Lorks-a-lordy, my Empire is on fire! GBL vs 1EyedJacks - Nemo's mod

[Nemo121]

The Japs lost two planes from thr RTAF which the code recognises as Allied. Its a coded thing, nothing to be done about it except swap them from V-92s etc to Ki-32s or something suitably Japanese.

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

The Japs lost two planes from thr RTAF which the code recognises as Allied. Its a coded thing, nothing to be done about it except swap them from V-92s etc to Ki-32s or something suitably Japanese.

Ah! Thanks Nemo. I wondered why the RTAF was escorting my daily Lysander recon flight over Tavoy. Could somebody let Mike know, please? It's bugging the hell out of me!!! (If you tell him that bit he will probably never change...) Edit Don't worry, I forgot I can speak to him myself... - Bad Day for thinking...

We are playing 1.31. Was the change back to respawning CVs in a later version?

[goodboyladdie]

21/12/41

I forgot to mention that the sub in the Bass Strait got attacked, but not really damaged last turn. This turn it caught a few more and is heavily damaged. I moved 427th BS (B-25D) from Brisbane to Darwin. I tried to move my B-19s from Brisbane but the game crashed (twice!). The third time I was able to open up the options to find that I am better off leaving them where they are for now. No Indian bases are big enough (yet) and Clark and Singapore are a bit too frontline. Singapore is a short term option to ponder though...

[goodboyladdie]

Johnston is now 0/27/0. I forgot Kittyhawk, as a CVL, can't pick up float planes. She is on her way back to SF. An AK will pick up the second squdron for the Curtiss air group (assunimg she can operate more than one?).

Here are the current aircraft available at PH following delivery of more fighters. Another unit is not represented as none of their new P-39Ds are currently ready.

[goodboyladdie]

I got SigInt that Southern Area Army is aboard an AP heading for Kota Bharu. There is a convoy approaching now (see screenie), so all bomber units have been given Naval attack orders.

PC Ch16 hit a mine at Batan Island and sank. It's a deadly little spot to mine so I am sending more subs there to lay new eggs. On the debit side the small TK D.L. Kruithos was sunk by I-153 South of Singapore.

HMS Indomitable and more Cruisers have arrived at Batavia and joined Force Z. I have B-17s going in at high level (30,000ft) after Oil at Miri and Brunei.

Clark is 0/55/16 and Manila is 3/0/0. As you will see from the next post Mike is being aggressive in the air in China, so 2 squadrons of SB-2s have flown into Manila with Naval Attack orders. That will hopefully force him to spread his air power out again.

[goodboyladdie]

I have SigInt that 2nd Yobieki FA Rgt is on it's way to Shanghai on an AK. It looks like Mike is going to devote some effort to China...

Kweilin and Changsha were raided. At Kweilin 32 Zekes, 7 C3N1s and 50 Jeans were opposed by 10 Lancers. 1 Jean was shot down, but I lost 4 US P-43s and a Chinese version. The base took 3 hits, supplies 1 and runways 16 and is now 0/15/28. I seem to have lost a lot of my Lancers and Il-4s on the ground and I am getting what I can out to Hangchow for now. At Changsha 27 Zekes, 1 C3N1 and 12 Kates were opposed by only 3 P-35s, which were easily shot down. I lost a further Lancer and a V-92C on the ground, but the base is OK. I have pulled the V-92Cs out to Chungking and put all my fighters on CAP.

The Nates were back over Ichang and I lost a Lancer, with 2 more damaged as well as a P-35 and 3 SB-2s damaged.

Because of the above events I made the move detailed in the post above. I have also upgraded 2 SB-2 squadrons to the faster, longer-ranged and tougher SB-2M, donated by Uncle Joe. I guess I'll have to visit a few Jap airfields once I have managed to force him to send fighters to the PI. I was tempted to upgrade a V-92C squadron too. Their default upgrade is the Il-2. I am still thinking about it.

A Jap deliberate attack at Hengchow, near Shanghai was narrowly held. 568 (249) Jap assault points to 736 (128) Chinese gave 1:1. Casualties were 760/20 Japs to 536/20 Chinese.

Another question for Nemo - are my Indian AA Sloops supposed to have a Jap air search radar? I hope the instructions are printed in English...

[goodboyladdie]

22/12/41

Johnston is at 0/20/0. The B-19s of 23rs BS flew from PH to Brisbane. The game crashed again first time. Second time round the first thing I did was make the B-19 moves and it worked.

CL Richmond arrived at Colon. She is heading for PH for nuisance raiding duties. 4 DDs arrived at Panama and they are sailing for San Diego to meet Yorktown when she arrives. 2 DDs and 4 DMSs detached from their convoys to prosecute a sub target identified by a passing CV (see screenie).

144th FA Rgt has transferred to SWPAC and is moving from Seattle to SF to await transport. I am provisionally preparing them for Perth. The rump of 201st RCT has been picked up from Kodiak and is heading for Dutch Harbor.

[goodboyladdie]

There is a crisis at Townsville - no fuel. It will take me a couple of weeks to get some there so I may have to run the ships South. They need torpedoes anyway, so I think that is what I'll do.

Here is the current Suva garrison. When 40th Div arrives, 8th NZ Brigade will move to protect Nandi.

[goodboyladdie]

RO-64 shrugged off an attack from PC Aldebaran. New landings are taking place at Kota Bharu and it fell to the Japs this turn, as did Victoria Point. The high level raids on Miri and Brunei scored no hits. RAF 27 Sqaudron will attempt to hit the airfield at Tavoy overnight. I am very vulnerable to paratroop landings to cut off my Rangoon/Moulmein troops in Burma, but do not have any spare forces to garrison bases. 392nd BS flew their B-19s to Singapore. They can reach the Home Islands from here, so I can make Mike's life a little interesting as a potential distraction. The B-25 unit at Singapore upgraded to the B-17E, so I have changed them back to preserve my reserve. For some reason I am unable to sweep all the Jap mines from Singapore. Let's hope Mike is enjoying all his little floating presents...

USS Pickerel, forced to flee from Bataan, is now at 56/91 and is three hexes short of Tarakan, so will sink.

427th BS (B-25D) has flown to Manila (now undamaged) to join the Chinese SB-2s. The Chinese bombers flew many attacks, but scored no hits. I am hoping for an improvement. Mike does not appear to have reacted yet.

6th HAA is heading to Calcutta from Aden, while 35th LAA is heading to the same destination from Karachi. My aircraft convoy finally reached Colombo. 273 Sqn (Vildebeest) has been freed up for training and a possible move to Burma. The Spits will defend Colombo while the RCAF Mohawks move to Trincomalee.

[goodboyladdie]

Kweilin was hard hit again. I lost an Il-4c on the ground and Mike lost a Jean to flak. Kweilin is now 0/27/39. 2 Nates were destroyed with 2 damaged in a strafing attack at Nanchang. Wuchow AF was also hit with a small raid.

A Jap deliberate attack at Hangchow failed. If I had not been in a hurry I might have realise it was worth attacking as he does not appear to have any supplies. Even so, only I took casualties. Jap forces at Ningpo now outnumber me 2:1 so I'll try to pull out to Pucheng before the inevitable attack. The unit there is one of my best and I would prefer not to have it's morale knocked down for nothing...

Another Chinese Div has transferred to SEAC. If it gets into the area in time (highly unlikely!) it will split for anti-paratroop garrison duties.

At Chungking 2 V-92C squadrons converted to the SB-2M, while another (my best) converted to the Pe-2. If Manila is still open when they are ready, their 500kg AP bombs will cause carnage.

Mike's CVs are still at Hong Kong.

[goodboyladdie]

Here are the SB-2/SB-2M and Pe-2 stats for comparison.

[goodboyladdie]

Apart from it's delivery height the Pe-2 is much tougher, but range is low. However, the eggs this hen can lay will ruin Mike's day. I intend to keep my airbases near the coast and interdict Mike's shipping, a tactic I have used successfully in the past. He has played me before and it obviously hurts him because he is doing a lot to deny me the use of those bases in this game. I have a base force on the way to Nanning to give me a further option. I will not have a lot of them as the longer range level bombers give me more flexibility, but I will try to make Mike dread them... If he threatens India I will probably assign some Chinese squadrons to SEAC.

[goodboyladdie]

23/12/41

Johnston is now 0/12/0. 5 MSWs have scrambled after a sub contact spotted North of Oahu (see screenie). 4 DMs are sailing to mine Hilo. I am hoping they won't stall like Oglala did. The Kingfishers have loaded onto a small AK at Lahaina, which will proceed to Portland (safely, I hope).

18th Engineers, 2nd USMC Paras and 2nd USMC Def Bn have started to load onto transports at SF.

[goodboyladdie]

105th RAAF Base Force is unloading at Noumea. 5 USN DMSs have disbanded for repairs at Sydney. The Cruiser force at Townsville were able to replenish their torpedoes from AD Black Hawk, but will come South to Sydney anyway, because HMNZS Leander has both fore turrets out of action.

B-19s from Brisbane will attempt to bomb the Port at Rabaul after a Hudson spotted a ship there. They will fly at their max height of 18,000ft. No fighters are present and they are armed to the teeth.

On the subject of Rabaul, the Japs have added another casualty to their losses in the First Naval Battle of Rabaul...

[goodboyladdie]

SigInt pinpoints the Imperial Guards Division at Victoria Point. Oscars put in an appearance over Tavoy.

S-38 was attacked three times at San Fernando and is struggling back to Bataan with damage of 24/84. SB-2s and B-25s flew many strikes today, but the only success was a bomb from an SB-2 into the AMC Aikoku Maru at Aparri. She is reported on fire.

Mike's response was a heavy raid on Manila, with a smaller one on Bataan. 3 Bettys were shot down at Manila with 14 more damaged. 2 SB-2s and a B-25 were destroyed on the ground (base 3, supplies 2, runways 26). Damage stands at 9/18/0. Bataan took 2 runway hits at a cost of 2 Bettys with 3 more damaged. I have moved the SB-2s to Clark (0/48/0) to force Mike to commit more effort away from other theatres (hopefully China!).

Taiping fell to an unopposed attack. The B-19s from Singapore will bomb resources there in the hopes of eating up some of Mike's supplies.

5 DDs disbanded at Bombay to await upgrade. HMAS Australia joined Force Z at Batavia

Palembang appears to get more oil than advertised as a couple of turns ago stocks stood at 18000...

[goodboyladdie]

Kweilin and Hangchow AF were raided, the former heavily. A Lancer was destroyed on the ground at Kweilin and losses in the air over Hangchow totalled 1 Zeke, 6 P-43As and 1 Lancer. I am pulling all my planes out of their forward bases for now. They cannot compete and I want to regroup before I try to give Mike a taste of his own medicine. Kweilin is 0/33/43 and Hangchow is 0/2/1.

Jap attacks at Ningpo and Hengchow forced my troops back. The Guerillas in the North at 51,33 managed to hold Mike's attack today with no casualties to the Jap's 50.

Here is a screenie of the very wonderful Soviet L Class minelaying sub. I have a few of these beauties and they are sailing together laying defensive minefields.

[goodboyladdie]

24/12/41

I-3 had a tussle with the two escorts of an Oiler off the West Coast. She was unharmed. Mike's subs are showing up a bit more and I currently do not have the hard-hitting ASW assets to punish them for being sighted. I-10 took a pot-shot at an MSW North of Oahu, but missed. I will be sending 4 DDs back to PH after the four stackers get their upgrade to try to inderdict an subs transiting to/from the West Coast, as well as deal with local threats.

Johnston is nearly recovered at 0/4/0. AVD Avocet (sys 58) is on her way to Prince Pupert (Shipyard 10) for repair and I have moved my SBD-3 squadron to Lahaina.

BBs Tennessee (44 sys) and Nevada (31) disbanded in LA; Arizona (39) and Maryland (47) did the same at SF. Lady Lex and Big E also disbanded at SF this turn. HMAS Canberra (26 sys after the Battle of Rabaul) disbanded at Sydney and AS Holland (42/37) arrived at Darwin and disbanded to sort her flooding after escaping from Bataan.

Here is the latest reinforcement convoy for SOPAC.

[goodboyladdie]

MSW W.12 was hit by a patrolling Dutch Do-24K-2. Go Cloggies! I-153 had a tussle with Dutch ASW forces off Sinkawang, but got away.

Miri took no hits from todays high level raid, but Brunei took 3 Oil hits and now has 32 damaged centres. That's a bit of supply Mike will not be able to use elsewhere. Jap CVs are on the move (see screenie). I believe they still ship the same fighters that are unable to catch my high flying bombers so I will keep up the raids for now. The B-19s missed everything at Rabaul and stood down. The B-19s at Singers did not fly due to fatigue.

2 Bettys were shot down with 3 damaged over Manila, while 2 went down with 4 damaged over Bataan. Manila is now 0/13/6, Clark is 0/36/0. I will swap my Chinese bombers for others once the upgraded air units become available. In many attacks on Jap Naval units around the PI and off Kota Bharu, the only success was 2 bombs from SB-2s into AP Veizuru Maru at Laoag.

S-38 is now 24/85 and 1 hex away from Bataan. Two old R Class BBs arrived at Aden and are sailing for Colombo. They really are not very good ships. I have never understood why the Queen Elizabeths were followed by a slower, less able class of ship...

[goodboyladdie]

No Zekes were evident over China today. I did not see any new fighters over the PI, but there are quite a few at Miri and Brunei. Singapore has also not been seriously hit yet, so is due for some attention...

A Jap deliberate attack at 51,33 force my guerillas back. Kweilin is now 0/33/39. I hope to have an SB-2M unit ready to ship out to Clark to replace a low morale SB-2 unit next turn.

A new Soviet Il-2 unit arrived at Ohka. I have moved them to perform recon over some of Mike's oil to keep him honest...

[goodboyladdie]

25/12/41

I cannot post any screenies until the Matrix server migration is complete and no-one seems to know how long that will take, so I'll post without illustration to save me getting behind.

CENPAC, SOPAC, West Coast and Australia

The MSW task force hunting I-10 found her but no ship actually dropped any charges. Later in the day they became the hunted and MSW Robin tokk 2 torpedoes and sank. The others are retreating to PH. It is not worth wasting them as Mike has many pesky minelaying subs in this mod. I have started to ferry 4th Marine Def Bn to Hilo from PH by air and sea. Hilo is a potential size 6 airfield and although I am not currently developing it as I cannot defend it properly and do not want to potentially save Mike work, I do not want ot vulnerable to a para drop.

New fast AKs arrived at SF. I was tempted to use them for a fast resupply of PH, but will hold them back as I have more LCUs due in 4 days, including 125th RCT, which I currently have in mind for the main Midway garrison. A Soviet AK (they are quick!) will finish loading supplies at Seattle this turn and will head for Petropavlovsk. 2 repaired DDs are cruising from Vancouver to SF.

A sub was spotted heading NE between Sydney and Brisbane. A fast ASW group out of Sydney consisting of HMAS Voyager and 5 US DMSs is searching along it's probable track while B-19s from Brisbane have been given ASW patrol orders.