Dixie (J) vs Yava (A) This AAR has no name...

[Local Yokel]

Ouch! The Vildebeest strike on Kongo is bad news. At 70 flotation damage I would be distinctly concerned about losing her.

Had similar situation during my Kuching landings when Mutsu was in the cover force and took 2 torpedoes from Singkawang-based Vildebeests[:@]. I sent her back to Saigon in a TF commanded by a comptent admiral (this may have helped stabilise/diminish flotation damage), and rushed a fleet HQ overland from Camranh Bay to optimise the repair rolls. Fortunately I also had a repair ship already en route to Saigon and nearing the port. Cantona was sniping for her with his subs, so I laid on intensive anti-sub ops and put a couple of AK's as expendable targets on Mutsu's return course. Happily a decoy took some attention from the subs and Mutsu got home without further damage.

[goodboyladdie]

Nice ship sides Dixie. Are they more of yours?

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: goodboyladdie

Nice ship sides Dixie. Are they more of yours?

They sure are.

Ouch! The Vildebeest strike on Kongo is bad news. At 70 flotation damage I would be distinctly concerned about losing her.

I don't think I'll lose the Kongo, another turn of movement should put her outside torp range for the Vildebeests (IIRC). She's been ordered directly east for a day or so to keep her away from as much allied LBA attack as possible, then it's back to Saigon. There will be plenty of destroyers clearing her path home. Luckily most of Yava's Dutch and RN subs look to be operating around the SRA against the invasion transport TFs.

It's annoying more than anything else, a) because she was a major part of the invasion coverage for Java and b) the torpedo strikes were a result of my own stupidity [:@]

EDIT: That's another lesson for new Japanese players: EVEN VILDEBEESTS CAN HURT YOU [:(]

[USSAmerica]

Additional torpedo attacks are a concern, but I would be more concerned about that 70 floatation damage increasing.  Don't sail her through too many hexes before getting her tied up dockside somewhere and getting her pumped dry!  [:-]

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: USS America

Additional torpedo attacks are a concern, but I would be more concerned about that 70 floatation damage increasing. Don't sail her through too many hexes before getting her tied up dockside somewhere and getting her pumped dry! [:-]

The nearest 'safe' base would be Kuching, it's not a particularly large port though...

[DuckofTindalos]

Any port in a storm... Or in enemy-infested waters, in this case...

[Dixie]

She'll be safe, remember people:  PMA[:)]

[DuckofTindalos]

If you say so...[8D]

[Dixie]

[center]26th December 1941
Bluffing the Allies....[/center]

Boxing Day 1941, but there's no time for post Christmas revelry. The 5th NLF are now ashore at Wewak on the north coast of NG. There were no other landings for today.
During the day there were continued raids against Chinese ground forces in the Eastern provinces. Sorties were directed against guerrilla units and in support of beleaguered ground troops in Nanchang. However, on the ground the situation was much quieter with both sides exchanging artillery rounds.
Around Malaya my air units continued the work of trying to destroy the RAF. Two Blenheims were destroyed on the ground at Johore Bahru. Although attacks were again directed at Singapore's airfields there were no claims on the ground, and only one Buffalo was shot down. Returning pilots reported that the defenders did not push home their attack, instead making a single pass and fleeing, it appears their morale is starting to crumble. There was no real action on the ground, just an artillery duel between the defenders at Georgetown and 5th Division.

In the Central Pacific, with the element of surprise gone my two carriers retreat from PH. Now that Yava knows they are coming PH would have been cleared of any interesting targets, especially USS Lexington. I would also expect every air unit to be on naval strike orders, and with just 2 air units for CAP the risk to my carriers was deemed too great for too little gain. Instead the air units are sent against Johnston Island, the attack causes only minor damage due to the low numbers of planes in the raid.
Further south TF Akikiro is now north of the Samoa Islands, there are reports of an Allied convoy of 8 ships SW of their position heading NE. There's no sign of shipping in Pago Pago, so the fleet will head north to Canton Island and hunt for targets there. Yava has surface elements somewhere in the South Pacific, and I haven't found them on the sweep from Fiji yet...
At the moment Yava believes the entire KB is camped out near PH, hopefully he won't realise that the TF near PH only has two carriers and will continue to move his shipping normally further south. If he does then he will have to halt all shipping until he works out where they are (I hope). The Kaga TF is currently in the Coral Sea and undetected, they will be a nice surprise for Yava when Brisbane is bombed...

[Dixie]

[center]27th December 1941[/center]

The main actions today centered on Yava's bombing attacks on my shipping around Palembang, most of the attacks were directed against the empty transports leaving the area with several suffering damage, two ships were damaged badly enough to be scuttled by their crews. Two ships from the convoy transporting the 22nd Aviation Rgt into Palembang also suffered moderate damage from bomb strikes.
There were more raids directed at Yava's bases at Georgetown and Singapore, the raids are slowly whittling away at British forces in the country, but my casualties are mounting and morale is dropping. With most IJAAF units doen to less than half of their aeroplanes available they have been stood down for a few days.
Kongo has finally reached Kuching safely, all the fires are out but the flooding is now at 40/81/0. She's been disbanded into port, and she should be safe from bombing attacks. On the other hand there are no repair ships that could reach her in time to make a difference, the survival of the Kongo is in the crew's hands now....

The 'KB' near PH launched another raid on Johnstone Island, causing limited damge. At the moment Yava still appears to believe that this is the entire KB prowling about. Near Canton Island the three CVs will be attacking next turn, if there is no shipping about they have orders to attack the airfield there and cut off the flow of US air units southwards. Even if nothing major is encountered these operations will make Yava think twice before he sends fleets to attack invasions around the south Pacific.

In China Yava has sent two Chinese units to Canton, the defenders are preparing to mount an attack on the outnumbered Chinese forces. Elsewhere in China my units are continuing their march to the front lines.

[Dixie]

[center]29th December 1941[/center]

It was another fairly quiet night, Japanese troops landed on Funafuti easily capturing the unoccupied base before lunchtime. East of Pearl Harbor the submarine I-7 torpedoed the USS Long leaving her heavily damaged, the retribution was swift and the sub has been subjected to heavy flooding (75) and will likely sink before getting to a safe base.

MALAYA & THE SRA
Things continued to move forwards in this region. Yava's bombers harried the ships bringing the 22nd Aviation Unit to Palembang. Several ships are damaged in the attacks, one so severely that her crew scuttled her late in the day. With aviation support now ashore two daitai of Nells and one of A6Ms have been moved to Palembang.
A6Ms from Singkawang flew against Batavia encountering RAF and Dutch KLu (Koninklijke Luchtmacht) claiming one Brewster shot down in a brief battle. It looks like Yava has started to evacuate air units from Malaya to the relative safety of Java.
A few raids were also directed against shipping at Kuching, although no major damage was sustained there were no interceptions made, mostly because the CAP was set too high. Also at Kuching is the damaged battleship Kongo, for those who doubted her ability to survive her flood level has dropped [:D] (Phew! That could have been bad)
In Malaya there was very little action. Recon missions were directed against British bases and Dutch facilities in Northern Sumatra. A fighter sweep by Oscars found no opposition at Georgetown, and the bombers are still resting and regaining their morale. The 25th Army is continuing it's march towards the British positions at Johore Bahru and the 23rd Engineer Rgt has arrived at Georgetown ready for an attack tomorrow.
The 4th Division is currently off the coast of Indo-China and is en route to Kuching where the convoy will meet with a heavy escort for the run to the landing beaches at Merak. The 16th Division at Palemang is going to board the transports in port and also make their way to Java. With two Divisions ashore the landings will be secure, and in theory these two units should be more than a match for almost the entire Dutch army in Java....




NEW GUINEA, NEW BRITAIN AND THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

The buildup of forces, supplies and base facilities is continuing. The airfield at Rabaul is undergoing expansion, there is a fighter AF planned for Gasmata, a construction unit is en route to Buin. Once sufficient force can be massed to ensure a secure base troops will go ashore and build airfields at Lae and Buna in preparation for future landings at Port Moresby. Six construction units are nearing Truk to assist with buildups, supply convoys are en route from Japan, including a fuel convoy to provide continued support for the KBs future operations.
Although not strictly part of this region Kaga is currently 300 miles off the Australian coast. This TF is planning a surprise raid on Brisbane, the only major port I can reach at the moment. There is the off chance that some of the RAN has relocated here to be closer to the main battle areas.

THE PACIFIC
With the 'KB' west of Johnston Island Yava probably thought he was safe for a while [:D] Unlucky for him [;)] The other three carriers of the KB located several task forces at Canton Island. There were 2-3 destroyer TFs and the New Zealand cruiser HMNZS Leander was also located. Four destroyers have been confirmed as sunk, and several others damaged heavily. Leander was struck by five bombs but is still capable of escaping [:(] The carriers will hang around for a couple of days and continue to hit Yava's shipping. If they try and flee they won't have the speed to get away, and staying in port makes them an easier target, not an easy choice for Yava [:D] In order to cut off the escape route the carriers have been ordered to move East of Canton, if no naval targets present themselves then the air groups have orders to bomb the docks at Canton Is.

CHINA
My attack at Canton failed to dislodge the Chinese forces here. Although I couldn't shift them I feel confident that they can hold off the enemy forces for a while, at least until Hong Kong falls I hope. Elsewhere the bombardments at HK continue whilst on the mainland forces are still moving into position.

[Local Yokel]

Provided you have sufficient mass in the road junction hex S. of Malacca, your situation in Malaya looks VERY tasty!
 
I would not assume that Kongo is out of the woods yet.  Had a game where Chokai retired to Kuching after 2 Dutch torpedo strikes.  She had the services of an AR, and whilst flotation damage stabilized for a few days, it then started to rise again.  She only ceased to be at risk after I had chanced the passage to Singapore and got her into the dockyard.
 
Sorry to rain on your parade - hope Kongo makes it through; she's much too useful to lose.

[Dixie]

ORIGINAL: Local Yokel

Provided you have sufficient mass in the road junction hex S. of Malacca, your situation in Malaya looks VERY tasty!

I would not assume that Kongo is out of the woods yet. Had a game where Chokai retired to Kuching after 2 Dutch torpedo strikes. She had the services of an AR, and whilst flotation damage stabilized for a few days, it then started to rise again. She only ceased to be at risk after I had chanced the passage to Singapore and got her into the dockyard.

Sorry to rain on your parade - hope Kongo makes it through; she's much too useful to lose.

I am optimistic, the SYS damage is 'only' 40 [8|], so there shouldn't be a problem there and the fires are all out. At least I didn't get an option to scuttle her, even when the flooding reached 81 [:)]

In Malaya the 25th Army has:
1 HQ
1 Division
1 Mixed Rgt
1 Tank Rgt
1 Engineer Rgt
1 AA Bn
This should be more than sufficient to deal with anything Yava can bring to the fight [:)]

[Dixie]

OK then, we're back in action [8D] Things may go a bit pear shaped in the next few turns as I try and remember what I was thinking [:D]

30th December 1941

CENTRAL PACIFIC REGION
Yesterday saw heavy attacks on Allied ships in the areas around Canton Island. The submarine I-171 put a torpedo into the USS Cassin as she tried to limp away Northwards, although the ship survived this attack daybreak would bring fresh worries for the crew.
During the night the picket ships protecting the carrier TF near Canton Is were surprised to see a flush decker destroyer bearing down on them. The USS Chandler had blundered into the carrier force, and although she was quickly sunk the crew were able to send a contact report off so now Yava knows there are three CVs near Canton.
During the day aircraft from the CVs sank the destroyers USS Cassin and USS Reid and the cruiser HMNZS Leander, the carriers are now going to return home to Truk and meet up with the rest of the CVs ready for operations in the Solomons chain.



MALAYA & SRA
Today saw more air attacks on Allied bases (mostly ineffective) and several anti-shipping strikes on ships along Java's northern coastline. Aircraft operating from Palembang making the trek to Merak sunk a small freighter and what is believed to be an auxiliary cruiser.
An attack by my forces at Georgetown managed 1:1 odds and knocked the fortifications there down to lvl 2. A couple of days of bombardment attacks will be followed by another attack on new year's day. Further south at Johore Baru an attack is being planned against the defenders there by the 6th Tank Rgt and 28th Engineer Rgt. Intel indicates that there are only two British units defending the base, so an attack supported by lots of LBA attacks could be enough to smash through the defences here.

In Borneo there were attacks directed against the remnants of the Dutch units south of Tarakan. Moderate casualties were predicted among the units attacked.

The Philippines
More air attacks here against Clark Field resulted in light damage to the facilities there, in addition two minesweepers were sunk as they attempted to reach the safety of the port at Manilla.
Ground combat is still limited here but there was an exchange of artillery fire at Lingayen resulting in light casualties for both sides.

A more comprehensive update will follow when I figure out what is actually happening [;)]


EDIT: KONGO watch, now at 60 flt so things are on the up [8D]

[Local Yokel]

Glad to see this AAR under way again.

[cantona2]

I second my esteemed opponent above.

[Dixie]

Cheers guys.

Here is a more detailed view of the China situation:

[center]CHINA[/center]

It's a pain in the rear to be certain....[;)]

I'll run through the points noted on the map along with my thoughts on them.



ICHANG WITHDRAWL
I know, and Yava does as well, that Ichang is undefensible against a determined Allied attack. In order to preserve my troops for future ops the final elements of the Ichang garrison are pulling back to Hankow for future operations.

HANKOW ROAD
With 'just' Allied 293 AV against my 609 AV I am fairly confident that the land route to Hankow will soon be opened. A backup plan would involve transferring several groups of IJAAF transports to the Shanghai area and flying stuff in.

WENCHOW
This could be a risky operation, and it may not actually go ahead... The plan is to use 31st Division (at Shanghai currently) to land by sea. The main issue here is rebuilding the 31st's strength in order to make the assault viable, this could take a while. There is also the fact that 31st Div is also assigned to the Burma Area Army and it may well be needed there instead.

YENAN (OPERATION RED)
This plan involves an attack on Yenan, forces are being built up in Yangku in anticipation of an attack in mid January. The forces will fall under the command of Northern Area Army and will include 3 Divisions (36th, 37th, 41st) and half a dozen brigades. In support of this will be a sizeable air fleet, including several training units transferred from the Soviet border, operating primarily out of Jehol (level bombers) and Peking (dive bombers). The aim of Operation Red is to convince Yava that I am intending to capture Sian with it's various Industry and Resources, in fact the actual aim is:

OPERATION BLUE
Another medium term goal, Operation Blue will be directed against the Chineses cities of Honan and Nanyang. Whilst neither of these cities (or indeed both combined) will provide the resources of Sian I feel they are a more achievable target. Forces are being assembled in Hankow. There are 7 Chinese units between my territory and Honan, and 4 between Hankow and Nanyang. Once again large amounts of airpower will be directed against the Chinese forces.

TATUNG
Four Chinese units are one hex north of my bases here, I am unsure of their intentions so I am going to bomb them, if I can manage to actually scrape together enough 'planes to make a decent attack here.

[Dixie]

[center]31st December[/center]

Yesterday's combat was a fairly succesful affair across the board. There was also a slight cock-up which will become obvious [8|]. But first, the turn overview:

CENTRAL PACIFIC REGION
We'll start here as this is where the first combat event took place. NE of Canton Island (again) the submarine I-171 spotted a target for the second night running. The submarine was still skulking in the same area as yesterday when she spotted and attacked the USS Sepulga. The destroyer screen managed to hit 171 with a D/C so she is now limping back to Kwajalein for emergency repairs (damage: 17/71/0). Still, the captain is claiming one CV destroyed [8|].
After daybreak things were surprisingly quiet. I-26, part of the force sat between PH and the West Coast, reported a floatplane above her position, indicating that there is a cruiser (or larger) somewhere in the area.
Nearer Canton Island the Sepulga was in serious trouble. Already on fire, she was spotted by a Val from the carrier Akagi and was subjected to a brief but violent attack which sent her to the bottom in short order. However, she shouldn't have been atacked as the damn TF should have been several miles further west [:@] Instead they remained where they were yesterday [:@][:o][8|] due to a faulty radio. (Another lesson there, if you start working on a turn then have to quit, MAKE SURE YOU SAVE IT! I didn't and when I reloaded the turn I forget to move the TF this time) As a result the TF is running low on fuel and has been ordered back to the nearest friendly port where they will meet up with the oilers of the replenishment group who are steaming south from Eniewetok. (I've turned into the AI [X(][:(]) I'm torn between leaving the CV TF on mission speed or putting them onto cruise speed for the next few days.
In other news, the USS Pensacola bomarded my troops at Funafuti hitting the port area where rations were stored (1 supply hit). She would appear to still be lurking offshore, so I'm expecting more of the same tomorrow. I suspect that she will return to Suva before returning again in a few days, but a lack of forces leaves me unable to do much to stop her for now.
The Shokaku/Zuikaku TF is also in the area, heading towards Kwaj before meeting with the other 3 carriers of the KB. They aren't in danger of running out of fuel though...

EAST AUSTRALIA, SOLOMONS & NEW GUINEA REGION
Generally quiet here, several support and construction units are approaching Truk, along with a seperate tanker convoy to provide fuel for the upcoming invasions in this region. To this end the battleships of TF108 are moving to Truk for fire support missions. The main stumbling block is the fact that the 21st Division is still stuck in CHina as I've only just managed to scrape together enough ships to (hopefully) transport the entire division south.
Betties from Rabaul once again raided Port Moresby, and once again caused no real damage (1 airbase hit). However returning crews have reported that there is a cruiser moored offshore. However, Rabaul lacks the facilities for torpedo handling at the moment, so it looks as though she's off the hook for now [:(]
On the northern coastline the 5th NLF (Wewak) have reboarded their transports in preperation to continue their base hopping campaign. Their next target is the Admiralty Islands, there will be a base built here to help support Rabaul and the Port MOresby operation.
In the Solomons chain there is a construction unit headed to Buin with orders to build a usable AF there. At Rabaul the 24th NLF is preparing to move further south and land at Lunga once sufficient ships are available.
Although it was generally quiet, Yava now has something else to worry about. About 180 miles SE of Rockhampton a small convoy was attacked by carrier borne aircraft flying at long range from Kaga. Two ships were heavily damaged (Taurus, Sarangami) and two more slightly damaged (Si Kiang and Dos Hermanos). Yava will hopefully soon be fretting about the possibility of an attack on Brisbane or even Sydney, however he doesn't know that Kaga is heading home [;)] With any luck he's going to spend a few days moving ships around to escape an attack that isn't going to arrive. A useful bit of intel is that these ships weren't escorted, so the Aussie coast could be a good huntin ground for some I-boats.

[Dixie]

MALAYA
There were no further territorial gains here today. Air attacks on Allied positions at Johore Bharu were ineffective (48 bombers = 13 casualties & 2 guns [8|]). The ground attack was unsuccesful as well, although prisoners indicated that the Australian 27th AIF was part of the defence. I had expected Yava to evac the AIF units to Burma or Oz, so I'm slightly surprised they are still in Malaya. Follow on forces are still strung out along the road to Johore Bharu so a final attack is not likely in the immediate future, instead bombardments and air raids will be the order of the day.
Further north, at Georgetown the 5th Division continued their attacks on the defenders with a bombardment, there is one more day of that planned before an assault on New Year's day. Further still, and Victoria Point has fallen without a fight. The 1st Tank Rgt rolled in to find the base empty, this wasn't a surprise which is why only one unit was sent here.

Allied air efforts in Malaya (and the SRA) seem to be directed mostly against shipping. Yava has not shown much interest in my ground troops thus keeping losses fairly low and combat efficiency high(ish). I was expecting far more trade for my CAP fighters...

THE SRA
Again, no major dramas here during the day as preperations continue for landings on Java.

At Palembang the vessel Ch-9 was sunk by three bombs, from three Hudsons [:@][:@] (100% hit rate [8|]) despite the efforts of the CAP, 2 escorting Brewsters were shot down though. A counter raid from Palembang saw ground troops at Batavia attacked. Recon photos show 10 seperate combat formations defending the beaches here, so Merak will be used as a landing site instead.
Another RAF attack on a TF near Sinkawang resulted in 6 Blenheims hitting the transport Houn Maru although the damage is not serious.
American B=17s flying for the Darwin area have been making recce runs on Amboina, and a cruiser has been reported at Kendari. Yava could be making sure that the coast is clear before he makes a bombardment attack on the base at Amboina. ALthough I have Betties here, the supply level looks to be too low to allow torpedo attacks, but no matter because a Surface combat TF of 4 CAs is heading towards Kendari to engage the cruiser should she still be there.


THE HOME FRONT
A brief overview of the Home Islands and Industrial stuff:
From what I can tell, Yava has his subs lined up between 120-180 miles from the coastline. Luckily his subs are proving as effective as my ASW efforts [8|]. IJN ASW values are pretty poor at best, and I can't spare masses of escorts for HK groups at the moment so things will probably continue at a low key pace for a while.

On the industrial side of things there has been a lot of change. The following types have had their production halted, either temporary or permenantly:
Glen (Floatplanes are being standardised across the fleet)
Jake
Alf
Mavis (waiting for factory to upgrade to Emily)
Topsy (useless, useless plane)
Rufe (not much point having a large pool of these)
Nell (waiting for factory to upgrade to Betty)
Sonia (I'm phasing out IJAAF DB)
Babs (Dinah will be used for recon)
Claude (Obsolete)
Nate (Obsolete)

The following types have had production increased substantially (includes R&D):
Oscar (Better than the Nate and available now)
Zero (Replacing all those Claudes will need more airframes)
Betty (Replacing Nell)
Helen (Replacing Sally)
Mavis (Transport version)
Tabby (Replacing most of IJNAF transport fleet)
Thora (Replacing Topsy)
Dinah (Replacing IJAAF Babs)

Jack
Tony
Zeke variants
Jill
Grace
Frank
George

If it all works out like I hope, then the HI costs of expanding the air factories will be (at least partially) off set by the fact that many of the halted prodeuction lines have not been changed (yet).

In the shipyards Shinano has been cancelled and Junyo has been accelerated. The RO-boats will be cancelled as well. Once I work out which are the best ASW ships they will be getting accelerated as well. In the civilian yards all (approx 12) repair ships have been accelerated as well.


This concludes my rambling (for now anyway) [;)]

[Local Yokel]

I'm really surprised you prefer the Thora to the Topsy. The Topsy has a bigger capacity and double the range of the Thora, and I've found it really useful for paratroop drops over a respectable distance. Any particular reason for your dislike of it?

I think you'll have quite a wait for ASW ships capable of acceleration, though you do have some DD's in the pipeline. My own preference is to accelerate the Akizuki's with an eye to beefing up the flak in TF screens.