A Good Place to Start - Matthew (A) v Fokko (J) - Bottlenecks Mod

[M Peaston]

I’ve not been playing WITPae for very long and this is my first PBEM. Playing (as Allies) in the ‘Bottlenecks in the Pacific’ mod against an experienced Japanese player seemed a good a place to start as any – especially as I now discover Fokko has worked in logistics for many years. Oh well, I’m not too worried. What could possibly go wrong anyway?
I’ll start with my overall strategy and work backwards. The strategy will be to isolate Japan from the resources it needs to prosecute the war and then if necessary invading Japan - ideally by August 1945 in order to obtain a decisive victory. It sounds simple enough when I write it like that.

The strategy will operate in five stages. There is obviously a huge amount of historical hindsight here, as I have a better idea of how the war is likely to pan out than the yet to be initiated Combined Chiefs of Staff had in the early stages, but that cuts both ways – I’m sure Fokko will be using historical knowledge to his advantage too. Who wouldn’t?
I am a little bit behind with my AAR as we are now a week into the war, but so far my strategy is still intact, so it’s all good.

Stage One – Stopping the Japanese Advance.
The idea is to preserve India, Australia and Hawaii as future bases of operation, and to protect the lines of communication between them. This will be done by conducting a fighting withdrawal, using a combination of fighting to inflict loss or delay, or retreating to trade space for time, so that when Japan reaches my chosen final defence lines he no longer has sufficient forces to breach my now-reinforced defences. This line will be something like Ledo-Akyab-Ceylon-Diego Garcia, then Northern Australia-New Caledonia-Fiji-Samoa-Line Islands-Hawaii-Adak. Anything I hold forward of this I would consider a bonus. I fully expect that this line will be breached in places (I go on the basis that in the early stages Japan can take pretty much anything it wants, but not everything it wants). I won’t be too bothered by this as long as I maintain a sufficient hold for the general principle to be viable.

Stage Two – Consolidation and build up.
The build-up of forces in India/Australia/Central Pacific and the recovery of areas seen as vital for lines-of-communications or future offensive operations that were lost in stage one. It sounds straightforward enough, but such things are never so simple to execute…

Stage Three – Pinning Operations and further build up
When I have built up sufficient forces I intend to attack the DEI from Australia in order to draw as many Japanese forces into the area as possible and make Fokko think this will be the Allies’ main strategic effort. The purpose of this is to pin his land forces in place and to wear down his air and naval forces in order to limit their availability for use against my main axis of advance, for which I shall be concurrently building up air, naval and land forces in the Central Pacific. Should I have sufficient forces available I may also mount smaller scale diversionary operations in Burma and possibly also the Solomons/New Guinea, but these will not be priority areas.

Stage Four – The Big Push
Now, this is going to be the really tricky bit, as it requires me to actually win some battles and conquer some territory. Up to this point I would have been able to string together a series of stinging defeats and still claim that all was going to plan. The idea is to strike out from the Central Pacific to cut Japan off from the SRA and hopefully a large section of its forces as well. This may be along the line of the Marianas, Luzon and Formosa in succession (and possibly the coast of China), but it is going to be a long game before making any such decisions – the key principles are to pin Japanese forces on one front while breaking through on another to achieve the isolation of Japan.

Stage Five – Finishing the Job
The aerial bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands followed by an invasion if necessary. This also falls into the category of ‘a bit tricky’.

This is just a broad outline of my intended strategy. Hopefully Fokko will do the decent thing and remain in step with my plans. I don’t want to find I have to change things around after Japan conquers San Francisco and Cape Town by March 42…

Theatre plans and events so far to follow…….

[M Peaston]

The Bottlenecks mod starts in the afternoon of 7th December, so the initial air attacks against Pearl Harbour, Philippines and Malaya had already taken place and the damage done, and we played historic first turn for the afternoon of the 7th.


8th -15th December 1941

MALAYA

Japanese forces quickly established themselves at Singora and Kota Bharu. Japanese armoured/recon forces have taken Butterworth on the west coast. I’m not sure yet where his main effort is going to be, although intel indicates the larger group of land forces is at Kota Bharu, so it may be the central route. My intention is to make a stand along the line of Kuala Kubu-Jerantur-Kuantan with the bulk of III Indian Corps to try and keep the airfields of central Malaya out of Japanese hands for as long as possible. 22nd Australian Bde is guarding Mersing - just in case - and 27th Aus Bde is acting as command reserve.

For the last few days I have ceased air attacks on Japanese shipping at Kota Bharu/Singora. My air losses had started to mount and I’d rather preserve the RAF for the battles in the centre/south. A minor irritation has been the airbase at Kluang - I intended to use it as a major base, moving in AA and air BF, but only afterwards found I couldn’t move any squadrons there - Kluang is assigned to India rather than Far East Command! I’ve been spending PPs to de-restrict squadrons as and when. At least I’ll be able to evacuate them out of Malaya if needs be when the time comes, so it’s not much of an issue. A much bigger issue is Kuantan. I’ve been running air ops out of Kuantan without paying attention to the airfield service damage - and now I’m stuck with a number of damaged Buffalos, Swordfish, Hudsons and Blenheims (about 28 in total I think) which are repairing about 1 a day. So far I’ve gotten away with it as Fokko’s largely concentrated on bombing airfields in the north that I had abandoned, but I don’t think my luck is going to last. Lesson learned!

[M Peaston]

8th-15th December 1941 continued..

PHILIPPINES

Initial Japanese landings at Aparri and San Fernando. I made a bit of a mess up with the orders and somehow left Lingayen unguarded, so I was pleased there was no landing there. The landing at San Fernando so far is not strong enough to dislodge the Philippine division there, so I expect an increased effort at San Fernando and/or Lingayen.

What looks like an invasion TF has appeared on the east coast of Luzon just south of Manila.

Houston and De Ruyter encountered three Japanese Heavy cruisers in the Celebes sea, and came off second best. I scuttled De Ruyter when fires reached 95 and Houston is limping off to Cape Town for repairs. Force Z was hurrying up in support but arrived a day too late. Boise and Marblehead tried to intercept a Davao-bound invasion force, but due to a routing error on my part they arrived a day too late (this becoming something of an unfortunate habit) to interfere with the landing, although they shot up the now-unloaded TF. Marblehead is now being repaired at Soerabaja and will soon be back in action; Boise is off to Colombo for more extensive repairs.

Japan quickly established air superiority over Luzon. I’ve withdrawn the surviving P40Es to DEI, leaving a handful of P40Bs and a sole P36 at Manila just for the nuisance value.

I’ve successfully evacuated President Quezon from the Philippines; unfortunately the ship carrying Station CAST was torpedoed and sunk.


DEI

There’s been little activity in the DEI so far, apart from a few Japanese submarines. Fokko has maintained a surface group containing at least two BBs hovering around the middle of the South China Sea; I suspect this is a covering force for an invasion of north Borneo.

I don’t intend to do much to reinforce Java or Sumatra; the Dutch will have to mostly fight with what they have.

My long-term plan for the DEI is to draw in and keep in place as many Japanese units as possible by making Japan think that this is where the main Allied strategic effort will come. I therefore intend to fight for Timor as a shield for a sea corridor from Perth/Cape Town to the northern Australian ports, and build up in Darwin and maybe Port Hedland. To this end I am going to send the British 18th Div to Timor. To slow down any early Japanese moves in this area I am reinforcing Ambon (Sparrow Bn) and Kendari (Gull Bn). Ideally I would like to retain Timor, Babar and Samulaki, but realistically I don’t think I will be able to. The point, however, is to keep Japan focused on this area.


SOUTH PACIFIC

Japan has moved quickly in this area, seizing Tarawa, Nauru and Ocean Island in short order (and sinking an unfortunate AMC ordered to Patrol the Gilberts). The light/escort carrier group which covered the Davao landing was last seen heading south along the NE coast of New Guinea, so I think Rabaul may be his next target. Force Z has slipped through he Makassar strait and has orders to bombard Davao. That should grab Fokko’s attention! By doing this I am hoping to disrupt his plans, and if I’m really lucky bring his light carrier force back north to deal with the threat. I’m very light on the ground in the South Pacific at the moment, so anything I can do to distract him is a help. 8th Marine Reg is en route to Suva, but it will be a few weeks yet.

I do have Enterprise and Lexington in the South Pacific at the moment. The plan in the initial stages is to have my carriers operating in two or three carrier groups in different theatres creating as much nuisance as they can. The purpose of this is to give Fokko a dilemma; does he keep KB concentrated and risk allowing me local successes, or does he split KB to cover different invasions and risk having me concentrating against a portion of his carriers (which I would try and do)? I want Enterprise to make her way through the Torres Strait and operate in the DEI while Lexington is to remain in the South Pacific.

[M Peaston]

8th - 15th December continued…again…..

CENTRAL PACIFIC

Pearl Harbour is a mess. I would blame the Japanese but I can’t; this is how the scenario starts. Changing the repair mode in the ‘manage repair’ screen is so slow I go away and make myself a cup of tea while waiting. I’ve prioritised the repair of repair ships, hoping that eventually this will help speed things along. The loss of so many long-range patrol aircraft hurts. I’ve already bought out the supply of Catalinas from the Emergency Reserve, but plugging a gap in one search area still creates a new gap elsewhere.

The two missing regiments from 24th and 25th US Divs are approaching Hawaii. Ideally I would use them to reinforce Pearl Harbour, but I also want to reinforce the Line Islands and there is not much else available at the moment. I see the Line Islands (along with Samoa, Fiji and New Caledonia) as important in protecting the sea lanes from the US to Australia, so I am thinking about sending a regiment each to Palmyra and Christmas Is, but I am reluctant to take too much risk with Hawaii. I’ll make my final decision when they reach Pearl Harbour in a day or two.

I also need to make a decision about Canton Island - reinforce or evacuate? Positioned as it is between the Line Islands and Fiji Japan could make a right nuisance of itself if it took Canton Is. but I don’t think I can send sufficient reinforcements to make a defence worthwhile. Meanwhile I could make good use elsewhere of the engineers currently on Canton Is.

USS Northampton was torpedoed about a third of the way from Pearl Harbour towards the West Coast. The damage wasn’t too bad, but I sent her back to Pearl as the nearest port. Unfortunately she was torpedoed again and left with float damage of 98 and a speed of 0. I suppose I should have scuttled her, but system damage was only in the 20s so I took a chance. Float damage has fluctuated and is currently at 94, so she might make it yet - just 7 hexes, i.e. a week, to go. That also means about a dozen badly needed escorts tied up for another week, but getting Northampton back to port will be a major morale boost in the dark days of December 41.


NORPAC

There’s not much going on here at the moment, and I’d like it to stay that way. I intend to defend the Aleutians in order to secure my northern flank, and to develop Adak as a submarine base, but nothing further. This will become an active theatre only if Japan chooses to make it so. All I’ve done so far is send a battalion to Adak (which starts as a dot base in this scenario) in case Japan tries to make a quick grab. The battalion should land in a day or so, and I’ll send some engineers and other reinforcements soon.


INDIA/BURMA

This is another theatre that doesn’t feature so high up in my strategy. The main priorities are a) secure sea lanes from Aden/Abadan/Cape Town to India and Perth, b) preserve the theatre as a viable front to tie down as many Japanese assets as possible and c) assist China.

In Burma, initially I would like to try and hold the supply route from Rangoon to China as long as possible, but without getting Burma Corps destroyed in a stand-up fight. Burma division is divided between Martaban (where I intend to fight a delaying action) and the area farther north around Mandalay and protecting the flank. Two Brigades of 17th Indian Div are unloading in Rangoon and will move to Toungoo; the 3rd Bde, currently in Calcutta, will join them. Rangoon will be only lightly held.

[M Peaston]

8th - 15th Dec 1941….still catching up……

CHINA

China, well…yes….China, now then. I love this mod, and I understand why LST has done what he has done with China….but….
my head hurts so much! Almost every otherwise empty hex in China is a dot base hex. To prevent them ‘flipping’ to the Japanese they contain static Chinese ‘Administrative’ units. The result is, when you look at China on map, all you see, almost every hex, is unit icons…unit icons….and more unit icons….everywhere. I get so confused. I stare at the screen for a while, then I think to myself “I’ll just leave China until last”. When I have done the rest of the turn I stare at China again. I think of something else I need to do, shuffle a couple of brigades around Australia and find some obscure battalion in Kashmir to put in rest mode. I look back at China, then think it’s time for a cup of tea. After my tea I come back to the game and put that battalion in Kashmir back into combat mode. I decide that the turn is now ready to send off - China can wait until next turn.

I’m hoping that Japan does nothing here, then I can just pretend the whole theatre doesn’t exist - except that doesn’t really help me does it? China’s role in my strategy is to prevent as far as possible Japan from transferring units from China to other theatres where I don’t want them to be. Ideally then, I want Fokko to do nothing in China, but to leave all is forces in place just doing nothing….hmmm….now that is not going to happen. I must look to China’s defences - either Fokko is going to attack, or if he is not, I need to keep poking him until he does. I must, MUST get my head around China….

….just one more cup of tea first…..

[M Peaston]

16th - 17th December 1941


MALAYA

Japan is advancing in strength from Kota Bharu through the central route and from Singora down the west coast. On the west coast the Japanese advance guard ( 1st Tank Reg and 5th Recon Reg) overwhelmed the fleeing 5/14th Punjabis and 3rd Cav Reg sent to assist, and now look to do the same to the retreating 3/16th Punjabis. On the central route the retreating FMSV and 8th Indian Bdes should make it back to the defence line Ok. There’s no sign of any activity on the east coast trail, so I”m thinking of moving the brigade at Kuantan to strengthen the defence north of Kuala Lumpur

The air war is still quiet. Fokko has ignored my main airbases at Kuala Lumpar, Kluang and Singapore. Zeros swept Kuantan, but I still can’t get any aircraft off the ground there.


PHILIPPINES/DEI

At least three Japanese regiments have landed from the east just south of Manila, free from any interference on my part as my PT boats, subs and mines are concentrated on the north Luzon ports where I assumed the main forces would follow up after initial landings there. This assumption led me to ignore the possibility that the TF I saw in the Philippine sea was a Luzon-bound invasion force. Favouring preconceptions over evidence is no way to win a war.

Force Z bombards Davao, sinking two Destroyer-Minesweepers and one xAK, with two xAKs damaged. The port and airfield were both heavily damaged. I’m hoping this will provoke a reaction…..We’ll see…. Force Z will head for Soerabaja to rearm, then either remain in Java where it can react towards Singapore or the Makassar strait as necessary, or head towards the Torres strait to link up with Enterprise.

Japan takes Miri.


SOUTH/SOUTHWEST PACIFIC

Two wrongs do make a right after all. HMAS Adelaide was due to arrive at Rabaul, but a Japanese invasion TF appeared east of the Solomons covered by what looked like three light cruisers. I thought (wrongly) that the Japanese were heading for Rabaul, and that (wrongly) they were too much for Adelaide to handle, so I sent her to Shortlands to wait for HMAS Perth to join her. It turns out Shortlands was exactly where the Japanese were heading, and Adelaide proved more than a match for the xAKs, PBs and two AMCs she encountered. Nothing actually sank, but the AMCs and several xAKs were left with ‘heavy fires - heavy damage’. Fokko said his covering force did not react as he expected.


CENTRAL PACIFIC

Northampton is inching her way back to Pearl Harbour. Her flotation damage is down to 92, so she might just make it yet…


CHINA

Hong Kong is holding up well at the moment. In the rest of China I am moving units into more defensible terrain, but I have not yet worked out any cohesive defence plan. More offensively, I want to try and use Signal Intel to build up a picture of the location of his Chinese units, and focus on hitting them. I”m looking at potential targets for my guerrilla units to attack behind his lines in the event of Japan overextending its supply lines, or if he looks like withdrawing units from China.


SUBMARINES

I torpedoed and sank and xAK off San Fernando, but lost an xAKL in the Makassar Strait. RO-63 hit a mine at Rabaul.

[RangerJoe]

I would suggest using the Chinese air transport unit to take a little bit of each unit out of Hong Kong and then start those marching to India to rebuild as garrison units.

Also, consider buying out cheap Dutch units even if you won't have much of any Dutch combat capabilities for them but they can take the universal devices and become base helpers. You only need to buy out one part of each larger base force.

if you are going to evacuate anything from Singapore, send them to Palembang to get picked up at Osthaven. Then to Australia or India. You can also fly parts of the units as well.

Try to mess up his plans until the 1st of April when the invasion bonus runs out. Keep track of what the enemy units are preparing for as a guide as to his future plans since he will need to have units prepared for any invasions after the 1st of April.

Actually, the AMCs only work well in a fight against merchant ships since they have no armour. Good work at Shortlands. Also, even just damaging his invasion shipping slows down the Japanese unless he wants to use damaged ships to haul more troops and supplies around. Wait until moonless nights and/or bad weather to send out two PT Boats in a TF to mess with the invasion shipping. Don't forget to lay minefields there either, if you can.

[M Peaston]

Thanks Ranger Joe, I appreciate you taking the time to offer your advice - and your cartoon made me laugh. A few things to think about there - it never occurred to me about evacuating and utilising fragments of Dutch base units, and there’s always a need for more base forces. I’m not intending to evacuate Singapore, but it it useful to have a plan in mind in case that changes for any reason. You’ve confirmed my thinking on AMCs. I originally wanted to use their good endurance and seakeeping qualities for those long ocean patrols in the North Pacific, South Pacific Islands and Indian Ocean where where naval search is patchy or non-existent, but losing two AMCs in the first three or four days, and seeing how easily his two AMCs have been shot up, has made me look at this again. Those AMCs which convert to landing ships I’ll just tuck away somewhere safe; the others I might just use for out-of-the-way patrols to try and catch his blockade runners.

Mess up his plans, cause delay, create friction - that’s the name of the game at the moment. Being awkward is one of the few things I naturally excel at, so I’m in my element at the moment

[RangerJoe]

You are welcome.

One of the reasons to post most pictures which don't necessarily pertain to the subject is to get people to laugh which helps to keep the depression away.

Early on, if you do some minor invasions or even just unload from an amphibious task force, those AMCs will unload faster. So will APs and AKs but I think that the best use for those is to send them to the East Coast base of the USA and send supplies to Cape Town, the Panama bases, and possibly Port Stanley. You will need the supplies later at Cape Town and in Panama but only Port Stanley if the IJN raids deep and cuts the supply lines from the West Coast of the USA to Australia and New Zealand. Although Port Stanley may need a shipment occasionally as well unless there is a stockpile there. It keeps those ships safe until they can transform into assault shipping plus you can run supplies from Cape Town to Perth or Southern Australia using your fast 17 knot xAKs. At least, until any raiding ships show up there. You could also send supplies to Aden from Cape Town and thence to Karachi with a lot less on map travel.

Yes, also send fuel to those places as well. Any tankers that you can not properly protect should go to the East Coast as well. You get a lot of tankers and other ships showing up in Panama, so if fuel and supplies are already there, they can load up and then proceed along the southern map edge where they appear to the South Island in New Zealand.

With all of those subs hanging around Hawaii, I would not try to send any ships back to the West Coast until those subs clear out. Remove all of the float plane air units from damaged ships and have them fly 50% Naval or ASW search with 50% training. Load them up with as many pilots as you can as well. They may not train fast nor do much to the subs but flying will keep the detection on the subs. Fly from Oahu, Lahaina, and Hilo. Go to Kona for some really good coffee!

The picture shows the difference between APs/AKs and APAs/AKAs!

[BBfanboy]

About AMCs - those that carry troops can be useful during amphib landings; their guns help suppress the fire coming from shore. I tried putting AMCs that do not carry troops into an Amphib TF but they didn't seem to engage shore batteries at all. Could be the Captains were not up to the task!

[M Peaston]

Thanks once again Ranger Joe; I’ve started to get my logistics up and running and I’m hoping to write a piece about my logistical arrangements in a day or so (something for everyone to look forward to). That will give me a good chance to see how to incorporate your advice.

Hi BB Fanboy; thanks for your tip as well.

SOLOMONS/SOUTH PACIFIC

I’d like to try and hold Fiji and New Caledonia if possible, but I have few forces here at the moment. Fokko has moved quicker in this area than I would have liked, while I have been a little slow off the mark with reinforcements. The 8th Marine Reg should arrive at Suva in the first week of January. Queen Elizabeth arrives at San Francisco tomorrow - I’ll buy out another Marine Reg and send it on its way. I’ve got some Aircobras and medium bombers at San Francisco ready to be convoyed to Australia/SOPAC as needed. I’m keeping Saratoga at San Diego to wait for Yorktown to join her; these two will operate together, freeing up a heavy cruiser and DDs (now approaching San Francisco) for escorting this convoy.

I need to buy time to get reinforcements in place, so I intend to use naval assets to fight in the Solomons. I do need to be cautious though. I have no idea of KB’s whereabouts at the moment, it was last seen NE off Wake on 13th December. I’m willing to trade ships for time if necessary, but I’m not keen on throwing them away for little gain.

Let’s try and attach a screenshot….

[RangerJoe]

If you don't know where the KB is or more specifically his aircraft carriers, be very careful.

Check your SigInt but be aware that just because some unit or ship is "heading" somewhere does not mean that it is actually doing so since there could be a way point in the routing that is actually the real destination or close to it.

Be ready to bomb Palembang as well as any other oil production facility with any bomber than can reach. Do so at night if you have to. Change altitudes frequently especially since there may be no radar equipment at those bases yet. Each hit reduces the output and costs a thousand precious Japanese supplies to repair. Second would be Heavy Industry or Refineries, third would be Light Industry. Resources and Light Industry may not be repaired at all so those could be permanent cuts. He will have more refining capacity than oil production so depending upon the location, Refineries may need not to be targeted especially if the oil production at that base is lower than the refining capacity and no oil can easily get there during the automatic distribution phase. Think Miri, Tarakan . . .

Also remember night naval search as well as Catalinas flying at night with bombs/torpedoes to attack enemy shipping - especially merchant types.

If he has a lot of ships disbanded in a port, don't forget port strikes.

Train your Dutch bomber on Naval - even Low Naval even though the bomb load is seriously reduced. That might enable them to sneak below the enemy CAP.

[M Peaston]

Thanks Ranger Joe; I’m taking notes!

18th December 1941

MALAYA/PHILIPPINES/DEI
The Japanese advance continues. Blenheims and Buffalos attack the Japanese 18th Division advancing down the central route from Kota Bharu. I lose five Blenheims and claim three Oscars in return. A fleet has appeared west of Kuantan which, according to my search pilots, contains three battleships, three fleet carriers and four light cruisers. At first sight this appears to be the missing KB, or a good portion of it; but I have my doubts:

1) My search pilots are prone to exaggerating – shocking, but true…… for the last two turns they’ve been telling me that a CV has been in port in Singora, which is not very likely.

2) It is possible that KB has slipped into the South China Sea unnoticed, but I still have shipping in the Celebes Sea, and submarines and air search in the gap between Luzon and Formosa.

3) There’s been a powerful Japanese surface force, including BB Haruna and Kongo, circling in the South China sea for a few days, and they’ve suddenly disappeared – so this could be the TF.

However, I am definitely not taking any chances! I’ve dispersed my aircraft (Kluang being in the wrong command comes back to bite me again….), sent my Singapore cruiser squadron to Palembang, and other ships to Batavia, retaining only a few patrol craft at Singapore. Hopefully it is all something of nothing…….

I’ve pulled the last of the P40s from the Philippines, all that is left is a handful of patrol/recon aircraft at Bataan plus four P35As and two B10s at Cagayan. Fokko’s east coast landing south of Manila has wrongfooted me and I’m scrambling to adjust at the moment. The only naval unit I have there is SS Searaven. Skipjack is not too far away and has been ordered to join her. The MTBs covering San Fernando/Lingayen have been sent to try and attack shipping around Bataan Island – they might as well do something useful.

Dutch bombers score a success, hitting xAK Mexico Maru twice at Miri and leaving her burning.

[M Peaston]

18th December 1941 continued...

AUSTRALIA/SOUTH PACIFIC
A classic light cruiser action; Perth and Adelaide clash with Tenryu and Tatsuta plus four destroyers at Shortlands. The RAN had the better of it; both the Japanese cruisers were on fire, with only minimal damage for Adelaide. However, the Japanese successfully landed and took Shortlands. Perth and Adelaide are now heading back to Brisbane to rearm, their place in the Solomons being taken by Canberra, Louisville plus two destroyers.

The first US reinforcements arrive in Oz; a squadron of B17Es flies in via the West Coast-Hawaii-Line Islands-Fiji airbridge, with more on the way.

CENTRAL PACIFIC
Northampton continues on her precarious journey; flotation damage down to 91….

SUBMARINE WARFARE
It was not a great day for allied submarines. Tautog had a night-time surface dual with AK Goshu Maru at Kwajalein, and took a bit of a kicking. Thresher, also at Kwajalein, suffered three hits from an ASW patrol, and Swordfish hit a mine at Taihoku. All three are now making their way back to port with significant but survivable damage.
Perch sunk the small tanker Yamazuru Maru off the west coast of Japan. I-4 sunk xAK Cynthia Olsen off San Francisco.
I expect my shipping losses to spike over the next few days as the large number of unescorted ships leaving the war zones and heading for US ports start to approach the West Coast.

After an initial flurry of activity in the Java Sea, Japan’s subs have gone quiet in the DEI. I suspect they may be in the Indian Ocean now, so I think my shipping losses will start to increase here too until I get a proper convoy system going.

PILOTS
Congratulations to Pilot Officer Kilgore, who was credited with shooting down an Oscar on his very first mission…. in a Blenheim IV….
…The US fighter pilots need to start pulling their socks up.

[RangerJoe]

Depending upon the DL of those carrier in the South China Sea, they could be CVLs and/or CVEs. Check to see how many fighters and bombers there are in the TF. If it is the KB or part of it, it may too late for some of your ships to run away from Singapore. But you can still try loading them up and sending them to Palembang, units then going to Osthaven. But the enemy, unless most of the ground forces are on the front lines, could also be looking to invade at Mersing. But check exactly which ships are there and then check which ones were in the Pearl Harbor striking force. You can determine the whereabouts of the KB that way as well as per SingInt as well as combat sightings.

I would suggest disbanding your B-10 unit, you may be able to downgrade a stateside unit using those and freeing up some more B-25s for your use. They are not doing much where they are and the pilots could train on the P-26.

You can bomb the enemy ports at night if you think that he has ships there. Including Miri if a damaged ship disbands into the port.

Any Kingfishers at Tarakan may be able to bomb fleets on Low Naval at Miri and Brunei. At 1000 feet, they may be able to slip in under any CAP especially if other bombers are flying higher. P-40Es and P-39s strafing are also nice. Until the enemy has working airfields with effective fighters on CAP, he is vulnerable there. At night, the enemy needs effective AAA units. The enemy needs radar anytime but lacking that, he needs searchlights for at night.

[M Peaston]

You’re right about the B10s not achieving much - I don’t think they’ve even sortied yet! I’ll disband them. I’ve got some Kingfishers at Puerto Princesa that I can move to Tarakan. The Dutch bombers are in range of Miri, and so are some B17Ds, except they’re down for maintenance/repair at the moment.

I finish the turn before updating my AAR, so I won’t be able to implement anything until the turn following the upcoming one.

I suspected that Japan’s refining capacity would exceed oil production and that oil facilities would be the best targets, but I had not checked; you’ve confirmed that for me.

Once again, thank you for the advice - and the cartoons

[M Peaston]

CHINA

Japan is advancing on Kukong and Jingdezhen.

Japan is also advancing on the 33rd and 34th Chinese armies with what I believe (if Signal Intel is correct) are the 102nd NCPC Route Bde and 3rd Rg, 15th RGC Div. The 102nd has arrived in the hex, 3rd Rgt has not. This is a good opportunity to test the policy targeting his Chinese auxiliary units, especially as there is a chance of defeating them in detail, so I’ve ordered my two armies to attack.

Sigint also indicates that Huaishang is occupied by a single Rgt of 28th RGC Temp Div. I’m moving the 3rd Guerrilla Corps there with a view to attacking at some point.

[RangerJoe]

A suggestion for your Chinese units, stockpile the infantry squad devices. Your units have a shortage of support with many support squads disabled along with the infantry squads. Let them take some support but use the supplies to repair your infantry squads, fortifications, and for defense. The only exception will be your large blocking forces for Sian, and the central Chinese plains/plateau where Chungking is located. The exception for squad devices will be for your bought out Chinese units that are in India, aka "The land of plenty!" Don't reinforce those units before buying them out, if you can have them fight and get weaker, they will be cheaper to buy out. If you lose one division for a broken up Corp, it will respawn and you will not be able to form that Corp until the unit respawns and you get all subunits together under the same command. But those Chinese units, once fully trained and equipped, can be the hammer for SEAC when supported by Armour, Artillery, AAA, engineers, HQs, and plenty of supplies.

Those Chinese units and the weak, poorly trained, and equipped units in India should be digging in and/or performing police duties. Do NOT forget the West Coast of India with Bombay since he might try to capture Ceylon and then invade India from the back side. So also prepare to have good/decent units to rail around to augment any defense against an invasion. This should also include armour, AAA, and engineering units once the main defenses have been built. You want to be able to quickly repair damage to help rebuild forts faster. Also, small units including armour need to defend against Japanese paratroopers. If he can capture a base with an airfield, he can then airlift units into your rear areas as well as break your railroad movements for units, supplies and resources. The bases to Ledo and Imphal are important to defend.

[M Peaston]

There’s lots of things for me to be getting on with….I’m going to be busy next turn. I’m not making good use of the ‘stockpile unit’ function at the moment; there’s so many nuances to learn about this game.

CIVILIANS

One aspect of this scenario is the requirement for the Allied player to evacuate civilians (well, European and US civilians) from Malaya, DEI, Philippines, Bismarck/Solomons and other South Pacific Islands. For the first couple of turns I found this a mild irritation. Civilians, I thought, could easily be picked up by any passing ship and dropped off at the nearest suitable port. I didn’t think it added anything to the game, apart from extra clicks. How wrong I was!

My ad hoc approach soon came unstuck. When I wanted to move an Australian Bn to Ambon quickly, I found I was struggling to get them loaded at Darwin because the quaysides were jammed with debarking Dutch civvies - quite a nuisance. There was a real risk that this was likely to be repeated in other key ports and become a serious impediment to military operations. Also, ships small enough to dock at some of these remote ports don’t have the endurance to take the civilians to where they need to go (Sydney and Delhi to be disbanded). I realised I actually had to have some kind of plan.

Firstly, I’ve had to dedicate shipping (and some escorts) to the evacuation task. Secondly, I’ve organised a reverse ’spoke and hubs’ system, utilising ports that I am not relying on for troop movements.

Malaya/DEI/Philippines
Evacuees are taken by coastal transport to Batavia or Dili, from there larger transports are acting as ferries taking civilians to Madras and Rockhampton respectively.

Sumatra
Civilians go overland to either Sabang (whence they are taken direct to Madras) or Oosthaven where they are ferried to Batavia.

Papua New Guinea/BIsmarcks/Solomons
These are taken direct to Rockhampton. If I can get some of the smaller airfields up and running the Ju52s of New Guinea Airlines will help out.

South Pacific Islands.
Civilians will be taken to a port in Samoa (I forget which one) and then to Rockhampton. Even the Pan Am yacht ‘Southern Seas’ is earning its keep.


Far from being irritating, I am finding that evacuating civilians has become an absorbing and enjoyable aspect of this scenario. Well done LST.

[M Peaston]

19th December 1941.

This was a fairly quiet turn.

CHINA

I was wrong about…..I mean Allied Intelligence was wrong about 102nd NCPC Route Bde at Changzhi, it was in fact the 5th Armoured Car Coy. The result was the same – it was kicked straight out , but no doubt it did its job in letting Fokko know what I had there.

A deliberate Japanese attack at Hong Kong reduced the forts to zero, but they have been built back up to one again. Losses, fatigue and disruption are still low on my side.


MALAYA

Allied Intelligence was correct in its assessment……I mean I was correct in my assessment that reports of Japanese carriers near Singapore were erroneous. Still, it doesn’t hurt to keep my air/naval forces dispersed. The light cruiser squadron (CL Danae, Dragon and Mauritius) will remain at Palembang, Durban is joining Force Z at Soerabaja.

The air war over Malaya is a curiously quiet one. Since attacking his landings became too costly I’ve only carried out occasional attacks against his advancing forces. Mostly I’m keeping my air force back for when he meets my main defence line. After the first few days Fokko has mainly concentrated on hitting bases along the north/west which I have abandoned or are only lightly held. I managed to repair and fly out a few more aircraft from Kuantang, only about 23 to go I think. Every airframe I get out is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.

I’m pleased the RAF is still in the fight – I wasn’t expecting it to be at this stage. I know that can change in half-a-day though.


PHILIPPINES

My MTBs attacked shipping north of Vigan. They needn’t have bothered. All they did was provide the Japanese with some live-fire gunner practice.


SOUTH PACIFIC

Canberra and Louisville have stepped into a dragon’s den – Enterprise is near Luganville but is just a bit too far away to assist at the moment. The Enterprise TF probably needs to refuel (I’ve got some tankers at Luganville for this purpose) if it is going to make any high-speed runs. I don’t have the foggiest idea where his carriers are at the moment, so the ability to bug out at full speed is a must.

The two BBs listed on the mouseover might be the Heavy Cruisers Yakumo and Iwate….. I hope!

Two of my tankers had a close encounter with two raiding AMCs near Bora Bora. After exchanging a few shots my tankers slipped away. I do have the AMC Oiseaux des iles patrolling nearby, within reaction range in fact, but as luck would have it she’s just run out of fuel a couple of hexes short of Tahiti. This was LCDR Praud’s one shot at glory in the annals of history – but he screwed up on his fuel consumption calculations. Oh well….

I’ve despatched a reinforcement convoy to Aukland consisting of:
193rd Tank Bn
205th Field Arty Bn
1st and 2nd Marine Para Bns
Engineers
P39 Squadrons x 3
Marauder Squadrons x4.

This is in addition to the 7th and 8th Marine Rgts which are already en route.

The ground units are due to go ultimately to Fiji/New Caledonia/Pago Pago, the air units will be split between Australia and the South Pacific. I’ll make a final decision when the convoy arrives at Aukland – a lot could change in that time. I’m reluctant to have so many airgroups in a single convoy, but I don’t have sufficient escorts to split the convoy and I want them in theatre as soon as possible.