Who Needs a Title? Mike (J) vs. Dixie (A)

[Mike Solli]

I don't mind.  Makes the game different than most. 

[Mike Solli]

13 Dec 41

Well, another crummy turn. [8|] I can't play CHS well to save my life.  Here goes....

Zuiho update:  Her damage went from 57-32-49 to 61-44-16.  Not as bad as I feared.  She's one hex out from Kuching.  There are 2 Daitai of Zeros to protect her there.  Fingers crossed.

Now we come to the Hosho.  She was attacked by just about everything in the Allied inventory, including the kitchen sink.  She ended up absorbing 2x 500 lb bombs and a torp. Her damage is 64-63-42.  I doubt that she makes it to Kuching.

The only other ship damage I took was an empty AK taking a torpedo from the KXI 2 hexes SW of Saigon (she'll make it) and the S-39 sank an APD looking for her at Naga.

On the Allied side, two AKs sank from old damage.  Also, Nells sank 2 damaged TKs at Tarakan.  A total of 1 PC, 1 AS, 1 PG and 3 AKs took damage to varying degrees and at various locations.

Lamon Bay fell to the Rowboat Corps.  Attacks took Lingayen (Resources - 123 (2)), Laoag, Jesselton and Manokwari.  The 1st Para Regiment landed on and took Taiping, effectively cutting off some Allied troops to the north of them from Singapore.

I have several surface TFs headed to ports where there are Allied ships known to be lurking.  They'll hit over the next couple of turns.  I have a Bombardment TF of 2BB, 2 CA and escorts heading to Cagayan to bombard the airfield holding B-17s to kill enough of them to render them ineffective.  Dixie's B-17D/E production is only about 16 per month.  My goal is to kill enough on the ground to make Dixie withdraw the remnants.

[Mike Solli]

14 Dec 41

Reinforcement:  My first "offensive" ship:  PC Ch28 [:D]

Not a lot to discuss today.  The Zuiho and Hosho are disbanded in Kuching harbor.  All of the other damaged ships there (basically escorts with 1-2 sys damage each) are leaving though in retrospect, it won't make any difference.  There aren't any ARs there.  Here's their status:

Ship - Damage yesterday - Damage today
Zuiho - 61-44-16 - 68-57-8
Hosho - 64-63-42 - 79-87-19

A couple of hexes SSW of Saigon was lurking the KXI.  A surface group of 1 CL and 10 DDs passed through and hit her with a depth charge along with a couple of near misses.  Her forward tubes were also reported as damaged.  There's one sub with good torpedoes that we won't be seeing for awhile. [:D]

At Cagayan, a Surface TF of 2 CA, 1 CL & 3 DD went to Cagayan to bombard and caught (and sank) an AK there.  I have many such groups heading to various ports to catch shipping hiding out there as well as to bombard.  More will strike tomorrow.

Dixie lost a damaged TK in Tarakan.  That's one of the ports where I have a Surface TF headed.  That particular one is composed of 3 CA and a couple of DD.  They'll hit tomorrow.

I have several battalion sized units at Rabaul, along with a BF.  They are waiting for the South Seas Det (SSD) to arrive.  They were scheduled to bombard today, but the SSD began landing and they all decided to assault. [X(] I was kind of nervous, but the end result was 9 Japanese casualties. [:D]

I hit Hong Kong with a deliberate assault today.  I got 2:1 odds and reduced the forts from 2 to 1.  I lost 539 casualties to 297 British casualties.  I'll hit them again tomorrow.  Maybe I'll get lucky. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

15 Dec 41
 
Well, I'll start with the bad news.  The Hosho succumbed to her wounds.  Good news is that I saved all her pilots.  I'll station those 20 planes (10 Claude and 10 Kates) on Taiyo.  Of course the Claudes will upgrade eventually.  I also lost a MSW from old damage.  An AP from the Davao invasion TF (1 hex SE of Davao) took a torp from the S-41.  She'll easily make port.
 
On to the fun part. [:D] More damage to Dixie's sub corps.  His subs are showing up at most of my bases.  I'm creating ASW TFs to go after them.  Even though there aren't any house rules, I'm limiting ASW TFs to 6 ships, but they're usually less.  I hit the Tarpon with a direct hit and a near miss off Batan Island today.  It won't sink her, but I suspect she'll head for the barn.
 
Off Rabaul, Dixie did some odd things.  A couple of TFs headed there, presumably to take forces off.  Not sure why, but a total of 2 AKs and an AP arrived there.  The RO-62 put a torpedo into one of the AKs and then the bombardment force (5 BBs and escorts) sank them all.  Easy pickins. [:D]  The bombardment force then did it's job and the ground forces took Rabaul.  Other than the garrison, the assault forces are now beginning to prep for Pt. Moresby.  The entire air force for SE Fleet consists of 1 Jake chutai.  I have a sentai of Oscars that will arrive by ship at Truk in a couple of days.  That'll head down to Rabaul as CAP.  The IJNAF forces allocated to SE Fleet are 63 Zeros, 54 Bettys, 9 naval Babs, and 12 transports.  None have been reassigned from Southern Area Army yet.  That'll cost some 550 PPs.  I'll do it slowly over the next month.  Those forces are still fighting in the SRA.  By the way, the attack cost us 57 casualties to 144 Australian casualties.
 
One of my bombardment forces reached Iloilo and bombarded the place, hitting an AK in port as a bonus.
 
The 3 CAs and 2 DDs sent to Tarakan successfully bombarded there and sank the Langley and damaged a TK in port.  In return, one of the DDs, took some damage from shore guns (33-18-17).  She'll easily make Palau to pump her out.  Then she'll escort some resource/oil laden merchants later and repair at the Home Islands.
 
South of Jolo, a Nell flying out of Jolo damaged an AK.  Near Davao, a Betty (from Palau) damaged a PG.
 
In addition to Rabaul, I took Makin and Clark Field, both undefended.  Dixie is withdrawing to Manila from the north end of the Philippines.  I haven't fought for any base north of Manila.  He also left one unit at Bataan.  Everything else from the northern half of the Philippines withdrew to Manila.  I have landed a special BF which is heading to Clark to set up shop.  There is a aviation regiment that should land in a couple of days to augment the aviation support.  Most of the IJAAF based at Formosa will reposition there to work over the Philippine Army.  The only place in the Philippines where Dixie is defending is south of Manila.  There are 2 Philippine divisions there and I have the 16th Division bombarding them.  There are additional forces that landed at Naga and will reinforce the 16th.  I'll eventually bottle up the Philippine Army in Manila and beseige it.  I'll send something to take Bataan after I bottle up the mob in Manila.
 
I assaulted Hong Kong again, reducing the fort level to 0. [:D] I took 596 casualties to 336 British.  I'll bombard a couple of turns and hit them again.
 
The last assault was at Georgetown.  In a 1:1 attack, I lost 146 casualties to 366 Allied. 
 
I have 3 tank regiments chasing the remnants of the Indian brigade that was thrown out of Kuantan.  One more hex and I'll have cut Malaya in 2, isolating 5 Allied units from Singapore.  Behind the tank regiments is the remainder of the invasion force.  More forces are arriving each day.  I'll get you a list (and hopefully some screen shots) this weekend.
 
Samah's airfield reached level 4.  I'll eventually use that as one of my training bases.  Air units with poor experience will fly out of there to hit Chinese in order to gain experience.

[flaggelant]

quick question on the hongkong assault;

since forts are reduced/gone & the assault has gone in your favor, would it not be easier
to assault again next turn?

that way the troops can rest after that turn in a mayor city hex with plenty supply which you own
naturally there will be some extra losses due to fatigue, but after the assault they rest & reinforce quicker

making the SE command inf Div available for another assault somewhere else quicker & thus making better use of the attack bonus

would that make sense? or am i just noobing around? [&o]

[Mike Solli]

Normally I'd say yes, but in this case the 38th Div disruption jumped to 73. [X(]  I'll wait a bit.  Definitely a bad die roll somewhere.

[Mike Solli]

16 Dec 41
 
Reinforcements:  PC Ch25, 126 IJA BF
 
Zuiho didn't gain any ground today:  Damage went from 69-70-2 to 69-72-0.  At least the fires are out.  Bright side is that I got all of the air units from both Hosho and Zuiho on land.
 
Only bad thing that happened today was the loss of the I-24 east of Hawaii.  I'll show pics later.  The only other damage I took as damage to an AP and AK at Kuantan.
 
My surface forces had some fun, however.  At Taytay, 2 CAs, a CL and a couple of DDs bombarded and damaged 2 AKs in port.  The 3 CAs and 1 DD that had bombarded Tarakan yesterday were headed back to Palau to replenish.  They happened accross a TF of 6 AKs several hexes south of Jolo and sank the lot. [:D] Unfortunately, they weren't carrying troops.  Cagayan was bombarded by a CL and a handful of DDs, damaging an AK in port.  Dixie has B-17s there that I'd like to destroy.  Two BBs, some cruisers and DDs arrived there this turn and will bombard tomorrow.
 
My aircraft did pretty well also.  Some Nells flying out of Kuching caught 2 AOs just west of Tobali and sank one and heavily damaged the other (3 torpedo hits).  Always good to see an AO go down.  Marys flying out of Batan Island caught a PG fleeing Hong Kong and put 6 100kg bombs into her.  Nells out of Jolo damaged 3 AKs fleeing the Philippines.
 
Galeia was taken by the Rowboat Corps.  Nauru fell to troops sailing out of Kwajalein.  It's resources are 16 (4).  Finally, Georgetown fell to my victorious troops.  We captured 3107 troops to 5 Japanese casualties. [:D]

[Mike Solli]

Looky what I found here......

[Mynok]

You're still flying Mary's? [:D]

[Mike Solli]

So far, in the Philippines, the only base I've fought for was Naga. West of Naga is one Philippines division and there is one unit at Bataan, with 28 units in Manila. The Japanese unit in Tuguegarao is a Special BF with an aviation regiment in the TG 3 hexes to the NE. They will go to Clark Field and most of the Formosa air units will transfer to Clark for operations against Manila.

[Mike Solli]

ORIGINAL: Mynok


You're still flying Mary's? [:D]

Yeah, I use many of the IJA DBs early in the war. They can pummell to pieces Allied merchant shipping. It also helps increase their experience levels for later. When the Lily II comes out, those pilots do pretty well with that plane's armor.

[Mike Solli]

Malaya is almost cut in two. I have 3 tank regiments following that big red arrow painted there. To the NW of Kuantan is the main army. I'll get a list of the Malayan OOB later. To the north is one Allied unit north of Malacca and 3 more in Kota Bharu.

[Mike Solli]

Here's the SE Fleet area. The 5 BBs are off map to the north headed to Truk for replenishment. There is a base force headed south destined for Pt. Moresby. Most of the troops that took Rabaul (all but 1 infantry battalion and the base force at Rabaul) are preparing to head to Pt. Moresby. At Truk, a newly arrived NLF and BF are preparing to take Lae. The NLF will then take and garrison Buin. The Pt. Moresby invasion force will wait for the BBs and a 4CA, 4DD TF to move into the area. The 4 CAs are the Furutakas headed there from Kwajalein.

[Mike Solli]

And finally, here is the mess in China. At the start of the war, I pulled the troops from Ichang back to Hankow. Dixie may not even be aware of it. I expected him to take it. I did it because they are very isolated there.

You can see that Dixie moved 2 Chinese Corps into Canton. The unit in the hex to the NW is a Chinese HQ. Once I take Hong Kong, I'll push them out of Canton's hex.

Right now I'm moving forces to form a large army at Shanghai and Nanchang. I will then drive from Nanchang to Swatow to cut off the Chinese troops in the SE corner of the country. They'll for a solid line and hold. The army out of Shanghai will then clean up the isolated troop. That's the plan, anyway.

[Mike Solli]

Malaya OOB:
 
Gds Division
5 Division
18 Division
21 Bde
4 Mixed Regiment
Kainan Guard SNLF
1 Para Regiment
2 Tank Regiment
6 Tank Regiment
14 Tank Regiment
4 Engineer Regiment
5 Engineer Regiment
15 Engineer Regiment
23 Engineer Regiment
28 Engineer Regiment
3 Heavy FA Regiment
18 Heavy FA Regiment
3 Mountain Gun Regiment
10 Mountain Gun Regiment
3 Mortar Bn
5 Mortar Bn
14 Mortar Bn
35 Hvy AA Bn
8x Construction Battalions
25 Army HQ
12 Avn Regiment
12 Base Force
 
Reserve:
4 Division
56 Division

[Mike Solli]

Philippines OOB:
 
16 Division
48 Division
65 Bde
4 Tank Regiment
7 Tank Regiment
8 Tank Regiment
1 Engineer Regiment
3 Engineer Regiment
21 Engineer Regiment
14 Army HQ
16 Army HQ
8 Heavy FA Regiment
17 Heavy FA Regiment
15 Mortar Bn
44 Hvy AA Bn
47 Hvy AA Bn
48 Hvy AA Bn
16 AA Regiment
32 Special Base Force
105 IJN Base Force
8x Construction Bns
11 Avn Regiment
 
Reserve:
2 Division
56 Bde

[Mike Solli]

17 Dec 41

Another exciting turn.  As is becoming the custom, bad news first.  Dixie's US subs, yeah the ones with faulty torpedoes, scored two hits.  First was the Saury damaging a TK that was part of a convoy that just arrived at Palau bringing 60k fuel.  Her damage is 13-29-27 so she should make it, but it'll be awhile.  The second was the Stingray sinking an APD (the second APD lost already!) at Cam Ranh Bay.  His subs are popping up in all the ports and I don't have a good counter to it. [8|] The I-18 sank an AK 3 hexes SW of Pearl Harbor and took a depth charge in retialiation.  Her damage is 23-55-0.  She's about 36 hexes from Kwajalein.  Not sure if she'll make it. [:(]

Fortunately, that was all the bad news of the day.  All three of the services had stellar performances today.  A surface TF of Natori and 6 DDs caught the AVD William B. Preston and sank her quickly for no damage.  A bombardment TF of 2 BB, 2 CA, 1 CL and 4 DD bombarded Cagayan and damaged an AK in port, then later in the day caught a PG at Jolo and sank her.  Two old DDs that were working their way to Palau to form up with some other ships caught two single ship TFs and damaged both of the ships.  Each was an AK and the first was carrying troops.  That AK is now short some 108 of those troops. [:D] 

The IJNAF had fun too.  First, Ryujo's Kates found Houston and put her under with 4 torpedo hits.  Of the major ships in the area, that leaves Repulse limping away (or hopefully sunk) after 3 torpedo hits early in the war, PoW unaccounted for, and Boise seen briefly and now unaccounted for.  Various Nells and Kates sank an AO, PG and AP while damaging two other AKs.  Add to this an AK that sank from old damage.

Total losses today:

Japanese
1 APD

Allied
1 CA
2 PG
1 AO
1 AVD
1 AP
2 AK

On the ground, the Rowboat Corps took Tawi Tawi.  I forgot to mention that I landed vacationers at Davao yesterday.  They continued to land today and liberated the place for 136 Japanese casualties to 75 Allied casualties.  The resources captured there were 40 (0).  Finally, the 16th Division captured Lucena driving the Allies into Manila.  We lost 31 to 312 Allied casualties.  In the Philippines, we control everything except Bataan and Manila.  I'm massing my forces and will enter Manila from the north and south simultaneously.  The 56 Bde is on it's way to the Philippines to invest Bataan.

I spent most of my PPs today (only 4 remaining) to purchase the 71st Division and 3 construction battalions from Kwantung for Northern Area Force.  Transports are on the way to pick up those forces.  I will send one regiment and 1 construction battalion each to Attu, Adak and Amchitka Islands.  I also spent 108 PPs on the IJN DB Training Daitai.  They'll fly to a location to begin training against the Chinese.

I've increased my Nakajima engine facilities.  On 7 Dec 41 I converted the Hitachi factory (120) to Nakajima.  Today I increased 3 Nakajima factories (20, 10, 9).  My Nakajima pool is down from 100 to 85.  I hope to stabilize the pool before it runs out. 

Edit: I forgot the worst news of all. Zuiho's fate doesn't look good. Her damage went from 69-72 to 69-78. A fleet HQ arrived last turn. I'm hoping for the best but it looks rather grim.

[Mike Solli]

18 Dec 41
 
Well, today wasn't such a good day for the IJN submarice service. [8|] I-16 and I-17 got pummelled by depth charges west of Hawaii.  They're part of a (shrinking) line of subs keeping an eye on that part of the world.  Both are limping back to Kwajalein with 80-78 and 23-56 damage respectively. 
 
On a good note, Zuiho's damage went from 69-78 back down to 69-72.  Keeping fingers and toes crossed. [;)]
 
My BB TF was tooling around Tarakan and caught a 4 AK TF.  They sank 3 and the 4th got away clean.  One hex SW of Manila, the Sendai and 10 DDs caught a damaged AK and sent her to the bottom. 
 
One of my ASW TFs (4 PGs) was at Vigan looking for some Allied underwater scum when 7 PTs showed up.  I lost one PG sunk and another damaged and sank 3 of the PTs. 
 
Two of my sub line south of Tobali found targets today.  They damaged a TK and AP off the coast of Merak.
 
I saw a TF fleeing the Rabaul area and caught it with with Nagara and 4 DDs.  It was composed of 3 AKs (two of which are really schooners). [X(] [:D] Two were put down with the last trying to run.  I'll try to her tomorrow.
 
I landed troops at Butuan and attacked Hong Kong again.  The attack came in at 1:1 odds, costing me 799 casualties to 415 Allied casualties.    I'll try again later.
 
Naga's airfield reached level 2.  It'll stop there. 

[Mike Solli]

19 Dec 41
 
Reinforcement:  AK Nisshun Maru (5k capacity) at Osaka
 
Well, my sub line, which I move every day, shrunk by one.  The I-23 went down east of Hawaii. [8|] I swear that my subs run around with a beacon switched on that Dixie can track.  Grrr.....
 
Fortunately, that was the only damage I took this turn.
 
Dixie went after another of my ASW TFs, this time 3 APDs.  The results were slightly different this time. [;)] Seven MTBs found my TF just south of Manila.  A couple of my APDs were strafed by 7.7 mm MG fire causing no real damage.  Three of his MTBs were each hit by one 4.7" shell and splintered. [:D] Three more PTs gone.
 
Nells had a good day.  They hit five ships, sinking 2 APs and 2 AKs and damaging an AO.
 
Cotabato fell to the RC, splitting Mindinao in two.  I also control Davao and will take Butuan unopposed next turn.
 
The highlight of the day was the liberation of Hong Kong. [:D] I lost 294 troops while capturing 20,138 Brits. The best part of it all was taking the infrastructure with absolutely no damage: Manpower - 3(0), Resources - 200(0), HI - 101(0) and Shipyard Repair - 26(0).  I have begun expanding the port to level 9 and then will increase the ship repair yard to 104.  After that, forts of course.  I usually use that port to repair warships assigned to defend the SRA along with Singapore, Soerabaja and Manila.
 
There is an Allied minefield at Hong Kong.  I sent a group of MSWs there to clear it out before moving transports in to pick up the 38 Div and 1 Heavy Art Bde.  They have been placed into reserve for now.  They will most likely be used for the liberation of Java.  They'll probably visit some other sites along the way. [:D] There is also a small TF of oil ready to move to Hong Kong to get their HI going if needed.
 
Dixie told me he is "trying something new" in the Philippines.  Right now he's "in control of" Bataan and Manila.  My forces are moving to invest Manila from the north and south.  The 56 Bde (currently in reserve) is enroute to the Philippines and will invest Bataan.  This turn, Dixie positioned fighters in Manila and bombed Clark Field.  No real harm done because I don't have any air power there yet.  I do have a special BF and air regiment at Tuguegarao enroute to Clark Field (airfield level 2).  I moved 2 daitai of Zeros and a sentai of Nates to Tuguegarao.  I assigned one daitai of Zeros to LRCAP over Manila, one daitai of Zeros to LRCAP over Clark Field and the Nates at 90% CAP over Tuguegarao.  I hope to catch Dixie's fighters and trash them. [:D]
 
I have a NLF and a BF enroute to Lae.  Most of the ground forces in Rabaul are prepping for Pt. Moresby.  That operation will begin soon.  There are 2 surface groups available to support the invasion with a total of 5 BB, 4 CA, 2 CL and ~8 DD.  I'm saving up some PPs (I currently have 104) to transfer some Bettys and Zeros to SE Fleet, at least one daitai of each for starters, along with a naval Babs chutai.  That'll cost 252 PP.  There currently is a sentai of Oscars repairing after being offloaded at Truk and a chutai of Jakes, also at Truk.
 
Current reserves:
 
4 Division - at Saigon enroute to Singora for use at Singapore.
56 Division - currently at Sasebo awaiting transport.  ~90% of necessary transport is at Sasebo.
2 Division - currently enroute to Butuan to assist in taking Cotobato.
56 Brigade - currently enroute to Philippines to invest Bataan.
38 Division - resting at Hong Kong.
1 Heavy Artillery Brigade - resting at Hong Kong.

[alaviner]

Are you planing to extend your empire beyond the historical to Oz or India??