Alien Invasion: Oh, the Humanity!

[USSAmerica]

Oh, Mynok is coming for Singapore.  Of that, I have no doubt.  He already has lots of troops on the ground there, but he knows I've gathered most of my fighting troops in the city as well.  Brave Sir Robin, and all that.  [;)]  What I really need is to take a toll on his air forces at Singapore.  If I can chew up his Oscars and Army bombers, maybe I'll get to eat some of his Navy Bettys, Nells, and Zeros.  [:'(]  I'm prepared to bring in all 3 squadrons of the AVG and 2 or 3 more RAF fighter squadrons from India, if I can then keep the airfield open.  1st Squadron of the AVG will only participate if Zeros show up.  [;)]  Just like at Kuching, and I hope elsewhere in the DEI, I can't keep him from taking Singapore if he wants it, but I can try to make it hurt. 

[Yava]

Yup, I do remember Aliens entering Singapore... [;)] I am just curious if he's going to bombard you all the time and eat up your supplies or is he going to try taking the place as fast as possible so to say what can be really hard... in the first option keeping the AF operational is a must as you have said.[:)]

[bobogoboom]

ORIGINAL: Yava

Hi Mike,
It seems that Mynok is not really interested in PM. It also seems that he will be satisfied with taking Rabaul and the surrounding islands to set up a defensive perimiter, but I can be wrong [:D]
I am quite astonished with your ASW performance! Keep it up Mike.
btw. It seems that we have a bug in our game. You have Hurries and I have lysanders.. although scheduled to arrived as Hurricanes, they appear as these worthless recon planes.[:(][&:]

if there are no hurries in you pool they show up as lysanders

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/13 – 1/19/42[/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Massive post warning!  [:D]  I have finally found some time to work on updating my AAR for the last 8 game turns.  I’ve been busy and turns have been fairly slow, but a few things of note have occurred.  I will try to sum up the action by region instead of daily reports for this period.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Panama[/b]  [/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]33 RCT, 11 CBT Engr, and 2 AA Rgts have been reassigned from West Coast Command to South Pacific and recently departed for PagoPago.  This still leaves 4 RCTs in the Panama region for defense.  I have two convoys of transports heading to Panama from the Suva area to pick up LCUs arriving over the next 2 weeks.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]BBs New Mexico and Idaho arrived from the Atlantic and formed up with 4 DDs.  They are heading to the Suva area to act as a SC deterrent force for the region.  BB Mississippi and a few DDs arrive in a week.  I have not yet decided where I want to send her.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]West Coast[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]The damaged DDs and CAs from the Pearl attack are repairing quite nicely.  My 4 least damaged BBs are repairing at SF.  As of 1/20, TN, AZ, PA, and CA have 65, 51, 38, and 36 system damage respectively.  I’m averaging 1 or 2 BB sys points repaired per day.  I have mostly kept everything else with any damage out of SF harbor.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]With variable reinforcements on, my massive influx of TKs and AKs is arriving piecemeal.  As they arrive, I’m sending the TKs to LA and the AKs to SF.  I have already shipped out 2 large 100k+ fuel shipments to the South Pacific as well as another 90k+ oil shipment departing soon for Sydney.  My AKs are filling in for a severe shortage of AP lift capacity on the West Coast at SF, where I’ve gathered all of the LCUs scheduled to be shipped out.  Some recent LCU departures and their destinations:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]210 AA, 95 AA, 42 EGR                                Port Moresby[/font]
[font="times new roman"]111 AV Rgt                                                     Oz (Darwin, but may go to PM instead)[/font]
[font="times new roman"]111 US BF                                                      Noumea[/font]
[font="times new roman"]116 US BF                                                      PagoPago[/font]
[font="times new roman"]110 US BF                                                      Johnston I.[/font]
[font="times new roman"]113 US BF, 111 RCT                                      Palmyra[/font]
[font="times new roman"]51 AV Rgt                                                       Brisbane[/font]
[font="times new roman"]71 AV Rgt                                                       Midway[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The next unit to be transferred will be the 1 MAW, which will head to Suva.  2 BFs and an EAB unit are soon to arrive at SF and will head to NE Oz.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A handful of air groups are on their way to Pearl.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]North Pacific[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]The Canadian Command forces are slowly making their way to Alaska.  I expect that they will arrive at Anchorage long before it can be threatened by Mynok’s forces.  All of the NorthPac combat forces from Anchorage are enroute or have arrived at Midway, except the 23 BF.  They are waiting patiently for transport while they slowly fill out with replacements.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have a squadron of PBYs flying Naval Search out of Amchitka Island near the far end of the Aleutians, supported by the AVD Teal.  Both can bug out at a moment’s notice, if necessary, and may give me a glimpse of enemy movements from time to time.  Other than this, I plan to do nothing in the far North Pacific for a long time, if ever.  I would openly invite Mynok to spend troops and resources in this region.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Central Pacific[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]Midway is being fortified and will be an anchor of my position in the Pacific.  I know this may go against convention, which says to put as many resources into holding the sea lanes to Oz as possible, but I’m doing it for a couple of reasons.  First, I intend to launch a Central Pacific offensive drive later in the war and holding onto Midway now is much easier than having to take it back later.  It will make an excellent forward base to operate my subs from, when I get an AS and a MLE there.  Just by it’s position, a strong presence at Midway will keep Mynok looking over his shoulder and hopefully tie down more forces to defend the Central Pacific islands early in the war than he would normally use.  Lastly, I am hoping that I might surprise Mynok with the strength of my defense at Midway if and when he tries to take it.  The ground forces currently consist of 2 RCTs, a USMC Def Bn, 2 AA Rgts, several engineer units and the North Pacific HQ, all centered around the 25th US Infantry Division.  The 71 AV Rgt with it’s 270 Av support and 270 support squads is on it’s way here, and then I’ll be able to fill up the airfield with fighters and dive bombers.  The only real limitation is that the AF is maxed out at size 4.  No fully functional 4E’s will be operating from here.  I eventually want to station a 2 BB SC group here for a bit of defense as well.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I honestly don’t see Mynok trying to invade Hawaii, but I’m not going to leave Pearl completely undefended.  The 24th Infantry Div remains dug in here.  I have a lot of air groups currently at Pearl.  Some are waiting to deploy to Midway when the AV Rgt arrives to support them, and some are waiting to fill out with replacements.  I’m sending all of my replacement P40s and P39s to Burma to fill out the squadrons that started in the PI.  After that, the squadrons in Oz will get replacements, finally followed by these at Pearl.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]All 4 CV groups are currently at Pearl, with 2 of them already upgraded to F4F-4’s.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Johnston, Palmyra, and Canton Islands each have or will soon have 1 RCT, 1 USMC Def Bn, 1 FA Bn, and a Base Force.  Long term, I think another RCT transferred from Panama for each base will be a good idea.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]There has been a bit of enemy sub activity east of Hawaii.  I lost an AK from one Pearl bound convoy and chased the sub contact with an ASW TF, but have not yet caught it or them.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My S boat subs from Pearl are operating in the Marshalls, but their only contacts so far have been enemy ASW groups.  [8|]  I’ll soon move an AS to Johnston Island and forward base them there.  These guys may be transferred to operate in the Rbaul/Solomons area at some point.  All the rest of the US “fleet” subs are ferrying mines to Kwajalein.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]South Pacific[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]My strong point along the shipping lanes from Oz to the US is Suva.  The 40th Division, and 2nd USMC Div have arrived here and are digging in.  Combined with the 8th NZ Bde, Fiji Def Force, and 2nd USMC Def Bn, I have almost 600 AV here.  This will grow fast, as the 40th started 2/3 disabled and is slowly recovering it’s combat strength.  There is an EAB unit here to boost base expansion, and the big MAW will soon be on it’s way here for AV support.  I already have 100k of supply at Suva, and intend to double that, along with 100k+ fuel currently inbound.  Nandi, next door to Suva, is next on the "to do" list for the EAB.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Pago Pago is the other base down here that I’m building up.  A RCT, engineers, and 2 AA units are on their way from Panama to reinforce the USMC Def Bn, BF, and Samoan Marine unit.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Noumea is getting the short end of the stick for now.  After reading many forum posts, I’ve decided that I can’t effectively defend it until later in ’42, so I’m not going to throw away any LCUs trying.  I do have a base force scheduled to deploy here, mostly for the AV support, so I can ferry air groups from Suva to Oz.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have pulled one NZ Bde from Auckland to reinforce Port Moresby, but everything else that arrives in NZ will stay there for a long time.  I start getting some decent numbers of US ground reinforcements in 2Q of ’42.  Most will be heading to the South Pacific to stem the tide of Alien advance.  They will likely gather in NZ or Noumea, if it’s still mine.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]There have been a couple of enemy subs trying to cause trouble around PP and Suva.  I managed to pound one pretty hard with a bunch of DMS’s off PP.  I have a pretty good umbrella of PBY coverage over the entire chain from Pearl to Noumea.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The Solomons have been very quiet.  I did spot a couple of subs making their way past Rabaul several turns ago, so I expect to see them around Noumea and Suva soon.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok finally sent some Alien troops to capture Rabaul on the 19th.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]New Guinea[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’ve decided to hold Port Moresby, so I’m cramming LCUs and supply into the place before it starts getting hairy.  There is currently 70k+ supply at the base and 303 AV of LCUs.  I only have a squadron of Catalina’s and one Wirraway squadron based here, but there are 4 land based Dauntless squadrons and 5 mixed fighter squadrons currently training in Oz before transferring here.  What I need the most is more AV support.  A big AV Rgt is on the long road to Darwin from SF, and I may send them here instead, but they are still a few weeks out.  That will allow me to really pack the fighters into PM’s airfield.  It’s currently size 4, and holding as I focus on building forts up from the current level 3.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Over the next 2 weeks, all of the non-West Coast assigned troops that arrive at Panama are planned to ship out to Port Moresby.  These include 2 EAB’s, an AA Rgt, 102 RCT, 754 Tk Bn, and the Americal Division.  If I can get all of these forces, plus the AV Rgt from SF, into PM before Mynok tries to take it, I don’t think he will be able to kick me out.  2 weeks for the rest of these LCU’s to arrive at Panama, and about 30 days shipping time is a pretty big window for him to try something.  Since the Aliens just took Rabaul yesterday, I think I may be able to win this race.  I’m continuing to crank supply and some fuel into PM from Oz, now that a bunch of DEI oil is arriving at Sydney.  I have 2 ASW groups stationed at PM to pounce on the first enemy sub contacts.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Australia[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]I continue to slowly expand the bases along the East coast of Australia, especially Townsville.  Air groups are training up and down the coast, but I need more AV support here before I can host many more planes.  Sydney and to a lesser extent, Melbourne, are loaded with oil from the DEI, and the supply/fuel situation is quite good for now.  I have dispatched a large group of AK’s to SF that is only a few days from arrival, and I have sent another very large group of AP’s that are currently approaching the Suva area on their way to SF.  The first oil and fuel from the US is arriving, and the next big group to be sent back to the US will include many TK’s that delivered oil from the DEI.  A good number of TK’s are on their way back to Java to grab as much oil and fuel as they can.  Perth has been reinforced with a couple of Bde’s and a BF from the Adelaide area, and the full strength 3rd Aus Inf Division has reached the beginning of the railroad and is almost to it’s destination of Darwin, after marching all the way from Melbourne.  Darwin’s AF is up to size 5, and the forts are at level 3 and building.  I’ve brought in an EAB from the PI, and 2 Dutch BF’s from Timor to help dig in and keep planes flying.  I am haulins supplies and fuel from the DEI into Darwin, as well as bringing a few supply convoys in from Aden, all to prepare for a time when the sea lanes are cut off by Alien air power.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I currently have CA led SC groups at Darwin and Brisbane.  The British MLE that spent the first month of the war providing great service in Soerabaja is currently heading to Townsville, as will the ML’s from that area.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]As a whole, Australia feels pretty secure right now, but I shiver every time I read John 3rd’s AAR where he’s currently laying siege to Sydney.  [:D][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]DEI[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok has been moving very deliberately in the DEI, since I first gave him a bit of a bloody nose at Kuching.  This has allowed me to haul a LOT of oil, resources, supplies, and fuel out of the region, mostly to Oz.  The Alien flag currently flies over Sorong, Manado, and the North coast of Borneo from Kuching around to Sandakan.  Yesterday, he landed troops at Palembang.  A 3 x CV TF, 2 BB TF’s, and an ASW TF are providing support for 2 very large transport TF’s.  I had good notice that they were coming, so I have 10 subs in the area.  I took several DC hits to one of them that should make it back to port at Batavia, and another put a torpedo into CA Suzuya.  The minefields at Palembang were also heard from, as a total of 3 DD’s, 2 AK’s, 1 AP, and 1 PG hit mines.  One of the AK’s went under.  Many mines were cleared, but there are still 2764 at the base.  The biggest damage to my efforts came on the 18th, as I lost 50 of 80 Martin 139’s that went after the transports to long range cap from the 3 carriers.  This gutted most of my naval attack ability on Java, which will make it much easier for Mynok to get Alien troops ashore on Java when he wants to.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I don’t have much strength on the ground at Palembang, so I expect the base to fall rather quickly.  I’ll be interested to see how much of the 600 resources and 1200 oil my engineers are able to damage.  My “big stick” of 4E bombers at Soerabaja have taken the last 2 days to rest, in anticipation of striking the oil and resource industry at Palembang as soon as the Alien flag is raised.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Question for the audience. [&o] In CHS, which would you make a priority?  Mynok already took a 600 resource production hit with the massive damage at Kuala Lumpur, so I’m thinking of crunching the resources first.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]It will be long range for the B17’s, from Soerabaja, but the 2 LB30 squadrons will be at normal range.  I’ll take that trade off for being able to fly from the size 5 airfield at Soerabaja.  Kuching reports anywhere from 69 – 100 % airfield damage, even with 2 days of not bombing it.  Currently, it’s reporting 87%.  This becomes less important now that Palembang’s airfield will also be in Alien hands.  It’s time to pull back all of my shipping from Batavia, and also be ready to leave Soerabaja.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m still pulling oil and resources out of Balikpapan, but am ready to bug out at a moment’s notice.  Mynok has not moved on Tarakan yet, but it’s effectively shut down to shipping by the airbase at Jolo, so I’m using it only as a recon base.  Kendari is still filling AKs with resources and supply, and most of the ships that are heading out of the DEI area are stopping at the various bases that still have a few drops of fuel left so they can top off their tanks.  I want to leave as little as possible for the Aliens.  Amboina is still mine, but I have been wary of sending any shipping there since the near invasion a week or so ago.  There is still no enemy air presence at Sorong, and about 10k oil has collected at Amboina, so I may try to run a couple of TK’s into there to grab it and run.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My forces on Java have gathered at Batavia and Soerabaja.  I did not reinforce Java with any ground troops, so I’m not real strong at either place.  I have been shipping in supplies from Aden, so Batavia currently has around 40k and Soerabaja has around 85k.  Both bases have about 40k fuel stores.  My follow on supply convoys from Aden will be heading to Darwin now, as I think I won’t need any more supply on Java.  My AV at Batavia is 164, with lvl 4 forts, and Soerabaja has AV of 377 with forts almost up to lvl 5.  There are lots of engineers at both locations to hopefully do some more good demo work as the bases fall.  I’ve already identified 6 base force and HQ units that I want to save fragments from before they are all captured.  I’ll have subs on station to do transport duty.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]All shipping has left Batavia with the growing air threat to the north.  The reinforced British Force Z is at Soerabaja.  Current plans are for them to head back to Colombo once Singapore falls.  My MLE and the operating MLs in the region are heading for Darwin, and then the East coast of Australia.  As I have been bringing in supplies to Java, I have been hauling resources back out to Aden.  There are not a lot of resources laying around at either end of Java.  There is close to 30k of oil at Soerabaja and I have some TK’s inbound to grab it.  I’ve left it for last, since I expected the other oil producing locations to fall into enemy hands first.  Once Force Z is sent back to the IO, I’ll also haul away as much fuel from Java as I can.  When my big stack of 4Es have done all they can from Java, they will transfer to India via Rangoon to prepare for Operation Crush Burma Industry.  Mynok will have to use a lot of fighters in the area if he wants to keep the industry there producing.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Northern Sumatra is currently just a recon base.  I have been able to use Medan as a transfer airbase for groups moving to Burma.  I have not tried to get any of the oil out of Medan or Bankha, since they are well covered by Alien air forces stationed in Malaya.  All of the ground forces in this area are gathered at Medan to do as much damage as they can before being captured.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Once I lose all of my bases in the DEI, the Brit subs ill operate from India and the Dutch subs will operate from Darwin or Perth.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Malaya[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]This really just means the defenders of Singapore.  All the rest is in Alien hands.  At my last AAR update, I was planning to move 2 or 3 squadrons of the AVG in to bolster the CAP.  I waited about a day or two too long to make this move.  The turn that the initial squadron arrived at Singapore, the airfield was blasted by a massive raid and left inoperable.  The second AVG squadron was at Medan, ready to transfer in, and they turned around and flew back to Rangoon.  Mynok has kept the Singapore AF closed since then.  I flew out all of the undamaged planes and have only small fragments left there.  Unfortunately, one of those fragments is part of the 3rd Squadron AVG with 1 damaged P40 left, and 15 pilots with 72 average experience waiting to ride out on it.  I think it won’t be repaired before it’s destroyed on the ground by bombing attacks.  I will be bummed to lose so many of my highest experience fighter pilots while they are defenseless.  39 other high experience pilots are waiting on the ground for a total of 5 damaged Blenhims and PBYs to repair, but they are not in as short supply as experienced fighter pilots.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Anyway, the current AF Service is 87% damaged and the Runway is 58% damaged.  Forts still sit at lvl 5 + 84% and will likely not climb any higher.  My supply stockpile is still 56.2k, and my troops AV is growing, up to 755.  I think this is a combination of disabled squads repairing, and mostly experience climbing, while they sit in the same hex as enemy troops and get pounded from air attacks.  I’ve done all I can here, unless I manage to repair a plane and rescue some pilots.  The rest is just a curiosity and a waiting game.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]India/Burma[/font][/b]
[font="times new roman"]My long range plans call for a fighting retreat in Burma and a stout defensive line along the India border.  It would be great to keep the Burma Road to China open, but it’s not worth throwing away several brigades in the attempt.  When Mynok starts moving into Burma, I may start flying some of the Chinese units into Lashio and Myitkyina for defense.  What I would absolutely love Mynok to do is try a head on attack along the trails in Burma across the border into India.  I have salvaged most of the air power from Malaya and will have them rebuilt to full strength in India before Mynok can threaten here.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Due to the loss of the 18th UK Div to the Variable Reinforcement bug, I’ve had to rearrange my defensive plans for the region.  1st and 2nd Burma Rifles Bdes have finally escaped the malarial jungle trails around Taung Gyi and are currently resting and recovering at Rangoon with a couple of base forces.  When Mynok finally threatens, they will retreat back along the rail line toward Mandalay.  Their job is just to give Mynok’s lead ground elements pause.  The 1st and 2nd Burma Bdes, along with Rangoon force and a pair of base forces have relocated to Colombo to take the place of the lost 18th UK Div.  The Ceylon Inf Bde and the 48th Gurkha Bde from Madras are defending Trincomalee, along with the Trin Defense force.  I also have at least a Bde preparing to defend each city along the East (South) coast of India.  The Calcutta/Dacca/Chittagong area is my strong point, with many forces in the area.  The 14th Indian Division is currently drawing replacements to slowly fill out to full strength at Calcutta.  I am cranking supply from Aden into Calcutta and hope to get over a million supply in the region before any combat is seen.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My naval forces in the area include BB Royal Sovereign, CA Dorsetshire, 3 CLs and 5 DDs based at Colombo.  They will be reinforced by the return of Force Z upon the fall of Singapore.  CV Indomitable is currently operating with them at Colombo, but I think I shall detach her and a pair of DDs to the East Coast of Oz.  I think joining her up with the US CVs eventually will be the smartest use for her.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]While Rangoon remains free from significant air threat, due to the CAP from the AVG, I continue to haul oil and resources out of Rangoon.  The oil is put to good use in the Calcutta region industries.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The entire Chinese air force is resting and recovering their morale at bases in India.  Once I get the last of the fragments I want out of the PI, I will spend some PPs to put the best air leaders I can in charge of the Chinese squadrons and get them training.  By the time the bulk of my fortification building is completed in China, these guys may actually be ready to cause a little bit of damage over there.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Aden is cranking supply to the Calcutta region.  I’m keeping enough of a stockpile there to keep the oil and heavy industry repairing there, while I send out 25-30k supply convoys every 5 days or so.  These convoys have been alternating to Calcutta and Java, with the Java bound ships now heading to Darwin.  I have close to 100k resources being hauled back to Aden from the DEI, so they won’t be an issue here for almost a year.  Some of the Java and now Darwin bound ships will not return here, but will continue on to the East coast of Oz and join in the US/Oz supply runs.  I have an ASW group that is constantly patrolling between Karachi and Aden, since Mynok and I have agreed that the Aden and Panama shipping channels are NOT off limits to enemy ships.  I’ve gathered most of the regional APs here and the big, fast one’s are carrying the first LCUs as they arrive to India, and then they are continuing to Oz and the US.  Their speed and large capacity will be MUCH more useful crossing the Pacific than shuttling around in the IO.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Calcutta and Dacca’s airfields have reached size 6, and Chittagong is at 4 and building.  These bases will launch industry attacks into Burma when the bases are captured.  B17s can reach Rangoon and everything closer at normal range from Calcutta and Dacca, and they can pound Moulmein from Chittagong.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]China[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]I have successfully withdrawn all of my troops in the pocket SE of Nanchang into the Nanchang base.  They are currently laying siege to the city.  Mynok has around 102k troops, 422 guns, and 78 tanks in the hex, while I have 160k troops (45k infantry), 740 guns, and all of 3 tanks there.  He continues to bombard my guys every day, with very insignificant damage, but what I think are very significant results.  My AV grows here every day.  I think his bombardments are increasing my experience, while not really causing any casualties of note.  I’m going to try to notice if the experience is actually increasing, but I’m starting to track the AV of my stack here.  On the 19th it was 3040, and today, on the 20th, it’s 3071.  My troops are in quite good supply with uninterrupted lines back to Changsha, and no threats of being flanked.  I have 6 Group Army (Corps) HQ’s in the stack, and 1 War Area (Command) HQ, but I could still use more support troops.  I’ve read that one of the best things a Chinese player can do is get a bunch of his units into a stalemate battle to let their experience climb.  I think I’ve managed to do that.  I don’t intend to try attacking at Nanchang, but I don’t intend to leave anytime soon, either.  If I can lure Mynok into bringing even more reinforcements into this location, that would be even better.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’m building forts at several locations, and they are progressing ok.  Some of the troops that started in the field are gathering at Wuchow, Hengchow, Changsha, Honan, Yenan, and Sian.  Chungking and Lanchow are also rallying points.  Supply is great in some places, ok in others.  The only place it’s a real problem is at Yenan.  Sian is the only supply source for Yenan and Sian does not have a large excess, so Yenan suffers.  The only planes in the entire country are a squadron of Lysanders at Changsha that are flying recon over the enemy troops at Nanchang.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My guerilla forces are still causing some headaches.  Several of them have been caught and pounded by Alien troops.  Those that managed to retreat in the direction of friendly lines will be able to grab some more supplies and survive a while longer.  A couple that were forced away from their supply sources are starving and will soon be eliminated.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Other than the 11 units Mynok has gathered at Nanchang, his only real strong points are 15 units at Hankow, 5 more at Sinyang next door, and 4 in the North at Yangku.  I know he has some strong forces also at Canton and Hong Kong, but they have not moved north at all, so I have not spotted any of them.   I think I’ll move my Lysanders down to Wuchow and recon Canton for a bit.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]All in all, I’m quite happy with the current situation in China.  At least everything that I know about.  I think at a basic level, China is about economics.  The first side that runs into severe supply problems loses.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Philippines[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]On Luzon, my troops at Manila continue to take a pounding from the air every other day or so, and small daily ground bombardments.  Just like at Sinapore, my supplies are shrinking, but my troops AV is growing.  Again, this must be from experience gain offsetting any casualties from the bombardments.  Current supply levels are down to 12k at Manila, but AV is up to 926.  My forts sit at only level 1 + 53% and the AF/Port damage levels are still 27/27/45.  I don’t think forts will ever reach level 2.  I still have a bunch of US subs standing by to pick up fragments when the units have their PP cost beat down.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My PBY squadron finally had to leave their very effective naval search base at Iloilo as the Aliens came to take it a couple of days ago.  I still control several scattered island outposts, but the only one that will take any effort for Mynok to scoop up with be Cagayan, with it’s mountain terrain.  I have 193 AV there, from 2 PI reserve divisions and a base force.  Both divisions are 100% prepped for Cagayan, so maybe they can dish out one more bloody nose before they are mopped up.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The S boat subs that started in Manila are currently operating out of Darwin, and patrolling to the West of Palau.  I expect the next push into the southern DEI to come from here, and they should be able to give me a bit of notice and maybe get in a shot or two.  One other S boat is cruising down the NE coast of New Guinea, stalking the small transport TF that Mynok is using to paint the bases there with his Alien flag.  They just landed at Madang.  I hope to catch them with troops on board and maybe take down one of the transports.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]That’s the current summary of the War on 1/20/42.  I’ll try to keep on top of things with AAR updates every turn, but no promises.  [/font][;)][font="times new roman"]  As always, any feedback, questions, or ideas are very welcome.  [8D][/font]

[Yava]

Mike, this Midway bugs me all the time from the beginning when you started to mention it. [;)]  Is it connected with some future offensives in the region? Like not taking every base but taking only this what is needed and bombing Japan? [:D]

[USSAmerica]

Crap!  Yava I had just finished writing a good reply to your Midway question, and when I tried to post I got logged out and lost what I had typed.  [8|]
 
Long story short, having a strong defensive base at Midway makes me feel better.  [:D]
 
A future drive launched across the Central Pacific to Saipan and Guam is in the cards, but not for a long while. 

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/20/1942  [/font]
[font="times new roman"]SS KXV put 2 fish into APD No.1 and sank her at Palembang.  3 DD’s did minor damage with 2 DC hits in return.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]73 Sallys hit the airfield at Palembang, burning supplies, and a smaller attack hit Manila today.[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Ground bombardments at Nanchang, Manila, and Singapore today were followed by Aliens running up the Martian flag at Madang.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/21/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"]SS KXVI caught 2 Alien MSWs just outside Brunei, on their way to clear sub laid mines there.  One of the MSWs ate a torpedo and went under.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok’s troop convoy at Palembang brought a lot of MSWs with them, which is good because I had well over 3000 mines there before he started to work on them.  Today, as troops were landing, and many mines were being cleared, 1 AK hit 4 mines and went down, while DD Ayanami hit 1 mine.  She was last seen heavily damaged and burning.  Then, the coastal defense guns got off 240 shots, with 8 hits on a PG and 4 on an AP.  The last action of the day at Palembang saw SS KXV score another torpedo hit, this time on AK Kyokusei Maru.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]There were the usual minor bombardment attacks at Nanchang and Manila, as well as Singapore, but I have been losing around 500 casualties and a handful of guns per day at Singapore.  Aliens then captured Tacloban, chasing out the PI reservists.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/22/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Fun day today.  [:)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]More mines were swept at Palembang, but AK Hinko Maru swept up 3 of them the hard way.  Coastal guns had a little bit more fight in them, and they got off 38 shots, hitting DD Murakumo 2 times.  In the afternoon, more mines were cleared, 6 of them by AK Yamayuri Maru.  Scratch another AK.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]3 PCs and an APD ran over SS O19 on their way back to Saigon.  I guess they were still mad at losing an APD 2 days ago.  They put 4 DC hits on O19, which may make it back to port.  She currently has 25 sys and 74 flt damage.  5 other DDs caught SS KXIV 1 hex off of Palembang and hit her 3 times.  Next was KXIII’s turn to play.  She put a torpedo into AO Tsurumi, 4 hexes east of Palembang, one of the oilers supporting the 3 CV’s there.  SS O20 didn’t want to be left out of the party.  She caught BB Hyuga heading back to Saigon after bombarding at Palembang and hit her with 1 torpedo.  Mynok told me she only has 6 sys damage, which I believe.  It’s still great fun to see that huge sucker in the periscope crosshairs and then watch a torpedo explode into her side.  [:D]  There were a couple more sub contacts in the Palembang region, but the only hits were 2 DC’s on KXV at Palembang, after she missed an AK with a lot of escorts.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]That was not the end of the ASW action, as I finally pinned down I-7 about 9 hexes east of Pearl with 6 DDs which hit her with 4 DCs.  I also caught I-24, 3 hexes east of Pago Pago.  This bad boy has been camped out here for a long time, but I’ve had no ASW resources in the area until 6 DMS’s arrived from Pearl.  They put 4 DC’s into I-24 early in the day, and later added 5 more.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Alien troops landed at Abemama, a dot base near Tarawa.  The place is of no value to me, except it allows Mynok to creep ever closer to my sea lanes in the South Pacific.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]There were some big air attacks on a few of my bases today.  69 Sallys hit Singapore, doing only minor damage to the port, but costing 7 destroyed and 30 damaged Sallys.  A second attack then came in from farther north in Malaya.  This one had 59 Lilys and another 61 Sallys.  At a cost of 4 destroyed and 17 damaged Lilys, and 1 destroyed and 16 damaged Sallys, Mynok scored another 16 port hits.  Manila saw 17 Lilys and 72 Sonia DB’s today.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]My 4E’s at Soerabaja are still resting and recovering morale while waiting for Mynok to capture the base at Palembang.  There have been t’storms for several days in the region, so Mynok may figure I’ve grounded them due to the weather, or hopefully, that maybe I’ve flown them out of the region.  Kuching’s AF damage still shows between 67 and 87.  I’m still not sure if I will go after the oil or resources at Palembang first….[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]After all of the heavy bombing, the Aliens came over the top at Singapore in a deliberate attack.  His engineers dropped the forts to 4 and he just managed a 1-1 attack, 1195 to my 1026 modified AV.  2800/28/6 losses for the Aliens and a whopping 4100 casualties and 74 guns lost for me.  Damned engineers!  [:'(]  The forts sit at lvl 4 +90%, but there’s a little port damage and still 78 runway damage that is distracting my engineers.  Supply is still at 52k and my AV sits at 642.  I don’t think I’ll be able to get enough damage repaired to bump the forts back up to lvl 5, so the end is near.  I have managed to get a couple of planes repaired, so the 3rd AVG squadron’s pilots all flew out on the last P40, and a bunch of Blenheim pilots crowded into a Blenheim I.  I still have 1 Blenheim IV and 1 PBY left to repair and carry out the rest of my stranded pilots.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Bombardments at Nanchang and Manila are still boosting my AV at Nanchang (up to 3131 now), and eating up my supplies at Manila.  I have only 10.5k supplies left there, and the AV sits at 974.  I should be able to start reassigning some of the units there so I can pull out a few more fragments, starting with USAFFE HQ.  I think I’ll be able to put the “supply magnet” function of another Command HQ to good use in Oz or NG.  [/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/23/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’ve started to run into a small issue with my arriving British fighters.  My last 2 squadrons of fighters at Aden arrived as Mohawks instead of Hurricanes.  Some forum discussion seems to point to needing enough planes in the pool to fill out the squadrons, even though the Allies don’t draw from the pool for reinforcements.  I’ll try to keep a minimum of 16 Hurricanes in the pool for future arrivals.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Submarines continue to be my most effective weapons.  Today, O16 hit AK Kyokusei Maru once, O19 missed the damaged AO Tsurumi, Rover put 2 torps into AK Yamafuji Maru, and KIX took 2 minor DC hits, all in the Palembang-Kuching-Singapore triangle.  My DDs also hit I-7 two more times east of Hawaii.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Alien troops started landing at Kavieng today.  This seems to be the small group of transports that has been sweeping SE along the northern coast of NG.  I have an S boat stalking them, and hope to bag one or two of them.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Regular bombardments at Nanchang and Manila were followed by the first attempt at Palembang and a second Deliberate attack in a row at Singapore.  Both resulted in 1 – 1 odds, but I have very few troops at Palembang, and the Alien attackers were still very disrupted by their landings there.  It won’t last long.  Singapore saw me almost match modified assault value with Mynok, but I took more than 2-1 troop losses, and the engineers dropped my forts down to 3.  They are 97% up to lvl 4, but there’s still AF and port damage to repair first.  My Blenheim squadron repaired it’s plane, and all the boys flew out on it to Rangoon.  Just 1 PBY left here, with 15 pilots.  At least it’s a bit believable if they get it repaired, for them all to fit onboard a PBY.  [:D][/font]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/24/1942[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]I sent some DDs in a second ASW TF to help hunt and finish off I-7 east of Hawaii.  They caught her and fatally pounded her 6 times.  No other torpedo or DC hits today.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I’ve spotted the first Alien ground unit moving north along the trails from Tavoy.  Recon has identified it as the 55th Division.  Time for some training for the P39 squadron at Rangoon.  I’ll have to double check what altitude I had them set to fly at, but they attacked at 2000 feet.  This makes me think they are acting as dive bombers when attacking ground troops.  I don’t want to lose AVG fighters to flak in the ground attack role, but I may have some of the Brit fighters join in the training fun.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Bombardments at Nanchang and Manilla, as usual.  After 2 days of deliberate attacks, there was only a bombardment attack today at Singapore.  My last PBY repaired and flew out to India today.  I’ve been slipping subs into the port to replenish, but he 50k+ supplies I have stockpiled here are not going to make any difference in delaying it’s fall.  It’s coming soon. [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Undefended Kavieng fell today, and Palembang was also lost.  Mynok is gloating just a bit today, as the resource and oil industries at Palembang were captured completely intact.  My 100+ rested 4E’s at Soerabaja have been ordered to change that.    I’m targeting the oil first.  [/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

Bombardments at Nanchang and Manilla, as usual. After 2 days of deliberate attacks, there was only a bombardment attack today at Singapore. My last PBY repaired and flew out to India today. I’ve been slipping subs into the port to replenish, but he 50k+ supplies I have stockpiled here are not going to make any difference in delaying it’s fall. It’s coming soon.

Undefended Kavieng fell today, and Palembang was also lost. Mynok is gloating just a bit today, as the resource and oil industries at Palembang were captured completely intact. My 100+ rested 4E’s at Soerabaja have been ordered to change that. I’m targeting the oil first.

Good news at Singapore, bad news at Palembang. Did you have any engineers there? Eng units are supposed to be good at sabotaging facilities.

[USSAmerica]

Engineers can be very effective.  I moved a large number of them to Kuala Lumpur in Malaya at the start of the war.  When Mynok captured the base, my engineers managed to damage 598 out of the 600 resource production there.  [;)]
 
I just didn't have nearly the numbers of engineers that I could move to Palembang.  I hope my heavies can do a bit of damage there. 
 
I guess the news is good at Singapore that I was able to evac all of my planes and pilots.  The base may fall with the next deliberate attack, or surely, the second one. 
 
Thanks for checking in, Capt. [:)]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/25/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Some more good work by my subs in the DEI today as SS KX put a torpedo into a TK at Brunei, and O16 put one into another of the Alien CV TF replenishment AO’s, Shoyo Maru.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Mynok brought a lot of bombers in raids on Singapore and Manila today, and then my 4Es went into Palembang.  I got 72 bombers into the air, and they scored 30 oil industry hits.  The mouse intel after the turn showed about 87 oil points damaged, out of 1200 at Palembang.  They did a pretty good job of reminding Mynok that they are still in the region.  No losses to my bombers.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]At the end of the day, S-38, who had been stalking the transports at Kavieng caught AP Terukuni with no protection.  4 torpedoes and 4 shell hits later, she went down, taking 194 casualties with her.  [8D][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]Other than the usual bombardment attacks, the only ground action of note was the fall of Roxas, as the Alien troops marched into the undefended base in parade formation. 

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/26/1942[/b][/b][/font]
[font="times new roman"]Today was the first time Mynok has made me pay for a stupid move, and it was a really stupid move on my part.  The story:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]As Mynok slowly pushes into the DEI region, I’m pulling my shipping out.  As I leave, I’ve been having all of my transports top off their fuel tanks at all of the small bases in the area where there is any fuel left.  I don’t want to leave anything I don’t have to behind for Mynok.  Almost all of this fuel has been cleaned up, and the only bases where I’m still actively operating are Balikpapan and Soerabaja.  Most of the shipping has been hauling their cargo to Darwin to stock up that base.  I gave up on trying to get any more oil out of Amboina a few weeks ago, after Mynok’s first move on the base that was turned away.  There is, however a decent stockpile of fuel building there.  I have several Dutch patrol squadrons flying naval search in the area, and 3 S-boats operating between Palau and Amboina.  None of them have spotted any enemy shipping, so it should be safe enough to run my SC TF up to Amboina from Darwin to drink up the fuel there, and then run home, right?  [8|][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Well, they made it safely up to Amboina and refueled, cleaning out the fuel tanks there.  Then, I made my second stupidest move (the first would be risking combat ships for such a petty goal).  I forgot to set their orders to return home to Darwin.  My timing could not have been worse, as Mynok started moving lots of transports in the direction of Amboina from Palau, and provided air cover with what appears to be 4 or 5 CVs.  The CVs just happened to station themselves 4 hexes away from Amboina to conduct flight ops.  The result:[/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
Day Air attack on TF, near Amboina at 40,74
 
Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 34
D3A2 Val x 79
B5N2 Kate x 79
 
Japanese aircraft losses
D3A2 Val: 4 damaged
B5N2 Kate: 1 destroyed, 12 damaged
 
Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 4,  on fire,  heavy damage
CA Houston, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 2,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Barker, Bomb hits 6,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Thanet, Torpedo hits 3,  on fire,  heavy damage
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 7,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Kortenaer, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD John D. Ford, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
DD Scout
DD Banckert, Bomb hits 7,  on fire,  heavy damage
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 5,  on fire
DD Witte de With, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Boise, Marblehead, and Thanet all went down on the spot.  The remnants of the TF are scurrying back to Darwin, with several of them, including Houston, still in danger of sinking.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]The lesson I learned:  Don’t risk anything valuable for very little gain, unless I have so much patrol coverage that I KNOW there are no enemies even close to striking range.  I have two PBY squadrons making their way to this part of the world.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A few other things happened today.  Some of them were even good for me.  [:D][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]One of two ASW groups I have operating in the Java Sea caught I-157 and hit her twice, with one being a penetrating direct hit.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]I set several squadrons of Martin 139’s on Naval Attack at Batavia, hoping they would go after the enemy TF still at Palembang.  I also ordered a squadron of Brewster 339D’s and a squadron of Dutch Demons to fly escort.  Well, the Martins didn’t fly, but the fighters met up with, and escorted my 4Es into Palembang.  There, they were met by 21 Oscars and 10 Zeros, likely on LRCAP from the Alien CVs still camped 4 hexes to the ENE.  I lost 5 fighters and had 3 damaged for 4 Zeros damaged, and 4 Oscars destroyed and 13 more damaged.  Of the 96 4Es that attacked, I lost 7 and had 75 take some damage.  Much of that reported damage was inflated or repaired overnight, but there are still a few dozen damaged at Soerabaja today.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]They scored 34 oil industry hits on this raid for about 80 more oil points damaged, according to Agent Mouse.  A total of 164 out of 1200 points are reported damaged after 2 days.  My B17 boys are flying at extended range, and the LB30s are at the top end of their normal range, so the fatigue is building quickly.  They have been very effective so far, so as long as there is “non-thunderstorm” weather, I need to send them in again and again.  I have 5 more squadrons of B17s inbound as reinforcements that have been training at Brisbane.  They transferred to Darwin today, and will transfer into Soerabaja tomorrow.  They will probably have to rest to get rid of high fatigue after flying so far in 2 days.  I expect that I will start to take higher ops losses as all of these guys build fatigue, but I’m willing to “spend” a good number of them for as many cracks at Palembang’s oil industry as I can get.  After the next couple of weeks, it may be a looooong time before I will be able to bomb Mynok’s oil industry in the DEI.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"][/font] 
[font="times new roman"]Every point I damage is 6 points of oil he loses, every day.  I’ve already reduced his production by 1000 oil points per day with just 2 days of bombing.  Since he captured Palembang intact, I think this is a critical mission.  The secondary effect of this bombing is the long time it will take him to repair the damage, and the hundreds of thousands of supply points it will take.  In my opinion, it would be worth not having any of my 4Es available for 90 days or more, if I can damage 75-100% of his oil industry here.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Man, I kind of babbled on there, huh?  [:D]  I guess talking about something that is going my way is an attempt to make up for my dumbass move at Amboina.  [;)][/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Elsewhere, my P-39 squadron at Rangoon has started attacks against the 55th Alien Division as it slowly marches along the jungle trail from Tavoy.  Today, I was able to cause 36 casualties and the destruction of 1 gun.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]A Hudson from Amboina landed a bomb on a PG escorting the transports toward Amboina.  They only carry small 250 lb bombs, but that might be enough to cause significant damage to a PG.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]Some Aliens came ashore over the beach at Ormoc.  Some bombardment attacks on the ground in several places were followed by another Deliberate attack at Singapore.  I lost 3600 to 2500 Alien casualties, and the forts were dropped by the enemy engineers to lvl 2.  They show as lvl 2 + 106% on the base status display, but I suspect they can’t “officially” increase to lvl 3 until the fairly widespread AF and Port damage is repaired.  That won’t happen.  The adjusted AV’s were 1600 to my 1114 today.  The next attack will drop the forts to lvl 1, and that may be enough to get Mynok to 2:1 odds or better.  Singapore is mine for only 1 or maybe 2 more deliberate attacks.  [/font]
[font="times new roman"] [/font]
[font="times new roman"]At Manila, I only have about 8700 supply left, with requirements of 7000 or so.  I do still have an AV of 1032 here.  It has been forever since Mynok tried anything other than bombing here, so he may not realize how close to taking this place he is.  The forts are only at lvl 1, and I’ll never get them up to 2.  I looked through my LCUs there and have decided to spend some of my remaining supply to have the 3 Field Artillery Rgts here bombard for a day or two to see if they can cause some damage.  Today, I reassigned the very disabled USAFFE HQ unit to SWPac, so my subs can evac a fragment of it to Darwin.  [/font]

[Capt. Harlock]

Allied Ships
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 10, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CA Houston, Bomb hits 9, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Barker, Bomb hits 6, on fire, heavy damage
DD Thanet, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
CL Boise, Torpedo hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
DD Kortenaer, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD John D. Ford, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
DD Scout
DD Banckert, Bomb hits 7, on fire, heavy damage
CL De Ruyter, Bomb hits 5, on fire
DD Witte de With, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Boise, Marblehead, and Thanet all went down on the spot.

Ohnooo!! Not the Boise! And seven torpedo hits really is overkill. . .[X(]

Good move putting a P-39 squadron into the Burma theater -- it's a fine ground attack machine in the early war.

[USSAmerica]

In 2 brief games against the AI, and now my second PBEM start, I have yet to see the Boise fire her guns in anger.  My other games did not go long enough to get a chance, and this one, well.....[8|]  [:D]
 
The P-39 squadron at Rangoon is the 6th Philippine that started at Clark and was evacuated early before upgrading.  Most of the fighter and FB squadrons from the PI went to Burma and India.  I think they will end up being more useful there, as I should have plenty of fighters from the US for the other side of the map. 

[rtrapasso]

In 2 brief games against the AI, and now my second PBEM start, I have yet to see the Boise fire her guns in anger. My other games did not go long enough to get a chance, and this one, well.....

Yeah, in Threadwar, Boise's career was limited to: "Hey, what are those streaks in the water heading for us?" [X(]

[John 3rd]

Mike
 
VERY enjoyable read!  Your notes remind me of how I write my AAR.  I HATE long, endless combat reports.
 
Cannot believe how slowly your opponent is moving.  You look to be in excellent shape!  Do you have a tally of what he has lost for combat vessels?
 
I'm honored that you would mention my AAR with Dan.  Thanks for the thoughts and comments there!
 
Now--Go after your opponent and sting him somewhere!  BANZAI!  Ahhhhhh...I mean...Good Luck...  [:)][:)]

[USSAmerica]

[font="times new roman"]1/27/1942[/font]
[font="times new roman"]Today was an up and down day.  SS Argonaut ran into a Mk10 mine left by some sister USN subs the previous day at Kwajalein.  She’s in pretty bad shape and I don’t know if she’ll make it home.  All other sub/asw contacts resulted in no hits.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]I sent 3 squadrons of Martin 139’s after the airfields at Palembang.  The AF there is already damaged some, and I hope to reduce the fighter presence there some.  13 Zeros (still likely LRCAP from the CVs) and 21 Oscars defended.  I did score 20 runway hits and a few more hits on the airbase and supply at a cost of 6 Martins downed.  The 35 escorting Brewsters suffered even more, as only 9 came home.  The mouse intel reports 45% airfield damage, and only 9 auxillary planes at the base, so maybe this raid had some effect.  I’m concentrating my Martins and Brewsters at Batavia from the other DEI bases, since the scattered small squadrons would be ineffective on their own.  The remaining Martins and Brewsters are ordered in again tomorrow.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]The 4E’s then went into Palembang after Mynoks oil industry.  There were only 5 Zeros and 9 Oscars opposing this raid, so the previous Martin/Brewster raid did have some effect.  My fatigue/morale/damage levels are starting to show, as only 50 4Es attacked.  My gunners picked off 1 Zero and 1 Oscar, and damaged 8 others, with 12 of my bombers reported damaged.  The post combat Intelligence screen shows that 5 B-17’s were actually shot down.  I scored 10 oil industry hits, for about another 33 points damaged.  Total damage is up to 197/1200 now.  I transferred 5 more squadrons of B-17s into Soerabaja from Darwin, but a few are short some planes, to effectively, it’s another 48 planes.  Their fatigue is a bit high, but I’ve ordered them to attack with all of the rest of the bombers tomorrow.  The weather has been decent (no Thunderstorms) for 3 days in a row, and is forecast to be good again tomorrow.  I need to make hay while the sun is shining, because there could be T’storms for several days in a row in this area, and I’m about due for some.  Once the number of aircraft at Batavia is reduced through attrition, I’m going to move 50-60 of my B-17’s up to Batavia.  The bomb load attacking Palembang will be a wash, as I go to normal range, but operate from a level 4 airfield instead of Soerabaja's level 5.  What I will gain is less fatigue and hopefully fewer ops losses from a shorter flying distance.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Mynok did a little bit of bombing today, too.  Two big raids hit Manila, and some minor ground attacks hit a few Chinese guys.  I think I will try to ambush these training runs in a week or two with a couple of AVG squadrons.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]The Alien invasion fleets spotted yesterday continue to move toward Amboina.  They could veer off to hit another base, but I’m pretty confident they are heading straight to Amboina.  I have 2 small squadrons of Aussie Hudsons at Amboina, and they made bombing runs on CA Nachi and BB Yamashiro, but scored no hits.  I have 1 S-boat moving to a spot off Amboina where the enemy transports might end their movement tomorrow, and 2 move moving in from the Palau area that will converge on the location of Mynok’s CV TF.  The CVs stayed 4 hexes from Amboina today, and my beat up group of survivors from yesterday’s naval air attack were not able to get far enough south.  34 Zeros escorted 54 Vals to hit my ships at a range of 5 hexes.  Houston and De Ruyter drew all of the attention, taking 14 and 11 bomb hits respectively.  Houston went under, and De Ruyter is barely hanging on.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Screenshot of damage to this TF:[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Unless the CV’s move south, my ships should be out of range tomorrow, but who knows how many will actually make port at Darwin?  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Mynok came to the same conclusion that I did from the results of yesterday’s Deliberate attack on Singapore.  He followed up with a Shock attack today.  The key to this attack was that his engineers did not reduce the forts before the attack went in, so he was still facing Lvl 2 fortifications.  His attack scored a solid 2:1 result, which would have been enough to capture the base with only Lvl 1 forts.  The assault did reduce the forts to 1, and I’m sure tomorrow will be the end.  It was nice to see his Alien troops get one more bloody nose, losing 2000 casualties, 36 guns and 5 tanks.  (I lost more, but they are all lost after the next attack.)[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Mynok may be reading my mind at Manila, as well.  After my comment yesterday that he must not know how low my supplies are here, he launched a strong deliberate attack.  I was sure my level 1 forts would crumble with the first assault, but the urban terrain helped my defenders much more than I counted on.  Here are the numbers:[/font]
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Ground combat at Manila
 
Japanese Deliberate attack
 
Attacking force 112412 troops, 527 guns, 160 vehicles, Assault Value = 2279
 
Defending force 71365 troops, 535 guns, 245 vehicles, Assault Value = 1092
 
Japanese max assault: 2311 - adjusted assault: 1066
 
Allied max defense: 1040 - adjusted defense: 3589
 
Japanese assault odds: 0 to 1 (fort level 1)
 
 
Japanese ground losses:
4354 casualties reported
Guns lost 71
Vehicles lost 6
 
Allied ground losses:
2128 casualties reported
Guns lost 75
Vehicles lost 8
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[font="times new roman"]That’s gotta sting.  [:D]  Regardless, my supply is now 8114, with a requirement of 9187.  My base Assault Value will start to plummet now.  I forgot to order my artillery units to bombard tomorrow, so I’ll have to make a note to set them for the next day.  I might as well use those supply points to cause some casualties.  I think it will be a long while before Mynok tries another assault, and by then, my supply will be almost gone, so the points I use up bombarding won’t hurt too much, and may even make Mynok think I have a supply surplus.  [/font]
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[font="times new roman"]A few squads of the USAFFE HQ boarded 2 subs for transport to Darwin today, and I reassigned the 20th, 109th, and 118th base forces to SWPAC.  Subs are ordered into Manila to pick up fragments of them tomorrow.  These are the units that have been disabled the most, so their PP cost has dropped.  I’m watching 3 additional BF’s, the 200th AA, and my 3 FA units to see if they get disabled enough to buy them on the cheap.  I have a bunch more subs standing by off of Manila to run in and grab them when I can.[/font]
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[font="times new roman"]Things were quiet on the eastern half of the map.  The biggest news was the diversion of a transport TF from SF to Panama to provide the needed lift capacity for my arriving LCU’s there, and the 3rd of my 4 CV fighter squadrons upgrading from F4-F3’s to F4-F4’s.  [/font]