Operation Point Luck - Team Game (Allied side)

[KDonovan]

This AAR is off limits to Walkerd and 1 EyedJacks

The Teams
Japan
- Walkerd (Darren) - Burma, Malaya, China, Manchuria
- 1 EyedJacks(Mike) - Pacific, DEI, New Guinea
Allies
- Ctangus (Chuck) - India, SEAC, China, Russia (if needed)
- KDonovan (Kenny) - Dutch, Australia, New Zealand, SWPAC
- Scott1964 - USAFFE, SOPAC, CENPAC, NOPAC, Canada, West Coast

The Game
- v1.804
- CHS - Extended Map
- Scenerio 157 (Nik mod changes)
- 2 day turns
- PDU ON
- Auto-Sub OFF
- Advanced Weather OFF
- Reinforcements FIXED
- Sub Doctrine OFF
- Allied damage control ON
- Historic OFF
- Vary Setup OFF
- Surprise ON
- Auto Upgrades OFF

House Rules
Stacking Limits
- no more than 50 aircraft per airfield size (float planes, patrol planes don't apply)
- doesn't apply too..Tokyo, Osaka, Karachi, Pearl Harbor, San Fran (staging areas)
- no more than 450 aircraft per carrier hex (represents a level 9 AF)

Political Points
- no moving Kwantung army units out of Manchuria without paying PP
- no moving non-SEAC chinese units out of China without paying PP
- both of these restrictions include aircraft (AVG doesn't apply)

TF Limitations
- no more than 6 ships in a ASW TF
- no more than 6 PT boats in TF (max is 2 TF's per hex)

1st Turn rules
- no CV hunting on 1st turn by japan, in return allied CV's won't interfere with PH raid
- KB strike will be redone if rained out on 1st day (if the 2nd day is rain out..too bad)
- no warp 1st turn landings (be realistic)
- allies can only give orders to ships at sea, and Chinese units (but not AVG)

Misc Rules
- no other ships allowed in PT Boat TF except when transferring
- no commando sub raids to gain intel
- russia must be activated 1 month prior to attack
- no training on "supply" to gain experience
- no upgrading 2E to 4E bombers unless they historically did so

[KDonovan]

Ctangus, Scott1964...if you have any ideas on strategy..please post it here

[ctangus]

Admiral of the Fleet Lord Angus here, Grand Mugwumpf of the CBI theater (and hopefully not Russia.)

My general strategic goals are:

China

In order of priority:

1. Keep as many Japanese troops tied down as possible, to keep them out of Cent Pac & South Pac where the main US counter-offensive will eventually launch. Hopefully cause a few casualties too to put pressure on Japanese manpower & armament production.

2. Secure airfields, resources & HI in North China to provide multiple well-supplied bases for late-war strategic bombing of Japan.

Burma

1. Keep the Burma Road open, without stripping India.

2. (Maybe) Launch an early offensive towards Thailand, to stretch out Japanese resources.

Malaya

1. Damn the casualties, hold out at Singapore as long as possible to give time for both India & the DEI to build up their defenses.

2. Turn one is still under negotiation. It's possible that a super-strong Jap invasion against Malaya will be occurring early. If that's the case I'll do the opposite to #1, and do the best Sir Robin that I can in order to safeguard India. If so, as soon as I know it's somewhat-safe, I'll definitely launch an early counter-attack somewhere towards Sumatra-Malaya-Thailand.

Similiar to my China goals, I want to keep as many Japanese engaged as possible, even if I have to take a breather for a few months.

India

My initial plans are defensive only. I want to build up multiple-supporting airfields in these areas:

Dacca-Calcutta
Madras
Bombay
Karachi

[ctangus]

A have a few initial requests for my fellow commanders:

1. We're short on transport aircraft (and will be for some time) & they're invaluable in the CBI theater. I'd appreciate as many squadrons as you can send me.

2. I have grandiose ideas in China. While I may well not be able to accomplish them, I certainly won't without combat engineers. Ideally I'd have two regiments - one to be on the offensive & one to be planning for the next offensive. They could either be both from the West Coast (transferred by PP expenditure) or 1 from the West Coast plus the Phillipine Scout Engineer Regt. Catalinas could fly that to Pakhoi.

I would return them when they're needed for major offensive ops in Cent Pac/So Pac/SW Pac. But that won't be for a while. I could probably put them to good use in the meantime.

3. I want to spend about 260 PPs on Dec. 7th to change 1 Command HQ (NCAC) & 2 Corps HQ from the China command to the SEA command. I want to send them into Burma where I'm sure they'll help with the defense.

4. 3 SEA B-17 squadrons start in the area of Scott's command. (1 at Pearl, 2 at US.) Unless Hawaii is threatened I plan to island-hop them towards India.

5. Similiarly, 3 SEA P-40B squadrons start the game in LA. I'd like transport for them ASAP, at least as far as Perth.

6. AVG is probably our most effective fighter unit right now. I'd like to ask for replacements off on all other P-40B units, and allow me to draw all those replacements. (There's not a lot of them - a few in the pool and then 1/month.)

7. As soon as possible, or at least when the DEI are untenable, I'd like I'd least one of the longer-legged Dutch recon squadrons. Ideally I'd get some of the Phillipine evacuees as well - maybe a couple P-40E squadrons & a couple B-17 squadrons.

I'm asking a lot! [:'(] Here's what I can offer in return:

1. A steady of flow of supply & fuel from Aden -> Australia. I'll drop it off at Perth, unless requested otherwise. I haven't calculated what kind of surplus I'll have yet, but I'd be happy to see any surplus in Oz.

2. I also have a surplus of merchant shipping. I'll send as much as I can to either Kenny or Scott, whoever wants it.

3. A Brit MLE starts the game in Trincomalee. The Dutch have a bunch of minelayers. I'm willing to loan that indefinitely.

4. 2 D-class Brit cruisers start the game in Palembang. I'm willing to loan them to the DEI command unless/until Force Z takes major losses.

[wneumann]

Hello y'all and good luck.
 
From my limited experience, making a stand at Singapore is not a bad idea, especially if you succeed in withdrawing most or all of the British & Commonwealth LCU's intact. The big consideration to watch is that the Japanese do not make a quick dash into southern Malaya to cut off your retreat (either amphibious, para, or an overland march across the central mountains - my opponent Pillager tried all three).
 
I began retreating the British immediately - (1) you're not gonna stop or contain a Japanese landing, (2) once the Japanese are on shore and engage your LCU, they will at the least be taking losses if not slowed down in their withdrawal, (3) the possiblity of the quick dash into southern Malaya I mentioned before.    
 
What I might have done differently if it were me to do again would be to get some additional supply into Singapore before the Japanese cut off communication with the outside.
 
This is all I did in my PBEM... luck, the game system, and my opponent did the rest. Passive defense may be boring but it has its place.
 
The only question remains.... How important is Singapore to the Japs and how bad do they want it?
 
In a way, Malaya can be compared to the Crimea, and Singapore to Sevastopol. Just so happened the Russians made a quagmire out of Singapore at the same time the Japs were overrunning Malaya.
 

[wneumann]

The Red Army and Black Sea Fleet in Singapore? Hmmmm.

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: wneumann

Hello y'all and good luck.

Thanks! [:)]

From my limited experience, making a stand at Singapore is not a bad idea, especially if you succeed in withdrawing most or all of the British & Commonwealth LCU's intact. The big consideration to watch is that the Japanese do not make a quick dash into southern Malaya to cut off your retreat (either amphibious, para, or an overland march across the central mountains - my opponent Pillager tried all three).

Yea, that's my general idea too. If the Japs succeed in cutting my LOC to Singers before most my units get there, I'll bug out. But ideally I'll hold, even if it costs me a few LCUs in the long run.

ORIGINAL: wneumann

What I might have done differently if it were me to do again would be to get some additional supply into Singapore before the Japanese cut off communication with the outside.

That reminds me - Kenny - want to try to sneak some supply/resource/oil into Singapore? It will help the DEI in the long run, even if you lose a few ships. I'll be sending some supply down from India as well.

Or if your transport planes don't have anything better to do, they can always fly supply from Palembang to Singapore.

ORIGINAL: wneumann

The Red Army and Black Sea Fleet in Singapore? Hmmmm.

Well, I knew what you meant, even if you didn't write it quite correctly. [;)]

[ctangus]

China

Some preliminary thoughts on China & then Admiral of the Fleet Lord Angus is going to bed.

The intial supply stores are better than stock: roughly 80K vs. roughly 40K.

The Chinese have several more LCUs. Without counting every unit I'd estimate roughly 20K AV vs. roughly 12-14K AV in stock. Some of these units are static, however.

The Chinese HQ is also static, which will make it hard to build up supply depots, thereby slowing down offensives.

The experience of the Chinese seems lower on average - I've noticed several Corps with 20-25 experience. [X(]

There are several Japanese bases that should be easy to take early. See my map. I think I'm going to try to assault every Jap base circled in white by the end of January '42. I'm sure I won't succeed with all of them, but I should succeed in at least one or two and that will force the Japanese to react to me, as opposed to the other way around.

After a quick blitz to take some bases on the cheap I'll wait for a bit to see what the Japanese are doing. I'll also try to find some low-intensity combat to improve the Chinese experience.

Ultimately, I want to take the bases circled in yellow. They all have a lot of resources & HI and/or can build up into large airfields. With the poor lines-of-communication between north & south China, I expect this won't be easy. My preliminary goal is to hold all of those by the end of 1943.

In South China I plan to abandon the bases circled in black. While I think a lot of South China could be conquered easily if I concentrated there, the reward is small (few resources) & with all those trails the LOCs are long and vulnerable to counter-attack.

[KDonovan]

Admiral Dman reporting

My general strategic goals are as follows:

Dutch

I will sacrifice most of the Dutch fleet in surface actions. After playing against RUPD, i've learned that Dutch ships are pretty useless after June 1942.

O19, 020 will mine Kuching on the 1st turn, as i expect a landing there, and will move to the Calcutta to load up more mines, from which i will mine staging rear bases of the japanese.

No plans on whether to do "Fortress Timor" or "Fortress Java", will see how the first couple turns develop and what support i will get from my allies [:D]

Australia/NZ

All available warships will be sent to Rabual area to mess with the landings there. I'll attempt a evacuation of Lae, Kavieng, Rabual to Port Moresby. PM will also be reinforced with land units from Oz.

A24 Banshees due to arrive in a couple weeks will be immediately sent to assist the Dutch

SWPAC

not much to due but wait for the enormous build up of material after garunteeing the defense of Australia.

[KDonovan]

1. We're short on transport aircraft (and will be for some time) & they're invaluable in the CBI theater. I'd appreciate as many squadrons as you can send me.

I'll send you my two Dutch squadrons. Before i do, would you like any evacuations of some troops from Mayala to Palemberg via air transport? Making Palemberg harder to take increases the likely hood that most of the oil and resources get sabatoged. Your call on that

2. I have grandiose ideas in China. While I may well not be able to accomplish them, I certainly won't without combat engineers. Ideally I'd have two regiments - one to be on the offensive & one to be planning for the next offensive. They could either be both from the West Coast (transferred by PP expenditure) or 1 from the West Coast plus the Phillipine Scout Engineer Regt. Catalinas could fly that to Pakhoi.

I would return them when they're needed for major offensive ops in Cent Pac/So Pac/SW Pac. But that won't be for a while. I could probably put them to good use in the meantime.

my theaters doesn't get Engineer Rgts. Need to ask Scott1964. Evac PI Eng Rgt by sub seems like the best idea.

3. I want to spend about 260 PPs on Dec. 7th to change 1 Command HQ (NCAC) & 2 Corps HQ from the China command to the SEA command. I want to send them into Burma where I'm sure they'll help with the defense.

I will need about 700-800 PPs within the first 2 weeks to move around my isolated dutch land units.

4. 3 SEA B-17 squadrons start in the area of Scott's command. (1 at Pearl, 2 at US.) Unless Hawaii is threatened I plan to island-hop them towards India.

I don't have any SWPAC forces on the W.C. but would like 2 P39 squadrons as many B17 squadrons as possible moved to the DEI as soon as possible, so i can hit capture japanese resources and supplies, thereby pinning down zero squadrons in the DEI.

5. Similiarly, 3 SEA P-40B squadrons start the game in LA. I'd like transport for them ASAP, at least as far as Perth.

6. AVG is probably our most effective fighter unit right now. I'd like to ask for replacements off on all other P-40B units, and allow me to draw all those replacements. (There's not a lot of them - a few in the pool and then 1/month.)

will do

7. As soon as possible, or at least when the DEI are untenable, I'd like I'd least one of the longer-legged Dutch recon squadrons. Ideally I'd get some of the Phillipine evacuees as well - maybe a couple P-40E squadrons & a couple B-17 squadrons.

man you want everything [:D]. I was hoping for the USAAFE airunits for the Dutch. When the Dutch position become untainable...i'll ship them to the SEAC, if you want

On the side note, i would send those obsolete P26 and P35 to China in the 1st couple turns, since thats the only place they can survive. Might've well use those airframes if we got them

I'm asking a lot! Here's what I can offer in return:

1. A steady of flow of supply & fuel from Aden -> Australia. I'll drop it off at Perth, unless requested otherwise. I haven't calculated what kind of surplus I'll have yet, but I'd be happy to see any surplus in Oz.

Thanks i'll need it. Give priority to fuel from the start, if you can. I'll let you know where i need stuff, since i'm the turn before yours

2. I also have a surplus of merchant shipping. I'll send as much as I can to either Kenny or Scott, whoever wants it.

nice, don't forget to put some troops in there before you send the AKs my way. You get alot of AA units that i could use. Also I want the 7th Aus Inf Div back when it arrives at Aden in 68 days.

3. A Brit MLE starts the game in Trincomalee. The Dutch have a bunch of minelayers. I'm willing to loan that indefinitely.

Send to Soerabaja ASAP

4. 2 D-class Brit cruisers start the game in Palembang. I'm willing to loan them to the DEI command unless/until Force Z takes major losses.

tell you what, save those worthless non-radar equiped ships for british withdrawl, and in return lend me the CL Ceres and CL Columbo as those ships have radar, which my fleets can use. I'll also send you the CL Sumatra since it will need repair

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: KDonovan
I will sacrifice most of the Dutch fleet in surface actions. After playing against RUPD, i've learned that Dutch ships are pretty useless after June 1942.

I've learned a similiar lesson recently the hard way as well. (In the last day or two I lost CL Tromp in surface action with no return damage - May '43.)

My current opinion (still evolving) is that if you gain a day from losing one of the Dutch or Asiatic fleet ships you're doing ok. If you gain a week or more you're winning.

O19, 020 will mine Kuching on the 1st turn, as i expect a landing there, and will move to the Calcutta to load up more mines, from which i will mine staging rear bases of the japanese.

Minor point - Trincomalee's also a size 9 port - you could re-load their mines there - much closer to the front lines than Calcutta. Or if you want the Brit MLE you could send it to Batavia, Soerabaja, Tjilitjap, etc. & re-load from there.

[KDonovan]

my requests

1) i would like the AA units and BF at Hong Kong, fast transported to Soerabaja if possible

2) my dutch naval ships are very short legged, i would like one long leg cruiser to beef up my operation radius....either the CL Marblehead, or CA Exeter.

3) i would like the CA Lousiville and CA Pensacola from the SOPAC to beef up my Australian/NZ naval force, and also a few USN DD's from the CENPAC.

4) i would like the ML Kung Woo to land its 500 mines at Palemberg so to make that base a tougher nut to crack.

5) i would like the DM Thracian and Stronghold to attempt to mine Tarakan.

6) i would like the Vildebeast squadron at Columbo to move to SRA, as it works well in the tight waterways of the islands. Will give it back when i'm done [:D]

[KDonovan]

btw..i will attempt to supply Signapore with as much oil and resources as necessary.

[ctangus]

Dang - I posted a little while ago that I was about to go to bed, but this game's too fun. And we haven't even started!

ORIGINAL: KDonovan

1. We're short on transport aircraft (and will be for some time) & they're invaluable in the CBI theater. I'd appreciate as many squadrons as you can send me.

I'll send you my two Dutch squadrons. Before i do, would you like any evacuations of some troops from Mayala to Palemberg via air transport? Making Palemberg harder to take increases the likely hood that most of the oil and resources get sabatoged. Your call on that

Yes, now that you bring it up. I'll have many surplus engineer units pretty soon. I'd like to send some to India via that route but at least two to garrison Palembang is fine with me. I'd like to send one infantry brigade, too, but that depends a bit on how the first few weeks on Malaya turn out.

3. I want to spend about 260 PPs on Dec. 7th to change 1 Command HQ (NCAC) & 2 Corps HQ from the China command to the SEA command. I want to send them into Burma where I'm sure they'll help with the defense.

I will need about 700-800 PPs within the first 2 weeks to move around my isolated dutch land units.

Certainly true. And that should be a priority. But you don't need all those PPs at once. My initial PP requests are the 260 for the above, and about another 240 for 2 engineer regiments. That should be all I'll ask for in December. We start with 1000 - get about another 1200 by the end of the month. With my 500 & your 800 that leaves about another 1100 free during December.

I don't have any SWPAC forces on the W.C. but would like 2 P39 squadrons as many B17 squadrons as possible moved to the DEI as soon as possible, so i can hit capture japanese resources and supplies, thereby pinning down zero squadrons in the DEI.

Yea, that would be helpful.

6. AVG is probably our most effective fighter unit right now. I'd like to ask for replacements off on all other P-40B units, and allow me to draw all those replacements. (There's not a lot of them - a few in the pool and then 1/month.)

will do

Great!!!

7. As soon as possible, or at least when the DEI are untenable, I'd like I'd least one of the longer-legged Dutch recon squadrons. Ideally I'd get some of the Phillipine evacuees as well - maybe a couple P-40E squadrons & a couple B-17 squadrons.

man you want everything [:D].

[/quote]

[/quote]Of course! [;)]

I was hoping for the USAAFE airunits for the Dutch. When the Dutch position become untainable...i'll ship them to the SEAC, if you want

On the side note, i would send those obsolete P26 and P35 to China in the 1st couple turns, since thats the only place they can survive. Might've well use those airframes if we got them

Now that I think about it, that's probably the best thing to do. If there's an early attack against India, I might ask for some more of those assets. I'll gladly accept some of those assets once the DEI is toast.

Give priority to fuel from the start, if you can.

Sure.

2. I also have a surplus of merchant shipping. I'll send as much as I can to either Kenny or Scott, whoever wants it.

nice, don't forget to put some troops in there before you send the AKs my way. You get alot of AA units that i could use. Also I want the 7th Aus Inf Div back when it arrives at Aden in 68 days.

I hadn't thought about the AA units, but I can send some. I was planning on sending the 7th AIF Div back to you. (6th AIF Div too.) If there's a strong threat to India I may negotiate that.

3. A Brit MLE starts the game in Trincomalee. The Dutch have a bunch of minelayers. I'm willing to loan that indefinitely.

Send to Soerabaja ASAP

Consider it on the way.

4. 2 D-class Brit cruisers start the game in Palembang. I'm willing to loan them to the DEI command unless/until Force Z takes major losses.

tell you what, save those worthless non-radar equiped ships for british withdrawl, and in return lend me the CL Ceres and CL Columbo as those ships have radar, which my fleets can use. I'll also send you the CL Sumatra since it will need repair

At least one for sure. I'd like to wait a week or two (depending on losses) to commit to a second.

[modrow]

Hey guys,

this looks like the beginning of a very promissing AAR ! Had thought about applying for the last Allied spot myself, but decided I was a bit too green... But will follow this closely, keep it up !

Looking forward to the action to start...

Hartwig

[KDonovan]

So far i've only been in contact with Ctangus with regards to allied strategy in the 1st few weeks, as i believe Scott1964 maybe on holiday vacation. So far this is what has been decided with regards to interservice cooperation

1) Dutch Transport Planes will attempt to evac some BF's and a few Infantry squads from Maylaya to Palemberg, in order to beef up the defense there. Once this is accomplished, then the Dutch Transport Planes will be sent to India.

2) 260 PPs will be spent on day 1 to change 1 Command HQ (NCAC) & 2 Corps HQ from the China command to the SEA command. Where i assume they will be airlifted into Burma to beef up the defense there.

3) 3 SEAC B-17 squadrons, and 3 SEAC P40B squadrons starting at PH & WC will be moved to India, unless Hawaii is being threatened.

4) AVG will receive the priority of P40B reinforcements, therefore all other P40B squadrons will have replacements turned off.

5) When the DEI become untenable one Dutch Falcon Recon Squadron, 1 Demon Fighter Squadron, 2 Martin Bomber Squadron, and 4 Do-K Patrol Squadrons will be sent to India

6) A steady of flow of supply & fuel from Aden to Australia, starting with mostly fuel will be sent.

7) Surplus SEAC Merchant shipping will be sent to Australia and West Coast. Those being sent to Australia will transfer the 7th Aus Inf Division and a few AA units (when they arrive).

8) Brit MLE that starts the game in Trincomalee. Will be sent to Soerabaja from the outset.

9) 1 D-class cruiser and 1 C-class cruiser will be lent to the Dutch for the defense of the islands.

10) 300 PP's will be spent by the Dutch on the 1st turn freeing up some Dutch units for redeployement.


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

This is whats left to be decided....

1) Ctangus wants combat engineers for the China Theatre of operations.

2) I want 2 P39 and 2 B17 Squadrons from the West Coast sent to Australia

3) I would like the AA units and BF at Hong Kong, fast transported to Soerabaja if possible

4) my dutch naval ships are very short legged, i would like one long leg cruiser to beef up my operation radius....either the CL Marblehead, or CA Exeter.

5) I would like the CA Lousiville and CA Pensacola from the SOPAC to beef up my Australian/NZ naval force, and also a few USN DD's from the CENPAC.

6) I would like the ML Kung Woo at Signapore to land its 500 mines at Palemberg so to make that base a tougher nut to crack.

7) I would like the DM Thracian and Stronghold to attempt to mine Tarakan.

8) I would like the Vildebeast squadron at Columbo to move to SRA, as it works well in the tight waterways of the islands. I will give it back when i'm done

[KDonovan]

here's my planned defense of DEI regarding mines, subs, and PT boats. Ctangus, Scott1964, feel free to send any PT boats, or subs to reinforce my defenses, or to fill in the gaps. As you can see, i'm concentrating on my right flank

[ny59giants]

Just a couple of suggestions that you can take or leave.
1 - Send in a few AK's to either Tavoy or Victory Point and take those BF's to Andamann Island so you have a air bridge from Malaya/Sumatra to India for your short legged planes. I think they came from SE India at start. I was usually able to get them there before the Japanese attacked. I like to use them rather than just a sacrifice for nothing. Needs to be set in motion from day 1.

2 - The Dutch may want to spend a few PP's to be able to move the two or so BF's on the west side of Sumatra via AK's to Palembang. Enables you to build up the defense quicker and adds engineers for the destruction of the Oil facilities when it is captured.

3 - Send in one ship TF's of AK's from Palembang to Singapore with Resources. They are usually immune from Nell attacks and allow them to be converted to supplies.

4 - I like to send some of the AK's from Manila to northern Borneo to pick up a couple of the British BF's and transport them to northern Oz. The biggest problem in the beginning is lack of Aviation Support for your planes as the SRA gets run over. I've had the planes, but no support for them. [:(] Plus, I set them to building fortifications.

5 - From the PI, I save the Engineer unit first and then large Aviation Support from Manila. All to Darwin.

6 - I often combine the small Dutch air units into one large. Thus, those disbanded units come back to Sydney in 90 days (saves the use of PP's). This may be considered "gamey" but I've used it.

I like to get out or move some of the BF's that can be useful someplace rather than let them get killed easily where they start. Anybody who has played the Allies knows that they will need them after the 6 month blitzkrieg is completed by the Japs.

Good luck Guys!![&o][&o]

[KDonovan]

PG's, AMC's, Q-ships.........what should we do with this handy ships. They are quite powerful. Of note are...

3 Taney Class - PG
2 Black Swan - PG
1 Erie Class - PG
1 Soerabaja - PG
1 George Averoff - PG
3 Aus AMC class - AP
2 British AMC - AP
4 British Q-ships - AP

Most of those PG's are armored, and the AP's are brimming with AA guns and weapons (including torpedos on the british Q-ships). Yet past mid 1942 i get the feeling they become quite useless, as more powerful true warships come online. So we might as well use them in the beginning. Any ideas how to best employ them??

The best bet i think would be to use them in mass, and ambush a japanese CL/DD surface group. How and where we accomplish that, would be the tough part. I think the best place to avoid air attacks, and set up and ambush against a Jap CL/DD surface group would be in the Solomons in the early part of the war. Any other ideas on how to use this ships?

[ctangus]

ORIGINAL: KDonovan

3) I would like the AA units and BF at Hong Kong, fast transported to Soerabaja if possible

Chuck Kai Shek is currently in negotiations with Admiral of the Fleet Lord Angus to send that base force to Pakhoi. (Am I getting schizophrenic, or what? [:'(]) I'd like to send at least one of those AA units to Changsha, though I'm not sure how I'd get it there.

Also, I'd been planning on using the 2 S-class DDs on an offensive mission early (likely suicidal). But they aren't very useful, either, so they're great for withdrawal requirements.

It would be easier to send some of my SEA AA reinforcements to China than extract them from Hong Kong. I'm thinking out loud here. OK - I'll grab a fragment of each AA unit with the two DDs and hopefully at least one will make it through. I'll send a couple transports back to Hong Kong also in order to grab larger chunks, though their mission is almost certainly doomed.

4) my dutch naval ships are very short legged, i would like one long leg cruiser to beef up my operation radius....either the CL Marblehead, or CA Exeter.

In my experience it's better to keep high-experience ships out of task forces with low-experience ships. Therefore Marblehead would be better. However, I must admit I'm a little biased... [;)]

I do have a couple AOs at Singapore. If I can evac them I'd be happy to lend you at least one for as long as you need it.

6) I would like the ML Kung Woo at Signapore to land its 500 mines at Palemberg so to make that base a tougher nut to crack.

Hmmm... I was planning on using her to mine Mersing. A long defense of the DEI does benefit me in India, but a long defense of Malaya benefits you in the DEI. I'm not convinced yet, but am willing to change my mind.

7) I would like the DM Thracian and Stronghold to attempt to mine Tarakan.

Thracian, sure. I hadn't decided what to do with her yet & if you think that will be useful, ok.

Stronghold - I was planning to send her to mine Kuantun & then help with the minefields in the Bay of Bengal. Like Kung Woo, I'm willing to negotiate on this.

8) I would like the Vildebeast squadron at Columbo to move to SRA, as it works well in the tight waterways of the islands. I will give it back when i'm done

OK - it's yours. My only condition is that I want the squadron back ASAP if a threat to India develops.

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

I have a couple more requests myself:

1. On December 8th I'd like to use about 20 more PPs to replace Percival in the Malaya HQ & Heath in IND III Corps.

2. I want some subs! [:'(] Ideally I'd like a division (6 boats) of Salmon class initially to help in evacs. By mid-42 I'd also like 1 squadron (2 divs) of Gato class. I could live with one division but Trincomalee is also the closest sub base to the South China Sea. Plus those subs might prove helpful tactically if an invasion of India presents itself. Once the Phillipines is conquered I wouldn't mind a division of S-boats as well. And/or some of the longer-legged Dutch boats once the DEI is conquered.