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

[goodboyladdie]

DD Stuart is finally repaired at Melbourne and she is sailing to join the ASW battle raging in the Bass Strait.

[goodboyladdie]

K XVI was hit by a Sally in Singapore. She has damage of 17/55/0 and will head for Palembang to control her flooding. It is too dangerous to disband in Singapore. USS Trout was hit by a Val South of Okinawa. She is 23/22/0 and will continue to head for Manila. I cannot see any CVs nearby, but it could be a sign of the KB entering the Battle in this area...

Moulmein (0/56/96), Singapore - twice (10/57/77), Manila - twice (0/76/35), Bataan (undamaged) and Clark (0/42/0) were bombed again. Clark is only being hit by 3 heavy bombers each day so I planned to bring bombers back in for a couple of turns. 30th Attack Squadron (SB-2) was sent from China, but they got lost and landed at Manila (costly mistake). 28th BS flew their B-25Ds from Soerabaya into Clark.

TK JMG Den Hartog was shelled and torpedoed by RO-63. She has damage of 80/92/49 and will struggle to reach Kragen. HMS Dauntless was withdrawn at Aden.

The situation at Palau...

[goodboyladdie]

The P-40Es of the AVG made their presence felt over Nanchang (see screenie).

A Jap deliberate attack at 50,38 caused an Allied retreat. Mike seems to just be tidying up in China. In the open I can't stop him so am planning to give ground slowly until we reach my defensive positions around the towns and cities.

The Pe-2s at Nanning had no spares left and have withdrawn to Chungking. The only plane they will be able to use from their possible upgrades will be the Il-2 (available in March after the Il-2M comes on stream - I think). The Pe-2 will not become available again until there is another incident with the Soviets or the Tu-2S arrives to replace it in Soviet service in 1944!

The Pe-2s had a good last day though, hitting AP Atsuta Maru with 1 bomb and AP Tatuwa Maru with 4 at Taan. Some I-16 mod 24s will attempt low level attacks at Taan with their cannon from Nanning this turn.

[goodboyladdie]

08/01/42

Johnston is now 45/56/23. I lost a B-24 out of Pearl on the daily recon run to Wake. I now have no reserves and these do not become generally available for months...

10,000 tons of supplies are unloading at Midway, 144th FA Rgt is loading onto 3 18 knot APs and an APD at SF for Perth. 183rd FA Rgt is loading onto 2 14 knot APs for Townsville via Brisbane. 161st Inf Rgt is now completely unloaded at Canton Island. The garrison is as big as it's going to get (see screenie) as I don't want to overstack, but more supplies will be sent as soon as I get more transports (the mega reinforcement day is coming up).

I-174 was sunk by my US DMSs near the Bass Strait. One of the ships already has her 8/43 upgrade applied, so the sub was proper f***ed. I do not know whether or not to send some of my US BBs to the South Atlantic Entry hex to repair. It's a very long way for a slow ship and I don't know what yards they are supposed to represent (over 800 repair yards...).

[goodboyladdie]

Moulmein (Zekes as top cover, so I will not be able to intercept...) (0/65/96), Tarakan (29/0/0), Manila - twice (0/79/95), Bataan and Clark (0/27/0) were all hit. Singapore was spared and is 10/57/69. 30th Chinese Attack Squadron at Manila in error was almost wiped out on the ground. Some survivors have flown back to Chungking.

Miri and Brunei Oil was raided with no hits.

453 RAAF Sqn finally made it out of Singapore and loaded onto a transport for Colombo at Batavia. The 1st Hurricane unit (No 242 Sqn) arrived at Aden and shipped out on a fast transport for Bombay. I have more due in 2 days time. They are better than Buffs...

[goodboyladdie]

The AVG 3rd Sqn knocked down a Mary and a Sonia over Nanchang. A Jap deliberate assault at 50,35 pushed a guerilla unit back. The Japs pursued so are in the same hex. I am working my freed up guerilla units around the flanks of this advance...

The screenie illustrates my frustration that 3 big fortress units are in the wrong place, Nemo has fixed this in the later version - as long as Mike does not invade the Aleutians or Canada it should not be an issue...

[goodboyladdie]

09/01/42

Johnston is now 45/56/14. CL Richmond arrived at Pearl and disbanded to await an opportunity to raid. Pago Pago expanded it's airfield to size 2 - I am hoping that this does not attract Mike's attention as I have a lot going on down in the South Pacific. BB West Virginia finally reached SF and disbanded. The 2 least damaged BBs, Arizona (36 sys) and Maryland (41 sys) sailed in company with 2 Porter Class DDs for the South Atlantic entry hex. They were chosen because their speed is 2/1 and they might actually arrive in time to make the trip worth it. I cannot afford to ignore 832 shipyards when up against the Japs in this mod! A replenishment tf of 3 AOs is loading and will follow shortly.

[goodboyladdie]

More LCUs are being freed up to move in CONUS. 205th Coastal AA transferred to SOPAC and will travel from LA to SF to await transport to Noumea. 116th USN BF also went to SOPAC and is preparing for Nandi. 19th Engineers have transferred to SWPAC and are preparing for Port Moresby. 78th Coastal AA is now with SWPAC and prepping for Cooktown, while 196th FA Bn will eventually join the defence of Cairns.

From Seattle the final elements of 113th USN BF loaded for Umnak, while the first parts of 110th USN BF started to load for Cold Bay.

The understrength 3rd Australian Division finally arrived and joined the forces building up the defences at Perth. Perth is full of oil rescued from the DEI. 3 or 4 small tankers are distributing the oil. Supplies are on the way and I hope to get over 20,000 tons on hand in the next couple of game weeks to start filling out the defending units.

[goodboyladdie]

Moulmein (0/67/95) and Tarakan (29/22/49) were bombed. 3 Martin 139s were destroyed at Tarakan so I am pulling the unit out over the next few turns. Clark (0/10/0), Singapore (10/57/58) and Manila (0/79/75) were spared. Mike hit the units defending Balinta Pass instead. The Balinta pass position fell later, the defending units withdrawing to Clark. The last Beauforts finally flew out of Clark to join their squadronmates at Soerabaya. The B-25s at Clark were out and about, but the days successes seemd to come from the B-25s at Soerabaya which hit APs Hikade Maru with a total of 4 bombs and Iwake Maru with 2 at Jesselton.

The RN decoy force based around Hermes and the fake BB Anson refuelled at Soerabaya and then moved off for Kendari to join the Dutch Surface Action Group. I am keeping Force Z at Batavia. I think Mike is biding his time as he gets all the necessary units in place and will hit in the East and West at the same time. There are still CVs at Palau (see screenie), but I cannot find the KB...

MSW W.6 was sunk by the Dutch K XIV at Kota Bharu. The 2 Q-ships damaged at Singapore will make their way to the South Atlantic entry hex to repair.

67th and 77th HAA arrived at Aden and will ship to Trincomalee and Colombo respectively. 48th and 21st LAA arrived at Karachi and are moving to Madras to await transport to Colombo and Trincomalee. No 733 Sqn FAA flew to Nanning to help the Chinese offensive air ops now that the Pe-2s are no longer available.

[goodboyladdie]

In China I was tempted to attack at Ichang, but will wait for the arrival of 2 additional Field Armies and 2 artillery units.

My guerilla unit at 50,33 was defeated and thrown back across the river.

The elite unit (well, elite in China terms...) which recently relinquished it's Pe-2s are re-training to get the best out of their new Il-2s. They will be operational by April when Soviet spares will arrive. It's a shame this little heavy hitter has such short legs...

[goodboyladdie]

I am just having my first play with WitPTracker. I tried to get Bodhi's utility to load, but could not (Vista I think...). After a little wobble I appear to have Tracker working. This comparison is handy - it's just a shame I only have one squadron of these on Indomitable and no replacements available...

[ny59giants]

Carl,
 Just a heads up. I could not withdraw my British ships from Melbourne. I'm going to have to pay the PP penalty for one ship as I didn't have that class in Aden.

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

Carl,
Just a heads up. I could not withdraw my British ships from Melbourne. I'm going to have to pay the PP penalty for one ship as I didn't have that class in Aden.

Hi Michael

Thanks very much for that, my friend. Lucky we get so many points...[;)] What's your policy on DDs? I shall send one back per month for now as they are just too important. Once I am through my older ships I may stop sending DDs. With all these aggressive subs I just do not think I can afford to leave a major unit unescorted.

[ny59giants]

My personal HR is to try to comply with Winny when he ask for ships unless India is actually under attack. I feel it is taking advantage of the higher than normal PPs not to.

I haven't decided what to do with them, but the British Tribal Class DDs you get in March at Atlantic Entry are "sweet." Good AA and ASW packages.

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: ny59giants

My personal HR is to try to comply with Winny when he ask for ships unless India is actually under attack. I feel it is taking advantage of the higher than normal PPs not to.

I haven't decided what to do with them, but the British Tribal Class DDs you get in March at Atlantic Entry are "sweet." Good AA and ASW packages.

I take the pp hit even when I have a lot less pps in other games. I will send any major unit back, but I need to keep enough DDs to screen my fleet. If I have enough for my needs I'll send one or two, but if I am down to what I would consider the bare bones I won't. AE should solve this because every (scripted) withdrawal will not necessarily demand 2 DD escorts.

[goodboyladdie]

10/10/42

Johnston is now 45/56/5. ML Oglala is busy mining - Lihu this turn. Subs out of Pearl are continuing to lay mines anywhere and everywhere Mike might turn up. There are still 2 Jap "CAs" at Wake Island.

Ships that started the war elswhere are now starting to reach SF. I will allow the large AKs to upgrade as the extra AA power is important at this point when most warship AA values are so poor.

Here's another Tracker screenie. Very handy!

[cantona2]

Enjoyable read and great telling of the game GBL

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: cantona2

Enjoyable read and great telling of the game GBL

Thanks mate [:)]

[goodboyladdie]

In the DEI the small TK P.P. Buisman finally sank in Batavia harbour. The small TK Angelina was hit by 12 shells and 2 bombs at Tarakan. She is now 47/30/49. Tarakan (29/35/66) was heavily hit twice, so I think Mike is on his way in there. 3 more Martins were destroyed on the ground, but the unit is now at Soerabaya rebuilding. CVs are now inbound from Palau (see screenie).

AP Kikuryu Maru was mined at Kagoshima, so I am sure Mike was suitably annoyed. He mentioned my B-25s at Clark (now fully repaired), so I imagine they'll be seeing a few bombs.

Moulmein was hit hard again and 4 Buffs from the Rangoon CAP were downed by Zekes. I have restricted the CAP range to hopefully prevent further losses. 232 and 258 Sqns with their Hurricanes are on their way to Bombay from Aden. I now have 51 reserves. Once I get to 75 I will probably convert one of my Aussie Buff squadrons.

Mike has finally arrived at Johore, so B-17s from Batavia will bomb his troops there next turn. All my attack planes in the East are on Naval Attack.

[goodboyladdie]

In China I moved my LRCAP ambush to cover Ichang. It gave him a free run over Nanchang, so the LRCAP will return...

This is another 'Tracker screenie. Having all these messages in one place is really helpful.