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

[goodboyladdie]

[:D] I agree Old Boy. God bless the RCN!!

[goodboyladdie]

19/03/42

Charter Towers airfield is now size 7. Anchorage Port is now size 4.

S-43 again reported dodging Vals and Kates near Kwajalein. 96th Engineers are unloading at Midway. S-45 reached 94 flooding points so I scuttled her - the Captain went down with his ship. 20,000 tons of supplies have arrived at Christmas Island, so hopefully the damage will start to be repaired more quickly (currently 58/58/5). SS Pollack (sys 13) disbanded at San Diego.

5,325 tons of supplies arrived at Canton Island from the South Atlantic. My 2 SWPAC B-26 squadrons flew forward to Darwin, losing a plane and crew on the way. The dive bombers of the 8th BS also lost a plane as they hopped on to Soerabaya. 4,000 tons of supplies arrived at Perth.

Here are signs of potential movement at Rabaul and Palau...

[goodboyladdie]

My raid on Toungoo caused slight airbase damage, while the 55th Div took 55/1 casualties. I achieved nothing at Johore Bharu and lost an A-20 to Rufes over Miri. A previously damaged oil centre was hit at Brunei. The Japs launched 3 raids on Singapore, losing 4 Sallys. They also launched 2 on Manila, losing 2 Bettys. Supplies: Manila 36,562 tons; Singapore 88,772.

Mike also launched 47 Bettys (and a Mavis on recon), escorted by 10 Zekes at Balikpapan. They met a CAP of 43 P-40Es. 1 Zeke and 5 Bettys fell in exchange for 1 P-40E destroyed with 19 more damaged. I am keeping my fighters in place for one more turn. Balikpapan damage is 9/10/4.

Hermes is now 71/21/0. She appears in the screenie as another example of Dixie's wonderful ship art. I am a very big fan of Fremen, too, but I think Dixie's Hermes is better.

K XIII will mine Medan on her way to Diamond Harbour for repairs. She only has 9 points of system damage, but if these subs are going patrolling I cannot afford to let their detection levels get too high. 1,000 tons of supplies arrived at Merak from Aden, with Trincomalee receiving an additional 40,000 tons. The US 26th PS flew their P-40Bs into Mandalay.

[goodboyladdie]

Iman airfield is now size 3.

The Japs attacked Yenen, Nanchang, Wuchow, Nanning and Sinyang. The AVG will be over Nanchang again tomorrow, while AVG/3 and 34th PS try their luck over Yenen.

20,000 tons of fuel from San Francisco arrived at Petropavlovsk, Soviet AKs and TKs are at Nikolaevsk loading oil and resources for Vladivostock and hungry HI inland.

There was a potential diplomatic incident, with 10 Bettys escorted by 5 Zekes going after 2 Soviet DDs near Suchan. A Betty and a Zeke fell to the LaGG-3s on CAP. We decided to ignore it, as Mike had just missed a new unit and had come off worst.

Back to the DEI for the screenie. Indomitable has just made open ocean on her way to Aden...

[witpqs]

Have any IJN carriers shown up on the sunk ships list?

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

Have any IJN carriers shown up on the sunk ships list?

Only Unyo. I think the other CVE that took a torpedo must be safe.

[goodboyladdie]

20/03/42

A new patrol squadron (VP-71) at San Francisco upgraded to the Sunderland (although not from stocks, which is a bonus). They have changed to SOPAC and I have changed the planes to PBYs, which are sustaining quite heavy losses and are in surprisingly short supply. As part of this shuffling, RAAF 20 sqn at PM now has the Sunderland, RCAF 9 sqn (at Vancouver for the exchange) has the Catalina and VP-14 at Hilo has the Coronado. Christmas Island damage is 58/58/3.

The Lion task force has reached Capetown and taken on bunkers. The next leg will be to Perth. A new "Steel" AK arrived in the South Atlantic. She will drop off 10,000 tons of supplies at Pago Pago before heading to San Francisco for conversion to AR.

APD Gregory, the escort for the liners that took US 144th FA to Perth, has detached and will head to join my forces at Townsville. ML Bangkalan has repaired at Sydney and is laying defensive minefields. 6th AIF Division, on it's way to Perth, has formally moved to SWPAC. I have noticed the need for additional support at Perth, so I will have to try to free up an HQ from somewhere. All 4 SWPAC P-39 squadrons moved from Brisbane to Alice Springs. The new SWPAC B-25 sqn has flown direct from Brisbane to Darwin. 600 tons of supplies has arrived at Exmouth from Perth. I need to start feeding more supplies into Northern Australia and will have to remember to move small AKs over from the DEI.

[goodboyladdie]

The Japs expanded Aparri airfield to size 5.

My raid on Toungoo achieved nothing and 55th Div only suffered 5 casualties. I really hope their morale is going through the floor. I lost a recon A-20B over Johore Bharu, but the B-17s destroyed 3 Nells, a Mavis and a Lily on the ground. I lost a B-25 over Miri, causing no damage there or at Brunei. Next turn I will make a maximium effort to destroy planes on the ground at the overloaded Brunei airfield. RAAF 32 sqn will use their Hudsons to recon Miri, while RAAF 2sqn moved their Beauforts to Manado in the hope of attriting the convoys Mike is running into Cotabato. My 2 B-26 sqns flew from Darwin to Soerabaya. The newly reformed M-139 sqns and the DBs of 8th BS flew into Palembang to start bombing airfields to the North of Singapore to run down Mike's supplies.

There were 3 raids on Singapore and 3 on Manila as Mike finally seems to be focussing on his main targets. He lost 2 Marys and a Helen over Singapore, with 2 more Marys and 2 Bettys falling over Manila. The raid on Balikpapan came in with a beefed up Zeke escort and 10 P-40Es fell for only 1 Zeke. I am now evacuating, but unfortuantely in a piecemeal manner which will cause extra airframe losses. This gamble has failed. I should have got out after one turn. The Japs launched a deliberate attack at Singapore. 1407 (1805) assault points attacked 1101 (2726). Forts were reduced to 3, but the Japs suffered 2587/37/5 casualties to my 1240/36. Supplies: Manila 35,562 tons; Singapore 87,099 tons.

I moved an AS from Soerabaya to Batavia to support the new patrol operations. Another 1000 tons arrived at Merak from Madras. HMS Hermes is now 70/12/0. HMS Warspite, at Aden, sems to be stuck on 2 damage points so she will sail with 2 DDs to Colombo to finish her repairs. UK 2nd Infantry Division is unloading at Bombay. RCAF 413 sqn at Colombo has switched from the PBY to the Catalina, while the BOAC flight at Addo Atoll has gained teeth by taking on Sunderlands to replace their unarmed Empires. RAAF 21 sqn has moved to Dacca to provide high CAP over the Buffs patrolling there.

[goodboyladdie]

1 LT Moorhouse of 34th PS scored kill number 10, while FO Vebber of AVG/3 got his 11th, both over Yenen, where 3 Claudes fell. The Japs lost 6 Nates and a Lily to the rest of the AVG over Nanchang.

The Japs also hit Honan, Wuchow, Pakhoi and Sinyang. Across China supply levels are low. I will need to go dormant here and see what I can switch off. I will still try the odd ambush.

9th Provisional Corps will withdraw into Strategic Reserve at Chungking. As you will see from the screenie, when complete it will be a formidable unit. It has already defeated multiple attacks at Wenchow and defeated another attack to cover the retreat inland.

6,000 tons of oil arrived at Vladivostock from Okha.

[goodboyladdie]

21/03/42

Katherine, Nandi and Umnak Island all now have size 3 airfields.

The screenie shows my long range bombers at Pearl Harbor, currently awaiting a Jap attack that has not come. They have orders for Naval attack at 9,000 and 14,000 ft, with a max range of 24 hexes. I am beginning to wonder whether they would be better employed elsewhere... edit having just looked at it again, it is time to swap another unit into the B-24s for the daily experience building recon of Wake.

2,000 tons of supplies arrived at Johnston from PH, while 20,000 tons from SF has arrived at Palmyra. Christmas Island damage is now 58/58/1. SS Drum has arrived through the Panama Canal and will head to PH to load mines. SS Barracuda has completed repairs at San Diego and is heading to LA to load mines. 36th BS at Anchorage has flown their B-18s forward to Umnak Island.

CA Canberra has joined the Townsville strike force. 1575 tons of supplies from Newcastle has arrived at Port Moresby. APD Little has loaded the first elements of 1st Australian Corps HQ from Townsville for Darwin. RAAF 11 sqn will pick up more and an AP is due in a couple of days.

ABDA HQ has changed to SWPAC and the first elements have loaded onto an AK at Batavia with orders for Perth.

[goodboyladdie]

Calcutta airfield is now size 7.

TK Empire Granite was bombed by a patrolling Mavis at Balikpapan and has damage 11/2/4.

My bombing raids on Toungoo, Malacca and Johore Bharu achieved nothing. Miri took minor runway damage. Brunei took slightly more and 3 Zekes and 2 Bettys were destroyed on the ground, along with 85/5/1 casualties. IJA 55th Div took 11/1 casualties. I am amazed Mike has not brought any fighter forward to cover this unit as it's efficiency must have been affected by now.

Mike hit Singapore three times and Manila (and it's troops) six times. He is definitely concentrating on clearing these "blockages". He lost a Betty, a Nell and a Mary over Manila. Later he launched a deliberate attack on Manila.




You'll note a lot of shipping at Takao, which leads me to believe we are about to see Mike get more aggressive. Supplies: Singapore 87,143; Manila 32,228.

[goodboyladdie]

A Jap convoy is heading East from Palau (see screenie). B-25s carried out an abortive attack and identified CLs Naka and Natori. The second task force shows up as a solitary DD. Possible targets could be Manado, Tarakan or Balikpapan. Force Z and the cruiser striking force are moving over to Kendari in preparation for a counterstroke. Hermes is 70/5/0 and has sailed for Perth with 4 USN DDs as escort, in order to be out of the way when metal starts flying around. US 434th BS (B-25s) and FAA 733 sqn (Beauforts) have moved to Kendari from Darwin. RAAF 13sqn (Hudsons) has moved to reinforce Amboina. 70th and 71st BS have flown into Kendari from Soerabaya. 70th has torpedoes, 71st has bombs) All light/medium and heavy bombers at Soerabaya have Naval Attack orders.

8,000 tons of fuel arrived at Soerabaya from Balikpapan and 5,000 tons of supplies arrived at Tjilitjap. 2nd UK Infantry Division is moving into reserve at Hyderabad and RAF 45 sqn has joined the attack on Toungoo airfield out of Mandalay.

Pp 81st Div and Pp 3/62 Bn have started to croos the strait to Legaspi. Mike is moving his forces North to Manila so I might be able to surprise him and wipe out the aircraft there as well as cause any anchored ships to scuttle...

[goodboyladdie]

Mishan airfield in Manchuoko has expanded to size 3.

Mike hit Yenan, Nanchang, Honan, Wuchow (3 Sonias and a Babs downed by flak), Sinyang (1 Mary fell to a Lancer) and Nanning. I will attempt ambushes at Nanchang, Yenan, Sinyang and Nanning.

Here is Dixie's latest Formidable. He has tinkered a little more and at some point today I will be sent the very latest version (amongst other goodies...)

[witpqs]

I think you mean "west". Maybe the target is Jolo? It could be a quick way to get up a base to put some LBA there (isn't Jolo bigger than Cotabato?).

Good news about Hermes.

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: witpqs

I think you mean "west". Maybe the target is Jolo? It could be a quick way to get up a base to put some LBA there (isn't Jolo bigger than Cotabato?).

Good news about Hermes.

Bugger! [:D] You are quite right - it is a Cotabato convoy heading to Palau. All I can blame is my thirst for action and a bad case of "daddy brain"...[:D]

edit DOH!

[goodboyladdie]

22/03/42

SS Bonita disbanded at San Diego with system damage of 41 points. Her sister Barracuda loaded mines at Los Angeles and sailed for Kwajalein.

27th Inf Div is unloading at Nandi. Another 5000 tons of supplies has been used in a turn at Noumea (!?) but over 30,000 tons more that was diverted from Brisbane has arrived. Suva is also bleeding supplies fast and is back under 20,000 tons.

RAAF 77 sqn (Kittyhawk I) arrived at Melbourne and has moved up to Charter Towers. I have established an airbridge to fly supplies Townsville-Cooktown-Thursday Island. I am surprised the C-47 has such poor range in this mod.

Here is a screenie showung the current garrison on the Hawaiian Islands. I could do with a lot more supply, but I don't think Mike could take them in a hurry...

[goodboyladdie]

Ye airfield is now size 3.

Catarman on Samar was bombarded by three DDs, followed up with an airstrike by 10 Zekes and 31 Vals later in the day, losing 2 Zekes and a Val. Mike also has more units back in Legaspi (see screenie) so I don't think surprise is any longer an option...

My raid on Johore Bahru achieved nothing and the raids on Toungoo and the 55th Division caused few casualties. Mike lost a Lily and a Betty over Singapore and 2 Marys and a Nell over Manila.

SS Seadragon missed ML Iwate off Takao. The use of Zekes on ground attack over Catarman opened up an opportunity at Legaspi and my B-25s heavily damaged DD Fumizuki with a 500lb bomb. Hermes is on her way to Brisbane with damage 70/0/0. The 3 ARs at Kendari are returning to Soerabaya. Force Z and the strike force are also returning.

UK Burma Corps left Bombay for Imphal (planning for Mandalay). 40,000 tons of supplies arrived at Diamond Harbour.

[goodboyladdie]

Over Yenen 1LT Atkins 34th PS got kill 5, while AVG/3 Aces Johnson and Irwin got their respective 11th and 8th kills. Over Nanchang the main AVG had success with FO Bryan getting kills 4-6 while 1LT Holt scored kills 3-5. 7 Claudes and a Mary fell over Yenen and 6 Nates and 2 Lilys were downed over Nanchang. I have stood down my fighters again.

Mike also lost a Mary to a Chinese Lancer over Sinyang and a Kate to flak over Wuchow.

[traskott]

Well, Pearl Harbour looks like very well guarded, but, what forces are ready to defend the trade lane between USA and OZ ?

For example: Noumea, Suva and Pago-Pago... What about them ?

[goodboyladdie]

ORIGINAL: traskott

Well, Pearl Harbour looks like very well guarded, but, what forces are ready to defend the trade lane between USA and OZ ?

For example: Noumea, Suva and Pago-Pago... What about them ?

I will post updated screenies for these soon. I have to wait for the Americal Division to arrive before I can show New Caledonia, but Suva, Nandi and Pago Pago should be possible next turn. Mike is busy at work again, so we are having to slow down temporarily.