple of weeks?

Could you bluff by having an empty transport TF head towards Efate?

Doesnt work that easily - amphibious force and surface action units are in real threat danger now with US CVs basically at the flank.



If they dont need to refuel escorts and dont care about burning fuel, they can move 700+ nm East. So depending on their fuel situation and what is wanted, will they go for an engagement with KB, look to strike the amphib force at a distance or flee, KB probably cant catch them.

Just a reminder: each day KB sails at cruising speed it burns almost as much fuel than is pumped out of the ground in oil. Japan doesn't have the luxury of swimming in supplies and fuel. Allies get several times more both even in early war.

[Anvilfolk]

Wowzah! Thanks for that tidbit of information! That really brings home the scale of fuel production and consumption for war-time Japan! And even at optimal cruising speeds, jeez!

I'm still hopeful that he'll finally make a fatal mistake and get engaged by KB!

[Erkki]

I think I'll move KB E of Aoba Island.

[Anvilfolk]

Is he more likely to run East or Southwest back to Australia? It feels like he might just go straight due West and mostly avoid you? All of this guessing is getting to my head!

[Erkki]

Is he more likely to run East or Southwest back to Australia? It feels like he might just go straight due West and mostly avoid you? All of this guessing is getting to my head!

If I were him I'd go north and attempt to nail parts of the fleet train.

[Erkki]

February 23 1942


China: bombers flew again, hitting the enemy hard in the open terrain on the road to Ankang as well as at Hengyang. Chinese bombers flew too and scored a couple of hits to IJ troops near Nanyang.

Burma: Allied fighters grounded(as expected) and sweeps find nothing. Blenheims sortie to Lashio, Taung Gyi and Rangoon again.

DEI: attack at Tarakan fails. Again.

PI: deliberate attack at Iba achieves only 1:2 with 1:1 losses. The defending Philippine and US units have high fatigue and disruption.

Submarines: a USN sub destroys a 8000-ton capacity tanker near Formosa. There are over 40 planes flying naval search and AASW and 4 ASW surface patrols in the same area, heck 2 in the same hex, and they cant see the subs before they attack. Japs subs get attacked long before they get near coast everywhere where they are. IJN subs again do nothing. Almost all of them have highly aggressive captains now, but there doesnt seem to be a difference.

South Pacific:

BB Hyuga Sqdn. and amphibious force advance to Luganville unopposed.


Night Naval bombardment of Luganville at 120,150
 
Allied aircraft
      no flights
 
Allied aircraft losses
      PBY-5A Catalina: 2 damaged
      B-17E Fortress: 1 damaged
 
Japanese Ships
      BB Hyuga
      CA Kako
 
Allied ground losses:
      90 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 16 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
 
Airbase supply hits 2
Runway hits 2
Port hits 4
Port supply hits 2
 
BB Hyuga firing at 148th Field Artillery Battalion
CA Kako firing at Luganville

Wow, an IJN bombardment that actually achieves something.


Ground combat at Luganville (120,150)
 
Allied Bombardment attack
 
Attacking force 1477 troops, 31 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 63
 
Defending force 7900 troops, 117 guns, 15 vehicles, Assault Value = 263
 
Assaulting units:
    30th NZ Battalion
    148th Field Artillery Battalion
    114th USAAF Base Force
    A Det USN Port Svc
 
Defending units:
    1st Sasebo Assault Division
    84th Naval Guard Unit
    10th JNAF AF Unit

So IJ has AV, number, tank and firepower superiority at Luganville. Troops ashore with very few casualties while at least that Field Artillery Battalion must have some fatigue and disruption.


Kido Butai: advances SE and positions itself between Noumea and Efate


Morning Air attack on TF, near Ambrym at 124,152
 
Weather in hex: Moderate rain
 
Raid spotted at 38 NM, estimated altitude 17,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 29
      B5N2 Kate x 13
      D3A1 Val x 12
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied Ships
      AMC Aramis, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 4, and is sunk
      AMC Westralia, Bomb hits 6, Torpedo hits 3, and is sunk
 
Aircraft Attacking:
       9 x D3A1 Val releasing from 2000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
      13 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
               Naval Attack:  1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo
       3 x D3A1 Val releasing from 1000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 250 kg SAP Bomb
 
Heavy smoke from fires obscuring AMC Westralia               Thats two AMC less. The other one was VERY big, 13,200 tons. What were they doing there?!?!?

Morning Air attack on TF, near Noumea at 115,160
 
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
 
Raid detected at 90 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 38 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 18
      B5N2 Kate x 12
 
Allied aircraft
      P-40B Warhawk x 11
      F4F-3A Wildcat x 11
      F4F-3 Wildcat x 11
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      A6M2 Zero: 3 destroyed
      B5N2 Kate: 3 destroyed, 2 damaged
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
      F4F-3A Wildcat: 2 destroyed
      F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
 
Allied Ships
      xAK Royal T. Frank, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
 
Aircraft Attacking:
       8 x B5N2 Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
               Naval Attack:  1 x 18in Type 91 Torpedo              A small attack to Noumea meets large CAP... Those Wildcats were from CVs!!!


Morning Air attack on TF, near Ouv'ea at 116,157
 
Weather in hex: Thunderstorms
 
Raid spotted at 47 NM, estimated altitude 14,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 17 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 33
      D3A1 Val x 25
 
Allied aircraft
      F4F-3A Wildcat x 1
 
No Japanese losses
 
No Allied losses
 
Allied Ships
      DD O'Brien, Bomb hits 1,  on fire    fleeing O'Brien hit


Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 37
      D3A1 Val x 23
 
Allied aircraft
      P-40B Warhawk x 7
      F4F-3A Wildcat x 7
      F4F-3 Wildcat x 7
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
      F4F-3 Wildcat: 1 destroyed
 
Allied Ships
      AM Matai, Bomb hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      AM Breeze, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
      AM Muritai, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      xAKL Neo Hebridais, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk
      xAKL Loyaute, Bomb hits 3, and is sunk                2nd attack to Noumea. Just small merchies and tiny escorts/mine ships. 12 Zeros and 5 B5Ns were lost

Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Ouv'ea at 116,157
 
Weather in hex: Light cloud
 
Raid detected at 47 NM, estimated altitude 9,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 20 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 33
      B5N2 Kate x 20
 
Allied aircraft
      P-40B Warhawk x 1
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied aircraft losses
      P-40B Warhawk: 1 destroyed
 
Allied Ships
      DD O'Brien, Torpedo hits 2, and is sunk O'Brien finished off


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Efate at 120,154
 
Weather in hex: Heavy rain
 
Raid detected at 50 NM, estimated altitude 16,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 18 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      A6M2 Zero x 7
      D3A1 Val x 25
 
No Japanese losses
 
Allied Ships
      DD Fanning, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage    Fanning finished off at Efate


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 122,145
 
Weather in hex: Clear sky
 
Raid spotted at 20 NM, estimated altitude 15,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 7 minutes
 
Allied aircraft
      F2A-3 Buffalo x 7
      F4F-3 Wildcat x 8
      SBD-3 Dauntless x 51
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
      CL Yubari, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      CA Aoba, Bomb hits 5,  heavy fires
      DD Hamakaze
      DD Urakaze, Bomb hits 2,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      DD Kagero
 
Aircraft Attacking:
       8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       9 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
      16 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       1 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb           


Afternoon Air attack on TF, near Vanikoro at 122,145
 
Weather in hex: Clear sky
 
Raid spotted at 31 NM, estimated altitude 12,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 12 minutes
 
Allied aircraft
      SBD-3 Dauntless x 17
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
      DD Kagero, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
      CA Aoba, Bomb hits 3,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
      DD Tanikaze, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
 
Aircraft Attacking:
       5 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 2000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       8 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 3000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb
       4 x SBD-3 Dauntless releasing from 4000'
               Naval Attack:  1 x 1000 lb SAP Bomb    Thats the end of it for Aoba, Yubari and Urakaze

[Erkki]

Actually, I have a plan. CS Mizuho is pretty close to the enemy CVs. Maybe I could use Mizuho as a bait to lure the Allied captain to stay in the area a bit longer...

[Mephansteras]

Ouch, things look like they're going a bit painful for you.

[Erkki]

Ouch, things look like they're going a bit painful for you.

Its the Pacific war. The Japanese are supposed to be the punching bag for the big USA and its buddies.

[Erkki]

I'm thinking about detaching 2 CL with DD escort to sweep Noumea and then withdraw at full speed. 25 ships in the port, so they may or may not catch anything.

[Erkki]

Ok, I've decided.


-CS Mizuho will dash past the USN CVBG in hope of making it react - towards KB
-the 2nd USN carrier force to the SW will be ignored - I dont know where it is and it could just flee.
-amphibious force and BB Hyuga will withdraw in the case one or more enemy CV force will position to reach Luganville from a distance.
-Marines at Luganville ordered to shock attack. Its better work.
-2 CL and 5 DD detached from Kido Butai will dash towards the Americans and then to East - idea again not to catch them in naval combat(very unlikely and no firepower) but to make them stay in the area
-KB trailing allowed maximum reaction, but not forced to use full speed
-follow-on oilers, a couple of cruiser squadrons and other TFs ordered to withdraw north

CS Chioyda between New Caledonia and Australia sighted a 3-ship TF nearby. AMCs reported. I have a feeling that they could be cruisers. Another TF I have absolutely no idea what they are doing there as KB was sighted 3 days ago already. Had KB stayed where it was in the end of the last turn it could have attacked these ships. Chioyda ordered to withdraw.

[Sheb]

Well, look like your opponent got the better of you.

[Erkki]

Well, look like your opponent got the better of you.

For now, but he does play like a madman. There was nothing I could have done better with the information I had available, was there? There is air patrol coverage to the East where they came from(H8Ks from Makin Island) and possibility of flanking was why Mizuho was there, approx. 1 day away from strike range. Cant do much if the dice wants me to lose.