War in the Pacific AAR Thread: ML (Japan) vs. Leo (Allies)

[Molon Labe]

Originally Posted by Ostfriese

This actually doesn't surprise me, as the Nick (Ki-45) was a twin engined heavy fighter, like the P-38 Lightning or the BF 110. I was already wondering about this when you mentioned the Nick first, a few days ago. If it's modelled correctly in the game it should be inferior to contemporary single-engined fighters.

I've been warned on Discord that the Nick will get its ass handed to it by most fighters, and that was my experience in the last campaign. But, the Nick's performance against bombers was impressive enough that I took notice--well worth a higher attrition rate against ordinary fighters, given just how much of a problem American heavy bombers are for Japan. Heavy bombers were essential to my campaign for their ability to disable airbases and bomb troop concentrations into submission. I could usually maintain acceptable losses against Zeroes or Oscars, but against Nicks those losses were unsustainable. Frequently, the only aircraft I had with enough range to clear the Nicks out were P-38s, and the Allies just don't get enough of them to be able to sustain a lot of losses there. So I think the key to beating the heavy bombers is, first, to build and deploy enough Nicks to sustain inevitable attrition, and also to bait those P-38s into losing fights against Oscars and Tojos.

[Molon Labe]

Where are the Carriers? (through December 1942 arrivals)


United States Navy
Lexington - In service. Participated in raid on Luganville 27-28 January 42 and Marshalls 23 February 1942, both with Enterprise. Upgrades due 3/42 (27 days), 6/42 (30 days), 10/42 (21 days), 1/44 (21 days), 1/45 (17 days).

Saratoga - Probably in service. Torpedoed by I-9, scoring two hits on 6 January 42. Estimated repair time 2-3 months.

Yorktown - Likely under repair after being hit by airdropped torpedo on 26 February 42 during attempted raid on Wake/Marshalls. Believed to be the carrier chased by subs from Pearl to Alameda from 19-27 March 42. Potentially back in service by now (15 April 1942). Upgrades due 4/42 (7 days--Assume completed), 7/42 (10 days), 10/42 (21 days), 10/43 (21 days).

Enterprise - Participated in raid on Luganville 27-28 January 1942 and raid on Marshalls 23 February 1942, both with Lexington.

Hornet - entered PACFLEET around 11 March. May have been sighted at Pearl Harbor 10 April 42.


---
Long Island - 21 May 42
Wasp - due 10 Jun 42
Copahee 15 Aug 42
Nassau 15 Oct 42
Prince William 23 Oct 42
Altamaha 27 Oct 42
Chenango 15 Dec 42
Sangamon 15 Dec 42
Suwanee 15 Dec 42


Royal Navy
Hermes - in service

Indomitable - in service

Formidable - believed sunk in Battle of Bengal Bay, 1 April 1942, 3 torpedo hits and a bomb hit delivered by Kates.

Illustrious - entering service 28 April 42 ish.

[Molon Labe]

16 April 1942
HMS Enterprise finished off--for sure this time--with significant loss of Betties

Bay of Bengal
The cruiser sheltering in Colombo made a run for it today, and it turned out to be the Enterprise, which had taken at least one torpedo and five bombs in previous combat. She didn't get far and was hit by a Betty raid at sunrise. But, that pesky bomber-to-fighter coordination issue happened. 13 Betties flew without escorts, running into 15 Hurricanes on patrol. I lost 12 of those, the sole survivor took a shot at Enterprise and missed. The attempts that followed had Zeroes escorting as intended--which got 2 Zeroes shot down--but also got us a torpedo hit on the cruiser, then Kates flew from my carriers (also with Zeroes), to score 4 bomb hits on it for a confirmed sinking.

We made our first attack on Colombo, reducing forts to Level 2 with slightly better than 1 to 1 assault odds. Combat squads destroyed/disabled favored the enemy at 160 to 116. Good thing I landed the extra division, I'd rather not try to make up the difference with airpower here.

Sweeps of Cochin failed to fly--these likely would have reduced the numbers of fighters protecting Enterprise if they'd flown.


China
The enemy is still flying his bombers to Kanhsien--two more downed.
And our troops captured Kanhsien, destroyed devices 1 to 234.


CENTPAC
Scout aircraft are spotting some surface combattants in and around Fiji. I'm moving the KB south to see if I can get a shot at one of these task forces tomorrow.

Ordered sweep of Suva, Fiji scrubbed by weather for a 2nd straight day.


Reinforcements
14th Ku T-1 arrives at Kwajalein Island - a very welcome Mavis MPA unit
13th Air Flotilla arrives at Hamamatsu - restricted airHQ, might purchase later

[Molon Labe]

17 April 1942
Attrition at Fiji and Cochin without real progress; Sian Roadblock defeated


SOPAC/CENTPAC
A night raid by B-17s destroyed a Zero on the ground at Noumea. Looks like I need to have fighters flying at night...

The KB's heavy covering force ran into an AKL north of Fiji and sank it. This may have been a picket ship. This move by the KB is intended to get between Fiji and Pago Pago to try to get airstrikes on task forces in between, and outside the large CAP umbrellas of both bases...

...which didn't work out. I messed up the settings on one of my Kate squadrons, so it went to attack a cruiser spotted right at Suva, Fiji. That small strike ran into the large CAP as expected. I lost 7 Zeroes and 9 Kates in that engagement while shooting down just 3 P-39s, and we didn't even hit the cruiser. And of course, my ordered Sweep of Suva failed to fly for a 3rd straight day. Had this flown it might have cleared out those fighters before the strike.

But it wasn't all bad news. The I-16 attacked the oiler Neosho at Pago Pago, hitting it with a torpedo and turning the fuel-laden ship into an inferno.

Another sub tried to deliver a midget sub into Pago Pago, the SSX was lost.


Bay of Bengal/India
The sweep of Cochin did fly, but we just broke even at 4 fighters each side.


China
The Sian Roadblock (formerly the Sinyang Stack) has been defeated again, for what must be at least the fourth time by now. Destroyed devices 1496 to 4. A few units didn't rout with the rest, so we'll need to spend another day clearing them out.


R&D
All A6M5 Zero R&D plants are up and running with the 500-engine bonus secured. At the current rate of progress, I expect to be able to produce the M5 in October 1942.

[Molon Labe]

18 April 1942
HMS Indomitable torpedoed off Perth; Suva sweep finally performed as ordered... but we lose


West Australian Coast
I-158 hit the HMS Indomitable with 1 of 6 torpedoes fired in a spread, setting of an aviation fuel explosion and setting the ship on fire. The I-158 only reported one escorting destroyer, which it evaded with little difficulty. The damage doesn't appear bad enough to sink her, and there were no telllate reports of naval aircraft taking ops or ground losses en masse, so she's not down yet. I expect she'll either continue to Perth to get patched up, or will retreat west to get off-map and eventually to Cape Town. Either way, she's probably out of action for something like 4 months, and either way, there's a chance for me to finish her off in the coming days.


SOPAC
The sweeps of Fiji finally fly after 3 consecutive scrubbed missions. The enemy Wall of Fighters holds pretty well, downing 9 of my Zeroes while we take down only 2 P-40s and 2 P-39s. I think I really need to pay close attention to my pilot training to make sure I'm not compromising on anything if I'm going to be doing sweeps like these. Nothing less than elite is working anymore. I also sent this group in at 20k feet, a little higher than usual, based on expecting to see a lot of P-39s. I'd hopefully get a dive attack and I'd lose minimal maneuverability up high. Doesn't seem that was accurate.

I've snuck the Mutsu and Yamashiro pretty close to the Fiji coast, close enough to sprint to Suva tomorrow but probably not close enough to get away from a retaliatory strike. He clearly has PBYs operating around here, but they may be distracted tracking the KB as it lingers to the east. I'm going to try to get closer.

I've also laid a minefield in Pago Pago, hopefully right in time to catch ships returning from the KB-prompted evacuation.



China
I finished off the remnants of the road block force that didn't retreat into the mountains.

[Molon Labe]

19 April 1942

CENTPAC
I-21 torpedoed an unescorted cargo ship west of Hawaii. The hit started a fire but the ship was not severely damaged--I expect it will return to Pearl and survive.

At Christmas Island, the I-19 was spotted snooping around the harbor and was peppered with damaging near misses by the US destroyer Grayson. She's in no danger of sinking, but the damage is bad enough I'd rather have her repair than fight in a compromised state.


SOPAC
I have a few destroyers roaming around between Fiji and Noumea trying to pick off the AKLs he's using as pickets. One such picket was sunk today by the Tokitsukaze.

Another sweep of Suva flew today, this time by a different Zero squadron while the one that took a beating yesterday rests and gets replacement aircraft online. These were just at 15,000 feet and did better: two Zeroes lost, 2 P-40s and 3 P-39s downed.

The Mutsu and Yamashiro are now in ideal position and remain undetected.


Bay of Bengal/India
I tried to sweep Cochin again and it was a disaster; 7 Oscars shot down with no victories. Again, it appears that no compromises can be made with pilot training when it comes to sweeps at this point in the war. Not that these were bad pilots by a long shot, it's just that I can probably make them marginally better and I need every little bit.

The sweeps did keep the enemy's Hurricanes busy enough that when 8 Betties attacked a cargo ship on the western Indian coast, there were no fighters protecting it. We missed, and the bombers flew without the Zeroes that were assigned to them. So that could have been godawful if enemy fighters were around.

[Molon Labe]

20 April 1942
Suva airbase incapacitated by naval bombardment


SOPAC
We picked off another picket AKL off western Fiji with a destroyer. By day's end, the KB had picked off two more, plus the APD Talbot (with a loss one one Val to flak).

B-17 night raids at Noumea were intercepted by Zeroes, but that only resulted in a Zero shot down. The B-17s missed the port (where I'm loading up troops).

The Mutsu and Yamashiro bombardment task force ran into the FS Le Triomphant outside Suva and the task forces engaged in a brief skirmish before the French destroyer withdrew. Neither side took serious damage, although I believe the DD's depth charge launcher was damaged, which might matter as this area is swarming with my subs. The battleships then shelled Suva, laying the airbase to absolute waste. The base itself was damaged to nearly 80%, while 6 P-39, 4 PBY, 3 B-26, 2 P-40, 1 SBD, and 1 B-17 were destroyed in the bombardment. Despite an error by me that didn't leave the ships with orders to depart immediately, the only retaliatory airstrike was a insignificant B-17 attack from Pago Pago.

This could be a major breakthrough that allows me to fully neutralize the enemy airforce here, even get my own troops in, and sink ships in harbor (which right now include a submarine).


Japan
An American sub is on patrol near Tsushima, and made a failed attack on a cargo convoy. Another was spotted off Hokkaido. So, the US deployment strategy has clearly changed to include merchant interdiction.

I've deployed a number of floatplanes and bombers that were being used for training and will now be ASW squadrons. This was always planned, it's just that the absence of US subs in the home waters allowed me to use them for training up to this point, so now I have more ASW trained pilots to put to use. As far as surface forces, though, for now I'm going to be short because I've forward-deployed most of my subchasers to secure chokepoints where subs have already been appearing.

[Molon Labe]

21 April 1942

SOPAC
I let the Mutsu and Yamashiro dump their reserve ammunition into Suva before leaving, destroying another P-39 and damaging several more aircraft.

Well south of Noumea, I had detected a single bogey a few days ago and sortied the cruiser Katori down to investigate, to make sure no enemy convoys were getting past us towards Australia. As it turned out, that was the cruiser St. Louis with a destroyer in company. We traded shots and the Katori took the worst of it. Fortunately, all the hits except one were either superstructure hits or didn't get through the armor. That single exception let a little bit of water into the people tube and lightly damaged the engines. The ship broke off with significant system damage and a moderate fire, but should be able to make it back to base if it's not attacked again.

We swept Suva from the West again--despite the damage, they got 27 fighters in the air, enough that we only scored 5 enemies shot down to 6 Zeroes lost. The KB followed that up with a port strike, shooting down 4 more fighters and putting two 800kg bombs into the USS Grayback, which really should sink it a few times over. There were supposed to be Betty strikes as well, but the missions did not fly.


China
The enemy put an I-16 over Sian, which was able to shoot down a Lily and escape before Oscars could get to it.

Another enemy unit stepped onto the Sian road, right where our army already was, so we attacked and routed them for another 420 devices destroyed with just 2 of ours lost.


Ceylon
We lost a pair of Betties to AAA over Colombo.
Reinforced with the Imperial Guards Division, our main force attacked Colombo and captured it, inflicting 1948 devices destroyed while losing only 68.

[Molon Labe]

22 April 1942

SOPAC/CENTPAC
Enemy minesweepers have cleared Pago Pago.

I used the KB's covering force to shell Nadi, Fiji, on the assumption that the flyable aircraft over Fiji had been rebased there from Suva. The bombardment destroyed only 1 P-40 but damaged a bunch more. So probably 1 squadron flying out of here.

Also near Pago, the I-168 spotted USS Colorado and fired 4 torpedoes at her, without success. But we've confirmed that the task force (which likely retreated from Suva) has BBs rather than CAs. I'd send the KB here right now to Kate-strike these heavies if I wasn't getting a bit thirsty. As it stands, I'm fairly sure the US CVs are in the area just out of scout range, so if I was to run low on fuel, a second battle could run me dry completely and I could lose the whole task force. So, the KB is moving off to the west to meet their tankers. If traffic persists in the area maybe I'll get another shot. But for now, the priority is going to be getting troops into Fiji, and keeping as many of their aircraft as possible disabled until we overrun them.

There were multiple enemy recon passes over Guadalcanal today. I'm not sure what to make of this, it doesn't seem feasible to raid, much less invade, right now.


West Australian Coast/Indian Ocean
I've got a bunch of subs right off Perth in feeding frenzy mode, looking for the Indomitable, but the enemy has many high-quality destroyers operating here, and we're starting to take hits, so we need to patrol further off from Perth a bit. If Indomitable went to Perth, she's already arrived by now anyway. Trying to take a peek with a scoutplane, but the only one I have here is damaged.

In spite of the ASW coverage, an enemy cargo ship tried to cross the area unescorted, and was sunk in a submerged daytime torpedo attack.

Way out to the west, I have 3 CLs also looking for Indomitable in case it went west. They spotted a minesweeper headed southeast, so maybe a possible rendezvous. I'm going to have the CLs cheat a bit in that direction, maybe the AM will lead me to the CV? We're nearly out of station time, though.


China
We downed one SB-III bomber trying to bomb troops in Kahnsien, but lost an Oscar trying to do the same at Wuchow, thanks to 2 I-16s escorting the bombers.


Reinforcements
CV Junyo has arrived. (I don't think I mentioned it, but Hiyo has been here a few days too. We're going to size up some training squadrons and then have them join the fleet).

[Molon Labe]

23 April 1942
IJN Katori lost to catastrophic damage control failure

SOPAC
West of Fiji, USS Trout spotted the KB's replenishment group and made a failed attack on one of the oilers. But, he knows exactly where the KB is going to be now.

As for the Katori... I'm not sure exactly what happened. The fire did get bigger instead of smaller, but not enough to cause a lot of damage. The flooding went from barely any, to just a little, to severe and sinking in two days time. It's as if a bulkhead broke down and the crew forgot to close every watertight door in that compartment and every one after it.


China
We shot down an SB-III bomber over Kukong. I've been tempted to increase my CAP to try to really focus these guys down, but I've decided I'm fine with the status quo gradual attrition.

The enemy brought a few Buffalos in and shot down a Mary around Loyang. These strikes weren't that important, I'll just scrub them.


Reinforcements
SS I-32 arrives at Cam Ranh Bay

[Molon Labe]

24 April 1942
Heavy losses to enemy CAP at Suva, and major army losses at Sian


Indian Ocean
Ise and Hyuga shelled Cochin again, this time doing very little damage. Maybe the Hurricanes left? We did sink a minesweeper that was on patrol in the harbor.


SOPAC
Thinking the enemy would struggle to put up a decent CAP after the recent devastation, I had the KB strike Suva's port to deal with continued reports of ships in harbor. And we did finish off the Grayback, which somehow wasn't reduced to matchsticks from the prior two 800kg bomb hits. But the escorting Zeroes failed to keep the CAP off the bombers on the way in. We lost 4 Zeroes and 10 Kates, while shooting down 3 P-40s and 2 P-39s. A mine tender was also damaged in the strike and will likely sink.


China
The largest CAP we've seen in China in a long time was over Sian today, 8 Buffalos and 1 I-16. They did make it to my bombers, shooting down 1 Sally. Escorting Oscars downed 2 Buffalo. We also downed an SB-III at Kukong.

I had high hopes for being able to achieve a breakthrough at Sian today, with the roadblock having been fully dealt with and our main force having returned. But the enemy has reinforced Sian significantly, enough that our attack did not go well against the enemy fortifications:


Japanese ground losses:
21802 casualties reported
Squads: 403 destroyed, 1381 disabled
Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 199 disabled
Engineers: 19 destroyed, 133 disabled
Guns lost 100 (33 destroyed, 67 disabled)
Vehicles lost 156 (3 destroyed, 153 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
10984 casualties reported
Squads: 170 destroyed, 302 disabled
Non Combat: 172 destroyed, 450 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 89 disabled
Guns lost 188 (44 destroyed, 144 disabled)

I'm going to have to reduce the enemy AV substantially to turn this around. That means at a minimum giving the bombers time to wear them down, while using our artillery to contribute to that. It might also mean sending a smaller force around to cut off their main source of supplies. A frontal assault is off the table for the time being.

[Molon Labe]

25 April 1942

SOPAC
I ordered an amphibious task force to depart Noumea with the 4th Infantry Division loaded, bound for Nadi, Fiji. Escorting PBs quickly spotted a US sub stalking it and drove it away before we could be engaged, but not quickly enough to prevent a contact report. He knows we're coming.

At daybreak, land-based Zeroes swept Nadi, taking out only 4 P-40s while suffering 5 losses.

ASW patrols from the KB are detecting at least 10 subs protecting the Nadi coast and surrounding area. KB's main role for the time being is going to be prosecuting those subs. Our pilots reported two hits today. Closer to Noumea, Anns reported a hit on a sub as well.


China
An enemy Buffalo was shot down by Oscars over Sian. We're still resting from the thumping we took before beginning our artillery bombardment.


Home Waters
An enemy sub that's been lurking off Tsushima was reported hit twice by Ki-32 Anns on patrol. The Anns actually reported the sub as the Gudgeon, and if they were that sure of the identity of the boat it makes me think these hits were real. Two 250kg hits at sea this far from base probably means it sinks.


Reinforcements
SC Ch 29 arrives at Kobe

[Molon Labe]

26 April 1942

China
Another SB-III down, this time over Canton. He should run out soon, it was just 5 attacking today. They lost a Buffalo over Sian as well. And they'd only put up one.


SOPAC
Mutsu and Yamashiro made an attack on Suva again, but before they got in position they suffered a series of raids by SBDs, Vincents, B-17s, and Banshees. The LRCAP from my land bases never showed up, not that it would have been enough as they were too far to have enough aircraft on station to overcome the number of escorts. Battleships spit out good flak, so we shot down 3 SBDs, plus one Vincent and one Banshee. The SBDs hit the Yamashiro twice, but the armor deflected the bombs and the damage was nominal. The battleships' fire on the enemy's base was far more effective, destroying at least 2 fighters and a bomber, but probably at least damaging everything else on the ground.


The KB's Kates reported two hits on subs, but we lost one to enemy CAP fighters and two more crashed while trying to land.

[Molon Labe]

27 April 1942
4th Division ashore at Nadi, Fiji; enemy takes heavy losses in attack on KB, IJN subs getting the job done


SOPAC
The 4th Division landed overnight with minimal resistance, just a failed submarine attack and a little bit of fire from enemy troops. The landing, of course, drew an airstrike with everything they had. Relying more on LRCAP from the KB instead of nearby bases, we managed to get better cover over the phibs than the prior bombardment, but it still proved inadequate. In first raid, we had 9 Zeroes against 26 fighters escorting 11 SBDs. We lost the air battle 3 to 4 with all the bombers getting through, resulting on lethal damage to an AMC with a second AMC and the cruiser Kingugasa also taking hits. A second raid of 11 Banshees walked in without resistance, dealing lethal damage to a troop transport and hitting Kinugasa again, forcing it to flood a magazine to prevent a detonation. By this time, though, my troops had already disembarked.

In the afternoon, the enemy turned their attention to the KB instead of the 'phibs, which worked to my advantage. A strike of 11 SBDs escorted by 9 fighters, and a second wave of 7 Banshees escorted by 8 P-39s, took on the CAP of 37 Zeroes. We downed 3 P-40s, 10 P-39s, 9 SBDs (1 by flak), and 7 Banshees.

A raid of B-17s still went after the 'phibs, resulting in 1 Zero downed with the enemy losing 1 P-40 and 1 P-39 that were escorting the bombers. The bombers missed their target (an APD).

Off the southeast coast of Australia, the I-18 torpedoed a PC, reducing it to matchsticks.



CENTPAC
Back at Pago Pago, the I-16 crept into the harbor and put 2 torpedoes into the battleship Colorado. She's not in danger of sinking, just some lengthy time in the yard.

Then southwest of Pearl, the I-22 torpedoed the oiler Neches, turning it into an inferno.



China
Sian is starting to smoke when bombed now. Maybe they're breaking, finally.


Burma
I've resumed bombing Rangoon--trying to prevent any further fortification building.

[Molon Labe]

28 April 1942
HMS Danae sunk off Pearl Harbor

CENTPAC
I-23 engaged the British cruiser Danae off Pearl, hitting it with 3 torpedoes for a confirmed kill.

Nearby, the I-22 finished off the burning oiler Neches.


SOPAC
USS Finback attempted to attack the amphibous task force unloading at Nadi, but is was spotted an prosecuted with extreme accuracy. We connected with four depth charge patterns, plus several damaging near misses. The sub wasn't even able to try to surface, it just broke up and sank.

I've begun night raids on Nadi/Suva with Betties. Tonight's raid damaged a Catalina on the ground.

A deliberate attack at Nadi failed to dislodge the enemy defenders. It's close--bombardments by battleships could put me over the top.



China
I made a bombardment attack on Sian, but we got the worst of it. Looks like I'll need to send someone around to cut off supplies after all.

There are literally 30 corps at Sian right now. Makes me wonder how many total China has and just how undefended everything else must be.