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

[witpqs]

[:)][:)][:)] Congratulations!!! [:)][:)][:)]

A toast to your family!

Well done!

[goodboyladdie]

Thanks mate. [:)]

Dixie just sent me this [:D][:D]:

[goodboyladdie]

15/01/42

Johnston is now 45/14/0, Palmyra 0/39/66 and Christmas 0/25/49. The KB seems to be hovering South of Christmas Island (see screenie). Shipping is being kept out of the area, but I may have to start running a few convoys through the map edge or divert to the shipping channel, just to keep the reinforcements and supplies moving.

I'll finish this post tomorrow - baby duty calls...

Back again.

ML Oglala stalled when given orders for Kona so will proceed to thicken the mines at Lahaina instead.

On the West Coast units are loading. 193rd Tank Bn, 1st Marine Air Wing and 205th Coastal AA are all now in one convoy for Noumea and should sail this turn. Hopefully the KB will soon piss off if I can create more trouble elswhere. 111th Base Force is loading onto a convoy of West Coasters at San Francisco for Umnak Island. I will need to find some infantry for this base to prevent it falling to a surprise attack. I am planning to operate Dutch Harbor, Umnak and Cold Harbor in mutual support with further help available from Kodiak and Anchorage. DM Preble is repaired at Portland and will mine Astoria on her way to SF.

At Townsville I was tempted to send Boise, Perth and Le Triomphant on a nuisance raid to Rabaul, but decided against it - they could be decisive later...

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: goodboyladdie

I'll finish this post tomorrow - baby duty calls...

Literally, I suppose. [;)]

[goodboyladdie]

Addu Atoll now has a size 1 air base and a size 1 naval base.

Moulmein (0/83/99) and Tarakan (29/69/98) took more poundings from the air. Ground forces at Johore Bharu were also hit. Davao was it by CVA three times. Moulmein features in the screenie. Mike is slowly moving up and making sure my 2 brigades and 2 base forces are thoroughly suppressed by the time he arrives. I cannot afford to take him on in the air yet over Burma, so I am just attacking his advancing troops each turn. Allied high level attacks on Bangkok and Brunei produced no results again.

AP Josho Maru took 2 torpedoes from the Dutch K XIV at Camranh Bay. DD Nagatsuki (1 bomb), DD Yudachi (2 bombs) and AP Marsue Maru (1 torpedo) were successfully attacked by Beauforts and B-25Ds off the PI. IL-4Cs out of China hit AP Kumakawa Maru with a bomb in the South China Sea. As an update from last turn, the Jap APD No36 did sink. A beaufort was shot down by a Pete from Chitose at Takao.

I am moving the Dutch surface force and the RN decoy force back to Kendari. An AK at Kendati is loading the first elements of the Asiatic Fleet HQ that were evacuated there by PBY from Manila.

A Jap deliberate attack at Johore Bahru - 408 (153) to 146 (45) reduced forts to 2 with 309/6 casualties versus 314/10.

[goodboyladdie]

The LRCAP over Nanchang reaped good results today. Only 5 kills showed up as A2A, but some of the op losses must have been the result of A2A damage as my pilots seemed to get credited with more than 5 kills in the Ops report. Victims included 3 Nates, 1 Lily, 1 Sally and a Betty, with others damaged, in return for 2 Lancers. The screenie shows the 3rd Sqn AVG, who are doing most of the damage.

64 Nells and 46 Bettys bombed Kunming (0/7/10) destroying an I-153c on the ground in return for the loss of a Nell. A Chinese I-16 mod 24 unit and the main AVG (P-40Bs) have flown in and 34th US FS will fly LRCAP to assist.

[goodboyladdie]

On the ground in China a shock attack at Ichang - 3043 (2362) to 301 (153) with 2 forts resulted in a Jap retreat. Allied casualties were 1170/25, Japs were 596/23. 3 Field Armies from Ichang will now move into reserve at Changsha, as Mike seems to have large forces advancing towards Nanchang.

At Nanchang, the shock attack failed. 1959 (1021) vs 706 (523) with forts reduced to 0 only gave a 1:1. Allied casualties were 1439/56 against 729/18. The Chinese units will rest this turn, but Jap forces have moved into the hex to the West, where they face 2 Field Armies that have been retreating slowly.

In the far North (see Screenie), it looks like Mike was trying a sneakly outflanking move...

[goodboyladdie]

16/01/42

The KB attacked Christmas Island again. 5 Vals were shot down with 5 more and a Kate damaged. 1 PBY was destroyed. The base is now 0/39/79. The KB is heading North West. My convoys are now heading back towards South. If the KB comes further I may have to about face again.

40th Division and 808th EAB are unloading at Suva. 8 NZ brigade will now move to cover Nandi. 116th USN BF is loading at San Francisco for the same destination.

The newly arrived No 7 Sqn RAAF has moved it's Hudsons from Brisbane to Charter Towers.

[goodboyladdie]

Rangoon was bombed instead of Moulmein today. The bombing raids on his advancing troops (both 55th and 56th "Division" Brigades were hit today) must be annoying Mike. 2 Zekes and a Mary (and a V-92C which comes off my A2A figures...) were lost in return for 4 Buffs and a Lysander. The base is 0/1/0 so I will keep my recce Lysanders and the Swordfish there, while The Blenheim IVs and Buffs pull back to the size 3 airfield at Magwe. A Dutch transport sqn will start to fly supplies into Magwe in support of this.

The raids on Bangkok by Calcutta based B-17s produced nothing again today. Experience has grown to 66, but morale is now low enough to require a rest. Brunei had an oil centre hit and now has 56 centres damaged. Carting the supplies in to repair it will add to his sealift stretch. I am also light on AKs and APs, so I understand how he must be feeling.

Ground forces at Johore Bharu and Davao were bombed again. A second raid at Davao was carried out by aircraft from the now departing mini KB (see screenie). Johore Bharu later fell to a Jap deliberate attack - 391 (232) to 123 (31) resulting in 234/7 Jap casualties to 113/4 Allied (plus the inevitable retreat losses).

Manila, Clark and Bataan were bombed as Mike finally reacted to the bombers I had sent back in. It coast him at least 6 Bettys. There was no lasting damage. Today's results were AP Hanakawa Maru (1 bomb) at San Fernando, DD Yudachi (1 bomb) at Takao, AP Ujigawa Maru (3 bombs) at Naga and AK Mansei Maru (1 bomb) off the Pescadores. B-17s out of Batavia also sank AK Kyokko Maru off Kota Bharu with 4 bombs. I have left all my bombers in the PI for another turn with the exception of the FAA beauforts which withdrew to Soerabaya to recover. A Dutch Martin B-139 sqn has flown into Bataan as a reinforcement, with a similar unit moving from Palembang to Kuching to replace the first. I have also moved squadrons of Martin 139s, A-20s and B-17s (1 of each) into Singapore to try to cause Mike some more problems with his build up.

[goodboyladdie]

These were today's new arrivals: (78th Pursuit is the 3rd Pearl Harbor based fighter unit to receive P-39s)

[goodboyladdie]

The heavy Jap raid on Kunming was repeated. 64 Nells and 53 Bettys met 30 P-40Bs, 6 P-43As, 6 I-153cs and 4 I-16 mod 24s. 6 Nells and 4 Bettys were destroyed, with 2 more of each damaged. I lost 2 P-40Bs (5 damaged), 3 P-43As and 1 I-153c. Zekes swept Kweilin, but found no trade. Battle was met over Nanchang all through the day. Outright kills amounted to 8 Nates, 3 Sallys, 1 Mary, 1 Nell, 1 Betty, 2 P-40Es and a Lancer.

[goodboyladdie]

China was a bit hot on the ground too and will probably remain that way.

A Jap deliberate attack at 49,38 (NW of Changsha) was again defeated - 347 (171) vs 478 (87) resulted in 263/7 casualties against 303/6. A further Jap deliberate attack at Wenchow reduced forts to 2 but cost the Japs 364/14 casualties against 64/3. In the far North I attacked and caused Mikes probing unit to retreat with 412/14 casualties against my 37/2.

Next turn I will shock attack at Nanchang again and am moving 7 Field Armies out of Ichang in pursuit of the ejected Japs. If I didn't they might cut off my forces besieging Sinyang (see screenie).

I rotated a Chinese Lancer unit out of Changsha due to low morale, replacing it with a unit from Chungking.

[goodboyladdie]

17/01/42

I-171 carried out a failed attack on the AOs supporting the BBs on their way to the reapir yards in the South Atlantic Entry Hex. This happened just at the edge of the Eastern grey zone at 141,65. I am hoping that it is too far away for Mike to be able to send the KB. The KB is moving slowly North West and only the Kates attacked at Christmas Island today. 3 PBYs were destroyed on the water and damage is now 0/49/98.

At Pearl Harbor 46th PS upgraded from the P-36 to the P-40B. This also allowed 45th PS to be made up to full strength with the discarded P-36s. I have been tempted to move my CVs to PH to try to catch the KB heading West with few remaining sorties if Mike had sent them far to the East to attack my convoy routes. I decided against it because they are not really battleworthy and serve a greater purpose as a "fleet in being". The defences in Hawaii are also still not sufficient to be my main fleet base.

Lahaina airfield has been enlarged and is now size 3.

[goodboyladdie]

111th Av Rgt is loading onto a fast troop convoy at SF for Anchorage. AK Empire Castle, with 10,000 tons of supplies from the South Atlantic, will change her destination back to Canton Island from Pago Pago to take advantage of the Northward movement of the KB. Getting these islands/atolls well supplied so they can persist in combat is a priority. The longer they hold out, the more opportunities to attack Mike's valuable transports will be presented...

I am getting desperately short of Oil in Southern and Eastern Australia. Plenty is on the way from CONUS and the DEI (via Perth), as well as some from Capetown and the South Atlantic.

RAAF No7 Sqn moved on to Broome. They will commence Naval Search flights to protect the approaches to Western Australia.

Here are today's upgrades/arrivals:

[goodboyladdie]

The Dutch sub K XI was hit by a patrolling Sonia on her way in to lay mines at Kota Bharu. She has sys damage of 31 and will lay her mines at Medan on her way to Diamond Harbour for repair. Over Brunei, the Jap Ace PO2 Matsunaga got his 10th kill when he shot down a patrolling Do-24K out of Balikpapan, with the loss of the crew. The sinking of the RTN MSW Chao Phya was the only success of the day, when she took 2 torpedoes from K XV at Bangkok. As the Japs wil shortly have good air cover over Singapore I have decided to move the sub base back to Batavia.

Brunei took another Oil hit from B-17Ds flying out of Soerabaya. There are now 63 damaged centres which will tie up 63,000 tons of Mike's supplies and shipping at some point, if he decides to repair them. Rangoon was heavily hit and I lost a Lysander, 2 Vildebeest and 2 P-43As on the ground. Everything will leave except the Lysanders. I want to keep the P-43A squadrons going if possible as one of their upgrade options is the Hellcat, which I intend to take advantage of in early 1943.

Manila, Bataan and Clark were hit again with no lasting damage, but 2 Australian beauforts were shot down by Zekes over Legaspi. Samar was recaptured by a Pp Infantry Bn, which will hopefully alarm Mike and cause him to move troops South to cover Legaspi. The two Pp Divisions in the Islands to the West of Luzon are also on the move in that direction (gotta love the ferries!).

Now Singapore is besieged I have replace Percival with Lieutenant General M Trenchard (Leadership 65, Inspiration 60). The garrison has very few experienced soldiers so a good leader is very necessary (see screenie).

232 and 258 Sqn (Hurricane Is) moved by train from Bombay to Calcutta.

[goodboyladdie]

Kunming was revisited by 56 Nells and 50 Bettys. 7 Nells and 7 Bettys were destroyed by my CAP, which lost a P-40B in return. 4 SB-2s were shot down attacking shipping in the South China Sea.

A Jap deliberate attack on the 2 units East of Nanchang caused them to retreat to the South of Nanchang. Nanchang fell to my shock attack and I am going defensive. The place is pretty badly damaged and it will eat some of my precious supplies up as the port and airfield auto repair. I have turned the resource repair off. Wenchow again resisted a Jap attack, but an attack at 49,35 (I forgot to check where that was) caused a Chinese retreat.

[goodboyladdie]

I have been playing with the new version of Tracker (thanks Damian and Floyd!). I am tempted to leave USS Houston unmodified for now as her radar may come in useful in her current role with the Townsville based strike force. I am a bit torn, as the current AA figures really suck. Does anyone have any views on this, please?

edit this screen was available in the old version, btw, but it is now close enough to Feb '42 for me to have to think about the decision...

[Nemo121]

Sorry GBL,

That's a bug. I'll fix it ASAP. Sorry 'bout that.
 
FWIW as the USN you have many radar-equipped ships which can take over for this CA if it doesn't have radar so if I were you I'd upgrade and take the AAA and rely on other radar-equipped ships for your warning.

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: Nemo121

Sorry GBL,

That's a bug. I'll fix it ASAP. Sorry 'bout that.

FWIW as the USN you have many radar-equipped ships which can take over for this CA if it doesn't have radar so if I were you I'd upgrade and take the AAA and rely on other radar-equipped ships for your warning.

Hi Nemo

Thanks for the reply. I am not sure it's a bug. IIRC Houston loses the radar she starts with in most mods I have played. I will go for the AA as you suggest. Knocking Japs down with flak is about the only way I currently have to make inroads into his pools...

[goodboyladdie]

18/01/42

The AR Rigel (31 sys) and CL Raleigh (sys 27), both damaged at Pearl Harbor, finally arrived at Colon (size 50 repair yard) for repairs.

434th BS upgraded from the B-18 to the B-25D at Seattle and transferred to SWPAC before moving to San Francisco.

If Mike is going to keep the KB in the East I have decided to do something about it. 392nd BS (B-19s) have changed back to Pac Flt from SEAC and staged to Brisbane on the way to PH. 23rd BS (B-19) flew from Brisbane to PH. 3 Western Command B-17E squadrons (9th, 22nd and 403rd) transferred to Pac Flt and flew into PH also. A concentrated heavy bomber raid should be able to fight through a Zeke CAP, especially as the B-19s bristle with 20mm cannon. If Mike turns up again I'll give it a go. If he doesn't I'll start to destroy his forces at Wake and Kwajalein. The KB is still heading slowly NW (see screenie).

AS Holland (43 sys) and SS Permit (29 sys), damaged in the Philippines, both disbanded at Auckland. HMAS Adelaide sailed from Noumea to carry out a surface sweep at Tarawa.