Vettim89 vs Greasylake - Reversal of Fortunes

[vettim89]

25-26 August 1942

The IJA arrived at Katherine but did not attack. Cursor intel says 3 units with about 28 K troops. I have an AS of 85. If you look up "blocking force" in your Funk and Wagnalls, you'll see a picture of these guys. Larry also sent a SCTF to Broome and killed my subtender. Looks like the long run to Perth for my subs now. This really hurts those 3500 nm range Dutch subs.

Huge air battles in Burma and the Allies kinda came out on top - kinda. Let's see if I could keep this up for a month it would be 1200 Japnese Air Losses to 90 Allies. I'll take that. Better yet, my units are holding their Morale and Fatigue levels low.

KB has withdrawn - I think. He is off the screen and obviously not at Pago Pago. My only concern would be if he heads west towards Noumea. I have a large TRANS TF at Luganville still unloading supplies. I have one squadron of P-40E's there now but that's all the AV Support can tolerate for now. Noumea has over 100 Fighters stationed there. Don't think Larry wants to stray that direction. Low and behold I forgot I already had 1st USMC Div plus a large BF plus lots of fighters at sea. They are about 9 hexes north of Papete right now. They will refuel and creep west. If KB does not show up soon, I will sneak them in and reinforce Pago Pago. Enterprise turned green today and sits at 10 Syst. Wasp is at 0, Hornet and Sartoga are at 7, and Yorktown is at 6. Need to probably decide next turn if I want to put off the upgrades or let them go.

[vettim89]

27-28 August 1942

First, I noticed I made the top ten list. Thank you to all my readers. I am inspired now to do better with my AAR. After suffering through the inevitable horrible first six months of the war an Allied player must endure, it is nice to see the tables turned. I would not say that I have turned the tide but it is definitely obvious that I have Larry reacting to me now. We have entered what I would consider a critical two week period that will set the tone for the war for probably the next two to three months. The title of the post is becasue Larry and I are both moving units and whoever gets his units in position first will be able to dictate a lot (hence, the title of the post). Again, I will go over the situation by relevant areas.

Burma

The Allied air assualt on Magwe is coming to a close. Runway damage sits at 75 now. I will finish the complet closure within a few days and then will keep enough pressure on to keep it that way. No ground offensives planned here for some time. I am content to let the IJA rot in the jungle. The TF I sent from WC to Colombo is near Perth and is probably still a month away. This TF has an LB 30 BG, a 64 plane C-47 group, a B-25 BG, and some fighters. I have plans for these guys once they are in theatre.

China

I have nearly 2000 AS at the crossroads south of Hengchow. I have ordered a deliberate attack against Larry's 3 units one of which is a full division. My aim here is more to tie up units than to make progress. NW of Canton there is a Japanese Ind BGD. Our AS is about equal here so I will bombard more until I can repoistion some units. This is one of the places where whoever gets here first will win

Oz

The IJA attacked and forced the Darwin remnants out of Katherine. They pursued and attacked again and forced tehm one hex closer to Daly Waters. I am moving 2 Tank BTN and an AT BTN to Tenant Creek. In addition, I released the 3rd Aust Div from garrison duty at Melborne and it is heading north towards Alice Springs. Alice Springs AB increased to level 4 today but of course I only have 30 Av Support there. Cooktown increased its AB to 3 today. Proabably a few weeks before level 5 but I am ready when it gets there. I have 360 Av SUpport in place.

SoPac

Nothing like a little inadvertant intel. My minelaying subs ran afoul of a huge TF at Tarawa. There were over 20 DD's, 2 CS, 2 AV, 5 CA's, etc. No AP/AK spotted. It appears Larry is marshalling his forces for a move south. I have a TF with 1st USMC Div, 2 SeaBee Units, an EAB, a large BF, and 3 squadrons of F4F's 20 hexes east of Pago Pago. That means exactly a week to get there. Fortunately there is almost no supply in this TF so the units should offload fairly quickly. Additional units have left PH heading for Papate to stage towards Samoa. This whole thing is interesting because in RL the Japanese considered Samoa, Christmas Island and Midway as possible objectives for mid-1942. The Doolittle Raid made Midway the politically madated choice. The next week should be interesting and I will do my best to keep updating.

[vettim89]

29 August 1942

Relative slow day with a few exceptions:

* The Japanese finally invaded and took Nauru Island.
* The Chinese pushed the Japanese east out of the crossroads two hexes south of Hengchow. I am moving a modest amount of AS south to the hex just NW of Canton. I will push this unit back into Canton. There will be 6 units of unknown assault strength there. I will get some supplies built up and wait and see how Larry reacts. He has 14 units trapped between the crossraods and Kanhsien.
* Air results for the turn were 9 for Japanese and 3 for Allied

[vettim89]

30 August 1942

I am really surpised Larry has not pulled back from Magwe. Only a few Oscars taken down today but really usless dissipation on his part. Once I get some more P-40's in theatre I am thinking of going after Rangoon. It is at extreme range from Akyab.

Zanboanga, the final base in the PI, fell today. Still there are lots of bases in NEI that Larry seems completely disinterested in. I wonder what he is up to. Is he hoarding his forces for a big push somewhere? If so, where? If it were me I guess it wouldbe either Burma or Oz. Any further expansion east of the Marshalls/Gilberts would be reckless at this time. Not that it wouldn't be doable but I could respond so quickly that it would turn into a bloodbath. That is exactly what Larry should be avoiding.

Only five days until the Pago Pago reinforcements arrive. Need to be very careful here. I do not want this TF ambushed. I have enough units here to reinfoce Pago Pago and occupy one of the two other islands in Samoa. I think I will do this to keep in compliance with our HR regarding no more than 25 k total troops on an Atoll

[vettim89]

31 August 1942

So we come to the end of another month.  August was not nearly as bloody as July but still an active month.  The Japanese scored some important wins in the activity off Pago Pago especially by sinking six USN DD's.  The TK and AK losses hurt but the DD losses are devastating.  On the flip- side, the Allies won the over all air war this month by a landslide.  Activity in Burma, China and even Pago Pago all went the Allies' way.  Even though The poor P-40 squadron at Pago Paog was thrown to the wolves and lost around two dozen airframes, the few Japanese planes they took with them will take a lot longer to replace and the Japanese pilots lost are darn near ireplacable.  The ground war went the Japanese way this month with gains in Burma, Australia, the PI, and NEI.  China is in flux but that is okay with me.  I will likely ultimately lose Kanhsien but the cost in men and mateials for Japan will be high.  Also I am putting pressure on his left flank here and that is a good thing.  Nothing slows down an offensive faster than having to reposition units to protect your flanks.   I may yet take Canton but it will take a while.  In the SOPAc, my offensive plans were put to a halt as Larry proved to me that I am still very vulnerable.   Still all the units I am rushing in to Samoa and Fiji will be in better position to move forward when the opportunity arises.   I will post some screenies soon to give an update.  Oh, and once again the game announced to me that Churchill seems to think stripping SE Asia of two more DD's would be just dandy.  Once again Mountbatten tells the PM that he disagrees and the half-blood can relieve him if he sees fit.  The PM declines the offer.

As to this last turn nothing  to report and I mean nothing.  The most boring uneventful turn I have ever seen.  Something does bother me though.  After weeks of having hoards of subs bewtween PH and Pago Pago and having KB parked off the island, I have not seen a soul for a week.  When KB pulled out the last time, they took everybody with them.  I have this feeling that Larry is about to move somewhere in a big way.  Question is where

[Capt. Harlock]

ORIGINAL: vettim89

  Something does bother me though.  After weeks of having hoards of subs bewtween PH and Pago Pago and having KB parked off the island, I have not seen a soul for a week.  When KB pulled out the last time, they took everybody with them.  I have this feeling that Larry is about to move somewhere in a big way.  Question is where

Hmm. Perhaps he's thinking of using the summer months for a push on the Aleutians?

[vettim89]

2-3 August 1942

Very slow two turns. Highlights to folow

* Magwe Airbattle went Japan's way for one day as Larry moved up some Tojo's and rain socked in Chittagong where my bombers are. Losses were about equal ove these two days. Then Larry abandoned the base as far as A/C go.

* Japan invades and takes Sorong

* Kates are seen in the Timor Sea on recon - are these LBA, from baby KB, or from KB?

* Aussies abandoned Daly Waters as AS was only 12 and these units are about tapped out. We will fight at Tenant Creek.

[vettim89]

4 August 1942

My TF arrives at Pago Pago and begins offloading. I win the race. No enemy CV's in sight. This will allow me to move some units around and better reinforce Samoa as a whole. Should be able to garrioson one of the two other bases here.

Noumea is about maxed out on Forts and AB. Will expand the port next then move the engineers to Lunganville. Once Lunganville is Built up, I will move on Noumea, then Lunga.

[vettim89]

5 August 1942

Bad day in the air for the Allies. The Chinese really took it on the chin. Larry Finaally attacked out of Rangoon and di some damage at Akyab. In addition SLDR Jackson of No. 75 RAAF Squadron flying Kittyhawks out of PM was killed today. He had 7 kills and 98 Exp.

The Japanese took Daly Waters which had been abandoned by the Allies. Tenant Creek will be my first hope to stem the tide. Hopefully I will have better new to report tomorrow

[vettim89]

6-15 September 1942

No post because nothing has been going on. I think both sides pulled back a bit to regroup and reposition units. I will update by Area of Operations

CBI

Larry has abandoned Magwe completely. The AB is is at 100% damage and likely will stay that way. Focus has turned towards Mandalay where the IJA seems to be positioning units for an attack. Mandalay's AS is at 1250 and growing everyday behind level 9 forts. The units that retreated from Rangoon via Magwe are rebuilding nicely. In China, the IJA is pushing hard on Kanhsien which is completely isolated except for air lifted supplies. Larrys last attack came off at 0 to1 and didn't touch the level 8 forts. The Japanese sufferd 3500 caualties in this attack vs 500 for the Chinese. There are 16 IJA units trapped in the hex immediately west of Kanhsien which are mostly artillery and engineer units. I have moved a single Chinese unit into this hex and will deliberate attack about every 10 days to reset any movement. To the south, I units NW of Canton are just waiting for supplies to build before making another deliberate attack.

Australia

The IJA stopped at Daly Waters and is not pursueing. I have a modest force at Tenant Creek with a full Aussie diviosn in bound. ALice Springs AB is now level 4 moving on 5. When I can find some spare Av support, I will be able to move in some bombers. However supply remains an issue even with an Aussie Army HQ at Alice Springs

SoPac

I left you with me wondering if Larry was considering a move on Samoa. From the attached image, you can see I am in much better shape than I was two weeks ago. KB has returned but does not attack. I think maybe Larry thought better of it after seeing all those fighters. I have another P-40E squadron inbound from Noumea aboard CVE Long Island. They should join the frya in 3 days. First Marines is now either on Pago Pago or moving into postion. I also have 40th ID nearing Papete. These two units will garrioson the two larger Somoan island while a RCT takes over duty at Pago Pago (we have a HR limiting atolls to no more than 25 k troops)

The US carriers have now completed their July 1942 refits. Unfortunately they will all need their October 1942 refits in 15 days. I am moving units into place for occupation and developing bases for future offensive operations. They are Lunga (Huey), Nanumea (Duey) and Baker Island (Louey). More on this to come soon

[vettim89]

16 September 1942

Slow day again with Airbattle over Meiktela yielding about even results. KB haunts Pago Pago but will not attack. Larry made mention of my new found fighter strength. I think he sees the futility in hurling KB's precious air groups at Pago Pago for little gain and likely significant loss even if he wins the air battle

Though I would show my SE Asia plans. Operation Wallace will go second and will involve building up Port Blair to a level 4 AB. Bombers based there can easily interdict the sea lanes between Rangoon and the Straits of Molocca. Operation Grommet is already in motion as lift is now heading to Diamond Harbor where a BF and an Indian Brigade will embark for Rangee Island. This base once developed can house fighter airgroups which will be in range of Rangoon. P-40E's, Hurricanes and eventually P-38 will be based here. AVG is presently being withdraw to Chittagong for R&R. This unit plus Hurricanes and now Spits (1 squadron) will provide LRCAP out of Akyab for this "invasion".

Only 99 days until CV Essex arrives!

[vettim89]

16-20 Spetember 1942

Only 10 days until P-38's arrive! My 4E bombers raid Dobodura from Cooktown on the 20th and lose 1 B-17 and 1 B-24 to op losses in exchange for 5 Oscar I and 5 Betty. Bombing results are 1 supply, 7 AB, and 44 runway. Will stand down for a day then go back. Have 24 B-17D's waiting at Brisbane for one more -E to be produced then they will upgrade.

Heavy Air battles over Burma with results near equal. Bolstering my fighter strength at Akyab. A TF with 72 P-40E, 128 C-47, and 48 LB-30 is two days out of Diamond Harbor. Once there they will repair and head to the front. C-47 will move to Ledo and start airlifting supply to Kuming. Liberator I out of Chittagong penetrate the CAP at Rangoon and sink a MSW

In the SoPac KB roars in again and sinks two AVD I was trying to sneak into Nanumea. Bettys and Nells attack Samoa and see 5 Nells lost but the Bettys got a hit on an AP (Syst 27) This TF will retreat to Pago Pago and its 120 Fighter CAP. Moving subs into position to harass KB. Maybe one will get lucky.

In China, the IJA army pushes my units back away from Canton to Wuchow. There are two full divison plus tank support here. Still not likley enough to move the massive stacks to the north or NW. My screenie has a wrong notation - the AS at Kanhsien is 2000 not 200.

Operation Grommet is about 7 to 10 days from being set into place. Bumping up the Av support at Akyab in anticipation of this Op. Trying to decide if I want to wait for my CV's to do October Upgrade first or send them out as is. Leaning towards AS is. Operation Huey, Dewey, and Louey needs to get going. Wll have to wait and see how quickly I can get troops and lift in place.

[vettim89]

29 September 1942

The IJN sneaks a SCTF into Suvali and tries to sink my transports. I lose two DD's but only one AP was hit and it will survive. A bout a week away from offensive firepower being in Samoa. I transferred in a B-17 unit which will be able to fly tomorrow incase I dinged the SCTF worse than I thought. They will likely be out of range but its a start.

Operation Grommet (the garrisoning of Rangee Island) is about a week away. A SCTF centered around the British BB's is on the way to Diamond Harbor. One TRANS TF is loading supply and Madras to be sent to Akyab. A Second TRANS TF is on the way to Diamond Harbor to pick up the units to be moved to Rangee Island.

In SoPac, 40th ID is on the way to Noumea. Two SeaBee units are close behind. These units will be for Operation Huey (the Occupation of Lunga and likely Tulagi also) At PH, Hornet is at 2 Syst damage and Enterprise at 6. I decided to let the October upgrades go through on all the CV's and cruisers. I decided the enhanced AAA and radar was worth the wait. SF is finally empty of all but WC units. PH is full. I will start positioning units for Duey (Nanumea) and Louey (Baker Island) over the next few weeks. The plan is to move on all Huey, Duey and Louey in rapid succession. My hope that this will keep Larry a little off balance.

China is completely rearranged. I will post an update tomorrow

[vettim89]

Ten months of war almost completed and the Allies are in pretty good shape. I will summerize areas of interest.

Australia

The IJA halted at Daly Waters and has not strayed further south or southeast. Unless Larry commits considerably more forces here I think this is as far as he goes. ALice Springs is a Level 5 AB and is awaiting Av Support from the USA to arrive. Still having a hard time moving supplies to the interior here in spite of having HQ's present. On the east coast the USAAF has started a modest bombing campaign against PNG. The slow replacement rates for B-17/B-24 will dictate a cautious approach here. Again, waiting on Av Support from USA to arrive. When it does, some will be airlifted into PM which will allow some sweeps to soften up the CAP over the Japanese AB's in PNG.

Burma

Again Larry stopped just short of Mandalay and does not seem to be interested in going any farther. Mandaly and Lashio both have AS over 1000 behind level 9 Forts. I have an huge edge in bombers in theatre at the moment and could blunt any assault Larry might try. The heavy air battles of early last month have tapered off. This is only becasue I am rebulding my units for operation Grommet which is about a week off. Operation Grommet: simultaneous occupation of Ramhee Island and resupply of Akyab. Ramhee will be built up to a level 4 AB as quickly as possible to allow me to sweep Rangoon. When Grommet is putinto motion, I will start my air raids on Meiktela again just to distract Larry.

China

See separate post

Pacific (Central and SoPac)

I let all the units go to upgrade at PH. All CV's except Enterpise are done and have 3 or less Syst Damage. Enterprise sits at 5 from damage at Phoenix Islands and will upgrade when the damage falls a point. All the CA/CL's are at about 6 Syst. The DD's are all at 12 or 13. I have 6 AR and 4 AD at PH to speed repair. I opted to do this for two reasons. First, almost all this ships are now done upgrading to 1944. I let it all happen at PH becasue I don't want to lose the time sending ships back to WCUSA and then return after repaired. Once this mess is cleared up in a few weeks, I should have units in place for Huey, Duey, and Louey. So all in all not a bad thing to let the upgrades go while I am moving troops.

[vettim89]

Just thought I would highlight A/C losses to this point. Lots of Zeroes and Oscars have died.

[vettim89]

China

Larry seems to have decided to focus here at the moment. I had threatened Canton about a month ago. I think Larry moved some units in by sea and then forced me back to Wuchow. Then instead of pursueing and threatening my right flank, he instead turned north towards Hengchow. I had a large stack of units that already have level 4 forts present here. At present I am moving my units back out of Wuchow to interdict the hex between Canton and Larry's units at the crossroads to the north. If successful, I may have the chance to isolate and destroy some of these units as they really have no where to run. More units are rushing south out of Changsha and from kuming to reinforce Wuchow and the imminent battle at the crossroads. Kahnsien holds for now. I am airlifting supplies in and forts are holding at 7. I may yet lose this hex but it will take a while. Larry seem to be going for max effort here. Even if he takes the hex, it is costly. the last two deliberate attacks cost him over 5000 casualties. I started moving supply by air from Ledo to Kuming this turn. Hopefully this will help a little as far as the supply situation in China. Only one month before P-40-N-1's become availabel. I am hoping this will far well against the Nates and bombers harassing my units. If so, it may put the breaks on Larry's training program.

Map Note: the white numbers are the know Japanese unit counts in the indicated hexes.

[vettim89]

2 October 1942

Fairly pedestrian turn. Lots of action over China with the Chinese shooting down 9 Nates and 3 bombers. I am especially happy about the Nates becasue I know these A/C are part of Larry's training program. Very little action elsewhere. Grommet is about a week awy. The last TRAN TF will leave Madras today with 38 k supply for Akyab. They will meet up with a SCTF, an ACTF, and the troop transports for Ramree Island. I will have 200 fighters flying CAP out of Akyab for this op. In addition, Spits/Hurricanes will fly out of Mandalay to Harrass the AB at Meiktela. AS you can see, I upgrade 605 squadron to SPits this turn. Anxious to see this unit in action

[vettim89]

3 October 1942

Very little going on today. Again the action is in China. Japan won the air war today as Larry sent about 30 Oscars at Changsha. CAP shot down 6 but lost 9 of their own. Larry tried another deliberate attack at Kanhsien and you can see the results. Only 28 days before the P-40-N-1 start production which will immediately be sent to China. This should mess with Larry a little. Units on the move and should be in position within two days to take on what will be trapped units at the crossroads north of Canton. Here's hoping.

[vettim89]

4 October 1942

At Diamond Harbor the British fleet sorties. Two TRAN TF (one bound for Akyab and one for Ramree Is.), a SCTF, a ACTF, and a mine warfar TF head south. These units are being covered by over 300 P-40E's and Hurricanes. In a turn or two I will launch an air offensive against the Japanese Air Force in Burma.

In China, my units are nearly in place. I have the blocking force in place NW of Canton and a hug group of units are heading for the Crossroads. Once in place I will pound the IJA units there. Even if I can't kill them, the losses should be tremendous.

I sortied 25 DD's all with over 12 Syst damage from PH to SF for repair there. I still have 35 DD at PH repping up. Moving units south for positioning for Huey Duey and Louey. Probably about three weeks before these go off.

[vettim89]

5-6 October 1942

My TF's Move towards Ramree Island and the synch bug hits. I do know that one small attack yielded 5 Kates and 5 A6M2 for no allied losses. Yet I have a PG that is seriously dinged up for no apparent reason. I hate that. Chittagong will go to level 6 next turn most likely (if not then then definitely the one after that). I have over 600 AV support there waiting for LB-30's to repair. All Blenheim IV's upgrade to Liberator III except for the two squadrons that went to Hurricane IIs's (???)All in all the Japanese lost 20 A/C this turn to 3 for the Allies which were all op losses.

A dutch sub misses a torpedo attack at Darwin but suffers no ill effect from the ASW counterattack. No other action in the Pacific. My BG with 64 A-24's arrives at Pago Pago tomorrow. Hopefull these guys will spring a surprise on KB next time they come.

The IJA again attacks at Kanhsien for a 0 to 1 attack that doesn't touch the Level 6 forts. Japanese losses were 1980 with Allied at 513. Larry needs more power but his strength is too spread out. Those 16 units trapped just west of Kanhsien might help.

P-38G's now at 20 airframes. Trying to decide which unit to upgrade. Do I upgrade an experienced P-40 unit or a unit with the useless P-39 airframes. The thing is I know the Aircobras are great barge busters if the need arises.