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

Molon Labe · 10-29-23, 11:21 AM

13 February 1942

Burma/Andaman Sea
Amphibious landings at Port Blair have begun. Our covering force destroyed an HDML and a minesweeper prior to the landings.

We lost a Sally and a Betty over Rangoon to flak but hit a cargo ship and the Colombo in port.

We captured Moulmein, destroying 58 squads with just one of ours disabled.

CENTPAC
The bogeys moved north, so we can rule out that they were trying to set up a scoutplane base. They're probably just testing my reaction. Still no classification, but because of the scoutplane activity we can safely say they're cruisers.

SouthPAC
Kirishima and Hiei pounded Efate to little effect.

S-172 took a serious depth charge hit from a minesweeper outside Sydney and is returning to base for repairs.

Sweeps over Noumea took down 4 P-40s, no Zeroes lost.

I screwed up my CAP coverage for the amphibs landing at New Caledonia, and several enemy bombers attempted raids on them without interference. However, the were mostly level bombers, which were as ineffective as always. There were a few Banshees, but they've suffered so much attrition that they could not attack in numbers and were also ineffective.

There are something like 6 enemy subs converging on the landing site. The S-34 was spotted approaching chased off by destroyers.

Java and Banda Sea Area
A Dutch sub picked off yet another cargo ship at Babar; this one was offloading supplies. I'm moving in extra floatplanes to Babar to try to counter the subs.

I made a port strike on Darwin with Nells flying from Koepang but the raid was ineffective due to bad weather.

Sumatra
We're still stuck at Medan with a failed attack today. 18 devices disabled for us, 8 for him. Hopefully the coastal shelling and aerial bombing will get us past him soon.

We've captured Oosthaven and Ketapang (across the strait on Borneo) with minimal resistance and no losses, and our paratroopers once again routed the former base force they're chasing up the southwestern coast.

Philippines
The reduced altitude of my bombers did not result in flak being fired at Bataan. Bringing everyone down for future raids.

I made a deliberate attack, but in spite of the supply shortage I took the worst of it, 354 devices destroyed/disabled to 311. But his losses skewed towards destroyed rather than disabled, and due to his supply shortage he won't be reactivating disabled units that much. We're getting close.

Intel
HMAS Adelaide is reported sunk at Townsville. Very credible report.

Molon Labe · 10-29-23, 12:26 PM

14 February 1942

SouthPAC
I detached 2 CA and 2 DD from the New Caledonia covering force to bombard Noumea. It ran into a DM outside the base and sank it easily. The bombardment destroyed at least 5 aircraft on the ground, along with moderate facility damage to the base itself.

My enemy had the same idea: two cruisers shelled Luganville and got away before the KB could hit them with an airstrike. Fortunately they were no more effective than our battleships were yesterday.

Meanwhile the S-34 continued to try to penetrate the landing site, and ended up getting depth charged for at least moderate damage. I've moved the KB a bit closer and set an narrow ASW search arc to protect the 'phibs from the closing submarine swarm. The KB hasn't been sighted for a few turns so she should be OK without broad coverage.

Java and Banda Sea, etc.
Our second day of raiding Darwin's port resulted in a hit on a British destroyer. Clear skies this time.

Burma and Andaman Sea
Port strike on Rangoon resulted in 1 Buffalo and 1 Oscar shot down, plus a Sally lost to flak. But we finally got the hits we were looking for. Columbo was hit four times, and we also got hits on a transport and a cargo ship. All 3 confirmed sunk. Anything left in port probably isn't worth the flak losses.

Blenheims tried to interdict our marines at Port Blair, Zeroes went after them but failed to intercept. The bombers missed anyway.

My marines attempted to take the base but were thwarted by high disruption; apparently they needed another day after landing to get their **** together. 2 squads disabled on each side.

Sumatra
Dutch bombers raided Palembang. Bad move. We got 4 out of 5 them, no damage.

China
Outside Nanyang, I tried to take advantage of the enemy moving some of its forces north, away from the main group, but our attack still failed to achieve a breakthrough. Squad destruction heavily favoring me, 14 to 182, although total disabled/destroyed was a less lopsided 253 to 453. I'm starting to feel some pressure on my northern armored group now, there's a risk they could be defeated in detail if I can't break the southern group quickly.

In the mountains near Chengting we had a surprisingly bad outcome, acheiving 2 to 1 adjusted assault odds but still suffering worse attrition with 20 of our devices destroyed to 2 of his.

Loyang was vacated by the enemy, we raised our flag there today.

Philippines
I attacked the small island garrison at Bacolod, supported by Vals flying out of Mindanao; we failed to achieve a breakthough. Light casualties on both sides. This probably calls for a naval bombardment.

Reinforcements
91st I.F.Chutai arrives at Tokyo
64th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo
67th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo

Molon Labe · 10-29-23, 09:53 PM

15 February 1942

Hawaii
I-2 sustained minor depth charge damage from a destroyer, she's remaining on station.

SouthPAC
Sweep of Efate took care of 3 more P-40s, no losses.

Burma
Dumb mistake on my part. I turned off all the Rangoon strikes...I thought. One squadron of Sallies still had attack orders and flew unescorted. I lost 6 to fighters and another to flak.

Philippines
Landed troops at Tacloban. I could be wrong, but I think this means I have troops on every island the US has troops on.

China
By reinforced army at Wenchow attacked again, and failed again, 286 devices destroyed/disabled to 209 of theirs. I have one more unit on the way. If that doesn't make the difference I may have to spend some political points to move something big here.

My armored stack between Nanyang and Sian suffered a rare Allied attack, but with the defensive bonus now on our side, we held them off, just 28 devices destroyed disabled vs 618 of theirs. That probably ends the threat of this stack being defeated in detail, but I'll continue to try to get the main force up here in a hurry.

Intel and Reinforcements
Previous report of sinking of CV Saratoga incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service -- no ****.
42nd I.F.Chutai arrives at Sapporo

Molon Labe · 10-30-23, 05:27 PM

16 February 1942

SouthPAC
The S-27 tried to penetrate the landing zone but was depth charged by a destroyer, scoring several damaging near misses.

Off the coast of Brisbane, the I-170 torpedoed and sank an Australian destroyer.

A sweep of Noumea downed 7 P-40s with no loss.

Off the coast of Efate, 4 A-24 Banshees tried to attack the Hiei. Zeroes on long-range CAP took out the single P-40 that was escorting them and shot down one of the bombers. Flak took out a second, and all the bombers that made it to the Hiei missed.

B-17s attacked Luganville, shooting down 1 Zero that intercepted. No damage on the ground.

East Java Sea and Banda Sea, etc.
Nell raid on Darwin scored hits on a British destroyer. I think the intel about bigger ships being here it complete junk.

China
We routed the enemy unit passing by Nanchang again, 49 devices destroyed. We failed to dislodge the enemy unit in the mountains of Chengting again.

Sumatra
Yet another failure to dislodge the enemy unit on the coast near Medan. But we destroyed 10 devices this time. The might be breaking.

Philippines
Tacloban captured.

Molon Labe · 10-31-23, 08:09 AM

17 February 1942
Port Blair captured

SouthPAC
Kirishima and Hiei bombarded Efate again. Again, little result. No aircraft disabled, light-moderate facility damage.

There was a light cargo ship he was using as a picket/bait east of Efate. Rather than re-reveal the KB or its covering force, I engaged it with one of the subs guarding the retreat lane north of Fiji, sinking it with gunfire.

Another sweep of Noumea took care of 3 of the 4 P-40s on patrol. No losses.

5 Marauders tried to bomb our 'phibs, but the LRCAP from the KB took care of all 5 of them. 7 A-24s followed that up, the Zeroes got 2 of them, only 1 aircraft made it to the target (the rest turned and ran), and it missed. The S-27 also made multiple attempts to attack this task force but failed each time, sustaining slight depth charge damage in the process.

China
China got two I-15s to patrol above the Nanyang stack, my bombers' escorting Oscars took one down.

Burma and Andaman Sea
The enemy lost 1 Hurricane trying to bomb Moulmein. No damage on the ground.

Port Blair has been captured. Now to turn it into an airbase for us...

Molon Labe · 10-31-23, 08:25 AM

18 February 1942

Philippines
I used the Fuso and Nagato to support my rather small force (2 SNLF companies) in taking Bacolod, allowing them to overcome the shellshocked garrison regiment easily.

I made an attack on Bataan. Forts down to Level 1. Casualties are favoring me with squads destroyed/disabled to 224 of mine to 434, and I already outnumber him 2-to-1 so that's twice as bad as it looks. I did take significant engineer casualties though (42 squads destroyed!), and with his forts reduced so low I don't really need them anymore, so they're pulling out. I'm thinking 2 more attacks should do it.

SouthPAC
Only 2 P-40s on patrol over Noumea today, and they managed to escape my sweep.

China
The enemy force that had blocked my advance in the southeast has retreated toward Kwelin. I'm now advancing again toward Kukong. But, I wouldn't be that surprised if the reason he's pulling back is to consolidate enough troops to make a push here, so my gains may be temporary.

In the mountains near Chenting, we finally dislodged the enemy troop concentration ,201 devices destroyed to 1.

Java and Banda Sea
I'm preparing the ground for an invasion of Java. A sweep of Surabaya took down 2 Buffalos, while 2 Demons escaped.

Burma
I tried something a little different--my frontline Oscars ordered to Naval Attack. They attacked a minesweeper and an HDML near Rangoon with no success...except for shooting down 1 Buffalo that tried to protect them.

Reinforcements
12th Base Force arrives at Saigon - Frees up a "special base force" to go to Singapore to help with port activities.

Molon Labe · 10-31-23, 08:50 AM

19 February 1942

Bay of Bengal and Burma

When my bombers finished off the Columbo and two merchants in Rangoon, I decided my submarine blockade was no longer needed there and sent my subs to patrol off Ceylon and the Indian coast. They arrived today, with one sinking an unescorted cargo ship in a night surface torpedo attack.

The Oscars made their 2nd naval attack attempt, hitting the minesweeper outside Rangoon with 2 30kg bombs, starting a raging fire.

Rangoon's bombers once again tried to attack my invading forces at Moulmein, costing them a Hurricane with no gain.

A Kate from Zuiho claimed a hit on a British sub outside Port Blair.

Java
I swept Batavia from Palembang with Oscars, shooting down 4 of 8 Buffalo on patrol. This was followed by a Betty raid on Kalidjati, which appeared to have a bomber concentration. We destroyed at least 1 L-212 and 1 FK-51 on the ground, while the escorting Zeroes shot down 1 of 3 Buffalo on CAP. Damage to the airbase was moderate. I'm probably not going to follow this up as I'm going to want to take this airbase intact. Surabaya also took a Nell raid from Makassar, resulting in light facility damage, 1 Do-24K destroyed on the ground, and 1 Demon shot down (the only aircraft on CAP).

Sumatra
Yet another rout of the former Madang garrison by my paratroopers.

SouthPAC
Another sweep of Noumea, 2 of 3 P-40s on patrol go down.
B-17s attacked my advancing armies at La Foa instead of going after Luganville. I didn't anticipate this, but fortunately this was close enough to the covering force that the LRCAP was able to help out. Neither side lost aircraft, but the harrassment made the B-17s' bombing inaccurate. Also there were only 3 of them, and flying with a reduced load from too small an airbase. Regardless, La Foa is ours, and that was the last stop before Noumea. Before I ever played WITP, I recall players discussing how the capture of Noumea means the Allies are in a really bad position, so this may be a significant win if (when) I take it.

China
In the east, we routed the enemy force near Nanchang (84th Corps) once again. I'm surprised these guys haven't just surrendered yet.

10-29-23, 11:21 AM	#1
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	13 February 1942 Burma/Andaman Sea Amphibious landings at Port Blair have begun. Our covering force destroyed an HDML and a minesweeper prior to the landings. We lost a Sally and a Betty over Rangoon to flak but hit a cargo ship and the Colombo in port. We captured Moulmein, destroying 58 squads with just one of ours disabled. CENTPAC The bogeys moved north, so we can rule out that they were trying to set up a scoutplane base. They're probably just testing my reaction. Still no classification, but because of the scoutplane activity we can safely say they're cruisers. SouthPAC Kirishima and Hiei pounded Efate to little effect. S-172 took a serious depth charge hit from a minesweeper outside Sydney and is returning to base for repairs. Sweeps over Noumea took down 4 P-40s, no Zeroes lost. I screwed up my CAP coverage for the amphibs landing at New Caledonia, and several enemy bombers attempted raids on them without interference. However, the were mostly level bombers, which were as ineffective as always. There were a few Banshees, but they've suffered so much attrition that they could not attack in numbers and were also ineffective. There are something like 6 enemy subs converging on the landing site. The S-34 was spotted approaching chased off by destroyers. Java and Banda Sea Area A Dutch sub picked off yet another cargo ship at Babar; this one was offloading supplies. I'm moving in extra floatplanes to Babar to try to counter the subs. I made a port strike on Darwin with Nells flying from Koepang but the raid was ineffective due to bad weather. Sumatra We're still stuck at Medan with a failed attack today. 18 devices disabled for us, 8 for him. Hopefully the coastal shelling and aerial bombing will get us past him soon. We've captured Oosthaven and Ketapang (across the strait on Borneo) with minimal resistance and no losses, and our paratroopers once again routed the former base force they're chasing up the southwestern coast. Philippines The reduced altitude of my bombers did not result in flak being fired at Bataan. Bringing everyone down for future raids. I made a deliberate attack, but in spite of the supply shortage I took the worst of it, 354 devices destroyed/disabled to 311. But his losses skewed towards destroyed rather than disabled, and due to his supply shortage he won't be reactivating disabled units that much. We're getting close. Intel HMAS Adelaide is reported sunk at Townsville. Very credible report. __________________

10-29-23, 12:26 PM	#2
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	14 February 1942 SouthPAC I detached 2 CA and 2 DD from the New Caledonia covering force to bombard Noumea. It ran into a DM outside the base and sank it easily. The bombardment destroyed at least 5 aircraft on the ground, along with moderate facility damage to the base itself. My enemy had the same idea: two cruisers shelled Luganville and got away before the KB could hit them with an airstrike. Fortunately they were no more effective than our battleships were yesterday. Meanwhile the S-34 continued to try to penetrate the landing site, and ended up getting depth charged for at least moderate damage. I've moved the KB a bit closer and set an narrow ASW search arc to protect the 'phibs from the closing submarine swarm. The KB hasn't been sighted for a few turns so she should be OK without broad coverage. Java and Banda Sea, etc. Our second day of raiding Darwin's port resulted in a hit on a British destroyer. Clear skies this time. Burma and Andaman Sea Port strike on Rangoon resulted in 1 Buffalo and 1 Oscar shot down, plus a Sally lost to flak. But we finally got the hits we were looking for. Columbo was hit four times, and we also got hits on a transport and a cargo ship. All 3 confirmed sunk. Anything left in port probably isn't worth the flak losses. Blenheims tried to interdict our marines at Port Blair, Zeroes went after them but failed to intercept. The bombers missed anyway. My marines attempted to take the base but were thwarted by high disruption; apparently they needed another day after landing to get their **** together. 2 squads disabled on each side. Sumatra Dutch bombers raided Palembang. Bad move. We got 4 out of 5 them, no damage. China Outside Nanyang, I tried to take advantage of the enemy moving some of its forces north, away from the main group, but our attack still failed to achieve a breakthrough. Squad destruction heavily favoring me, 14 to 182, although total disabled/destroyed was a less lopsided 253 to 453. I'm starting to feel some pressure on my northern armored group now, there's a risk they could be defeated in detail if I can't break the southern group quickly. In the mountains near Chengting we had a surprisingly bad outcome, acheiving 2 to 1 adjusted assault odds but still suffering worse attrition with 20 of our devices destroyed to 2 of his. Loyang was vacated by the enemy, we raised our flag there today. Philippines I attacked the small island garrison at Bacolod, supported by Vals flying out of Mindanao; we failed to achieve a breakthough. Light casualties on both sides. This probably calls for a naval bombardment. Reinforcements 91st I.F.Chutai arrives at Tokyo 64th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo 67th Naval Guard Unit arrives at Tokyo __________________

10-29-23, 09:53 PM	#3
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	15 February 1942 Hawaii I-2 sustained minor depth charge damage from a destroyer, she's remaining on station. SouthPAC Sweep of Efate took care of 3 more P-40s, no losses. Burma Dumb mistake on my part. I turned off all the Rangoon strikes...I thought. One squadron of Sallies still had attack orders and flew unescorted. I lost 6 to fighters and another to flak. Philippines Landed troops at Tacloban. I could be wrong, but I think this means I have troops on every island the US has troops on. China By reinforced army at Wenchow attacked again, and failed again, 286 devices destroyed/disabled to 209 of theirs. I have one more unit on the way. If that doesn't make the difference I may have to spend some political points to move something big here. My armored stack between Nanyang and Sian suffered a rare Allied attack, but with the defensive bonus now on our side, we held them off, just 28 devices destroyed disabled vs 618 of theirs. That probably ends the threat of this stack being defeated in detail, but I'll continue to try to get the main force up here in a hurry. Intel and Reinforcements Previous report of sinking of CV Saratoga incorrect. Intelligence reports ship is still in service -- no ***. 42nd I.F.Chutai arrives at Sapporo __________________ Last edited by Molon Labe; 10-30-23 at 03:09 PM.*

10-30-23, 05:27 PM	#4
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	16 February 1942 SouthPAC The S-27 tried to penetrate the landing zone but was depth charged by a destroyer, scoring several damaging near misses. Off the coast of Brisbane, the I-170 torpedoed and sank an Australian destroyer. A sweep of Noumea downed 7 P-40s with no loss. Off the coast of Efate, 4 A-24 Banshees tried to attack the Hiei. Zeroes on long-range CAP took out the single P-40 that was escorting them and shot down one of the bombers. Flak took out a second, and all the bombers that made it to the Hiei missed. B-17s attacked Luganville, shooting down 1 Zero that intercepted. No damage on the ground. East Java Sea and Banda Sea, etc. Nell raid on Darwin scored hits on a British destroyer. I think the intel about bigger ships being here it complete junk. China We routed the enemy unit passing by Nanchang again, 49 devices destroyed. We failed to dislodge the enemy unit in the mountains of Chengting again. Sumatra Yet another failure to dislodge the enemy unit on the coast near Medan. But we destroyed 10 devices this time. The might be breaking. Philippines Tacloban captured. __________________

10-31-23, 08:09 AM	#5
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	17 February 1942 Port Blair captured SouthPAC Kirishima and Hiei bombarded Efate again. Again, little result. No aircraft disabled, light-moderate facility damage. There was a light cargo ship he was using as a picket/bait east of Efate. Rather than re-reveal the KB or its covering force, I engaged it with one of the subs guarding the retreat lane north of Fiji, sinking it with gunfire. Another sweep of Noumea took care of 3 of the 4 P-40s on patrol. No losses. 5 Marauders tried to bomb our 'phibs, but the LRCAP from the KB took care of all 5 of them. 7 A-24s followed that up, the Zeroes got 2 of them, only 1 aircraft made it to the target (the rest turned and ran), and it missed. The S-27 also made multiple attempts to attack this task force but failed each time, sustaining slight depth charge damage in the process. China China got two I-15s to patrol above the Nanyang stack, my bombers' escorting Oscars took one down. Burma and Andaman Sea The enemy lost 1 Hurricane trying to bomb Moulmein. No damage on the ground. Port Blair has been captured. Now to turn it into an airbase for us... __________________

10-31-23, 08:25 AM	#6
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	18 February 1942 Philippines I used the Fuso and Nagato to support my rather small force (2 SNLF companies) in taking Bacolod, allowing them to overcome the shellshocked garrison regiment easily. I made an attack on Bataan. Forts down to Level 1. Casualties are favoring me with squads destroyed/disabled to 224 of mine to 434, and I already outnumber him 2-to-1 so that's twice as bad as it looks. I did take significant engineer casualties though (42 squads destroyed!), and with his forts reduced so low I don't really need them anymore, so they're pulling out. I'm thinking 2 more attacks should do it. SouthPAC Only 2 P-40s on patrol over Noumea today, and they managed to escape my sweep. China The enemy force that had blocked my advance in the southeast has retreated toward Kwelin. I'm now advancing again toward Kukong. But, I wouldn't be that surprised if the reason he's pulling back is to consolidate enough troops to make a push here, so my gains may be temporary. In the mountains near Chenting, we finally dislodged the enemy troop concentration ,201 devices destroyed to 1. Java and Banda Sea I'm preparing the ground for an invasion of Java. A sweep of Surabaya took down 2 Buffalos, while 2 Demons escaped. Burma I tried something a little different--my frontline Oscars ordered to Naval Attack. They attacked a minesweeper and an HDML near Rangoon with no success...except for shooting down 1 Buffalo that tried to protect them. Reinforcements 12th Base Force arrives at Saigon - Frees up a "special base force" to go to Singapore to help with port activities. __________________

10-31-23, 08:50 AM	#7
Molon Labe Silent Hunter Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Along the Watchtower Posts: 3,810 Downloads: 27 Uploads: 5	19 February 1942 Bay of Bengal and Burma When my bombers finished off the Columbo and two merchants in Rangoon, I decided my submarine blockade was no longer needed there and sent my subs to patrol off Ceylon and the Indian coast. They arrived today, with one sinking an unescorted cargo ship in a night surface torpedo attack. The Oscars made their 2nd naval attack attempt, hitting the minesweeper outside Rangoon with 2 30kg bombs, starting a raging fire. Rangoon's bombers once again tried to attack my invading forces at Moulmein, costing them a Hurricane with no gain. A Kate from Zuiho claimed a hit on a British sub outside Port Blair. Java I swept Batavia from Palembang with Oscars, shooting down 4 of 8 Buffalo on patrol. This was followed by a Betty raid on Kalidjati, which appeared to have a bomber concentration. We destroyed at least 1 L-212 and 1 FK-51 on the ground, while the escorting Zeroes shot down 1 of 3 Buffalo on CAP. Damage to the airbase was moderate. I'm probably not going to follow this up as I'm going to want to take this airbase intact. Surabaya also took a Nell raid from Makassar, resulting in light facility damage, 1 Do-24K destroyed on the ground, and 1 Demon shot down (the only aircraft on CAP). Sumatra Yet another rout of the former Madang garrison by my paratroopers. SouthPAC Another sweep of Noumea, 2 of 3 P-40s on patrol go down. B-17s attacked my advancing armies at La Foa instead of going after Luganville. I didn't anticipate this, but fortunately this was close enough to the covering force that the LRCAP was able to help out. Neither side lost aircraft, but the harrassment made the B-17s' bombing inaccurate. Also there were only 3 of them, and flying with a reduced load from too small an airbase. Regardless, La Foa is ours, and that was the last stop before Noumea. Before I ever played WITP, I recall players discussing how the capture of Noumea means the Allies are in a really bad position, so this may be a significant win if (when) I take it. China In the east, we routed the enemy force near Nanchang (84th Corps) once again. I'm surprised these guys haven't just surrendered yet. __________________