VSWG vs. Gary - The Allied perspective

[VSWG]

Rob,
lets just say that hell will freeze over before I'm the first one to do something in the morning! [;)]

So im back from my vacation - I had a great time! Sadly the hotel demanded outrageous prices for internet access, so I wasn't able to send Gary a turn. Here's the turn I played and carried around on a USB-stick for about a week; I didn't see even one internet café in southern France!

Dec. 27th, 1941

Malaya:

My retreating convoy was (finally) hit by a large strike from Kota Bahru. I had to split off 4 badly damaged ships, which will try to reach Sabang and unload their cargo there. The rest is in good shape and will move to India.



The large Japanese TF (18 APs) is still unloading troops at Mersing. Another AP was set on fire by CD guns, and a lone PT boat put a TT into DD Fubuki (heavy damage), but was sunk afterwards.

The Indian brigade that had orders to delay the advance of the eastern pincer of the Japanese Malaya Army was defeated and retreated towards Kuantan. From there, parts of it will be evacuated to Singapore by small transports and subs. No man will be left behind!

China:

Another deliberate attack at Hong Kong with 0-1 odds for Japan! All Chinese LB are now flying supply to Hong Kong and are doing a great job in keeping my units in (minimal) supply. I should have done this from turn 1.

Ground combat at Hong Kong
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 22313 troops, 103 guns, 4 vehicles, Assault Value = 398 
Defending force 24208 troops, 91 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 266
 
Japanese max assault: 394 - adjusted assault: 510  
Allied max defense: 250 - adjusted defense: 1144
 
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 3) 
 
Japanese ground losses:
314 casualties reported
Guns lost 2
Vehicles lost 2
 
Allied ground losses:
173 casualties reported
Guns lost 8

DEI:

A quiet day here. With Mini KB somewhere west of Java, almost all ships in the DEI were ordered to return to ports with a minimal CAP of Dutch planes. It's actually a good move to keep Mini KB in hiding, because as soon as I confirm Mini KBs position, I could resume shipping at least in some parts of the DEI. Lets see what Gary's up to, he has to do something, or he'll be behind schedule here soon.

TK Longwood almost made it to Soerabaja with a full load of oil from Tarakan, but was torpedoed by I-10 60 miles from Java. Another AK was sunk by Nells at Toboali while loading resources.

Philippines:

Still no Japanese troops at Manila. What is he waiting for? It is obvious that the PI are not on top of his priority list, he hasn't landed on any island besides Luzon!



Some lone AKs are still transporting supplies between Tarakan and Manila. At Jolo, another squadron of Catalinas is evacuating some base force and HQ fragments that arrived by ship from the PI.

CentPac, SoPac and SWPac:

No combat here. The lack of action in every theater (besides Malaya) should be actually good news for an Allied commander in Dec. 1941. On the other hand, I'm not doing much either: the US fleet is still lying in port in Pearl Harbor. A small cruiser task force was sent to SoPac last turn, and I escorted all PT boats to Palmyra and Canton, but that's basically all I've done here. Of course, this is only partly my fault, as there's almost no fuel between Java and Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, so I have to wait until my West Coast convoys arrive and create some supply hubs in the Pacific. Still, a bit more creativity might be a good idea.

Having that said, the next turn will probably see multiple Japanese invasions on different fronts...

[ny59giants]

Besides getting supplies/fuel moving from the WC to all points west, the big thing is to decide what islands you want to reinforce to make the USA to Oz pipeline easier to use. To me, Canton Island is bigger in a game with the extended map to move a RTC to to prevent an easy capture by just NLF against a BF without any combat power.

Some may consider it "gamey" but I divide my AK/AP into 1 or 2 ship TF's. I've had over 250 in the beginning (before some get sunk). [:D]

[pauk]

VSWG, great looking AAR -especially like posting your plans!

As for dividing AK/APs in one or 2 ship TF that is not gamey - it may be gamey only if you do that and dock them in the port to prevent enemy bombardment from the sea (but that can be countered too with sending small surfice raiders group in front of bombardment TF).

[VSWG]

Dec. 28th, 1941

Malaya:

The expected sweep of Zeros from Kuching against Singapore came today; it's the first after AVG's Tomahawks have returned and were reinforced by the former USAFFE Warhawks:

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 41
Ki-46-II Dinah x 1

Allied aircraft
Buffalo I x 22
P-40B Tomahawk x 23
P-40E Warhawk x 33

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 13 destroyed

Allied aircraft losses
Buffalo I: 9 destroyed, 4 damaged
P-40B Tomahawk: 8 destroyed, 6 damaged
P-40E Warhawk: 6 destroyed, 3 damaged

Lets call it a stalemate...

Some interesting details:

• 10-15 Zeros couldn't locate the target because of rainy weather
• 1 squadron of Zeros turned back in the last stage of the battle, so morale of his pilots must be low
• Buffaloes shot down 5 Zeros, although I inteded them to be "cannon fodder" at 10.000 feet! Not sure what to make of this...

Forecast is thunderstorms for Singapore and Kuching, so I decided to stand down all planes in Singapore. It's a bit risky, but my CAP isn't broken yet, so Gary won't send his bombers next turn (Zeros on escorts were defeated by my P40s so far), and if he sweeps again his pilots will rack up fatigue without achieving anything. Meanwhile, I can repair some fighters and increase morale of my pilots.

At Mersing, Japanese troops try to break out of their pocket, and fail:

Japanese Deliberate attack

Attacking force 18378 troops, 46 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 235
Defending force 8491 troops, 77 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 162

Japanese max assault: 223 - adjusted assault: 146
Allied max defense: 158 - adjusted defense: 395

Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese ground losses:
561 casualties reported
Guns lost 5

Allied ground losses:
180 casualties reported
Guns lost 3

The 2 AIF brigades left here have already marched 30 miles to Johore Bahru, as the Japanese main army will arrive in 1 or 2 days at JB, too.

DEI:

Another TK bites the dust: TK Merula, full of oil from Palembang, is hit by 2 torps from a Japanese sub between Java and Sumatra and sinks immediately. 3 lousy Dutch SubChasers with an ASW value of 1 is all I can field against Japanese I-boats around Java, everything larger would be sunk by Nells from Kuching. I guess I have to give up on evacuating oil from Palembang, already 90.000 oil points are waiting for Gary here.

Now that the waters around Celebes and Borneo are rather devoid of Allied shipping, Gary decided to finish off the Prince of Wales at Balikpapan. Fortunately for me, she had repaired her float damage last turn and I had sent her to Soerabaja. [:)] The two raids from Kuching and Koepang find nothing but some already damaged AKs and TKs:

Day Air attack on Balikpapan , at 31,64

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 21
G4M1 Betty x 32

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 damaged
G4M1 Betty: 1 destroyed, 7 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Straat Malakka, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Panay, Bomb hits 1, on fire
AK Princessa, Bomb hits 1, on fire
TK Colina, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
6 casualties reported

Port supply hits 1

----------------------

Day Air attack on Balikpapan , at 31,64

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 34

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 2

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 1 destroyed, 2 damaged

Allied Ships
AK Siantar, Bomb hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Allied ground losses:
12 casualties reported

The escort TF with PoW was spotted 6 hexes east of Java, but no message of a BB sighting, so maybe, just maybe I'll be able to save her. My biggest worry concerning her is the "lost" Mini KB, which could pop up anywhere, anytime between Sumatra and Australia.

The only attack on merchant shipping today:

Day Air attack on TF, near Muntok at 21,55

Japanese aircraft
G3M Nell x 15

Allied aircraft
CW-21B Demon x 3

No Japanese losses

No Allied losses

Allied Ships
AK Minjak, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
AK Kinta

I'm posting this report because AK Minjak is fine, just 1 sys damage! Sync bug probably, but I saw those 4 torpedoes hit in my combat replay too! So the replay and the CR are in sync, but not the save?!?

China:

Today's highlight happend in northeastern China, where two Japanese divisons failed to disloge the 5 Corps and 1 HQ at the key position of my frontline, the wooden hex northeast of Honan. This defeat was predictable, so the orders for the counter-attack across the river have been issued two days ago. Still, the units will need at least 4 more days, so Gary has a chance to retreat his divisions.



The attack on Kaifeng was a rather spontaneous idea, and I might cancel it on the next turn. I'm not sure if 5 Corps (Assault Strength: 1098) without air support are enough to take Kaifeng with the shock attack across the river, and I'm not keen on a prolongued battle for a city for which I have actually no use, and which I would have to give up sooner or later anyway. The idea behind the attack is to trash a Japanese division, and to increase experience of my troops. But I'm not sure if it's worth the risk; if I lose here, Honan might become untenable. Comments?

Philippines:

Still no enemy troops at Manila. I hope he brought enough quinine for his troops, mine are gaining strength everyday: the AV surpassed 1500 this turn!

SoPac:
[>:]

CentPac:

The 2nd Marines started unloading at Pearl Harbor today, and the large convoy (4 hexes east of PH) was split up into 6 TFs in order to transport
[ol][*]20.000 supplies to Lahaina
[*]20.000 supplies to Hilo
[*]20.000 supplies and 9.000 fuel to Midway
[*]20.000 supplies and 9.000 fuel to Johnston Island[*]20.000 supplies and 9.000 fuel to Palmyra
[*]60.000 fuel and 36.000 oil to Australia and SoPac.
[/ol]Except for the Lahaina and Hilo TFs, all convoys are escorted by 2 Wickes class DDs.

[VSWG]

ny59giants,
the very fact that Canton is considered to be crucial by so many players kept me from reinforcing it so far: it would be the obvious thing to do, and I'm trying to avoid the obvious. But you're right about the NFL thing, at least some AV should be dropped here.
I'm rather flexible in regard to the size of my convoys. A huge convoy just arrived at Hawaii after being spotted by some I-boats, so now I'm going to use smaller TFs for some time. I think the key is to avoid a pattern, which could be exploited by I-boats and raiding carriers.

pauk,
thank you very much! Rest assured that I'm not going to use gamey tactics like the one you just mentioned.

[Rob Brennan UK]

Welcome back from holiday , and im happy you had a good time .BUT prowling along the French riviera for internet cafes [&:]. thats a man addicted .. and considering you could have been prowling round looking for nudist beaches instead shows your dedication [:D]

Good luck on co-ordinating that attack in northern china .. 5 corps over a river and from 2 differant hexes too .. nightmare time imo.
good if it works though. CHS china is the main reasin i havnt done a CHS game yet, its just too unfamiliar and also a bit scary.

Good luck

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: VSWG

there's almost no fuel between Java and Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, so I have to wait until my West Coast convoys arrive and create some supply hubs in the Pacific.

Early game it's hard to know exactly where you'll want to base your TFs in So Pac, etc. Replenishment TFs can be useful even before you're sailing massive fleets around in '43 & '44. In my AAR game I have 8-10 AOs & 2-3 AEs in the South Pacific ready to support my combatants.

ORIGINAL: VSWG

The attack on Kaifeng was a rather spontaneous idea, and I might cancel it on the next turn. I'm not sure if 5 Corps (Assault Strength: 1098) without air support are enough to take Kaifeng with the shock attack across the river, and I'm not keen on a prolongued battle for a city for which I have actually no use, and which I would have to give up sooner or later anyway. The idea behind the attack is to trash a Japanese division, and to increase experience of my troops. But I'm not sure if it's worth the risk; if I lose here, Honan might become untenable. Comments?

You probably won't take it first turn, but you probably will within a week if he doesn't open his supply lines and/or reinforce. Personally I'd go for it but bug out as soon as Japanese reinforcements arrive within 60 miles. Worst case is you lose a handful of troops but gain some experience. Remember, though, it takes forever to reduce units that are completely cut-off.

[VSWG]

Dec. 29th, 1941

Malaya:

78 Oscars from Kota Bharu and 62 Zeros from Kuching swept Singapore, but found no Allied fighters on CAP (I'm going to avoid air battles with Zeros until Jan. 1st, when 1 point of the Zero bonus wears off). The Japanese fighters will return tomorrow, and they might bring some bombers along, so I can't risk leaving my planes on the ground again. I ordered an all out naval attack on Mersing after a sweep by Tomahawks and Warhawks. Here, 10 valuable APs are still unloading. They share this hex with 5 Allied subs, and today SS KXII scored the first two hits on AP Awajjisan Maru. In return, she received 4 near hits, which caused 12 sys damage. For tomorrow I have ordered all submarines in the area to Mersing, 12 subs will try to score hits on the convoy, which will hopefully contain some ships damaged by the air raid.

AK Virginian, a cripple of the northern Malaya invasion fleet, was found and dispatched by Nells at Nicobar Island. Two other transports succumbed to their wounds at Sabang, but only after unloading all troops. So the scoreboard for the cancelled invasion of northern Malaya is: 3 transports lost, some damaged, for a slight delay in the Japanese advance (and Gary learning that Nells/Bettys need a level 4 AB to carry torpedoes).

Malacca conquered by a tank regiment.

The two brigades from Mersing have arrived at Johore Bahru. I will make a short stand before retreating into Singapore.

DEI:

8 Japanese DDs tried to kill the PT boats at Mersing, but only the .50 of the PTs score and cause "internal explosions" on DD Tomozuru. PT-41 and PT Q 111 have to return to Manila to reload torpedoes.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Tarakan at 34,60

Japanese Ships
DD Yamagumo, Shell hits 2
DD Harukaze
DD Matsukaze
DD Hatakaze
DD Chidori
DD Manazuru, Shell hits 1
DD Hatsukari
DD Tomozuru, Shell hits 3, on fire

Allied Ships
PT PT-31
PT PT-41
PT Q 111
PT Q 112
PT Q 113

The DDs then attacked and sunk a small AK docked at Tarakan.

Todays sceenshot details an ambush I have set up some days ago at Amboina. I'm expecting several invasions in the next couple of days (Gary has been very passive for a while now), and I think Amboina will be one of his targets. Here, the ANZAC cruiser force has gathered in 2 TFs far enough away from Kendari and Palau to be spotted (set to cruise speed, do not retire). I hope Gary thinks they are still in the Solomon Islands; the Walrus floatplanes had given away the position of the ANZAC cruisers by spotting several submarines at Milne Bay a week ago, and they haven't been detected since then. I have refrained from using them to attack shipping on the Kendari-Palau route to give Gary a false sense of security in this area. Now another convoy has left Kendari, heading to the southeast. Should this be an invasion force, I hope that my cruisers can smash it at Amboina. If not, I'll simply wait, he has to take Ambonia someday. Fuel is my biggest problem in this area, Darwin is empty and I had to refuel my combat ships from transports. Several tankers from Java, Sydney and Perth are on their way though.

2 very interesting reports from SigInt for Manado. Tanks and artillery for Java, or a first sign of a Darwin invasion?



As soon as Gary knows where the ANZAC cruisers are he will probably speed up his advance in SWPac, so I sent a small surface TF (1 CA, 2 CL, 3 DD) from Pearl Harbor to this area several days ago. If all goes well, they might catch some lightly escorted invasion convoys, too.

China:

No action here, besides the obligatory air raids on Nanyang, Hong Kong and some guerilla units; and Japanese bombardment attacks on Wuchow (13 cas.) and Hong Kong (62 cas., 1 gun lost). The Kaifeng assault force marched only 7 miles today, so it looks like I will have some time to think about this attack.

Wenchow (abandoned) will fall tomorrow.

Philippines:

8 Vildebeests arrived at Manila with orders to attack Japanese transports in the vicinity. This should catch Gary by surprise; the skies over the Philippines have been completely devoid of any action for a week by now.

SoPac, SWPac:

Nothing to report.

CentPac:

The brigade of the 25th Div. I had sent from Pearl Harbor is now completely unloaded at Midway, and more supplies are arriving every day. No signs of Japanese forces however.

[VSWG]

ORIGINAL: Rob Brennan UK

Welcome back from holiday , and im happy you had a good time .BUT prowling along the French riviera for internet cafes [&:]. thats a man addicted .. and considering you could have been prowling round looking for nudist beaches instead shows your dedication [:D]

[:D]
Well, I had to be meek and mild mannered, because my time in southern France was more a "family business" than a vacation: my sister decided to marry at Toulon, far away from all our relatives. Clever girl... [;)]

Good luck on co-ordinating that attack in northern china .. 5 corps over a river and from 2 differant hexes too .. nightmare time imo.
good if it works though. CHS china is the main reasin i havnt done a CHS game yet, its just too unfamiliar and also a bit scary.

Good luck

Your right, thanks for pointing it out. I've started tracking their progress, and I hope I can use the "follow unit" command to time their arrival.

ctangus,
great minds think alike! [;)] I'm using AOs to transport fuel to SoPac, and some of them won't be in a hurry to unload their cargo. Regarding Kaifeng, I just noticed that another unit appeared to the northeast in order to clear the road, so it looks like Gary decided for me.

[VSWG]

Dec. 30th, 1941

Malaya:

77 Oscars and 92 Zeros came to Singapore looking for trouble, but my planes were busy sinking Japanese ships:

Day Air attack on TF at 25,49 
 
Allied aircraft
Swordfish x 5
Wirraway x 7
Blenheim I x 20
Blenheim IV x 15
Hudson I x 24
B-17D Fortress x 29
B-17E Fortress x 9
  
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
AP Hakka Maru, Bomb hits 2,  on fire
AP Ayatosan Maru
AP Kaishi Maru
PC Ch 9
AP Koshu Maru #3, Bomb hits 9,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Amagiri
PG Eiko Maru
AP Josho Maru, Bomb hits 4,  on fire,  heavy damage
PG Chosa Maru
DD Hatsuyuki, Bomb hits 6,  on fire,  heavy damage
AP Nichiran Maru
MSW W.4
MSW Banshu Maru #18
AP Haisho Maru, Bomb hits 5,  on fire,  heavy damage
AK Bujun Maru
DD Asagiri

and

Day Air attack on TF at 25,50
 
Allied aircraft
Vildebeest IV x 3
B-17D Fortress x 3
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
AP Awajisan Maru, Bomb hits 1,  on fire



As you can see in the screenshot, the convoy has retreated from Mersing the day I ordered 13 subs to this hex!  I suck at submarine warfare...

Instead of chasing Japanese ships, I have combinded the subs into a sub transport TF and will evac a part of the 22nd Indian Brigade at Kuantan, the only unit of my Malaya Army not at Singapore or Johore Bahru. I've sent LVCPs, too, covered by a LRCAP of Buffaloes. Maybe I can save the largest part of this unit.

Tomorrow my LB will attack resource centers at Mersing, which fell today. Sadly, the resource centers at Kuala Lumpur and Mersing were captured fully intact, so I have to revert to strategic bombing. I have to keep my planes in the air and away from the Zeros anyway, and by attacking his resources I'm forcing Gary to CAP these bases.

After unloading supplies, AK Makassar (350 cap.) and AK Schwartenkonst (1000 cap.) were sunk by Nells in Singapore harbor. I forgot that without CAP, the Singapore hex itself will be subject to Japanese air raids.

DEI:

First the bad news: With amazing precision, Nells keep sinking the few tankers I have left in this area. I lost 2 TK and a PC at Palembang today, which was the only base NOT covered by bad weather, and despite a good number of fighters on CAP, but no A2A combat occured. The last TK in the Palembang/Tarakan area was also hit and lost its oil cargo, but might make it to Soerabaja.
The good news: PoW is only one hex away from Soerabaja, and still undetected! [&o] Sys damage is 71. I'm going to evacuate her as soon as I know where Mini KB is.

The Japanese convoy from Kendari moved further to the east and is now 120 miles to the northeast of Amboina, but it might be an empty convoy on its way back to Palau. Next turn will tell, my 2 surface combat TFs are waiting some hexes to the southeast.

Philippines:

The T.IVa ambush worked! [:)]

Day Air attack on TF, near Lamon Bay at 44,52 
 
Allied aircraft
T.IVa x 7 
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
DD Kuri, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire
DD Tsuga

Now Gary must either provide some CAP, or retreat his task forces. A win-win situation for me, I should have done this much earlier.

7 units entered Manila today, the siege has begun. With 40.000 supplies and an assault value of over 1500 I'm more than ready. More supplies in small AKs are on their way, maybe 1 or 2 will actually make it...

China:

Hong Kong's supply level is slowly rising, despite daily ground and air bombardments! Only by a 50 supply points every day, but still...

A Japanese Division cleared a path to Kaifeng today, so I cancelled this offensive. Lets stick to the original plan: strategic defense, tactical offensives near Yangku and Nanchang.

That's it, nothing to report from SWPac, SoPac or CentPac. A bit boring ATM, but hey, that's not my fault!  [;)]

[Rob Brennan UK]

Nice attack vs mersing, the brits in singapore dont take long to start getting effective on anti-ship duty. Good luck getting the POW away to safety too.

[VSWG]

Thanks Rob, I'll need a lot of luck to save the PoW. It's a long way to San Francisco.

January 1st, 1942

Malaya:

My level bombers didn't attack Mersing due to bad weather. Fortunately, no Japanese level bombers attacked Singapore's airfield, just another sweep by 78 Oscars and 78 Zeros. My fighters did take off and sweep Mersing, so Gary knows they're still at Singapore. Today's orders: an all-out ground attack on the first units that entered Johore Bahru.

DEI:

A squadron of Vildebeest at Singkawang strikes Kuching port while all Zeros are busy sweeping Singapore:

Day Air attack on Kuching , at 27,56
 
Allied aircraft
F.K.51 x 2
Vildebeest IV x 8 
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
AP Hakutetsu Maru #13, Bomb hits 1,  on fire
PC Ch 8, Bomb hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage

Great, I'll leave them on port attack and see if Gary uses some Zeros for CAP. If not, I might order my LB at Singapore to attack Kuching's airfields. DL is high, I'm reconning them every day, and the airfield are reported to be cramped with more than 200 planes.

Philippines:

The T.IVa's at Manila are causing a world of pain for Gary. [:D]

Day Air attack on TF, near Laoag at 45,48 
 
Allied aircraft
T.IVa x 6 
 
No Allied losses
 
Japanese Ships
AK Gyoun Maru, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire
AK Suruga Maru, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire (sinks)

First Japanese bombardment attack at Manila, 3 divisions are reported. Far from being enough to take the city, the Allied assault value is higher.

China:

A deliberate attack at Hong Kong brings fort levels down to 2, few losses for both sides. Supply level constant. It's 1942, and Hong Kong is still Allied!!

Near Yenan, Gary has retreated from the wooden hex, so all movement orders for my troops have been cancelled. I'm more than happy about a constant frontline; my troops are filling out, supply levels are increasing and forts are being built.

SoPac, SWPac:

Lae was invaded today. Fortunately, 18 Dauntless arrived at Port Moresby today and are ordered to attack the enemy convoy.

CentPac:

Today's highlight happened here:

Yesterday SigInt reported radio traffic some hexes east of Marcus Island, so several submarines in the area were sent to investigate. Today, SS Pompano reports a Japanese convoy east of Marcus Island heading straight to Midway! Furthermore, an Allied sub 420 miles northeast of Kwajalein reports being sighted by a Kate, so KB has sortied, too. No doubt this is a Midway invasion!

Just a little reminder, this quote is from my AAR, about a week old:

A real gem from SigInt:
SIG INT REPORT FOR 12/23/41: South Seas Det. is loaded on AK,China Maru moving to Marcus Island.

Mmmh, KB at Kwajalein, SSD at Marcus... Midway? Johnson? Palmyra? The Marshalls would be a better staging area for an invasion of the Line Islands, and Johnson would only make sense as a first part of an PH invasion, for which it is already too late IMO, so my bet is on Midway. I split the 25th Divison at PH and the strongest part + supplies is (fast) transported to Midway.

[:D] [:D]
Incredible! Like the real Midway, SigInt provided me with the information I needed to predict the enemy's moves! Too bad it's still Jan. 1942 and I can't risk a CV battle. SigInt is soooooo useful!!!



5 subs have a chance to intercept the convoy tomorrow (red dots). Many more are on their way from Pearl Harbor and the Gilberts.

Situation Report Midway:



1. At Midway, the last squads of the 25th Div/1 are being unloaded. As you can see, supply is terribly low, but 2 AKs with 6000 supply are unloading their cargo as we speak. The other TFs at Midway are an empty Fast Transport TF (1 DD, 6 DMS) that will return full speed to Pearl Harbor, 2 AVDs that I need at Midway in order to fulfil a house rule (number of planes =< number of aviation support) and SS Argonaut (500 mines at Midway now), which will try to intercept the convoy even with only 4 torpedoes in the tubes. This turn 24 Wildcats transfered from CV Lexington to Midway (6). All planes are ready, but the pilots are a little fatigued. CAP set to 80 %.

2. 2 empty AKs that transported parts of the 25th to Midway and 3 escorting DMS. KB might cut the LOC between Pearl Harbor and Midway tomorrow, so the valuable DMS are going to leave the AKs behind and sprint to Oahu.

3. 4 AKs transporting 11.000 supplies to Midway. They'll probably run into KB, but they are ordered to continue anyway.

4. 6 DM returning from Midway, almost out of fuel! Destination: French Frigate Shoals, which they will barely reach. At FFS they will meet an ASW TF (6) in two days in order to refuel. Too bad this had to happen now, I would hate to lose them agaist KB.

5. Another convoy transporting 11.000 supplies and 9.000 fuel to Midway. This convoy will probably be redirected to the Aleutians, but will continue its trip northwest for now.

6. Lexington and 5 DDs + 10 DDs in an ASW TF, after moving a squadron of Wildcats into transfer range of Midway. Lexington will return to Pearl Harbor. Saratoga and Enterprise are at Pearl; Yorktown is enroute from Panama and will arrive in 5 days. I doubt that my carriers will sortie, they won't have a chance against KB in January 1942. I'd rather send them to SoPac for a raid while KB is busy, but fuel levels are still too low to sustain a multi-carrier TF.
The ASW TF will escort (5) for one turn, and then meet (4) at FFS to refuel.

7. At Pearl Harbor 5 submarines left for Midway. Furthermore, another Fast Transport TF (10 DDs, 2500 cap.) was created and ordered to load supplies, just to be sure.

Bottom line: Gary is a little late; except for supplies Midway is in great shape and should withstand the assault of the SSD. Even if he brought more troops it won't be a short battle, and there should be some opportunities to attrit the enemy. I'm looking forward to the next turns... [:)]
&nbsp;

[KDonovan]

with those subs in the area...i would set that Catalina squadren at Midway to night naval attack. Make sure you put in a "qualified bomber" commander though. If your subs spot the KB at night..you might get off an night torpedo attack, and might be able to land a torpedo into a jap CV

great AAR btw!

[ny59giants]

Send your AK's and any other ships (NE) towards the Aleutians from Midway to get out of range of KB (if it is there). Try to save those DMS's as they will be needed to go with your BB TF's to sweep for mines in the years ahead. &nbsp;

[VSWG]

KDonovan,
great idea! I'll do it as soon as the convoy is closer to Midway. [:)]

ny59giants,
Roger. All TFs in the area were rerouted to the northeast this turn. The DMS should be fine, but I have to refuel my DM TF first. Next turn will be critical. And the AKs will continue to Midway no matter what - I need more supplies on Midway ASAP, and I'm willing to lose them.

---

A somewhat anti-climactic turn...

January 2nd, 1942

Malaya:

No strike from Singapore AGAIN, but also no Japanese attack on the airbase - and 8 Vildebeests from Singkawang found out why: they flew another port attack on Kuching - and reported 72 Zeros on CAP!! Gary kept all his fighters at Kuching, he must have expected a full strike from Singapore after the Vildebeests reported no CAP here yesterday. Needless to say all Vildebeests were shot down... [:(]

My fighter pilots at Singapore have now 0 fatigue and 99 morale, so I ordered them to fly CAP again.

4 Japanese units are at Johore Bharu now. I'm thinking about retreating into Singapore next turn, as I'm not sure if my units can delay the enemy here, with only 2 forts. Furthermore, this would increase chances that the 6.000 supply at JB would move into Singapore, too.

A 4000 cap. AK from India escorted by a MSW entered the Malacca strait today, full of supplies for Singapore. My first squadron of Hurricanes flew LRCAP from Sabang and intercepted some Sallys and Helens from Kota Bharu, which couldn't score a hit. No Japanese planes were shot down though. Where have the Nells from Kota Bharu gone? To CentPac? The TF was ordered to Medan, where the Hurrcianes will fly CAP before they will join the P40s at Singapore. The TF will have to sneak past some I-boats on the final run to Singapore.

DEI:

Nells found the 1000 cap. AK Verspijck on its way to Singapore from Palembang and put 4 fish into it. Sometimes a ships actually get through and returns to Palembang/Java, so I'll keep trying despite the losses.

To the north and south of Java my motley ASW forces kept Japanese submarines busy so that 2 TFs of transports and auxiliaries from Batavia and Soerabaja could pass the straits undisturbed. It's also a rehearsal for the planned evacuation of the Prince of Wales, which is scheduled for the next phase of bad weather (Partly Cloudy at the moment). A small reserves of APs and escorts will be kept at Tijlitjap, but most of the ships are goingt to Colombo and Perth.

First reported mine hit of the game: AK Hokku Maru hits a sub-layed mine at Kuching. This harbor is very busy, another invasion task force is probably gathering here.

China:

Another deliberate attack at Hong Kong, the second in a row. This time the forts did not come down, and both sides suffered only approx. 230 casualties. More importantly, the supply level of Hong Kong Fortress dropped dramtically this turn (from 2000 to 200), so the next attack might be the last.

Near Nanchang a Chinese attack on a single Japanese brigade on the wooden hex failed:



A fifth Corps from Changsha will arrive today, and then another attack will be ordered. I have to clear this hex before my southern army enters Nanchang, or the brigade will block my retreat path while fighting to its death because it cannot retreat into Nanchang (all surrounding hexes are allied). Furthermore, two Japanese units appeared 120 miles east of Nanchang and threaten to pin down my main army - Gary is trying to encircle my forces. I hope todays failed attack was just an outlier, 5 Corps should be able to take care of a single Japanese brigade even on a wooden hex.

SWPac:

The Dauntless from Port Moresby attacked enemy shipping at Lae and sunk a MSW, ignoring the more valuabel transports - a consequence of the low experience level, I guess... Still no attack by Japanese troops at Lae.

Some transports with supplies left Melbourne and Sydney several days ago, heading for Port Moresby. I'm might send some troops in the near future (which I did not intent to do initially), as Gary's Midway invasion suggests that SWPac is not a top priority for him.

SoPac:

Nothing to report.

CentPac:

The invasion convoy continued its trip to Midway, and at night SS Cachalot surfaced and made contact. AK China Maru was hit by two duds. Afterwards, the escorts attacked her with depth charges and gun shells, but only 1 shell hit caused damage (20 sys). Lets see who's running out of ammo first: my submarines or his escorts. This is the second depth charge attack, and the convoy is at least 3 days away from Midway. Gary will need some carrier planes to keep my submarines at bay, their number is rising fast.



At daylight, thunderstorms prevented my patrol planes at Midway from taking off, but several submarines reported enemy planes (Jakes and Kates), so Kido Butai is indeed in the area.

No action between Midway and Pearl Harbor. It takes forever for AKs to unload supplies at Midway (level 1 port), so I'll probably form another Fast Transport TF next turn and sent it to the northeast of Midway, where it will wait for a chance to drop off these supplies. The first FT TF will arrive in 2 days, and was also ordered to take a less direct route to Midway.

A cruiser TF was created today with the most heavily armored cruiser at Pearl (CA Astoria, CA Minneapolis, CL St. Louis, CL St. Helena, 4 Bagley Class DD). It will move to the northeast of Midway, too, making a wide turn to the north. I doubt that I'll send it in, but I want to have some options.

[ny59giants]

I would think about putting the CL Helena in a separate SC TF. Think of those newer and heavily armed US CL's as your pocket BB's (Boise & Co.). [&o][&o]
They have very good endurance and will kick butt, except when facing a CA or bigger.
I think a high speed run to the N or NW of Midway might be in order to attack from his flank.

I like to send two of them from Pearl to Solomons ASAP. Keeps the Japanese honest with their invasion TF. [:D]

[VSWG]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

I like to send two of them from Pearl to Solomons ASAP. Keeps the Japanese honest with their invasion TF. [:D]

[;)]

[VSWG]

Does someone know why this squadron does not upgrade to Hurricanes? It's been like that for several days now. I've also tried upgrading a Blenheim IF squadron at Calcutta, and a Buffalo squadron at Singapore, but they all refuse to upgrade.

[stldiver]

Some of those units don't upgrade till May 42, It will pop up when you pick upgrade. Or there may not be enough planes available.

[DuckofTindalos]

No RAF squadrons can upgrade to ANYTHING until 6/42.