Last Stand at San Diego (no Richard please)

[ADB123]

April 25, 1942 -

I'm going to be away for the weekend so my opponent and I did a little overtime to get an extra turn in this evening.

No one was doing much overtime during the Night Phase of this turn. Other than the continuation of the Japanese invasion of Balabac nothing happened.

Daylight brought Japanese bomber attacks on Banjoewangi and Batavia. It also brought out some Sallys which attacked a retiring RAN Base Force on the road from Daly Waters to Tennant Creek. My P-40s at Tennant Creek didn't fly cover, so I pulled them out and replaced them with the rebuilt Buffalo squadron. I wonder if my opponent will now try to send a Zero Sweep over the RAN BF in the hopes of catching some of my fighters on LR CAP?

Then the skipper of Dutch sub O23 decided that it was a good idea to try to sneak up on a Japanese SC near Endeh in daylight. Of course, it wasn't a very good idea at all, but fortunately, the Japanese crew weren't competent and O23 got away. I sent O23 back to Colombo for replenishment and a skipper-change.

Balabac was captured by a Japanese Naval Guard unit at the end of the turn.

The most interesting News this turn was that the KB turned up at Horn Island. There have been a lot of Japanese subs cruising up and down the East Coast of Australia for the past few turns, so it looks as if my opponent plans to do something soon. So I pulled back most of my planes from the region other than Catalinas – there is no point leaving Wirraways around for the KB's pilots to feast upon.

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April 26, 1942 -

The empty base of Catbalogan was occupied overnight, which was the only activity other than a large number of Coast Watcher reports from Northern Oz, the PNG area, and the Solomons.

Daylight brought a number of scattered Japanese air attacks around the map. Weather disrupted the Japanese Air Missions and in most cases the Japanese Escorts flew in before the Bombers. There were also some Japanese Fighter sweeps, such as by a group of 15 Zeros that Swept over Tennant Creek. There were 5 British Buffalos on CAP and three of them were shot down. But no Japanese Bombers followed this raid.

Japanese bombers did hit Banjoewangi, Batavia and a Chinese unit in the woods just to the south of Changsha. There were a lot of Oscars on Escort with the Japanese bombers. But I've got the Chinese H81 units training at Chungking, so the Oscars didn't find any targets.

That Chinese unit south of Changsha then withstood the only Japanese Land attack of the turn, as a Japanese Infantry Division, along with an Infantry Regiment and a couple of other smaller units tried a Deliberate Attack. The Japanese achieved a 1:1 attack and caused a fair number of Chinese casualties, but fortunately the Chinese casualties were predominantly Disabled rather than Destroyed. I checked the General in charge of that Chinese unit and found out that he was pretty much a waste, so I changed him for a much better leader for the next turn.

Otherwise, I'm just moving Forces and Supplies to my Forward Bases. The KB disappeared from Horn Island, so I'll have to keep an eye out for its movements.

[ADB123]

April 27, 1942 -

One of my Dutch sub commanders paid the price of incompetence this turn as KXI shot 4 torpedoes at a big, juicy Japanese AO at Oosthaven but missed. The AO's escorts hit KXI four times, and so it looked like the sub would be heading back to the Yards for a while. But then a 4-SC ASW TF caught the KXI again, hammered it with depth charges, forcing the sub to surface, then they sank the sub with gunfire. Otherwise, the night phase was quiet.

Daylight brought Japanese bombers out in China to hit the Chinese LCU that was sitting due south of Changsha in the “rough”. A lot of bombers flew – half of them found the target and hit the Chinese hard. The other half missed the target all together. There were also plenty of Oscars on Sweep and Escort duty over the hex. Afterwards Banjoewangi and Batavia also got Bomber Attacks.

The pounding that the Chinese unit received helped out the Japanese troops on the ground and a Deliberate Attack drove the Chinese LCU back into Changsha. My opponent is slowly kicking my Chinese units out of their blocking positions. But I've got some nuisance surprises in the works for China. We'll see how they work out.

BTW – I am bringing the Chinese Air Force back into action next turn in a couple of attempts to bomb some Japanese LCUs. I've also deployed the Chinese A81 squadrons as Escorts. We'll see how things go.

SIGINT informed me that another Japanese Paratroop unit is moving to Darwin, so it looks as if my opponent is going to push quite hard in Australia. Therefore, I've made a momentous decision and have started to send the Australian 6th Division back to Australia from India. Given the horrifically and pathetically weak state of the Indian units, this is a fairly large risk because it means that the only good, strong units left in India will be the Australian 7th Division and that British Division, but I feel that the risk to Australia is too great to ignore.

[ADB123]

April 28, 1942 -

There was more action than normal during the Night Phase this turn, thanks to submarines. First off, USS Salmon took a shot at a Japanese SC while passing by Oosthaven. The Salmon's torpedoes were duds, but fortunately, the Japanese ASW ships didn't find the sub.

The the Shore Guns went off at Banjoewangi, but nothing showed up. That is typical of what happens when a submarine passes a CD position.

Finally, the skipper of Dutch sub KXVIII was obviously eating lots of raw meat because he very aggressively attacked a Japanese xAK off of the northern coast of Australia, half way between Wyndham and Derby. First off the Dutch sub hit the xAK with a torpedo, but the ship's escorts hit KXVIII with a couple of depth charge hits. But that didn't deter the Dutch skipper, because soon afterwards he had his sub surface and engaged the xAK again with both torpedoes and deck guns. The xAK was finally sunk after being hit with four more torpedoes and a number of gun hits. KXVIII was hit a couple more times by return fire, but all of the damage to the sub was minor and the Japanese escorts never came back to defend the xAK. So I've ordered KXVIII back to Port to reload and to fix the damage.

Daylight brought out Air Attacks from both sides. The Japanese attacked a Chinese unit out in the rough south of Changsha, retreating Dutch units in central Sumatra, Batavia, and Banjoewangi. Chinese bombers attacked a couple of Japanese LCUs in south-central China, but missed their targets, despite no enemy opposition. The Chinese A81s also made a nice show of sweeping the empty air over the target. So the mission came up empty, but I am hoping that this helps to confuse my opponent even just a little.

After the air raids Japanese forces kicked out the Chinese unit that was south of Changsha, so my attempt to interdict Japanese supply routes took another beating. But I haven't given up yet, so my opponent will still have more Chinese units to chase.

And in central Sumatra a Japanese Armoured Recon unit kicked a Dutch straggler unit closer to the Indian Ocean coast.

The Strange News of the Turn popped up in Aden where a British Air HQ appeared as a reinforcement. But this unit was trying to move to Lahat – 4094 miles away! [X(] The unit had already traveled 7 miles. So I canceled the Move and set the unit to Strategic Mode so I can ship it to India.

[ADB123]

April 29, 1942 -

I was dozing through the Night Phase and was just about to conclude that there would be no action when USS Sturgeon shots 4 torpedoes that missed xAK Satsuma Maru off of the northwest corner of Borneo. So my US subs are starting to get into position to harass the Japanese again.

Daylight brought an unescorted attack by Sallys on Tennant Creek. The weary British Buffalo pilots were relieved to see only bombers in the sky and happily fell upon the Japanese planes. A number of Sallys were shot down and damaged, and the damage at the Tennant Creek runways was minimal. Japanese bombers then flew against Banjoewangi and Batavia.

I had forgotten to sit down one of the Chinese Bomber attacks after the last turn because those planes didn't fly then. So this turn the planes flew against some Japanese troops that are on the road to the north of Nanking. As is usual with semi-trained bomber pilots, the Chinese missed their target.

Back in Australia my 4Es didn't miss their target as they flew against the airfields at Daly Waters. This was essentially a “live training” mission because I knew that my opponent wasn't keeping any planes at Daly Waters and I bet that if there were Japanese fighters in the air they would be trying to Sweep Tennant Creek.

So seven B-17s flew in first and hit the runways and airbase nicely. Then six Liberators followed and hit the airbase, airbase supply and runways. In the absence of CAP my bombers performed perfectly. I am sitting down the bombers for the next turn, but as long as my opponent doesn't put any CAP over Daly Waters I will use it for Target Practice.

BTW – it appears that there are also no Japanese troops in Daly Waters, and that the main Japanese force is sitting back in Katherine. That's fine by me because I am still extracting my slower LCUs out of the Northern Desert and need more time before I am ready to fight any ground battles.

The successful attack at Daly Waters has encouraged me and I have set some of my bombers in India to try to raid remote Japanese bases in Burma too. I don't want my planes tangling with the Japanese CAP at Mandalay or Rangoon, so I am trying to find some cracks in the Japanese Air Defense. We'll see how it goes.

The Allies received a fair number of LCUs this turn. Most of them are Support troops, which isn't bad in itself, but I would really prefer to see some BIG Combat Divisions show up. Oh well, I'll just have to be patient.

And finally, I came to a decision that I have been avoiding – I have Gone Over to the Dark Side and I am starting to micromanage my Pilots. Yes, I am giving myself all sorts of repetitive stress injuries to my mouse-hand, and severe eye-strain, as I make millions of clicks to move pilots into and out of various units, reserves, home visits, whore houses, and everything else in between. I really didn't want to add this extra level of detail and work, but I don't have any choice if I want my air units to remain competative.

[ADB123]

I'll be off again for around 10 days, and I won't have my game-pc with me, so there won't be any turns to post about until around the 13th. My opponent intends to discover who the woman is in his living room who claims to be his wife, and I will let my arm rest from the Death of 10,000 Clicks.

[ADB123]

April 30, 1942 –

Allied subs continued to harass the Japanese this turn. USS Sailfish shot off four torpedoes against a Japanese AMc off of Milne Bay but missed. Then Dutch sub KXIV was ambushed by a Japanese PB ASW TF off of Georgetown. The Dutch sub was damaged a bit but got away and is now headed off for repairs.

Daylight brought limited Japanese air attacks on Tandjoengsilor, Banjoewangi and Batavia as Dutch troops continue to wither away slowly in a few remaining fortresses in the DEI.

Then the Allied Air Forces took to the air to harass Japanese outposts in Burma. First off some Blenheims, escorted by Hurricanes, hit the Airfields at Lashio. One Oscar was on CAP and the Japanese pilot was able to shoot down one of the Hurricanes, but the Blenheims caused a fair amount of damage despite the interruption to their attack.

Then the Indian 4Es flew in to hit the Airfields at Prome. First came 7 Liberators which were pestered by a single Zero, but still hit their target. Then 7 Fortresses flew in and were greeted by 2 Oscars and 2 Zeros. The gunners in the Forts did their jobs well and shot down an Oscar, and then the bombardiers finished the job by hitting the Airfields again. All-in-all, by Allied standards it was a good day.

At the end of the day USS Perch attempted a rare daylight attack on a DMS off of Singapore, but missed with its torpedoes. The Japanese ships didn't attempt a counterattack.

The only Ground action was just to the east of Sibola in Sumatra where a Japanese Recon unit Shock Attacked some retreating Dutch units and drove them into Sibola. I am attempting to sneak some supplies into the Indian Ocean Sumatran bases that I still hold, just in case I can make the Japanese conquest even more time consuming. We'll see what happens.

In other news, USS Marblehead and a US 4-Stack DD finally reached Cape Town, so Marblehead will start its upgrade next turn. I am going to turn the 4-Stack DD into a DE, as I have with all of the other 4-Stack DDs.

And USS Houston is now only one day out of Cape Town, it appears that the ship's multi-month odyssey in search of repairs will finally end successfully.
[&o]

[ADB123]

It's that time again for me to post a few screen shots of what is happening in the match. This first one is the Intel screen for May 1, 1942. The main difference from the April 1 screen is the increased numbers of Allied troop losses. That increase shouldn't be as big once we get to June 1.

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I'm only going to post screen shots where things have changed significantly from April 1. So here is Northern Australia. My opponent appears to be digging in rather than trying to move south.

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Here is what is left of Dutch resistance on Java:

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Here is what is left of Dutch resistance in Sumatra

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And here is the mess in China...

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May 1, 1942 -

May Day was busy for a couple of my subs. First USS Porpoise spotted some Japanese SCs in an ASW TF at Oosthaven but decided not to take a shot. This gave the SCs a chance to take their own shots, although they missed. Then Porpoise found a Japanese Replenishment TF and instead of taking a shot at one of the AOs, the skipper of the Porpoise fired off four torpedoes at one of the DD escorts. This turned into a Bad Decision as the torpedoes missed, but the Japanese DD escorts didn't and now Porpoise has to limp back to Colombo.

Things were much brighter for USS Gudgeon which was cruising just off of Yokohama. First Gudgeon found an unescorted Japanese xAKL and sank it with a torpedo. Then Gudgeon found yet another unescorted Japanese xAKL and attacked it on the surface. Gudgeon sank the freighter with another torpedo hit as well as eight hits with the sub's deck gun. So I sent Gudgeon home to Alaska to replenish and rest up a bit after a Job Well Done.

But the Big News this turn was in the Air, as Japanese planes buzzed Cairns all day. And these were not just any Japanese planes, but Carrier Aircraft. Kates flew multiple Recon flights over the base while Zeros flew multiple hight altitude sweeps. But all I have at Cairns is a two-ship PT TF, so there was nothing for the Japanese Naval Air units to attack. And Cairns itself is empty. If my opponent wants to send some troops there he is welcome to do so – it will give my ever increasing numbers of 4Es in Oz something to attack.

The Japanese Army Air Corp attacked the usual targets in the DEI – Tandjoengselor, Banjoewangi and Batavia, and some Chinese troops that are blocking a road to the East of Sian. I've moved the Chinese H81s to Sian, along with some bombers, so I will try to catch any more incoming Japanese bombers over my troops as well as attack the approaching Japanese troops.

The other Big News this turn was that USS Houston finally made port in Cape Town and went directly into the Repair Shipyards. It is due for 30 days worth of repairs, which will increase once the February upgrades are started too.

[ADB123]

May 2, 1942 -

This turn had much more action than normal, and even more surprising, much of the action favored the Allies.

First off, my renewed submarine offensive is starting to bug my opponent, particularly since he can't find my Allied TFs. USS Pollack attacked and hit an xAK near Ebadan in the Marshalls, probably sinking it. Later Pollack had a shot at a CM, but missed.

Then USS Saury attacked and missed a xAK near Feni Island in the Solomons. But afterwards Saury put a torpedo into one of the DDs that was escorting the Transport ship, probably sinking the DD too. However, the other Japanese DD in the TF hit Saury with a couple of depth charges, so Saury is on its way back to base for repairs.

Next a Japanese Cruiser/Destroyer TF attacked the US three-PT TF that has been stationed at Cairns. The US PT boats weren't lucky with the weather, and in a clear night sky with a bright moon the Japanaese ships got the range on the US PTs at 12K yards and sank one. Then the Japanese TF bombarded Cairns. This is fine with me, because it just means that there is plenty of damage to the empty base that any Japanese invasion will have to fix. And finally, on the way out from Cairns the Japanese TF ran into the two remaining US PTs and sank another one at long range. So this didn't go well, but I'm not discouraged and I created another US PT TF to send up the coast in case of an invasion.

Daylight brought CV Zeros Sweeping over Charter Towers a couple of times. But I've already pulled back my Combat planes from northeastern Oz – I have no intention of wasting them against the KB's crack pilots. And since my opponent is being cautious about using his CV bombers against Land targets this isn't really costing me anything at all.

The Japanese Army Air Force was busy as usual and attacked Tandjoengselor and Batavia. But then my trap in China was sprung very nicely as Japanese bombers flew in to attack my Chinese troops to the east of Sian.

The first Japanese attack consisted of 31 Sonias escorted by 9 Oscars. They were met by 14 Chinese H81s. The Chinese pilots blasted past the Oscars and hit the Sonias nicely. The final total for that encounter was 2 Oscars shot down and 4 Sonias damaged for the loss of one H81.

Next, 24 Sallys flew in unescorted. They were met by 18 H81s. This time the Chinese pilots shot down 4 Sallys and damaged another.

Then 6 more Sallys flew in and were met by 11 H81s. Three more Sallys were destroyed and another damaged.

Finally, Chinese bombers, accompanied by more H81s, flew in and hit the Japanese troops on the ground. There were no Japanese fighters flying CAP, so the Chinese bombers hit their target.

But in the end it wasn't enough, as the Japanese column, which consisted of 1 Infantry Division, 5 Infantry Regiments, 2 Armored Regiments and an Artillery Regiment achieved a 3:1 result against the two smallish Chinese Corps that were in the rough, and drove the Chinese back towards Sian. But the Japanese troops suffered a large number of casualties in the attack.
Then, on the road south of Sian, 2 Japanese Infantry Divisions and 2 Artillery Regiments only managed a 1:1 result against a large Chinese Corps in the middle of the woods and the Japanese suffered three times the casualties as the Chinese.

Back in the DEI, 2 Japanese Infantry Regiments, along with 1 Engineering Regiment and 2 Artillery Regiments easily captured Banjoewangi from the exhausted and already multipli-defeated Dutch troops. The Dutch had no further room to retreat so they surrendered. Also, a Japanese JNAF CO captured the empty base of Ruteng further down the island chain towards Timor.

Despite the Allied losses on the ground, this was all-in-all an encouraging day for the Allies. Twenty-three Japanese planes were reported lost, against only three Allied planes. Now, the country with the most pilots in the top tier of kills is China. It will be interesting to see my opponent's response in China, as well as to find out just where the KB will go hunting.

[ADB123]

May 3, 1942 –

The night phase was quiet, other than a call from the USS Porpoise saying that the floatation repairs are failing.

Daylight brought a Zero sweep over Tennant Creek. I had pulled back the Buffalos and replaced them with Hurricanes in the hope of evening up things a bit. Thirteen Zeros faced off against 8 Hurricanes and the result was a draw, with one plane being shot down from each side.

Then the Japanese Army Air Force took off and bombed Padang, Tandjoengselor, Sibolga, and Batavia. The AA in Batavia is still working and several Japanese Army bombers were shot down.

To my surprise my opponent sent more Oscars and bombers against my retreating Chinese troops that are on the road to the east of Sian. I had my Chinese H81s flying CAP over Sian instead of LR CAP over the retreating Chinese troops, so only two H81s flew to try to intercept the Japanese attack. They couldn't do a lot and one of the H81s was lost, but at least the Japanese attack was disrupted a bit.

Then my 4Es at Alice Springs flew off against the Airfields at Katherine. The Allied bomber attack split up, with the B-17s going in first. Six Forts ran into six Zeros, and the Zeros did quite well, breaking up the attack and causing two Forts to be eventually lost. Then 5 Liberators flew in, blew past the Zeros, and hit the target.

There was then a lot of Recon by both sides. Surprisingly, there were multiple Japanese Recon flights over Tennant Creek. I wonder if my opponent is considering a Paratroop raid there. I would love to see that happen, because I have Dug a Line in the Sand at Tennant Creek and my forces there should be able to stand up to anything less than a multi-Divisional attack.

But who knows, maybe this is all a distraction, because my Recon of Katherine indicates that at least one of the Japanese units there is moving back towards Darwin. Daly Waters is empty, although still in Japanese hands, so maybe my opponent is deciding not to try a Desert War in the North, and the associated problems of supply.

The only Ground action this turn was a Japanese landing at the western New Guinea base of Babo. There are still dozens of small, empty Allied bases in the DEI and PI and it will take my opponent quite a while to pick them up if he wants them.

More importantly, the first Japanese units moved into position at Batavia this turn. The Fortifications at Batavia are still at Level 3, thanks to regular Japanese bombing, so it shouldn't take my opponent too long to capture the base once he starts to attack it.

There were a few other Japanese moves of note this turn. The KB was still off of north-eastern Australia, but only one Zero flight swept over Cairns, although there were a number of Kates on Recon flights over the base. So I have no idea if this is a prelude to an invasion or just a distraction.

I sent a number of long-range Recon flights over Rangoon this turn and found out that there are a large number of Fighters and Bombers there, as well as a big transport TF, and more troops are on their way away from the base. Despite the fact that I have around a dozen subs in the area my opponent continues to be able to send TFs in and out of Rangoon without them being detected.

And finally my Recon spotted what appears to be Japanese troops on their way out of Mandalay and off to the north. Are the Japanese troops going to finally garrison Swebo, or is my opponent finally starting a move towards Myitkyina? The 1st Burma Division is well-rested and dug-in at Myitkyina, but it won't stand up to any serious assault by multiple Japanese Divisions.

[ADB123]

May 4, 1942 -

The War is picking up again in a number of Fronts. Night time saw a continuation of the Japanese invasion of Babo in western New Guinea. Then a US found a couple of Japanese xAKs travelling without escorts to the northwest of Marcus Island.

The USS Grayback first put a torpedo into the side of one xAK. Then, prowling around, the sub found a second xAK and hit it too. Then, not satisfied, the sub's skipper went back to the first xAK and put a second torpedo into it, sealing its fate.

But no Allied subs found a Japanese invasion TF that started to unload troops at the undefended northeastern Australian base of Cooktown. Landing mishaps caused a number of casualties to the Japanese and allowed me to see that a Base Force was landing along with at least one Combat unit.

Daylight brought the KB very close to Palm Island, and brought out lots and lots of Kates that repeatedly buzzed my PT TFs at Cairns and Townsville. Cairns is also empty, but Townsville is defended by an Australian Naval Base Force, with Australian Armored units nearby.

But while there were no Japanese Air Attacks in the Northeast, north-central Australia was busy again. A group of nine Zeros tried a sweep of Tennant Creek, but nine British Hurricanes with experienced pilots met the Zeros and shot one down without a loss. However, a couple more Zeros swept in afterwards and shot down one out of three more Hurricanes that flew to meet them. Both sides also sent out plenty of Recon flights over the opposing bases.

Japanese Army bombers hit Tandjoengselor and Sibolgo again, but my opponent made a mistake and forgot to sit down some Sallys in China which once more flew against the Chinese troops on the road to the east of Sian. Those troops happened to have 43 Chinese H81s flying over head, so it was a very bad day for the Sallys. I'm only sad that more Japanese bombers didn't fly.

One report that got me a bit nervous was a notification that a Japanese Float Plane flew over Palmyra. I am currently unloading fresh troops there, so I hope that the Float Plane was only a Glen and not a harbinger of parts of the Combined Fleet coming in for a visit. My Naval Search planes haven't reported anything in the area, nor has SIGINT mentioned any Japanese movement in the region, but then, considering the Track Record of SIGINT, I shouldn't let my guard down.

Then at the end of the day, USS Pompano shot off some dud torpedoes against a Japanese xAK off of Osaka. The US sub ran out of torpedoes, so the sub's skipper got the Bright Idea of surfacing and trying to sink the Japanese ship with Gunfire. This turned out to be a Not Very Bright Idea, as the sub received 6 shell hits from the freighter while only hitting the freighter twice. So Pompano is heading slowly home now.

The Ground Phase started out with the Japanese troops on the road south of Sian trying an artillery attack on the dug-in Chinese troops. The Artillery had no effect.

Then the Japanese besiegers of Batavia attempted a Deliberate Attack. The Japanese force consists of an Infantry Division, three Infantry Regiments, one Infantry Battalion, one Armored Regiment, four Artillery Regiments and one Engineering Regiment. The Attack achieved 1:1 odds and reduced the Fortifications down to Level 2. Both sides took heavy casualties – around 1400 for the Japanese against 1600 for the Dutch. Elsewhere, Babo was captured.
I spotted an interesting sight in China this turn – a Japanese TF at Wuchang – well inland along the river system. I don't know if my opponent is sending supplies up river, or attempting an amphibious landing behind my lines, but I moved up some Chinese bombers and set them to Naval Attack, just in case I get lucky.

This “inspired” me, so I move the 4Es from India to Chungking and set them to try Port Attacks at Coastal Bases that are showing “ship” marks in their ports. Once again, maybe I'll get lucky, and it will certainly rattle my opponent a bit.

I also ordered my 4Es at Alice Springs to bomb the Japanese landing parties at Cooktown. One of the larger Australian Air Support units just reached Alice Springs at the Right Time, so I can attempt to cause some serious mischief with the Japanese plans in Oz now.

[ADB123]

May 5, 1942 –

This was a night of ups and downs for US PT boats. First off, a lone US PT boat sailed from Cairns to Cooktown and encountered the Japanese Invasion TF. The PT boat was spotted at 11K yards and the Japanese escorts – a CA and a number of DDs – opened fire. The PT boat avoided the fire and closed in to 5K yards at which point it fired its torpedoes at a Japanese DD. As expected, the DD avoided the attack. Surprisingly, the PT boat was then able to escape from the Japanese and return to base. Now it has to go south to re-arm.

That encounter, albeit unsuccessful, never-the-less encouraged me so I was looking forward to the next PT action. I had ordered the 2-ship PT TF in Townsville to sail out and try to engage the KB off shore. But instead of hearing of heroics, I received a message that the PT TF was "evading enemy ships". And that was with a hand-picked aggressive TF commander, and two hand-picked aggressive ship captains! So I ordered the Chickens-of-the-Sea up to Cairns, and I will send them off on a mission to Cooktown in another turn or two, just to see if they can regain some courage.

Daylight brought ups and downs for the USAAF too. The Air Wars started out with Japanese bombardments of Batavia, Tandjoengselor and Sibolga as usual. Then the first of my Sneak Attacks went into action.

Six of the Liberators that had flown from India to Chungking flew in and hit the Port at Shanghai. There was no CAP and the bombers hit an ACM, an AK, and also got a Port hit. Next seven B-17s that had accompanied the Liberators to Chungking hit the Port at Pescadores and again in the absence of CAP blew a CMc out of the water, as well as hitting the Port Supply. All of the Allied bombers returned to Base safely and I then flew them back to India.

Next, ten planes from a fresh squadron of B-17Es flew in and attacked the Airfields at Katherine. Three Zeros and one Oscar attacked the bombers but the bombers blew past them, damaging two of the Zeros. The B-17s then hit their target, destroying a Zero on the ground, causing casualties, and hitting the Runways.

So far, so good. Then the Game did one of its Failure-of-Suspension-of-Disbelief "random" things and Liberators and B-17s that were ordered to hit the Japanese troops on the beaches at Cooktown instead flew up to Darwin and attempted to hit the troops there. [X(] [&:]

Yes, I understand the Game Design "thing" that has random events happen in order to simulate the "WTF?" events that happen during real wars, but having two experienced bomber units flying to Darwin instead of Cooktown is equivalent to having two experienced bomber units flying from England with orders to hit Berlin, but flying to Rome instead. It didn't happen, and it would never happen. And yes, in the bigger scale of things in this humungous Game, it is a trivial thing, but never-the-less it is momentarily irritating. [8|]

In any event, the CAP at Darwin was tough and the Zeros and Oscars shot up the incoming bombers, causing the loss of a couple of Liberators. The bombers did hit some ground targets at Darwin, but all-in-all it was an irritating waste of a bomber raid.

The Ground War started with another Japanese bombardment attack on the Chinese troops in the Rough on the road to Sian north of Nanyang. As happened previously, the artillery had no effect.

Next the Japanese launched another Deliberate Attack on Batavia. The attack achieved a 1:1 result, reduced the Fortifications to Level 1, and caused roughly equal casualties on both sides.

Then a Japanese Infantry Regiment captured the empty Dot Base of Sawahloento, which is due East of Sibolga.

Finally, the Japanese invaders at Cooktown captured the empty base with a small Infantry Battalion and a JNAF AF unit. Of course, with the AF unit in place the next turn Japanese fighters immediately turned up at the Level 1 Airfield. So I've moved more 4Es forward and will hit the Airfield at Cooktown next turn, assuming that the Game doesn't have my bombers fly somewhere a thousand miles in the wrong direction.

In other news, a large number of Japanese troops have moved into Swebo in Burma. It looks as if my opponent is finally going to make a move on Myitkyina. I have multiple Recon flights assigned to Swebo next turn, and then I will hit the base with 4Es in order to slow things down. But I will reserve my main air attacks until the Japanese LCUs move closer to Myitkyina, and farther away from their CAP.

I find it interesting that my opponent would move now and not wait until June 1 when I will lose a number of British Air Units to Withdrawal.

And finally, a Japanese LCU has shown up at the empty mid-desert base of Nokanban in north-central Australia. That base is too far from anything to bother with, but I am glad that the Japanese unit is there, rather than somewhere more important.

[ADB123]

May 6, 1942 -

US subs had another busy night and day. The action started out with USS Cachalot, off of Tanegoshima, firing off four dud torpedoes at a Japanese TK. The skipper of the Cachalot must have felt pretty frustrated, because the sub then attacked an xAKL on the surface. Cachalot scored eight hits on the freighter, but had to leave because it was running out of gun ammo.

Next USS Trout fired six torpedoes at an xAKL near Kanoya, but all were duds. Later on in the day the sub spotted another xAKL in the region and fired off four more torpedoes, but they were duds too.

But things finished up well for the Silent Service as at the end of the day USS Greenling hit the Japanese LSD Akitsu Maru with a torpedo just off of Kobe.

Daylight brought a number of Search Plane reports, likely because I took the time last turn to re-set all of the Search Arcs to “Random”. One report showed that the KB has now moved far offshore of Eastern Australia and in fact appears to be heading towards New Caledonia.

Japanese bombing started with some Sallys trying to hit Port Blair in Thunderstorms. The bombers weren't able to find their target in the bad weather. Then the usual Japanese Air Attacks hit Sibolga and Tandjoengselor.

Then it was the turn of the USAAF as 17 B-17Es from Charter Towers hit the Airfields at Cooktown. Nine Zeros tried to fly CAP, but the Forts blasted through them. Several Zeros were shot down and more damaged, and both the Airbase and the Runways were hit. No B-17s were lost. After the attack I moved the Forts back down to Brisbane for rest and repairs.

Ground Action started out with a Japanese Amphibious Landing at Port Blair. This must have been a Fast Transport drop-off because few Japanese troops got ashore safely and there were no Japanese ships to be seen afterwards. My troops at Port Blair are feeble remnants, so any battle there will be a War of Weaklings.

The Japanese LCUs on the road north of Nanyang got tired of unsuccessful Artillery Attacks and attempted a Deliberate Attack this turn. The Japanese achieved a 4:1 advantage, but they didn't drive the Chinese back and both sides had equal losses. I'm moving another Chinese LCU to that location in order to tie-down the Japanese even more.

A couple of small Japanese LCUs easily kicked out the already crushed Dutch defenders of Sibolga with a Shock Attack. There are now only two Straggler units left, and they have a long march to Padang.

In the northern Australian desert Nookanbah was captured by a Japanese SNLF unit – probably a Paratroop unit.

And finally, it appears that Japanese troops are definitely moving towards Myitkyina. There have been plenty of Japanese Recon flights over Katha, and a “movement bump” has appeared at the corner of the Japanese units marker at Swebo. So I've ordered a 4E attack on the Airfields at Swebo just to discourage my opponent from trying to build up the Airfields.

[ADB123]

May 7, 1942 -

This was another active turn as Allied subs, PTs and Bombers all pecked away at the Japanese. Sure, at this point the Allied “Poor Man's War” is using the “Gum to Death by a Toothless Minnow” approach, but at least it is causing my opponent to put some effort into his World Conquest.

The Night started out with another Japanese Fast Tranport TF arriving at Port Blair. The Shore guns shot back once again, so the Japanese lost more troops during landing.

The submarine action started next. Off of Hamamatsu Japan, USS Silversides was chased by a Japanese SC. Off of Nagoya USS Grayling took a shot at another Japanese SC but the torpedoes were duds. Finally, later on in the day, USS Pickerel attacked a Japanese Transport TF off of Dongagala in the Makassa Straits, but it missed.

Then came the PT Boat action, as another two-ship PT TF attacked the Japanese Transport TF that was still unloading at Cooktown. The PTs were spotted at 8K yards but they were able to duck the incoming fire from the Japanese escorts and continue closer. Then at 6K yards the two PT Boats fired their torpedoes and this time they scored a hit on a Japanese AK. (A “real” AK, not an “x”-type.) One of the PT Boats was hit by some machine gun fire but they were able to escape.

Daylight brought Sallys out bombing Port Blair. Other Japanese Army bombers hit Tanjoengselor, Batavia, and the Stragglers in Sumatra.

Then the US 4Es took off, but without their usual luck or success. The 4E attacks on Katherine flew in piecemeal and were hit hard by the relatively light CAP over the base which consisted of only a few Oscars and Zeros. Over in Burma, however, the 4Es flew together so 6 Liberators and 8 Fortresses attacked the Airfield at Swebo. However, 21 Oscars were waiting for them, and although the 4Es ended up shooting down a couple of Oscars and damaging more, several Liberators were lost.

I am now in a situation where I am out of replacement 4Es, and I don't even have enough 2Es around to swap out some 4Es back on the West Coast. So instead I just sat them all down. I'll wait until the Japanese LCU that is marching on the Myitkyina road gets close enough for me to fly in 2Es and Hurricane escorts before I attack again in the region.

At the end of the day some Japanese Transport Planes flew in to Port Blair drop off some Paratroops, but Flak whacked a number of the transports, so a lot fewer Paratroops ended up at Port Blair than might have. And a small Japanese invasion TF started to land some Engineering troops on the little island base of Christmas Island, Indian Ocean.

Ground combat started out with another Japanese Deliberate Attack at Batavia. Surprisingly, the attack only achieved a 1:1 result, despite the Forts still being destroyed. However, the Dutch again lost three times as many troops as the Japanese, so Batavia won't hold out much longer.

A second Japanese Infantry Division joined the first Infantry Division at the battle on the road to the north of Nanyang, but even with the additional force the Japanese achieved a 3:1 result but couldn't budge the Chinese troops. And I've got another Chinese Division on the way that, with any luck, may reach the position next turn and give the Japanese even more headaches.

Because of the Paratroop landing at Port Blair the Japanese troops attempted a Shock Attack, but they got a 1:2 result and the Forts remained at Level 2. Then, at the end of the turn the Defenders built the Forts up to Level 3. This could end up being a real headache for my opponent, particularly if I am able to put a “little plan” into place.

That “little plan” is predicated upon my continued spotting of the KB in the South Pacific between the East Coast of Oz and New Caledonia. And the KB has moved even closer to New Caledonia, so it looks as if it will continue in that direction.

So with the KB “safely” out of the way I have ordered the British Carriers out of Bombay and off to Colombo. If the siege of Port Blair drags out for a few days I will send the Brit CVs over to “snoop around” and see if they can catch any incoming Japanese TFs. I'm deliberately not sending in my US CVs yet, because I want their presence in India to remain a secret, particularly if the Baby KB shows up to challenge the Brits, in which case I might get a chance for a Nice Surprise.

[ADB123]

May 8, 1942 -

Allied submarines were very active again. Now, if they would only activate their torpedoes.

The night started out with yet another Japanese Fast Transport TF offloading something at Port Blair. The Coastal Guns at Port Blair continued to fire back at these Midnight Marauders.

Then a Japanese amphibious landing started out of the blue at Cocos Island in the Indian Ocean. Once again an Engineering unit lead the landing.

This was followed by a surprise landing at Cairns by part of the Japanese 4th Division. So it looks as if my opponent is serious about Oz. The landing was troubled by waves and weather, and so although it was unopposed, the Japanese lost a fair number of squads on the way in. Then the sub action started.

USS Greenling shot at an xAK near Kobe but the torpedoes were duds. The Japanese escort hit Greenling with a depth charge so Greenling is now on its way back to Port.

Next, USS Perch shot at a TK off of Makassar, but missed. This was followed by USS Plunger being chased but not caught by Japanese ASW ships near Eniwetok.

Then Dutch sub O24 hit an xAK off of Soc Trang with three live torpedoes. The freighter probably went down after the third hit.

Finally, USS Tuna hit an xAK near Babeldaob with some Dud torpedoes, followed by USS Pechard hitting another xAK, near Dongalla, but again with Duds.

And for a change of pace, Japanese sub I-1 took a shot at an escort PC in a US TF north of Palmyra, but the torpedoes missed. Then the PC and the other escorts in the TF hit I-1 with a couple of depth charges, so maybe I-1 will head home for repairs too.

Daylight brought Sally raids against Chinese troops out in the open near Sian, followed by the usual Air Raids against Tandjoengselor, Batavia, and the Stragglers in Sumatra. There were no Allied Air Attacks planned for this turn.

The Ground War started out with yet another Japanese Deliberate Attack at Batavia, but this time the assault worked and the Dutch were driven out of the base. So all there is left for the Japanese in Java is Mop Up operations.

Japanese troops also staged a Deliberate Attack on the road just to the north of Nanyang. This time, despite the arrival of fresh Chinese troops the Japanese kicked out the Chinese with only a 2:1 result, and destroyed a lot of Japanese squads as a bonus. I suspect that this was because the Relief column was still in “Move” mode.

In other Japanese attacks against unoccupied Allied bases, Sabang, Cocos Island, and Christmas Island, IO were all captured.

And the KB changed its course slightly and started to sail eastwards north of New Caledonia, instead of going further south. I'm not sure where the KB is going, but this “wandering” has encouraged me to start to move some Allied Combat Ships towards the east coast of Oz in case I can catch a transport TF unloading at Cairns or Cooktown.