Singapore Raid: The big even this turn was a raid on Singapore. I wasn't getting anywhere over Merak, with all those Zeros, so I tried something different: I moved all my bombers to Palembang, and set them to attack Singapore. They were going without any escort, so I figured it would be a one-way trip for many. I knew Ryujo was likely in port there after eating that 300kg bomb a week ago, as well as a pile of other ships.
The attack went beautifully; despite a CAP of 30 Oscars, enough Dutch bombers broke through to put 3 500lb bombs into Ryujo! They wisely focused their attacks on that flattop. I don't think she sank, but is certainly trashed; all sorts of nasty fires and explosions resulted from those bomb hits, including "CRITICAL DAMAGE".
Despite the fact that Cuttlefish will probably increase the CAP, we are going back tommorow. Every bomber I have is attacking from Palembang, with about 20 B-17s flying from Batavia. Losses will be heavy, it will be worth it if we can just get 1 or 2 more bombs into RYUJO. Who knows, with a little luck maybe we even sink her.
I am usually not so profligate with planes, but the Dutch bombers are stuck on Java and doomed anyway, so I figure this is our best chance to cause some real damage before the lights are out. The P-40s and Mitchells in the Dutch pool can't be used elsewhere, it's "Use them or lose them", and I intend to use them.
I take back everything I said about Dutch Bombers.[8D]
China: I think Cuttlefish was a little slow on the uptake around the new realities of AE in China....that the Japanese can't ignore it, and that you can push the Chinese around. After a couple months of inactivity, he is starting to push the Chinese around.
Kukong is about to fall, and he attacked the big stack I had around Sinyang, forcing it back, and of course killing 10000 guys. At this point it's probably not safe in the open anymore, so we will be falling back on Nanyang, and probably into the woods north of there.
ORIGINAL: Q-Ball
The P-40s and Mitchells in the Dutch pool can't be used elsewhere, it's "Use them or lose them", and I intend to use them.
Congratulations on hurting Ryujo!
That's not completely true (at least in scenario 2). I have found one RAAF squadron that uses the dutch B-25s and there is one RAF squadron with dutch PBYs. I don't think I have found a squadron for the P-40s yet but that doesn't mean there isn't an upgrade option available somewhere for them as well.
Rainer: Thanks, I did not know that! Won't change the plan though, we will still go down swinging.
Combat Report, March 22-26, 1942
Not a ton to report, just keeping the AAR up....
DEI: The 2nd day airstrikes on Singapore found a larger CAP; 20 of our bombers still got through the CAP to drop bombs, but none found Ryujo, and another dozen were shot down. After that result, clearly Cuttlefish is alerted, so we withdrew all the units to rebuild and lick our wounds.
I still like that Port Raid from Palembang, that's a good use of Dutch bombers that otherwise can't hit much.
We are deploying the Dutch A-20s, and should have enough scraped together for one more good run on the transports around Merak before the lights go out on Java.
China: CF is now pressing me in China, and Also at Lashio.
Kido Butai: Still no sigh of it anywhere, and no intel as to Japanese intentions (other than units prepping for Batavia, but I could have guessed that!)
Dog Days of Spring, as very little has happened last few days. I am mostly updating just to get bumped up to the top of the AAR list....there are ALOT going now!
Palembang: CF's first attack on Palembang was 1-3, and failed to drop the forts. Surprising, as he attacked with 3 Regts, and a Tank Regt. The first day of the war, I pulled all the South Sumatra forces to Palembang and rested them, so the garrison is 100% prepped, and dug-in. That's probably the difference.
Elsewhere in the DEI, CF is gathering forces at Buitzegong or whatever that base is next to Batavia; I have garrisons in both hexes. A fight is coming.
China: More Chinese die on the front lines, pounded by Japanese Artillery. My supply situation really isn't bad, I don't seem to be having the supply issues that other players are having. Maybe because it hasn't been that active.
Sub Wars: After a dry spell, I have had some success lately. SS Grenadier took down an AK off Hokkaido, and this turn S-37 put two torps into CL Kashii off Toboali; she is reported to be sunk. Not sure about that, but those slow CL's aren't that effective.
Just a quick report to also post a map of CHINA, where Cuttlefish is starting to make some hay as it were.
Sub Wars: A Dutch Sub sank a transport in the Malacca Strait, and she had troops on her. That's a ship three days in a row, including a Cruiser. Suddenly, Allied Sub luck is running hot! One of those sinkings was even from a Mark 14 torp, so yeah, a little luck is involved.
China: China has been relatively peaceful, but signs are brewing of trouble. I have seen enough of AE to know that Chinese troops in the open get slaughtered, so at the least sign of pressure it will be a mass retreat to rougher ground. More description on the map below.
TF South of Java: A Japanese TF, including warships, has been sighted off the South tip of Java. This is interesting; I don't know what to make of it. A raid, but against what? An invasion perhaps, of Southern Java, or maybe even Australia?
I have put Nav Search on the North Coast of OZ on alert. Not that we can stop an invasion, but nice to know if one's coming I suppose. I don't have any ships at all in the Indian Ocean anywhere near Java, so I have no shipping in danger.
Battle of Java: Reinforce or Evacuate?
At this point, whatever happens in Java stays in Java; no reinforcements, no rescues. I will fly out the B-17s of course, but that's it.
Instead of attempting more naval bombing, have you considered using your dutch LBA and American B-17s on Java to disrupt the infantry just landed on N. Java? Does he have air cover for his troops? In AE, level bombers really play havoc with troops in strategic movement or 'move' orders. Keeping his LCUs under aerial bombardment may force him to 'combat' move them-which takes forever.
Chickenboy: I've started doing that in fact, though the first attack I lost 4 planes for not much benefit. I am going back to Sweeping Zeros, I have shot down a dozen or so this way, that seems like a good use of planes (although I have lost proabably twice that).
Combat Report, April 1, 1942
The Calendar Turned, and the main event was a Chinese Victory at Nanyang!
Battle of Nanyang: Cuttlefish moved 3 divisions into the hex; I have 2700 AV there, so I went ahead and ordered an attack to see what happened. I was surprised at the result:
Ground combat at Nanyang (85,45)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 92732 troops, 502 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 2760
Defending force 43784 troops, 330 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 1314
Allied adjusted assault: 2086
Japanese adjusted defense: 462
Allied assault odds: 4 to 1
Combat modifiers
Defender: op mode(-), leaders(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
supply(-)Experience was a NEGATIVE modifier? And SUPPLY?
Attacker:
Japanese ground losses:
15972 casualties reported[X(]
Squads: 338 destroyed, 306 disabled
Non Combat: 288 destroyed, 220 disabled
Engineers: 23 destroyed, 28 disabled
Guns lost 47 (36 destroyed, 11 disabled)
Vehicles lost 15 (7 destroyed, 8 disabled)
Units retreated 3
Assaulting units:...
55th Chinese Corps...
85th Chinese Corps...
90th Chinese Corps...
48th Chinese Corps...
41st Chinese Corps...
84th Chinese Corps...
77th Chinese Corps...
36th Chinese Corps...
12th Chinese Corps...
30th Chinese Corps...
7th Chinese Corps...
92nd Chinese Corps...
21st Group Army...
2nd Group Army...
3rd Group Army...
5th War Area ...
22nd Group Army...
...
Defending units:...
3rd Division...
13th Division...
34th Division...
VERY Surprising! Those Japanese Divisions are likely wrecked. How did that happen?
Well, my troops were mostly 100% prepped, and CF's were not. He had his troops on MOVE mode in the open; mine were in COMBAT mode. For the most part my troops are fairly well rested, and most have experience in the 40s and even low 50s; I think that makes a big difference.
This may have set the Japanese plans back a bit up north, stay tuned.
USS Nevada:
I have been sending Pearl Harbor ships home to clear yard space at Pearl; Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia are already repairing in West Coast ports. Tennessee is still too damaged to move. Nevada was at 20/63/21, so I thought it was safe to go ahead and move her. I had moved both Maryland and Pennsylvania with 60 Major Float damage, but low sys damage, and didn't have an issue.
Two days out of Pearl, pumps failed, and float spiked to 71! I hit the alarm and turned her around. She is now safely back in Drydock at Pearl, I will have to repair more to get her seaworthy. I had hoped to get her out before the April upgrades, I guess that won't happen.
Big E: Speaking of repairs, the estimate on Big E is now 120 days. It went UP. Not sure why; damage is about the same, and I haven't moved any ships into drydock there. She is now at "HIGH" priority because HMS Prince of Wales is also at port, albeit on LOW priority; I may go ahead and move PoW to the UK or US East Coast to clear space. That will take forever, and probably delay PoW until the end of 1942, but Big E is far more important than PoW.
Java: The Battle of Java has begun in earnest. I have about 2 Regts each at Batavia and Buitzebong (that mountain base next to Batavia, whatever it is). CF seems to have various Regts, and the Imperial Guard Division. He hasn't attacked yet, not sure where he is going to. Just trying to prolong this, the outcome is inevitable.
In my other PBEM as Japan, I landed at Kalidjate and Semerang, splitting the KNIL in half; that seemed to work pretty well. It's the end of February, and Java is almost cleared.
Surrenders:
25,000 Allied troops surrendered at Cagayan, to the 38th Division. A bit of overkill perhaps, but better safe than sorry I suppose.
5,000 Dutch troops surrendered on Timor; now clear of any Allied units
Palembang also fell, and the base was captured intact by Japan. Cuttlefish has had good luck so far on Facilities damage, only Balikpapan suffered even moderate damage. I will have to target TANKERS, because the Empire will have plenty of fuel in the SRA it seems.
At this point, I am basically down to Java and Medan in the SRA, with a few harmless units cut off or at size-1 airbases where they can do the Japanese no harm. I still "hold" all the islands in the central Phillipines, but I'm sure that won't last long. As far as I know, Cuttlefish is still unaware of the presence of USS Canopus at Cebu City. I wonder if she can make a run for it.......
Nice catch at Nanyang! I'm curious to learn how you can tell his troops were in move mode - or did he just tell you?
Low supply too! You caught him bluffing.
I guessed MOVE mode because OPS modifier was negative....and Cuttlefish told me. He admitted he had no idea how many units were there, and cursed his lack of intelligence gathering. Probably BABS units will be more active now.
I have no idea what the deal is on Supply there......In my other PBEM as Japan, I have no supply problems, as long as you shovel some into Shanghai occasionally, and I have been very active with attacks, etc.
QUESTION: What kind of experience has everyone had moving Pearl Harbor survivors? Did I try moving Nevada with too much damage in your experience, or just bad luck there? All minor damage was fixed.
Forgot to metion Dept: Oh yeah, Japanese Regt. landed at Port Blair and captured it easily from the Base Force there.
Nice catch at Nanyang! I'm curious to learn how you can tell his troops were in move mode - or did he just tell you?
Low supply too! You caught him bluffing.
I guessed MOVE mode because OPS modifier was negative....and Cuttlefish told me. He admitted he had no idea how many units were there, and cursed his lack of intelligence gathering. Probably BABS units will be more active now.
I have no idea what the deal is on Supply there......In my other PBEM as Japan, I have no supply problems, as long as you shovel some into Shanghai occasionally, and I have been very active with attacks, etc.
QUESTION: What kind of experience has everyone had moving Pearl Harbor survivors? Did I try moving Nevada with too much damage in your experience, or just bad luck there? All minor damage was fixed.
Forgot to metion Dept: Oh yeah, Japanese Regt. landed at Port Blair and captured it easily from the Base Force there.
I like to get my PH BBs below 50 float (and all minor sys) before moving them.
How much supply do you put into Shanghai monthly in your other PBEM? I'm debating how much to dump there to feed various offensives I have in China in my two PBEMs.
What kind of experience has everyone had moving Pearl Harbor survivors? Did I try moving Nevada with too much damage in your experience, or just bad luck there? All minor damage was fixed.
I've had several "temporary flotation device" announcements for BBs heading back to the West Coast, but none as dramatic as yours. I still have two BBs at Pearl trying to get a handle on damage, rather drawn out since we're in late June.
"Rats set fire to Mr. Cooper’s store in Fort Valley. No damage done." Columbus (Ga) Enquirer-Sun, October 2, 1880.
I've had the same experience as you at moving damaged ships. I found out early on that even mission speed is dangerous. Move them only when cruise speed is okay.
All minor flood and engine damage must be repaired before moving.
Get system damage down as much as possible.
If major flood damage is above about 50, I try to get it down at least that low. I had a bad experience with a BB in the 40's major flood, so I'm as careful as I can afford to be.
Erik Rutins noted that system damage level reflects the ability to resist increases in flooding and to get it under control when it happens. It abstracts damage to the pumps, etc. so having system damage lower is always better to move a damaged ship.
Minor flooding and engine damage repair first. After that, it seems like it all happens at random. Since you can't tell it to favor repairing system damage, the only thing you can do is take into account the level of system damage in deciding when to move a damaged ship. With lower system damage you might be more tolerant of somewhat higher major flood damage.
The priority for ship repair can be found on page 240 in the manual. You can see that systems damage gets less priority, but you can tell the game to repair it first, just by putting the ship in pierside. That way it can only repair minor damage and since there is no major system damage.
To me this seems the best idea to repair the BBs in Pearl, get all the minor damage away in pierside, then maybe shipyard repair until major flotation is under 40.
Smeulders - forgot to mention that is basically what I do. Only one BB at a time goes in the yard. The others are pierside, repair ship, and normal (or whatever it's called). I generally get the least damaged one through the yard (if that's needed) first, then send it on its way. After that comes the next least damaged, etc.
Smeulders, wipqs: Thanks guys for the help on Ship Repair. I can wait on the OLD BBs, I won't need them anyway for almost a year.
Combat Report, April 2,3,4 1942
China: Kukong falls, resulting in the usual pile of Chinese Casualties; over 13,000 pretty much killed outright. We fall back, not sure what happens next, but it's not likely to be a Thank-You Note and Invitation for cocktails.
Up north, after our victory at Nanyang, haven't seen much activity.
Pacific: We have just about unloaded the last of the American Division on Fiji. I am sending more troops to Fiji to really make it a fortress. I have no idea where the Japanese are going, but if they don't attack Fiji I can always use those troops for later.
Tongatapu reached size-3 port, and still growing. I would like to have it as a backup port.
Elsewhere, fuel levels are good in Australia, thanks to massive hauling from the DEI, and big honking convoys from Abadan and San Diego.
Kido Butai: I have no clue where it is, or where the next Japanese move is. None. For all I know, Akagi could be in Lake Michigan, preparing for a strike on the GM Plant in Racine.
Java: The Japanese seem to be shifting troops more towards Java, at least that's what the little arrows are saying. I have 3 Regts there fully prepped, maybe they hold, maybe they don't. We are ready though, evidneced by the picture below:
Sub Wars: At some point I will post a comprehensive sub strategy and tactics, and I'll probably wait until the SRA is done, because at the moment, I have sub bases handy in that area, particularly Soerbaya. Once the real war starts, I'll put together a sub plan.
In the meantime, I have been disappointed with the results; we have 2-4 sightings a day of TFs, sometimes there are attacks, rarely have there been hits. The last two days we sank something, O-23 sank a loaded transport off Makassar, and USS Pollack got an xAK off Hokkaido.
Great AAR Q-Ball. I would urge you not to forget that sub strategy update. Considering your background as a jap player, it would be interesting too hear your thoughts on this subject. That raid you did on Samah with the HK DD's in the beginning of the game was a good example of your insights.
Cheers/ Grollub
“Not mastering metaphores is like cooking pasta when the train is delayed"
Grollub: Thank you for your comments, glad to have a loyal reader! I will do a sub summary when the SRA is done and long-term sub bases are set-up, and when I have some time. Quick note though: Today an S-Boat off Iloilo sank a PB...one of the Ansyu-class PBs. Otherwise, I get alot of DUD torp hits. Probably sub captain's fault, the Bureau of Ordinance has told me the torpedos are just fine.
Combat Report, April 5-9, 1942
Been fairly quiet in the Pacific. Too quiet. I have no idea whatsoever where KB is, or what the Japs are up to, other than the obvious. Nothing. Nada. Not sure what to make of that.
China: Don't know what the next move is here for the Japs either. As I mentioned, Kukong fell with a massive butcher bill on my part. We are falling back toward Hengyang, I think this is the likely target. In central China, I am abandoning Kwieteh; it's a dot-base with supplies. My troops there are completely regenerated, but it's very exposed. Better to save them for another day.
Buildups: Not sure where the next move is; but I have built up Akyab, Noumea, Suva, Savaii, Pago Pago, Johnston, Christmas Is., Midway.......planning ahead. Transports are moving fuel and supplies all over. I have alot of ships in port, so no offensive plans for a month or two at least.
Java: See below; this is the last outpost in the DEI for the most part.
Just to chip in on the ship repair issue, I sent Chitose on a 20 hex trip with only 13 float damage but high sys damage (60 or so).......she sank half way to her destination[:@]
I would suggest sys damage is under 10 before moving any ship with major float damage......
Battle of Java: I attacked the Japanese fleet off Semarang for two days with the entire KNIL; at start about 70 A-20s, and a handful of Hurris, Buffs, and P-40s. I was hoping to sink a transport, or do what we did to Ryujo, which is send her in the yard for awhile. Instead, we lost 35 aircraft over two days, without getting a hit. We did attack the two CVLs. The last Dutch Hurricane is shot down, that unit accounted for 8 A2A Zeros though, so I got my money's worth. I am down to 2 Dutch Buffalos; all the rest are destroyed. I still have a dozen or so P-40s and about 20 A-20s, so we'll repair and give it one last try. According to Cuttlefish, the Zero units on IJN CVLs have accounted for 140 A2A kills so far! That sounds about right. I think 100% of them are Dutch.
The Japanese landed the 48th Division at Semarang. This effectively splits the KNIL in two. I will retreat into Batavia because the troops there are 100% prepped for it anyway. The Soerbaya forces will probably head to the mountains. I am also sending my 3 armored units around to basically run around and make CF chase me.
My objective now is to keep Japanese troops busy on Java until May 1. If I do that, I'll be happy.
Lashio: My defenders there, mostly Chinese with some Burmese, are doing well; another attack repulsed at 1-2. I am gathering air units in Imphal, and will start bombing the Japs there tommorow. Lashio is JUST within range of Hurris and P-400s I have at Imphal.
Pacific Ocean: Still no sign of much Japanese activity. I haven't even seen a sub in awhile. Not sure what to make of all of this. Troops and stuff continue to unload at various spots; Noumea is building trenches. Pago Pago I think is now secure, almost 800 AV and size 5 forts.
Flight of the Canopus: AS Canopus was at Bataan until it fell, and until yesterday was docked at Cebu, dishing out torpedos. Some Lillys raided the port, they missed the ship, but no doubt CF knows it's there. Time to move from the PI.
I am taking bets on whether Canopus makes it. I set destination Dutch Harbor, where I could use an AS anyway, and set a couple waypoints. She is going to move due east, vector north between Pagan and Iwo Jima, then sail a few hexes north of Marcus Is, before heading for Dutch. Think she makes it?
