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

[goodboyladdie]

Johnston is 45/56/86. 2nd BS, with torpedo armed B-26As, arrived at PH. VS-2/D14, with Kingfishers, also arrived at PH and deployed to Lahaina on Naval Search.

54th and 16th PS loaded onto CVL Kittyhawk. DM Tracy is ready at Portland and will lay mines at Astoria on her way to SF.

2nd RNZAF squadron flew their Hudsons from Wellington to Noumea, It was too long a journey and 2 planes and crews were lost...

Here is the end of month summary screen.

[goodboyladdie]

SS Salmon was attacked and slightly damaged laying mines off San Fernando (8 sys). She loaded at Manila to repeat the mission. I-157 had a tussle with Dutch ASW ships but does not appear to be damaged.

Moulmein, Manila (twice), Bataan and Clark (the ambush did not work) were all hit again. At Singapore PG Grasshoper and 2 AKs were hit. One AK is quite badly damaged. All ships that can are leaving - the AKs are taking Base Force fragments with them. I am tempted to divert some to Australia, but will send US units there, while the SEAC units move to help defend India. Tarkan witnessed air battles. In the first 4 bombers were destroyed, with 3 damaged in return for 1 P-40E, with 2 more damaged. Then a fighter sweep with Zekes and Tojos came in. 1 Zeke was knocked down for 2 P-40Es. TK Pinna was badly damaged (88/42/24).

Forts at the Balinta Pass were reduced to 0.

Fighters are abandoning Tarakan. USS Narwal picked up a fragment of Asiatic Fleet HQ from Puerto Princesa and is taking it to Townsville. We are entering the phase where I stop minelaying and start evacuating cadres. CL Dauntless has detached from the decoy force and is heading to Aden to withdraw. DD Scout has been pulled out of the meagre force Z screen and will head back for the same purpose.

Manila 0/38/21, Clark 0/59/44, Moulmein 0/38/53, Tarakan 19/0/0, Singapore 0/8/0.

[goodboyladdie]

In China, I will attempt an ambush over Nanchang with a Chines Lancer squadron. Mike seems to be intent on pushing me back in Southern China. It must be to keep my air bases distant from the Home Islands. I have no counter - in the open my Chinese units are unable to hold. I want to slow him down, but must ensure units do not repeat more than once as the morale hit then makes holding what you really need harder...

[goodboyladdie]

02/01/42

Johnston is now 45/56/77 and an AK is unloading over 5000 tons of supplies. PG Utah is escorting 6 PTs from PH to Johnston, just in case Mike is suppressing it to give himself the opportunity to seize the island.

I-5 was attacked by 4 DDs off the West Coast. No real damage was caused. USS Barracuda and USS Bonita arrived at PH and are off to lay mines. 4 DMs are off to Johnston to do the same.

Yorktown arrived at SF and disbanded to deal with the 1 sys damage point she picked up on the way. 7/8/9th PS loaded onto CVL Kittyhawk for Brisbane via Papaete. You'll see from the screenie why I am worried...

The 1st AK to reach Capetown is loading 10,000 tons of supply for Sydney. AK Kwantung was sunk by I-174 East of the Bass Strait. An ASW force is heading for the spot. It is becoming a good hunting ground for Mike. I have plenty of air cover down there, but some is short ranged and it needs to gain in experience to become a deterrent.

[goodboyladdie]

PC Ch15 hit one of my mines at Laoag.

Moulmein was heavily hit again. I have identified 11thst Special Base Force and 55th "Division" Brigade South of Ye. They are being harried by daily raids out of Rangoon, but I do not have the air support available to get any more than 2 squadrons of bombers in there at once. Tarakan, Clark, Bataan and Manila (twice) were also hit. Singapore took a pounding. 2 Buffs were destroyed on the ground, but 2 Sallys were shot down by flak. 2 Q-Ships arrived with supplies. They'll take out more Base Force troops when they leave. I sent them because of their speed and good AA armament.

Brunei Oil was hit once, but damage shows up as 37 so Mike is obviously repairing.

The 1st 2 evacuated Buff squadrons ready are loading onto AKs at Batavia for onward transport to India.

The Mini KB is no longer at Palau...

[goodboyladdie]

In China the Lancer ambush caught a Sonia. A Mary was downed by flak too. A jap deliberate attack on the hex highlighted by the pointer at the end of the reports from 01/01/42 casued a Chinese retreat, thought the Japs did take more than 4 times the casualties from the direct fighting (870/18 to 179/8). The retreat will cost me at least 10% more IIRC.

From the screenie you'll see that the Soviets are racking up some kills for a neutral nation...

[ny59giants]

USS Barracuda and USS Bonita arrived at PH and are off to lay mines.

I thought your version was the same as mine. This class of sub carries the FPs. Shouldn't they be used in a recon mode like the Glen equipped subs??

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

USS Barracuda and USS Bonita arrived at PH and are off to lay mines.

I thought your version was the same as mine. This class of sub carries the FPs. Shouldn't they be used in a recon mode like the Glen equipped subs??

Hi Michael

No, we are using an earlier version (1.31 I think)

Very best regards

Carl

[goodboyladdie]

03/01/42

I had a SigInt flash of a radio intercept at 136,80. This is a bit worrying as it's the position of the 2nd Marine Div convoy. I am hoping that it was one of the RCN escorts...

Johnston is 45/56/68. 2 "CAs" have been spotted at Wake and CL Richmond is moving from SF to PH to respond to any opportunity targets that show up. 2 Fast AKs are loading RCAF 115 Sqn and 98th BS at SF for Brisbane as the build-up of sustainable air defences for Australia continues. The leading elements of 113th USN BF are loading at Seattle for Umnak Island.

SS Seadragon (sys 21) disbanded at Auckland for in-theatre repair. 1 RNZAF Sqn arrived there also, equipped with Mosquito Nightfighters. It's a bit frustrating as I cannot use them - the replacements do not start until 06/43! DD John D Ford (sys 40) disbanded at Sydney for repair.

An AK and a TK arrived at the South Atlantic Entry Point. They are loading supplies and oil for Oz/NZ.

[goodboyladdie]

IJA Burma Area Army has been identified by air recon as one of the units advancing on Ye (who said Lysanders are useless..?)

AP Burisuben Maru hit a mine in the Pescadores. The Dutch TK P.P. Buisman took a torpedo from I-153 and is heading for Batavia with damage 63/66/49. Later three Flower Class Corvettes entered the fray. HMS Aster was sunk by 2 torpedoes, but I-153 was sunk in return by the other two.

Moulmein (0/45/74), Singapore (3/32/31), Tarakan (29/0/0), Manila - twice (0/56/52), Bataan (undamaged) and Clark (0/59/23) were all bombed. No hits were achieved by my raids on Brunei, but the number of Oil centres damaged is now 42.

On good advice (thanks Michael), I am starting to pull out any spare base forces from the DEI. The Samarinda BF is now under SWPAC and is moving to Balikpapan to await the arrival of transports from Kendari and Soerabaya. 4th USAAF BF is pulling back from Clark to Manila and will commence evacuation by sub and maybe air. I am trying to reinforce the Balinta Pass with the Pp 4th Constabulary Regiment.

2 more Q-ships arrived at Singapore with supplies. Another Buff Sqn and some Vildebeests were loaded onto transports bound for India at Batavia. The blocking force I had deployed on the crossroads South of Kuala Lumpur and the garrison at Mersing are pulling out and heading back to Singapore. I have made the move as the base to the West of the blocking position turned Japanese and I could have been outflanked and cut off down the partial trail from that hex.

[goodboyladdie]

The busy screenie above does not seem to contain any CVs. The screenie at the foot of this post will show that some have turned up again at Palau.

In China I lost an Il-4c off Laoag. I have moved some SB-2s to Kweilin on Naval attack to help out.

[goodboyladdie]

Apologies for the delay - my ISP sat on a turn for two days before delivering it...[:@]

04/01/42

Johnston is now 45/56/59.

APD Gregory completed repairs at Los Angeles and is druising to SF. BB California, crippled at Pearl Harbor (sys 84), finally arrived at San Francisco and disbanded. Various small or slow AKs are loading supplies at AF for runs to a number of Pacific islands as I start the long process of trying to ensure that every base has at least 20,000 tons on hand. VS-1/D14 arrived safely at Portland where they will unload and then join my AV airgroup. DM Pruit completed repairs at Portland and will lay mines at Aberdeen before heading to join her sister at SF.

The screenie is of the B-26 Sqn at PH. If Mike comes back to PH they should come in handy...

[goodboyladdie]

Hibiki was spotted at 24,43. I am such a big fan of the Cuttlefish AAR that it is like seeing an old friend. In mine and Mike's last game she sank one of my CAs in the first week of the war...

Moulmein (0/46/81), Tarakan (38/0/0), Manila (0/60/69), Clark (0/60/13) and Singapore (6/40/57) were hit again. In return Brunei suffered 1 Oil hit, but all my B-17s now need resting. 56th "Division" Brigade has now been added to the list of units appraoching Ye. My reinforcements reached the Balinta Pass on time and another Jap deliberate attack was defeated with 765/23 Jap casualties to my 157/4.

20th PS has transferred to SEAC. Their P-43s are at Kuala on their way to India. 2 more US Sqns are on the way, but are almost 2 months away still. RAF pilot pools are such that the US Army will need to fight in India. 4 more SEAC air units loaded onto transports at Batavia for Madras.

Mike suddenly has subs evereywhere in the DEI. I attacked a few last turn, but with absolutely no success. I stupidly replenished the 2 Q-ships that were ready at Singapore so will have to wait another turn before I can load troops.

The screenie of 20th PS will reveal that interesting upgrade options are available...

[goodboyladdie]

In China my attacks at Ichang and Nanchang were repulsed. His forts are killing me and I cannot break them down...

The screenie shows the situation at Palau.

[goodboyladdie]

05/01/42

AK Hokusei Maru hit a mine at Wake and is on fire. Mike now has two task forces at Wake...

Johnston is now 45/56/50. A small AK arrived at Midway and began to unload another 2000 tons of supplies. 6 PTs are now on patrol at Johnston and USS Utah is on her way back to PH. Hi Nemo - how about an upgrade option for Utah - could she be turned back into a proper BB?

CL Concord is now ready and is moving from San Diego to SF. VS-1/D14 has boarded AV Curtiss at Portland. When she is repaired she will be used as an ASW escort.

161st RCT is unloading at Canton Island. 8000 tons of fuel have arrived at Townsville. The MSWs based at Townsville sank I-175 off Thursday Island. B-19s from Brisbane wil again attempt an attack on Rabaul.

Hi again Nemo - I never got an answer about the smaller squadron sizes on Lady Lex - is this correct? (see below) Many thanks, Carl

[goodboyladdie]

K XIII took three near misses off Miri and now has sys damage of 14. The Dutch AVD Fazant took a total of 4 torps from RO-64 over two attacks and sank. AK Makian was hit twice by RO-67 off Teloekbetong and went down taking the Vildebeests of 4 Flight/36 Sqn with her. In the plus column MSW W.13 was torpedoed by S-36 and sank.

Moulmein (0/49/87), Singapore (8/43/63), Tarakan (38/0/0), Manila - twice again (0/68/69), Bataan (undamaged) and Clark (0/60/3) were hit again. Brunei Oil now has 52 centres out of action. Small raids will resume.

My mistake at Singapore was costly: AP Cape Sable 12 shells, 2 bombs (29/26/1); AP City Of Durban 20 shells, 2 bombs (21/17/1); AP Botlea 2 bombs (larger than the others as she was hit by Sallys rather than Zekes) - 31/4/2.

Here is how Mike is fixed around Luzon...

[goodboyladdie]

AP Chihaya Maru hit a mine at Taan and is on fire. I have moved SB-2s and Pe-2s to Nanning to hit all the shipping Mike now has there (see screenie). 4 Nates downed 3 P-35s and a Lancer over Ichang. My units opposite Hainan will attack to take the mainland side of the ferry back.

An AK is unloading supplies from the US at Petropavlovsk.

[goodboyladdie]

Just a quick note. Mike is super busy at the moment (he has a very important job running the IT for lots of campuses and the new year is fast approaching...) and to compound matters, when the poor guy did finally have the time to have a look at the game I had sent the wrong file...Doh!

06/01/42

Johnston is now 45/56/41. Almost every Hawaii based air unit is training at 90%. 5 PTs were commissioned at Midway. Curiously, a Dutch PT was also on the same AK in error. It will return to SF (as will the Dutch TB at Lahaina) for onward distribution.

There are Jap subs off SF (see screenie). Ships inbound have changed their routes and ASW tfs are scrambling to intercept. All bombers at SF are on Naval Search. SS Tuna sailed to lay mines at Shanghai before sailing to Manila to assist in the exodus that has now started. DM Sicard is ready at Portland and will lay a small ASW minefield off Coal Harbor before steaming to join her sisters at SF. I-3 sank AK George Davidson with 3 shells and 2 toprdoes at 141,50 and I forgot to check to see if she was outbound with cargo or inbound in ballast.

USS Boise and HMAS Perth sailed from Sydney to Townsville as the repaired striking force begins to reassemble. HMAS Adelaide will sail from Brisbane to Noumea, from where she will sail to bombard Nauru. The B-19s from Brisbane missed everything at Rabaul and have stood down to recover.

[goodboyladdie]

Moulmein - twice (0/53/93), Singapore (9/49/67), Tarakan (37/0/0) Mike's next invasion target?, Manila - twice (0/69/79), Bataan (undamaged) and Clark (0/52/0) were bombed.

AP City of Durban took 3 bombs at Singapore and is now 34/19/1. I am withdrawing the last two Q-ships empty as they cannot load while they are expending all their ops points fighting aircraft.

Jessleton was captured. The Samarinda BF is loading at Balikpapan for Geraldton, North of Perth.

The screenie below shows Jap CVs still at Palau...

China

DD Asagiri took a bomb from a Pe-2 at Taan and AP Chihaya Maru took three from SB-2s. Mike had been under the impression that I was using Soviet units here and protested. He is not happy with the Chinese operating Soviet planes. The Pe-2s were released by Stalin after the incident where a Russian convoy was bombed. The new diplomatic charm offensive the Japanese are conducting will result in a lack of spares and new aircraft to keep this one squadron going and some time in the next week they will convert to a more readily available bomber. Surplus Soviet stocks will still be available of second line aircraft - for instance the 1-16 mod 24, the Il-4 and the SB-2 and SB-2M. Pe-2s will become available again once they begin to be replaced by later Soviet types. This furore confirmed that my tactic of hitting his transports is working. I think he is struggling to balance his ship-building and has more units to transport than he has available shipping...

A Jap deliberate attack at Wenchow was defeated. 356 (34) vs 306 (142) with level 3 forts resulted in 843/18 Jap casualties to 67/2 Chinese. Forts rule in China. The Chinese retook the Xuwen Ferry opposite Hainan. The AVG (now returned to China) will join the ambush over Nanchang.

[goodboyladdie]

07/01/42

I am finally gaining some success against Jap subs. I-3 was sunk off SF by one of the ASW TFs scrambled last turn. The 2 ASW groups will join the escort of USS West Virginia (sys 65) as she completes her long slow voyage from PH. I am taking a small toll of I-boats, but am struggling to kill the smaller RO-boats. I think its is more to do with the poor ASW vessels I have in the DEI. Hopefully some upgraded four stackers will be ready soon...

Johnston is now 45/56/32. 4 DMs are sailing from PH to lay more mines at Johnston Island.

On the West Coast, AD Dixie is moving to LA to assist with future DD repairs (there are already 2 ADs at SF). 2 DMs are sailing from SF to mine LA.

This was a nice surprise - check out the max range of my TBMs! I think max torpedo range is 6, so I'll restrict the range to that for now. I just wish my fighters had such long legs.