The Fleet the Gods Forgot - Japanese Prospective

[kfmiller41]

Well i banged a few up pretty bad but couldn't hang around to attack again[8|]

[kfmiller41]

12-15-41

Plans are moving forward. Had a small clash again at Appari, I think he is basing the Houston and a small escort group in Manila and slipping them out to harass my northern landings[:-]. Will recon more to try and pin him down, have attacked the port but no luck yet. If he stays around long enough I will get him though[:D]
Kendari invasion is moving along and amboina invasion is in progress. Hope to have the base this turn but it should fall shortly.
Here is a sceenshot of the area:

In malaya it looks like he is making a stand in Alo Star. Khotu Baru fell today so I am heading south with 2 Division and a third which will land within 2 days. Another 2 Divisions are headed to Mersing and should land in about a week. They will pick up air support from a carrier group which will move into the area after Kendari falls.
Screenshot of Malaya:


Am cutting off the partisan troops in China and moving troops south to garrison the cities to free up troops for operations. I know the chinese have alot of troops just far back and i want to have forces to counter them.
Will post some economy screens after a couple of days to get comments about where I stand[:)]

[kfmiller41]

Well some heads will roll at the air ministry today[:-]. Due to some kind of communications error an escort sentai failed to group up with the bombers they were assigned to escort. The bomb group commander, being of suitable aggressive temperment as he is a naval commander decided to press on (can only assume that as his report died with him)and they were shot to ribbons over manila. Since it is obvious that manila still has serious enemy air power the army is bringing in over 100 bombers to help reduce the airfields[;)].
Right behind that piece of news another report surfaces (or in this case sinks[8|]) where over Brunei a zero squadron on CAP totally misses a small allies air raid. This caused to torpedoing of a patrol craft on ASW duty in the harbor which was searching for an enemy submarine reported in the area.
Needless to say the torpedo she took was NOT from a submarine[:-] but a dutch torpedo plane going about 90 miles and hour[:D]The crew of the sinking ship could only watch as she crawled away and wonder where the fighters that took of from the airfield went?

In other news, Amboina fell today to the invasion force and pt boats have been sighted in Kendari harbor. The escort commander has been notified and he should not be surprised by them if he values his life[:D]

[Rainer79]

ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
IJA Bomber: I would mostly build the Sally. It's pretty close to the Helen in capability, but Helen uses Nakajima engines (which you will find yourself running short on, as you need them for Zero/Oscar/Tojo), while the Sally uses the more numerous Mitsubishi engine. Build some Helen for reinforcement, but expand SALLY production. I also would NOT build Lilly beyond what you need to replace DB's initially; Sally is more durable, has more range, and a bigger payload.

While most of the points are spot on I kinda disagree on the Lily issue. While the Sally/Helen has a bigger payload, the Lily carriers more bombs. While 8x 100 kg bombs are not as useful in some situations, they are better at cratering runways and therefore closing down airfields. The reduced range may be an issue but I would consider keeping a decent number of Lily sentais in service.

[n01487477]

Initial Build Needs
Not too much of this is new information, I just hope it isn't too boring or dry.

1. Supplies
Supplies are the linchpin for the Japanese in the game, and hence they should be carefully managed. As you all know supplies are produced by HI (1:1)and ResC (1:1.25). Initially at least the Japanese Empire is producing about 25K of supplies a day, building of forts, bombing combat etc etc is going to dig into this in unknown numbers, the only real numbers we can use are No. of factories repairing, which cost 1000/repair.

So I suggest that the Japanese player should run a few turns and see how they are doing as this is the only way to accurately see what is happening. In the new version of Tracker (not avail yet) I've included an Ind. repair area (which I'm still tweaking) to hopefully help with some of this. At present the best representation of this is looking at the supply history of Japan and the global list.

Anyway back to it... the new feature will show that there are 33 factories in Japan repairing, but only 14 that will consistently repair including 4 Engines, 1 Arm and 1 Veh, 4 Zero, 1 Kate, 2 Betty, 1 Oscar & Helen for a total of 327 factories to be repaired or 327000 supplies. Almost all of this shall be repaired in a 30 day time frame. The others are airframe R&D, which I'll talk about later.

The Japanese Empire currently has 2.8 million supplies, 971K in Japan, with 15575 supplies produced in Japan/day. (465000 produced / month). There are about 30 Bases in Japan, I try to keep the supplies to about 450 ~ 500 000 in Japan. Hence with current repairs we will not be cutting into that.

Overall, the problem most players face is repairing too much too quickly and expanding too much. Remember also that the initial cost of 100 supplies / expansion doesn’t seem like much but when multiplied it certainly can cost a bundle before you have even started to repair them…

I also always do a supply round up at the beginning of my games, currently there are about 160K supplies just sitting on the Japanese Is and although I wouldn’t recommend taking all of them, you can take a bundle, also have a look at which bases are leaking supplies because of spoilage and either build them up or take what you can. It takes some micro-management, but it can be achieved fairly quickly.

Talking about expanding Ports and airfields, I do this firstly to my ports with repair yards and then to bases that I have trouble holding supplies(not spoilage, I’m talking about Japan), because I find Lvl < 3 ports have a hard time holding much. As for holding supplies, at a base it is achievable (even Sasebo), but you will need to move your troops, some Transports and LB planes to achieve this.

Manchuria will also become a region where you will probably be pulling supplies out of, as well as resources (and possibly troops).

Lastly, I feel that the level I don’t want to start dropping below about 1.8 million supplies total, less than this and you are really scrambling for supplies and compromising any aggressive actions you want to undertake.

2. Airframes

Ok both Q-Ball and Rainer97 have made some good points about plane building and I won’t disagree much with either of them...

Things I think about when choosing and expanding:-
1. Engines
2. TBO & the pilots associated with the group
3. Upgrade Paths and Totals.
4. Comparative stats.
5. Combat results.
6. Your losses and needs.
7. upgrading obsolescent airframes. (Numbers)

Both Sally and Helen are comparable in stats, but I did find my Helen’s more durable in the one game I played BB1.4 … wonder if anyone else noticed this, or whether it was an anomaly. Second I agree with Rainer97 about the Lily and used them to shut down airfields as well as ASW duty. Ultimately I’d build a bit of all three, concentrating on the Sally as Q-Ball suggests, it really is logistically the correct choice.

If it were me I’d only build 27~30 A6M3’s total, as they really are a negligible improvement and then use these to bring in the TBO of 4 groups totalling 135 planes by downgrading. Of course this is up to you, and I for one have built them in the past.

As for the Tony V Tojo debate which has been going on since the games release, I’m with Q-Ball, however I thing he forgot to mention is that the Oscar Ic upgrades to the Tony, so be careful about R&D here. You don’t want to end up building 200 a month here & having to convert the excess factories.

Go through each type of aircraft and plot out what type of surplus you think is appropriate and how this is smart regarding the 7 points above.

3. R&D
Divided opinion here, but take it from me, if you manage your R&D you can get some good results. Think about picking just one or max two planes in '42 and maybe one long term project.

[*]Damaged R&D factories do not supply points, so a (1)30 factory will not supply R&D points until it is fully repaired.
[*]More factories doing R&D are better than less. If comparing just one 30(0) or 3 * 10(0) the latter is better.
[*]Larger factories do not supply more points - there is no substantial difference between a 30 and a 300 R&D factory.
[*]Factories that are damaged but Repairs turned off do not accrue points.
[*]Size 30 will give about 1 point per day... you need 100 to get a month off.

So I guess you have to research what you think you can devote enough time and supplies to, to get any benefit. Build as many plants as you can in the 30-60 range... realising that for aircrafts in research probability of repairing of factory element depends on number of days till aircraft enters production and total factory size (sum of ready and disabled elements): If RANDOM(0 .. NumberOfDaysTillInProduction) > SizeOfFactory then factory element will not be repaired that day. So building more than a year out takes a large factory...

To make it worthwhile you need to do the math...so 2 x 30 factories fully repaired gives you possibly 2 points/day, hence 50 days to get a month off. But you need to get them fully repaired, which means they need to be large enough to repair fairly quickly ... a nice conundrum, heh ?

The ki-44 and ki-61B must be on your priority list, the Oscar is just going to get your pilots killed quickly. One or 2 months is all you can expect here. Then pick one more further out in late 42 or 43 to repair... I think fighters are the way to go, bombers are pretty much the same (but haven't played late war yet)

Possible factories to convert for R&D - IF YOU SO CHOOSE
Niki-J at Osaka to either Ki-44/61B
D4Y Judy at Nagoya
A6M5c at Okayama
Grace Sasebo
G4M2 & 2e at Okayama
P1Y Frances at Gumma
C6M at Gumma
ki-46 III KAI at Toyama
Peggy Osaka
ki-46-III dinah at Toyama

You also have a number of large factories regarding Franks, M5's & OscarII's. This is something you need to think about cause if you convert you lose a large amt of potential. I would, but it's your choice.

Anyway, hope this isn't too dry a read and that some of my ramblings make sense. Tomorrow the road ahead

Damian

[ny59giants]

Amboina fell today to the invasion force and pt boats have been sighted in Kendari harbor

Zeros set for Naval Attack at 100' are good anti-PT weapons. [:D]

[kfmiller41]

Kendari and Amboina fell and my forces in Malaya are making progress south against opposition. I have about 20000 men in front of me at Alo Star being held by a division of troops. My 2 Division task force got bombed while it was transiting past Manila. Despite furious bombing I cannot seem to suppress the planes there yet. The damage isn't bad but it is damage nonetheless. Lost another Heavy Cruiser at Kuching which I was trying to save but it was not to be.
Here are a couple of Screens for the current turn.





John has kept his carriers out of sight but i have a feeling they will turn up at a bad moment. I plan on supporting the landing north of Australia with all of the KB coming from 2 directions. I have search planes covering all the routes to Northern Japan so i am hoping to at least see a strike coming before it get to close[:'(]

[kfmiller41]

Plans never survive contact with the enemy so they say[:D] May have not committed enough force to the Philippines so i am sending some extra forces there to make sure I don't lose the place. I am actually glad he is attacking as it will use up supplies and spread him out.

Did get a torpedo hit on the Prince of Whales in Palembang

Up north my invasion did get a reaction. An allied BB force hit Attu today and did take some damage from the CD unit i put there. Of course my CD unit got beaten to a pulp[X(] so i suppose it is a wash. There is another task force moving west that i am unsure of the mission.


Invasion of Malaya is moving along and the mersing force is moving west thru alot of subs. Have an ASW TF along so it should be interesting to see what happens. He is falling back quickly and will make it to Singapore before i can prevent it. Wondering if i should cancel in Mersing attack and land undisrupted farther north? Comments[&o]

AFTER ACTION REPORTS FOR 12/23/41

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TF 18 encounters mine field at Hong Kong (43,42)

Japanese Ships
MSW Banshu Maru #56
MSW Banshu Maru #52
MSW Choun Maru #7
MSW W.15
MSW W.12
MSW W.11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TF 128 encounters mine field at Aparri (45,49)

Japanese Ships
MSW Musashi Maru
MSW Hinode Maru #20
MSW Choun Maru #21
MSW Choun Maru #18
MSW Choun Maru #6
AP Oridono Maru, Mine hits 2, on fire, heavy damage

Japanese ground losses:
73 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 31,50

Japanese Ships
AP Seiwa Maru
MSW Wa 20
MSW Wa 9
MSW Wa 6
DD Yugumo

Allied Ships
SS Trusty

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Naval bombardment of Attu Island, at 91,35 - Coastal Guns Fire Back!

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
H6K4 Mavis: 1 destroyed

48 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Allied Ships
CA Minneapolis, Shell hits 15 [:D]
CL Concord, Shell hits 6
BB Colorado

Japanese ground losses:
447 casualties reported
Guns lost 6

Airbase hits 1
Airbase supply hits 1
Port supply hits 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack at 31,50

Japanese Ships
AP Fukusei Maru
AP Kenzan Maru
MSW Wa 20
MSW Wa 9
MSW Wa 6
DD Yugumo

Allied Ships
SS Trusty, hits 1, on fire

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Makassar, 30,70, firing at TF 120
TF 120 troops unloading over beach at Makassar, 30,70


7 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese ground losses:
46 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Coastal Guns at Makassar, 30,70, firing at TF 120
TF 120 troops unloading over beach at Makassar, 30,70


9 Coastal gun shots fired in defense.
Japanese Ships
AP Nissen Maru, Shell hits 1

Japanese ground losses:
114 casualties reported

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 29,50

Japanese Ships
AK Manko Maru, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
MSW Wa 20
MSW Wa 9
MSW Wa 6
DD Yugumo

Allied Ships
SS Truant, hits 1

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack at 24,68

Japanese Ships
SS I-153

Allied Ships
AK Benkalis, Shell hits 1, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage

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ASW attack near Amchitka Island at 94,37

Japanese Ships
SS I-4

Allied Ships
DD Ralph Talbot
CL Concord
DD Sands
DD Humphreys
DD Kane
DD Hatfield
DD Gilmer
DD Brooks
DD Fox

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Day Air attack on Wenchow , at 50,41

Japanese aircraft
E7K2 Alf x 5
Ki-27 Nate x 22
Ki-21 Sally x 17

Japanese aircraft losses
E7K2 Alf: 1 damaged
Ki-21 Sally: 1 damaged

Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
9 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
5 x E7K2 Alf bombing at 2000 feet
8 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Wenchow , at 50,41

Japanese aircraft
C5M Babs x 4
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 3
Ki-21 Sally x 17
Ki-46-II Dinah x 4
Ki-15 Babs x 4

Japanese aircraft losses
Ki-46-II Dinah: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 4

Aircraft Attacking:
12 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
5 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Taiping , at 22,45

Japanese aircraft
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 33
Ki-21 Sally x 35
Ki-48 Lily x 26

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 3
Airbase supply hits 4
Runway hits 11

Aircraft Attacking:
20 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 15000 feet
15 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
6 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
3 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 15000 feet
3 x Ki-48 Lily bombing at 15000 feet
11 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 15000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Taiping , at 22,45

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 11
Ki-43-Ic Oscar x 18
Ki-21 Sally x 55
Ki-15 Babs x 5

No Japanese losses

Airbase hits 1
Runway hits 17

Aircraft Attacking:
15 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
11 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
13 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
6 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
4 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on Manila , at 43,52

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 7
Ki-21 Sally x 6

Allied aircraft
P-40E Warhawk x 13
P-40B Tomahawk x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 2 destroyed
Ki-21 Sally: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged


Runway hits 1

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
2 x Ki-21 Sally bombing at 10000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on 33rd Division, at 30,35


Allied aircraft
Lysander I x 14
Blenheim IV x 6


No Allied losses

Japanese ground losses:
10 casualties reported

Aircraft Attacking:
6 x Blenheim IV bombing at 5000 feet
14 x Lysander I bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G3M Nell x 11

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 15
Buffalo I x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 11 damaged


Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G3M Nell x 11

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 15
Buffalo I x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
G3M Nell: 11 damaged


Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Torpedo hits 1, on fire [:D]

Aircraft Attacking:
3 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x G3M Nell launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF, near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 9
G3M Nell x 4

Allied aircraft
Brewster 339D x 12
Buffalo I x 3

Japanese aircraft losses
A6M2 Zero: 1 destroyed
G3M Nell: 1 damaged

Allied aircraft losses
Brewster 339D: 2 damaged
Buffalo I: 1 destroyed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,69

Japanese aircraft
A6M2 Zero x 8
D3A Val x 17
B5N Kate x 20

No Japanese losses

Allied Ships
AK Tjisaroea, Bomb hits 3, Torpedo hits 3, on fire, heavy damage
AK Boero, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near Palembang at 20,55

Japanese Ships
SS I-157, hits 3

Allied Ships
DD Van Ghent
DD Vendetta
DD Evertsen
DD Van Nes
CL Java
DD Piet Hein
DD Kortenaer


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Baguio

Japanese Bombardment attack

Attacking force 17900 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 238

Defending force 23571 troops, 189 guns, 9 vehicles, Assault Value = 594



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Makassar

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 1001 troops, 9 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 35

Defending force 2622 troops, 66 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 58



Allied ground losses:
8 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Baguio

Allied Bombardment attack

Attacking force 22251 troops, 189 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 594

Defending force 17900 troops, 145 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 238


Japanese ground losses:
89 casualties reported
Guns lost 2


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Tavoy

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 390 troops, 2 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 22

Defending force 0 troops, 0 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 0

Japanese max assault: 36 - adjusted assault: 38

Allied max defense: 0 - adjusted defense: 1

Japanese assault odds: 38 to 1 (fort level 2)

Japanese forces CAPTURE Tavoy base !!!

[ny59giants]

Wondering if i should cancel in Mersing attack and land undisrupted farther north?

I would go north after my failed attempt to land there even earlier against you. Those troops were very disrupted and had too many disabled troops to be truly combat effective for a length of time.

[kfmiller41]

That was the decision after all. Am wondering if I can hold in the Phillipines as he has taken Vigan and may move north. [X(]

[Rainer79]

What do you have in the vicinity? Landing 2 div equivalents at Lingayan or San Fernando would cut off his spearhead and should let John's aggressiveness work against him.

[kfmiller41]

I considered that as well, but as my original plan was to just pin him in the Phillipines I didn't wan't to commit a ton of infantry there if i didnt have to. I have a Brigade moving to help out and have a division in Hong Kong I can commit. If he mover to leong I will probably do as you are thinking, land behind him and cut him off.

[Rainer79]

I think it would be better to bite the bullet now and commit enough force push him back to either Manila or Bataan. Once he is safely bottled up you could still pull out troops for other adventures.

In this mod the PI army is no push-over and it should not get the time or supplies to get even stronger. Never mind denying him important airbases directly across heavily used shipping routes. I fear that 2 Divs + 2 brigades will not be enough to force him back into his final redoubt.

[kfmiller41]

12-27
Rough turn for me, that CA task force up north turned out to be a CV Task force[X(] and it promptly stomped my escort force, lost a CL sunk and a DD probably sunk next turn. Hoping he will attack the 3 APs while the escort force full speeds it out of there. John has got to be laughing his ass off[:D]

My invasion of timor is moving along and I am hoping to wrap it up quickly as I want to move towards Rabaul and Noumea soon

Furious air battle over singapore today, needles to say oscars are nothing but paper airplanes, but i did hit the airfield pretty well. Just have to hope the weather holds[&o]

Here are some screens of my supply, oil and resources and aircraft builds so far.

[kfmiller41]

To answer you Rainer79 I do plan on bringing in another Division to assist but above that I can't due to lack of forces, have alot of strength already ashore in Malaya and want to try and overwhelm him there, even it it means losses near the PI. Of course plans are suject to change without notice[8D] meaning i can be talked out of it[:D]

[Rainer79]

I don't know what you have sent to Malaya but ~2200 AV should be enough to bring that campaign to a successful conclusion.

Regarding the industry screens, I did notice that several of your regions will be running out of raw materials shortly and you haven't started to ship anything in yet. North China needs resources, Hong Kong needs resources and oil, Bangkok needs oil and Formasa also needs both. I wouldn't be afraid to pull a bit out of the home islands now to keep the HI running.

[kfmiller41]

Update for 12-29-41

First thing is NEVER do a turn when your tired[;)] I did and made so stupid mistakes that John jumped all over me for.
Sent a small TF to bombard Singkawang and forgot to send air cover[X(]. Result BB Nagato, Torpedo hits 2, on fire[:-]. She will make it to port but she will need a shipyard and some time.
My drive in Malaya stalled hard and fast due to John massing his troops in the mountain hex, I shock attacked with 60000+ against about 15000 and got knocked back on my arse. IG div is headinh downt he coast but it looks like Kuala Lampur is where he is defending next. I have 2 more Divisions coming behind them so i hope to be able to push thru. Am still suffering a shortage of Zero's and Oscars, lots of air attrition.
Have Diverted Soryu and Hiryu TF to Truk to support the Rabaul and PM landing. Min KB will mosey up north to try and trap that allied Carrier, believe it is one of them. They will be escorting some more engineers for the Attu base for airfield building.

I have sent the division in HK to Laong in the PI to add enough punch to push the allies back. It looks like Johns forces have already started to pull back so a landing behind him would just be a division cut off.
Will post pics this weekend.

[ny59giants]

Things I've learned recently in both PBEM games, including ours. [;)]
1) Send a Naval HQ to Palau or Kendari, just in case you need the extra support for a damaged ship.
2) Assign an engineer rgt and 3 construction to Kendari to expand the port to 5, asap. Until Soerabaja falls, which port is your main port for the eastern side of the SRA.
3) Decide where your one and only AR is most likely to be needed. In my AAR PBEM game, it is now Kendari.
4) Oscars against Flying Tigers and P-40E is not a good thing. I would mass 3 daitai of Zero over Luzon or Malaya and do repeated sweeps.

[Capt. Harlock]

4) Oscars against Flying Tigers and P-40E is not a good thing. I would mass 3 daitai of Zero over Luzon or Malaya and do repeated sweeps.

Sounds good to me . . .[:D]

[kfmiller41]

Major clash of forces in Timor and Malaya. First is Malaya, where i have tried bulling my way thru the mountains[:-] and now I am trying a flank attack.
Hoping this will work but the losses so far are heavy.
Now in the Timor area we have had an exchange of attacks. Both Carrier strikes hit Surface TFs, here is the result of his Needless to say I will lose some ships[:)] My attack went after his Surface TF thinking it was a CV force. Here is part of the report
Day Air attack on TF at 25,81

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 44
B5N Kate x 72

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 5 damaged
B5N Kate: 3 destroyed, 18 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CA Chester, Bomb hits 1
DD Barker, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD John D. Edwards
CL Marblehead, Bomb hits 1, Torpedo hits 5, on fire, heavy damage
DD Stewart, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Bulmer, Torpedo hits 1, on fire
DD Paul Jones

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,81

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 21

Japanese aircraft losses
D3A Val: 1 destroyed, 1 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Chester
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Barker, Bomb hits 1, on fire
DD Paul Jones, Bomb hits 1, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
1 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Air attack on TF at 25,81

Japanese aircraft
D3A Val x 22
B5N Kate x 24

Japanese aircraft losses
B5N Kate: 1 destroyed, 3 damaged

Allied Ships
CA Astoria, Bomb hits 4, on fire, heavy damage
CL Marblehead, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
CA Chester, Bomb hits 4, Torpedo hits 2, on fire, heavy damage
DD Edsall
DD Bulmer, on fire

Aircraft Attacking:
2 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
3 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x D3A Val bombing at 2000 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
4 x B5N Kate launching torpedoes at 200 feet
Here is the plan now.


My other operation is the move on Rabaul followed by one to PM. Here is the plan so far

Should be an interesting turn or two.