Winged Horse vs Dutch Admiral - Arnhem (A) vs Cannonfodder (J)

[Arnhem44]

What can I say? My first go at a PBEM for Scenario 1, looking forward to seeing what Patch 2 has done for the game.

HRs in effect.
1) No creation of Allied TFs on Turn 1.
2) When in doubt we will defer to common sense, failing that, a civilized discussion via email with pistols at 10 paces as a last resort.

As you can see we're either extremely lazy or very trusting. Seriously though, I reckon we're both approaching the game with a view towards "what if" with as little of gaming the system as possible.

Selected Realism options
PDU: ON
Reinforcement: +/- 15 days
Histroical first turn: OFF

You may fire when ready Gridley.

[KenchiSulla]

Sinking a carrier near you soon....

Good luck, have fun.... and die with dignity [:D]

[Arnhem44]

DEC 7, 1941

I will as far as possible follow historical operational zones when it comes to reporting actions.

ALLIED TURN 1 BLUES AND TURN 2 HEADACHES
Most HRs for non historical first turns for GCs allow the Allied player to move existing TFs but do not allow him to create new ones, fair enough, I can live with that, I let the PoW and Repulse die in my other PBEM game, not going to let that happen in this one, PoW is far too pretty to die just yet. The HK DDs and MTBs make a beeline for the south, as does Houston and Boise, just about everything else is left alone. Oh, the CVs are pulled south to wait for KB to clear off. I was tempted to extricate VMF-211 but the thought of Lady Lex blundering into KB was just too much to bear.

So, Allied players, which of you puts up 100% CAP for your fighter squadrons in Singapore, PI and PH for Turn 1? I've never been able to bring myself to do it, sure, I could justify it by saying it's a game, history can easily supply me with half a dozen plausible reasons as to why the US and Britain were on full alert (heck, even heightened alert status seems too easy to justify) that Sunday/Monday morning in 1941 but it just feels dirty whenever I did that, with the Dec 7th surprise effects option on having all 5 PI P-40 squadrons up on 100% CAP wouldn't change much but it would sure be a departure from history.

On the other hand, it just burns me if I see all those pretty P-40s getting smashed on the ground so in an attempt to assuage my conflicting sides I put up the relevant Allied fighter squadrons at 30% CAP and sent the turn in.

Ah, turn 2, how I hate thee, let me count the ways. For me, Allies Turn 2 is my "Turn 1", I leave the map alone for the most part for Turn 1 and get down to the nitty gritty on Turn 2, I have to confess I do a couple of things to make my life a little easier, totally gamey but as long as I don't affect gameplay results I reckon I should do it to retain some semblance of sanity. For example, I usually move all restricted and soon to be withdrawn air units on CONUS to the  Eastern USA base to avoid cluttering up my West Coast, having everything in one base makes it easier to keep track of what I've got and how long I have them, these units form the bulk of my "training" squadrons and will feed the front line units in time to come.

What I'm struggling with at the moment is whether I *should* strip the perma withdrawn squadrons of their men and machines before I send them off to Europe. In terms of hardware it's barely a blimp as units which are near full strength won't have their plane type on stream for a while (ie. P-38s, B-26s) so haivng a handful of them seems kinda pointless. Either that or the squadron only has 1 or 2 airframes anyway. Whatever the case, it seems a little gamey to me so I'm going to have a chat with Cannon about this.

AIR RAID PEARL HARBOR, THIS IS NO DRILL
Maryland gets hit by a midget sub prior to the main event and is subsequently sunk on the follow up air raid. Bagley and Hull join her at the bottom of the harbour but like most games I've played so far the game engine is far kinder to the US Navy then real life was. Arizona in particular is a very lucky ship thus far in all my games, she sustains at most, minor damage in the 20s in all of my games so far.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
PI and Malaya get worked over, I don't know if it was a case of fighter escort not being able to meet up with the bombers they were escorting of if Cannon was trying his luck but a Betty raid over Manila came in without "little boys" and was thumped good and hard by the resident P-40s. Considering we were operating under Dec 7th surprise effects 12 Betties isn't half bad, at least that's what the flyboys are claiming.

BRIEF COMBAT REPORT
Morning Air attack on Manila , at 79,77
Weather in hex: Clear sky
Raid detected at 40 NM, estimated altitude 18,000 feet.
Estimated time to target is 14 minutes
 
Japanese aircraft
      G4M1 Betty x 27
 
Allied aircraft
      P-40E Warhawk x 10
 
Japanese aircraft losses
      G4M1 Betty: 12 destroyed, 3 damaged
 
CAP engaged:
24th PG/17th PS with P-40E Warhawk (0 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
      0 plane(s) not yet engaged, 0 being recalled, 1 out of immediate contact.
      Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 7000 and 15000.
      Time for all group planes to reach interception is 18 minutes
35th PG/21st PS with P-40E Warhawk (1 airborne, 4 on standby, 0 scrambling)
      1 plane(s) intercepting now.
      Group patrol altitude is 15000 , scrambling fighters between 15000 and 17000.
      Time for all group planes to reach interception is 9 minutes

STRATEGY
None whatsoever, not yet anyway. The one big takeaway from my other PBEM game though is that I can't dawdle as I usually do against the AI, I have to think "git thar fastest with the mostest" because if I'm slow I can be sure my opponent will be waiting for me when I get there. Another thing, with regards to CVs, "he who runs away lives to fight another day" will be my motto, 6 months is a long time to wait to administer payback and I'm not going to lose a deck because I overreached if I can help it. That said, I'll probably try and do something with them in the meantime if the opportunity presents itself and KB is nowhere near where I want to be.

[Arnhem44]

DEC 8, 1941

CENPAC
KB has moved away, or at least there has been no second day of strikes at PH, Cats flying out of PH have spotted the UNREP group heading west, have redirected a sub to the west on an intercept course. Other than that, all is quiet, Wake hasn't fallen yet and the West Coast is a hive of activity as I prep convoys for PH and Oz as well as put out most of the Canadian and US navies on shakedown cruises.

SWPAC
I usually sortie the PI SS's out one by painstaking one but was feeling a little lazy this round and sortied them by type just a little way out of Manila Harbour where I would then send them off on their individual missions. Bad mistake, one sub group copped a minefield attack moving through Bataan and I lost the Seadragon in addition to 2 heavily damaged SS and another 2 mildly damaged ones. The 2 heavily damaged SSs are on their way back to Manila Harbour while the other 2 are making their way south to Java for repairs.

The PI fighters continue to do well in the second day of the war, trading 19 of their own for 13 Zeroes but the numbers are not on my side and the squadrons will eventually be whittled down to nothing within the week if the current tempo keeps up. The good news is that the P-40 pilots are racking up experience points and with the new pilot management system I will be able to yank seasoned pilots out before the PI collapses.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Kota Bahru falls, the IJA is ashore in Malaya. No air attacks on Singapore as of yet but that will change in a hurry.

FIGHTERS ON CAP
I usually set CAP patrol altitude at 20k but for this game I've set it at 15k as most Allied fighters of the period see dramatically improved maneuver modifiers at the 15k band. I'm interested to see how this affects my win/loss ratio as every kill that I make this early in the game is going to hurt loads later on.

SUBWARS
I've been more focused on placing my subs than in my other PBEM game, the longer ranged boats from both PI and PH are moving directly to the Home Islands and will take up positions around the larger ports in the area, I hope to catch Cannon off guard by scalping an unescored merchie or two and force him to guard his Inland Sea area convoys right off the bat.

[Arnhem44]

DEC 9, 1941

CONUS AND PILOT TRAINING
The movement of squadrons is complete, I now have 2 clusters concentrated on SF and Eastern USA, the former consisting of squadrons I know that won't be withdrawn, or if they are going to be will be back a couple of months later, these will be deployed forward in the next turn or two once I sort out the traffic jams at the ports. The latter are slated for the ETO or hardcoded for the defence of CONUS. Manpower for these latter squadrons has been maxed out in order to get as many trained pilots as possible moving through the system.

Since I can't use these mentioned squadrons, I'll be using them to create a pool of trained pilots to feed the front line squadrons, rotating new pilots in when the trained ones hit 55-60 and move off to general reserve. I'll be self-imposing a pair of HRs for pilots from these squadrons. They can only transfer to squadrons flying the same type of aircraft, failing which at least have the same number of engines. When the time comes for these ETO squadrons to redeploy, they'll leave with their allocated numbers of pilots, no less. Any extra allocated above and beyond TOE at the time will be put into general reserve. I shall *try* not to strip the ETO squadrons of all their experienced pilots before they redeploy.

CENPAC
KB plastered Midway on the outbound trip, makes me wonder if Cannon is trying to take Midway while I'm not looking.

In other news, Tarawa falls.

SWPAC
The IJA is officially on the island, landing on and securing Aparri.

Well, the good news is that the Brit MTB squadron out of HK intercepted an IJN invasion fleet just north of PI, the bad news is that only 2 of 8 boats lived to tell the tale, extremely good shooting by DMS W-18 accounting for 4 of the 6 sunk boats. The MTBs put a torp into W-18 but didn't register any other hits and have retired to the south. The attack was made under clear conditions and 67% moonlight, visibility was 12k yards and both sides spotted each other at near max range so I guess the tiny boys lost about the only advantage they have in a situation like this. If they can see me and hear me, they can sink me.

A follow up attack by MTB Squadron 3 results in the W-18 joining the Brit MTBs at the bottom of the sea. Screening vessels did a good job of preventing any attacks on the merchies.

Further west of PI, fleeing from Japanese tyranny, the last ship out of HK before they closed the port, the Beneevis, leads a ragtag, furtive fleet, on a lonely quest, for a big, shiny port known as Soerabaja. Alas, it was not to be, a pair of TBs chanced on the fleet and tore it to pieces over the course of 2 night engagements, sinking half of the merchies and badly damaging a couple more, the survivors are fleeing south at a speed of 8 knots, oh look, a nun in a sailboat just passed us.

The fighters of USAFFE continue to make a nuisance of themselves by making life difficult for the bomber raids, I don't get to shoot down many bombers because of the fighter screen but I've had a squadron of P-40 guys get into the 70s already. If the replacement numbers weren't so paltry I'd pump in more replacement airframes but as it is the fact that I can withdraw these high xp guys when the time comes is pretty alright in my book as it is.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Everything in Peninsula Malaya is making tracks for Singapore, which is SOP for me with regards to this part of the world. I expect to lose the Bde at Kuantan and possibly Kota Bahru as they're not on the rail line and can't move as fast as the rest, I'm keeping the Aussie Bdes where they are for the moment just in case Cannon attempts a landing at Kuantan in order to cut off the bulk of my forces from Singapore. Apart from losing a couple of planes when Kota Bahru fell the Brit squadrons are fairly intact.

CBI
China isn't seeing much movement yet, am consolidating my far flung units into some semblance of an MLR.

In India, Cochin's port is being built up as I'll be using this port to offload supplies from Cape Town, am massing merchies at Columbo before despatching them to Aden/Adaba/Cape Town/Cochin depending on their speed and size of cargo holds. All shipping east of Sri Lanka has been pulled out saved for a couple of smaller escort craft.

Burma is always a quandry for me, I don't have enough to stop a determined advance but giving up all that space rubs me the wrong way. I can't really play the trading space for time card because the formations in country don't have much combat power to stand up to even a single IJA division, let alone multiple ones.

DUDLEY DIDDLY DO
US subs out of Manila get a couple of shots in on invasion fleets but all they do is let the ASW screen rack up some xp from chasing them down to the bottom of the ocean whilst the lumbering herd above races away.

[Arnhem44]

DEC 10, 1941

SWPAC
The invasions of Davao and Kavieng are under way, pretty aggressive early moves for the 1st week of the war.

In Luzon, the landings at Aparri continue and it looks like either Vigan or San Fernando is next, I'm holding all Bataan prepped units back on Bataan in order to preserve some combat power while preparing to fight a delaying action at Clark Field, I aim for Clark to absorb the inevitable bombing raids for as long as possible while building up Bataan's fort levels, as it is Manila and Clark are getting hit daily, I'm hoping Cannon doesn't notice he's bombing nothing but a base force at Manila. As long as Bataan is allowed to build up fort levels in tandem with supplies I hope to be be able to hold out against the onslaught that is to come for at least till end Jan '42. The MTBs will try again next round after fueling and rearming. Am rerouting some of the S boats into Vigan and San Fernando to try for a cheap shot or two while the transports are unloading.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Miri has been invaded so there's an early indicator of my opponent's priorities. Hong Kong still hangs tough. Spotted what looks like a trio of CVLs just east of Borneo, Kates from that TF took a shot at ships running away from Manila but nothing connected. Am positioning Force Z for a possible intercept if my opponent gets too excited about chasing merchies and comes in too close to Java. See below for more details.

CBI
Chengchow falls so that's a real party pooper this early in the game, Am pulling everything around the area into Loyang and hoping for the best, on last count the IJA had 17k troops in the stack that took Chengchow.

UNDER THE SEA
Mucho sub action on both sides for this round but a lot of sound and not much fury for the most part. An I boat takes a shot at Lady Lex as she makes her way back to PH, she's far enough away from PH that had any torps hit I would have been very concerned about her ability to get back to port. As it is she got away scot free. And as revenge for the sinking of my HK merchies, Porpoise puts one into the side of one of the two TBs that took part in that massacre, hopefully sinking Kamo. S-39 scores a hit against a subchaser which was covering the landings at Aparri.

[Smeulders]

You're doing a very good job on that evacuation. He'll probably know following into the straights is dangerous for his CVL with force Z roaming around so your ships are probably trough.

[Arnhem44]

ORIGINAL: Smeulders

You're doing a very good job on that evacuation. He'll probably know following into the straights is dangerous for his CVL with force Z roaming around so your ships are probably trough.

I'm hoping he comes down with a bout of "after them merchies" disease, to be honest it wouldn't hurt me a bit to lose the lot with the exception of the DDs and ASs (hmm, ass) if I can trade them for a the scalp of a mini flattop or two.

[Frandoxxx]

Just ouf curiosity, do you think the non historic first move is any real benefit to the Allies?
True you may be able to save the POW (which is indeed a very pretty ship) and the Repulse. But the Japanese player can plot way more nasty first and early turn targets than in the historical.

[Arnhem44]

ORIGINAL: Frandoxx

Just ouf curiosity, do you think the non historic first move is any real benefit to the Allies?
True you may be able to save the POW (which is indeed a very pretty ship) and the Repulse. But the Japanese player can plot way more nasty first and early turn targets than in the historical.

Hi Frank,

That's a pretty good question. I'm always just grateful for the chance to save the PoW that I never really thought too deeply about this.

Looking at the tradeoffs, it's probably safe to say what little disruption I can cause by putting CAP up at a higher than historical amount and saving what ships there are at sea on turn 1 would probably be more than offset by what an astute Japanese player could do to the Allies on Dec 7. Thanks for bringing up an interesting and altogether very sobering point, something to chew on for my next PBEM.

[Arnhem44]

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Davao and Miri fell this turn. Time to get some subs in the direction of Miri.

The CVL group didn't come into the Makassar Strait, instead CA Myoko and 3 DDs took up the chase through the night and sank 4 xAKLs, followup airstrikes in the morning claimed another 2 xAKLs, 2 PGs and 2 AMs.  The SAG looks like it's hovering just north of Donggala, the CVLS are nowhere to be found but I'm betting they've run out of torpedos already.  Am still holding Force Z where it is in case he decides to take his chances and come in for a quick strike at Balikpapan which is where 1 of the 2 convoys is heading for after emptying their bunkers making a speed run to try and stay ahead of the CVLs. Am going to take the fight to him if he's still hanging around on the next turn. The group with the ASs and bigger merchies is clear of any immediate threat for now and heading into Soerabaja.

The P-40 squadrons in the PI managed to somehow put up 15 P-40s from 3 different squadrons when a sweep of 28 Nates came in on Manila, FOW prevents me from getting a count but I think the USAFFE chalked up one for the good guys on this particular fight. The sweep did it's job though, 2 followup bomber raids on Manila didn't encounter much opposition.

Hong Kong got smacked around a bit but still lives, latest round of ground combat saw fort levels being reduced to 2 and the garrison on the losing end of a 3:4 ratio in terms of losses but it's not a bad outcome considering what I'm up against.

In Malaya, heavy bombing raids on my north most LCUs take their toll, disabling about 20% of the 15 Indian Bde's infantry component, otherwise most units are well on their way to Singapore and the abandonment of Peninsular Malaya is about complete.

SWPAC
Tulagi is under new management as is Kavieng. I've got convoys on the way from PH but nothing remotely near if he decides to take a chance and strike deeper towards Noumea and Suva. KB was spotted SE of Midway and heading in a SW direction so it's possible its on it's way to support any future operations in the area. Am directing ANZAC cruisers to the area to see what I can sniff out.

SUBS GONE WILD
Much sub action for the second day in a row, of note, the Allies score hits on a xAK off the coast of Patani, another xAK off Vigan and an AMc off Aparri in exchange for losing CM Kung Wo to I-156 just off Soerabaja.

[Arnhem44]

FoW HIGHS AND LOWS
It's official, FoW can cause heart attacks and temporary loss of bowel control.

So I usually start my turns by running WitP Tracker (great utility by the way!) to get a taste of what went on in the previous turn while I fire up the game and before I run the combat replay. Tracker didn't show anything I would lose sleep over so it was off to the replay to generate the combat report log. In the process of the combat replay, combat animation and the combat log shows a pair of attacks by I-23 on a convoy carrying the 8th Marine Rgt out to Pago Pago, the I-boat claims a DD and an AP in 2 separate attacks. 476 Marines are picked out of the sea by the other ships in the TF. Bummer, I start with precious few US LCUs unrestricted as it is.

Wait a tick, Tracker didn't show the Smith and Bellatrix as sunk, what gives? Is Tracker borked or am I seeing things? Tension mounts as I wait for the replay er, plays itself out. I then check the ships sunk screen, eh, wut? No Smith and Bellatrix? Small voice in my head goes can't be, you're not that lucky. Scroll over to where the convoy is, click on it and there are my ships, safe and sound, with all them little Marines crowding the decks of the Aps and looking at me and going "Sup?"

And the combat animation and log were so detailed too, splashes and explosions, the works. The best part of this is that Cannon could be experiencing the same thing I am too, if his combat log is the same as mine, it'd be showing 3 AKs hit by my boats in the PI area and off Kota Bahru but ships sunk list doesn't show anything. Of course, being the eternal optimist that I am I'm hoping that I really connected and that the ships will pop up as sunk a couple of turns from now.

And all this while I've been referring to the combat logs when I'm doing the AARs for the turns. Have to reply more on WitP Tracker now for the "real" picture.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ASW attack near San Luis Obispo  at 215,86
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-23
 
Allied Ships
      DD Smith, Torpedo hits 1,  on fire,  heavy damage
      AK Bellatrix
      DD Preston
 
SS I-23 launches 6 torpedoes at DD Smith
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston attacking submerged sub ....
DD Preston cannot establish contact with SS I-23
DD Preston loses contact with SS I-23
DD Preston loses contact with SS I-23
DD Preston loses contact with SS I-23
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sub attack near San Luis Obispo  at 215,86
 
Japanese Ships
      SS I-23
 
Allied Ships
      AK Bellatrix, Torpedo hits 3,  on fire,  heavy damage
      xAP Etolin
      DD Preston
 
Allied ground losses:
      14 casualties reported
         Squads: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Non Combat: 2 destroyed, 0 disabled
         Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
      Guns lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
      Vehicles lost 1 (1 destroyed, 0 disabled)
 
 
SS I-23 launches 6 torpedoes at AK Bellatrix
DD Preston attacking submerged sub ....
DD Preston cannot reach attack position over SS I-23
SS I-23 eludes DD Preston by diving deep
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
DD Preston fails to find sub, continues to search...
Escort abandons search for sub

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DD Smith sinks....
Loss of DD Smith on Dec 12, 1941 is admitted
AK Bellatrix sinks...
Loss of AK Bellatrix on Dec 12, 1941 is admitted

Anyhow, back to our scheduled programming.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Malaya is relatively quiet this turn, Cannon still hasn't moved out of Singora/Patani/Kota Bahru, the withdrawal of III Indian Corps is well underway with most support elements already having arrived in Singapore, the Inf Bdes which constitute the main combat power of the Corps are still making their way down the Peninsula. The 2 Aus Bdes at Malaya and Mersing will hold in place till the remaining 2 Ind Bdes pass them by, I'll the

CBI
Chinese forces around Sinyang are making an attempt to take the city, from recon it seems I might have a numerical advantage and if nothing else by causing Cannon a little inconvenience at having to deal with my attack it might buy some time for my MLR to stabilise.

All quiet on the Burmese and Indian fronts, am tempted to pull everything in Burma right back but I figure buying as much time as I can would be in my interest, the taking of Rangoon would basically give Cannon a good sized airfield and port from which to range against the IO and I intend to deny him as long as possible, even if it's just the extra turn or two it takes for him to deploy.

SWPAC
Landings at Aitape and Shortlands, together with his landing at Tulagi, Cannon is going for the jugular by grabbing as many bases as he can while I'm still hamstrung by the shortage of men and hulls to move 'em. I know I'll be too late to stop him if he guns for Noumea if I wait for my LCUs to arrive so have sortied the ANZAC cruisers to see if I can disrupt his plans, I'm banking on him not bringing in any substantial numbers of LBA as yet. Thing about not having played the Japanese side before I have no idea what units he has at Truk and Badelboab that he can commit to intercepting the cruisers if things get hairy but I reckon I should be able to give whatever is out there a reasonably bloody nose as long as LBA doesn't interfere too much.

The reinforcement of PM is underway, 30th Bde will form up once all it's elements are ashore. Am moving another Bde to Townsville in preparation for shipment over to PM as soon as I have enough points to release it.

SUBS GONE WILD
Haven't seen this much sustained sub action in a while, both sides are either incredibly astute in placing their subs or incredibly lucky. Sculpin gets roughly handled this round by a group of DDs off Formosa and the I-23 sinks President Polk for real as mentioned earlier while I claim a pair of xAKLs in the East China Sea, both sides probably got away with more than what the combat logs say.

A group of longer legged subs out of Manila are on their way into the Sea of Japan to take up positions just outside the bigger ports in Japan proper. Usually I disperse the Asiatic Fleet subs around Southeast Asia to make a nuisance of themselves and gradually pull them back to Oz and PH as the bases in the region fall. But I've taken to sending subs directly into the dragon's lair for two reasons, I'm betting this early in the game his short legged convoys will probably be lightly escorted or even not escorted which I'm hoping will allow me to get some easy scalps. This would then force him to stretch his assets to cover everything that floats. Secondly, all supply convoys lead to Rome, it's easier to be where the chokepoint is then to play "guess where my supply convoys are" across millions of square miles of ocean.

[Arnhem44]

This game is turning out to be quite interesting.

CENPAC
KB made an appeareance SW of PH (relative to the map) first by blundering into a resupply convoy that I had dispatched to Johnston Island, both sides too surprised to do anything apart from running away in the opposite direction, a returning convoy catching comprising Louisville and 2 merchies were then caught by KB air and the CA and a xAP sunk.

Combat log of the surface engagement between my resupply convoy and KB showed only 3 CVs but the 2 BBs and 6 DDs were in attendance, that looks about right for the whole surface complement of the original KB so I'm just going to assume that all 6 are still together or if not the other 3 are close by.

Intentions of KB
Don't know, don't really care, if he's here he's not somewhere else, I can let out the leash a little on my SAGs in the DEI. As long as he's within PH PBY range I'll have a good fix on him, I have enough Cats to cover an area bigger than he can steam in one day so I'll know if he withdraws or heads in the direction of the West Coast. Have also redirected PBYs at Midway to cover the zones looking inwards towards PH in order to keep KB in the picture should it move away from PH.

My CVs are currently in PH and sitting under CAP, I'll take my chances should he come after them, he'll have to sink 'em outright otherwise it's into dry dock they go and that's after he has to contend with PH CAP which isn't exactly toothless although neither is it all powerful. Have set B-17s on naval attack for the next turn, just to keep him honest.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Hong Kong continues to live despite my opponent's best efforts, think he's getting some really bad rolls.

SWPAC
I've reinforced the P-40s in the PI, this is something I've never done before. I'm getting good kill ratios (leading squadron has 30 claims) and I figure as long as I'm getting bang for my buck I might as well throw in some more quarters and see where this ride takes me.

Engagement at Choiseul Bay
Canberra and Perth were holding just off Woodlark Island awaiting reinforcements before proceeding to Rabaul when they reacted to an IJN TF comprising 4 CAs and 4 DDs. Canberra basically taking on the whole enemy TF singlehandedly before succumbing to concentrated fire, Perth scored a couple of hits but the show was mostly the Canberra's. I hope Furutaka springs a leak on the way home. It's a tad long but I just had to post the log, that's one tough ship, looks like I won't need to rename that Baltimore class CA.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day Time Surface Combat, near Choiseul Bay at 111,131, Range 18,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
     CA Aoba, Shell hits 1
     CA Kinugasa, Shell hits 2
     CA Furutaka, Shell hits 9,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     CA Kako
     DD Oboro, Shell hits 1
     DD Uzuki
     DD Kikuzuki, Shell hits 1,  on fire
     DD Yuzuki

Allied Ships
     CA Canberra, Shell hits 40, Torpedo hits 1,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     CL Perth, Shell hits 3

Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions: 30,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
Range closes to 18,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 18,000 yards
Getting, F.E. crosses the 'T'
CA Canberra engages CA Furutaka at 18,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 18,000 yards
DD Kikuzuki engages CA Canberra at 18,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 18,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 18,000 yards
Range closes to 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Aoba at 12,000 yards
DD Yuzuki engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
DD Kikuzuki engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 12,000 yards
DD Oboro engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CL Perth at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 10,000 yards
DD Kikuzuki engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
DD Oboro engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
Getting, F.E. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 6,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 6,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 6,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Aoba at 6,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Yuzuki at 6,000 yards
DD Oboro engages CA Canberra at 6,000 yards
Range increases to 9,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kako at 9,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 9,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
CL Perth engages CA Kinugasa at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Aoba at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 12,000 yards
Getting, F.E. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range increases to 16,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kako at 16,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CL Perth at 16,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CL Perth at 16,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Yuzuki at 16,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 16,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 16,000 yards
Range increases to 17,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 17,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 17,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 17,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 17,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 15,000 yards
CL Perth engages CA Kinugasa at 15,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 15,000 yards
Range closes to 14,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CL Perth engages DD Yuzuki at 14,000 yards
DD Oboro engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
Range closes to 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kako at 12,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CL Perth at 12,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
CL Perth engages DD Yuzuki at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 12,000 yards
Getting, F.E. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range closes to 10,000 yards
CA Kako engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 10,000 yards
DD Oboro engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kako at 10,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 10,000 yards
Range increases to 12,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Furutaka at 12,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 12,000 yards
Range closes to 10,000 yards
CA Kako engages CA Canberra at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Yuzuki at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 10,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 10,000 yards
Range closes to 9,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 9,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CL Perth at 9,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Yuzuki at 9,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 9,000 yards
Range increases to 11,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 11,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CL Perth at 11,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CL Perth at 11,000 yards
CL Perth engages DD Kikuzuki at 11,000 yards
Getting, F.E. orders Allied TF to disengage
Range increases to 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 14,000 yards
CA Furutaka engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Aoba at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 14,000 yards
CL Perth engages CA Kinugasa at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kinugasa at 14,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Yuzuki at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Kikuzuki at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 14,000 yards
CA Kako engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CL Perth at 14,000 yards
CA Kinugasa engages CA Canberra at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Uzuki at 14,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 14,000 yards
Range increases to 18,000 yards
CA Kako engages CA Canberra at 18,000 yards
CL Perth engages CA Furutaka at 18,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 18,000 yards
CA Canberra engages DD Oboro at 18,000 yards
Range increases to 22,000 yards
CA Canberra engages CA Kako at 22,000 yards
CL Perth engages CA Kinugasa at 22,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 22,000 yards
Range increases to 27,000 yards
CA Kako engages CA Canberra at 27,000 yards
Range increases to 30,000 yards
CA Aoba engages CA Canberra at 30,000 yards
Task forces break off...

CBI
My opponent has caught on to what I'm trying to do at Sining and he's written it'll probably take some effort on his part to eject me from the area. Goody. Apart from Sining I'm also moving forces into Ichang as he doesn't seem to have done anything to reinforce the area, figure since I've got him looking somewhere else I might as well twist the knife in a little deeper.

SUBMARINE ACTION
An I boat catches a Dutch TK just off Merak and sinks her. Another I boat sinks a DMS just outside of Lihue. In return, I scalp 2 DMS covering the PI invasion forces off Vigan and Aparri.

[Arnhem44]

CENPAC
What's KB up to? It's still hanging around the PH area, a couple of hexes further but still within 2 day's sailing. A trio of B-17s (all that could be mustered after the morale and operational checks) visited the fleet but all they did was scare a DD or two. KB hanging around has kind of frozen all operations in the area, including movement of any convoys from the West Coast. One of 2 subs that I vectored into the predicted path of KB made contact but could not get past the screen, launching a pair of torpedos at a DD and getting depth charged for her troubles.

SWPAC
Perth gets caught by the remnants of the 4 CA SAG that intercepted it the previous turn. This time only 2 CAs were present, I can only hope I sunk at least 1 of the 2 missing CAs. The Aussie cruisers have performed exceptionally well these past 2 turns, both times crossing the T of the IJN TF and on this occasion Perth managed to detect the IJN ships on radar before closing in to engage. Perth is claiming 1 torpedo hit on the CA Kako, I've been credited with the kill but I'm really sceptical about taking down a CA with just 1 torp.

On the PI front, strong screening forces for the invasion fleet at Vigan catches my MTBs attempting to hit the transports and blows 2 MTBs out of the water.

And what is reported as the BB Yamashiro together with CL Kitakami catches 5 xAKLs out of Davao (I think) and sinks the lot, oh well.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
First time I've been able to get all the elements of the 11th Indian Div into Singapore, forming up the Division put Murray-Lyon in charge, which any student of the battle will know was quite inadequate to the task of commanding a division and his numbers reflect this, Am sorely tempted to spend the 50 odd PPs to swap someone better in but it seems like such a waste of PPs.

Bombers out of Singapore conduct multiple raids on Kuantan, all bombs hit the sea with 100% accuracy. The IJA finally moves out of Kota Bahru, easily brushing aside the remnants of a militia Bde I left in it's path.

CBI
Waiting for 3 more Chinese Corps to make their way into Sinyang before I do a deliberate attack, hope he doesn't notice the stack moving into Ichang.

The AVG makes it's first appearance of the war, claiming 2 of 22 intruders of a bombing raid on Changsha, somehow I think I did better than that.

Victoria Point is attacked and falls, the invasion of Burma is underway.








Oh and the Union Jack still flies over the territory of Hong Kong, go you crazy Canucks and Brits.

[Arnhem44]

CENPAC
KB is still messing around inside PBY search range, more B-17s visited KB, copped a couple of losses this time round, will stand them down to regain morale and repair planes for the next couple of turns unless KB drives closer again. Nice having an exact fix on the heavy hitters.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Hong Kong falls, it was fun while it lasted boys.

My opponent seems to have finally caught on to the fact that I've withdrawn most of my fighters to Bataan, he's started bombing the hex but got roughly handled this turn, couple of sweep turns and his bombers will have the run of the house in the skies above Bataan.

Need to stop wasting planes in fruitless attacks against IJN shipping, the only thing I can be sure of them hitting is the sea.

CBI
Fighter sweeps at Moulmein coupled with Victoria Point being taken seem to indicate that Burma is an early target for my opponent, Whatever I can spare from garrison duty is already massing at the Indian border should he decide to strike north from Burma, nothing substantial on the Chinese side of the border if he intends to blindside me with an attack into China from Burma.

SUBMARINE ACTION
Repulse took 2 torpedos but is literally none the worse for wear. Triton, the other SS I assigned to stalk KB took a potshot at a screening DD but as usual nothing came out of that.

MOVEMENTS
...more as reminder to myself than anything else.

US
2nd Marine Div: Pago Pago

ANZAC
1st Aus Div (out of Sydney): Noumea
3rd and 5th Aus Div: Brisbane/Sydney
2nd Aus Div (out of Townsville): PM
4th Aus Div: Darwin

Commonwealth
18th Brit Div: Kalemyo
44th/45th Indian Bde: Imphal
17th Indian Div: Akyab

[Arnhem44]

Another quiet couple of days.

CENPAC
Baker Island is invaded and changes hands, now I know why KB was making sure it's presence was being felt around PH. Wonder if Cannon is going to try and take some more ground, I'm not going to contest any landings of atolls as yet unless they're within flying boat range of my supply routes out of the West Coast.

CBI
Sinyang is turning into a little bit of a quagmire, Chinese troops have fought themselves into a state of exhaustion and are resting for the upcoming turn. I still outnumber him by about 1.5:1 and I took down a fort level but he has reinforcements on the way about 1 hex out. Figure as long as I'm attacking he can't so it's all good. Casualty numbers don't look so lopsided as pre patch so I'm hoping the land combat model has taken a step in the right direction.

Ichang is under attack as of the next round, hope I caught him off guard, long as I can keep Cannon busy he can only spend time reacting to me instead of planning any attacks, or at least that's the plan.

SWPAC
Landings at Lingayen have brought the IJA perilously close to Clark and Bataan but I have had no contact with ground units as yet. Manila should fall within the next turn or two as it's now basically an open city with no defenders and there are units coming up from the south 1 hex away.

The invasion of Rabaul has begun, what is particularly galling about this is that I had 3 ANZAC CLs ready to pounce only to open the latest turn and see them moving away from Rabaul back to their home port. They were set far enough from Rabaul that I could have powered in at flank speed and caught the transports on the next turn but as it is I now have another day before I can engage them, provided they're still there.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Massive ship movement out of Soerabaja, I was waiting to consolidate all the shipping from Singapore/DEI/PI before sending them away in large convoys, all the bigger capacity merchies are heading for Cape Town (AKs)/Abadan (TKs)/Aden (APs and some AKs), most of the auxiliaries are heading for Darwin/Brisbane with Brisbane getting the lion's share. The majority of the xAKLs are staying behind and in 2 large convoys headed for Palembang and Balikpapan in an attempt to move out as much fuel as I can before they come under pressure from advancing Japanese forces.

[Arnhem44]

CENPAC AND CONUS
Things have started moving again after KB left the area heading in the direction of Baker Island. Lady Lex is headed to Wake to extricate VMF-211 and see if anything turns up while she's there. Enterprise is holding at PH and Saratoga is marking time just outside San Diego, going to move her to PH once Yorktown turns up at the end of the month.

The first of several large convoys leaving from CONUS has started loading, will be reinforcing PH and Pago Pago/Suva with whatever is ready and doesn't need PPs to change command, already have a convoy carrying the 8th Marine Rgt which left CONUS on the second day of the war that is taking a roundabout route to Pago Pago, don't want to tempt fate by going too close to where KB might be.

SWPAC
Will be standing down the fighters in PI in a couple of turns, it's come to the point that Cannon can put many more fighters in the air than I can and I don't want to lose the 2 dozen or so surviving fighter pilots who have experience in the 60s-70s, even have a handful who have hit 80. Bataan has hit fort level 3 and I'm looking in good shape on the ground at the moment, Clark hasn't had a chance to build up fort levels due to incessant bombing so I won't be fighting too hard to hold the place once contact is made.

Rabaul falls, I have 2 cruiser TFs who are a turn late but they've spotted a TF a couple of hexes east of Buna, plotting intercept courses to see what that TF is, recon report says it's a CV, let's hope Christmas comes early for me.

SOUTHEAST ASIA
The entire north coast of Borneo has fallen with the exception of Kuching and Brunei, have put 2 light surface TFs to sea from Soerabaja, they'll loop around the area from the east of Borneo and see if they can surprise some lightly defended merchies.

In Malaya, just 2 Indian Bdes are the only major formations left in Malaya, they're currently in the Temuloh/KL area and moving south as fast as they can. Bn sized forces which I've abandoned to fate and left as speed bumps to force the IJA to deploy are covering the approaches to KL and Temuloh. The 2 Bdes have been bombed pretty badly in the past week and have lost about 20% of their strength, the 2 Aussie Bdes are still covering the landward approaches to Singapore and will probably make a fight of it in Johor to further slow down the advance of the IJA into Singapore proper. Have started to withdraw squadrons from Singapore to safer locations, specifically those which do not have withdrawal dates, the rest will make a fight of it till I run out of replacements for the Buffalos then everything gets pulled out. Singapore has not been bombed yet thus far in the game and I'm making use of the relative peace to build up fort levels and rest up land units and train the air force.

Some naval action here this turn. 3 DDs blundered into Singapore and got mined for their trouble. They survived the mining and sank 6 HDMLS. Being badly damaged they couldn't get far away enough during the day and TBs from Singapore finished the job, sinking 2 of 3 DDs with the damage sustained from the mines finishing off the 3rd one.

Force Z engages a surface TF in a night action in the Singkawang hex, Z crossed the T and Ise bore the brunt of the assault from Repulse and PoW, lost a CL and DD but I'm hoping Ise got hit bad enough for some major downtime, Repulse and PoW landed a couple of main gun rounds on her together with some smaller caliber stuff, intel reports her as sunk but I'll celebrate if she's still listed as sunk 6 months from now. The good news is that Houston and Boise got a major boost to their night fighting experience, with Boise jumping a massive 16 points. A little sore about losing the CL and DD but I took a big chunk off Ise and hopefully sank the DD as well. Have directed a trio of Dutch subs covering Borneo to intercept the IJN TF as it falls back from the area, hopefully they'll finish the job on Ise.

Night Time Surface Combat, near Singkawang at 56,88, Range 9,000 Yards
Japanese Ships
      BB Fuso, Shell hits 1
      BB Ise, Shell hits 6,  heavy fires
      CA Mogami
      CA Mikuma, Shell hits 2
      CA Suzuya, Shell hits 1
      CA Kumano
      DD Maikaze
      DD Nowaki
      DD Arashi, Shell hits 3,  on fire
      DD Hagikaze
 
Allied Ships
      BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 2
      BC Repulse, Shell hits 2
      CA Houston
      CL Danae, Shell hits 8, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
      CL Dragon, Shell hits 1
      CL Durban
      CL Boise, Shell hits 1
      DD Vampire
      DD Vendetta
      DD Electra
      DD Encounter
      DD Express
      DD Isis
      DD Jupiter, Torpedo hits 1, and is sunk
 
Reduced sighting due to 0% moonlight
Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions and 0% moonlight: 11,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 9,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 9,000 yards
Collinson, A.C. crosses the 'T'

CBI
Rangoon is devoid of fighter cover, the Buffalo squadron defending it has been shot to bits and the survivors have moved north to Calcutta to rest and recover. Am moving elements of the 1st Burmese Division to Rangoon in order to form up the Division, a Chinese Corps is headed to Lashio as well.

Sining has been reinforced but I reckon I still hold a slight edge in AV, will see about attacking again in a round or two after fatigue and disruption come down a little. Ichang was shock attacked this round, I'm on the happy side of a 5:1 ratio in AV, the fort levels were taken down to 2 and a deliberate attack is planned for the next round. Rest of the map shows activity around Yenan and Loyang.

SUB ACTION
Enemy TFs and air assets are spotting my subs left and right in the Formosa area, have moved the subs in the area to either the Home Islands or pulled them back to Singapore/DEI for close defence. What looks like dedicated ASW TFs made up of DDs have made life particularly difficult for me, spotting and prosecuting an even dozen subs all across the map, mo

O20 sinks an xAP off Formosa with a pair of torpedos, it'a big one, Katori Maru, and I'm hoping she was filled to the rails with troops.

[Arnhem44]

BATTLE OF KIRIWINA ISLAND
The Allied cruiser TF I sent into the Solomons Sea bumped into a 2 BB TF and came away with a bloody nose. I live for this kind of stuff, the combat animation replay for this engagement ran on for at least 5 minutes, each and every shot a nail biting moment.

Day Time Surface Combat, near Kiriwina Island at 104,130, Range 24,000 Yards

Japanese Ships
     BB Nagato, Shell hits 15,  on fire
     BB Hyuga, Shell hits 6
     CL Kiso

Allied Ships
     CA Pensacola, Shell hits 6,  on fire
     CA Australia, Shell hits 8, and is sunk
     CL Leander, Shell hits 6,  on fire,  heavy damage
     CL Achilles, Shell hits 9,  heavy fires,  heavy damage
     CL Adelaide, Shell hits 2
     DD Stuart, Shell hits 2,  on fire
     DD La Triomphant, Shell hits 4, and is sunk

Maximum visibility in Partly Cloudy Conditions: 28,000 yards
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 24,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 24,000 yards
The range closed to 9,000 yards before opening up again to 26,000 yards which was when the Allied TF broke off the engagement.

SWPAC
Puerto Princesa was invaded and captured on the last turn, 2 Allied TFs in the area have been vectored into the hex to welcome the visitors to the neighbourhood.

The first Allied ground attack of the war outside China sees me on the wrong end of the casualty exchange, notice however the vehicles lost by the IJA and I push off the advance units that moved into the hex to boot. Its a good day in the PI.

Ground combat at Clark Field (79,76)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 22474 troops, 335 guns, 378 vehicles, Assault Value = 953
Defending force 2727 troops, 4 guns, 313 vehicles, Assault Value = 196
Allied adjusted assault: 686
Japanese adjusted defense: 286

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
     235 casualties reported
        Squads: 6 destroyed, 5 disabled
        Non Combat: 33 destroyed, 68 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 0 disabled
     Vehicles lost 180 (57 destroyed, 123 disabled)
     Units retreated 4

Allied ground losses:
     1663 casualties reported
        Squads: 9 destroyed, 154 disabled
        Non Combat: 9 destroyed, 92 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
     Vehicles lost 30 (4 destroyed, 26 disabled)

Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
   31st PA Infantry Division
   21st PA Infantry Division
   194th Tank Battalion
   71st PA Infantry Division
   Subic Bay Defenses
   192nd Tank Battalion
   1st PA Constabulary Regiment
   3rd/12th PA Inf Battalion
   26th PS Cavalry Regiment
   91st PA Infantry Division
   11th PA Infantry Division
   86th PS Coastal Artillery Battalion
   2nd PA Constabulary Regiment
   Clark Field USAAF Base Force
   200th & 515th Coast AA Regiment
   South Luzon Force
   Cavite USN Base Force
   1st USMC AA Battalion

Defending units:
   4th Tank Regiment
   48th Recon Regiment
   2nd Tank Regiment
   7th Tank Regiment

SOUTHEAST ASIA
Kuching is invaded and falls, Brunei is the only significant base I have left in north Borneo. I'm hoping that with the capture of several airfields in Borneo cannon will start forward deploying his bombers in a bid to cover the Java Sea with LBA, I've got a couple of fighter squadrons that need the target practice.

CBI
The first Allied deliberate attack on Ichang knocks the fort levels down to 1, taking Ichang might not get me anywhere but it would probably force the garrisoning of Sinyang and Hakow with substantial AV at the very least. In Sinyang, the balance of power has shifted with the arrival of IJA reinforcements, will fall back on the start of the next turn before my LCUs are obliterated.

Ground combat at Ichang (83,48)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 50545 troops, 349 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1545
Defending force 9136 troops, 88 guns, 29 vehicles, Assault Value = 259
Allied adjusted assault: 477
Japanese adjusted defense: 181

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1 (fort level 1)
Allied Assault reduces fortifications to 0

Combat modifiers
Defender: fatigue(-), experience(-)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
     1892 casualties reported
        Squads: 17 destroyed, 40 disabled
        Non Combat: 6 destroyed, 106 disabled
        Engineers: 3 destroyed, 9 disabled
     Vehicles lost 14 (0 destroyed, 14 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
     802 casualties reported
        Squads: 1 destroyed, 61 disabled
        Non Combat: 3 destroyed, 43 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
     Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)

Assaulting units:
   68th Chinese Corps
   32nd Chinese Corps
   67th Chinese Corps
   45th Chinese Corps
   8th Chinese Corps
   2nd Chinese Corps
   75th Chinese Corps
   26th Group Army

Defending units:
   34th/A Division
   13th RGC Temp. Division
   34th/C Division

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ground combat at Sinyang (86,48)
Allied Deliberate attack
Attacking force 32154 troops, 237 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 899
Defending force 30445 troops, 356 guns, 42 vehicles, Assault Value = 984
Allied adjusted assault: 352
Japanese adjusted defense: 945

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2 (fort level 3)

Combat modifiers
Defender: terrain(+), preparation(-), experience(-)
Attacker: disruption(-)

Japanese ground losses:
     585 casualties reported
        Squads: 1 destroyed, 18 disabled
        Non Combat: 4 destroyed, 44 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 1 disabled
     Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)
     Vehicles lost 18 (2 destroyed, 16 disabled)

Allied ground losses:
     2310 casualties reported
        Squads: 5 destroyed, 156 disabled
        Non Combat: 1 destroyed, 175 disabled
        Engineers: 0 destroyed, 6 disabled

Assaulting units:
   48th Chinese Corps
   29th Chinese Corps
   12th Chinese Corps
   13th Chinese Corps
   85th Chinese Corps
   3rd Group Army
   31st Group Army

Defending units:
   12th RGC Temp. Division
   9th Armored Car Co
   58th Infantry Regiment
   6th Division
   13th Division
   18th RGC Temp. Division
   15th Ind.Medium Field Artillery Regiment
   2nd Ind. Mountain Gun Regiment
   51st Ind.Mtn.Gun Battalion
   1st Mortar Battalion
   52nd Road Const Co
   8th Ind. Engineer Regiment
   67th JAAF AF Coy

Tavoy has been attacked but is still holding, IJA units have been spotted on the road leading north to Moulmein.

SUB ACTION
In the last 2 days, Allied submarines have accounted for the Kenyo Maru (6,400 tons), Madras Maru ( 3,675 tons) and Daido Maru (3,675 tons), the last 2 in the seas off Japan, all of them appeared to be have been unescorted so I'm hoping this will force Cannon into making committing assets to protect his merchies. S-38 also took a piece out of an xAP just of Laoag

In return, I lost a DD to an I-boat just outside SF and a Dutch sub off Kuching was lost to depth charging by an invasion fleet's screen. 2 xAPs were lost just off Batavia.

[Arnhem44]

Both of us had some free time today and we've spent the last 8 hours trading turns, we've only done about 4 turns so far as we both were doing other real life stuff concurrently but it's been a refreshing change of pace to do turns one after another, I found that it really focuses the mind on the task at hand as you remember what went on the previous turn and have a better idea of what you're doing and what you're going to do because everything is still fresh in the mind.

The highlights in brief, the RAF in Singapore has been torn a new one over the latest 2 turns and I've booted the IJA out of Ichang and Loyang, we both don't really like China and we've discussed the possibility of "quieting" that front although Cannon has indicated that he'll take what comes even if he doesn't like it, we'll see. Mersing in Malaya has been assaulted from the sea (which explains partially why the RAF is now an airforce only in name) and KB (or rather, her planes) is in the area around Fiji.

Will post more when we end our session and I sort out the combat reports.

[Arnhem44]

Subsections are in chronological order for the time period unless otherwise stated.

CENPAC
The capture of Baker and now Canton Island puzzles me, I'm trying to look at it from the other side, the islands will add some travel time to the resupply convoys to Oz and putting flying boats on them will probably give him some early warning of my fleet movements but that can also give me an opportunity for some deception as well by sailing my own CVs in plain sight, in any case unless Cannon is making a serious effort to isolate and take PH I really can't figure out what taking those islands could do for him.

CBI
Ichang's recapture starts us off here in the CBI, the invaders of Loyang have also been pushed out. I've inflicted terrible losses on my opponent in China thus far although he still retains the qualititve edge and can still mass enough AV to take any objective he wants. I'm still taking losses as I attempt to extricate myself from Sinyang, I expect a thrust northward to Nanyang or an attempt to retake Ichang once I'm ejected from Sinyang.

In Burma, Tavoy is captured and Moulmein has visitors that came from the east across the Thai border. The 1st Burma Division has been formed from it's component units, they'll be the primary LCU for delaying the IJA as they march up Burma. Have reassigned a combat leader with better stats as it's CO in view of the key role it will be playing.

SWPAC
A Dutch surface TF centered around 3 CLs catches an IJN TF off Puerto Princesa and destroys it, but only after it had unloaded. It in turn is caught by an IJN surface TF centred around the Yamashiro on the next turn and loses 2 CLs in exchange for setting a DD on fire.

Bataan is undergoing regular heavy bombing as is Clark Field, I still have a handful of fighters on Bataan but they're stood down for the moment, will disband them when Bataan is about to fall but what I'm really waiting for is for Cannon to stop sending escorts with his bombers and then I'll tear his bombers a new one for at least that one turn.

An Allied deliberate attack on the back of the successful defence of Clark from IJA armor didn't go as well, i had over 4700 casualties to 690 and lost a lot of squads outright destroyed, first and last attack in the PI. From here on out it's just sitting here taking my lumps.

KB has also revealed itself as it pounded Suva these past 2 turns, invasion of Suva immiment?

SOUTHEAST ASIA
This brace of turns starts out with the capture of Kuantan. Taking this base here allows Cannon to stage Zeros out of here to cover Singapore which the RAF found out to it's misery. In just 2 turns, the RAF in Singapore is dismantled, the first turn taking down 20 Buffalos in A2A and decimating the LB/TB squadrons in the turn after that as I contested the Mersing landings. The survivors of the bomber squadrons have fled north and south to India/Java to reform while the fighters will stay behind to the bitter end. All wasn't doom and gloom though, SIGINT was what alerted me to a Mersing landing in the first place and I was able to move 2 Dutch SS into the path of the invasion convoy, they put a toredo into the side of an xAK and bombers out of Singapore bombed another while it was unloading. However, as noted, the bombers and their escorting fighters paid a high price for it.

The 2 Indian Bdes still in Malaya are getting heavily bombed at Temuloh as they make their way south to Singapore, they've lost about 25% of their strength through bombing alone. The 2 Aussie Bdes in the south of Malaya have had to deal with the aforementioned landing at Mersing by the 38th Division on the latest turn, this spells trouble for the 2 Indian Bdes as I doubt the 2 Aussie Bdes will prove much of a speed bump for the 38th, once the 38th cuts the Peninsular at the base, I would have lost about 25% of my garrison and I need all the AV I can get in order to delay Cannon from taking Singapore for as long as possible.

Given this smooth takedown of the RAF by Cannon, I now am seriously considering pulling Force Z out of the DEI and sending it to cover the Australian east coast and PM as he'll probably come in slowly but surely and with enough overwhelming force to make it costly for me to contest any landings in the DEI. I'll see what develops in the next couple of turns but that's my gut feeling at the moment and I'm just going to leave a light surface TF or two while the heavies pull out and go make a nuisance of themselves somewhere else.

REINFORCEMENTS
A second Aussie Bde has landed on PM to join the 30th while another has landed on Noumea. A convoy carrying the 8th Marine Rgt is scheduled to land at Pago Pago in about 6 turns. The bombing of Suva by KB concerns me and I may hold the convoy near Penryn Island to see what direction KB takes. Palmrya and Christmas Island will get a Marine Defence Bn each to shore up their defences in light of the taking of Canton Island.

SUB ACTION
Achilles eats 2 torpedos off Milne Bay, she's limping back to Townsville and is racking up major float and sys damage as of the last turn but still afloat. Pickeral sets an xAK on fire off Hakodate but hits a mine while transiting through Hakodate hex, have rerouted all subs to avoid that the Sea of Japan for now, concentrating on the South China Sea and the eastern ports for now. KVII is handled roughly by a surface TF's escorts and is limping for Singapore for repairs.

Overall, the concentration of most of my initial submarine strength in the waters just off Japan has seen mixed results, I've claimed 6 merchies since Dec 18 till date for no submarine losses and 1 moderately damaged sub on it's way back to Dutch Harbor, add to that at least 3 more merchies hit by torpedos but which didn't seem to have sunk outright and I think I'm on the right track here. ASW efforts have been heavy as expected and I'm a little concerned that while I might be getting in my licks I'm doing more harm than good by giving the IJN target practice while shooting blanks of my own, will reevaluate this strategy at the end of Jan 1942.

As for my own losses during this same time period, I've lost 9 of the smaller Dutch merchies in my attempts to send a couple of them to extricate some base forces out of Singapore, I had to risk sending them in unescorted as I had my DDs running shepherding the high value hulls out to Australia, a couple of IJN subs latched on the TFs and basically sent one to the bottom for each phase of the turn. Also lost a Dutch SS to depth charging just north of Sinkawang, my first combat loss of a sub thus far in the campaign, the only other sub I've lost, the Seadragon, copped it courtesy of mines laid at Bataan at the start of the war. I haven't listed any IJN fleet subs as lost but I'm hoping it's FOW and I got at least 1 of 'em.