Alien Invasion: Oh, the Humanity!

[USSAmerica]

Hi Capt.  I do have a couple of P-40 squadrons in Oz, and several are boarding ship in SF, cruising to Pearl, repairing, island hopping to Suva, boarding ship for Brisbane, then repairing again.  [:D]  Sounds dumb, but repairing 2 times and island hopping is still faster than riding boats the whole way.  They should arrive in Oz right around May 1st. [;)]

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: Mike Solli

[font="times new roman"]Samoan Marine Bn? [:D] Never knew there was such an animal. [:'(][/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Mynok hasn't taken Pt. Moresby?  Ouch for him.  I made that mistake in my first 2 PBEMs.  Never again.  That was the chink in my armor.[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Ground replacements are interesting for the Allies.  That's the one thing that's easier for the Japanese.  As long as I have surplus armament and vehicle points, I don't worry about ground unit replacements.  The AI produces what I need.  I only have to worry about how many units have replacements on.  After a year or so, that's not even a concern.[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]I still haven't installed WitPTracker.  Gotta do it this weekend. [:D][/font]

Mike, you'll love Tracker! I predict you will be slobbering all over your computer keyboard. [:D]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/22/1942[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]A relatively quiet day.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I reviewed the list of arriving ground reinforcements and have earmarked 3 RCT’s that arrive in around a month for garrison duty on Johnston, Palmyra, and Canton Islands.  I still need to find some more support troops somewhere to move to Palmyra and Canton.  I also made plans to ship the 32nd Inf Div and 8th USMC Def Bn to Auckland upon their arrival.  They will follow the 27th Inf Div, which has recently departed SF, bound for Auckland.  Auckland will become my second strong point in the South Pacific.  The troops I send there will prep for Noumea, to be ready to attack there if it’s captured, or to better defend it when my position is stronger and I am able to move more troops forward.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]On New Guinea, my LB’s from PM paid another quality visit to the airfield at Lae.  I caught 5 Zeros and 2 Babs on the ground and crushed them.  Tomorrow, the mission is ground attack at Lae.  My P-39D’s and the A-24 Dauntless DB’s will join in the fun for some quality training.  We did receive an inbound raid from Rabaul consisting of 23 Zeors and 34 Bettys.  My fighters are getting a bit thin at PM from several days of fighting, so I only got a mixed bag totaling 18 fighters into the air on CAP.  I lost 4 fighters for 3 Zeros and 4 Bettys, with 10 Bettys damaged.  I have flown in a Kittyhawk and 2 Warhawk squadrons to help out, but they are pretty green.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]In Oz, I ordered the 4th Aus Div to march from Sydney to Darwin, along with the 32nd Aus Bde, newly arrived at Newcastle.  As I watch Mynok roll up the DEI, I can only picture those troops being used against India, or northern Oz.  I am not even going to try to defend the smaller 3 bases along the north coast, but I really want to make Darwin costly.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My subs and naval search aircraft have spotted several enemy CV’s and BB’s in the Java Sea, along with a bunch of AP’s.  I have about 20 subs operating in the area, but I just can’t time it right to have any of my subs end up in the same hex with the CV’s, except US Mk14 carrying boats.  They have taken several shots over a few days, but had no exploding hits.  I do have a good handful of Brit, Dutch, and US S-boats trying to get in firing position.  Maybe the fishing will be better tomorrow, and I’ll catch something big.  Big air raid today on Soerabaja, but no thing of note.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]In Burma, my 2nd Burma Rifle Bde made it to Mandalay.  The 20 or so Warhawks I have based there were joined by my refitted Philippine P-39D squadron, and will all try a ground attack tomorrow on the Martian troops that have moved into, but not yet taken Meiktila.  Good flying weather forecast for tomorrow, so my Blenheim IV’s and 4EB’s will attack the resources at Rangoon.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]India saw several Bde’s ordered to march to the bases along the East Coast that they have been preparing for.  I’ve also flown 4 transport squadrons from Ledo to Chungking.  They will be ordered to fly supplies from Chungking to Honan to try to build up the supply levels there a bit faster.  I also moved 2 Warhawk squadrons from Changsha to Sian in the North, where they will fly LRCAP over Honan.   [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Manila saw another deliberate attack today.  It’s been a long while since the last one.  This one didn’t go any better for Mynok, even with my troops completely out of supply.  His 2321 AV was adjusted to 1262, while my 1237 AV was adjusted to 1557.  The 0-1 assault saw 6452 Martian casualties, with 32 guns and 9 tanks, to my 1719 casualties, 49 guns, and 7 tanks.  My AS is still 1036 after the attack.  Probably after a week or more of rest and recovery, Mynok will try again.  I expect the next strong attack to finally overcome my defenders.  It was fun to give him one more good bloody nose first, though.  [8D][/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/23/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A day of air exchanges.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok continues to pound Soerabaja and Manila each day from the air.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My LB’s at PM were joined by the P-39D’s in an attack on Lae’s AF.  I had intended to have them all attack the ground units, but didn’t get my orders correct.  They caught another Zero and a Babs on the ground, and the AF damage is up to 72%.  Thunderstorms are forecast for the area tomorrow, but I’ve been doing some reading and I will test out the practice of continuing to assign missions in Thunderstorms.  Tomorrow, the bombers here will be ordered to ground attack.  Bettys and Zeros flew against Buna from Rabaul.  2 Tomahawks met them in the hex, 2 away from their CAP station at PM, and traded 1 Zero for 1 P-40B.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My Blenheims didn’t attack the industry at Rangoon from Chittagong, but my 4EB’s from Dacca sent a total of 80 bombers.  There was a CAP of 15 Oscars present, and they damaged 17, destroyed 1 B17, and I lost 2 more B17’s on the way home.  It was a very good trade.  I scored 15 resource hits, damaging 46 of 100 resources there.  Mouse intel indicates a few more fighters based at Rangoon today, around 96.  LOL  Good day with the T’storm forecast to rest and recover some fatigue, and repair a few planes.  If that many fighters stay there, my next raid may be an AF attack.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My Warhawks were able to ambush 2 small Sonia attacks over Honan.  These guys have been regularly visiting, likely part of a training program.  I killed 4 of the first 9 plane raid, and all 7 of the second raid.  [:)][/font][font="times new roman"]  I’ll pull them back now, and wait for another chance to pounce.[/font]

[USSAmerica]

I'm not ignoring my AAR this time.  Still waiting for the 3/24 turn from Mars.  The interplanetary transmission lines must be having difficulties or something.  [:D]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/24/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Not much action today.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Meiktila was occupied by several elements of the Martian army, including the 33rd Division.  1 each P39, P40B and P40E squadrons from Mandalay got in a ground attack on the 33rd with no losses.  Insignificant casualties on the ground, but the whole purpose is training.  Mynok has moved over 100 Oscars to Rangoon, so I’m shifting targets a bit.  Even with thunderstorms forecast for the region, I’m ordering my 7 4EB squadrons to attack the airfield at Rangoon.  Maybe I can bag a bunch of the Oscars and some of the estimated 107 aux planes on the ground there.  My Blenheims from Chittagong will hit the resources at Meiktila.  22 of 100 resources were damaged there when the base was captured unopposed.  [8D][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Martian troops ran down some of my retreating troops at Dumaguete in the PI, and captured the base.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Poor weather cancelled all air missions around Port Moresby, except some recon.  Tomorrow, all my P39, A24, and LB’s at PM are ordered to ground attack again at Lae.  After that, I’m going to pull back a good portion of the LB’s to Oz, to make PM a less tempting target for a visit by BB’s.  A Dutch torpedo squadron that was withdrawn has returned to Sydney and is making it’s way up the coast to PM.  I really don’t want to tempt Mynok into trying a bombardment at PM while my troop convoy carrying the Americal Division is inbound.  They are about 5 days out right now.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/25/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]The end is near at Soerabaja.  Most of the enemy ground troops on Java have made their way to the base, and the daily air pounding has gone on for some time.  Today Mynok sent a BB TF to visit.  Hyuga, Mutsu, and Nagato were joined by CA Ashigara as they lobbed shells onto the Human defensive positions.  I took 3155 casualties.  The bright spot was the 2 mines that DD Matsukaze found the hard way, and the one mine that Ashigara found.  After the mine hit, Ashigara took all of the CD gun fire, 11 shell hits.  She’s likely not going under, but will probably need some good time in the body shop.  I have hope that Matsukaze will show up on the Ships Sunk List soon.  [:)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My Blenheims scored 20 resource hits at Meiktila.  They were very effective, with a total of 54 out of 100 resources damaged now.  The 4EB attack on Rangoon’s AF and the F/FB ground attack at Meiktila were scrubbed due to weather.  Those two are ordered in again tomorrow, while the Blenheims are standing down tomorrow.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My flyboys at PM shot up the 14th Base Force and the Sasebo 5th SNLF a bit at Lae.  Morale and fatigue are still good here, so most will go back for more tomorrow.  I’ve also ordered a couple of the Warhawk squadrons to join in.  Valuable experience to be gained here.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Martian troops pushed my remnants out of Kuala on Sumatra and captured the base.  My LCU’s here are so beat up that they only cost 3 or 4 PP to reassign to SWPac HQ.  I’m going to try to grab cheap fragments of some of the base forces by sub.  I’m also sending a couple of subs to take station off Manila, waiting to pull a fragment of the 31st US RCT when they get a little more beat up.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have a large number of combat ships that have upgrades due in April.  At Pearl, I created 5 CVTF’s with 4 rating 3000 AA points, and the last around 2000.  The 3 CV’s due for upgrades will make for SF and LA to take advantage of the larger shipyards.  Lex and Sara both already upgraded once, and their escorts will rotate through the port/shipyard at PH to upgrade and repair, while the 2 CVTF’s remain on station at Pearl.  Most of these ships will gain a bunch of AA points, so I will have plenty of flak to defend each CV.  [/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

Martian troops pushed my remnants out of Kuala on Sumatra and captured the base. My LCU’s here are so beat up that they only cost 3 or 4 PP to reassign to SWPac HQ.

Yep, we're still in the Advantage Japanese segment of the game . . .[;)]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/26/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Matsukaze was reported sunk today.  [:)][/font][font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Only my LB-30 squadron flew against the airfield at Lae from PM today.  9 runway hits.  I re-learned the rule that airgroups at one base will only fly against one target at a destination base.  I had my other squadrons set on ground attack and the LB-30’s set to AF attack.  I’ll get it straightened out tomorrow.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Martian troops started coming ashore at Boela.[/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/27/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]SS O20 scored a torpedo hit on DD Asakaze just NE of Batavia today.  She also shot at but missed an AO.  I’m pretty sure these ships are accompanying several Martian CV’s.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]79 4EB’s attacked the AF at Rangoon, and were met by a CAP of 63 Oscars.  Most of the planes on both sides were damaged to some extent.  3 Oscars were shot down, and another 18 destroyed on the ground in exchange for 9 B17’s and 6 LB-30’s.  I crunched 5 C5M Babs on the  ground as well.  The mouse shows 35% AF damage.  An average of 70% of my bombers are repaired, but their fatigue is climbing and some of their morale is dropping.  They get a day or two of rest.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]91 Blenheims scored 20 resource hits at Meiktila.  The resource damage is up to 81/100.  The tactical aircraft at Mandalay found the 33rd Division at Meiktila and hit them a few times.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I love the urban defensive bonus!  (At least while I’m still on the defensive [;)])  Another Martian deliberate attack at Manila was attempted today.  The Martian base AV is almost 2-1 to mine, but the adjusted values were 1-3, even with fort level 0.  Mynok saw 4 times my casualties, 5186 to my 1380.  I have to enjoy this now, as his troops have supply to recover disrupted troops, while mine are hungry and will not recover.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok also finished occupying Boela.[/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/28/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Yesterday I spotted an enemy sub by air NE of Hawaii.  I ordered my 2 ASW TF’s patrolling the area to the hex and one next to it.  It turns out, I-25 didn’t move from where I spotted it, and my boys attacked in both the AM and PM phases.  None of my DC hits penetrated, but I scored 6 and 8 hits.  Hopefully enough damage to sent her to the body shop.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok has not had any subs operating in the Coral Sea for over a month.  I guess shutting down the AF at Lae from PM has spurred him to try to interdict my supply shipping.  Today, I-173 caught AK Surigao 4 or 5 hexes SW of PM and pummeled her.  4 torpedo hits and 6 shell hits.  She went down on the spot.  My troop convoy with the Americal Div is only 1 hex away from the spot, so I’ve re-routed them just a bit, and ordered an ASW TF to the hex to go hunting.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]There is an interesting little side show going on at Padang, on the West (South) side of Sumatra.  Mynok dropped some paras over several days a couple of weeks ago, and has been intermittently flying supply in to them from Malaya.  They failed to capture the base from my small Dutch infantry unit and BF when they were dropped.  They tried another shock attack today.  1786 attacking troops with 10 guns vs. my 1840 troops and 9 guns.  Raw AV is 31 to 22 in favor of the Martian troops, but adjusted is 3 to 21.  I had 8 casualties to 138 and 2 guns for the attackers.  I don’t have a lot of supply here, but enough to hold out for a while, long enough to force Mynok to bring in more troops.  My 2 Brit CV’s are hiding out at Perth, hoping to spot a target of opportunity.  As I’ve watched the enemy transport planes flying supply in, I’ve been tempted to send them up to stand off the coast of Padang and fly LRCAP.  If I see another air supply mission, I just might do that.  I’ll only get one chance to hit the transports, and then I’ll need to run from Ms. Betty who lives in Malaya.  [;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]On the expected news front, a really big deliberate attack at Soerabaja captured the base.  The good news is that the fragments I rescued for several of the units there can start filling out now.  The even better news is around 75% of the resources and oil industry were damaged.  The bad news is that 137k troops, 714 guns, and 226 AFV’s are now free to move on to other lands.  I think Mynok has plenty of smaller LCU’s that he can use to clean up the rest of the DEI outposts.  I think some of these major forces at Soerabaja will show up on Timor.  From there, my money is on Darwin.  By the time Mynok moves on Darwin, I should have 2 Divisions and a Bde dug in there.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/29/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]I was able to pounce on I-173 today, after it sunk an AK SW of PM yesterday, but only shook him up a bit.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]52 4EB’s hit the AF at Rangoon, after fighting their way through 30 Oscars on CAP.  I killed 17 Oscars in the air and on the ground, and pounded the AF for no bombers lost.  My Blenheims scored 17 more resource hits at Meiktila, bringing the total damage to around 94/100.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]At PM, my bombers, FB’s, and a bunch of fighters had some good target practice with the 14th BF at Lae.  The 2 squadrons of Warhawks probably were better off here than on CAP over PM, since their experience is only in the upper 50’s.  The reason is the 120 strong Zero sweep that Mynok hit PM with from Rabaul.  I only had a mixed bag of 36 fighters in the air.  34 of them were lost, but they took 20 Zeros with them.  The best was a Kittyhawk pilot, FLT Jackson, who became an “Ace in a Day” with 6 kills, and then was shot down and WIA.  [:D]  This was a pretty good attack by Mynok, as he caught me with less than half of my fighters on CAP.  Some were training at Lae, and some were providing LRCAP over my approaching troop convoy which will make port tomorrow.   Even with him shooting down 34 of my fighters, I think he really underestimated the forces I’m gathering here.  I have about 6 more squadrons of fighters slowly making their way, by boat and island hopping, to the region for reinforcements.   In the next few days or so, Mynok may start realizing how hard I’m going to fight for PM.  [/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

34 of them were lost, but they took 20 Zeros with them. The best was a Kittyhawk pilot, FLT Jackson, who became an “Ace in a Day” with 6 kills, and then was shot down and WIA.

Considering the Zero bonus, that's not bad -- and I imagine the ratio is even better for pilot losses. Any word on how long Mr. Jackson will be out of action?[:D]

[USSAmerica]

ORIGINAL: Capt. Harlock

34 of them were lost, but they took 20 Zeros with them. The best was a Kittyhawk pilot, FLT Jackson, who became an “Ace in a Day” with 6 kills, and then was shot down and WIA.

Considering the Zero bonus, that's not bad -- and I imagine the ratio is even better for pilot losses. Any word on how long Mr. Jackson will be out of action?[:D]

I wish there were a way to tell how long he will be recovering. Tracker just lists him as WIA.

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/30/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]7 more resource hits at Meiktila today.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]2nd and 3rd AVG squadrons flew a sweep over Nanchang, but no enemy planes flew CAP.  I missed an opportunity by not setting them to LRCAP, as a ground attack came in against my troops there.  16 Nates, 10 Anns, and 58 Sonias.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I got in two good training runs attacking ground troops at Lae, and then Mynok brought 106 Zeros and 60 Betty’s to PM.  My troop convoy started unloading today, so I had visions of troop transports burning, but they went after the AF.  Very good for me, as I have a lot of engineers here, and more coming ashore.  I got a mix of 61 fighters into the air, including 26 of the newbie P-40E’s.  I was right about their chances against the Zeros as I lost a total of 24 of them in the air, and on the ground.  45 fighters and 4 other planes were lost in the air, and on the ground.  I shot down 20 more Zeros, damaged 4, and shot down 4 Bettys, while damaging 20.  Ugly for my fighters, but again, I managed 1:2 kill odds.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My total ground AS at PM was 433 before the reinforcements started coming ashore.  It will be interesting to compare with the total after everyone is ashore.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I also started staging ships for 4/42 upgrades.  I have around 68 ships that are due to upgrade in April, including 3 US CV’s.  They and their TF’s are on their way to SF and LA.  The Lex and Sara TF’s will remain at Pearl, with the escorts rotating through the small shipyard there for upgrades.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]3/31/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]I paid my second 600PP penalty for not sending 2 DD’s back to England today.  For April, Winston wants a CA and 2 DD’s.  He’ll probably get the CA.  [;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The map shows around 50 Martian planes at Nanchang, including 30 fighters, but again they didn’t fly over the base as my 2 AVG squadrons flew a sweep.  Again, I missed a chance to jump Mynok’s ground attack mission on my troops surrounding Nanchang.  Tomorrow they fly LRCAP.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Today’s raid on PM from Rabaul saw another Zero sweep.  100 of them were met by my 38 CAP fighters.  Losses were 12 Zeros, 2 damaged, to 28 of my fighters.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I had spotted a Martian barge convoy making it’s way from Rabaul to Lae.  They get to normal range for my P39D’s and Wirraways when at Lae.  27 P39’s and 16 Wirraways flew in low and shot them up pretty good.  Of 10 AG’s, 7 took damage, 2 ate bombs, and a total of 3 or 4 were sunk.  Since they unload so quickly, they will be gone from here tomorrow and out of range.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]An ASW TF found I-173 again SW of PM and pounded her with 19 hits, one of which was a penetrating hit.  [:)][/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]4/1/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Zero bonus drops to 1 today.  [:)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I-173 was confirmed sunk today.  I’ve had pretty good luck killing Martian subs with my ASW TF’s.  DD Asakaze was also confirmed sunk today at Soerabaja.  That’s another kill for SS O20, who got her with a torpedo on 3/27.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The AF at Rangoon has been repaired enough for fighters to fly CAP again.  My 4EB’s at Dacca have rested and repaired enough to go back into action.  The result was 63 of them fighting their way through 33 Oscars on CAP to pound the AF at Rangoon again.  11 Oscars destroyed, 12 damaged, to my 1 B17E shot down, and 33 total damaged.  (3 more B-17E’s didn’t make it home from the damage.)  93 hits, mostly on the Runway, were scored.  There is good weather forecast for tomorrow, so I’m ordering my heavy’s back to visit.  I want to build up some good damage to the AF, and then pound the Res/Oil/HI there for a while.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The AVG scored some kills today, finally intercepting the ground attack mission on my troops at Nanchang.  13 Warhawks shot down 7 of 23 Nates, and 7 of 58 Sonias.  I took no losses.  There are a couple of new aces in these two squadrons.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]What appear to be 2 Martian divisions are moving up the railway in Burma from Meiktila toward Mandalay.  They are now just 1 hex SW of Mandalay.  This will keep the retreating defenders of Rangoon from reaching Mandalay, so 2 Bde’s and 2 BF’s will slowly make their way along the jungle trails toward Imphal.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Intelligence reported that the Martian 1st Division is preparing to attack Port Moresby.  I don’t know where the 1st Division is located, but they had better bring along a lot of friends if they come to visit.  [;)][/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

Intelligence reported that the Martian 1st Division is preparing to attack Port Moresby. I don’t know where the 1st Division is located, but they had better bring along a lot of friends if they come to visit.

That sounds like a show worth watching!

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]4/2/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]I hit Rangoon’s AF again today, killing 9 more Oscars and damaging 9, for a total of 24/49 4EB’s damaged.  23 more runway hits, but the AF is still operational for CAP.  Mynok must have a bunch of engineers there, working on repairs.  It’s also a large AF, lvl 6, and takes more hits to raise the damage %.  Thunderstorms tomorrow, and my boys are getting fatigued, so it’s a rest day.  I have 5 or 6 squadrons of B17s arriving tomorrow, who were withdrawn 59 days ago.  They will take a while to fly in from SF, but then I’ll be able to knock out this stubborn AF.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]18 more resource hits at Meiktila today, but the number of undamaged resources there is very small, under 5/100, so it’s hard to catch the undamaged ones.  It is more experience for my Blenheim drivers though.  [;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Weather cancelled all air activity around PM/Rabaul today, so lots of aircraft maintenance took place.  The AF at Lae is out of commission now, so I’m ordering tomorrow’s attacks to hit the port.  The arriving troops are still unloading from a few transports, and should finish within another 2-3 days.[/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]4/3/1942[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Very little action today.  I did manage to mess up managing my aircraft reinforcement arrivals.  I had 5 or 6 B-17E squadrons that had been withdrawn on the same day, all due to arrive at SF today.  I screwed up and didn’t have 12 of them in the pool, so every squadron arrived with B-18 Bolo’s instead of B-17s.  I’ve run into this issue with arriving Hurricane reinforcements in SEAC, but didn’t think about it for US arrivals.  I spent a good amount of time upgrading/downgrading, and withdrawing squadrons in SEAC and the US, so there are now enough B-17E’s, P-40B’s, P-40E’s, and Kittyhawk I’s in the pool to allow arriving squadrons to have the assigned type of aircraft.  This will, however, severely slow down my 4EB campaign in SEAC.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Some of you may not be aware of how this works for the Allies.  Reinforcements arrive with the assigned aircraft type, if there are enough of that type in the pool to fill the squadron.  No planes are drawn from the pool, so they arrive at “no cost”, but that minimum number must be in the pool on the turn the reinforcements arrive.  If you do not have the minimum number of planes in the pool, the squadron will arrive with a “downgraded” plane type.  This happens often in SEAC where arriving Hurricane squadrons arrive with Mohawks, or even worse, Lysanders.  [:D]  Some Dutch squadrons that I withdrew 2 months ago are starting to arrive in Sydney.  I have a bunch of Martin 139 squadrons that have returned flying Dakota I’s.  There are a couple of squadrons on the reinforcement list who are assigned plane types that I am not yet able to build.  The Beaufort V-IX is an example.  It is scheduled to arrive on 4/21/42, but I cannot start producing them until 5/1/42.  I don’t know how the game will handle this.  [/font]