Speedy vs Fabertong - time to smack back the Penguin

[witpqs]

ORIGINAL: Speedy

Thanks witpqs. So between June and September there'll be big effects?

I have to say 'to the best of my knowledge' because I just did a search in the release notes and I did not find any reference to the dates of the monsoon (and only one mnetion of hte word monsoon), so I can only go by the forum posts as I remember them.

[Mynok]

SS Grayling also put dud torpedoes and 9 shells into AK Hohuku Maru in Toyohara harbour.

[X(] Aggressive little pom you are! [:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

No worries witpqs Iappreciate your thoughts!

Mynok - not my fauly. These nip......errr Penguins just don't know when they're beaten! Now if only I can get some working torpedoes![;)]

------------------------

Malaya -

The big news of today was the capture of Singapore by Imperial Japanese forces. It cost the Japanese another 1300 casualties but over 46,000 Allied troops marched into captivity.....long live King George!

This frees up over 3 divisions worth of Japanese troops. Presumably they'll need some R & R but I wonder where they'll go next. Logically Sumatra, which remains in Allied hands, and Faber will probably want to add to Japanese forces on Luzon. That's my guess.

--------------------------------

China -

The Chinese fight back!

The 44th Chinese Corps had been reinforced by the 25th Corps and 28th New Division after being pushed back towards Pingsiang (SE of Changsha). They pushed 2 Japanese Rgt's back east across the river. We follow these battered Japanese.......

Ground combat at 82,55

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 14323 troops, 112 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 447

Defending force 6171 troops, 54 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 199

Allied adjusted assault: 183

Japanese adjusted defense: 75

Allied assault odds: 2 to 1

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: leaders(-)

Japanese ground losses:
2310 casualties reported
Squads: 62 destroyed, 27 disabled
Non Combat: 66 destroyed, 30 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 0 disabled
Guns lost 4 (3 destroyed, 1 disabled)
Units retreated 2


Allied ground losses:
264 casualties reported
Squads: 0 destroyed, 15 disabled
Non Combat: 0 destroyed, 12 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 2 disabled


Defeated Japanese Units Retreating!

Assaulting units:
44th Chinese Corps
25th Chinese Corps
28th New Chinese Division

Defending units:
102nd Infantry Regiment
2nd Ind.Mixed Regiment

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

A quieter few days after the fall of Singapore.

----------------------------

SRA -

Luzon has been the usual - air raids and artillery bombardments.

Koepang fell to the Japanese on the 18th quite easily.

Still standing firm at Buitenzorg. No Japanese attacks there.

The main point to note was the unfortunate demise of AK Boero[:(] My redoutable Freighter was on it's way back to reinforce Bataan when it ran into BB Kongo and Haruna north of Kuching....say no more....RIP. Clark will be out of supply by the end March.

-------------------------------

China -

The Chinese chased the Japanese back across the river near Pingsiang and were held at their bridgehead! We attack tomorrow........

Another Japanese Bde stormed towards Chengchow in the north and lost over 4000 men. We also attack here against this Bde and the 2 Divisions there. More Japanese are also advancing up from Singyang in the SW....a reported 2 units.

-------------------------------

Other areas -

All fuel and supply on the current convoy has bene unloaded at Suva.

Port Detachments are about 10 days out from Raoul and Norfolk Islands.

I wonder if Faber will respond to my landings at Attu. He know's i;m there due to recent sub attack on the convoy........

-------------------------------

Submarine Warfare -

A few missed/dud attacks my end[:(]

On the other side SS RO-33 also showed up near Attu and left AVD Casco heavily listing and burning after a torpedo hit (she limped towards Attu's 'port'). In return the ASW assets in the area hunting the git all day and reportedly left RO-33 heavily damaged after DC attacks.......

[Chad Harrison]

Hey Speedy

Finally had sometime to hop online again and check our your AAR. I know things have been buys over there for ya, but is the game still going? Hows SRA? China? Has he slowed down yet?

Hope all is well.

Chad

[Speedysteve]

Hi Chad,
 
Hope you're well my friend.
 
Yes the game is still going but both Faber and I have had severe RL intrusion meaning we're lucky if we get a done turn done a week! We should be able to get through a few more again soon though when Faber's RL situation dies down after Easter....mine however will still be hectic.
 
I'll update more fully in due course, since with the slow pace it's tough to keep remembering everything!
 
The big news though its that he's invaded northern Australia!

[Chad Harrison]

Steve

Glad to hear all well, albeit busy.

Landed on Oz huh? Looking forward to hearing about that one! If your die rolls in your game against Farber are anything like your die rolls in our games, you will do just fine! [:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Sorry again for the lack of updates....both Faber and I have been extremely busy with RL. That phase is starting to ease a little now though so the pace is picking up again. To give you an idea of how slow things have been we've only progressed 3 game weeks in 3.5 months of RL![X(]

---------------------------------

To get caught up I thought I'd summarise by each theater starting with a brief overview.......

We're upto 8th March 1942 now. Bataan and 2 strongholds on Java are what remain of the SRA. China is fun and games, swings and roundabouts. Noumea has fallen in the South Pacific and northern Australia has been invaded by a small Japanese force.

---------------------------------

This detailed update will focus on Burma and southern India..........

Over the past 3 weeks the Japanese have strengthend their position in Northern Burma with recon reports showing more units (ARM/ART) nearing Myitkyina.

Hurri's have been flying recon every day over the reported IGD which has been tracked marching north through jungle towards Imphal. Unsure of whether this was a feitn or not I have not responded in strength....until now.

Orders were issued on 8th March to 6th Australian Division and 7th Arm Bde based in Calcutta to load up and head out to Imphal along with 3 x ART Bn's and an AT Bn. 68th Ind Bde is also railing down from Karachi. I have plenty more force in south/SW India but I'm not commiting them until I know it's either a bigger attack and that an invasion of India is off the table.

Both the Aussies and Brits committed to this are at full strength and experienced.

At present I also have air supremacy in this region with no Japanese planes being spotted in the air at all! LBA from Imphal and Dimapur and bombing Japanese positions almost daily.

[BrucePowers]

Speedy you never write anymore[:D]

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Bruce - what can I say man...RL and all that. I've been here in spirit if nothing else[;)]

-----------------------------------

With the fall of Noumea at the end of February there has been no further Japanese activity other than the capture of unoccupied Luganville.

The Allies have landed substantial forces on Fuji now. Almost 300 aircraft occupy the airfields and hangars, oodles of support and engineers occupy the place building all sort of military installations.

From the LCU perspective both the Americal and 24th USA Divisions occupy positions around Suva with 8th USMC Rgt alogn with Tanks and a CD Rgt occupy Nadi on the west of Fuji.

I feel quite secure at Fuji now. Unless KB is used and 6 divisions+ there's no way the Japanese can take it.

This forms the 'eastern end' of my So Pac defence.

Both Raoul and Norfolk Islands have port detachments and supplies ashore. The next convoys will contain Engineers to fortify and expand the Islands. After that troops will be ashore.

The 'western end' of SoPac defence is eastern Australia. Troopwise we all know it has oodles of Militia Divisions but I feel quite secure in Aus. It does need more Support and Engineers though along with aircraft. Some wll be sent from Suva whilst others arrive from San Francisco.

Further troops will also be sent from USA including 7th and 9th USMC Rgt's arriving in the next 2 weeks.

This concludes the SoPac update..............

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

As mentioned previously Faber invaded northern Australia at both Derby and Wyndham. The landing forces 'only' consisted of SNLF Detachments with a Bde in tow. My gut feel is that this is just a force to occupy northern Aus down to Alice Springs. No doubt about it that the force landed could never move further south than that.

On the flip side it could be a precursor to a much large landing since all the major IJA Divisions are still bottled up in Java, Luzon and Burma.

For now I hold at Darwin but once the IJA nears Katherine I'll evac south. UII'm not committing a massive amount from the South yet (until I have more US presence in Southern Aus) but the following forces will move as roadblocks to the Japanese incursion:

6th Aus Cavalry Bde - Alice Springs
3rd Motor Bde - Cloncurry
2nd Aus Division - Normanton

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Final play here........I'm holed up in Buitenzorg with a smaller force in Soerabaya to keep it open for sub use for now.

Buitenzorg is strong with over 900AV and 3 forts. Faber attacked a few days back losing over 3500 men - his AV is now 650.

Soerabaya has 180AV.

One little tidbit I have to share - my last 3 TB's in Java became heroes 2 days back when they attacked the large AP Terukuni Maru hitting it with 3 torpedoes.....2 were shot down on the way home by Zeroes. Go boys!

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Plain and simple Luzon will fall soon when Faber next attacks.....I'm quite happy with how I've defended here though since I've tied down 4 x IJA Divisions+ for the past 2 months.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

China is proving to be immensely interesting and challenging. It's quite a fluid situation with Japanese and Chinese forces engaged throughout the land.

The main offensives of note for the past 2 weeks have been highlighted on the attachment - red = Japanese attacks and advance, green = Chinese.

SW of Chengchow - Chiense positions were about to fall but the timely arrival of 3 Chinese Corps has stabilised the situation (1500AV Chinese vs 1050 Japanese).

South of Changsha - trouble here as 600 AV Japanese smashed my river defences forcing my men NW into Pingsiang (sp?)

Sinyang - Local Chinese successes here as 1400 AV Chinese take on 800 IJA AV. 2 defensive areas and fortifications have been taken (1 remain) but at heavy cost to the Chinese (350 AV drop). Looks like Japanese reinforcements are moving up from the SW. I still hope to take here. It could really unhinge things for Faber if I can.

[sprior]

Hi Speedy,

You're about 3 weeks ahead of my AAR but things look awfully familiar. We're at Feb 18th or so, Singers still stands as does Clark, Manilla and Bataan but Sumatra is in trouble.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Sprior - Interesting. I'll have a peak and comment on yours in a sec

-------------------------

The main area of note today was over SE India as the first Japanese planes of the war entered the skies there!

Early in the morning Lookouts spotted 41 x Oscar zooming in low at 100 feet approaching the Imphal area! Only 10 x P40 and Hurri fighters managed to get airborne to attack the intruders and 4 were bounced and shot down. In return the numerous AA guns around the area pounded away at the Japanese claiming 4 x Oscars.

Later on in the day a bombing raid on the approaching IGD encoutered a few Zeroes flying CAP! My Hurri's and P40's tangled with them whilst the bombs dropped. 2 x P40 and 2 x Zero were claimed.

As the Japanese are growing in strength in the area another 3 x Hurri squadrons and 1 x Blenheim IV squadron are arriving in the area and will be ready for action within 3/4 days.

6th Aus and 7th ARM Bde are loaded up and leaving Calcutta tomorrow bound for Imphal.

------------------------

All quiet else where except in China where a couple of patrolling Hawks nabbed a couple of Lillies bombing SW of Chengchow. We attack again tomorrow at Sinyang.

------------------------

Submarine warfare -

Haven't updated this for the past couple of weeks. In short I've had confirmation of 5 x AK and E Hashidate being sunk. I suspect another 2-3 x AK have also gone down near Sakhalin Island and south of Japan.

In general I'm still seeing 2-4 missed attacks per day (today's for example included a TK [:@] and the large AV Sanyo Maru).

-------------------------

SoPac -

A large convoy is assembling at San Fran bound for SoPac and Aus containing:

2nd USMC Rgt
2/3rd Marine Raiders
2nd USMC Para Rgt
193rd Tk Bn
102nd Inf Bn
111th USN BF
175th USAAF BF
AA Rgt

150,000 Tonnes Supply.
65,000 Tonnes of Fuel.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Main developments over the past 3 days have been:

Australia -

Seems like Australia could be a bigger Japanese target than I may think. SigInt has identified 2 x Rgt's at Koepang already, CV's were spotted there by Recon and 40th Bde is preparing for an attack on Darwin........interesting. Would love for Faber to go for Aus all out........we'll see. May still just be a north Aus aim.

--------------------------

India -

Within 2 more days elements of 7th ARM will be at Imphal. IGD is still reportedly approaching Imphal. No further sign of Japanese planes in the skies for now.

--------------------------

Luzon -

Have to mention this. The boys out there are absolute Heroes and despite being down to their last canteen of water and bandolier of bullets they stopped dead another Japanese shock attack causing 3500 casualties to 1000 Allied. I salute you[&o]

--------------------------

China -

The Chinese positions SW of Chengchow massacred a Japanese attack on the 10th. I've tentatively ordered my men to attack the Japanese tomorrow......eek. Recent Japanese attack below....note the number of Destroyed squads.......

Ground combat at 87,45

Japanese Shock attack

Attacking force 36411 troops, 444 guns, 101 vehicles, Assault Value = 885

Defending force 41901 troops, 226 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1222

Japanese adjusted assault: 802

Allied adjusted defense: 1358

Japanese assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: experience(-)
Attacker: shock(+)

Japanese ground losses:
3549 casualties reported
Squads: 211 destroyed, 71 disabled
Non Combat: 182 destroyed, 86 disabled
Engineers: 6 destroyed, 10 disabled
Vehicles lost 12 (11 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3806 casualties reported
Squads: 19 destroyed, 261 disabled
Non Combat: 26 destroyed, 203 disabled
Engineers: 2 destroyed, 15 disabled


Assaulting units:
13th Ind.Mixed Brigade
13th Division
36th Division
1st Ind.Mixed Brigade
6th Division
5th Armored Car Co
12th Army
11th Field Artillery Regiment

Defending units:
85th Chinese Corps
80th Chinese Corps
27th Chinese Corps
41st Chinese Corps
76th Chinese Corps
92nd Chinese Corps

[Chad Harrison]

Speedy

Good to see your game cliping along. Looks like he is still applying pressure, but it is still the famous first 6 months. Australia certainly seems like the new favorite for the Japanese.

Keep up the good fight! [:D]

Chad

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

Hi Chad [:)]

I'm not overly concerned as to what the Japanese do now. It mid-april at the earliest when the bulk of the IJA Divisions will be free (Luzon and Java cleared = 7 divisons + released). By then I hope to have enough assets in place in Australia to prevent a major catastrophe there.

--------------------------------------

Java -

Talking of Java.....further Japanese reinforcements arrived at both Buitenzorg and Soerabaya. Soerabaya fell today despite a bitter struggle. 7500 Allied men walked into captivity and 20 planes were trashed on the airfield.

38th Division and 4th Ind. Mixed Rgt arrived at Buitenzorg finally giving the Japanese an edge in AV (1200 vs 950). An attack here cost the Japanese 3000 casualties vs 1500 Dutch but gaiend some fortifed ground.

---------------------------------------

China -

The Chinese attack SW of Chengchow failed miserably:

Ground combat at 87,45

Allied Deliberate attack

Attacking force 43043 troops, 226 guns, 0 vehicles, Assault Value = 1270

Defending force 35835 troops, 444 guns, 158 vehicles, Assault Value = 863

Allied adjusted assault: 561

Japanese adjusted defense: 925

Allied assault odds: 1 to 2

Combat modifiers
Defender: leaders(+)
Attacker:

Japanese ground losses:
687 casualties reported
Squads: 20 destroyed, 10 disabled
Non Combat: 31 destroyed, 9 disabled
Engineers: 0 destroyed, 5 disabled
Vehicles lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


Allied ground losses:
3708 casualties reported
Squads: 16 destroyed, 334 disabled
Non Combat: 5 destroyed, 96 disabled
Engineers: 1 destroyed, 7 disabled
Guns lost 1 (0 destroyed, 1 disabled)


------------------------------------

Submarine warfare -

I'm still attacking (missing/failing to explode) about 3 ships per turn.

AK Santos Maru by SS Seadragon with a torpedo SW of Balikpapan. In return the escorts gave my sub a rough working over and she's limping to Perth with 54 FLT damage.

SS Trusty must have blown up SC CH 19 with a torpedo east of Cam Ranh Bay.

[Speedysteve]

Hi all,

SRA -

Main action here has been the capture of Dili, Timor by IJA 40th Bde.

Clark and Buitenzorg still hold firm.

-------------------------

CBI -

7th ARM Bde is in place at Imphal now and is detraining for combat......awaiting the arrival of IGD.

The Japanese have advanced upon Pingsiang SE of Chansha, China. I have 501 AV in place.

On the 14th Chinese fighters ambushed a Lilly raid SW of Chenchow reportedly shooting down 7 planes.

--------------------------

Aleutians -

The 15th saw the surprise appearance of a small IJN CV Raid at Dutch Harbour. 11 Vals attacked some YP's that were conducting local patrols sinking all 3 of tthem. The raid came from the south but the CV's were un-detected. There's no crucial shipping in the area so no great harm can come from this foray. Interesting move though.

--------------------------

Submarine warfare -

On the 14th SS Sargo heavily damaged AK Nitiho Maru with a torpedo near Toyohara, northern Japan.

The 15th saw the most successful submarine attack of the war..........

SS Grayling was patrolling off the coast near Wakkanai, Hokkaido when she soptted an enemy convoy mid-morning. An hour later 3 enemy freighters lay burning in the water - Sangetsu Maru, Nissho Maru and Taigen Maru all succumbed to a torpedo hit. 16 torpedoes were used to get 3 hits but I'd rather that than no hits [;)]