Ocean of (Allied) Blood.

[yubari]

Welcome to an allied only AAR of my war against FatR using scenario 70, the Reluctant Admiral. This scenario gives Japan a number of advantages. At the start, three Japanese light carriers are placed in a fast movement task force at Badelbaob. Each carrying a full complement of Zeroes, this enables them to dominate the British and Dutch air forces early in the game. Using this carrier force for support, Japan was able to land at Mersing on the 3rd turn, and at Palembang a couple of turns later. Also at the start, the Japanese battleships start deployed forwards, and a couple of divisions that normally start in Japan are situated in Indochina, allowing a much faster earlier advance for the Japanese.

Other advantages that Japan receives are a reorganisation of the carriers to be built. Out goes the Taiho and Shinano, these are replaced by three enhanced Shokaku class carriers, to come in at various points during 1943. Japan also gets a couple of extra heavy and light cruisers as well as two extra battlecruisers. Another big change is that Japan gets better AA guns for their ships later in the game. Japanese naval fighters arrive earlier than in stock as well, and are faster. Finally, Japanese army fighters gain from small speed increases.

Japan also has disadvantages compared to stock. The starting pile of supplies and fuel is smaller, and the demands of its increased industry greater. Additionally (and this seems to be a bug in our version of the mod), the Chinese start off hugely more powerful than in the stock game. All in all, this mod should give the allied player a much harder challenge in defeating the Japanese.

We are playing with a minimum of house rules. The two main ones are that restricted units are not allowed to cross national boundaries, and that fighter sweeps cannot be performed at an altitude higher than at which they have their maximum manoueverability. This is an excellent rule that removes much of the, I think, unfair advantage that fighters on sweep have and leads to a much more realistic air war. I would recommend all players to use it.

Let us take a look at the scores so far, on the 11th January turn.

[PaxMondo]

<oops> [8|]

[yubari]

This has been by far the most violent game of WITP that I have ever played. The Mini KB with 3 light carriers was near Palembang by turn three of the game sinking a couple of British cruisers and numerous tankers. A micro KB of two escort carriers was also in action in the Philippines, and the Japanese battleships, which start deployed much closer to the action in this mod were used aggressively in the Philippines and DEI.

Facing such a formidable naval presence, I decided to attack aggressively with the surface units that start in the DEI. On the 15th December, a British task force of the CLs Mauritius and Danae with 3 destroyers escorting attacked what looked to be a transport fleet at Jolo and ended up sinking nearly 20 ships, before itself being destroyed by the Fuso and Yamashiro. The day after, the Marblehead task force sailed into Badelbaob harbour, and in the biggest victory of the was so far for the allies sunk the CSs Chitose and Mizuho. All but one of the destroyers escaped. Finally, CV Lexington attacked a Japanese task force near Kendari, which turned out to contain 4 Japanese battleships. Unfortunately at 6 hexes range, all of the 13 bomb hits scored against the battlewagons bounced off causing little to no damage. I think that all of these ships are still in the DEI. Also in the DEI is what I think is the entire Japanese carrier force, possibly still searching for Force Z and the allied carriers, all of which have long left the theatre.

I intend to use the period of time that the KBs location is known for two purposes; bringing planes and troops into the south Pacific area, Samoa and Fiji in particular, and of launching a hit and run raid with the US carrier force.

[yubari]

Philippines

I have played very badly here, and allowed the Japanese to retreat my troops on 2 separate occasions. A division surrendered at San Fernando, and nearly 500AV of troops were destroyed when a Japanese shock attack at Manila acheived 3 to 1 odds. This was particularly upsetting, as all of the troops were at 45 miles of the way to Clark. Both times, I was caught out by a new division arriving unexpectedly. Cagayan on Mindanao still stands strong, and has twice defeated Japanese deliberate attacks. 10 submarines are trying to keep the place supplied.

Malaya

The Japanese have just arrived at Singapore with a large force, 5 divisions. With the Japanese landing at Mersing on the third turn, there was no chance to do any kind of forward defence. I expect the city to fall in late January. Japan has tried a shock attack and a deliberate attack and the forts are already down to level 2. The city will probably fall by the end of January.

China

It is in China where the most action has been. The Japanese have used their bombers to devastating effect to slow down and disrupt Chinese troops fleeing the plains area near Nanyang. Around 4000AV of Chinese troops were destroyed in the fields, and another couple of thousand destroyed in defeats at Nanyang and Loyang. Chinese troops are now fortifying in the mountains north of Nanyang. The Chinese have made gains elsewhere however, taking Ichang very early on and Sinyang in early January. Now, the Chinese are on the attack in the South. With the increased strength of the Chinese, I wonder if they will be able to steamroll Japan and so it might be worth us discussing a ceasefire if that is indeed the case.

Dutch East Indies.
The Japanese took Palembang very early in the game, and have since taken Kendari and Makassar. A landing at Ambon proved unsucessful and the island is still Dutch held. Patrol planes based here are able to scout large areas of ocean.
I think that most of the Japanese navy is in the area at the moment, carrier task forces have been spotted south of Java in the past. Seeing that Java was to be cut off very quickly, all Allied naval assets left the area early in the war.

Burma
I am defending forward in Burma largely to get the Japanese to move more assets to the theatre. Moulmein was taken by the Japanese in early January and British forces are setting up fortifications at Toungoo, and air bases at Mandalay and Magwe. I am trying to bring the decent number of Hurricanes that Britain gets in January 1942 into the area as quickly as possible to fight the Japanese airforce, mostly Oscar 1bs and Nates. Destroying these planes over my bases is the best way to kill the pilots, and the Hurricanes are the best planes the allies get until much later in the game.

The air battle

The Japanese have used their bombers incredibly aggressively in ground attack roles and this has enabled them to get some big victories, particularly in China. It has also allowed allied fighters to shoot down a huge number of them. Here are the top scoring allied pilots, from the 30th December turn, when CPT Brownewell became the first triple ace. Is he the fastest ever triple ace?

[topeverest]

Your opponent definately is playing agressive response where KB isn't. You have a great opportunity to give back, since he will be out there. Expect agressive counterpunches. get betties and nells into DEI on naval missons. If the pattern remains, your opponent will continue to fight agressively for this area until he loses every ship he has comitted...which probably is his plan. give him a surprise!

[yubari]

Welcome Topeverest! I have been playing an aggressive defence, at times it has cost me as in the Philippines and other times I have scored some big successes as at Badelbaob. There are definitely a lot of Nettys and Zeroes in the DEI, in addition to most if not all of the Japanese carriers. The only forces I have are a couple of PT squadrons. Force Z is now at Bombay, and the Lexington is sailing past Suva.

The big news of the day is the appearance of Japanese carriers near Perth. They are spotted ten hexes from Perth on the 15th and then even further south for the 16th. From the number of planes reported, it looks to be anywhere between four and six carriers. I am very pleased for the carriers to be here; there is nothing of any value in range and it allows my units freedom of movement. The second point is very important. The Enterprise, Saratoga and Yorktown are close to Hokkaido and will be sailing past the Kuriles tomorrow in an attempt to sink merchant shipping in the area.

China.
Chinese troops arrive at Chaochow and take the city, it having been abandoned by the Japanese. Chinese troops also arrive at Nanchang but the city contains a full strength Japanese division and Chinese troops are ordered to retreat. In the north, Japanese troops launch an attack at Tsiaotso which gets 1 to 1 odds, destroying the level 1 forts but causes the Japanese much higher casualties. As the city lies in rough wooded terrain, I shall keep the Chinese troops here for the time being. The AVG manages to ambush a small unit of Nates on a strafing raid, shooting down about 8 of them. The Japanese air raids remain massive. On the 16th, there are 409 Japanese combat sorties in China alone.

Burma. the first Hurricanes reach the front line, and a large aerial battle breaks out over their airfield at Magwe. For the loss of 5 Buffaloes and 5 Hurricanes, 5 Oscars and a Tojo are shot down. For the moment I am happy with these ratios, partly because none of the British pilots were killed, and partly because the Hurricane units are due to withdraw soon. Two more Hurricane squadrons are landed at Karachi and should be in the front line within a week. Level 3 fortifications have been completed at Toungoo and the British will fight here, at least for a turn or two to try to slow the Japanese down. The flak at Singapore remains deadly, about 8 IJA bombers are shot down on the 16th as they attack at 11000 feet.

Philippines
The Japanese take Clark Field on the 14th. The battered allied forces at Bataan number 1075 AV and have no spare supplies. With 1708 Japanese AV at Clark Field, the siege will be over very quickly indeed, probably by the end of January.

Dutch East Indies
Lots of action here. More carriers are spotted on the 15th south of Koepang. The Japanese bombard and then launch an invasion of that town on the 14th, taking the base with their first attack. Ambon remains Dutch controlled. The Nagato leads a large bombardment task force there on the 16th, and another infantry regiment is dropped off on the same day.
On the 13th, Japanese Zeroes launch a sweep over Soerabaja and take a fearful toll on the defending Dutch fighters. 14 are shot down and another 7 are written off for the loss of just 2 Zeroes. Evidently control of the air over all of Java has been lost. Worse is to come as Bettys and Nells attack on the next day, sinking a PT, a small support ship and damaging a couple of subs that were in harbour there. Allied forces launch a couple of small attacks, Martins missing an xAK at Miri, and Catalinas putting a dud torpedo into the side of CA Ashigara.
With the relative ineffectiveness of Japanese bombers against large airfields so far, the Dutch fighter force will stay mostly grounded until the Java invasion fleet has been spotted. I expect Java to be invaded within the next 2 weeks.

Australia.
Japan is starting to scout the area around Darwin, and I expect an invasion here soon. Japan lands a regiment at Horn Island and takes the base on the 16th January. 4 Japanese CAs sink a force of a small PG and 4xAKLs that had delivered supplies to Darwin.

Japanese future planes.
I am unable as yet to determine the main axis of the Japanese attack. Units have been spotted preparing for Suva, Midway and Perth, but these could certainly be merely false propaganda. I would be strongly tempted to fight a carrier battle in defence of any of these three places.
Here is the world map. Note the Japanese carriers near Perth and the US carriers near the Kuriles.

[topeverest]

Humble pie for me! I thought you were the Empire...

Since you are allied, I think you are doing exactly the right thing in DEI. Agressive defenses are the most effective way I know to turn the tide. I am curious about your raid on Hokkaido. Sahkalin is just as important and more exposed. Taking the outermost Kuril islands are both doable and very damaging to the Japanese early efforts, but youprobably only get one surprise shot at them. either way, he will now be forced to think about the raid the whole game. Dont get too greedy there. Let me suggeest keeping the CV's back and run in a bunch of expendable DD and CL's in close - but do raid by air somewhere so he knows you brought your A game. I woudl also stock a few DD's at points along the expected Jap island campaign. Make your opponent feel he has to bring KB every time he invades, and the war is already half won.

As far as KB down by Perth, that is very odd if it isnt your green air search crews. I can't imagine what he could be doing down there, as it is too early to have an invasion force for Oz. KB can be used far more effectively elsewhere, but what do I know about his intensions...

[yubari]

Topeverest, I usually play as Japan so the first couple of turns were a bit confusing for me as well, having to learn not to cheer the Zeroes on!

I think that FatR has got stuck into a target fixation mode. The raid of the Lexington, but in particular the Marblehead task force means, I think that he is becoming overly fixated on sinking these ships to the exclusion of sensible strategic analysis. Where he can do the most damage to me at the moment is in the South Pacific, another month or two of being able to build up should make Samoa and Fiji real fortresses and untakable by all but the strongest of invasion forces. I have a couple of lone cruisers wandering the South Pacific as well following your suggestion. Anyway, as todays battle shows, it was most definitely the KB!


A tale of two carrier strikes.

The allied carriers reach a position east of Hokkaido in hope of finding Japanese resource convoys running between Shikuka and Hokkaido. They are not dissappointed and in a number of strikes sink a large number of small PBs and xAKLs in the morning phase. In the afternoon phase they launch a large strike, 51 Dauntless plus 30 Devastators, at a Japanese oil convoy. Absolute carnage ensues and the 16 ships task force is completely destroyed. Most of the ships were small PBs but four of the small Japanese tankers were also sunk. As these ships are the biggest potential bottleneck in the Japanese logistical pipeline, this is a good result.
The strike is not over however. Having dished out some damage, the US carriers now have to make good their escape. The carriers will be slowly withdrawing to the east but I had a bit of a panic attack immediately after sending the turn. I expect that Japanese has withdrawn most of its aircraft further south, but what if a couple of Zero squadrons remain, and the Japanese have brought in air headquarters units into Hokkaido. I await the next turn with a certain amount of trepidation.

The Japanese strike.
The Japanese launch a huge strike against Perth harbour with 112 Kates of the best trained Japanese aviators around screaming into attack carrying their deadly 800kg bombs. The two coastal minesweepers that were stationed in Perth are sunk almost instantly. The combat replay suggested that the carriers involved were the Shokaku, Soryu, Hiryu, Zuiho and Shoho.

Elsewhere.
The usual huge number of Japanese bomber raids in China. The AVG manages to catch another Japanese raid over Nanchang. Escorting Oscars shoot down 1 of the AVG, but 2 Sallies fall to earth in flames. The AVG squadrons two and three have been hugely successful in China but are now almost out of planes, with around 10 airframes each. I will be taking these units out of the front lines very soon and moving them back to Calcutta to refit into P-40Es, a slight improvement over their current H81s.
Ambon still holds strong. The troops here have held for the past couple of weeks behind their level 2 fortifications, and with the coastal gun battallion there, landing more troops there will be difficult for the Japanese. This base must be becoming really annoying to my opponent.

[topeverest]

Good showing. This is a big blow to Japanese Psyche, even if there appears to have been no large tankers present. A suicide invasion is the only better thing to do, as you know how lightly held Hoikkado is held early on. My guess is you get out clean. I am also guessing you thought to lag in some AO's so you can sprint out. You can send a few long range DD's with a CL from Attu, Adak, or Dutch thorughout the game. Doing it again in a few months will really convince him to divert prescious forces there.

Use up your DEI fleet in similar attacks / defenses. I like to disperse them in small ports and activate them once my opponent commits. It doesnt matter if I lose all of them, because it reinforces his need to escort every invasion, which slows him down further. Let me suggest you attend to Darwin's supply and fuel with Capetown before Timor is history. Agree that Fiji is the logical allied start point.

You have a good set of tricks in your bag.

[yubari]

That is an evil idea topeverest, disbanding the Dutch surface forces at some of the small bases in the DEI. It would be impossible for Japan to scout all of them quickly and they would be able to play merry havoc with Japanese shipping in the area. It is too late for me to do that now, but I still have the CL Sumatra to arrive at Soerabaja. With the KB probably still in the vicinity of Java, there is very little chance of it escaping to safety.

Three relatively quiet days

US Carriers.
A task force containing two light cruisers was ordered to bombard Shikuka on the 18th. On the way there it met and quickly sunk two Japanese patrol boats, gaining a significant amount of night experience for most of the ships. Bombardment destroyed about 10 Nates on the ground and damaged around 20 small ships that were stationed in port there. Not wanting to get greedy, I have retreated the US carriers and they are now refueled and about 8 or 9 days away from Pearl. I want to use them on another hit and run raid before the April upgrades if the KB shows itself somewhere else.

Japanese carriers.
There has been no sight of the carrier force that hit Perth for the past three days. I am not entirely unconvinced that he isnt going to send this force to Melbourne. All of the ships that have been repairing there are set to readiness, and will be ready to flee towards Sydney. With a second carrier force that was last spotted near Koepang about a week ago, I am feeling terribly weak in Australia. I dont even have enough patrol planes to provide good enough coverage against a surprise raid.

Burma and Malaysia.
The Japanese are now performing low altitude bombing raids against Singapore and are managing to keep the airfields closed, or at least just about damaged enough so that progress cannot be made on forts. A deliberate attack on the 20th takes the forts down to level 1, and I fear that the end is now not far away. In Burma, the Japanese are now approaching Toungoo with 7 units. I will start withdrawing from there very soon.

Philippines.
Cagayan still holds firm, fending off another Japanese deliberate attack and rebuilding the forts to 1. It is possible that it will survive longer than the garrison at Bataan, where supplies have now completely run out and the Japanese have arrived. The level 3 forts there wont hold them for long.

Dutch East Indies.
After weeks of heavy bombardments from battleships and Bettys, Ambon finally succumbs on the 21st January. On the same day, three cruisers bombard Broome. Somewhat surpsisingly, the Japanese have yet to attack Tarakan or Balikpapan, two of the largest fuel producing bases on the map.

[yubari]

Singapore.
The Japanese are continuing to bomb at low level, 10000 feet, and are suffering heavy losses to flak. Around ten bombers are destroyed by flak on the 24th January turn alone. A deliberate attack on the 24th takes the forts down one level but causes the Japanese twice as many casualties as the defenders. Japanese bombing attacks have been causing airfield damage, which has delayed the construction of forts, they are now only at level 1.

Philippines.
Both Bataan and Cagayan still hold strong. The previous Japanese deliberate attack Bataan forts from level 3 to 2. Cagayan is now back to level 2 forts and the Japanese will probably need to land at least 200AV more to take this base. Bataan is at level 2 forts and another 2 or 3 deliberate attacks will probably finish it.

Burma.
A full Japanese division manages to take Toungoo, forcing 180 AV of Allied troops to retreat and causing a brigade to surrender. My troops are now on a full speed retreat to their position at Shwebo. On the 25th, poor weather over Magwe stops the majority of the Hurricanes I have in theatre from flying LRCAP over Toungoo and so the sweeping Zeroes shoot down about 5 planes. I send the RAF Hurricanes on a sweep to Toungoo but the battle is inconclusive. I had hoped to shoot down quite a few planes with the Hurricanes, but short range and poor weather has meant that they have been ineffective. I will be withdrawing them to India soon.

Kuriles.
The US carrier force continues on its journey back to Pearl Harbour. I send an AMC to Paramushiro Jima and it sinks a coastal minesweeper. The loss of the ship is insignficant but it should hopefully encourage the Japanese to send more planes up there and away from the real battles. In the Aleutians, I am beginning to build up a group of bases at Umnak, Cold Bay and Dutch Harbour. There are also float plane bases at Attu and Adak. Most of II US Fighter Command is to be sent over the next month or so.

China.
The Japanese take the city of Tsiaotso in the north of the country. With this base being in rough wooded terrain, and being a supply generator, its loss is somewhat disappointing but inevitable after the Japanese had brought in a massive 4400AV army. In the south of the country, the Chinese take another of the coastal cities, Foochow. The massive Japanese bombing attacks are continuing but with the AVG being upgraded to P-40Es, there is nothing I can do to oppose them. We have also agreed to a house rule of no strategic bombing in China, with the allies also being restricted by strategic bombing not being allowed until 1944.

Dutch East Indies.
Lautem is taken on the 26th to give the Japanese almost complete control over the DEI, except for Java, Western Sumatra and the bases around Tarakan and Balikpapan. The Japanese are now launching regular recon and bombing raids of Northern Australia, though I think that there are no troops available yet for a landing.

Plane losses.
The Japanese are continuing to launch huge bombing raids all over the map, but particularly in China and their plane losses are mounting very quickly indeed. On a typical day they are losing more than 10 planes, mostly to flak or ops losses, and this figure is without any major aerial engagements. How long the Japanese can continue with this level of losses is unclear.

Japanese carriers.
Where are they? There has been no sighting of any of them since the 16th of Jan when Perth was attacked. The mini KB hasnt been spotted since about a week before that. There are two alternatives. 1. They are having short refurbishment periods before the landing on Java. 2. They are in transit to launch a surprise attack at an unknown location; Ceylon, South Pacific, Melbourne and Sydney, Pearl Harbour?

[topeverest]

I would not expect that enemy plane / pilot losses will amount to any material advantage to you in the first 150 days, but it is good to use the AA units wherever you can. Buffalos are good for a few sweeps too, if you plan them right. I wouldnt waste time trying to bomb enemy bases.

As far as KB, your opponent's raiding of Perth was either a huge gamble that you would be in heavy supply mode there, or a deliberate attempt to throw you off. What seems most likely to me is that he will be securing his northen flank with KB, and use mini KB to get deeper into DEI. Everything else seems pretty in order for him, even if he seems pretty far advanced in Burma. That said, the Empire seems to be being played pretty eratically, perhaps on purpose. It is at that point in the game where he could have a large invasion force for Oz - or elsewhere about to strike. Pay close attention to signal intel and your spotting in the event you can either make it painful or actually stop it.

Think carefully on your battleplan if you intend to meet KB head on. The threat of your carriers is perhaps your best weapon.

[yubari]

Topeverest, you are exactly right in stating that it will take a long time until I can get any material advantage over the Japanese flyers. What do you mean by securing the Northern flank, the Aleutians? FatR has made very fast progress in Burma, he completely ignored Tavoy at the start of the game, instead taking it with paratroopers.

One of my strategies in this game, with its more powerful IJN is instead to try and destroy the IJAAF, particularly the Lilies, Sallys and Oscars and to try to stay out of range when the Tojos become available. I have already made a long-term plan for the first Allied counter attack which is designed to minimise the opportunity for the IJN to become involved and maximise the chance for the short ranged allied fighters of Autumn 1942 to fight. However it is at least 4 months before I will start preparations for this. I am fully of the opinion that it is worthwhile for the allies to launch their first counter attack before the Japanese have completed their defensive perimeter. The longer that the allies wait before counter-attacking, the stronger the Japanese become.

Japanese carriers
The Japanese carriers are back but fortunately for me, to very little effect. On the 28th, carrier planes and Jakes are spotted by two New Zealand cruisers based near Suva. Evidently poor weather stops them from attacking in the morning phase but 26 Vals attack in the PM phase getting just one bomb hit, which does little damage. There are a few transport ships in the region, but these are nearly all already unloaded. The 2 NZ cruisers plus the CA Peanscola which is at Pago Pago will all make full speed retreats from the area, but a couple of transports are still unloading at Suva and will probably be unable to escape. I have two squadrons of dive bombers plus 50 P-39s at Suva and all are set to attack tomorrow. I would be happy if I even get 1 bomb hit.
The other half of the KB is unspotted now for 12 days. With FatR`s hyper-aggressive play so far, I will retreat the British fleet from Columbo back to Bombay. Hopefully a couple of months of non-stop movement should mean that the Japanese carriers are in need of a refit fairly soon.

Burma.
The Japanese are continuing to advance in Burma but hopefuly the British should just be able to outrun them, particularly with B-17Ds at Calcutta slowing down the Imperial Guards unit with ground attacks. These attacks are coming at a cost however, with ops losses for the planes coming in fairly high.

Sieges.
The end is nigh at Singapore as the airfield remains closed and forts are only at level 1. At Bataan the situation is just as bad with supplies gone and forts only at level 2. FatR hasnt tried an attack at either base for the past few days, I wonder what he is waiting for.

China.
Relatively quiet for the past few days, but the continual bombing raids go on, getting more and more irritating for me. I cannot wait to get the AVG back into the action; they had to withdraw to the level 6 airfield at Columbo to be able to upgrade to P-40Es which has meant they have been out of action for a couple of weeks now. They should be back in China by the second week of February.

Aleutians.
One of the best potential battlegrounds for the allies in early 1942 and the Japanese have shown no interest in it at all, aside from a couple of AMC raids. If he leaves the area until about May then I will be putting a large US force of a couple of divisions onto Adak and Amchitka.

[topeverest]

I'd get a regiment out to Adak immediately with a CD. Much easier to defend than take it. If he is giving you Adak, get that area strong. I perosnally dont like moving to Attu until I am ready the threaten or feint the northen route. A more aggressive move is to go right at northern Japanese islands.

I am surprised you didnt try to counter raid KB with surface ship combat forces and LBA.

[yubari]

A good idea topeverest, if only I had the troops available. All of my marine defense batallions are in or en route to the South Pacific. I would be very strongly tempted to try an invasion of the Kuriles in late 1942, but I think that doing that triggers a lot of extra Japanese reinforcements. If it is to be done, then I would only attempt it either in October 1943, when a lot of Essexes, Corsairs and Hellcats are available, or after any battle which gives the allies carrier equality.
You will see how my attempted air strikes against the KB went on next, but I had too few surface ships in the area to really attempt to engage the carriers.

A tale of two carrier strikes, part 2.
The KB is divided into two sections. As best I can tell the Shokaku, Zuikaku, Soryu, Hiryu, Shoho and Zuiho form the main part of the KB, the part which hit Perth. The second part of the KB contains the Akagi, Kaga, Ryujo, Hosho and Chuyo and is in the south pacific. Also potentially available are the Nisshin (which becomes available as a CVL in this mod) and the Junyo (which comes available a lot earlier).

Carrier strike 1.
On the 29th, the main KB launches a strike against Columbo. Fortunately the only ships in harbour were a couple of tankers and a coastal minesweeper, and these are sunk by Kates. Vals manage to destroy a convoy of frigates and minesweepers, these had been moving from Trincomalee to Columbo prior to an escape into the Indian Ocean. A few Kates are shot down by the flak, but most importantly the British fleet is safe, and the 6th Australian Division is around 4 days sail away from Columbo, I want to land this as soon as possible in the event of any Japanese attack on Ceylon. The Japanese force moves towards Port Blair on the 30th and launches no further attacks, but preparations are being made for an attack against Calcutta, over 100 Hurricanes are ready to move in.
Also on the 29th, the Chikuma and Tone meet an evacuation convoy from Sabang and sink 6 of the 10 ships, they had been carrying most of the coastal guns from Medan.


Carrier strike 2.
On the same day, the other half of the KB launches strikes against Suva. The P-39Ds there perform creditably on CAP, shooting down about 8 Zeroes for the loss of 12 of their own. An attempted allied strike on the carriers goes terribly wrong as all of the allied planes fail to co-ordinate. In 4 separate strikes 10 P-39s, 6 Dauntlesses and 6 Vindicators are shot down by the Japanese CAP. I am fortunate that a lot of the unescorted bomber pilots decided to withdraw. On the 30th, the Haruna and Kongo bombard Suva but do almost no damage. The Japanese carrier force heads towards Australia. All ships in Australia are to be moved to relative safety (or the best I can manage) at Sydney, I have around 120 fighters available to protect the harbour, I expect a player as aggressive as FatR to go there looking for more blood. Another potential target is Auckland and it is being evacuated.

At Pearl Harbour, the US carrier force has completed refueling and replenishing its planes, and is heading to the South Pacific, some 10 days sail away. Sigint notes a unit preparing for Johnston Island.

Sieges.
Singapore is back up to level 1 forts, the 25 or so Japanese bombers on airfield attack failing to do significant damage. Could it finally be that the huge bomber losses are causing FatR problems? Bataan is still unattacked and with level 2 forts. Submarines are bringing in more supplies.

Burma.
A dreadful mess. Japanese tanks take Magwe on the 30th and look to be trying to cut my troops off at Mandalay. I shall try to use my Blenheims on ground attack to slow them down but foresee a big defeat.

China.
One side effect of taking the Chinese coastal cities is that it allows my S-Boats to refuel there. I might be able to use these valuable ships in the South china sea for a while if FatR doesnt realise what is going on. In Northern china, there is a 24 unit stack at Nanyang. Is it heading towards Nanyang, Sinyang or Sian? Chinese bombers on recon are trying to determine.

Dutch East Indies.
The Nagato, Mutsu, Ise and Hyuga bombard Tarakan and a regiment is landed here, the coastal guns doing decent damage to a Japanese CA and a couple of destroyers. A shock attack takes the base the next day. I am sending patrol planes to try and pick up the survivors and take them to Balikpapan.

Plane losses.
The allies lose about 60 planes in these 2 turns to take them up to total losses of 865. The Japanese lose just under 40 but now have total losses of around 1030. It really is utter carnage.

[yubari]

Some difficult turns for the allies.

Philippines.
The Japanese take Bataan on the 4th with a shock attack, 1806 Japanese AV managing to destroy 781 AV behind level 1 forts with just 1 attack. At Cagayan, the Japanese launch shock attacks on the 3rd and the 4th. The Japanese have nearly 700 AV at this hex, including the Guards Mixed Brigade and take the forts down to level 0 with the first attack, and get a 1 to 1 odds attack on the next attempt.
It is interesting to note that the Guards Mixed Brigade was last used in the invasion of Port Moresby about a month ago, evidently there are few spare troops around the DEI.

Singapore.
A Japanese shock attack on the 4th takes the forts down to level 0 causing 5000 allied casualties and 3000 Japanese. The airfield is still slightly damaged, so it seems unlikely that the forts will be rebuilt again. The base will fall within a few days.

DEI.
The Japanese invade Tarakan and take it quickly. 4 Battleships assisted with a bombardment just beforehand. Balikpapan is surely the next target and a major source of fuel. A unit is spotted to be preparing for Soerabaja, surely the Japanese wont be landing straight here? There is an almost welcome reappearance of the main KB about 4 hexes west of Batavia on the 4th February. I shall use this time to try to bring in the Australian 7th? Division to Columbo.

South Pacific.
For two days on the 3rd and 4th, torpedo bombers are spotted in Sydney harbour, and I have to assume that the smaller KB is in the area. All the fighters I have available in Australia are defending Sydney and Melbourne harbours and nearly all of the ships in Australia are in relative safety here. I feel truly feeble having to defend like this.

China.
All action here as the Japanese open up two new lines of advance. A large army is moving towards Sian. A massive Chinese army is preparing to meet them in the rough wooded hex to the south east of Sian. A defeat here would mean complete disaster in China.
In the south, there are 3 units heading towards Pucheng. More units are heading here from Shanghai. In retaliation, the Chinese are marching on Nanchang again with 6 full strength corps, and the AVG is back in theatre to try to shoot down around 60 Sonia and Anns which attack these troops every day.

US carriers.
The Saratoga was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine near Pearl Harbour a few days ago, but the damage was not severe, system damage went to about 25 and there were a couple of points of flotation and engine damage. After much thought, I decided to continue her, along with the Enterprise Yorktown and Lexington towards the South Pacific. If the main part of the KB (Hiryu, Soryu, Shokaku and Zuikaku) is still known to be in the DEI, I shall try to fight a carrier battle against the Kaga and Akagi.

Planes lost.
The Japanese have now lost 1069 planes and are using Marys in the front lines. Hopefully the Japanese bomber pool is really limited. The return of the AVG to action in China with shiny new P-40Es should hopefully increase the losses further.

Shock attacks.
Having seen the power of shock attacks, I think that if I were to start another game, I would have some kind of house rules to limit the frequency of their use. Maybe they can only be used when a deliberate attack has been performed in the previous four turns. Otherwise they seem to be far too powerful and can overwhelm even strong fortifications very quickly indeed. Of course, shock attacks will be very useful when the allies come to attack.

[topeverest]

The constant raiding by KB will serve to bleed his trained pilots unneccisarily. IMO that plays into the allied hands. I would not be in a hurry to have a fleet battle with KB, but if you can nail half of it with your whole force, that is a good goal to have. counter surface combat seems to work the best for me in early months.

the threat of American CV's is more important than fighting them. If you want to announce your CV's you might want to raid Kwajalein or invade an island in the outer marshall chain right after you certify the KB is elsewhere. risk to be sure, but also plenty of reward.

Your opponent seems to have a fast and loose strategy that you can exploit through sudden aggressive counterpunches.

[yubari]

You are reading my mind topeverest. With no sign of the Japanese carriers since their strike at Suva, I am instead sending the US fleet to raid Kwajalein. Hopefully there are still no Zeroes in the Marshalls, Zero losses have so far been fairly heavy

China
The Japanese are currently conducting two major campaigns in China. In the north there are nearly 6500AV of Chinese troops sitting one hex south east of Sian. The Japanese now have 18 units in the hex and another three are on the march. Hopefully the wooded and rough terrain will enable the Chinese to survive an expected Japanese onslaught in the next turn or two.
In the South the situation is somewhat more fluid. Two Japanese divisions try a deliberate attack against Pucheng and the Chinese defenders hold, even keeping forts at level 1. There are 8 more units heading in what looks to be a westerly direction. Are they trying to block all of the Chinese units in? The Chinese also are advancing, I have 6 corps moving towards Pucheng, and this should block the Japanese troops in the hex. In the air, the AVG returns back in theatre and gets 9 Sallys, 3 Kates and 3 Sonias over Pucheng.

Burma.
I had one of those terrible moments where I think I forgot to input an order and so I think that I have left an Indian Brigade to be destroyed in Shwebo. The Japanese have taken Mandalay and continue their inexorable march. Most of the rest of the allied units have been railed out to Katha. I will leave them there so it forces the Japanese to send a decent amount of troops to take the base.

DEI.
The KB is just south of Java and launches a number of attacks on the Java airfields on the 5th; there are now very few operational planes left in Java which is fortunate as there are also very few operational airfields as well. On the 6th, a number of search planes are shot down, an estimate of 6 Vals and 3 Kates.
The Japanese land completely by surprise on Java, at Loemadjang near the eastern end of the island. For some reason none of the naval search planes spotted them. It is a surprisingly small landing force, with just one regiment in the initial wave. I plan to send a large Dutch force of around 500AV to contest the base for two reasosns; i. I think that there are very few available Japanese troops within range of Java as yet and ii. I hope that FatR will use his carrier planes to attack these troops. I think it unlikely that the Dutch will be able to take this base back again, but I can at least try. On the sea, the Dutch PT boat fleet sorties and fights a series of battles. It first meets and retreats from the KB (with 4CVs and 2CVLs) and is then destroyed by a cruiser task force in four separate battles.
Elsewhere, Kuching finally fell on the 6th February, the only significant base left outside of Java is Balikpapan.
There have been no further attacks at Singapore and forts are back up to level 2.

Philippines.
The Japanese are marching back to Manila and minesweepers have already cleared out the mines from Bataan. At Cagayan, the Allies amazingly continue to hold the hex despite being outnumbered nearly 4 to 1. It is one of the few bright spots in what has been a difficult start to the game.

Aleutians.
Troop buildup is continuing here as more artillery and flak is brought into Umnak. I have scraped around the US and come up with a force of tanks, a batallion and a small coastal defence unit and I will try to take these into Adak at the end of February, more troops transports are en route to Seattle now to facilitate it. An excellent idea Topeverest.

[topeverest]

Raiding Marshalls (Kwaj & Roi Nam) is pretty darn easy. You can sprint in at speed 9 with the CV's and send a few DD/cl convoys ahead. Coming in from the NE is the easyiest, especially if Wake is still yours. You might even raid Wake on the same day with a different force if it isnt. Best if you bring enough carriers to keep 50 wildcats in CAP and send subs in advance. That will minimize any potential air threat there.

Until you verify your opponent puts KB in a central threat location, there definately is a calculated risk opprtunity to take a few assets early. Taking into account this risk, if KB is spotted elsewhere and you have a bonified invasion fleet, Assaulting the furthest Empire expansion in the gilberts is always an option. Their size allows for 2 whole divisions to hold one of the 30K capacity islands...virtually impossible to dislodge if you commit to the defense. February 42 is pretty darn early to do this, but the empire is almost certainly not prepared.

dare i say you have a rare early war option. I will eagerly await your AAR.

[yubari]

The situation is somewhat odd in the Marshalls as Japan hasnt taken either Nauru or Ocean Islands yet. I wonder if that is being done deliberately to try to get me to launch a premature invasion in the area. Wake fell early so it makes the approach to Kwajalein a little more difficult, I will have to hope that the Japanese search planes perform as poorly as mine have so far. I dont think I dare risk an invasion yet, particularly so close to a decent Japanese port at Kwajalein. I would certainly be tempted were the KB to be spotted near India in the next month or two.

China.
A tremendous day for the allies, possibly the best of the war so far. South of Sian, the Japanese immediately launch a shock attack on the Chinese fortified position and suffer a terrible defeat, as shown in the combat report here.

Ground combat at 84,42
Japanese Shock attack
Attacking force 101072 troops, 863 guns, 796 vehicles, Assault Value = 3795
Defending force 188396 troops, 1112 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 6468
Japanese adjusted assault: 1072
Allied adjusted defense: 13219
Japanese assault odds: 1 to 12

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

Japanese ground losses:
19502 casualties reported
Squads: 208 destroyed, 844 disabled
Non Combat: 27 destroyed, 1279 disabled
Engineers: 13 destroyed, 128 disabled
Vehicles lost 504 (12 destroyed, 492 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
3921 casualties reported
Squads: 18 destroyed, 337 disabled
Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 392 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 8 disabled

That makes the equivalent of three divisions disabled in one day. I was surprised to see a shock attack launched immediately, without even a bombardment as reconnaissance. This victory should safeguard Northern China.
In the south, the Chinese are moving quickly towards Pucheng, the site of the battle last turn and the Japanese dont seem to realise the trouble that they are in there; the Chinese control all of the hex borders and so I think that the Japanese troops will be stuck there and outnumbered about 5 to 1.
Meanwhile in the air over Changsha, there is a large battle as the Japanese try to attack the airfield. First come Oscars on sweep and despite being outnumbered they get about a 1 to 1 kill ratio, with about 8 Oscars going down for 8 P-40Es. The following bomber attacks arent so lucky and suffer badly. Totals for the day are 12 P-40Es for 20 Oscars and 11 Sonias.

DEI.
There are massive attacks on the Dutch troops at Loemadjang and the Japanese have brought in more troops, my attempted counter attack will likely result in another defeat. Among the attackers are 90 of the KB Kates, the KB is still staying near Java, 2 battleships, 4 cruisers and over 100 Bettys/Nells. I order a quick retreat but fear that the Dutch troops will be routed.
There are still no attacks at Singapore and the bombing raids seem to have ceased as well, more evidence of big trouble in the IJAAF bomber pools. Two more days will see forts up to level 3 again.

Burma.
I did remember to input orders and so the troops at Shwebo are trying to move into strategic mode, they need one more day to change mode and then another to evacuate the city. Hopefully the Japanese will send their units further up the Jungle paths towards Myitkyina, I want those troops to remain in Burma as long as possible.

Ceylon.
A Japanese sub spotted a troop transport moving to Ceylon and so FatR has to know that the island has been reinforced, there are now nearly 2000AV on the island. Another Australian division is arriving at Aden separated into Brigades and I want to bring that to Columbo as soon as possible.

US carriers.
These are now two days away from their raid at Kwajalein. A sub in the Marshalls was spotted so I know that there are at least some air search planes in the area, I have to hope that the long distance will make spotting my carriers more difficult.

Russia.
I have noticed a lot of Japanese units prepping for bases in Russia, surely FatR isnt planning an attack against them? That would certainly be very exciting and put further pressure on the IJAAF.